27. Geo
Cress and I exchanged a glance the moment after Phaeron and Ben disappeared in a swirl of shadows. “I don’t feel like committing grand theft auto right now. Do you?” she asked.
“No,” I answered.
“How about this? I’m going to go find us something to eat in the mall, and then we can go back to the library.”
“No,” I said again. Her eyelids fluttered. “I shall come with you to find something to eat.”
“But you can’t see in the dark,” she pointed out.
My shoulder blades ground together when I shrugged. “And you control light. You’re not going back in there without me.”
She tilted her head back and forth before unsheathing her sword and casting Lux upon it. With no need for us to hide anymore, the shadows she’d worn over herself like a coat seeped back into her skin.
“You’ll have a lot more fun if you take your human form,” she suggested as she gingerly tiptoed over the glass shards littering the way back into the mall.
I crunched straight though them, lifting her by the hips to set her outside of the destruction wrought by Myuna’s creatures. She turned with a crease between her brows, undoubtedly to tell me to stop treating her like a doll, but I was already halfway through the process of shedding my wings and stone skin.
I swallowed her complaint with my warm human lips against hers. She sagged into me with a muffled moan.
Banding my arms around her, I cuddled her and rested my chin atop her head. “Why is it so important we retrieve some food?” I asked. She was tired and bloodstained, with rips in her clothing. I was sure she had wounds that needed tending.
My stone heart thrummed in my chest. I would ensure she received proper care with my own hands, even if I had to carry her out of this dark mall before she was ready to leave.
“I’m about ready to give my left arm for some junk food, Geo,” she said matter-of-factly. She removed her handbook from the holster on her hip. “The Librarian Witch’s Handbook, scan for junk food that hasn’t been spoiled.”
“Aye, aye, Captain!” it squeaked, taking flight from her palm. It flapped away into the gloom ahead.
She took my hand and tugged me along, holding her gleaming sword in her free hand. “You are sure of this?” I asked.
“I’m feeling okay. Promise. Besides, when was the last time I had you to myself like this?” She had a cheerful bounce to her step. “You’ve been so busy standing guard. It’s a treat to see you outside of gargoyle form.”
She had a point. I’d been in that form more lately than my preferred one—of blood and flesh and emotion. The latter of which was still a confused mix in my head, unsure of if I should apologize or feel proud of how well I’d done my duty.
“It’s always a joy to be with you,” I settled on saying.
She ducked her head with a giggle. “Aw. I love you,” she said.
There was no mistaking the rush of warmth that suffused me head to toe, loosening muscles and joints from their rocky stiffness. Those three words were more efficient than a full-course meal or any cup of coffee in reviving the man in me. “I love you too.”
After a couple seconds’ pause, I added, “We should locate your junk food quickly.” The longer we delayed, the more likely one or both of her other men would return. I might’ve agreed to share her, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t hoard every second of her undivided attention like the gold it was.
She smiled and led me to a directory, which helped us map out all the probable stores to visit. As we headed to the closest one, a shadow wound around her feet and released a rasping meow. “Okay, okay. Jin wants to take a ride on your shoulder,” she said, motioning to the black cat.
I bent down, and Jin jumped the rest of the way, little razor claws digging into my skin. It was the most pain I’d felt all day, a fact that made me feel guilt over the bruises and scrapes Cress had undoubtedly sustained from her fight with the Hungering Darkness.
“Greetings, small feline,” I said, nearly knocking her clean off my shoulder trying to pet her. She purred thunderously and dug in to remain in place, rubbing her face against my fingers.
Jin draped herself over my neck like a furry scarf as we started finding the kinds of things Cress wanted to bring back with her. The first store was dedicated to selling records and movies, with a small subsection full of chips, candy, and cans of soda in bright packaging. Some of it had been torn into by the unnaturals that’d overrun the mall, but Cress’s face lit up nonetheless when she realized there were a few rows higher up that were left untouched.
We left with two sturdy shopping bags full of junk. She had the biggest grin on her face, so I refrained from asking if this meant we were done. “Let’s make a pile of loot,” I suggested.
“Of what?” she giggled. “Did you hear ‘loot’ on the Internet?”
“Yes,” I admitted.
“Well, I agree.” She whisked away the two bags behind a still-sealed security gate in a swirl of shadows.
I don’t know how long we spent in the gloom of the mall, combing several stores for their goods. We did not find any new phones to claim, alas, but by the time Cress grew tired of walking, we’d amassed enough junk to ration some to everyone. Well, if Cress wanted to share. Once we gathered up all the shopping bags and boxes, the first thing she did was tear into a container of chocolate-dipped cookies.
She crunched down on one, and I watched the pleasure crease her expression at the taste of chocolate. She offered me the box, where the cookies stuck out like straws, but I only took one to commit its taste to this memory. It was sweet and crisp against my teeth, the chocolate studded with crushed almonds for that extra kick of flavor.
“Good, right?” she asked.
I smiled dreamily at her. “Fantastic.”
We worked our way through the cookies slowly, as she relished each one. Only when she was down to the last one did she wave it around to punctuate what she said. “I was thinking I could take all of this and you back to the library with Braza’s shadows.”
I frowned. “I would be happy to assist you.”
“Yes, but this way, you don’t have to go back to gargoyle form.” She pointed my way with a wink.
Hmm, now that was tempting. It wouldn’t be a long flight, but I’d lose the certainty that I was a man, rather than a rock, with any time in my other form. I’d gotten a grip on my emotions and loosened my fingers enough to properly scratch Jin under the chin, two benchmarks amongst many that had to be achieved each time I became a man again.
So I said yes and allowed her to enfold me and our loot in a layer of black-purple shadows. There was a tugging sensation, and wind ran along my skin and through the feathers of my hair before we arrived in a familiar room. Cress appeared next to me and sighed as the shadows flowed away from her body, disappearing like mist.
She went to the door to let Jin out into the hall. “Okay, we’re alone, and my feet are killing me. Shower?” she offered.
I heard the weight of fatigue in her voice and resisted the urge to carry her there myself. “Only if I get the privilege of joining you.”
“I thought that was a given,” she said. She backed in that direction, shedding clothing as she went. My mouth went dry as I pursued her, also undressing along the way. Just the sight of all that soft skin had heat flooding to my groin.
She leaned over to turn on the shower and stood in a graceful arch, lifting her hips to jiggle the globes of her ass for my appreciative gaze. Shooting a coy smile over her shoulder, she stepped into the stream of water and then let off a less than dignified screech. “It’s cold!”
A tentative laugh ground out of me. “Turn it up,” I suggested.
“I did! Fuck,” she sighed. “Guess there’s no more hot water.”
I stepped in behind her and drew the curtain. The water was punishingly chill, dampening my earlier excitement. Well, we both needed to wash, and she had new cuts and scrapes on her body that I intended to clean before she leapt out of the tub. I pulled her into my body heat with one arm and grabbed the soap, lathering up my hands.
“I’ll go quick,” I promised before rubbing the suds into her shoulders and arms. As soon as both of us were soaked with cold water, I turned so my back took the brunt of the stream. Cold mist rolled around us.
Despite what I’d said, I found myself worshipping her body, hands molding to her curves and brushing tenderly over new hurts. I gave her breasts an admiring squeeze, and she leaned her head back on my shoulder, damp hair tickling my chest. “I was hoping we could…”
“Soon,” I rumbled. Definitely not here, while she was standing on aching feet and cringing away from the cold water. I knelt to finish cleaning her long legs and helped her balance for a quick scrub of her soles.
Her teeth clicked together when we switched places and she slid the bar of soap out of my palm. “My turn.”
I breathed out from her touch, which was as soft as she was. After being hard and unfeeling for so long, simply being touched was its own pleasure. I closed my eyes as Cress stroked the lines of my muscles in a path top to bottom. She was finished before I wanted her to be, shutting off the water with a sigh of relief.
She passed me a towel and tousled her hair with another. “You haven’t relaxed like that in a long time,” she murmured.
“That’s the magic of your touch,” I answered.
She hummed, drying herself off thoroughly with a few shivers along the way. “Geo,” she said, tossing the towels aside and coming over to rest her palms on my chest. I rubbed her back, feeling the chill she carried on her skin. “I think you need to start taking longer breaks from your gargoyle form.”
“My duty is to protect you.” I answered without really thinking. “Well…you are my duty, of course. And I am the only gargoyle in this entire pocket dimension. Thanks to Phaeron’s tempering of my stone, I have yet to be injured. While you…”
She glanced down at her body, touching the reddened skin around a set of scratches on her side. “This could have been much worse. What I’m saying is, it’s okay to take a breather from constant vigilance. I appreciate everything you’ve done. But…” She leaned in to press a kiss above where my stone heart rested. “I need you like this sometimes.”
A little shiver passed through me, a shockwave emerging from the brush of her lips. I couldn’t deny the rightness of what she was asking. Her heart was big enough to encompass me along with her other two men, but I needed to occupy that space. In this, I needed to bend, to be flexible.
To be soft, when all I’d ever been was hard and unyielding.
“I need you, too,” I murmured. “Touch me.”
“Where?” she asked.
“Everywhere.”
Her palms ran up to my shoulders, rubbing outward down the line of my arms. With a gentle nudge, she started walking me backward. “Everywhere, hmm? I’m going to take you literally.”
I nodded. Good. I was always literal.
She traced new pathways over my body, taking her time without the obligation to hurry us out of a cold shower. She backed me into the bed and sat astride my lap, following her hands with her lips and tongue. By the time she was halfway down my chest, I was hard as obsidian, jutting into her hip.
One of her hands slipped down to cup my erection, and I held in a gasp. “I’ll take care of you last,” she promised before reaching over for the phone resting on the bedside table. I watched her through lidded eyes as she scrolled through a music app, putting on a slow and smooth instrumental that played a little tinny through the small speaker.
She used the pace of the music to slow down and leave no inch of me untouched. I slid my fingers through her damp hair, finding what I’d asked for had swiftly turned into the sweetest torture as she skimmed her attention around my cock. She kissed her way down my thighs. That was about all I could take. “Cress,” I moaned.
Her brown eyes flashed to my face. She’d put on a playful expression, but she had to know. “I…I was not speaking literally,” I said.
She covered her mouth with a hand, eyes creasing at the corners. “No?”
“No,” I confirmed.
“This is a first,” she said, skimming her palms back up my thighs. I throbbed for the touch she was so close to delivering. “Are you sure you want me to jump straight to the end?”
Her fingertips skimmed closer. “Yes,” I practically begged.
While she didn’t laugh, mirth danced in her eyes as she rose between my legs and licked her way up my shaft. She cupped my tightened balls, rolling them between her fingers. I moaned her name, grateful when she took the crown between her lips and sank me further into the heat of her mouth inch by inch.
She didn’t hold back, knowing I stayed rock hard for my duty for as long as she wanted pleasure. Her mouth was torment and relief, keeping me in place so that I could only reach her shoulders and back. I was possessed with desire for her, to caress her as she had touched me.
“Maybe not the end,” I said, tugging on her hair. “Come join me on the bed.”
A furrow appeared between her brows as she slid my cock back out of her mouth. I helped lift her up and lay her out on the bed, bracing myself above her to take in all that soft skin turned golden by lamp light. A body I was made for. My hands, shaped for her curves. I started at her hips, running up the dip of her belly to the swell of her breasts.
My lips, shaped to mesh with hers. I reminded myself to inhale as I kissed her, as her mouth so often stole my breath. Our tongues met in a heated tangle.
My stone heart, animating me to her service. It throbbed in my chest, full to bursting with the satisfaction of this moment. I cupped her cheek, meeting her gaze briefly. How had one person so efficiently become my purpose? I’d already changed for her, flexed when I didn’t think I ever could.
Cress was my everything.
I was still kissing her when I ran my palm down her thighs, moving her leg to open her for me. I rubbed the tip between her folds, reluctantly pulling back at the last moment to ask, “Condom?” I regretted I didn’t have one handy.
Her hands pulled me back, one at the hip, the other hooked around my neck. “No,” she said.
I smiled, grateful I got to see her expression as I sank into her. My cock, formed to fit her perfectly. Her kiss-swollen lips hung open as I sank into her to the root. We communicated like how I used to. “Good?” I rumbled.
“Yes,” she gasped.
“Okay.” But it was more than merely okay. Being inside of her was simply right.
I braced my weight on one arm, still touching her, a gentle counterpoint to the way her body rocked with my thrusts. The texture of her skin, the way her breast jiggled in my palm. The muscles low on her belly shifted as she lifted her hips to mine. Every piece put together to form the whole of her pleasure.
She came with a velvety clench on my cock, arching into me. I savored the brush of our sweat-slicked bodies together. As much as I didn’t want this to end, I was close, and her leg twitched from taking my thrusts during that sensitive time after her peak. I let go, spilling in a rush of liquid heat and settling still hard inside of her.
It only took her a few minutes before she asked, “Again?”
And I answered, “Sure.”