by E A Price
Ric frowned before realization struck. Luc was suggesting she could be a match for him. Horror struck him for a moment before he noticed how odd his reaction was. Shouldn’t he be pleased? A week ago he lamented not having a mate, mourned the loss of Kara. Now… well, now, things were different. Sort of. He had another option. A female who was coming to care for him. Bren… no, Chloe. Her name was Chloe.
He had no idea what Brenda felt for him. Annoyance most likely. Although she seemed to be thawing the previous night. Because she had sustained a blow to the head, he thought morosely.
No, he had Chloe. Didn’t he? Well, not really. He had met her by accident. Divulged enough information about his kind to make him feel guilt ridden. And she had kissed him.
He had entertained thoughts about taking her as a mate. But that was it, and despite all his rationalization that any female would do, that wasn’t true. He had never thought about it back in his day because it was not something that was considered important for a gargoyle, but he wanted to feel for his female. He did not want grudgingly to come to care for her because he had no choice. He wanted what Luc and Kylie had, what Andrew and Maggie had, what Starsky and Hutch had. Real affection. He wanted that twinge he felt in his heart when he looked into Brenda’s eyes the night before.
Was that love? He didn’t know. He’d never felt anything like that before. But he wanted to again. He wanted to explore that with Brenda. If she would let him.
It was not the gargoyle way, but this was no longer the gargoyles’ world. It was a new world, and maybe he could change with it.
Annis stretched out her limbs, yawning as she fully awoke. “I must check on Drago; he will be hungry by now.”
Ric grunted and then a thought hit. “No, Annis, I will go. We should all take turns.”
She looked at him in surprise and then nodded before smiling lightly. Gracchus smirked, and Ric ignored him.
All that nonsense Brenda was spouting was coming in useful.
*
“I’d rather you not go out alone,” said Chris, pursing his lips in disapproval.
“I’ll be fine. I have Bob.”
“Brenda…”
“I have Bob, the pepper spray, the taser, and a big book in my bag so that I can clobber someone over the head if need be. I’ll be fine. Besides, Kevin’s back in Phoenix.” Hopefully forever.
Her uncle had gone apeshit when he came home. Course, Kevin was long gone. Her uncle had spent the day looking for him.
Brenda called her grandma, who called her friend Gertie, who was friendly with Kevin’s grandma. Kevin had gone straight back to Phoenix and was now getting an earful from his grandma – he was denying hurting Brenda, but she didn’t think his grandma believed him.
She was angry and disappointed with Kevin, but she just wanted to forget about it, and when it came down to it, it was her word against his. The only other witness was hardly available to take the stand.
“Brenda, I want you to stay home tonight.”
“But, what about Bob? He needs walking.”
“Let him out into the yard.”
“He needs to run and the yard’s tiny.”
“Then put him on the treadmill.”
“What if he falls off?”
Chris groaned in exasperation. “Bren, I’m a little on edge tonight after what happened. I should have protected you.”
“I should have asked someone to walk me home.”
“Exactly! Which is why you shouldn’t be out walking alone.”
Crap. She was losing the argument. “But that was night,” she said lamely. “It’s still evening now, and I promise I’ll be back within the hour.”
“I have to go out to another damn council meeting. Please stay in tonight. I won’t keep you locked up forever. Maybe for just a week or so.”
“A week?!”
“Just for tonight then, and we’ll negotiate after that.”
Brenda sighed. He wasn’t going to move on this. And the longer they talked about it, the more night was eaten up and the less time she had with Ric… uh, Kylie and all the gargoyles. She wasn’t desperate to see him. No, not at all.
“Okay.”
Chris smiled in relief. “Good, lock the door after me. Don’t answer the door if anyone knocks on it.”
Brenda opened her mouth to argue.
“Don’t argue.”
She gave him an exaggerated eye roll. “Okay.”
Chris took hold of her shoulders and kissed her forehead. “I love you, peanut.”
“Yeah, love you, too,” Brenda said grumpily.
After he left, she grabbed Bob’s leash.
“Sorry, Uncle Chris, but I promise you’ll never know. C’mon Bob, we’re breaking out.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ric growled as he received another text message from Chloe. He stared at the phone. These devices appeared to be useful, but on closer inspection they were more like instruments of torture. He was a slave to the device. He wondered if any humans felt this way, too.
Chloe wanted to see him. Ric sent a message telling her to meet him. He was going to tell her she needed to stay away from him. His motives for continuing to meet her in the first place had been selfish. He was trying to look for a potential mate, and he had dragged her into a potentially dangerous situation because he was only thinking of himself. He needed to stop it now before she was hurt physically or emotionally. Ric was never going to take her as a mate, and he needed to end their acquaintance before she thought otherwise.
Plus he needed to tell her to stay away from him in case any of their enemies decided to use her to get to him. He considered the same thing about Brenda but decided it wasn’t the same. Or at least, he was too selfish to tell her to stay away.
*
“No, Bob, we can use the front entrance now.”
Bob wasn’t interested. He was dragging her round to the hole he dug earlier in the week.
“Ugh, Bob! Seriously, I am not crawling under the hedge again.”
Bob in his single-minded quest ignored her entirely and started shuffling his sizable rear under the hedge.
Brenda had a choice – she could drop the leash or she could follow. Like an idiot, she followed him, muttering as her hair got caught, her jeans were covered in dirt and twigs scraped across her still sensitive cheek.
“Thanks a lot, Bob,” she grumbled as she stood up and tried to repair the damage.
She heard movement and froze. She was surprised to see Ric hurrying through the garden at such a speed that he didn’t even spot her.
Bob tugged on the leash, trying to follow him.
“No,” she whispered, even if she was curious to see what he was up to.
Bob looked at her and gave her the puppy dog look that unfailingly earned him extra pieces of bacon at breakfast, and whined.
“Oh, Bob, we can’t,” she protested weakly.
He ambled forward, and Brenda let herself be pulled by him, muttering that they shouldn’t be doing this.
*
Chloe’s bottom lip quivered. “You don’t want to see me again.”
Ric was fearful that tears were on their way, but he stood firm. “I am sorry, but it is not safe for us to see each other. You should forget you ever met me.”
“Forget you? How can you say that?”
“Chloe…”
She looked away and whimpered. “I have feelings for you.” Turning back to him, her face was a picture of sadness. She placed her hand on his arm.
He looked at her smaller pink hand on his arm, felt the warmth of her soft skin against his cooler body. Her touch felt wrong.
“I cannot return those feelings.”
Chloe stepped back from him as if scolded. Sadness morphed into fury. “I can’t believe it; you’re actually blowing me off.”
“Chloe…”
“I have feelings for you,” she spat, “in spite of everything, I actually care about you.”
His wings twitched in irritation. �
��In spite of everything?” he repeated slowly.
She waved her hand up and down. “In spite of what you are. In spite of what you look like. I mean, you’re a fucking monster. I was willing to get past all that to be with you, and this is how you repay me? What’s going on? Found some other little human to run around with?”
Throughout her tirade, Ric had remained painfully still. The only evidence of his stormy ire was the flicking of his tail – which had gone into overdrive. He was proud of himself for his restraint. Back in the day, he had attacked clan mates for less. Back in the day, he had once attacked a clan mate for merely giving him a funny look.
“Chloe, you must go. Do not tell anyone about me. If not for me, then for your own sake.”
She huffed, scowled and tried to argue, but he would not listen. Eventually, she left.
Ric breathed in and out a few times. He had maintained his calm, but it had been difficult. Kylie’s feminine magazines were indeed correct – breakups were hard. He might have flicked through one or two when he was bored. He may or may not enjoy reading his horoscope – he would not admit to it either way.
He stretched out his wings, considering whether he should fly or walk home when he heard a shuffling noise.
“Bob, shush,” came a subdued voice.
He sniffed and growled as he leaped in their direction. Brenda was hiding behind a tree while trying to cling onto the hell beast, Bob.
“You were spying on me?” he roared.
Brenda had the grace to look chagrined. “No, not spying… exactly. Bob,” she looked at the beast accusingly while he obliviously sniffed the ground, “dragged me out here, I didn’t want to be here.”
His muscles rippled in outrage. “You should not have spied on me.”
Her cheeks bloomed bright red. “Well, I didn’t think you were supposed to leave the grounds, but you’re out here in the middle of the woods talking to a random woman! Does she know about you all – well obviously she knows gargoyles exist. Does Luc know?”
“I met her by accident; I was hunting. We are allowed to hunt.”
“With permission,” she countered.
“I had to talk to her to keep her quiet. I had no other choice. She meant nothing to me.” He wasn’t sure why, but it was important that she understand he had no feelings for Chloe.
Brenda knitted her brow in worry. “So Luc doesn’t know?”
“No, I feared what he would do to her.”
“He let me go.”
“I did not know he would be so kind when I met her.”
Brenda folded her arms and pouted slightly. “How long have you known her?”
Her voice contained a strange tone. One that he was not certain of, but if he didn’t know any better, he would think that she was jealous.
“Just a few days longer than you.”
“I saw her touch your arm, is she your girlfriend?”
His lips quivered as a smile tried to creep over them. “No.”
“She seemed ever so friendly.”
“She is nothing to me,” he said firmly.
“Really?” She poked him in the chest, standing deliriously close to him. “She was all over you.”
Her scent, her sweet, beautiful scent, invaded his senses. Moonlight shone on her pale hair, and her eyes seemed to glow. His dreams and thoughts of her overtook him, and he couldn’t contain himself any longer.
“Damnit, Brenda!”
Ric grabbed her arm and crushed her against his body, pushing his lips to hers, kissing her with a fiery passion he never knew he possessed.
Brenda squeaked as he took her. Her body was rigid in his arms; her lips tight against his. But after a few moments, something miraculous happened. She softened. Her body melted against his. All the tension left her as her arms slowly snaked around his neck. She parted her mouth, and nibbled on his upper lip until he opened up and her tongue delved inside. He grunted in surprise at the unexpected intrusion, but as her tongue danced with his, affording him such unforeseen pleasure, he moaned. He’d never experienced anything like it. He had been with females before, and he’s thought there was no greater feeling than coupling, but this was different. The sensual satisfaction of Brenda’s kiss was greater than anything he had ever experienced. He almost growled as she pulled away from him.
Panting in his arms, she looked at him with quivering eyes. “What was that for?”
Ric tamped down an urge to stroke her hair. “I feared you would never stop talking.”
Her eyes dulled by pleasure soon turned stormy. “Why you…”
He pulled her to him again, kissing her even more ferociously, her taste exploding over his tongue. Ric took hold of her thighs and dragged her up his body, and she duly wrapped herself around him.
Bliss wove through his body, and he felt himself come alive.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chloe entered the room with all the grace of a tornado.
“Something wrong, Lieutenant?” asked Bell, mildly.
“No, of course, not. But you were right about that ugly little bitch, Brenda; we can definitely use her.”
“Oh?”
“I saw her kissing Amalric in the woods right after I left him.”
Pike, even with his swollen nose and split lip, managed to sneer. “Whoa, you got dumped by a fucking gargoyle for a younger woman.”
“Shut. Up,” she said in a dangerously low voice.
Pike was clearly a glutton for punishment. “A gargoyle? A fucking ugly statue monster dumped you?”
“I said shut the fuck up!” she howled.
Monroe pretended he wasn’t laughing, but Chloe noticed his shoulders shaking.
“All of you, shut the hell up!”
“This is good news,” said Bell, soothingly, trying to calm Chloe. He was amused by her bruised ego, but he didn’t want her breaking someone else’s nose. “I have a plan.”
*
“What are we doing?” breathed Brenda.
“I believe you humans call it kissing.”
Ric demonstrated by flourishing them across her cheek.
“That’s what everyone calls it, but is it a good idea?”
Brenda stroked his hair, tangling her fingers in his long, silky locks. She was jealous; his hair was much healthier than hers. She made a memo to find out his secret.
“It seems like a wonderful idea to me.”
She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. She was still wrapped around him like a boa constrictor, and enjoying their embrace, but she knew she had to get moving. “I should be getting home.”
“You regret your actions,” he growled. His chest vibrated against her as his tail flicked impatiently.
“No, and don’t get pissy with me. This is just sudden and complicated and… and… sudden.”
Ric tightened his grip. “Gargoyles are not romantic creatures, but I have not been able to stop thinking of you since I met you.”
“I thought you hated me.”
“I hated the way we met. I was less than heroic. I thought you were laughing at me.”
Brenda giggled. “I was.”
He grunted in annoyance.
“But,” she added, “I’ve… been thinking of you, too.”
They remained clasped together for a few moments.
“I really need to get home,” she said.
“Mmmm.”
A few more moments passed.
“My uncle didn’t want me to go out tonight.”
“Mmmm.”
They kissed again, and Brenda almost forgot about everything in the world except for the male holding her, and making her toes curl. Almost. A furious image of her uncle sprang to mind, and she pulled away.
“I’m serious. Uncle Chris is already on the warpath about Kevin. He doesn’t want me going out on my own.”
“You came here on your own.”
“I brought Bob.”
The dog barked and panted on cue. He had been completely forgotten during the past few
minutes. Brenda was mightily relieved that he hadn’t run off.
“He is hardly a sufficient protector,” said Ric disapprovingly.
Bob barked in disgruntlement.
“I will not allow you to go anywhere on your own from now on,” declared Ric.
“Now, hold on…”
“Now that you are mine…”
“Since when am I…”
“I will, of course, escort you everywhere.”
“Hold your horses!” Brenda wriggled against him until he reluctantly put her down, giving her a look of confusion.
“First of all, we just kissed - I am not ‘yours’.” She put that word in air quotation marks, which just made him look more confused, so she soldiered on. “We need to have a long serious talk about things before anything else.”
“Talking,” he grumbled. “How very human.”
“Well, I am human. And humans like to talk.” Or at least, the women did, she wasn’t sure about men. Her experience was really limited to dealing with Uncle Chris, who repressed his deepest feelings until they pooled in his toes, and Kevin, who interrupted all their conversations by trying to grope her boobs.
“The gargoyle way would be for me simply to claim you.”
“Well, things are different in this century.”
He huffed but did not seem overly cranky about it. His grouchiness seemed to be more of a reflex than anything else. Brenda patted his chest, her breath hitching as she felt the tightness of his muscles under her fingers.
“You are sure you cannot stay?” he asked hoarsely.
“No, I really need to get home.”
His face tightened in displeasure, but he nodded, and took her hand, walking her back to the house.
Brenda giggled as she wiggled her hand in his.
“What?” he frowned.
“Your skin, it’s just not what I was expecting, it’s so soft.” Like beautiful, buttery leather.
“Is that a compliment?”
“Well, yes, it is.”
“Hmmm.” He thought about it for a few seconds. “I find that your lips are as soft and pillowy as I was expecting.”
“Oh… thank you.”
They walked in silence. She couldn’t begin to guess at what he was thinking. She was contemplating the logistics of having a gargoyle boyfriend. How would Uncle Chris react to Ric turning up on his doorstep to take her out on a date?