Stone Romance (Stone Passion #2) (21 page)

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; 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,
Altaire
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
h
unkered down on the edges of the building.

“It’s good to see you again,” Altair
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 vein; 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; 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,
Altaire
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,
since 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.”

“In his gargoyle form?”
Bar asked in disbelief, “Impossible.”

“Not impossible,” Rhys countered. Glancing at each brother, he asked, “Have you never felt anything?
Even for the women for whom you gave up your nights?”

“I may have felt a twinge of something when Emma touched me,” Rowan admitted reluctantly. “But it could have just as easily been indigestion.

“I never felt a thing when Rosalyn touched me, when she worked up the nerve to touch me when I was like this,” Bar bit out. Unable to disguise the bitterness that laced his voice, his snout flaring in indignation, he shot a glare at
Altaire
as he sneered, “She preferred the eagle to my boar.”

“I did not encourage her,”
Altaire
protested. “I had offered my gift to her grandmother generations before and there was no way I would give up my nights again. Besides, it was nearly six hundred years ago; I thought we had moved on.”

“We had,” Bar said on a soft exhalation, looking out over the buildings. “But I know you felt something when she touched you; I hadn’t thought about it at all. But listening to Rhys it makes me wonder; she was meant to be yours had you not been a coward.”

“After she passed and you awoke you understood why I refused,”
Altaire
bit out, not wanting to rehash something that happened so very long ago. “Let it go.”

Rhys watched in fascination as his brothers argued, the sense of similarity between this group and his own group was eerie. As his brothers glared at one another, the tension threatening to crack apart and shatter, he softly asked, “Did any of you love the woman to whom you offered your gift or did you offer out a sense of… obligation.”

The three stone heads ground together in their haste to turn to face him, similar dumb struck expressions on their gargoyle faces.

Jenna’s eyes popped open and for a moment she had no idea where she was or why she was surrounded by opulent luxury that she
had
only dream
t
about. For another moment she thought that perhaps she was still dreaming, except the sun was slanting through the window and
piercing her brain
right
through
her
eyes. Plus she was starving. Groggily, she forced herself to get out of bed
as she belatedly remembered that
she was in London and she wasn’t going to waste any more time sleeping.

Glancing at the clock, she swore; it was nearly four and she had slept the day away. It was only
a
six hour time difference; she shouldn’t have crashed so hard
. Ye
t it was the first time she had had a chance to relax since discovering her sister
had been in a car accident a
nd
was completely in love with a gargoyle
.

Plus, Rhys was by nature a night owl; perhaps she was simply adjusting to his schedule to make it easier to spend time with him.
She hoped
he would be willing to show her some of the local night life… or the supernatural night life. She was sure that was bound to be interesting. And with no responsibilities, she was planning on embracing everything he offered.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes and chastising herself for missing a full day of sightseeing, she picked up the phone and punched in the international code and the phone number to reach Melanie, wanting to let her sister know that they had landed in London safely and to check in on Ferris.

“Hello?” Melanie’s voice came through clearly and tears smarted in Jenna’s eyes at the sound.

“Lenni,” she smiled. “It’s Jenna. How are things?”

Melanie’s familiar laugh burbled over the phone and, though muffled, Jenna heard her sister call for Ferris. “Things are good; well, as good as they can be considering Vaughn is a stone statue and you’re half way around the world from me. How was the flight?”

“I slept through most of it,” Jenna admitted. “And then I slept most of the day away, too. How’s Ferris? Is she causing any trouble?”

“I love having her, Jenna; I think you should plan on staying away for a month so I can keep her.” Melanie laughed lightly before adding, “Of course she misses you but she’s holding up; she’s a real trouper. Oh! Before I forget – her grandparents want to take her to Florida next week and I wanted to clear it with you before I said yes.”

“That’s kind of last minute….”

“I know but they said they got a really good deal and are planning on taking the whole family,” Melanie expounded. “All of her cousins will be there and I think it would be good for her.”

“Of course she can go,” Jenna said, her stomach tightening at the thought of her baby growing up and becoming more independent as time went on.

“They were really hoping you could go, too,” Melanie continued. “And now I feel bad for making you go on this quest.”

Laughter rippled out of Jenna’s mouth before she could stop it, “Like you had to twist my arm to make me fly off to Europe and spend time with a gorgeous man.

“So, you like him?” Her sister’s voice bubbled with enthusiasm. Without waiting for an answer, Lenni squealed, “I knew you’d like him; have you guys done it yet? Is he a fantastic lover?”

“Lenni!”
Jenna scolded, laughing a bit hysterically. “We haven’t… done… anything yet.”

“Oh.”

The one syllable was laden with disappointment and Jenna felt the need to explain, “We weren’t alone on the plane and we arrived just as the sun was rising; there really hasn’t been time. Besides, I barely just met the man.”

“I had sex with Vaughn only a few hours after I met him.” Melanie laughed slightly, though there was a certain wistful quality to it. “Actually, I molested him in his gargoyle form before I ever even spoke to him. I think Rhys will be good for you.”

“Lenni,” Jenna warned. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

“
They’re already up, Jenna; you must know that
,” Melanie said
fervently
. “Aha! Here’s Ferris and she’s making faces trying to make me give her the phone.”