Page 13 of Cherished By the Gargoyle
My lips twitch as she guides me to the bakery. When we step inside, we’re immediately enveloped in warmth and the scent of cinnamon, honey, and fresh bread.
The space feels impossibly small and cramped for my large frame, and I have to carefully duck beneath the low doorway, wings tight against my back.
Aurora moves with ease, her eyes sparkling at the array of pastries—berry tarts, sugared buns, cream-filled sweets, and lemon cakes dusted with powdered sugar.
And of course—there he is.
Reid, the baker’s son. Tall, blond, and far too charming, he smiles brightly the moment he sees Aurora.
“Aurora, it’s good to see you again,” Reid greets her warmly. He grins. “You too, Thalric.”
Reid is not a bad person. We grew up with him. In fact, I consider him a friend. The problem is that he’s handsome. For a human, that is. So much so that he has the reputation of being a heartbreaker with a wandering eye.
And lately his gaze has begun to linger upon Aurora. So even if I like him, I cannot help but respond to him as I would a rival male trying to steal my mate.
“Hi, Reid,” I reply, making sure to flash my sharp fangs as I smile at him in return.
“Just give me a moment.” He grins at Auri. “Your usual table is empty, but I need to clean it.”
As he walks away, Aurora elbows me subtly. “Be nice,” she whispers. “He’s your friend.”
“I know.” I sigh. “I just… don’t like the way he looks at you.”
She frowns. “How does he look at me?”
“Like he did at Nyra before he eventually broke her heart.”
She purses her lips. “Reid and I are just friends, and he knows that, Thalric.”
I bite back a groan as her “friend” returns. “Right this way.” He smiles brightly, extending his hand as if to rest it on the small of her back, but my wing snaps out before I can stop it, knocking it away.
“Ow!” He jerks back, shaking his hand as he scowls up at me. “What was that?”
“Wing twitch.” I shrug. “Involuntary. It happens sometimes.”
When we take a seat at the table, my tail winds possessively around her ankle before I even realize I’ve done it. Thankfully, Aurora doesn’t pull away. She never does.
Something fiercely possessive stirs inside me at the realization.
She orders lemon cake—a surprising change from her usual berry tart. Her first bite draws a soft hum of pleasure from her lips, a blissful sound that nearly undoes me completely.
My heart stutters in my chest, warmth and desire rushing through my veins.
“You didn’t get your usual,” I remark. “Why?”
“Fiora told me lemon cake is one dessert Gargoyles actually enjoy. Thought I’d see if she was right.”
She thought of me?
Auri spears a piece with her fork and holds it out to me. “Want to try it?”
The knowledge that I’ll be eating from a utensil that passed her lips is enough to quell any hesitation. Seven hells, she could offer me raw snails at this moment and I’d try them anyway, just to taste something that has been in her delicate mouth.
It’s even better that she feeds it to me, the same way a Gargoyle would do when wooing a mate. The flavor is surprisingly tart with only a hint of sweetness. “It’s delicious.”
“See?” she beams triumphantly. “I found something we can share.”
My heart squeezes. I long more than anything to take her as my mate.
