Claimed by Fae_MMF Paranormal Romance Read online

He bent down to haul up the glass table. But it was ruined. The table now had a huge crack in which he could see a split image of himself. One side of his face ascended; the other descended. His image was warped. And nothing could be done to set it right.

  Chapter Seven

  The trailer only had two single bedrooms, so Jay slept in one and Arlan set up an old army cot across from August’s bed next to the opposite wall.

  Guilt pressed down on Arlan until it threatened to suffocate him. August seemed to have no idea he’d been one of the kids who had once witnessed her humiliation when she was eleven.

  By moonlight, Arlan could see the lush curves of August’s breasts and thighs as she lay beneath the thin sheet on his old army cot. Her hair was still done up in that long chestnut braid. Her skin glowed with health. Her complexion was pale as ivory. Recognition had jolted his every nerve. He knew her.

  A muscle worked in his jaw as he fought to control his dick, which wanted to harden at the sight of her. Despite his guilt, he wanted her with a bone-deep yearning he’d never felt for a woman before.

  Was he a fool to think something had happened between them in such a short time? He’d thought she was seriously attracted to him, but then he’d come home to find she’d been fooling around with Jay. It had been a shock. He’d thought she was more reserved than that.

  But the connection between her and Jay was as electric as it had been between her and Arlan. There was no denying it.

  And when he inhaled, the beast in him could scent her intoxicating jasmine-and-orange-blossom perfume, the musk underneath, even from across the room. Could that mean…?

  Yes. You’re scenting one of your fated mates. Your other fated mate.

  Was it possible? Could she really be his other fated mate, or was his mind playing tricks on him? Either way, he didn’t deserve her. He’d failed her when she was only a child. Why should she forgive him for that?

  August moaned softly in her sleep and turned over with a wiggle that stirred his cock to a full erection. With a sigh, he turned around and pulled off his T-shirt. He unzipped his shorts before his cock could burst through the fabric and raised his butt enough so he could draw them down to his knees. Carefully, he pulled his boxers down over his erection.

  His cock continued to swell as he remembered what she looked like when she’d first climbed out of the Land Cruiser. Her hair appeared brown in the moonlight now, but outside it had been alive with red highlights. She’d been nervous about getting out of the Land Cruiser with the lions there, and her small teeth had tugged at her lower lip, calling attention to the lush, sexy curve of it.

  And then he’d been rude to her, made her mad. Fuck, that had been hot.

  He pictured her large breasts hanging loosely inside her cotton shirt, and his hand fastened around his cock as he started a slow, pumping action.

  But then he took a peek back at August in the nearby cot. Thank God. She was still asleep. His cock didn’t care about her unhappy past or his failure to save her.

  What the hell? Fantasy was harmless and free.

  He went to the bathroom and grabbed a towel, then headed back and climbed into the cot, pulling the sheets over himself. Turning away from her, he returned his hand to his cock and began the pumping motion again while he imagined kissing down her neck to her breasts and burying his head between them, licking and kissing the soft, round mounds.

  He pictured her small body wriggling beneath his own while his hands ranged over her fine curves and between her thighs. He couldn’t help imagining a gold collar of ownership around her pretty neck. A feral purr rose within him. He imagined her on her knees, sucking Jay’s cock while he slapped her little heart-shaped ass.

  Oh God!

  He didn’t know if she’d be into that, and yet something…something in her eyes made him think she would be.

  Jay would come in her mouth, and once her cute little ass was hot and red, Arlan would reach around stroke her soft wet folds, rub her clit until she shattered and screamed both their names.

  Arlan’s balls, heavy and tight, contracted. The first spurt shot from his cock. He came in sharp, violent, bursts of sensation that fired through him like electricity as he emitted four more rapid-fire jets into his towel.

  August lay as still as she could, feigning sleep. She still felt a little groggy and disoriented, but good Lord, Arlan was every bit as gorgeous as Jay. She’d watched him pull off his tank, watched the flex of muscles beneath his tan skin, licked her lips as the moonlight slanted across that taut six-pack stomach.

  When she closed her eyes, she could still see him hooking his thumbs into his khaki shorts and easing them from his hips, slowly exposing his firm ass and muscular back.

  He’d turned and, she’d seen how stiff his cock was in his underwear.

  Arlan had rolled on his side underneath the sheet, but she’d still seen the outline of his buttocks beneath as they pumped slowly back and forth. What would it be like to grip that gorgeous ass with both hands as he pumped into her?

  She let her hand creep slowly to her pussy, not wanting to make any sudden movements that might lead him to realize she wasn’t asleep.

  Her fingers brushed her swollen wetness, and she moved them back and forth as she pictured Arlan in her mind. Sexual inexperience had never stopped her from having a creative imagination and intense desires.

  First, she conjured up her usual fantasies of being taken, dominated, controlled, but this time, instead of faceless men, she imagined Arlan and Jay as her masters.

  August called up a montage of images to push her over the edge. Arlan tying her hands behind her back. Jay commanding her to get down on all fours so he could spank her and take her from behind. Arlan wielding a paddle.

  Then she thought of the way the two men had looked when they stood over that coffee table. She knew the intensity and aggression between them was more than just anger. And she’d thought these two alpha males could rip each other’s throats out…or rip each other’s clothes off.

  Her blood sped up more than a little at the thought. She had a number of man-love books on her e-book reader. Another one of her fantasies leapt to mind, only this time instead of characters in a story, she saw Arlan and Jay, their washboard abs and sculpted pecs bathed in sunlight, their hands on each other.

  Golden and caramel skin glistened; muscular arms embraced. In her imagination, Arlan licked a path down Jay’s stomach to the thin ribbon of hair that led to the policeman’s beautiful cock.

  Her fingers moved faster and faster over her clit, and she struggled to suppress her moans of pleasure as she slid over the slope of orgasm. Then that groggy sickness enveloped her again, and she drifted into darkness.

  Arlan awoke bathed in sweat. The nightmare was still so real, so vivid. He pushed up into a sitting position and leaned against the headboard.

  How could he fall asleep after a blissful orgasm and be awakened by nightmares? Ugh.

  He had no choice. He had to try to remember everything, had to confront the memories of what he really saw back when he was twelve, had to actually confront the memory instead of just letting it brush the surface, then pushing the horror back from his mind.

  Who was Gus Peak? What had Arlan seen? What had his life been like back when he met her that one time when he was twelve?

  He spent every school term far away from his parents at boarding school in New Zealand. But school holidays were spent either in Zimbabwe or traveling to half-fae conferences around the world with them and his nanny.

  That one summer, they’d stayed at a hotel on Long Island. His parents and nanny had left him to the babysitting care of Duvessa Peak while they went sightseeing with the other half-fae conference attendees, who were tourists in New York.

  He forced himself to remember it now. His one pathetic, sad attempt to get his parents involved, to get some kind of help for Gus had failed.

  “Dad, I need to talk to you about something.” Arlan’s stomach churned. He’d had his thirteenth birt
hday only yesterday, and he’d never faced such an adult task in his life before.

  Marshall Leonard set down his newspaper and scrutinized his son.

  Arlan swallowed and took a deep breath.” I don’t want to go to Mrs. Peak’s house again. Duvessa bullies her own kid, Dad. We need to help Gus. We have to do something. We need to stop Duvessa.”

  Marshall took a sip of his coffee. “Duvessa Peak is a very influential member of the Half-Fae Network. That woman has more genuine magical ability than possibly anyone you or I will ever meet again in this lifetime. She owns Crown Casino and a large hotel that provides much funding support to the Network. Then there are the magic diaries from the Fae Realm, proof she’s the daughter of a full-blooded fae princess.” He glared at his son. “I’m sorry you don’t enjoy her as a babysitter. That’s a pity.”

  Arlan gulped. “Um… She makes fun of Gus in front of all the kids. Gus was tied to some pipes in the basement and the kids…the kids practiced magic on her. They hurt her.”

  Marshall Leonard looked startled. “Duvessa tied her to pipes?”

  Arlan drummed his fingers nervously on the dining room table. He had to get this right. He had to say the right thing… “Well, no, the other kids did. And they put a gag in her mouth, an old rag.”

  “The other children tied her to some pipes. So, it was a game?”

  Arlan ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, yes. No. I mean… I don’t know.”

  “It sounds like a game.” Marshall laughed and ruffled Arlan’s hair. “You worry too much, kid. You worry about the animals, about conservation, about hunting. You worry about people and magic. Just relax and enjoy life.”

  “Dad, the way Duvessa treats Gus is wrong. She calls her horrible names. She hurts her with magic. It leaves burn marks and…”

  His father’s eyes hardened. He pointed a finger at Arlan. “Listen, young man, if you don’t like seeing this girl punished by her mother when she’s misbehaving, you don’t have to go there. But no more crazy stories. I don’t want to hear them.” He patted Arlan’s knee. “Duvessa’s promised to teach your mother and me some very powerful magic, and even to help us find our third.”

  “Your third?”

  “Our missing fated mate.”

  “Why is that so important, Dad? This is important, what I’m trying to tell you. Duvessa’s an abuser. She hurts her daughter.”

  “Having connections in the Half-Fae Network are what’s important. I will not have you mess things up for your mother and me with your nonsense.”

  Arlan flinched at his father’s anger, but Marshall’s next words were less harsh. “It’s something you’ll understand when you’re older. Why don’t you go watch something on TV?”

  “Dad? Are you a Warrior of the Light? I mean, you and Mum, you’ve chosen the light path, right?”

  Marshall Leonard curled his lip. “I’m not having this discussion with a twelve-year-old.”

  Arlan felt a muscle twitch in his jaw as he remembered. His dad had been no Warrior of the Light. All Marshall Leonard cared about was hunting and money, and connections in the half-fae network that could help him make more money.

  It was the only time he’d tried to do something about what he’d seen Duvessa do to Gus. His parents never left him with Duvessa again. They left New York. Gradually, over the years, he’d almost forgotten about that one horrible day in the basement. She was just some little girl he met one day of his life and had eventually forgotten about.

  He remembered August’s voice down in that basement. When she’d spoken, her words had been strong and dignified, a sharp contrast to Duvessa’s crazy ranting. He’d admired her then as he did now.

  But what else had happened to her? If her mother had done that to her that one day, what else did she do?

  Arlan’s stomach tightened like a clay brick in the hot sun. He couldn’t give in to the sudden infatuation and lust he felt for August now. He didn’t deserve to get to know the adult woman she’d become.

  But what if she’s your fated mate? What if she’s your third?

  It was difficult to get the possibility out of his mind when he was so attracted to her, and Jay was too. He had to force himself to remember the whole day. The day he’d first met her.

  A dim orange light bled in to the room from a street lamp outside. Everything was strangely fluid and ghostlike. Arlan wished he was at home watching TV or curled up reading in his own bed. Earlier today, the kids had been left in the large, dark basement with a wide variety of board games. Duvessa had popped in and out from time to time with lemonade and trays of snacks. The half-fae adults were on some kind of sightseeing tour. Being shut in a room to play board games sucked, but he was starting to enjoy himself.

  It was fun playing Scrabble with Duvessa’s daughter, Gus. She was witty, and the first kid he’d met who could beat him at the game. He couldn’t understand why the other half-fae kids seemed to shun her. He guessed she was just too smart for them.

  And then Duvessa had come in the room again. “Hey kids. How about we do something a little more fun than board games?”

  Bizarrely, she suggested the kids tie Gus to some old pipes sticking out of the wall. At Duvessa’s instructions, they’d even put a gag in her mouth.

  It was supposed to be game. It was basically a game.

  Gus was “It”. Apparently, Gus was always “It”.

  Arlan’s mouth went dry. He licked his lips and tried to swallow. This was a mean game. Duvessa shouldn’t be here. She was August’s mother.

  Duvessa smiled. Her eyes looked weird in the gloom like the eyes of a snake, amber colored, too much iris not enough pupil. He could almost taste the fear in the room, sharp and tangy with a biting edge. But there was excitement too. Some kids were giggling.

  His gaze landed on her wrists, which were red where the rope was pulling on her. “I think the rope is hurting Gus. That rope is too rough.”

  A taller boy gave him a shove into the wall. “Shut up, dumbass.”

  Duvessa leaned against the wall smoking. “This should be a fun game.” There was an eerie, jittery excitement among the kids.

  The boy who’d pushed him stepped forward. “I’m going first.” The tall boy started humming. And then the screams began.

  That was what had made him wake drenched in sweat.

  He’d heard her scream in his dreams. He took some deep, strong breaths to calm himself. As his pulse rate finally began to slow, he managed to latch onto one miserable thought.

  Eventually I’ll have to tell her that I was there.

  He thought about the feel of her in his arms. Everything about her was soft and silky, that rich, thick chestnut hair, that delicate, satiny skin.

  Arlan imagined the radiant, powerful, magical half-fae woman that August might have been had she been brought up in a loving home, and he made a vow to himself. All his reading told him low self-esteem inhibited power in half-fae. Had that been her mother’s motive? But why? Why inhibit magic power in your own child?

  One day, Jay and I will make someone pay for the damage that’s been done to her. But for now, they needed her. They need her to help them save other abused children.

  Chapter Eight

  Jay walked into the lengthening afternoon shadows carrying August, who was still fast asleep. He scanned his surroundings and headed toward Arlan and the Land Cruiser.

  Arlan had been ready to get in the car, but he rushed around to open the back door so Jay could place August in the backseat and do up her seat belt. Then Jay climbed into the driver’s seat, and Arlan was soon beside him in the passenger’s.

  “What did you say to August before she ran into the bathroom? You whispered something, some word that upset her?”

  Arlan flinched and his smile faded. He took a long sip from his Coca-Cola, then finally set it in the cup holder on the side door. “I met her once when I was a kid, okay? She used to go by a nickname. Gus. I said that name.”

  Jay stared at him. “What? Where did y
ou meet her?”

  “I just remembered she attended some of the Half-Fae Network’s biannual conferences that I went to in different countries as a child. My parents went, her parents went, families mixed, kids played together.” Arlan’s eyes looked pained and haunted. “Bad things happened, Jay. There were a lot of dark-fae at those gatherings.”

  “So, you’re saying her parents were involved in dark magic?” “Yeah. Well, her mother was, at least. And she used it against her.”

  “And now you and I are pulling her into our fight against more dark-magic?” Arlan put his face in his hands. “It’s for the…”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know it’s for the children. It’s always about the children, or the animals or whatever with you.”

  “Jay, for fuck’s sake, it’s all important.”

  Jay was quiet for a second. “Yeah, mate, you’re right.” He rubbed his temples. “Of course, it’s all important. I’m just fucking worried about her right now, you know?” He stroked a strand of August’s hair. “It seems like dark dust really knocks people the fuck out.”

  “Yup. The smaller you are, the less body weight, the more it’s likely to affect you, and even if you recover the way she did, it can still knock you out again at random. It might take her a couple more days to recover.”

  “Fuck, I hope it doesn’t take that long. Is she going to be all right?”

  Arlan nodded. “I think so.”

  At first, they drove on a good tar road, but as they neared town, the road became full of potholes that Jay had to negotiate. They had had to stop twice, once for a herd of elephants and then for some black rhinos who wouldn’t move from the path.

  Finally, they reached the gateway to their seven thousand acres of private land. The luxury hunting lodge they’d inherited from their business-partner fathers was a sprawling cream-colored stucco mansion backing onto a cliff face with staggering views of sunsets over the veldt, and distant glimpses of the Zambezi river.