He narrows his gaze at me and Doc.
A giggle slips from my mouth and Doc chuckles. "Behave or Dante may have a cardiac," he mutters.
I bite the inside of my cheek.
Gabriel steps forward and a silence sweeps over the group.
"Thank you for hosting me the past few weeks." He nods at Dante, then lets his gaze wander across the group. "It's enlightening to see how the Fae Corps have found a way to set down roots, balance duty with family, and also set up your own community."
His voice is smooth, his features hewn from rock. His tone is sincere... too earnest? He sounds almost bored. Huh?
He catches me staring and his eyes gleam.
There are so many secrets to my half-brother. I wish I could spend more time with him.
As if reading my mind, he tips his head. "I regret I can't stay but duty calls."
Doc half angles his body, partially hiding me from Gabe. I slap at his shoulder but he doesn't move. I peer around him. "Next time Gabriel, stay with us."
Doc growls under his breath and I place my hand over his chest. His heart beats steadily and his muscles relax.
Gabriel cants his head, then takes another step forward, and another. He moves sideways and closer to Lily, who wraps her arms around her waist, then raises her head to meet his scrutiny full on.
Dante straightens; he slides his bulk in front of Gia, shielding her from Gabriel. "I have considered your proposal of teaming up with us to take on the Vikings, and after much deliberation with the other Fae Corps members, we have decided to decline."
Gabriel stiffens and the tension in the area ratchets up.
Doc steps around in front of me.
Tristan does the same with Jess.
Hawke inches closer to Charley.
"You are making a mistake." Gabriel's voice is low.
"I understand you need reinforcements to take on the Berserkers, but we have a lot at stake here. Our duty is first and foremost to this city and to our families. Boris is dead, thanks to you and Doc; our score is settled. We don't want to take on the Vikings, and bring their attention down on our city. We are still recovering from the damage that Boris dealt to our economy and our community. We don’t want to destabilize the progress we have made."
"I see." Gabriel says in a tone that implies he doesn't.
His nostrils flare and his biceps seem to swell. His gaze falls to mine and those green eyes seem to grow darker until they resemble black pools of intent.
The fine hair on my nape hardens. "No, Gabe, don't," I step around Doc, but he yanks me back.
Gabriel moves so fast his feet don't seem to touch the ground.
He grabs Lily just as Hawke pulls Charley out of the way.
Charley screams. Gabriel hauls the struggling Lily over his shoulder.
"Perhaps now this fight will be yours. If you want her, come after me, and I promise I will repay your hospitality...if you track me down, that is."
Doc prowls forward, "Don't do this, Gabe. We are on your side. Don't make enemies of the Fae."
He peels back his lips and his canines drop. "You're a good man, Doc." His ears flick back, "Take care of Alice."
Still holding Lily across his shoulder he turns around, then races toward the sea. Doc sprints forward, as do Dante, Tristan and Hawke.
Reaching the edge of the waves, Gabriel glances over his shoulder with a mocking grin. He raises an arm in farewell, then turns and leaps into the air.
Black wings snap out, massive, the widest leathery wings I have ever seen, they span out at least twenty feet on each side, seeming too big for his body. He takes off into the air.
Hang on, there's more. Click here to get Gabriel and Lily's story. All your fave alphahole Faes will make an appearance in KNOTTED BY THE FAE - Dante and Gia, Tristan and Jess, Doc and Alice, Hawke, Charley and hey guess who else is pregnant? Click here to find out
Lily
He'll make me his plaything...
Hot, surly, growly Fae male,
Gabriel, kidnapped me to get the attention of the Fae Corps.
He soul bonded me.
Mated me without my consent.
He demands I obey him.
I am determined to resist him.
He will not stop until he's tamed my spirit,
I will not succumb to his seductive charms,
...The pleasure he wrings from my body.
I cannot, will not give in to him...I hope
Intense Fae abduction romance, starring one feisty virgin human and the Fae male strong enough to make her his! 1-Click Now
Love antiheroes? Meet Zeus in TAKEN BY THE ALPHA. Lucy was sent to assassinate him and now he will not stop until he’s ruined her in TAKEN BY THE ALPHA.
"One hell of a primal read. This alpha is a sex god." - USA Today bestselling author Lee Savino
Read an excerpt ...
Zeus
“Boo!” I bare my teeth.
The soldier cringes, and sweat beads his forehead.
“Really, Z?” My second-in-command narrows his gaze.
“Okay, a bit over the top.” I raise my shoulders then let them drop. But, hey, cut me some slack, okay? I like to play with my prey.
Besides, I have a flair for the dramatic, one of the few redeeming features I inherited from my bastard of a father. Except, oh, wait, I was the bastard in that relationship, given he’d never acknowledged me… not until I had my fingers around Golan’s neck and recognition had dawned in his eyes. Too late, Pater. Thirty years too late.
The soldier’s skin is stretched so tight over his cheekbones that I expect it to crack any moment. The scent of piss stinks up the warehouse. The fool, clearly a beta by the way his shoulders are hunched, has wet himself.
I yawn aloud. The sound of my jaws cracking seems to snap the man into action, for he staggers forward, followed by his partner. They haul a rolled-up carpet between them.
Loose threads trail from the edges to sweep over the wooden floor. The patchwork on the outside of the carpet is peeling. The fabric seems so innocuous, so unassuming, it’s precisely that which sends all my instincts on alert.
A sliver of awareness ripples over my skin. Thud, thud, thud my heartbeat accelerates. The fine hair on my neck rises.
What the bloody hell? I can’t take my gaze off that damn rug. “Unfurl it.”
The edge of impatience in my tone must have signaled the impending flare of temper, for Ethan, my second, moves forward—not that the soldiers will dare try anything. The stripes on their vests mark them out as emissaries of the Leader of Scotland, and Kayden doesn’t have the balls to put them up to breaking into my stronghold. I drum my fingers over my chest. Nah! It’s exactly the kind of move I’d expect that twat to try to pull off.
Adrenaline laces my blood. I curl my fingers into fists.
That piece of shit wants me out of the way so he can take over my position. Well, he and most of those gathered here. Don’t everyone rush all at once. I snicker.
The Scot nearest to me pales.
He expects me to kill him. The body count I’ve left behind in the past year ensures that most fear me. But just this once, I might spare these men. Just to keep them guessing.
I lean forward on the balls of my feet.
The sudden movement draws a gasp from the beta. He bends and places his side of the rolled-up fabric on the floor. The other man follows.
I take a step forward. Honestly, I don’t make any other sign of threat, I don’t even peel back my lips, or speak… well, okay, I glare at the soldier on the right.
With an audible gulp, he turns and scampers down the big hall toward the still open doors. His partner blinks then scoots after him. My gaze is already on the piece of fabric left behind.
“I don’t think it’s wise to open it, General,” Ethan warns.
Since global warming unleashed tsunamis and wrecked the earth's sub-layers thirty years ago, trace metals all but vanished. Electronics can no longer be powered up and technology coll
apsed, leaving no means of communicating. It means the only way to check what's inside that carpet is the old fashioned way. To open it.
“Consider yourself heard.” I crick my neck from side to side. “You’ve done your duty, Second, so can we get this charade over with?”
Sure, his concern is genuine, and yet it doesn’t sit easily with me.
Not since he’d betrayed the ex-General, AKA my dear departed father by aiding me in killing the old man.
“Allow me, sir.” Solomon, my third, grabs the open seam of the curled-up piece of fabric. He heaves, but it doesn’t budge.
Ethan moves to the other side, and together they tug at it. The cloth unfurls… and flattens out into a pool of turquoise and green.
The light from the solitary skylight far above floods over it. The entire rug shimmers, as if made of liquid sunshine.
My pulse races. The breath catches in my throat. My heart hammers as if it’s going to rip out of my ribcage.
The next second, a figure springs up from the carpet and launches at me. Head bent, dressed all in black. There’s a blur of movement, and a blade whines through the space.
I slide aside.
The breeze displaced by the stranger shimmers over my neck. A flash of pain cuts through me as the blade nicks my skin.
I thrust out my leg, and the intruder goes sprawling to the floor, only to turn in a move which should have been near impossible.
It calls attention to the lithe lines of the body that is wrapped in that jumpsuit. The figure launches itself back at me, and I bend my knees and throw the stranger over my shoulder.
There’s a thump behind me, and I hear the sword skitter across the wooden floor.
I swivel around and close the distance to where the intruder leaps up from the center of the carpet.
The colors fade, the room shrinks around me. My vision narrows in on the face, to where the dark cloth has unraveled from around the head of the stranger. Eyes of shattered green blaze at me.
The hair on my nape rises.
It's her, the woman from my dreams.
A strand of dark-red hair slinks free.
The scent of rain on cool dawn air bleeds through the space interlaced with that sugary scent of slickness.
Blood rushes to my groin.
Every instinct inside me goes on alert. “Omega,” I rasp.
Lucy
I lift my chin, then farther up, then all the way up, to meet his gaze. To call the General massive is an understatement. He is a monster. A man-mountain, the biggest, most powerful alpha I have ever seen.
His blue eyes blaze at me.
A ripple of fear mixed with something else—lust? Anticipation?— tightens my stomach.
His face is all hard planes and dark angles. Long black hair flows to his shoulders. His lower lip is full, obscenely so. It should have softened his looks, instead it only heightens the feeling of danger that clings to him like a rich coat.
It's the exact opposite of the faded vest that clings to his torso.
His clothes strike a jarring note in the middle of the most prosperous pocket of this city, which is where we are; but it suits this alpha. Declares exactly what he is: an asshole who doesn’t give a damn about anyone else.
Who takes pleasure in surprising his friends and outwitting his enemies—no, he doesn’t have friends… doesn’t need friends… or lovers or… how would he be as a lover? A dominant? A male who’d take without mercy? That feminine, omega core of me quivers in anticipation.
A pulse flares to life between my thighs.
An age-old instinct deep inside awakes and insists that this alpha will make sure I am pleasured. He’ll bite me, lick me, suck me… and a piercing wave of desire twists my stomach.
Heat flushes my skin, and yet I feel cold, so cold.
I try to take a step forward, and it’s as if my feet are weighed down.
The alpha lifts his chin, thrusts out his chest and the force of his dominance crashes over me. My breath catches in my chest. I can’t move. Can’t think. Can’t do anything but stare at his face, drink in his features. Open my heart and absorb every last particle of impact that his sheer charisma has on me.
I want to trace that long, hooked nose of his. To close the distance between us and bite his square, pronounced jaw. Lick it, nibble on it, then pull his head down between my thighs and make him rub his hard whiskers across my sensitive core.
Heat floods my skin.
My nipples tighten.
I don’t need to look down at my breasts to know they’re be thrusting out, the sharpness of my arousal a palpable outline against the material.
He must know the effect he has on me, for the strong cords of his throat ripple. His sculpted chest seems to widen as he straightens and plants his arms on his trim hips. His powerful shoulders block out the sight of the room. His entire presence sucks up the air in the space.
The strength of his personality is a visceral force that crashes into me and threatens to overpower me.
I want to reach for the throbbing space between my legs and relieve the pressure that is building in my womb. What is happening to me?
“Do you know what I do to those who cross my path?” He growls.
The rich sound grates over my sensitized nerve endings and shudders straight to my center.
My thighs quiver, my stomach trembles, and I thrust my pelvis forward in blatant invitation. It’s as if my body has already arrived at a decision and the rest of me is struggling to catch up.
I grit my teeth. "I am sure you are going to tell me." I am not sure where that need to stand up to him comes from, I confess I am not thinking straight. Not when my heart pounds in my rib cage, my pulse thuds in my veins and the beat between my thighs seems to echo the fear.
Anticipation stretches my belly.
It's as if there is this instinct inside me that is tuned into him.
He growls again, and the sound tugs at my nerves, rolls over me and surrounds me. It's like nothing I have ever heard. Moisture pools in my core. The scent of slick bleeds into the air. I gasp. No, not now. I can’t be heading straight into a heat cycle, not when I am here on a mission. Is it the adrenaline of the attack that has brought on this sudden wave of need?
His lips, those sensuous lips, tighten. A pulse ticks to life at his temple, and his cheeks flush, as he looks down at me from his superior height.
I should feel emboldened that I am having an effect on him, the most powerful alpha in all the land, but all I feel is a writhing need to challenge. To ask. To submit to his every demand. And that confuses me.
I am an omega but am not a submissive: the warring of the two sides of my personality is a fact of life for me. One that has made me an anomaly in this world where genetic mutation brought on by climate change has divided the human race into three sub-species. The same mutation had equipped the alphas with the ability to knot the omegas in order to increase the chances of breeding from a single copulation. Nature's way of trying to compensate for a rapidly declining world population.
That I am omega was established by the heat cycles that puberty brought on. I’d managed to hide myself away during the worst of them.
Heat suppressants have been outlawed in an agreement between the alphas of the most powerful countries in the world. Even black market supplies of the precious chemicals had been tracked down and burned.
I should have felt more bitter about it, except that I have never felt even the remotest interest to lay with any alpha, so far. Not until this monster.
I need him, yet I want to fight him.
I must show him he can’t just take. Not without paying a price first. Not without begging, pleading, making me scream. The images in my head are so vivid that my knees quake, and I push my boot-clad feet into the dirt for purchase.
He angles his head and peels back his lips. I am sure he can see every single emotion, every nuance of feeling that trembles over me right now.
There is so much cruelty in his look…
so much lust… so much everything.
The hair on the nape of my neck rises.
Every single emotion that I have fought against my entire life, denied myself, all of it drips from his gaze.
I can’t look away.
It's as if I am watching everything unfold in front of me from a distance.
I clench my fingers, my muscles strain, and I try once more to move. It only sends another pulse of pain through me. It is as if simply being in this particular alpha’s presence is weighing me down, making me feel like I am already in his control.
How is that possible?
The General takes a step forward, and his scent slams into me. Earthy, woodsy, and liberally laced with pheromones.
My belly clenches. My womb spasms. Slick pools between my legs and slides down my inner thighs.
Setting my jaw, I square my shoulders, only for another burst of pain to radiate out from my center.
I arch my back, thrust my breasts out at the keening need that grips me.
I wrap my arms around my waist and cannot stop the groan that ripples up my throat. Even to my own ears it feels more like an invitation, a call to the alpha to do what he was born to do to an omega. To mate me, knot me, and make that pain inside me go away.
To fill that emptiness that is once again writhing, gnawing, and tearing at me; growing inside me with every passing millisecond until it feels like I am just one big mass of yearning that will not stop. Not until he slams into me, and no, no, no! This can’t be happening.
I’d starved myself of food for days to make sure my libido was at an all-time low; I'd also calculated the time of the month to make sure I was between heat cycles… I hadn't counted on the proximity to this particular alpha sending me straight into one.
My head spins with the overload of endorphins that my overwrought nervous system is dumping into my blood. All brought on by his presence. Him. He’s the reason why my body is responding with such primal need. The omega in me recognizes him. Only him.
My pulse thuds in my head; my vision blurs.
Seduced by the Fae Page 24
