Page 14 of The Gargoyle's Grace
“I’d also appreciate it very much if you’d stop wiggling.” He exhaled tightly, and I realized that it was no sword hilt I felt along my backside.
Pulling myself out of his grasp, I sat up and smacked him solidly on the shoulder. It was a useless effort, especially as he was still in full gargoyle form, but it made me feel better. “What in the name of all the saints are you doingchasingme like that? You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“I could ask you the same,” he grunted out while checking me over for damage. His broad fingertips swept across my skin, making it dance with a ripple of gooseflesh. A number of nicks and cuts made themselves known as he did his inspection, his frown deepening with each one he found.
“What’s got you so scared you’re running through the woods at night?Alone?”
“You!” I spat back, getting to my feet and brushing the leaves from my dress. “You were following me!Chasingme. I thought—” I hesitated, unsure if I wanted to share my fear about his friend quite yet. I had no idea how he’d react to such an accusation.
Magnus climbed to his full height, wings extended, before leaning forward and sniffing at my neck. His motions pressed my back against one of the rounded boulders.
“What are you—”
His pupils, already larger than I’d ever seen them, dilated so wide only a sliver of the dark chocolate color around the edge remained. “Why do you smell of Gaius? Why has he touched you? Touched what’smine?Again?”
My brain stuttered over his words; my pulse kicked into a painful throb in my throat. Things between us had always been… unique, but that declaration added a whole new dimension. “I—”
Magnus reached up to cup my cheek with his broad palm, his long fingers wrapping around to the back of my neck. I watched in what felt like slow motion as his face came increasingly closer. “Mine.” With a growl, Magnus sealed his lips to mine.
Everything else ceased to exist as I was overtaken by the taste of ozone and fresh spearmint, his razor-sharp fangs delicately teasing along my bottom lip as he sipped at my mouth like a dying man who’d been gifted his favorite drink. His arousal pressed into my stomach, a low throb echoing in the hollow between my legs in response. Thoughts were impossible to gather as my back curved into the boulder. I was trapped between a massive rock and a giant of a man who was somehow the harder of the two objects.
“Yours?” I asked, when he finally released me, intoxicated by the rush of endorphins floating around in my blood. I hadn’t been kissed in years, and I’dneverbeen kissed like this. The passion he poured into me… I couldn’t possibly be held responsible for my reaction to such a potent thing. Everything in me reached right for him.
“I’m sure you’re gearing up for a speech about how you belong to no one,” he started, placing the pads of his fingers against my lips as I opened them to protest. I wasn’t doing any such thing, despite how I should have been. His eyes were fixed on that part of my face, as though he was prepared to devour me all over again. “But you just made me chase you through the forest. I cannotbreatheover my desire for you, Grace. So I’m telling you now, you’re mine. Am I yours? Do you want this?”
The moan that came out of my throat would have horrified me at any other moment. As it was, I saw it ignite something in his eyes, and I further dissolved into a puddle of need. What would it be like to have claim over such a man? A soldier who could dispatch any enemy with barely a thought. A thoughtful friend who cared for those he loved with all he had. A literal mountain who could choose human skin or statue form, both equally and uniquely beautiful.
I shivered, the notion of it all overwhelming, especially with him so close. “Yes,” I whispered, curiosity and desire overtaking caution.
Magnus rumbled deep in his throat as he placed one of his broad hands on each of my ass cheeks. He pulled me upward, forcing me to wrap my legs around his middle as he pressed my back into the boulder. His mouth meshed with mine and his impressive, hard cock aligned with my center.
A squeak of surprise left my throat as I melted into his embrace. One of his hands traveled along my thigh, gripping firmly as it climbed toward my core. The other slid along my cheek until his fingertips were tangled in my curls and protecting the back of my head from the stone behind me.
As our mouths twined and he pressed himself further into the vee of my legs, I found myself wholly shocked by the notion that I was at peace. Everything in my head was quiet. My heart was a stuttering mess in my chest, but this felt more natural than it had any right to.
It was a heady feeling to be so wanted by someone, so free in the moment. I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt this way before, not even when I was young and wild. Giving up any semblance of control I kept over myself was arelief. The strange new twist our relationship had taken was not, in fact, a surprise but rather seemed like a foregone conclusion that had finally come to pass.
I realized that all those times we’d bickered and swiped at one another might actually have amounted to extended foreplay. This moment was the culmination of all that and then some.
It had never occurred to me to desire such a thing, but I’d suddenly never wanted anything more.
Chapter8
Magnus
Grace was not a petite woman, but having her trapped below me in my stone form left her far less domineering than usual. I knew it might be one of the few times I could truly claim to have the upper hand with her. If I was honest with myself, I liked it that way.
I loved that she had no compunction about putting me in my place. I would revel in the few moments I was given the honor of putting her in hers. The primal part of me that recognized someone running away as nothing more than prey to be hunted had been fully stimulated as she led me on the chase through the woods. Knowing it was her I was flying after had turned my need to draw blood into something else entirely. Certainly not less intense… just different.
“Grace.” I breathed her name, and the heat of my breath against her neck caused her to shiver. Her pulse fluttered in her throat, the scent of her blood, her arousal… everything that washerfilled my senses. Regrettably, there was still a trace of Gaius lingering as well. My deep inhale spurred a fresh surge of desire and rage to rush through my blood. She moaned as I traced my tongue along the curve of her throat. “I cannot shift back yet.”
She was warm against me, even through the layers of our clothing. “What does that mean?” Her voice was breathy as she blinked up at me, hazel eyes glossy with lust. That normally sharp-tongued mouth was open, drawing my attention to rosy, swollen lips from our kisses. Grace perched her hands on my shoulders, the soft touch of her fingers added a separate layer of fiery electricity running through my skin.
I hadn’t wanted anything the way I wanted her. Not foryears.
“This is the version of me you’ll be getting. In all ways.” I choked on my words as she ground herself against me.
“I like this version of you just fine.” She raised an eyebrow, chuckling playfully at me. “Even when you eat a full week’s worth of groceries in one sitting, I might actually like this version better. It’s hard to be angry with your pretty human face sometimes.”
