Gargoyle (Woodland Creek)

by Scarlet Dawn

  “Yes, I do. Which is why I find it curious that you have it.”

  I was honest. “A dying wizard gifted it to me.”

  His head cocked, his green eyes evaluating my blue gaze. “Did this wizard gift you with anything else?”

  “Yes.” I sat back on the chair and lifted my legs up on the cushion, hugging them close to my chest. With the knowledge I had…I needed to continue to be honest. See where this went. With a shifter of all people. “He put a spell on me. It allows me to see who is wizard, shifter, or human.”

  He stared.

  “What? No commentary?”

  Isaac cracked his neck. Shrugged. “I’ve seen many things in this town. But a wizard giving his worldly possessions to a human is a new one.”

  I cleared my throat. And my cheeks pinked. I peered to the side, away from him. “He mentioned a few other things, too.”

  There was an extended silence.

  Abruptly, Isaac chuckled softly. “Hanna mentioned a few things to me too, none of which I would have expected to come true. There were also a few key details she failed to mention.” My attention turned back to him. He flicked a finger at me and changed the subject. “I see you raided my closet.”

  I picked at the sweatpants I wore—and one of his t-shirts. “I didn’t have any clothes here.” And I wasn’t about to ask Mandy for anything. Speaking of which, my eyes lifted to his. “I can’t believe you left me here alone with your family.”

  Isaac actually grinned. “Caleb took care of that issue.” He rolled a finger. “Remember? You’re under his protection, not merely mine.”

  My jaw gaped. “Oh.”

  He nodded his head. “There are a few wizards who my family completely respects. He is one of them. They won’t harm you.”

  My brows puckered. “And Hanna?”

  “She’s like a sister to my mother. They are very close.”

  “So I’m safe?”

  “You are.”

  I picked at his sweatpants again, watching as he moved across the room in my direction. “You never said how your day went.”

  He shrugged a shoulder and bent at the waist, placing his hands on the arms of my chair. The Mayor leaned over my body, peering down at me, bringing a scent of cool air and soft musk with him. His gaze ran over me from head to toe while he spoke absently, “Today required a spell. It was a disaster out there. Nothing would erase it from their memories except magic.”

  I hummed gently, holding his gaze.

  His green eyes halted on my lips. “Are you still heartbroken over that asshole?”

  My forehead crinkled, my voice breathless from the heat penetrating off his body. “I’d rather not talk about him.”

  “Hmm.” His head cocked. “Want to tell me everything the wizard said to you?”

  “Want to tell me everything Hanna said to you?”

  He snickered quietly. “Fair enough.” His nostrils flared and a shit-eating grin graced his features. “But I think you like me.”

  Instant. “You are an insufferable asshole who relishes the power his position affords him.”

  “You still like me.” Again, he inhaled deeply. “More than a little.”

  I glared. He could scent my arousal for him. “Now, that’s not fair.” I lifted a hand and pinched his nose, holding his nostrils together. “Quit sniffing me.”

  Isaac grinned and brushed my hand away easily. “But I like the scent.”

  I snorted. “Freaking shifter.”

  “Freaking human.”

  I shouted in surprise when he lifted me straight from the chair.

  His breath heated my ear. “Afraid to dance with me, human?” Tipping his head back, he grinned impishly and damn if my gaze didn’t snag on his mouth.

  Stayed there, too. I cleared my throat. “What about Carla? Are you still dating her?”

  “Not since I was with you.”

  I blinked. “Oh.”

  “And I could use a dance partner tonight. Want to sign up?”

  I bit my lower lip, my attention still holding steady on his plump lips.

  “I need a yes, Little One.”

  It came out a small pant. “Yes.”

  He hummed quietly and walked with me in his arms to his door. He released me to swiftly shut it. The Mayor flipped the lock, no one coming in or out. My back was slammed against it an instant later, his hands on my hips lifting me as I wrapped my arms around his neck, and our mouths meeting. Instantaneously, we groaned at the same time. My lips sank into the plushest mouth I had ever tasted, our lips caressing in hungry strokes against one another’s. My hands deep in his hair, holding tight, I tilted my head, parting my lips, our tongues meeting in greedy glides, as he pressed against me even harder.

  Lowering my hands, I quickly unbuttoned his shirt and yanked it over his shoulders, divesting him of the cloth and revealing all of his spectacular flesh. My hands were rubbing over his heated skin, feeling him everywhere I could. I stared when his skin turned to silver at my touch, but it didn’t stop me.

  The fucking man looked hot as hell silver.

  Gripping my hips tighter, he lifted me higher against him, his groan heavy when I swiftly started unbuckling his belt, feeling him hard and heavy under his black, flat-fronted pants.

  We fell heavily onto his bed, rolling again and again, as we each yanked one another’s clothes off, in a mad dash of desire to press our naked flesh against one another’s.

  “You’re going to jump my bones,” he whispered teasingly, a small smile playing on his lips pressed against mine. One of his palms kneaded my swollen breast while the other continued to yank at the strings on my tennis shoes, the damn things being stubborn.

  “And you’re going to jump my bones. What does that say about you?”

  “Same as does for you.” He glanced down at my shoe, muttering, “What the fuck is wrong with this thing?”

  “Just break it,” I moaned, my right hand lowering to his ramrod, massive cock. I gripped him tight and pumped him as furiously as my need. He broke the shoelace. My tennis shoe went flying across the room, his fierce gaze hungry on mine as silver light began to shimmer around us. His lips curved when I paused, glancing at it in alarm, my heart rate skyrocketing even higher than it already was. “It’s normal. It’s just my power.”

  “That didn’t happen before.”

  “You said no freaky shit then. I was controlling it.”

  My brows rose, my tone dry and breathless when his head dipped, his lush lips landing on my neck. “Must happen a lot.”

  He chuckled softly against my flesh. “It does happen occasionally.”

  “Occasionally, my ass,” I grumbled. He was a hot commodity for any person in Woodland Creek. And he was mine for the evening…and I truly didn’t give a fuck at the moment that he was a shifter. I slid my hand up and down the silky soft skin of his cock again, no way for my fingers to touch around him.

  He began thrusting into my gripping hand, his own palm sliding to my ass, gripping it tight. “Your ass is fine as hell, Little One.” Nibbling in heated bites down my neck, his gaze caught on my breasts. “Same here.”

  I gasped, groaning heavily as he latched onto one of my pebbled nipples, sucking hard, even as he shoved my legs apart, one of his hands landing between my thighs. His fingers slid between my slick folds, torturing me as he played teasingly with my clit.

  It became another race of pleasure when I knocked his hand away and rolled us so I could straddle him. I placed his cock at my entrance. His warm palms slid over my thighs to grab my hips, bending his legs to start pressing up as I pressed down, my head flying back at the feel of him entering me.

  “Shit, you’re tight,” he said between gritted teeth. “Christ, you feel . . . fucking damn!” He groaned as I quickened my pace, wanting him all the way inside me, needing to get there, riding his cock. His lips parted as he stared at my swaying breasts. “Dry spell?”

  “Fucking torture. It’s been a month without anyone in my bed,” I moaned
, grabbing onto his hard pecs and shoving myself down onto his cock, imbedding him fully. My cry of pleasure mingled with his deep booming shout. Panting, I swiftly lifted my hips, arching my body back for maximum penetration while holding onto his knees and riding his cock like I fucking wanted to, hard and fierce. His groan was loud as he held my hips in place and pumped furiously, meeting each one of my actions, the silver light around us whipping faster.

  His cock glided in and out me furiously as I rode him hard. I shouted in pleasure, then surprise when he rolled us fluidly, grabbing under one of my legs as his lips landed on mine. Isaac started pounding into me, the sounds of our skin slapping only drowned out by our groans as our lips and tongues caressed each other’s feverishly, our breaths being shared like our bodies connecting. The feel of him deep inside me was utter bliss, a release of pent-up desired pleasure, neither of us releasing each other as our hips continued to meet, our bodies long past glistening with sweat. Driving in and out of me, he bit my bottom lip, groaning heavily.

  Our pace unrelenting, I ran my hands over him, feeling every part of his beautifully sculpted body I could reach. My eyes flew open sharply when he started bumping my cervix harder, the pinch of pain utterly perfect, the head of his cock rubbing against the place deep inside me. His glowing green gaze on mine, he chuckled softly at my expression, only quickening his pace unbelievably faster, making me grin when his own breath caught, his body shuddering with pleasure.

  Holding onto his back, my fingernails digging in, I trembled fiercely under him. A quiet whimper exited my lips as he thrust brutally into me, over and over, my body bowing. I shouted, “Isaac!”

  I went over the edge, my mind racing in heated sparkles of showered carnal bliss. I held onto him tight as my channel gripped him brutally, shuddering under him hard as the pleasure racked my frame.

  He cursed gutturally, slamming himself deep inside me as his head dipped against my neck, his bellowed groan of pleasure muffled against my hair, “Kennedy!” His arms were wrapped around my shoulders tight, his body holding me down as he shook hard. My breath caught as his wings shot out from his back, hovering over us, as his cock pumped deep inside me, his come scalding me furiously with each jerk. His power exploded around us, the silver light expanding like a shimmering bubble popping.

  My mind fogged in pleasure, I swallowed heavily as my arms went limp over him, sliding down to his ass, my body pliant and relaxed. With his hot pants against my neck, his heartbeat heavy against my chest, he rumbled, “That took the edge off.”

  My chuckle was breathless. “Ready for more?”

  “Hell yes.” His wings snapped back down, disappearing from sight. He tipped his head up, his dilated gaze hard set on mine. “Hanna may have been right.”

  My lips twitched. “I’m still not telling you what the wizard told me.”

  He grinned, his cheeks flushed from primal exertion. “I didn’t ask.”

  “Yes, you did.” I ran my finger over the bridge of his nose, over the adorable freckles there. “I’m catching on to your games.”

  He winked before his lips found mine again.

  I slipped into his sweatpants in the late hours that night and found the shirt I had been wearing before across the room. I tugged it on over my head, then grabbed my shoes from the floor, not bothering to put them on, watching as Isaac pulled on his own pants, his eyes on me, the same as I was doing to him.

  Casually, his brows rose. “Are you going to hide in my room tomorrow?”

  My lips twitched, even as I saw my panties on the ground. I grabbed them up and tossed them in my red bag. “If you say they won’t harm me, then I’ll trust you. But if your mom gets me cornered in a room, don’t expect me not to bust through a window to get away from her.”

  He scratched his shoulder absently and then dipped to grab his socks on the ground, sitting on his shambolic bed. He crinkled his nose at the socks and tossed them over his shoulder. “That might complicate matters.”

  I laughed, grabbing my stomach with it. “It probably would.”

  His gaze was lit with amusement. “Just don’t leave my property. Hanna’s spell here keeps everyone safe from attacking magic.”

  Holding my shoes in one hand, I ran a hand through my tangled hair, trying to work it out to a semblance of order. “I won’t.” I pointed at my stomach. “I’m hungry. Hurry up.”

  “You can go down without me.”

  “Yeah…I think I’ll wait for you.”

  He rose from the bed, only his dress slacks on, the rest of his body bare to my gaze.

  I quickly pivoted and glanced down to the shoes in my hand. I tossed them aside, the shoelace broken and opened his door. His heat warmed my back as we walked down the stairs. I swallowed heavily as we entered the kitchen…Finn and Mandy inside.

  Both peered up from the midnight snack they were devouring.

  Isaac placed the palm of his hand on the small of my back, gently pushing me into the room further. He asked, “Is that what Mom made for dinner?”

  Finn’s gaze raked down my disheveled frame. He snickered quietly before his gaze returned to his brother. “Mom cooked three meals tonight. She was a little stressed.” A pointed stare. “These walls aren’t soundproof, bro.”

  My cheeks warmed in humiliation.

  “Is she in bed now?” Isaac hummed, keeping me close by his side. He peered into his fridge. “She didn’t go home, did she? It’s not safe out there.”

  “I’m right here,” Mrs. Stone murmured from the entrance of the kitchen.

  My wide gaze snapped in her direction.

  I instantly pressed hard against Isaac’s side.

  Momma’s skin…it was silver.

  I didn’t think it was because she liked me either.

  Isaac didn’t even glance away from the goods inside the refrigerator. “Mom, quit scaring my guest.”

  She shoved off the doorway, her skin turning back to her normal lily white. “Our guests don’t tend to scream like that all night long.” She paused, and tapped her lips with a pointed finger. “Well, not in the bedrooms anyway.”

  My blush was never going to go away.

  Mandy snickered from the table. “Neither does Isaac. Normally.”

  Isaac’s gaze snapped back and forth between the two of them. “Cut the shit.” His green gaze halted on his mother. “Please.”

  His mother waved us away from the fridge. “Go sit down with your guest. I’ll warm you up some lasagna.” Frosty eyes caught my gaze completely. “You do like lasagna, don’t you, Kennedy?”

  With the softest voice, I murmured, “Yes, ma’am.”

  She snorted. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you. I know for a fact you can speak louder than that.”

  “Mom. Really, stop.” Isaac sighed and rested his right palm on my back, moving us to the table. “Try to be respectful. She’s frightened enough of you guys.”

  Her brows lifted as she watched us take our seats. She huffed quietly and peered into the refrigerator, pulling out a baking dish. “For whatever reason, Caleb said she’s hands off.” Her cold gaze flicked to my blue eyes. “We won’t harm you. But it doesn’t mean I have to like you.”

  I blinked and stammered, “Um…thank you.”

  Finn snorted hard across from me, lowering his sandwich to his plate. His question was blunt and to the point. “So, Kennedy, how did you manage to get your claws into my brother?”

  I glanced to Isaac, and he smiled softly, giving me the reigns on this question. I looked back to his brother, noticing they had the same straight nose. “We met the night of the incident. At the shifter building.”

  He blinked. “The night Hanna gave you access.”

  “Yes.”

  Finn whistled quietly, running his gaze over me again. “Quite the entrée she gave you.”

  My eyes narrowed on his. “I was there dropping off a package. I had no clue that was going to happen. I don’t even really like shifters—” I snapped my mouth shut. Wrong house to say that
.

  Mandy chuckled quietly next to Finn. “It sounded as if you liked my brother just fine tonight.”

  I cleared my throat, flicking a sheepish glance to Isaac. I clarified for him, “What I meant is I don’t like what shifters or wizards do to humans.”

  His black brow lifted as he placed his left arm on the back of my chair. The heat from his flesh warmed my shoulders perfectly. “You mean trick them?”

  “I mean kill them.” I waved a hand. “The tricking I understand. You need to stay hidden so the entire world doesn’t freak out. But it’s the killing of innocents that I don’t agree with.”

  He hummed quietly, glancing at his mother as she warmed up our dinner. “Mom, no extra spices, please.” He wiggled his nose at her. “Kennedy does need to be aware of her surroundings.”

  Mrs. Stone growled under her breath and yanked a dish out of the microwave. She tossed the food into the trashcan. “I only wanted to question her.”

  “You can do that without the drugs. She’s been honest so far. I doubt that will change.”

  I shut my gaping mouth. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll answer any questions you have honestly.”

  She huffed…or her Gargoyle did…and lifted a knife to cut out a new piece of lasagna.

  Isaac crooked his arm on the back of my chair, placing his hand on my shoulder, grabbing my attention. “So you don’t like when a shifter or wizard kills a human.”

  I stared. “No.”

  “What about when a hunter kills a shifter or wizard. Does that make it better?”

  My blink was ever so gradual. “Hunters only kill shifters or wizards who have murdered innocent humans. There is a difference there.”

  He chuckled. “That’s not entirely accurate for every hunter. But, let’s just say it is for this discussion.” His fingers dipped under the collar of my shirt and played absently with my collarbone. “Do you think all magical beings kill humans?”

  I shook my head. “No. There are good wizards and shifters. Just like there are good and bad humans.”

  “And what makes them bad?”

  I blinked. “Uh, for you guys…temperament?”