by A C Warneke
“You have an entire building full of beautiful creatures that would be more than willing to pose for you,” he told her, returning his attention to his book. “Ask one of them.”
Thinking quickly, trying to adjust her strategy, she came up with the perfect way out and smiled, “Of course you’re right. I could ask Nod. Even though he’s a sprite he is very attractive and since it is a portrait his size doesn’t matter. Plus, he’s always eager to spend time with me and since it would require spending a lot of time in his company things could get interesting. I mean, you know how sprites affect humans. I’d probably get intoxicated just by being with him for so long and do something stupid like give him my virginity. Could you imagine losing your virginity to a sprite? I wonder how that would work….”
He suddenly became very still and his lips were pressed together in a firm line. Ferris almost clapped her hands together in glee. “You will not ask Nod to be your model.”
“Fine,” she conceded with a grin, unable to keep the smile from forming now that she was so close to her goal. “I know! I could ask Corvyn….”
“Absolutely not,” he bit out, the binding of his book bending backwards as his fingers flexed. “You will not ask an incubus to remove his clothes in your presence. He would take it as an invitation to seduce you.”
“But he’s always been so nice to me,” she said innocently, batting her eyelashes at him.
“No.”
Everyone was always saying that Armand was cold and aloof but he wasn’t, he was fire and passion and he made her heart race in her chest, her belly tingle in awareness. She knew the moment he entered a room: the air changed and it was difficult to breathe. Luckily, she had had several years to get her response to him under control… well, at least she was able to give the appearance of being unaffected by him. Inside she was a mess.
“Then give me an option because I am out of ideas,” she said, pressing him in the hopes he'd just give in.
“You could ask Michael or Leo or even Raphe,” he offered and she almost groaned. The three young gargoyles were a ton of fun but they were still young, full of too much testosterone and not enough self-control. Considering the youngest was her age of twenty-one and the oldest was twenty-five, they were young even for humans but they were exceptionally young for being gargoyles. They had practically grown up together and no matter how gorgeous they were – and they were gorgeous – Ferris thought of them as brothers. And annoying brothers at that.
The three of them were the trinity of trouble. Michael with his white blond hair and emerald green eyes, Leo with ash blond hair and golden eyes and Raphe, the devastating creature with blue black hair and violet eyes. They traveled together in a pack, with Michael and Leo laying waste to foolish hearts and pristine chastity, and Raphe going along for the ride, trying and failing to rein his brothers in. They reveled in being young and beautiful and powerful and sometimes Ferris envied them their existence because they knew their place in the world. They knew that they belonged.
Forcing her lips into a smile she slowly nodded her head, “Maybe. Michael did say he was interested in getting to spend some time with me, get reacquainted now that I’m of legal age.”
The faint tic thrumming away in Armand’s neck was manna to her soul and she almost burst into laughter. Michael had as much interest in seducing her as he would a rotten fish. “I will take a chisel to him if he so much as thinks about taking advantage of you.”
She closed her eyes and ground her teeth together in exasperation. He was not taking the hint. Plus, he was being overly protective again. How was he going to see her as a woman if he kept trying to protect her from herself? “Armand, I am a grown woman now. He wouldn’t be taking advantage of me if it was something that I wanted.”
He was quiet for a moment, his green eyes moving over her face looking for something, she just wasn’t sure what. Softly, almost hesitatingly, he asked, “Is it something you want?”
She couldn’t help it, she threw her head back and laughed. “God, no. Michael thinks he is God’s gift to women and that annoys the hell out of me. I wouldn’t let his lips within spitting distance of me and I sure as heck wouldn’t have sex with him. Could you imagine?”
“I’d prefer not to,” he ground out. He glared at her for a long moment before slowly returning his attention to the book. She didn’t think he was actually reading it, he wasn’t even turning the pages.
After a few moments of silence, she cleared her throat. She tried to arrange her face into an expression of pathetic helplessness so that when he looked up he might actually pay attention. When he didn’t look up she frowned; why did he have to make this seduction thing so difficult? Most of the men of her acquaintance would have picked up on her hints months ago and would have had her naked and on her back soon after. Of course, most of the men of her acquaintance were not tremendously self-controlled gargoyles.
“What am I going to do?” she asked again, hoping to break through the steely wall surrounding him. As if aware of her scrutiny he finally turned the page in his book and she knew she had lost him. Sighing in momentary defeat, she slumped back onto the couch and gazed past him to the window and the city beyond. Since her plan to get him to pose naked for her was a bust, she’d have to come up with another way of getting him to see her as a grown woman. But now that she had raised such a fuss about not getting a model she’d look like an idiot if she painted one of the many models readily available. “I guess I could get a mirror and do a self-portrait.”
“No!” Her head snapped around at the frosty tone of his voice. He was able to put so much meaning into that one little word. “What would your mother say if you exposed yourself like that for the world to see?”
“Well, as long as I didn't show too much skin and it was artfully done….” She began, stopping when he looked at her with those green eyes of his, silently chastising her for even thinking such a thing.
“But it’s okay if I paint someone else’s son or daughter?” she asked, arching an eyebrow at his contrary behavior. Turning her head to the side, she looked back out the window, watching as the lights were being turned off as people got off work and headed home to their families. To be honest, she wasn’t comfortable posing nude so that left her with one of the supernatural creatures that populated the castle. Obviously she couldn’t ask a sprite or an incubus but there were plenty of other possibilities. Her model didn’t even have to be male. “I suppose Toulia would be willing to pose….”
“Damn it, Ferris,” he growled, setting the book down. Turning her head, she saw that he was scowling fiercely. No one could scowl like Armand. He was so handsome as his green eyes burned, his nostrils flared and his lips pressed together in a straight line. “I’ll do it.”
She arched her eyebrow at him, “Pardon?”
“I’ll be your damn model,” he said through his clenched teeth. Glaring at her, he asked, “Isn’t that what you wanted from the start?”
“I’m sure I have no idea what you mean,” she said casually, glancing at her nails as if she truly didn’t know what he meant all the while doing a happy, crazy dance in her head. Just when she had given up on convincing him to pose he surprised her by agreeing. “I mean, certainly you would be the most interesting person I could paint but I don’t want to put any undue pressure on you.”
He stared at her as if she were daft, a look she was very familiar with. He had often deployed it whenever he was dealing with her. “I would just sit there.”
“Naked,” she grinned, waggling her eyebrows at him.
A reluctant half-smile curved his lips and his eyes sparked with humor. “I am comfortable in my own skin.”
“Yes,” she nodded her head solemnly, biting back her laughter. “I am aware.”
He looked at her and frowned, “I am always careful around you.”
“Sure you are,” she agreed, nodding her head in an exaggerated manner. Actually, he was careful around her, too careful. It took a little bit of ingenuit
y and a lot of luck to see him in his gargoyle body without the enchantment to hide that very intriguing male part of him he diligently kept hidden from her. With a magnanimous wave of her hand, she leaned back and crossed her leg over her knee and smiled, ignoring his good-natured grumbling. “And because you are being so selfless in agreeing to be my model I will let you have a little loin cloth to hide your, er, modesty from my impressionable eyes.”
He grinned slightly at that, reaching behind him and chucking the pillow at her before she even realized what he intended. Catching it, she threw it back but of course he was expecting it and caught it easily. With his hands full, she leapt off the couch and tackled him, forgetting that he was at least seventy pounds heavier and made up of pure muscle. She found herself pressed against his hard body, her hands on his solid shoulders and his arms clasping her elbows to hold her steady. Staring into his green eyes she forgot how to breathe.
Trying to stay cool, she smiled but it trembled on her lips. “Wow, that was a spectacularly bad idea. I forget that you are made of stone even when you’re in your human form.”
He flashed one of his rare smiles, his teeth white and perfect, “And you are as light as a feather.”
With that he grabbed her under her arms and stood up, lifting her until her feet were dangling several inches above the carpet. They were eye to eye and she was completely flustered. “Yes, well, your superior gargoyle strength is also very impressive. You can, um, put me down now.”
“I’m going to need a large loin cloth,” he said gravely, his green eyes lit with laughter.
Her lips parted in surprise a moment before her smile nearly split her face and she laughed. She adored this side of Armand, the side he kept hidden from everyone but her. Sliding her arms around his neck, she hugged him because in that moment hugging him was as necessary as breathing. Pressing a kiss to his smooth cheek, she tilted her head back and grinned, “Done. But I reserve the right to arrange the cloth as I see fit.”
“Mmm hm,” he murmured, not quite hugging her but not putting her down either. The moment stretched out and as she watched his eyes darkened to emerald and his nostrils flared. As her tongue darted out to moisten her suddenly dry lips, the smile vanished from his face and he tracked the movement with his eyes.
The sound of barking and the clicking of nails on the floor was the only warning they got before Armand’s little white mop of a dog came into the room, running circles around Armand’s legs before standing on her hind legs and begging for his attention. Ferris knew that the rest of the crew wasn’t going to be far behind and as much as she loved her family she was sorely disappointed that they had returned home so quickly from their evening walk.
Chuckling, Armand set Ferris down before going to his knees and petting the dog, “What mischief have you gotten into today, Dizzy?”
Still feeling a little giddy from being in his arms, Ferris covered her mouth to keep from laughing, remembering years past. She and her Aunt Melanie had gotten the little dog for Armand years before because Ferris had decided he needed a puppy. They found the cutest, most adorable mutt they could find and presented it to him shortly after the sun set. Initially he had refused the gift, referring to the creature as demon spawn, but it didn’t take long before everyone knew the little dog was his. The moniker stuck and the mop with legs was officially named Demon Spawn, though she was lovingly called Dizzy. The dog had adored him from the very start, much like Ferris, following him around and burrowing her way into his heart.
The little dog was getting older now, not quite as spry as she had once been and it broke Ferris’s heart to realize Dizzy wasn't going to be around forever. In that moment, Ferris hated mortality but she kept her smile in place and put any dark thoughts away.
“She’s not going to answer you,” Ferris grinned, plopping down on the couch, her legs still a little weak from being in his arms for that briefest moment in time. She hadn’t been prepared for how strongly she would react if he exhibited the least amount of interest in her. Her skin was still buzzing. He didn’t even realize the kind of influence he had over her and she knew that he could destroy her so easily without even trying. It was thrilling and terrifying to realize just how much power he wielded.
“Yes, she will,” he countered, scooping the dog up into his arms and sitting down next to Ferris. Scratching the dog’s ears, he crooned, “Dizzy is a good dog.”
It was difficult for her to think with his hard thigh pressed against hers but she wasn’t going to move. Her mouth was dry and she could only stare at him as he poured affection onto the dog. She knew the moment the others arrived because the softness disappeared from his face and he handed the little mop dog to Ferris. Automatically, she took Dizzy absently rubbing her cheek against the dog’s silky fur coat. Rhys’s laughter broke through her stupor and she blinked her eyes, grudgingly tearing her gaze away from Armand.
“It doesn’t matter what you say,” Rhys said, striding into the room with Jenna on his arm. With auburn hair, brown eyes, and a perpetually sunny disposition, Rhys was the perfect match for Jenna, who needed laughter and discovered passion and love with him. Sitting down, pulling Jenna onto his lap, he continued, “She’ll never be a real dog.”
Jenna was gorgeous, with long, midnight black hair and eyes the color of the summer sky. She was slender and graceful and one of the two most beautiful women Ferris knew. And despite being Ferris’s mother, Jenna hadn’t aged a single day in fifteen years and she never would. She had drunk the blood of Medusa and a wizard of some sort and had become more or less immortal so she could be with Rhys while raising a human daughter.
In a few weeks on the next new moon, Rhys was planning on offering Jenna his nights, a ritual that was used to bind a gargoyle to his human mate. For one month he would remain a man even when the sun came up. When the dark side of the moon was once again facing the earth, they would complete the ritual and their bond would be complete. The spell transformed a human into a gargoyle when the gift was finally accepted at the end of the ritual. Because Jenna was no longer strictly human the end result was going to be slightly different: Jenna would remain human but she was going to have the ability to let Rhys walk in the sun as a man and not a gargoyle. Also, she was going to be able to have Rhys's child.
As much as her mother said having only one daughter was enough, Ferris was almost certain that one of the main reasons they were going through with the ritual even though it wasn’t strictly necessary was so they could have their own children, like her Aunt Melanie and her gargoyle mate Vaughn. Vaughn, with his golden hair and golden eyes, was the gargoyle who had taken the risk on a human and changed the course of history.
Melanie was Jenna's fraternal twin sister and just as beautiful. Her aunt shared similar features with her mother, the same slender nose and the same summer-blue eyes, but Melanie had a curvier figure and chocolate brown hair. Even after having a second baby last year she had a fabulous, pin up girl’s body and frequently drew the eye of many, many men. Unfortunately for her admirers she only ever had eyes for Vaughn.
Ferris liked to think she was a cross between her mother and her aunt, with dark chocolate hair and a body that was slender but with decent curves. Unlike her mother and aunt, however, Ferris had blue-green eyes, the color of the Caribbean Sea, or so she had been told by one of her college classmates a few years back. Trying to deny her attraction to Armand she had even attempted dating the poor fool, only to break his heart when she couldn’t give him more than a few chaste kisses. She definitely couldn’t give him her heart, which belonged to Armand.
Absently, she reached out and stroked Dizzy’s silky ears, ignoring the tingles of electricity that raced up her arm when her fingers brushed against Armand’s. Startled, she turned her head and realized that Armand was scratching Dizzy’s ears, too, a concerned look in his striking green eyes as his gaze met hers. She offered a tremulous smile but knew what he was thinking and that was dangerous, especially if he was trying to figure out a way t
o get out of posing for her.
Plopping the dog back onto his lap, she stood up, refusing to give him a chance to back out of their agreement. With her pulse throbbing in her throat, she ignored the question in his eyes and went over to greet her mom. Unfortunately, she was unable to prevent her eyes from glancing at him and she stumbled a step when she saw that he was still watching her with the inscrutable expression.
She was being ridiculous. She was twenty-one, less than three years younger than the age her mother was when she had met Rhys and bound her life to his. Hell, she was going to be her mother’s age by the time Armand realized he was meant to be with her – and that was only if her plan of seduction worked.
Chapter 2
Assessing the Situation
Wearing a robe, Armand stood in the doorway watching Ferris as she sorted through her brushes and got her supplies in order. She was oblivious to his presence and he took the opportunity to just study her. Without being aware of it she had turned into a beautiful woman, with rich, coffee colored hair and luminescent skin, with exotic, clear turquoise eyes and full, blush stained lips. She had grown into her gangly body at some point, developing some very nice curves.
He knew he shouldn’t be noticing such things about her but he was still a man and Ferris was a very attractive female. He wondered why she didn’t have a horde of men trailing after her. But of course, he knew part of the reason – she had been labeled a freak in her childhood. It infuriated him that anyone could look at Ferris and not realize how amazing she was, how funny she could be, how bitingly intelligent. Humans were so petty.
When he had first met her she was an almost-six-year-old moppet who talked and talked and talked. She would climb onto his lap while he was in his gargoyle form and tell him the minute details of her day, jumping from one topic to another in a disjointed narrative. When the sun fell and he became man once more, she would follow him around the house, continuing her stories as if she was aware that the man and the gargoyle were one and the same. Perhaps she did know, even then. She had been a child and a miniature replica of Melanie, whose abrupt appearance in their lives had changed everything.
