Stone Solitude (15 page)

As they walked through the woods, holding hands, Roman felt a strange contentment that warmed him to the depths of his frozen soul. For a few minutes, he could forget what he planned to do, especially when she gave him a shy smile, a smile that pierced his brain and made him a little insane. But then he’d remember and a dull, heavy weight would settle in the pit of his stomach and he was no longer certain what he was going to do. Whatever happened, whether he traded her for his freedom or he didn’t, he wanted to know the extent of her power as a Siren.

He racked his brain trying to figure out a way to make her sing without making her suspicious when he finally came upon a solution, one that was so simple, he would have smacked himself on the head. Some of the blame could be laid on Daisy’s slender shoulders for she was very distracting and she kept making him forget they didn’t have a future.

Clearing his throat, he sang a verse from a song that had been popular in his time. When he had been a man, he had had a decent singing voice, perhaps not as glorious as Alexandro’s but it had pleased the ladies. Now, his deep tenor was a rocky bass and the song sounded much different, much darker.

I’d steal a day just to spend it with you

I’d steal a smile just to give it to you

But the hour grows late and the smiles are long gone

I’ll hold onto forever, forever in a song

“That’s beautiful and so sad,” Daisy murmured, leaning her head against his arm. “What is it?”

“It’s called
Love’s Last Kiss
. It was something from my time,” he explained, not being purposefully evasive. He didn’t want her asking too many questions because he didn’t want to think about the past and everything he had lost. If he thought about that then he’d think about the curse and what he had to do to end it. “How about this one?”

He started singing a song that was popular now, changing it from a fast pace rock tune to a slow, emotional ballad. Her little gasp filled his hollow heart and he sang a few more bars before he whispered, “Sing with me.”

She ducked her head before she murmured, “I really shouldn’t.”

“Don’t tell me you can’t sing,” he teased, watching her carefully and sensing the longing and conflict battling within her.

“I can sing,” she hesitantly admitted, not quite meeting his eyes. “But I really, really shouldn’t.”

Coming to a stop, he grabbed her hands and cocked his head to the side. Without the hood in place, he was able to see her lovely face, the darker gray blush that even the moonlight couldn’t hide. “Why ever not?”

“Well, it’s not a secret or anything,” she hedged because he knew it was a secret. Xerec hadn’t heard a single word about her being a Siren until he had spied on her and her family and he heard everything. Instead of saying anything, he let the silence grow until it became uncomfortable. The color of her face deepened as she finally stammered, “I’m, er, the daughter of a Siren.”

“Ah,” he said because he thought he’d have to wrangle a bit harder for her to admit to such a trait. But, of course, it was Daisy, a girl too trusting for her own good. In a teasing tone, he asked, “So, does that mean you’re a Siren as well and your song will lead me to my death?”

She smiled at his words but shook her head. “It’s not like that, not exactly. It’s just... when I sing, there are some rather unfortunate consequences.”

“Such as?” he urged, wondering if she was strong enough to make him give up everything for the pleasure of her kiss. It’s not like it would take very much to push him over that edge.

Her lips twitched as she contemplated her next words but in the end she simply said, “Theoretically, I can compel people to fall in love with me but I think that’s just a myth. I mostly create lust.”

“But if they’re already in love with you?” The words came from out of nowhere, gruff in their naked honesty. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

Her smile lit her whole face but she reined it in and murmured lightly, “I don’t know. Nobody’s ever been in love with me.”

“Now that I find especially hard to believe,” he said on a low growl, coming to an abrupt stop and pulling her against his body. He ran his hands down her arms until he reached her hands and then he twined his fingers with hers. Gazing down at her, fierceness possessing him, he rasped roughly, “I want to hear you sing, my little flower. Sing for me.”

Glancing around as if making sure they were alone even though there was no one around for miles, she looked up at him without even a hint of flinching, and rasped, “I don’t wish to… influence you.”

The corner of his hard mouth quirked up in a half-smile, “Sweetheart, I’m a gargoyle. Your Siren song has no power over me.”

Her tongue darted out and smoothed over her lower lip, obviously conflicted. “Um, I’m fairly certain my song will have
some
power over you, I’m just not sure in what way or to what extent.”

“Sing, Daisy.”

“Roman.” She was obviously uncomfortable but he wasn’t going to let it go. It was too important.

“We’re all alone,” he cajoled, brushing his thumb over her damp lip, his body tightening as he watched the movement. She didn’t have to sing because he was already too enamored of her. “Sing.”

Her lips parted and in the next moment he was transported to Ecstasy. As her song weaved through him, he would have done anything for her, expose his hideousness to the world, fly her to the distant stars, give up his quest to gain his freedom. The pure sound erased centuries of agony and he could have listened to it forever except his body was hardening and if he didn’t kiss her before his heart beat once more he was going to die.

A lesser mortal stood no chance against her.

Sliding his fingers into the silk of her hair, grabbing the back of her skull, he pulled her face against his, taking her song into his mouth, forgetting just how large his mouth was. Before he could pull away, her slender arms were wrapped around his neck and she was pressing soft kisses along the hard ridge of his lips, delicate kisses that were powerful in their own right when he couldn’t kiss her as he wanted. Fuck, he wanted to devour her. Instead, he had to hold himself steady as she kissed him, as she nipped at his lips and licked his mouth.

A tingle went down his spine, warning him of the looming disaster…. No, it was just the looming dawn. Pulling back, panting heavily, he rasped, “I want you. But the sun is going to rise soon and I have to get you home before anyone realizes I’ve taken you again.”

Resting her head against his chest, breathing just as heavily, she murmured, “If Dominic fails me I’ll add a month to his punishment.”

Stroking her hair, he chuckled, “You should add an extra month anyway.”

Her laughter made him smile.
She
made him smile. Not wanting to take her home, knowing he had to, he scooped her up into his arms and flew back, taking a more direct route than he had used before. The hour long flight took less than ten minutes and her laughter at the realization made him laugh. Standing outside her door, he didn’t want to say goodbye but if he didn’t leave now then he wouldn’t make it back to the city before the sun rose and he’d be stuck in an unfamiliar area as a statue.

“I’ll be at
The Black Wolf
tomorrow,” she murmured, twining her fingers with his. “Will you come? You can meet the pack….”

“I would like nothing more but it’s not a place I should go,” he interrupted, answering as honestly as possible. “I’ll try but if I’m not there, I’ll be waiting for you here.”

Nodding, she gave him one last kiss before she murmured, “Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As soon as she walked through the doors of her dad’s bar, a group of girls cried out, “Daisy!”

With a smile, she made her way through the crowd, trying to ignore the butterflies that were murdering one another trying to get out of singing. Giving hugs to all of her friends, she slipped into the booth next to Jeanette and grinned. “Hey! It’s been ages. How are all of you?”

Excited chatter filled the air as they all started talking at once. It was chaos and impossible to follow and she loved it. When she had decided to spend the summer taking extra classes, this was what she had missed out on, getting together with the wolves.

“So, what’s this I hear about you banging a gargoyle?” Jeanette asked, twisting in her seat and putting Daisy on the spot. With her vibrant purple hair and flashing blue eyes, Jeanette was extraordinary. Her natural hair color was a pale blond, the color of her wolf, but she liked changing it as often as possible and she loved experimenting with color. Jeanette had had green hair, black hair, hot pink, bright yellow, a mixture of blues and greens that Daisy had thought was beautiful, and everything in between.

“I’m not banging anyone,” Daisy protested, knowing that her cheeks were bright red.

“A gargoyle?” Steffie asked with a longing sigh. “Are they as gorgeous in real life as my cousin tells me?”

“How does your cousin know about gargoyles?” Daisy asked, since she hadn’t known about them until Roman had come into her life. And gargoyles were pretty much the opposite of gorgeous. Even Roman, whom she loved with her whole heart, was not attractive, not even a little bit. But he was precious.

“I think it’s wishful thinking on your cousin’s part,” Jeanette interrupted, for which Daisy was grateful. “Everyone knows that gargoyles don’t go out in public, preferring to keep watch over the city from the top of the castle.”

Steffie heaved a disappointed sigh and no one seemed to realize Daisy had never answered the question. After a half hour of catching up, the door opened up and all of the girls sighed in pleasure. Dominic. Daisy didn’t even have to turn around to know that her brother had just entered the bar. They had driven in together but he said he needed a few minutes to get his libido in check otherwise he’d be banging the first chick he saw despite his promise. He was definitely disturbed but she loved him.

Twisting in her seat, she watched as he sauntered over to the table, a smug smile on his face as he acknowledged all of the females in the place. A few girls even warranted a kiss and, if she wasn’t mistaken, a pat on the bottom. Yep, definitely disturbed.

“God, he’s gorgeous,” Jeanette sighed. “I’d give him my virginity again if I had it to give.”

“You and all of the other girls,” Daisy grumbled beneath her breath. He stopped right in front of her and the battered and bruised butterflies trembled in fear. “Dominic.”

“Daisy,” he grinned, sending a wink to one of the girls behind her. “Have you prepared a song?”

Smiling to hide her terror, she nodded, “I have.”

“Would you like to sing now or should we wait until the patrons have had a little bit more alcohol?” he asked, solicitously.

“What’s going on?” Jeanette asked with an uncertain grin, her gaze darting back and forth between the twins.

“Daisy is going to sing,” Dominic said with a hint of pride and amusement in his voice.

“Really?” Jeanette asked, looking at Daisy with a frown. “But you don’t sing.”

“Now is fine,” Daisy told Dominic even though it wasn’t. Turning to Jeanette, she shrugged her shoulders, “I promised my brother that I’d do this.”

Standing up, she looped her arm through Dominic’s and dragged him with her. With a grim smile, she managed to say, “Since you’re abstaining, you can get up on stage with me and watch the show from the best seat in the house.”

“Daisy, sweetie, you’re just not that powerful,” he said gently with a hint of condescension as he patted her hand.

“It has no effect on you because you’re my brother,” she returned in the same mildly pompous tone. She accepted his help onto the stage before tugging him up with her. A few of the closer tables saw the siblings but most of the bar was still talking loudly, unaware of the show about to begin. But Dominic wasn’t going to let that continue.

Stepping up to the microphone, he tapped it a few times until he had everyone’s attention. With a smile that had all of the females swooning, even the ones whose hearts he had broken, he said, “We have a very special gift for you tonight. With plenty of arm twisting, an epic dose of blackmail, and a few tears, I’ve finally gotten my sister to agree to sing a song for all of your pleasure.”

Daisy was sure her brother had chosen his words deliberately and she had to grit her teeth to keep from puking. She was friends with all of these people and what she was about to do was unthinkable except she was going to do it anyways. Hopefully they were as unaffected as her brother because now that she was on stage, she inexplicably discovered she really wanted to sing. Clearing her throat, she stepped up to the mike, “Um, hi.”

“Hi, Daisy!” half of the crowd called out, making her feel excited and at the same time even worse. Her parents were going to kill her. It didn’t matter that she was twenty years old, they were going to lock her up in a convent and never let her see the light of day again. Roman would never find her and she’d die a virgin.

Yet something was egging her on, this overwhelming desire to push some limits and spread her wings. With a nervous chuckle, she said, “Fair warning, you might want to cover your ears.”

“Do you need any music?” Dominic asked softly. When she shook her head no, he sat down on the stool that was next to her and got comfortable, unaware of the chaos that was about to be unleashed.

Silently praying for forgiveness, she opened her mouth and sang the song that Roman had sung, the slowed down version of the popular rock ballad. Losing herself in the music, she closed her eyes and thought about Roman, feeling the love swell in her breast. The song filled the room, pushing out all of the air as her voice enchanted all of the wolves save one, her brother.

Her body was on fire as lust seeped from all of her pores. The world disappeared until it was just her and her song, her voice crashing over everyone in the room and pulling them under. A vision of Roman swam in her imagination and her heartbeat accelerated as her body grew heavy with desire. The naked gargoyle stood before her as she beckoned him into her body….

“Daisy, stop,” Dominic whispered, grabbing her arm and bringing her back to the present. Blinking her eyes open, she looked at his hand on her arm and then the horror in his face. “Daisy.”

Licking her lips, she turned her head and looked out across the bar. Clothing was in shreds as mated wolves fucked one another with primitive abandon and the unmated male wolves watched her with glittering eyes. Slowly, she looked at her brother who was already unbuttoning his shirt. “You’re an unmated wolf, Daise, no matter that you can’t shift, and you just made every unmated male take notice. I’ll hold them off as long as possible but you have to get the fuck out of here.”

Pulling his shirt off, he pushed her behind him and growled, “Run.”

With shaky hands, she nodded, taking off without looking over her shoulder again. As soon as she cleared the doorway, a massive beast scooped her up into his arms and flew into the night sky. Somehow, she knew Roman would keep her safe. All at once, exhaustion swept over her and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for a hundred years. It was the song; it had drained her completely.

Wrapping her arms around Roman’s thick neck, she buried her face against his throat and breathed in his cool earth scent. A smile curved her lips because she had sung for him and he had been there to hear.

The moment he landed in front of her door, Roman had his hands on her, checking to make sure she was okay. Her body trembled and rage boiled up and out his throat. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I promised Dominic,” she said softly, her pulse fluttering madly along her throat. She put her hands over his to stop his mindless groping and made him look at her, “Roman, I’m okay.”

“You had a bar full of wolves slobbering after you,” he growled, remembering the terror that had seized him when the wolves had shifted all at once. The sound of fabric ripping and bones popping had filled the room, echoing off the walls and had Daisy not been lost in the music she would have gotten out of there a hell of a lot sooner. Thank god Dominic had kept his head. Grabbing her shoulders, Roman gave her a none-too-gentle shake, “What the fuck were you thinking?”

He knew he was repeating himself but the foolish girl just stood there looking at him with that soft look in her silver eyes and his brain was going to explode. “Daisy!”

“You’ve gotten smaller,” she said with a slight frown as she studied him, her words disconcerting him like nothing else she could have said. He was freaking out and she was talking nonsense. “I don’t have to tilt my head so far back to see your face. And your face….”

She ran her fingers over his face, murmuring, “Your nose isn’t quite so squashed and your mouth is less… garish.”

“Daisy, we’re discussing your behavior tonight,” he bit out, hating the fact that he sounded like her guardian and not her lover. Well, he was a gargoyle and protecting innocents was part of the job description, even if he hadn’t felt the calling in hundreds of years.

A shudder worked its way through her body as she looked away. “It was a mistake, an awful, stupid, stupid mistake. A Siren’s song isn’t supposed to work on other supernatural creatures, at least that’s what mom says. I don’t know what went wrong.”

“You weren’t just singing the words, Daisy, you were seducing them,” he growled. “You put your heart and soul into them….”

She raised her head and pinned him with her gaze. “I was thinking about you.”

He stumbled back a step at the impassioned statement, said with such conviction he couldn’t breathe. Who was this girl? She placed her hand on his cheek and looked at him with utter devotion, “You’re my mate, Roman. Don’t look so shocked when I tell you I think about you like that.”

Holding her eyes, he turned his head just enough to place a kiss on her palm. “I don’t deserve you, little flower.”

Her lips quirked into a smile, “But you have me none-the-less.”

He chuckled at her sweet irreverence, he couldn’t help himself. “Gods, Daisy, what am I going to do with you?”

“Come inside,” she murmured, tugging his arm as she opened the door to the pool house, her temporary bedroom. Stifling a yawn, she added, “I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and then I was too nervous to sleep today.”

“So, what? You want me to take a
nap
with you?” he asked in disbelief.

She gave him a brilliant smile and nodded her head, her eyelids already closing. “Please? I want to fall asleep in your arms.”

“It isn’t wise,” he grumbled, following her into the room because he couldn’t not follow her in. She looked over her shoulder at him and he realized he would follow her anywhere.

He was so screwed because nothing had changed.

“I promise to take a quick nap and when I wake up we can do whatever you want,” she purred, giving him a look that had him stepping towards her before he could stop himself. The little minx laughed, which had his lips curving up in a smile. Not bothering to take off her clothes, she climbed onto the bed and held her hand out to him, “Join me, Roman.”