Page 45 of Hearts of Stone

“So gargoyles can die?” I asked, frowning. That thought set off a series of questions in my mind. “And how does this all work? Were you born this way?” I imagined tiny little baby gargoyles with grey skin and tiny wings. “Were you once cute baby gargoyles?”

“We will answer all of your questions and more when we get to our destination,” Graven replied, before turning to the others. “To the city. We fly to the pavilion on top of the Whiteley building.”

“Now?!” I squeaked, taking in a sharp breath.

It was a stupid question, but Seneca just smiled down at me.

“Hold on tight, Mistress.” My arm instantly went around his neck. His hair was soft, so soft, compared to the solid mass of his body.

“Because otherwise you might drop me?” I asked in a tremulous voice.

“I’ll never drop you,” he assured me, before beginning to move. “I just like the feel of your little hands on my body.”

Before I could respond, his legs bent, his wings flapped out to display their full span, and he leapt into the air.

I’m ashamed to say I let out a strangled scream. Going flying with three gargoyles had sounded so romantic. I’d imagined gliding through the air, but the reality was quite different. The force required to go from standing on the ground to rising into the air was intense. It felt like gravity tugged at us, trying to pull us back. Wind whipped our faces as Seneca’s every muscle strained while he sought to gain altitude. I was half afraid he wouldn’t, and half afraid he would. Then the three gargoyles let out whoops of excitement as their wings raked through the air. Because they possessed a confidence that I didn’t have.

They knew that they would climb higher and higher as they swept their wings through the air, that their bodies would do exactly as they wished. But by the time I looked down to see that the house had fallen away, becoming nothing more than a toy-shaped thing beneath us, I shared it too.

“We’re flying?” I asked.

“We’re flying,” Seneca said with a nod, before gliding forward.

Chapter 25

Carrick

The little bastard had our mate in his arms.

I half wanted him to fall face forward like the fledgling he was, but the thought of Jade tumbling with him was too much for me to take. Although, perhaps if I arranged it so that I caught her as she fell…?

“You’ll have your chance,” Graven said as he drew closer, wings vibrating in the warm updraft. “Some would say you had yours last night.”

I grinned then with the remembered pleasure of it, although I wanted more. Having her once wasn’t enough. It’d taken some firm words from Graven to get me out of her bed after she’d fallen asleep, once her velvety cunt finally released me from its grip. I’d wanted to tease her awake, just to hear her sounds of pleasure again, but Graven, last night, and then tonight her friend Daniel, had both made clear what needed to be done. I couldn’t rut my mate into loving me, more was the pity, and so I would need to prove I was more than just a cock ready to rise for her.

“I’m making a little detour,” I said, as we flew over the city. It’d been some time since we’d been this far.

“What? Where?” Graven protested. “We agreed—”

“We agreed that Daniel said we must woo our mate.”

I didn’t bother explaining further, swooping down low as I saw a long stretch of parkland. The roses there drew me closer, their sweet scent the closest thing I could find to hers. I heard Graven’s far-off splutters, but not for long as I dipped closer to the earth. Humans were always making useless things. Expanses of parkland for no other reason than to look pretty. Lakes no one fished or swam in. Buildings with architectural features that were just for decoration. But I was about to take advantage of such uselessness.

I glided across a long line of rose bushes, raking my hands through to collect up bloom after bloom, before taking to the air again. So, we were to woo our mate? I would bring her jewels and gold if I thought that would turn her head, even dig up the raw materials from the ground itself with my own hands, but I had a feeling Jade had little interest in such things. She was heir to the Whiteley fortune, so she had no need for material possessions, but perhaps other things of beauty might charm her. My heart lightened as I saw the others reach the stone pavilion set on the roof of Whiteley House. Seneca set Jade on her feet, but her hands still clung to him, as if she couldn’t trust the stone below her and Graven moved in to steady her. I pulled up sharply to drop the bulk of the roses down onto the floor of the pavilion, before coming in to land.

“A bloom for my mistress,” I said as I landed beside her, offering her one rose. “And if that one isn’t satisfactory, I have many more that you can pick from.”

She closed her eyes as she breathed in the flower’s scent, and her eyelids fluttered just like they had when she–

“Mmmm. It’s lovely,” she said, opening her eyes and smiling in appreciation. “But, the whole ‘mistress’ thing…? I don’t want or need you to call me that, to treat me like that.” I took a step closer, feeling hope flare hot within my chest. “I know what it's like to be at the beck and call of someone, and I…” She said, shooting me a sidelong look. “I don’t want that for any of you.”

“Then accept this as a gift instead, Jade.” Her name rolled off the tongue, the sound of it sending shivers through me. I stooped down to the other roses I’d gathered, selecting only the most perfect before handing her a bouquet, leaving the others where they lay. “A symbol of my regard for you.”

At that, a pretty pink flush rose in her cheeks. As she took the roses from me, she smiled then murmured, “Thank you, Carrick.” I’d liked the sound of my name on her lips when she’d gasped it out last night, and I liked it when she said it again now, but I kept my thoughts to myself and just nodded in acknowledgement. Cradling the bouquet in the crook of her arm, Jade seemed to become more confident. “So. That was exhilarating,” she said as she walked forward, looking around. “But…where are—ohh!”

She’d walked to the edge of the pavilion, not knowing that it sat at the very top of a many-storeyed building, and that the lip at the edge gave way to a drop of several metres. I did. My arm shot out, wrapping itself around her waist, before hauling her back. Her heart was racing like a rabbit’s, fast and light, reminding me again of last night, and how it had done just that.

“Careful, Mistress…Jade,” I said, in a low growl. “If you fall, we’ll catch you, but I’d prefer that we didn’t have to.”

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