Page 6

T here I was again, staring and gaping. The whiteness around us had cleared to reveal the blue sky and the vast surface of a cloud.

It reminded me of those pillowy clouds I loved watching from a plane’s window and imagining I could bounce on.

Only that the cloud before me was tinted with shades of blue and pink, could support our weight, and led to a defensive wall.

It was as though we were standing on the flat, open area in front of a medieval fortress–if both the ground and the building were made of cloud the color of cotton candy.

In the fading daylight, I could distinguish the defensive wall’s bricks and two watchtowers, rounded and puffy. There was no gate in sight.

Surreal.

The spade tip of a tail slid up my arm. I swiveled back to look at the gargoyle, his face still close enough for our noses to touch. Pride shone in his pupil-less eyes.

“Come now. My palace awaits.”

He tried to set me on my feet, but I latched onto him like a koala. My cleavage was practically shoved in his face, but I didn’t care. I did not want to experience another freefall.

The gargoyle’s chuckle sent vibrations down my breasts. “You will not fall.” He caressed my back with his tail over my tank top. “We are on solid ground. My wings are folded, see?”

Sure, his wings were tucked against his back, but I knew better. “I don’t know whether or not the laws of physics apply to you, but I do know I cannot stand on a cloud.”

He exhaled loudly through his nose. “You think I am lying? Why would I bring you all the way up here just to let you fall?”

I leveled a glare at him.

A deep grunt came from his chest. “I will not argue with you, stubborn little human.” His tail encircled my waist and pulled.

So much for my death grip. He had me hanging in the air by his tail in an eyeblink. Then placed me on my feet.

I braced for the fall… It never came.

“Holy crap!” I was standing on a cloud! I tapped the blue-pink surface with the toe of a boot: it was as solid as earth, it simply appeared puffy. This was… magic!

“Save the dirty words for my bedchamber.”

I froze mid-tap. Bedchamber, right . I was not here to explore the sights that defied science.

The gargoyle king took my hand and gave my ass a little tail nudge. “Let us go and not waste any more time.”

He sounded and looked serious, not a sign of his playful smile, but it was clear what he meant. He was in a hurry to have me in his bed without further delay.

What he would get was my knife at his dick. Or whatever hid under his designer loincloth. But I would try reason and politeness first, stabby tactics next.

“Look,” I said as I pulled my hand out of his. “I admit you’re an amazing kisser. Your technique is unparalleled. But, I’m not sleeping with you.”

The corners of his lips tilted up.

“I’m serious,” I said firmly. “If you won’t take me back to the ground, fine. I’ll stay on this homecloud of yours for tonight. But I won’t let you have your way with me. Okay?”

He stepped closer until our bodies were almost touching. The power of his presence washed over me, undeniable. His face hovered over mine, my head barely reaching his chest.

I looked up to meet his gaze squarely. He was wrong if he thought his imposing size would make me cower.

Heat shone in his dark eyes. His next words, said in a husky voice, made me realize that intimidation was not his intention.

“I will not have my way with you, female. I shall claim you and you, me. In my bedchamber or elsewhere in the palace, should you prefer an audience.”

His words and seductive timbre had my body reacting instantly. My pulse throbbed between my thighs. What was wrong with me?

“Call it whatever you want,” I snapped. “Not. Happening. Your Majesty .”

His tail slid along my leg, and he caressed my cheek with one long finger.

A feather-light touch that sent a shiver of excitement down my traitorous body.

“There is no need to address me by my title. Just Xaniban will suffice.” His thumb glided across my lips.

“I look forward to hearing you scream it as we claim each other.”

An incredulous laugh burst out of me. This guy was so sure of himself. There was no convincing him I wasn’t interested. My scent telling him otherwise wasn’t helping matters, nor was the fiery kiss I’d allowed earlier. What a mess. Go me!

“I don’t know you,” I reminded the gargoyle–Xaniban in a last attempt to reason with him. “We met, what, an hour ago?”

“Thirty minutes,” he kindly specified. All the while, the tip of his tail was drawing teasing lines along my thigh, his eyes on my mouth smoldering.

I stifled a shiver of pleasure. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s thirty, sixty, or ninety minutes. What I’m trying to say is that–”

“We cannot try the regular sixty-nine, I am afraid.” His lips stretched into that wicked smile of his.

“When I lie on my back, should a female straddle my face, her knees would come dangerously close to my sharp wingtips. There are, however, many positions which a human can never offer you. That is why, when our lust for each other was satiated, many females I have brought with me from the ground chose to settle here. Be it with a claiming partner or their mate.”

Face on fire, I growled in exasperation. “Would you stop that?”

“What?” he asked, all innocence.

Yeah, right . I swatted his tail away from my thigh. “Stop distracting me from what I’m trying to say by talking dirty.”

“The only dirty thing here is your clothing.” He passed a claw along one of my tank top’s wide straps.

“I’m not built that way!” I raised my voice this time. I was desperate to get my point across before my anger could subside under his disarming touches and tempting promises. “I don’t lay around with strangers for the sole purpose of scratching an itch.”

A frown creased his brow. “You need a male for scratching?”

I groaned. “I don’t do one-night stands, is that clear enough for you?

… I’ve always looked for an emotional attachment, and even the end of the freaking world can’t make me change my ways.

” I let out a deep sigh. “Just forget about getting in my pants, okay? Go satiate your animalistic needs with one of those women who have allegedly come here willingly.”

He exhaled loudly through his nose like earlier–Gargoyles’ version of a snort?–but did take a step back from me.

Finally. Progress–

“I declare my desire to claim you and you alone in so many ways, and you demand I replace you with another female? Is this some kind of test?”

“Oh my God.” This was hopeless. Why had I thought I could reason with a being from another world?

“Test or not,” he carried on, taking my hand in his, “I assure you I will be devoted to you and only you while we are together. And our togetherness will continue for more than one night, do not doubt that. I have never claimed a female smelling so compatible. Therefore,” he smiled with one fang showing, “I do not have to forget about getting in your pants.”

I opened my mouth then closed it. What more could I say?

Visibly pleased with my silence, Xaniban hand-led me toward the defensive wall. It looked more blueish than pink, now that the sun was closer to setting. If there were guards on the watchtowers, I couldn’t see them. Just like I was yet to see a gate.

“I must beg your forgiveness in advance,” Xaniban told me as we walked. “I will not be able to join you in bed right away. Pressing matters require my attention first.”

It hit me then that his haste after we landed might not have been bedroom-related. “What matters are those?”

“I am Xaniban to you, but to my brethren I am the king of this homecloud. I must check how many of my warriors have survived today’s battle and plan our next move.”

Oh! “Those were your soldiers, back in the office building! I saw them fight on one of the floors. They were greatly outnumbered because of the vampires working jointly with the zombies.”

His wings fluttered. “Yes. The alliance between flesh eaters and blood suckers was not something I had anticipated.” Xaniban sounded grim. Gone was the playful tone: this was the king talking about a military defeat, not the gargoyle talking about claiming me.

A nice change, if you asked me.

“Why were your soldiers so spread out inside the building?” I couldn’t help but ask. “Why were you all alone on the top floor?”

“Gargoyles rarely fight as a close-knit unit the way your kind do,” he explained, seemingly not bothered by my curiosity. “We are strong enough to deal with a small number of enemies individually. In this case, individual battles were very risky, but we had no choice.”

“But why go to that abandoned building in the first place?”

“To kill their king, of course.” To my shocked look, he elaborated.

“It took us some time to determine where the very first flesh eaters of his new army had been created. I thought I might find him still there, operating from the place he had chosen to start this war from.” Xaniban’s wings fluttered again.

“I found a fortress but one of many, not his prime stronghold. I was foolish, and he was cunning. I led my warriors into a trap.”

I gave his hand a squeeze. “You couldn’t have known.”

He hummed and squeezed my hand back. “I need to plan my next move more carefully. Hopefully, some of my warriors have found clues I could use to locate my foe. That was why we split up: to go through the entire building quickly before the king could escape or his minions could destroy valuable evidence of his whereabouts.”

“I see.” It was nice of Xaniban to tell me all this, but it raised so many questions.

How could zombies have a king? They didn’t have higher brain functions, I was sure of it. And they were allies with the vamps, who I knew as no smarter than a wild cat? How did they form an alliance when they were incapable of speech? I needed time to process this shocking information.

Only, I didn’t have time, because we reached the wall. And Xaniban pulled me inside it.