Chapter Twelve
The closer they drew to the shore, the higher they climbed. The cold wisps of clouds skated over Callie’s skin, and she shivered. The male veered in a sharp curve to the left and her heart leapt in her chest. The aerial acrobatics flipped her stomach around, and she laughed in delight despite her reservations and distrust of the grotesques.
“You like that? Well let’s do some more. I think you could use some fun, eh?” The male banked to the right, then back to the left, tucked his wings tight and took them toward the ground in a steep decline.
“Woohoo! This is so fun!” Her exhaustion abated on the heels of the excitement of flight.
A loud snap echoed, and their descent slowed almost to a stop. “Better than a roller coaster?” The male flapped his wings in long, slow strokes until he touched down on a rooftop.
He set her on her feet.
“Never been on one.” Her legs wobbled, then steadied, and he released her biceps. She spun on her heel and startled when she saw his face. Until that moment, she hadn’t seen anything but the underside of his jaw. “Thanks for the ride. And for distracting me a little.”
“You’re welcome.” He grinned, showing off a perfect set of dimples. Long sandy brown hair hung to his shoulders, framing a face of incredible masculine beauty.
Callie tried to look away, knew her open stare was rude, but couldn’t keep her eyes turned away. She’d never seen anyone as attractive as the male in her life. Streaks and veins of blue coloration marched over every inch of exposed skin. The curved middle joints of two massive leathery wings peaked above his head.
“They aren’t tattoos. Yes, I was born this way. No, I don’t get laid constantly.” His smile stayed fixed, but the mirth in his expression died. He gave her the blatant once over she’d been waiting for since he’d picked her up out of the water. “But I think you could coax me out of my dry spell, darlin’.”
The grotesques transporting Theo landed a few feet away. They set him so carefully on the rooftop that Callie didn’t even hear a clink.
“Ah, you know what? A week ago, I would have jumped on you. But now… I gotta go. Thanks for not dropping me or doing anything that would make me have to stalk you and cause misery.” She kissed him on the cheek, the lonely sadness in his eyes no more ignorable than a siren’s song. This male needed someone to love him. But her heart was already taken. Owned totally. She twirled and walked backward. “Oh, shit, what’s your name? You never told me.”
He bowed at the waist and flared his wings out with a snap. Show off. “You can call me X.”
“Thank you, X.” Callie blew a second kiss to him and trotted toward Theo and the members of the aerie.
Humanoid and mythical creatures in every size, shape, and color mixed in a loose circle around Theo’s prone form. X hurried past on her left.
A few of the other grotesques hissed and chattered, giving him a wide berth.
“Fuck you. You need me and you know it. Theo’s in deep.”
Tails slashed through the air, wings rustled, and more angry chitters sounded. The wind kicked up, and dust motes danced in the air. A huge stone lion with red and gold coloring that matched Theo’s landed a few feet away from Callie.
“Logan?”
The lion paused and turned its head to regard her. The grotesque nodded once, his stone mane swishing around his face.
“You’re an idiot, you know? You’ll never find another female like Petra. And I really don’t think you deserve her.”
Logan’s tail slashed the air and he growled at her.
“Oh, fuck off. You and I both know who the jerk is here.”
X wedged his way into the ring around Theo and held his place even though the grotesques on either side of him appeared to be trying to keep him out. Logan took a place on X’s left, shoving a tall, beaked creature aside hard enough to cause it to stumble.
Theo lay on his back, all four paws in the air, and one of his wings crumpled. She grasped their connection with a firm but gentle touch, reassured to find it strong. The whisper of outside voices brushed the edges of her consciousness. Callie shoved them away and stomped toward Theo, punched her way through the ring of grotesques around him, and laid her hand on his paw.
“If you hurt him, you’ll regret it. X says you won’t, but one of you didn’t rip his guts out.” Callie glared at the creatures until they ceased their shoving and squawking. “Theo doesn’t want me around, but we do have a connection of some kind. I’ll know if you’re doing something shady.”
X nodded at her. “You’ll need to back up.”
She left their circle with shuffling steps, reluctant to move away from her love. Exhausted muscles in her legs and back trembled with the effort of keeping her upright. Only a few hours ago she’d woken from a coma, and the strain of her activities since leaving bed were taking their toll.
The aerie swayed, then joined their movements with a song she wouldn’t have believed them capable of performing. The clarity and joy embedded in the notes touched her heart and changed the landscape of her soul. As the song continued, it gained momentum, each utterance circling back on itself and harmonizing. She joined her voice to theirs, caught in the web of magic. Red-gold light kindled around Theo’s prone form until it encapsulated him. The bubble pulsed with the tempo of the rhythm; the colors blazed ever brighter, until they mixed together and became white.
The bubble flared and disappeared, leaving a sparkling shower like tiny shooting stars behind. Her heart thundered in her chest. Callie took a step toward Theo, then another. He lay still and prone, the only clue she had that he had awakened was the light rise and fall of his chest. The aerie parted to allow her to enter the circle, but she remained out of reach, suddenly aware of her nudity.
Theo’d thrown her away, told her to leave. She shouldn’t let him see her naked ever again. Callie scowled and tucked her hair behind her ears. Now that he was awake and alive, she wanted to kick his ass for hurting her.
If he’d let her stay in the apartment, Booker wouldn’t have clawed her belly to shreds. A worse thought followed on the heels of the first and doused most of the anger: what if he woke up and threw her away again? In front of the Aerie? Despite their bond?
Anguish, confusion, and despair all muddled together in her head, choking her throat and sucking the air from her lungs. She had to get away from him before he hurt her again.
Theo fought the song of the aerie. They’d removed him from the ocean, where he’d gone into Dormancy. Ire boiled and surged, shoving rational thoughts aside. On the bottom of the sea, he’d been close to Callie. The bastards couldn’t resist an opportunity to punish him.
He’d known, even while in his hibernating state, when she awoke. Their bond, though new and weak, had flared with awareness. However, even now, the aerie refused him peace. A mate outside the species was frowned upon, and with his history of offences, they must have used it in an excuse to punish him once more. To separate a grotesque from their mate, especially when the bond hadn’t solidified and matured, created a living hell for the male.
Once, he’d have accepted their punishment as his due. No longer. Their strictures and laws drove Booker, a once proud member of the aerie to madness, and the male almost killed the female he loved.
For fuck’s sake, he was made of stone! She lived underwater. What the hell would they do on a date? He couldn’t swim, couldn’t hold his breath under water. If he shut down and went into Dormancy, he made a good diving weight. Unless she wanted to surface. Lots of fun that would be. Callie could claim to have a fifteen foot long pet rock in the shape of a winged lion.
Callie didn’t need him in her life. Probably wouldn’t want him after what he’d done.
His bond to her grew stronger as the irresistible call of the aerie towed him to full awareness. He listened to the mental chatter of the attending grotesques, careful to breathe slow and steady. Let them believe he hadn’t fully awoken yet. Satisfied by the mundane aspects of the aerie
’s telepathic conversations, he allowed himself a peek at the mate bond he shared with Callie and almost drowned in a tidal wave of emotions.
Gods, she was pissed. So angry and upset he rolled to his feet in one swift movement and released a infuriated roar meant to serve as warning and threat to the ass who’d displeased her so. His mangled wing dragged on the roof top, but he managed to tuck the other one to his back. The pain cascading into his muscles from the injury hurt enough that his vision blurred, but he fought through it and focused on Callie. Whoever had done this to her, given her cause for such mental anguish, would die the moment he found them.
He roared once more, flame jetting from his mouth this time and licking at the belly of the nearest grotesque. The other male backed away, hands out in front of himself in the universal gesture for no harm intended. The aerie shouted at him along their common telepathic path, but he ignored it, zeroed in on Callie.
The bond led him to where she stood, her arms looped over her middle, the glorious strands of her exotic hair a wild mass of curls—one copper iris, her large, full breasts, and nipples were hidden by the locks. She transferred her weight from one foot to the other and glared at him.
Tears welled on the rims of her eyes; she blinked them away, and pivoted to present her back to him. “Well, good to see you’re awake. Your friend can take me somewhere else now.”
A low growl spilled from his muzzle. He let his claws click on the roof as he crossed to where she stood. The plump globes of her ass tempted him. When he got close enough, he swiped the left one with his tongue from the bottom where it met her thigh to the top.
Callie gasped, jerked, and ran a few steps. She whirled on him and poked him right in the nose with her finger. “Who do you think you are anyway? You can’t do stuff like that. You told me to leave. To go away. That you didn’t want me. Now, because of you, I’m going to be stuck with a mate bond you don’t want. Poseidon recognized the magic, so I belong with you now. Except you made it clear you don’t want me. So where do I go? I hope you have a half-way house for homeless nymphs.”
Satisfaction and pure possessiveness stole through him. He grinned and purred, then sat down. Standing, their heads were almost level. Sitting like this, his head towered over hers. He curled his tail around his feet and tried again to fold his injured wing in, but it didn’t want to cooperate.
A metallic glint caught his eye and he focused on it. Callie’s hair still obscured most of her front, including her biceps. The buzz of her voice as she chewed him out passed him. He wanted to know what was shining on her arm.
Theo used his left paw to move her hair out of the way.
“You jerk, you told me to get out… What are you doing?” She clapped her hand over the exposed skin.
But he’d seen what he wanted. Relief, joy, and triumph burbled over him. Callie wore the bracelet he’d bought her.
“You know what? You need to change forms. I’m tired of yelling at a giant flying stone lion. Which is a totally ridiculous notion anyway. How the hell can something made out of stone fly? It makes no sense.”
Theo shook the ruff of fur around his neck out, stretched his back until his vertebrae popped and slid into his human form. Unlike the experience of most shape-shifting species, it didn’t hurt.
“I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
Callie opened and closed her mouth in rapid succession.
He reached out and pushed her lower jaw up with the tip of his forefinger. “What? I do know how to apologize.”
“That was amazing. You just pop from one form to the other.” She retreated a step. “And you obviously weren’t listening to me. You can’t apologize like nothing happened. It doesn’t work that way.”
Theo closed the gap between them, got close enough for his toes to touch hers, grasped her hips with both hands, and towed her in until they touched from chest to shins. “Yes, it does. You can stay mad for awhile if you want. But I said I’m sorry, and I meant it.” Temptation to use their mate bond to help plead his case teased him, but he shoved it away. It wouldn’t be fair.
He studied her face, noted the purple hued skin under her eyes and the fine lines bracketing her mouth. “You’re exhausted. Let’s go to bed.”
“I’m not having sex with you.” Callie kept her arms crossed over her chest and leaned back enough so that she could look him in the eye. The mounds of her generous breasts plumped up, bracketed by her forearms and biceps. Gods he wanted to bury his cock in her cleavage. “And I’m not going home with you either.”
Her statement chilled him, but stubborn refusal to yield was something he understood. He excelled at digging his heels in.
A shiver chased over her skin and goose bumps rose in the trail of his finger as he traced around the curving lines of the bracelet. Callie wasn’t nearly as set on denying him as she let on. “Female, I didn’t say anything about sex. It can wait until you’ve rested. But you will come home with me.”
“No.” She shook her head and scowled.
“Yes.”
“You hurt me, Theo,” she whispered. “I’m confused and scared. I can feel the bond, I felt it when you sent me away…but I don’t know if it’s enough.”
He leaned down until their foreheads touched, closed his eyes for a moment, and opened them again. Her scent danced in the breeze, and he took a deep breath so he could suck as much of her into himself as possible. The incredible copper of her irises filled his vision. “I know. I thought you’d be safer away from me. Please, give me another chance. I know I am unworthy. I truly sought to protect you. And perhaps myself.”
“Hmmm. Love is scary, huh?” The light brush of fingers on his pectoral blazed a path of fire into his blood. “And I don’t think sending me away is a good protection tactic.”
“Never again will we be separated.” Theo bent his knees and scooped her up into his arms. “I’ll spend as long as it takes to regain your trust. A millennia may pass, but I will spend every day living a life that makes you proud to be my mate.”
“What’s this? The big bad grotesque brought low by a mere female?”
“Shut up, Logan.” Theo hid his smile and gave his brother the most intimidating glare he could muster. The fool snorted and gave the equivalent of a feline laugh. “I’m taking my mate to bed. You need to go retrieve yours. I can sense the thread. Don’t be stupid. You know what will happen to you if you continue to deny the bond.”
His brother snarled and launched himself from the building, both wings unfurled to their full span. At the moment, Logan’s love life wasn’t something he had the time or energy to meddle in. Callie’s needs came first.
He directed his next thought to the members of the aerie. Most had left the building already, but they could hear him over the common link. “Thank you for awakening me, but harm my mate by word or deed, and I will kill you.”
“Theo, it’s not very nice to threaten people like that.” She glanced at the sky, watching his brother soar away. “Logan really messed up Petra. She’s heartbroken.” Warm air flowed over his neck when Callie spoke.
“He’ll go back for her. I promise. He can’t deny the bond much longer.” Strands of her hair tickled his bare chest and shoulders. “A grotesque without their mate bond cemented will wither and die. Logan is smart, resourceful, and a survivor. He’ll do the right thing.”
“I hope you’re right.” She licked him, and then kissed the spot. “You know, I don’t think I’ll ever get to sleep, even though I’m exhausted. I’ve got all this pent up energy.”
Blood pooled in his cock and stiffened it into a throbbing ache. “Giving me blue balls is not going to win you brownie points. You need to sleep.”
“I will sleep.” She nuzzled his neck, traced the curve of his ear, and burrowed her hand into his hair. “After you screw me senseless and give me an amazing orgasm.”
Theo shook his head and squeezed the curvy, soft female in his arms. “Sleep.”
“Orgasm. Or-gasm. O-oh-oh-oh-rrr-gasm!” She caug
ht him by the nape of the neck and kissed him hard.
“Fine.” He strode for the access door to the stairwell. If sex would calm her enough to rest, he must give it to her. “After the ceremony.”
“I can’t believe you’re pouting about having sex.” She cocked her head and frowned. “What ceremony?”
“I’m not pouting.” He kissed the top of her head. “The mating ceremony. It’s important.”
“Oh. Okay. What’s it do?”
“You’ll see.” A deep purr rolled up and out of the base of his throat in response to her acceptance. This was right. Callie. His mate in his arms where she belonged. She needed training, but in time, she’d learn to listen in matters concerning her safety and well-being.
“I heard that.” Her palm hit his chest with a sharp smack. “And no, I won’t. I’m not a pet that needs training.”
He fondled her butt cheek. “Just an orgasm.”
“Right.”
Theo smirked and slipped his thumb between her cheeks in the right direction to find her moist center. “Okay, pet.”
“If I wasn’t so hard up and horny right now, I’d leave your ass up here alone.”
He removed his hand to open the door and began to descend the stairs. “Sure you would.”
“I’m not your pet. I’m your mate.”
Their eyes met.
“Exactly.”
Chapter Thirteen
Twilight descended and changed the edges of the horizon to gold, rose, purple, and deepest blue. The strongest stars struggled to break through the haze of the lights created by New York City. Wind rippled through her hair and sent it flying behind her in streamers. Callie spread her arms wide and leaned back with her eyes closed, enjoying the sensation of moving blind through the night.
Rock Hard And Wet (BBW Paranormal Romance) (Nymphs Of New York) Page 10
