Chapter 4 – Xander
S he’s divine.
An angel.
Or she’s evil, here to tempt me.
“Tell me,” I say and back her up against the metal fence. Fuck, I wish she’d stop whimpering. It’s confusing my cock, which wants nothing more than to sink into her cunt in this moment.
She’s stunning, even more so than her picture on the app. Her curves are plentiful. That red dress does nothing to hide them from me. I can hear her heart beating frantically, her breathing heavy. Her pale skin is blushed pink, and my eyes fall to the tattoos lining her arms, shoulders, and chest. Evangeline lilacs mixed with ones I recognize as heathers because they’re a symbol of protection, just as her name means divine protector in my world.
The coincidence doesn’t get past me, but I’ll revisit this later, as I need to know how the fuck can she see my true form.
“Xander,” she whispers, her voice strained from my grip around her neck. Yet, I cannot smell her fear. I see no panic on her face. No, all she’s giving me is lust and excitement. “My name is Evangeline Bishop-Whethers. I’m human.”
I loosen my grip slightly because she’s right. Everything about her is weak. Well, weak only because she is human. I have no idea how strong of a human she could be.
I also sense no magic within her except for the hum of power radiating from her tattoos. A protection spell. Why would she need a protection spell?
Now’s not the time to ask her that question.
My paranoia has clouded my judgment. I let my fear of evil convince me this woman is here to kill me. She may not be supernatural, but she’s different from all the other humans I’ve encountered throughout my years.
I release her neck and sniff in her direction, trying to figure out why she’s special. My cock strains against my pants. It likes this sweet smell on her body .
I need more. I grab her hair to tilt back her head and run my nose along her skin. I inhale deeply, and she gasps and arches her back to press her soft body against mine.
“Did you just growl?” she asks, sounding amused.
I let go of her hair and step back.
“Did I?”
“Yeah,” she smiles and bites her lip. “It sounded like this...”
She proceeds to make a noise that is anything but a growl. It was like a kitten attempting a frightening roar.
It was freaking adorable.
“I could kill you with my bare hands and you’re mocking me?”
She giggles. “Sorry, I’m not mocking, I swear. This is just surreal. I’ve never met a supernatural being before.”
“You know about us?”
“Well, yes and no. My mom used to tell me stories. She said there were bad beings and good ones. I think you’re a good one.”
I suck in a sharp breath.
“You’re not afraid of me?”
She shakes her head.
“Why?”
“I can’t explain why, but I know you won’t hurt me. Scared is the last thing I’m feeling right now. ”
I raise a brow, and she smiles; her cheeks darkening with a lovely red to match her pouty lips.
“What are you feeling right now?” I ask.
She’s most definitely aroused. I can smell how wet she is, which doesn’t help my erection.
“By the way your nostrils just flared, I think you already know.”
I open my mouth then clamp it shut. Her eyes trail down my body to my groin where she can see how turned on I am.
“Then we should do something about it,” I say and close the distance between us.
I wrap my arm around her waist and tug her body against mine. She’s incredibly short, and the top of her head barely reaches my chest.
“Do you trust me?”
“Should I? Are gargoyles trustworthy? Plus...we just met. It’d be pretty dumb of me to trust someone I’ve known for mere minutes.”
She looks up at me, fluttering her long, full lashes and licks her lips.
“You’re teasing me.”
“Maybe I am.”
I lean in, my mouth against her ear. “Are you being a little brat?”
“What if I am? What would you do about it?”
I chuckle, and she shivers as my hot breath fans across the exposed skin of her neck.
“Naughty kitten,” I whisper, only because her beauty and defiance have captured my voice. She leaves me speechless, and I have so much to say to her right now.
I have too much to ask her.
But we’re in public, and I’m currently masking us from the human world. I need my full focus on her.
I need to fly us out of here.
“I’ll ask you again, Kitten. Do you trust me?”
Her pupils expand at the nickname. She likes it. Good.
“I trust you, Xander.”
I nearly groan at how my name sounds in her smooth, honey voice.
“Hold on tight,” I say and catapult us into the night sky.
Evangeline screams and buries her face in my chest, nearly choking me with how tight her arms are around my neck. Her thick legs flail before wrapping around my waist.
“I’ve got you,” I say as we hover over the city. My expansive wings flap slowly to keep us steady.
Her body relaxes slightly at my words, but she still clings to me tightly. Hesitantly, she removes her face from its hiding spot and opens one eye…then another.
“Holy shit,” she gasps. Her big blue eyes scan the skyline. “This is…beautiful.”
Tonight, the Empire State Building sparkles in bright purple and pink colors. Skyscraper windows light up in a checkerboard pattern with a handful of late-night workers. Inside the high-rise apartments, windows glow from televisions playing TV shows or movies. Evangeline glances below us at the sea of red and white from the heavy traffic on New York City streets.
She immediately buries her head back in my chest.
“I’m not a fan of heights,” she mumbles into my shirt.
“Tell me where you want to go.”
I hope she doesn’t say home, unless she invites me inside too. There’s no way I’m letting her go without asking her all the questions plaguing my thoughts.
“Take me to your place,” she says.
I smile, and her eyes fall to my fangs. Shit! I didn’t mean to have those out. They tend to drop when I’m turned on. I immediately close my mouth.
“No, don’t.” Her hand moves to my lips, and she traces her fingertips over them lightly. I sigh at how delicate she is with me. As if I will break underneath her touch. “Can I feel them?”
I hesitate only for a second, stunned by her curiosity…then exhilarated that she wants to explore me .
I smile for her again.
Her tiny finger swipes over one long fang, down to the tip, where she presses the pad into the sharp end. The scent of iron fills my nose. She pulls her hand back and slips the pricked finger inside her mouth to suck the blood. I swallow my jealousy.
I wanted a taste. Would her blood be as sweet as her smell?
Fuck. I’m in trouble.
This woman is going to ruin me.
“You did it again.”
“What?”
“You growled.”
“I’m a beast. I growl all the time.”
Not entirely true. I growl when I’m threatened…or when I’m aroused. And now that I know this woman is no threat to me, my reaction to her is pure, unadulterated passion. My attraction to this woman is nothing humane. It’s intense, and I can’t explain it.
More questions I need answered.
“I like it. Maybe a little too much. I might try to make you growl all the time now.”
She moves her hips, her legs still wrapped tight around me. Her pussy rubs against my bulge and that gets her another growl.
“That’s what Kitten wants to hear,” she purrs .
She’s adopted the nickname already? She’s too good to be true.
“Take me to your place,” she repeats breathlessly, reminding me that we can’t stay up in the air all night.
She’ll need to get over her fear of heights, because I’d love to give her a mid-air fuck after I’ve properly bedded her.