Page 5 of Taken By the Gargoyle King

Kalzudaud did not look like an angel, he looked far more like a devil, actually. His horns and his rugged features, along with his stone gray skin, made him anything but some ethereal beauty. He looked like a gargoyle, especially when he’d pulled out his battle-form during that fight. It had distorted his features into exaggerated, ugly lines and furrows. He had looked mean, evil, and far too much like he enjoyed killing those other Tarkan.

Gargoyles were guardians, protectors. The little factoid surfaced to the top of my brain as I clung to his marvelous chest, held in those safe arms just like in my dreams. Gargoyles stood guard on ancient Earth buildings, and they were ugly to ward off harm and scare away demons. Not that Kal needed to look fearsome like that to scare his opponents. I had never witnessed a battle in the flesh, and living on Aderia meant I had not been exposed to any kind of violence since arriving in the Zeta Quadrant. Aderians were very anti-violence.

That battle had been something else, a combination between a war zone and an aerial ballet. I was still reeling from how violent it had been while looking amazing at the same time. What kind of person was I? For thinking that had looked cool? I should strive to be like the Aderians with violence. They were my role models. But Kal? Oh, god, he’d been so freaking sexy, and that had scared me.

I could not deny, however, that being in his arms was better than those old dreams. Innocent girlhood thoughts were replaced with much more adult desire. I felt every ridge of muscle along his impressive chest, the heat of him against my side, and I loved the sense of that power and safety his embrace gave me. If I thought about the steep drop beneath me, I should be scared, but I knew without a shred of doubt that Kal would never let me fall.

“What’s the plan?” I asked him over the rushing wind. We were going fast, his wings carrying us over the top of this seemingly endless jungle with each powerful beat. I knew only what he’d told me, the assassinations on his family, the niece that lay dying that he wanted my help for. Now it looked like whoever was after his throne wasn’t done yet, and this was a bit more dangerous than just sitting in a lab and finding a cure. The excitement thrumming in my chest told me I was actually sort of enjoying this adventure, and again, that thought scared the hell out of me.

“We lie low until we can meet with Sera and Iru tomorrow at the palace. Without my com device, they should not be able to track us. I already left instructions for the setup of your lab. You should have everything you need to make your cure after you have seen Sera’s medical file.” Each mention of his niece’s name made his voice grow all rough and growly with heavy emotion and that plucked at my heartstrings. This was a male who cared deeply for his family. She was his successor, the rightful heir to the throne, but that was not why he wanted to heal her.

I just hoped that I could deliver what he wanted. I knew better than most that even the best advancements in medical science could not perform a miracle. It was the slow death of my mother as she battled disease that had driven me to my chosen profession. Ending up on Aderia, where the most fantastical tools were suddenly in my grasp, was just an added bonus.

“Okay, do you have them with you? I can already start reading to get a good idea,” I asked. Even though I had plenty to see on this moonlit flight, the life of that little girl was in the balance. I would not know if my work would even be what she needed unless I knew exactly what ailed her. The tablet he yanked from a pouch landed in my lap without so much as a stutter in the steady pace of his wings. I did not think he even glanced down to see if he was putting that thing on me or next to me; he was that confident and focused.

I shut myself off from the dark tree tops beneath me and the rich animal sounds that came from them. The stars and the green-hued moon had to fade to the back of my mind as I thumbed on the tablet and started reading. The right file was already open, but all other functions on the tablet had been disabled to make it impossible to track.

The medical professionals who’d written these reports were clearly topnotch, but they were not Aderians. I did not think that made much of a difference; the girl was doomed unless we tried something very experimental. My cure was not approved for any kind of live testing, and I had tweaks still to make from my last round of experiments, but it might very well be her only chance. Kal was right for coming to me.

The temperature change was what shook me out of my intense focus on the medical files. We were descending in slow circles toward a clearing, this time not one made by a crashing ship but a natural one that surrounded a placid lake. Cool air was wafting up from the water, but as we crossed above round pools on the edge, separated by low rock barriers, I was blasted with warmth instead. A series of hot springs edged the lake.

He touched down on a mossy bank and carried me beneath a tree that most reminded me of a weeping willow. Long strands hung down from its branches, not with leaves, but something almost like pine needles and just as fragrant. Something glittered along those strands at intervals, and when Kal spread a wing and stroked a clawed tip along them, lights flared. Little dancing seedpods that glowed like fairy lights, it was beautiful and kind of romantic.

“We will rest here tonight, and arrive fresh for battle at the palace in the morning,” my kingly companion decreed with a royal tilt of his head. His mercury eyes swirled as he slowly spun us around so I had a good view of the fairy tale canopy of the tree that surrounded us. He tilted his head down to regard me with his gaze next, and I caught the heat that swam in those otherworldly eyes. I saw his plan then, and I should probably voice some objections, only… I didn’t want to object to anything. I wanted to experience the passion I saw promised in his eyes; I’d deal with the consequences later.

“Okay,” I said, and I curled my free arm around his neck so I could kiss him. His taste swept across my senses the same way he swept his tongue into my mouth and claimed me. I moaned as that possessive mouth dominated me. I might have initiated this kiss, but there was no doubt about who was in control. I absolutely itched to see him lose it. I was certain that would be something to see, to experience.

He slid me down his body slowly, allowing me to feel each bump of his abs and then the hard, hot bulge of his cock against my soft belly when my feet touched the ground. My clothes felt too tight, my body on fire, and running my fingers over his flesh was not nearly enough to satisfy. He obviously felt the same; yanking impatiently on my jacket and then my dress. I thought I heard fabric tear as he pulled my clothing over my head; but neither of us cared.

I tried to unbuckle the belt on his harness with the knives, but my fingers felt clumsy. I couldn’t seem to make my brain work right when his mouth was on mine. Lack of oxygen maybe, that would certainly account for the way the world seemed to shift and spin around me when he did that.

Left in my panties and bra, he finally pulled back to look at me. His silver eyes seemed to glitter like fire, but that was just the glow of the bioluminescent seedpods of the tree. “You are beautiful, Caitlyn,” he said huskily. He shrugged out of his weapon harness easily, then yanked on a clasp at his waist, and his leather kilt dropped to the mossy ground around his feet.

While my eyes zeroed in on the proud erection jutting from between his thighs, he stalked toward me in a distinctly predatory fashion. “Let’s bathe first, pretty female. And then I will show you just how grateful I am that you are here, with me.” He caught me in his powerful arms and, with a final stride and a swish of his lionesque tail, he stepped over the edge of the nearest stone barrier and into the heated spring.

Chapter 7

Caitlyn

The hot water felt good against my skin and took away a chill I had not even realized had settled deep into my bones. When I thought about it, I had to admit that flying high in the air in a cocktail dress and blazer was not the smartest move. Had we kept flying even longer, I could have seriously risked hypothermia. Was that why we’d stopped here? Had Kal noticed? I sure hadn’t, too engrossed in my reading to be aware of my body or much else around me.

I wasn’t distracted now, that was for sure. I was extremely aware of my almost naked body pressed so intimately against Kal’s definitely entirely naked one. His stone gray skin felt smooth and hard beneath my fingertips, each of his muscles like ropes of steel. He let me pet him along his shoulders and then satisfy my curiosity when I ran my fingertips along the edges of his wings. He shuddered, the first hint that he might lose some of that exciting control he had.

“So very tempting, little human,” he rumbled, and then that massive chest kept vibrating with something that was definitely a purr. It brushed against my nipples and I couldn’t hold back a moan when that shot pleasure through me, straight to the core of me. His answering groan was satisfying, and then he bucked his hips against me, and I felt that straining erection wedge between my thighs.

He exerted all that control then to get me exactly where he wanted me. Spreading my thighs around his hips in the water so he could rub himself against my clit through my panties. His grip was firm as he cupped my backside to him, his tail winding around my calf beneath the water, and his free hand gliding along my spine to unsnap my bra with a practiced twist of his fingers.

I was so close to an orgasm already; how did he do that to me each time? I had not forgotten that illicit moment just outside the wrecked ship; how he’d made me ride his thigh and spiral for him in a matter of minutes. On Aderia, and at college on Earth, I’d had flings, even dated, but never had my body responded the way it did to him. That meant something, at least out here in the Zeta Quadrant, but I did not want to think about that.

“Let me taste you,” he growled, and that tone made my body ache for him. Maybe I didn’t need to snap his control. Maybe I liked him just fine like this; my body certainly did. He lifted me to the water’s edge, settling my butt on a smooth rock, and then he cupped his warm, leathery wings around my back to hold me in place. Definitely still completely in control, even when I touched my fingers to the horns that crowned his head, touched the smooth gold of the circlet he wore.

He shredded my panties with his claws, and with my legs draped over his shoulders, I could only lean into his wings and let him do what he wanted. I had no objections; I’d be crazy to say no to that. His tongue was rougher than that of a human, or an Aderian for that matter, a little bumpy and ridged, which felt amazing against my clit. Each precise lap of his tongue sent me climbing to that peak, and when I felt the soft brush on the tip of his tail flick over my opening, I was done for.

A shout ripped from me as the orgasm crested. I threw back my head, trusting him to hold me up, to hold me safe. For a blinding moment, all I saw was stars as the pleasure gripped me. The dancing images resolved themselves into the glowing seeds threaded through the branches above me like fairy lights.

I was breathing rapidly, and in my chest my heart was beating wildly. Kal’s mercury eyes glowed at me from between my legs, from the shadows created by his wings. “Say it,” he growled, sharp fangs flashing in his mouth with the demand. “Tell me you need my cock.”

A rebellious streak ignited in me at that arrogant demand. I didn’t normally take well to being told what to do in bed, not anywhere; that’s why I ran my own lab. Honestly, I tended to hate it even more when a man tried to make me say things in bed. It took me out of the flow, out of the mood even. But Kal… His voice did something to me, and when he tilted his head, his mercury eyes pierced me with a glance.

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