GargoylesEmbrace by Lisa Carlisle Page A

off me!”
    She attempted to knee him in his testicles, but he deflected
the blow by turning his body to the side.
    Enormous black wings surrounded Brian and a second later he
was lifted off the ground. Brian exclaimed, “What the―” which was cut off as he
was thrown over the bar onto the empty dance floor.
    He scrambled to his feet on unsteady legs. The gargoyle
stepped over to him in a few massive strides. While Tracy’s gaze paused on his
sculpted buttocks, the gargoyle raised one of his sinewy legs and kicked Brian
in the gut. Brian groaned and clutched his stomach. The gargoyle lifted a foot
over Brian’s head.
    Tracy screamed while Brian shielded his face with his
forearm to brace against the gargoyle stomping on his head
    Tracy tried a gentler tone. “Please don’t. You’ll kill him.”
    The gargoyle paused and put his foot down, but then bent to
pinch Brian’s neck, which made Brian pass out.
    The sweetness in her voice departed as she exclaimed, “What
in fuck’s name is going on?”
    The gargoyle turned to face her, anger flashing from
brilliant blue eyes.
    “Don’t be afraid, Tracy.”
    He spoke in a husky French accent that set her pulse afire,
despite her natural reaction to retreat. The anger in his eyes gave way to
warmth and intelligence.
    “How the hell do you know my name?” She backed away.
    Was she drugged? Hallucinating? She only drank water while
she worked and kept her bottle behind the bar. She’d heard too many horror
stories of what could happen if you left your drink unattended for a moment.
Had someone managed to slip a tasteless drug into her water?
    “It’s me, Tracy. The statue. The gargoyle.”
    “I must be drugged.” She put her hands on her temples and
closed her eyes in an attempt to clear her mind. When she reopened them, her
eyes traveled from his chest down to a well-endowed erection.
    Now she was imagining naked males with massive hard-ons? She
had to be drugged. Drugged and horny.
    “I know it sounds crazy,” he said. “But I’m alive. Flesh and
blood, just like you.” Then he added, “For now.”
    Tracy assessed her brain functions. She didn’t feel like she
was under the influence of something. Her senses weren’t clouded in some haze
and she wasn’t hallucinating things morphing and reshaping themselves. The only
indication something was off was that she’d witnessed a gargoyle statue
transform into a god of a man and throw her ex across the bar. If he was
actually there and not some delusion—that meant she was alone with a naked man
who was as strong as a Viking warrior and sexually excited. She fumbled in her
purse and raised her pepper spray.
    “Stay away from me!”
    “What is that?” He tilted his head.
    “You’ll find out the hard way if you come closer.”
    “A weapon.” The curiosity in his expression turned to
amusement. He raised his hand. “I’m clearly unarmed. I’m not here to hurt you.
My name is Danton.”
    “How did you come out of the stone?” She kept the pepper
spray directed on his face.
    “I didn’t. I am the stone. I’m a gargoyle.”
    She glanced to where the gargoyle statue had stood. It was
still there the way it always had been.
    “Bull-fucking—shit, pretty boy.” She nodded to the statue. “Then
what the hell is that?”
    “My shell.”
    “Your what?”
    “Listen to me, please.” He held out his hands palm up. “I am
a gargoyle—man and stone in one. My role is to protect humans. Like you.
Especially you.”
    “Ha ha ha!” Tracy spat. “I’ve seen some crazy-ass shit
working here. And some real out-there characters. Despite all the insane things
I’ve seen, I have never seen a human come from stone. And the only people who
do see that are on some whacked-up drugs.”
    “You are not drugged. Let’s go somewhere and I’ll explain.”
    Tracy’s curiosity was piqued. Something about the statue had
compelled her to talk to it, reveal her innermost secrets. And now in a human
form, he had to be