Stone Passions Trilogy (60 page)

The satyr and the incubus abruptly stopped arguing and glared at Rhys in equal parts hostility and amusement. Kiltes broke the silence first, “An incubus prefers the ladies, rock-man.”

“And the ladies prefer a satyr,” Rahan shot out.

With a smile, Jenna leaned further into Rhys’s embrace and enjoyed the back and forth between the mythological creatures. She caught Maury’s eyes and they exchanged a smile. She had the feeling that the minotaur would be the better lover, making sure his mate was well pleasured and cared for. He winked at her as if confirming her suspicions before returning his attention to the verbal foreplay of Rahan and Kiltes.

The rest of the ride flew by and with less than fifteen minutes before the sun was due to rise, the car pulled up in front of a fantastical building in the middle of London, oddly similar to the castle in St. Paul where Rhys and his brothers lived. There was no need to disguise the old world charm in London but it still managed to stand out in a sea of gorgeous architecture. It wasn’t as tall as the apartment building back home but it was easily twice as wide, taking up the entire city block, if not more.

The small group piled out of the car, Rahan less hairy with his knees bending the normal way and Maury still in his human disguise. The Incubus was as golden and glorious as ever, the London fog making him almost ethereal, dream-like. As if aware of her scrutiny, he struck a theatrical pose and she had to laugh because he was so dramatic and amusing, not how she imagined an incubus would be. Not that she ever imagined incubi at all. With a wink and a smile, he took her hand in his, bending his head and kissing her knuckles, “It was truly a pleasure, Jenna.”

The others took their leave as well, disappearing into the massive structure without any fanfare. Rhys inhaled deeply, beaming at the building. “It’s good to be back in London.”

Looking at Rhys, Jenna arched an eyebrow making him chuckle. Looping an arm around her waist, he bent his head so his lips were next to her ear, “We’re staying with my older brothers for a few days before we head off to Greece.”

The eyebrow arched higher and he planted a quick kiss on her lips, hastening her through the door as the sky began to lighten with imminent dawn. “Come.”

She barely had time to take in the soaring ceilings of the atrium as he rushed through the entrance and up ten flights of stairs. She understood the rush but she was not in quite as good of shape as she could have been to take that many stairs in that short of time. By the time she reached the top, she was wheezing. Pressing her hand against her chest, her lungs tight as they tried to draw in more oxygen, she breathlessly laughed, “I need to rev up my exercise routine.”

“You’re doing just fine, sweetheart,” he laughed, not at all out of breath, as he threw open the door to his brothers’ rooms. With her hand in his, he led her deeper into the luxurious suite until they stumbled upon his brothers. And the half dozen women with them. And their lack of clothes. Everyone was excessively gorgeous and she had the feeling that she was the only human in the room.

The scent of sex and alcohol hung in the air as the group blearily looked up at the new comers and Jenna felt her jaw drop. She had never, ever, imagined walking into an orgy – or rather, the after-effects of an orgy, and she desperately tried to look anywhere but the naked parts that were hanging out for the world to see. Wine bottles littered the floor and she counted the limbs of three well-formed men and seven, no eight, exquisite females.

Releasing her hand, Rhys stepped into the middle of the room, a huge smile lighting up his face as he took in the chaos. Clearing his throat, he boomed, “Is this any way to greet your brother?”

A devastatingly gorgeous man with short red hair was the first to his feet, his handsome face melting into a stunning smile as he rushed towards Rhys with his arms out, “Welcome to our humble abode, Rousseau! Father said that you were coming but we did not expect you until tomorrow.”

“Rowan,” Rhys grinned, hugging his red-headed brother, seemingly unconcerned by the man’s nudity. “Everything came together much sooner than expected and so here we are.”

“Rousseau,” another nauseatingly perfect man said, clamoring to his feet and grinning. His hair fell to the middle of his back, gleaming black with vibrant blue streaks. He reminded her of a less uptight Armand, with his pale eyes and flawless lines. He joined in on the hugging, taking Rhys in a warm embrace. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too, Artaire,” Rhys said, his voice becoming tight with emotion.

“Rousseau,” the third brother managed to say through a tangle of slender limbs. Kissing a blond-haired beauty on the lips, he gently nudged her off his body before standing up. His hair was slightly shorter than Artaire’s and light brown, almost blond. He was just as gorgeous as his brothers and the four of them together were really quite… yummy.

“Bar,” Rhys returned, hugging him as well.

“Come,” Artaire said, clapping Rhys on the back and guiding him away from Jenna. “We’ve much to discuss and the sun is about to rise.”

“I want you all to meet someone first,” Rhys said, coming to a halt and forcing his brothers to stop as well. As one, the four men turned and saw Jenna standing in the doorway, three of them wearing similarly wary expressions as they took her in. They were unquestionably brothers, despite the minor differences of hair style and eye color. The London brothers had a certain ennui about them that was lacking in Rhys, a certain weariness that more closely matched Armand. And like Armand they were absurdly, perfectly beautiful.

Rhys held out his hand and with only the slightest hesitation, Jenna picked her way through the naked bodies on the floor and slid her palm into his. Bringing her hand up to his mouth, he pressed a kiss to the back of her fingers, his eyes glittering brightly in the dim light. “Brothers, this is Jenna. She is the sister of Vaughn’s mate.”

The three of them simply stared at her before Rowan finally stepped forward and bowed over her hand, “It’s a pleasure, Jenna.”

Almost reluctantly, the other two followed suit, perfectly polite but distant. She felt like an intruder and if Rhys hadn’t been standing there looking at her with his heart in his eyes she would have bolted. “It’s an honor to meet all of you.”

Artaire turned away from her, dismissing her as he grinned at Rhys, putting his arm around Rhys’s shoulders and leading him away from her. “Come, the sun is about to rise. We can converse on the roof.”

Without hesitation, Rhys came to a stop and waited for her to join him, once again holding his hand out to her. Bar put his hand out, effectively stopping her, and looked at her with pity, “I fear we do not allow humans on the roof as we change. Trixie, show the hum… show Jenna to the guest chambers.

“I suggest a nap and then you may explore London at your leisure while the sun is in the sky,” he continued, talking to her once again. “Trixie will show you to your room and she has promised to behave so you have nothing to fear from her. Of course a fairy’s promises are contingent on whether or not she wishes to keep them.”

Jenna’s eyes widened and flew to Rhys, who stared at her with longing and resignation. Stepping forward, he wrapped his arms around her and leaned his forehead against hers, “I promise to come to you the moment the sun sets.”

“Okay,” she managed, accepting his kiss, wishing it could last longer even as she felt the subtle shift in his body as the sun began to rise. Forcing a smile to her frozen lips, she watched as the four of them made their way to the roof, their taut butts perfectly matched. As they went, Rhys pulled the clothes from his body and she couldn’t help but stare. Unfortunately, he disappeared from her sight before he removed much more than his jacket.

“Come,” a seductively beautiful voice murmured from the side. Turning her head, Jenna saw the blond Trixie standing next to her, the woman’s smoky topaz eyes compelling and striking. For the first time, she noticed the delicate wings that sprouted from her back, from all of the naked ladies’ backs. They were finer than the succubus’s wings in the elevator, finer and more intricate, an extension of the fairy’s body. Jenna now realized that the succubus’s wings hadn’t quite fit properly. They had been too delicate for the much bolder woman.

The fairy named Trixie smiled, the expression dazzling and terrifying for the lack of warmth in her jeweled eyes. “Because Artaire is a generous and inventive lover I shall be kind. Besides, it is not as if I can harm your pretty little head beneath the Guardians’ noses, now, can I? However, if you were to step foot outside the boundaries of their protection I would be able to have some fun. Now come, let us get you to your room so I may join my sisters and return home.”

“Of course,” Jenna managed, following the lithe beauty through the maze of rooms and halls, paying partial attention to where she was going, getting distracted by the amazing artwork on the walls and fervently praying the fairy didn’t take to the notion of causing mischief.

“We have heard about your sister,” Trixie said conversationally, startling Jenna out of her silent prayers. “It is a pity she failed to arrive on time.”

“Well, we hope to remedy that,” Jenna muttered, her eyes growing wider with each priceless work of art she passed. They were most likely originals from some of the world’s most famous as well as its most obscure artists and all of them were perfectly suited for the rooms.

The fairy laughed, cold and delighted, “We wish you luck with that, human, but you must know you are destined to fail. Vaughn will not be returned to your sister and we shall enjoy comforting him when he wakes.”

Jenna sucked in a painful breath, knowing the fairy only spoke what she believed to be true. The woman obviously didn’t know how stubborn Melanie could be or how determined Jenna was to fix things. “Perhaps.”

As they stopped in front of a closed door, Trixie turned around and faced her head on, capturing her with those stony topaz eyes, “You must forgive the boys. They have all fallen prey to the lures of a human at some point in their lives and I fear they do not trust your kind very much.”

“Why are you being so kind to me?” Jenna asked, taking the fairy’s words as genuine concern. “I mean, Altiare can’t be that fantastic of a lover.”

Trixie smiled slightly as she shrugged her slender shoulders, her wings shimmering in the low light, “Perhaps I know what lies in store for you and wish to offer some comfort before your heart is torn from your chest.”

Frowning, Jenna stepped through the door to her quarters. Before she could think better of it, she turned and faced Trixie, “Literally or metaphorically?”

The corners of Trixie’s full mouth tilted upwards in an enigmatic smile but she did not answer. And Jenna was okay with that.

As the sun rose behind the cloudy skies, the four brothers shifted to their gargoyle forms: Rhys the monkey, Artaire the eagle, Bar the Boar, and Rowan the smooshed-faced man with a large, garish smile and exaggerated brow ridge. All four had bodies that were humanized versions of their gargoyle forms, from their thickly muscled arms and legs, to the massively powerful chests and thighs. The large, stone wings sprouted from their backs folded around their hard bodies as they hunkered down on the edges of the building.

“It’s good to see you again,” Artair reiterated, his stone beak moving as he spoke. “It is unfortunate that it is under such trying circumstances but I fear your quest is in vain. You must know that there is no thwarting the spell once the female has declined our gift.”

“Melanie was on her way back to the castle when she was in an accident,” Rhys countered, the hopes that had been steadily building wavering in the certainty of his brother’s words. “It was not her fault.”

“That may be so but it is our brother that must pay the price,” Rowan uttered with no lack of sympathy.

“We do not wish for you to suffer the way we have. The way Armand has.”

“I haven’t said anything….”

“We all saw how you looked at her,” Bar interrupted, his stone eyes steady. “This journey is unwise and Father should have known better before he sent you on such a foolish quest. You should send the human home and spend a few weeks engaging in debauchery with us. What you saw this morning is just a taste of what we have in mind.”

Rhys snorted, shaking his head no, “I think I will take my chances, brothers. When Jenna touches me in my gargoyle form I feel it in my soul and I do not wish to give that up because you worry she will refuse my gift should I offer.”

Three sets of stone eyes turned and fixed on him and Rhys felt the weight of all of those stares in his gut. Clearing his throat, Artaire asked, “What do you mean? Our stone bodies cannot feel as greatly as that.”

“It’s incredible – like a jolt of lightning that burns through the skin and leaves only pleasure in its wake,” Rhys exclaimed, feeling his body respond at the thought of Jenna’s slender hands on his body. “I assume it was the same for Vaughn when Melanie touched him the first time. He was much luckier than I was.”

The three exchanged a look before edging closer, “Yes?”

With a wide, toothy smile, Rhys leaned his big, stone body closer, “She brought him off.”