Page 37 of The Gargoyle and the Maiden (Nightfall Guardians #1)

Her eyes widened as she dared a longer look, and her throat went dry.

He was…proportionate. Immense. The stone-gray length of him jutted unapologetically toward her, thick and veined.

Though the head gleamed flat and smooth, the base bulged with the promise of his knot.

She remembered the feel of it expanding in her, overwhelming and perfect.

A nervous heat coiled low in her belly, thrumming with dangerous curiosity. Fear tangled with desire as she imagined him sliding into her again, nudging the deep, aching place inside her.

“Having second thoughts now that you see my new scars?” His voice held bitter amusement.

“No. Are you?” Her body had changed as much as his had. Perhaps more. Instead of battle scars, she bore the marks of carrying a gargoyle hatchling. The silvered lines where her stomach expanded so quickly to accommodate Lo?c’s size, the claw marks on her thighs where he’d pulled his way out.

“No.” Brandt stood at the far end, his massive frame silhouetted by the faint light of a few candles and the moon streaming through the arched window.

His granite-gray hide was crisscrossed with battle scars, each one a record of the pain she had caused.

A fresh, angry wound, barely beginning to knit, crossed his heart. That one was for her.

His eyes locked onto hers with an intensity that made her knees weak. “Are you ready to pay for what you’ve done?”

She swallowed hard and nodded.

Brandt moved with a predator’s grace, closing the distance between them.

His hand shot out, wrapping in her braid, yanking her head back sharply.

She gasped, her body arching instinctively toward him as his other hand gripped her waist, his claws digging into her flesh just enough to make her shiver.

“Good,” he snarled, his breath hot against her ear. “Because I’m going to make you feel every second of this.”

His mouth crashed down on hers. She had not expected kisses, but this wasn’t a kiss.

This was a plundering. His tongue swept past her lips, demanding and possessive, and she opened for him willingly, letting him take what he wanted.

Her hands found their way to his chest, feeling the raised ridges of his scars beneath her fingertips, and she focused on their unique pattern, memorizing like she might someday need to recognize him in the dark.

He broke the kiss abruptly, his hand tightening in her braid as he forced her to meet his gaze. “You’re mine,” he growled, his voice cracking with raw emotion. “You always were, even when you sought to destroy our bond. Let this teach you to try and escape me, because you never will again.”

She nodded, tears she didn’t think she had left pricking at the corners of her eyes. “I know,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I’m yours.”

With a growl of satisfaction, Brandt spun her over, pressing her facedown into the plush depths of the nest. His hand wrapped more firmly in her braid, using it to keep her head pulled back so she could breathe.

She felt his other hand slide down her body, claws dragging over her skin and leaving a stinging trail. Cool breeze from the window soothed the path, but it reignited in the heat radiating from Brandt’s body as he eased his full weight onto her.

She panted, lungs compressed and legs spread. It felt so good to bear him, to be helpless to him.

“You betrayed me,” he hissed, leaning back so his claws could trail down her spine, leaving an echo of pain in their wake. “You broke us. But now you’re going to pay it all back.”

He moved lower, fingers sliding between her legs to pinch and pull and slap at her flesh there, and she shuddered at the sensation.

He was merciless in his touch, but it felt strangely good, the same way his first lesson in pleasure had felt good.

He was teaching her something important. Somehow, she had needed this all along.

She gasped as his fingers found her wetness, teasing her entrance before plunging inside without warning. Her hips bucked against his hand, desperate for more, but he held her steady with his grip on her braid.

“Are you enjoying your penance, my little traitor?” he growled, his voice dark as a new moon. “This is supposed to be punishment, not pleasure.”

“I’m sorry,” she moaned, the sound echoing off the stone walls as his fingers worked her ceaselessly. Her body was already on edge, every nerve alight with need, but she clenched her jaw, determined not to disappoint him.

She didn’t deserve to enjoy this. She tried not to, but he was trying just as hard to break her in every way.

He withdrew his fingers abruptly, and she whimpered at the sudden loss.

Before she could protest, she felt the blunt head of his cock press against her entrance, and then he was pushing inside her, stretching and filling and impaling her.

She cried out as he left her for the briefest instance before plunging inside again, her body stretching to accommodate him, the sheer size of him overwhelming her senses.

Every thrust drove her closer and closer to climax, no matter how she fought it. She hated to fail him in another way. Tears leaked from the corner of her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I can’t take it any more.”

“Don’t lie to me again,” he grunted. “I can feel your little human cunt weeping for me.”

His rhythm was relentless, each thrust driving deeper into her than the last. He used her braid like a leash, pulling so hard she had to arch her back to relieve the pressure. Her body strained to meet his with every movement.

The pleasure was so intense that it was almost unbearable. She had to bite her lip hard enough to draw blood to keep her orgasm at bay.

Brandt released her braid, his hand sliding to her throat.

Claws pricked into her skin as he squeezed lightly, cutting off her air just enough to make her dizzy.

Her vision blurred as he leaned in close, his chest pressed against her shoulders.

lips brushing the crown of her head. “You can’t fight it,” he whispered harshly.

“You’re mine again, and I’ll take what I want from you. ”

The combination of his words and the necklace of pressure on her throat was too much. Her body convulsed as release ripped through her, the waves of ecstasy so intense her vision went black. She felt him snarl in satisfaction, his pace increasing as he chased his own climax.

And then she felt the telltale swelling at the base of his cock as his knot began to form.

He pressed forward ruthlessly, forcing it inside her, and she whimpered at the additional stretch.

Her body clamped down around him involuntarily, holding him in place as he came with a roar, his seed filling her in hot bursts.

The bite came at the peak. His jaws clamped her shoulder in the exact spot as before, his sharp teeth sinking into her flesh. Pain seared through her, but worse was what followed: his mind crashing into hers like a boulder through glass.

Walls. So many walls. Some cracked and crumbled, others so tall she couldn’t find the top. Every direction she turned was blocked.

She felt his confusion, the constant sense of missing pieces. The frustration of reaching for memories that scattered like smoke. The bone-deep exhaustion of fighting his own mind every moment.

She was also awash with his pleasure. Not just the physical pleasure of their mating but the pleasure of revenge on her. The deep satisfaction of having a mate again. But louder than that all that was the sense of betrayal that drowned out everything else.

Not just hers, but the Tower’s. His mother’s. The masons’. The world’s cruelty in taking everything and leaving only scars.

She sobbed into the furs, overwhelmed by the weight of his suffering. This was what she’d done to him. This was the cost of her choices, and now she had to pay it. This was the rest of her life.

“Now you know,” he said against her shoulder, tongue soothing the bite even as his knot kept them locked together. “Now you understand.”