GargoylesEmbrace

Lisa
Carlisle

Fifth in the Underground Encounters series.

Tracy isn’t sure why she’s drawn to a particular gargoyle
statue in the Goth club where she works. After the stone takes human form to
protect her from her abusive ex, she brings the handsome, naked male to her
apartment. It’s impossible to ignore the seductive appeal of a man sculpted
like a Viking warrior.

Danton has only hours in human form to spend with the woman
he has hungered for. He’s convinced what’s between them is more than hot sex,
but he needs to convince Tracy of that before he turns back to stone.

A
Romantica®
paranormal erotic romance
from Ellora’s Cave

Tracy brushed her fingers over the smooth stone of the
gargoyle perched at the end of the bar of the Vamps nightclub.

“I’m stuck with the late shift tonight,” she said. “But at
least I took in some good money.”

She stood over the crouched gargoyle and ran her hand over the
smooth area between its two horns, down the back of its head and over its
hunched back where its two wings connected. “Thanks for always listening,” she
said, aware of how foolish she sounded speaking to a statue. If anyone saw her,
they’d think she was stone-cold crazy. She bent to kiss its smooth, chiseled
stone cheek in gratitude.

Over the last few months, Tracy had begun talking to the
stone gargoyle as if it were a companion whenever she had a few moments alone
in the bar. Why she gravitated toward this one gargoyle while several others
were perched around the club, she didn’t know. She found something compelling
about it, drawing her in, and she often confided her secrets to it.

Tracy rested her hand on the gargoyle’s shoulder while she
scanned the club. Bottles and cups were scattered in every dark corner and
under the other perched gargoyles. The scent of sweat and spilled beer still
permeated the club.

“Trace.”

Was it one of the guys out back? The guys she worked with
were bringing out the trash and the bottles for recycling. The other bartenders
had already settled up and left for the night. They rotated who could leave
first and who had to stay to make sure they were stocked for the next night.

No, they knew better than to call her Trace.

“It’s Tracy,” she said, turning to face the intruder.

And stared into the face of her ex.

“What are you doing here, Brian?” The muscles in her body
tensed as she gauged the distance between her and the pepper spray behind the
bar should she need it.

She thought she felt a tiny movement under her hand.

No, she had to be losing her mind. As if stone could move.

She kept her hand on the stone like a security blanket,
almost gripping it now that Brian had appeared.

“I came to see what you were doing tonight. Thought maybe we
could hang out.” The way he slurred the words indicated he’d already had one
too many, a bad sign.

“Definitely not. The restraining order should make that
clear.”

“Babe, I was in a rough place and I took it out on you. Let’s
put the past behind us and try again.”

The cold stone felt warmer beneath her hand. How strange.
Was she so heated from the tension of Brian arriving that her palm could warm
cool stone?

“No, Brian. I’ve given you too many chances and each time it
ended worse than the time before.”

“Babe.” He approached her. “I would never hurt you again.”

“Don’t come any closer.” She moved away from the gargoyle to
get to her purse behind the bar.

“Trace, you’re soooo dramatic.” He moved behind the bar.

Tracy was distracted by the gargoyle statue behind him. It
was changing color, from gray stone to what appeared to be—flesh.

“Come on, we were good together. Don’t you miss the sex?”

The stone wings of the gargoyle statue unfurled into
enormous sleek, black, feathered ones. The gargoyle reshaped itself, rising
from a crouched position to stand on two legs to a full height well over six
feet.

And its head. The horns sank back into the stone while light-blond
hair sprouted to take their place, growing past its broad shoulders. Within a
few seconds, the grotesque stone creature she found lovable had transformed
into a breathtaking male with flawless bronze skin, long blond hair and the
magnificent physique of a Viking warrior. Who stood before them stark naked.

“Holy shit!” she exclaimed, eyes widening.

“I know, babe. The sex was awesome.”

She fumbled for her purse, searching for the damn spray. She
wasn’t even sure who she was going to direct it at now with two threats facing
her.

It was too late. Brian had grabbed her wrists and tried to
kiss her.

“Get off me!”

She attempted to knee him in his testicles, but he deflected
the blow by turning his body to the side.

Enormous black wings surrounded Brian and a second later he
was lifted off the ground. Brian exclaimed, “What the―” which was cut off as he
was thrown over the bar onto the empty dance floor.

He scrambled to his feet on unsteady legs. The gargoyle
stepped over to him in a few massive strides. While Tracy’s gaze paused on his
sculpted buttocks, the gargoyle raised one of his sinewy legs and kicked Brian
in the gut. Brian groaned and clutched his stomach. The gargoyle lifted a foot
over Brian’s head.

Tracy screamed while Brian shielded his face with his
forearm to brace against the gargoyle stomping on his head

Tracy tried a gentler tone. “Please don’t. You’ll kill him.”

The gargoyle paused and put his foot down, but then bent to
pinch Brian’s neck, which made Brian pass out.

The sweetness in her voice departed as she exclaimed, “What
in fuck’s name is going on?”

The gargoyle turned to face her, anger flashing from
brilliant blue eyes.

“Don’t be afraid, Tracy.”

He spoke in a husky French accent that set her pulse afire,
despite her natural reaction to retreat. The anger in his eyes gave way to
warmth and intelligence.

“How the hell do you know my name?” She backed away.

Was she drugged? Hallucinating? She only drank water while
she worked and kept her bottle behind the bar. She’d heard too many horror
stories of what could happen if you left your drink unattended for a moment.
Had someone managed to slip a tasteless drug into her water?

“It’s me, Tracy. The statue. The gargoyle.”

“I must be drugged.” She put her hands on her temples and
closed her eyes in an attempt to clear her mind. When she reopened them, her
eyes traveled from his chest down to a well-endowed erection.

Now she was imagining naked males with massive hard-ons? She
had to be drugged. Drugged and horny.

“I know it sounds crazy,” he said. “But I’m alive. Flesh and
blood, just like you.” Then he added, “For now.”

Tracy assessed her brain functions. She didn’t feel like she
was under the influence of something. Her senses weren’t clouded in some haze
and she wasn’t hallucinating things morphing and reshaping themselves. The only
indication something was off was that she’d witnessed a gargoyle statue
transform into a god of a man and throw her ex across the bar. If he was
actually there and not some delusion—that meant she was alone with a naked man
who was as strong as a Viking warrior and sexually excited. She fumbled in her
purse and raised her pepper spray.

“Stay away from me!”

“What is that?” He tilted his head.

“You’ll find out the hard way if you come closer.”

“A weapon.” The curiosity in his expression turned to
amusement. He raised his hand. “I’m clearly unarmed. I’m not here to hurt you.
My name is Danton.”

“How did you come out of the stone?” She kept the pepper
spray directed on his face.

“I didn’t. I am the stone. I’m a gargoyle.”

She glanced to where the gargoyle statue had stood. It was
still there the way it always had been.

“Bull-fucking—shit, pretty boy.” She nodded to the statue. “Then
what the hell is that?”

“My shell.”

“Your what?”

“Listen to me, please.” He held out his hands palm up. “I am
a gargoyle—man and stone in one. My role is to protect humans. Like you.
Especially you.”

“Ha ha ha!” Tracy spat. “I’ve seen some crazy-ass shit
working here. And some real out-there characters. Despite all the insane things
I’ve seen, I have never seen a human come from stone. And the only people who
do see that are on some whacked-up drugs.”

“You are not drugged. Let’s go somewhere and I’ll explain.”

Tracy’s curiosity was piqued. Something about the statue had
compelled her to talk to it, reveal her innermost secrets. And now in a human
form, he had to be the most captivating man she had ever laid her eyes on, even
with all the hot guys who came to Vamps. While her mind sought to understand
what he was exactly, her body yearned for him in other ways.

His head jerked up and he glanced to the back entrance. “Someone’s
coming.”

Tracy pushed erotic images of being with the gargoyle out of
her mind. “You’ve got to get out of here,” she said. “If they see a naked guy
in here, they’ll—I don’t know—jump you or call the cops. Either way, it isn’t
good.” She pictured having to explain how a stone gargoyle statue transformed
into a human and knocked out her ex. They’d lock her up thinking she was bat-shit
crazy! “For either of us,” she added.

She threw her pepper spray in her purse and tossed her car
keys to him. “Go out the front door and wait in my car. Blue Mini Cooper.”

He caught the keys and said, “Thank you.”

His black-feathered wings were clearly too wide to fit
through the doorway. Tracy watched in astonishment as the beautiful wings
retracted into his back, revealing muscular shoulder blades. She blinked twice.
That couldn’t have just happened.

Her gaze traveled to his buttocks and lingered there. She
snapped her drooling mouth shut. “Wait. Throw this on.” She threw him a white
towel she grabbed from under the bar.

He grinned, revealing even, white teeth, and wrapped the
towel around himself. Tracy stared at the door for a good ten seconds after he
left. What the hell was she doing? Maybe she was crazy. After all, the gargoyle
statue was where it had always been. She walked over to touch the stone, which
was cool once again.

She heard the guys chattering as they returned. Flipping a
strand of her pink hair out of her eyes and closing her gaping mouth, she put
on a stony expression.

“Did you scream?” Jimmy asked.

“Yeah. Thanks for rushing to my aid,” she added
sardonically.

“Hey, we were in the middle of hauling boxes. Thought you
just saw a cockroach or something.”

“Sort of.” She nodded to Brian’s unconscious body.

“What the hell?” Ty exclaimed.

“It’s my ex. He came in here all drunk and then passed out
cold.”

“Should we call the cops?”

Tracy debated. He shouldn’t have come tonight, but maybe
getting his ass kicked by a six-foot-plus gargoyle gave him a lesson. If she
called the cops, he’d definitely be arrested for violating a restraining order.
And she’d have a lot of explaining to do. Picturing the luscious gargoyle, she
wasn’t sure how she could manage that without getting herself recommended for
an evaluation.

“Nah. I’ll call his roommate to come get him.”

After reaching him, she explained. “Listen, Brian came in
here tonight all drunk and saying crazy stuff. Now he’s passed out at Vamps.
Can you come get him?”

After he agreed, she restocked glasses on the shelves and
tried to make sense of what just happened. The only explanation was somehow she
was the one hallucinating. Then she remembered Brian unconscious on the floor
and how he made it there. Her co-workers had seen him.

Tracy walked out into the still-warm July night and saw the
mouthwatering shirtless male in her Mini Cooper. He barely fit in the passenger
seat—his head almost touched the ceiling and his chest extended beyond the
width of her passenger seat. Whoever this Danton gargoyle guy was, he appeared
real. Splendid and real.

She glanced around the parking lot to make sure they were
alone and then climbed into the driver’s seat.

“How are you here? But the statue is still in the club?”

“To keep humans from suspecting anything with our absence,
we leave a shell behind.”

“How?” She drove away from the club, glancing in the
rearview mirror to make sure none of her coworkers saw her leaving with a
bare-chested blond god.

Danton shrugged. “We just—will it.”

“Hmm.” Nobody she knew could will anything like that.

She scented an essence from him that made her heady with
need. “Where should I drop you off?”

“I was hoping we could go someplace quiet and—talk.”

“Talk?”

“We always talk. Well, you talk and I listen.”

She flushed when she remembered all the personal things she
had told him.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Aren’t you curious? Don’t you want to know why I showed my
true self to you?”

She tried to come up with some flippant remark, but her
curiosity won out. “Yes.” She stole a peek at his handsome profile. How did
someone so beautiful come from a form many found grotesque?

Her eyes scanned down his torso to the white towel. Was he
still hard? She pictured his fine physique, as perfect as if it were carved by
a master sculptor with the finest tools.

“Let’s go back to my apartment,” she said. “We can talk
there.”