Stone Lover (35 page)

    With a low growl, he sat up, enfolding her in his arms and drawing one succulent nipple between his lips. Suckling it deep into his mouth, he continued to gently undulate his hips. His hands were on her bare back, the heat of his touch sinking deep into her skin and making her burn. He filled her completely until he left nothing untouched.

    She slid her fingers into the golden silk of his hair and held him to her breast, letting her head tip back and her eyes close in pleasure. As peaceful as it was to sit in silence with him, it was just as wonderful to be making love with him. In such a short time, she had fallen completely, wildly and irrevocably in love with him.

    It scared her how much she loved him; it was an all-consuming fire, even as he kept so much from her. She was okay with the secrets he kept because she knew with absolute certainty that he loved her and would tell her everything if he could. But what was he keeping from her that made him so sad?

    What if he regretted giving up his nights to be with her and he wanted to become a gargoyle once more? Maybe love wasn’t enough to make him want to remain a man and he was struggling with how to tell her he couldn’t be with her any longer. It had to be something because as the weeks passed, he was growing increasingly melancholy and his love making was becoming almost desperate, frantic in his need for her.

    She tried to have faith that Vaughn wouldn’t abandon her but the thoughts kept niggling away at her brain. Even now, when she was in his arms, nearly lost in the moment, the thoughts were there, taunting her. She was going to go insane if she kept dwelling on the what-ifs but everything with Vaughn was so incredible, she was scared of having it all fall apart.

    She was most likely making mountains out of molehills and when he finally unburdened himself to her, she would feel nothing but relief. As that thought wriggled around, a small smile bowed her lips; it didn’t matter if he wanted to be a gargoyle again, they would make it work. They loved one another and would be able to overcome anything.

    The sensation of being surveyed had her opening her eyes. Seeing two pairs of stone eyes observing them, she pressed her lips against Vaughn’s ear and breathed, “Your brothers are watching us.”

    Lifting his head, he met her gaze and a slow, hot smile curved his lips. “Then let’s give them something to enjoy.”

    At her questioning look, he pulled the dress from her body moments before he stood up with her. With a gasp, she wrapped her arms and legs around his body, impressed despite already knowing Vaughn was unnaturally strong. He took a step towards Armand and her eyes widened in her head, “What are you doing?”

    “Claiming you,” he rasped, placing her in Armand’s stone lap and straightening his body. With those words, he set a punishing rhythm, slamming into her body, slamming her against the gargoyle. The sounds of their mating were getting louder as he thrust harder and harder, as their breathing grew ragged and harsh.

    Stone claws dug into her waist, holding her in place as Vaughn thrust almost violently into the depths of her body. Leaning back against the gargoyle, she tilted her hips slightly, taking him deeper. Vaughn paused for just a moment, letting his eyes slide shut to savor the wet heat of her sex, before he lost control and fucked her harder. Everything in her tightened a split second before she exploded, crying out even as he slammed into her one final time and roared his own completion.

    “I’m already yours,” she whispered, still trying to catch her breath, leaning back and looking at him with solemn, blue eyes. “I’ve always been yours.”

    “Yes, but my brother doesn’t understand,” Vaughn said, his eyes locked on the gray of Armand’s, his breathing still frayed. “It seems he once tried to use sex to make you forget.”

    “But it didn’t work,” Melanie reminded him, caressing his cheek, willing him to look at her. “It was the wrong girl; remember?”

    Vaughn’s gaze shifted to hers and her breath caught in her throat, her heart skipped a beat.  “I’m talking about the second time, when he came into your room and tried to seduce you.”

    Her eyes widened in her head but she was unable to look away from the fierceness in Vaughn’s gaze. In a soft voice, she asked, “How did you know?”

    “I’ve always known,” he answered with grim resignation. At her panicked expression, he smiled ruefully, “I also knew that you refused him and that you are mine; that you have always been mine – no matter what.”

    Melanie relaxed, relief flooding her system. The dark cloud wasn’t nearly as bad as she had thought it was going to be. With a bright smile, she wrapped her arms around Vaughn’s neck, no longer caring that Armand’s stone fingers dug into her hips and his stone erection pressed against her back. “His only crime was trying to protect you and I can hardly blame him; I would do anything to protect you.”

    Vaughn’s smile was still tinged with sadness; did he think she wasn’t serious? Cupping his beloved face in her hands, she willed him to believe her, “I love you, Vaughn.”

    “I know,” he murmured unhappily, pressing a kiss to her palm. Closing his eyes as if in pain, he whispered, “I know.”

    “It’ll be all right,” she tried to reassure him. With one hand still on his cheek, she stroked his hair with her other hand. “I know that giving up your nights has been… difficult for you but I promise that it will be worth it; I will make it worth it.”

    “You already have,” he vowed, bending his head forward and resting it against her shoulder. His body heaved as he took a deep breath and shakily exhaled.

    “We’ll take a trip this summer…” she began but stopped abruptly when a low, mournful sound came from Vaughn and a rumble of anger vibrated against her back. The stone fingers clenched tighter, pinching the soft flesh of her hips and she flinched. “What is it? What am I missing?”

    “There isn’t going to be any trips this summer,” Vaughn choked out, keeping his head buried against her shoulder. “In a few days, there isn’t going to be anything.”

    “I don’t understand,” Melanie frowned, her hands stilling in Vaughn’s hair as her heart trembled in her chest. It was becoming difficult to breathe and she knew that she wasn’t going to like what was coming; letting her know about Armand was only the warm up act.

    He stepped back, his spent cock sliding from her body. It glistened with her fluids but Vaughn didn’t seem to care as he pushed the thick cock back into his pants and closed them. Turning his back to her, leaving her alone in her nakedness, he scrubbed his hands through his hair. Suddenly uncomfortable, feeling horribly exposed, she slid off the gargoyle’s lap and awkwardly picked up the lightweight dress. She slid the dress over her head, letting it fall around her body as she kept her eyes on Vaughn’s back.

    When he remained mute, she looked at the two gargoyles for answers but they remained silent, staring back at her with vacant stone expressions. Panicking, she reached out to Vaughn even though he was too far away for her to touch. “Tell me what it is; have I done something….”

    “No!” he said adamantly, turning around and closing the distance between them, taking her hands in his as he shook his head. Squeezing her fingers, misery swimming in his eyes, he vowed, “You haven’t done anything –
anything
– wrong.”

    “Then what is it?” Her heart was racing as she silently pleading with him to tell her it was all right.

    “God, I’ve fucked up,” he swore, dropping her hands and once again turning away from her.

    “You’re scaring me, Vaughn.” Her voice quavered as she gently laid her hand on his back, willing him her love, her strength. “Talk to me; tell me what’s wrong.”

    “It’s temporary, Melanie,” he ground out desolately. Turning around to face her, his eyes glistening with unshed tears, he repeated, “It’s only temporary.”

    “Temporary – you mean giving up your nights?” she asked slowly, desperate to understand. At his nod, she asked, “When you say temporary, what do you mean? Twenty years? A hundred?”

    “A month,” he broke. “One lunar month.”

    She inhaled sharply as what he said sunk in; “You have less than a week.”

    “Yes,” he confirmed.

    She processed this new information, trying to figure out what it meant. Slowly, she nodded, “Okay, so we go back to dating at night….”

    He let out a harsh laugh, “No, Melanie, we don’t. You remain human and I become a gargoyle… permanently. Until….”

    “Until when?’ she asked, a kernel of hope digging its claws into her chest. If his state as a gargoyle was only until something happened, she would just make whatever needed to happen would happen quickly so he could return to her, so they could be together.

    Swallowing, he squeezed his eyes shut, “Until you die.”

    Her mouth fell open and she was at a loss for words. Vaughn moved quickly, taking her in his arms and cupping her cheek, “You needn’t fear, Melanie; part of being bound to a gargoyle is the protection we offer. When I’m stone, you’ll be safe.”

    “How will you be able to keep me safe if you’re a fucking statue?” she growled, pushing away from him. Unable to bear being apart from him, she quickly returned and took his hand in hers, needing to touch him. “Tell me, Vaughn.”

    “It’s the nature of the gargoyle, love,” he told her helplessly. Putting his hand over the pendant that lay between her breasts, he held her gaze, “Much like this amulet protects you – magic.”

    “But what you’re saying is that you’ll be dead to me,” she choked out.

    He nodded, “I’ll be a gargoyle in the truest sense of the word; an inanimate statue. That is what is meant when we say we are giving up our nights – we no longer walk as men.”

    She glanced at his brothers, both in their gargoyle forms and both watching them intently. “It also means you give up the ability to move as a gargoyle, doesn’t it?”

    “Yes.”

    “So I wouldn’t even have you as a gargoyle.” She bit her lip to keep from crying but a tear slipped down her cheek.

    “No.”

    “Is there any way to keep you… alive?” she cried, her heart pounding painfully in her chest as she grabbed his hands.

    “You won’t like it,” he grimaced.

    “I don’t care,” she huffed, her chest hurting from trying to breathe through the fear. “I won’t lose you.”

    “We complete the ritual.”

    “Yes!” she readily agreed. “How do we do that?”

    “On the night of the next new moon, we come together as the sun sets and finish what we began a month ago. You take me into your body….”

    “Yes, all right.”

    “And accept my gift.”

    “You are my gift; how can I ask for anything more?”

    “You don’t understand,” he shook his head, his eyes filled with despair as he searched her face. “”We have to mate once during the new moon to seal the bargain; the moment you come with me in your body you accept my gift.”

    “I already said yes.” Desperation strained her voice as she pleaded with him.

    He swallowed thickly, tenderly cupping her cheek in his warm palm. “And when the sun rises, we both become gargoyles.”

    “But we’d be human at night?” Hope lit her eyes, sparkling in the blue depths as she thought about being a gargoyle, about being with Vaughn forever.

    “Yes.”

    “Why the new moon?” she asked dumbly, trying to figure out the ramifications of becoming a gargoyle. Could she handle being a gargoyle, giving up the sun that she loved so much? A shudder ripped down her spine but then she firmed her resolve; if it meant being with Vaughn, she would manage.

    “The light of the moon is only the reflection of the sun,” he explained. “We remain gargoyles during the day because we cannot walk as men beneath the sun; it only makes sense that we are at our most powerful when there is no sunlight at all.”