Amid the Clouds (Brave New World Book 1)

Chapter 7

It was only his grumble close to my ear, "Quit the screaming, female!" that made me realize I was indeed screaming.

Not that it was surprising the high-pitched wail was coming from me. We were flying so high above the twenty-story building that I half-expected to be hit by a helicopter. Had there been air traffic these days, of course. Also, we kept flying faster and faster, propelled by those huge wings - or should I say 'gargoyle' wings?

Madness.

I had to pull myself back together and stop screaming before I damaged the pointed ears of the only thing keeping me alive at the moment. So, I closed my eyes and hid my face in the crook of the gargoyle's neck. That somewhat protected my head from the strong wind and gave me the false sense of not flying – much better. Now it was easier to imagine this was simply an elevator ride in the tallest skyscraper ever – scary but unavoidable.

My ride was actually comfy. The pleasant heat of his naked skin pressed against my side kept me warm. And those strong arms wrapped around me kept me safe and–

"Do not test my patience, little human."

The sound of a deep grunt reverberated through the hand I had rested on his chest, and I quickly tucked it away.

"Sorry! I had no right to touch."

I felt his abs vibrate against my right hip, and I realized this time he wasn't grunting but laughing.

"You have no idea what you are doing to me, do you? I have not picked up a human female from the ground in many years. I have forgotten you are not familiar with a gargoyle's erogenous zones."

"What?!"

I tried to put as much distance between our bodies as possible under the circumstances. All I managed to achieve was move my head away; the rest of me stayed plastered against him. Trying to escape his hold was like pushing against a solid rock.

More laughter. "Do not worry, little human: I will educate you. It was not your delicate fingers on my chest that caused me to react. It was your nose right where a female would go to take in my scent and determine whether I am compatible with her and worthy of her attention. A longer sniff equals full approval and then the claiming can begin."

Had my feet been firmly on the ground instead of dangling in the air miles above it, my knees would have buckled. Not so much at the realization that I had accidentally given a gargoyle a come-on, as at the memory of him sniffing the crook of my neck back in the conference hall.

It had been a long sniff.

Meaning he found me compatible.

For a 'claiming'.

And he had said he would get what he wanted from me once we reached a safer environment.

"Where are you taking me?" I demanded to know, daring to look down to determine our approximate location.

There was nothing but clouds underneath us. In fact, we were swimming through whiteness.

"My palace, of course."

Of course. A gargoyle. A gargoyle king. A gargoyle king with a palace. It was all so logical and normal... Not.

I could accept aliens - in a universe so vast humans couldn't possibly be alone out there. I could also accept zombies - they were the result of a pathogen causing cells to function beyond death, according to my theory. I could even accept vampires, elves, pixies and the rest of the second-apocalypse creatures – their existence without our knowledge was mind-boggling, but they were basically humanoid species of animals. They were incapable of higher brain functions, from what I'd seen and heard thus far.