Chapter 12 – Byron
BYRON
Ican’t believe I lost control like that.
I can’t believe I lost all control. And the worst part of it all?
It wasn’t just the drugs. Yeah, they didn’t help matters, but I’ve been on the edge since I met this woman.
It’s like my brain packed its bags and took a vacation and my dick is screaming, “Fuck her! Fuck her so hard she never remembers another cock but yours!”
And shit, I think my dick is an asshole, because I don’t think Medusa suddenly only wants me. But my cock? It only wants her. It wants to sink right back into her. It wants to plunge right back into her mouth. It wants to see if we can make her scream out in pleasure as I plunge into her tight ass.
My head keeps reminding me that we have a female gargoyle, Ashunda, who has made it clear we’re the next males on her list. In a couple months she’ll have her baby, and then she’s going to be in our bed night after night until she gives us a baby. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted.
And yet… my stupid cock doesn’t even perk up at the thought of beautiful Ashunda.
No, but it hardens into a pole every time my thoughts turn to Medusa.
I’m so fucked. So completely fucked.
Then there’s the other thing, if we tell the Elites about our… misstep, everything is ruined anyway. Even if Ashunda is disappointed, we won’t be eligible mates anymore. She’ll have to go onto her next choice.
I can’t wait another twenty years for a chance at a mate and baby. I just can’t!
The wind stirs beside me. I see Forrest has finally caught up to me.
He raises a brow. “Did you decide what to do?”
“About what?” I snarl at him.
“Do we tell the Elites about what happened?”
I exhale slowly. “No. We were drugged. It didn’t mean anything. We keep our mouths shut.”
“And do we tell Marcus?”
Fuck. We’ve never kept a secret between us before. But, he’ll tell. “No.”
Forrest whistles softly. “You must really want Ashunda.”
“Don’t you?” I bite back at him.
He’s quiet for a long minute. “I don’t know. I mean, sure, if she’s our only choice. She’s self-absorbed and not very bright, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
I glare straight ahead. “Do you have a point?”
Again he pauses, but the mischievous look vanishes from his face. “I like Medusa. There’s just something about her…”
“Her monstrous powers to manipulate men maybe?”
He laughs, unkindly. “How the hell did she manipulate us? She was drugged too, according to you.”
“But she got what she wanted. She’s under our skin. Making us question what we’re doing.”
Forrest shakes his head. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Am I? Because you’re talking like you’re ready to throw away a perfectly good female gargoyle, for what? A monster? A woman there’s no future with? You and I both know that the second we take her home, she’s done. So whatever the hell you’re thinking about, stop it.”
“For a guy who spent the night fucking a beautiful woman, you’re in a shitty mood.”
I flap my wings harder and separate myself from him. We’re going to be seeing Marcus soon. As much as I hate it, we need to get on the same page first. If he knows what happened, he’ll tell. And we can’t lose everything because of one night.
My thoughts turn to Marcus. I picture his dark hair and his harsh face. People say I’m an asshole… until they meet Marcus.
And then, I imagine him and Medusa.
Against my will, my fists clench. My heart’s racing. Once we reach our next destination, Marcus will be there. And I can’t let anything he does to our prisoner get to me. So why does just the thought of it turn my stomach?
We stop flying just before nightfall, near a barn on a hillside that looks like it has been empty for a long time. Forrest goes to a nearby city for food, and I wait and watch the sky until Harold and Medusa arrive.
I don’t look at her. I can’t look at her, but I see Harold.
He’s already under her spell.
The little woman strides past me and into the barn without a word. Every muscle in my body feels tense. If this was another place and time, if we weren’t monster hunters and her a monster, I’d ease this fight between us with a good fucking.
But instead I cross my arms over my chest and glare at Harold. “Took you long enough.”
He shrugs. “We stopped.”
“For what?”
“A snack. A rest. She’s not accustomed to flying all day.”
I glare. “And since when do we try to make our prisoners as comfortable as possible?”
He sighs, loudly. “She’s not a man-eating minotaur. She’s not a sea monster, crushing boats. She’s just… a woman.”
“That’s what she fucking wants you to think!
” I shout. “Do you think if she could turn us to stone, she wouldn’t have done it by now?
You’ve read the history books! She’s left a wake of stone people behind her.
She’s a killer, hidden in a shapely body, I’ll give you that.
But she’s a killer all the same, so pull your head out of your ass and remember it! ”
To my shock, he advances on me. “You keep telling yourself that and maybe you’ll start to think it’s true!
But I want you to think for one second what would have happened if she hadn’t been okay with our night together.
I want you to think about what it was like for her to wake up this morning and know she was drugged into fucking the three of us. ”
I swear, everything inside of me turns to ice. “Does… does she regret what happened?”
He stares at me. “She’s a monster, right, Byron? So does it really matter to you?”
Harold follows her into the barn, knocking my shoulder roughly as he passes. I don’t react. I’m rooted in place.
We are gargoyles. We protect humans. We protect people. We have never hurt a woman in all our long lives. The thought of it—sickens me.
I’m striding into the barn before I can think about what I’m doing. Harold is sitting on a barrel of hay next to her. They both stop talking at my approach. I stand in front of her, not knowing what I’m going to say before I say it.
“Do you feel like you were… taken advantage of last night?”
I can’t see her gaze through her sunglasses in the shadows. “No, relax. I know what that feels like, and last night wasn’t like that. We were all drugged. But I don’t think any of us did something we didn’t want to. Am I right?”
It’s like I can finally breathe. “You’re right.”
But someone has hurt her like that? A protectiveness roars awake inside of me.
I grasp her arm gently and pull her into a standing position. I can sense her confusion. I don’t think, I just pull her against me and wrap her in a hug.
She’s stiff in my arms, but I stroke her hair anyway. Not realizing I was shaking until that moment.
“I’m fine,” she says, softly against my chest.
Pull it together, Byron. I slowly pull back from her. And then, we’re just staring at each other.
“Food’s here!” Forrest shouts, walking into the barn with several bags.
The spell broken, we move away from each other. Everyone sits on the barrels of hay eating Chinese food. Forrest makes jokes. Medusa laughs, and Harold watches it all, looking happier than I’ve ever seen him before.
And I eat my food that tastes like regret. Knowing that we’re using this woman. Knowing that we have one more dangerous task for her before we deliver her to her death.
What the fuck are we supposed to do when I can’t even stand the idea of her hurting?
We are so screwed.