Sorceress Hunting (A Gargoyle and Sorceress Tale Book 3) (9 page)

Lillian dropped the armful of wood she’d taken from
the shed out back and placed it off to the side as she knelt before the cold
fireplace. The night was chilled, cold enough for a fire. She hoped it didn’t
signal an early fall and subsequent winter. It felt like she’d already missed
most of summer. Though, healing in a hamadryad for three months tended to do
that.

The fire was for Gregory. Not that he was ever cold.
He was his own heat source, but she sensed he missed things from his world.
While she didn’t know what kind of accommodations the Magic Realm boasted, she
figured fire was probably something both Realms shared. Hence, she was crouched
before the fireplace in their master bedroom.

Old ashes still dusted the bottom from the last time
she’d built a fire—months before when she’d still led a normal life, completely
oblivious to the fact she wasn’t human, or magic was real.

She swept out the ashes more by routine than focused
effort, her mind on other, greater, problems than a few ashes. Gregory craved
closeness. Yet after what had happened the night the Siren enchanted Gregory,
Lillian wasn’t sure how to maintain their earlier closeness without
accidentally revealing what had happened between them. She felt her stomach
tighten with nerves just thinking about the lies and how she’d stripped Gregory
of the memory.

Sex. It’s called sex. Grow up and deal
with it,
she mentally scolded herself.
If nothing comes of it, then nothing comes of
it, and Gregory certainly doesn’t need to beat himself up for breaking some
archaic vow.

At least that was her reasoning for using the collars
to make him forget. Though she wondered in a small part of her mind if she
wasn’t just using that excuse so Gregory wouldn’t realize how foolish she’d
been. She’d done a few embarrassing things in her life, but she also knew if
Gregory looked at her with betrayal dulling his gaze, a part of her would die.
She wanted to be his equal, to make him proud, but she also knew nothing she’d
done that night was worthy. The greater shame—she knew in her heart the
Sorceress of old would have found another way.

Yes, she’d done what she’d thought was best under the
circumstances to save as many human lives as possible. But if Gregory lost
respect in her because of it?

Well then, she’d just have to be strong and keep her
secret because there was no way she wanted to lose Gregory’s respect or have
him loath himself.

Given a choice, she’d make sure neither outcome came
to pass. Which brought her to her first relationship hurdle. How to give
Gregory what he needed without revealing something forbidden had already
occurred. If she tried to guard against him intruding on her thoughts, he’d
just get more suspicious, and then sniff out what had happened. He could read
her far too well—actually knew some of her thoughts when they were touching.

So she would make certain her thoughts were clear and
obvious, and not give him reason to dig deeper.

She hoped her plan with the fire was a good start. If
it wasn’t, she’d know pretty quickly, too. Subtle Gregory wasn’t.

*****

She had the fire burning merrily by the time Gregory
exited the bathroom with his customary two towels tied around his waist. His
ebony mane was hanging around his shoulders and still dripping water.

A smile tugged at her lips. Gregory, predictable as
always, made straight toward her with another towel in one hand and a large comb
in the other.

He stopped next to her, still towering over her in his
silent way as he stared down at the top of her head. The mat she’d set out by
the fire was big enough even for Gregory to stretch full length on. She patted
the mat. “I know we should get some rest since we have to be up again in a few
hours, but I’m still wound too tight to sleep. I thought we could help each
other relax.”

Gregory made a deep huffing sound in humor but dropped
down next to her.

“Here,” she held her hand out for the comb, “I’ll
start with your mane. The fire’s heat will help it dry.”

She knelt behind him, with her knees to either side of
his broad hips, and began working loose the tangles in his mane. His wings
spread out to the sides to allow her in closer to his back, so it wasn’t such a
reach. She quickly fell into a routine. The rhythmic brushing relaxed her
nearly as much as it did him. She took her time until every tangle was out, and
his mane flowed smoothly down his back.

When she was finished at last, she stretched up and
laced her arms around his neck in a backward hug.

Their nightly routine brought her a deep sense of
peace. They remained silent, words not needed between them. He brought her
palms up to his lips and planted warm kisses on each while he curled his
muscular tail across her hips and along her back. The tip curled around her
shoulder and under her chin. She’d grown familiar with his way of returning her
hug. With her cheek pressed against his damp mane, she closed her eyes and
inhaled his pleasant scent, made stronger by his shower.

With another slow, easy smile, she pressed a kiss to
the bulky muscle of one shoulder. Gregory rumbled happily and twisted towards
her.

“Hah! No, you don’t. Tonight is for you. You’re the
one who dodged bullets.” She slowly ran her fingers over the healed grazes on
his shoulder, flank, and wing. “Well, mostly dodged.”

“I’d have taken worse to protect you.”

“I know.” Lillian ran her hands down his back,
skimming them between his powerful wing joints, where they merged smoothly with
his flight muscles. His wings shifted at her touch as if the light caress
tickled. “You’ve really got to stop trying to martyr yourself.”

“Never.”

She huffed out a good imitation of his annoyance.
“Well then, I’ll just have to keep making it up to you, I suppose.”

Gregory turned to her, a hint of wicked humor in his
gaze.

“Subtle, Gregory, really subtle.” She smiled and made
a gesture encompassing the entire mat. “Lay down.”

With another of his contented rumbles, he did as she
instructed. She noted he completed the task with far more grace than she could
have managed. When his head was resting comfortably on one of his folded
forearms, he rolled his eyes in her direction, still not saying anything, just
waiting for her to make the next move.

Lillian needed to fill the silence with something more
than tension. “Did you know I was supposed to start college this fall? I was so
pleased I got accepted—I didn’t think I would, because I was homeschooled. At
twenty, I’d already be a couple years older than most other students going in.
I figured what the hell, so what if I was twenty and not eighteen. I wanted to
become a massage therapist.”

She reached across him to snatch up the massage oil
where she’d left it warming close to the fire. His ears lifted from his mane to
track her movements but he didn’t otherwise move. “I knew Gran wasn’t happy
about my decision to attend college. I didn’t know why, since I planned to come
back and practice at the Spa once I was finished school.” Pouring a little oil
into the palm of her hand, she started on the muscles between his wings,
working her way slowly upward to his shoulders. He shifted slightly and sighed
deeply, tension flowing out from him as she worked.

“In truth, I’m not sure if I could have left you. I
didn’t understand it at the time, but I was becoming more and more drawn to
you,” she laughed self-consciously, “a stone statue. Now it also makes sense
why Gran didn’t want me to leave. She was protecting me like you’d asked. What
would you have done if the Riven hadn’t attacked me back in the spring? What if
you hadn’t awoken early from your healing sleep?”

“You wouldn’t have left me, not for long.” He huffed
softly, his ears swiveling in her direction again. “But had you somehow managed
to fight the draw between us long enough to have traveled any great distance, I
would have awoken and followed you. Although, I wouldn’t have been very happy
to find you’d left me behind.”

Lillian laughed. “I can imagine how our first meeting
would have gone under those circumstances.”

The idle talk had calmed her nerves and she continued,
much more relaxed.

Unhurried, she made her way lower, paying special
attention to the joints of his wings, which made him practically squirm, and
then his sides. To her delight, she found he was ticklish there, too. When she
moved on to his lower back, he sighed again, relaxing now that she was away
from the ticklish zone. As she worked her way down, she hit the upper edge of
his towel. She traced along the terrycloth’s edges, a delicate caress, and then
she reached for the knot at the side, where he’d tied the two together.

Gregory held himself perfectly still as she worked at
the knot—he seemed calm and relaxed outwardly, but she felt the line of tension
run through his muscles in what could only be anticipation. When she glanced
upward at his face, she found him watching her with half closed eyes, their
dark depths giving nothing away.

She got the knot untied and tapped him on the hip.
“Up,” she ordered as she grabbed another towel warming by the fire. He came to
his knees, and she took the damp towels from his bath and tossed them off to
the side. He lowered himself back down to the mat with another contented sigh,
and she laid one of the fire warmed towels across his hips.

Starting at his flanks, she alternately worked her
palm into his warm muscles and then used her fingers to work out any knots of
tension she found. Once she’d conquered those, she skimmed her fingers down one
powerful thigh. She knew how sensitive the joints of his wings were, and a
sudden spike of wickedness had her switching from his thighs to the more
sensitive base of his tail.

At the first touch, he hissed something
unintelligible, and the tip of his tail thumped almost violently against the
floor. His wings threatened to unfurl and knock away her tormenting touch.

Taking pity on him, she moved on down his nearest leg,
going slow and thorough until she reached his foot. After lovingly working on
it for some time, she switched to the other and then worked her way back up his
leg.

Then she eyed the great tail again, where it rested
loosely coiled next to her, its bladed tip still twitching gently. Well, why
not, she thought. It’s a part of him too.

After pouring another generous dollop of oil in her
palm, she started working on his tail. Repeatedly, the appendage escaped her
grasp and wrapped itself around some part of her instead. Gregory’s playful
side was rearing up, and she knew she was in for trouble if she didn’t finish
up soon.

As she fully expected, his tail got harder to hold as
she neared the tip. Gregory, now more interested in play than a massage,
continually tried to snatch it away from her. Being slippery with massage oil
made it an almost impossible task on her part. Predictably, his third attempt
met with success, and the tip escaped her and got inside her defenses, where it
curled around her waist and up under her shirt. He then proceeded to tickle her
in retaliation.

Lillian admitted defeat as she burst into giggles. He
rose up and tackled her. Completely taken by surprise, she was knocked off
balance but he rolled and caught her in his arms before she hit the ground.
She’d barely registered he’d shifted into his more human looking hybrid form
before warm lips were pressing kisses along her neck. While he was alternately
nuzzling and nibbling, his tail was flicking caresses up and down her sides.

While she was still unbalanced, he shifted positions,
coming to his knees with her pinned against his chest. Once she knew which way
was up, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed soft kisses along the
line of his jaw. A large hand was suddenly under her backside and she was
hoisted up higher until she could easily brush her lips to his.

“Hmmm,” Gregory rumbled under his breath between
kisses. “I might actually like playing human. Although, I think we need to work
more on this first.” His lips stroked against hers before breaking away again
to brush kisses along her cheeks and brow. “To be certain, of course.”

“Of course.” Lillian nodded sagely.

He shifted slightly, his knees edging outward for
better balance and she suddenly found her own legs straddling his broad thighs.
The new position combined with the thin material of her nightgown, left no
doubt he liked holding her close. She leaned back and put some distance between
them, enough so she could meet his gaze. He drew in a sharp breath and held it.
Something struck her as very vulnerable about his body language just then.

She placed another lingering caress upon his lips and
then said, “You’re the most beautiful being I know, both inside and out. No
matter what the coming days may bring, I am honored to have you at my side.
None could ask for a better protector.” She dropped her gaze and stroked her
fingertips down his chest, and then added, “Or lover.”

Gregory made a soft sound, a wordless promise as he
reached for the hem of her nightgown. She wiggled out of it as he helped to
drag it over her head. Under it she was bare and her nipples beaded as his
knuckles brushed across them.