to enforce your law, but please stand down just this once. For me. I need him.”
He cocked his head, cracking his neck, his gaze never leaving Damarion. His fists clenched and his pecs popped. The dark side of his beast had emerged, and I knew he felt the compulsion to sink down into it and fight until a victor emerged.
I could not bear to see him destroy or badly wound a man who had saved my life.
“Please,” I whispered, the bar dead silent, my words carrying.
A tense moment trickled past, adrenaline still coursing through me. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if he refused.
“Get. Him. Out. Of. Here,” Austin said at last, each word clipped as though it had cost him great effort. “Now.”
The dam burst, and I pushed my way out of the bar, shoving Damarion in front of me with my magic. As we left, I released the spell holding everyone else in the pool room. I needed them to rush back into the bar so Austin had something else to focus on. He wouldn’t lose his mind and chase after Damarion if his customers, his friends, needed his attention.
“There are rules here,” I yelled when we got outside, my anger and fear boiling over. I grabbed Damarion by the lapel and shoved him backward. Only my magic made it possible. “There are rules in this town. Is that why you took me somewhere else for dinner?”
His nose still bled, dripping blood down his lips. He didn’t speak.
“You may not like Austin, and I kind of get it based on how you two met, but he is incredibly effective at protecting this town. He’s done it for years. It is not hard to follow the rules. Do you know what they are?” I paused for a beat. “Don’t be a dick. That’s it. Those are the rules. Don’t start trouble. Well, guess what you did tonight?” I paused again. “That’s right, you broke the single rule of O’Briens. You were a dick to Sasquatch. He’s the worst, but he was right—he didn’t do anything wrong. You can’t just push people around because you’re stronger. That’s a bullshit thing to do, and that’s why Austin is here—to prevent that sort of posturing. His reaction was extreme, I’ll grant you that, but so was your counterreaction. This is on you. I had a nice time, thank you for dinner, but you need to leave for now. We need to cool things down here. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I couldn’t see his eyes in the dark. I had no idea which way the wind blew. After a beat, though, he took a deep breath, his large chest inflating and deflating.
“I’m from a place that does things differently. Please accept my apology. I acted out of turn.”
My eyebrows climbed toward my hairline. In as much as I’d expected anything from this near stranger, I’d thought he’d be stubborn and standoffish—two traits distinctive of gargoyles, or so Niamh had said. This was a nice surprise. I appreciated his apology, more so because I believed it. I felt the sincerity in it.
I nodded.
He pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped his face, which had already stopped bleeding.
“Your magic is coming along,” he said, cleaning up. “After just one afternoon, you’ve grown in power.”
“Thanks to you for taking my beatings.”
It was the first time I’d seen his smile, and it was a thing of beauty. “It was nothing.” He let out another breath and tucked his handkerchief back into his pocket. “You will dwarf the world with your power. It is my honor to have been summoned, my queen. You will make our species proud.” He took my hand gently and, connecting eyes with me, grazed his lips across my knuckles.
This didn’t feel like the night before, with his over-the-top double entendres. This time, the heat in his eyes sparked a similar heat deep in my core. It burned hot, searing me, making me ache for his touch. It had been a really long time since a man had looked at me like that. Since he’d let his lips linger on my flesh. Since I’d accepted the vulnerability of losing myself to the fire.
“I know you need to go back in there”—he nodded to the bar—“but I will wait up for you.” His other hand blazed a trail along my jaw before hooking around my neck. The pressure was subtle but firm, pulling me in slowly, his eyes hooded and head dipping.
I licked my