Chapter 41

"Way too long." Dana moaned at the beauty of the sensations as Beau fucked her deeply and sucked hard on her nipple. Her body coiled tight and she dug her hands into the soft pile of the carpet. His jaw was clenched and his eyes had gone dark, the vivid green almost completely overwhelmed by the dark brown. A fine layer of sweat sheened his tan skin and his movements were hard and jerky, as if he was trying to maintain control but failing.
He switched to her other breast, drawing deeply while his cock pounded into her cunt. Then he slid one hand down her belly to press against her clit and Dana exploded. Stars flashed in front of her eyelids followed by blackness as her entire body convulsed. Beau shouted her name one more time before he followed her over the edge, filling her core with his thick, hot cum.
When they were both breathing again, he stood and held out a hand to help her to her feet. Beau zipped himself back into his trousers, while Dana tugged her damp thong back up and into place. She needed to go clean up but more than that, she needed a drink. Without a word, she turned and walked down the short hallway to the apartment's main living space. The room was so small that there was no dining table, just a small breakfast bar that separated the kitchenette from the sitting area.
Beau followed, sitting on one of the stools at the breakfast bar while Dana pulled a half-full bottle of white wine from the ancient refrigerator and poured a hefty glassful.
"So what are you doing here and how the hell did you get into my apartment?" She took a long pull from the glass before manners kicked in. Glowering, she poured another glass and handed it to Beau. His cream-colored polo shirt was wrinkled and his rich brown hair, a little longer than before, was seriously mussed. Good.
"You asked Damien to send someone," Beau reminded her. "You told him there might be a link between this group and the missing gargoyle artifacts."
"Oh. Right." Of course she had. She spoke with Katie on a regular basis, so when she'd heard about a crown, she'd naturally mentioned the possibility to Katie's gargoyle husband. "Why you?" Damn, she hadn't meant to sound that rude but she was still pissed at him for walking out on her after Katie's wedding without a backward glance.
"Because you've met me and because I can travel by daylight," Beau replied with a scowl. "Hasn't Katie explained that facet of gargoyle physiology? I thought she'd told you everything about our race."
"Apparently not everything," Dana muttered. "I thought part of the deal was that you had to change into your gargoyle shapes from sunrise to sunset until you'd reproduced. I know that since Katie's pregnancy, she and Damien don't shift anymore."
"Not unless they choose to - and for her, not while she's expecting. But essentially, that's correct. It's an incentive clause in the magic that created our race," Beau confirmed. "Gives us a strong desire to perpetuate the species. Walking about in daylight again is a nice thing to be able to do after living for years in the dark."
"But since you can be human in daytime, that means, you have children," Dana said, practically choking on the logic leap that followed. "You're married?"
"Not for a long time," Beau said, swallowing the last half of his wine in one gulp. "And the tense is incorrect. I had a child." His expression and tone went so bleak so suddenly, it was all Dana could do not to vault the counter and take him into her arms.
"I'm sorry, Beau. It's none of my business." She couldn't resist reaching over the counter and laying a hand on his shoulder. Time to change the subject. "Of course that still doesn't explain how you got into my apartment."
"I told your landlady I was your husband," he said with another Gallic shrug. "Here to surprise you."
"Husband?" She'd never given Mrs. Crittenden any reason to believe she was married. But one smile from that craggy face and a few words in that sexy French accent and Beau could probably have any female on the planet eating out of his hands.
"Damien was afraid you had placed yourself in danger with this quest. He suggested that I come up with an excuse to stick very closely to you." The cold, impenetrable mask had slipped back into place, hiding every trace of the raw agony Dana had just seen in his eyes. This was the Beau she was familiar with but she wished she hadn't seen the other one. She wanted to stay angry at him, not feel as though she'd rip her own heart out to assuage that grief.
"That isn't going to work." Dana sipped slowly at her glass of wine, then handed him the bottle, letting him choose to refill his glass or not. "You can be a rich client and former lover. John will believe I slept with you to get the contract if there was money in it. I've made sure he thinks I'm sleazy enough for that."
"Are you sleeping with him?"
Beau's glance was cold and harsh but his knuckles went white where they gripped the ceramic tile countertop. Dana didn't think taunting him right now was a good idea, so she shook her head and told him the truth. "Lord, no. Ick. I just want him to keep thinking that I might. At least until I get him to show me the rest of the stuff...including the so-called occult artifacts he mentioned tonight and earlier. He said something about a crown last week. That's why I called Damien. I've got enough to turn them over to Interpol for trafficking in stolen goods but there are a couple of objects I want the chance to find first - some pieces that went missing from a friend's shop in New York, things that were definitely magic. And maybe, if we're lucky, your peoples' crown."