by Scarlet Dawn
“Goddammit, guest. Take my sister to the other side of the room!” Isaac growled the order harshly just as he jerked us away from the indented wall we rested against, stalking to the other side of this room, even as I started lifting and rising on his hardening cock, my head falling back. “Jesus...”
I sucked in a harsh breath as he fell to his knees, shoving me down onto the short carpeting inside the room, then I screamed as a flux of power rammed us, so brutal it threatened to make me insane.
I lost myself in the pleasure.
The pleasure that a shifter was giving me.
The ecstasy of a Gargoyle laying over me, fucking me without remorse, my wrists held over my head, crushed inside his brutal grip. His strength was going to leave marks on my body, and I didn’t care.
I wanted more.
He gave it.
Slapping at his head, I muttered, “Freaky shit, freaky shit.”
His skin was beginning to shimmer a deathly silver. “Apologies.” He still didn’t stop the light glimmer.
My eyes damn near crossed as he rotated his hips before thrusting into my wet heat. “No claws.”
He groaned brutally, “No claws.”
I slapped at his head when they sliced through his fingertips. “Dammit, don’t cut me.”
“I’m not,” he growled, slamming my wrists back above my head. “Quit hitting me.”
I wiggled inside his hold. “Dammit!”
“Shut up, Kennedy,” he said patiently, but with aggravation. His claws retracted back into his fingers…just gone. “I won’t cut you. I said that already.”
My eyes narrowed, but my hips still lifted to his, meeting his thrusts, the power in the air sizzling inside my veins. “You do that again, and I won’t kiss you.”
The Gargoyle growled softly, but the claws didn’t reappear. His lips met mine.
Sinful, purely sinful.
Only for his teeth to capture my bottom lip in a brutal hold, not releasing me.
Damn Gargoyle.
Opening my eyes gradually, I went quiet inside.
The first rays of dawn were muted against the tinted window, but it was enough light to clearly see the man that I was curled against, both of us facing each other, our limbs intertwined, having passed out as we had finished. We were inside a generic office. The furniture was made of the darkest wood—what was left after last night, most having been broken as we made our way around the room during our many bouts of straight, hardcore fucking—and there was a bathroom we had found in the middle of the night when we had accidently fallen into it. A black, soft blanket was thrown over our naked bodies that we initially slipped on when we had landed on the lone couch of the room—where we still were—the two recliners and small coffee table now ‘nonfunctioning’ pieces of furniture, those being the first places for us to land…and break.
Raising my head the barest bit, I peered silently at the Mayor’s face.
The Mayor of Woodland Creek—one fucked up town secretly run by shifters and wizards.
I stared.
His features were peaceful in his slumber, so unlike his normal persona on television. His deep black hair, chin length, was disarrayed, the remembrance of it being thick and smooth as silk in my gripping hands more than troubling, a few strands now lying over one of his cheeks and partially covering one eye. His lips—God, his lips—were just as plush as I had remembered, red and naturally kiss swollen against his sunkissed complexion, his skin literally tanned by the sun, still darker than my own suntan. My mouth pinched, now seeing something I had been unable to see before, and the cameras had never picked up.
“You have freckles,” I whispered, staring at the tiny splattering of freckles on his nose spreading out the barest bit on his defined cheekbones. It made him appear so innocent, sweetly adorable even. Not like a man who killed and plumaged so many. I lifted my hand off his chest ever so slowly, hesitating long moments, thinking about the last time we’d had sex.
When the power pulsing through the air had stopped.
And we had not.
We could have. We had definitely been exhausted, but we hadn’t. Hell, it had probably only been an hour ago, the pulsing waves lasting well into the early morning hours.
Instead of stopping, even if he was already inside me, he had paused, both of us breathing heavily with sweat covered bodies. His expression had turned into a silent question. I had thought about it for a full minute, staring at him above me, then gently lifted my hand as I was doing now and brushed his hair back from his face, then brought his face down to mine and kissed him in answer. Our last time hadn’t been sweet or kind, but…it had been consensual, not because of any unnatural power.
My hand hovered over his face, my expression still blank, and softly, I lowered a finger and brushed his hair back from his face. Gently, as to not wake him. Fisting my hand, I quickly lowered it back under the cover to his chest, staring at him, skimming his features further.
Blinking slowly, I swallowed down the loathing I felt for not only him, but for myself, and glanced away, tiredly searching the room for something to wear out of here. My clothes were a no go, but I saw his lying on the floor against the dented wall. They still appeared wearable, not torn to bits like mine were.
No, there was no pretending this hadn’t happened.
I started, turning my tired gaze toward him when he cleared his throat softly.
He was awake. His gaze was barely slitted open, but I could see the tiniest slivers of his stunning green eyes staring up at me. They weren’t glowing as they had been all last night. His blink was as sleepy as mine, even though I still saw supreme intelligence staring back at me.
“Lay back down,” he whispered gently. “Another hour of sleep won’t hurt.”
Holding his gaze for another long beat, I nodded my head once, and then rested my head back down on his muscled bicep that was curled around me. His arm had to be asleep by now with my weight having been on it like this, but he didn’t complain.
I was pretty sure he stayed awake until I fell back asleep.
What was done was done.
The Mayor, Isaac Stone, was in the small shower inside the bathroom.
I was swiftly throwing his shirt on over my head. It was huge on me. I barely topped out at five feet tall, so the hem of it practically went to my knees. I glanced around and grabbed the blanket we had used, tying it around my waist in a pseudo-skirt, then swiftly stuffed all of my shredded clothes—including my shoes—into my purse I’d had the forethought to drop before he had gone all caveman in tearing my clothes off. Seeing no items of mine remaining scattered around the broken room, I swiftly exited the office, walking on tiptoe through the lobby.
We had slept another hour, but I had pretended to be asleep as he slipped into the shower. The sun was shining brighter, but the shifters inside the lobby, scattered everywhere, were still sleeping. Very much naked, too. All of them. It appeared to be one hell of an orgy, even if some had possibly stuck with their same partners. As they were, though, there was just no telling with the sight they made.
I did have the decency to blush. Truly, there were a lot of naked shifters.
My feet stalled when the door to my right opened just the barest bit. Just enough for a silver eye to catch my gaze. It was Mandy’s guest, the wizard. I would recognize that eye any day having gotten a close up view of it last night.
The eye blinked, and then blinked once more.
I stared back.
I knew he was being nosy, probably having heard me sneak out. I seriously doubted he had expected it to be me, though. It was fairly obvious by his frozen stare…plus, he had more than likely planned to execute the ‘me’ who had seen him last night with Mandy. By the way, the Mayor had continued to say ‘guest,’ I was betting Isaac’s family didn’t approve of him at all.
But now, it was a bit more complicated.
He stared for a beat longer, blinked, and then ever so gently shut and relocked the door.
; Well…that was fun.
I continued making my precarious way through the debris of the naked and sated and silently slipped out the door, deciding against the shattered window since there was glass everywhere. I jogged silently down the sidewalk, my bare feet padding quietly against the concrete. This area of Woodland Creek was already blaring with the new day, sirens continually looping in sound. If the carnal power hadn’t just been here, then those sirens would probably continue for some time. Still, I put my helmet on, put my Moped into neutral, and shoved it a few feet, hopping on, coasting down a hill for a good block before I started it, not taking the chance of waking anyone inside the building.
Damn…I knew that package had been trouble.
“God, it’s great to be out,” Rachel murmured, smiling brightly.
I snorted. “Understatement.”
Jackie continued studying her purchases, rifling through her bags. “Uh huh.”
Rachel and I glanced at each other. Jackie hadn’t been the same since the ‘incident’ a month ago. The ‘incident’ had been town-wide. The only individuals not affected by the sexual power were adolescents and the elderly—they had been knocked out by it. Woodland Creek—the entire town—had called an emergency—to the point there was a town curfew, which had only now been lifted. It really hadn’t mattered in the beginning. No one wanted to leave the ‘safety’ of their homes for a few weeks. Pregnancy numbers had skyrocketed and divorces were on the rise. No one had an answer, either. It was a phenomenon that had shaken the town long after their beds had stopped shaking.
It had also become an unsaid rule amongst everyone: don’t ask.
That easy. No one asked who they had partnered up with that night.
It was the only way to move on.
Only doctors had been able to do anything, dosing patients up with enough drugs to sedate them. Anyone else not a child or elderly had just been screwed. Literally.
My own bruises—I’d had many—from that night were now healed, but the emotional ones still lingered. The Mayor, him, had somehow finagled a way with the world’s outside press. The world officially thought Woodland Creek was the horniest town in the United States. Even more tourists were showing up.
Stupid humans.
Jackie, my best friend along with Rachel, still fought her own personal demons for whatever had occurred to her that night. So with the town emergency now stopped, Rachel and I had decided Jackie needed shopping therapy on High Street. One of her favorites in Old Town. It did seem to be helping, her arms laden with many bags. Rachel and I only had one a piece, our income taking a drastic hit after the ‘incident.’ Though my temporary job outside of town at Mimi’s Flowers and Balloons had now been secured, it becoming a full-on part-time gig just yesterday…since everyone was buying their loved ones flowers—constantly—to make up for their actions, even if unable to stop them. Guilt. It was a bitch.
We walked to Albrecht Drive, all semi-quiet. Rachel cleared her throat and pointed with her big sale bag to The Bread Basket. “I’m starving.”
Jackie peered up from her digging, having found the new pair of sunglasses she was apparently searching for, placing them on top of her head—almost dumping the contents of two of her bags onto the ground. “I’m hungry, too. They’ve got that amazing chicken breast sandwich there.”
I grinned. Her appetite had finally returned. “Let’s do it.”
Maneuvering through the many tables, I swiftly apologized to the woman that Jackie bashed with one of her bags, my gaze stalling the barest moment on the individual. She was polite enough, but it wasn’t her actions that made me pause. I blinked slowly, recognizing her.
My jaw started to slacken, but I quickly shut it, nodding respectfully to her, then to the rest of her group, who had paused in their munching to glare up. “So sorry to interrupt.”
The Mayor’s sister, Mandy Stone, nodded her head once. “As I said, you’re fine.”
She didn’t recognize me. Thank you, God!
Mandy’s black brow lifted when I only stared.
“Right.” I peered to where my best friends were, almost to the line of the deli, not noticing my disappearance. I mumbled again, “Right. Sorry.”
“Wait a moment,” an incredibly gorgeous wizard stated, lifting a finger around his fork, even as he continued to stare at his lunch. He was the only one of the group I didn’t recognize. The rest were council members or rich townsfolk—all shifters. I paused in turning, staring at his forehead, waiting until his ocean blue eyes lifted up to me. He continued chewing the food in his mouth, properly closed, before he swallowed. He asked easily, “Miss…do you believe in fate?”
My blink was gradual. “Um…” Huh?
“Fate,” he stated slowly, lowering his fork and steepling his fingers. He rested his chin on top of the tips of them. “Do you believe in it?”
I cleared my throat quietly, the shifters around the table still eating, but watching silently. “I like to believe that I create my own destiny. Not that it’s already decided for me.”
He hummed quietly, his head barely cocking. “A life filled with crossroads.”
I shrugged a shoulder, my bag rubbing up and down my leg. “I suppose that’s correct.”
A single brow lifted on his fiercely handsome face. “So if I said I had saved the seat next to me for you, would you sit down beside me or continue on with your oblivious friends for lunch?”
My blonde brows instantly snapped together, glancing once to the empty seat beside him. “You saved that for me?”
“Indeed.”
“Why?”
“Now…what fun would it be if I told you that?”
I snorted softly, glancing once to my friends, seeing they were truly oblivious, not even noticing I was gone as they stood in line and eyed the selection menu. My gaze returned to ocean blue, assessing him a moment. Wizards were frightening. “I think—”
“Choose wisely, miss,” he interrupted me, staring patiently.
My mouth opened and then shut. This was weird.
His lips twitched.
My face scrunched a bit at his action. All right, weird didn’t even begin to describe this.
“Excuse me,” a deep voice rumbled behind me, and then a body gently nudged me to the side, not touching me with his hands, more bumping me. Then the man who now stood beside me completely ignored me, even as I stumbled a step from the abrupt movement. “Please accept our apologies. We hit a traffic jam on the way.”
I blinked, gazing up at the profile of Mike Stone, one of the Mayor’s other siblings—a real S.O.B.
Feeling my eyes on him, he glared once at me, his gaze running up and down my body once, even sniffing in my direction. His attention snapped back and forth between the table and me, just realizing I had been speaking with them. “Am I interrupting something?” He looked at his watch. “I thought our meeting was scheduled—”
“You’re fine,” Mandy instantly stated, cutting him off. “Although this young lady may be joining us for our meeting.” That black brow lifted again in my direction, her head tilting in silent question, not arguing the wizard’s antics.
My blink was ever so slow. Mike had said ‘our’ and ‘we.’
My spine instantly stiffened at the implication, and I glanced behind me.
No one was there.
My gaze instantly scanned the rest of The Bread Basket…and stalled.
He was walking through the front doors. Isaac Stone.
And he wasn’t alone.
Finn Stone, the last sibling of the Stone family, was also with him.
Along with Love Stone, his mother.
The Mayor and his mother were walking side-by-side, Finn on his other side. The Mayor and Mrs. Stone made quite the stunning pair. Son and mother utterly owned the space around them. They knew it too by the swagger and easy manner with which they greeted customers inside the deli. Finn merely kept anyone from getting too close to his brother, a hardcore bodyguard. He wasn’t just dressed to kill�
��he actually would kill you if he thought it necessary—quietly, of course.
A bare beat later, I saw Isaac’s nostrils flare and his head tilted back the barest bit. He inhaled deeply. The Gargoyle was scenting the air. His thin dark brows furrowed the smallest bit, and memories of our night together bombarded me, unwanted thoughts rolling through my mind. His green eyes narrowed the barest bit as his gaze began sharply scanning from left to right, eyeing each and every person inside the deli in swift fashion as he continued his stalk inside the room.
Until his search halted. Directly on me.
His blink was just as slow as mine had been, the intensity in his gaze abruptly cutting off now that his prey had been found, his gaze running up and down my frame, verifying it was me.
Our eyes held for the briefest moment before my gaze quickly moved to his right. His mom was talking to Finn quietly, not appearing to pay attention. That definitely worked for me.
Sucking in a quick breath, realizing I hadn’t breathed since I had spotted him, I casually turned my head to the wizard. Definitely frightening. My voice was polite. “Thank you, but I believe I’ll have lunch with my friends as planned.” I dipped my head once casually in farewell and turned to leave.
I slammed right into a Gargoyle wall.
Quickly, I took a step back, staring at Mike’s chest at my eye level. “Sorry about that.” I quickly took a step to my right, out of his way…but he swiftly moved with me, staying directly in front of me. Ever so slowly, I tilted my head back and met his direct gaze. His wasn’t as blank as mine was. He appeared curious before he hid it behind his hooded lids. “You’re…kind of in my way.”
No one at the table of shifters was speaking. I was pretty sure they had stopped eating too, just blatantly staring now. Not exactly a wonderful situation.
Mike didn’t speak, merely glancing over my head after eyeing me again. His gaze held for the barest moment above me. I knew he was staring at Isaac. Just as silently, his eyes dipped back down to me, asking quietly, “How do you know my brother?”
I was quiet for the barest moment, thinking quickly before I stated honestly, “I delivered a package once to a building not too far from here. He was there. We had a few words.” That was enough. It was just the right amount to imply we had argued.
