Stone Solitude (18 page)

“Get lucky?” Jeanette asked with a twinkle in her eye. At Daisy’s nod, she chuckled, “I was too busy watching your brother and taking notes. He was magnificent, Daise, keeping all of those wolves off your back.”

Shaking her head in consternation, Daisy brought up a secret she had held for five years and asked, “Do you plan on waiting for Dominic forever?”

Jeanette shrugged her shoulders and admitted helplessly, “He’s my mate, whether he recognizes it or not. I just hope he doesn’t do anything stupid before he claims me.”

“Why don’t you claim him?”

Jeanette’s lips spread into a wide grin, “Because I enjoy playing. While he’s off indulging in his games, I get to play a few of my own. One of these days he’ll come to his senses but until then….” She gave another shrug as if it didn’t matter, “There are plenty of other wolves to fuck. So, tell me about your gargoyle.”

She should have realized Jeanette figured out she hadn’t answered any of their questions from the night before. “There isn’t really a lot to say. He’s a gargoyle and he’s.... He’s amazing.”

“Are you finally going to give up your virginity?”

Daisy smiled as she slowly nodded her head, “He’s my mate.”

“Daisy Tremain!” Jeanette squealed, throwing her arms around Daisy and hugging the ever-loving crap out of her. A few shoppers shot them disgruntled looks but it didn’t bother the girls. “When are you going to bring him around to meet everyone?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted honestly. “He’s… shy.”

Jeanette snorted, “Leave it to you to find a shy mate. Is he gorgeous?”

Roman’s image flashed in her head, the grotesque facial features that were beautiful to her. Gnawing on her lower lips, she half shook her head, half nodded. “He is to me.”

“I bet he’s gorgeous,” Jeanette sighed as they started walking normally once again and Daisy didn’t have it in her to correct her friend. They’d get to know him and realize how wonderful he was and he’d be beautiful in their eyes, too. “Oh! Look at that dress – and it’s on sale. Let’s go try it on.”

With a grin, Daisy let herself get pulled into the store, her thoughts fifteen miles away on a man in her pool house. So far, the events of last night hadn’t been too awful, just a little more… carnal than usual. A lot more carnal. But that was okay, as long as everyone was happy. Right?

As Jeanette grabbed the dress and headed to the dressing rooms, Daisy looked through the racks, wondering if she really wanted a new dress or not. She didn’t really need one, since she didn’t have anything planned that required a new dress. With fall semester starting up in a few weeks and Roman in her life, she didn’t want to spend any of her free time at the country club or any of the political dinners her parents hosted.

A heavy arm landed on her shoulders and she found herself being pulled against a hard, male body, a hard male body that radiated anger and lust. Trying not to panic, she turned her head and saw Jon Sorensen grimacing down at her, a ferocious light in his eyes. They had been friends but had never been especially close, even though he had asked her out in high school when she was a freshman and he was a senior. That had been nearly seven years ago. Just like all wolves, he was a good looking man, with thick brown hair and blue eyes, eyes that were burning for her. “Daisy Tremain, just the girl I was looking for.”

“Hey, Jon,” she managed, trying to smile in the face of naked hunger which she understood too well, unfortunately. He had been in the bar and had obviously been affected by her song.

“What the hell did you do to me last night?” he bit out, his teeth grinding together as he spoke. Squeezing her harder until she thought he was going to bruise her shoulders, he added, “Tell me.”

“What makes you think I did anything?” she asked, subtly trying to extract herself from his punishing grip to no avail. He was a man possessed and while she wanted to help him, she was a little bit frightened of him.

He looked at her as if she were mad, as if it were perfectly obvious what he was talking about. “You sang, I wanted you more than I have ever wanted another wolf in my life, and then you left.”

“Okay.” That didn’t sound too bad. After all, isn’t that what Siren’s did? Inspire men’s lust?

“And then I ended up fucking Walt Manning.”

“Oh.” That part was perhaps a little unusual. “Um, maybe you had too much to drink….”

“I hadn’t even had a sip of my beer,” he ground out, his eyes flashing. Lifting his head, he looked around the store and must have realized there were a few people trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. Holding onto her, he dragged her to a quieter corner, faced her, and hissed, “I forced him to change back and then I took him as a man.”

“Were all of the single ladies taken?” she asked, hoping there was some way to defuse his temper.

“You weren’t there and I grabbed the nearest wolf,” he snarled.

“Well, maybe it means something that you grabbed Walt….”

“I’m not gay,” he bit out, curling his hands around her shoulders and jerking her closer. Scowling at her, he glared, “I’m not.”

“Maybe a little bit?” she asked, wishing she could take it back when he looked ready to murder her on the spot.

“No.”

“Well, in ancient Roman times, taking another man was a form of dominance,” she told him helpfully. “As long as you were the one doing the fucking and not the one being fucked. Maybe you were just establishing your dominance?”

A terrible light darkened his expression as he stared at her. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “I could almost believe you if I still didn’t have the feel of his ass on my dick.”

He pressed his groin against her and his very aroused erection pulsed against her stomach. Lowering his head, he rasped in a husky growl, “If I were gay, I wouldn’t want to fuck you right here, right now, no matter how furious I am at you. I want to claim you, Daisy Tremain. I want to make you mine.”

She blinked her eyes at that, not sure what to say. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lower lip and his blue eyes darkened to nearly black. Brushing his thumb over her lip, he growled, “Make it up to me, Daisy. Be my mate.”

“That’s not going to happen,” she whispered. “I have a mate.”

Closing his eyes, he inhaled her scent, a slight smile curving his sensuous lips. “You’re not mated, Daisy, and after last night, I doubt that status is going to last much longer.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” she managed, looking around the store in the desperate hope Jeanette was done trying on her clothes. Her friend was nowhere to be found.

“I think you do,” he said, his tongue darting out as he leaned his head closer to hers. “There’s something different about the females of your family, Daisy. No, don’t try denying it. Your mom’s song inspires lust in mated wolves and your song…. Your song inspires lust in everyone. It makes a male fuck another male when he can’t have your ass.”

“Jon, you’ll never have my ass,” she said, thinking she sounded perfectly reasonable. With a frown, she added, “Or any part of me. Now, go home, take a cold shower, and forget about last night.”

“I dream about you,” he continued, ignoring her. “And last night the dreams were intense….”

His words trailed off as he looked over her shoulder and visibly paled. He released her so quickly, she stumbled back a step before catching herself. Gaping at him, she watched as he muttered, “Sorry.”

With that bizarre behavior, he rushed out of the store, very deliberately avoiding looking at her. A little blur of gray caught her eye from the corner but when she looked, it was gone and she was left bemused and alone. Shaking her head, dismissing Jon’s weird exit, she went back to looking at the clothes. Whatever Jon was going through, he did give her a lot to think about. If what he said was true, that she was now on the unmated wolves’ radar, she was going to have to be careful. She had no desire to be forced into a mating because a wolf lost control, which, unfortunately, still happened. In order to stop the madness, she had to mark Roman and, if possible, be marked in return. Generally, marking required biting and the thought of being bit by Roman’s monster teeth was a little daunting. And how would she bite him?

So how did one mark a stone gargoyle?

“Was that Jon Sorensen running out of here with his tail between his legs?” Jeanette asked, finally appearing when it was too late to be of any help. “Now,
he
had some interesting techniques.”

“You mean when he dominated Walt?” she asked. As Jeanette’s mouth fell open, she added, “Yeah, he told me. He seemed to think it was somehow my fault.”

Jeanette looked at her with a blank expression. “Well, wasn’t it?”

Daisy swallowed against the panic that gripped her throat at that statement so casually spoken. “Pardon?”

“Daisy,” Jeanette laughed. “You can’t pretend to be something you’re not.”

As Daisy narrowed her eyes, wondering how Jeanette discovered her secret when she had been so very careful not to tell anyone outside of the family, except for Roman, Jeanette laughed, “Sweetie, we’ve been best friends since seventh grade and I couldn’t love you anymore if you were my sister. But you’ve got to admit – you’re a cock tease.”

A sigh of relief rushed out of her before she could stop it. Being called a cock tease was certainly better than anyone knowing what she was, right? But, she wasn’t a cock tease. “I’m not a cock tease.”

“You most definitely are,” Jeanette laughed, looping her arm through Daisy’s as she headed up to the counter to pay for her new clothes. “But I can’t really begrudge it of you because you’re so charming. I mean, you’re friends with everyone.”

“That doesn’t make me a cock tease,” she protested.

“It does when you get up on stage and make all of the males lust after you,” Jeanette chuckled, pulling out her debit card and handing it to the clerk. “Not that I blame you, of course. It’s not your fault you’re impossibly sweet and so damn virginal and sing like a goddamned nightingale. Of course all of the wolves are going to want to fuck you.”

The clerk’s face was nearly as red as Daisy’s as he handed the debit card back to Jeanette. They shared a commiserating glance before both looked away in embarrassment. “That still doesn’t make me a cock tease.”

“No, of course not. But to primitive minds like Jon’s it does,” Jeanette chuckled, taking the bag as they thankfully left the store and the embarrassed man behind.

Daisy opened her mouth to say something but realized she had dodged a bullet and wisely kept her mouth shut. It wasn’t her fault that her Siren lineage demanded a state of celibacy until one’s fated mate came along. A smile tilted her lips as she thought about Roman. Her celibacy was soon to be a thing of the past.

Juggling the bags into one arm, Daisy dug out the key to the pool house to let herself in. Despite the bizarre run in with Jon, she had a really good time. A few of the other girls had met up with them for lunch and they ended up going to a movie and staying out longer than she had expected. By the time she managed to unlock the door, the sun had long since set. She hadn’t forgotten about Roman; indeed, he had been on her mind pretty much all day. Unfortunately, her friends were determined to keep her out and since she didn’t want to draw any attention to her actions from the previous night, she had remained.

“Roman?” she called out as soon as she got through the door. When there was no response, she frowned. Had he left? “Roman?”

The light went on and she saw him sitting in the darkened corner, a grim expression on his face. Her smile was instantaneous as she threw her keys down and crossed the room, sliding onto his lap and straddling his hard thighs as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed a kiss against the corner of his wide mouth, tasting the clean, ozone taste of his skin. “How was your day?”

“Dull,” he muttered, settling his hands on her waist, his lips curving up in his unnerving smile. “Some of your siblings pounded on the door around two but when no one answered they went away. I don’t think they saw me.”

“They can be very demanding,” she grinned, love welling in her chest as she thought about her family. “I even told them I’d be gone all day.”

“Do they never give you time to yourself?” His tone was incredulous, as if he couldn’t fathom such a thing. Of course, he had been alone for a long time so perhaps he
couldn’t
understand it.

“Sure they do,” she told him. “But I don’t need a lot of personal time. At least I didn’t. ”

He smiled a little before his expression darkened once again and he growled, “My… companion told me you were accosted at the mall.”

Tilting her head to the side, she raised her eyebrows, “The one you told me about?”

“Xerec,” he bit out in disgust and she wasn’t sure what he was disgusted over. “He’s a little prick but he’s loyal and he has agreed to keep an eye on you while I’m… unavailable. He said he had to deal with an overeager puppy today while you were enjoying time with your friend.”

Her lips parted in abrupt understanding. “That’s why Jon suddenly left. Thank god your friend was there.”

“He’s not my friend,” he growled. “And had Jon stayed another moment longer, he’d have lost his testicles by tomorrow morning.”

She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing but a small giggle came out anyway. Pressing her forehead against his neck, her shoulders shook with her laughter. “He didn’t mean anything by it. He just wanted to establish his… masculinity after what happened last night.”

His broad hands smoothed up and down her back as she continued to chuckle. “Oh, Roman, I missed you today. I should have stayed home.”

“It wouldn’t have made any difference, sweetheart,” he crooned against her ear, his voice rocky-rough. “I was frozen.”

“Still.” She sighed, lifting her head and looking at his beloved face. Brushing her hand against his wide jaw, she murmured, “I enjoy being with you, even when you’re a statue. You heard the conversation I had with Dominic, didn’t you?” At his nod, she rested her cheek against his chest and sighed, “I’d love to fly away with you until the mess I created blew over but I can’t. I have to tell my parents.”

Stroking her hair, he rumbled, “Honor is very important in my culture, Daisy. You have it in abundance and I admire that about you.”

“How old are you?”

He didn’t answer right away so she tilted her head back to look at him. His lips were pressed together and his wide nostrils flared even wider. “I was thirty when I was cursed.”

Moistening her lips, she softly asked, “And how long ago was that?”

“Almost two thousand years.” His body shuddered as he lowered his eyelids and slumped back into the chair. Their groins were more firmly pressed together but Daisy ignored the subtle pressure of his penis against her sex when Roman huffed, “My family doesn’t remember me. The curse erased me from their lives and they don’t remember me. Ever.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, not sure what to say since she was certain there was more to it than that but she was even more certain Roman didn’t want to discuss it. Not yet. Brushing her fingers over his lips, along the strong column of his neck, she bit back her curiosity and whispered, “Tell me more about them.”

He smiled slightly in silent gratitude. She knew he would tell her more about the curse when he was ready, even if it took a hundred years for him to get to that stage. “My mother named us after the mythological founders of our glorious empire: Remus and Romulus.”

Daisy tilted her head to the side, staring at the faraway look on Roman’s stone face. “You have a twin.”

He glanced at her and gave her a single nod. “Yes, Remus.”

“So you’re Romulus,” she said softly, caressing his stone cheek, brushing her thumb over his broad lips. The corners of his mouth curled upwards but he didn’t say anything. As she thought about it, delight tickled her soul. “You’re a wolf and you’re Romulus. Your mother must have quite a sense of humor.”

“Yes,” he agreed, a soft chuckle rumbling in his chest. “But Remus and Romulus weren’t wolves….”

“No, they were human but when they were infants, they were suckled by a she-wolf,” she said. “See? I remember some of the things I learned in school.”

His grin widened, spreading across his face as he pulled her hips closer. As his erection rubbed against the sensitive folds of her sex, her eyes flew open and he stilled. His mouth moved and her name came out almost as soundless as a breath, “Daisy.”

“Roman,” she returned in the same weightless voice. Her eyes moved over his face and it was the strangest thing. His eyes…. “Your eyes aren’t so vacant. I can see a hint of… blue?”

“It’s probably just the light.”

“What is the color of your eyes?”

His tongue darted out and smoothed over his lower lip before he answered, “Blue.”

Gently, she brushed her fingers over his brow ridge, the closest she dared to come to his actual eye. There was just the faintest hint of blue in the very center with a slightly darker pupil, or what she assumed was a pupil. “How is that possible?”

“I think you’re seeing what you want to see,” he said quietly, his thumbs absently stroking her hips. “It would be… easier for you if I was more human.”

She shook her head no, denying his words even though she knew it was a possibility. He was still frightening in appearance but she wasn’t frightened. After all, he was Roman, her love, her mate. Caressing his lumpy head, she smiled at him. “Neither of us are human, my love.”

With a groan, he tightened his grip on her waist and jerked his hips upwards, making her gasp. She grabbed onto his shoulders to keep herself steady as pleasure whispered through her body. “But wouldn’t it be easier for you to make love to me if I looked less like a monster?”

“No,” she answered without hesitation, pressing a soft kiss against his smashed nose. “Not at all,” she breathed, kissing the corner of his broad mouth. “I like how you look.”

“You’re not lying, are you?” Surprise colored his voice.

“I’m an awful liar,” she admitted, brushing her lips over his, sweeping back and forth, tasting him. “Ask anyone.”

“Should I call your brother?” he teased. “Ask him if you’re telling me the truth?”

“You shouldn’t ask him because he’ll just lie.”

“Then how will I ever ascertain the truth?”

“I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it.” Kissing the corner on the other side of his mouth, she whispered, “You’re the man I want and I want you just the way you are.”

“You’re a temptation too sweet to resist, Daisy Tremain,” he growled.

“Then don’t resist me,” she breathed, sitting back and pulling her shirt over her head as she smiled at him. As the material dropped from her grip, she trembled with nerves and arousal. When he just sat there and stared at her face instead of her breasts in their lacy purple bra, she worried she was acting too forward. Women in his time, in Ancient Rome, were sheltered before marriage or they were paid to give sexual pleasure as courtesans and prostitutes.

Shivering, she raised her arms to cover her lace covered chest but he grabbed her wrists. Holding her arms out to the sides, his gaze dipped down to her breasts and his breath hitched in his throat. “Let me look.”

Blood pumped thickly through her veins as she held her breath and watched his face, the hints of expression that let her know how deeply he was affected by her. Her nipples pebbled under his gaze and a shiver went down her spine. Raising his eyes until their gazes met, he slowly released one wrist and cupped her breast.

In a deep rumble, he managed, “I want to do unspeakable things to you.”

“Unspeakable, huh?” she grinned because her trembling lips couldn’t quite manage a full smile. Draping her arms over his shoulders, toying with the ends of his wings, she purred, “Do you have any intention of actually doing these unspeakable things or are you just teasi….”

Her words ended on a scream as he wrapped his arms around her and stood up. A low, primal growl came from the back of his throat as he took a few steps, tossed her onto the bed, and then followed her down. Bearing his weight on his forearms, he loomed over her as he rubbed his erection against her and growled, “Do you feel how much I want you?”

Gasping in surprise at the heavy weight and long length of his erection, she managed, “Yes.”

His face tightened as his gaze moved over her. Holding her eyes, he pulled the cup of her bra down, exposing her breast to the warm air. Her nipple pebbled, eager for his touch. She held her breath as he slowly lowered his gaze, as he slowly brushed his thumb over the taut peak. His wide mouth parted and his heavy tongue pushed out, rasping against her nipple. A shock of pleasure raced from her breast to her core and she arched her back, desperate for his touch, knowing that he was the only one who could relieve the ache in her body. Sitting back on his knees, he devoured her with his stone eyes.

“Beautiful,” he managed, his voice guttural. With a flick of his fingers, the front clasp of her bra was undone and her breasts were freed. In the next heartbeat, his mouth was on her breast, taking the entire weight into his large mouth. Tongue and teeth played havoc with her nipple and she shivered with need. Releasing her breast, he moved down her body, smoothing his tongue along the underside of her breast, the slight swell of her stomach, as he unfastened her pants. Pulling them down her body, he continued to lick her heated skin and she thought she was going to die.

Tossing her pants aside, he kissed his way back up her body until he reached her panties and he stopped. Inhaling deeply, his eyes closed in pained pleasure as desire and embarrassment burned her blood. Instead of pulling her panties off, he pressed his squashed nose against her pussy and inhaled again. “Gods, you smell delicious. I want to devour you whole.”

And then his tongue probed the folds of her sex through the thin material of her panties. Her hands went to the back of his head, to push him away or to pull him closer she wasn’t sure. “Roman.”

Her fingers moved over the bumps of his head trying to find something to hold onto. Then her eyes darted to his wings, hovering over them. Reaching just a little further, she grabbed onto the claw like appendages at the very tops and pulled. His body twitched as his head shot up and she quickly released his wings. But then he groaned, “Don’t let go.”

Holding her eyes, watching as she once again curled her fingers around the tips of his wings, he lowered his head to her damp panties, the swollen folds of her sex. She wanted to feel his mouth on her bare skin but she was too uncomfortable voicing her desires out loud. Instead, she twisted her hips to press her pussy closer to his mouth, hoping he’d take the hint. With a harsh chuckle, he pushed the damp material aside and slicked his tongue over her naked flesh, concentrating on the exquisitely sensitive bundle of nerves of her clit.

As amazing as it felt, as much pleasure that coursed through her body, she wanted more. She wanted the hollow feeling in her abdomen to be filled. “Roman.”

Never ceasing in his ministrations of pleasure, he soothed his hands over her stomach, gently stroking her belly as if he understood how desperately she ached to be filled with him. He increased the pressure against her clit and her body tightened to the point of pain. Every flickering swipe of his tongue pulled her tighter and tighter until she snapped and pleasure washed over her. Her body arched, her neck arched, and her eyes flew open as she came in an explosion of colors.