by A C Warneke
Rhys chuckled as the elevator arrived. When the doors yawned open, he held out his arm to allow her to precede him into the elevator. "What did you think about the gargoyles when Lenni brought you up onto the roof?”
“How did you know about that?” Oddly wary, she eyed him as the doors closed and they headed to the ground floor, where the rest of their party was hopefully waiting for them.
He arched an eyebrow and she simply knew. With a wry chuckle, she rolled her eyes and sighed, “Lenni told you. I swear she talks just as much as Ferris; it’s no wonder where my daughter gets it from. You would think that they would be constantly battling for attention but when they get together they build upon each other’s imagination. It’s really quite spectacular.”
“Quite,” he agreed without any hint of mockery and with a slight smile. “Ferris is very lucky to have you for a mother.”
“Thank you,” she said, slightly uncomfortable with his praise. Suddenly finding the floor extremely fascinating, she stared at her feet as she murmured, “She’s the light of my life.”
When he remained silent, she chanced a glance at him and caught him staring at the region of her chest, as if he could see what was beneath the thick layers of her coat. Taking a breath, feeling the embers of the old Jenna stirring to life from its long slumber, wanting to remember what it was like to take a leap without looking, she cleared her throat. He looked up and smiled without embarrassment, his smile far too charming. Crossing her arms over her breasts, she arched an eyebrow, “Do you like what you see?”
“Very much. In fact, I think I would like to see more.” His voice was warm and seductive as he freely admitted to checking her out. Intrigued in spite of herself, her eyes dipped to the front of his jeans, where his substantial erection was displayed in a pronounced manner. The denim material clung lovingly to the thick length, emphasizing his grand size and the fact that he had nothing to be ashamed of.
When her mouth fell open, he laughed, pushing her chin upwards with the tip of his finger. “I trust that isn’t a problem?”
She sucked in a sharp breath at his touch, his boldness. He probably threw lines like that out all of the time hoping to get a nibble. She knew that it was foolish to respond to words so blithely given, even when accompanied by proof of his attraction, but she was unable to summon the energy to be offended, especially when she was just as intrigued as he was. Unfortunately, she also couldn’t prevent her nipples from pebbling or her belly from tingling as if he was serious and he truly wanted her. It depressed her to realize how very much she wanted his flirtation to be real and she suddenly felt very old and alone. “You’re either very confident or… well, there is no or. I mean, look at you; why wouldn’t you be confident? You’re the most gorgeous man I’ve ever met.”
He smiled that devastating smile of his and she was pretty sure he could make a woman orgasm with little more than that smile. “You’ve never met my oldest brother.”
She made a weird face and shook her head in bewilderment because there was no way his oldest brother could be even more gorgeous than Rhys. She opened her mouth to tell him so when the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. Crinkling her nose at him, she stepped out and saw that her sister and daughter had abandoned her to the supremely attractive Rhys’s keeping. “I’m going to strangle Lenni.”
A solid arm slid around her waist and a hot body pressed against her side as Rhys’s warm, masculine scent washed over her. Her belly tightened and her thighs quivered in response: she was highly aroused and very horny. Potent desire swept through her, surprising her with its intensity, and she realized that she wanted this man, this stranger, more than she should. She wouldn’t do anything about it because she was no longer reckless but it wouldn’t hurt to indulge in a few fantasies, however….
Urging her forward, Rhys said, “I figured this would happen when Lenni invited me to tag along tonight. She has been talking you up for weeks, throwing out blatant hints that you and I should get together. Your sister is very determined, you know.”
“Try sharing a womb with her,” Jenna ground out, dizzyingly pleased that her sister was playing matchmaker, even if the man standing next to her was more than she could have imagined. Oddly, he was exactly what she wanted and she knew that sex with him would be decadent and all-consuming. And completely consigned to her fantasies. “Growing up she was always pulling me into a closet and pretending it was the portal to a magical world. When I was younger I could enjoy her stories but then I grew up and she preferred the closet.”
“Well, that would explain her ability to live in a shoe box,” he replied, amusement lacing his voice. “I’d become claustrophobic living in her apartment.”
“I don’t know,” Jenna grinned, enjoying the easy banter, the hum of arousal that heated her blood. “I think living at the castle would be amazing – the architecture alone is phenomenal. Of course, only Lenni would find the perfect apartment when she wasn’t even looking.”
“It was fate,” Rhys murmured, staring ahead as if he could see Melanie and Vaughn, a thoughtful expression on his handsome face.
“It’s Melanie. She walks through life secure in her own little world and everything just sort of falls into place. I would say she was a changeling but Ferris is exactly like her.” She heaved a theatrical sigh and smiled, “They both have that spark, that bit of magic, that seems to elude us lesser mortals.”
“You have that spark,” he said, his voice soft with conviction as he stopped her in her tracks and took her hand in his. Holding her gaze, he quirked a smile when she rolled her eyes, “I’m serious! You have that spark but it has been buried. I think being here together is fate.”
Her breath caught in her throat at his assessment, wishing for it to be true and knowing he was only saying what she wanted to hear. It didn’t matter; he made her want to experience life again and that was a miracle in and of itself. “I don’t know if I believe in fate. I think that sometimes we have to create our own fate.”
He nodded his head in solemn agreement even as his eyes danced with laughter and in that moment she wanted to jump his bones. “Or maybe that is just Fate’s way of getting us to do what she wants us to do in the first place.”
It was inappropriate and wrong in so many ways but it was a feeling that she welcomed. Instinctively she knew that he would be a wonderful lover and she wanted him more than her next breath. Ignoring the temptation, wondering where it even came from, Jenna’s lips split into a wide grin, “Then let’s just say screw fate and have sex, right here and now.”
He stopped abruptly, a stain of color spreading over his cut cheekbones as his brown eyes bore into her. Licking her lips, she forced herself to meet his gaze and ignore the way her heart pounded furiously in her chest. “Oh, gosh, that’s not what I meant to say. It’s not that I don’t want to have sex with you because I do I just didn’t want to blurt it out like that because we barely know one another and it would be incredibly stupid to just jump into bed with each other and I’m babbling… make me stop babbling, Rhys, before I say anything else.”
He looked over his shoulder at the interior of the building and frowned, an expression that seemed out of place on his handsome face. When he remained silent, she turned her head to see what held his attention but didn’t see anything out of place. It was the same opulent atrium that had overwhelmed her senses the first time she visited Melanie at her apartment all of those weeks ago. Granted, it was gorgeous, with the intricate stone work and soaring ceilings, like an enchanted castle out of long forgotten fairy tale, but there was nothing out of place.
The only other person there was a strange little man behind the counter who was watching them with an eager smile and she wondered if he had heard her blunder. What could she have been thinking, to proposition him like that? She really needed to work on her flirting skills.
With a sigh, she pushed a strand of black hair out of her eyes and twisted her head around so she was looking out the door, to the real world wher
e she didn’t make a fool out of herself in her first attempt at dating since Jeremy. It wasn’t that she was throwing out the possibility of sleeping with the man but it wasn’t smart to just blurt it out like that. The hot rush of desire that had been coursing through her veins must have fried her brain because she never would have stumbled so badly. Plus, she would have waited until they had gone on a few dates.
She shouldn’t even be thinking about Rhys in a sexual manner at all. He hadn’t even asked her out, not that there had been a lot of opportunity to ask her out. They had barely just met and she was obsessing over something that probably meant nothing to him. Prettier girls than her undoubtedly threw themselves at him all of the time. In fact, he probably felt sorry for her and wasn’t sure how to reply.
The longer he remained silent, scowling at nothing in particular, the more foolish she felt. Instead of explaining her huge momentary lack of speech control, she found herself staring at the ground and muttering, “Unless you’re not interested….”
His warm palms wrapped around her upper arms and she looked up. When she saw the desire flaming in his hot, brown eyes she had to remind herself to breathe. His eyes gleamed as he looked at her and cleared his throat. “Sweetheart, I am very interested,” he rasped, his voice rough with emotion. “You have no idea how very interested I am. But it would be a bad idea if we didn’t at least think about it.”
“Why?” Oh, god! Why couldn’t she just let it go? If he decided to take her up on her offer she’d have to explain that she didn’t mean it. Except there was that throbbing hum of desire that was scorching her belly at the thought of giving in to madness and sleeping with him.
“Your sister is… dating my brother,” he said in way of explanation, which was a weak excuse. At her frown, he smiled wryly, “Their relationship is complicated.”
Jenna snorted at that, “Oh, please. They’re made for one another. Haven't you noticed that the world simply disappears when the two of them look at one another? Theirs is possibly the least complicated relationship I’ve ever seen.”
Rhys’s lips curled upwards into a sexy but humorless smile, “Appearances can be deceiving, sweetheart. There are things you don’t know….”
“Just forget it,” she exhaled in frustration and humiliation. If he didn’t want her, he could have just told her instead of trying to spare her feelings with a ridiculous tale. She took a step to leave when she found herself pulled into his arms and surrounded by his body, staring into the chocolate depths of Rhys’s eyes.
Her own eyes widened as he stared down at her with naked hunger, as his thumb brushed over her lower lip, lingering this time. Lightning cracked through the walls around her heart and her stomach dipped with excitement. He bent his head until his breath mingled with hers and she thought, she hoped, that he was going to kiss her but he didn’t.
“If things were different,” he rumbled, his voice low and fervent as he held her so close. “If I wasn’t what I was and you weren’t Melanie’s sister I would have you back upstairs, naked and on your back and tied to my bed. I would torture you with pleasure until your body was weeping for release and then I would fuck you until your brain exploded in ecstasy. And then I would start over and do it all again.”
The air rushed out of her as she exhaled, her body softening to accept what his eyes and voice were promising. Her tongue flicked out and touched his thumb, tasting the spicy clean flavor of him. His eyes slid closed for a moment as he let out an anguished groan. It was all the encouragement she needed, “Maybe just one night?”
He opened his eyes and they glittered in the darkness, “One night would never be enough, Jenna, and if I had just one taste of you, I’d want it all.”
She swallowed thickly, staring into the endless depths of his eyes and thinking that they were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. The feelings that were swamping her were similar to how she felt when she drank too much wine only she hadn’t had any wine in months. Her head was spinning and she just wanted to kiss him and lose herself in sensation. She wanted to have sex with him, a virtual stranger, just to feel alive.
Shaking her head, needing to break the spell he had unwittingly cast, she stepped out of his embrace. She laughed uneasily as she pushed her hair out of her face once more, “You’re right, of course you’re right. Giving into this craziness would be so wrong.”
“It wouldn’t be wrong,” he countered, confusing her. Holding his hand out towards her in silent entreaty, he smiled ruefully, “But it wouldn’t be wise, not yet.”
She laughed in earnest now, slipping her hand into his and welcoming the jolt of electricity that reminded her that she hadn’t died almost seven years ago, that life did go on. “It’s alright. We don’t want to do anything we’ll regret….”
“We wouldn’t regret it,” he grumbled, his lips quirking upwards in a dazzling smile, making him look like Loki, a mischievous god among mere men. Bringing her hand up to his lips, he kissed her knuckles once more in that courtly way of his and his eyes sparkled, “Just so you know, I fully intend on getting you into my bed.”
She crinkled her nose as she chuckled softly, “Then I will look forward to that day.”
“Night,” he corrected.
“Night.” She laughed as he pushed open the door and they stepped out into the frigid Minnesota winter. The only drawback of a festival in winter was the fact that it took place in winter. Rhys wrapped his arms around her and the cold wasn’t so bad, even if her heart ached with what could have been.
But life was frequently unfair and it could change so quickly between one heart beat and the next so she was just going to enjoy the moments she had with the fascinating Rhys Nosuntres.
Chapter 2
Rhys knew they had spent too much time in Nod’s presence when Jenna offered sex. Her eyes widened in alarm at the words that came out of her mouth and he had to bite his tongue to keep from accepting. The little sprite tended to have that kind of effect on humans: lowering their inhibitions and making them behave as if they were intoxicated on alcohol and aphrodisiacs. Foolishly, Rhys had wanted her offer to be genuine and had it been made in earnest he would have taken her upstairs and had her naked and in his bed in a heartbeat. However, he probably would have saved the restraints for another time.
His heart thudded dully in his chest as he held the exquisite, raven-haired beauty in his arms. Her delicate scent of night-blooming jasmine wrapped itself around him, the exotic scent more erotic than any of the more cloying perfumes favored by many women of his acquaintance. He hadn’t expected to like her so much and on such short acquaintance but there was just something about her that he found vastly appealing. He wanted to get her into his bed but he also wanted to know everything about her. If nothing else, he better understood Vaughn’s strong reaction to Jenna’s sister.
At the time he had encouraged his brother's infatuation, not knowing the drastic measure Vaughn would take to keep Melanie safe and not understanding the need to do so. He had enjoyed watching Vaughn behave like a fool even if a part of him had been a little envious of the strong attraction between Vaughn and Melanie. Knowing the impossible choice Melanie was going to have to make in a few days, he had ceased envying his brother.
Until he met Jenna as a man.
While Melanie might choose to accept Vaughn’s gift, Rhys knew that there wasn't a chance in Hell that Jenna could accept his. She had a young daughter who needed her mother. If she had been anyone else, he could have played his games with her and they both would have been sexually sated. But she was the type of girl who wanted forever, not a casual fling, no matter how sweetly she asked. Glancing down at the beautiful woman, he let out a sigh. For the first time in his very long life he wished he wasn’t what he was, that he wasn’t a gargoyle.
He wished he could offer her forever and she would be able to accept it.
Was this how Vaughn felt when he met Melanie? This instant connection that was as devastating as it was inexplicable? He was powerless to re
sist it even as he knew they couldn’t have anything more than a few stolen moments. If Melanie accepted Vaughn’s gift in a few days, if she became a gargoyle, Jenna would lose Melanie and she would despise him and the thought of Jenna suffering made his chest ache. Why couldn’t she have been a beautiful stranger, as Melanie had been to Vaughn?
Rhys vividly recalled the first time he had seen Jenna. It was shortly after Melanie had moved into the closet that had been converted in a hurry when a pixie needed a place to stay. The two of them had come up onto the roof to enjoy the unnatural warmth beneath the winter sun. Humans – normal humans – avoided the castle because they grew increasingly ill from the amount of magic concentrated therein. Melanie, Jenna and Jenna’s daughter apparently had been the exceptions and it had infuriated Armand, which Rhys always appreciated. As much as he loved his oldest brother, Rhys felt that Armand was too tightly wound for his own good.
Rhys had been drawn to Jenna immediately and it had been all he could do to remain standing when he had wanted to claim her right then and there as a gargoyle. That would have terrified both of the girls, since Melanie had not yet been made aware of their true natures. Plus, Armand would have taken a chisel to him had he done something so stupid. Hell, his older brother had almost taken a chisel to Vaughn just a few days before for a similar offense.
It hadn’t helped matters that Jenna had run her slender hands all over his stone body. Her touch had sent waves of sensation along his stone skin, deep into his rock hard belly. He hadn’t known a human’s touch during the day could be so damn arousing and he hadn’t wanted her to ever stop. But then, just moments later, she had spread her towel out and lay down on it in nothing more than a skimpy bikini.
