by Emma Alisyn
A shadow appeared over Bea’s shoulder. She sensed him even before she turned to confirm that it was him. “Satisfied?” she asked, daring him to say that she had done anything wrong.
“I’ve spoken to him, and, given the promise you showed today, Kausar will continue your lessons weekly for now. You demonstrated passable technique.”
“Passable?” Bea was outraged.
“My intended has to do far better than passable in a fight,” he said as he stepped closer to her. His fingers brushed her hip. “I think I’ll need to give you private lessons.”
Bea struggled to keep her wits about her. It wasn’t lessons he wanted to give her in private. “Did watching me fight turn you on or something?”
His fangs flashed. “Or something.”
She stepped up to him, rising on her tiptoes and pressing her body flush against his. His smile disappeared, hands immediately gripping her waist. She placed a kiss on his jaw, ignoring some of the masculine catcalls. “What kind of private lessons, Niko?”
Her hand trailed down his chest until her fingers hooked in the waistband of his pants. He turned his head, slightly, so her lips collided with his.
“Dangerous game, female, to tease me when my blood is already hot.”
Bea stepped back, lowering her eyes, and began to turn away, waiting until she knew his guard was down. He turned his head, snapping at a male who yelled out another ribald comment, and in that second, she turned, executing a move he’d drilled into her for weeks. No one was more shocked than her when he ended up on the ground. She ended up on the ground with him, because he’d instinctively defended himself, but he hadn’t hurt her. His body covered hers, expression menacing until he blinked.
She grinned up at him. “Passable, huh?”
“Passable enough for a warrior’s wife,” he said, staring down at her. “Enough for me.”
He helped her up. Bea brushed the dirt off her bottom.
“Next you’ll be fighting her father for a handfast,” someone called out, and there was smatter of laughter.
“No,” Niko said. “I will fight her Lord, Prince Malin, in three days time.”
The crowd hushed as Niko’s words were absorbed. He had declared his intentions toward her in front of everyone. Bea felt overwhelmed. He wanted her, and he wasn’t ashamed of it. Plus, his words carried a note of challenge. As if she wouldn’t know what to do with a good man once she found him. She’d show him.
“My bravery was never a question,” she said. “Finding a man worthy has been. But after everything you’ve done for me, you’ve proved yourself to be a worthy man. I accept the challenge of being yours, Niko.”
He stepped even closer to her then. He was in her space in a way that felt familiar and wholly intimate despite the fact that they were surrounded by others. “You are my intended. I declare here before everyone. You have said you will be mine, and I will be yours.”
The kiss that followed obliterated her ability to absorb any further comments. There was only Niko, the fire in her body, and her desperation for him.
“I can’t wait anymore,” she said, a tremble in her voice. She understood taking this next step would change something in their relationship. There would be no going back.
Niko stared at her, expression inscrutable, eyes. His head lowered, and his voice was anything but cool.
“I have a room in the tower.”
“What about Aeezah?”
“Veda can take her to the dining hall for dinner, and the library for a movie. It’s not a school night.”
His tone scorched her, promised all kinds of naughty things he would do to her body. His outward appearance remained neutral, protecting her innate modesty. No one would know they were discussing setting up a night of steamy sex.
Bea nodded. “Okay.”
Niko’s finger brushed her cheek. “We’ll go up after the warriors have disbanded for the night. It’s no one’s business what we do.” His eyes darkened. “I’ll tell Malin the fight for your hand must happen immediately.”
16
They ate in the dining room with Aeezah and Veda and a few of the others who either lived in the tower or close. Evidently a position in the guard entitled one to meals. No wonder Niko hadn’t bothered to learn how to cook.
He appeared to ignore her the entire time even though they sat next to each other. He spoke to Veda and Aeezah, and Prince Geza came through briefly. Niko took a communication from Prince Malin as well, though he retreated to a corner of the room to speak privately.
His apparent unconcern of her presence was a lie. His fingers roved up and down her thigh, light caresses under the table, occasionally touching her waistband as if her were about to dip inside. She grabbed his wrist at one point, and he slowly withdrew, fingers flexing as if to tell her there was nothing she could do about it if he’d really wanted to slip his hand inside her leggings and cup her mound.
“We need to get the logins for your security system,so I can apply the upgrades,” Niko said once they’d finished eating.
“They’re on my laptop, but it’s at home.”
He rose. “There’s one in my room. Come on, I want to get this done tonight.”
She nodded and turned to Aeezah. “Do you want to watch a movie with Veda? I’ll be busy, doing boring stuff.”
Her daughter nodded. Fortunately, the girl had an astounding disinterest in electronics and hated using a computer when she could get away with doing a task by hand. Which wasn’t many tasks, but she tried.
Niko escorted her out of the dining hall, no one taking much note that they were leaving together. His cover story was so bland, even the most nosy of people must have lost interest as soon as he said upgrades.
For a complex consisting of three narrow towers and interconnecting ground-level buildings, the place was much more spacious than it seemed on the outside. She'd been in Prince Geza's public suite for the party, so she was curious to see the kind of accommodations a palace guard warranted.
The door opened, Niko reaching an arm around her to press his thumb on the entry pad, and a medium-sized suite, much like a pricey, long-stay hotel room greeted them. There was a large bed on one wall, and a kitchenette on the other with minimal cooking supplies. It looked as if no one had ever used it, though she saw that there was a mug left in the inbuilt coffee machine. She walked to the middle of the room and turned, nervous but trying to play it off.
"So where’s your laptop?" she asked.
He glided across the room. "You like to play, don't you?"
Her eyes widened a bit. It was as if he'd shed an outer skin. The nonchalant, low-key Niko was gone. In his place, a gargoyle warrior stood, taloned hands reaching out to her even now. She squeaked, embarrassed she'd even made such a noise, but he hauled her against his chest roughly, one hand slinging into her curls and yanking her head back. Instead of kissing her, teeth scraped against her throat.
"Niko," she said, hands rising to grip his shoulders.
He suckled the flesh of her neck, and she winced. It was going to leave a mark. Damnit, did she even have any foundation at home still? She hadn’t used the stuff in months, Aeezah might have dumped it all out on her last 'art' project.
He lifted his head and his eyes glowed. She stilled, understanding that at that moment she was less of a person to him and more prey. "Niko?"
"I need to chase you."
She didn’t quite understand what he meant. "You . . . you want me to run?"
"Yes. Run, fight me. I have too much energy in me, if I fuck you now without burying some of it in a chase, I'll hurt you."
It was cute that he thought so. Men always like to think they were big, bad, sexy monsters in their heads. She relaxed, though she didn’t make the mistake of smiling.
"It's okay, Niko. I can handle it."
He yanked her head back. The motion was sharp, painful. She gasped, startled.
"Don't patronize me." his eyes narrowed. “If at any moment you’re not feeling this anym
ore, you tell me.”
“Well, you’re yanking my hair, for one thing.”
His grip loosened, and some of the intensity faded as he smiled at her tart tone.
She gave him a look. “If you want to be rough, Niko, you have to warn me. Don’t just surprise me like that. It’s not fun.”
A hand slid down her back, cupped a buttock, kneading her in what he probably thought was a soothing motion. “I’m sorry, baby. Slow.”
“I didn’t say slow. I just said give a girl a warning.”
She backed away from him, each step slow, her eyes trained on his as his hands slid away from her. Her knees bumped up against the bed, but he just watched her, waiting.
The suite was big enough, and it wasn’t over cluttered with furniture. He wanted a chase? Well, there were some moves she could practice while she was at it.
Bea grinned and crooked a finger. “Come get me, warrior.”
He took two fast steps towards her, wings flaring. His thighs tensed. She waited until the last second, eyes wide and frightened as if she were a wee, scared, little lamb. Then she darted to the side, evading him by a bare inch.
There was a wooden, hand-carved vase on a side table at the far end of the room. Delicately curved in the center, perfect for a hand grip. She ran full tilt to the end of the room, weaving because he was faster and lunged for the weapon, diving, rolling evasively.
“I’ll catch you, female,” he crooned. “When I do I’ll reward myself for the effort. You’ll enjoy my reward.”
Niko was faster than her even on her best day. He was playing, drawing it out. Bea faced him, the couch between them, a defensive stance coming almost effortlessly to her limbs. He’d spent hours drilling it into her, after all.
A fierce grin tugged his lips, and he glided around the couch, pausing when she maintained the distance between them.
“I’ll conk you on the head before you get to take any kind of reward from me,” she threatened.
“If you can’t get at least one in,” he replied lazily, “then I’ll have to tell Kausar on myself.”
He leaped over the couch, wings blocking the moonlight from the windows momentarily. She squeaked, scrambling out of the way, but he was done letting her escape. A hard, muscled arm hooked around her waist dragging her back against his chest. She countered, using a quick, nasty, little trick she and Veda had endeavored to keep him from knowing she’d learned.
He cursed, glaring at her as she whirled and backed away, brandishing the vase.
“Veda,” he said. “I owe her.”
“You’ll not take your revenge out on my sister-in-training, miscreant,” Bea growled. “You’ll have to go through me first.”
A quick flurry of movements, Bea breathing hard and cycling through every beginner trick she knew. He caught her again, this time wary of her quick feet, pulling her head back, so he could access her throat.
“You were saying something about going through you?” he asked with a deep chuckle. “Or in you?”
Her buttocks pressed against him as she gasped, his teeth sinking into the curve of her neck and suckling even as his hands cupped her breasts, sliding under the hem of her shift to tug at her nipples. He twisted the hardened nubs, and she cried out, the sharp pain sending a jolt to her clit.
Niko walked her forward, her knees trembling and no more thoughts of playing run-and-chase in her head. He pushed, hard, and she tumbled stomach-first onto the bed.
He covered her immediately, hips grinding into the curve of her ass. Fabric tore and air was on her skin. She rose up, or tried to.
“Are you tearing my clothes up, Nikolau!”
“Shut up.”
His voice was cruel, but his fingers were gentle as he pulled her leggings from her body, taking her shoes with them, tossing clothing aside along with her panties. Hands squeezed the globes of her ass and spread flesh and a moment later his tongue teased her hole.
“Niko,” she said, voice strangled.
He blew air onto her, tongue playing along the rim of her flesh. “By the time I’m done with you, Bea, there won’t be any opening on your body I haven’t had.”
Oh, god, was she ready for this? She could say the word, tell him no. It trembled on her tongue, but he traveled from her ass down to the juncture between her thighs, spreading her apart.
He hooked an arm under her hips and propped her up. “I told you I’d reward myself. Are you going to deny me the spoils of victory?”
She’d be insane at this point. He teased her slit, teaching her that maybe gargoyles anatomy was a bit different from human, other than wings. There was no way a tongue could be so long, or so . . . textured. The rough scrape on her flesh prepped her body for when he latched onto her nub, flicking and suckling while his fingers slipped inside her pussy, testing her readiness.
Her hips bucked, and she cried out. A sharp, stinging slap on her buttocks. “Be still,” he said sharply. “Let me play.”
Bea bit her lip, hoping she didn’t draw blood. Play? More like torture. Her hips bucked again and he growled.
“You want me to be mean to you, don’t you?” he asked.
She was braced for the slap this time. The pain accompanied pleasure; an orgasm flooded her body, pussy clenching around his fingers. She knew it was only the beginning.
“Niko, please,” she said, nearly breathless, and looked over her shoulder.
His caressed her buttocks. “As you command.”
Bea buried her face in the sheets as the head of his cock probed her entrance. Teeth clenching as he slid inside, filling her a slow inch at a time. She spread her legs wider in an instinctive attempt to get him to fit.
He chuckled, hands cupping her breast, tweaking the nipples. “That’s not going to help, baby.”
His strokes drove her insane. Pummeling into her, ruthlessly forcing her body towards its peak. She did adjust, the stretching sensation adding enough that it was only bliss and no pain after several minutes. The sensitive nerves rimming her opening screamed, and he continued to grind against her spot as his hands gripped her buttocks, squeezing flesh hard enough she knew she’d have marks.
“I want you to come, Bea,” he said, voice guttural. “I want you to know what I can do to you every day of your life. And, this is just the start.”
Her orgasm crested. Bea heard the distant sound of her own moans, the scratching of her nails against cloth as she tensed, trying to find relief from the relentless sensations. His heat flooded her, a trickle of moisture running down her thighs when he pulled out of her.
His own breath was loud, surprising for a male in his physical condition. “You court like a gargoyle female,” he mused, then kissed her. “Thank you.”
“Why?”
His eyes were the soft, satisfied glow of a well-pleased man. “Our females know a warrior needs to prove himself.”
“It's not much proving winning a fight against me.” Her voice was dryer than uncooked pasta.
Niko rolled, body covering hers, hands gripping her wrists again as his knees nudged her thighs apart. She caught her breath, astounded at his energy.
“If I can defeat you, I can protect you.”
“Again, I’m not much of a—”
Annoyance flashed in his eyes as his hard cock slid into her pussy. “It doesn’t have to make sense, Bea. Stop being logical.”
How could she be anyway, with him inside her?
17
“Thanks for watching Aeezah today, Stacia,” Bea said for probably the tenth time that day. It was still new for her, asking favors from people she’d developed these new, close relationships with over the last few weeks. Her world had expanded so much, and she was grateful. It had been a long time since she’d felt like she had any kind of support system.
“Of course, call me anytime, honey,” Stacia said. “I enjoy having children around.”
Bea thought that she detected the wistfulness of regret in Stacia’s tone. She had tried asking both Niko and Veda if Stac
ia’s situation at home had improved at all, but both siblings had effectively ducked the question. She wasn’t brazen enough to address the issue with Stacia herself. Although she and Niko were courting, she still didn’t feel completely comfortable asking personal questions of his family yet. From everything she had been able to glean from Niko, his father was a tyrant who was never satisfied. It reminded her all too much of her own mother, so she sympathized with them.
“How do I look?”
“Like a woman who knows what she wants,” Stacia said giving her a soft smile and a thumbs up gesture.
“Good. That’s what I’m going for,” Bea said. “Wish me luck.”
“Of course I do, but you won’t need it. You’re the type of woman who creates her own luck.” She wagged her finger at Bea. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”
She kept those words in the forefront of her mind as she traveled to the courthouse. Today would determine the dynamic of her co-parenting relationship with Ben in the future. Before, she might have worried. Might have gone out of her way to reach a compromise. But no longer. If there was anything being around gargoyle males had taught her, it was that she needed to hold all the men in her life accountable to uphold their duty.
Ben was going to do his, whether he liked it or not.
She exited the courtroom, elated, Ben hot on her heels.
“You think you won today? You’re wrong. This isn’t over, Bea. Not by a long shot.”
“I think it is,” she said. She tried to move around him, but he moved to block her path again. “Get out of my way.”
“You think you’re so special now that you’re dating a gargoyle?” He stepped into her space, attempting to use his height advantage to intimidate her.
She smiled a little.
Her expression infuriated him. “What are you smirking at me? You think you can step on anyone you want because your boyfriend will come and defend you? Well, I won’t let you ruin my life.”
Bea fixed him with a calm stare, smile gone. “I don’t need my lover to come to my rescue, Ben, I can kick your ass all by myself If I want to.”
