Gargoyle (Woodland Creek)(8)

When the power pulsing through the air had stopped.

And we had not.

We could have. We had definitely been exhausted, but we hadn’t. Hell, it had probably only been an hour ago, the pulsing waves lasting well into the early morning hours.

Instead of stopping, even if he was already inside me, he had paused, both of us breathing heavily with sweat covered bodies. His expression had turned into a silent question. I had thought about it for a full minute, staring at him above me, then gently lifted my hand as I was doing now and brushed his hair back from his face, then brought his face down to mine and kissed him in answer. Our last time hadn’t been sweet or kind, but…it had been consensual, not because of any unnatural power.

My hand hovered over his face, my expression still blank, and softly, I lowered a finger and brushed his hair back from his face. Gently, as to not wake him. Fisting my hand, I quickly lowered it back under the cover to his chest, staring at him, skimming his features further.

Blinking slowly, I swallowed down the loathing I felt for not only him, but for myself, and glanced away, tiredly searching the room for something to wear out of here. My clothes were a no go, but I saw his lying on the floor against the dented wall. They still appeared wearable, not torn to bits like mine were.

No, there was no pretending this hadn’t happened.

I started, turning my tired gaze toward him when he cleared his throat softly.

He was awake. His gaze was barely slitted open, but I could see the tiniest slivers of his stunning green eyes staring up at me. They weren’t glowing as they had been all last night. His blink was as sleepy as mine, even though I still saw supreme intelligence staring back at me.

“Lay back down,” he whispered gently. “Another hour of sleep won’t hurt.”

Holding his gaze for another long beat, I nodded my head once, and then rested my head back down on his muscled bicep that was curled around me. His arm had to be asleep by now with my weight having been on it like this, but he didn’t complain.

I was pretty sure he stayed awake until I fell back asleep.



What was done was done.

The Mayor, Isaac Stone, was in the small shower inside the bathroom.

I was swiftly throwing his shirt on over my head. It was huge on me. I barely topped out at five feet tall, so the hem of it practically went to my knees. I glanced around and grabbed the blanket we had used, tying it around my waist in a pseudo-skirt, then swiftly stuffed all of my shredded clothes—including my shoes—into my purse I’d had the forethought to drop before he had gone all caveman in tearing my clothes off. Seeing no items of mine remaining scattered around the broken room, I swiftly exited the office, walking on tiptoe through the lobby.

We had slept another hour, but I had pretended to be asleep as he slipped into the shower. The sun was shining brighter, but the shifters inside the lobby, scattered everywhere, were still sleeping. Very much naked, too. All of them. It appeared to be one hell of an orgy, even if some had possibly stuck with their same partners. As they were, though, there was just no telling with the sight they made.

I did have the decency to blush. Truly, there were a lot of naked shifters.

My feet stalled when the door to my right opened just the barest bit. Just enough for a silver eye to catch my gaze. It was Mandy’s guest, the wizard. I would recognize that eye any day having gotten a close up view of it last night.

The eye blinked, and then blinked once more.

I stared back.

I knew he was being nosy, probably having heard me sneak out. I seriously doubted he had expected it to be me, though. It was fairly obvious by his frozen stare…plus, he had more than likely planned to execute the ‘me’ who had seen him last night with Mandy. By the way, the Mayor had continued to say ‘guest,’ I was betting Isaac’s family didn’t approve of him at all.

But now, it was a bit more complicated.

He stared for a beat longer, blinked, and then ever so gently shut and relocked the door.

Well…that was fun.

I continued making my precarious way through the debris of the naked and sated and silently slipped out the door, deciding against the shattered window since there was glass everywhere. I jogged silently down the sidewalk, my bare feet padding quietly against the concrete. This area of Woodland Creek was already blaring with the new day, sirens continually looping in sound. If the carnal power hadn’t just been here, then those sirens would probably continue for some time. Still, I put my helmet on, put my Moped into neutral, and shoved it a few feet, hopping on, coasting down a hill for a good block before I started it, not taking the chance of waking anyone inside the building.

Damn…I knew that package had been trouble.





“God, it’s great to be out,” Rachel murmured, smiling brightly.

I snorted. “Understatement.”

Jackie continued studying her purchases, rifling through her bags. “Uh huh.”

Rachel and I glanced at each other. Jackie hadn’t been the same since the ‘incident’ a month ago. The ‘incident’ had been town-wide. The only individuals not affected by the sexual power were adolescents and the elderly—they had been knocked out by it. Woodland Creek—the entire town—had called an emergency—to the point there was a town curfew, which had only now been lifted. It really hadn’t mattered in the beginning. No one wanted to leave the ‘safety’ of their homes for a few weeks. Pregnancy numbers had skyrocketed and divorces were on the rise. No one had an answer, either. It was a phenomenon that had shaken the town long after their beds had stopped shaking.