Free When A Gargoyle Flies (Gargoyles Book 3) by E A Price

she was his true mate, and he cannot bear to be with another.”
    “Perhaps.  Although, true mates are supposed to be imbued with magic.  I don’t think Chris has any magic, and I think he would have told us if his wife did.”
    She thought of Chris, pining for his late wife – undoubtedly beautiful and perfect in every way, just the female he deserved.  Someone so much more than a damaged gargoyle.
    “Brenda does not have magic.” 
    “No, but Ric is a magical creature.”  Bea looked at her kindly.  “You were never mated were you, dear?”
    The blush, which had just started to ebb, returned to her cheeks with the alacrity of Speedy Gonzalez – she’d just discovered cartoons.  “No.  Not with my defect.”
    Bea clucked her tongue as her eyes roved over the scarred wing.  “Times are different, and perhaps you have just not met the right man yet.”  Her lips twitched into a small smile.  “Perhaps Chris has not met the right woman either.”
    Annis inhaled.  What was she suggesting?  Nothing, probably.  The next moment Bea yawned wider than a bear and bid her good night.
    No, it was nothing.  Chris probably couldn’t bear to replace his perfect wife, and he certainly wouldn’t replace her with a gargoyle.  That much was sure.  She was unwanted in her past life, and would remain so now.

Chapter Eight
    “Wakey, wakey.”
    Chris groaned as soft fingers tickled his stomach.  “Five more minutes.”
    She giggled at him.  A lot of his time with Mara now left a sour taste in his mouth, but in truth, they had their moments.  The sweeter, quieter moments when he truly believed they were in love.  This was one of them.  The one he dreamed about.  The morning where he didn’t want to get up, so he didn’t.  For once, he played hooky from work, and they spent all day making love.  That was the time he didn’t mind being irresponsible.  It started with Mara tickling his chest hair, her smooth, supple body pressing against his.  Completely hidden under the covers, her head bobbed, and her laughter taunted him as she kissed her way down his torso.  He couldn’t pretend to be asleep for long.  Finally, her laughter stopped as she found his manhood, engulfing him in her hot, wet mouth.  He moaned as she took his length, caressing, and suckling at him as if her life depended on it.  Their sex life was always glorious, and fleetingly he wondered what they would have without it, but he pushed that thought aside and just enjoyed the attention being laved upon him.
    Abruptly she let him go, and her hand curled around his member.
    Chris frowned.  No, this wasn’t how the dream was supposed to go.  He pulled at the covers, dragging them off her.  But it wasn’t Mara.  It was Annis.  Her body was splayed between his legs, her tail dancing between his feet.  Her wings framed her perfect, pink body, fluttering gently around her.  Her breasts hung plump and peachy as she bent over his groin.  Damn if the sight of her didn’t make him even harder.  Annis looked up at him with startling purple eyes and swollen come-hither lips.
    “Is this not what you want?”
    Chris let out a yelp as he tumbled to the floor, tangled in bedsheets.  After a fight with the bedclothes monster, he leaped to his feet and scanned the bed.  Empty.  Morning sunlight filtered through the room as he searched it, searching for any sign that the female gargoyle had been there.  Nothing.  The bedroom was the same as when he went to sleep.  He didn’t know whether he should be disappointed or not.
    It was a dream.  Nothing more than a dream.  Yet it had felt so real.
    Chris grunted and flopped face down onto the bed.  Strangely enough, his mood did not improve when Bob nosed his way into the room, leaped on the bed and promptly slumped on top of him.
    “Thanks, Bob,” Chris mumbled.
    With very little ease or grace, Chris managed to maneuver into a face-up position with Bob lying next to him, rather than on