Stone Solitude Read online

  He had known that it wouldn’t be a hardship to fuck her, after all she was a beautiful woman. But now he relished the idea of peeling her clothes from her body, slowly exposing her glories to his gaze, savoring every inch of her. Since her touch on his hand elicited such a powerful response, he’d make her run her fingers all over his body. It had been eons since his stone body had felt anything, let alone the exquisite touch of a woman’s hand, and her hand had been more wondrous than anything he had ever felt before, including the bitch who cursed him, the bitch he had given up everything for.

  Flexing his hand, he put it back on the table and glared down at the offending limb. He couldn’t afford to lose his focus now, not after so long. Freedom was finally within his grasp and he wasn’t going to give it up for a pair of pretty silver eyes, an amazing set of breasts, and a tender heart.

  Daisy’s blood continued racing through her veins long after she had fled the library. In truth, she wasn’t certain why his words had freaked her out, simply that they had.

  My little flower.

  She hadn’t heard that endearment for ten years. Having him say it in that rough stone voice of his had done something strange to her, something inexplicable, and she had bolted. In a haze, she had jumped into her car and driven to Skin, her uncle’s bar in the cities. Well, he wasn’t really her uncle but that was neither here nor there. She had fled to Skin because she hadn’t wanted to be alone and her dorm room was too quiet and home was too far away.

  The bar was constantly evolving as humans and paranormals continued blending together. It was the hottest place to be for humans who liked to taste the dark side without worrying about being destroyed by it. In truth, she preferred the bar her father owned, The Black Wolf, but it was another forty-five minutes away and the Friday night crowd was a great deal rougher, which was to be expected when several packs of wolves got together.

  With a sigh, she stirred her drink and wondered if coming to Skin had been that good of an idea after all. None of her friends were there and she didn’t recognize the man tending bar. He had to be new because she knew all of the bartenders. He was gorgeous, of course, with russet brown hair and laughing charcoal eyes, but she hardly noticed. Her thoughts were on the stranger in the library and the way she had responded to him.

  “You look like you could use something a little stronger,” the unfamiliar bartender said, sliding a shot of tequila in front of her.

  “Thank you,” she murmured, eying the alcohol, wondering if a shot of hard liquor was enough to collect her scattered thoughts. With a shrug of her shoulders, she figured it couldn’t hurt and so she picked it up.

  Just as she was about to slam it down, a hand covered the glass and her efforts were thwarted. A warm pair of lips pressed a familial kiss to her cheek as the glass disappeared from her grip. “Hello, princess. I hope you weren’t really planning on drinking that.”

  Turning her head, she found Dima laughing down at her, his brown eyes sparkling with laughter, his sandy blond hair in its perpetual state of disarray. Even though he had to be close to fifty, he looked no older than twenty-eight or twenty-nine. Granted, wolves aged at a slower rate once they reached the age of twenty or so but ever since the veil was lifted…. Well, all of the supernatural creatures of the world seemed to stop aging altogether. So, yeah, that meant her parents looked like her older siblings but that didn’t stop their worrying.

  “Uncle Dima,” she grinned, wrapping her arms around him in a welcoming hug. Pulling back, she waited until he sat down on the stool next to her before she asked, “Where’s Aunt Ashley?”

  “She’s in the back checking inventory,” he said. His grin widened when he leaned in with a wink, “She wants to make sure there is plenty of alcohol on hand for the festivities in a few weeks. With all of the booze that she’s ordered, I’m sure we could host a dozen celebrations and not run out.”

  Daisy’s smile faltered for a moment because she didn’t like thinking about the ten year anniversary of the Rapture, of the celebrations that were planned throughout the country, the world, to memorialize those who had vanished and to celebrate those who had been left behind. “Humans are very strange, aren’t they?”

  He laughed at that, considering he used to be human until his mate bit him and he survived the transition with a massive dose of antibiotics. “Yes they are, sweetheart. Do you have any plans?”

  She shook her head slightly as she looked away, “I’ll light a candle for Mandy and the Rothmans but I don’t plan on celebrating, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  His hand covered hers in a gesture of sympathy but, thankfully, he didn’t say anything. After a moment of awkward silence, he cleared his throat and asked, “Where are your parents?”

  A slight smile tipped her lips as she said, “They’re at home with the puppies tonight.”

  “How many pups are there? Twenty? Thirty?”

  “You know there aren’t that many, Dima,” Daisy chided with a smile at her uncle’s teasing, especially since he and Aunt Ashley had three pups of their own. “There are only nine of us.”

  “I know, princess,” he grinned. Shaking his head, Dima snickered, “But you have to admit that those two really need to stop running as wolves when your mom goes into heat.”

  Daisy’s smile grew a little wider as she said, “They try, but you know my mom and dad. They’re very….”

  “Primal,” Dima offered before she could finish.

  “In love,” she corrected with a teasing scowl.

  “That, too.” He continued to laugh as he picked up her tequila and drank it down, squeezing his eyes shut as he swallowed. “God, that’s good.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Daisy murmured primly, glancing at the bartender who had wisely chosen to occupy himself with another customer.

  Dima’s genial expression turned into a fierce scowl as he turned on the new guy and growled, “Kevin, what the fuck were you thinking? Giving my underage niece tequila?”

  The poor man paled under the force of Dima’s glare and stammered, “I d…didn’t know! She’s in the bar and I assumed….”

  Daisy put a hand on her uncle’s shoulder to calm him, not wanting him to wolf out over something so inconsequential. With one final growl, Dima said, “Well, don’t do it again or I’ll have your balls for breakfast.”

  Daisy covered her mouth to try to stop the chuckle but it couldn’t be helped. Laughing out loud, she planted a loud, smacking kiss on Dima’s cheek as she slid off the stool, “It was only a shot of tequila, Dima, and I’m almost legal.”

  “Almost is not legal,” he growled. “Your dad would have my nuts in a vice if I let you drink in my bar.”

  “Which is ridiculous because Dominic drinks all of the time,” she complained.

  “If he does, he doesn’t do it here.” Dima arched an eyebrow as if daring her to contradict him. When she remained silent, he smiled in triumph, adding, “If your brother pulled that shit here, he’d be denied just the same as you, sweetheart.”

  Heaving a sigh, unable to prevent her lips from smiling, she conceded the point. Giving him another kiss on the cheek, she said, “I’m going to find Ashley and see if she needs any help.”

  Before she got too far, Dima’s hand shot out and caught her around the wrist. When she looked at him, concern burnished his eyes, “You sure you’re okay?”

  She studied the sincerity in his eyes for a long moment before she slowly nodded her head, “I am.”

  “I love you, you know,” he said gruffly.

  “I love you, too,” she returned, giving him another hug, grateful for all of the members of her pack but most especially her family. “I’ll see you later, Uncle Dima.”

  With that, she made her way through the crowded bar and slipped through the door to the storage room. Ashley was standing in the middle of the floor with a clipboard in her hands and a pen tucked behind one of her ears, her red hair pulled back into a sloppy pony tail. She spun around when she heard the door open, a smil
e lighting her face, “Daisy! What brings you here?”

  Finding a stool to sit on, Daisy explained nonchalantly, “I had a free night.”

  Ashley’s brows drew together as she murmured, “I thought you had a research paper to write. Isn’t that what your mom told me?”

  Daisy could feel the heat in her cheeks as she glanced away and shrugged, “The archives were occupied and I didn’t want to interrupt his research.”

  Ashley chuckled as she turned back to her project. “Are you going to get your paper done if you refuse to work in the same room as another person?”

  How could Daisy explain her reasons for running when she wasn’t quite certain what they were to begin with? He had simply called her his little flower, probably because of her name, and she had overreacted. Damn it. Now she wasn’t sure if she was ever going to see him again and that would be unfortunate. Huffing out a laugh, she said, “You’re right. I’m being ridiculous.”

  Standing up, Daisy decided she was going to go back to the library and spend some more time with the fascinating man. And hopefully get some work done on her research paper. She stopped with her hand on the door when Ashely laughed. “I suppose you’re just going to leave me even though you just got here.”

  “Sorry,” Daisy said with a sheepish smile. Going back and giving her aunt a hug, she asked, “Unless you need some help?”

  “Honestly, everything is good to go,” Ashley admitted. “I’m just being anal because I want Skin to continue being all the rage for years to come.”

  “You know it will be.”

  Unfortunately, by the time Daisy returned to the library, her mysterious Roman was gone. The disappointment she had felt surprised her and it took her a few minutes to get down and dirty with the ancient books. Luckily, her subject matter was fascinating and she got lost in the world of gargoyles.

  Chapter 3

  A few days later, Roman stood in front of the mirror, studying his reflection with a snarling grimace. Even after ten years, he was still grotesque. No, he was even more grotesque since he no longer retained any of the elegance of his gargoyle face. Curling his thick lip, he glared at the sharp teeth that filled his too wide mouth and emphasized the jutting chin beneath. His once handsome nose was smashed against his face, making him look like an inbred pug, the nostrils wide and garish. He had the brow ridge of a cave man and the ears of a fucking bat and he was hideous, a far cry from his human form or even his gargoyle form.

  Pushing his shoulders back, he examined his torso, the corrugated muscles that defined his abs. His shoulders were broad and corded with muscles that continued down his thick arms to hands that were becoming less claw-like than when he had first wakened. A heavy penis swung between his hard thighs, the appendage an intimidating beast in its own right. His legs were long and well-formed and had been highly prized when he had been alive. His feet were less claw-like than his hands, almost normal looking. If it weren’t for the stone gray color, his body could almost pass for human.

  As long as no one noticed the heavy wings on his back or the tail that hung from the end of his spine.

  Maybe he could seduce the girl in the darkness so she’d never have to see his face. But then he wouldn’t be able to see her face and that would be a damn shame because he wanted to see her silver eyes burn with pleasure. He wanted to see her skin flush as he brought her to orgasm, over and over. He wanted to see her nipples after he sucked them to diamond hard points. Her delicate hand would smooth over his cock as she learned what made his breath hitch in his throat, what made him moan. Her lips would part and he would take her mouth and then he would take her pussy.

  As fantasies of Daisy filled his head, his unruly cock swelled and he cursed. The fucking thing was starving for attention but nothing brought it satisfaction, gods knew he had tried. He hadn’t felt a thing seven years ago when the succubus used all of her wiles to get him off and he had felt even less when he tried using his own hand. He was very much afraid only the gentle caress of little Daisy Tremain was going to satisfy him.

  Hard and aching, he reached between his thighs and stroked his stone erection. A bolt of surprised pleasure ratcheted up his spine and hope swelled in his breast as he continued stroking his cock. But as the image of fucking Daisy faded so did his pleasure.

  With a roar of frustration, he slammed his fist against the mirror, shattering the glass into a million pieces. Ignoring the mess, he stormed across the small, dingy room and flung himself onto the filthy bed. Gods, he hated living in squalor. Once he was a gargoyle again, a true gargoyle, he was going to take his place by his brothers’ sides and live a life of luxury. Staring at the ceiling, trying not to cringe at the black mold or the water stains, he tried to imagine his brothers’ expressions when he came back into their lives.

  They’d be flabbergasted, of course, for their memories of him had been erased, thanks to the bitch who had condemned him to this hellish existence. Once he broke the curse, their memories would be returned and when they saw him, they would welcome him back like the long lost brother he was. Gods, he missed his pod brothers, Remus, Marcus and Alexandro.

  A wry smile curved his lips because the only reason the bitch had been able to succeed in her schemes was because his pod had been unlike any other pod that had come before or after. All of the other groups had been trios, always three gargoyles per pod, no more and no less. Until Roman, who was Remus’s twin in their mother’s third pregnancy.

  It was this aberration that brought him into the world and it was this aberration that doomed him.

  He had been born in Rome during its golden age, where ideas and legislation were discussed in the public baths and the human body was celebrated, where athleticism and intelligence were equally valued. The entertainment could rival any of the spectacles of the present, from the gladiators to the dramas to the intrigues of everyday life. It could be bloody and brutal and perfectly sublime.

  He and his brothers had been worshiped as lesser gods and they rewarded their devotees with health and indescribable pleasure. The prettiest maidens were offered as concubines to the brothers, concubines who worshipped the stone gargoyles during the day and pleasured the warm men during the nights. Food and wine had flowed freely and it was a heady time to be young and alive.

  It was at one of the Bacchanals that he met her, the woman who would be his downfall. She had been a striking beauty with burnished copper skin, midnight black hair and midnight black eyes, eyes that had sparkled only for him. At the time, he hadn’t realized she had singled him out because he was the extra one, the expendable one….

  The room disappeared as she sashayed towards him, her black eyes promising all kinds of pleasure, her lush body ensuring it would be unforgettable. “Hello.”

  He gave her his most charming smile and blurted, “You’re beautiful.”

  He cringed at his gawkiness but she simply smiled her glorious smile. “I do so love a man who praises my beauty.”

  “I love a beautiful woman.” Again he wanted to slam his hand over his mouth. Where the hell was this callowness coming from? He was young but he wasn’t that young and he had seduced any number of beautiful women. There was no excuse for his odd behavior and yet he seemed unable to help himself.

  “You were born for me,” she purred, running her nails along his chest, scoring his skin and making him hiss in pained pleasure. He could only stare at her as she brought her hand up to her full lips and licked his blood from her fingers. “Yes, you are perfect.”

  In his arrogance, he had assumed she meant he was perfect for her. Grabbing her hips, he thrust his hardened cock against her stomach. “Come back to my quarters and I will pleasure you all night long.”

  “I want more than a night.”

  “I’ll give you everything.”

  Her lips curved into a pleased smile as she lightly ran her fingers over his lips, “Yes, I’m sure you will. Tomorrow night is the new moon, yes?” At his eager nod, she whispered, “I will welcome you into my bo
dy as soon as the sun sets and you will be mine.”

  With that heated promise, she vanished, leaving him hard and aching, four thin lines of blood dripping down his chest.

  “Who was that, brother mine?” Remus asked, throwing an arm around Roman’s shoulders as he took a long swig from the wine skin. The two brothers looked exactly alike, from their heavy blond hair and their sapphire blue eyes to their strong, masculine facial features that were the envy of mortal men. They were the embodiment of virility with their carved jaws and carved noses over their sensuous lips that were always curved upwards in amusement. It wasn’t just their faces that were the same but their bodies as well, from their broad shoulders to their muscled chests and trim waists to their well-formed legs and heavy cocks….

  A frown pulled at Roman’s face as his brain cleared a little from the fog he hadn’t even realized was there. He found he had a difficult time remembering what she looked like, only that she had been exotically beautiful. Shaking his head, he flashed his brother a smile, “I’m not sure.”

  Remus laughed as he dragged Roman towards a bevy of beauties, their eyes dancing with lust and excitement. “Shall we partake of the gifts these lovely virgins offer?”

  Roman doubted any of the girls were virgins but that was all part of the game. The courtesans were trained to be anything you wanted them to be and tonight his brother wanted virgins. The girls would bleed when they were penetrated and the thought of drawing blood brought out a savage lust in Roman, one he had not experienced before. With a fierce growl, he said, “I want complete domination tonight.”

  “Ah, then you want Leda,” Remus grinned, holding his hand out for the lady in question. “She is exquisitely well-versed in the arts of submissive pleasure.”