Stone Solitude (19 page)

A scream slipped past her lips as her eyes clashed with the watery eyes of a creature that looked like a cross between a drowned rat and an evil garden gnome. As pleasure twitched through her body, she struggled to free herself from Roman’s embrace and escape the terrifying beast.

In the next moment, Roman had his hand wrapped around the creature’s throat, lifting it off the ground and shaking it in fury. “What the fuck are you doing here, Xerec? I told you you couldn’t watch!”

Scrambling for something to cover her nudity, Daisy could only watch in horror as Roman dealt with the intruder. But then the name resonated in her head and with a gasp she realized that the little creature was Roman’s annoying companion. Her eyes widened in horror and confusion; how could such an unimpressive creature scare anyone, let alone a wolf?

The creature’s tongue darted out as he stared at Daisy unabashedly, hunger and yearning swimming in his eyes. “I only wanted a peek.”

A small sound of protest slipped past Daisy’s lips but she stopped it when she saw how rigid Roman became. His wings fairly quivered in rage and she didn’t want to nudge him into violence.

Roman turned his head and looked at her with remorse, his lips pressed firmly together as he said through his teeth, “Forgive me, my little flower, but I have to deal with this cretin.”

“Okay,” she said dumbly, cringing at the pathetic sound of her voice. Clearing her throat, she tore her eyes away from the creature and looked at Roman, “Will you be back?”

He shook his head no, “Not tonight, love. But I promise the next time we’re together, I’ll fly you somewhere private.”

She nodded her head, her gaze slipping back to Xerec. Now that she had a good look at him, she didn’t find him frightening at all. Rather, he looked pathetic and helpless and she almost felt sorry for the little thing. Almost. After all, he had spied on her in an intimate and vulnerable moment. As Roman took a step, she blurted, “How does he scare them away?”

Roman froze as the little creature grinned almost maniacally. As she watched, it seemed to expand, distorting its shape until it resembled a nightmare creature with too many arms and too many eyes and too many teeth. Its mouth widened, giving Roman competition for the most horrifying mouth, only she could never imagine Xerec’s twisted mouth being used for anything other than torture. As he loomed over her, she was suddenly drowning in fear and foreboding, as if the world was ending and Death was running a finger along her spine.

“Stop that,” Roman bit out, giving the creature a shake. As soon as the command was out of his mouth, the dread slipped away and Xerec shrunk back to his formerly pathetic mien. “It was only an illusion.”

“It felt real,” Daisy murmured, tightening the blanket around her as if she’d never feel warm again. A shudder rolled through her body and she never wanted to experience that feeling again. Meeting Roman’s eyes, she asked, “Before you go, can you hold me, just for a moment?”

With a single nod, he dropped Xerec and scooped her up in his arms. Warmth bled back into her body, her limbs, and she snuggled deeper against his stone chest. His fingers stroked her back as he rumbled, “I’m sorry, Daisy.”

“It’s not your fault,” she assured him, her eyes stuck once again on the little creature. Holding the blanket against her chest with one hand, she brushed her hair away from her face and managed to say, “I don’t think I’d ever want to piss him off.”

Roman chuckled and her eyes flew to his. His lips were there and he sort of kissed her before carefully setting her back on the bed and straightening out. “I have to go.”

“I miss you,” she murmured, wincing at her words because he was still there. “I mean….”

“I know,” he grinned fully with his wide mouth and protuberant teeth. “Go talk to your parents and then get some sleep.”

“I will,” she agreed. Remembering something she wanted to give him, she cried out, “Oh!” When Roman looked at her, color flooded her cheeks. God, she was forever blushing in front of the man! He had had his tongue on her pussy and she still blushed – and over something silly! Pointing to the large, white bag she had dropped when she entered, she said, “I brought you some food. It’s nothing fancy, just some burgers and fries, but I thought, well, you might enjoy them.”

“Thank you,” he said gruffly. He looked like he was about to say more but he just grunted, grabbed the bag, and put his hand on Xerec’s scrawny shoulder.

She nodded as he picked the creature back up and stalked out the door. There was a soft whoosh and she knew he had taken off and for a moment, she was insanely jealous of Xerec because the little creature was flying with Roman. With a wry smile, she fell back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Of the three orgasms he had given her so far, the last was probably the best and the worst because it had ended so abruptly and she wanted so much more.

She wanted him.

When she was with him, the world shrank down to the intimate space that was just the two of them. Resting her hand on her stomach, she closed her eyes and let the memory of the last few minutes wash through her, minus the interruption that had stolen Roman away. A pleasurable shiver swept through her and she smiled. For having been frozen for two thousand years, Roman certainly knew how to use his tongue. She wondered if there were a lot of women in his time who had experienced the bliss of Roman’s talented mouth and then she wondered why she was jealous of women who had been dead for nearly two millennia.

None of them were Sirens. Well, probably. Maybe? God, what if he had a Siren way back then? A real Siren, one who sang and lured men to their deaths? Or maybe the Sirens of the past were like her, inspiring lust and pandemonium but not blind devotion. Damn it, she had to go talk to her parents.

They would know in an instant what she had been up to if she walked in there without cleaning up first and that wasn’t something she was prepared to deal with just yet, at least not in addition to the confession she had to make. With a sigh, she rolled out of bed and scooped up the clothes Roman had taken off her. Dumping them in the laundry basket, she took a quick shower to try to figure out what she was going to say while washing off the scent of sex. She would start with an apology and tell them that nothing really horrible had happened….

Pulling her damp hair back into a low ponytail, she dressed in a pair of comfortable pants and a t-shirt. Throwing on some flip flops, she crossed the grounds to the mansion knowing it was best to deal with it right away and start making amends. It didn’t even matter if the punishment was truly awful because classes started in a few weeks. She’d be able to escape to her dorm room if necessary, though she wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to sneak Roman in.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she opened the French doors to the living room and went in. The nine-year-old twins, Sawyer and Sebastian, were eating bowls of ice cream while five-year-old Connor looked like he decided to wear his ice cream instead of eat it. Lucas, Jackson, and Roxie were there as well but with ice cream cones, since they were older and less messy at eighteen, fifteen and twelve. Dominic and Lila were missing. “Where are the other two?”

“Dominic took Lila out for a ride,” Sawyer said around a mouthful of ice cream.

“He promised her he would take her out if she kept her dress clean,” Sebastian offered. Those two were nearly identical, often playing off of each other’s words until they were one voice coming out of two mouths. Like Daisy, they both had brown hair and silver eyes but they were definitely all boys.

“Did she manage?” she asked, stealing Jackson’s spoon and helping herself to a bite of his ice cream.

“Hey!” he cried out, snatching the spoon back. “That’s mine! Get your own.”

“Is there any left?” she asked, sliding into the chair next to Lucas, not really interested in eating anything no matter how delicious. Her stomach was in turmoil and despite her resolution to get it over with, she wanted to put the talk off for another ten minutes or so.

“We put some aside for you,” Roxie said. “But Dominic said you were otherwise engaged and wouldn’t be able to enjoy it.”

“Let me guess,” she managed. “He took it upon himself to eat it in my place.”

“Yep,” Connor said, nodding his head enthusiastically. “He even let me have a bite.”

“But you have a whole bowl,” she pointed out, nodding towards the mess on his clothes.

“Yeah but he had chocolate caramel swirl,” he beamed as if that explained everything. Unfortunately it did because chocolate caramel swirl was Daisy’s favorite. She knew the stores of ice cream would be replenished in a day or two but for tonight she wasn’t going to have any. Luckily, she didn’t want any because of the aforementioned nerves. Her stomach was already in knots and prolonging the inevitable was only going to make her sicker.

“Well, I call dibs on the first bowl next time,” she managed to say with a credible smile. “Where’s mom and dad?”

The kids all exchanged grinning smirks and Daisy groaned, knowing without needing to be told. Standing up even though she had just sat down, she grimaced, “Well, I guess I’ll go see if they’re dressed. Will you be here when I get done?”

“We’re going to run,” Jackson said, pity in his silver eyes. He really, really loved being a wolf and Daisy’s inability to shift just made him sad, not that she blamed him. It made her sad if she thought about it too much, just not for the same reasons.

“After filling up on ice cream?” she asked, forcing her lips to hold the smile that threatened to disappear. “You’re going to get sick.”

“It was Lila’s idea,” Roxie offered, an impish grin curving her lips. “And the reason she was able to keep her dress clean was she dumped her ice cream into Dominic’s bowl, which he wolfed down none-the-wiser. We’re just giving him a few extra minutes to let it hit.”

Daisy laughed as she pressed a kiss to Roxie’s cheeks, “You lot are diabolical.”

With that, she headed straight to the solarium where her parents went to spend some time alone outside of their bedroom. Every week, they spent at least one night without the children to remind each other why they fell in love and got married in the first place. Daisy was fairly certain they just enjoyed spending time together with or without date night but it didn’t matter. She just enjoyed having parents that were madly in love with one another, even after two decades. It was the kind of love that she wanted, the kind that prevailed through the good times and the bad, the blessings and the hardships. It’s what she almost certainly had with Roman, though she wasn’t sure how it was going to work out since he was a statue half of the time.

Standing outside of the solarium, she pressed her ear against the door and sighed in relief when she heard the quiet murmurings of her parents’ voices. Hopefully they were dressed, or at least covered up, because if she put it off for another day, she wouldn’t have the courage to admit her mistake before they discovered it from someone else. With a brisk knock, she opened the door without waiting for an answer. Her parents were snuggled up together on one of the chaise lounges just talking. Her father held her mother with such love and tenderness it melted Daisy’s heart a little.

“Daisy,” her parents said in unison, her mom with a smile and her father with gruff affection.

“Mom, dad,” she managed through an absurdly dry mouth. Conversely, her palms were wet so she wiped them on the front of her jeans as she sat down and offered a tremulous smile, “The kids said they’re going to run tonight. Are you going to join them?”

They exchanged a look but it was her mom who answered, “Maybe later. What’s up? Is something wrong?”

“Not
wrong
, exactly,” she hedged, not quite meeting her mom’s or dad’s eyes. They watched her with mild curiosity, not a hint of suspicion on either of their faces. In a rush, she blurted out, “I sang at the bar last night and I know it’s something I wasn’t supposed to do but it wasn’t supposed to affect them but apparently wolves
are
affected by a Siren’s song because they all shifted and before I knew it, there were couples having sex and a few of the unmated males had me in their sights….”

Lexi gasped, sitting upright and reaching for Daisy’s hand, interrupting her confession. “Are you all right?”

“Dominic pushed me out of there and Roman flew me home,” she said, heat climbing into her cheeks. “So, yes, I’m fine but that’s not the issue. I sang and it affected the wolves.”

“That would explain the dozen or so requests I received today,” her dad muttered, his forehead crinkling in understanding. At her mom’s prodding, he cleared his throat as color climbed up his neck and into his cheeks. Giving Daisy a black look, he explained, “I have had several offers for your hand in marriage as well as a handful of requests for the pleasure of a night in your bed. Needless to say, those wolves are a little worse for the wear today.”

Daisy’s eyes widened in alarm and admiration as he flexed his knuckles, which were scraped up and bruised. It was testament to her dad’s power that he didn’t have any other scratches or bruises on him. Lexi grabbed his hand and brought it up to her lips, softly kissing the marks as her dad inhaled sharply, his eyes darkening even though Daisy was sitting right there. Before they got lost in one another, she blurted, “It’s not love, or anything, just lust. And it’s not like I want them to fall in love with me because I have a mate.”

Her dad’s eyes hardened as he looked at her and pressed his lips together. “The gargoyle.”