Gargoyle: A Reawakening (Briarcliff Series, #2) (15 page)

Right—he wished. At least Evie didn’t seem
to be that way. That was one of the reasons he liked her. She
didn’t seem to be mesmerized by Colton, at least not any longer. He
did have to wonder where her fascination with gargoyles had come
from suddenly. Coming alive and all. He wondered what that was all
about and why his own mother seemed so interested when he asked her
about them for Evie.

***

Colton came stumbling back when the song
ended. He held out his hand. “Where’s my drink man?”

Barnaby picked it up off the ground and
handed it to Colton.

Colton jerked it from his hand. “Dude, don’t
put my shit on the ground, some loser might knock it over.”

“
Well they didn’t, so calm
down.”

“
Good thing,” Colton
snapped. Lifting the cup and taking a long drink, swaying on his
feet.

Barnaby shook his head. “Whatever man, I’m
not your bitch.”

Colton lowered his drink, smirking smugly.
“Yeah you are.”

“
Screw you
dude.”

Colton ignored him and
lifted his drink in the direction of the girls. They laughed and
smiled back at him lifting their own drinks in the air. “Damn man,
those chicks are totally hot. I wonder if they would be interested
in a threesome.”

Barnaby snorted into his drink. “Yeah right,
you wish. They look like they are into each other, not you.”

“
Whatever man, you’ll see,”
Colton promised. He took a gulp of his drink then immediately spit
it out, barking out a loud obnoxious laugh. He lifted his hand and
smacked Kingston in the arm hard.

“
What the hell asshole!”
Kingston reflexively pulled his fist back.

Colton put up his hand to
block his face. “Whoa, sorry man, just trying to get your
attention.”

It took a moment but Kingston finally
lowered his fist. “How bout using my name next time,” he snapped,
jerking his shirt back in place. “And don’t touch me again,” he
warned, his jaw clenching in irritation.

“
Whoa man, calm down.”
Colton stepped back and nearly fell over a body lying on the
ground. Once he righted himself, he lifted his arm and
pointed.

Kingston glared at him in annoyance.
“What?”

Colton just kept pointing until Kingston
finally followed his line of vision. The crowd had parted and
Kingston could see the front of the mansion. His girl was
practically sitting on some dudes lap. Rage tore through him.
Kingston shoved past Colton and took off running, nearly knocking
Barnaby over in the process.

“
Where’s he going in such a
hurry?”

Colton didn’t answer. He merely lifted his
brows, bugging his eyes and pointed at the stairs.

Barnaby looked at the
front of the mansion. “
Damn
.”

“
You got
that right man.
Damn
,” Colton agreed.

ATTRACTION

SATURDAY * 9:43 PM

Moriah felt herself leaning closer to the
boy named Simon even though she knew it was wrong…she couldn’t seem
to stop. Shakily she lifted her hand to touch his perfectly
flawless face, her fingers tracing over the subtle cleft in the
middle of chin. His eyes were trained on her, locking them both in
a breathless moment. She squirmed trying to get even closer…she
desperately wanted to kiss him. It was crazy…irrational and yet she
couldn’t seem to tear her gaze from his…she could feel the heat
building between them…making her burn. He lifted his hand and moved
her hair away from her shoulder, his fingers leaving a burning
trail where they barely touched her exposed flesh. Her body
shivered in delight. Expectantly she wet her lips, wanting, no
needing him to touch her just a bit more. And then he did. He
placed his hand on her bare thigh, his hand moving slowly over the
exposed flesh, making her wiggle in her seat. She bit her lip,
spreading her legs slightly. The tips of his fingers were driving
her crazy as he slid them even higher. She knew what she was doing
was wrong—completely wrong. But she couldn’t stop, she couldn’t
think. She was beyond herself, beyond anything she had ever felt
before. The attraction to him was so strong she couldn’t fight
against it any longer. Moving closer, the warmth of his sweet
breath wafted over her face. Leaning up, she tried to get closer
but he kept pulling back—not completely—but just enough so her
mouth could not touch his. “I want…,” she said
breathlessly…eagerly…

“
Yes dove…” he coaxed her
to say the words he wanted to hear. He felt her need. He could feel
her heat. And yes, he was aroused as well but he wanted to savor
the moment… it had been so long. His body rippled just beneath the
surface, his pheromones emanating from him. “May I…” he breathed,
“kiss you… little dove?” he asked, bringing his mouth closer, his
lips nearly touching hers.

Moriah clenched her hand at her side, trying
to fight the urge as he stroked his hand gently back up her bare
leg—silently making promises with his fingers of what was to come.
She couldn’t take it anymore. She was beyond caring.

“
Yes,
yes
, please,” she begged breathily and
began to lift herself off the stair to get even closer to his
elusive fingers…

The distinct sound of
heavy footfalls drawing nearer gave Simon pause…he backed off a bit
and let out an audible sigh.
Stupid
human
.

Kingston stopped in front
of the stairs. His breath coming in rushed hitches, his hands
fisted. “MORIAH!” he yelled, his face reddened in anger.

Simon broke his gaze with
the girl, relinquishing his grasp. Well so much for
that.

Moriah’s mind came
crashing back. She felt woozy, disoriented, and focused her eyes on
the guy sitting next to her and almost fell over.
“
Oh Shit
!” She
scrambled to get away, the rough stone scrapping the underside of
her leg.

“
My sentiments exactly,”
Simon muttered.

Moriah jerked her gaze to his face. His head
was turned but she could swear she saw a hint of a smile tugging at
the corners of his lips.

“
Ohmigod
,” she groaned coming back to
her senses. Was she about to kiss those lips?
Why yes, yes she was
…. not believing
how carried away she had gotten. Turning, she looked directly at
Kingston and her stomach dropped. His gorgeous face twisted with
disgust and shock all at the same time. Fear seized her.
Oh no
!
What have I done
? Her
heart nearly burst. She shook her head trying to right her brain…
“Kingston…it’s not what it looks like,” she weakly defended. “I
didn’t mean…”

“
You didn’t mean what?” he
scathed, his obvious disgust resonating in his deep
voice.

She flinched like he just struck her.

Simon picked up his drink, his brows raised;
watching as he always did, anticipating the chaos that would soon
ensue. It was not that he didn’t care—well, yes it was actually… he
had his answer, and obviously he still had it.

“
What the hell were you
doing with my girl?” Kingston gritted out, trying to control his
rage.

Simon lifted his brow and
sat his drink down gingerly on the step at his side. He leaned
forward and put his elbows on his knees, lifting his hand to stroke
his chin in a thoughtful gesture. “
Hmmm,
what was I doing?” Simon
glanced over at the girl. He could see her confusion, her fear, and
started to feel a little bad he had used his charms on her, well,
one of his many charms. It wouldn’t have worked unless she had been
interested, but he decided to take pity on her. She looked pretty
pathetic wringing her hands together in her lap.

“
Well?” Kingston
raged.

Simon leaned back casually against the
stair, eyeing the dude with an overload of testosterone emanating
from his body. He wrinkled his nose, not liking his scent at all.
“Actually…”he paused, and then finally added, “Nothing,” he gave
him a look of innocence, cloaking his face, even though he was
biting back a laugh that was just below the surface.

“
It didn’t look like
nothing,” Kingston accused, balling his hands tighter at his sides,
taking a step forward.

Simon leaned forward,
watching him with disinterest. Oh, it would be so easy to destroy
the fool; he wouldn’t even see it coming. But where was the sport
in that? He sighed and instead he pulled back. Young, fresh
love…it
was
a
rare treat. And who was he, Simon to interfere with that. Besides,
he had bigger fish to fry this night and he needed all his strength
to battle what was coming. “Well,” he paused. “I did have something
in my eye,” he supplied finally. “And your girl…” he stressed the
word as he quickly glanced at the girl. “ She was nice enough to
help me get it out. Is that what you are talking about?” he offered
a little too innocently.

Moriah jerked her face to Simon in
shock.

“
What?” Kingston asked,
looking suddenly unsure. “It didn’t look like that to
me.”

“
Well,” he breathed. “I
can’t help what you thought,” he countered, lifting his cup up and
taking a long pull. He lowered it just a bit. “I have to ask
though, you know to satisfy my curiosity, of course,” he needled.
“What did it look like… to you?”

“
Ah…” Kingston shifted
uneasily on his feet. “I thought you were… um, you know, trying to
get with my girl.”

Simon pretended to contemplate that for a
moment. “I think I understand.”

“
Understand what?” Kingston
asked, completely thrown off guard by his lackadaisical
attitude.

Simon was good at diffusing situations. He
was a master at it, if he were so inclined. This looked like an
opportunity to do just that but then he decided against it. He
didn’t like his tone, or his brusque demeanor. “Hmmm, if she is
your girl why was she sitting all alone?” Simon asked, stirring the
pot.

Kingston’s face fell and again he shifted,
growing uncomfortable by the way the conversation was headed. His
eyes guiltily fell to the ground.

Moriah stared directly at Kingston, waiting
to hear what he would say. She was so mad at him, for leaving her
all alone. Not to mention how he had been gawking at Heather and
every other girl floating around.

“
I was talking with
friends,” Kingston muttered, keeping his gaze downcast.

“
Huh?” Simon debated how
far he would take this. He caved. “Well she was sitting with a
friend as well, a new friend. She can have friends too, can she
not? You know, since you seem to have so many?” he stated with
blatant candor.

Kingston’s eyes widened, not missing the
double meaning behind his words. He felt like a jerk suddenly.
Hadn’t he been checking girls out? He was acting like a callus ass.
He knew he was, but he couldn’t help himself. He still didn’t know
where he stood with Moriah, and he was afraid to even tell her. He
shoved his hand through his hair making it stand on end. “Sure, of
course she can,” he mumbled out lamely, catching Moriah’s gaze…
accusing, seeing right through his lies. Damn! He was being a dick
too and he always accused Colton of that. Now he was acting no
better. Kingston tried to give Moriah a reassuring smile. He wanted
her to look at him like she once had. “Babe lets go, your favorite
band is playing,” he said, reaching out his hand to her.

Moriah expelled a shaky breath she didn’t
even realize she had been holding. She couldn’t believe it. Her
life was not over. She had been given a reprieve. She was about to
stand and take Kingston’s outstretched hand, but she paused and
turned towards Simon instead.

Once again, Simon casually leaned back on
his elbows, his gaze hooded. His eyes met hers.

Moriah didn’t know why she felt like she
needed Simon’s permission, but she sought it just the same. She
stared at him waiting…

Simon lifted his chin just a hint, his face
breaking into a slight sweet smile.

Moriah smiled back at him and lifted her
hand placing it into Kingston’s outstretched one. Relief washed
over her suddenly. Everything was still okay with them.

“
Thanks for keeping my girl
company,” Kingston tossed over his shoulder, holding tightly to
Moriah’s’ hand, not ready to let her go—not yet, no matter how
insecure she made him feel.