by E A Price
“Gracchus, I like you, a lot. Can’t we just… enjoy whatever time together we have?”
“Yes,” he growled, caving with very little prompting.
He had undergone torture from humans, from witches and warlocks more than once. He had not told them anything – no matter how much pain they caused, his lips had been sealed tighter than when he was stone. But could he hold out against this female - this lovely creature? Not even for a second apparently. Keeping away from her seemed worse than any physical pain anyone could ever inflict on him.
Gracchus pressed his lips to her and pulled her body against his. To think, in his long life he had never kissed anyone before Melissa, and yet now it seemed as instinctive as breathing. Kissing Melissa seemed natural, at least, he could not imagine kissing any other female. None had interested him, but Melissa instinctively appealed to him in every way imaginable.
She moaned against his mouth, and he savored that sound, stored it away for later, so he could always remember it. He finally relinquished her ankle, and Melissa climbed onto his lap. His hands grazed her back, worrying the material of her vest. He desperately wanted to feel her skin under his claws, but he would not rush her.
His lips ghosted over her cheek until he found her neck. He licked her, and gently nipped her skin between his sharp teeth. He was careful though; he would no sooner mar her perfect, silken skin than he would a work of art. No, she was a work of art and to him, beautiful beyond compare.
Gracchus growled against her soft skin, enjoying her warmth, and her delicious smell. He pushed himself onto the center of the bed. His tail curled around one of her legs and she giggled softly.
Melissa leaned back, and he caught sight of her dazed, lust-filled eyes, but only for a second. She grasped her vest, pulling it over her head and tossing it aside, and then her breasts entirely took his attention. He growled his appreciation, admiring the twin, round orbs, and her dusky pink nipples, before inhaling one in his mouth.
Melissa whimpered as his teeth scraped her pretty nipple. His hands eagerly ran up and down her back, reveling in the feel of her skin. She arched her back, pressing against him for more. Her hands clasped his head, running her fingers through his hair until she found his horns. She giggled enthusiastically again as she gripped them.
Gracchus freed her breast, unable to stop his chuckle, before moving onto her other breast. If he had any worries that Melissa would have any hesitations about coupling with him, they had indeed been laid to rest. He may be very different from the males she was accustomed to, but she was as enthusiastic and excitable as she ever was. Other humans may be scared when they see him and have trouble coming to terms with his appearance, but Melissa had accepted him wholeheartedly since the moment they met. It was perhaps one of the things that he found most desirable about her.
Melissa wriggled her hips, pressing against his hot and hard arousal. She delighted in the feel of him and pushed one of her hands between them, caressing his length through his loincloth.
“Melissa,” he hissed as he freed her breast. “Careful.”
“Why?” she teased.
He laughed, partly in embarrassment. “It has been more than a thousand years since I lay with a female. I would not wish to disappoint you and end this too quickly.”
Understanding and kindness crossed her features as she smiled at him, though she did not stop her stroking motions. “I won’t be disappointed, no matter what.”
“Then I misspoke,” he growled, “I would not wish to disappoint me and end this too quickly.”
Melissa’s snicker died in her throat as he pushed her back on the bed, ripping her panties away and divesting himself of his own loincloth. He let out a small roar as her sex was revealed to him, as her eyes widened lustfully at the sight of his manhood.
“You are very beautiful, Melissa,” he rasped.
“So you are.”
He grinned at her, marveling that she would think so, but in no doubt of her sincerity. His tail tightened around her leg, lifting it slightly, opening her sex to him. She beamed at him in amusement.
“You do not find my horns scary?” he murmured, ghosting a knuckle over her opening.
“Those cute little spikes on your head?” she retorted playfully.
“Little?” he repeated in mock insult.
“Fine, those cute huge spikes on your head?”
“Hmmm.” He pressed his thumb to her nub, and she let out a small moan. “You do not consider my wings to be frightening?”
He fluttered them for effect, and she humphed. “Only when I’m in the air with you.”
Gracchus pressed a finger inside her, and she bit her lip. “You do not find my tail worrying?” He squeezed her leg.
“I can see the benefit of it,” she cooed.
He slowly rotated his finger inside her. “What of my claws?” He added another finger, twirling them, readying her and enjoying the blissful moans she was already emitting. “Hmmm?”
“Oh, I think they’re pretty darn great!” she squeaked.
She rocked her hips against his hand, mewling at his movements. He could feel her honey, slick and beautiful inside her, evidence of her desire for him.
“Gracchus, please,” she implored.
He wanted nothing more than to press inside her, but her body was small, and he was, well, large – he needed to make sure she was ready for him. Her hand reached for his manhood, trying to caress him in her maddeningly sensual way, but he caught her wrist.
“Melissa,” he groaned.
Gracchus pressed her arm back into the mattress, pinning it over her head. He rose over her, his wings flowing around them, holding his over her body as his fingers continued his sensual assault.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he growled.
Melissa moaned as her hips wriggled against his digits. “I’ll be okay,” she insisted breathily. She brought her free hand to his face, running her fingers over his cheeks, his lips and nose, tracing his features. “Gracchus, I will be okay,” she repeated soothingly.
His fingers stilled in her though she continued to wiggle around him. Gracchus kissed her fingers as they stroked his lips and he nodded at her.
He withdrew his fingers and settled his hips between hers, inhaling sharply at the heavenly feel of her sex pressing against his, of her wet arousal seeping over his hard length. She rolled her hips, taking a shaky breath as she slithered her free hand around his neck.
His body shook with the effort of holding back. One hard thrust and he could have filled her, but he hovered, wanting to savor every nuance of her lust filled expression, of her moans and coos.
Gracchus lowered his body, even more, snarling sensually as her breasts rubbed against his chest. He growled. It was too much. No more waiting.
His hardness pressed inside her and Melissa rippled around him, her body opening to this enormous intruder.
“Yes,” she hissed, closing her eyes to the sensation.
He pushed into her and just kept pushing through her tight inner walls, marvelling at the glorious feel of her around him. Gracchus watched her face carefully, waiting for any sign of pain or discomfort, but there was nothing but pleasure in her expression.
When he finally met resistance he stopped and a deep, primal sound vibrated out of his chest. Melissa’s eyes fluttered open and she beamed up at him, and he felt like a conquering hero. It was more satisfying than any battle he had fought and won, more satisfying than anything he had ever done, and just when he didn’t think it could get any better, she squeezed herself around him.
“By Excalibur!” he blurted.
Melissa threw back her head, laughing uproariously at his outburst. He growled and drew back from her before sheathing himself inside her gripping body once again, quieting her mirth and making her moan.
It had been so long, too long, but he was sure it had never been this exquisite before. The way her body tensed around him, the lusty little whimpers she emitted from her kiss-swollen lips,
and the way her eyelashes fluttered as he pushed himself inside her over and over, it was all so heavenly.
Gracchus drove himself into her again and again in a steady rhythm. He snagged her other hand, pressing it over her head into the mattress along with its twin. It was almost surreal, almost to good to be true. This beautiful, tiny human was beneath him, cooing in ecstasy, entirely at his mercy as he impaled her over and over while she looked up at him with a mixture of trust and desire.
His tail still anchored one of her legs in place, but she brought the other to his hip, trying to curl around him, trying to encourage him – as if he needed any encouragement!
He sank even further into her body, his wings lowering him further to the bed. His thrusts were shorter and faster, his body was perfectly snug between her things.
“Oh, Gracchus,” she breathed, her words barely audible, lost in her lusty moans and whimpers, lost in the sounds of their flesh meeting over and over.
He pressed his face to her neck, kissing and licking her, inhaling her scent as he drove his sex home again and again. By the gods she was beautiful, so precious, so lovely, so welcoming. He had never felt happier with anyone than he did with her. His hands moved over her wrists, entwining his clawed fingers with hers.
“So close,” she whispered, her words raspy and desperate.
The movement of his hips sped up and she groaned in delight, the word yes slipping from her lips. Her hips moved to meet his, wanting more and more.
Gracchus growled and gritted his teeth as his body crashed against hers. Over and over until he could barely bare it, until finally she screamed and her beautiful, heavenly body clawed and clutched at him as she dissolved in ecstasy.
He howled above her and with one final drive, he surged his release inside her. They panted and cried through their climaxes, until finally they were blissfully satiated, lying in one another’s arms, trading small kisses and nips.
Melissa, the glorious, incredible creature that she was, beamed up at him in absolute happiness and he felt a million feet tall.
Twenty-Five
Melissa flicked a look over at Gracchus, and when she was sure he wasn’t looking, she covered her mouth and let out an enormous yawn.
“I saw that,” he murmured, without lifting his head from his task.
“How?” she wondered.
He turned to look at her, giving her a mildly censorious look. “Melissa, you are tired, you need your rest. I should take you home.”
“No, I can rest when we’re done here.”
His face hardened in disapproval and she pouted at him. To say he had wanted to leave her forever just a couple of nights ago, he seemed to have easily slipped into the disapproving boyfriend role.
“Just continue searching,” she said.
After they had, well, slept together, she had dozed for a little while in his arms, but on waking, she told him about her work day and told him she wanted to search their second victim’s house. She and Colt had looked around it already; it was a messy affair with stacks and stacks of old magazines and newspapers – Melissa was almost jealous. But given that she was killed outside her home by an apparent wild animal, they had not been as thorough as they could be. However, Melissa now wanted to find out exactly where their nurse worked – she wanted a location because she wasn’t entirely convinced that her theory about there being a secret hospital doing experiments on supernatural creatures was as fanciful as Colt claimed. She wanted to see for herself where the nurse worked, and have her suspicions confirmed, or not as the case may be.
Gracchus, on the other hand, while he considered their cases important, he wanted her to get her rest. Sure she was kind of already tired, and yes, what they did made her more tired, but well, she needed to make some progress. She couldn’t help but worry that while the cases were unsolved, Gracchus could be in danger, particularly with this Bell person lurking around. Plus, if this whole supernatural creature hospital thing were real, maybe there would be some gargoyles there…
She wanted to do the search when Colt wasn’t there looking over her shoulder. Which is why they were searching at night, with flashlights. Technically the house was still under FBI jurisdiction – so she wasn’t searching illegally, and she had the key so she hadn’t broken in, but she did feel a little bad about keeping it from her partner.
Melissa looked at Gracchus as he searched through their victim’s desk. He didn’t look exhausted in the least. No, by all means, their lovemaking seemed to have energized him – she would even say there was a spring in his tail for a minute or two. Now, however, he did seem to be pouting.
She closed the book she had been looking at, slipping her find into her pocket, and tried to hold back her smile as she realized something. “Gracchus,” she murmured, training her flashlight on him.
He looked up expectantly.
“Are you annoyed because you think I’m not getting enough sleep? Or are you annoyed because you wanted to, you know,” she giggled, “have sex again.”
His blush, the nervous flick of his tail and the way his wings shuddered told her all she needed to know.
Melissa tried to swallow her laugh. “Do me a favor,” she teased, “never play poker.”
“I am concerned you are not getting enough rest,” he grumbled.
“But, you’re also disappointed, right?” she cooed, sauntering toward him.
“I…” His eyes ducked. “I cannot deny how enjoyable it was.”
She pressed her free hand to his chest, and he slipped an arm around her waist. “Glad to hear it. There’ll be plenty of time later, I promise.”
His lips lifted in his usual half-smile. “You wish to… again?”
Melissa’s eyes widened. “Of course I do!” she gushed before reining herself in. “I mean, yes, of course, I do.”
His face lit up. Apparently, she didn’t rein herself in that far. Not that she wanted to hold back. She wanted to be with him, she was in no doubt of that. It had been splendiferous - was that the right word? Transcendent, perhaps, or just any word that meant amazing and better than anything she had ever experienced before. Any trepidation she may have had about his size or the fact that they were different melted away. She had never found being with men, even talking to them never mind sex, to be especially easy. It had always been awkward and difficult for her, but being with Gracchus was as natural as breathing.
“Maybe we should…” he started and then froze.
His head snapped up, sniffing the air. His face distorted in disgust.
“Wha…”
He pressed a finger to her lips, and grasped her flashlight, silently crushing it, extinguishing the light. He passed it back to her, and she gawked at it. Though, she didn’t have time to wonder at his actions.
A second later Gracchus roared and hurled her out of the way as something huge barrelled into him, snapping and snarling.
Melissa ignored the pain of her landing and rolled to her feet, pulling her gun out waving it in the darkness at the tussling figures.
There was no way she could fire; she could hit Gracchus. She could barely even see them in the darkness. Was it the gargoyle from the other night?
She flinched as the two of them collided with the piano, crushing the enormous instrument. With frustration, she stowed her weapon and haltingly tried to make her way to the light switch. The furniture hampered her progress, as did the constant need to duck and drop to the floor as the fighting duo got too close. Finally managing to skid to the switch she slammed it on and yelped as the other creature knocked her to the ground.
A shocked gasp was the only sound she could manage as she stared up at an enormous wolf. Not a real, wild wolf, this was a grandma eating wolf creature – part-wolf and part-man. Her heart thudded as it looked down at her through huge, amber orbs, blinking at her wondrously.
Gracchus howled and tore the creature away from her, hurling it against a wall. Gracchus pulled Melissa to her feet and took a protective stance in front of her.
All she could do was stare at the creature – at the wolf. Slowly, watching them both warily, the wolf rose to its feet, first to four feet and then to two. It bared its teeth at Gracchus, who answered it in a snarl.
“Werewolf,” whispered Melissa, her eyes widening.
She tried to take a step forward, but Gracchus held out his arm, trapping her behind him. The wolf bared its teeth and threw back its head, howling. With unbelievable speed, it darted towards them. Gracchus reacted before Melissa even knew what was happening. He spread his wings, readying to meet the attack, but before the wolf hit, he veered to the left of them and threw himself through the window.
Gracchus pulled Melissa into his arms, completely enveloping her in his wings as glass shattered around them.
She breathed in and out as if she had run a marathon. “Oh, my holy hell?!” she squawked.
Gracchus was vibrating in rage, his murderous gaze trained on the window, as his mouth twisted in a constant growl. Without letting go of Melissa, or indeed allowing his almost punishing hold to waver, he strode over to the window, uncaring as his tail furiously whipped behind him, destroying whatever furniture was still standing after their fight.
He thrust his head out of the window and hissed in displeasure. With a small twist of her head – because apparently wherever he went, she would now be going too – she looked down at the ground too and noticed there was a severe lack of a wolf’s body.
“Jeez, that was a two-story fall,” she muttered.
“We’re leaving,” barked Gracchus, “no arguments!” he added unnecessarily.
There was no way she was getting out of his arms without his permission, so really, wherever he went, she would go. Not that she was complaining at that moment; she didn’t really want to hang around. Yes, she was curious about the wolf, just as curious as she had been when Gracchus crashed into her life. But judging by the wolf’s snarls, the two of them weren’t going to dive into the quick, friendly relationship she shared with Gracchus.
