Page 26 of Loved By the Gargoyle

I was not nervous.

My wife wanted me to meet her family, and I would attempt to please her with this, though it mattered not to me what they thought.

She was mine. My wife. I had fucked her, claimed her. Even if they did not like me, it would make no difference.

I was stealing her anyway.

Although, I could discern that this meant a lot to Mia. She wanted her family to like me. And she wanted me to like them.

So I would work hard on making an impression worthy of note. However, it was a strange sensation following Mia into her family home through the doors and into a dining area to find all heads swiveling to take the both of us in. First our joined hands and then my appearance.

It was a strange thing, because I was a Spymaster. I spent my existence hiding in the shadows. It was my comfort, my strength. It was what I had done to hide my true self from my wife, and yet now she was thrusting me into the light before dozens of eyes to take in my terrifying appearance.

I straightened, my wings snapping out and then against my back. My tail swished beneath me before curling around Mia’s bare leg. She had worn a dressy garment that swished against her legs all the way down to her ankles.

I did not like to see my wife so exposed for others to lay eyes upon her flesh, but it brought me comfort to know that she wore my mark on her neck and my fire in her chest.

And with her legs bare, it only meant ease of access to caress and touch her as much as I desired.

“Hello…” Mia greeted, pulling me deeper into the home. It was rather large, and I did not have to hunch when I walked in. However, I did tower over everyone currently present. My gaze swept over the crowd that had gathered, shuffling slowly in our direction. They eyed me with apprehension, and some with curiosity lighting their eyes.

Mia’s grip tightened on my own.

“Everyone, this is Xavir. My…” She paused, as if unsure what to say. She had explained to me before arriving that not all human marriages were as ours. There were lengthy courtships involved, among other rituals. All very tedious, when one brimmed with impatience to taste their mate. I, however, would go through the trials in the traditions of her family, if I could call her my wife before the world. “Fiancee,” she added the word quietly.

Her family burst into motion at the words. At first, it had been silence, and then an explosion of noise that made my wings ruffle.

They rushed at Mia, excited chatter filling the spaces where the silence once inhabited.

They came towards me, yanking us apart.

“You have a fiancee?” an older human woman asked.

If I stared hard enough, I could find similar features in her older, withered face within Mia’s as well.

“Yes.” Mia nodded enthusiastically, face blushing a delicate shade of crimson. “It’s all so new and sudden, but I wanted to share it with all of you.”

They turned to me, crowding around me.

“What is he?” the same older woman asked.

“Wai po! That’s not a nice question to ask,” Mia admonished, her mouth dropping open and appearing slightly scandalized.

They had never seen anyone quite like me. They were all human, after all. Although, I caught the scent of something other and wolfish in the room.

I bowed low in the woman’s–her wai po’s–direction.

“I am Xavir,” I said, straightening. “I am a gargoyle, and I hail from the Underworld.”

There was silence after my proclamation. They stared at me, mouth agape.

Someone in the back called out, “Where’s that at?”

I blinked slowly, unsure of how to answer.

“Is it in Europe?” someone else asked. My head swiveled in their direction.

“Ah, European! That’s why he’s so tall.”