Falling for the Gargoyle Read online

  Knuckles’ control slipped; frustration and anger ripped through him in equal measures. How could she joke about this? Didn't she know the danger she was in? The growl slipped from his lips before he could stop it. To his satisfaction her eyes widened a little.

  "You still don't get it, do you? I. Am. Not. Human,” he repeated, as if talking to a child.

  She shrugged, an elegant one-shouldered movement, one that made her breasts above the bra move in all sorts of interesting ways. Knuckles gritted his teeth and prayed for mercy.

  "So? You're more human than most of the so-called humanity I've ever met."

  Her flippant tone did it. She really didn't appreciate the danger she was in. With a growl of anger Knuckles dropped down from his ledge in front of her. She squeaked in fright as he loomed over her, the light from the room inside falling over him, falling over his true appearance at last.

  Neri swallowed as the urge to step back filled her. She fought it down, looking up at him as awe and wonder filled her.

  "You're…beautiful,” she murmured. Her pale hand stole out of its own accord to touch his face. He moved like lightning, his large hand clamping around her wrist and stopping her from touching him.

  Instead her eyes caressed the hard lines of his face. He was huge, far larger in this form and definitely not human. She'd never seen anything like it. Still humanoid, his skin held a gray tint and each of his fingers was topped with a razor sharp talon, the edge glittering in the light. He looked like a living, breathing statue, beautiful and terrible all at the same time. Totally inhuman.

  "Take a good look, Neri.” He hauled her up hard against him. Stumbling, she put a hand on his chest to catch her balance.

  "Take a good look and tell me if you'd want this to fuck you.” His words scalded her, burning through her veins and all the way down to her belly to start a fire. No, not a fire, a blaze. A moan escaped the back of her throat. “Because, make no mistake, if you stay I will fuck you."

  The moment stretched between them, tighter and tighter, so filled with sexual tension Neri wanted to scream. When she didn't move or struggle to escape, Knuckles’ other arm wrapped around her, trapping her, cutting off any chance of escape.

  Not only that, something else slithered against her skin to wrap itself around one delicate ankle, something warm and hard, like his skin. She jumped in surprise and looked up into his eyes.

  "We have tails,” he reminded her, a twinkle in his washed-black-denim eyes. As she watched, his anger dissipated. She giggled as he waggled his eyebrows, gasped as the pressure around her ankle released and the warm tip of his tail stroked higher.

  "It is possible…you and me, I mean? You're…uhm…kinda big?” Neri's hands stroked over the rock-like planes of his chest. His skin was warm, hot even, under the pads of her fingers and, oh, so responsive. She could see the goose bumps following her movements. On impulse she dropped her head and placed a kiss against his skin. He gasped sharply and his arms tightened around her. A large hand slid into the nape of her neck, using her hair to pull her head back gently.

  She lifted widened eyes to his, a flush covering her cheeks and heat soaking her panties as the tip of his tail slid higher around her thigh. Oh God, she was getting turned on by the thought of sex with a…with a…

  Neri couldn't complete the thought. The word she'd been thinking was “animal” but that wasn't right. He wasn't an animal. He was just…different. And no matter what form he wore, his eyes were the same. Eyes that watched her with immeasurable patience and kindness, tempered with a wicked heat that made her weak with hunger.

  "Oh yeah, it's more than possible,” he said and closed his eyes. Right in front of her he shrank, morphed back to the man she'd first seen with a speed that made her blink.

  "Oh,” she pouted playfully as his tail uncoiled from her leg and disappeared. “I liked the tail."

  Knuckles chuckled, the rich sound filling the small balcony. “Maybe later,” he promised, sliding his hand along the length of her hair, arranging it about her slender shoulders with obvious pleasure. “You're so…uhm… I don't want to hurt you."

  Neri nodded, catching her lip between her teeth and nibbling. “So are we gonna…?"

  He smiled. “Oh yeah, we're gonna…We're gonna all over the place. Many, many times,” he said, sweeping her up into his arms again to step back through the doorway.

  He strode through the door and into the apartment with a determined stride. Her arm wrapped around his shoulders and, when he looked at her, she cast him a smile from under the fall of her dark hair.

  There was no hint of fear in her eyes, or the look he saw in those who wanted sex with him because they were paranormal groupies. Or worse, they liked pain and expected him to dish it out, assuming he was into that because of his appearance. There was just honesty and trust in her eyes.

  His arms tightened convulsively around her, the possessiveness that was so much a part of his nature making itself known again. Quite why the fates had decided to grant him such a gift he didn't know but he didn't intend to let it slip through his fingers.

  He strode straight through into the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him with his heel. Neri grinned. “Not a guy to mess about with small talk, I take it?"

  Knuckles shrugged, letting go of her legs so she could slide down his body. Every soft hollow and curve pressed against him in a delicious feast of sensation. People assumed, because a gargoyle's skin was harder than other species', that they didn't feel as much. They were wrong. Knuckles could feel everything; his skin was as sensitive as any other guy's and just as responsive.

  He breathed in a lungful of her scent, the musky scent of an aroused woman overlaid with her perfume and the smell of a floral shampoo. Impossibly, his cock hardened even further.

  "Why bother talking?” He bent his head to trail a line of kisses across the delicate skin of her shoulder. His lips caressed the silken skin, moving across until he reached the strap of her bra. One large finger hooked under and slid it down her arm just ahead of his lips. “I can think of far more interesting things to do."

  Oh hell, he's good. Neri's knees weakened as the words rumbled against her skin and at the implication, but she forced herself to stay on her feet. She even managed a comeback. “Really? That's good. I can't wait to see what a man of your talents considers more ‘interesting'."

  Her hands slid over his shoulders, reveling in the expanse of skin and hard muscle. What she was coming out with was total crap—pure waffle. It didn't matter though. The talking was window dressing to physical action, stretching the sexual awareness between them tauter than a bowstring.

  "Anticipation…” he told her, smoothing the other strap off her shoulder as his lips continued their maddening journey across her skin. Neri shivered as the butterflies in her stomach started an all-out riot. He'd been so eager to get her into a room with a bed but now he was acting like he had all night. All night to kiss every inch of her skin, those warm lips that wandered now up her throat wandering other places… She moaned as her clit ached at the thought.

  "Yeah, just like that, baby… I can smell your need.” He chuckled, the sound dirty and knowing. His fingers brushed across her back and her bra was gone. He swept the sides of her ribcage, his thumbs brushing the sensitive curve of her breasts. Her nipples stiffened as though begging for attention. Biting her lip, she looked up at him.

  His eyes were dark and hot, the expression on his face tight, as if he was only holding onto control by a thread. A thrill shot through her, and she pushed her shoulders back to display her body to better advantage. She wanted him to like what he was seeing. She wanted him out of control, to want her more than anything in the world.

  Jason had always been in control, always smooth, always aware. She knew now he'd never loved her. If she was honest she'd known that from the beginning, once she'd stopped being flattered someone like him would be interested in someone like her.

  Jason had only ever seen her as a possession, a
status symbol. You couldn't love a possession, you owned a possession, and Neri wasn't interested in being owned. She wanted to be loved. She wanted her partner to want her, her as a person, not as a thing.

  "Fuck, you're gorgeous,” he rumbled, reverence and desire in his eyes. He pulled her closer again, one hand fanning out over her back and holding her easily as he bent her over. His other hand cupped her breast, a gentle caress which offered her nipple up to his lips. Neri gasped as he pulled it into the warm cavern of his mouth and suckled.

  A line of fire raced between her nipples and her aching pussy as he paid attention to first one, then the other. She writhed in his embrace, her hands clutching his upper arms, unable to stay still. His touch was addictive. She needed…no, she craved more.

  Her soft moans made him chuckle, made him harder. He used his tongue to lave the tight bud under his lips just to see her gasp and shudder again. She was so responsive his slightest touch made her gasp in pleasure and arch against him.

  He knew he wasn't a Casanova, but every second with Neri in his arms made him feel like some sort of sex god. His male pride bloomed as he picked her up. Instinctively she clung to him, as though she couldn't bear to be parted even for the spilt second it took him to crawl onto the bed with her.

  Knuckles laid her down gently, stretching out at her side with his weight on his forearm as he leaned over her. “You're beautiful,” he murmured again as he kissed her. This time he didn't hold back. He wanted all of her, everything she had to give. He kissed her like he wanted to crawl inside her and never leave.

  Beneath him Neri moaned, the sound lost into his mouth as she opened up for him. His lips nibbled and caressed, his tongue teasing hers as his hands smoothed down her body. Without breaking the kiss he hooked a thumb into the lace of her panties and pulled them down her legs.

  "Better,” he whispered against her lips. He pulled away to look deep into her eyes as his hand trailed back up her leg. It smoothed along her calf, flirted with the sensitive skin behind her knee and slid across the front. She bit her lip, pulling the plump flesh between her teeth as he trailed his fingers up her inner thigh. Locked in his gaze she parted her legs on his unspoken command, anticipation coursing through her.

  He smiled as he reached the juncture of her thighs. Neri's breathing caught then held as he parted the folds of her sex and slid a finger between them. He found her clit in a slow sweep, smiling as her hips jerked and her breath left her in a rush.

  "Like that, do you?” His question was a soft whisper of sound against her throat as he leaned down. He kissed along the soft skin as his finger circled and stroked her clit, driving her arousal higher.

  "Uh-huh” was all she could manage as her hips bucked against his hand. Somehow he knew exactly where and how to touch her to send her up in flames. “Yeah, th-that's nice."

  The world had contracted to just the two of them on the bed and then even further, to just his voice and the press of his fingers against her needy flesh.

  "Hmm, just nice, eh? How about this?” As he spoke, the wonderful pressure of his finger against her clit disappeared. Neri pursed her lips into a pout of disappointment, but then her breath was stolen as he slid his finger deep inside her.

  "Fucking hell… You're so wet…and tight.” A second finger joined the first. Neri almost came right away as he twisted them gently inside her, stretching her and preparing her body for penetration by his.

  The room filled with soft gasps and moans, every response encouraging him onwards. A fine trembling started in her limbs as the heat in her belly increased, and her body clenched hard around his invading digits with her impending orgasm. Each stroke of his thumb over her clit and thrust of his fingers inside her pushed her higher and higher, nearer the edge.

  She bit her lip as she reached for his hand, her slender fingers trying to loop around his thick wrist. “I can't take much more. Please…"

  "Let it go, baby.” He kissed her again, his lips clinging as he swept his thumb over her needy body. Neri shivered, the temptation to do as he said and let it all wash over her, let him take care of it for her, filling her. She shook her head, a flush covering her cheeks.

  "No, please, I want you inside me when I come."

  His answering smile in the half-light was immediate, and Neri knew she'd given the right answer. “Well, if that's what the lady wants, who am I to argue?"

  He shifted position, raising his body above her to rest his weight on his hands. His broad shoulders blocked out her view of the rest of the world. It didn't matter, because her world now was him. A knee nudged her legs wider as he settled between them, and then he was there, a dip of his hips and the swollen head of his cock pressed against the slick entrance to her body.

  Neri gasped, feeling the delicate flesh start to part and stretch around him. Then she frowned. “You had pants on!"

  "I did, now I don't. Paranormal, remember? We're full of surprises.” Knuckles chuckled as he pushed forward with his hips and stole Neri's next breath. She closed her eyes, all her attention concentrated on their bodies and where they joined. He was big… No, big wasn't the word. He was huge.

  "Breathe, baby.” His voice was soft by her ear as he kissed along her neck. “It'll feel better soon, I promise."

  She managed a nod, biting her lip. She hoped that was true because at the moment it felt like he was damn well splitting her in two. Taking a deep breath, she tried to relax as he pushed deeper in a slow, relentless movement—a slick slide that stretched her in ways she'd never dreamed of. They both gasped when he bottomed out, filling her to the hilt. He whispered sweet nothings in her ear, and his hands smoothed over her body—gentle, reassuring touches which were full of concern.

  "How's that?"

  Something in his voice told her he'd already asked once, and she hadn't answered. He held himself so still it had to be hurting him.

  Like I've been impaled on a bloody iron bar? She opened her eyes and smiled at him. The fleeting pain had worn off, leaving just an incredible feeling of fullness and a growing need to move. So she did, rocking her hips just a little. Pleasure hit her like a juggernaut, her moan mingling with his as her movement stroked intimate nerve endings and sent them into meltdown.

  "Fuck, yeah, that's good.” The cords stood out in his neck and shoulders. She could feel the tension in his body as he fought against moving. She knew him well enough even in this short space to know he was trying not to hurt her. Tenderness flooded her heart. He might look like a thug but she'd never had such a considerate lover. Jason had only ever been interested in his own pleasure, hers had been incidental.

  "You gonna spend all night talking or fuck me like you promised?” she teased.

  His grin was quick, a flash of white teeth in the gloom of the bedroom, and he mock-growled. “You want fucking? Like, proper fucking?"

  It was a rhetorical question. In the next moment he started to move. Bracing his hands on either side of her head he pulled out of her and slid back in until his balls slapped against her ass. Neri's eyes rolled back in her head as he pressed and stroked nerve endings in her channel that had never been touched before. Her own excitement made things easier, coating his cock as he slid in and out.

  "Oh, God. Yeah, proper fucking."

  She didn't get a chance to catch her breath after that. He slid an arm under her neck, holding her still as his hips drove against hers. He drove into her again, filling her over and over until she was moaning his name in mindless pleasure. She'd never been taken with such thoroughness, and yet he was still gentle with her.

  His movements were powerful, yes, but Neri knew all about the difference between power and cruelty. Once you'd experienced the one, you never mistook it for the other again.

  His grunts joined her moans in the silence of the room, and through her pleasure-filled delirium, she felt his movements change. She kissed along his clenched jaw and wrapped her knees higher around his hips.

  She was so close it was unreal, the tension in her ow
n body at fever pitch. Every hard thrust he hammered home pushed her toward that precipice. Desperately she held on, wanting to wait for him.

  "Please…now. I want to feel you come inside me,” she begged, her lips clinging to his.

  Her soft words were the last straw for Knuckles. He'd tried hard to hold out, but her body was like a silken vise around his cock. He could already feel the ripples of her impending orgasm, and it was driving him out of his mind. He grunted, the shackles he'd imposed on himself falling away.

  Driven by need, he slid an arm under her hips to drag her closer. She gasped in pleasure but Knuckles barely heard her; his own release was so close he could hear it roaring in his ears. With gasps that bordered on grunts he loosed his control and drove into her, seeking his release in her warm and willing body.

  Writhing in his arms, Neri cried out, his name on her lips as she came. Knuckles’ eyes crossed as her body clenched hard around him, milking his already fit to burst cock. His heart pounded. He slammed into her again but it was game over. Muttering a curse, he stiffened as his release hit him with the force of a small truck, his cock pulsing as he came deep within her.

  Chapter 5

  Neri slept peacefully. Knuckles couldn't take his eyes off her. Curled up on his chest, she had her head on his shoulder, which couldn't be comfortable. However, she seemed to prefer using him as a bed instead of the one they lay on.

  He smiled. His arm wrapped around her and he used a gentle finger to push a wayward curl away from her face. Closing his eyes, he savored the feeling of her in his arms. Behind him the light creeping around the curtains told him dawn would be here soon. He dropped a kiss on her dark hair, putting off the moment when he would have to leave her to sleep on her own. Like most of his kind he was at the mercy of the sun. As soon as it rose he would be forced into his true form and frozen into stone until darkness fell.

  Neri sighed and wriggled closer. Her arm draped over his chest. She reminded him of the old cat Mac had adopted when he'd lived here, a creature which appeared to be able to get comfortable over any surface. Knuckles smiled. She reminded him of a cat, all sharp movements and catlike stretches to go with the exotic, slanted eyes. He wouldn't have been surprised to hear her purr.