Stone Solitude (29 page)

Roman nodded once, his hold tightening on Daisy to keep her close, though she wasn’t going anywhere. Stepping forward, Ferris gave both him and Daisy a hug, whispering in his ear, “I hope we see each other again.”

“Yes,” he agreed, feeling the warmth the girl was pushing into him, easing the ache of his loss, grateful she wasn’t making a big deal out of it.

“I’m glad you have Daisy,” she said, smiling at Daisy with genuine affection.

“I haven’t said a word,” Daisy managed in a shaky voice.

“I know your heart,” Ferris said with a knowing grin, placing her hand over Daisy’s heart. The smile slipped from her lips as she added, “It’s a beautiful heart. Love will always triumph, Daisy. Even in the darkest moments, it will be there. Don’t forget.”

With that, she turned to Merrick and beamed, “Are you ready to buy me my beer?”

“Always,” Merrick returned, his smile not quite reaching his hazel eyes.

“What are you thinking?” Daisy asked, resting her chin on Roman’s chest as he stared at nothing.

He smiled but he kept his gaze trained on the ceiling. “I’m thinking about the apartment we’re going to rent and all of the ways we’re going to initiate each room.”

“What about furniture?” she asked, knowing his thoughts were a million miles away from the apartment they hadn’t rented yet, no matter how promising his words.

“As long as it has a bed, I’m good,” he grinned. Looking at her with just his eyes, he said, “We don’t even need a bed but I want you to be comfortable at least some of the nights we sleep.”

“That’s very kind of you,” she returned, deliberately ignoring the questions that were plaguing her, about Roman, about Merrick and his mother, about his brothers, about everything she wanted to ask. She always meant to ask but the moment they were alone, their clothes came off and words were no longer necessary or even possible. After all, Roman was making up for a very, very long dry spell and Daisy was more than happy to be the focus of all of his sensual attention. But sometimes she missed the conversations they had when he wasn’t so damn beautiful.

And he hadn’t said
I love you
since that evening he learned of his mother’s passing.

She wasn’t going to let it bother her because she knew he loved her, even if it was just gratitude for bringing him back to his former beauty, for staying by his side through his adjustment. Love came from much less. Also, it would be so incredibly selfish of her to demand the words when his actions had been so loud. For an entire week he had stayed in her dorm room while she headed off to classes, never complaining and always greeting her with either a kiss after dark or a gargoyle hug during the day. She’d race through her homework, picking his brain when it came to her history class, and as soon as the sun went down….

“I keep seeing Isis,” he blurted, turning his head and looking at her fully. There was stark fear in his blue eyes and she understood why he had been distracting her with kisses for the past week. Roman’s entire world was topsy-turvy and there was so much he had to deal with and there was only so much she could do. With the appearance of Isis…. She had never felt so young and powerless in her life. “I’m worried she plans on destroying what we have.”

“Never,” she vowed vehemently, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. If she could only alleviate his fears maybe he wouldn’t be so desperate to wring every moment of pleasure out of their time together. They could slow down and… savor one another. Of course, fiery passion was marvelous and she spent most of her time away from Roman wishing she were with him. Maybe they’d drive out to her parents’ estate this weekend and hang out with the family. The kids would absolutely adore Roman and her family could be his surrogate family. Maybe if he realized how much he was loved, he wouldn’t look for trouble where it wasn’t going to be found.

“She keeps… smiling at me,” he continued in a distracted voice. “And I don’t trust that smile.”

“Why haven’t you said anything before now?” she asked, trying to remember if she had seen anyone that could have been an Egyptian goddess but nothing came to mind.

“At first, I thought she was just gloating,” he answered slowly. At Daisy’s complete look of incomprehension, he smiled, “I figured she must have taken what she needed from me the month I was… gone. But it’s not that.”

“How do you know it’s not that?” Despite the anxiety that was pressing against the edges of her consciousness, she was fascinated by the conversation because they were talking about Isis, about the freaking goddess Isis.

“Other than being a man at night,” he said with a light in his eyes and a smile on his lips. “I’m not.... missing anything. I’m still who I was before.”

“What if she altered your memory, too, and you only
think
you’re the same?”

Arching an eyebrow, he asked, “Have you noticed a difference? Other than the obvious?”

Mirroring his expression, she asked, “Obvious?”

“Daisy,” he chuckled, grabbing her and twisting them until she was beneath his hard body. As he loomed over her, the levity left his expression and he asked again, “
Have
you noticed a difference?”

“Well,” she said, trying to alleviate his worries and make him smile once again. Resting her hands on his shoulders, toying with the ends of his hair, she pursed her lips as she considered his question. “You’re not afraid to show me your face and you’re hornier.”

“Oh, trust me, my little flower,” he growled, thrusting his hips against her and letting her feel his arousal. “I was plenty horny before. I just didn’t want to frighten you.”

Tears filled her eyes as she pictured him as he had been, bothered that his craggy face had caused him so much suffering. People were frequently cruel to things they feared but if they had taken the chance to get to know him, they would have realized he was a beautiful man, despite his smooshed face. It didn’t help that he had isolated himself so completely as to not exist at all. Stroking her fingers over his masculine jaw, his sensuous lips, she whispered, “I haven’t noticed
any
differences, Roman. You are the man I fell in love with, even with this pretty face.”

His lips quirked up into a quick smile before he was serious again as he shook his head, “See? So that begs the question: what is she planning?”

“Maybe she’s not planning anything,” Daisy offered, knowing her words were going to fall on deaf ears. But Roman knew Isis better than she did. He had been under her spell for two thousand years, and he knew what he was talking about. If he was worried, then she should worry, too. Drawing her tongue over her bottom lip, she said, “Maybe we should stay at my parents’ place until we figure out what she’s planning. Dad has put tons of wards into place to keep people out….”

“I was able to slip in,” he interrupted.

“You were never unwanted,” she quickly returned, rubbing her thumb over his lower lip. “If we explain what is happening, I’m sure he could put something up to keep Isis out.”

“I doubt there is much of anything that could keep a goddess out.”

“At least we’d have the pack to help keep an eye on things,” she added. “Plus, we can ask your dad if he has any spells or incantations that will keep a goddess out.”

“Perhaps.”

“I just think we’d be safer on my parents’ estate.”

“Daisy, sweetheart,” he said, taking a breath. Pressing his lips together, he managed another breath before he said, “I don’t think your parents would welcome me if they even suspected I was sleeping with you.”

“After that kiss at the bar, I don’t think there are any doubts in their minds that we are sleeping together,” she said, feeling the heat of color in her cheeks. “But you’re my mate so my dad won’t be too pissed. Plus, they’re wolves. Most of them are very promiscuous until they’re mated and then all of that sexual fervor is focused on the mate.”

He huffed a laugh, “Ah, but you’re also a Siren. What would your mom think?”

“That you’re my One True Love,” she grinned, purposefully emphasizing
One True Love
to make him smile. “And since her line is destined to have only One True Love, I’m sure she’d be disappointed if we weren’t sleeping together.” At his look of disbelief, she laughed, “We’re not human, Roman. The bond between wolves and their mates is nearly unbreakable even without the benefit of marriage. It’s even stronger between a Siren and her One True Love.”

His eyes moved over her face as he contemplated her words. Framing her face with his hands, he asked, “Would you marry me, Daisy?”

“In a heartbeat,” she answered without hesitation even if she didn’t need a piece of paper. Unlike humans, her interests and her children’s interests were always protected because a wolf mate couldn’t stray. A wolf bond was relatively easy and involved sex, mutual biting, and the exchange of blood. Sometimes, like with Dominic and Jeanette, the bond was put off because only mated wolves could have children. Some wolves chose their mates and sometimes their mates were chosen for them, something Daisy would have had a better understanding of if her wolf ever spoke to her again.

Suddenly, she stilled. She hadn’t even considered children and she didn’t know if it was a possibility, since she had gone back to that book of mythology and read that all gargoyles – all
living
gargoyles – had come from the union of Medusa and Apollo. “Roman? Can a gargoyle have children?”

“I knew this question was coming,” he said on a long sigh. Falling onto his back, taking his heat with him, he stared up at the ceiling once more. “Can a gargoyle have children? It’s a complicated answer, Daisy.”

Rolling onto her belly, she rested her chin back on his chest, trying not to think about the children that might never exist. “How is it complicated? Either they can or they can’t…. Roman?”

Turning his head slightly, he met her eyes. Before he answered, he reached up and twirled a piece of her hair between his fingers. Staring at the strand of hair as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world, he slowly explained, “It is a possibility but the risks are… extraordinary and I don’t know if it would even work since you’re a Siren and the others were human.”

“Is this something every gargoyle knows?” she asked.

“No,” he said with a sad smile, meeting her eyes for just a moment before he concentrated on her hair once more. “Or at least it wasn’t. Actually, my father has been stopping by while you’ve been at class and he’s been telling me a lot of things that have been happening recently. A lot of things.”

Even with the threat of Isis hanging over their heads, she was mad with curiosity, wishing she could have been a fly on the wall when Roman was talking with his father. “Like what?”

“Well….” He drew out the word before he said, “There are only two women who have ever born gargoyle children, sisters that drank the blood of Medusa and Apollo, died for a moment, and then fucked their gargoyle mates in their gargoyle forms.”

Daisy winced, picturing the mammoth erection Roman sported while in his gargoyle form. It was the size of a freaking baseball bat and it would tear a girl in two. “Ouch.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “It’s not easy but it’s the only way for them to have children.”

“But only after they die,” Daisy said to clarify.

“Only after they drink the toxic blend of Medusa’s and Apollo’s blood and survive.” Pushing the strand of hair behind her ear, he cupped the back of her head and finally met her eyes, “I don’t think it would work on you since you already have a bit of the goddess in you and I’m not willing to risk your life.”

“Roman,” she said, the sound sticking in her throat.

“If you want children, we’ll adopt,” he continued, his eyes full of regret and sorrow and the fear he had been hiding that he finally allowed her to see.

“I’m twenty,” she rasped, holding his eyes while she kissed his palm. “I’d like a few years with you before we start planning a family.”

His lips curved into a half-smile but she feared she only made matters worse. He didn’t need to worry about children when he was still agonizing over what Isis might or might not do. “I will do anything to keep you safe and make you happy, my little flower.”

“
You
make me happy,” she told him, pressing a kiss over his heart. Crawling over his hard body, straddling his hips, she took his erection into her body, holding his eyes as she slowly made love to him. How was it possible to love someone so much and not burst with it? Entwining her fingers with his, she leaned forward until their hands were on either side of his head and she was only a breath away from his lips. She could see into his soul, the love he had for her, and it filled her with such joy it couldn’t be contained. “I love you, Roman.”

“I love you, too,” he said gruffly, the words pushing her over the edge into ecstasy.