Chapter 5.

Roman.

I lay in bed with my beautiful Beloved, letting my fingers tangle in her long blonde hair.

"I'm going to miss you today." Chrissy whispered against my chest.

Then she lifted her head and rested her chin on my pec so she could stare up at me. "I mean, I miss you every day while you're sleeping, but today will feel like forever."

I reached down and grabbed her waist, pulling her up so I could kiss her lips once more. "I always miss you, my love. That is the worst part of the curse, being frozen in time while you're living your life."

She chuckled softly. "Well normally, I just sleep too. And spend a little time with my sisters-in-law. You don't miss much."

I laid my head back against the pillow and closed my eyes. "But I can't touch you. Can't speak to you. Couldn't... help you, if you needed me to."

That was the very worst part of being shifted into stone and unable to move, my inability to act if my Beloved needed me. The very thought of her being attacked and me standing, frozen, unable to stop them....it made my blood boil. I hated myself and my kind in those moments. Which is why we spent a kings ransom on staff and security. If I wasn't able to protect my Beloved all day and night, then we would pay others to do so.

"What are your plans for today?" I asked Chrissy, trying to ignore the tingling in my skin. Dawn approached. I didn't have long.

"Um... sleep." She answered with a giggle. "And probably packing and organizing. If you all want to leave here, I'm sure Angelique will want to get ready and start looking at locations."

The tingles in my skin were getting stronger. I couldn't ignore them any longer.

I kissed Chrissy's perfect, pink lips, then rolled out of bed. "Angelique has been a great addition to the group, hasn't she?"

Chrissy slid out of bed behind me, still naked. "Yes, she has."

I pulled open the curtains, the sunlight was creeping over the darkened landscape like a ghost on a warpath. A shiver of fear coursed over me. Not for myself, but for Chrissy.

I stepped onto my stone circle and glanced over my shoulder at my woman. "I love you, Chrissy."

"I love you," she said, her eyes shining with her feelings.

I turned back to the window just as the sun hit my skin and I transformed into my gargoyle form. I sprouted wings, claws and fangs, then turned to stone.

Chrissy walked around in front of me and placed her warm hand on my chest. "Sleep well, my love. Keep healing. I'll see you soon."

She walked back around me and from the sounds of the sheets rustling and her soft sighs, she got back into bed and went to sleep.

I spent the day staring out the window and watching the back yard of the estate. Angelique and her kids came out multiple times, playing ball games and tag. The sun rose and fell once more, and I dreamed about our new life.

When we'd found out, mostly thanks to Rose that we could move our stone circles off the roof of the library, our lives had completely opened up. We'd moved into an apartment, then another. That ability, to no longer be out in the open, had truly opened my mind to possibilities. So now that everyone wanted to travel, I was up for that too.

Casinos, and beaches, and museums and... the sunshine. I wanted to lie by a pool with Christiana and know that we were safe. That was my biggest dream.

I'd always wanted to see the world and meet other gargoyle shifters. Our brothers. There weren't many of our family left thanks to the assassin's intent on destroying us all, but there was some small pockets who had survived. And since we'd told them about the stone circle, they'd all been able to hide as well.

As the sun began to set, Chrissy walked back into the room wearing a casual white T-shirt and some faded jeans.

"Good evening my love," she said as she stood in front of me. "I hope you slept well."

I had. My body felt fully regenerated now