Page 14 of Loved By the Gargoyle

My wings twitched and a shot of pain was sent up my spine, though it was easy enough to ignore. I stepped closer and she sucked in a breath, leaning slightly away from me. “You have nothing to fear from me, wife,” I assured her.

She sucked in another breath and pushed away from me. In the darkness, I could hear her heart beating faster and faster, and concern of the distressed sound had me following after her on the bed. My knees sunk into the mattress, my claws tearing through the material as I loomed above her on all fours, staring down with my worry apparent.

“What troubles you?” I questioned.

“Y-you said ‘wife’.” She stared up at me, entire body trembling.

My brother’s words rang in warning in my mind, but I was unsure if I could truly trust his truth. Yes, Nazzar was wise. He was our leader, and I would lay my life on the line for his. But my wife was unlike his human. I did not know the human woman he called Dolores, the one he had claimed. But he spoke of her, and Mia was not to be compared.

But the truth would be more inviting than the most tasteful lie.

I leaned down so I could breathe her in. She smelled of burning myrrh and pomegranates. Addictive.

She smelled like mine.

A rumble sounded through my chest at the proximity to her. “I suppose I should introduce myself in a more formal manner,” I all but purred. “My name is Xavir, Spymaster of Shadows, servant and informant to my King of Hell, and Second General of the Legions of the Underworld.” I bowed my head low, our foreheads nearly grazing in the process. The very tips of my horns slid through the long silky strands of her hair, the tresses tangling against me. “I have slipped free of the confines of the Underworld to come to your realm, for I was in want of a wife.” I felt a fire build in my chest and glow blue around us, illuminating her fear and fascination and, dare I even hope, acceptance. “And you, Mia Song, are the human I have chosen to be my bride.”

You, Mia Song, are the human I have chosen to be my bride.

His words echoed in my brain, making me dizzy. Though, I had to admit, that might have been because his very presence was overwhelming in the best way. I wasn’t sure if I could even focus with him this close to me. I mean, he smelled like smoke from an incense, the kind my wai po would burn as she prayed, and it gave me a sense of home and belonging.

When Xavir spoke, it was like a branch breaking behind you in the dark of the night. It was slow and purposeful, but deep and rumbly. Everything about him was a surprising mystery that I wanted to uncrack, and every word felt like the beginning of a song I could only ever hope to compose.

I had so many questions, so many things I wanted answers to. I knew I should have been concerned, maybe even afraid. Maybe I did feel those things, but what I knew almost for certain was that he was here. With me.

And I didn’t feel lonely anymore.

Balancing myself on one palm, I lifted the other, letting my curiosity get the best of me, and I slid it across the side of his horn.

Xavir gave a rumbling sound I couldn’t decipher. His entire body jolted, pushing down against mine. His black eyes were blue in the light glowing from the center of his chest, like there was fire in those depths.

“Did I hurt you?” I jerked my hand away.

He groaned. “It is the opposite. You have brought me life in ways I cannot even begin to describe to you.”

That was… romantic.

My chest warmed. In fact, my entire body did.

I tried to focus, though. It was hard to think when he was so close to me. My legs were spread wide and he’d notched himself in between them like that’s where he belonged. I didn’t even think he did it purposefully, the same way I hadn’t even realized my legs had opened to accommodate him.

We were indecently close, so much so that I felt the warmth from his skin and the texture along the gray surface. Different from my own, it was grainy and rough and solid. Every inch of him was wide, but he cut a lithe figure. I was on the taller side, but he was taller than anyone I’d ever known. And still, he hunched his body over mine in an attempt to be at eye-level with me. Like he would make himself smaller if he only could.

The wings at his back were pulled tightly together, bunched in a way that hid them from view. Long, dark hair slid from over his strong shoulders, falling in sleek waves between our chests. A curtain that hid my rapid breathing as much as his.

“So, you’re from the Underworld?” My throat felt heavy with words and emotion.

He nodded, all-black eyes searching.

“And you came here to find a wife?”

He nodded.

“And you choose… me?”

“I choose you, Mia.”

“I’m not a pokémon…”