Stone Destiny (Stone Passion #3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

perfect.”
    He was a truly sick individual, lusting after her like a lecherous old man. It didn’t matter that she was twenty-one and he had the appearance of a twenty-five year old human. He was a gargoyle, he was ancient and powerful and too jaded for an innocent like Ferris.
    “I guess that look is good, too,” she said uncertainly, furiously scribbling away. “The scowl does suit you but it is something that I haven’t seen in years. Usually you wear more of an amused yet resigned expression.”
    Her words baffled him. What was she talking about?
    She chuckled, “And that is a look I have never seen . What are you thinking that is making you scowl so fiercely?”
    “That I don’t know you at all,” he admitted honestly, staring at this familiar stranger.
    “Oh, Armand,” she grinned, reaching out and brushing a strand of hair from his face, the touch electric. “You haven’t seen anything yet. Now, how about a little less modesty and a little more thigh?”
     

     
    Her heart was pounding almost painfully in her chest. The moment Armand had dropped the robe and she saw his naked bottom so up close and personal she almost died. He had a perfect ass, his muscles taut and carved from stone. When he shifted and the muscles flexed she had lost the ability to think, to speak . All she could do was stare at the masculine perfection that was Armand.
    She knew he had caught her staring but she couldn’t have dragged her eyes away if her studio was on fire and the flames were licking at her skin. Hell, she wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between the heat coming from within and the fire consuming her from without.
    In the space of five minutes his expression had gone from mildly amused to aroused to angry to confused and for the first time since she decided Armand was destined for her she had hope that he might realize it, too.
    She knew that she was taking a huge risk in pursuing Armand but all she could see was a fairytale ending, loving and being loved by the most amazing man she had ever known. She had it all planned out: he would fall madly in love with her and offer her his nights, which she would accept in a heartbeat. In fact, she wouldn’t leave his side from the moment they began the ritual on a new moon to the moment it was completed on the following new moon. She would give him no reason to doubt or worry and when the sun rose she would turn into a gargoyle, maybe even a griffin to match her beloved Armand.
    Smiling to herself, she walked around her subject, sitting so proudly on the stool. Ideas were flying through her head and she sketched as quickly as she could, capturing his arrogant brow, his carved jaw, his luscious, uncompromising lips. The painting itself was going to take a few days so she wasn’t going to come at h im with all of her guns blazing… she was going to have to try being subtle. By the time the portrait was complete he would be hers. She just had to tread carefully so as not to spook him.
    “So, Jenna is pretty excited to be doing the ritual in a few weeks,” she said casually, carefully gauging his response. He did not disappoint as his spine stiffened and his jaw clenched. Smiling to herself, she sketched a few lines into her book. “They’re heading to the Caribbean to spend their days in the warm, tropical sun.”
    “I’m surprised Jenna convinced Rhys to go anywhere,” he grumbled, the familiar Armand reasserting himself. “He hates flying.”
    “Yes,” Ferris agreed, smudging one of the lines she had drawn to add depth to the image. “But he loves my mom and would do just about anything for her.”
    His response was a grunt, which Armand was able to make sound almost elegant. For a moment Ferris doubted the wisdom of wanting more from him.Ttheir relationship was already so incredible she was a fool to desire his love and devotion. But she was also a fool in love with the man that had made her childhood bearable, the one person she could talk to