Finally, Perseus once again registered the chill of the bathroom floor. Breathing evenly through his nose, he forced his pounding heart to slow. He systematically contracted and relaxed his fingers, then his toes. Rolling onto his back, he licked his lips.
Needing something to quench his dry throat, Perseus lurched to his feet. He grabbed onto the counter and leaned heavily against it until his legs no longer threatened to buckle. After slurping several handfuls of water from the faucet, Perseus lifted his head and stared at himself critically in the mirror.
In human form, Perseus had light bronze skin, a square jaw, and a smooth scalp, giving him a shaved look. His gray eyes remained the same, as did his thick-limbed and broad body. He guessed he now stood a couple of inches shorter. Probably more at Wren’s height...maybe an inch taller still.
Turning away from his reflection, Perseus didn’t really understand human aesthetics anyway. He stepped into the shower. He turned on the water, shivering under the cool spray. After feeling like his body had been set on fire, he enjoyed taking a chilly shower.
Once cleaned, Perseus quickly went through the motions of cleaning up. A towel wrapped around his waist, he headed into the bedroom. Stopping before the dresser, he stared down at his bare feet. He clenched his toes in the carpet, feeling the soft, thick fibers between his digits.
Nice.
Perseus yanked his attention away from the new experience. His gargoyle claws had been tough and thick, and squishing them into the carpet certainly hadn’t felt like this. Scoffing at his silliness, Perseus opened his drawer and stared at the contents.
When Bobby and his gang—namely, Cornelius, Tible, and Roland—had discovered he’d found his mate, they’d gone shopping for clothes on his behalf. His drawers were now filled with sweats, shorts, jeans, socks, and t-shirts. His closet held button-down shirts, dress slacks, and shoes. There were several different sizes of everything, since they couldn’t be sure what his molted form would look like.
Before Perseus could decide where to even begin, he heard a knock on the door. “Come in,” he yelled as he strode toward the bedroom doorway.
To his surprise, in swept Bobby and his friends. For the first five minutes, Perseus listened to them ooo and aah over his new appearance. Directly after that, they took over choosing his outfit.
“Just let them do their thing,” Roland urged, leading Perseus to the sofa. He waved at him to sit before curling up in a large chair. “It’s easier that way.”
Perseus found that Roland was right.
Feeling nervous as hell, Perseus walked in the front door of a restaurant for the first time...ever. He followed two steps behind Einan, trusting the enforcer would know if anything was amiss. Still, he couldn’t help but feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
And isn’t that a fucking odd sensation?
Perseus lifted his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed.
“Hey, Einan,” Penelope greeted. “Guys.” She swept a welcoming smile over everyone, a look of curiosity crossing her expression when she noted Perseus. “Uh, six?”
“We need to talk to Wren, too, when he has a minute,” Einan told her quietly.
Penelope’s pert nose wrinkled as she pursed her lips. “He’s being harassed by that damn Reginald again,” she hissed. She huffed, her cheeks turning pink as she rested her hand on her hip. “Why he tolerates that rat is beyond me.”
Perseus growled under his breath. “Where are they,” he demanded. “I’ll take care of it. No one blackmails my mate.” Feeling his shoulder blades tingle, Perseus had to take a few deep breaths to keep from allowing his wings out. Over the course of the morning, he’d found staying in human form easy. It was keeping his wings retracted that proved to be the most difficult. Perseus had never really thought about how much a gargoyle used them to talk.
“Oh my God!” Penelope whispered. “Doctor Perseus?”
Perseus met Penelope’s wide, shocked gaze. He forced a smile and nodded once.
Squealing, Penelope hustled around the hostess stand and wrapped her arms around him. She gave him a hug so fast, then was gone returning to her post, Perseus didn’t even have time to respond. She grinned up at him, bouncing on her toes as she pointed behind her and to the left.
“Head on back. There’s a door that says Employee’s Only,” Penelope told him. “You can’t miss it.” She grinned widely. “Wren will be so surprised.” Giving him two thumbs up, she hissed, “You’re like his wet dream walking.”
Perseus gaped.
Penelope shrugged, then turned to Bobby, handing him a stack of menus. “Tim is serving the booths on the right. Take one of them. He could use the kind of tips you all give,” she finished with a wink.
Bobby beamed and nodded. After taking the menus, he turned and waved Perseus toward the back where Penelope had indicated. “Go get your man, Doc. Put that rat bastard in his place.” With a frown and a nod, Bobby turned and led the way to a booth.
Einan paused, resting his hand on his shoulder. “If you need anything, you know where I am.”
Perseus nodded once.
After narrowing his eyes just a bit, Einan followed the others to the table.
Heading swiftly through the restaurant, Perseus swept his gaze around the place. He rounded the corner and headed down the aisle, intent on the door marked Employees Only. Upon reaching it, he began to push, pausing with the door halfway open when he heard someone talking.
“You really should take me up on my offer, Wren,” a slightly nasal voice stated. “It’s more than generous.”
“You think—”
“Blackmail is more than generous?” Perseus snarled, low in his throat as he stalked into the room. He glanced over his shoulder, confirming that the door closed behind him. Then, Perseus prowled forward, taking in the scene at a glance. “Perhaps you should consider what the blackmail will cost you.”
Perseus spotted Wren standing near the stove, his thick, tattooed arms crossed over his chest and a stormy expression on his face. Meeting his lover’s gaze, Perseus lifted his brows and curved up his lips for just an instant. Then, he focused again on the tall, slender man who must be Reginald.
Reginald glanced between them, then glared at Perseus. “I don’t know who you think you are,” the human sneered, “but this matter is between myself and Wren. You need to leave the kitchen.” Then, his eyes narrowed. “Unless you want me to have other infractions drawn up against Wren. Like an unclean kitchen.”
Stalking forward, Perseus clenched his hands, suddenly missing his claws. Then again, perhaps it was good he wasn’t in gargoyle form, because he could easily see himself tearing out this bastard’s throat.
“I am not Wren’s friend,” Perseus rumbled as he backed the human up a step, trapping him against a stainless steel island. Leaning close, he snarled, “I am Wren’s partner.” Sneering, and not wanting to inhale this man’s foul, bitter scent any longer than he had to, Perseus backed up a step. “You have blackmailed someone for the last time, Reginald Coruscant.”
Reginald’s eyes narrowed. “So Wren has a boyfriend,” he mocked, sweeping his gaze up and down Perseus’ body in a way that made his skin crawl. “Maybe I should fuck you both. Yeah, that would work.” He smirked and glanced to the left where Wren watched in silence, his brows drawn and a thunderous expression on his face. “I’ll fuck you both and then leave you alone. How about that?”
Perseus did his best to ignore his lover. He knew Wren wasn’t happy, but he didn’t know if it was because of Reginald’s words or because of Perseus’ interruption. Either way, Perseus hoped he could smooth it over shortly.
“You will not be fucking either of us,” Perseus snarled. “In fact, you won’t be fucking anyone again but your hapless wife...if she will have you.” Perseus pulled a photo from the inside of his jacket and held it up. “You see, I think she would be very interested in this...or this...or this.” He pulled several more pictures from his coat pocket. Each showed a picture of Reginal
d in a compromising situation with a man...whose face had been blocked out.
Reginald snatched the pictures from Perseus’ hand. His face paled as he stared at them. “Where did you get these?” he hissed. “Who took these?”
Perseus smiled widely. “You know, normally all the cameras the government has all over the place piss me off...lack of privacy and all that.” He shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. “I guess I won’t complain about it anymore.”
“No!” Reginald roared. His blood drained from his face as he tore the pictures in half and shoved them into his pocket. “Do you have copies?”
“I do not,” Perseus replied. Then, he held up a piece of paper. “I’ll do you one better,” he offered. “Leave my lover and his restaurant alone, and I will give you the website information where I found these pictures.”
Perseus watched the debate work over Reginald’s face. He knew what would happen in the end. The human was a coward. That was why he had to use blackmail to get close to men.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Reginald snatched the paper from Perseus’ hand. “Done.”
“Wren will always have honest health inspections?” Perseus pressed.
Reginald nodded. “Fine,” he agreed, curling his lip.
“And you’ll find a new place to eat lunch,” Perseus continued. “We won’t see you here again.”
“Fine,” Reginald snarled again. “You keep away from me and I’ll offer you the same courtesy.”
“Done.”
Perseus watched as Reginald stalked from the room. While he tried to curl his lip and act tough, the pallor of his skin gave away his trepidation. Plus, the scent of fear rolled off the man and permeated the air.
“Perseus?” Wren murmured, drawing Perseus’ attention.
Turning to face Wren, Perseus forced a smile through his sudden bought of nerves. “I hope I didn’t overstep my bounds,” he murmured. “I only wanted to help.”
“Well, fuck me,” Wren whispered, moving closer to him. “It is you.”
Perseus sighed, relaxing now that he knew his mate was surprised not angry. He held his arms out to his sides. “What do you think? Do I look good enough in human form?”
Wren scoffed. “Good enough?” He shook his head, but his next words belied his actions. “You’re fucking hot, Pers, surely you realize that.”
Stepping forward, Perseus reached out to his lover. Ignoring the grease-stained apron he wore, he pulled Wren into a tight embrace. Cupping his human’s cheek, he captured Wren’s mouth. He took advantage of his mate’s surprise and thrust his tongue deep, reveling in his taste.
When breathing became too important to ignore, Perseus eased the kiss to an end. He smiled at Wren as he admitted, “I’m a gargoyle, Wren,” he reminded. “We recognize attraction by scent, not by sight. We don’t always understand what humans find aesthetically pleasing.”
Wren snorted. He rubbed his hand up Perseus’ neck, then used one hand to pet Perseus’ bald pate. “Well, just take my word for it that I think you’re sexy as fuck.”
Perseus smiled. “Good. I like that you find me attractive, even in this form.” He winked, hoping to soften the comment.
“I do indeed,” Wren rumbled, his eyes narrowing. “I especially love you coming in here to rescue me from that asshole.” His brows furrowed and he cocked his head. “Just what was in those pictures?”
Snorting, Perseus shook his head. “Reginald in compromising positions. You’d be surprised at where the moron decided to fuck his conquests.”
Wren shook his head. “Shame that you don’t have copies of those. His wife is actually a sweet woman. She doesn’t deserve him as a husband.”
Perseus nodded. “I agree completely. Raymond discovered that it was most likely his wife’s father who got him his job, too,” he added.
Grunting, Wren frowned. “He doesn’t deserve it.”
“Well, I don’t think he’ll get to keep it,” Perseus told his lover glibly. “Don’t worry too much.”
His brows lifting, Wren asked, “What do you mean?”
Chuckling, Perseus grinned at his lover. “Well, I said I don’t have any copies.”
Wren gaped. “Who?”
“After seeing the kind of asshole Reginald is, Vane was none too pleased,” Perseus explained. “Let’s just say, he’s not nearly as forgiving as I am. Even now he’s dressed up as a private courier and delivering sets of not only those pictures, but almost a dozen more of a similar nature, to both Reginald’s wife and his father-in-law.”
Whistling under his breath, Wren murmured, “I feel bad for his wife, but I sure hope she divorces his ass. He’s no good for her.”
Perseus smiled sadly. “It’s a shame nice people get duped by users like that.”
“We’ll just have to reach out to her,” Wren decided. “Make sure she knows she has support.” Nodding as if to himself, he added, “Plus, her father is a good man. He’ll fire Reggie’s ass and make sure his daughter and granddaughter don’t go without.”
“Good.”
Perseus had felt bad about the upheaval Vane’s actions would cause, but not enough to try to stop the other gargoyle. He found his respect for his mate growing upon hearing his words and hoped to meet the woman soon. Maybe he could offer her free medical.
Refocusing on Wren, he rubbed his thumb through his beard and stated, “At least now you’ll never have to worry about falsified inspections again. Your business is safe.”
Wren growled low in his throat. His eyes narrowed. “You helping me is such a fucking turn on,” he claimed.
Relieved that his lover didn’t think he’d overstepped his bounds, Perseus narrowed his eyes and murmured. “Really? You getting a lunch break any time soon?”
Wren nodded, his dark eyes smoldering. “I am. My office is down that hall, second door on the left. Lock the door behind you, then strip and wait for me.” He smiled heatedly. “I want you spread eagle on my desk.”
Perseus shivered upon hearing the lust permeating his mate’s voice and scenting his heady arousal. “If it’s locked, how will you get in?”
“I have the only key,” Wren revealed. “No one will walk in on you but me,” he assured. Then, he pressed his lips to Perseus’ mouth and thrust his tongue deep. After sucking Perseus’ tongue for a few seconds, Wren broke away and ordered, “Get in there.”
Hurrying down the hall, his hand already on his belt, Perseus decided he loved tempting his bear...and he would definitely have to visit his mate for lunch more often.
About the Author
Charlie started writing fantasy when she was eight, and after stumbling onto her first erotic romance at age nineteen, she realized her true calling. She now focuses on writing gay erotic romance, normally of the paranormal variety, with heroes of all kinds. With the help and support of her husband, Charlie finally fulfilled one of her life-long goals...move to acreage with her horses. You can often find her curled up with her laptop and a cup of tea or glass of wine, creating her next adventure. Charlie enjoys exploring the mountains of her new Oregon home on horseback, 4-wheeler, or motorcycle.
She can be reached at [email protected]
Or visit her at www.charlie-richards.com
Paranormal's Love 12 - Tempting the Bear Page 10