When A Gargoyle Kidnaps Page 9

  Tristan growled. “I do not want to put you in danger.”

  “I was in danger anyway without your help. My point is, I don’t want to miss out on being with you just because I’m afraid. I care about you, a lot. I have ever since we ‘met’ online.”

  He was so different to the kind of man she had found attractive before, but she didn’t consider it wrong or unnatural. No, being with him just seemed right. Sure, she was shocked that he wasn’t… well, human, but he was still the person she most wanted to be with in the world.

  Tristan placed a finger under her chin, raising her gaze to his. “I believe I care for you as well.”

  “You believe?” she spluttered, startling him slightly.

  He shifted beneath her, and his tail flickered. “I, ah, yes, uh…”

  “Tristan, you were on fire!” she said slowly, “and you were more worried about whether I was injured or not. I’m really in no doubt as to whether you care about me or not.”

  He looked almost sheepish as he smiled at her. “I could argue that your body is weaker than mine, and that was the cause of my concern, but...”

  “Yeah, that ship has sailed.”

  He smiled and shook his head. “Gargoyles usually do not concern themselves with love or feelings, or manners even.”

  “Another first for you then?”

  He nodded, and her heart swelled. “Perhaps we could date,” she suggested.

  “I have never dated before. I believe I would like that.”

  They kissed, and it was soft, slow and sweet and perfect in every way. They pulled apart, and Tristan’s expression turned momentarily stony.

  “At least that male can no longer harm you.”

  “You know what happened to him?” Perhaps Martha had told him.

  “Chris told me.”

  It took her a moment to join the dots on that one. “Wait, you know Chris?” The town chief of police knew about the gargoyles?

  Tristan winced. “Ah… yes.”

  “Why am I just hearing this now?”

  “I may not have divulged how many humans are actually mated to my gargoyle brothers and sisters.”

  “Chris is mated to a gargoyle?!”

  *

  A few days later

  Luc huffed as he watched Gwen and Tristan canoodling. “This is why you wished for me to go easy on him?”

  Kylie gave him a smug smile. “Yep.”

  “You thought he might have found his mate?”

  “I had inside information.” Kylie tapped her nose, but under his withering glare she finally admitted, “Martha had a dream about the two of them.”

  “You could have told me,” he complained.

  “I could have,” she agreed with maddening sweetness. “She’s a nice girl, the two of them suit each other – other than the obvious differences, they’re very alike.”

  Luc watched the two of them for a few moments, both pleased and irritated by this new development.

  “You think similarities are important?”

  “No, I mean look at us – you’re quick to temper and aggressive, and I’m just perfect in every way. We’re very different.”

  Her cheeks turned pink as she fluttered her eyelashes.

  “Mmmm hmmm.” She snuggled against him, and Luc tightened his arm around her, enjoying the flush of her soft body pressing against his. Even if he did not agree with that, he wasn’t foolish enough to disagree with his pregnant mate. His eyes wandered over his clan mates.

  “My gargoyles appear to be just wandering down into town and dragging females back here to be their mates.” While he was all for his gargoyles mating, he was a little concerned over some of their methods of finding females.

  Kylie traced a finger over his chest. “Well, not all gargoyles can wait for a woman to come along and kiss them awake.”

  “Then they do not know what they are missing,” he said with feeling, remembering that moment with fondness.

  “Which movie are we watching?” demanded Danica, glaring at all the various couples. Her mood had not seemed to abate any since they first brought her home. Indeed, seeing others happy around her only seemed to incite more hostility. That was a concern – he had, after all, mated a female who was not in the least fireproof. One who was now pregnant with his youngling. He tried to keep Kylie as far away from her as he could at all times.

  “The Princess Bride?” suggested Gwen.

  “Ugh. It’s a kid’s movie.”

  “It is for all ages,” argued Tristan.

  “I still like watching kids movies,” put in Brenda.

  “Oh, I used to love Beauty and the Beast,” added Martha.

  “Nobody here is surprised to hear that,” said Twenty-Six dryly.

  The argument blazed until Luc growled at them all to shut up, then he asked Kylie what she wanted to watch, and that was the end of it.

  If anyone wanted to complain, they could do so quietly.

  Kylie glanced over at Tristan and Gwen and smiled. They would make each other happy, she was sure. She snuggled into her mate and enjoyed the movie.

  *

  Three weeks later

  Tristan swung his little mate around.

  She giggled until her face started turning green, and he put her down.

  “Ugh, it’s worse than the teacup ride,” she groaned.

  Tristan placed his hands on her waist and waited for her to steady. He rubbed his cheek against her head and smelled her hair, inhaling her beautiful scent. Has I really only been hours since they parted? It was too long. He had never given sleep much thought until he started ‘dating’ Gwen. It was just a necessity, but now it was something that took him away from her, and every moment was mind-numbing.

  Looking slightly pinker, Gwen beamed up at him and stood on her tiptoes for a quick kiss before leading him into the house.

  “I have wonderful news,” she gushed, almost bouncing on the spot.

  “As do I,” he beamed.

  “My mom’s cancer is in remission – no more treatment!” she squealed excitedly.

  “That is wonderful, my beloved.”

  He pulled her into another hug and started to twirl her but quickly thought better of it. She may be sick, and there was a distinct possibility of broken furniture – given his wingspan.

  He had never seen her so elated, and it was thrilling to behold. He knew how she worried for her mother, and in turn that made him worried and angry that he could in no way help her or remedy the situation. But he was overjoyed by this news and delighted at the glow his mate emitted. She was always lovely, but happiness now radiated from every inch of her exquisite body.

  “What’s your news?” she asked, her smile spreading from ear to ear.

  “Ah, it pales in comparison to yours,” he admitted.

  “Tell me,” she urged, nothing dimming her mood.

  Tristan shrugged his wings. “It is merely that I am named fourth in the clan.” It was nothing compared to the wellbeing of his beloved’s mother, but the hierarchy in clans was always considered important. In his old clan, brothers and sisters fought each other half to death to move up the ranks. It wasn’t nearly that cutthroat in his new clan, though he would definitely have to make sure he watched his back around Ryia. The female had already given him some devious looks, and he would not put anything past her.

  “That’s terrific!” she exclaimed. “What does that mean?”

  He gave her a tender, patient smile. “It means that in rank in the clan, I am fourth, after Luc, Gracchus, and Castor.”

  Gwen nodded solemnly. “So we only have to get rid of those three before the clan’s all yours? Kidding!”

  He was almost shocked at her suggestion, but thankfully – as she had started doing with all her jokes – she started added ‘kidding’ at the end. Slowly, he was becoming the master of human humor.

  “Very amusing,” he murmured, stroking her back.

  He was delighted. Luc wanted him as his chief tactician as well. Although
the clan was small, the position of fourth was very desirous. Grey was certainly annoyed by it – an unexpected bonus. But, he was surprised at how little Brom or Ric and particularly Cai cared; but then, they were more interested in their mates than the clan hierarchy. As for Drago… who knew what that male was ever thinking. It was a clan unlike anything he had seen before, perhaps due to human influence, and that wasn’t a bad thing at all.

  Gwen kissed him again, this time more insistently. His member swelled, pressing against his stomach. He tried to pull away from her, but she would not let him.

  They were, as Gwen would say, ‘a couple,’ but they had not coupled. He had not pursued the issue and was waiting for her to bring it up. From listening to Luc, he understood that human females required much wooing before that happened. He was content about that… well, not content exactly. Obviously, he wanted her with every fiber of his being, but he would not push her to do something she was not ready to do. Though after all their kissing and affectionate embraces, he was certainly in possession of a pair of very big ‘blue balls’ – as Maggie would put it.

  “Please,” he growled against her mouth, fearing what her continued attention would do to him.

  Gwen pulled back and gave him a searching look. For a moment, he worried he had offended her.

  “I love you,” she said in a soft voice.

  Tristan grinned – all sharp teeth and smugness. “As do I.”

  Gwen flushed in pleasure and took his hand, leading him into the living room. She ran her hands up and down his chest, her fingers lingering as she reached his loincloth. His whole body trembled, his wings quivering as he growled lightly. She was shy to say it, but he knew what this meant.

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “I do not mind waiting…” A bare-faced lie, but he would wait an eternity for her. He really hoped it would not be an eternity.

  “I’m very sure,” she replied sweetly. “I love you, and I want to be with you. Isn’t that what you want?”

  “More than anything,” he breathed.

  He bent his head and kissed her, a brief brush of the lips before he moved on to her cheeks and her neck. His claws found her shirt and clasped at the hem. In between kisses, he pulled it over her head, his lips barely leaving hers. Her vest top followed, and thankfully she was not wearing a bra. He had it on good authority that they were fiendishly difficult items of clothing to work.

  No, her lovely breasts were unfettered and taunting in their beauty. He took a moment to stare at them, to cup them in his hands, trying to memorize every, peachy inch before he moved on to her jeans.

  Gwen undressed him while he undressed her. Admittedly, he was wearing less clothing. She unbuckled his belt, letting his garment drop. The mewl of satisfaction she let out as she saw him sent his desire soaring.

  Finally freeing her from her clothing, he laid her down on the couch, covering her body with his. Her angelic form was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

  Gwen wrapped her arms and legs around him, and he moaned at the softness of her skin rubbing against his.

  “You are lovely beyond compare,” he crooned. “You light up my whole life…”

  “Just shut up and kiss me,” she cooed, beaming up at him.

  “As you wish,” he murmured.

  As his lips found hers, he pressed inside her, taking his mate, making her his, now and forever.

  *

  To all intents and purposes, Martha’s house was Gwen’s home now.

  Martha barely spent any time at home at all. She slept at the mansion, had her meals up there and only seemed to return for her mail – which Gwen sometimes brought to her anyway. Having gotten to know Drago a little better, Gwen figured he preferred it that way. Though, there had been a little difference of opinion between Drago and Martha’s cat, Timber. Which was why Timber was back in his home with Gwen and her mother happily taking care of him. Timber lapped up all the extra attention, particularly when Martha went crazy over cuddling him whenever she came home.

  Gwen snuggled against Tristan, who wrapped his wings around her and growled in satisfaction.

  Her mom was at work – late night opening for tourists. Bea had hired her to manage her antique store entirely. Her mom had been shocked by the offer, but Gwen knew it was because Bea and the gargoyles now considered both her and her mother as part of their clan and wanted to provide for them – even if her mother had no idea it was happening. Plus, given that Bea was rarely around at that time, she did need help.

  Plus, there was even talk of Gwen going to community college. It would be part time, but she was still excited for it. She was considering some kind of web design class.

  Tristan clucked his tongue in disapproval at the TV. “This Martinez fellow is not honorable.”

  Gwen giggled. Yep, she had him hooked on her favorite soap opera.

  He snarled vehemently as Martinez started seducing Elena, trying to lure her away from her sick husband. In fact, he seemed to be even more into the show than her. Well, shared interests always helped.

  There were niggles in their relationship. They couldn’t do the normal dating thing, so they had to manage with dates at home, at night, out of sight. Not that it was much of a chore. She knew she would have to tell her mother about Tristan eventually. But her mother had already been through a lot and eventually seemed a long way off at that moment.

  “I’m glad you kidnapped me,” she murmured, never imagining having to say those words before.

  His tail wrapped around her ankle and he placed a kiss on her mouth.

  “So am I,” he chuckled.

  The end… until next time

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