8. Granite

CHAPTER 8

Granite

" O f course! Where else would a gargoyle live but a castle," I huff.

She turns to glare at me. "Honestly, I don't know what to think about you most of the time. Do you think maybe you should have mentioned we were going to a castle?"

My brow quirks. "Why would that make a difference? You are beautiful and truly, the only place special enough for you is a castle."

I shake my head. "You're ridiculous. I'm nothing special."

I lean closer and touch her cheek gently, the softness of her skin making my rough fingers flex lightly. "You are special. You are the most special woman I've ever met."

Her green eyes lift and I can see the uncertainty in her gaze. "But…why? I'm only human." Her slim hand waves at me. "You are special, magical. I'm none of that."

I cradle her face lightly, my claws dancing on her sharp jaw gently. "My love, none of that. Even if you are human, there is no other human like you. You are one of a kind. A magical being in your own right. You were made for me. No other woman will do."

Her skeptical eyes drift towards the castle. "It's very imposing."

I shrug. "I'm a big gargoyle. I need space. And this place belonged to my family. Five generations of gargoyles have called this place home. Don't you have anything that belongs to your family? Something that you'll pass down to our children?"

She shakes her head sadly. "Most humans don't have things like that." Her eyes turn inward. Then a slight smile curves her pink lips. "Well, except for this." She holds up a hand with a silver ring on it. The gem in the middle of the ring is round and glows with an inner fire. "My mother loved fire opals and when she passed away when I was young, my dad put this ring away for me. He passed away about six months ago. He was sick for a long time before that." Her shoulders slump and she sighs. "I spent the last two years taking care of him. As soon as he passed away, I came out here looking for Jemma but I just haven't been able to find her and the town is strange."

I nod my head but my eyes stay fixated on the cool rock on her finger. A puff of smoke curls around my head and Angela waves her hand at me. "What the hell is going on with you, Granite?"

"I don't know. But that ring has magic clinging to it and whatever magic it is is super old and strong."

I know I've seen that ring before. Somewhere.

I shake my head and slip out of whatever trance it pulled me into. "Let's go look at my home, little one. After all, soon it will be your home."

She rolls her eyes but doesn't bother arguing with me. I consider that progress..

When we reach the studded front door, she steps up to it and her soft, slender hands run across it in wonder. "I can't even believe that someplace like this exists in these woods. So close to home."

"It is home."

She sighs. "I wish I could believe all this, Granite. But every time I consider that this is real, I start thinking about how weird it all is. It's so fast. Too fast. And what happens if it burns out just as fast?"

I grunt as I open the door and lightly guide her inside. "It's meant to be. It is fate and no matter how much you try and tell your logical side that fate doesn't exist, you really should see the evidence all around you every day. People find each other all the time with huge differences, huge challenges to overcome. But they all make it work. And so will we."

Her dark eyes drift up to mine as the door shuts behind us. The scent of her clings to the air all around me. I can scent her arousal in the walls and everything around us. Her fingers trace along my hand and she moves closer.

"I wish I knew what your secrets are, Granite. I sense that there is something you're holding back. Something that's important but you don't want to tell me what it is. Why? Because it might change how I feel about you or what you tell me? Because it's so bad that I would look at you unfavorably?"

I huff out a breath. "Damnation, woman. You are like a dog with a bone. I'm not hiding something devious from you. I'm no murderer. I'm just a male who wants to woo his mate."

"Why so quick? What's the timeline?"

I whip away from her, snarling, "why do you have to make this such a big damn deal?"

"Talk to me, Granite. Tell me what's going on."

I turn back quickly and stalk up to her, my whole body trembling with rage and fear. What if she decides that she can't be mine? What if I turn to stone and don't come back? That's always a fear but never more so than now because if I don't come back, I lose her before I have her. I can't take that. Rage and fear possess my soul and I grasp her arms pulling her to me.

"You know that you can't fight this, little one. Why do you try? Why can't you just admit that we're one? We belong together forever."

My skin quivers as her delicate fingers trimmed with jewels trace my arm and up to my neck as she wraps them around me. Her eyes are wide, like she's entranced by something she sees. "I don't know why but I trust you, Granite. I want you even though I know it isn't smart and it's so damn complicated," she whispers. "I still want you."

I lean down and then tug her up until her muscular legs wrap around my waist. "So give yourself to me. I promise you, mate. I will never hurt you. It would be like cutting my own heart out."

She nods her head but I groan, my nose running along her throat as she tips her head back. "You need to give me the words, mate."

She looks at me and her eyes glitter in the dark hall. "I want you, Granite. Right now."

It's not forever. But for now I'll take this small win. It might be all I get if she decides that she can't stay forever.

My fingers surround her face and I lean close. "You are mine," I hiss.

My lips descend on hers and fire soars up inside my body like a roaring wildfire tearing through a forest. She tastes like the sweetest, most intoxicating wine and I sip from her mouth, drinking in her soft moans, our tongues tangling together, wrapped in a mating dance of their own.

"Take me, Granite. I want to feel you inside me."

Her whispered words against my throat have my dick throbbing wildly. "Fuck, Angela. Don't tease me, little one. I want this moment to last forever."

"Forever isn't a given for everyone. We may only have this moment." I can see by the shadows in her eyes she's thinking of her parents. It breaks my heart to think that she feels so alone and tormented by their loss.

I lift her up and carry her bridal-style down the hall and up the stairs to my bedroom. She shivers but her eyes stay locked on mine, desire coiling like banked flames deep inside their verdant depths.

When I reach the bedroom, I let her curvy little body slide down mine, her mouth opening on a silent gasp. I lean down and whisper in her ear, "last chance to change your mind, little one. I'm so close to losing my own mind that I'm about to snap and I don't know if I'll be able to stop if you change your mind."

She shakes her head and her body slips to the floor, her full skirt pooling around her like a waterfall of peach lace and sequins. Her fingers fumble with my loin cloth which is pushed out obscenely. My dick jerks as her fingers fumble around my thick length.

"Fuck," I hiss wildly. "That feels so good, mate."

She bares my dick to her gaze and her eyes widen. A quick flash of fear has me stilling. "Are you still sure, mate? We can wait."

Her head shakes and she gulps a breath. "No…it's just... Wow, that's a lot."

I huff out a chuckle. "All of me is yours, mate. So if it's a lot, it's a lot that's all yours."

She grins wickedly and her fingers close around my thickness again. I hiss out a breath and she laughs. "I suppose that means that I'm a lucky girl, doesn't it?"

Then her soft lips wrap around just the tip of my dick and time stops, my heart stilling in my chest.

"Oh fuck," I groan. Warm and wet, dark and tempting. Her tongue tracing my tip as she draws me deep. She gags and the sudden movement has my cock jerking, my spine tingling as I fight the waves of desire rocketing through me.

"That's enough of that, little mate."

She pouts as I pull her off. "I didn't do it right?"

"You did it way too right. I was about to blow down that pretty throat of yours. I'm not about to come if it's not in that pretty pussy of yours."

But first, it's my turn to taste you."

I lay her down on the bed and flip her long skirts up, my fingers tangling in them until I tear a small hole in the back. She gasps. "Hey!"

"I'll buy you three more. Hell, I'll buy you ten more," I grunt under my breath as I finally expose what I've been dreaming about since I first heard her voice.

"So damn pretty." I reach forward and trace my tongue along her slit, tasting her juices on my tongue and drawing the scent, the taste of her all the way down to my bones.

This is what I've spent centuries waiting for. And it's finally all mine. My mate.