by A C Warneke
“When you wake up, we’ll have the whole day to play.”
“Won’t you be tired?” she asked softly, her words slurring slightly at the end.
“No,” he shook his head, still moving his hands over her slender back. “I won’t be tired at all.”
Vaughn watched as Melanie struggled to keep her eyes open before finally surrendering to much-needed sleep. Running his hands over the smooth skin of her back, breathing in her vanilla and warm feminine scent, he had to smile: she embraced sleep as she did everything else, by throwing her whole being into it. Her body was sprawled across his, her legs entwined with his, her arms flung around him, her hair a wild mass of silk sticking to her body and to his, her lush breasts pressed against his chest.
Her snug sheath squeezed his cock, sending wave after wave of exquisite pleasure down his shaft and into his balls. If it weren’t for the binding spell, she would have pulled him under a dozen times already. Her passion complimented his and holding her while she slept was… it was like coming home. Little puffs of breath caressed his neck as she breathed and he would have been content to remain that way forever, just holding her in his arms.
As much as it pained him to admit, he was glad that Peter, that bastard, had been Melanie’s boyfriend for so many years without demanding more from her. If the idiot had been anyone else, he would have known what a treasure Melanie was and never would have been able to let her go. If that had been the case, then Vaughn would never have met her, he would never have known someone so wonderful and that was something that was not even worth thinking about. Melanie was his; she had always been his.
No matter what happened in the end.
He was going to be spending so much time with her over the next month that she was either going to grow sick unto death of him or love him desperately enough to bind herself to him completely. He shuddered to think what was going to happen if it was the former. How would he gather up the pieces of his soul if she hated him?
Armand had been livid about Vaughn giving up his nights for her, making his anger known by scowling even more than usual and storming around the apartment before dawn this morning. Well, as much as Armand stormed. Even as he seethed, his older brother told him what to expect from the ritual so that there would be no surprises. But, Armand kept muttering that it was going to end badly, that Vaughn was going to end up with a broken heart.
Where Armand predicted crashing and burning, Rhys only saw the soaring through the clouds and he supported Vaughn’s decision whole-heartedly. His younger brother had always been a seize-the-day kind of guy, even if he had never felt this all-consuming devotion for another person. But in the end, his support made the jump easier to make.
Though it nearly slayed Vaughn to think about it, if Melanie decided to not accept his gift, he knew that his brothers – both of them – would be there to pick up his shattered spirit. He loved her but if she decided he was asking too much he would be content to know that her life was full of love and laughter, even if he wasn’t in it. She would have his heart and his protection no matter what she chose.
Watching her as she slept with a small, satisfied smile curving her lips, Vaughn hoped she would complete the ritual, and accept his gift because she was so very, very precious to him. He would give up anything to be with her, to keep her safe, even if it was just for a month. He knew the price and he was willing to pay it.
Melanie slowly came awake from the most delicious dream of being in Vaughn’s arms while he was thoroughly making love to her. His familiar spicy scent filled her nostrils and she wanted to sink back into the depths of her dream. But something was tickling her nose and it was distracting her. Absently, she swatted her hand and her fingers got tangled in something soft and silky.
With a frown, her eyes popped open to see her hand twisted in Vaughn’s golden hair. Turning her head up, she blinked and saw Vaughn smiling down at her as he drew his finger along her cheek. “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.”
Memories of the night before, of why he was in her bed, of why his cock was still in her, flooded her and her body flushed in arousal. Vaughn was right: waking up to him making love to her was nice. Very nice. Sometime during her nap he switched their position so she was once more on her back and he was on top. Still gently moving within her, he was holding his body over hers so she was able to admire the bulge of his biceps, the swelling of his pectorals, the ridges of his abdomen. For the second time, she allowed herself the pleasure of watching their bodies where they were joined, the way his cock glistened as it slid in and out of her sex.
With a sigh, she dreamily ran her fingers over the warm flesh of his chest, along his shoulders, into the soft gold of his hair. “Good morning, my love. How long was I asleep?”
“Only a little while,” he answered, flexing his hips with a little more vigor as she came more fully awake. “It’s almost dawn.”
Her mouth fell open in shock as she turned her head and looked out the window to the gray light of pre-dawn. “I can’t believe you let me sleep so long.”
Laughing, he shook his head, his golden hair moving against his broad shoulders, “Honestly, it was only an hour or two and you needed your sleep.” At her scowl, he laughed harder, “I promise, you didn’t miss anything.”
She harrumphed but her pique was short lived as he slid his hand up her stomach to her breast, cupping the weight in his hand. “At least, you didn’t miss much.”
Tilting her head to the side, she looked up at him, at his teasing smile. Almost reluctantly, she asked, “What did I miss?”
“Well, when you come in your sleep, your mouth parts lightly and the sweetest little sound comes out,” he crooned, his eyes sparkling as he rolled her nipple between his thumb a finger, pinching it and plumping it up.
“I didn’t know I could come in my sleep,” she managed to say on a ragged breath, her hips arching off the bed to get closer to his body. “What else?”
“You talk in your sleep.” At her horrified expression, he smiled gently, “You come up with things you want to make at the candy store. Your latest is a raspberry-infused dark chocolate with a raspberry cream center. Apparently, you plan on naming it after me, calling it The Lion’s Purr.”
“Anything else?” she grimaced, her nose crinkling slightly at what else she might have said or done. Luckily it was getting harder and harder to hold a normal conversation as sexual heat enveloped her body. Vaughn’s cock was swelling inside of her and she could feel it stretching her body.
“You snore,” he grinned, unable to resist teasing her. Before she could say anything, he laughed, bending his head and kissing the tip of her nose. His breathing was growing harsher as well. “It’s the most adorable, kittenish snore and I was thoroughly enchanted.”
“You’re so weird,” she panted, her lips twitching as she smiled and moaned.
“And you’re mine,” he proclaimed, taking her lips in a fierce, possessive kiss. His hips moved faster as he began to fuck her in earnest. Abruptly, the light teasing was gone and power surged through his body, heating it, hardening it. She sensed the change immediately, knowing that dawn was almost upon them. “When this spell is done, I am going to claim you in the sun.”
“Yes,” she agreed enthusiastically, feeling the heated blood move in her veins. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she let her body mold itself to his. Moving with him as he moved, she silently encouraged him to move faster, to thrust harder, to pound deeper. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as he moved his lips along her jaw, nipping at the tender skin of her neck, sucking the fluttering pulse.
“I’m going to claim every inch of you,” he promised thickly, darkly. His fingers slid down her waist, tightly cupping her ass and tilting her pelvis up to take him all the way to her soul. “I’m going to make love to you until every inch of your body cries for mine and you no longer know where your body ends and mine begins.”
“God, yes,” she moaned, stimulated by his low, husky voice. He was watching her wi
th darkly iridescent eyes, his lips parted in arousal.
“You’re mine,” he growled, his voice a deep rumble in his chest. “You belong to me and I belong to you.”
Her body was shaking with desire and love and her vision became slightly blurry. As his fingers dug into the flesh of her hips, pulling her towards him, he hammered into her over and over, claiming her with every thrust. “Yes, Vaughn! You’re mine and I am yours.”
The first rays of the sun were spilling into her room and a beam of soft, golden light streaked across his chest. As it grew in strength, it moved up his body, highlighting the carved muscles of his body, the tendons of his throat as he swallowed, the sharp line of his jaw, his lush lips as he smiled down at her.
His gaze captured hers as his face was bathed in sunlight and everything in her shattered in explosive pleasure. Vaughn’s body tightened as he thrust one final time, coming with a primal roar. Blistering semen drenched her womb, setting off a series of aftershocks, penetrating deeper and deeper into her body. His essence was branding itself onto her cells, onto her soul, and she could feel him inside of her. His pleasure, his emotions, washed through her and her eyes rolled back as she drowned in one last, all-consuming orgasm.
Breathing heavily, Vaughn collapsed onto Melanie, his body a luxurious weight that pressed her into the bed and stole her breath. Running her hands over his sweat-slicked back, enjoying the feel of his burning skin, she whispered, “It worked?”
Lifting his head, he looked down at her with a crooked grin, “It worked.”
After making love once more, the two of them climbed out of the bed and squeezed together in her little bathroom to get clean. It never occurred to either one that they would have been more comfortable in Vaughn’s bed or his shower because Melanie’s place was their little haven. After their shower, they dressed quickly and went up to the roof so Vaughn could see the daylight sky with human eyes for the very first time.
The first thing Vaughn noticed was how very blue the sky was, the color of Melanie’s eyes. The wispy clouds were so delicate they looked as if they had been painted in place, except they drifted across overhead. The world was so brilliant, almost unnaturally so. Having spent his life seeing it at night, he was overwhelmed by how vibrant the domain of day actually was.
His gargoyle vision never prepared him for the visual feast. Before he had seen the world through a prism of black and white and shades of gray and now it was a kaleidoscope of color. The most unexpected part was feeling the sun on his face and it was glorious. The sun had no effect on him when he was stone; it was just a bright gray light in the gray sky with no substance. As a man, he was enthralled by the heat and he wondered how a fire so far away could give off such warmth.
But then he looked at Melanie and his heart stuttered in his chest. At night, Melanie was stunning but in light of the day, she glowed with life and energy. She was a child of the sun while he was a creature of the night. She smiled up at him with love and adoration and his heart punched his gut and a mixture of pain and ecstasy crashed through him. He would do anything to keep her safe, including being stuck in stone for sixty or seventy years so she never suffered.
Ignoring the penetrating ache in his chest, he tilted his head back and closed his eyes, absorbing the warmth and light of the sun. It kissed the skin of his face and he wanted to take off all of his clothes and let it caress the flesh of his body. He wanted to make love to Melanie in all of its sweltering splendor. His body hardened at the thought and he had to adjust his burgeoning erection but he didn’t turn to her, knowing she would make love with him even if she was too raw to do so. There would be time to make love to Melanie under the sun.
He had no idea how long he stood there, his eyes shut while Melanie stood with him, all the while holding his hand. It was so peaceful and having her stand silently beside him caused a surge of love well up within him. The feelings of euphoria were too great to think beyond the next moment. Soon enough the time would come when he was going to have to talk to Melanie, to explain what it meant to give up his nights.
He could wait. He wasn’t going to shatter this perfect moment with the consequences of what he willingly gave up.
Chapter Thirteen
“My family is going to love you,” she repeated for the umpteenth time, her free hand moving freely as she bubbled in excitement.
Vaughn wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for him to meet her family but she was adamant, telling him that it was only fair since she had met his family. Because her family was so important to her, he wanted to do this, even if he had doubts. Besides, it would give him a chance to learn more about Melanie, and that was always a good thing.
Maybe if it hadn’t been so bloody cold when they went out to her car, he might have been able to prepare for the visit. Instead, he had been floating on a cloud of sun-warmed skin and had forgotten that, while the roof was warm, the rest of Minnesota was not and though his body was adaptable to the cold weather, it wasn’t immune. He had been sorely tempted to return to the roof but he didn't want to disappoint Melanie.
He just wished she would keep both hands on the steering wheel. It took twenty minutes to get to the house in the suburbs where she grew up and so far it had been terrifying.
“Do you think you should have called your mom to let her know you were bringing me with today?” Vaughn asked, the uncertainty apparent in his voice.
She turned her head and smiled at him as she reached out and took his hand in hers. “There’s nothing to worry about. Mom and dad don’t bite and if they did you’re big enough to bite back.”
He laughed at her unexpected words, feeling the tension ease from his body. Gods, if he could he would give Melanie the world and not just his protection.
“Besides,” she continued, oblivious to his thoughts. “They’re going to love you.”
Yeah, except for the fact that they were going to take one look at him and know that he was sleeping with their little girl. No matter how much the world had changed, one thing stayed the same – a parent’s protective instinct for his or her child. He was going to be lucky if he got out of there with all of his limbs in tack. Damn it, he was a gargoyle, a mythical being of not insignificant powers, and he was apprehensive over meeting a few humans. It would be funny if it weren’t so fucking pathetic!
“Ferris is going to adore you,” Melanie continued, squeezing his hand in silent comfort. Was she chattering to set him at ease? God, she was wonderful. “She’s almost six and just the most wonderful child in the entire universe. She’s going to love the castle.”
“Castle?” he asked, enjoying the sound of her voice as she spoke of those she loved, hoping that she would talk about him with the same affection someday.
A stain of color burnished her cheeks as she gave a delicate shrug smiled slightly, “The apartment building. It’s what Rhys called it at the club and it’s such a perfect description of the building….”
“Ah,” he smiled at her and felt that well of love surge up in his chest again. This time, he gave her a hand a reassuring squeeze. After she was silent for a few moments, he realized that that she was trying to keep herself from talking too much. Didn’t she know he loved listening to her? “Tell me more, Melanie.”
She looked at him as if to gauge how serious he was and when she saw that he was sincere, she gave him a blinding smile before rushing into more details. “Well, my sister is simply amazing. She’s so serious and mature now, but you should have met her when we were in high school. She would come up with the most daring plans and somehow manage to pull them off and whenever we got caught, which we always did, she never got into any trouble. I swear, she was able to wrap everyone around her finger and she was just so damn charming that the wronged party ended up apologizing to her!”
They shared a laugh, even as Melanie’s mood darkened. “God, sometimes I miss the old Jenna.”
“What happened?” he asked softly, unsure if she was going to tell him.
She sighed
, “Her fiancé, Ferris’s father, was killed a week before the wedding.”
Melanie spoke briefly about Jeremy but didn’t go into a lot of detail. Vaughn knew it had to be a sore subject and it was obvious that Jenna still suffered from the loss. With a slow inhalation and an even slower exhalation, Melanie grinned, “I think we should set Jenna up with your brother.”
“Armand?” he asked, considering the idea briefly. Maybe the two of them could heal each other’s broken hearts….
“No, not Armand… Rhys,” Melanie laughed. “Don’t you think they would be perfect together? He could remind her how she used to be and she could show him the more serious side of life.”
“I don’t think Rhys has a problem with a lack of seriousness,” he countered.
“Well, no,” she agreed slowly, carefully. It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t know how long the three of them had been around – he hadn’t gotten around to telling her. She had a hint that they were older than they appeared but she had no idea that they were nearly five hundred years old. With a sigh, she shrugged her shoulders, and offered an apologetic smile, “I just want to see Jenna have fun again, you know?”
“Understandable,” he conceded. Clearing his throat, he admitted, “It has taken Armand a long time to get over his broken heart.”
Melanie’s brows furrowed as she considered his words, “He doesn’t seem to be over it, yet, does he?”
Vaughn chuckled softly, “No, I suppose he’s not. But he’s a gargoyle and we tend to feel things very deeply and very strongly.”
Skeptically, she looked at him, her eyes sparkling with mischief, “Are you still talking about Armand?”
His lips curved up in a rueful smile, “I am. He comes across as brooding and dark, but….”
“He has a soft, squishy center,” Melanie said with an amused sigh. “I know.”
