Stoneheart

by Cate Corvin

  For a moment I was afraid it would hurt, but the pressure in my abdomen only increased and sparked my nerve endings until Sawyer bottomed out in my ass with a groan.

  The two of them seemed to have some unspoken mental connection as they pumped into me, one pulling out when the other pushed in. I thought about accusing them of choreographing this ahead of time, but words were no longer viable. I leaned over Gio’s chest, transfixed by the look on his face when he pushed in, and beckoned Damien to me.

  He licked lips and obeyed, bronze eyes flaring when I gripped his cock and guided it to my mouth. I ran my tongue over the smooth head, the salt taste of him filling my mouth when I wrapped my lips all the way around him.

  I was just a dick repository at this point, and it was so fucking good, I was actually a little jealous of myself.

  Damien’s breath hissed out when I slid my tongue over the underside of his cock and pushed forward, taking as much of him into my mouth as possible. I stroked him at the same time, suckling the flared crown every time I almost drew him out until he was throbbing against my tongue.

  Sawyer’s strokes grew harder and faster, his hips smacking into my ass. Every time he pounded in, the pressure in my pussy grew and fire roared to life in my stomach, compounded by Gio’s thickness sliding in and out.

  I moaned around Damien’s cock, sucking him harder with every stroke as he tangled his fingers in my hair, gently rocking his hips towards my mouth. He was practically sliding down my throat now, the muscles in his stomach flexing as I worked him.

  Sawyer’s hard strokes became fast and smooth, and suddenly I was falling into a spiral, pleasure shooting through all my nerves. I sucked Damien down as far as I could when the climax exploded through me, losing all control of myself and riding Gio’s cock as hard as possible.

  He groaned under me, his hips flexing upwards, and I felt his cock pulse inside my clenched pussy when he came along with me. Sawyer’s breathing became raspy just before he released himself, ramming in deep while he moaned my name.

  I stroked Damien’s cock and looked up at him, pleased by the way he bit his lip watching me suck him. “How do you want me?”

  Sawyer pulled out slowly, letting me adjust to the feeling of emptiness again, and I rose off Gio, who looked like he’d just run a marathon.

  Damien gripped my hair and pulled my mouth to his, biting my lip and kissing me hard before throwing me back on the bed.

  He pulled my feet up and balanced them on his shoulders, his cock sliding over my come-slick pussy. I gasped when he plunged in and rubbed his fingers over my clit, drawing out the hyper-sensitive sensation. I hadn’t thought I’d be able to come again after that, but he pumped into me and swirled his fingers over me until I was crying out and digging my fingers into his heavy biceps.

  I felt myself involuntarily flex around him, squeezing his cock the same way my mouth had. Damien’s jaw tightened as he pounded and he turned his head to kiss my leg, the swirling of his thumb growing more insistent. The heat was rising again, filling my pussy with a sharper sort of pleasure.

  The second climax ripped through me like a tidal wave. I stiffened as it shuddered through me, almost sliding off Damien’s cock, but he grabbed my hips and yanked me against him so hard that I definitely felt every inch of him buried in me.

  He came while I was tightened around him, flooding me for the third time and blowing out a harsh breath.

  I didn’t let him pull out until the last post-orgasmic shudders finally faded, leaving me feeling very sleepy and more than willing to climb into a pile and go dark for twelve hours. They all wrapped around me, limbs curling around until I felt like I was trapped in a protective cage. Fortunately, it was a cage I had no intention of leaving. Ever.

  Gio brushed my hair back from my face and tucked it behind my ear. “You know we all love you more than anything, right?” he asked, his dark eyes serious for once.

  “I know,” I said, mimicking my favorite sci-fi movie character, but a minute later I had Gio’s lips covering mine in a brutal kiss. “I love you all, too. I couldn’t…” An inexplicable tear tried to escape my eye, and I brushed it away before anyone could see. “I hadn’t imagined my life being like this, being surrounded by men who love me, and protect me like all of you do.”

  I’d come a long, long way from the Zara Sterling of six months ago. None of the bad could be erased, but I felt sheltered from it in a way I never had before. It wasn’t weak to rely on the people who loved you; it wasn’t pathetic to let them shelter you from a storm and do the same for them, too.

  I knew there was nowhere in this world I’d rather be than where they were.

  “I love you, too,” Sawyer said, but he gave me a grin. “You’ve known that for a hot minute, though.”

  “So do I.” Damien ran his hand over my bare stomach. “I love you, Zara, and there’s no one we’d rather protect. At least, until…”

  “Until what?” I asked suspiciously, craning my head to look at him.

  “Until we get you knocked up with sparkly little gargoyle babies,” Gio said in a stage-whisper. “Then we might have to divide our attention a little.”

  “Don’t even think about knocking me up yet,” I said, settling back into their arms. “We’ve got so much to do.”

  Still, I couldn’t help but smile before I fell asleep. We had so much time left, and maybe, after we needed a break from the Supercop-Gargoyle Task Force idea I’d come up with, there could be sparkly little ones.

  Then a horrible thought occurred to me and my eyes popped open again. “Gio, Damien… how do gargoyles have babies?”

  Gio just hugged me tighter. “We lay sparkly eggs. Duh.”

  It was impossible to tell if he was fucking with me, but I made a mental note to do an internet search later.

  Just to be sure.

  I adjusted my new uniform collar and patted the silver badge over my heart. My hair was pulled back in a neat, regulations-conforming bun, and I’d even polished my boots last night.

  For the first day on the job, I looked pretty damn spiffy.

  “Looking good, Officer Kyrillian.” Sawyer stepped into my bedroom, wearing his own uniform and a brand-new badge. Since Roland Terez had agreed to give one his House’s stonehearts to create a new gargoyle, Sawyer had lived here permanently, leaving his human life behind for one with us.

  I wanted to know the story of how he’d received his new stoneheart, but Sawyer’s eyes still went dark when it was brought up. With my abduction looming over them, they hadn’t had much time to make it comfortable for him, but Sawyer had insisted on powering through it anyways. I never forgot that, what he had gone through to get me back.

  He stepped up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and hugging me before he began to adjust my collar and straighten the lapel pins on my uniform.

  “Same goes for you, Officer Terez,” I said, smiling at him in the mirror. Gio was probably cursing while he got his custom-made uniform zipped around his wings. On the other hand, I wasn’t going to go baby him after what he did to our new organization’s name.

  I bit back a sigh as I stared at Sawyer’s new badge for G.H.A.R.G., otherwise known as the Gargoyle-Human Allied Regulation Group. It was my fault for not taking the time to look at the acronym before approving the name Gio had come up with.

  “I always had a weak spot for a woman in uniform,” Sawyer whispered, nibbling my earlobe.

  I spun around in his arms and caught his chin, preventing him from doing any catastrophic damage to my hair. Making the perfect bun was no easy task. “Well, you’re going to have to shore up that weakness, Officer. We’ve got places to be and things to do.”

  Sawyer sighed sadly, but I took away the sting of rejection by leaning in and kissing him. “Later, I promise. Maybe we can even make up for our last date.”

  He gave me an impish smile and held out his arm. “Let’s go then, gharg-lady.” I shut the door behind us, and we ran into Gio in the hallway, looking uncomfort
able with so many clothes on.

  “Is this much fabric really necessary?” he griped. “It’s squeezing my wings and my balls.”

  “Your balls deserve to be squeezed after what you did,” I muttered.

  Then I reached down and gave another squeeze, just to be sure they were being squeezed properly.

  “Whoa there,” Gio said, grabbing my wrist. “You’re going to be put on Ball-Cupping Duty for the rest of the day if you do that again.” I ducked under his arm and fixed the mess of zippers at his back, making sure the fabric was flat around the base of his wings. He rolled his shoulders with a relieved sigh. “Alright, that’s way better. Balls are now released from the merciless vise-grip.”

  “For now,” I whispered, and he cast a sidelong glance at me, a smirk hovering on the edges of his lips.

  Damien strode down the hall towards us, already dressed and looking like a million bucks. His emerald horns gleamed over his dark hair, and his eyes flared when he took me in. The uniforms, which had been modeled on human cop uniforms, only emphasized their broad shoulders, muscular arms, and trim waists. I wondered how many human cops were going to be jealous as soon as they saw their new co-workers. All three guys had a hand in designing my uniform, and somehow I wasn’t remotely surprised that it was a body-hugging uniform that made me look a bit more… va-va-voom than usual. Apparently gargoyle fashion wasn’t subject to human sensibilities, so we had more room for aesthetics.

  Unlike Gio, Sawyer, and myself, Damien would be serving as a consultant for our brand-new task force. I’d insisted that he at least be allowed to wear the same uniform for our inaugural day on the job, creating a cohesive unit between the four of us. After all, we did owe our new jobs to his tireless machinations.

  “I have no idea how I’m going to concentrate on actual work with you three around,” I growled, gripping Damien’s collar and pulling him down for a kiss. It was only an inch, but he took a mile, lifting me up and pressing me against a wall to return the kiss.

  “If they get too distracting, I’m sure I’ll be able to find something for you to do with me,” he said, running his tongue down the line on my throat.

  “Yeah, like this isn’t the exact same level of distraction, Damien.” I gasped when he nibbled my neck and began unzipping my fatigues.

  “Okay, break it up, people,” Sawyer interjected. “Watch her hair! You know how she gets about the hair.”

  We crammed into the elevator together, and I kissed each one of them on the way down before focusing on cooling my flush. In about fifteen minutes, we’d be surrounded by spectators, not all of which would be happy to see us. It was the first day on the job after months of petitioning both the human government and the leaders of the Houses who’d written the Stone Accords. There was no way I could be caught being anything but professional with them.

  Many of the human cops weren’t going to be happy to see us, but with two of us having been part of them once, we hoped that we’d be able to start building a bridge. It wouldn’t be perfect at first, but I knew there were enough good cops left in the precinct to make a difference. After Jake Selter’s traitorous actions had been discovered, Captain Raymond had launched an open investigation into nefarious dealings in their department and was posthumously investigating Josh Aberdeen’s actions from a year ago.

  He’d been the first one to welcome me back with open arms when Damien proposed the alliance idea to his investors and the precinct. Losing me, Sawyer, and even Selter had put his cops in a precarious spot, and he’d jumped to have the two of us back and willing to work with him, along with the others.

  We were going to fill in the gaps I’d always feared as a human: gargoyles willing to put themselves on the line against other gargoyles for the protection of humanity.

  I nibbled my lip as we descended. Now that we were afforded an official job by the Stone Accords, we were also liable to ensure the safety of gargoyles. One face had popped into my mind over the last few months, someone I hadn’t thought about in years: Sharon. The last time I’d seen her, she’d seemed broken down, and not just by my father’s death.

  I wondered if she was somewhere out there in need of help. If she was, I was going to be the one to do it.

  We arrived at the precinct to a crowd gathered outside. A mob of reporters was growing by the second, and flashbulbs went off, temporarily blinding me. I pasted a neutral look on my face as we passed, already sinking back into my role as an officer of the law.

  Captain Raymond stood on the top step of the precinct. A podium had been set up with a microphone, and the crowd was already growing massive. Officer Moretti gave me a subtle wave and a wink. I was glad to see he’d survived the purge of dirty officers. We’d have a lot to discuss over the coming months.

  Raymond held out a hand and I took it with a smile, feeling like I was coming home.

  “Good to see you again, Kyrillian.” My new name sounded natural in the captain’s mouth. “Ready to make history?”

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” I muttered, but my stoneheart was fluttering in my chest with excitement. This would be the first equal partnership of gargoyles and humans, and I knew Dad would be proud if he could be here.

  Gio sidled up next to me as Captain Raymond stepped up to the podium, holding the papers of the press release. He surreptitiously pinched my ass, his face a mask of innocence. Damien and Sawyer both looked up at him and he shrugged. “Gotta do what a gargoyle’s gotta do.”

  “Good morning, everyone.” Raymond’s voice echoed over the crowd. I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to hide. This was everything I’d worked for, everything I’d wanted, and now we were here. “We’re here to announce an unprecedented new development between humanity and gargoyles, an alliance that will bridge the divide between us: the Gargoyle-Human Allied Regulation Group…”

  The reporters who still carried actual notepads were scribbling furiously as the others held their phones and recorders aloft, and one man standing up front frowned at his notebook. I saw him mouth the acronym and inwardly winced.

  “The… garg?”

  Gio’s shoulders were shaking with silent laughter.

  Sawyer leaned in close on my other side. “We’re never letting Gio name anything ever again.” Damien nodded in agreement, rolling his pretty eyes. There was an entire cadre of reporters who were there solely to get pictures of their beloved billionaire playboy in a cop uniform. I had no doubt the cover of Stone Cold Studs would feature cop costumes next month.

  I nodded, but it was impossible to not smile. As long as I was with the gargoyles I wanted, he could name anything he liked. Nothing was off-limits.

  Except for our sparkly rock-babies.

  Epilogue

  Four gargoyles sheltered under an overhang on the shipping docks, their wings raised to deflect the cold raindrops. More than a few of the human dockworkers gave them suspicious sidelong looks, but they were left alone to huddle in silence.

  It was clear that nobody wanted to tangle with four fullbloods whether they were supposed to be there or not. All of them wore black fatigues and had harder faces than the gargoyles they usually came across. There was nothing of the polished, high society gargoyles in these males.

  Nolan narrowed his eyes and gazed at the city looming overhead. The lights glimmered through the fog and rain like a beacon, but he ignored them. There was only one beacon he had interest in.

  “He’s dead.” Sebastian didn’t inflect his words, but Nolan knew it was a question. Of the four hybrids who remained, he was the most taciturn, his expression never changing as he gazed up at a high-rise across from the docks.

  He would have the hardest time of them all at integrating into a new life. Kreslin’s hypersonic necklace and endless cutting was all he knew. Something was damaged in the young gargoyle’s psyche that might never be repaired.

  “He’s dead,” Nolan confirmed. He didn’t need to see the body to know it was finally over and done. Damien Viridios and Gio Onyarai wouldn’t have
left Kreslin’s island without ensuring the corrupt Sapphire’s heart had been ripped out and crushed to dust. “I’m sure of it.”

  Garvey, a Topaz gargoyle who’d been ripped from his House alongside his twin, said nothing. He’d been separated from Grayden as soon as the twins were brought to the island, and none of them had seen the other gargoyle since.

  Harlan just scowled at the endless rain and shuffled in place, giving a passing dock worker a dirty look. “We should go back and check for a corpse. We don’t need him breathing down our necks for the rest of our lives.”

  In response, Nolan reached up to the hypersonic necklace that was hidden below Sebastian’s collar. Kreslin had only had to use them when they were young and still full of bravado, convinced they were going to break free from the Sapphire’s chains.

  They’d never broken free. They’d only railed against the walls of their cages until they’d been broken down too many times to care about getting back up again. This was the fresh start, the last chance Nolan had been waiting for.

  “Light’s out,” he said, showing them all. The emitter was linked to Kreslin so he could shut them down at a distance. There was only one reason that the emitter would be off. “You can take them off now, because Kreslin’s dead as a fucking doornail and he’s not coming back.”

  To emphasize his point, he reached up to his own collar and wrenched it, the acrylic and metal device giving way with a sharp crunch. He held up the broken collar for Harlan’s inspection, then tossed it across the docks. It slid over wet concrete and plopped into the ocean.

  Good fucking riddance. He met Sebastian’s hesitant gaze. “Take it off, brother. You don’t belong to him anymore.”

  Garvey shed his without a second thought, crumpling up the remains of the device and sinking a shot into the ocean. Harlan followed, a little more hesitant, and Sebastian went last. He stared at the broken collar in his hands for a long time before he tossed his into the water, too.