The underground lair was in an uproar as word spread that Rina was the missing Faery princess who had disappeared all those years ago. Legend had it that the Faery princess had died escaping during the necromancer invasion to Faery.

Rhodack had touched base with one of his Fae contacts who would get the word out that he needed to speak to the king and queen. He stalked toward Rina’s suite to deliver the news that they would be able to speak with her parents soon.

It had been hours since he’d seen her. He’d been busy notifying the other gargoyle clans of the information he’d received. Now they knew what the misted figures were, they’d know how to deal with them. They’d hunt them down, because if they got their hands on Rina, they’d surely take her to the Forged realm.

That would never happen.

Rhodack would make sure of it.

He gripped Rina’s door when a voice called out to him. He turned to find Manga sashaying her way down the corridor toward him. Manga, a female in his harem, held a glimmer of concern in her light eyes. Her dark hair was held back from her face.

“Is it true?” she asked, her voice husky upon her approach.

He glared at her, not sure what she was asking.

“What Avalena is saying?” she said.

“What is she saying?” He pinned his gaze on her as she stopped in front of him.

She reached out and laid her hand on the middle of his chest. She glanced up to him with wide eyes before looking down.

“She’s saying you’ve brought another woman into the harem. We thought you were satisfied with the seven of us,” she murmured.

“I’ve never said I was dissatisfied with you seven,” he replied. He didn’t have to answer to them. If he wanted to add to his harem, then that was his right as clan leader. But Rina was not for the harem. She’d never be shared with his men or guests.

She belonged to him solely.

“But you are adding another woman? The Fae?”

He glared down at her and grabbed her hand in his. He brought it to his lips. Hers parted as he placed a small kiss to the back of her hand. He knew Manga was the more sensitive one in the group. She wouldn’t hurt a fly, and there was no way he was telling her anything at the moment.

He’d talk to all the women in his harem when the time came. He was sure rumors were already flying around.

“No.” He released her hand to move back toward the door. “I must speak to Rina.”

“She’s not in her suite.”

He whipped his head around at her announcement. “Where is she?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at her, waiting for her to answer.

“She’s on the rooftop.” Manga gasped as he brushed past her.

He stalked down the hallway toward the elevator that would take him to the rooftop. Who had given her permission to go up there?

The sun would be rising soon, and all gargoyles would be taking cover beneath the ground.

He hit the elevator button. It opened immediately, allowing him to enter. He seethed with anger for leaving her alone in her suite. The necromancers were coming after her, and someone had let her out into he open. Whoever it was would answer to him. He growled, his animal wanting to burst forward.

Finally, the door to the elevator opened, displaying the roof. He stepped out and looked around. He stalked about, taking in the lightness of the sun. It would be up in less than two hours.

He strode to where the portal was and froze in place. His breath escaped from his chest as he took in her silent form standing at the base of the stairs. Her long blonde hair flowed down her back. She was dressed in a floor-length, flowing golden gown that was distinctive of Fae royalty.

Vikuth, in his gargoyle form, stood off to the side. Rhodack should have known his friend would be behind her going up to the roof. He nodded to Rhodack before stepping up on the ledge. He dove off, flying off into the sky without saying a word.

“Is this where the being that tried to take me entered?” she asked, not turning to face him.

He slowly made his way to her, refusing to move his gaze off her. His breaths came fast as he stood directly behind her. “Yes.”

She faced him, and he was hit in his chest with her beauty. He roamed his gaze over her face and drank in her features. He could see where Solana’s spell had hidden the Fae features from her. He reached out and brushed her hair away from her face, finding her small pointy ears that denoted her Elf blood. A small smile graced her lips. He was pleased she didn’t shy away from him.

Before her powers had exploded, she’d been angry with him. He knew she didn’t understand about his harem and he had planned to discuss it with her. But first, he had to make her see she belonged to him.

“Solana’s magic was powerful,” she murmured. “I feel as if I’ve just woken up from a long dream. I was living yet I wasn’t living my life. Does that make sense?”

“Her witch’s magic was no match for your powers,” he said.

He sensed her energy brimming just beneath the surface. Her eyes appeared to shimmer. Solana was right. Rina was one powerful being. She just didn’t realize how powerful she was.

“She gave you a life to allow you to live. You lived a full life, but as a human. I’m surprised you made it this long without someone realizing you weren’t human. One second in your presence and I felt your powers.”

Her dress cinched at her waist, showing off her curves, before it flowed out around her feet. It was low-cut, putting the swell of her breasts on display. The silky material didn’t hide her figure at all. Elven women were mistresses of their sensuality. She moved closer to him, and her eyes met his.

“I can feel yours, too,” she whispered. Her eyes flashed, and she reached up and laid a hand on his chest.

He bit back a growl as she ran her hand along his pectoral muscles.

“I’ve never seen a gargoyle in person until now. When I was a young child, my father would tell me tales of the gargoyle protectors. He’d talk about the strong race of gargoyles that were fierce fighters, their skin impenetrable by any weapon when in gargoyle form. That your race was practically unkillable.” Her eyes followed her hand as she traced his muscles.

He ached to strip her of her clothes and take her right there on the rooftop. He gripped her hand to his chest and stepped forward. The growl ripped from his chest, and he moved them until she hit the brick wall behind the elevator shaft.

“Don’t tempt me, princess. You may have just truly awakened, but I will tell you now that I wanted you when you thought you were a human.”

“And now?”

Her voice was quiet, but it surrounded him. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to regain his composure. He carefully placed his hands on the wall, entrapping her with his arms.

She isn’t going anywhere.

He lowered his gaze to her pink full lips, and his cock pushed at his pants, demanding to be free.

“I fucking need you,” he breathed, no longer able to resist. He crushed his mouth to hers.

Her lips parted, allowing his tongue to invade her, sweeping in to get a taste of her. Her fingers clutched his shirt, and he angled his head to deepen the kiss. Her tongue met his without hesitation.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him close to her. He growled and pressed into her, leaving no room between them.

He ran his hands up along her sides and cupped her luscious mounds. She released a moan when he pinched her hard nipples through the silky material of her dress.

He wanted her.

She belonged to him.

Fucking Rina against the wall was not how he’d imagined their first time.

He tore his mouth away and leaned his forehead to hers. Their breaths came fast as they both tried to regain control of their breathing.

“You know you feel what’s between us now. You didn’t before because of the spell.” He focused on her eyes. Now that she had her memory of who she was, he knew she’d feel the pull to him as he did to her.

Her hand reached up to cup his jaw. He was like putty in her hands. Anything this woman asked of him, he’d grant it to her.

“An electric current races through my body the minute you come near me,” she began. She stood on her tiptoes and brushed her lips over the rugged part of his chin. “I was told of stories of something like this between people who were meant to be together—”

“Mates,” he hissed through clenched teeth. Her soft hands running along the rough shadow of his beard had his cock hard as steel.

“As a kid, you think it’s just a fairy tale that your parents tell you at bedtime,” she whispered.

He held her hand to his face, not wanting to lose her touch.

“But this thing between us scares me,” she went on. “It’s all too much.”

“We belong together,” he murmured. His heart pounded as she searched his eyes. “You know it.”

“But your harem—”

“Don’t ask me to give them up. There are plenty of reasons why I can’t. Those women are under my protection,” he said.

The female gargoyles were given an esteemed status as members of his harem. He’d introduce them all to Rina so she could come to a better understanding of the life of a gargoyle clan leader.

“Tell me that you belong to me, Rina.”

He couldn’t help but lean down and place a small kiss upon her lips. She felt the magnetic pull between them, didn’t she? She’d be unable to fight it. He knew he was pressuring her too soon after she’d woken from the spell.

I never was a fair fighter.

When he wanted something, he went after it, and he wanted Larina Omaris.

“But what if fate got us wrong? I’ll have to go back to Faery to rule. How can we be together if you’re the protector of this realm?”

Her eyes searched his for the answer, but right now, he didn’t have one for her. The only thing he knew was what his gargoyle knew—she belonged to him.

“Do you want me, Rina?” He pushed his stiff length on her soft belly.

She gasped as he grasped her chin with his fingers. “Yes,” she breathed.

“Then I’m yours,” he ground out.

He crushed his mouth to hers to show her how much they belonged to each other. His gargoyle was a beast that needed to belong to the one person that fate had designed for them, and Rina was it. He moved his hand to the base of her neck and kissed her deeply. He poured his need into the kiss.

“Your suite or mine?” Her lips moved against his.

“Mine,” he said, the need to have her building inside him.

She smiled and wrenched him close to her as the roof disappeared.