Page 86 of Hearts of Stone

Jade

I woke up in a world of pain. My head throbbed, my stomach roiled and my neck…

My neck?

My hand slapped down on it, wincing when I felt a little flare of pain. After a moment, though, it turned to something quite different: a heavy, slow, sensual feeling, like a dark tide sweeping over me. A tsunami of sensation forced my thighs to part, my back to arch, and my nipples to ache so sweetly. Trailing my hand down my body, I was chasing the feeling of imminent ecstasy, but then my brain woke up a little more and I started asking myself what the hell was going on, because going from zero to 100 kilometres per hour in three seconds flat was not something that had happened before. Like, ever. I snatched my hand away and forced my eyes open. In the mirrors above, I saw the reflection of a grand mess that looked like the morning after some sort of Bacchanalian rite.

Stained sheets were strewn over the bed and the bed cover was half on the floor. All of the bedclothes and I could verify this because I was lying on top of them, stank of wine. And there,right in the middle of it all, was me, naked, swollen with pleasure and sporting a very large bruise on my neck. After blinking at my reflection for a little while, very slowly turning my head this way and that, I decided I needed to be able to see it better. Sitting bolt upright, I instantly regretted moving so suddenly. I massaged my fingertips against my temples and when my headache was back to a dull throb, I cautiously made my way to the side of the bed. Wary of making any kind of sudden movement, I stood up very slowly then gingerly waddled towards the bathroom, a little bow-legged, feeling like I’d been riding a horse drunk. I made it to the bathroom mirror and squinted at my reflection, then just stood there like a stunned mullet, my eyes getting bigger and bigger as I stared at myself.

I was paler than normal, and I had the classic panda eyes that happen when you forget to take off your mascara after a big night on the turps. But what had my attention was the mark on my neck. It was a bite. A great big bite. It wasn’t a really enthusiastic hickey or even just a miscellaneous bruise, either of which I would have been able to cover up pretty easily. No, this was an actual bite mark. You could see where incisors had broken the skin and how the puncture wounds were lightly scabbed over. I lifted my hand up to the bite, tracing my fingers around the indentations, then I was overwhelmed by the same sensations I’d had earlier. I had to slam my hands down on the counter just to stay on my feet. I dropped my head back as I rode another wave of pleasure so sharp it made something inside me clench, hard. And all of a sudden I remembered feeling the same way last night. And then I remembered who with…and what he’d said…

“Jade, you’re the only woman for me. The world can go cold and turn to dust and I’ll still carry you in my heart.”

I heard Seneca’s voice like he was standing right behind me, his massive body sheltering me from the rest of the world. Ishivered as I remembered how it had felt as his claws raked across my skin right before he tugged me closer. And how he held me like I was the most precious thing in the universe. And…

Oh, boy…I’d formed a mating bond with a gargoyle last night.

I started blinking a mile a minute while I tried to process that idea. I searched my emotions for signs of unhappiness, of fear, but found something else instead.

Love.

I shook my head, struggling with the idea. It seemed like everything was happening too damn fast. What if this was some kind of rebound thing and I’d wake up in a year to realise that what I’d thought I was feeling wasn’t real. The thought of that terrified me. I took a deep breath, then realised that the moment my mind had concocted these ideas, my heart had rejected them. Trevor and I had broken up months ago, but that wasn’t all. That relationship, the one I’d put so much of myself into? The truth was that I’d been in it on my own. Trevor had really just been along for the ride, ready to take everything he could get. And when a better offer had come along, he’d taken it. But what I’d shared with Seneca… I looked back into the mirror, staring past the puffiness in my face and my bloodshot eyes, and saw something else entirely.

A woman who was loved.

Recognising that helped dull the pulse of my headache, as did the regulation Panadol and glass of Berocca. I jumped in the shower and scrubbed myself clean. By the time I’d dried off and was dressed, I was feeling good enough to deal with the bedroom. After picking up wine bottles and stripping the bed, I realised that the rest of the mess would require more experience and equipment than I had at my disposal so I resolved to call a carpet cleaner and get them to sort it out. Bundling the sheets up to take down to the washing machine, I bounced down the hall to Daniel’s room to tell him the news.

“Rise and shine, mother…”

My voice trailed away when I saw the room was empty, the bed undisturbed. I frowned and grabbed my phone out, juggling the sheets as I put a call through.

“What…?”

His voice was little more than a croak.

“Jesus, Daniel, where are you?”

“Hey, babe. Where am I?” His tone turned lazy, satisfied, like a cat lying in a pool of sunlight. “Pinned underneath a satyr, a dryad, and a minotaur with the most prodigious dick.” I heard a rough snort in the background. “Damn, girl, I came so fucking hard I saw literal stars.”

“Oh, well, cool.” I forced myself to smile. “So you’re OK?”

“Yes, Mother. I’ll be back later.” A rumbling sound in the background made it clear that whatever he’d been up to, he wasn’t done. “Much, much later. Kisses.”

And with that, the phone line went dead.

I wanted to share my news, but yeah, even I knew that the middle of a multi-species orgy wasn’t a great time for that. But then, as if in response to my wish to have someone to tell about it, I heard the front door open.

“Jade?” Mellors’ smooth tones floated up the stairs. “Jade, are you around?”

“Coming.”

I dropped the sheets before heading downstairs, feeling that the relationship I had with my lawyer wasn’t quite at the stage where I could explain the state of my bed linen by sharing drunken sexcapades.

“Ah, there you are!” Mellors looked the epitome of professional elegance in his suit, whereas I was in my whole lot more casual garb. “I’ve made some progress on the matter we spoke about before.” Before? Although the headache had dissipated, my brain felt like tar: squishy and sticky and difficultto navigate. My blank expression obviously clued him in that I had no idea what he was talking about, and he smiled before continuing. “Your desire to get involved in some charity work?”

“Oh yeah, right! I’m sorry, my head is a mess this morning. I’m just about to have a coffee. Did you want one?”

“Thank you. I’d love one,” he said, following me into the kitchen. He sat down at the kitchen counter when I waved a hand at the stools there, and I busied myself with getting the coffee going while he told me a few details about an event that he thought could be useful.

---