Stone Destiny (Stone Passion #3) by A.C. Warneke Page B

lovely flesh of a luscious woman, a woman that was not Ferris.
    Turning his head, he caught Raphe staring at him, as if the young gargoyle could see the truth Armand wouldn’t acknowledge.
    “She’s a human surrounded by and protected by magic,” the little shit said solemnly. “Even the imps tolerate her and they hate everyone. It’s a safe bet that she’s the safest of anyone.”
    Armand snorted with disbelief . Hadn’t the foolish girl stayed up all night talking and laughing with him as she painted and then flitted off to class on no sleep? Someone needed to take care of her before she did something stupid and got herself hurt. “She’s impulsive and reckless.”
    Vaughn and Rhys turned their heads and looked at him as if he had gone mad, an impressive feat for a gargoyle. Rhys cleared his throat, “Are you sure you’re talking about Ferris? Our Ferris? She plots out everything.”
    “She’s too clever by half, Armand,” Leo chuckled,” Everything she does is for a reason.”
    That was precisely what worried him. His entire world was in flux and he no longer knew where he belonged. The last thing he needed was a silly little girl thinking she was in love with him. He was just going to have to discourage her somehow.

Chapter 4
     
    Retreat and Surrender
     

     
    She was purposely driving him insane, that was the only explanation. Armand was finding it increasingly difficult trying to remember that the Ferris he thought he knew and this new Ferris was the same girl and both were completely off limits to him. Ever since she touched him as a gargoyle and he felt the electric current throughout his entire body he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her, wondering what it would be like to taste her sweet lips, touch her soft curves. He spent too much of his time with her imagining many different scenarios, all ending with them naked on the floor. When he wasn't being a horny bastard, he was laughing with her as she talked about mundane things in the most entertaining of ways.
    He loved watching her, the graceful way she moved as she painted, her passionate expression as she concentrated on putting the colors on the canvas, her smile. The studio had become their private escape where the line between right and wrong was erased. He knew it was wrong to desire her, he knew it was wrong to fantasize about her and to plot her seduction, but in this place he knew he was going to have her. At least in his fantasies.
    For the past couple of days he had spent his time beneath the sun contemplating the wonder that was Ferris and he discovered that he missed her when she wasn't with him. He was always eager to return to her studio just to be with her. When he was with her he felt… good and realized that ever since she was little she had the uncanny ability of dragging him out of his shell. How could he risk the friendship they shared with something as meaningless as sex, no matter how provocative her lips, her touch? He had to remind himself that she was an innocent and most likely unaware of her profound effect on his body and his psyche.
    It was not something he wanted to dwell upon since he couldn’t offer her what she deserved. And if he gave her the only thing he could – a few hours of sex – she would hate him. Yet he realized that if she kept looking at him with those blue-green eyes and smiling that sweet, temptress smile, he was going to kiss those lips and see her eyes glaze with passion.
     

     
    Ferris studied the image coming together before her, tilting her head to the side to see if she had captured Armand’s sensuality as strongly as he exuded it. She had decided to paint him as a warrior returning home from battle, his clothes filthy and torn and barely hanging onto his muscled body. The shredded material emphasized the strength and power of his nearly naked form, giving a tantalizing hint of the delectable length and width of his penis, which was barely covered by a scrap of torn fabric. It