Born of Stone (6 page)

He was about to rejoin her on the bed when his stomach growled loudly. With a frown, he glanced at her and was happy to see her still asleep. He didn’t want to get dressed and leave her but he’d never finished dinner. He sighed as he pulled on clothes and headed out the door.

Astrid was dreaming, and it began as the most glorious dream. All manner of food lined a massive stone table. The Masters stood all around it but there were also humans among them.

“Eat, eat,” they said, and the humans dug in with greedy hands. Astrid reached for a leg of chicken and Orestes grabbed her wrist.

“No, my little star, this isn’t for you. Don’t you know your place yet?”

He seemed amused but she was humiliated. After the intimacy they had shared, he still thought so little of her? Her stomach growled loudly and he laughed long and hard. His brothers joined in and soon the humans did as well. The whole room was laughing at her while she stood hungry and miserable. She ached to run away, but like in many dreams, her feet were rooted to the ground. She wrapped her arms around her aching belly and lowered her head in the hopes no one would see her tears.

“No, don’t cry, my sweet. There’s no cause for you to cry.”

Orestes’s deep voice sounded in her ear both the same and different from before. She felt the heat of his palm against her cheek. Her tears continued to fall and she realized her eyes were tightly shut. Slowly she woke from the dream to the sight of Orestes’s worried face above her.

“Why do you cry in your sleep, my little star?”

She sniffled and the fresh scent of food invaded her lungs. Was the dream still lingering? Her stomach growled loudly and she slapped a hand over her bare belly. Orestes frowned.

“Are you so hungry it brings you to tears? Come. I have food for you.”

He slipped his large arm beneath her shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position. Then he moved away from her to a small table beside the bed. It was laden with dishes, steam rising from more than a few. Her stomach growled again.

“I was about to eat when I noticed your uneasy sleep. Now we can dine together.”

She remained mute while he covered a plate in more food than she had eaten in months. When he walked to the bed with it, she thought he meant to eat in front of her. The urge to run from the room was strong but she knew he would catch her. Better to simply struggle through the torture as she had so many others.

“If there is anything here you don’t like, just leave it.”

He placed the plate on the bed before her and went back to the table. When he began to fill a second plate she realized the first was for her.

All of it? All for her alone?

“Uh…sir, I can’t possibly eat so much.”

He stopped stacking his plate to glance at her, giving her a grin that weakened her further. Goddess, the man was handsome.

“Just eat your fill then. And no calling me sir. Orestes. Remember?”

She looked again at the large plate sitting before her and wondered if she was still dreaming. But the smells were so good and she could feel the steam coming from the meat. With shaking fingers, she finally picked up one small morsel and put it to her lips. She closed her eyes and slipped the meat into her mouth, moaning as soon as the taste burst on her tongue. It was exquisite—the most marvelous thing she had ever eaten. She ate slowly to savor the experience, then quickly snatched up the next piece.

Orestes was hungry enough that he had begun to impatiently pile food onto his plate without paying much attention to what he grabbed. Then Astrid moaned and his hunger was forgotten. At least, his hunger for food. His head shot up and he watched her eyes slip closed and pure bliss play across her face. She finished a small bit of beef and snatched another as if afraid it would try to run away. He nearly laughed until he noticed the hunger and wonder in her gaze. She really had been starving.

His own hunger was immediately forgotten and he placed his plate on the table. He approached the bed cautiously, lest he frighten her.

“Astrid, my dear, don’t eat too quickly. Your body will reject the food if you put in too much or go too fast.” She froze with a bit of chicken halfway to her mouth. “I’m not saying you must stop, but please slow down.”

A blush colored her face and she lowered her head. He felt like the biggest ass in the kingdom.

“No, don’t be ashamed.” He pulled himself onto the bed to sit beside her and wrapped one arm around her slender shoulders. She still held the chicken.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I must look like an animal.”

“No, not at all.” He took the chicken from her hand and held it to her lips. “Eat, my beauty.”

She hesitated a moment, but in the end the temptation proved to be too much. She bit into the piece and closed her eyes, relishing the taste with the same fervor as before. His cock stirred at the look of pleasure on her face. And when she finished the piece in her mouth, she took the rest from his fingers. The light touch of her tongue on his skin hardened him fully.

“Just eat slowly. That’s all I ask and only for your health. I know you haven’t been properly fed in too long and your body won’t be able to handle so much food at once.”

She nodded and seemed to be at ease, so he left the bed again to get his own plate. He sat beside her and ate. He also took his time to keep her from feeling self-conscious, but too soon she was setting her dish aside. A glance told him she’d barely put a dent in it.

“I’m already feeling quite full but I don’t want to stop. It’s all so wonderful.”

“It isn’t going anywhere. Take your ease and then continue once your body is ready.”

She nodded and settled back against the pillows. He then emptied his plate quickly and took hers back to the table. There were still fruits and vegetables, cakes and a pudding. All of it could sit until morning. Perhaps he would feed her from his hand again. Of course, that was a lesson in patience. Her sensual moans and the look on her face damn near had him shoving the plate out of the way so he could have her again.

He laughed at himself for the thought, though he knew it was true. By the time he returned to the bed she was fast asleep. He watched her for a moment before pulling off his clothes and climbing in beside her. She looked like an angel—a small, fragile, dark-haired angel. No Kevan woman ever looked so sweet and innocent. Was that Astrid’s draw? Perhaps, but he couldn’t hold it against her. It certainly wasn’t her fault she was human, and so far it hadn’t proven to be a problem. Despite his size, her body had accepted him willingly. He couldn’t wait to have her again but knew she’d need time to rest. Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough.

In the end, he wasn’t able to wait until sunrise. He woke her with kisses, and had her beneath him twice more during the night before finally falling into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Astrid again woke to the scent of food, but it was the same as before. She immediately remembered where she was and all that had happened. Warmth along one side of her body told her Orestes was still beside her in bed. She blinked her eyes open slowly and looked to the lone window. Bright light speared through the small space between the window covering and the wall.

“Good morning. Are you hungry?”

She turned her attention to the large man at her side and her breath caught. He was so handsome. She still couldn’t believe this wasn’t all a dream.

“No, not yet.”

He nodded and slowly pulled the blankets down until her breasts were revealed to his hungry gaze. He licked his lips and her nipples automatically hardened for his touch. The sight made him grin.

“I am, but not for anything on yon table. I think I see the perfect berries for breakfast right here.”

His playfulness surprised a laugh out of her—a cracked, rusty sound that had gone too long unused. Orestes paused with his head bent halfway to her breasts and stared at her.

“Orestes?”

“That was wonderful. Do that again.”

“What?”

“Laugh, darling. It does my heart good to hear it.”

That made her smile but she couldn’t find a reason to laugh again. He watched her face a moment before finally shrugging and turning his attention back to her breasts.

The first swipe of his warm tongue had her gasping and digging her fingers into his thick hair. He hummed against her skin and slid his hands up her sides. He held her body to him as if afraid she would try to get away, and she almost did laugh again because nothing was farther from her mind. Why would she try to run away from paradise? That was exactly what she’d found here in—of all places—a Master’s bedroom. The unreality of it all nearly blinded her to the pleasure. But then he pulled her nipple between his lips and grabbed her attention.

“Oh…”

He moved his body over hers and she let her legs fall open to accommodate him. That easily, she was his. Had she really feared this man just yesterday? Not even a full day had passed and she was trusting him with her body again.

A hard knock on his door, followed by the knob being jiggled, broke into her thoughts. She pulled her hands from him when he slowly sat up.

“What?” he hollered.

A muffled voice sounded from the other side of the door but she couldn’t understand a single word. Orestes didn’t seem to have that problem. He growled low in his throat and moved off the bed. He grabbed the blankets and pulled them to her neck before placing a swift kiss on her mouth.

“Sorry, my sweet, but I must see to this. Remain covered.”

He waited for her to nod before he grabbed his clothes off the floor and pulled them on quickly. Then he unlocked the door and opened it wide. Three of his brothers stood in the hallway.

“Come in,” he said, but it was anything but welcoming.

Kephas, Goran and Dunstan strode into the room and looked around. Their gazes found Astrid almost immediately and she fought the urge to jump from the bed. Orestes stood between her and his brothers with his hands on his hips, but he was also in the way of the door.

“What is it?” he asked. “What has happened?”

Kephas shrugged his massive shoulders and matched Orestes’s stance. “An attack on the village of Angor, right at the border. Right now, it appears to be a mix of creatures, including human men.”

“They’re still fighting?” Orestes asked.

“No,” Dunstan replied. “But they were spotted as they rode away. Two of the Kevan were in a neighboring village and heard the warning bell ring. They saw the destruction and followed a trail to the border.”

“Who was supposed to be guarding that area?”

The brothers looked at each other uncertainly, as if none wanted to voice the name. Astrid remained mute. She couldn’t imagine any of the Masters disregarding his duty to the kingdom.

Finally Goran spoke up. “It was Nel’s responsibility to patrol that area of the border these past few days. He had checked in on schedule but now there is no sign of him.”

“Nel…”

Astrid watched Orestes’s frown fade into an expression of concern. She tried to remember Nel. It was rare for her to look up into the faces of any of the Masters so she didn’t always note the differences between them. That had never been the case with Orestes. He had fascinated her from the first time she had seen him. But thinking back on Nel now, she realized he resembled Orestes more than the others. Though they considered themselves brothers, as did everyone in the kingdom, the men weren’t joined by blood. They had no mother, no father, no kin in the way of humans.

The Gargoyle Masters were the creations of the King’s wizards and no one but the King, the wizards, and the Masters themselves knew exactly how they had come into being. It had been many years before Astrid’s birth but she’d heard whispers. After a series of horribly violent battles in the borderlands, the King called his wizards together. They remained locked up in the castle battle-room for many days and nights, and when they emerged, the Gargoyles emerged with them, fully grown.

Now she looked from one face to another and knew somehow Nel and Orestes were more connected than the others. Kephas placed a hand on Orestes’s shoulder.

“I’ve already sent Petros and Haldor in your stead, brother. Take your ease with your woman and we’ll keep you updated.”

His woman?
His
woman?

She immediately noted how no one, not even Orestes, blinked an eye at Kephas’s words. Was she the only one taken aback by them? The Masters never seemed to have
women
. At least, not one at a time for any length of time. To be called a Master’s woman was unheard of and…intriguing.

Chapter Five

“You’ve grown quiet.” Orestes chuckled at his own words and the confusion on Astrid’s face. “Well, more quiet than usual, that is.”

She chewed on her bottom lip and set her cup of water aside. He had made a place for them to picnic before the fireplace, covering it with many hides lest her fragile skin grow cold. So far she seemed to be enjoying the food and his nearness. He had finally allowed her to put on one of his shirts after making love to her again, laughing at how it draped her like a sheet. A quiet word in their native tongue to one of his brothers secured her clothes for the coming days, but they had to be handcrafted. For now, he would simply enjoy her in his garments.