GargoylesEmbrace (2 page)

As Tracy prepared some hot cocoa for them, she thought about
changing out of her vinyl dress with red lacing throughout—her slutty work wear
as she called her outfits. The sexier she dressed and the more of her full
cleavage she exposed, the better the tips. She wasn’t tall and thin like some
of the women who came to the club, but she stopped longing to be like them ages
ago. She was happy with her generous curves and displayed them proudly.

She considered what to change into—something comfortable
that didn’t make her look like a slouch? She dismissed pajamas or a pair of
jeans and a T-shirt.

Shrugging, she decided to stay in what she was wearing.
Better to look hot than dowdy, especially when a god of a man sat in nothing
but a towel on your living room couch. She removed the chunky laced-up boots
and tossed them into her bedroom. Then she added Bailey’s and Kahlua to the hot
cocoa, one of her favorite after-work comfort drinks, before returning to
Danton in the living room.

“I don’t have clothes that would fit you.”

“That’s all right,” he said, eyes glinting with sensuality. “We
don’t need clothes.”

Her insides burned with need as her eyes scanned his body
from his long blond hair down to his tanned torso, again. To stop ogling him,
she asked. “So what really happened?” She handed him a mug and sat down on the
couch at a safe distance to get a handle on her desire.

“I’m a gargoyle. We are protectors of the human race. When
you were attacked, I transformed into human form to protect you from that
animal.”

He was right—Brian could behave like an animal. He was good-looking
and knew all the right words to say to lure a woman in, but once she’d gotten
to know him, she discovered a darker side.

As if reading her mind, Danton asked, “He was your lover?”

She blushed when she remembered Brian mentioning the sex. “Yes.”
She felt compelled to explain. “He was sweet at first. But when he drinks, he
gets violent. He blacks out and swears it will never happen again. I was a fool
a few times and believed him, until I realized it was a pattern.” Tracy left
out the damage he’d done to her, both physical and psychological.

“He’s hurt you.” The gargoyle inhaled deeply, nostrils
flaring. “He’s the one you spoke of.” He strode to her front door in two giant
steps.

“Where are you going?”

“To find him. And finish him.”

“No, Danton, no.” Tracy ran to him and clung to one of his
massive sinewy biceps.

“I know what he did to you, Tracy. You told me how he’s
struck you. Once he tried to strangle you.”

“I know. You scared him off earlier. If you attack him now,
you will make it worse.” When the tension in his arm lessened, she added. “Come.
Your cocoa is getting cold.”

While Danton sat down and drank some cocoa, Tracy watched
the tension leave his face.

He raised the mug. “This is delicious. It’s been ages since
I had anything like this. Thank you.”

Although a question arose in her mind wondering when, what
and how a gargoyle ate, she was more concerned about what else she might have
revealed to him when she thought he was merely a statue.

“Shit! What I told you is private.”

“Anything you revealed is between you and me. I won’t tell a
soul.”

She took a sip of cocoa. “Maybe you should tell me some of
your secrets. I have so many questions burning in my brain. Besides, I won’t
feel so,” she searched for the right word, “exposed.”

Danton leaned forward to put his mug down on her coffee
table, which opened enough of the towel to reveal his upper thigh. She tilted
her head to see more and then realized she was caught when he asked, “Do you
like what you see?”

She responded, “Oh yeah,” before she could censor herself.
Closing her eyes to regain her focus, she asked, “What are you, really?”

“I’m a gargoyle.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Aren’t gargoyles supposed to be
perched on buildings like Notre Dame or something? Can you change at will?”

Danton tapped his finger on his exposed thigh that revealed
well-developed corded muscles. Was he avoiding her question?

After several moments, he said, “No. I can only take on my
human form to protect someone. Then I have twenty-four hours before I return to
stone.”

“Only twenty-four hours?” Tracy repeated, her mouth dropping
open.

“Yes. And if you don’t mind, I’d like to spend it with you.”

Why did this revelation bother her so when just an hour or
two ago, she thought he was a statue?

She nodded. “I have tomorrow night off.” Her eyes traveled
from the brilliant blue eyes and beguiling face down his bronzed, sculpted
torso. “But first, tell me more about your kind.”

“Most gargoyles stay in stone form and only change when they
must act. Others take their human form at will and fly the skies under cover of
night.”

“Why can they change while you can’t?”

“They bonded with a human.”

“How?”

Danton inhaled again before answering. “Gargoyles have a
natural inclination to protect humans. Sometimes one human in particular. For
me, that human is you.”

“Me?” Tracy put her hand on her chest in amazement. “Why me?
Is there some reason I need protection?”

“Have you forgotten your friend on the bar floor already?”

Tracy blushed and then lifted her chin stubbornly. “I can
take care of him myself.”

A smile twitched at the corner of his lips. “Oh yes, the
miniature weapon.”

“Mock me if you will. You wouldn’t be smiling if I sprayed
it at you.”

“I’m sure I wouldn’t.” Danton scanned her retro-styled
two-bedroom apartment. “Why do we connect with some people and not with others?
We can’t explain it.”

He turned to catch her gaze, which caused her to inhale
sharply. God, he was brilliant to look at. Kind of like the sun—mesmerizing,
but if you stared too long…

“The more I’ve watched you,” he continued, “the more
captivated I’ve become. You are the most sensual woman I’ve seen. The modern
pink hair, the sexy black outfits, your voluptuous figure. I teeter near
madness when I see men ogling you.”

“Oh,” Tracy said. Up until now, she wasn’t aware that the
gargoyle statue could even see, let alone lust for her. The sexual curiosity
within her spread like fire from her core to all her nerves. How much longer
could she resist jumping on this stone god?

“The way you’re looking at me right now has me harder than
stone.”

Why shouldn’t she? Their time together was so limited.

“You have that tough independence many females have today,
yet there’s a vulnerability in you. The way you take care of people, especially
your family. You speak so fondly of them.”

Tracy’s jaw dropped. This man—no, gargoyle—knew too much
about her personal life. Not only did he know all her deepest secrets, his
inquisitive gaze bore into her as if he could see into her soul. One part of
her wanted to tell him to mind his own business and sod off. The other part was
drawn further into the neverending ocean of his eyes. Her body was winning the
battle of attraction over reason. And she could barely resist reaching under
the towel to see how hard he really was.

“Do you have—feelings for me?” she asked.

He nodded. “Deeply.”

“Oh.” She considered this. “Sexual ones?”

“I hunger for you, Tracy.”

Tracy had heard every line and lewd remark imaginable. She
usually brushed them off, unless they were so out of line she had to put a guy
in his place. The velvety smooth way Danton spoke left her trembling. “Your
touch has driven me to the edge,” he said earnestly. “Every time you touched
me, I yearned to come to you as a man. Touch your curves the way you touched my
stone.”

Her lips parted, although she was at a loss for words. What
could she say? What was she thinking? There was too much to process and none of
it made any sense.

Was this some twisted dream where a god of a man walks into
her life for twenty-four hours and then disappears forever?

She finally found words. “Are you—a man right now?”

He leaned closer to her and took her hand, placing it on his
cheek. The fire that shot through her body told her this was very, very real.
And he was flesh, not stone. Enticing, sensuous flesh.

“Do I feel like a man to you?”

Tracy’s voice sounded strangled before she managed to say, “Yes.
Oh god, yes.”

Her hand acted on its own volition as it moved down his perfectly
sculpted cheek and onto his chiseled chest. She traced the indentations down
his sculptured abs until she met the terrycloth of the towel at his waist.

Reason returned to her lust-addled mind. What was she doing?
Statues don’t just turn into men, let alone gloriously naked men who claim they’re
attracted to you.

When Danton placed his index finger on her lower lip and ran
it from one side to the other, she hoped he couldn’t feel it trembling beneath
his exquisite touch.

“So soft. How long I’ve wanted to kiss them.”

Danton leaned closer to her, setting all her senses aflame.
Had the trembling in her lips extended to other parts of her body? Her heart
rate had escalated so rapidly, yet when he was a mere two inches from her, she
thought it might have stopped beating altogether.

The moment his full, sensual lips touched hers, an
involuntary moan of relief escaped her. His tongue penetrated her mouth
tenderly, making all reason leave her. She thought she would melt into the
couch. What he was or whether she was hallucinating didn’t matter. She couldn’t
let this moment end, especially with their time together being so limited.

She wrapped her arms around his neck as their tongues
entwined, exploring and savoring each other. He captured her mouth in a hungry,
pressing kiss. Then she pulled him back onto her as she leaned on the armrest.
His massive body dwarfed hers.

“Tracy,” he murmured as he kissed her lips, her ears, her
neck. “I’ve wanted to touch you like this far too long.”

His silky lips and tongue shot darts of pleasure through
her, fueling the fire burning ever more brightly within.

“Oh don’t stop.”

Her words spurred him on as his tongue swirled around her
generous cleavage. She arched her back to offer him more of her and he used the
opportunity to reach around her back. He loosened the red laces and ties that
held her tiny dress together. The constricting bodice of the dress made it
unnecessary to wear a bra and her full breasts spilled out.

“Merde,” he uttered under his breath. “You are beautiful.”

She jutted her round breasts out to invite him in. He cupped
one of them, stroking the nipple between his thumb and forefinger, eliciting a
moan. His warm, velvety mouth covered her nipple, laving it in a spiral pattern
with his tongue while he grasped the other breast.

Her head rolled back as she yielded to pleasure she’d never
encountered before. Danton’s slow, sensual exploration of her breasts made all
her previous experiences with men fondling them seem like clumsy assaults.

“Yes, Danton.”

His hands moved down to the back of her waist where another
set of laces twined down in an intricate pattern, covering her full ass with
the tight black vinyl.

“Let me,” she said. “It’s complicated.”

She maneuvered out of his grasp and reached back to unravel
the fastenings. He watched her with a predatory gleam in his eye. The idea of
being hunted by this man thrilled her all the more. She laughed softly and
pushed him back onto the couch. She slinked out of the dress slowly, teasing
him. The more skin she exposed, the hungrier his gaze. He leaned toward her,
reaching for her in a possessive manner.

“Not yet,” she admonished.

He rubbed his hand over his mouth as if trying for
self-control. She slid the dress down to her ankles and removed it. The admiration
in his gaze as he watched her encouraged her to continue the slow striptease,
which awoke a new form of sexuality within her. She’d had her share of
partners, but mostly in a quick weekend hookup after work. Nobody special. And
never as intimate and as sensual as now with Danton.

She moved a finger under the delicate lace of her thong,
sliding it down the same path as the dress.

He inhaled sharply. “You are stunning.”

All that remained were her sheer black thigh-high stockings.
She began to unroll one when he stopped her.

“Leave those on.” He put a hand up. “They’re so sexy.”

His words and velvet voice increased her longing and she
fought the urge to hurry. But the slow seduction was exhilarating, something
she’d never before experienced, and she didn’t want it to end too soon.

“As you wish,” she purred.

She kneeled on the floor and crawled to him languidly, her
eyes locked on his, her body longing to be connected with him. At the same
time, she relished the heightening anticipation inflaming every part of her
body and mind.

Kneeling between his legs this time, she smiled
coquettishly. “Now let’s see once again what you have under here. If I remember
correctly, it was quite impressive.” She reached for the terrycloth towel and a
moment of anticipation hit her, like unwrapping an elegant birthday package.
When she opened the towel, his cock sprang out, rock-hard, generous and ready.

She swallowed in both excitement and nervousness at the
pleasure it promised and, from its size, maybe a little pain. A bead of liquid
escaped the tip so she leaned forward and licked it away, kissing the swollen
head. A feral groan escaped him, spurring her on. His aroma was clean and musky
all at once, a very masculine scent that sent more moisture between her thighs.
She grasped the thick girth and licked it from tip to base and back up again.

“Mon Dieu.” His voice was now raspy.

She wrapped her mouth around the mushroom head, flicking her
tongue around it, while she worked his shaft with her hands. Her mouth then
followed the path of her hand down his cock. She could only get so far due to
his size. He wove his fingers through her hair, moaning in pleasure.