6. Granite

CHAPTER 6

Granite

I hold her hand and it's like liquid lava flows through my veins. She's my fire. My phoenix burning me in the pyre of her renewal.

Tearing me down to ashes and rebuilding my heart one stinging touch at a time.

When we reach the edge of the square which is lit with torches and hanging lanterns giving off a soft, ethereal glow, I hold out my hand to her and she moves gracefully into my arms.

The music swells around us and it's like we're all alone in the darkness and patches of light. Our figures twine gracefully to the feverish pitch of the orchestra's madness and we dance to the music of nightmares.

A violin screech doesn't even lift my head. All my focus is on her lovely emerald eyes, darkened to almost black with desire.

I wrap my hands around her slender waist and then settle them on her lush hips. We're perfectly in tune as we twist and dip. Our heads close together, our puffing breaths one.

I stare down into her green gaze and smile. "Can you feel the magic all around us, sweet one? Can you feel the tenuous thread between us building until it's a solid chain of gold that can't be severed by anything less than pure magic. That is our lot in life. To be together forever. To live and love, raise our family and go out into the world as one."

She raises a soft auburn brow. "A family? We've only known each other for hours, Granite. There's nothing here yet to build a family with."

"Well, at least you said yet," I huff under my breath.

Her hand is tiny inside mine and her body flows sinuously, curvy and molten to my touch.

"You may think that I'm an easy target because I haven't had much to do with men, Granite. That's not the case. I haven't had anything to do with men because I don't trust them. My own family taught me that."

I hug her closer and our steps falter, no longer perfectly in sync. Her flowing skirts ripple around us, like a veil that I'd love to tear to pieces and finally see the rest of the body that calls to me like a siren.

"Tell me about you, sweet one."

She shrugs. "Not much to tell. Woman meets man. They do some things they shouldn't have and a child comes from it. Then the man decides that he's not ready to tie himself down to family life and he leaves on barely a cloud of dust. Then last year I lost my mother too."

"Your father left you? How could he do that?"

She huffs and chews on her full, pink bottom lip. "Well, I don't see your father hanging around either."

My eyes drift shut. "My father died two hundred years ago. Gargoyles are magical beings but that doesn't mean that they can't be killed."

Her eyes widen on me and her pretty little mouth hangs open. "How old are you?"

I grin at her. "I'm not that old for a gargoyle, Angela. But I am four hundred years old."

Her lips close and she sputters, "F-f-four hundred years old!"

I tilt my head and grin at her. "Does that change how you feel about me?"

I can almost see the little dots over the top of her strawberry-blond head as she thinks. She's so easy to read that it's almost criminal. She can't hide a thing from me. It's much better than it's ever been since….

My train of thought jerks to a halt. I will not think of her.

I settle my fingers tighter around her slender waist and my hand is so big that the swell of her hips is covered too. Her skin is warm underneath the thin, slippery fabric and I can feel her taut muscles bunching under my fingers. I tighten them and grip her waist and hips until I know I'm leaving a mark underneath. My dick jerks and a possessive desire rips through me like a wildfire.

This woman is mine. More and more I can see our future together, our small children lined up in front of us in a park as they smile and settle into learning how to glide and fly. Angela wringing her hands in worry and then jumping up and down as they take their first flights, her gorgeous green eyes shimmering with pride. Her large breasts would bounce and my mouth waters.

I want that future more than anything in the world.

But just as I'm opening my mouth to beg her, plead with her to please come home with me, a scream rings out in the crowd of dancers. My head jerks up and since I'm taller than anyone else in this crowd, I immediately spot the strange, huge dog with wild eyes running through the crowd.

I want to laugh. Seriously? Humans. Although I'm sure that a shifter wolf might be shocking for some. Living around here though, they better get used to it.

And Halloween is the perfect time to learn what's hanging out in the dark around you.

I look down at her and her green eyes are wide and dark, her thick lashes fluttering and her peach cheeks flushed.

"Would you like to see my place?"

I couldn't be more shocked when she says yes and follows me through the crowd to the the road.

"I only travel one way, sweetheart." I lift her into my arms, enjoying the light weight of her and leap into the air, my wings going wide.