Stone Passions Trilogy (Stone Passion 1, 2, & 3)

by A C Warneke

  With a gasp, she pulled back and looked at him, searching for condemnation or anger in his eyes and finding only love and admiration. “And you don’t hate me?”

  With a soft smile, he shook his head, “I think if it’s possible, I love you even more. You’re my destiny, love. You’re my everything. I love you.”

  This time the tears that fell were indescribably happy tears.

  Chapter 22

  A Gift of Nights

  “Ferris,” Armand whispered frantically, shaking her out of her drowsy slumber. He still had moments of doubt but he was finally letting go of the darkness that had been his cloak for so long. His smiles came more frequently and he began to laugh more freely. And he loved her completely and absolutely.

  Opening her eyes, she looked up at him with a lazy grin. She never got tired of waking up to his beautiful face. “Hey, you.”

  “I want to give you my nights,” he said, urgency pulsing in the words. Impatience hardened the line of his jaw and he pressed his lips together, “And the only way to do it is to step out of this bubble.”

  “We only have a few more weeks left, love,” she murmured, drifting back to sleep, snuggling further into his warm chest. She felt Fray stir but he simply moved from her belly to her back, stretching out before going back to sleep. Letting out a jaw cracking yawn, she sighed, “We’ll do it when we get home.”

  “No,” he denied and her eyes shot open to see the determination burning in his green gaze. Standing, he pulled her to her feet, a loopy smile making him look silly and adorable and she was unable to refuse him anything. He was the Armand she had fallen in love with as Katrina, he was the Armand she had always loved. After all of this time, he was finally whole. “Let’s do it now. We’ll preform the ritual and get married. Then we’ll use the rest of our time in this bubble as our honeymoon.”

  She laughed at the eagerness and excitement that laced his voice but she shook her head, cupping his cheek in the palm of her hand, “Love, we’d have to stay in the world for a month to do the ritual, remember? Sunset on the new moon to sunset on the next new moon….”

  “I know,” he grinned, wagging his eyebrows suggestively. “We’ll find a quiet little place and spend our days lounging about in bed.”

  She looked around the paradise where they had spent so much time wrapped in each other’s arms, making love, talking about everything, falling in love over and over. They didn’t need to find some hovel in the real world to hide out in, they were living in a secret paradise. Returning her attention back to him, she arched an eyebrow in wry amusement, making him throw his head back in laughter.

  Circling her waist with his arms, he picked her up and spun around, “I want to claim you completely, Ferris. I want the world to know that you are mine and I am yours.”

  Her cheeks hurt from smiling. “Okay.”

  With a vibrant grin, he held her in his arms as he sprinted through the trees to the door. Refusing to set her down, he swung the door opened and waited through the first cycle of the moon, watching it fly by in fast forward. As the sun still hung in the sky on the eve of the new moon, he stepped out of the bubble, bringing her with him. He inhaled deeply, letting the modern air fill his lungs as he looked down at her and grinned, “It’s cold.”

  She hadn’t noticed for she had been too busy staring at the way Armand’s eyes crinkled in the corners when he smiled, the dimple that appeared in his cheek, his perfect white teeth. Plus, he emitted so much heat she could find herself in the middle of the blizzard and not feel a single snowflake so long as she was wrapped in his arms. Running the tips of her fingers over his cheek, his nose, his lips, she kissed him adoringly, “I love you.”

  As she drank in the sight of him, he transformed into the griffin gargoyle she hadn’t seen in over a year. He was just as beautiful in his gargoyle form as in his human form and she was looking forward to being his mate in all ways. Kissing the tip of his stone beak, she beamed, “Let’s find a room and get this ritual started.”

  He chuckled, low and rocky, as his arms around her tightened, “I’m afraid that the people of this time are still unaware of the supernatural world around them. You’ll have to find a room, preferably on a higher floor, and let me in.”

  Glancing around, she realized that they were in an alley in London. It was fairly close to their own time but not quite. It was probably closer to the time her mom and aunt were children. Her mind raced with possibilities before she decided it was probably best just to find a discreet hotel and get a room. Of course, most discreet hotels didn’t boast more than two floors. “You’ll have to put me down. And as soon as you’re human beneath this sun you’re taking me to a quaint little inn where I’ll let you have your wicked way with me.”

  “Only if you return the favor,” he graveled, his stone eyes somehow managing to laugh without color.

  “Always,” she grinned, kissing his beak once again before sliding down his hard, stone body and landing on the sidewalk several feet further down than it had been when they arrived. Cautiously, she looked out at the streets to see if anyone noticed the sudden appearance of an eight and a half foot tall gargoyle and sighed when no one was paying them any attention at all. Humans may not have had the distractions of cellphones and MP3 players but they were still busy with their everyday lives.

  With a final glance at her beloved Armand, she slipped out from between the buildings and absorbed the London air, loving the pulse of the city that ran through everyone’s veins. As wonderful as her time bubble was, and it was, especially since Armand joined her, it didn’t quite compare to the excitement that hummed in the air when thousands of people lived in such close proximity.

  You don’t have much time to gawk, Dragon-Mate, Fray’s low voice murmured in her head, startling her out of her reverie. Get a room here and sneak your gargoyle in through the back door.

  Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, she saw the quaint hostel not fifteen feet from where their time bubble sat. With a delighted laugh, she went in, got the key to a room and snuck Armand in through the kitchen with no one the wiser. And as soon as the sun set, he entered her, joining their bodies and beginning the ritual of giving her his nights.

  Smiling up at him, feeling him in her, she still couldn’t quite believe he was finally giving her his nights. Her nerves were vibrating in excitement and her heart was racing in her chest. He was finally giving her his nights!

  “I want you to promise me something, love,” he murmured, his eyes moving over her face as if to memorize her features.

  “Anything,” she agreed easily. She would promise him the world.

  Licking his lips and then swallowing, he let out a breath, “If you change your mind before we complete the ritual….”

  She slammed her hand over his mouth to stop him from saying such foolish words. “I’m not going to change my mind, love. Wild zombies couldn’t keep me from making love to you in one month’s time to become yours completely.”

  He smiled against her lips but his eyes were still troubled and she knew that this was important to him. Reluctantly, her body trembling with emotion, she pulled her hand away and let him speak. Clearing his throat, he continued, “Will you spend my last night with me instead of leaving me to face it on my own?”

  Tears welled in her eyes at the desolation in his words. Sliding her arms around his neck, she held him to her, hugging him and loving him and silently promising him that she was never going to leave him. Turning her head, she kissed his neck, tasting his salty, male skin with her tongue before nipping the tender flesh and marking him.

  His body twitched as he raised himself over her and chuckled. “Careful, love, I might take it upon myself to mark you as well.”

  “Oh, do,” she begged, tilting her head back to expose her throat to his hungry gaze. Instead of biting her, he covered her with his body and kissed her with his lips. As he trailed kisses along her jaw, she murmured, “Or this is nice, too.”

  She felt Fray flow over h
er skin of her belly until suddenly he wasn’t there. Panicking at the loss, she nudged Armand’s torso off her at the same time he suddenly sat straight up, carefully keeping their bodies locked together.

  “What the hell?” he swore, gazing down at his chest where a golden Fray was tattooed. Armand’s face contorted in pain and he ground his teeth together as the dragon made himself comfortable on Armand's hard belly. “It burns.”

  Not knowing what to do, Ferris was going to soothe his burning flesh but stopped when Fray glared at her from a single eye. Helplessly, she watched as Fray peeled away from Armand, as Armand squeezed his eyes shut in torment. As soon as Fray was detached from Armand’s body, he seemed to wilt, falling to the bed in a completely boneless mass.

  “He’s flayed me alive, love, and I’m afraid to look,” Armand ground out, his fingers curling into the flesh of her ass, bruising her tender skin.

  But Ferris barely felt it as she stared at the gorgeous white dragon tattooed on Armand’s chest. Her stunned gaze moved towards Fray, whose exhausted body was sprawled out on the bed next to them He opened a jeweled eye and looked at her in exhausted satisfaction, “It is my mate Zilahr.”

  “She’s beautiful,” Ferris breathed, sitting up and running a finger along the curve of Zilahr’s form, feeling Armand’s skin beneath her touch. His stomach caved in as she traced the white dragon’s tail and she smiled, remembering how ticklish he got, especially during sex. “Look, love.

  Almost hesitantly, Armand looked down and she knew the moment he saw Zilahr: his entire body became incredibly still. His breath rushed past his lips as he ran a trembling hand over the tattoo of the white dragon, who shivered in pleasure, her lips curling up in a smile. She opened an emerald green eye and stared back at her new Dragon-Mate. Armand’s eyes closed in painful joy and he whispered, “She’s talking to me.”

  Emotions played out over Armand’s face as he got to know his dragon but he never removed his hand from Ferris’s hip, touching her as if she would disappear if he let go. The thought made her smile because they were intimately joined and even if they weren’t she had no intention of ever leaving him.

  Falling back onto the bed, Ferris grinned until her face hurt, so madly in love with Armand and so excited that he had his own dragon. She turned her head to face Fray and held her hand out to him so he didn’t have to move very far to settle back onto her skin. As he slowly climbed onto her arm, she murmured, “I didn’t know you carried your mate with you all of this time.”

  “It is a gift that not all dragons get to experience,” he rumbled, fusing to the skin of her arm, covering her from wrist to shoulder. I am most fortunate my Dragon-Mate found her True Love.

  “Why didn’t you reveal her sooner?” Ferris asked as she simply watched Armand, loving him so much it was almost painful.

  It hadn’t been the time, he said on a sigh and Ferris felt a little guilty for keeping him from his slumber but she wanted to know. Now, the two of you are bound no matter what. Even imps cannot keep you apart.

  Ferris’s breath caught in her throat. She hadn’t even considered the imps who had been instrumental in almost keeping her aunt from a lifetime with her gargoyle mate. In Ferris’s time, the imps were her friends, or rather, they weren’t her enemies, and Ajreis was her best friend. Here, now in the past, Ajreis didn’t even know who she was. Clearing her throat, she murmured, “Thank you, Fray.”

  She felt his smile inside. Zilahr is my equal in every way, Dragon-Mate, she will serve your beloved well.

  The man she loved finally opened his eyes and gazed down at her with the most beautiful, serene smile and she felt all warm and fluffy inside. His green eyes darkened and his smile faltered as his gaze roamed over her naked body. With a wicked grin, he crushed her beneath him and claimed her lips in a fiery kiss.

  “We should have stayed in London,” Ferris fretted as they made their way through the crowds at the amusement park in Florida nearly three weeks later. Armand was like a child in a candy store, excited to see the world with his no longer jaded eyes and Ferris loved it, even when she worried about interfering too much with the past. She could justify flying over the Atlantic Ocean with their dragon wings because they both had enough power to mask themselves. She could almost rationalize their decision to spend some time in the states, visiting attractions that attracted lots of people and yet provided anonymity.

  She just didn’t understand Armand’s need to visit the Faerie Tale Land, a theme park that was modeled on classic faerie tales from around the world, from the Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood to Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty to the mythology of various cultures. Ferris worried that too many of the supernatural creatures would see them and word of their adventures would reach the wrong ears, though she couldn’t say whose ears those would be. But no one in the supernatural world would expect to see a gargoyle walking as a man beneath the sun so even if they recognized Armand they wouldn’t connect him to the gargoyle that sat on the roof of a castle in Saint Paul.

  Armand looked at her with his wicked grin, bringing their joined hands up to his lips and kissing her fingers, “I’ve always wanted to visit this place but I was a gargoyle during the day. I may not have another chance.”

  “Why didn’t you bring me here before?” she asked, watching his face light up with pleasure and happiness. He was so happy now, all of the time, and her heart hurt with the love she felt for him. She hadn’t thought it was possible to love him even more than she had when she was sixteen, when she was twenty-one, but she did. She loved him so much it sometimes frightened her.

  The look he gave her was heated with promise, “I only had a month with you, love. I wasn’t going to share you with anyone.”

  She felt the loopy grin appear, the one she always seemed to wear around Armand, especially when he was being so sweet and seductive. He was wearing a ridiculously tight tank top, showcasing his broad shoulders and muscled arms. Zilahr was wrapped around his left arm looking like an elaborate black and gray tattoo while Fray was wrapped around Ferris’s right arm in all of his golden glory. When they held hands, the two dragons touched

  There were very few full sleeve tattoos so the two of them garnered a lot of attention, mostly positive but a few sneers. That is, until they looked up and saw the beautiful man attached to the tattooed arm. Then the sneers turned to sighs of longing, something Ferris could certainly sympathize with but didn’t worry about. Armand only had eyes for her and he never even looked at another woman. It was as if they didn’t exist. And when he kissed her, when he brushed his lips against the sensitive skin of her neck, the world ceased to exist. He kissed her breathless every chance he got.

  “How do you feel about some cotton candy?” he purred, his lips tickling the shell of her ear.

  “In general, I am for cotton candy,” she breathed, letting her eyes drift shut as he sent tingles of pleasure through her bloodstream with his heated breath. “I mean, what’s not to like about pure sugar that is colored and spun out to resemble giant, puffy clouds?”

  She felt his smile against her neck, “Then how about some cotton candy?”

  Grinning, she nodded her head and managed to open her eyes, “Sounds delicious.”

  Leaning against him, grinning like a lunatic, she happened to look up and see a dark haired little girl standing all alone. She was dressed in a purple and pink fairy dress, complete with little fairy wings and she was absolutely adorable. As Ferris watched, large tears welled up in the girl’s big, blue eyes and Ferris’s heart went out to the little moppet. Tugging Armand’s hand, she led him over to the crying child. Squatting down, she offered a smile to the child who couldn’t be more than five or six years old. “Hey, there, sweetheart. Are you lost?”

  The little girl nodded, her piggy tails bouncing and her fairy wings flapping. As she wiped her running nose with the back of her arm, she spoke, “I wasn’t supposed to wander off but I wanted to get my sister something because she’s sick and couldn’t come on t
he trip with our grandparents but then they weren’t where I left them and I don’t know where I am.”

  “Oh, sweetie,” Ferris murmured, tears welling in her own eyes in the face of the child’s misery. Wrapping her arms around the little girl, she hugged the child, “How about I stay with you while my husband goes in search of your grandparents?”

  When the little moppet nodded, Ferris looked up at Armand with pleading eyes. She should have known he would have been just as affected by the lost little girl. With a quick nod, he moved through the crowd, in search of frantic grandparents. It shouldn’t take him too long because he had those gargoyle ways.

  Returning her attention to the little girl, feeling strangely connected to the child, she grinned, “Want to know a secret?”

  The girl’s eyes widened and she silently nodded her head.

  Leaning closer, she whispered, “Faeries are real.”

  “I know,” the child breathed earnestly, her blue eyes even larger than before. “Sometimes I think I can see them out of the corner of my eye but when I look they aren’t there.”

  Putting her head against the girl’s so they were cheek to cheek and facing the same direction, Ferris scanned the crowd until she found what she was looking for. Pointing out the lavender skinned sprite, she murmured, “They like to hide in plain sight.”

  “I see him,” the child whispered in awe. “He’s not alone, is he?”

  “He’s not,” Ferris confirmed, watching the small group of sprites dancing in the Irish garden display. “If you look, you can see so much more.”

  Silently, the two of them looked around the park, pointing out the various creatures that danced beneath the sun, invisible to most of the humans surrounding them. As they waited for Armand to return, they talked softly and giggled about the little pixies who were now putting on a show for the little human who could see them.