Page 28 of Grotesque

S omething about being curled around Sorcha appeased the sickness inside of me, the song in my blood that longed to return to Under.

To the winged beasts of the sky and scaled serpents writhing below.

To the sounds of endless war and sweeping views of extravagantly built castles.

I missed my kingdom. I missed magik, real magik.

Not the puddle I was left with to dip my fingers into.

It boiled my blood knowing that Phelim had likely dethroned our father and taken the crown for himself. The crown that rightfully belonged to me. If it were true, I’d rip his head from his neck the moment I saw him.

Not much longer now.

It had been decades, centuries, now, since I had been trapped in this absolute hell of a place, surrounded by desperate women and their boring, pretentious husbands. Years bound to the most godsforsaken hovel. Its lack of grandeur only made my need for vengeance burn hotter.

I shut my eyes, mind conjuring the image of the middle-aged man that had stepped into the glowing orange ring like it was yesterday.

That snake, with his cursed bargain. Humans aren’t usually particularly clever with their deals, but this one had been.

“Look into the mirror and speak your greatest desire, to have it granted,” he had said.

I had been naive then. I’d thought I was invincible to human treachery, that I was owed everything.

“I wish to be desired above all things.”

And that is exactly what he had given me, that nameless man.

I never even felt it when the spell struck.

One moment I was speaking the words into the gilded mirror, and the next I was encased in stone, frozen in the back of his wagon amongst other stone-carved creatures, helpless in my rage as he carted us from town to town.

One by one he sold us off, promising we would protect the homes and churches of those who bought us.

Even in slavery gargoyles were loyal to a fault, and so they remained at their posts with their mouths gaping in silent screams. I possessed no such honorable streak.

That man had fucked with the wrong monster, and so I would curse every soul that came into contact with me until the day that I broke free.

The salesman had laughed as he’d raised me to my post above the door of the manor that was to become my home. His arms straining at the ropes.

“Desired above all things, old chap? Let’s see how you go turning desire into devotion when you’re made of stone.”

He’d gone on and on, relishing in the trick he’d pulled. My freedom, apparently, would only be gained if another soul willingly traded places with me. If they gave up their body, heart, and soul so that I could regain mine.

I liked to think the stranger could feel my rage when he turned me over to the young couple of Glamis. To sweet unsuspecting Rosaline.

As I watched the sun sink that first night from my perch above the verandah, I felt the stone melt away as life returned to my body.

I was chained still by old magik, but free to move and stretch and eat under darkness.

I was starved enough that I nearly killed Rosaline on our first night.

But I’d had a long while to think of how I would escape my prison, so I stilled my fangs and claws and spoke with her instead.

She would be the first of many failures, until–

Sorcha stirred beside me, drawing me away from the nightmare I was forced to relive every time the sun rose.

She stretched, sliding her hand over my bare waist. Her body stiffened and before she could move I had her pinned beneath me.

“Good morning,” I purred against her neck. The bruising of my bites that lined it did wonders for her complexion. They were like a choker of violets, blooming in pretty shades of purple and blue.

She looked up at me with wide eyes. “You’re here.” It wasn’t quite a question.

I kissed her. “Thanks to you.”

“How?” She kissed me back, hesitantly at first and then more forcefully. I liked that she couldn’t help herself. Even while her brain struggled to process what it meant that I had her pinned down in daylight, she gave in to me, flicking her tongue out to meet mine.

Her taste was still sweet beneath the staleness of her breath. She had so many smells and flavors that stirred my hunger.

“You make me whole.” Gods, it sounded even more droll when I said it out loud.

She slapped my chest but there was no force in it. “You’re so full of it.” Her breath was short, laced with amusement and driven by the building lust I could smell between her thighs as I ran my hand up her side.

I didn’t know what real love was. I knew that I was infatuated with Sorcha.

It felt as if she were made for me. That could very well be the spell at work, as it unraveled itself from me and wound around her.

I’d made it this far with only a couple of others in the past, but something felt different with Sorcha.

This time, the spell was loosening its hold on me – leaving me free to roam in sunlight and soon, back to Under – but it also seemed to be chaining me tighter to my prey. And I was loving it.

“What if it’s true?” I held her green-eyed gaze. Those beautiful eyes that so reminded me of the soft moss that lined my castle walls. Her long lashes fluttered as she fought for an answer.

She opened her perfect mouth to respond, and then her eyes went wide as her gaze shifted past me. I rolled my shoulder back, splaying one of my wings across us as I stretched.

I had considered that my human costume might be more appealing to Sorcha when she awoke, but I’d wanted to know if she’d been honest when she’d fucked me like this the evening before. Whether she could face what I really was, in the cold light of day.

Whatever Sorcha was thinking she hid it well. She took her time in surveying me. The slight tremor in her fingers sharpened my teeth as she reached out tentatively to my wing.

I let out an involuntary sigh when her warm fingers brushed the thin membrane. “Sorry,” I murmured when she flinched. I tipped my head back, my eyes half lidded as she touched me again. “I have not been touched in this form in a long while and your heat is a comfort.”

That must have emboldened her because she splayed the entirety of her small hand against the leathery surface. Slowly she explored the rest of my wing. She sat up to get a better look at the talon that curved over the top.

“I didn’t know anything like you could exist,” she said softly.

I chuckled. “That is something I love about you.”

She looked up at me, her round cheeks tinged a pretty pink. “What’s that?”

“That you take control of your fear. Oh no, it’s quite alright.

You should be afraid of me. But I absolutely adore seeing you struggle with it – as it goes to war with the desire and curiosity you have for me.

” I stroked her cheek, which turned a shade darker.

“I have waited a long time to find someone like you.”

“What about me is different from the others?”

I blinked slowly, savoring her delectable features.

The perfect arch of her brows, the soft thrum of her heartbeat.

How her lips had a permanent pout to them but puckered whenever she was thinking hard about something.

The way her body curved and met my hand with plush softness. “Everything,” I said, and meant it.

She hadn’t run like the others when they’d finally seen what I really was.

Desired above all things, I thought bitterly.

Desire only got you so far with women who lacked…

vision.Looking at Sorcha in the morning light, its honeyed glow leaving feathered shadows on her cheek, I realized I couldn’t leave her here.

I’d be a fool to leave something so precious behind.

I’d had every intention of switching places with her, of making her the new haunt of Glamis Manor.

But as she continued to explore my body and I relished the memory of the way she had grabbed hold of my horns while she fucked me, I knew that I could not abandon her entirely.

There had to be some way to gain my freedom and keep her as well.

No one had ever admired me the way she did.

Not even a creature of my own realm, when one had been bold enough to touch me, had done so with the hunger and wonder that spooled from her fingertips.

While I relished her fear of me, I thirsted more for the way she battled with it, that she sought to be its master.

“What are you?” she blurted. Heat spread across her cheeks again, like blood dripping into clear water. “Please don’t keep me guessing.”

I ran my fingers through her long hair.I loved the dark contrast of it against my grey skin. I reveled in darkness. How convenient that all the best parts of her were made of it.

“Are you a demon?” she whispered.

I chuckled. The red stain on her face deepened.

Color looked just as beautiful on her as the shadows.

“Close,” I whispered back, teasing her. I suppose it didn’t matter if she knew the truth now.

I shifted to the side, lounging my weight on one arm so I could trail down her body with my free hand. “I’m a grotesque.”

Her brows furrowed as her heart fluttered quickly. The familiar delectable scent of her fear spiked. “What’s a grotesque?” she asked.

“We are similar to gargoyles but our appetites tend to be much more…. Sinful.” I traced a claw around her wide areolas, one and then the other.

I was keenly aware of how perfectly she fit against me, how warm and soft she was beneath my hardened body.

“We hunger for flesh while the gargoyles are meant to protect it. We desire the taste of you to satisfy our stomachs and cocks.”

All of that beautiful color leeched from her skin. “You eat people?” she squeaked.