Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Avalon
It's been a week since two sexy gargoyle Daddies started officially courting me.
It's been going swimmingly. Like the best thing in the entire world. I've successfully managed to avoid the talk with Drè about who and what the guys are, and every interaction with the guys—my gargoyles—has been everything I never knew I needed.
But today? Today I feel like a cracked vase being held together with glitter glue and blind hope.
The nursery—my nursery—is almost finished.
Which should feel like a win. I know that. But standing in the middle of the cozy, pastel-splashed room—the fading sunlight streaming through the gauzy curtains, shelves lined with stuffies, the rocking chair I found in the dusty attic store nestled in the corner...
I just feel like a big imposter.
What kind of grown woman builds a nursery for herself? In the house she plans to use as a bed and breakfast?
Which brings me to my next point.
What the heck was I thinking, trying to open a bed and breakfast in a sleepy town nobody visits?
I flop down on the cushioned window seat, burying my face in my hands. The soft feel of Sparrow’s fur rubbing against me, does nothing to calm my fluttering panic, and I burst into uncontrollable tears.
"Little one?"
Jodrick's voice, deep, gruff and warm, echoes just outside the door. I gasp in shock, because he's there. A quick peek at the window tells me I've been lost in my tears, my stupid, stupid breakdown for longer than I'd thought.
I jump up after carefully dislodging my cat and run into his arms, and he quickly wraps me in them, holding me close and safe.
"What's going on? Why is our little human crying all alone?"
The words bubble from my mouth, practically falling out, one after the other.
"I'm having an existential meltdown. In a pastel room. That I built to help with my emotional security."
They both blink at me.
"I just..." I push my face into Jodrick's chest as I continue to explain, my words muffled. "What if this doesn't work? What if no one wants to come here? I've sunk every dime into turning this place into a cutesy B&B, but who's going to drive all the way out here for tea and turn-down service?"
Silence stretches for a beat before Viraat steps forward, crouching in front of me with surprising gentleness.
"Then we change the plan," he says simply, all no nonsense. "What you have here... it's not just charm, cookies and folded towels. This place is magic. You're magic. And the manor is ready to be shared with the world."
Jodrick nods, before taking a seat on the floor, tucking me in his lap, like me having a mini-meltdown is the most natural part of his day.
"Viraat's right. What you're doing here?
Opening up Stonebound Manor? It's the right thing to do.
So if you're worried that the current idea won't work, then we change it up. "
Viraat sits in front of us, reaches across to hold my hand, and if I didn't know any better I'd say he suppresses the urge to steal me from Jodrick so I could sit on his lap.
"What if you turn the manor into a retreat? A place where people of the BSDM community can come and relax?"
I can't help the giggle that slips out. "You mean, BDSM, Daddy V," I inform him.
If gargoyles could blush, he probably would have. Instead he frowns, and a low growl builds in his chest.
That just won't do.
So I move from my spot on Jodrick's lap and tuck myself into Viraat's hard, safe, wonderful arms. His posture is stiff at first, as if he doesn't know what to do with me, but it doesn't take long before he smooths his hand down my back.
"Do you really think people would come here for that?" I whisper, getting the conversation back on track.
"I don't know, little one," Jodrick says. "We'll have to look into it, but to my mind, from the research Viraat and I have done, it seems like there's a market for it."
Everything shifts.
The nursery doesn't feel silly anymore. It feels right. Like it could be the first room of many.
This might be mine. But who's to say I couldn't make a few more like it, while also making different kinds of rooms.
I wonder what kind of permits I would need to do something like this?
This is exactly what I needed.
These two gargoyles are exactly what I've been looking for my entire life.
Viraat's hand continues to glide down my back in long, grounding strokes. I can feel the way his body is still slightly tense beneath me but his touch is all calm, steady.
I think that's part of what makes me feel so safe—how he chooses to be gentle for me.
"I like it when you hold me like this," I whisper, hoping it doesn't bring the big gruff grump out again.
His fingers pause, just for a second before resuming their soothing path.
"That's good," he murmurs. "I like holding you. Even if I'm still figuring out the best way to do it without breaking you."
From behind me, Jodrick's big hands come up to rest on my shoulders. He presses a kiss to the crown of my head and then leans his cheek against my hair. I'm surrounded. Sheltered. Wrapped in the arms of two mythic creatures who've somehow taken up all the room in my heart.
"Is that why you've not pushed for any more kisses?" I ask him, my voice betraying my vulnerability.
Viraat tenses again, but thankfully doesn't pull away.
"I don't think you understand how delicate you are compared to us," he tells me, his tone somehow soft and growly at the same time. "I could snap you in half without a thought. And you're too precious to not be handled with care."
I shrug in his arms before tipping my head back to look at him. "I mean the care is great. But I could use a little less of it… and a lot more spice.”
He growls but doesn't make a move. Nor does Jodrick.
Dammit.
Guess I'm taking matters into my own hands.
I grab hold of his impressive chest and push up, up, up until my lips reach his. At first, it's nothing more than a soft, chaste kiss. But soon it builds into more, the fire raging inside me in a way that's impossible to ignore.
For me, at least.
It takes far too long for Viraat to react, and by the time he does my heart is beating so fast I'm terrified that he won't.
Two strong hands wrap around my waist as he gently lifts me from his lap and carefully places me down on the floor.
He gets up, steps away, taking my heart with him, but before I can call out in protest, he's back with a pillow that is quickly placed behind my head.
Jodrick moves to lie with me, his head resting on his hand as Viraat settles himself over me.
I'm surrounded by hard, warm, tantalising stone.
"You're infuriating," Viraat tells me. "You push, and push, and push, until I'm forced to snap. What would we do if we hurt you, Avalon?"
"You wouldn't," I tell him, my voice filled with confidence. "The only thing you could do to hurt me, is deny me."
His head moves down... closer to mine and it breaks my heart as he rests his forehead against mine. "You undo me, sweetheart. I don't know what to do with all these damn emotions inside me."
I grab hold of his neck and pull his mouth down to mine, but before I can kiss him again I give him one bit of advice. "You don't do anything with them, Daddy. You just accept them. And me."
"Goddess be damned.”
I feel the exact moment Viraat lets go of his restraint—and claims me in a soul-searing kiss.