Aveoth Read online

  His eyebrows rose and he actually had the nerve to smile. “You’d feel it if I’d fucked you. You’re dainty, Jill. I’m not.” He stood and reached for the front of his pants.

  “What are you doing?”

  It shocked her when he opened them, shoving the black material down. The sight of his straining, thick cock freed wasn’t something she could unsee. He was really big and really hard.

  He yanked his pants up, adjusting his hard-on, and sat back down. “You’d know it with certainty if I’d been inside you.”

  She recovered, glaring at him. “That was crude.”

  “Effective though.” He sighed, breaking eye contact momentarily but quickly looking back at her. “I’m trying to get you to trust and like me, goddamn it. What happened was detrimental to gaining that goal. All I can do is apologize and tell you the truth. I didn’t know that would happen. When it did, I tended to you in the least traumatizing way I could.”

  “You think going down on me wasn’t traumatizing?” She knew her cheeks were burning. It was embarrassing to remember how much she’d enjoyed it. “You put your face where it shouldn’t have been!”

  He glanced down her body. “You would have suffered if I hadn’t done that.” His gaze returned to hers. “It was either pain or pleasure. I never want to see you hurting, Jill.”

  “So that was you doing me a favor?”

  He stood and rounded the counter. “I don’t want to fight with you. It was an accident. You don’t seem willing to believe me but I did my best to get you through the end result.” He bent, taking something out of the oven.

  She noticed his hands turning gray before he lifted a glass dish and set it on the stovetop. She wondered if that was his version of pot holders, partially shelling.

  He turned to face her. “Please eat.”

  She was hungry. “Fine, but it better not be drugged.”

  He got out plates and a large spoon, dishing what she assumed was some kind of breakfast casserole. It smelled good. He put both of them down on the counter by the barstools, then gathered silverware. “I would never purposely hurt you in any way.”

  He looked so defeated and, despite her anger, his voice bothered her. He was usually confident but now he seemed defeated. Even…sad.

  What if he was telling the truth? It didn’t excuse what happened. Though she was a little more open to listening and asking questions.

  “So you’re telling me that you didn’t know us kissing could drug me?”

  He held her gaze. “I did not. I swear on my life.”

  “How is that possible?”

  He took a seat beside her. “GarLycans and VampLycans are a young race, Jill. There was never any recorded history of our races breeding until after VampLycans came to be. We still are learning what we’re capable of and don’t have answers for everything, like lifespans. For example, will a VampLycan die of old age the way a Lycan would after so many hundreds of years, or will they endure agelessness the way Vampires do, as long as they drink blood? It’s the same for GarLycans, although we do tend to inherit most of our traits from our Gargoyle blood. I can’t tell you what my lifespan will be with certainty. I can guess it will be thousands of years, but who really knows? We don’t. I can do things Gargoyles can’t because I’m not a full-blood. What happened when I kissed you wasn’t planned, nor did I suspect it was a possibility. It’s never happened to me before, or been reported by any other GarLycan.”

  She took a bite of the casserole. It was good but slightly odd tasting. She refused to ask him what meat was inside it. With her luck, it might be sheep or maybe even a rabbit. She thought both animals were cute. It was best not to know. His words replayed in her head as she considered everything he’d said.

  “I won’t risk kissing you again, Jill. I’m afraid to. I never want a repeat of what happened and the fear I saw in your eyes. You must hate me.”

  She glanced over at him and discovered his shoulders slumped, his focus on the food in front of him. He looked depressed, and his tone sounded the same. It made her feel bad…and a little guilty. He certainly seemed sincere.

  But her anger returned. It was possible he was telling the truth, but it was still really screwed up that her body had been out of control because of some freaky hormone thing going on with him.

  She decided to stay silent and just eat.

  They finished their meal and Aveoth stood, carrying their dishes to the sink. “I am going to leave soon and deal with some problems in the clan. A guard will be assigned outside the door but it will be for your protection. I don’t trust Winalin or anyone like her to not try to harm you while I’m gone.”

  That surprised her. “You’re actually going to leave me alone and not drag me with you this time?”

  He faced her, and the normal sparks of color in his eyes remained absent. “Yes. I believe you’ve had enough of my company recently. I am truly sorry, Jill. I never meant for that to happen.”

  Damn. She felt really guilty. He’d been nice to her since they’d met. She couldn’t deny it. The possibility of him telling her the truth about that kiss seemed more likely than not. It might suck that he wouldn’t allow her to go home, but he’d sworn to keep her safe. He also could have nailed her while she was drugged out of her head, but he hadn’t. She believed that too. The guy was hung. She’d have felt that afterward if he’d fucked her.

  “I’ll leave you now. I have calls to make to two trusted GarLycans I wish to guard you, and I have the head of the Gargoyle Council to confront. He’s an asshole who loves to cause trouble.”

  “Because I’m here?” She’d heard everything that Winalin had said.

  “Kado needs no real excuse to be a thorn in my side. He hates me and every other GarLycan, including one of his own sons. I’m not even certain he likes his other three, since they’re GarLycans, but he at least didn’t give them away to that bastard Abotorus. He is cruel.”

  “He gave away his own kid? Like, put him up for adoption?”

  Aveoth shook his head. “Are you familiar with an indentured servant? Kado signed away his son’s life for a certain amount of years to work for the clan right after his birth. Abotorus allowed it. I never would have. There have been a few times when clan members offered one of their sons to me in that way. I refused.”

  She remembered her history. “So this guy is like a slave?” It horrified her. “Can you set him free?”

  “It’s a fucked-up tradition I inherited when I became a lord.” He reached up and scrubbed his face with his hand. “I can’t dishonor Creed that way by outright giving him his freedom until the time expires. It would embarrass him and injure his pride.” He dropped his hand, staring at her. “I did, however, assign him a job he wanted that is far from here, so he’s not under the command of the Gargoyle Council. They abused him as a youth with harsh assignments.”

  She felt sorry for whoever this Creed was.

  The silver flared in his eyes but he looked furious. “I must leave. I hope you will forgive me at some point, Jill.” He bowed and walked toward the hallway.

  She stood and reached out as he passed, touching his arm. He froze, his head swiveling to stare at her hand lightly gripping his forearm. His gaze lifted to hers.

  “I believe that you didn’t mean to drug me but I can’t say I’m happy about what happened, either.”

  Relief showed on his face. “Thank you.”

  “Be careful.”

  “Always. I have something to protect now.” He pulled away, walking down the hallway and out of sight to his bedroom.

  She sighed and closed her eyes. Why does he have to be so damn hot? And sweet? The memory of his face between her thighs—and what he could do with his tongue—had her opening her eyes and taking a seat on the barstool again.

  She wanted him, even if he wasn’t human, but they’d be a train wreck. “Damn. I’m in trouble.”

  Chapter Ten

  Aveoth closely watched Chaz and Fray. “You do not enter my home unless you f