Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

MORGAN

I let Klaus lift me in his strong arms and carry me to the spiral staircase and up to the roof of the tower. The conical shape of the spire beside us is covered with a thick layer of snow, as is the landing platform we emerge onto. I recognize my issue the moment the first snowflakes drift onto my blanket—I'm still barefoot, my boots drying downstairs by the fire. And even if they were dry, I wouldn't want to risk shoving my injured foot into one because that would hurt .

But Emmerich is there, crouched on the edge of the platform like a Gothic statue, resting in the same position they showed me earlier, his fists on the ground, his wings tucked against his back.

"Let me down," I whisper to Klaus.

He frowns at me. "Your feet will freeze. I will hold you while you two talk."

Emmerich twists halfway, glancing at us over his shoulder. He doesn't come any closer, but he will, I know it. I might be playing on his protective instincts, but I need him to stop sulking —or worse, prevent him from flying off into the night and leaving me alone here with Klaus.

If this new relationship is to work, we'll all have to change our ways. Since they're more statue-like than any other creature I've ever seen, this may be difficult for them, but I know we can make it. The last thing I want is to ruin their relationship, so I will do everything in my power to avoid that.

"You have to let me go," I tell Klaus. "Please, I know what I'm doing."

I'm not—not really. But I'm hoping that Emmerich's instinct will prevail, and that seeing me in discomfort will override whatever he's currently thinking.

Klaus frowns at me, his thick black eyebrows drawing together. He sniffs at me as if confirming I'm serious, then blows out a long sigh and carefully lowers me to the snowy floor.

I gasp as my feet hit the ice-cold flagstones. This close to the roof entrance, they're covered with a scant inch of snow, but when I step forward, making my slow way toward Emmerich, the drifts reach my ankles, then rise up my calves.

Damn it. If this doesn't work, I might get cold burn after all.

I half twist around to glance at Klaus. "I'll yell if I need help. Can you wait for us downstairs?"

He stares at me for a moment, then dips his chin in a curt nod and disappears down the stairs. I hope this doesn't mean he's gone off to mope, but I'll deal with him later if I have to. One problem—or gargoyle—at a time.

Emmerich hasn't taken his eyes off me since Klaus brought me up to the roof. He moves slightly now, shifting his position so he can keep me in his sights.

"Hey," I call out, hoping my voice will carry over the whistling wind.

The storm is picking up, and once again, I'm incredibly glad Klaus found me in the forest when he did.

"Go back inside, Morgan," Emmerich replies, his deep voice floating over to me. "It is not safe for you out here."

I stop and cross my arms over my chest to hide my shivering. "I'm not going anywhere unless you come with me."

His frown is visible even through the flurries of snow. "That's not funny. You will die out here. Go down to Klaus, he will keep you warm."

Ah, there we go .

"I want both of you there." I shuffle my feet in an effort to keep some feeling in them."And Klaus needs you, too."

He heaves a deep sigh, then unfurls to his full height, straightening his shoulders. His wings flare out as he shakes the snow from them, and then he's in front of me, moving faster than I would have thought. He's so big , so unearthly in this moment, but I'm not afraid. Whether it's this mating thing playing with my emotions or something else, I don't care—all I know is that I feel a deep sense of safety whenever Emmerich and Klaus are near me. It should have been impossible for me to be this relaxed, but I am—with the exception of my freezing feet.

Emmerich swoops down and lifts me into his arms as if he's reading my thoughts. "You're putting yourself at risk. For me. I don't like that."

I shuffle around in his embrace, holding on to the blanket with one hand until I end up with my legs around his waist and my other hand clutching at his shoulder. It's a precarious position, but I know Emmerich won't let me fall.

"What happened?" I ask him softly. "Why did you leave?"

He gazes down at me with his serious blue eyes. The light coming from the staircase is the only illumination up here, and it casts half his face in shadow, reminding me of how handsome he is.

"I was jealous," he admits.

I press my lips together. This is exactly what I didn't want. But we have to clear away this issue, or we'll never work. I want… more from them, but I can't possibly take another step with either of them if we're not all on the same page here.

"Of Klaus?" I ask. "Or of me?"

Maybe the first step to healing this rift is figuring out Emmerich's emotions. Or maybe it's removing me from the equation. I might have to ask Klaus to fly me back home after all.

"Both," Emmerich grumbles. "It's a complicated thing, is it not? I want you more than anything, and seeing you in Klaus' arms made me want to rip his wings off. But at the same time, Klaus has been mine for so long, I don't know how to share him yet."

He leans his forehead against mine, his skin warm. His exhale steams in the frigid air between us, reminding me that I'll have to return inside soon or risk hypothermia. But I can't leave or ask him to take me downstairs before we figure this out.

"Do you think this is just growing pains?" I ask, my heart constricting as my question formulates in my mind. "Or do you think it'll be impossible for us to stay together as a roost and not end up resenting each other?"

Emmerich blinks, his eyebrows climbing high. "What? I don't think that. I left you alone because I'm the problem. I need to get my head on straight and stop fussing, and I didn't want to spoil your evening. We were just starting to build a nest, and you and Klaus looked so cozy together, so?—"

I put a hand over his mouth to stop the flood of his words. "Wait. You removed yourself because you thought you would—what? Kill our mood?"

He shrugs as if this isn't a big issue.

"Emmerich!" I smack his hard chest lightly, the gesture awkward from my position. "Your feelings are important ! You're not supposed to leave whenever you feel a negative emotion."

He frowns and grips me tighter, his hands squeezing my thigh and waist. "But… It was so easy with Klaus."

"You mean before I arrived?" I stare up at him, trying to understand. "You've never fought?"

He scoffs. "Of course we've fought. Have you met him? He would argue about whether the sky is blue on a grumpy day."

"Okay?" I peer into his eyes, still confused. "So what?—?"

"I didn't have to share his attention." His wings flare wider as a gust of wind blasts the tower, and he wraps us in a safe cocoon, moving closer to the wall. "And he didn't have to share mine. How can I make sure that neither one of you feels left behind when I am with the other? I want to lavish you with all my love and spend weeks trying to figure out how to make you scream, Morgan, but what will Klaus think of that? And what if he wants to do the same? Will we have to draw up a schedule to make sure no one is abandoned?"

Oh .

"I thought we might…do it all together," I blurt, heat rising in my cheeks. "I mean, I don't… I just didn't even…"

My words fail me as a deep rumble starts in Emmerich's chest. It's a growl and a purr combined, and it vibrates against me, more sensation than sound.

"Together?" he demands. "You—you would do that?"

I open my mouth to reply, but he's already moving. He throws the door to the stairway wide and stomps down the stairs, barely pausing to latch the door behind us. He holds me tight to his chest and moves one hand to the back of my neck to press me closer, as if he's worried he might drop me.

"Klaus!" he calls the moment he bursts into their main living room. "Did you know Morgan wants us both to be with her? At the same time?"

"Oh my God," I groan, thumping my forehead against his chest. "Emmerich! What did we say about?—"

"I thought it had to be one or the other, with someone always being left out," my gargoyle continues, his deep voice rising in excitement. "But if we can be together, all three of us, no one will be sad."

A beat of silence follows his declaration, and I finally force myself to lift my head and look at Klaus. He's kneeling in the nest, stuffing a pillow into a deep-purple pillowcase, the tassels on the corners twitching merrily with his every movement. But he stills now, then slowly lowers the cushion to his lap.

"Is that what you were worried about?" he asks, his deep voice low. "That Morgan and I would abandon you?"

"Yes," Emmerich admits. "Or that you would feel alone when I'm with her, or?—"

"Or that I would be hurt, yes," I finish for him. "And that might still happen. We won't always be able to be together as a trio."

"But most of the time?" Emmerich asks, focusing back on me.

I flush under his intense scrutiny. "I think we can agree to do that, yeah. Most of the time."

We both turn to look at Klaus, who is staring at us as if we're mad.

"What?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "I've heard of roosts like that. But I didn't think… Not with…"

"Not with me," I finish, a lump forming in my throat. "Is that it?"

He pushes himself to his feet and comes closer. I squirm in Emmerich's arms until he puts me down, and I take a step away from him, even though my body is telling me this is a terrible idea. I should be trying to get closer to the amazingly gorgeous gargoyle, not moving in the opposite direction.

But I need to stand on my own two feet for this conversation, even if my ankle still hurts a bit. I grit my teeth and do my best not to show it, but Klaus frowns at me and nudges me backward until I take one of the chairs they brought closer to the fire earlier.

Then he crouches in front of me so I don't have to crane my neck, and my heart does a stupid little flip because he's always thinking of me, trying to make me as comfortable as possible.

I've never had that with anyone. I didn't even feel this respected with Andy, and I was set to marry him.

I don't know what that says about me or my choice in men. Honestly, I don't think I should be drawing any conclusions or making decisions right now. It's been such a long day, and if I wasn't so certain we need to finish this conversation, I'd ask the guys to just let me go to bed.

But Klaus' gray eyes are serious, and he clearly has something to say, so I swallow down the hurt and uncertainty and nod for him to continue.

"You are human," he says slowly, as if choosing his words with care. "And we're not."

I squint at him, trying to see where he's getting at. "Yes, I know," I say finally. "Is that an issue?"

Emmerich joins us, settling in the armchair I rested in earlier. He reaches out and takes my hand, then rubs my palm with his thumbs, as if softening me up for whatever is coming, but I like it too much to pull my hand away from him.

Klaus shakes his head, his silky black hair slipping over his shoulders. He has silvery strands in it, starting at his temples, and somehow that makes him even more attractive to me.

"When gargoyles fuck, we like to…" He pauses and glances at Emmerich, then groans and rattles off a few words in German.

Before I can get worried about what he's saying, Emmerich grins at him, then focuses on me.

"We like to fuck a lot. And loudly. And hard," he explains, pressing harder on my palm.

I bite back a groan of pleasure, my eyelids fluttering. "I don't see a problem with that."

Klaus drags a palm down his face. "Do you know how gargoyles were created?"

I blink at the sudden change in conversation. "Uh, no? Evolution, I assume?"

His lips twitch up in the corners, just slightly, a hint of a smile. "Legend says we were born out of stone. Supposedly, our ancestors were statues, guarding buildings and protecting their inhabitants, but one day, a particularly powerful witch decided she needed more than just a scary statue on her roof and breathed life into her sculptures."

"Oh." I squirm, my analytical mind churning. "But, um, that's probably just a story, right? I don't know what evolutionary branch you're from just yet, but I bet your ancestors crawled out of the primordial soup, just like mine did."

Now they're staring at me like I've gone mad, so I wave a hand to indicate it doesn't matter.

"Okay, let's say your origin story is true," I say quickly. "What of it?"

"We are made of stone," Klaus says, "or something like it. You, on the other hand, are not, and if we fucked you like we want—and worse, if we did it together—we could hurt you. Irreparably."

Emmerich is nodding along, his handsome face creased in worry. "Yes, he is right. You could get injured."

Heat floods my body at their words. My inner guidance system must clearly be broken because I shouldn't—under any circumstance—be turned on by this, but Emmerich is sitting right there , telling me he's hard for me, and my brain can't deal with this anymore.

"Okay." I blow out a long breath, trying to get myself under control before they figure out which way my mind has gone. "Are you saying you'll never be able to fuck me properly , like you want, because I'm too soft for you?"

"No," Klaus says.

At the same time, Emmerich nods and affirms, "Yes."

They exchange worried glances, then focus back on me.

"We don't know," Klaus says. "Neither of us has ever been with a human before, so we will need to figure it out."

Emmerich purses his lips, then adds, "There is no doubt. You are our roost mate, and I don't want anyone else but you. So there must be a way, or the Fates wouldn't have paired us together."

I stare at him, doubt gnawing at me. "What if there's been…some sort of cosmic glitch?" I motion from myself to them and back. "I mean, this doesn't exactly bode well. How do you know we're right ?"

Emmerich frowns, then moves, reaching for me so fast, I can barely let out a squeak before I'm in his lap, his warm body surrounding me. He takes my chin gently and leans in to press his mouth to mine. It starts as a tame kiss, just a brush of our lips and a hint of tongue, but the moment his fresh scent fills my nose, my restraint evaporates. I put my palms on his chest and run them up to his shoulders, marveling at the warm, leathery texture of his skin. I angle my head to the side to deepen our kiss, and Emmerich lets me, a groan starting in his throat. I drink up the sound and lick his lower lip, then shiver as he trails nibbling kisses over my jaw, to the point below my ear.

His big hands come to my waist, and he squeezes me, then moves me closer to him, so his hardness nudges my thigh. It's impressive, but despite all their warnings, I want to know what it would feel like. If he's right, if this is really what's written in the stars for us, I want it all.

"Morgan," he groans.

I press myself to his chest and shift my hips, rolling them as my pussy clenches around emptiness, so needy and desperate for him, I'm seconds away from tearing open the front of his leather trousers and taking him in my hand.

Then he tightens his hold on my hips and moves me back to my chair. The loss of his heat and touch is immediate, and I let out an embarrassing whine, reaching forward to keep a hold on him.

Emmerich lets out a low chuckle and entwines his fingers with mine, squeezing lightly. "There was no glitch. I've never felt need so strong before, apart from with Klaus. Have you?"

His serious gray-blue gaze bores into me, daring me to lie.

"Never," I tell him earnestly. "So…what now?"

Klaus, who has been watching us with feral intensity, finally lets loose a long breath. "Now, we go to bed. You are tired and injured, and there's no rush. You have the holidays off work, yes?"

"Yes. I have more than a week. Are you suggesting I spend it all with you?" I raise one eyebrow at him. "That's moving fast, at least in human terms."

But he doesn't rise to the challenge. Instead, a wicked grin stretches his lips, and he shows me his sharp fangs. "We're not human, Engel . You'd do well to remember that."