“You’d prefer it, but you’ll defer to your alpha’s decision?”
Hunger flashed in his eyes. I was the only person in the world who wouldn’t turn him rage-y if I talked about dominating him. Quite the opposite, actually. Bedtime wrestling was sexy as all hell, and I didn’t mind losing. Neither did he.
His voice was low and rough. “If I must…”
I ran my tongue along my bottom lip, catching his gaze.
“Do you have a few minutes?” I asked, then panned the camera down my body, red lace barely covering my flesh. Pushing the covers down more, I dipped my hand between my spreading thighs.
Desire flooded the link. My moan matched his.
“An hour, at least…” His hand drifted south, and through the now extremely sensitive link I could feel our combined passion building higher.
A few moments later, pleasure swept me away, pulsing hard and hot, leaving me wondering how long I could possibly resist the mating bond, and what sort of ritual a female gargoyle enacted once she’d finally chosen a mate.
Two
“Hey, Miss Ironheart.” Kace nodded as he entered the clearing, jet-black five o’clock shadow on his square face to match his hard onyx eyes. He’d come to town with Austin’s brother and stayed on as Austin’s second, his beta. Five grim-faced men and women followed behind him. “Alpha told us to report to you.”
I nodded and glanced over at my team. The gargoyles had shifted into their flying forms—they were stronger like this, in the air or not—but they hadn’t taken to the skies. Elliot’s place seemed to be a collection of tunnels running through a mountain. Any fighting would be ground-bound, so my team had been practicing that way in preparation.
“Just you guys?” I asked, wearing basketball sweats with buttons down the sides in case I had to change shape in a hurry. There were usually twice as many shifters.
“Yeah. He said you’d have plenty to deal with.” Kace stopped in the clearing I usually used for practicing, in the woods behind the house.
I glanced at Cyra, waiting patiently off to the side. I would have plenty to deal with, yes. The second I shot a spell at her, it was on.
I blew out a breath. Austin had barely managed to defeat Cyra, and he’d endured incredible pain. That guy could handle an awful lot without passing out.
I could not.
“Right, then. Let’s do this.” I clapped as Niamh skittered around to my back in her little gremlin form. She was a dirty fighter in any form, but this one, all teeth and claws, still haunted my nightmares. Didn’t matter that she was on my side.
Kace and the shifters stripped with quick economy and changed into wolves, he the brawniest of the bunch. One sleek brown one—Isabelle—had been around a few times before, and she always managed to get through my defenses and tackle me. While my magical shield kept her claws and teeth from finding purchase, she always knocked the wind out of me, and it hurt like Hades when I hit the ground.
My crew and the shifters spread out around me, encircling me. Nervous flutters filled my belly and my small hairs stood on end. God, I hated this. Being surrounded by vicious predators, even though they were my vicious predators, freaked me out every time.
Breathing deeply, staying calm, I slipped a defensive spell on each of them before coating myself in magic twice as strong. Every spell I did would bounce off them and fly back at me, stronger and more potent. My shield would soak it in and store it up. When it came time to knock out Cyra, I’d let loose all of that stored-up energy and hope for the best.
Who was I kidding? I’d probably let it loose and then run like hell. Maybe I should’ve waited for Austin…
Hollace, in his human form, wearing battle leathers and really handy at hand-to-hand combat, offered me a slight nod. Now or never.
I gritted my teeth and hit Kace with a laser beam of magic, using a punch of force that would have blasted a hole through his body if he hadn’t been protected. His fierce growl ran up my spine. My magic slapped off his shield, knocking him back. I didn’t want to kill anyone (well, anyone other than Cyra), but I was fine with bashing them around.
The spell zipped back to me as I pushed out another one in an arc, curving it around from my position so it punched into everyone’s shields. Hollace gritted his teeth and took one step back, fighting it, but Ulric flew off his feet and tumbled end over end through the air. Jasper nearly followed, flapping his wings to stay put.
Niamh recovered the quickest, and she was mid-leap by the time I got my hands up again, creating a magical net in the air and spinning her into it. I weighted the spell and spun again, knowing it would drop straight down and she’d have to chew through it, or however she dealt with magic. I never got enough time to watch.