Removing the Gargoyle’s Mask

by Charlie Richards

  “R-Raymond?” Marty whispered.

  “Yeah.” He couldn’t help but smile, knowing his mate recognized his voice even though they’d only spoken a few words. “It’s me.”

  Marty didn’t fight his hold, but Raymond could feel the tension in the thick forearms he held. Instead, Marty asked, “What’s going on, Raymond? Why am I tied up?”

  “I’ll untie you,” Raymond promised. “But will you leave the blindfold on, please? I have some things to tell you.”

  “Your friends said you were shy,” Marty commented absently. He nodded, then asked, “Was I really kidnapped by a demon?”

  Raymond grimaced. “Uh, not exactly,” he stated while sliding a claw through the rope binding his mate’s hands.

  Once the rope fell away, Marty rubbed his wrists. Raymond released him and sat back. Marty propped his back against the headboard, then held out his hand, palm up. For a few seconds, Raymond just stared. Marty crooked his fingers.

  Confused, Raymond asked, “What?”

  “Your hand, Ray,” Marty requested. “I can’t see you. At least, let me touch you, so I know where you are.”

  “I’m not like you,” Raymond warned, even as the fact that his mate wanted to touch him thrilled him.

  “I kinda figured that out,” Marty murmured. His wide mouth twisted into a wry smile and he offered his hand again. “I followed you Thursday night. I, uh, I thought I saw you fly,” he admitted. “Was I wrong?”

  Raymond gasped. “You-I-No—” He snapped his jaw shut, uncertain and concerned. His mouth gaped as he listened to Marty chuckle low in his throat while waggling his fingers again.

  “Come on, Ray. Take my hand and tell me about yourself. The truth this time.”

  Maybe Sapian was right. Maybe the mate-pull really would do the rest. Reaching out, Raymond slid his fingers along Marty’s palm. He shivered at the feel of the man’s work-roughened hand, marveling at how the calloused fingers slid over his palm, wanting to feel them moving over other parts of his leathery hide.

  Marty laid his other hand over the back of Raymond’s hand, feeling his skin, then hesitantly tracing his claws. Even as Raymond’s cock thickened under his loincloth at his mate’s caresses, he feared his human would shy away at the feel of him.

  Instead, Marty cupped Raymond’s hand in both of his, holding him loosely, and settled their joined hands on his lap. He rested his head against the head board and sighed. “Okay, Ray. Tell me about yourself. What are you? And where am I?” After a second, he added, “Am I in danger?”

  Although the man appeared relaxed, Raymond could still feel and scent Marty’s tension. Trying to soothe the other male, he rested his second hand on top of their other hands and rubbed. “You’re not in danger,” Raymond assured. “You were brought here by Vane, who gets a little, um…overzealous,” he decided to finish with.

  “Overzealous? Is that why I was tied up and blindfolded?”

  “Uh, yeah. Maelgwn probably didn’t order those things.”

  “Wait, Maelgwn? The big African American?”

  Raymond nodded, then realized his human couldn’t actually see it. “Right. He’s not really an African American. That’s just what he looks like in human form.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  Figuring the rip off the Band-Aid approach would work best, Raymond softly stated, “We’re gargoyles. Me and Vane and Maelgwn and Einan. There are more of us here, but those are the ones you’ve…seen. Maelgwn is our leader and oversees our safety. He had you brought here because of your contact with me.” He paused, then explained, “We’re what are called paranormals. There are shifters and vampires, too, but most of the myths about us aren’t true.”

  The more Raymond spoke, the more Marty’s hands tightened around his, betraying his tension. Continuing to massage Marty’s hand, he kept talking. “As a paranormal, we live much longer than humans. Centuries. To offset the possibility of living a long, lonely existence, Fate grants each paranormal a mate…a soul mate, if you will,” he explained. “The reason you’re so drawn to me is because you’re my mate.”

  “Your mate,” Marty asked, uncertainly. His chest rose as he inhaled deeply, the broad pecks expanding then contracting under his t-shirt.

  Raymond’s breathing hitched, his cock jerking at how sexy that looked. He really, really wanted to see and touch. “Y-Yeah,” he replied almost absently.

  As if reading his mind, Marty’s hands tightened just a bit before releasing. “I can use my imagination about what being a mate is. I don’t think I need further explanation on that right now. I do have a couple questions about you and gargoyles specifically, though.”

  “I’ll tell you anything.” He realized he meant it, too. No matter what, he wanted to share everything with his mate.

  “It sure looked like Maelgwn and Einan were pretty affectionate with their, uh, boyfriends. Can I kiss you like that? Touch you?” His lips tightened just a bit and his jaw worked, as if he struggled to get his next few words out. “I’ve never been tempted to do anything with a man, although I’ve been attracted to a few over the years. Sitting here with you, smelling you. You’re telling me some important shit but all I can think about is pulling you close and…” He paused, his jaw clenched for a second. Then, Marty blurted, “And you’re a, uh, a gargoyle, so I don’t know what’s appropriate.”

  Raymond’s belly clenched, anticipation thrumming through him. He pushed to his knees and shuffled forward, careful with his talons so he didn’t tear the sheets. Gently, he tugged his hands free from Marty’s grip. Excitement coursed through him, causing his words to come out barely on a moan.

  “Can I sit on your lap? Then, you can touch me however you want.”

  “Okay,” Marty replied, licking his lips.

  Elation flooded Raymond when he heard the breathy quality of his human, the man he hoped soon to be his lover.

  Carefully, Raymond swung his legs over Marty’s thick thighs. With his short legs, he had to stretch them wide to accommodate, and he just knew his balls would nestle perfectly into the valley formed by his human’s legs. He hoped he could control himself in the face of that stimulation.

  Raymond pulled Marty’s hands toward him and told him, “I don’t know if you want to start with the blindfold on or take it off now. I don’t look anything like you,” he couldn’t help but warn. “I don’t feel like you, either.”

  “Hmm,” Marty rumbled, resting his fingertips against Raymond’s skin lightly. “We’ll start like this and go from there.” Raymond could just see a smile toying at the corners of Marty’s lips, almost hidden by the edge of the blindfold. “Just so you know, I plan to see your face when I get around to kissing you.”

  His heart tripped in his chest, thudding so loudly, he didn’t know how Marty didn’t hear it. Gods, he wanted that so much. “J-Just please don’t freak out,” he all but pleaded.

  Marty nodded once as he slowly began rubbing his hands over Raymond’s chest. “I’ll do my best,” he assured.

  Knowing his mate could offer nothing else, Raymond found himself getting lost in sensation as Marty slowly explored his leathery hide.

  Chapter Six

  Marty hadn’t really known what to expect when Ray told him he didn’t feel the same. He’d already known about not looking the same, but feeling? Well, he should have realized it when he’d seen the man—no gargoyle—spread wings and fly.

  Damn. That’s something to wrap my mind around…but later, much later.

  When he didn’t have the sexy-sounding, amazing-smelling male on his lap, hovering oh-so-close to his aching cock, he’d worry about the logistics of getting involved with something…other.

  When Marty had woken and felt the bonds around his wrists, the massive creature that’d appeared in his bedroom had flashed through his mind. Then, he hadn’t been able to see and he’d started scrambling. Finally, Ray’s sweet, sweet tones reached his ears, pulling him from his panic.

 
After hearing Ray’s explanation, Marty still didn’t totally get it, but he was willing to cut Ray some slack. After all, he wasn’t the one who’d taken him and he’d assured him that he was safe.

  Marty decided all that could take a back seat. He had the male he’d been obsessing over in his arms…well, not technically in them, but he’d rectify that soon. Now, he gently swiped the pads of his fingers over the man’s chest.

  Shit, Ray’s a fucking gargoyle, not a man.

  Marty figured he’d get that through his head soon enough.

  Once again pushing that thought to the back burner, Marty swept his hands slowly up and down, exploring the firm flesh of Ray’s pecks, down to the ridges of his abs. The hard hide under his fingers felt so different than his own flesh, almost bumpy, like he imagined an elephant or maybe a rhinoceros, perhaps.

  Still, it was warm and seemed to ripple beneath his touch. Ray’s breathing hitched, his chest heaving beneath Marty’s touch.

  Damn, that response felt amazing, swelling Marty with pride, to know someone was so affected by his touch.

  Marty felt lean hands rest on his shoulders, massaging his tendons through his t-shirt. He didn’t want that…he wanted to feel Ray’s hands on him, too. “Hold on,” he grumbled.

  Lowering his hands to the hem of his t-shirt, Marty whipped the fabric over his head. Along with his shirt, came the blindfold. He blinked in surprise as he acclimated from near darkness to the low lighting given off by the lamp beside the bed.

  Once his vision cleared, Marty gasped upon his first sight of the…creature…sitting on his lap. His heart hammered in his chest and he just knew he gaped like a fish. Ray’s hide swirled between shades of deep, dark gray and black, making it difficult to pinpoint what color he actually was. He wore a dark-brown, leather loincloth around slender hips. Above that, the ridged abs he’d touched appeared to be a twelve-pack…only because the man’s lean torso seemed disproportionately long as it led up to firm pecks.

  The hunching of Ray’s shoulders and the shifting of his weight on Marty’s lap snapped him out of his shocked stupor. “Wait. Stop,” he snapped, almost harshly. He grabbed the gargoyle’s arms, just below his shoulders and held him in place.

  Marty’s gaze swept over the creature’s face, noting the male’s clean, square jaw and the protruding upper canines. Even as some relief hit him that the gargoyle’s face appeared far more humanoid than that of the orangutan he’d mentally compared the picture his brother had found, Marty reached out and traced the gargoyle’s jaw line.

  The leathery hide slid smoothly across Marty’s fingers and he cupped the gargoyle’s jaw. It fit perfectly in his big hand. Holding the male’s head steady with his grip, he lifted his other hand and boldly explored, sliding his thumb along Ray’s thick lower lip, over first one canine, then another, until he traced one side of his thin upper lip. Next he moved up Ray’s broad nose and over a thick boney ridge where a human’s eyebrow would have been.

  Finally, Marty reached Ray’s ear, brushing over the appendage’s sweeping point. Ray began to pant, his jaw opening just a bit. The move drew Marty out of his blatant exploration and to Ray’s dark eyes, half-mast and full of arousal.

  “Feels good when you touch me,” Ray almost hissed the admission.

  Marty lowered his gaze to Ray’s mouth and licked his own lips. “You don’t have a beard,” he commented softly, even as he brushed his forefingers over Ray’s hairless pate. “No hair at all.”

  Slowly, as if in a trance, Ray shook his head.

  Unable to help himself, Marty glanced down at Ray’s loincloth covered groin, wondering what he’d find beneath that scrap of fabric. Was Ray hairless everywhere?

  “M-Marty?”

  Ray’s breathless moan went straight through Marty to his dick. His cock flexed in his boxer-briefs. If he wasn’t mistaken, as he watched, he thought he spotted an answering movement beneath the other male’s loincloth.

  Returning his gaze to Ray’s face, Marty admitted, “I want to kiss you. I’ve never kissed a guy before. Do gargoyles kiss?” He snapped his jaw shut, forcing back any more inane words.

  “Please, kiss me,” Ray pleaded.

  Marty didn’t need to be asked twice. Using his hold on the other man’s jaw, he tilted Ray’s head back a bit. Leaning forward, he placed a soft kiss to the corner of the male’s jaw. He brushed his lips against Ray’s, finding them smooth and warm, opening and giving to his slow exploration as he worked his way gently to the other corner of Ray’s mouth. Marty even licked his way around the gargoyle’s canines, liking the sharp hiss that escaped the creature.

  The fact that he kissed something not human tried to push into his mind, but he beat it back. It helped that that was about the time Ray slid his arms around Marty’s neck and massaged his shoulder blades.

  Sharp points sent tendrils of sensation through his system. Goose bumps broke out over his skin. Marty gasped and lifted his head as he realized those weren’t just fingernails he felt. The pointed nails he’d felt while blindfolded were claws…and, damn, they felt good touching him, kneading his muscles.

  Marty took in the slightly vertical pupils of Ray’s lust blown gaze…sexy and foreign, all at the same time. Staring into the male’s eyes he noted something else. It took him a second to figure it out—fear—and when he did, the need to banish that look flooded him hard and fast.

  Leaning forward again, Marty licked his way between Ray’s lips and into his mouth. Even while mindful of the male’s canines, he still thrust his tongue deep. The more he tasted of Ray’s dark, masculine flavors, like the finest rum, the more he wanted.

  He growled low in his throat. Marty used his hold on the other male to tilt his head back and deepen the kiss even as he wrapped his other arm around Ray’s torso and pulled him close. A hard erection pressed against his own, the sensation unfamiliar and exciting all at the same time.

  Sparks shot through him, pleased to discover the other male just as aroused as him. Groaning, Marty tightened his hold and rocked against that heady pressure. He thrust his tongue deep, and moaned when Ray wrapped his tongue around his own, stroking and sliding their appendages together.

  Marty’s balls rolled in their sacks as Ray met him thrust for thrust. He bucked harder, tingles settled in his balls and he chased the delicious feeling. The friction, the stimulation, caused the tell-tale tingles of his encroaching orgasm to settle in the base of his spine.

  Yanking his mouth away, Marty thumped his head against the headboard behind him. He groaned and froze, just managing to hold his orgasm at bay. He scrambled with the hem of his boxers, shoving them down a bit to free his cockhead and part of his shaft.

  Gasping for breath, Marty watched a slender, claw-tipped hand reach for his exposed prick. His eyes widened as he watched one short black claw gently touch his red, blood-engorged glans. His breathing sped up at the exploration of his sensitive flesh by the lethal-looking appendage. His cock jerked, oozing, giving away how much he enjoyed seeing and feeling the light scrape over flesh.

  “F-Fuck, Ray. God, that’s—” Cutting himself off, Marty gritted his teeth. His balls pulled tighter to his body and he struggled against the urge to grab himself, give himself the friction his prick so desperately ached for. “Ray!”

  “Like that, do you?” Ray crooned. His dark eyes almost seemed to glow with feral satisfaction. “Just need a bit more?”

  Panting hard, Marty’s fingers clenched where they held Ray’s waist. When he’d settled them there, he wasn’t certain, but he couldn’t seem to peel them off the other male for anything.

  Ray smiled, showing off sharp teeth that should have scared the shit out of Marty, but for some reason made him want to offer his neck and urge the gargoyle to take a bite. Marty followed Ray’s line of sight as he lowered his gaze back to his cock.

  Marty watched as Ray swirled two claw-tipped fingers around and around his swollen head. The light scrape, scrape caused him to grit his
teeth. His balls ached, harder and more swollen than he could ever remember feeling. Ray hummed and dipped one claw into his oozing slit. The sharp bite of pain sent a spark into his testicles.

  Shouting in shock, Marty lost it. His abs tightened, his body curling, as an orgasm unlike anything he’d felt before rolled through his body, making him convulse, the pleasure nearly painful with its intensity. Marty thumped his forehead against Ray’s shoulder as he watched spurts of semen shoot past the claw that still gently worked his slit. Fire unlike anything he’d ever experienced before coursed through his veins as his balls unloaded again and again, forcing more cum out than he thought his body contained.

  He grinned almost drunkenly as he watched a wet spot appear on the loincloth still covering Ray’s groin. Unable to help himself, he peeled an unsteady hand from his new lover’s hip and reached between them to run a thumb over that moist fabric. Even as he rubbed, Ray groaned in his ear and the spot grew.

  “Wanna see you next time,” he murmured, almost slurring his words.

  Holy hell, when was the last time I came that hard? Orgasms with Ray just got better and better. What would it feel like if we actually fucked?

  Ray sighed, almost sagging against him. “Wow.”

  Marty smiled and slid his hands around the other male’s body. Gently, he stroked his hands over the strong lines of Ray’s back, liking the firm, slightly bumpy skin under his fingertips. As his breathing settled, the desire to explore this creature in his arms grew.

  Sliding his hands up higher, Marty felt an odd ridge about two-thirds of the way down Ray’s back. Tracing it, he realized it banded around his torso, kinda like a rib would, except more prominent. Seconds later, he found a second ridge a few inches higher.

  “What are these?” Marty couldn’t contain his curiosity.

  Sighing, Ray nuzzled his neck a bit before answering, licking and nipping gently. Finally, he lifted his head and mumbled, “Wingskin bone-spurs.”

  That got Marty’s full attention. Lifting his head a bit, he peered down the other male’s back. That’s when he noted Ray’s shorter than normal legs. Following the black lines of one leg, he noticed the way it ended in claws so sharp they more resembled talons. His grip tightened involuntarily at the sight.