Blaze: Underground Encounters 6 Read online

  He swooped down and covered my face and arms in kisses. “You look nothing like a dog.” He took my hand and kissed the fingertips. “I love you, Allana—with all my being.”

  I took a deep breath. “I know I’ve been aloof about my feelings, but that was because I was scared. A coward.”

  “You told me your reasons and I understand.”

  “I’m still scared of diving into a relationship with you, at the same time as jumping in with the studio.”

  He watched me, as still as stone. Why hadn’t I ever noticed how still he could be?

  “It’s terrifying to think one of us could end up with a broken heart. But being with you has been the most exhilarating experience of my life. It’s a risk, but you’re worth it.” I leaned up to kiss his cheek, and his beard tickled my face. “You’re the best man I’ve ever known. And I’ll regret it for every second of my life if I don’t give it a shot. If it’s not too late, I’d like to give us a try.”

  I pulled back and searched his eyes. My muscles froze as I awaited his reply. If he shot me down…

  A golf-sized ball of fear spun inside me, seizing up my throat. I gulped.

  “It’s not too late.” His voice lowered to a sultry tone that melted me. “I’ve been waiting for you. Even when I thought you wanted nothing to do with me, I waited for you still.” He ran his fingers over my cheek.

  I swallowed, overwhelmed with emotions and not knowing how to respond.

  “How about I make you breakfast in bed?”

  A sudden awareness of my empty stomach jolted me. “Please.”

  Mike returned with pancakes dripping with maple syrup and hot hazelnut coffee. The tantalizing scents made me moan. He doted over me like a parent, making sure I ate enough to restore my energy. Fortified with food and caffeine, I felt well enough to get out of bed.

  “I have to get to the studio,” I said, dropping my feet to the floor.

  “Wait,” he said. “I have to tell you something else Danton told me.”

  “What?” I glanced up at him.

  His serious expression stilled me.

  “He said to keep an eye on you. For anything strange.”

  I cocked my head. “Like what?”

  “Because Nike bit you.”

  “I’ll get tested,” I said. “Don’t worry. I’m up to date on my shots,” I added wryly.

  “That’s not what I mean,” he explained, running his hand over his beard. “She isn’t a vampire, not in the true sense.”

  A real-life discussion about vampires was not one I ever thought I’d have, but that’s exactly the turn this one was taking. He paused, as if waiting to see how I’d handle this.

  “I’m listening,” I said.

  “She was bitten by a nightwalker—what you’d call a vampire. The side effects seems to be compounding with time.”

  Where was he going with this?

  “Most humans recover fine from vampire bites—if they aren’t drained and killed—but she has had a strange reaction,” he said.

  I raised my eyebrows. “And now you think I might start acting like some crazed vampire?”

  “No. I don’t,” he said. “But—how do you feel?”

  I gauged my body for any odd sensations. I felt like me. After all that happened, I wasn’t going to dwell on the possibility of something strange happening to me, as well. It wasn’t likely and worrying was a waste of time.

  “Like the undead,” I said with a deadpan expression.

  Mike’s eyes widened in horror.

  I laughed. “I’m just teasing. I just feel like I had a rough night and could use a shower. That’s it.” I waved my hands around and laughed. “No urge to drink blood and become a creature of the night.”

  Mike raised a finger to scold me. “Not funny.” But, his face spread into a wide grin.

  “Mind if I use your shower?”

  “I’m coming in with you,” he said. When I gave him an inquisitive look, he added, “No, it’s not to make sure you don’t turn all vampy. You may still be weak, and I want to be there to catch you if you fall.”

  In the shower, weakness was the last thing on my mind. Mike washed my hair and conditioned it. His fingers running through it were a sensual experience on its own. The water almost scalded my skin, but it soothed my sore muscles.

  Mike washed me with a loofah sponge covered with suds. Every nerve awoke under his silky ministrations as he trailed it over my curves, starting at my neck and shoulders, down over my breasts, and then lingering on my nipples.

  He paused to kiss each one, as his warm tongue spiraled against each hard bud. I almost lost my footing then, but he clamped his hands on my hips, keeping me steady.

  When he resumed cleaning me, he rubbed the sponge farther down my body. My breath hitched as I waited for him, aching with anticipation for him to reach between my thighs. He flashed a wicked smile and he moved to wash my back instead. He sponged down my lower back and the soap suds rushed between my cheeks. Then he paid particular attention to my ass.

  He dropped the sponge and squeezed my butt. “You know how much I love this, don’t you?”

  “I’ve been getting the idea,” I managed through short breaths.

  Mike picked up the sponge and resumed washing from my feet, up over my calves and shins, around my kneecaps, and then behind my knees. By now, every muscle was taut, as I hung, desperately waiting for more.

  My skin burned hotter than the water pounding on my breasts and torso. At last, he moved up over my legs, between my thighs. I sucked in a breath.

  “Let’s make sure you’re nice and clean,” he murmured, kneeling before my naked sex.

  He ran the loofah over me, back and forth between my legs. “We wouldn’t want you leaving here a dirty girl.”

  I swallowed. “Oh, Mike, I’m feeling very dirty right now.” My voice came out a throaty purr.

  Only inches away, his warm breath heated me, and I braced myself against the wet tiles. When Mike stood, I sighed in protest. He couldn’t pull away now. I’d melt in frustration, slipping down the drain.

  He unhooked the shower nozzle.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  He flashed a wolfish grin. “Rinsing you off.”

  Directing the nozzle at the top of my head, he washed the suds off me. Soapy bubbles ran over and in between my breasts. My nipples were hard as quartz. As the hot water trailed over my body, it added more fire to my already heated flesh.

  When he angled the stream of water into my folds, I gasped. The hot jets pulsing on my clit almost undid me alone.

  “I want you.” My breath had turned ragged. “I need you.”

  “I’m yours,” he murmured in a deep, sexy voice.

  Mike hung up the nozzle and sank on his knees before me. I adjusted my grip on the shower walls. Grasping my hips in his large hands, he traced spirals with his tongue on my inner thighs, working his way higher inch by delicious inch.

  By the time he reached my sex, I was in a state where I could barely think. Only feel. Need. Desire.

  Mike

  Working Allana up drove me to the brink as well. When I finally speared her pussy with my tongue, I was as relieved as she was.

  She dug her fingers into my back and turned her head to the side. “Oh God, Mike. Don’t stop.”

  I never wanted to. She tasted so good and smelled like a siren designed to rev me up to do her bidding.

  Most of all, she was alive.

  Alive.

  Last night, I feared I might have lost her. That thought alone almost broke me. I understood how men could be driven to madness for a woman, because I would do anything for her. And kill anyone who tried to hurt her. There was nobody else for me. She was the one. My sun and moon.

  A voice told me she was still fragile. She needed to rest. The more she clung to me, asking for more, the less resolve I had.

  She ran her fingers through my hair as the hot water flowed down her body and on mine. Leaning against the wall, she
raised one leg onto the side of the bath to invite me in deeper. I cradled her hips as I held her in a protective grip and savored every flavor. I prolonged the sensual experience as long as I could, taking her to the brink of an orgasm and then easing back.

  She turned to putty, panting and muttering things I couldn’t understand. Except one.

  “My God, Mike. I love you.”

  My heart thumped. Beams of light zig-zagged inside me. She loved me.

  Maybe she’d just said it in the heat of the moment, but I didn’t care. Nothing else mattered to me right now but that. Not coming to grips with my new identity as part-gargoyle, not the upcoming tour with the band, none of it. I’d give everything up just to have her by my side, safe.

  She exploded on my tongue, driving me almost to come myself. As her waves of pleasure ebbed, I stood. I turned her against the wall and pressed my cock into her silky crevice.

  “Are you okay like this?”

  “Yes,” she hissed, spreading her hands wider on the blue tile.

  As much as I wanted to bury myself full force into her, I couldn’t forget she still might be fragile. “I can stop if you need to go lie down.”

  She turned her head back, flashing a heated stare from under her hooded lids. Water dripped from her dark lashes and her blue eyes glowed with desire. With her hands still gripping the tiles, blonde hair dripping wet, and her fine ass inviting me in, this was the sexiest fucking pose I’d ever seen.

  “If you don’t fuck me right now,” she demanded in a desperate tone, “I will lose my damn mind!”

  The bathroom had grown hot with steam and our caged heat. My body was on fire. Even hotter than the scalding water pulsing off my back.

  “One more second, babe. Condom.”

  Hopping out of the tub, I threw open the medicine cabinet and sheathed myself while dripping all over the mat. The seconds away from her heated body were agonizing, but when I returned, the view was worth the discomfort. She bent forward, lifting a leg and bracing herself on the wall. I was already rock hard, and this invitation fueled a primal response to drive in. I positioned myself behind her hot ass. Gripping her shoulders, I eased in as she moaned in pleasure. Surrounded by her tight heat, I dropped my head back in ecstasy. I could die right now with no regrets, a happy man.

  I pumped into her slowly, filling her to the hilt and pulling nearly all the way out. She drove back against me, encouraging me back in. The more I fucked her, the more my need spiraled out of control. I drove into her as if possessed. To fuck her, claim her, be with her. I reached around to stroke her sensitive clit. She tensed and then cried out as her muscles clenched around me. As she pulsated around my shaft, the sweet tightness shot tremors of mind-numbing pleasure through me. I lost control as the climax thundered through me and pummeled into her as I exploded.

  “I love you, Allana,” I fell into the crevice between her shoulder and head. My lips touched her skin, finding the two bumps that inflamed a need to protect her. “Only you.”

  Allana spent most of the next few weeks at my place. We’d promised we’d take it slow at first, but any free time spent away from her seemed wasted. She was still busy with her studio, but relaxed now that she didn’t have to run back and forth to teach classes at the gym, as well. With people signing up for classes and private sessions, she wasn’t as stressed about financial matters. In a few months, she projected she’d have enough clients to warrant hiring another instructor.

  Between work, Allana, and preparing for the tour, I had little time to dwell on my newly discovered gargoyle side. But, Papa enjoyed the freedom to tell me about his youth—stories of a young gargoyle soaring over the cities and countryside to explore new worlds. As he told them, he had the boyish look of someone a quarter of his age.

  Each time I visited him, I became more comfortable with this new side of me. But, when he revealed himself in gargoyle form, it took me several minutes to recover. Hearing stories was one thing. It took my brain much longer to process seeing my grandfather transform into another being.

  After I recovered from the shock, I resumed asking questions. Each time I learned something new, it opened new possibilities.

  “Do we live as long as humans?”

  “Typically, much longer,” he said. “And if we bond with a human, they do, as well.”

  Jeez, this was bizarre. The more I learned, the more mysteries unraveled. Remembering how quickly I’d recovered after the fight at Vamps, I asked, “What about healing?”

  He nodded. “Shifters recover much more quickly than humans.”

  I raised my hand and stared at it. No fading cuts nor any signs of the punches I’d thrown at the guy who’d felt up Allana. The recovery had been overnight—quicker than injuries in the past—and something I hadn’t had much time to consider in light of all that had been going on.

  Facing my grandfather again, I said, “Danton mentioned something about a gargoyle oath. Do you know about that?”

  Papa had a twinkle in his eye as he gazed off into the distance. “I do. Your grandmother and I took it when we were young. We promised to love each other for eternity, I vowed to protect her with all my being, and was able to live in human form.”

  “Sounds like a sort of marriage rite?”

  “Oh no,” he said with a chuckle. “Marriages can be dissolved. An oath is permanent.”

  I pictured Allana. It was far too early in our relationship to pressure her with any more permanent options. But, I had no doubt she was the one, and maybe one day we could take a step forward when we were both ready. “Is that something I would ever be able to do? I mean, I’m only part gargoyle and I’m already in human form.”

  Papa fixed his gaze on me. “You’ve proven you’re far more than that.” He shrugged. “And you’ve found the one for you, the woman you’ve bonded with. If and when that day comes when you’d like to try, I’d be happy to teach you to cement your bond with the oath.”

  “Thanks, Papa.” I squeezed his shoulder. “It’s too soon, but I appreciate all you’ve shared with me.”

  One day I brought Danton over to introduce him to Papa.

  “I thought you two would like to meet,” I said. “After all, it’s not too common to have Old World European gargoyles living in the U.S.”

  Papa laughed. “Not as uncommon as you might think.”

  Danton smiled in agreement. Then they locked arms in a greeting, Danton’s right arm on Papa’s left shoulder and the same with Papa’s hand on Danton’s shoulder.

  While they discussed the days in the old country, mentioning gargoyles they both might know, I sat back on the couch watching them, letting them have time to reminisce. Who would have guessed this was my world, my people?

  When they began to discuss what my transformation meant, I piped in, “I haven’t changed since that night.”

  Papa said, “You changed that night to protect the woman you love. If you feel the need to do so again, it may happen.”

  Danton added, “My magic has been growing and I am able to help my brothers bridge over with ease. If you’d like me to try it on you, I can.”

  “Can you help me sprout wings?” I said, only half-joking.

  When Danton’s brows furrowed with confusion, I added, “My body shifted, but I couldn’t fly.”

  “Ah yes,” Danton replied. “I don’t know how to help there, but I can try to find out.”

  “I’m good,” I raised my hands to stop him. Although I was fascinated by the ability to transform into a creature better able to protect my loved ones, I didn’t want to be a guinea pig when it came to gargoyle magic and transformation. Who knows what kind of freak accident could happen if Danton tried to change me into a creature with wings? I was still learning about my gargoyle nature and didn’t have to rush headlong into an experience I still didn’t fully understand.

  Band practice kept me busier than ever. We prepared to go on tour in late spring, but rather than being thrilled about the idea of California girls the way I dreamed o
f in the past, the impending departure filled me with dread. How could I be on the opposite coast as Allana?

  “Just fly her out,” Nico said. “Lily’s going to come for a week in the middle of the tour. Ally should come with her.”

  “I already tried to convince her,” I replied, “but she just opened a business. It’s not easy for her to close up for a few days and fly across the country.”

  As the weeks went by and the tour approached, my anxiety grew. If anything happened to her, I’d be unable to help. Was this a downside to my gargoyle side—the need to protect her? Or was it because I’d miss her like crazy, even for a short absence?

  On Sunday morning, Allana invited me to the studio after her morning classes for the private lesson she’d promised. We had our mats side by side on the new wood floor. She led me through an opening sequence, helping me maintain correct breathing and posture.

  “Now we’re going to move into downward facing dog,” she instructed. She bent over and said, “Look at where my hands and feet are positioned. See how my body is aligned.”

  All I could focus on was her sweet ass in the air and what else we could be doing in this position. I stood up. “That’s it. Private lesson is over.”

  “What?” Her eyes widened.

  I scooped her up and threw her over my shoulder, slapping her playfully on one butt cheek. “I admit I’m the worst student who’s ever attended your class, but I can’t concentrate on yoga with you bent over in yoga pants with your luscious ass before me.”

  She giggled. “Where are you taking me?”

  “Home. Back to bed.”

  Home. With her. It sounded right. She belonged there.

  Too bad she’d never agree to it.

  Despite my raging hard-on, an idea flashed into my head. Time to set a plan in motion. I took her home and fucked her doggy-style, among other positions.

  We had limited time to spend together during the week, but I came up with a plan that made me giddy for Saturday. I invited her over for a late lunch after she finished at the studio. Chicken marsala was the one dish I could rock.