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Other than dark shadows below her eyes that concerned me, she looked beautiful, and I wanted this conversation to go on forever. Or at least until we convinced her to come here and stay forever.
Way to jump in with both feet.
Chapter Nine
Ozkuth
Malinda was a lovely name for a beautiful woman. And while we had been concerned about her seeing us in our element, it was a relief to see her in hers. We were sweaty and covered in dust from the stones and probably dirtier than I wanted to admit, but Koruk had been absolutely correct. This was us. No need in sugarcoating it only to find her disappointed when she discovered we weren’t some suit-wearing office workers. Not that there was anything wrong with that. Simply wasn’t us.
She wore some one-piece jumper thing with thin straps over a white tank top. While the jumper was loose-fitting and comfortable, when she turned, the tank top hugged her curves and showed the side swells of her breasts.
Her hair, brown and shiny, had a life of its own. She’d tried to tame it with some fabric band, but there were rebellious tendrils framing her face, sticking up everywhere. I found myself happy at seeing the way she sipped on her iced coffee, after claiming she’d already had two cups of hot coffee already.
“Tell us about your graphic designing,” I prompted. I wanted to know everything about her but had to start with things she’d already divulged on her profile. She had been more forthcoming about things like her work than we had on the app.
“Oh.” She turned the camera around to show us her computer. On the screen were some images with all kinds of fonts and phrases, along with pictures that displayed brands and products. “This is what I do. Graphics for marketing purposes. But I really love digital art in general. And I paint, when I have time, but there’s not a lot. Bills to pay and building up my savings to buy a house one day.” She flipped the camera back around and I let out a breath, almost like I missed seeing her for those few seconds.
“You don’t go in to an office?” I asked.
“I don’t. I used to, but eventually I took some days to work from home and then I evolved into an independent contractor, working for various clients, so I work where I like…”
She sounded not so happy about what some would consider a dream situation.
“It sounds very isolating,” Koruk said. “Lonely even.” When Malinda’s eyes widened, he said, “I’m sorry. That was personal.”
She snorted. “We are matched to be mates, Koruk, which I assume means more than casual dating. I think we’ve crossed over the personal line. And yeah, it can be lonely sometimes. I have to make myself get into society and talk to people face-to-face. Talk to someone other than Rocky.”
Hearing his name, the little dog in her lap whined a bit. I’d never had a puppy, but hers was calm and loving to her. Made me happy knowing she had someone with her.
“What do you do for fun?” Koruk asked, breaking through the pause that hung between us.
“Fun?” she asked. “I go out with my friends sometimes but not often. Other than that, I read a lot. What about you two?”
I took the lead. “We love to cook and go to the local farmer’s market. We live in a primarily shifter community, so there are always gatherings and festivals. Shifters celebrate all kinds of holidays here.”
“Do you have a garden?” she asked, and her face lit up a bit.
Koruk spoke up. “We have done some raised bed gardening and have talked about building a greenhouse one day. Are you interested in growing things?”
She nodded. “I have to admit, there are things about a slower life that speak to me. I would never give up my work but, I think I would like gardening.”
A slower life. That, we could definitely give her.
“I have a question,” she said, uncrossing and recrossing her legs. “Why did you two join the app? I mean, you’re clearly attractive. You’ve got some serious muscle there, both of you. From the pictures of your home, it looks like you are doing well for yourself. So, why the app?”
Koruk and I shared a look, but I spoke first. I tried to ignore the sheer pleasure of hearing that she thought we were attractive. “Because gargoyles aren’t really seen as romantasy-type creatures to human females, I suppose. Over history, gargoyles have always taken human mates, but wolf and bear shifters have been romanticized by fiction, and turning into stone isn’t really the definition of sexy. We simply haven’t found a female we wanted in the areas around us, so Oz signed up for the app hoping we could find our mate.”
“Then those human females you speak of are dumb. I could think of thirty rock-hard jokes right off the top of my head. I mean, if that isn’t paranormal romance, I don’t know what is.”
Koruk chuckled. We’d heard all the hard innuendos, but coming from her they might be funny. Not demeaning or nasty. “I suppose what we are doesn’t really matter to our fated mate. She would accept us for who we are and what we are. It would take a pretty damned special woman to be our mate.”
Malinda blushed at his words. “I didn’t even know gargoyles were real until I saw the category on the app.”
My cock strained against my work pants watching the rose hue grow on her cheeks and extend into that white tank top beyond where I could see.
“So then tell us, Malinda,” I said. “What would make you join an app for mating paranormal beings, and why in particular would you request two gargoyle men?”
Chapter Ten
