Stone Solitude

by A C Warneke

  Grabbing the sheet, she covered her beautiful body and smiled up at him, “You can stay with me in the dorm room.”

  “Daisy….”

  “It’s a temporary solution,” she added hastily, sitting up on her knees on the bed. “We can find an apartment close to the school but, Roman, you don’t have to find a job right away. I have some money….”

  “Daisy,” he growled in warning.

  Red crept into her cheeks and he sucked in another harsh breath at the incredible beauty of her blush. Seeing her blush was never going to get old. Licking her lips, she slowly offered, “Well, if you’re so determined to work, I’m sure you could get a job at Skin or The Black Wolf, though if you work at dad’s bar you’ll have to learn how to drive. I can put in a good word with both bosses.”

  A slow smile curved his lips because she was freaking amazing. Her eyes were wide in her head as she watched him change, the rapt fascination in her face making him hard. Sweet Zeus, that was embarrassing, especially since there was nothing he could do about it because his penis vanished during the day. Oh, and he was a statue. His hands became claws as his wings sprouted from his back and his muscles thickened, lengthened. His face changed as well, becoming the wolf with the elongated snout and sharp teeth. Falling to his hands and knees, he felt his tail appear, swishing back and forth one last time before he became immobilized.

  “That is amazing,” she breathed, reaching out her hand and running it over his stone snout. Sensation shot through his head and practically fried his brain. “I can’t wait until tonight and I get to watch you become a man.”

  His lips curled upwards in a smile as he roughly said, “It can’t come soon enough.”

  Coming to her feet, she stood next to him. Even though he was crouched down, his head came to the top of her head and they were eye to eye. “Oh, wow, you’re massive as a gargoyle. I had forgotten just how big you were during the day.”

  “All the better to protect you, my dear,” he teased. As she ran her hands over his body, down his flank, he had to remind himself how to breathe. A soft gasp had him turning his head, just in time to see the look of wonder and horror on her face. “What is it?”

  “You’re really, really big,” she rasped, her eyes trained on his groin.

  Now that she pointed it out, he could feel the heavy weight between his thighs, a pleasurable ache that he hadn’t felt in two thousand years. Blinking, he realized he had retained his mobility, that he was a living gargoyle! He should have realized that when Daisy broke the part of the curse that kept him a gargoyle at night she broke the part that kept him immobile during the day. Of course, he hadn’t dared hope for that because it would have been impossible to continue on if it hadn’t worked.

  “Can I touch it?” she asked in a husky whisper, her hand already moving towards his straining erection. Without waiting for an answer, her fingers brushed over the tip of his penis and a pathetic whimper slipped past his stone lips. A slight smile tilted her lips as she continued torturing him, which was just as impossible as a curse being broken by a virgin. Before Isis, his body was insensate during the day. And now, Daisy was bringing him to his knees with a slow, drugging touch.

  Before, humans couldn’t see a gargoyle move either, always assuming that the gargoyle was where he had always been when he moved. It was the magic that protected them and kept them hidden while they guarded the world. His stomach clenched in ecstasy as she curled her fingers around his cock and dragged her hand up and down its length.

  As pleasure flooded his brain, there was a knock on the door. The person on the other side must have had a death wish because he refused to go away, compounding the problem by calling out, “Room service!”

  Roman was left panting as Daisy gave him a brilliant grin, threw on his shirt and then answered the bloody door. Even though the shirt came to the middle of her luscious thighs, there was far too much leg showing and knowing what was on underneath the shirt…. He wanted to rip the server’s head off when the man couldn’t tear his gaze from Daisy. A low growl came from the back of his throat, making the greedy-eyed bastard jump.

  “Do you have a dog in there?” the man asked nervously, drawing a finger along his collar as he finally tore his gaze from Daisy and looked into the room.

  “Of course not,” she laughed, signing the ticket and trying to close the door. “Thank you.”

  “Sure,” the man said, returning his attention back to Daisy, oblivious to her disinterest. If the bastard didn’t disappear in the next two seconds, Roman was going to gouge his eyes out. “If you need anything else….”

  “Leave,” Roman graveled.

  As Daisy shoved the man out the door and they were alone once more, she faced him with sparkling eyes and a wide, disbelieving smile. “Are you jealous, Roman?”

  “Yes,” he admitted without a qualm, watching her with hungry eyes. Even in black and white and shades of gray, she shone brighter than the sun and he was hopelessly, mindlessly, in love with her. He watched as she pushed the trolley over to the table and started lifting the lids off of the various foods and he wanted to throw her down onto the bed and devour her.

  “There’s no need to be jealous,” she said, breathing in the scent of bacon and maple syrup. Dismissing the server and his jealousy, she grabbed a piece of crispy bacon and walked back to him. “Can you eat in this form?”

  “It wouldn’t do much good,” he told her, the scent of Daisy washing over him and through him, bringing color to his thoughts.

  “But there’s no way I can eat all of this and I don’t want it to go to waste.”

  “I’ll eat it when the sun goes down,” he assured her, ignoring the look of distaste on her face. Huffing out a laugh, he said, “It’s better than some of the crap I’ve eaten these last few years.”

  Plopping down on the bed, she picked at the food, her gaze steady on him. Taking an orange slice and slipping it between her damp lips, she said, “I met someone who kind of reminded me of you.”

  Wearing nothing but his shirt, her hair messy and her skin dewy from a night of sex, she was beautiful beyond imagination. His heart kicked against his ribs and he knew that there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. How could he have ever believed he’d be able to sacrifice her or trade her for anything? “What did he look like?”

  Her brow furrowed as she thought about it and he wanted to kiss her. Fuck, everything she did made him want to kiss her. “Blond hair, blue eyes. No, they were green eyes but that’s irrelevant. He reminded me of you because he exuded this aura of protectiveness. If I had been in a better frame of mind I would have realized it right away instead of being frightened of him.”

  He nodded his head, realizing she must have met one of his brothers. “I’m sorry he frightened you.”

  Even in the shades of gray, he saw her face color as she looked away and murmured, “It wasn’t his fault. He was just there keeping an eye on me, at my dad’s insistence by the way.”

  He arched an eyebrow, not missing the way Daisy hid a smile at the sight of an inquisitive gargoyle wolf. “This evening we can track him down and you can let him know you no longer need his services.”

  Damn, he really needed to deal with his jealousy.

  Her tongue darted out as she licked her lips and asked softly, “Are you sure you’ll be okay with that?”

  “With being forgotten, you mean,” he said, the bitterness almost gone from his voice. During the night, holding her in his arms, he had told her about the rest of the curse and being the tender-hearted girl she was, she had cried for him. Her tears eased the ache within him and for the first time in forever, he truly believed it was going to be okay. Nodding once, he explained, “If we live here, we’re bound to run into them at some point in the future. It’s best to build up an immunity to the… discomfort.”

  “I wish there was another way,” she said, her eyes glossy with unshed tears. Standing up, she wrapped her arms around his throat and hugged him. She would never know that the
re was another way, that he could be a part of his brothers’ world once again, their lives. All he had to do was sacrifice her and he’d have them back but that was no longer an option. He wasn’t sure if that had ever been an option.

  “I’ve made my peace.” As she pulled back and looked at him in disbelief, he cleared his throat and corrected his statement, “I’m making my peace. Now, eat up. You have to drive out to the bar and get back here and work on your homework. We have a busy night tonight.”

  Holding Daisy’s hand, they strolled from her car towards the popular supernatural bar his brothers frequented. Roman felt a conflagration of emotions, from joy at being with Daisy to despair knowing his brothers weren’t going to know him. Earlier, when she had returned to the hotel with her pile of books and homework, she had gotten comfortable on the bed and then she had started to read out loud. He had no idea what she was reading, instead losing himself in the sound of her voice. She could have been reading names and numbers from the phone book and it would have been sexy.

  Eventually, she had taken a nap and he had gotten to enjoy watching her while she slept. As young as she was, she looked even younger when she was sleeping, something that made him feel slightly lecherous. But she was all woman, she was his woman, and he was never going to let her go.

  Breathing deeply of the fall air, he glanced around at the other pedestrians and realized there were many non-humans among the milling people. Out of the corner of his eye, a flash of gold caught his attention and he paused. There was something familiar and unwelcome about his reaction and he had to discover the source of his unease. Slowly, he scanned the area until his gaze landed upon the one person he never wanted to see again. Isis.

  Her thick, black hair hung to her waist, the lustrous mass styled in elegant braids; her black eyes were lined with kohl, emphasizing their size and cat-like shape; and her lush, red lips were spread in a wide smile. Roman’s heart stopped for a moment and then lurched forward in his chest, in fear and in dread. In the month that he was… unaware, she must have found the last piece of Osiris. But why was she smiling when she should have been furious he was no longer a statue?

  “What is it?” Daisy’s sweet voice broke through the fog of his contemplation.

  Blinking, he looked down at her, at the face that was more precious to him than his own freedom, and he swallowed thickly. When he looked again, Isis was gone but the dread remained. Forcing a smile to his frozen lips, he said, “Nothing.”

  She didn’t believe him but she didn’t press it, either, and for that he was grateful. Now was neither the time nor the place to tell her about Isis. Instead, she wrapped her other arm around his as well, hugging his arm and gifting him with her smile, “If I could, I would make them remember you.”

  Oh, she thought he was thinking about the meeting with his brothers. “I know.”

  “You know what I would do if I were you?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

  The tension in his body eased as he looked down at her and asked, “What would you do?”

  “I’d play tricks on them,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper. Looking around as if someone might overhear her, she leaned in even closer and said, “I’d knock them out and then draw on their faces with permanent marker and then I’d put them in dresses or some other weird combination. And then I’d take pictures.”

  He chuckled. Xerec had often suggested similar scenarios throughout the years but they had never been funny. Now, the idea of screwing with his brothers’ heads was wildly appealing, especially if it brought a smile to Daisy’s face. “I doubt I’d be able to knock them out because they’d probably fight back.”

  “I’ll hold their arms behind their backs,” she said teasingly.

  “But they’ll remember you,” he returned. There was no point in mentioning the fact that his brothers towered over her by at least a foot and outweighed her by at least eighty pounds, all of it pure muscle.

  “Hmm,” she murmured thoughtfully, as if she were seriously contemplating a feasible scenario. “I could lure them to an alley where you could sneak up on them and take them down.”

  “I don’t want you alone with any of them,” he growled, making her laugh. There was another flash of gold but he studiously ignored it, holding his smile until it felt like his face was going to crack. Maybe he could explain to Isis that it was over, that he had no intention of interfering with her plans if she promised to leave Daisy alone. Clearing his throat, he realized they were at the bar and he was about to come face to face with one or more of his brothers. “Ah, here we are.”

  “Flannigan’s,” she murmured. She caught her lower lip between her teeth as she said, “I’m not twenty-one yet.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he assured her, ignoring the fact that it did matter. He was just going to use a little bit of mind control to get her in if it became an issue. Holding the door, he guided her in, following behind with his hand at the small of her back. The bar was popular amongst the supernatural world, much as Skin was, but unlike Skin, the rules were a little more… flexible. Hence, gargoyles hung around to keep the innocents safe.

  Scanning the bar, he saw the gargoyle who had confronted him a few days ago… no, a few weeks ago. Leaning down so his lips were against Daisy’s ear, he pointed him out, “Over there.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she saw the behemoth, “I’ve seen him around.”

  “Not surprising,” Roman muttered, wrapping his hand around hers and pushing through the crowd to his brother. His heart was in his throat and he wanted to turn around and leave but he wasn’t a coward. After all of this time, he would have thought he’d have grown used to the anxiety that accompanied seeing his brothers, the agony of knowing what was going to happen once they turned away from him.

  He had the pleasure of seeing the surprise on Leo’s face when he saw Daisy, when he saw her hand wrapped in Roman’s. Leo tried to act casual by leaning on the bar and watching as she approached, but his posture was too stiff, his smile too forced. Barely sparing a glance at Roman, he said, “Hey.”

  “Hey,” Daisy returned, her eyes moving between Roman and Leo with concern and wonder. Yeah, Roman knew he looked a lot like his brothers. “I’ve seen you around. Did my dad pay you to follow me?”

  Leo’s cheekbones turned red even as he denied Daisy’s allegation, “I don’t need to be bribed to keep track of a beautiful woman.”

  “So you’re following me around because you’re a creepy stalker?” she asked, narrowing her eyes as she glared at the massive gargoyle.

  Leo choked on his drink and turned even redder, “No! Of course not! Um, who’s your friend?”

  For the first time that evening, Leo looked at him and recognition lit his eyes. “Remus! What are you doing in Saint Paul?”

  And just like that, the burst of hope splintered apart. “I’m Roman, er, Romulus.”

  “Are you playing some sort of game?” Leo asked, a smile playing at his lips as he looked between Roman and Daisy, obviously unsure what was going on.

  “No,” Roman bit out through clenched teeth. “I’m Roman.”

  “Can you get me a drink?” Daisy asked him softly, compassion in her silver eyes. With a nod, Roman turned towards the bartender while keeping one ear on their conversation.

  “Are you here alone?” Leo asked, his tone annoyingly flirtatious, Roman already forgotten.

  “Nooo,” Daisy drawled out. “I’m here with my boyfriend, my gargoyle boyfriend.”

  In the mirror, Roman saw Leo tilt his head to the side in confusion as he tried to figure out which gargoyle Daisy was talking about. Slowly, he shook his head no and said, “You don’t belong to any of the gargoyles, Daisy.”

  “Creepy stalker much?” she asked, her voice quavering a little at the evidence Roman was so easily forgotten. At Leo’s raised eyebrow, she explained, “I never told you my name.”

  Before he could sputter out an excuse, Daisy asked, “How much is my dad paying you to spy on me?”

/>   “He’s not paying me,” Leo repeated, no longer denying he had been hired by Mr. Tremain. “I’m doing it as a favor since you seem to be under the delusion you’re dating a gargoyle.”

  “You’re an ass,” Daisy growled, reaching out and putting her hand on Roman’s back as the bartender slid two bottles across the bar. “Just because you can’t remember him doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist.”

  “We’ve scoured the city for this man, Daisy,” Leo explained slowly, as if he thought Daisy was an idiot, or worse, insane. “There’s no trace of him.”

  “Did you listen to my words?” she bit out, her silver eyes flashing with fury. “He exists but you never remember him.”

  “Daisy,” Roman whispered against her ear as he handed her one of the beers. “He’s not going to remember.”

  “Remus!” Leo said, delighted surprise in his voice as he held out his arm and shook Roman’s hand. “It’s good to see you, man. What are you doing in Saint Paul?”

  Daisy’s jaw had dropped to her chest as she stared at Leo in horror. Gently, Roman pushed her mouth shut and grunted, “Leo. I was just leaving.”

  “Wait!” Leo called out. “Why don’t you come up to the castle and say hello to everyone.”

  “Tomorrow,” Roman said, sad even though he had known what to expect. No, it was worse because he looked like Remus and the recognition made the forgetting that much more painful. Wrapping his arm around Daisy’s shoulders, he led her away from Leo, knowing he was already forgotten.

  Absently, Daisy took a drink of the beer and quickly spit it back into the bottle. Coming out of the daze, she looked at the bottle she held in her hand and scowled, “Yuck.”

  Despite the misery eating at his gut, Roman chuckled, “Sorry. I didn’t know you don’t like beer.”