2. Asa

CHAPTER 2

Asa

“ G oodnight, Daddy,” Celestite whispers as I lean in to kiss her forehead.

I tuck her in tighter and turn to Jasper who’s staring at me eagerly awaiting his kiss.

“What if the bogeyman comes back?” he asks and I cup his little cheek.

“Then Mommy and I will kick their behinds. And don’t forget. You’re…”

“Part gargoyle, part witch,” both of them sing in unison.

“Exactly. And no bogeyman would ever dare mess with our family. Isn’t that right?”

“Damn right,” Celestite says.

I chuckle before I compose myself.

“What did we say about using that word, Cel?”

She grimaces.

“But Mommy uses it, all. The. Time!”

“Yeah,” I shrug. “But Mommy is the boss.”

“Whatever!” She puts her hand and turns away from me with the same attitude she’s inherited from her mom and I can’t help but smile.

How have I gotten so lucky in my life to have the best, most beautiful family I could have ever asked for?

“Okay, you two. Sleep tight and don’t let the critters of the night bite.”

I kiss them again for good measure before I retreat to my bedroom, where I find my beautiful wife sitting in bed, reading one of her mystery novels.

“Are they out?” She raises her head and closes the book on her fingers so she doesn’t lose her page and I lay down beside her.

“They were asking about the bogeyman again.”

Sapphire shakes her head and sets her novel down between us.

“I blame your genes,” she hums as she wraps her arm around my waist and pulls me closer.

I grimace.

“How is it my fault?”

“Faulty genes. They’re supposed to be fearless, strong gargoyles. But they took too much after you.” She smirks.

“Oh yeah? And how do you know it’s not your witchy genes messing them up?”

She chuckles, biting her lip.

“You’ve met my family, Asa-boo. We’re the most kickass witches there ever were.”

I blow raspberries although, thanks to my stony composition it sounds more like a rockfall.

“You’re delusional!” I push a strand of her beautiful blond hair behind her ear and she hums, closing her eyes.

“If this is a delusion, then I don’t ever want to be sane, ever!” she mutters under her breath and I kiss her mouth, her neck, her tits, every part of her I love and savor.

And not two minutes later she’s lying on her back holding my head between her legs and I flick my tongue across her clit over and over while I slide my fingers in and out of her with the mastery of a husband who knows his wife inside out.

Goosebumps form all over her skin and she hisses when I replace them with my cold, stone cock and tower over her, my wings draping around us like a cocoon.

With each thrust inside her, her eyes grow bigger, her jaw drops lower and her gasps turn to soft moans to full-blown primal grunts and not only do I trap them with my mouth, I match her in tone.

There’s nothing like being in sync with your other half, the better part of you, to seeing the pleasure spread through their entire body and flow through to you with the same intensity.

There’s nothing sweeter than being inside my Sapphie, swallowing her moans as if they’re the only sustenance I could ever need. I throb just at the thought and she catches her breath feeling my stone cock expand inside her channel for a moment. But I don’t stop. I won’t stop until she’s come over and over and over again.

I use my fingers to trace her neck, her collarbone, her tits, full and round just the way I love them and I flap my wings so I can levitate above her and use both hands to rub her nipples and stroke her clit at the same time, all the while deepening our kiss and our inevitable orgasms.

When she pushes my chest and takes a deep breath I drive myself inside her, all the way to the root and feel every single gasp and jolt of her body. As if I need an excuse to let go, I spill inside her, planting my seed in her, thinking how we could be making a new baby right this very moment. How gorgeous she’d look being pregnant again. How stunning and glowing with my child inside her.

And its with these thoughts that I keep making love to her, even when I’m spent as anything, substituting my shriveled up pebble with my fingers and tongue once again. All the way into the night.

“Can you imagine?” she asks me, all out of breath beside me a few hours later.

“Imagine what? If you hadn’t cast the soundproofing spell in the bedroom? I don’t even want to…” I chuckle although I’m so tired it barely comes out as a single breath.

“No, silly. Can you imagine if we’d never met?”

“What brought that on?” I stroke her face and she looks into my eyes, although I don’t need her to answer.

It’s the nature of her powers. To see endless possibilities in every person, every interaction.

She shrugs.

“I just…I can see life without you and I hate it. I hate it so much.”

“Aw my Sapphie, come here.” I take her in my arms and she fits perfectly there like she always has. “Focus on this life, our life. We’re together. And we’ll never, ever be apart.”

I rock her back and forth until sleep takes her and with her so comfortably tucked against me, it doesn’t take much longer for me to close my eyes and…

Open them again.

The cool breeze of the night brushes past my skin but it barely affects me. The church clock chimes midnight and with each one, my limbs come to life one by one until I can stand to my full height and look out into Beastly Falls.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes, trying to go back to her, back to my dream, back to the life I can only live when I turn into a statue. It’s so unfair having to go every night without her. To have to live even the mere few hours of my cursed life without her and without our children.

But, it’s just a dream.

It’s time to do my job in the real world. So I take to the skies and fly around town looking for trouble. Not that there’s much of that in our town. That’s what happens when we’re all in each other’s business twenty-four seven without outside interference.

It’s been like that for the past two decades. We’re a family, whether we like it, or not. But like every family that spends way too much time with each other, disputes can arise. Animosities even. Thankfully, we’ve never had that many in all the time we’ve been cursed to be all alone, cut off from the rest of the world.

I notice a young teenager fall off his bike and scrape his knee so I land beside him and carry him back home.

And then there’s Mrs. Whiskers, stuck in that damn tree outside her house once again so I help her down and make her go back inside before I make my way to Moonlit Café.

Roosevelt growls a greeting when I enter and I take a seat at the bar since I’m only here for my usual and every booth in the house is taken by vampires, werewolves, and other creatures of the night and their families.

It takes Roosevelt a few minutes before he gets to me, but when he does he’s holding a plate and my glass of cherry cola.

“Sorry about the wait,” he grumbles and sets my order down. “I tried something new today.”

He points at my sandwich.

“When do you not?” I chuckle but the wolf doesn’t share my entertainment.

He really is a sweet guy, despite appearances. And he never jokes about food. Once upon a time he was a Michelin star chef. Now, he’s Chef Savage to everyone in town.

“I soaked the bread in pickle juice, air-dried it and toasted it.”

I smile.

“Sounds delicious,” I tell him and pick up my pickle and jelly sandwich.

As usual, it tastes like heaven on Earth. And it doesn’t matter that I’m the only person in the world that finds the combo appealing, Roosevelt always tries to elevate it for me, to “keep my palate happy”, as he says.

Some may like fried eggs and blood-boiled potatoes, or a liquid Bloody Mary heavy on the blood, but this was my weakness and guilty pleasure. Plus it went down much better than anything else I’ve ever tried.

“Come back before sunrise and I might have a new recipe, my friend,” Roosevelt says as I finish up and I pat his shoulder.

“If I have the time,” I say, as usual. But when have I ever not had the time to drop by. It’s not like our town is rife with crime.

But one never knows so I go back to work, back to my calling and fly across town looking for anyone in need of help.

When the clock strikes one I hear it. The scream. It’s ear-piercing and heartwarming at the same time, which is the most confusing feeling in the world. As is the familiarity of it.

I let my sense of advanced hearing guide me to her, guide me to the town’s borders on the North side and into the muddy trenches.

But when I look at her, when I look at those bright blue eyes that pierce through the night like little gemstones, my wings waver and I land on my ass next to her.

Next to my…dream wife.

Sapphire.