Trill to me Sweetly

Into the paranormal world: A man’s idea of good and bad

can be put to the test at the most unexpected moments.

Maelgwn, leader of a clutch of gargoyles in Durango,

Colorado, only  planned to be in Stone Ridge a few days to
help a fellow gargoyle’s mate through laying their first egg.
His  plan  to  leave  changes  when  he  scents  his  mate  in  the
hospital. He discovers his mate is Bobby Truman, a human
who has no idea the paranormal world exists, even though a
number  of  his  friends  are  shifters.  Maelgwn  begins  the
arduous process of watching and waiting, searching for that
perfect opportunity to make contact with his mate.

Bobby Truman is tired of his boyfriend, Seth’s, abusive

friends,  especially  when  Seth  doesn’t  do  anything  about
their antics. The broken nose, compliments of Seth’s buddy
Grant, is the final straw. When he’s attacked by muggers and
rescued by a mysterious stranger in the dark, Bobby hopes
it’s  the  opportunity  he  needs  to  make  a  clean  break  from
Seth.  Even  if  it  doesn’t  work  out  with  Maelgwn,  maybe
Bobby  can  keep  his  new  love  interest’s  attention  long
enough to prove to Seth they are really done.

Bobby thinks it’s odd that Maelgwn won’t come into the

light, always meeting him after dark, but he’s nowhere near
prepared for the truth when it finally comes out.

Can Maelgwn convince Bobby that the things that go

bump in the night aren’t always bad and to take his place at
Maelgwn’s side in a paranormal world? Even when that
means uprooting his life and moving?

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or
are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or
locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Trill To Me Sweetly

ISBN: 978-1-77111-450-9

Cover art by Scott Carpenter

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Trill To Me Sweetly

A Paranormal’s Love: Book One

Charlie Richards

Chapter One

obby was in too deep, and he knew it. Unfortunately,
he wasn’t certain how to extricate himself from the

mess his life had become. He thought about running away,
but where would he go? His job was here. Bobby truly loved
Colin City and didn’t want to leave.

Plus, his friends were here. Not that Bobby wanted to

involve  any  of  them  in  his  problems.  The  only  one  who
might  have been able  to help was  his ex-lover Lyle, but he
didn’t  talk  to  him  anymore.  The  nice  detective  had  been
kidnapped  and  fallen  in  love  with  his  male  nurse  after
getting rescued. Didn’t that just beat all? Bobby was happy
for him, sort of.

Glancing at his watch, Bobby bit back a sigh. Great. If he

didn’t  hurry,  he’d  be  late  getting  home,  which  meant  Seth
would  be  pissed.  As  if  he  wouldn’t  already  be  mad  when
Forest  showed  up  and  told  Seth  all  about  Bobby  meeting
another  man  at  the  coffee  shop.  While  Bobby  had  been
talking  to  his  friend,  Cornelius,  he’d  seen  Forest  leave  the
pub across the street. It would be way too much to hope that
Seth’s buddy hadn’t noticed Bobby. Really, who lounged on
an  outdoor  patio  in  Colorado  during  the  dead  of  winter?
Yeah, that would be the thick necked goon.

Bobby closed his laptop and shoved it into his bag. He

downed the last of his coffee and stood. When he rubbed a
hand over his face, Bobby only felt a twinge from his nose.
At least the broken nose was almost healed. God, just the

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memory of Seth’s friend’s fist hitting his face was enough to
make him cringe. Sure, Seth had a possessive streak a mile
wide and always kept an eye on him, but at least Bobby
didn’t have to worry about getting hit by the man.

It was Seth’s asshole buddies that liked to smack him on

the  back  too  hard  or  punch  him  in  the  arm  too  hard—all
under  the  guise  of  friendly  scuffling.  When  Grant  had  hit
him in the face, he’d claimed he’d been aiming for Bobby’s
shoulder. Seth had punched him out anyway. Bobby wasn’t
certain  why  that  hadn’t  made  him  feel  any  better.  Maybe
because it didn’t relieve the ache in his nose?

Or it could be the feeling of helplessness Seth’s actions

caused in Bobby. Seth had his friends keep an eye on Bobby
while he was at work. And when Seth wasn’t at work, he
was constantly dropping by Bobby’s home or dropping by
Bobby’s work. Bobby never felt alone anymore, but he was
still isolated.

Bobby hated it and wanted out.
He paused, a shiver working up his spine. The hairs on

the back of his neck stood on end. Bobby glanced behind
him surreptitiously, then quickly returned his focus straight
ahead and picked up his pace. Okay, so maybe he shouldn’t
have stayed quite so late at the coffee shop.

Someone was following him. Someone he didn’t

recognize. In fact, two someones. Two someones who looked
like muggers, with their dark hoodies and chains jangling
from their jeans. Maybe it was stereotyping, but Bobby still
debated his options—cut into an alleyway or start running.
Both sucked.

When he felt the hand drop on his shoulder, Bobby

squealed and did both. He yanked away from whoever the
hell had touched him and started sprinting down the alley
on his left. Bobby just knew if he could make it to the end, he
could turn left, then right, and make it to a main road with

Trill To Me Sweetly

taxis.

Sadly, at five foot seven he was short, which meant his

legs were short, and the thugs caught up with him. A hand
grabbed his sweatshirt, yanking him nearly off his feet. He
gasped, losing his breath, but managed to regain his balance.
That is, until whoever held him shoved him sideways into
the wall.

He almost dropped his laptop case and scrambled to hang

onto it. Bobby had to wrap both arms around it to hold the
old, heavy thing, causing him to scrape his knuckles on the
building’s stone walls.

“Now, why’d you have to go and run, dude?” one of his

pursuers asked. “That only makes my buddy excited.”

The other guy chortled, and it took everything in Bobby

to turn around and face them. “Please, leave me alone,” he
whispered, his gaze darting back and forth between the two
men. He clutched his laptop case to his chest like a shield.

“Awe, we ain’t gonna hurt ya,” said the first man again,

obviously the duo’s speaker. “As long as you give us what
we want,” he added in a sultry tone that sent a shiver down
Bobby’s spine.

“What-what do you want?” Bobby whispered, his gaze

skittering between them.

“Your laptop,” replied the first.
It almost drowned out the second guy’s answer. “Your

ass.”

Bobby paled. “No,” he denied.
“Awe, don’t be that way, baby,” the first guy said, leering.

“We’ll make it good for you.”

Bobby didn’t have anywhere to go when both guys

moved in on him. He whimpered, cringing as the first guy’s
bad, beer-soaked breath wafted across his face. Crying out in
dismay, Bobby shifted sideways when the second guy
grabbed his belt. It didn’t take a genius to realize what

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would come next.

He started to shake his head, and his body trembled

violently. The first guy’s fingers pinched his jaw and turned
his head as he pressed his mouth over Bobby’s and forced
his tongue into his mouth.

Before Bobby could figure out how to get out of this, an

inhuman roar echoed through the alley. Both men jerked, the
first lifting his head though he kept his hands on Bobby’s
face. The second guy released his unbuckled belt and
snarled, “What the fuck was that?”

“No fucking idea,” the first man replied, his tone a cross

between worried and angry, probably at the interruption.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”
The question, spoken slowly, menacingly, in a deep gruff

voice, actually vibrated Bobby’s balls. That could be the only
reason Bobby could think of that would explain why his
dick started perking up under these circumstances. At least
asshole mugger number one released his jaw and both
stepped away from him to face the interloper.

Bobby knew he should take advantage of their

distraction, so he sucked in a breath and sprinted toward the
mouth of the alley. He didn’t make it two steps before thug
number two grabbed him and slammed him against a wall.
Pain shot through his head as it scraped against the rough
stone.

Another roar echoed through the alley. Instead of making

his  head  ring,  Bobby  felt  almost…well…reassured.  He
pressed a hand to his temple and felt the blood oozing from
his  skin.  Instead  of  focusing  on  that,  he  couldn’t  help  but
notice  the  way  the  man  who  cast  the  massive  shadow  and
spoke in the deep sexy voice slammed the head of one of the
muggers against the wall.

He shouted a warning when he spotted the second man

charge toward the shadow that signified his hero, a glimmer

Trill To Me Sweetly

of moonlight glinting off the knife of a switchblade clutched
in the attacker’s hand.

The big shadow swept a long leg out and knocked the

guy off his feet. The first mugger had regained his feet and
charged. Bobby’s hero swung out an arm and nailed the guy
with his cloak. It must have been made of a stiff material,
because the thug bounced backward into the wall. This time,
his head hit it with a resounding crack and he slumped on
the ground.

Bobby watched his helper’s silhouette rise to his full

height as he backhanded the second charging mugger. Like
his buddy, when the man went down, he didn’t get back up.
Bobby’s jaw dropped when his savior finally stood still and
he could take in the guy’s actual proportions. Sure, the
shadows obscured quite a bit, but the man must have been
at least seven feet tall, and his broad shoulders, holy shit!

“Are you all right?” the guy queried.
“Yeah,” Bobby whispered, unable to stop his gaze from

sweeping over the heavily cloaked, shadowed figure.
“Thank you.”

“Your laptop,” the man said, kneeling on the ground and

grasping a black, square object. “Here.”

Instead of moving toward him, the man slid the bag

across the concrete toward Bobby. His aim was true, and the
bag stopped a foot in front him. “Thank you,” he said again,
grabbing it and pulling it close.

“You’re welcome,” came the guy’s deep voice. “You can

go. I’ll call the police and deal with these thugs.”

Bobby’s fists tightened on the handle, but he didn’t move

from his spot. For some reason, he desperately wanted to see
the face of his hero. He just knew it would be as sexy as his
deep voice implied. Instead, he asked, “Is there something I
can do to repay you for your kindness?”

For a long moment, the man remained quiet. Bobby

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almost didn’t think he’d respond, but then the stranger said,
“Have dinner with me.”

He knew his brows lifted, and he couldn’t keep in his

surprised gasp. He licked his lips and struggled to formulate
an answer. Would it be cheating to accept a thank-you
dinner from a guy who saved him from…well, probably a
mugging and rape?

Bobby decided Seth would probably see it that way. This

was the perfect opportunity to move on. If this big man
made his interest known, surely Seth would leave him alone,
right?

“Never mind,” the man said, refocusing Bobby’s

attention. The man moved, his shadow turning, drawing
away.

“No, wait, please,” Bobby cried, heading toward him.
“Stop.”
Bobby obeyed the command in the other man’s tone and

came to a standstill. “Please, wait,” Bobby pleaded. He
didn’t know if the guy could see his expression, but he tried
to implore with his look anyway. “I’ll have dinner with you,
just…” he licked his lips and shook his head.

“Just what?”
“I-I’m currently seeing someone. I’ve been working up

the courage to break up with him, but…I haven’t done it yet.
I…” Shit, why is this so hard? “I don’t want you to think I’m a
cheater,” Bobby blurted. “Because I’m not. I need a couple
days to tell him it’s over.”

“I see,” the guy replied quietly. “I can understand that.

When did you have in mind?”

Bobby swallowed hard, wracking his brain. Seth worked

tonight and tomorrow. He could take the cowards way out
and tell him over the phone. That’d be best, right? Faster,
easier, safer…then Bobby could see his sexy-sounding savior
in the next day or so. “How about Tuesday night? Does that

Trill To Me Sweetly

work for you?”

The guy looked to have tilted his head. Bobby heard him

swallow. “I’ll force myself to wait, though it will be
difficult.”

Grinning, Bobby felt a wash of pleasure at the man’s

admission. “Okay. Where?” He tried not to sound too eager,
though he wasn’t certain how successful he was.

“On the outskirts of town, on the corner of eighth and

main is a park. Will you meet me there? I’ll have a picnic
and a fire waiting.”

Bobby thought it a bit cold for an outside meal, but he

wouldn’t miss this chance for anything. “Okay,” he said
slowly. “I can do that. What time?”

“Seven o’clock. Is that too late for you?” the man asked.
Smiling, Bobby shook his head. Excitement coursed

through him at the prospect of his date. “That’s fine. I’ll be
there.”

“I look forward to it.”
He couldn’t stop his grin. “Me, too,” he murmured.

Bobby took one step away before turning back to the man.
“What’s your name?”

The shadow shifted, and Bobby imagined a smile curving

the shadowed lips of his sexy date. “Maelgwn. I’ll see you
night after next, Bobby.”

Bobby watched Maelgwn slip down the alleyway, his big

frame  sliding  silently  into  the  night  as  he  rolled  the  name
around  his  lips.  He  thought  it  was  sexy  and  exotic.  As  he
started toward home, laptop case clutched close to his chest,
it  occurred  to  him  that  he  didn’t  actually  remember  telling
Maelgwn his name.

Charlie Richards

Chapter Two

rom the rooftop two houses down, Maelgwn watched
Bobby unlock the outer door of his apartment complex

and disappear inside. He stretched his wings and leaped,
taking to the air. Catching a current, he floated to the roof of
the building across from his mate’s home.

Maelgwn spotted Bobby cross his kitchen and set his

laptop case on the dining room table. His mate returned to
the kitchen and pulled a beer from the fridge. He hadn’t
even made it out of the room before his phone rang. He
didn’t miss the way Bobby glared at his cell before picking it
up and answering. After a roll of his eyes, Bobby took a swig
of his beer and headed out of the kitchen and into the living
room…and out of sight.

Swallowing hard, Maelgwn grabbed the ledge with his

hands, the cement cracking under the strength of his claws’
hold, to keep himself from leaping across the hundred yards
separating him from Bobby. Maelgwn desperately wanted to
crash through the doors and yank the offending machinery
out of his mate’s hand. Biding his time, being patient in
wooing his human mate, was killing him.

He’d been watching Bobby for over a week and a half,

trying to figure out how to get close to him. Finally,  finally,
Maelgwn  had  managed  it.  It  sure  wasn’t  the  way  he’d
wanted  to,  rescuing  him  from  muggers,  but  he’d  take  any
way to interact with Bobby that he could get, especially since

Trill To Me Sweetly

the biggest issue was Maelgwn couldn’t really let Bobby see
him. If Bobby knew he was a gargoyle—with wings, claws,
stone by day and thick leather hide by night—his little
human would go running for the hills.

Heaving a sigh, Maelgwn accepted that his mate was in

and alone for the night. He turned, spread his wings, and
launched into the night sky. He really wanted a steak, and
he knew just the place to get one.

Maelgwn winged his way to the outskirts of Stone Ridge.

The flight only took him a few minutes and he dropped into
a small clearing behind a mother-in-law cottage several
hundred yards away from a larger residence. He didn’t
know who the humans were that lived in the big house, but
he’d spent plenty of time with the men in the cottage.

He knocked on the sliding door at the back of the house,

well  hidden  in  the  trees.  Gustav  Hermance,  Gus  to  his
friends,  appeared  quickly,  pulling  the  blinds  aside  to  peer
outside. The  big rhino  shifter grinned, showing off straight
white teeth in his pale face. The bald Caucasian looked like a
body builder, but as a shifter, his bulk was all natural.

Gus slid the door open and beckoned him in out of the

cold. Tucking his wings around him like a  cloak,  Maelgwn
stepped  into  the  decent-sized  studio  cottage.  “Thanks,”  he
said, glancing down to make certain he wasn’t tracking mud
or  snow  in  on  his  clawed  feet.  A  careful  wipe  on  the  mat
assured him of his cleanliness.

Looking around the room, he spotted Tible, Gus’s

gargoyle mate, standing at the stove. Tible looked over his
slender gray shoulder and smiled at him. “Welcome,
Maelgwn. You want a steak?”

“I’d love one, thanks,” he replied, moving around the

small,  round  table  to  lean  against  the  counter.  “Is  there
anything  I  can  do  to  help?”  he  asked,  trying  not  to  be
embarrassed  about  the  way  his  stomach  growled  at  the

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smells of the cooking meat.

Gus shook his head. “Naw. The potatoes are in the oven.

The steaks are cooking on the burners.” He looked at
Maelgwn and grinned. “Unless you wanna grab some
veggies from the freezer,” he teased.

Maelgwn snorted. “Yeah, right.”
Gus laughed, and Tible snickered.
As a massive, seven-foot-one-inch gargoyle, Maelgwn

was primarily a meat eater. He didn’t mind a potato or two,
but anything green really didn’t appeal. That’s not to say he
wouldn’t eat it if a host put it in front of him, it just meant he
wouldn’t willingly add it to a menu.

Gus slapped him on the shoulder and laughed. “That’s

what I thought.”

Ten minutes later, Tible handed Maelgwn a plate with a

twenty-four ounce steak and a large baked potato. “Here ya
go, Mal,” Tible said, grinning. “Enjoy.”

Smirking, Maelgwn took it and sat. Very few would have

the  gall  to  give  him  a  nickname.  He  was  chieftain  of  his
clutch, and checked in with his second-in-command, Tobias,
at  least  once  every  evening.  During  the  day,  Maelgwn
roosted,  turning  to  stone  in  a  tree  near  Declan  McIntire’s
home.  The  alpha  wolf  shifter  had  offered  him  sanctuary
while  he  tried  to  figure  out  how  to  woo  his  human  mate.
Finally,  finally  he’d  been  able  to  make  contact  with  Bobby.
He couldn’t contain his excitement.

“I talked to Bobby today,” he blurted out after

swallowing a juicy bite of rare steak, no longer able to hold
in the news.

Tible dropped his fork in shock. Gus’s brows shot up.

“Wow,” Gus said. “That’s…that’s…”

“How did it happen?” Tible cut in, gripping Gus’s hand.

“Are you both…okay?”

Maelgwn set his fork down and studied his half-eaten

Trill To Me Sweetly

food. When he looked at the other two men, he took in the
way Gus stroked Tible’s long white hair absently. He’d seen
the big man do it often, almost as a soothing mechanism. In
return, Tible flashed a loving look toward his mate.

Their relationship was what Maelgwn wanted.

Unfortunately, Bobby was human and didn’t know creatures
like him existed. Though Gus and Tible were friends with
Maelgwn’s mate, Bobby didn’t know they were a rhino
shifter and a gargoyle. Bobby thought they were human, just
like him.

“He was being mugged,” Maelgwn admitted, hating the

memory of fear on his mate’s face and his blood scenting the
air. “While walking home from a cyber café. It was dark in
the alley, so I pulled the muggers deeper into the shadows
and stopped them. Bobby could only see my silhouette.”

After a moment, Tible asked, “Did he seem…afraid of

you? Or-or grateful?” He leaned forward, gray eyes wide.
“What else happened?”

Maelgwn smiled at his next thought. “Oh, no, he was

definitely grateful. I asked him to dinner and he agreed.”

“You’re taking him to dinner?” Gus asked slowly. “How

will that work?”

Grimacing, he replied, “We’re meeting at a park pavilion

on the outskirts of town. I’m hoping you’ll help me set it up.
I’ll need a fire and candles and do either of you know what
kind of food Bobby likes?”

Tible nibbled his lip and frowned. “Let me give that some

thought.” He cocked his head. “Why the park? Won’t it be
cold?”

Maelgwn shrugged, his wings rustling where they rested

over his shoulders. “Cold, yes, but it can’t be helped. I need
to stay in the dark,” he said sadly. “I can’t allow him to see
me, yet.” he said the words softly, lowering his gaze to the
table as his brow ridges creased. “If he gets to know me,

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maybe…” He licked his lips. “Maybe he won’t think I’m a
monster.”

Gods above, just that thought nearly tore him apart.

Would his mate ever accept him? It was never easy when a
human  had  to  be  brought  in  by  any  paranormal,  but  for  a
gargoyle,  it  was  even  harder,  because  they  didn’t  get  a
human form until after their mate accepted them. He’d need
to be fucked and claimed by Bobby in order to go through a
molt,  a  transition  that  would  allow  him  to  turn  human
instead  of  stone  by  day.  It  was  a  gargoyle’s  safety
mechanism so they could care for their mate once bonded.

A light touch to his hand grabbed Maelgwn’s attention.

He looked over to find Tible’s slender fingers resting on his
own.  Lifting  his  head  to  meet  the  smaller  gargoyle’s  gaze,
Maelgwn saw the look of determination on his face.  “We’ll
do everything we can to help you. We told you that already.
We’ll  find  a  way  to  make  him  understand,”  Tible  vowed,
reminding  Maelgwn  of  their  promise  to  return  a  kindness
when  he  had  helped  Tible  and  Gus  go  through  birthing  a
gargoyle egg.

Maelgwn flipped his hand and squeezed Tible’s fingers

lightly before letting go. “I appreciate that.”

“When is your date?” Gus asked.
“Day after tomorrow,” he told them.
“What about his boyfriend?” Tible asked, concern

creeping into his tone. “Bobby isn’t one to cheat, and even if
he was, his boyfriend Seth is horribly possessive. Doing
something like this could really cause problems for Bobby.”

Remembering their conversation, Maelgwn couldn’t stop

his grin. “He mentioned that, and said he planned to break
up with Seth.” Pleasure swept through him. He prayed that
meant Bobby felt the pull to be with him, if he were willing
to leave his current beau to be with him.

Maelgwn hung onto that thought as he and his friends

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made plans for his date.

His wings tucked tight around him to keep from

knocking  the  candles  over  or  snagging  on  the  checkered
tablecloth,  Maelgwn  reached  over  and  finished  setting  the
table. He placed Bobby’s food on the hot plate to keep warm,
then  turned  and  checked  that  the  fire  had  sufficiently
caught.

Maelgwn stood before the warm blaze and brought a mug

of coffee to his lips. Bobby should be there any minute, and
he prayed to Fate and whatever gods deemed to listen that
this didn’t backfire in any way.

The sweep of headlights over the dark park lawn had him

lifting  a  wing  to  shield  his  face.  Maelgwn  turned  and
hurried  from  the  pavilion,  instantly  missing  the  fire’s
warmth.  His  deep  blue,  leathery  hide  was  thick,  but
Colorado winters were cold. His wings around him offered a
welcome barrier between his body and the chilly air.

“Maelgwn?”
Bobby’s tentative call reminded him exactly why he was

there. Making certain one of the pavilion’s large, round,
stone pillars was between himself and his mate, he called,
“I’m here, Bobby. Please, have a seat.”

“Where are you?” the young human asked.
The crunch of sneakers on snow allowed Maelgwn to

monitor his mate’s approach. “I’m here,” he said again. “I
put your plate in the warming bag. Please, sit by the fire and
enjoy it.”

He heard the rustle of clothing, telling him Bobby sat.

Maelgwn spread his wings and leaped. Catching hold of an
overhead  beam,  he  dug  in  his  claws  and  crawled  up  the
inside  wall.  Maelgwn  settled  on  the  beams  above  the
fireplace,  enjoying  the  rising  heat  while  using  the  twisting
shadows  to  keep  him  hidden.  Here,  he  could  watch  and

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converse with his mate, without worrying that his features
would be made out.

“Oh, wow,” Bobby exclaimed, lifting the lid from the

plate. “I love chicken parmesan. How did you know?”

Maelgwn smiled, pleased that his mate was happy with

the choice. “Tible told me,” he admitted.

Bobby’s head tipped back, his brows creased in a frown.

“Are you sitting in the rafters?”

“I am,” Maelgwn responded.
“Aren’t you dining with me?” Bobby asked, clearly

confused.

Maelgwn sighed. “I don’t think that’d be a good idea yet,

Bobby. Perhaps, when we get to know each other better.”

Bobby took a sip of the wine in front of him. To

Maelgwn’s  relief,  his  mate  hummed  with  pleasure  upon
tasting the vintage. “Nice.” He picked up his fork and took a
bite  of  the  fettuccine  alfredo  first,  then  the  chicken.  As  he
chewed,  a  pleased  but  thoughtful  look  crossed  his
expression. Once he’d swallowed, Bobby asked, “Why won’t
you eat with me?”

Maelgwn struggled with how to answer that question. He

didn’t  want  to  start  his  relationship  with  outright  lies,  but
what could he say? “I’m—I’m worried you’ll reject my suit
out of hand if you see me first,” he finally admitted. With his
wings  wrapped  tightly  around  him,  his  toe  claws  dug  into
the  beam  under  his  butt,  and  his  tail  wrapped  around  his
shins,  he’d  never  felt  more  scared  to  hear  his  mate’s  next
words.

Trill To Me Sweetly

Chapter Three

lowly, Bobby put down his fork. The food truly was
delicious. Maelgwn said he knew Tible, who Bobby

considered a good friend along with his husband, Gus, and
Maelgwn had obviously done his homework. Chicken
parmesan, fettuccine alfredo, and grilled asparagus had to
be three of his all-time favorite foods.

When he’d walked into the pavilion and saw the roaring

fire  and  the  romantic  candlelit  table,  Bobby  hadn’t  really
known  what  to  think  at  seeing  only  one  place  setting.  He
knew  someone  was  here,  because  his  headlights  had
illuminated  a  massive  figure.  To  find  himself  dining  alone
was extremely disconcerting.

What was even weirder was the fact that his date sat

fifteen feet above his head, cloaked in darkness, and
wouldn’t let Bobby see him. Sadly, it kinda hurt, too.
Maelgwn must think he looked hideous to be this worried.

“You think I’ll judge you because of your looks?” Bobby

asked quietly.

“It’s nothing against you, Bobby,” Maelgwn answered,

his deep voice soft, carrying through the place. “I’m
not…I’m not like normal people.” He sounded almost sad.

Bobby straightened, trying to understand that admission.

He couldn’t. “What does that mean?”

He looked up, trying to peer through the shadows.

Maelgwn had his back to the wall and seemed to be sitting

Charlie Richards

comfortably on the beam to the left of the fireplace. How he
got up there with his trench coat, Bobby had no idea.

“Bobby, please, just…” His date sighed.
Obviously, the guy felt pretty adamant about this. It was

a pity, since the man’s voice sounded like liquid sex. Just
hearing his deep, throaty purr had Bobby’s dick filling.
Maybe he could go about this another way.

“So, how did you meet Tible and Gus?” he asked, picking

up his fork. He took another bite of the delicious alfredo and
tipped his head back to watch Maelgwn adjust his position.
It  was  odd.  The  way  the  shadows  and  firelight  moved
around  him,  Maelgwn’s  fingers,  which  he’d  rested  on  his
knees,  looked  almost  dark  blue  with  very  pointed  black
nails.  Bobby  dismissed  it,  deciding  Maelgwn  must  be
African American.

His date’s answer refocused Bobby’s attention. “Tible had

some health questions that I was able to help clear up for
him.”

“Oh, are you a doctor?” Bobby asked, perking up.
“Ah…not a traditional doctor,” Maelgwn responded

slowly. “I assist more in the realm of…holistic medicine.
Teaching a person how to keep his body healthy naturally.”

Bobby nodded slowly, taking another bite of asparagus.

No matter how odd he found this date to be, the food and
wine was excellent and he had no intention of letting it go to
waste. Plus, he didn’t actually feel threatened in any way. In
fact, he felt safer now than he did over at Seth’s condo while
amongst all his friends. Huh.

“So, are you a vegan or something? Big into herbal

remedies and stuff?” he asked curiously. He really just
wanted to hear Maelgwn talk. He couldn’t get over how hot
he found the guy’s voice.

A low chuckled echoed through the rafters, then, “No.

Definitely not vegan. I love meat and have joined Gus and

Trill To Me Sweetly

Tible for steaks on many occasions.”

Bobby smiled. Maelgwn’s deep laughter was an

incredibly sexy sound. He really wanted to reach down and
adjust himself, but was too afraid the guy would see from
his vantage point. On the other hand, maybe if Maelgwn
knew he turned Bobby on, he’d be more willing to actually
come down and join him.

Reaching down, Bobby palmed his dick and shifted in his

seat. He hissed at the pleasure that tightened his balls. It’d
been a while since he’d been this turned on and all they’d
done was talk.

“Bobby,” Maelgwn said, letting out a groan of his own.

“Gods above, you smell good.”

His eyes widened and his gaze snapped to the form above

him as he shifted restlessly on the beam. “You can smell me
from up there?” Bobby didn’t think his cologne was that
strong.

“Yes, I can smell you,” his date replied. “I so wish I could

help you with that.”

The comment was made so low Bobby wasn’t certain if

Maelgwn had meant for him to hear it or not. He licked his
lips. He knew it was kinda slutty to offer to put out on a first
date, but fuck a duck, Bobby really wanted to know what it
felt like to have Maelgwn’s hands on him. If how he
responded to the man’s voice was any indication, his touch
would be mind-blowing.

Licking his lips, Bobby took a fortifying sip of wine, then

put the glass down and said, “I’d like it very much if you
helped me out.”

An audible hiss sounded from above. Maelgwn’s dark

form  crawled  across  the  beam  with  surprising  agility.  The
shadows  deepened,  until  the  guy  just  looked  like  one  big,
dark shadow. Maelgwn’s cloak billowed out like wings as he
jumped  from  one  beam  to  another.  Once  his  date  was

Charlie Richards

directly overhead, Maelgwn peered down at him.

Bobby saw the reflection of the firelight on his eyes, and

for a second the flames illuminated his face and Bobby
thought he saw a large square jaw and white fangs. He
frowned, and Maelgwn shifted, once more hiding his face in
shadows.

“Look toward the fire and close your eyes, Bobby,”

Maelgwn ordered softly.

Cocking his head, Bobby mentally debated his options.

He’d be putting a lot of trust in a man he really didn’t know.
On the other hand, Maelgwn did a lot of work researching
his likes and dislikes, and if there was something wrong
with the guy, surely Gus or Tible would have warned him
away, right?

“We can just forget anything was said, if you’d like.”
The deeply rumbled offer jerked Bobby out of his

thoughts. “No,” Bobby responded quickly.

“Okay,” Maelgwn murmured. “I’ll back off.”
Bobby shook his head. “No, I mean I want your touch.

Your voice makes me hard as a rock and…and I want to
know if your hands will feel as good as I think they will.”

Mortified by his outburst, Bobby felt heat creep up his

neck and he hoped his blush wasn’t very visible in the
firelight. “Please,” he pleaded. “Do…whatever it is you were
going to do.” As he spoke, Bobby bowed his head and closed
his eyes, his body nearly vibrating with tension.

A few seconds later, Bobby heard a soft thud, telling him

Maelgwn had actually dropped to the ground behind him.
He imagined he could feel the man’s presence warming his
back. Maelgwn rested large hands on Bobby’s shoulders,
then Bobby felt breath against his ear as the guy whispered,
“Just relax, Bobby. I would never let any harm befall you.”

“I—I believe you,” Bobby murmured, surprised that he

did, in fact, trust this man.

Trill To Me Sweetly

“Will you let me make you feel good, Bobby?” Mealgwn

crooned, his large hands massaging Bobby’s shoulders,
releasing knots of tension he hadn’t even known were there.

Bobby groaned softly. “Oh, god, that’s good.” One of

Maelgwn’s hands moved over his shoulder and gripped his
coat’s zipper. He hissed in pleasure when his coat opened
and Maelgwn scraped a thumb over his beaded nipple
through the shirt he wore.

“Like that, do you?” Mealgwn murmured.
“Oh, yes,” Bobby whispered.
“Mmm, I can’t wait for the chance to explore your tight

body, little one,” Maelgwn continued, nuzzling his neck. His
second hand moved to cup Bobby’s dick, gently squeezing
his rock hard cock, making him moan and rest his head on
Maelgwn’s shoulder. It was then he realized the guy must
have been kneeling behind him.

Maelgwn placed his palm on Bobby’s chest, urging him to

lean against him. The man’s hand nearly spanned his entire
chest,  reminding  him  of  exactly  how  large  this  guy  was.
Trusting in the strange pull he felt, Bobby gave in and rested
his  weight  on  Maelgwn.  He  placed  one  hand  on  his  thigh
and  the  other  on  Maelgwn’s  forearm.  The  firm,  hard  skin
under  his  palm  surprised  him  and  he  ran  his  hand  over
Maelgwn’s arm, noticing it felt almost leathery.

“Maelgwn?” he asked hesitantly.
“Shh, little one, everything is fine. Let me take care of

you,” Maelgwn murmured right before he sucked one of
Bobby’s earlobes into his mouth.

Groaning at the shivers spreading through his body,

Bobby  obeyed.  Even  the  scrape  of  slightly  sharper  than
normal  teeth  hardly  penetrated  his  fog  of  lust  when
Maelgwn  opened  his  jeans  and  palmed  his  throbbing
erection.  As  Maelgwn  stroked  him,  Bobby  dismissed  the
notion just as quickly.

Charlie Richards

He gave himself over to Maelgwn’s ministrations, letting

the pleasure flood his body, setting his nerve endings on fire.
The man’s hot breath on his neck, ear, and cheek had the fine
hairs  there  standing  on  end,  sending  pleasant  chills  down
his  spine.  The  hand  on  his  chest  moved  down  to  his  balls,
palming  the  sensitive  orbs,  then  tugging  and  rolling  them
gently.

Bobby moaned in bliss. “Oh my god, Mal. More, please

more.”

“Anything for you, my mate,” Maelgwn’s voice came out

thick with lust. “You are so beautiful in your need. One day
soon, I will bury my dick in your ass so deep you’ll always
know who you belong to.”

The possessive words—instead of alarming Bobby—

caused his breathing to hitch and his asshole to flutter. His
dick thickened even further and a dollop of pre-cum oozed
from his slit. His lips parted slightly, soft pants escaping
him, Bobby shivered.

Maelgwn must have noticed his response, for his hot

breath  coasted  over  Bobby’s  flushed  skin  as  he  murmured,
“You  like  the  sound  of  that,  don’t  you,  Bobby?  You’d  be
willing  to  let  me  bend  you  over  this  table  and  take  you,
wouldn’t you?”

“Oh,” Bobby gasped out. “I-I—”
The man must not have really expected an answer, for he

chuckled, the deep sound sexy as hell as it vibrated through
Bobby’s back. “Are you ready to come, my mate?” Maelgwn
asked, his hand picking up speed on Bobby’s prick.

Bobby whimpered, his hips jerking.
Something a little sharp scraped gently across his over-

sensitized glans, shooting unbelievable pleasure down his
stalk. “Yes, please,” he begged, moaning.

“Come for me, Bobby. Let me see your pleasure.”
Bobby’s body bucked. His balls pulled tight. Cum burst

Trill To Me Sweetly

from his cock in thick ropes. He keened, his back bowing as
ecstasy  swamped  his  system,  lighting  up  every  nerve
ending.  Maelgwn  continued  to  stroke  him  gently,
heightening  his  orgasm  for  a  moment,  then  he  moved  his
hand  to  Bobby’s  chest  and  petted  him  gently,  easing  him
down  from  the  most  intense  orgasm  he  could  ever
remember, and that from just a hand job!

When he could figure out how to untangle his tongue,

Bobby  uttered,  “Your  touch  is…amazing.”  That  sounded
completely  inadequate,  but  his  scrambled  mind  couldn’t
think of the words to describe the heady feelings swamping
his  sated  body.  Nuzzling  his  forehead  into  the  crook  of
Maelgwn’s neck, he murmured, “Can I return the favor?”

A rumble that sounded suspiciously like a purr vibrated

through Maelgwn’s chest. A rough palm cupped Bobby’s
jaw and tilted his head. Firm lips pressed against his own,
and Bobby quickly opened to the man’s questing tongue.

He welcomed the appendage—one more long and slender

than he’d think for a guy this size—into his mouth and
sucked gently on it before tangling it with his own. When he
delved his tongue into Maelgwn’s mouth, eager to taste the
other man, for just a second, he thought he felt long, sharp
canines.

Then Maelgwn growled and ravished his mouth, taking

control of the kiss. The lip-lock turned dominating,
possessive, almost frenzied. With a groan, Maelgwn broke
the kiss and turned Bobby’s head to face forward again. He
tucked his face against Bobby’s neck and nibbled the damp
skin where Bobby’s neck met shoulder.

He let out a sigh and tilted his head, giving his new lover

more access. Lifting a hand, Bobby threaded his fingers
through Maelgwn’s thick hair and stroked his scalp softly.
He didn’t find the end, so figured the man’s hair had to be at
least beyond his shoulders.

Charlie Richards

“Can I see you again?”
Bobby smiled at Maelgwn’s whispered question,

exceedingly pleased the sexy sounding and tasting man
wanted to see him again. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

“You work as an electrician, right? Are you available for

dinner tomorrow?”

Nodding, Bobby replied, “Yes. Where would you like to

meet?”

For just a second, Maelgwn hesitated. “Here again?” he

finally asked.

“Will I get to see you?”
Again, Maelgwn paused before answering. “Is what I

look like so important to you?”

Bobby opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. Am I really

that superficial? He wanted to cringe when he realized that he
could definitely be labeled as shallow. All his past exes were
good looking men. Maybe that was why they were self-
centered assholes.

“No,” Bobby quickly answered when he felt the tension in

the cords of Maelgwn’s neck increase. “If you’re self-
conscious, I can wait until you’re ready.”

The man’s voice was liquid sex, his hands were rough yet

gentle, and he kissed like a fucking dream. If the guy was
really as nice as he seemed, Maelgwn could be as plain as
the day was long and Bobby wouldn’t care.

“I’d just like you to get to know me first,” Maelgwn

murmured.

Bobby nodded. His date had said that before. Smiling, his

eyes still closed, Bobby tilted his head toward Maelgwn and,
grinning, tugged the thick lock he still fingered. “How long
is your hair and what color is it?”

At that Maelgwn actually chuckled. “It’s black and almost

reaches my ass.”

Humming his approval, Bobby murmured, “I can’t wait

Trill To Me Sweetly

to see that. So sexy.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Maelgwn replied. He kissed

Bobby’s lips lightly one more time, then slowly drew away.
“You’d better head home, sweet Bobby. The fire’s dying and
it’s getting cold.”

Bobby nodded, already missing the warmth generated by

Maelgwn’s body. “You’re probably right. Tomorrow?”

“Same place and time,” Maelgwn promised.
An odd whooshing sound reached Bobby’s ears and he

couldn’t help frowning as he tried to discern what it was.

“Off you go, Bobby,” Maelgwn said, his voice once more

coming from the rafters. “Before I change my mind, carry
you deep into the forest, and ravish you all night long.”

Bobby snickered, surprised when his dick tried to rise to

the occasion at the mental imagery. He had to blink several
times before his eyes focused. A glance up showed shadows
and darkness and Maelgwn’s large form perched on a beam.
How the big guy scrambled up so fast was beyond Bobby.
He wondered if Maelgwn was a gymnast when he was
younger or something. As he rose, Bobby remembered how
he’d taken out those muggers and decided maybe Maelgwn
was a ninja. He had to hide a smirk at that thought.

Lifting his head toward his lover’s dark form, he blew a

kiss at him. Maelgwn’s deep chuckle reached his ears. Bobby
turned, pulled his coat closed around him, and headed
toward his car. His lips curved into what he knew was a
goofy grin and he didn’t care in the least.

Bobby’s happiness stayed with him all the way

home…until he neared his apartment building and spotted
Seth standing on the front steps. It didn’t take a genius to
figure out why the man was there. Seth hadn’t been happy
when Bobby had called him yesterday, cancelled their date,
and told him they were through.

Charlie Richards

In fact, Seth had been enraged. He’d yelled through the

phone line about how Bobby was his, and Seth wasn’t letting
him go, and how Bobby would never find someone better.
Bobby had ended up having to hang up on him. Then, after
Seth’s fifth return call, Bobby had shut off his phone for the
night.

Not wanting to deal with his ex’s shenanigans, Bobby

kept driving. He toyed with the idea of stopping at a coffee
shop, then decided he’d swing by Gus and Tible’s home. A
glance at his dash told him it wasn’t too late, especially since
Tible was a night owl.

His mind made up, Bobby drove the forty-five minutes to

the  outskirts  of  Stone  Ridge  and  his  friend’s  home.  Bobby
parked  his  car  and  hustled  up  the  walk,  hunching  his
shoulders  in  his  coat.  He  really  should  have  worn  his
heavier  winter  coat,  but  he’d  liked  the  way  the  jacket
matched with his slacks. Stupid, really.

Shaking his head at himself, Bobby knocked on the door.
A moment later, he heard Tible’s melodious tenor call out,

“It’s open. Come on in!”

Bobby grinned, gripped the knob, and turned it. Pushing

the door open, Bobby swept his gaze over the studio-style
cottage as he strode into the place. He opened his mouth, all
prepared to give his friend crap for not checking who was at
least at the door before calling out.

His words died in his throat, and all that came out was a

strangled  cry  of  alarm.  Standing  in  the  kitchen
was…something. It looked vaguely humanoid, with leathery
gray  skin,  black  wings,  and  long  white  hair.  When  the
creature  looked  up,  drawn  by  the  noise  Bobby  made,  its
mouth opened, looking just as surprised to see him as Bobby
was to see it.

The move also revealed a square jaw and—Oh, god!—a

mouthful of pointed teeth and long, white canines. Bobby’s

Trill To Me Sweetly

hand tightened on the doorknob. His brain screamed at him
to run, but he couldn’t get his feet to move.

Another squeak managed to escape his throat.
“Oh, Bobby. Please breathe. I wasn’t expecting you. I

thought it’d be Cornelius.”

It took a good fifteen seconds for Bobby’s brain to process

the  fact  that  the  creature  at  the  counter  was  speaking.  And
breathing  really  did  sound  like  a  good  idea,  but  then
the…thing…stepped  out  from  behind  the  counter  and
started toward him, its hands lifting toward him.

A cry of dismay finally escaped Bobby as he took in the

black claws instead of fingernails, the long sinewy tail, the
loincloth, and below that, legs that ended in talons. Those
long, deadly looking claws clicked on the hardwood floor.

Black spots appeared across Bobby’s vision. His hand

finally released the doorknob, but it was only so it could fall
uselessly to his side. Bobby felt his eyes roll into the back of
his head as his vision went dark. He felt his body crumple,
but could do nothing to stop it as darkness swamped him,
and he just knew he was going to die.

Charlie Richards

Chapter Four

aelgwn hummed happily. The night couldn’t have
gone better, as far as he was concerned. Bobby had

enjoyed the meal and his company. The realization that just
his  voice  turned  Bobby  on  came  as  a  welcome  shock.  And
finally getting to touch his mate, to pleasure him, Maelgwn
felt  ecstatic.  Even  the  hard  ache  in  his  dick,  which  he’d
pointedly  ignored  while  pleasing  Bobby,  couldn’t  diminish
how great he felt.

He put out the fire and packed everything back into the

two baskets he’d used to bring it. His mind was logging
through possible food choices for tomorrow night when his
cell phone rang.

He pulled it from a holder clipped to one of the leather

straps crisscrossing his chest, smiling when he saw it was
Tible. The young gargoyle was such a gossip and probably
wanted the scoop on how his date with Bobby went.

Grinning, instead of a traditional greeting, Maelgwn told

Tible, “I couldn’t have asked for it to go any better. Bobby
enjoyed the food and definitely feels the mate-pull. And
that’s all you’re getting out of me.”

“Oh, Maelgwn, I hope I didn’t ruin everything,” Tible

said, clearly distraught. “I was making dinner and Gus was
in the shower. How was I to know it wasn’t Cornelius? I
didn’t mean for him to see me in gargoyle form…”

“Whoa, whoa, Tible. Slow down,” Maelgwn hollered into

Trill To Me Sweetly

the phone, trying to get the upset man’s attention. “You’re
not making any sense. Who saw you in gargoyle form?”

“Bobby!” Tible nearly screamed.
“What? How?” Maelgwn shook his head. That wasn’t

important. “Where is he now? Did he run away?”

“He passed out. We laid him on the bed,” Tible told him.
That gave Maelgwn some measure of relief. At least,

Bobby wasn’t running around in a panic somewhere. “I’m
on my way,” he told Tible.

Before he could disconnect the line, he heard Tible ask,

“Are you sure that’s wise? Maybe I can play this off?”

“No,” Maelgwn stated. “It’s time.” He’d already

connected with Bobby, knew his mate felt the pull, and
Bobby had said it didn’t matter what Maelgwn looked like.
He had to believe that.

Tucking his phone back into its case, Maelgwn grabbed

his bags and leaped into the air. His mind whirled with
possible outcomes, from Bobby happily accepting Maelgwn
to Bobby running away to Bobby rejecting him. Unable to
predict the future, he focused on the outcome he wanted, the
one where he and his mate lived happily ever after. Wasn’t
that what every mated couple wanted?

He dropped to the ground outside Gus’s back door. The

shifter was waiting and immediately opened the door.
“Sorry about this,” Gus muttered, lines of worry creasing his
forehead.

“It’ll work out,” Maelgwn stated quietly, hoping his

words were true with all his heart.

Maelgwn crossed to the bed, hiding the irked feeling at

seeing his mate sleeping in another’s bed, even if it was a
mated pair that had no interest in him. Leaning over Bobby,
Maelgwn reached down and touched his throat, feeling the
pulse beating strongly. Tension in his chest eased that his
mate just slept. It wasn’t that he hadn’t believed his friends,

Charlie Richards

but there was something to be said for seeing is believing.

“Ah, my sweet mate,” Maelgwn murmured, brushing the

backs of his fingers over his lover’s cheek. “You have so
much to learn. I hope you have as open a mind as you
claim.” Leaning down, he pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.

Bobby moaned in his sleep, shifting restlessly. His eyelids

fluttered. Maelgwn stepped away, realizing his mate was
waking. Seeing his foreign visage upon waking wasn’t what
Bobby needed. He needed words, an explanation, so he’d get
it.

Moving away from his mate, he looked from a now

human  Tible  to  a  pensive  Gus,  then  noticed  a  concerned
looking  Cornelius  standing  behind  the  kitchen  counter.  He
remembered  Tible  saying  he’d  thought  it  was  the  small
rhino  shifter  at  the  door,  which  is  why  he  hadn’t  checked
before letting Bobby in.

“Tea?” Cornelius offered, holding up a mug.
With a sigh, Maelgwn nodded. Crossing to the counter,

he  took  the  mug.  “You’ll  need  to  start  the  explanations,
Tible,”  he  said,  holding  onto  his  calm  by  a  bare  thread.
Maelgwn  desperately  needed  everything  to  work  out,  for
Bobby  to  accept  the  truth  of  the  world—that  humans  were
not alone.

He heard Bobby whimper and fought the urge to go to

him, knowing that could very well make it worse. However,
he did remember how much Bobby liked his voice. Settling
on  the  couch,  the  back  of  the  furniture  almost  hiding  him
from  Bobby’s  view  should  he  wake,  Maelgwn  ignored  the
others  in  the  room.  After  taking  a  deep  breath  and  a
fortifying  sip  of  the  bitter  tea,  which  he  noticed  was  laced
with whiskey, he started talking.

“I need you to wake up now, Bobby,” he murmured.

“There are so many things I have to tell you, things you need
to know. You asked why I wouldn’t let you see my face. I’m

Trill To Me Sweetly

ready to trust you now, Bobby. I have faith that we can get
through this.”

“Gods above, your voice is giving me a boner,” Cornelius

muttered.

The rhino shifter’s statement cut into Maelgwn’s soft

rambling. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that, making
him pause on his next thought. Turning his head, Maelgwn
glanced over his shoulder at the shifter, who shrugged
unabashedly and adjusted himself.

“Maelgwn?” Bobby murmured, his voice rough.
“I’m here,” Maelgwn answered, bowing his head, praying

to whatever gods cared to listen that his idea wasn’t about to
bite him in the ass.

“What happened? Where are you?” Bobby asked.
“You passed out, little one,” he replied. “Do you

remember that?”

He heard cloth rustle, and Maelgwn assumed Bobby was

rising. He clenched his clawed fingers into fists, wishing it
could be him who helped his mate into a sitting position.

Soon.

“I remember walking into Tible’s house, but he wasn’t

there. I saw a creature of some sort,” Bobby murmured,
“I…Oh, shit. I’ve seen that before. Your Halloween costume.
You dressed up as that, um, whatever, for Halloween, didn’t
you? Why were you wearing it now? You scared the shit out
of me!” Each word Bobby spoke rose in volume until he
practically yelled, clearly pissed at Tible.

“Gargoyle,” Maelgwn said. “What you saw is a

gargoyle.”

“What?” Bobby asked. “What are you doing over there?”
Maelgwn turned his head just a smidge, wanting to see

Bobby’s expression. “Don’t sweep it under the carpet, Tible,”
he ordered gruffly.

“Mal, your skin. It looks blue,” Bobby whispered.

Charlie Richards

Maelgwn resisted the urge to turn away, instead, keeping

his profile visible to his mate. “I told you I’m not like others,
Bobby,” he murmured.

Bobby licked his lips, his gaze sweeping over the faces of

the other men in the room. “What the hell is going on?” The
way Bobby whispered the question, his voice full of
trepidation, didn’t really reassure Maelgwn.

Deciding to rip it off like a band aid, Maelgwn cut to the

chase, “Bobby, I am a gargoyle. So is Tible. We are real. We
keep our existence a secret because most humans don’t want
to believe in us and wouldn’t understand that we mean
them no harm.” He kept his tone soft, gentle, fighting the
urge to pace.

Suddenly, Bobby grinned. “You guys are just pulling my

leg. Are you getting ready for a comic con or something? Is
that why you’re preparing costumes?”

Tible caught Maelgwn’s gaze. He nodded when the

smaller gargoyle lifted a brow in question. “This could really
freak him out,” Tible warned, taking a few steps away from
the bed.

“We’ll all be here for him,” Gus reminded.
Cornelius nodded.
“What are you guys talking about?” Bobby asked,

frustration filling his tone.

“Just watch Tible,” Maelgwn urged.
Bobby gave Maelgwn a confused glance, then looked

toward  Tible.  Wasting  no  time,  Tible  initiated  his  change.
His skin darkened, thickening to form a leathery gray hide.
His  jaw  squared,  canines  extended,  and  ears  became
pointed.  Claws  sprouted  from  his  fingers  and  his  legs
thinned at the bottom as his feet changed into talons.

“How-how-how…” Bobby seemed to be stuck on that one

word as he scrambled backward on the bed. His beautiful
green eyes appeared huge in his pale face. He eventually hit

Trill To Me Sweetly

the headboard and could go no further. “M-m-maelgwn?”

The fact that Bobby called for him in his fear filled

Maelgwn with a fresh surge of hope. Slowly, he rose,
keeping his wings tucked close over his shoulders. “Bobby,
none of us would ever hurt you. These are your friends. You
know that.” Finally, he turned just his head so Bobby could
see him fully.

“Oh my god!” Bobby squeaked.
Maelgwn didn’t think his lover’s eyes could get any

larger. Then he realized Bobby’s chest was rising and falling
incredibly fast. “Bobby, slow your breathing down. Take
deep breaths,” he ordered soothingly.

To his surprise, Bobby responded. He blinked a few

times, then his eyes riveted to Maelgwn’s as he visually
inhaled through his nose, his chest expanding, Bobby licked
his lips, catching Maelgwn’s attention. He really wanted to
feel those lips under his again.

Taking a chance, Maelgwn started around the sofa. With

his gaze fixed on Bobby’s, he murmured, “Do you remember
in  the  park  when  we  spoke?  When  you  wanted  me  to  join
you  for  supper?  You  said  you  didn’t  care  what  I  looked
like.” He moved slowly  toward his mate,  praying he could
keep his sweet human calm.

“Maelgwn,” Bobby whispered, his gaze finally flickering

across his face. “How is this possible? How is any of this
possible?”

“It just is, my mate,” Maelgwn murmured, heartened

when  Bobby  actually  lifted  a  hand  toward  his  face.  He
carefully positioned his wings against his back, allowing him
to  ease  onto  the  bed.  Leaning  closer,  Maelgwn  pressed  his
cheek  against  Bobby’s  lifted  palm.  He  sighed  as  pleasure
mixed with need coursed through his body at the first touch
of his mate, however innocent.

He fought back a shiver, but wasn’t completely

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successful. Having Bobby touch him felt too good. My mate

is touching me!

“Maelgwn?”
The way Bobby whispered his name broke Maelgwn out

of his awed state. He turned his head, careful not to break
contact, and murmured, “Yes, Bobby?”

“Your skin, it feels…thick?”
Maelgwn found Bobby’s gaze was fixed at where his

hand  gently  caressed  his  cheek,  an  expression  of  wonder
etched  on  his  face.  “Bobby,  my  sweet,  I’m  a  gargoyle.  My
hide  is  thicker  than  a  human’s,  tougher,  but  still  just  as
sensitive to the touch of a lover,” he murmured.

“A lo—”
To Maelgwn’s disappointment, Bobby jerked his hand

back.

“You’re taken?” Bobby frowned, his gaze sliding to his

lap  as  he  shook  his  head.  “Of  course,  you’re  taken.  You’re
big,  and  sexy,  and  kind.  You  save  strangers  from  muggers
and your voice is…”

Much to Maelgwn’s disappointment, Bobby cut off the

rest of that thought.

He twisted his hands together in his lap. “Not straight

though.” Realizing he said that out loud, Bobby’s cheeks
blossomed into a bright red. He finally lifted his gaze and
muttered, “Sorry. I didn’t mean any offense.”

Maelgwn reached out and gently took Bobby’s hand.

Mindful of his claws, he gently scraped his thumb over the
sensitive pads of Bobby’s palm to gain his attention. Bobby
gasped, shivered even, and jerked his head up to look at
him.

“Bobby,” Maelgwn whispered. “You are my lover. You are

the only man I wish to touch, the only one I want to touch
me.”

“But I’m…” Bobby frowned. “And you’re…” He waved

Trill To Me Sweetly

his free hand in the air wildly.

Licking his lips, Maelgwn eyed his mate closely as he

leaned close. Bobby just watched him, his eyes a little wider
than normal, a little darker green, but he didn’t move away.
Maelgwn pressed his nose into the crook of Bobby’s neck,
using pressure to get his mate to tilt his jaw. Pleasure
flooded him at how quickly Bobby acquiesced.

He nibbled lightly on the exposed tendons, gratified at the

gasp and body shudder his little human made. “You have a
problem with interspecies matings, my sweet human?” He
purred the words against Bobby’s damp flesh, knowing how
much pleasure the vibrations and warm air could cause a
lover.

Bobby whimpered, bringing his hands up to Maelgwn’s

shoulders and clutching tightly. He could hear Bobby
panting, then the man whispered, “Why aren’t I afraid of
you?”

Charlie Richards

Chapter Five

obby whispered the question more because he thought
he should than because he felt any actual interest in the

answer. With how good Maelgwn’s large, rough hands felt
holding his own, not to mention the amazing sensations
caused by how he nipped Bobby’s neck with his teeth—holy
shit those are huge canines!—and Bobby didn’t really want to
think about anything.

Maelgwn answered anyway. “Because you’re drawn to

me,” he crooned deeply against his neck. “You feel our
connection just as I do. The Fates brought us together.”

He didn’t understand most of that, but the feeling of

being  drawn  to  this…gargoyle.  Yeah,  that  he  understood.
Hell,  Maelgwn  could  call  himself  whatever  he  wanted,
because  Bobby  desired  to  feel  his  touch,  craved  the
creature’s touch even—which he’d figure out later—and he
wanted  to  trace  every  ridge  of  blue  muscle—holy  shit,  he’s
blue!—that he could find.

Letting out a sigh, Bobby forced his eyes open. When did I

close them? To his surprise, he realized they were alone in the
cottage. “Where did everyone go?”

Maelgwn eased back, and Bobby wanted to kick himself

for saying something. His question caused the big guy to
move away and glance around. He turned back and his thin
lips turned up into a smile, softening the firm lines of his
square jaw. “They knew we needed some time alone.”

Trill To Me Sweetly

“Alone?” Bobby whispered. He could think of all kinds of

things he wanted to do alone with Maelgwn, starting with
exploring every inch of that sexy blue body.

“We have much to discuss.”
Discussion is the last thing on my mind. Ever since Bobby

had woken to the deep tones of his lover’s voice, he’d been
hard, almost desperate. Maybe that was how one of
Maelgwn’s kind coerced a human into…well, sex? Except,
Bobby didn’t feel coerced. All he felt was…need.

“I want to touch you,” Bobby blurted out. His face heated,

but it didn’t stop him from reaching up and gently tracing
the firm line of Maelgwn’s square jaw. When he reached the
thin lips that he’d tasted once before and desperately wanted
to taste again, Maelgwn gently nipped his finger, sending a
fresh wave of desire through him. Goosebumps erupted on
his arms. Bobby couldn’t remember the last time he’d been
this hard.

“You can touch me anywhere you want, my sweet mate,”

Maelgwn crooned.

Bobby figured he’d need to learn why Maelgwn kept

calling  him  his  mate,  too—after  all,  he  didn’t  sound
Australian—but he’d worry about that later. He took in the
large creature leaning over him, his dark blue skin, his long
black  hair,  his  dark  gray  eyes,  and  the  firm  jaw  displaying
long  canines.  Looking  away  from  the  pointy  teeth,  he
paused. Good god, are those wings? Crazy!

Maelgwn had broad shoulders and thick muscles. He

wore some kind of leather loincloth which just added to his
sexy appeal and showed off heavily muscled legs. In fact, the
gargoyle’s thighs were as thick around as Bobby’s waist!
And his abs, oh, so yummy!

Other than, well, the wings of course, the blue skin, claws

and long canines peeking over his bottom lip, Maelgwn
would pass for human. An incredibly big human, but still…

Charlie Richards

“You keep looking at me like that, and I won’t be held

responsible for my actions,” Maelgwn growled gruffly.

Bobby jerked his gaze back to Maelgwn’s face. He gasped

at the heat and lust darkening the gargoyle’s gray eyes,
making them look like the sky before a storm. “Maybe,” he
paused and licked his lips, fighting past the sudden dryness
in his throat. “Maybe I don’t want you to behave,” he
whispered.

Maelgwn growled again, the sound deep and sexy.

Bobby’s prick oozed, and he just knew a visible spot was
forming on his slacks.

“There is much I need to explain,” Maelgwn insisted,

though he did grip the nape of Bobby’s neck with one hand.
It was so big that he was able to scrape the claw of his thumb
along the top of Bobby’s lips. And Bobby didn’t know why
he found that so fucking hot, but he did, and he couldn’t
stop the visible shiver.

“Talking’s overrated. You said your kind can have inter-

species relations, and I really, really want to feel you.” Bobby
chanced a look at Maelgwn’s crotch. “Oh, sweetie,” he
muttered. “I want to ride what you’re packing so bad.” God,
he sounded like a slut, but he ached even worse.

Bobby was a size queen, always had been, and if the

bulge filling out the loincloth was any indication, Maelgwn
was  hung  like  a  fucking  ox!  His  hole  tightened  in
anticipation.  When  Maelgwn  didn’t  say  anything,  Bobby
returned  his  gaze  to  the  gargoyle’s  face.  His  expression  of
tortured lust was enough to make Bobby act.

Moving slowly, giving Maelgwn plenty of time to

refuse—after  all,  Bobby  didn’t  want  to  force  himself  on  an
unwilling  man,  no  matter  what  the  hidden  erection  might
imply—Bobby  climbed  onto  his  knees,  swung  his  leg  over
Maelgwn’s  thighs,  and  settled  onto  the  big  gargoyle’s  lap.
Maelgwn  immediately  moved  his  hands  to  Bobby’s  hips,

Trill To Me Sweetly

holding him steady.

Taking that as approval, Bobby rocked his hips. He hissed

softly at the pleasure-pain caused by the pressure on his
dick.

“Bobby,” Maelgwn snarled heatedly.
Ignoring the warning in the big guy’s voice, Bobby rocked

his hips again, then reached a hand between them and
worked his pants open. Once his dick sprang free, he
grabbed for the ties at Maelgwn’s hip, hoping that was how
to open the loincloth hiding the dick he desperately wanted
to see and touch.

“God, damn it,” Bobby muttered, realizing somehow he’d

gotten a knot in the leather strips. Glaring, he realized
Maelgwn was looking at him with an expression that was a
cross between lust and amusement. “Open your fucking
loincloth, Maelgwn,” Bobby snapped.

Evidently, his tone had just a little bit too much challenge

in  it.  Maelgwn’s  lip  curled,  showing  off  his  impressive
canine. His brow ridges furrowed and a low growl rumbled
from  him.  Bobby  suddenly  found  himself  lifted  from
Maelgwn’s  lap  and  into  the  air.  He  let  out  an  undignified
squeak.

Then Maelgwn was moving, away from the bed, around

the couch, and to the thick rug in front of the low-burning
fire. He laid Bobby down and then towered over him, his
gaze traveling over him.

“You look so fuckable like that, Bobby,” Maelgwn

rumbled as he untangled the mess Bobby had made of his
loincloth ties. “Is this what you want?” He pulled the
loincloth off and dropped it on the floor, freeing his erection.

Looking up at the massive gargoyle staring down at him,

Bobby  figured  he  should  have  felt  afraid.  Maelgwn  was
seven  feet  of  heavy  muscles,  sharp  claws,  and  feral
masculinity.  His  wings,  now  that  they  were  spread,  had  to

Charlie Richards

reach at least eighteen feet.

But it was Maelgwn’s dick that caused Bobby to pant

heavily, and not from fear. Renewed lust and desire coursed
through him in equal measure. His dick oozed another drop
of pre-cum, sliding down his glans, sending sparks of
pleasure up his stalk. His big lover sported an erection
probably ten inches in length with a hefty girth. His foreskin
was pulled halfway clear of the cap, showing off a hint of a
wide slit and a glans gleaming with pre-cum.

“Oh my god,” Bobby whispered, licking his lips. He

reached down and squeezed the base of his throbbing cock
to keep from coming at the sight of it. His anus fluttered and
he moaned. Never had he wanted something in his ass so
badly. “Please, fuck me.”

Maelgwn dropped to his knees and grabbed Bobby’s

pants. Bobby lifted his hips, helping Maelgwn strip him as
he yanked his shirt over his head. Once he lay naked,
Maelgwn let out a long, low growl. He skimmed his palms
up Bobby’s inner thighs, the tips of his claws scraping ever
so lightly.

Bobby moaned at the sensations. His dick jerked. His balls

pulled  tight.  When  he  went  to  reach  for  his  erection,
desperate  for  friction,  Maelgwn  grabbed  his  wrist  and
tugged  his  hand  over  his  head.  His  second  hand  quickly
joined the first, Maelgwn holding both his wrists in one big
hand.

Why do I feel so safe with a huge gargoyle leaning over me?
It made no sense to Bobby, but that didn’t stop him from

wanting more. He bucked his hips, hoping to get friction
against his dick. He mewled in frustration when he met with
nothing but air.

“Please,” Bobby begged. “I’m so close.”
“I can’t fuck you yet, my mate,” Maelgwn murmured. “I

wouldn’t be able to resist claiming you, and I won’t do that

Trill To Me Sweetly

until I explain what it means.”

Well, that was probably good, since Bobby was more than

a little confused by everything going on, and not just the fact
that gargoyles were real. Bobby didn’t understand why he
wanted Maelgwn so badly. His reactions made no sense, but
even realizing that didn’t alleviate the burning need coiling
through Bobby’s body.

“I need to come,” Bobby moaned, his body twitching as

his head rolled restlessly from side to side. He couldn’t
remember ever feeling this worked up.

“I will please you, my mate,” Maelgwn promised,

running a hand down his ribs to his groin. “Then we’ll talk.”

“Yeah, okay.” He’d agree to whatever Maelgwn said if it

meant he’d get to come.

Anything to get that hand moving ever closer to his groin

wrapped  around  his  dick.  He  almost  cried  out  with  need
when,  instead,  Maelgwn  grabbed  his  own  shaft.  But  then
Maelgwn lowered his hips and pressed his massive erection
against  Bobby’s  shorter,  more  slender  one.  Bobby’s  eyes
nearly bugged out of his head as he watched Maelgwn grip
his foreskin and tug it over both their dick’s heads.

He’d heard of docking before, but never done it. First,

he’d have to have found an uncircumcised lover, and
second, he’d have needed to trust the man. Neither of those
things had ever happened.

It felt like silk moved over his glans, massaging and

squeezing. Unable to fight the scream building in his throat,
Bobby roared at the wild sensations shooting from his cap
down his dick to his balls as Maelgwn rutted slowly against
him. The warm flesh over his cap and the bumping of the
other man’s cock head against his own combined with their
flowing pre-cum to create the most intense sensations.

Panting heavily, Bobby gripped Maelgwn’s shoulders. He

felt the hard muscles under his hold bunch and release

Charlie Richards

beneath his fingers. His body shuddered. His thigh muscles
trembled as he rocked his hips up once, twice. Bobby’s balls
pulled tight to his body and a tingle started at the base of his
spine, heralding his imminent orgasm.

Maelgwn leaned down and nipped at his neck. It was the

last straw. His body bowed, his legs twitched, and he
screamed as his release washed over him. Bobby shivered
and jerked. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as his
cum flooded Maelgwn’s foreskin, forcing the warm liquid to
ooze over their heads and down their shafts.

Bobby mewled incoherently at the odd sensations that he

never wanted to end. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he
heard Maelgwn grunt and felt him stiffen. More warm seed,
this time not his own, flowed between them. Another fact hit
home, even if Bobby had found an uncircumcised partner,
he never would have done this with them. It was too
intimate and required to much trust in a partner. What about
disease?

The sharp prick of Maelgwn’s canines sinking into his

neck  forced  a  shocked  gasp  from  Bobby’s  mouth.  Almost
instantly,  the  pain  morphed  into  pleasure,  and  a  second
orgasm  bowled  unexpectedly  through  him.  Once  more,
Bobby  found  himself  floating  on  waves  of  heady
endorphins. His balls turned inside out a second time and he
found  himself  flooding  the  small  space  between  them  once
more.

When Bobby finally regained his ability to think, he

became  aware  of  two  things.  First,  Maelgwn  gently  licked
where he’d bitten him and it felt really, really nice, while he
stroked  Bobby’s  torso  and  hips,  gently  bringing  him  down
from  the  most  intense  couple  orgasms  he’d  ever
experienced—and  that  was  without  penetration  or  a  hand
on  his  dick.  The  second  thing  that  registered  was  the
soothing  humming  that  seemed  to  vibrate  through

Trill To Me Sweetly

Maelgwn’s chest, almost like purring. He found it relaxing,
soothing—and wasn’t that the strangest fucking thing?

“Hmm,” he hummed. “What is that?”
Maelgwn rubbed his cheek against Bobby’s. “Trilling,” he

murmured. “Mates find it soothing, so I’ve been told.”

“What’s trilling? What’s a mate, and why do you keep

calling me that?” Bobby asked sleepily. Damn, he felt wiped
after that dual orgasm.

“Let me get a cloth to clean us up, then we really have

things to discuss,” Maelgwn said, his gaze sliding away
from Bobby’s.

“Okay,” Bobby murmured, suddenly experiencing

tension he probably should have been feeling the entire time.

He watched as Maelgwn rose, surprisingly graceful for

such a large man. Bobby frowned, realizing Maelgwn wasn’t
a man. He was a gargoyle. Though he was sexy-as-sin, he
was still a gargoyle. I mean, my god, he has a fucking tail! Just
what did Maelgwn want with a scrawny human like him,
anyway?

Maelgwn returned with a warm cloth. When Bobby

reached for it, Maelgwn grabbed his hand lightly and
pushed it away. “Let me,” Maelgwn insisted.

Bobby nibbled his bottom lip for a second, then nodded.

Needing  to  think  about  something  other  than  the  fact  that
very  sharp  claws  were  near  his  genitals—and  why  that
bothered  him  now  but  didn’t  during  the  heat  of  sex,  he
didn’t know—Bobby asked, “So, you’re a gargoyle. Do you
turn into stone during the day?”

“Yes,” Maelgwn answered without pausing in his actions.

He glanced up at Bobby and smiled, but it looked a little
forced. “That’s one of the things we need to talk about.”

Bobby nodded.
After a pause, Maelgwn added, “Once we’re bonded, I’ll

be able to turn human like Tible does for Gus.”

Charlie Richards

“B-bonded?” Bobby swallowed hard. “What does that

mean?”

Maelgwn sucked in a deep breath, then let it out through

his nose, clearly agitated. The ridges of bone on his forehead
that seemed a lot like eyebrows drew down. “Do you want
me to build up to the important stuff or do you prefer the
tear it off like a band aid technique?”

“This is going to be life changing, isn’t it?” he asked, then

wanted to smack himself upside the head. Of course, it’d be
life changing. He’d just learned that gargoyles actually
existed!

Maelgwn nodded anyway. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”
“Uh, rip it off, I guess,” Bobby replied.
Maelgwn nodded again. “Okay. The short of it is this. A

gargoyle lives for a couple millennia. We’re all male. We
hatch from eggs. We turn to stone during the day and turn
flesh and blood at night. Our entire lives, we search for our
mate, who is the other half of our soul, designed by Fate
herself. You are my mate.”

Halfway through Maelgwn’s speech, Bobby knew his jaw

had dropped. First off, a couple millennia? Really? And they
came from eggs? Holy shit! Okay, there was something else he
needed to focus on first. “I’m your mate? How is that
possible? I’m human.”

“And Gus is a rhino shifter. It doesn’t matter. Our mate is

not restricted to our species. It doesn’t matter that you’re
human. We know our mate on scent, and you’re mine,” he
stated earnestly.

“Wait a minute,” Bobby murmured, waving a hand to

stop him. “Gus is a what?”

“A shifter,” Mealgwn repeated. He grimaced. “Sorry, I

shouldn’t muddle things. Yes, shape-shifters are real as well.
We’ll discuss that another time. I have more to tell you about
gargoyles, first.”

Trill To Me Sweetly

Bobby nodded and grabbed his pants, suddenly needing

to be covered. Maelgwn took his cue from him and wrapped
his loincloth back around him. “Come, please,” Maelgwn
urged, holding out a hand.

Taking it, Bobby allowed the massive man to lead him to

the  couch.  After  Bobby  sat,  Maelgwn  dropped  between  his
knees, facing him. “You said tell you everything, but there is
so  much.  Some  I  won’t  remember.  But  the  important  facts
are  these.”  He  swallowed  hard  and  frowned,  as  if
cataloguing his thoughts. Then he looked Bobby in the eye
and said, “I have been alive for nearly five centuries.”

Bobby gasped, shocked, but Maelgwn continued.
“In that time, I’ve earned the right to lead my own clutch

of gargoyles. We live in a massive manor in the forest near
Durango, Colorado. As my mate, I need you with me. I can’t
move my clutch here, so I need you to go there.”

“Holy shit,” Bobby muttered. “You want me to up and

move after knowing you a couple days?” He shook his head.
So many questions. “And what of this bonding thing you
spoke of? What the hell is that?”

His breathing sped up, and spots danced before his eyes.
“Hey, breathe, sweet mate. Come on, breathe,” Maelgwn

pleaded.

Seconds later, Maelgwn pulled Bobby into his arms, held

him tight, and did that funky purring thing again. The
airways that seemed to be clamped tight immediately
opened, allowing Bobby to suck in a much-needed breath of
air.

Oh, that sounds nice.
“God that’s amazing,” he muttered. “Why does that feel

so nice?” Almost without thought, Bobby started rubbing his
cheek against Maelgwn’s chest. The leathery abrasiveness
felt really…good, actually. Relaxing.

“Because one mate can naturally soothe another,”

Charlie Richards

Maelgwn told him. “It’s in our nature to desire to please our
mate. Keep them safe. Happy. Healthy.” Mealgwn cupped
Bobby’s jaw, his claws brushing lightly over the corners of
his lips. “Well satisfied.”

Bobby sighed, letting his eyelids slide to half-mast. “I

think I love your touch,” he whispered absently.

Maelgwn looked exceedingly pleased by that utterance.
“What else do you need to tell me?” he asked. Now that

he was relaxed and comfortable, maybe he could hear the
rest of this information and not freak out.

Tilting his head, Maelgwn stared down at Bobby. “I’m not

sure you’re ready,” he admitted.

“You’d better tell me,” Bobby murmured. He shrugged

and  gave  his  lover—oh,  god,  my  lover  is  a  gargoyle—a  wan
smile.  “Otherwise  I’ll  just  stew  about  it.  I’ve  got  a  pretty
active  imagination.  Don’t  want  me  to  think  up  something
too horrible, do you?”

“No, little one. I don’t,” he murmured.
Maelgwn rested his forehead against Bobby’s. “There is

only one more big thing, my sweet,” he murmured.

Bobby could tell by the serious expression on Maelgwn’s

face  that  this  was  something  huge.  As  if  being  a  creature
other  than  human  wasn’t  huge  enough!  “What?”  Bobby
asked warily.

Trill To Me Sweetly

Chapter Six

aelgwn sucked in a breath, praying what he said next
didn’t send his mate running for the hills. Bobby

seemed to be taking everything really, really well, so far.
Praying that didn’t change, Maelgwn whispered, “Gargoyles
can make males pregnant. If we have sex without proper
precautions, you could bear a child.”

First, Bobby’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “You’re

shitting me,” he said, clearly disbelieving. “That’s the most
ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I thought I’d been handling
things pretty well, why would you say something as
ridiculous as—”

“It’s true,” Gus interrupted.
So focused on his mate, Maelgwn didn’t know when Gus

and Tible had returned, but never had he been happier to
see the huge shifter. They sure could use a dose of calm right
now.

Bobby frowned. “What? What are you talking about?”
Gus and Tible strode into the living room and settled on

an easy chair, Tible on Gus’s lap. “You remember I was in
the hospital a couple weeks ago?” Gus asked.

Bobby nodded.
“I didn’t really have my appendix out,” he explained. “I

was giving birth to mine and Tible’s son.”

Maelgwn watched a look pass between the mated pair,

one of love and peace and comfort. A spike of jealousy hit

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Maelgwn and he had to look away. He so desperately
wanted that with his mate. He’d been searching for his one-
and-only for almost five hundred years. He had to make
Bobby understand.

Returning his gaze to Bobby, Maelgwn cupped his

human’s jaw and drew his mate’s focus back to him. “Have
you ever thought about having kids?” he asked gently.

“Well, sure,” Bobby replied, his brows creasing. “Who

hasn’t?” He shrugged. “But I’m gay, so it wasn’t like I really
thought it was an option for me.”

Maelgwn nodded. “And now the opportunity has been

opened to you, but you would carry the child,” he explained.
“Or an egg,” he amended quickly.

“An egg?” Bobby muttered.
“Would seeing help you believe?” Tible asked quietly.
Maelgwn knew how closely Gus and Tible guarded the

secret of their gargoyle son, so he found it incredibly sweet
that they’d offer to share like this.

“Um, okay,” Bobby responded, drawing the word out,

still obviously dubious.

Tible went to a cabinet in the corner. At first glance, the

piece  of  furniture  would  pass  as  an  old  fashioned
phonograph  cabinet,  but  the  inside  was  insulated  and
climate  controlled.  Opening  the  lid,  Tible  pulled  out  an
oblong object with swarthy green, bumpy skin. He grabbed
a blanket and wrapped it around the bottom half.

He brought it over and sat on the couch on Bobby’s other

side. “Gus bore my son,” Tible murmured, holding the egg
close. “He’ll hatch in about two and a half months, so we
still have some time to choose a name,” he said, smiling
fondly as he stroked his fingertips over the egg’s shell.

“Inside is a gargoyle?” Bobby asked, carefully tracing the

skin of the egg. “Oh, it’s warm!” he cried, clearly surprised.

Tible nodded. “Yeah.” He glanced toward Gus, giving the

Trill To Me Sweetly

shifter a smile, then refocused on Bobby. “We keep him in an
incubator with a steady temperature of seventy-three. It’s
not so important to keep the temperature steady as it is to
keep bacteria out,” he explained.

Bobby reached out tentatively. “So, if I mate with

Maelgwn, I’ll have one of these?”

Maelgwn couldn’t keep from touching Bobby any longer.

He grasped his lover’s other hand and answered, “It’s an
option we would discuss, but I’d never force you to bare my
children, Bobby. We have plenty of time to decide if we ever
want kids.” He wanted to make it clear that this wasn’t a
requirement.

Over the centuries, his people had learned that it was easy

to  remove  the  threat  of  unwanted  pregnancy.  Although,
their  people  loved  little  ones,  they  knew  how  to  make
certain  mates  were  ready.  All  Maelgwn  had  to  do  was
include  at  least  two  tablespoons  of  cinnamon  in  his  diet
every  day.  That  meant  several  pieces  of  cinnamon  toast
every time he woke from roost. He’d been doing that since
discovering his mate over a week ago.

For a long moment, they sat in silence. Bobby stroked his

hand over Tible and Gus’s egg, the expression on his face
one of wonder and awe.

Finally, Bobby licked his lips and refocused on Maelgwn.

“I feel really safe with you, and you say that’s because of this
mate-pull thing,” he murmured.

Maelgwn nodded, wondering where Bobby was going

with this.

“You’re awfully big, no offense,” he tacked on, almost

cringing. “What if you hurt me? Or one of your, um, clan-
people hurt me?”

The very idea that one of his gargoyles would hurt Bobby

was ludicrous, but he couldn’t tell his mate that. He hadn’t
missed the shiners on his lover’s eyes or the bandage on his

Charlie Richards

nose when he’d first started watching over him. If his mate’s
scent hadn’t told Maelgwn exactly how important this was
to Bobby, the way he clenched his hands and the tension in
his neck would have done it.

Carefully cupping Bobby’s jaw, Maelgwn stared deep into

his  lover’s  green  eyes.  “There  will  be  times,  as  chieftain  of
my  clutch  that  I’ll  do  things  you  won’t  understand  or
perhaps  won’t  agree  with.  This  I  promise  you,  Bobby,”  he
said. “I will never raise my hand to you. Ever. And if anyone
else  were  ever  to  do  so,”  his  tone  turned  steely,  “I  would
make them regret it.”

Bobby looked at him for a long moment, his eyes roving

over his face, perhaps reading the promises in his eyes.
Licking his lips, Bobby nodded once. “Okay, I’ll do it. How
does the ceremony work?”

Maelgwn blinked, trying to make sense of what had just

happened. His mate had agreed to be his? He started to grin.
“Wait, what ceremony?”

His brows creasing, Bobby said, “Didn’t you say

something about a bonding ceremony?”

“Oh.” Understanding dawned. Maelgwn smiled. “No, it’s

not a ceremony.” From the corner of his eye, he spotted Tible
and Gus exchange a feral look. No guessing what they were
thinking about. “When a gargoyle bonds with his mate, it’s
done during sex.”

His mate’s mouth formed the prettiest oh of surprise.
He let his hand slide to Bobby’s neck and rubbed the

man’s  pulse  point,  pleased  by  the  way  he  shivered  at  the
touch. Maelgwn leaned close to the mouth he wanted to kiss
again  until  his  breath  fanned  Bobby’s  lips.  Scraping  the
pulse point lightly  with one claw, he murmured,  “To bond
with you, I will bite you, really bite you,” letting Bobby know
it  would  be  different  than  the  small  nips  he’d  given  him
before,  “right  here,  Bobby,  giving  you  the  most  intense

Trill To Me Sweetly

pleasure of your life.”

Bobby shivered again. Maelgwn caught the change in his

scent, telling him how turned on Bobby was. His own dick
began to fill. He’d loved docking his mate’s prick with his
own, the connection and pleasure it created, but he couldn’t
wait to feel the man’s ass around him.

“We should go back to your place, my sweet mate,”

Maelgwn urged. “There are only a few hours until dawn,
and I’ll need you to claim me as well.”

Straightening, Bobby cocked his head. “I have to claim

you, too?” He swallowed hard. “And, and, b-bite you?”

Maelgwn paused. He should have realized ingesting

blood would be problematic to a human. He struggled to
think of how to smooth this over.

“O-okay,” Bobby mused. He tipped his head to the side

and frowned at Maelgwn. “Your, um, your hide is…well…”
He caressed Maelgwn’s bare shoulder, giving him goose
bumps. “I’m not sure I can bite through your skin,” he said
dubiously.

Relief flooded Maelgwn. That problem, he could work

with. Mealgwn smiled. “Don’t worry, my sweet. It’s a simple
matter for me to cut my neck a smidge to give you access,”
he assured.

“You’d cut yourself for me?” Bobby squeaked.
Maelgwn chuckled. “I’d do anything for you,” he

responded immediately.

“Oh!”
On that note, Maelgwn pulled his mate into his lap and

wrapped his arms around Bobby. He captured his sweet
human’s lips, nibbling lightly on the plump bottom lip first,
before diving in to taste his mate. His cock swelled beneath
his loincloth. He could feel the hood of his cock pulling
away from his glans as need for this human coursed through
his veins.

Charlie Richards

Easing the kiss to an end, Maelgwn murmured against

Bobby’s lips, “We should really go to your apartment. Leave
your porch door open and I’ll let myself in.”

To his shock, the blood drained from Bobby’s face and he

actually began to shake in his arms. The acrid scent of fear
poured off his sweet human.

“Hey, hey,” Maelgwn purred, trilling on instinct and

rubbing  his  cheek  against  Bobby’s,  desperately  trying  to
soothe his mate. “We don’t have to do it tonight if you don’t
want to,” he said, hating the words even as they passed his
lips. Now that Bobby knew what he was and seemed ready
to  accept  him,  Maelgwn  didn’t  want  to  spend  another
minute  without  him.  But  he  would,  if  that’s  what  Bobby
needed.

Bobby shook his head, then buried his face against

Maelgwn’s neck, clinging to him. “Don’t wanna go back
there alone.”

The hoarsely whispered words were difficult to make out,

even with Maelgwn’s heightened hearing. He glanced
toward Gus and Tible. Gus’s brows were drawn in worry.
Tible frowned, his eyes narrowed.

What the hell is going on?
“Tell me why you’re so scared, little one,” Maelgwn

urged. “What can I do to help you calm down?” Rubbing his
cheek along the top of his mate’s head, he continued to trill
while  marking  him  with  his  scent.  If  Bobby  were  another
gargoyle,  or  even  some  other  paranormal  creature,  being
marked by a mate would ease him. Since Bobby was human,
Maelgwn wasn’t certain if it’d affect him the same way, but
since  he  seemed  to  enjoy  his  trilling  so  much,  Maelgwn
hoped.

Less than a moment later, Bobby’s trembling stopped.

“I’m sorry,” Bobby whispered, still hiding his face against
Maelgwn.

Trill To Me Sweetly

Smoothing his hands down Bobby’s spine, Maelgwn

nuzzled his lover. “Tell me what upset you so much, Bobby.
Whatever it is, I won’t do it again,” he promised, praying
he’d be able to keep it.

“Not you,” Bobby managed. “Can’t go home now. Seth

was there.”

“What?” Maelgwn growled, his wings flexing

instinctively. “When?”

Bobby shook his head.
It suddenly dawned on Maelgwn that he’d never actually

learned why Bobby had come here instead of going home.
He’d assumed it was because he wanted to check up on
Maelgwn, but what if that wasn’t the case?

“Was Seth at your apartment building when you tried to

go home from our date, Bobby?” Maelgwn asked pointedly.

Bobby nodded. “God, I feel like such a wuss,” he

muttered.

“Hey, you’re not a wuss,” Gus immediately denied. “Seth

is an asshole.”

“It’s not Seth, either, really,” was Bobby’s surprising

response.

Needing more information, Maelgwn cupped the nape of

his mate’s neck in one hand and his jaw in the other. He
urged his mate to meet his gaze. His heart nearly stopped at
the look in his mate’s eyes—shame.

“Ah, my sweet,” he murmured, giving up on looking his

mate in the eye in favor of reassurance, he tucked Bobby’s
head under his chin and held him close. “Please tell me what
has you so worked up. What’s the matter?”

“Seth has friends,” Bobby whispered. “They’re abusive.

Seth never stopped them unless they marked me in a visible
location. It was Grant who broke my nose, not Seth.”

Maelgwn fought down a wave of rage at learning what

his mate had been through. Even though he desperately

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wanted  to  hunt  Seth  and  his  friends  down,  he  knew  that
wasn’t what his mate  needed. Instead, he sucked in a deep
breath and said, “I have a friend. We’ll call him. He’ll give us
a  room.”  He  prayed  the  wolf  alpha,  Declan  McIntire,
wouldn’t make a liar out of him. “We’ll go there and finish
our bonding.”

He tipped Bobby’s head back and sipped several butterfly

kisses  from  the  man’s  lips  before  forcing  a  smile  and
murmuring,  “We  will  please  each  other  greatly  and  after
we’re  done,  I  will  keep  you  safe,”  he  vowed.  “Tomorrow,
we’ll  go,  together,  to  your  apartment  and  pack.  Then  we’ll
go  to  my  clutch’s  home  near  Durango,  Colorado  where
you’ll not have to worry about Seth’s friends anymore.”

Bobby tilted his head and looked up at him. “Really?” He

suddenly frowned and shook his head. “Damn it, I sound
like a fucking pussy,” he snarled.

“No,” Tible said, crossing to him. “You sound like

someone who’s been abused.”

To Maelgwn’s surprise, Bobby leaped from his lap and

exploded. “It’s my fault because I stayed with him. I
accepted his stupid explanations and platitudes,” he railed,
arms flailing.

“Hey, easy,” Maelgwn ordered again, pulling his mate

tight against him. “You won’t have to worry about him
anymore, and once we get to my clutch, I’m not the only one
who’d lay down his life to keep you safe,” he said sincerely.

Bobby’s eyes opened so wide, they dominated his face.

“You’d lay down your life for me? Why would you do
that?” Before Maelgwn could answer, Bobby smacked his
chest. “Don’t you talk about dying. No dying!”

Maelgwn grabbed Bobby’s hands, holding them to his

chest. “Right. That goes for you, too,” he murmured. “No
dying. We have a long life to live together.”

“Do you really live thousands of years?” Bobby

Trill To Me Sweetly

whispered the question, his tone awed.

“Gargoyles do, yes,” Maelgwn confirmed. “And since

you’re my mate, once we bond, your life will extend to
match mine.” He frowned, worried he’d lose his mate once
he revealed the next bit. Knowing he couldn’t hide such
important information from Bobby, he added, “If something
should happen to you, I’d die and the same with you should
something happen to me. We’d go mad with longing or die
of heartache or—”

“I get it,” Bobby interrupted. “We can’t live without each

other.”

“Right,” Maelgwn said solemnly.
Bobby looked toward Tible and Gus. “Are you two

bonded?”

Gus grinned. “Yep,” he said, obviously pleased. He

pulled Tible, who still held the egg, onto his lap and kissed
his neck. “Tible’s all mine.”

Tible grinned over his shoulder at Gus. “And you’re all

mine.”

“I’m gonna call Declan, while you chat,” Maelgwn said.

Although he didn’t want to, Maelgwn shifted out from
under Bobby and headed toward the window. He pulled his
cell from his shoulder strap and called the alpha wolf.

“Declan here.” Declan’s lilted voice came through the

line.

“Hello, Declan. This is Maelgwn.”
“Maelgwn, how’s the hunt goin’?”
“Pretty well,” he told him, “but I need a favor.”
“Of course,” Declan responded. “I owe ye for helpin’ me

pack members. Anythin’ in me power.”

Although Maelgwn had never really considered aiding

Tible  and  Gus  worthy  of  holding  a  boon  over  Declan,  he
wasn’t  going  to  contradict  the  alpha  wolf.  It  wasn’t  worth
the  fight  and  would  insult  the  shifter.  No  paranormal

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enjoyed being indebted to another, and if Maelgwn could
leave Declan’s mind at ease by asking for private space for
him and his mate for the night, then he’d do it.

“My mate accepts me, but we need privacy for the night

to complete our bonding,” he stated bluntly, seeing no
reason to beat around the bush. “Can I fly us over?”

“Aye, that’d be grand,” Declan replied, his mirth easily

discernible. “Come on over.”

“Thanks.” Maelgwn hung up and turned back to his

mate. He smiled when Bobby immediately blushed and
focused on the floor. Stalking close, he murmured, “What
are you thinking about, my sweet?”

“Um…” Bobby deferred.
“Just telling him all about how wonderful a mate’s bite

can feel,” Tible answered, grinning. He bounced up off the
couch and moved back toward the egg cabinet before Bobby
could pinch him. Laughing, Tible quipped, “Well, I was!”

Seeing how this could get out of hand very quickly,

Maelgwn wrapped his arms around his mate and pulled
him close. “We’ll be staying the rest of the evening at Declan
McIntire’s,” Maelgwn said. “Do you want me to fly us over
there?”

“Fly us?” Bobby whispered.
Maelgwn grinned and flexed his wings, drawing attention

to his leathery appendages.

“What about my car?” his mate asked, eying him

dubiously.

Shrugging, Maelgwn started leading his mate toward the

back. “We’ll pick it up tomorrow,” he said. “Let’s get going.”
He leaned close and whispered, “I’m eager to feel your
sweet cock in my ass.”

Bobby’s jaw dropped. “Really?” he murmured.
Maelgwn shrugged. He’d never bottomed before, he was

chieftain of his clutch after all, but he’d known that one day,

Trill To Me Sweetly

if his mate turned out to be a male, he’d have to. Now was
the time. Besides, he’d seen how much pleasure his
bedmates received from his cock in their asses and wanted
to experience that. He just happened to want to feel it with
his mate, so he’d waited until he’d found him.

“Fly? Really?” Bobby whispered.
“Yep,” Maelgwn said, eagerness and need filling him.

Soon, I’ll be bonded.

“Go,” Gus urged. “Your car will be fine here. We’ll see

you in the morning. Then we’ll go to your place and start
packing,” he teased.

Bobby glared, but didn’t respond as Maelgwn helped him

into his coat.

Charlie Richards

Chapter Seven

obby let out an undignified yelp as they took to the air.
He’d been warned, but still he hid his face against

Maelgwn’s peck. The big gargoyle’s arms were wrapped
tightly around him, holding him to his chest. It felt good and
scary all at the same time. Kinda like everything that had
happened in the last couple hours. So much had changed in
his life, and all at once!

“Don’t think too hard about it, little one,” Maelgwn said,

his deep voice carrying over the whistling of the wind. “Just
enjoy what I have to offer.”

Bobby swallowed hard, then nodded, his face rubbing

against Maelgwn’s warm hide, who trilled so nicely in
response. Sweet heavens, I sure like that sound. I’d give up

anything to keep this sexy beast doing that.

Realizing how true that thought was, Bobby knew he was

hooked. He wanted this creature, this gargoyle, and he was
willing to do or give up anything to get it. It didn’t miss his
attention that Bobby really was getting the better end of the
deal. He’d have to figure out how to make certain Maelgwn
never regretted pursuing him.

The flight took much less time than driving over in a car

would have, and soon Maelgwn landed lightly before
Declan’s front porch. Bobby had met the man once, in
passing, at his friend’s Halloween party. He’d had no idea,
at the time, that he was being introduced to the leader of the

Trill To Me Sweetly

local wolf shifter pack.

The big guy didn’t look all that different now as he

opened  the  front  door  and  greeted  them,  minus  the  green
body  paint  and  brown  wig,  of  course.  The  big  African
American’s  head  was  shaved  bald,  giving  him  a  dominant
air.

“Good evenin’, Maelgwn, Bobby. Good to see ye both

again,” Declan greeted.

“Thank you for having us,” Maelgwn replied, reaching

out and gripping the man’s hand in a firm shake. “We’ll try
not to disturb your routine by our presence.”

Declan nodded, amusement shining in his dark eyes.

“Aye,  I’m  certain  ye will  try.  We’ve  placed  clean  sheets  on
the  bed  in  the  basement  room.  It’ll  be  more…effective  at
keeping  any  escaped  noise  to  a  minimum,”  he  finished,  a
slow grin curving his lips as he winked. “Follow me.”

Bobby felt blood rush to his face, and he just knew he’d

turned beat red. He didn’t know what embarrassed him
more. The fact that Declan knew exactly what they’d be
doing down there, or that he planned for them to be loud.

“Uh…”
“Relax,” Maelgwn murmured, ushering him forward to

follow Declan. “Most paranormal creatures are anything but
shy when it comes to nature’s urges and finding a mate.”

“Good to know,” Bobby muttered.
Declan opened a door, revealing a wide set of stairs. “At

the bottom, turn left. The door on the left is open, so ye can’t
miss it.”

Maelgwn nodded, then grabbed Bobby’s hand and

headed down the stairs. Bobby followed without question,
only glancing around a moment when they reached the
bottom, too keyed up to notice much.

Bobby found himself led into a small bedroom with no

windows. A queen-size bed dominated the space with a

Charlie Richards

nightstand on its left. A tube of lube rested prominently on
it. “I’m glad someone plans ahead,” Bobby muttered.

“Me, too,” Maelgwn responded. He tugged him forward

and Bobby went willingly into the huge gargoyle’s arms. “I
don’t think we should let his gift go to waste. Do you?”

“No,” Bobby murmured, his body coming to life as

Maelgwn gently stroked down his spine to the crack of his
ass. The way he scraped one claw along it, making him feel
it even through layers of clothing, sent blood flooding to his
groin. “Definitely not.”

“Glad you feel that way,” Maelgwn growled.
Maelgwn slipped the hand that’d been tickling the base of

his spine down farther and cupped his ass. He easily lifted
Bobby into his arms, bringing him up his body. Bobby
wrapped his legs around Maelgwn’s waist and with one arm
wrapped around his gargoyle’s neck, he used the other to
trace the alien contours of his face.

“So different,” he murmured.
“Does that bother you?” Mealgwn’s asked softly.
Bobby smiled and shook his head, wanting to reassure the

big  man  that  the  fact  that  his  lover  was  different  didn’t
bother  him.  In  fact,  it  kinda  made  him  feel  special.  “No.
You’re  incredibly  handsome,  kind,  sweet,  thoughtful.  You
must have worked hard  to prepare a meal for me that  you
were certain I’d like,” he whispered. “How could I not find
you attractive?”

Instead of answering, Maelgwn closed the distance

between their mouths and took his lips in a deep kiss. Bobby
clung to his lover as Maelgwn plundered his mouth. A
whole body shiver took him as the gargoyle used his longer,
more flexible tongue to wrap around his and stroke it
sensuously.

Moaning, Bobby’s grip tightened around the leather

straps over Maelgwn’s shoulders. He rocked his hips

Trill To Me Sweetly

forward, desperately needing pressure on his dick. Maelgwn
growled into his mouth, and the vibrations seemed to travel
through his entire body to his already engorged shaft.

It didn’t register that they’d moved until Bobby felt his

back pressed into the bed. Maelgwn settled between his legs,
and although his big body blanketed him completely, Bobby
felt cherished instead of suffocated.

When they finally came up for air, Bobby’s heart pounded

in his chest, his breath came in short gasps, and blood
swelled his dick. “Please,” he hissed. “Please take me. I need
you to fill me.”

Bobby thought the growl that rolled through Maelgwn’s

chest at his admission was sexier than fuck. Just the idea that
this man wanted him so badly turned him on even more. As
soon as Maelgwn lifted his weight so he could reach for the
ties holding on his loincloth, Bobby grappled with the
button and zipper of his slacks.

By the time he got them open and looked back up,

Maelgwn had shoved his loincloth off the bed and lay on his
side, naked, watching him. He held the lube in one hand and
rubbed three fingers of his other hand together, warming a
large dollop of the slick.

“Get naked,” Maelgwn ordered. “I’m big, so I plan to

suck you off while I stretch you. It’ll make it more
pleasurable.”

“Yeah, okay,” Bobby responded, more than happy to get

behind, or rather under, that idea.

He stripped off his clothes and lay on his back. Looking

up at his lover, the heat of Maelgwn’s gaze sent a shiver of
need through him and he hissed as his dick oozed a bead of
pre-cum. His noise turned into a whimper when Maelgwn
lapped the flat of his tongue across his glans, scooping up
the bead.

“So pretty, the noises you make,” Maelgwn murmured

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against the head of his shaft. “Can’t wait to taste your cum.”

Without saying more, Maelgwn swallowed him to the

root. Wet heat surrounded Bobby’s dick and he groaned as
his  back  bowed.  “My  god!”  he  shouted  hoarsely  when
Maelgwn  drew  up  his  length,  sucking  hard.  He  couldn’t
stop  the  whines  and  grunts  spilling  from  his  throat  as  he
gave in to his body’s urge to thrust his hips.

Maelgwn took everything, letting him rock. When a third

thick digit speared him, he finally felt the stretch.  “Oh,” he
whispered.  His  brows  furrowed  at  the  burn,  then
something—Maelgwn’s talon maybe?—rubbed gently across
his  prostate,  sending  a  shock  of  pleasure  through  him  so
intense his abs clenched and he bolted upright with a shout.

“Easy, mate,” Maelgwn crooned.
“Holy shit,” Bobby gasped. “That’s amazing.”
Maelgwn chuckled. “Good to know. You ready for a

fourth finger?”

Taking in his lover’s concerned gaze, Bobby saw his

underlying worry. He reached down and traced the firm
brow ridge that was in place of the gargoyle’s eyebrow. “I’m
ready. Make me yours.” His heart tightened at his words,
making his breath hitch in his chest. This man—gargoyle—
wanted to be devoted to him. Bobby didn’t know what he’d
done to deserve such a kind male, but he’d take it.

Maelgwn stared at him for a heartbeat, and Bobby could

see his dark eyes searching his expression. Bobby splayed
his legs wider and rocked his hips, his hard dick bobbing in
front of him, more than willing to express his need with his
body since Maelgwn seemed to need reassurance.

Gently, Maelgwn pulled his fingers from Bobby, causing

him to hiss and whine at the sudden feeling of emptiness. It
didn’t last long. Maelgwn gripped one of Bobby’s ass-cheeks
in one palm, planted his other near Bobby’s head as he
leaned over him, and pushed.

Trill To Me Sweetly

Bobby gasped, not from the size, but from the unfamiliar

feeling of a hot, slick, naked cock filling him up. “Oh, Mal,”
he whispered, moaning. His lover paused, his dick buried
balls deep, the hairless orbs rubbing against Bobby and
creating interesting sensations on his skin.

“You doing okay?”
Maelgwn’s growled words were filled with such strained

control  that  Bobby’s  nipples  beaded  at  the  sound.  “God,
yesss,” Bobby hissed. He clung to his waiting lover with one
hand,  his  legs  wrapped  tightly  around  Maelgwn’s  broad
hips.  Bobby  buried  his  other  hand  in  the  gargoyle’s  thick
dark  hair  and  tugged,  pulling  his  lover’s  face  down  for  a
kiss.

Sucking on Maelgwn’s tongue, Bobby rocked his hips and

clenched his chute, trying to tell him without words what he
wanted. Maelgwn moaned into his mouth and started to
move.

His lover’s big dick rubbing over Bobby’s prostate sent

spikes of pleasure-pain sparking along his nerve endings. It
was his turn to groan, the sounds swallowed by Maelgwn
ravishing his mouth as well as his body. Maelgwn somehow
managed to insinuate a hand between them and flicked his
beaded nipple lightly with the tip of a claw.

Bobby’s entire body felt like it was on fire. His cock

leaked  and  flexed.  His  balls  pulled  impossibly  tighter.  “G-
gonna…”  he  stuttered.  Before  he  could  complete  his
thought,  his  body  tensed,  then  convulsed  as  his  orgasm
swamped his senses, making his body tingle from his toes to
his ears.

“Maelgwn!” Bobby screamed.
Still floating in bliss, he hummed at the feeling of

Maelgwn sinking into him once, twice more. Then a sharp
stab of pain shot through his shoulder, followed by pleasure
so intense his shaft filled and shot again. Black spots flashed

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across Bobby’s vision as he came again.

Bobby didn’t know how long he floated on the most

wonderful  waves  of  ecstasy  he’d  ever  experienced,  but
finally,  he became aware of Maelgwn’s hands caressing his
skin,  his  jaw  nuzzling  Bobby’s  head,  and  the  way  he  was
held  in  Maelgwn’s  strong  arms  like  he  was  the  most
precious gift.

He hummed contentedly and nuzzled Maelgwn back.

Forcing his eyes open—he didn’t remember closing them,
either—Bobby smiled at his lover. “Amazing,” he whispered
hoarsely. “Tible was so right.”

Maelgwn chuckled, a clearly pleased, smug even, smile

curving his lips. “Glad I didn’t disappoint.”

“You could never,” Bobby replied, some instinct knowing

he spoke the truth.

Cupping the nape of Bobby’s neck, Maelgwn brought

their mouths together for a soft meeting of lips. “You ready
for round two?” he asked, the words muffled, because
Maelgwn never completely broke contact.

Bobby felt the hard spike of Maelgwn’s penis rubbing

against his thigh. “How can you be hard again already?” he
asked, disbelieving.

“Gargoyles have a high sex drive,” Maelgwn stated,

grinning.

Cupping Bobby’s dick, Maelgwn massaged gently. To

Bobby’s shock, his dick started to fill. “Oh,” he gasped.
Panting softly, Bobby watched in amazement as Maelgwn
worked a thumb around the head of his cut cap, then gently
dipped his nail into his slit.

“Ah!” Bobby couldn’t hold back his grunts and groans.

Pre-cum oozed from him and Maelgwn spread it around his
glans. “So good,” he panted, shivers wracking him as his
balls rolled in their sacks. “Stop or I’m gonna come again,”
he admitted, reeling at the sensations Maelgwn pulled from

Trill To Me Sweetly

him so easily.

“As much as I’d love to see that, I want this,” he gave

Bobby’s dick a soft squeeze to emphasize his point, “buried
in my ass.”

Bobby moaned, biting his lip, hard, to keep from coming

just from his lover’s words. He couldn’t remember the last
time he’d topped, had never really missed it either, but right
now, he was so hot to bury his dick in this man—gargoyle—
he worried he’d blow before getting all the way in him.

“Better hurry,” he panted.
Maelgwn didn’t waste time. He grabbed the lube, poured

a dollop on his finger, and reached between his legs. Bobby
stared, transfixed, as Maelgwn sank first one finger, then a
second into his ass.

He whimpered and gripped the base of his dick as he got

to his knees so he had a better view. Maelgwn’s long sinewy
tail was wrapped around one of his thick legs, out of the
way, and he had two dark blue fingers moving in and out of
his black hole.

“Oh god that’s so fucking sexy. I wanna explore every

inch of your ass, but I’m afraid if I touch you I’ll blow.”

“Next time,” Maelgwn grunted. “Need you to claim me.

Then we can explore each other for as long as we want.”

“Yeah, yeah. Okay,” Bobby replied. He licked his lips as

he swept his gaze over Maelgwn, taking in all the hard lines
and thick muscles. His fingers twitched. Yum!

“Now. Take me now, mate.”
Maelgwn’s strained voice pulled Bobby out of his

thoughts of everything he wanted to do to him. He stared at
his  lover,  amazed  anew  at  the  strong  creature  sprawled
across  the  bed  like  a  pagan  sacrifice—and  with  the  black
wings,  dark  blue  skin,  heavy  square  jaw,  and  claws  on
fingers and toes, pagan didn’t seem to be too far off.

“Bobby?” Maelgwn murmured, concern tingeing his

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voice.

Bobby knee-walked around the bed and crawled between

Maelgwn’s  spread  legs.  He  rested  his  palms  on  Maelgwn’s
thighs,  noting  how  the  muscles  rippled  under  his  touch,
pleased  that  he  created  such  a  response  in  him.  His  gaze
swept  up  to  Maelgwn’s  face,  and  for  just  a  second,
something other than lust or desire shown in the gargoyle’s
eyes.

Fear.
Running his hands up and down Maelgwn’s thighs, he

murmured, “Hey, Mal. What’s wrong?”

Maelgwn shook his head once, and Bobby wasn’t certain

he’d get more than that. Then, he said gruffly, “Just nervous.
I’ve never bottomed. Wanted to wait for my mate.” His dark
skin flushed with his admission, telling Bobby better than
any words what this meant to the gargoyle.

Licking his lips, Bobby silently vowed to make this as

good as possible for him. “This isn’t really the best position
for your first time. Maybe you should roll over,” he
suggested.

The intensity of Maelgwn’s scowl was clarified when he

said, “No. Want to see you. Fuck me now. Please.”

Bobby nodded, deciding this big sexy man should never

have to beg anything from him. Holding his dick in one
hand, he guided it to Maelgwn’s stretched hole. His other
hand rested on Maelgwn’s hip. With little pressure, the head
of his dick breached the ring of muscle.

He tried to go slow, but as his naked cock slid into the

warm vise of Maelgwn’s channel, his control slipped. Bobby
pulled back once and thrust in harder, faster, burying
himself balls deep in the sexy beast below him.

Somehow, he managed to regain enough control to stop.

He opened eyes he hadn’t realized he’d closed and gazed
down at his lover. Instead of pain, like he would have

Charlie Richards

Chapter Eight

aressing the silky strands of Bobby’s hair absently,
Maelgwn admired the fine lines of his human lover’s

face. The pleasure he felt at being connected to his mate
overrode the uncomfortable burn and the odd sensation of
feeling stuffed.

“Move, baby,” Maelgwn whispered, wanting to feel

Bobby’s shaft moving inside him. “Fuck me good.”

Bobby moaned, the sound oh-so-sweet to Maelgwn’s ears.

Fortunately, Bobby also obeyed. Tingles exploded along the
walls  of  Maelgwn’s  chute.  Bobby  adjusted  the  angle  of  his
thrust,  nailing  his  prostate  on  the  next  move.  Maelgwn
groaned  as  sparks  of pleasure  shot  through  his  system  like
mini lightning bolts along his nerve endings.

“Never imagined it would feel like this,” he grunted, his

hips bucking up into each of Bobby’s strokes. His body
chased more of those delicious feelings. He nearly came out
of his skin when Bobby gave him a lascivious grin, reached
between them to fist his cock, and worked his foreskin back
and forth over his glans. “Bobby!” he practically howled.
Fire coursed through his blood stream, making him feel as if
his whole body was going to spontaneously combust.

“Yeah,” Bobby muttered through clenched teeth. “You

gonna come for me, big man? You gonna paint our chests?”

Bobby slammed into Maelgwn’s prostate twice more, and

to his shock, he did just that. He felt nearly blind-sided by an

Trill To Me Sweetly

orgasm almost as intense as the one before when he’d been
buried inside his mate. His body convulsed as his testicles
forced spurt after spurt of seed out of his pulsing shaft.

His body clamped down rhythmically on Bobby’s

invading  member,  coaxing  his  mate  to  come  with  him.
Bobby moaned and tensed above him, his warm seed filling
Maelgwn’s  channel.  Maelgwn  had  just  enough  presence  of
mind  to  lift  a  claw  to  his  chest  and  slice  himself  open  just
over his heart. With his other hand, he cupped Bobby’s head
and urged him to the wound.

“Drink,” he murmured breathlessly.
Bobby seemed to hesitate for just a second, then Maelgwn

felt  his  mate’s  tongue  lap  at  the  oozing  gash.  As  soon  as
Bobby  swallowed,  Maelgwn  felt  their  bond  strengthen,
binding them for eternity. “Bobby,” he whispered. Peace and
contentment  flooded  him,  feeling  even  better  than  the
orgasm that had rocked his system a few seconds ago. “My
Bobby.”

Bobby lifted his head and smiled at him. “Does that make

you mine?”

Although mirth lifted the corners of Bobby’s lips, it didn’t

quite reach his eyes. Maelgwn lifted his head and licked the
sweat off his mate’s jaw before placing light sucking kisses
along the tendons of his neck. The bitter tang of worry and
fear hit his sensitive tongue.

He wrapped his arms around Bobby, then his wings, the

movement pulling his mate’s softened prick from his chute.
Ignoring the slight discomfort, Maelgwn nuzzled his mate to
his chest and rubbed his jaw against Bobby’s. He loved the
way their scents combined.

“Oh, yes, Bobby. I am yours. Never will I want another in

my arms, in my life, or in my bed. You’re it for me, little one.
Your happiness means everything to me.” He cupped
Bobby’s jaw and lifted the man’s head, so their eyes could

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meet.  Unshed  tears  made  his  mate’s  beautiful  green  eyes
glisten,  but  this  time  he  could  easily  scent  the  happiness
causing  them.  “You’re  stuck  with  me,  mate,  and  I’ll  do
everything  in  my  power  to  make  it  worth  your  while,”  he
vowed.

He knew what a big step accepting a paranormal’s love

could be. Bobby had yet to learn about all the creatures out
there,  and  he’d  be  right  by  his  side  to  help  him  along  the
way. As chieftain of his clutch, Maelgwn’s mate would hold
certain  responsibilities.  He  prayed  the  strong  backbone  his
mate’s  actions  occasionally  hinted  at  would  continue  to
develop during the changes ahead.

“Okay,” Bobby whispered.
Maelgwn smiled. “Okay.” He pressed a soft kiss to

Bobby’s lips, then said, “Let’s get some sleep. We’ve only a
few hours left until dawn, then there will be much to do.”

Bobby didn’t comment, and as Maelgwn listened, he

realized exhaustion had claimed his little mate. Arms and
wings securely around Bobby, Maelgwn dozed, content in
the knowledge he held his future in his arms.

A spike of pain shooting from the nape of his neck down

his  spine  jerked  Maelgwn  from  sleep,  pulling  a  gasp  from
his  throat.  His  back  bowed,  jostling  Bobby.  He  ground  his
teeth together to keep from crying out. Maelgwn knew what
was happening, had even been told about the pain of it. That
didn’t  make  it  any  easier  to  control  his  reaction  to  the  fire
coursing through his veins.

Bobby blinked open his eyes and stared at him blearily for

a  second.  Then  his  eyes  widened,  perhaps  because  he  saw
the  strain  on  Maelgwn’s  features.  He  rested  a  hand  on
Maelgwn’s  chest  and—oddly  enough—his  mate’s  touch
soothed the fire burning through him slightly.

“Are you okay?” Bobby asked, worry in his tone and

Trill To Me Sweetly

eyes.

Maelgwn forced his head to nod. Taking hope from his

mate’s  contact,  he  wrapped  his  arms  around  Bobby  and
pulled,  causing  his  human  to  sprawl  across  his  chest  and
groin.  Blessed  relief!  His  body  still  tingled  strangely,  but  at
least  it  didn’t  hurt  so much.  How  come  no  one  told  me  that  a

mate’s touch soothes?

He tucked his face against Bobby’s neck and sighed, not

bothering to fight the shivers racking his body. He knew the
feeling would pass. “I’m going through molt,” he whispered
hoarsely. “It’ll pass.”

“Molt?” Bobby muttered.
To Maelgwn’s gratefulness, his mate didn’t try to move.

“It’s what we call it when a gargoyle’s body changes into
human form for the first time. It only happens once the
mating process is complete.”

“Oh, right,” Bobby replied. After a couple seconds, he

nuzzled Maelgwn’s neck and asked, “Does it take long?”

The spiking jolt to his shoulder blades caused Maelgwn to

hiss, “Shit.” He could feel the slide of his leather wings along
the fabric of the sheets as they retracted into his back. Goose
bumps pimpled his skin when it changed from leathery hide
to regular skin. Last to feel the sting of conversion was his
face, hands, and feet. It felt like someone trying to rip his
nails from their beds while breaking his jawbone, and tears
squeezed from the corners of his eyes.

“Arg!” Maelgwn collapsed onto the bed, breathing

heavily.

“Mal? Mal?” Bobby cried.
Exhausted, he whispered, “I’m fine.” He cracked open an

eyelid and managed a slight smile. “Just gotta catch my
breath.”

“Wow!”
Bobby’s whispered word and wide eyes concerned

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Maelgwn. “I look that bad?” he teased, trying to make light
of the situation. He probably should have done a better job
warning his mate.

“No, no, you…my god! You look totally, well, fucking

hot,” Bobby finished rather lamely, his gaze sweeping down
Maelgwn’s still-broad chest. “I mean, not that you didn’t
look good before, but…damn!”

His lover stared with obvious appreciation as he sat up

and straddled Maelgwn’s chest. He liked it very much how
Bobby slid his hands over his firm peck muscles. His nipples
beaded to hard points and his shaft began to throb,
banishing any remaining tingles of pain and replacing it
with warm shivers of lust.

Grabbing his lover, Maelgwn rolled them. He settled

between Bobby’s legs, grabbed both their shafts in one hand
and rubbed. Feeling how hard Bobby already was stoked
Maelgwn’s ego like nothing ever could. It pleased him
knowing how much his mate wanted him.

“Dock me,” Bobby muttered, his hands clutching

Maelgwn’s shoulders. “Please, dock me. Never felt anything
like that and wanna feel it again.”

Maelgwn grinned, inordinately happy that he’d given his

mate  something  no  one  else  ever  had.  Lifting  his  hips
slightly, he shifted his cock so he could stretch his foreskin
over  both  their  heads.  His  grunt  of  pleasure  matched
Bobby’s sensual moan as their glans bumped. The soft folds
caught  their  pre-cum,  combining  their  fluids,  accentuating
the slide of cock head on cock head.

“Bobby,” he growled, hot spikes of awareness shooting

through his system. “Gonna come for me, mate?” He
pumped their shafts, knowing how dangerously close he
was to losing his own seed.

“So close,” Bobby murmured, his hips bucking.
“Yeah,” Maelgwn grunted. He leaned down and wrapped

Trill To Me Sweetly

his  teeth  around  his  mate’s  shoulder.  With  blunt  human
teeth,  he  bit  down,  hard.  Bobby  shuddered  beneath  him,
cried  out,  and  came,  oozing  warm  cum  over  his  sensitized
glans.

Seeing no need to wait, Maelgwn gave in to his own

body’s need. Tensing, his seed pulsed from his balls, up his
stalk, and flooded the space between them. His whole body
shivered at the sensation of combined cum against his glans
and stalk.

“Awe, fucking hell,” he grunted.
Nothing felt better than his mate coming all over him.
It was a good two minutes before Maelgwn managed to

control himself enough to lever up and flop to the side of the
bed. “Fuck, you make me feel good,” he muttered.

Bobby snickered. “Ditto.”
Maelgwn turned his head and smiled at Bobby. “We

should really get going. The sooner we pack up your stuff,
the sooner we can get you moved. I’ve been away from my
clutch for longer than I’d planned.”

“What were you doing out here?” Bobby asked softly,

reaching for the box of tissues on the nightstand.

Taking it from him, Maelgwn cleaned them up as he

answered.  “I  came  out  a  couple  weeks  ago  to  help  Gus
deliver his baby,” he said. “I scented you in the hospital.” He
frowned  remembering  why  Bobby  had  been  there.
Inspecting  his  lover’s  face,  he  was  pleased  to  find  that  the
black  eyes  had  all  but  disappeared.  He  touched  the  nearly
perfect  flesh  around  one  eye.  “A  benefit  of bonding  with  a
paranormal  is  accelerated  healing,”  he  murmured.  “Not  as
fast as mine, but still pretty quick.” Leaning over, he kissed
the skin he’d just touched. “So pretty.”

“Men don’t generally appreciate being called pretty,”

Bobby said dryly.

Smirking, Maelgwn quirked an eyebrow. “And how do

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you feel about it?”

After a second’s hesitation, he said, “Only from you.”
“Good.” Maelgwn pecked a kiss to Bobby’s lips. “So, I

want to find a mirror. I don’t consider myself vain, but I am
curious,” he admitted.

Bobby laughed. “Oh, you’ll still attract attention,” he said.

“But in a good way.”

Chuckling, Maelgwn got to his feet then pulled his mate

up after him. He bent at the waist and captured Bobby’s lips
in a deep kiss. He savored his mate’s masculine flavor,
pulling his tongue into his mouth and sucking lightly. When
Bobby sagged against him, clinging oh-so-nicely, Maelgwn
gently ended the kiss. “Your attention is the only thing I care
about.”

“You got it,” Bobby gasped.
“Good.” He wrapped his loincloth around his waist,

taking stock of his body as he did. Dark bronze skin covered
him, and the hair falling over his shoulder was still black. It
was definitely odd not to feel his wings warming his
shoulders, but figured he’d get used to it. Standing in front
of the small mirror behind the door, Maelgwn ran a finger
over his black eyebrows, then bared his teeth to look at the
blunt bones.

“Huh, not bad,” he stated. He’d be the first to admit that

he didn’t really understand human’s idea of aesthetically
pleasing features. For gargoyles, attraction was based on
scent, not looks.

Bobby wrapped his arms around Maelgwn’s waist and

pressed his cheek to his back, at about shoulder blade level.
Even in human form, Maelgwn still stood six and a half feet
tall. “I think you’re amazing,” he murmured.

Maelgwn smiled, turned in his mate’s arms, and wrapped

him up. “I hope you feel that way after living with me for a
while,” he said ruefully.

Trill To Me Sweetly

“You a bit set in your ways?” he asked, grinning.
“After almost five hundred years, you would be, too,” he

warned.

Bobby snorted. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
Maelgwn led the way out of the room, the linoleum cold

under his bare feet, reminding him that he’d have to ask
Declan for clothes. He’d freeze his ass off as a human in
Colorado’s winter.

He inhaled deeply and flicked out his tongue, his stomach

reminding him that eating dinner had been skipped in lew
of calming his mate, then claiming him. The scents of bacon,
eggs, and hash brown casserole with cheese and ham
tantalized his senses.

“That smells fantastic,” Maelgwn complimented, leading

the way into the dining room.

Over the bar separating the room from the kitchen, Lark

grinned  at  him  from  where  he  placed  bacon  on  a  paper
towel  covered  plate  to  cool.  “I  remember  feeding  Gus  and
Tible  for  a  while.  You  all  eat  a  lot!”  He  pointed  his  fork  at
Bobby and winked. “Better remember that.”

Bobby nodded, his expression amused. “Good tip.”

After breakfast, Declan scrounged up a pair of jeans, t-

shirt, sweatshirt, socks, and boots in Maelgwn’s size. “It’s a
good thing me wolves come in so many different sizes,”
Declan said, handing him the bundle of clothes and Bobby
the boots.

“Thanks,” Maelgwn said. “Need ‘em back?”
“Nay,” Declan replied with a wave of his hand.
Maelgwn dressed and, after dropping his daughter, Sara,

at school, Declan drove them to Gus’s so they could pick up
Bobby’s car. Before they were even out of the car, both Tible
and Gus came out of the house and waved. When Maelgwn
opened the SUV’s door and slid out, Gus called, “Can you

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all come in for a cup of coffee? We’d like to speak with you.”

Declan turned off the engine and followed the group into

the small studio cottage, practically filling the living room to
capacity. Tible grinned at him. “Good look, Maelgwn,” he
said.

“Thank you,” he responded, taking a seat and the offered

cup of coffee. He held out an arm and wrapped it around
Bobby when he sat next to him, pressing him against his
side. He glanced between Tible and Gus. “What’s up, guys?”

Gus sat on the edge of the couch, his hands folded

together between his knees. The big rhino shifter looked
from Declan to his mate. Tible smiled encouragingly at Gus,
then turned toward the wolf alpha and said, “You’ve been
so very kind to us both, and we’re honored to be allowed to
live in your territory.”

“Ye’re good men,” Declan said. He smiled as if

understanding something. “Ye’re always welcome in me
territory.”

Gus seemed to release the breath he’d been holding, and

said, “Thank you, Alpha. I wouldn’t have survived without
you and Lark’s help.”

Declan nodded.
“Tible and I, we’d like permission to join your clutch,

Maelgwn,”  Gus  said,  focusing  on  Maelgwn.  “As  we  grow
nearer  to  when  our  egg  hatches,  we  want  little  Vaclar  to
grow  up  in  an  environment  among  his  own  kind.  Where
he’ll feel welcome and…”

When Gus hesitated and glanced at Tible, his mate

finished the thought. “Not different. My parents were great,
don’t get me wrong, but they didn’t know anything about
gargoyles.”

Maelgwn nodded. Although he was surprised by their

request, since they’d never even hinted at these desires
before, he was more than happy to grant their request. He

Trill To Me Sweetly

looked at Declan. “I have no desire to cause ill will between
your pack and my clutch by absconding with two of your
members,” he said, smiling. “If you don’t have a problem
with it, I’m more than happy to welcome them.”

Declan chuckled. “I have no complaints. Both Tible and

Gus are fine men. I feel honored to have had the opportunity
to know ye both,” he said, directing the comment at the pair.
“I wish ye all the best with parenthood and expect ye to visit
so I can meet the little tyke.”

Gus grinned, the stress lines that had bracketed his eyes

disappearing. “Thank you. Both of you.”

Declan nodded, drained his cup of coffee, and stood. “I

should be off. Let me know if ye want me to round up a
dozen guys to help move furniture.”

“Thank you, Alpha,” Gus immediately replied. “We’d

appreciate that.”

“It will be done,” Declan promised. He paused at the door

and said over his shoulder, “I’m sure there will be plenty of
guys wishin’ to give ye a grand send off.”

After Declan left, Maelgwn and Bobby quickly followed.

“Thanks for watching my car,” Bobby said, heading toward
it.

Tible laid a hand on his shoulder, stopping his progress.

“You holding up okay?”

“You know, I’m really good,” Bobby replied, smiling. “It’s

a  lot  to  take  in,  but…”  He  shrugged.  “I  mean,  Mal’s
dedicated, kind, devoted, and I’ll never have to worry about
abuse  or  cheating.”  A  bubbly  laugh  escaped  him.  “Who
gives  a  shit  that  he’s  another  species.  He’s  exactly  what  I
wanted in a man.”

Chuckling, Tible nodded. “I’m really glad you figured

that out. Fate knows what she’s doing. We just have to give
her choice a chance.”

Charlie Richards

Chapter Nine

How’d you learn to drive a car?” Bobby asked.

Maelgwn chuckled. “I’ve been alive for centuries, little

one. I’ve watched technology change from horses to steam
engines to motor cars. We manage to stay in the background
because we use that technology to our advantage. You’d be
surprised at what Raymond, our resident computer hacker,
can do.”

“Impressive,” Bobby said, completely truthful. He knew

his way around a computer just enough to use email, the
internet, and the programs required to do his job. “Oh, shit,”
he muttered, the thought of his job alarming him.

“What’s wrong?”
“I forgot to call in this morning,” Bobby said. Then

another  thought  struck  him.  “I  guess  that  doesn’t  matter,
huh?  Since  I’m  quitting?”  He  frowned.  “Will  I  be  able  to
work  in  Durango?  I  don’t  like  the  idea  of  sitting  around
doing nothing,” he declared.

Maelgwn glanced toward him, a brow lifted in question.

“You’re welcome to find work, Bobby. You’re my mate, not
a prisoner.”

Bobby was just starting to feel relieved when Maelgwn

continued.

“I will have to assign bodyguards if you find something

that requires you to leave our estate, but don’t worry, they’ll
be discreet.”

“

Trill To Me Sweetly

The hairs on the back of his neck tingled with discomfort.

“Bodyguards? Why?”

His tone must have conveyed his concern, because

Maelgwn didn’t answer until he was stopped at a red light.
He turned to Bobby and gently cupped his jaw, forcing him
to meet his gaze. “I strive to keep our people at peace, and
right now we are. But there is a vampire coven south of us in
New Mexico that is experiencing some inner-coven turmoil.
The bodyguards are for your safety, not to control you.
You’re everything to me. Keeping you safe is my number
one priority.”

As Bobby listened to Maelgwn’s reasons, understanding

dawned. The paranormal world wasn’t any safer than the
human one, but at least now, he had someone who’d always
watch his back. He turned his head and pressed a kiss to
Maelgwn’s palm. “Okay. Thank you for explaining.”

Maelgwn nodded. “All you ever need to do is ask.”
The honk of a car horn brought them out of their private

moment.  Maelgwn  grinned,  took  the  time  to  butterfly  kiss
Bobby’s  lips,  then  pulled  away  and  got  the  car  moving
again.  Bobby  pointed  out  where  to  park  and  they  headed
toward the building lobby.

Stepping inside, Bobby paused. Seth stood in front of the

elevator, his arms crossed over his chest. Maelgwn wrapped
an arm around Bobby’s shoulders. Leaning down a bit, he
whispered, “Relax, Bobby. He can’t bother you anymore.”

Bobby felt kind of bad. Seth, when they were alone,

hadn’t been a bad guy. He’d been sweet, kind, attentive, and
even the sex had been enjoyable—nothing compared to
making love with Maelgwn—but still good. It was when
Seth was with his friends, trying to impress those bastards,
that things went downhill fast.

Too bad Seth’s buddy, Forest, strode out of an elevator.

“His apartment’s empty,” Forest said to Seth.

Charlie Richards

Bobby’s temper flared and he stalked toward the pair.

Maelgwn at his back gave him the strength to confront them.
“You were in my apartment?” he snapped, catching both
men’s attention. He lifted a hand and pointed at the two of
them. “Neither of you have a key. What the hell do you
think you’re doing?”

Forest actually rolled his eyes, but at least Seth looked

acceptably sheepish. “We didn’t break in,” Seth muttered.
“He just knocked. I stayed down here so you wouldn’t know
I was here. You won’t return my calls.”

Bobby placed his hands on his hips and shook his head.

He actually felt a small measure of compassion for the man.
“I’m not returning your calls because we’re not dating
anymore,” he said.

“But why?” Seth actually whined.
Frowning, Bobby replied, “This—” he pointed at the two

men again—”is exactly why. This behavior. You watch me
like a hawk, don’t want to give me my own life, and you let
your friends treat me like crap. I don’t deserve that. No one
deserves that.”

Seth looked first shocked, then confused, and finally

crestfallen. He’d started to nod and turn away when Forest
snarled, “You cheating little faggot. Is this your new man?
Were you bending over for him and decided he was a better
lay?”

Bobby felt the blood drain from his face. He opened his

mouth, but no sound came out. Shock rocked his system
upon hearing Forest’s accusations.

Maelgwn had no such problem and growled angrily. He

pulled Bobby against him. “You bastard. If we weren’t in the
middle  of  a  lobby  I’d  smash  your  face  in  for  that,”  he
snarled. He glared at Seth. “This is exactly why he left you.
He  didn’t  date  me  until  after  he’d  let  you  know  ya’ll  were
over.  You  should  be  defending  Bobby,  not  me.  If  either  of

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you ever come near Bobby again, I will make you very
sorry.” As he spoke, his voice dropped lower and lower,
until finally he growled, “Leave, now.”

Bobby tried not to react outwardly, but the rumbling of

Maelgwn’s voice actually turned him on. It was…not what
he expected. What surprised Bobby even more was Seth’s
quiet, “I’m sorry,” then he grabbed the back of Forest’s neck
and steered the man from the building.

“Wow,” Bobby whispered. “Why did I find that sexy?”
The look of anger melted from Maelgwn’s face. He leaned

down and whispered, “It’s a paranormal thing. Come on.”

Accepting that at face value, Bobby allowed Maelgwn to

lead him into the elevator. When Maelgwn pressed the
button for the fourth floor, he asked, “How do you know
what floor I’m on?”

Maelgwn actually seemed to flush, his dark mocha skin

deepening further. “Uh, I’ve been watching you for a couple
weeks, Bobby.”

“You have?” Surprise flooded him and his brows shot up.
Shrugging, Maelgwn stepped out of the elevator. “I told

you I scented you a couple weeks ago at the hospital. After
that, I couldn’t just leave,” he explained.

Bobby gripped his bicep and squeezed. “I’m glad you

didn’t.”

It took five days, eight wolves, and one huge good-bye

celebration for Bobby to find himself driving south. Gus and
Tible drove an old beat-up pick-up truck in front of him, and
Maelgwn had flown ahead the evening before to make
certain all arrangements had been made for their arrival.

The kind words and well wishes he’d received from

people he now knew were shifters still blew Bobby’s mind.
He had far more friends than he realized, and his heart felt
full with the knowledge that he now drove to face a new

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future.

He carried a walkie-talkie, which allowed him to speak

with Gus and Tible when need be. Bobby looked forward to
arriving in less than an hour, but feared the huge changes
taking place in his life. To keep from panicking, Bobby sang
along with the radio at the top of his lungs and thought of
nothing but the road signs and following the truck in front
of him.

Time flew and soon, in front of him, Gus’s truck slowed

and turned onto a wide gravel driveway. After a couple
minutes driving through tall pines, a mansion-like structure
appeared. Three stories, a wide veranda, several porches,
and a light brown façade gave it a regal look without being
overdone.

Bobby parked his car and gripped the steering wheel

tightly. He concentrated on keeping his breathing deep and
regular. The fact that he’d turned his life upside-down to be
with a man—gargoyle—was finally sinking in, causing his
heart to race and spots to dance before his eyes.

A tap on his window jerked Bobby from the abyss his

mind had been  sucked into. He looked over and saw Tible
giving  him  a  look  of  concern.  Letting  out  a  breath  slowly
through  slightly  parted  lips,  Bobby  opened  his  door  and
climbed out. He gave Tible a wan smile.

“Are you okay?” Tible whispered the question.
That’s when Bobby realized they weren’t alone in the

courtyard.  His  gaze  roved  over  the  people—er,  gargoyles—
that  were  collected  on  the  sweeping  front  veranda.  There
were  almost  three  dozen  gathered,  about  twenty-five
percent appeared human, but Bobby didn’t know how to tell
if that was just a form some of the mated gargoyles took for
convenience.

They were all different shapes and sizes, from thickly

muscled, squat five foot ten gargoyles to slender, toned

Trill To Me Sweetly

gargoyles. Some even had their wings attached to their arms
and torsos instead of growing from their back. All looked at
him with curiosity.

As one, they parted, and Maelgwn strode through their

ranks. Looking at him amongst his own kind, Bobby decided
he really was the most magnificent of the group. He screwed
up his courage—bolstered by Maelgwn’s smile—and walked
toward his lover, vowing to not embarrass him.

Maelgwn held out his right hand, palm up. Bobby didn’t

even  hesitate  to  take  it,  returning  his  gargoyle’s  smile.  It
didn’t escape his awareness that he was putting a whole hell
of  a  lot  of  faith  in  a  man—creature—he  hardly  knew,  but
every  instinct  he  had  screamed  that  he  was  safe.  Which
should  have  been  odd,  since  Bobby  hadn’t  felt  that  with
Seth’s friends, but there it was.

Maelgwn tugged on Bobby’s hand, and he went willingly

into  Maelgwn’s  embrace.  With  one  arm  wrapped  around
Bobby’s  shoulders,  Maelgwn  turned  toward  his  clutch-
members and said, “This is Bobby Truman, my mate. Treat
him with the same respect as you do me.” He paused, and
Bobby  realized  there  must  be  an  implied  threat  in  there
somewhere, for all the gargoyles and humans dropped their
gaze for several seconds.

“I’m sure you’ll all get a chance to meet him, just try not

to  overwhelm  him,  hmm?”  Maelgwn  continued,  this  time
warmth and affection filling his tone. “I know I can count on
you all to make Bobby feel welcome as he adjusts to us and
our way of life.” He turned to a gargoyle with a dark gold
hide  who  stood  several  inches  shorter  than  Maelgwn  but
was just as broad. “Grab Bobby’s bags, would you, Sapian?”
After  Sapian  nodded,  Maelgwn  looked  down  at  Bobby.
“Would  you  like  a  tour?  Then  maybe  we’ll  swing  by  the
kitchen and get you something to eat or drink?”

“I’m not hungry, but I’d love a tour…um, after a trip to

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the bathroom?” Bobby muttered.

Maelgwn grinned. “You got it. Come on.”
He led the way into the house, his arm securely around

Bobby’s shoulders. Once they were away from prying eyes,
Maelgwn paused and swept Bobby into his arms and
captured his lips. “Missed you,” Maelgwn murmured
against Bobby’s mouth.

His need to pee forgotten, Bobby sagged against his lover,

kissing him back with equal heat. “Only been twelve hours,”
he managed to say between kisses. Bobby could admit, even
if just to himself, that he felt the same. He’d missed
Maelgwn, too.

“Too long,” Maelgwn responded.
Seconds later, Bobby found himself lifted into Maelgwn’s

arms with his back pressed against the wall. He wrapped his
legs around his lover’s waist and buried his fingers in
Maelgwn’s thick, dark hair. He was just about ready to give
in to his need to hump against Maelgwn’s wonderfully hard
abs when a throat clearing sounded loudly nearby.

Maelgwn eased the kiss to an end, then turned his head to

glare at the gargoyle who’d interrupted. “What?” he
snapped.

“My apologies, Maelgwn,” the man said, dropping his

gaze in deference. “There is a vampire here to see you.”

“A vampire? Anyone we know?” Maelgwn asked,

concern lacing his tone.

A pained look crossed the gargoyle’s face. “Damune.”

The name was delivered with a curl of the guy’s top lip.

“Damn it,” Maelgwn snarled. “Can’t get one damn day,”

he  added  under  his  breath.  To  the  gargoyle  he  said,  “Put
him  in  the  green  room.  He  can  wait  there until  I’ve  settled
my  mate.”  When  the guy  opened  his  mouth  as  if  to  argue,
Maelgwn  growled,  “He  can  wait,  Tobias.  Bobby  is  more
important.”

Trill To Me Sweetly

“Yes, Chieftain,” Tobias immediately responded. “I’ll

have Einan join me.”

“Good idea. See you shortly.” Once Tobias had

disappeared around a corner, Maelgwn gently lowered
Bobby to the floor. He gave him a pained smile. “Sorry,
sweet. Duty calls.”

Bobby nodded. “Who’s Damune?” he asked curious.
“He’s a vampire enforcer in the coven two hours south of

here. He’s one of three vampires vying for the right to lead
the coven since their leader’s health has been declining for
the last couple years. He thinks he’s being discreet about it,
but he’s not,” Maelgwn said bitterly.

As they walked, Bobby tried to pay attention to the twists

and turns but soon found himself hopelessly turned around.
“You don’t want him to lead?” he asked absently, glancing
over his shoulder. Didn’t I see that painting once already?

“He wouldn’t be my first choice.” Maelgwn shook his

head. “He’s a cruel man who’s never satisfied. If he gains
power, I can see us fighting off advances on our territory.
That’s not what we need to keep our existence a secret.”

Bobby refocused on Maelgwn. His lover wouldn’t let him

get lost. They arrived at a suite of rooms done in masculine
greens and blues. Bobby looked around, impressed with the
subtle lines of quality in the furniture. He did a double take
and looked again. “Um, Maelgwn? Where’s your bed?”

Maelgwn chuckled. “Before you, I turned into stone

during the day and stayed up all night,” he gently reminded
Bobby. “I never needed one before.”

Bobby nodded, frowning. “Am I…Are you not…” He

nibbled his lip, trying to figure out how to ask where
Maelgwn expected him to sleep.

His lover wrapped an arm and wing around him, pulling

him against his chest. “Relax. I’ve a bed on order. It’s
supposed to be here tomorrow. I’m sorry, we’ll have to

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make due with a nest of pillows and blankets tonight,”
Maelgwn said, pointing a claw at a large mound of colorful
throws and pillows in front of a fire. A tray of chocolate
covered strawberries and champagne, both on ice, rested on
a small table nearby.

“Are you going to be long? I don’t want to enjoy those

treats by myself.” Bobby kept his tone teasing, but in truth,
he really didn’t want to be by himself in this new, strange
place quite yet.

Maelgwn pressed a kiss to his temple. “I’ll try to keep this

meeting brief, so I can get back to you as quickly as possible.
Sapian will be here with the bags shortly. I’ll have him give
you a tour of the common rooms, so you can start getting the
lay of the land, then I’ll catch up with you. How’s that
sound?”

Bobby knew his lover was trying to help ease him into his

life, and he appreciated it. “Thanks. I’ll be around, and
believe it or not, I do feel pretty safe here.”

“Good. See you in a bit,” Maelgwn said, kissing him one

more time before pulling away and leaving.

Bobby swept his gaze over the room again and spotted

the bathroom through an open doorway. He made his way
there and cleaned up, finishing by splashing water on his
face, letting the warm water soothe him.

When he left the bathroom, he wandered over to a

window and admired the moonlit view of a courtyard and
garden. At the moment, several inches of snow covered
everything, making the trees and shrubs appear to shimmer.

The sound of a throat clearing made Bobby spin and face

the doorway. He found the broad-shouldered, gold skinned
gargoyle Maelgwn had referred to as Sapian standing just
inside the room. He held Bobby’s suitcase in one hand, his
backpack over a shoulder, and his laptop case in his second
hand.

Trill To Me Sweetly

He grinned, showing off a mouthful of sharp teeth.

“Where do you want them?”

Bobby pulled his gaze away from Sapian’s canines and

realized the gargoyle’s brown eyes twinkled with mirth.
“What?”

“The bags. Where do you want them?”
“Oh.” Geez, this guy must think I’m an idiot. “Yeah, sorry.

Long drive. Kinda fried my brain,” he said, waving a hand
toward  his  head.  He  hoped  his  depreciating  grin  appeared
acceptably  convincing.  “Um,  just…”  He  looked  around  the
room.  “I  have  no  idea,”  he  admitted.  “How  about  the
corner? I’ll ask Mal where he wants me to…well, put it.”

The guy eyed him for a second, lifting a bony brow ridge

as he did so. Bobby barely managed to keep from fidgeting
like a kid caught somewhere he shouldn’t. Instead, he held
Sapian’s gaze and waited.

The guy smiled again, his shoulders relaxing. The

moment  of  tension  passed,  just  like  that.  Sapian  strode
toward  the  corner  Bobby  indicated,  saying  over  his
shoulder,  “A  gargoyle  doesn’t  actually  accumulate  a  lot  of
shit,  since  half  our  life  we’re  sleeping  stone.  It’s  not  until
after we find our mates that we start collecting things.” He
paused, put down Bobby’s stuff with more care than Bobby
would have thought. Turning back to him, Sapian pointed at
the  dressers,  “Most  of  these  drawers  are  probably  empty.
I’m  sure  Maelgwn  wouldn’t  have  a  problem  with  you
checking them out.”

Bobby nodded, considering his words. Cocking his head,

he  said,  “Okay,  I  get  the  not  bothering  to  collect  clothes.
Maelgwn  explained  that  only  certain  form-fitting  pieces
turned  to  stone  with  them,  like  the  loincloth.  But  why
wouldn’t  they  start  accumulating  other  things  until  after
they mate?”

Now that the bag was off his shoulder, Sapian wrapped

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his white wings around himself and headed toward the
door. “Mementoes of outings with our mate, gifts for our
mate, gifts from our mate.” He paused and grinned. “Mates
are kind of important to us,” he said, winking.

Sapian’s easy-going manner put him at ease. “I see. Good

to know.”

“You ready to see your new home, Bobby?”
“Yes, I am.”

Trill To Me Sweetly

Chapter Ten

aelgwn prowled through the estate, more than a little
irritated at having been pulled away from his mate on

their  first  night  there.  “Fucking  vampire,”  he  muttered
under his breath. Upon reaching the room, Maelgwn took a
moment  to  take  a  few  slow,  deep  breathes.  He  had  no
intention of allowing  Damune to see  how riled he was. He
didn’t want to give the vampire any leverage to use against
him.

Once in control of himself, Maelgwn opened the door and

headed  into  the  green  room,  known  as  that  for  the  pale
green walls and green floral furniture. Maelgwn thought the
space  looked  hideous,  but  since  it  was  mainly  used  by  the
women  for  game  night,  he  never  bothered  to  voice  his
opinion. Besides, it was fun to stick people he didn’t like in
there and see them squirm in response to the garish décor.

Damune lounged on a love seat, staring coldly at Tobias,

who stood in front of the fireplace opposite him. Einan was
to  the  left  of  the  doorway,  guarding  the  room.  Two  more
vampires  stood  behind  the  sofa  Damune  sat  on,  looking
distinctly  uncomfortable.  Although  their  gazes  roved
around the room, Maelgwn suspected it had more to do with
a desire to avoid looking at the large stenciled flowers on the
walls  rather  than  doing  their  job  and  watching  Damune’s
back.

Damune slowly stood. Tobias paused in whatever he’d

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been saying, probably a platitude that Maelgwn would be
there soon, and inclined his head to his leader. Maelgwn
returned the gesture, then focused on Damune.

“Greetings, Damune,” he stated formally. “To what do I

owe the pleasure of this visit?”

Damune’s lip curled slightly. “I’ve come to warn you to

stay out of my coven’s territory. I’ve seen gargoyles at the
bakery in Farmington. I will not stand for further
infringements by your kind,” he snarled.

The lack of respect from Damune pissed Maelgwn off. He

grinned, showing off his pointy teeth. “You dare come into
my home, where you have been welcomed as a guest, and
threaten me?” He took a step forward and spread his wings.
“Your uncouth behavior is either a pathetic attempt at a
show of strength, or a sign of your stupidity, Damune. Can
you tell which one I’m leaning toward?” he sneered.

Hissing, Damune showed off his fangs. “Be careful what

you say to me, gargoyle,” Damune warned. “I’m next in line
for coven leader.”

“Then you should know the wisdom of keeping the peace

with your neighbors,” Maelgwn stated, unimpressed.

Damune scoffed. “My coven is more powerful than your

clutch. If I so decided, I could easily have you all destroyed.”

Maelgwn growled and flexed his claws. “You’ve worn

out your welcome, Damune. Get out.” He stepped to the left
and pointed toward the doorway.

The foolish vampire curled his lip and headed past

Maelgwn.  His  two  bodyguards  followed  closely,  but  not
closely enough. Maelgwn grabbed Damune’s arm, spun him
around,  and  slammed  him  face  first  into  the  wall.  He
pressed  the  claws  of  one  hand  against  Damune’s  throat
while  laying  his  other  arm  across  his  back  to  keep  him  in
place.

Snarls and thuds sounded behind him, and out of the

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corner  of  his  eye,  Maelgwn  watched  his  beta  and  enforcer
subdue  the  other  two  vampires.  Maelgwn  leaned  close  to
Damune  and  whispered,  “And  if  I  ever  hear  you  threaten
anyone  in  my  clutch  again,  I  will  hunt  you  down  and  tear
out your fangs. Do I make myself clear?”

Damune, his eyes glowing red in anger, tried to turn his

head and snap at him. Maelgwn dug his claws into
Damune’s neck, the faint scent of iron hitting his senses as he
drew blood.

“Do I?” Maelgwn growled.
“Yesss,” Damune hissed, the word sounding like it was

pulled from his throat forcefully, which Maelgwn knew it
was.

Maelgwn released the pressure on Damune’s back as he

moved his hand around to his shoulder. He grabbed and
shoved him toward the door, not giving the vampire time to
retaliate. Maelgwn didn’t have to look to know his gargoyles
were close behind with the other two vampires. Together,
they forcefully removed the three from his home.

Shoving them out the door, the group stumbled past a

couple gargoyles still on the veranda chatting. The two men
stopped  talking  upon  seeing  the  commotion,  but  by  the
gleam  in  Damune’s  eye,  Maelgwn  knew  the  damage  was
done.  The  pair  on  the  veranda  had  been  talking  about
Maelgwn’s newly acquired mate.

Knowing he could do nothing now, Maelgwn watched in

silence as the three vampires climbed into their vehicle. The
little smirk Damune gave him through the window as they
drove away sent a cold jolt through Maelgwn.

Once they were out of sight, Maelgwn turned to Tobias

and snapped, “Report this incident to the Vampire Council. I
want Damune investigated.”

“You think they will?” Tobias asked, though he’d already

started back into the house.

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Maelgwn followed. “They’d better,” he snarled. “If he

comes near my mate, I will kill him.”

“Mal?”
Maelgwn turned and spotted a pale-faced Bobby in the

rec room they were passing. He didn’t like the lines of worry
bracketing his lover’s mouth and he really didn’t like the
fear he scented.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Tobias murmured, then turned

and walked away.

Maelgwn headed toward Bobby, catching a nod from

Sapian  out  of  the  corner  of  his  eye  before  the  other  man
disappeared  from  the  room.  Wrapping  his  arms  around
Bobby, Maelgwn pulled him close. Bobby instantly sank into
his  embrace,  wrapping  his  own  arms  around  Maelgwn’s
waist and resting his cheek on his chest.

“You remember the unrest I told you about?” Maelgwn

whispered.

Bobby nodded.
“It seems Damune is under the impression that he’s next

in line. He’s threatened my clutch, and you by extension,” he
admitted, refusing to sugar coat anything. His mate needed
knowledge so he could be aware of possible danger.

When Bobby didn’t respond, Maelgwn cupped his jaw

and angled his head back so he could look him in the eyes.
“You okay?”

Shrugging, Bobby murmured, “Sure. I’m just not sure

what to say to that, ya know?”

Maelgwn could understand that. “You’ve been through a

lot today. You ready to relax? We could enjoy the
champagne and strawberries upstairs.”

That made Bobby smile, which eased a knot of tension

that had formed in Maelgwn’s chest. He’d keep his mate safe
and happy, even if he had to kill every vampire in Damune’s
coven, he silently vowed.

Trill To Me Sweetly

Knowing he couldn’t do anything about it right then,

Maelgwn put the matter out of his mind. He planned to
concentrate on his mate this evening. “Enough talk of that,”
he murmured, leading Bobby through the house and
upstairs to their suite of rooms. “Let’s relax, hmm?”

“Sounds good to me,” Bobby replied, giving him a smile.
Maelgwn led him into the bedroom, and immediately

spotted Bobby’s bags in the corner. “Did you get a chance to
unpack at all?”

Bobby shook his head. “I wasn’t sure where I should put

my stuff,” he admitted.

“Ah. You’re welcome to make yourself at home, little one.

I have a couple trench coats and hats for if I have to go out
amongst humans at night, but that’s about it,” he said. “I
guess I’ll have to get real clothes now that I can become
human when I wish,” he mused.

He led Bobby to the pile of blankets and pillows. While

his  mate  made  himself  comfortable,  Maelgwn  opened  the
champagne  and  poured  them  both  a  glass.  Settling  next  to
Bobby,  he  handed  one  to  him  and  said,  “To  us  and  new
beginnings.”

Bobby hesitated only a second before saying, “To equals

in partnership.”

Maelgwn grinned. “I like that.”
After taking a sip of the bubbly liquid, Mealgwn reached

behind him and grabbed the plate of chocolate covered
strawberries. “I hope you like these. I couldn’t remember.”

Grinning, Bobby grabbed one as he said, “Who doesn’t

like chocolate covered strawberries?”

He laughed as he watched Bobby take a bite and hum

happily. The sound went straight to his dick, reminding him
it’d been nearly twenty-four hours since he’d made love to
his mate.

Before he could reach for Bobby, his lover commented, “I

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noticed only a few women in your clutch, and since all of
them looked human, I made a comment to Sapian about it.”
Bobby cocked his head as his brows drew together. “Why
are all gargoyles male?”

Maelgwn’s brow ridges shot up. “I’ve no idea why.

Maybe the gargoyle gene is linked to the Y chromosome in
some way. We’ve never really tried to find out,” he
admitted. Why wonder about what was and couldn’t be
changed?

“So, do men ever give birth to girls? Or is it always an

egg?” Bobby asked, grabbing another strawberry.

Maelgwn picked a berry of his own. “I’ve never heard of a

male giving birth to anything other than an egg.” He
realized that even though he’d explained that pregnancy
was a possibility for his mate, he hadn’t really gone in depth
about it.

“The appendix is converted by your bond with me into a

womb  of  sorts,  and  that’s  where  the  egg  forms,”  he  said,
then  bit  into  the  strawberry,  enjoying  the  sweetness  mixed
with  bitter  chocolate.  Bobby  sipped  his  champagne,
watching  him.  He  smiled  and  continued.  “Once  the  egg  is
ready, you will lay it.”

“Lay it? Like a chicken with an egg?” Bobby murmured.

“How the hell would a guy…oh!”

He grimaced at the look of shock on Bobby’s face. “Yeah,

not a real comfortable thought,” he acknowledged. “You
pass it through the rectum.”

“Ouch, and Gus went through that?”
Maelgwn nodded. “Some men decide it’s worth it to have

children with their mates.” The corner of his lip curved and
he said, “If I could be the one to carry a child, I would, but
since you’re human, you can’t very well impregnate me.”

“So you do want kids someday,” Bobby said,

understanding Maelgwn’s implication.

Trill To Me Sweetly

“Yeah,” Maelgwn admitted. “Yeah, I do.” He took

Bobby’s hand and squeezed. “Don’t think I’ll rush you into a
decision or anything, though,” he reassured. “But if
someday you want a child, too, I’d be honored to have one
with you.”

Bobby set his empty champagne glass on the floor and

climbed onto his lap, facing him. Maelgwn grunted when
Bobby’s dick bumped against his own. His lover rocked
them together.

“It’s an interesting prospect,” Bobby murmured, grinding

against him. “I promise I’ll give it some thought, but…can I
have a couple years just with you? Does that make me
selfish?”

Maelgwn moaned, his foreskin sliding over his glans as

pre-cum leaked from his throbbing cock. “Take all the time
you want,” he gasped. “You’re all I need to be happy. A
child would just be a bonus.”

“Mmm,” Bobby hummed. “Good.”
Deciding they’d done enough talking for the evening,

Maelgwn rolled his mate under him and proceeded to show
him exactly how happy he was that Bobby had arrived.

Charlie Richards

Chapter Eleven

obby walked out of the office building feeling pleased
with how the interview had gone. It had taken three

weeks  to  finally  start  to  feel  settled  at  the  gargoyle  estate,
and finding a job was the final piece. He loved that his mate
was  so  attentive  and  wanted  him  happy,  and  even  though
Bobby  knew  Maelgwn  would  prefer  him  safe  at  home,  his
gargoyle had encouraged him to go after what he wanted.

The fact that it had taken several weeks to finally make it

to  an  interview  had  more  to  do  with  wanting  to  find  the
right  local  position  rather  than  anything  his  lover  had  said
or done. Bobby didn’t mind being patient. It gave him time
to learn about Maelgwn, his clutch, and Bobby’s place in it—
which  he  found  a  pleasant  experience.  Everyone  was
friendly,  open,  and  welcoming.  Once  he  understood  the
mechanics of paranormal politics, he’d even be included in
decision  making.  That  thought  scared  him  a  bit,  and  right
now, he was happy to just sit, watch, and listen.

The added time also gave Maelgwn peace of mind

regarding the threats of a certain vampire. They hadn’t seen
or heard from Damune since the day Bobby had arrived, but
Bobby knew his safety was never far from his mate’s mind.

Gus, Tible, and Sapian were waiting outside, just where

Bobby had left them. “How about some supper before we
head home?” Bobby asked, his stomach growling.

“Won’t Maelgwn be waiting?” Tible teased, giving him a

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wink.

Bobby laughed. He had to admit he and his mate had

been living in each other’s back pockets for the last several
weeks. “I’ll shoot him a text,” Bobby said, heading across the
street  to  the  Pub  and  Grub.  “He’s  supposed  to  be  in  a
meeting  with  a  vampire  from  another  coven  right  now
anyway,”  he  said  quietly.  He  grinned  slyly  and  added,
“That’s why I set up the interview for around this time.”

The other men chuckled, which had been Bobby’s goal.

They settled at a table in the diner and seconds later, a gum
smacking young woman, who couldn’t have been more than
seventeen in Bobby’s estimate, appeared with menus.

“Watcha all want to drink?” she asked, pen poised over a

pad of paper.

Bobby requested an iced tea, Gus and Tible both ordered

lemonade, though Gus had peach flavoring added to his,
and Sapian requested coffee.

Bobby knew there were only a handful of gargoyles that

could work as day guards for him, so appreciated that he got
along so well with the mated gargoyle. Sapian stood six foot
six  in  gargoyle  form  and  six  foot  two  in  human  form.  His
dark gold gargoyle hide lightened to a nice tanned tone. In
either  form,  Sapian  had  shoulder  length  light  brown  hair
that  he normally  pulled into a ponytail. Bobby thought  the
best thing about the guy was his sense of humor, and he had
no trouble giving him crap.

After the waitress left, Bobby grimaced at Sapian. “I don’t

know how you drink that stuff all the time. I’d be bouncing
off the walls if I tried that. And the way you doctor it up
with so much milk and sugar? What’s the point?”

Sapian chuckled, taking his ribbing good-naturedly. “I

don’t mind the taste of coffee, but I like the combination of
flavors better. All those awesome creamers give me the
opportunity to sample different tastes.” He shrugged.

Charlie Richards

“Variety is the spice of life and all that.”

Gus punched him in the shoulder, probably with

carefully controlled force, knowing how cautious the rhino
shifter normally was. “Don’t let Missy here you say that,” he
said, referring to Sapian’s human wife.

Snorting, Sapian shoved Gus back. “Yeah, like anything

could be better than the love of a mate.” He looked
pointedly at Tible.

Following his gaze, Gus stared at his own mate. Almost

immediately, his smile turned sappy, the love shining clearly
from his gaze. “Yeah.”

Bobby snickered quietly. After several weeks with

Maelgwn, he knew exactly how Gus and Tible felt. Bobby
had fallen in love with his big gargoyle mate. Not that he’d
told the man, yet. He was waiting for the right moment, and
even with all the hours spent together, the time just never
seemed to be right.

The waitress returned with their drinks, and they placed

orders  for  double  cheeseburgers  and  fries,  with  the
exception  of  Bobby,  who  decided  on  a  club  sandwich.  One
thing  he’d  learned  over  the  last  month  was  these
paranormals loved meat, potatoes, and had the metabolism
to  handle  them  in  huge  amounts.  Bobby  would  be  jealous,
except he’d actually done the vegetarian thing for months at
a  time  and  not  felt  like  he  was  missing  out.  The  look  on
Maelgwn’s face when he’d learned that had been priceless.

They’d been eating sausage and pancakes for, well, Bobby

had considered it dinner. Maelgwn had tried to load Bobby’s
plate with eight sausage links, and Bobby had kept pushing
them over to Maelgwn’s plate. Finally, Maelgwn growled
and snapped, “You need more protein.”

Bobby had rolled his eyes and held up his glass of milk.

“Eight grams of protein per cup, boyo. I’m getting plenty.”
At Maelgwn’s dubious look, Bobby snickered. “Relax, I

Trill To Me Sweetly

know  how  to  get  protein  without  eating  tons  of  meat.  I’m
not  much  of  a  beef  and  pork  fan.  When  the  mood  strikes I
can go vegetarian for months at a time. Milk, eggs, and soy
are  perfectly  acceptable  alternatives  and  very  healthy.”  He
paused to chew a bite of pancake, then added,  “Gotta keep
my boyish figure.”

Finally Bobby had looked at Maelgwn and winked while

taking a sip of his drink. Maelgwn’s gaping mouth, pale
face, and abject horror filling his dark eyes caused Bobby to
laugh.

“Vegetarian?” Maelgwn had whispered, clearly stricken.
That one whispered word made Bobby laugh even

harder, and eventually, the milk he’d been trying to swallow
had dribbled from his nose. Grabbing a napkin, Bobby had
cleaned up, still snickering despite his stinging sinuses.

“It’s not that bad,” he said once he finally gained enough

control to speak.

“No meat,” Maelgwn had grumbled. “Blasphemy.”
Thinking about his mate, combined with watching the

interaction between Tible and Gus, made a pang of
loneliness hit Bobby. Maybe he shouldn’t have suggested
going out to eat.

Evidently reading his expression, Sapian reached over

and squeezed his shoulder. “You get used to being
separated, but it’s never real comfortable,” he admitted.

Bobby nodded, struggling with the odd ache in his chest.

Wanting to hear his lover’s voice, at least, he rose from the
table. “I’m gonna take a leak and give Mal a ring while we
wait for the food.”

Sapian glanced toward the hall where the bathrooms

were, then glanced around at the other patrons. Bobby knew
that look. His friend had turned into bodyguard mode and
was assessing his need to go with him.

“Relax,” he said, rising from his chair. “I won’t be more

Charlie Richards

than ten minutes,” he promised.

Nodding, Sapian told him, “You better not be or I’m

coming after you.”

Laughing, Bobby nodded. There was no doubt in his

mind  that  Sapian  would  do  just  that.  His  hands  already
working open his belt, Bobby bumped the men’s room door
open  with  his  shoulder.  He  stood  in  front  of  a  urinal  and
took care of business for a moment, then after he washed his
hands,  Bobby  pulled  out  his  phone  and  hit  one  on  speed
dial.

“Hey, sweet,” Maelgwn crooned, answering on the first

ring. “You on your way home to me?”

Bobby grinned, warmth flooding him as the deep strands

of his lover’s voice wrapped around him. “We stopped for a
bite  to  eat  at  Pub  and  Grub.  It’s  across  the  street  from  the
building  I  interviewed  in.  I  was  hungry  and  figured  you’d
need  a  little  more  time  with  that  vam—um,  Adalric,”  he
finished, catching himself at the last minute.

“Ah, and yet you called me anyway. I miss you, too,

Bobby,” Maelgwn said, easily reading the reason behind the
call.

“Yeah, I—”
“It’s about fucking time you left that damn estate,” a man

behind him said angrily. “Hang up the phone, Bobby.”

Bobby spun around at the vaguely familiar voice.

“Forest?” He took a step back, but ran into the wall. “What
are you doing here?”

“I said hang up the fucking phone,” Forest ordered,

grabbing the device from Bobby’s fist. Forest lifted it to his
own mouth and taunted, “Not here to help your boy toy
now.” He then chucked it into a sink and grabbed Bobby’s
arm.

He heard his lover’s roar through the line, the noise

silenced by the door closing behind him as Forest dragged

Trill To Me Sweetly

him  out  of  the  men’s  room  and  down  the  hall  toward  the
back door. Bobby twisted his arm, trying to dislodge Forest’s
hold,  but  the  man’s  grip  remained  clamped  like  a  vice
around  his  forearm.  He  just  knew  he’d  end  up  with
bruises…if he managed to get away.

The back door slammed shut behind them. A glance over

his shoulder told Bobby the door didn’t have a handle on
this side, so even if he managed to get away now, he’d have
to run all the way around the building to get back to Sapian.
How much time had passed since he’d left the table? Five
minutes? Seven? Why the hell couldn’t he get his vocal cords
to work? Screaming would have been a fantastic idea, even if
it did make him seem like a girl. Forest was bigger, stronger,
and meaner than Bobby.

Seeing the two men waiting with a car behind the

building finally got his voice to work. “Oh, shit,” he
squeaked. Grant was behind the wheel of the idling vehicle.
Mark pulled the back door open and watched Forest drag
Bobby toward the car.

“Seth won’t talk to us anymore,” Forest muttered darkly.

“So you’re going to go fix it.”

Bobby finally got his body to function and balked with all

his might. No way did he want to get into that car. “Just how
the hell do you expect me to do that?” he asked, trying to
buy time.

“Tell him you were wrong. That we weren’t the reason

you left,” Forest said. “Tell him you’re a cheating whore
who doesn’t deserve him. Tell him whatever the fuck you
want. Now get in the car,” Forest ordered harshly, trying to
drag him forward again.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Bobby snapped.

With a grunt, Bobby twisted violently. This time he
managed to pull his arm free. Unfortunately, Mark had
caught onto his friend’s trouble, and now blocked his escape

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100

down the alley toward the street. Bobby looked left and
right, frantically searching for escape.

“Then we’ll beat you bloody as payment for losing us a

friend,” Grant snarled, getting out of the car.

The three converged on him, forcing Bobby back several

steps. His back hit the wall, the rough stone scratching his
palms and elbows. He shivered as the cold finally registered.
It was probably asinine to think of it now, but Bobby really
wanted his coat.

“Now, now, humans,” said a man who stepped from the

shadows to Bobby’s left. “As fun as watching you beat the
shit out of Maelgwn’s mate would be, I need him whole and
healthy. At least, for now.”

“Who the hell are you?” Grant asked, glaring at the

interloper.

The man eased from the shadows, a cold smile on his

hard features. “I’m Damune,” he replied, twisting his lips
into a cruel curve as he eyed Bobby.

“Double shit,” Bobby muttered. Damune might say he

wanted him alive, but Bobby just knew alive with Damune
would be worse than alive and beaten by Seth’s friends.

Damune chuckled coldly. “So you’ve heard of me,” he

said, fixing his gaze on Bobby. “I’m flattered.”

Forest, the hotheaded idiot that he was, stepped forward,

his posture cocky. “Just get the hell out of here, buddy. Your
interference isn’t wanted.”

Bobby noted the brass knuckles Forest had donned.

“Forest, don’t,” Bobby warned, not that Forest listened.

He watched with dread as Forest strode in a way he

probably thought was menacing toward Damune but looked
more  young  punk.  The  dark  haired  vampire  grinned,  his
eyes  lighting  with  pleasure.  Perhaps  at  the  thought  of  a
fight?  Damune’s  dark  eyes  began  to  glow  red,  and  Bobby
realized he wasn’t the only one who gasped.

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101

“Freak,” Forest snapped right before he swung his metal

knuckles at Damune.

With inhuman speed, Damune stepped left and avoided

the  swing.  He  grabbed  Forest’s  wrist  in  one  arm  and  with
the  other,  executed  an  uppercut  to  the  extended  limb.
Forest’s  bone  snapped  sickeningly  and  he  screamed  as  his
arm  bent  the  wrong  way.  Damune  gripped  Forest’s  upper
arm  and  snapped  his  head  forward.  Blood  flowed  from
Forest’s neck as  Damune drank  messily,  tearing flesh more
than drinking. Forest’s screams increased in pitch.

When Damune released Forest, the human crumpled to

the ground. Damune brought an arm up and slowly swiped
the back of his hand across his mouth, smearing blood across
his face. “Mmm, O positive. Tasty. Any of you A-B negative?
It’s my favorite.”

That seemed to break Grant and Mark out of their

shocked states, for Grant yelled, “Get him!” Mark screamed
and rushed with Grant toward the vampire, whose laugh
sounded disturbingly gleeful.

Bobby nearly jumped out of his skin when someone else

latched onto his arm. “Let’s get out of here!” Seth hissed.

The idea that he’d ever be happy to see his ex-boyfriend

again never before entered his mind, but at that moment, he
was.  Seth  tugged,  and  Bobby  went  willingly.  Yelling,
screaming,  and  even  roaring—although  that  could  have
been  the  sound  of  Bobby’s  blood  rushing  in  his  ears—
erupted behind him.

Seth led the way down the alley toward the street and a

vehicle Bobby recognized as the man’s truck. Once reaching
it, Seth tossed his bat into it and climbed in. Bobby didn’t
hesitate to join him.

“What the hell was that?” Seth snapped as he put the

truck in gear and gunned it.

“A vampire.”

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102

“Right,” Seth muttered, taking a corner on two wheels.
Bobby grabbed onto the oh shit handle and hung on for

dear  life.  What  the  hell  Seth  was  doing  in  the  area  crossed
his mind, but the thump of something hitting the bed of the
truck  distracted  him.  Craning  his  neck,  he  looked  out  the
rear  window.  His  heart  thudded  wildly  in  his  chest.
Somehow, Damune had caught up with them.

“Hang on!” Seth called before swerving wildly.
Bobby’s shoulder slammed into the passenger window,

sending spikes of pain through his arm. Spots danced
behind his eyes, and he really wished he’d remembered to
put on his seatbelt.

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103

Chapter Twelve

aelgwn threw his head back and roared, the sound
equal parts anger and anguish. He had just enough

self-control to keep from smashing his phone in his grip.
Tobias and Adalric joined him in the hallway.

“Maelgwn?” Tobias called. “What is it?”
“Bobby’s been taken,” he snapped, the words leaving a

bitter taste in his mouth. Striding toward the door, he almost
ignored Tobias’s question.

“What? How?”
“I don’t know. He called from Pub and Grub.” He yanked

the front door open and stalked onto the veranda. “Call
Sapian. He’d better be injured or so help me he will be when
I get done with him,” he snarled.

“I’ll come with you,” Adalric offered, pulling his trench

coat on over slender shoulders. “If this has anything to do
with Damune, you’ll need me.”

Einan appeared next to Maelgwn, a nod from the gray-

hided gargoyle telling him he’d follow wherever his leader
led. Mealgwn assessed the vampire’s lean form. Humans
would call it a runner’s build, and Adalric would need every
bit of speed he possessed to keep up with a flying gargoyle.
“If you can keep up.”

With those words, Maelgwn bent his knees then leaped

into the air. He spread his wings and flapped, angling them
to propel him forward as well as up. His heightened hearing

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104

caught Adalric’s muttered, “Bloody gargoyles.”

Then he was winging his way over trees, careful to keep

parallel with the road that would take him into town. A look
right showed him Einan’s reassuring presence. He glanced
down and behind him and was surprised to see Adalric’s
speeding form. The fucker was fast. Yes, he and Einan were
pulling away from the vampire, but with the coven leader’s
enhanced night-vision, he’d have no trouble following them
at least a mile out.

What would have been a thirty-minute drive was a ten-

minute flight. Maelgwn weaved and bobbed, his wings
pumping and twisting as he avoided street lamps and kept
close to shadows.

He landed on the roof of the Pub and Grub and looked

down at the chaos below him. “Holy shit,” he growled.

Sapian, Tible, and Gus fought back to back against a ring

of at least a dozen vampires. He saw several bodies
sprawled broken and bleeding along one side of the alley,
and for a split second, his heart seemed to stop in his chest.
Then he realized none of them were Bobby.

Wasting no more time gaping, Maelgwn leaped off the

building. His wings tucked against his back, his full weight
landed on the two vampires he’d targeted, driving them into
the concrete. A slash from each hand sliced open their
throats. There was a possibility they’d live, but for now they
were incapacitated.

Einan took out the vampire next to him. Three vampires

broke off from the main mass and advanced on them.
Maelgwn settled most his weight on his back leg and when a
pair charged at him, he turned and swung his wing out. The
edge caught the torso of one vampire, slicing into his chest.

The vampire hissed and leaped back, his red eyes flashing

as he pressed both hands—currently sporting impressive
claws instead of nails—against the gaping wound. The

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105

second attacker, a nimble female, took that opportunity to
dive forward and sweep a leg under him, trying to knock
Maelgwn off his feet.

If he hadn’t had wings, the move might have worked.

Maelgwn flapped once and floated over her leg. Shifting his
wing position, he launched in mid-air at her and took her
down. The fact that the vampire was a woman didn’t matter
to Mealgwn. He had a mate to find and she was in his way,
clearly intending harm. He grabbed her head and with a
quick twist and a pop, she lay still.

When he looked up, Sapian was five feet away facing off

against two vampires. He was about to help when another
woman launched herself at him, distracting him. He lifted an
arm and blocked her slashing strike, gaining a nice gash in
the thick hide of his forearm for his trouble.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Adalric streak up the

alley, grab one of the vampires attacking Einan, pick him up
and toss him at the three going after Gus and Tible. That
caught every vampire’s attention and several hissed at him.

Adalric hissed right back, showing off his own fangs. His

blood-red  eyes  conveying  his  power—Maelgwn  had  heard
once  that  the  darker  red  a  vampire’s  eyes,  the  older  and
more  powerful  they  were.  Adalric  certainly  confirmed  that
theory. “I am Adalric Bachmeier, Leader of Esson Coven and
Emissary  of  the  Vampire  Council.  You  will  cease  this
behavior at once. No war is sanctioned here.”

A broad-shouldered, behemoth of a vampire shoved past

several others and faced off against Adalric. “Who’s gonna
make us?”

The smile on Adalric’s face appeared almost reptilian.

“With the aid of these honorable gargoyles, it’d be easy to
subdue you. However, since you asked so nicely…” Adalric
looked over his shoulder and from the darkness strode half a
dozen men Maelgwn didn’t know. He gave Adalric a

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106

questioning look. The vampire smirked at him and lifted one
shoulder in a shrug. “You didn’t really think I’d go
anywhere without my own backup, did you?”

Grunting, Maelgwn ignored whatever else was going on

in favor of asking Sapian, “Where’s Bobby? Is he hiding
inside?”

Sapian held one arm against his chest and lines around

his eyes and mouth told of the pain he was in. Almost
cringing, Sapian answered, “I don’t know, Maelgwn. He ran
off just as the fighting started with some human.”

“He went off with Seth,” Tible said, stepping up next to

Sapian. “I recognize one of those humans.” He shuddered as
he pointed at the crumpled forms not too far away. “Those
were Seth’s friends. Damune killed them, then took off after
Bobby.”

Maelgwn growled low in his throat, anger and fear

coursing through him. He jogged several paces down the
alley then inhaled deeply. It was faint, but there—the scent
of his mate mingled with others. Sucking in a deep breath
through his nose, it took a second to calm down enough to
shift to human form, but he got it done.

“You gonna run down the street like that?” Adalric asked

mildly.

Growling, he glared at the vampire. Adalric just smirked.

Rolling  his  eyes,  Maelgwn  dismissed  the  vampire  and
started moving. Opening his mouth, he let the air caress his
tongue.  A  gargoyle’s  sense  of  smell  combined  with  tasting
the  air  on  his  tongue,  allowed  him  to  track  his  mate,  even
when he was in a vehicle.

Running down the street, Maelgwn wished he could be in

gargoyle  form,  but  a  massive  winged  creature  swooping
down  the  road  wasn’t  conducive  to  keeping  his  clutch
hidden and safe. He knew his people and Adalric’s vampires
would  have  their  hands  full  keeping  this  battle  quiet  as  it

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107

was.

He rounded a bend in the road and paused, suddenly

grateful he’d remained responsible. If he hadn’t, he might
have missed the broken twigs and underbrush, as well as the
snapped branches and tire tracks in the grass. He’d have
wasted valuable time heading the wrong way.

The screech of bending metal sent Maelgwn sprinting

through the town park. The tire tracks in the snow and mud
were easy to follow, as were the sounds of breaking glass
and shouting voices.

“Bobby!” he hollered. His anxiety got the better of him

and he returned to gargoyle form. Under the cover of
darkness and trees, he didn’t worry about maintaining
control. The only thing that mattered was saving his mate.

“Maelgwn!”
Bobby’s fearful call spurred Maelgwn faster. He finally

caught sight of a truck, the front end crumpled against a
tree. It appeared to have hit with such force that the rear end
spun around, pinning the passenger side against a second
tree. Bobby was trapped inside the cab.

One vampire was standing in the bed, attempting to peel

the hood off the cab. A second vampire held a broken door
handle in one hand and swung it at the rolled up window of
the cab. The glass broke, eliciting shouts from Bobby and
Seth. The vampire grabbed Seth and yanked him through
the broken window.

Adalric streaked past Maelgwn and attacked the man

holding Seth, yanking the human free of the other vampire’s
grip. Seth whimpered and cringed away from Adalric, who
sported  red  eyes  and  extended  claws.  That  didn’t  stop
Adalric  from  keeping  himself  between  Seth  and  the  other
vampire.  With  a  quick  side  step,  a  hook-kick  to  knock  the
vampire sideways, a strong grip on his head, and a twist to
his neck, Adalric ended the vampire’s life.

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108

Damune strode from the trees, a maniacal smile curving

his lips. “Hello, Maelgwn. I’m so pleased you’re able to join
us.” With a flick of his fingers, the vampire still on the truck
leaped down.

A glance over his shoulder at Einan—who like a perfect

enforcer had never left his side—had the gargoyle attacking
the second vampire. Maelgwn prowled toward Damune. His
claws flexed in anticipation of shredding the creature.

“You’ve gone too far this time, vampire,” he snarled. “I

will kill you for your crimes.”

“Crimes?” Damune cackled. “I’ve committed no crime. I

saved your lover from vengeful humans. When he ran, I
tried to catch him, so I could return him to you.”

“Bobby, babe,” Maelgwn called without allowing his gaze

to flicker from Damune. “Is that true?”

“From a certain point of view.” Bobby’s admission caused

a snarl to erupt from Maelgwn’s throat.

“But he also attacked and killed an unsuspecting human,

Forest, and revealed vampires to two others. I don’t know
what happened to Grant and Mark,” Bobby told him.

The images of three dead humans, one he recognized as

Forest, flashed through his mind. He growled, showing off
pointed teeth. “Damune, I place you under arrest for going
feral, and attacking and killing unsuspecting humans. Will
you come quietly?”

Damune, hands on his hips, tossed his head back and

laughed. “You don’t have the authority to do that,” he
crowed.

“But I do,” Adalric growled. His tone turned frigid as he

narrowed red eyes on Damune. “What Maelgwn said and
add in instructing vampires to start an unapproved war and
the crime of actions that could put the safety of all
paranormals at stake.”

Damune glared at Adalric for several seconds, and

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109

something in his eyes must have alerted him to the truth of
his words. He hissed in anger, then leaped toward Maelgwn,
his red eyes blazing with hatred, and his claws extended.

Maelgwn met him mid-leap. Larger and heavier, he easily

slammed the other man to the ground. Damune rolled
sideways. Maelgwn lunged after him. Grabbing the twisting
vampire’s shoulders, Maelgwn roared as he tossed Damune
to the side. His enemy slammed into a tree trunk, then the
ground.

Damune’s head lifted and he hissed at Maelgwn. Seconds

later, the vampire was on his feet again and charged toward
him.  Changing  tactics,  Maelgwn  opened  his  arms  and
accepted the attack. Damune hit him  full  force. He flapped
his  wings  and  dug  his  toe  claws  into  the  ground  to  stay
upright.

Pain sliced through his lower back as Damune sank his

elongated nails in. Before Damune could wrap his jaws
around Maelgwn’s throat and bite, he twisted his torso as if
he were going to dip a dance partner. Damune stumbled
backward.

Maelgwn grabbed Damune’s head in both hands and

twisted. The sick sound of popping tendons and cracking
bones sounded through the clearing as Maelgwn snapped
Damune’s neck.

Damune’s eyes widened, his jaw sagged open, then the

red faded from his irises. Releasing the vampire, Maelgwn
allowed the dead to crumple to the ground. Damune lay
still.

Ignoring his own pain, Maelgwn turned and strode

toward the crippled truck. He looked at Einan and noted the
dead vampire at his feet. A glance toward Adalric showed
the vampire was still trying to get Seth to relax. Reaching the
truck, Maelgwn saw why Bobby hadn’t come out. The
passenger door had crumpled, pinning his lover in the cab.

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110

“Ah, sweet,” he crooned. He tucked his wings around

him and climbed behind the wheel. “Just hang on. We’ll
have you out of here in no time.”

Bobby smiled up at him. His pupils were wide, tears

stained his cheeks, and his nose was red. “Are you okay?”

“Just fine,” Maelgwn promised, touched that even though

Bobby was pinned in a truck, he still worried about him.

“Don’t leave me,” Bobby whispered, reaching for him

with his near hand.

Maelgwn noticed the right hand was tucked against his

chest, making him worry about breaks or sprains. Ignoring
those thoughts for now, Maelgwn nodded. “Relax, little one.
I’m not going anywhere.” To confirm that, he slid closer on
the bench seat and wrapped his arms around his lover.
“You’re safe now.”

“Get away from him, freak!”
Seth’s screams jarred them both from their cuddling.

Bobby lifted a hand. “No, Seth, wait. These are the good
guys,” he said. “These guys are our friends.”

Seth actually wielded a bat. Where the hell he’d gotten it,

Maelgwn didn’t know. Adalric had his hands lifted in front
of  him,  a  gesture  of  peace.  Seth  glanced  between  Adalric,
who  murmured  reassuring  platitudes  and  Bobby  tucked  in
Maelgwn’s  arms.  “Friends?”  he  whispered,  his  body
weaving almost drunkenly. The human was clearly in shock.

Bobby nodded. “Yeah. Friends. The good guys. We’re safe

now.”

Seth’s head bobbed as he nodded jerkily. “Okay.” Then

his eyes rolled back into his head and the human dropped.

Adalric caught him before he hit the ground.

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111

Chapter Thirteen

eaning heavily on one crutch, Bobby used his free hand
to push open the door. It had taken him a while, but he’d

figured  out  how  to  maneuver  on  the  wooden  support.
Maelgwn  and  Perseus,  the  clutch’s  doctor,  had  reminded
him that since he was mated to a gargoyle, the healing time
would  only  be  a  matter  of  weeks  instead  of  months.
Unfortunately,  that  also  meant  more  intensive  physical
therapy to get the faster healing muscles in shape properly.
At least the mild sprain to his wrist already felt good as new.

Bobby stopped a few steps inside the room, letting the

door swing almost closed behind him. He looked around, at
first pleased to see the bed empty and made, then he noted
the  figure  huddled  on  the  window  seat,  a  throw  blanket
wrapped  tightly  around  him.  Sighing,  Bobby  eyed  his  ex-
boyfriend  sadly.  The  man  wasn’t  taking  the  changes  in  his
reality well.

“Hey, Seth,” he called, purposefully cheerful. “Is there

anything to see out that window?” Bobby hobbled forward,
pasting a smile on his face.

Seth turned to look at him, his eyes widening slightly.

Immediately the bigger man leaped up. “Bobby! Hey! Let
me help you. Are you okay? They wouldn’t let me see you!
Did they hurt you? How do we get out of here?”

Waving away Seth’s attempts to help, Bobby took the

offered seat Seth had vacated next to the window. He looked

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to  his  side  and  admired  the  snow-covered  fir  trees.  The
icicles  hanging  from  their  branches  reflected  the  afternoon
sun,  making  them  appear  to  shimmer.  Bobby  understood
why Seth would sit and stare. A person could get lost in the
beauty and forget about their problems.

Except Bobby couldn’t do that right now. He was here to

help. Turning to Seth, he tried to remember Seth’s flood of
questions. “I’m doing okay, all things considered. When the
truck hit the tree, the door bent in and pinned my knee. The
force stretched a couple ligaments and tendons in my knee,
and there’ll be some physical therapy involved, but it’ll
heal,” he told him, downplaying the injury a bit.

Seth gasped. “Shit. I’m so sorry. I should have been more

careful.”

Bobby’s brows shot up. It was the first time Seth had

apologized for anything without prompting. And it wasn’t
even his fault. Bobby was quick to tell him that. “Stop, stop.
It’s not your fault. You did everything you could to help. It’s
that damn Damune’s fault. Fucker,” he added under his
breath.

“The v-vampire?” Seth whispered, his voice cracking.
Nodding, Bobby murmured, “Yeah. Damune was a

vampire. But he’s dead now, so he can’t bother any of us
anymore.” He paused for just a second, then added, “I’m
sorry about your friends, Seth. I might not have liked them,
but I never wanted them dead.” He grimaced, knowing how
inadequate that sounded.

Seth settled on the corner of his bed, let his head loll on

his shoulders and closed his eyes. “I knew them since grade-
school.  They  never  understood  why  I  liked  men  instead  of
women,  but  they  seemed  accepting  of  it.”  He  shook  his
head. “Until you.” Lifting his head, he opened his eyes and
gave Bobby a sad look. “I guess, they couldn’t handle it after
all.  I’d  never  brought  dates  around  them  before.  There’d

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113

never been anyone important enough.” He paused and
sighed, his gaze sliding to the scene beyond the window and
whispered, “I should have stopped their asshole antics. Then
maybe—then maybe I wouldn’t have lost you.”

Bobby didn’t know what to say to that. He had no way of

knowing if he would have left Seth for Maelgwn even if the
man had forced his friends to treat him better. To Bobby, it
was a moot point.

Instead, he asked, “So, what were you doing in town

anyway?”

Seth grimaced. “The guys came to my condo a few nights

after I stopped talking to them. When I wouldn’t let them in,
they started calling through the door how they’d bring you
back to me, since that seemed to be why I refused to see
them.” He dropped his head into his hand and groaned. “I
didn’t want them hurting you. I came to warn you they were
coming, but I got there too late. Fuck, this is all my fault.”

Bobby touched his knee lightly. “None of this was your

fault. They made their own choices. It’s not like you forced
Forest  or  Grant  or  Mark  to  attack  Damune.”  Seth  didn’t
appear  to  believe  him.  Realizing  a  subject  change  was
needed,  Bobby  bit  back  a  frustrated  sigh  and  said,  “I
understand you won’t leave your room. You can, you know.
You’re safe here.”

“Safe,” Seth scoffed. “How can you say that? With

these…these creatures around us? They’re monsters. They
drink blood and fly and turn into statues. Don’t you want to
leave?”

Damn, Seth really is taking this hard. Bobby knew Adalric

had visited Seth at least twice, but his ex refused to speak to
the vampire. “They’re not monsters, Seth,” Bobby stated
firmly. “They’re just different. A different race. And just like
humans, there are bad ones and good ones. I’d appreciate it
if you didn’t speak that way about them.”

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114

Seth’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit. I’m doing the same thing

to them that my friends did to you, aren’t I?”

“Well, yeah,” Bobby said hesitantly. He hoped that

realization  was  a  step  in  the  right  direction  on  the  road  to
acceptance  for  Seth.  Getting  up  on  his  good  leg,  Bobby
positioned  the  crutch  under  his  arm.  “Look.  Give  them  a
chance. They’re good people and might surprise you. I know
they  won’t  let  you  leave  just  yet,  but  you’re  still  in  shock
over…”  he  paused  and  waved  his  free  hand  in  the  air
between them. “Learning about them can be very traumatic
and confusing. Trust me. I know.”

Seth didn’t respond, but Bobby imagined he could feel his

gaze as he hobbled toward the door. When he reached for it,
Seth finally broke the silence. “Did they force you to move
down here?”

Bobby looked over his shoulder at Seth and smiled. “No. I

came of my own free will. And even with this injury,” he
continued, nodding toward his bum knee, “it’s still the best
decision I’ve ever made.”

Seth’s jaw fell open, and it took a couple tries for the man

to say, “You’re in love with one of them, aren’t you?”

He hadn’t intended to rub it in Seth’s face, but he

certainly wasn’t going to deny it either. Bobby nodded. “Yes.
I’m in love with Maelgwn. The big gargoyle that helped save
us last night.”

“I met him, didn’t I?” Seth murmured the question,

looking to be deep in thought.

Bobby nodded. “Yeah.” The ache in his leg reminded

Bobby that he needed to elevate his leg. “Look, I gotta go lie
down, but…think about what I said. Go out and talk to them
with an open mind. You might be surprised at the new
friends you’ll make.”

After Seth nodded, Bobby turned, pulled open the door,

and limped from the room. He really hoped Seth would take

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115

his advice seriously. He knew the man was hurting, losing
his boyfriend, grade-school friends, and at the moment, his
freedom, all in a row. His world was in upheaval, but Bobby
knew Seth was strong. He’d get over it. There wasn’t much
he could do for the man, especially since Maelgwn knew
Seth was his ex and his possessive mate…was standing right
outside the door.

How much had he overheard?
Maelgwn had a surprised look on his face, which slowly

morphed into a shit-eating grin. “You love me?”

That answered that question.
It sure wasn’t how Bobby had intended to tell his lover,

but now that the cat was out of the bag, so to speak, he
wasn’t going to deny it. He rolled his eyes and knocked his
shoulder against the big guy’s abdomen. “Don’t look so
smug. Of course, I love you, ya big oaf.”

“Good,” Maelgwn growled, the smile disappearing.
Bobby let out a squeak when Maelgwn swept him up in

his arms. Always considerate, Maelgwn was mindful of
Bobby’s injured knee and wrapped one arm under his
thighs, instead. The other was wrapped snuggly around his
shoulders and cradled Bobby to his chest.

Maelgwn nuzzled the top of Bobby’s head as he started

moving through the house. “I love you, too, sweet. I love
you, too,” he murmured.

Bobby grinned and leaned his head back, accepting a

deep  kiss  from  Maelgwn,  which  almost  instantly  had  his
cock  tenting  his  sweatpants.  Regaining  a  little  self-control,
Bobby  murmured  against  Maelgwn’s  lips,  “Is  now  a  good
time to make sure Sapian isn’t in too much trouble? If I have
to still have a bodyguard, I’d really like it to be him.”

Maelgwn groaned as he laid Bobby on their new bed and

followed him down. “Damn it. I’m hard as a rock. From the
way you smell, you are, too, and you’re asking about

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116

Sapian?” Maelgwn glared. “That is so wrong.”

Bobby snickered. “I know I’ll get what I want when

you’re like this.”

His lover’s expression sobered slightly, though a smile

did play at the corners of his firm lips. “Leading me around
by my dick already, mate?”

Dropping his hand to Maelgwn’s loincloth covered groin,

Bobby gave said dick a nice firm squeeze. “Only in the most
pleasurable of ways, my love.”

“Fuck, I like the sound and feel of that,” Maelgwn

snarled, tearing the fabric off so Bobby had unrestricted
access.

He took advantage and cupped Maelgwn’s balls, rolling

the  sensitive  orbs  in  their  soft  hide  sacks.  Groaning,
Maelgwn used careful claws to shred the t-shirt and sweats
from Bobby’s body. Bobby squeezed Maelgwn’s testicles just
hard  enough  to  get  his  attention.  Maelgwn  grunted  and
focused  on  Bobby’s  face.  “I  liked  those  clothes,”  Bobby
scolded.

Maelgwn grinned. “I’ll get you more, better sweats.”
Bobby nodded and jacked his lover’s shaft twice. “And

Sapian.”

Growling, Maelgwn inserted himself between Bobby’s

legs and snarled. “Fuck, don’t say another man’s name when
your hand is on my cock. I don’t like it.” Then he muttered,
almost grudgingly, “Sapian isn’t in trouble.”

Laughing, Bobby wrapped his good leg around

Maelgwn’s waist and both arms around his neck. He rocked
their bodies together and, knowing what his lover needed to
hear, murmured, “I’m only yours Maelgwn. All yours. Love
you.”

“Good, because this is mine,” Maelgwn grunted. He

reached between them and fingered Bobby’s hole.

Bobby grinned when Mealgwn discovered the large butt

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117

plug he’d inserted earlier. Moaning, Maelgwn whispered
throatily, “So fucking sexy. Love that you’re ready for me.”

Maelgwn slowly pulled the plug halfway out then let go,

letting  it  slide  back  into  Bobby’s  clenching  ass,  hitting  his
prostate  in  the  process.  It  was  Bobby’s  turn  to  moan,  his
back  bowing  in  pleasure.  “Mal,”  he  muttered.  “Need  you,
Mal.”

To Bobby’s pleasure, Maelgwn wasted no more time. He

gently pulled out the plug and replaced the toy with his
long, thick cock. Bobby moaned at the sensation of his lover
moving inside him, taking up residence in his body. Being
possessed by Maelgwn felt like coming home.

As Maelgwn began a steady pace of thrust and retreat,

pegging  Bobby’s  hot  spot  every  couple  strokes,  Bobby’s
body  heated  from  the  inside  out.  Maelgwn  wrapped  one
arm under his back, resting most of his weight on his elbow.
The other hand toyed with Bobby’s nipples, sending sparks
of pleasure across his chest and down to his groin. His balls
pulled  tight.  His  chute  clenched.  His  spine  tingled.  Bobby
knew  he  was  going  to  come  without  his  shaft  even  being
touched, and it was divine.

The teeth piercing his shoulder were the final straw,

throwing  him  over  the  edge  and  into  bliss.  His  channel
clenched  on  Maelgwn’s  dick,  as  though  trying  to  keep  his
lover’s thrusting erection buried deep inside him. The warm
rush  of  seed  in  his  ass  told  him  his  gargoyle  had  come,  as
well  as  the  way  Maelgwn  shuddered,  growled,  and  jerked
above him.

Bobby knew he sported a silly, sated grin, but couldn’t

care less. He loved being filled by Maelgwn, being held by
Maelgwn, hell, even being bitten by the gargoyle. His lover
hadn’t exaggerated when he said he wanted to please Bobby.

Sliding his fingers through Maelgwn’s long, dark hair, he

sighed upon feeling Maelgwn’s tongue lick the wound on

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his  neck.  He  knew  the  gargoyle’s  saliva  would  close  it.
Maelgwn  lifted  his  head  and  captured  Bobby’s  mouth  in  a
deep kiss, their  tongues twining hungrily,  the faint  taste  of
copper on his tongue.

Instead of being disgusted, Bobby found he wanted more.

He  wanted  everything  his  gargoyle  could  give  him,  for  as
long  as  Fate  would  allow  it.  Overwhelmed  by  his  love,
Bobby  broke  the  kiss  and  dropped  his  head  back  on  the
pillow. His dick was still hard and as he shifted his hips, he
hummed at the discovery that so was his lover.

Opening his eyes, Bobby smiled up at Maelgwn.
Maelgwn eyed him for several seconds, then leaned down

and scraped his sharp canines across the sensitive skin
behind Bobby’s ear. Bobby whimpered, making it hard to
sort out Maelgwn’s words when the gargoyle asked, “Did I
put that sweet, goofy smile on your face?”

It was probably meant to tease, but Bobby answered

anyway. “Yeah, yeah you did.” He tightened his arms
around his lover. “My gargoyle. My home.”

Shifting so their gazes met, Bobby saw a sappy grin on

Maelgwn’s face that probably matched his own. Maelgwn
nodded. “As you are mine. Thank you for making your
home with me.”

“As cheesy as it sounds, there’s nowhere else I’d rather

be,” Bobby told him.

The dick in his ass twitched and Bobby smirked. “Now

why don’t you fuck me through the mattress, my mate?”

A feral growl vibrated through Maelgwn’s chest. “With

pleasure.”

About the Author

Charlie lives on a mini ranchette in Utah with her husband
and furry, four-legged children. She started writing fantasy
when she was eight, and after stumbling onto her first erotic
romance  at  age  nineteen,  she  realized  her  true  calling.  She
now  focuses  on  writing  erotic  romance,  normally  of  the
paranormal  variety,  with  heroes  and  heroines  of  all  kinds.
You can often find her curled up with her laptop and a cup
of tea or glass of wine, creating her next adventure. Charlie
enjoys exploring the mountains on horseback, 4-wheeler, or
motorcycle. Her favorite exercise is jumping lessons with her
Arabian  gelding  Apache  or  her  Thoroughbred  mare  Repo.
And she can’t get enough of sexy highlanders with their kilts
and swords. Right now, she and her muse are working with
dedication on her Wolves of Stone Ridge series and Kontra’s
Menagerie series.

She can be reached at ch.richards2010@yahoo.com
Or visit her at www.charlie-richards.com