Page 65 of Cherished By the Gargoyle
I lift my chin defiantly. “I’m in charge of my own destiny. Not him. Not my parents. Not some prophecy.”
“You can’t say such things lightly,” he says, jaw tight. “The consequences—”
“I mean every word,” I insist. “We need to run away, Thalric. Somewhere Malvara can’t find us, somewhere we can just be.”
“We can’t, Auri.” Vulnerability flashes in his gaze before he turns away, fists clenched at his sides. “It’s impossible.”
“It’s only impossible if we decide it is.” I move to stand directly in front of him. “Please, Thalric—” The words catch in my chest. I cannot bring myself to say the rest. Begging himnot to give up feels useless now, when every shadow in his eyes tells me he already has. My voice falters, trembling as I draw in a shaky breath. “Can’t we just… pretend? Just for tonight, that things are still the way they were?”
He studies me intensely, his eyes full of grief, longing, and the love he’s trying so desperately not to show.
I brush my fingers over his cheek; the rough warmth of his skin grounds me even as my heart breaks. “Close your eyes,” I whisper. “Just for a moment. We’re back in Oakvale, in our cave.”
My throat tightens painfully as he closes his eyes. My gaze travels over his face, studying the strong lines of his cheeks and heavyset brow. “Somehow you always knew when I needed you.” My voice cracks as I trace my fingertips along his jaw. “I’d come to you when I’d had a nightmare, and you’d hold me until sunrise. You’d tell me I was safe, and I believed you.” A tear slips down my cheek. “I always believed you.”
His breath catches, a rough, uneven sound that makes my chest ache. For a moment, I think he’ll step back—that he’ll remind me of duty, or curses, or every impossible thing waiting to tear us apart—but then his shoulders relax as the tension leaves his body.
Resting his forehead against mine, he reaches a trembling hand up to cup my cheek, and his voice breaks on my name, “Auri, please—”
“I’m not asking you to betray your duty,” I murmur. “I’m just asking you to hold me. To pretend that nothing else exists this night but us.”
His golden eyes search mine, and I see the moment his resolve crumbles. The world seems to still as he closes the space between us. Tenderly, he wraps his arms around me, and I melt into him with a shuddering breath, pressing my cheek to the warmth of his chest.
His heartbeat thunders beneath my ear, strong and solid. And my breath catches because it is the sound of home. His wings unfurl and sweep forward to cocoon me in shadow and warmth. His masculine scent of rain fills the space around us.
A low purr builds deep in his chest, the vibration thrumming beneath my ear. It eases some of the pain in my heart, soothing what words never could. This is the language that belongs only to us. A sound of devotion that cannot be spoken aloud.
As I nestle against him, his touch is both possessive and tender as he curls his tail around my ankle and tightens his wings around my form.
“Just for tonight,” I whisper against his chest.
He presses a gentle kiss to my temple and murmurs, “Just for tonight.”
Wrapped in his arms, I close my eyes and pretend that love might somehow be enough to hold back curses and fate.
CHAPTER 43
THALRIC
She sleeps nestled within my wings, her breath soft and warm against my chest. My heart aches with every quiet sigh that escapes her lips, every gentle rise and fall of her slender shoulders.
Moonlight spills through the cavern entrance, bathing her in silver. She’s utterly beautiful, achingly vulnerable in sleep, and it breaks something deep inside me knowing what I must do.
She is much smaller than a Gargoyle female. Her kind are fragile compared to mine. And yet, she is strong in other ways. She has the heart of a warrior.
She is brilliant, fierce, and adorably stubborn. My heart still beats within my chest, but it is not mine and it hasn’t been for many years.It is hers.
Studying her delicate and lovely features, I trace my fingers over the petal-soft skin of her cheek. She looks like something sacred… something I was never meant to touch.
I wish I could hold her forever, shield her from the cruelty of fate, but I’ve heard enough to know there’s only one way to truly protect her—one way to ensure she lives.
I have to break her heart.
The thought sends a sharp pain through my chest. Instinctively, I draw her closer, pressing a tender kiss to her forehead, breathing in her scent of warm honeysuckle and lavender.
Bringing her into my nest was a mistake.
Holding her in my arms… it was the sweetest sin of my life. And the cruelest. Because I know what love like this does. It weakens walls. It cracks stone. It destroys everything I was made to be.
