Rocked by Love (Gargoyles, #4)(45)
Case in point: knowing how much his small female loved to speak, he expected her to say something. Whether it would be a serious comment or a sassy quip, he did not even try to predict. But instead, she merely turned into his warmth and snuggled closer, one hand curling to tuck under her chin, the other pressed against the plane of his chest. When her mouth opened wide, the only sound to emerge was a huge yawn, one that would have done King David proud.
Then, like her cat, she drifted easily into sleep. Dag sighed out a laugh and cuddled her close, leaning down to press a kiss to the damp curls that clung to her forehead. Life with his mate would never be boring. It might be the only thing he felt certain of at the moment, but it would do.
For a start.
Chapter Ten
Shuldik iz der stolyer; ven er volt nit gemakht di bet, volt ikh nit gekumen tsu keyn khet.
It’s the carpenter’s fault; if he hadn’t built the bed, I wouldn’t have sinned.
The sharp rapping sound intruded on Kylie’s sleep and made her frown. She felt too warm and drowsy to care much where it had come from, so she decided to ignore it and slide back into sleep. A few seconds later, it came again, this time louder, with enough force to shake the window in its frame.
Wait, window? Why would someone be knocking on her window? What was going on?
Sleepy and confused, Kylie tried to roll over, only to find the way blocked by a very large, very male, very naked body stretched beside her.
Memory came flooding back in full, unedited Technicolor. Chub rachmones. What had she done?
The gargoyle, obviously.
Okay, of all the times for her own brain to pick to snark at her, it had to settle on this one? Really? Throwing her arms over her eyes, Kylie lay still and wondered if it was too early to pray for death. Or too late.
Bam!rattle. Bam!rattle. Bam!rattle.
The noise came again, eliciting a snarl from somewhere to the left just over her head. She continued to ignore the world outside her own inner elbow and felt the mattress dip and shift as Dag rolled to his feet. When he roared his displeasure, the rattle sounded again and she finally realized the noise came from glass shaking in the windowpanes. Someone had been knocking on the window.
The second-story window.
Realization dawned, bringing with it panic, guilt, and a soup?on of outright humiliation. Kylie’s gaze flew to the bedroom window to see a gray-skinned, fang-flashing face staring back at her. Since the face obviously belonged to a Guardian, and the only one she was acquainted with—intimately acquainted—clearly stood inside the room with her, she had no trouble guessing that Knox currently hovered outside the guest-room window, wearing an expression of mingled irritation and amusement.
With an eep, Kylie reached for a blanket to cover herself and discovered none to be had. She hadn’t yet made the bed she and Dag had just, um, occupied. Groaning, she did the only thing she could, flinging herself off the far side of the mattress and hiding in the space between it and the far wall where no more strangers could see her bare tits and ass.
Oy to the ever-loving vey!
Knox tapped on the glass again, this time with much less force, and gestured at Dag to open the window. The latter complied with enough irritated force to have the old sash screeching in protest.
“Wynn is waiting below by the front door,” Knox said the minute the barrier had been lifted. “No one answered our knocks, and she became concerned, so I agreed to look around for our hosts. It appears I have found you.”
Kylie groaned and heard her grandmother’s voice clearly inside her head. “Dayn mazl, Got, vos du voynst azoy volt men dir di fentster oysgezetst.” You’re lucky, God, that you live so high, otherwise people would break your windows. In that moment, Kylie’s hand itched for a rock.
“We did not hear the knock,” Dag bit out, and Kylie peeked over the mattress to see he had regained his natural form in response to the rude awakening. Too bad the other man was a Guardian, too, because she would have liked to see those claws of Dag’s do some damage to the jerk’s smug smile.
“I can see that is true.”
Kylie groaned even louder and banged her head against the side of the bed. “Argh! Make him go away. We’ll be downstairs to let them in in a minute. With clothes on.”
Dag didn’t bother to repeat her instructions, just slammed the window closed and turned to face her, spreading his wings to block the view from outside. “I take responsibility for this. I failed to properly protect you.”
The statement made Kylie’s brain shoot immediately to condoms, which they had so not used, and panic took over for a second. Then she invested a minute in relearning how to breathe, and reminded herself with a great sense of relief that she was on the pill. It didn’t make everything better, but it helped a little. “Yeah, well, it’s a little late to worry about it now, but hopefully it’s not a big deal. I mean, I’m clean, and unless you’ve had way more free time while you were awake than I’ve been imagining, I’m guessing the chances of you carrying anything are pretty small. I mean, if those microbes can even live through the three-hundred-years locked-in-stone in the first place.”
Dag’s wings rustled, and his expression shifted from grim stoicism to clear confusion. “I do not understand what you speak of. Of course you bathe regularly, and what does my slumber have to do with any of this? I allowed an outsider to stumble upon us without knowing he approached, and I allowed him to see your nakedness. I should have guarded you better. The failure shames me.”