Moonlit Guardian Read online

  “And after you get the information you need from them?”

  “Those type of men won’t just forgive and forget. We will have to eliminate them.”

  “I thought I escaped all the death by leaving Imortia.”

  “Draven, you’re not the queen’s servant here.” Ming squeezed his arm before walking back over to her husband. “You may have had to watch innocent people die there while protecting that wretched beast of a woman but here we don’t do that. If we eliminate someone it’s because there is no other way. Those men who came for her are professional hitmen. They kill people for money. Would you really want us to let them go to continue doing that type of work?”

  “Think of what they would have done to Kimiko had they caught her,” Jason suggested. “That should take away any lingering compassion you have for them.”

  Draven remembered the sound of gunshots, the panic that had bloomed in his chest as he saw the drum set take the damage and realized how close he’d been to losing Kimiko. He hadn’t relaxed until he’d reached the apartment and let her go, despite knowing no one could have caught them in the air. “Yes, that does make it easier to accept.”

  “I thought so. Now, to more pressing matters.”

  “More pressing than protecting Kimiko?”

  “We have that covered,” the pack leader said dismissively. “Felicia said you met a rogue werewolf.”

  Unease slithered into Draven’s gut. “Yes. Rex Ziering’s bodyguard.”

  “And you think he may be behind these attacks on Kimiko?”

  “I did. I definitely suspected Ziering and still haven’t ruled him out entirely.”

  “You told her he was outside her hotel room the night she was shot outside the restaurant.”

  “Yes, but he said he was there to protect her. Ziering sent him after hearing about the shooting. I honestly didn’t believe him at first but tonight he warned me to watch out for her. He said he felt something was going to happen.”

  Ming and the pack leader exchanged a look before the petite woman spoke. “You trust that he was honestly trying to warn you and not just throw you off his scent?”

  “I think so.”

  “We need to bring him in.”

  “Why?” Draven straightened, suddenly feeling protective of the werewolf.

  “He’s a rogue,” Ming explained, “and the very fact that you even suspected him of this says something. We can’t have rogues running around harming innocent humans. It’s our duty to police our own kind.”

  “So you’re sending a team after him?”

  “We’re sending you after him, once this is all over. We may be able to do a lot but even we can’t get near famous people unless they’re using the Moonlight Agency for their security needs. Once it’s safe, you’ll go back with Kimiko to Hollyweird and arrange a meeting. We’ll take him down then.”

  “What if he’s innocent?”

  “He’ll live.”

  Kimiko’s hands shook as she finished toweling off. For a secretive race of people, they didn’t do much to keep their conversation secret. She’d heard every word that was said during the visit. She didn’t know which part caused her to shake more, the fact that they were killing the men sent after her or that Rex’s bodyguard was a werewolf. A werewolf! So Draven was a gargoyle, Lennox Black was a werewolf, and Samel was a werelion.

  And she apparently was on land owned by a werewolf pack, if she’d deduced correctly from that overheard conversation. Was she dreaming? When had the world turned into an episode of Supernatural?

  Dressed in the sweatpants and a T-shirt she’d found in the dresser, Kimiko took a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom. She found Draven by the kitchen island, setting two plates on top.

  “You’re just in time,” he said, smiling shakily as he greeted her. His eyes warmed as they took her in. “Leave it to you to make sweats look sexy. Still better than the cat suit. I could barely breathe with you in that thing.”

  “Sorry to have inconvenienced you.” She hid her smirk as she took a seat at the kitchen island and picked up her fork. “The steak looks good. I didn’t take you for a cook.”

  “If I didn’t cook for myself I wouldn’t eat anything but plants and I’m not a vegetarian.” He sat next to her.

  “So gargoyles are meat eaters.”

  He paused in his cutting of his steak and blew his breath out before resuming. “I eat meat. As do you, so eat.”

  Kimiko played with her food for a bit, knowing she’d offended him. She didn’t mean to. “I’m sorry. I’m just curious. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

  He made a laughing sound deep in his throat as he reached for his glass of water. “Understatement.”

  “What is Imortia like?”

  He stilled then slowly looked at her.

  “I overheard the conversation between you and those people,” she explained. “You served a queen in Imortia. I take it that’s where your kind comes from. Other weregargoyles and wolves and lions. Those people said something about uniwolves. What are those?”

  “Kimiko, your kind isn’t supposed to even know about my kind.”

  “I won’t tell anyone. Who’d believe me anyway?” She laughed at her pathetic attempt to get him to lighten up. “Draven, you can trust me.”

  He looked down at his plate. “You need to eat and go to bed.”

  They ate in silence. Kimiko had many questions to ask but feared his response. She kept seeming to ask the wrong thing, pressing buttons that should have warning signs all around them.

  Once they finished he collected the dishes and took them to the sink. “You’re safe here, Kimiko. You should get some sleep. It’s been a long day.”

  “I can do the dishes.”

  “I got it.”

  “I’m not royalty. You don’t have to serve me like you served the queen in Imortia.”

  He spun around so fast Kimiko let out a small cry and backed up a step.

  “Don’t speak of Imortia as if you have any idea what that place was like. You overheard a conversation. You don’t understand any of it.”

  “Then tell me about it. Explain it to me.”

  “Why? My life isn’t one of your movies. It’s not for your entertainment.”

  Tears burned the back of her eyes. “That’s what you think you are? My entertainment?”

  “What else would I be? What else could I ever be?”

  “The man who saved my life.” She stepped closer to him. “The man who looked at me and saw me, not an actress, not a singer. The man who saved me and not his paycheck.”

  “If I’m just that man then why do you keep asking about my other side?”

  “Isn’t it what you are? A part of you?”

  “It’s not a good part.”

  “Really? If you weren’t what you are, I would be dead right now.”

  He turned back to the sink and made quick work of the dishes.

  “We’re confined together in this cabin. You can’t just ignore me.”

  “You need to sleep, Kimiko.”

  “Why?” She planted her fists on her hips and gave him her most defiant look as he finished the dishes and turned toward her. “Maybe you forgot but you work for me, not the other way around. I will not be taking orders from you.”

  He looked delicious leaning with his hip against the sink, drying his hands on the dishtowel with a smirk on his face. “So you’re saying you want me to leave and someone else can protect you? Someone hired by the very manager who may be behind everything?”

  “No.” She instantly deflated. “You don’t play this game right.”

  “I don’t play games at all, and this isn’t a game. It’s your life. And I’m your bodyguard, not your servant.”

  White hot anger flooded her. “I would never treat you like a servant and you know it. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you don’t know me at all. Maybe I am just a job to you.”

  “Is that what you really think?” he asked, stepping closer. “You think I risked
exposing my kind to the world because you’re just a job to me?”

  “Well, I’m certainly not someone you care about. You won’t even answer a few simple questions for me.”

  “Maybe your questions don’t have simple answers. You don’t understand what it’s like to be me, to go through the things I’ve been through.”

  “Oh right. I don’t understand what it’s like to pretend to be someone you’re not, to put on a different face for the whole world.”

  “You’re a singer. You put on shows and that was your career choice. I’m a shapeshifter from another realm and that was not my choice. So no, you don’t understand.”

  “Then explain it to me.”

  “Explain to you what it’s like to be a slave to a cruel ruler? What it’s like to shed blood? That’s something that can’t be explained. You could never understand.”

  “I could try.”

  “Why? Why do you even need to know these details about me?”

  She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him to the bed where she forcibly shoved him onto his back before straddling his waist. Before he could say a word she bent over him and captured his lips, easily sliding her tongue inside to mingle with his. In the back of her mind she still knew he was the black-skinned, horned, bat-winged creature who’d carried her through the night but it was easy to overlook that as she tasted him, giving in to the attraction she’d felt for him from the moment he’d first stepped into her hotel room.

  “That’s why,” she said, coming up for air.

  His chest rose and fell heavily beneath her as he looked up at her. His fingers gripped the material around her hips, squeezing. “You shouldn’t sit there.”

  “Why not?”

  “Bad things could happen.”

  She shook her head. “No. I think a good thing will happen, for both of us.”

  His fingers squeezed tighter. “We shouldn’t. I’m a gargoyle.”

  “I’m a singer. As far as I know, those things are capable of doing wonderful things together.”

  “You don’t want this, Kimiko. You’re royalty in this realm. I’m just a bodyguard.”

  “Well, if you’re going to be guarding my body you should be more familiar with it.” She rolled her hips, eliciting a sharp breath out of him. “And you’re wrong. I do want this, and so do you.”

  The heat in his eyes as she removed her shirt said everything.

  13

  Draven held his breath, looking up at the most beautiful woman in the world on top of him.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “You’re naked.”

  “Partially.” she placed her palms on his chest and leaned forward. They leaned with her. “Is that a problem? What I feel beneath me is saying it’s not.”

  Traitorous dick. “Kimiko.”

  “I want you, Draven. All of you. I don’t care that you turn into a gargoyle and you’ve never been a servant in my eyes. A man like you could never be a servant. I don’t know what your life was like in Imortia, how you ever served a queen there but you’re here now and that’s got to be for a reason. You were meant to be here, with me.”

  “Kimiko.” He started to push her off him but his hands completely ignored his brain’s direction and gripped her tighter.

  “Am I not beautiful enough for you?” She looked away, but not before Draven saw the insecurity in her green eyes. “I don’t know what Imortian women are like, but I really want—”

  He sat up and silenced her the only way he knew how. He caught her words in his mouth, sliding his tongue inside to explore if her sweet mouth only made music on stage. The soft moan that escaped her became his favorite song as she pulled his black T-shirt free of his waistband and liberated it from his body.

  She gasped before tracing the lines of his chest with her fingertips. “I knew you’d be perfect.”

  “Not nearly as perfect as you.” He stole another quick but thorough taste of her mouth before dipping his head to suckle a hard nipple.

  She writhed against him, instinctively grinding against his shaft through their clothing and simultaneously driving him mad.

  “Kimiko, if we take this all the way I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let you go.”

  “Who the hell said I’d allow you to let me go?”

  He flipped her onto her back and removed the sweatpants before standing to discard the rest of his clothing. Then he stood there staring down at the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen and realized what was happening. He really would never be able to let this woman go.

  “You just gonna stand there all night?”

  “With this view, I could.”

  “It’s getting cold.” She propped herself up on her elbows, making her breasts stand up, “and I’m getting lonely.”

  “Well, we can’t have that.” He lowered himself onto her, careful not to crush her small frame under his weight as he tasted every inch of her flawless body, knowing it was a mistake but once she’d offered herself to him on a platter he couldn’t refuse the feast. And a feast it was, every juicy part of her delicious, and as he slid inside the most intimate part of her, he knew why her safety had always been more than just his job.

  “You’re so quiet.” Kimiko placed a kiss on his chest before snuggling in closer to his warm body. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” The arm wrapped around her tightened and his fingertips brushed back and forth across her hip. “Nothing at all.”

  “You sure?”

  “Mmhmm.” He kissed her forehead. “You should be sleeping. You have to be exhausted.”

  “Hey, I put some good stuff on you too. Why aren’t you sleeping it off?”

  He laughed. “I wasn’t implying that I wore you out. You barely got any sleep last night and went through two major dramas today. You have to be tired.”

  “What about you? I haven’t seen you sleep since we met.”

  “I don’t sleep.”

  “I noticed.”

  “No, I mean I really don’t sleep.”

  Kimiko propped herself up on her elbow and looked down at him. “Seriously? You don’t sleep at all?”

  He shook his head.

  “Ever?”

  “Gargoyles don’t sleep.”

  “So you’ve went your whole life without ever sleeping?”

  “No, just since I became a gargoyle.”

  “You weren’t always a gargoyle?”

  He sat up and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “No, Kimiko. I wasn’t always this beast. I was born in Imortia but I possessed no magical ability. In Imortia, you’re either born with magic or strength. I was born with strength so I became part of the queen’s guard.”

  “When did you become a gargoyle? How did you become one?”

  “The queen was very powerful. Her magic was unmatched by anyone, except for Zaira, but she’d already cursed Zaira and kicked her out of the realm before she was aware of just how powerful she was. Once she successfully got rid of Zaira she steadily grew worse. The woman did horrible, cruel things and if you defied her in any way she’d make you pay.”

  Kimiko placed her hand on his muscular shoulder, hating the way the toughest man she’d ever known looked so fragile. “What happened?”

  “She took a liking to me and requested I come to her bed. The queen had more consorts than I could count but she still wanted to add me to the list.”

  “Con-whats?” Kimiko asked, curiosity just narrowly beating out her jealousy.

  “Consorts. The queen took any man she liked as her consort. She was free to sleep with any and all of them any time she liked but each consort had to be devoted to her.”

  Kimiko swallowed down the bile the thought caused. “You were her consort?”

  “I was that night, but by morning I’d displeased her enough that she cursed me. She turned me into a weregargoyle and made me guard her palace. I spent years sitting in the same spot on her palace roof, guarding the woman I loathed more than anything in the world.�
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  “You displeased her?” Kimiko recalled what they’d just done and couldn’t find any faults. Not that she wanted to even imagine Draven with anyone else, but she was puzzled as to what he could have done wrong.

  “Not in that way. The next morning one of her maids entered the room and looked at me while I lay naked in her bed. The queen found her ogling me and ordered me to kill her. I refused so she punished me by turning me into something that could never sleep or dream again, something whose sole reason for being was to honor and protect her. More importantly, she turned me into something no woman would ever want.”

  “But you slept with her without any problem, knowing what type of person she was? Had she not cursed you would you have kept sleeping with her?”

  “It was just sex, Kimiko. It didn’t mean anything.”

  Kimiko removed her hand from his shoulder and wrapped her arms around her knees, first making sure her body was completely hidden under the thin sheet.

  “What is it?”

  She took a deep breath to muster enough courage to ask him a question she feared the answer to. “Was this just sex too?”

  He drew away, confusion in his eyes. “You really have to ask me that? How could you even entertain that thought?”

  She shrugged. “If you were willing to sleep with a woman like that…”

  “Willing?” He made a noise in his throat that was meant to be a laugh but didn’t quite turn out as one. “I did what I had to do to survive. What just happened between us was by choice and it was not just sex, not in any way.”

  She reached over and grabbed his hand. “Good, and for the record, the queen’s diabolical plot failed. I want you, and I’m crazy jealous that she had even that one night with you.”

  He caressed the side of her face. “She had use of my body for one night. You have all of me.”

  “And I want all of you, Draven. All of you.”

  “You don’t like looking at the gargoyle. I know it’s monstrous.”

  “I’m sorry.” Kimiko squeezed his hand tighter. “I don’t know what you saw on my face when I looked at you in that form but you have to understand how hard it is to accept. Before you, I only saw gargoyles as statues. It’s a bit scary, I’ll admit that, but as long as I know you’re in there, I can accept it. And you know I won’t share your secret with anyone.” She laughed, leaning in closer. “I don’t want anyone stealing you away from me.”