by E A Price
Kylie pulled away from his mouth, panting lightly. Her lips were kiss swollen, and her hair splayed around her head like a halo. He’d never seen a more enchanting sight; she was a siren to him. If he did go to sleep for another thousand years, at least he would have this memory to hold onto, to dream of. A moment like this with her was worth a thousand years of pain.
She let go of his member and snaked her arms around his neck. “I love you,” she murmured.
“I love you,” he growled as his sex sought hers and he slowly pushed inside her.
Kylie’s eyes almost rolled to the back of her head as she whimpered. He was careful with her, but he was larger than human males, and she was tiny compared to him, even after all their couplings, she still felt some discomfort on his entrance. But she would not hear of him even considering on cutting back on their lovemaking, and truly he was relieved. He could barely stand to be near her without touching her. Without these moments to satiate him, he feared he would explode.
She shuddered as he thrust inside to the hilt. He held still as she adjusted to him. Luc removed her hands from his neck, taking the time to kiss her palms, before pushing them over her head. Luc pinned her wrists as he started moving inside her. Slowly, he pulled out, dragging out of her tightness before plunging inside. He took her with a steady, even rhythm, growling every time she moaned.
As she became more excited, her insides grew slick with her juices. His entrance became easier, and his movements became faster, rougher. Luc groaned with every plunge inside her. Kylie feared she could not satisfy him in the same way a female gargoyle could, but she was wrong. The way her body clung and molded itself to him was the greatest sensation he had ever experience. The couplings he had shared with female gargoyles had been mechanical and contained as much warmth as a fight to the death with an enemy. His bouts of lovemaking with Kylie were not as wild, but were filled with passion, and he would not change that for the world.
But as much as he would like to protract them, he could feel his release reaching its crescendo. Luc angled his hips, scraping her pleasure nub, making her cry out in ecstasy.
“Luc, I’m close,” she breathed, eyes glazed in lust.
He could feel her inner muscles quivering around him. All it would take was a little more. He drove himself inside her, crashing into her with as much might as he dared. Once, twice and she screamed wildly as her body bucked beneath him. Her sex tightened and clutched at him until he could no longer bear it, the pressure became almost agonizing, and he roared as his own climax overtook him. He poured his seed into his mate, thrilled at their coupling, feeling like the most powerful creature in the world as he took her and made her his in the most primal way. Hopeful that maybe it might lead to something more.
Shattered, she collapsed back into the bed. Luc carefully withdrew and rolled away from her, pulling her onto his chest.
Luc pressed kisses into her hair. “My mate,” he muttered.
“Yes, yours.” She snuggled against his chest and they lay together, enjoying the closeness.
Luc snarled at the knock on their door. He sniffed. “Annis.”
Kylie crawled out of bed, ignoring his complaining rumbles. She pulled her shirt down and opened the door.
Annis blushed as her eyes took in Kylie’s rumpled, flushed appearance, and Luc lying in bed. She looked down.
“Forgive me, my lady,” she said softly.
Kylie frowned. “Call me Kylie, please.”
“Forgive me,” repeated Annis.
“Annis…”
“The others are waiting for the chief.”
“Thank you, Annis, and please don’t call me my lady.”
The female gargoyle nodded, never taking her eyes off the floor. “As you wish, Chief’s mate.”
Annis scuttled away as Kylie shut the door and sighed. “Must she?”
Luc rolled out of bed and stretched, his wings nearly spanning the entire bedroom. “She is being respectful.”
“She’s like a frightened bunny, and it make me sad.”
Luc gave her a half-smile. “Annis was born deformed into a ruthless clan. She has never been able to fly, and she does not possess the strength of a normal gargoyle female. Her life will have been hard. She is used to being at the bottom of the hierarchy, and most likely when she questioned it, she will have been beaten.”
Kylie’s eyes widened in horror. “That’s awful! And I wouldn’t say she is deformed… just different.” She gave him an accusatory look. “You know, not all gargoyles have to be carbon copies of each other – there could be some variety. Some gargoyles are great hunters, some are great warriors, but Annis is… great at something else. She’s certainly got the washing machine down. Even I still can’t work out the rinse cycle. Why are you laughing at me?”
He crossed the room and cupped her face as she scowled at him. “I am not laughing at you. I am pleased. You speak with the passion of a true chief’s mate.”
“Oh?”
Pride swelled in his chest. “Yes, while a chief leads, a chief’s mate ensures that no members of the clan are taken for granted.”
Kylie pouted slightly. “So you don’t wish she was more like a normal gargoyle?”
Luc looked uncomfortable for a moment. “You are right, I do. For the sake of the clan, I wish to have the strongest warriors.”
“Perhaps having a balance is a good thing. Too many bloodthirsty behemoths might be a bad thing.”
He chuckled, his huge frame shaking her body. “You are quite right, little one, as always.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her against his body. His wings enclosed around them as they shared a slow, sensual kiss.
“Come, my mate, let us shower and then meet with our clan.”
Chapter Three
Brenda Halverson sighed.
“I miss you, babe,” cooed her boyfriend, Kevin.
“I miss you, too,” she murmured, flipping through her math textbook.
“What are you wearing?” he asked huskily.
“Kevin!” Her cheeks reddened.
“What?” he whined. “I miss you, and I’m horny, describe what you're wearing.”
“Brenda!” roared the voice of Uncle Chris. It echoed through the house making the window panes rattle.
“Yeah?”
“Get off the phone; dinner’s ready.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Dinner is ready. Eating is optional. Your attendance is not.”
Ugh! Brenda rolled her eyes. She didn’t know what annoyed her more. Her heavy-handed uncle or the fact that Kevin appeared to be masturbating down the phone at her. Probably Kevin.
“Kevin, call me back in half an hour.”
“No, babe, wait…”
She hung up and gave it her best sullen teenager act as she stomped downstairs and slumped into her chair.
As she poked at her spaghetti, Chris asked, “How was school?”
“Terrific,” she grumbled.
“Did you make any new friends?”
“No.”
Chris raised an eyebrow. “Did you try?”
“There are only twenty-one other seniors in the school, and they’re all friends with each other, and none of them are interested in adding another friend to their list.”
“I could talk to the principal.”
Brenda dropped her fork. “Don’t you dare!” As if being the outcast at school wasn’t hard enough!
He smiled at her, the kind of encouraging yet pitying smile. “Brenda, just give it time.”
“I don’t know why I couldn’t just stay home in Phoenix.”
Chris sighed as they launched into the same argument they’d had a dozen times before. “You’re eighteen.”
“Exactly!” she exclaimed in frustration. “I’m eighteen - I’m an adult.”
“You’re still in school.”
Brenda folded her arms. “Legally I could leave home.”
“And you think your stoner boyfrien
d will support you? You think he’ll pay for you to go to college?”
“He is… he got arrested for marijuana possession one time – that’s it.”
Chris gave her the cop stare. It said I believe that as much as I believe you’re an alien from Mars. “You mean he’s only been caught one time. Look, I know you’re not happy here…”
She snorted.
“But,” he persisted, “in less than a year’s time, you’ll be in college. C’mon, peanut. I know you’re still a teenager, and everything that happens is the end of the world, but you can get through this. Besides, after college you can do anything you want, for now, your ass is mine.”
“Humph. At least, I’ll back with Grandma soon.”
“Eat.”
“Humph.”
Chris grinned. “Yeah, peanut, starve to death, that’ll teach me.”
She gave him the stink eye before reluctantly munching on a meatball.
“And to be clear, no more using the house phone to call Phoenix. You use your minutes on your cell.”
“But I already used them all.”
“Then I guess you’re radio silent until next month.”
Brenda let out a sound of disgust. Lord, was he ever young?
Chris finished his massive portion in record time and got up, depositing his plate in the sink.
“Are you going out?” she asked.
“Town council meeting – they demanded my presence.”
“Oh? Are they still arguing about the arrangements for next years hanging baskets? Still hung up on the color scheme?”
He chuckled. “I believe that’s ongoing, but no, they’re apparently concerned about giant bats.”
She looked up in interest. “Giant bats?”
“Yes, there have been a few sightings of giant bats flying around at night, and they want my take on it.”
“Wow. It never stops here. Lucky you.”
“Tell me about it. These things run long, would you mind swinging by the station and taking Bob for a walk?”
“Sure.” She was all for being difficult, but there was no reason Bob had to suffer.
“That’s my girl.” Chris ruffled her hair, and she stared daggers at him. “We should do something fun this weekend. Like we used to when you were a kid. I missed you when Grandma moved you both to Phoenix.”
She did, too, but she wasn’t about to admit it. She was still mad at him. But then, she was a teenager – wasn’t she expected to be sulky and difficult?
He paused while donning his jacket. “You know, I think Maggie…”
“The nutjob from the local witch shop.” The woman sold eye of newt to tourists. They apparently loved her.
“Yes, her, I think she’s organizing a movie showing in the graveyard. Maybe we could go.”
“What movie?”
“Ghostbusters – comedy from the ‘80’s, you seen it?”
“Once, but it was a while ago. I guess that would be okay; the ‘80’s are pretty retro.”
He rolled his eyes playfully. “You should have seen them the first time round. But that sounds good. I’m on my cell if you need me. Make sure you do your homework.”
“Sure.”
She waited until he left and then finished her dinner. Her uncle was a good cook; it would be a shame to waste it. He had about five dishes in his repertoire, but he made them all really well. She was just feeling crabby and didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her eat. Yes, it was silly, but she didn’t care.
While waiting for Kevin to call back, she did do her homework. She completed math, English and Spanish. He never did call, so she gave up and decided to take Bob for a walk.
She supposed she could have just called Kevin herself on the house phone, but her uncle would find out, and she didn’t want to upset him too much. Dinner was one thing. Running up his phone bill was another. Damnit – why did she have to be such a good girl?!
Brenda pulled her coat around her and set out at a brisk pace.
Her mom died when she was a baby, and her dad, deciding he wasn’t cut out to be a single parent, bailed. She was raised by her grandma with the help of Uncle Chris.
They all used to live in Portland. She lived with her grandma, and Chris came over to help out as often as he could. He was working as a homicide detective. But six years ago when her grandma’s arthritis worsened, she decided to move to Phoenix, to live near her sister. Which meant taking Brenda with her. Uncle Chris visited as often as he could, but they grew apart as she got older.
But, over summer, her grandma suffered a heart attack, and she was currently in assisted living. So they decided to ship Brenda back to her uncle. By now, he’d quit his job in Portland and was the chief of police in this sleepy little town, Devil’s Hang.
Brenda missed her grandma, her friends, her boyfriend, hell, she even missed her crappy waitressing job at the Dairy Farm Milkshake Bar.
Moving when she was twelve was hard enough, but now she was eighteen and in her senior year at school. Not to mention Kevin. He told her he loved her, but it was a lot harder to hear hundreds of miles apart and things really weren’t the same between them anymore.
She knew she shouldn’t be so hard on her uncle, but she was miserable here. There was zero excitement in this town. She’d been there for a few months, and she was already afraid she would literally be bored to death if she stayed there any longer.
But, she did love her uncle, and she had always wanted a dog. Technically Bob made up a quarter of the Devil’s Hang police force, but she kind of thought of him as her dog.
Life wasn’t all bad, it just kind of felt like it at that moment.
Chapter Four
Kylie looked up at the sky. She couldn’t bear to watch another fight between Amalric and Luc. Listening was bad enough.
The two males disagreed over everything. She sided with Luc, naturally, but she couldn’t deny the fact that he was just as bullheaded as Amalric on all matters. And she couldn’t help but sympathize with Amalric. The gargoyles had suffered for hundreds of years, and now he was stuck, trapped within the Hardcastle house and grounds. He wanted to get out and see more of the world. Luc would not allow it.
Tonight’s argument stemmed from Amalric or Ric as he preferred to be known, asking to be allowed to go hunting. Luc shot him down immediately.
Ric snarled. “We are gargoyles; we do not cower in the darkness.”
“We are not cowering. We are waiting.”
The younger male paced in agitation, his wings trembling behind him. “So we are supposed just to stay here in these walls, too afraid to speak to any of the humans?”
“Perhaps in another week, I will risk another hunting trip. But no, you cannot approach any of the humans.”
“We don’t know who can be trusted,” offered Kylie.
Luc gave her a half-smile. It said thank you but butt out.
Ric bristled and glared at Luc. “So you decide which humans we may talk to?”
“Yes, it will be different one day, but for now, I will make the decision on who to trust with the secret of our existence. We are fortunate as to the allies we already have, but not all humans will accept us as easily.”
Other than Kylie, they also had her Aunt Bea, Gustave – the late professor’s manservant, Maggie and the professor’s nephew on their side. Andrew and Maggie were out of the country, finding and arranging transportation for their newest gargoyle.
“How are we supposed to live in this house?” snapped Ric.
Ric was restless. Luc was also generally restless. But in those instances, he generally sought Kylie out and exhausted himself in a very enjoyable way. While Kylie knew Luc understood what he was going through, he would not tolerate the male’s angry outbursts.
The other gargoyles were much less agitated. Gracchus was able to amuse himself with the TV, radio and Gustave, who was interested in his many stories. Annis kept herself busy in caring for Dragoslava, or washing and making new clothes for the gargoyles.
Their body shapes were a tailor’s nightmare.
But, Amalric was unhappy.
They had to be careful they did not hunt too often in case anyone worried about the lack of wildlife, or they were spotted. Plus, they had to be careful about flying too often as the townspeople were already reporting sightings of giant bats. However, Amalric was not interested in any of these excuses. He just wished to do as he pleased.
Their argument was disturbed by the wall-shaking roars of Dragoslava.
“I will take him some food,” said Kylie.
Luc clasped her arm. “No, Annis will see to him.” He nodded at the female, and she ran into the house.
Amalric huffed at them and left. Luc was tense, his muscles straining in his anger. Kylie rubbed his chest, soothing him.
Gracchus shook his head. “He is just restless and young. If he were ten years older, it would be different. Do you remember how you were at his age?”
Luc chuckled. “Much worse.”
“He is just maturing into a warrior and there is no war for him to fight.”
“Given time, there may be,” muttered Luc, darkly.
Gracchus gave them a toothy grin. “I would not say that to him. We would not want to get the boy’s hopes up.”
“He needs something to occupy his time.”
“I thought you were already training with him.”
“Yes,” said Kylie. “Nearly taking ten years off my life in the process.”
Gracchus knit his brow together. “You mean aging backward?”
Luc ran a talon over Kylie’s cheek. “No, I believe she means that seeing me sparring scares her.”
She smiled. “Terrifies more like.”
“There is nothing to fear, I am skilled.”
“And egotistical.”
“As all leaders should be,” said Gracchus.
Kylie pouted. “Kiss ass.”
The older male laughed. “You may be right about Amalric. If he had a purpose, he might be more settled. That said if he had a mate, the same would be true. It is the reason so many gargoyles mate young.”