“Sorry,” Ginger giggled.
“Well, what is it you wish to discuss? You’re going to beat this to death, aren’t you?”
“Beat what to death?” She bit her lip.
“This thing between us. You witches and warlocks speak a different language from my kind. There is no subtlety with us. You say one thing, but your body says another, and your scent and heartbeat say something else still. It’s all very delicate and complicated. Among my people, we only say what we mean.”
“You’re right. That sounds very foreign to me. I’m afraid to trust.”
“I know.”
“So, the beating it to death. Is that okay?”
“Yes. Ask your questions.”
She took a deep breath. “Fine. Do you want to be with me?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Don’t answer with another question.”
He laughed and rolled over to face her, his great weight smashing the mattress practically flat. “Yes. I want to be with you. I’ve chosen you. You’ve chosen me. There is no… divorce. There is no leaving.”
“I can’t help but feel you were forced into this.”
“The only thing that was forced was my sanity while you were licking syrup off my cock.”
She blushed. “It’s just too simple.”
This time, it was Slade that didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”
“You just… choose a partner. And that’s it. You never want anything else? You never wonder what if? You never…” She rolled her shoulders in a shrug. “You just choose after knowing me for three days and I’m yours forever? What about love?”
“Love is different for us. It doesn’t exist in the same parameters as it does for your kind. Our bond, that comes with the bite, I suppose you could call it love. It’s primal and more like instinct than a choice. And yes, gargoyles are monogamous.” He flashed her a sly grin. “Although, sometimes pairs form in triads instead. When clutches are hatched with uneven numbers…”
“Really?”
“Really. When Valerian took Aradia, he thought that perhaps it was the same with us. But I knew you were for me from the moment I saw you at the tea.”
“But I was so awful.”
“Yes, you were. But you were in pain. Pain makes anyone act in a way they wouldn’t typically. Ask anyone who’s ever cornered a wounded animal.”
She pushed herself up against him. “I guess that’s what I was. A wounded animal.”
“Now you’re where you belong. Safe, with me.”
“I wouldn’t say I was completely safe. I might need to be ravaged. Or treated like tribute. Maybe you can kidnap me and we can go back to that pool in the Aerie,” she asked hopefully.
He laughed. “Your wish. My command.”
DAY NINE
Ginger had never been so sore in all of her life.
But she wasn’t complaining.
In fact, she was thinking of ways to be sorer. Having gone from getting nothing to having a male like Slade answer her every desire... Well, she was a little dizzy with it all.
Especially his talk about forever. That was insane, right?
Except she had a mark on her neck to prove otherwise. She claimed him the same as he claimed her.
For a single moment, she wanted to call Gavin and tell him that she wasn’t alone and she wasn’t miserable and the stupid little clause in their pre-nup that had kept her married to him for years longer than she should’ve been didn’t matter.
But this wasn’t about Gavin at all. This was Ginger and Slade.
For the first time, even though she was with a male, by all rights belonged to him, she didn’t feel like she was tied down. She didn’t feel suffocated.
She actually felt like she was flying.
DAY TEN
Today Slade’s loan expired. It was also the day his contract with Aradia expired.
Ginger knew with a certainty that her friend had planned it that way. Aradia knew that they would be a good fit together, and she also knew about Ginger’s pre-nup stating she could never marry another warlock.
Slade’s willing service to her was almost like a marriage contract.
She’d heard that ten days was some kind of magickal number in the warlockian world. All the best things happened in ten days. Ginger had never given it much credence before. She rather liked things in multiples of three. Most magick called on the mystical numbers like three, seven, nine and thirteen. She’d never seen where ten fit in before now.
Or maybe it was just Aradia’s magick. Her son had been given only ten days to marry his bride after the tea, and it had all turned out like a fairytale.
Hemlock had known Raven for ten days when he proposed, and she was going to get her happy ever after, too.
Ginger couldn’t be more thrilled.
She wished she’d known the magick of ten sooner.
Or maybe, if she had, it wouldn’t have been so magickal. She wouldn’t be the person she’d become. Misery had been a hard master, a cruel teacher, but perhaps it had all been worth it to end up in such a place.
She lounged by the faux ocean, leaning back against Slade’s hard chest, and enjoyed the sun on her face and the coconut rum in the pineapple cup.
“What did I tell you? Isn’t this the good life?” Aradia asked her.
“It certainly is.” Ginger sighed.
“And even better that Gavin is about to choke on his jealousy.”
Slade drew his claws lightly up her arm, causing her to shiver delicately. “I hadn’t even noticed. I don’t care what he does.”
And she didn’t. It wasn’t that petulant kind of “I don’t care” that meant she still really did care, but was trying to convince herself otherwise. She didn’t wish Gavin any ill. She just wanted him to go away.
“That’s the best part.” Aradia took another drink. “Actually, the best part is that now I recognize you again.”
“It’s the flaming hair.” She grinned.
“It’s the smile that I haven’t seen since you married Gavin.”
“Oh, by the way, and I’m pretty sure you planned it this way, but Slade isn’t going to re-sign his contract with you. He’s going to sign with me.”
“Of course.” Aradia grinned at her. “We’re wicked witches, after all, aren’t we?”
Slade whispered in her ear, “Just how wicked?”
“Wicked enough that I think it’s our turn to try out Aradia’s under the sea the magick.”
Ginger leapt from his lap and ran to the magick water and, without hesitation, slipped beneath the lapping waves. She knew Slade would be right behind her.
Ginger Butterbean was finally happy. It had taken her oldest friend, ten days, a gargoyle, and a life she’d never envisioned for herself to finally get to the one she had wanted:
Happily Ever After.
About the Author
Saranna DeWylde has always been fascinated by things better left in the dark. She wrote her first story after watching The Exorcist at a slumber party. Since then, she's published horror, romance and narrative nonfiction. Like all writers, Saranna has held a variety of jobs, from operations supervisor for an airline, to an assistant for a call girl, to a corrections officer. But like Hemingway said, "Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure, only death can stop it." So she traded in her cuffs for a full-time keyboard. She loves to hear from her readers.
For more information on other books by Saranna, visit her website: www.sarannadewylde.com
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How to Seduce a Gargoyle in 10 Days Page 5