The Divine Roses (Jake & Dean Investigations Book 3)

by Richard Amos

  “I’ll be going back to Faerie tomorrow.”

  “Oh?”

  “And I wanted to say goodbye.”

  “Okay. Well, it was nice to see you again.”

  A glint in her eyes. “I know you want me, Dean.”

  “What. No—”

  Perfume. It burst into the room, filling it up, cloying and toxic and beautiful all at once. It entered me through any means it could, locking me into a grip that made my cock grow hard in an instant.

  A spell.

  Shit.

  Visions drowning my mind. Her naked body, me between her thighs, visions of us running through fields—her in a wedding dress, me in a suit.

  “No…” I breathed.

  “Yes, Dean. See it. Feel it. Take all of it. We can make it real. Things don’t have to be like this. We can be together, be a true family.”

  “I have…I have a family.”

  Her pregnant belly, me kissing the top of her head as we sat on a balcony at the Palace of Autumn.

  Children. Loads of children running around our feet. We laughed and picked them up and ran with them and—

  Jake. He was there. Sobbing. Watching on the fringes with Louise in his arms. Devastated by my betrayal, by losing me.

  “I would never—”

  “He can’t be yours, Dean. You can’t be his. We were destined to be together. You know that. You’ve always known that.”

  “No…”

  “Yes, Dean. You have been so lost without me, drifting into the arms of a man when you should be in my arms. You are not yourself. Come back to Faerie with me and come back to yourself.”

  Wedding dress. Suit. Laughter. Cheer. My father so proud. Slow dancing. Kissing. Sex in the marital bed.

  I pushed back. No. No sex with her. No laughter and fun and marriage and children. Not with her. Never with her.

  “I’m not lost…” The perfume had me in a spin.

  “You are, Dean.”

  “No…”

  “Yes… Come to me. Kiss me now. Be you.”

  I took a tentative step toward her.

  “Your cock throbs for me,” she said. “I see it, I sense it. It longs to bury itself inside me.” She moaned. “I want it, Dean. I want you inside me. Make me feel it. Come on. Hard. Tear off my clothes, take me right here, right now. Fuck me like—”

  Jake. The first time we’d had sex. The time when I’d finally admitted my feelings for him, when I’d told him I’d loved him, when I thought I’d lost him—it all pounded my soul.

  “No!” I cried, my voice a sonic boom.

  She screamed, and I staggered backward, gasping for breath.

  The fog of her perfume had cleared, Jake the breeze to blow it away to Hell.

  I panted, staring at her. The hold was broken, dick soft, rage bubbling away.

  Orla clutched her chest, eyes glistening, a deer caught in the headlights. “Dean, I—"

  It took me a few seconds to get my words out. “So, this what this was all along? Try and seduce me with that scent you’re wearing?”

  Her face contorted with disgust. Ah, there went the act. “A shame I have to stoop to such lengths now, isn’t it?”

  “I knew it, even tried to give you the benefit of the doubt. Glad I didn’t fully. What was the plan, to have Jake walk in on us?”

  She growled. “I would never have had to use fae tricks before, would I? And you would’ve never doubted my trust.”

  “Are you listening to yourself?”

  She slipped her hair off her shoulder. “You would rather have the touch of men.”

  “One man.”

  “Jake Winter.”

  “Yes. He’s the love of my life.”

  She looked at me as if I’d just stabbed her. “Is that so?”

  “Yes.”

  She shook her head. “You disappoint me, Dean.”

  “Why? Because I don’t want you?”

  “I’m going to be queen.”

  “So you said. Good for you.”

  She came closer.

  I backed off.

  “Are you afraid of me, Dean?”

  “I think you should leave.”

  “Power can be yours,” she said, “all of it. Think of it, think of what it would mean to be the consort to the queen.” She kept coming closer, and I kept backing away. “You and I, ruling Faerie, away from this place. We could bring your daughter too, start a new life, forget all of this nonsense with you and Jake.”

  I paused, a darkness floating through me. “Nonsense?”

  “I have nothing against any forms of love, but when it comes to you, I do. This isn’t the Dean Tseng I know. He would never give up all that he is for the love of a man. It’s ridiculous. Your head is full of fancy. Look at me and then look at Jake. He doesn’t compare. Not if you really look deep into your heart.”

  “Get the fuck out of my house.”

  It was her turn to back off. “Dean? Was that a threat? A threat against me?”

  “You come into my house and spout that trash? Try and seduce me with some perfume? Shows what you think of me, how much respect you have. I’m never going to love anyone like I love Jake or throw away what we have for something you think I miss. My love for him is stronger than—”

  “Don’t lecture me, Dean. If you want to be a fool, then so be it. Throw away the chance at power.” She tilted her head. “You stink of him, you know.”

  “Get out.”

  The front door opened. “Hey! I’m home.”

  Jake.

  “Dean?”

  I turned as he appeared in the living room doorway.

  “Orla?” he said. “Is everything okay?”

  “No, it isn’t,” the fae woman said. “I’m leaving. But this isn’t the last you’ll see of me. Be warned, both of you.”

  She swept past me, then pushed past Jake, leaving my house without a word.

  “Rude!” he yelled. “What the hell was that about?”

  I shook my head.

  “And why does my living room stink of perfume?”

  Fifteen

  Jake

  Trying to seduce my fiancé full-on this time. No more hiding behind sweetness and bullshit.

  I knew she was up to something!

  Oh, God. What if it’d worked? No. It wouldn’t.

  Course it bloody wouldn’t!

  What if it did, though? What if her spell or whatever it was dug so far into Dean, latching onto a piece of their past and yanking it all the way to the surface for one more ride around the block?

  Oh, my God!

  I was being ridiculous. Jealousy flaring up. For real? After everything we’d been through?

  “I promise you, baby, I would never fall for it, no matter how hard she tried.”

  What if you’re not strong enough?

  Did I really think he was that weak?

  Have a word with yourself, knob head! “I know. I’m just… Fuck…”

  “I’ll call Mila to come and create a ward against her. I don’t know how she tricked them.”

  “You don’t think… No.”

  “What, baby?”

  “You don’t think your dad’s in on her plan?”

  “For me to be her consort?”

  “Yeah. It would be really good for his social standing, right?”

  He sighed. “I’d hate to think he’d stoop to that.”

  “Yeah, well. His comments alone are enough for me to point the finger.”

  Shadows passed across Dean’s face. “He’s done if he’s involved.”

  I went to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Dean? Look at me.”

  He did.

  “I love you. I just want you to know that. Again.”

  “I know, baby. I love you too.”

  “But I really wanted you to know in case you thought I was mad at you. I’m not.”

  “Good to know.” He smiled, those shadows fading.

  “Seriously.” I kissed him gently on the lips. “You…” R
esisted? “You…”

  I didn’t know what to say, so I spoke with a whole different language.

  My hand under the band of his jeans, then his underwear, wrapping around his stiff cock.

  Stiff for who?

  Get this shit out of your head!

  He moaned into my mouth as I carried on kissing him, rubbing his hardness.

  Sex again to fight off the traces of Orla? Right. That was healthy.

  My head was scrambling, not wanting to have this jealousy, this need to use sex as a weapon against some bloody invading force. This was Dean. My Dean. He would never do anything to compromise what we had. I knew that! Jesus, did I know that.

  But there I went, onto my knees, unbuttoning his jeans and yanking them down, releasing his dick from his blue boxers.

  “Jake…”

  I devoured him, working his shaft, taking him as deep into my mouth as I could, his piercing tickling the roof of my mouth. His was my cock to enjoy, no one else’s.

  Mine.

  Dean was mine.

  I didn’t stop until he came down my throat, his hands in my hair, thrusting the last of his climax into me.

  Was his orgasm from a combination of her and me?

  Stop it!

  I hated my brain sometimes. I actually wanted to cry, and I knew that was so bloody pathetic. Giving him a blowjob was always a fun moment, not wrapped up in some bullshit jealousy and desperation to leave my mark on him.

  I’d already done that. Years ago.

  “You know,” he breathed from above me, “we have the rest of the afternoon to ourselves.”

  I stood up, taking off my T-shirt, popping the top bottom of my jeans. “Then, let’s roll.”

  It was a quarter to five by the time I climbed onto Dean’s cock for the third time that afternoon. We’d fucked on the sofa, then the kitchen table. Now, we were on the bed.

  “Oh, baby.”

  I gave it to him as he stroked my dick, working him hard, grinding my hips at maximum pleasure speed. Hard. I wanted it hard. My crazy fears about Orla were burning away. Dean had come three times so far, and I was going for his fourth. Talk about overkill, but when we went for it, we fucking went for it.

  I’d had a double orgasm myself. Third time yummy coming up!

  “Jake, yes. Fuck, that feels good.”

  “Give it to me,” I said.

  He pumped, and I bounced, and together, we worked up yet more of a sweat until he climaxed inside me, and I exploded all over his scrummy chest.

  I collapsed and stretched out on top of him, his arms wrapped around me, our sweaty bodies mingling.

  “Wow,” I said. “That was so good.”

  “So good,” he echoed. “I love you so much.”

  Here came that taint again.

  Was it all for me?

  “You’re thinking about her,” he said.

  “Huh?”

  “That this is overcompensating.”

  There was no point denying it. “I am. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I get it. But that was all for you. Not one trace of her. I mean it. I come for you.”

  “So romantic.”

  “Seriously, you were right not to trust her, and so was I. I should’ve seen through her.”

  “You kind of did, though.” I pushed myself up, my hands planted on either side of his head. “Do you think she’ll be back?”

  “We’ll be ready if she does.” He ran the back of his hand across my cheek. “I’ll call Dad in a bit. See what he knows.”

  I lowered myself back down onto him, lost in his arms. “I’m sorry about the jealousy. I’m just…I’m a dick.”

  “You’re human. That’s all. But who’s in this bed? You and me. Not her. She can rot for all I care.”

  Was it sick to picture her face rotting with bugs crawling over her body?

  Too much?

  Bollocks to it. Made me feel better.

  “You were in my head,” he whispered. “The whole time, breaking through her spell. You. Because you’re the other half of me, buried deep in my heart.”

  I didn’t poke fun at him for being cheesy. I kissed him, pressed myself into him. This was love, and my heart swelled, fit to explode, reminding me that this was us against the world. Always had been since we’d connected, since we’d fallen for each other.

  Nothing would ever break that.

  Ever.

  Not even death.

  I’d make sure of it.

  Sixteen

  Dean

  Wednesday night. The rain was really coming down at the same time all over the world.

  Just like global the snowstorm we’d once had, now it was the rain’s turn.

  Great.

  These occurrences happened because of the pods and the magical damage the council had inflicted upon the world trying to cover up the existence of supernaturals, and also attempting to clear the pods away. It was believed that the continued pod presence amplified these extreme weather patterns.

  There had to be a way to destroy them.

  Regardless of the rain, it was a nice evening in a cloud of horror that’d descended over the city.

  The total number of murders had jumped from seven to fifteen since Monday. All bodies of women who worked the windows of the red-light district, even though it’d been closed off. They’d been specifically targeted as being known to use the windows regularly. Most of the new victims had been attacked in their homes.

  The press was calling them ‘The Divine Roses’, and Parker’s face had leaked into the public consciousness. Some outlets said it was Elijah, others the twin thing. Whatever the headline, they were always screaming and salacious, and the women were getting lost in the mix.

  With Elijah missing, along with Parker, the Conclave had carried on regardless with their rallies. I’d watched one earlier online, a particularly nasty one spearheaded by the Ricci Twins and Izzie—who hadn’t made an appearance since our encounter with them the other day.

  “Further supernatural regulations must be put in place,” Izzie’s vitriol had spewed. “Holy laws drawn up, not made by any corrupt government or the evil council. Their laws do not correlate with the truth, with the word of God and his love. Magic is sin, creatures born of it abominations. The pods are God’s punishment for what we have done, for allowing supernatural things to live, for letting the sinful flourish. What a world to see same-sex marriage, for our children to be shown such disgusting perversions to be natural.” That really made my blood boil when the crowd cheered their approval. “We have gone too far, and now we all suffer. But change is coming. You’ll see. A spark to ignite the world. We will rise above the tide of sin and cast our light upon the water. A new dawn is coming!” She’d thrusted her fist into the air, and the crowd had gone wild.

  Disgusting. And that spark meant Jake.

  The fae aspect had been left out of the news, though. Only the pod bit was running, plus the whole new dawn thing the roses spoke about whenever a body was found. The investigation was trying to find a link to the Conclave as a whole having an involvement, as those words sounded like them, but seeing as they hated magic and pods, it was proving difficult.

  Jake popped his head into the living room while Louise and I watched a movie together.

  “It’ll be about ten minutes now,” he said.

  “Smells delicious.”

  “Aw, cheers.”

  The tension over Orla had lifted. Not that there was much there seeing as we both had an ingrained distrust of her, but it was still nice it was gone. And it was nice that our love had been flaunted in her face, a solid thing no one could ever take away.

  Magical perfume or not.

  Still, I was uneasy. What was her next move? I believed her when she said this wasn’t the end.

  Was it her who’d come and taken something from my daughter? Had she lied about that?

  If it had been her, she’d never have that crown on her head.

  My dad had disappeared, which sp
oke volumes to me. He was in on it. Cara, the fae guard, had gone too, as had all the supposed help with the strange fae prison.

  The door was left open, though, slightly ajar. I left it like that. Otherwise, I’d never get back in again. It wasn’t like anyone wandered into the tunnels, but I did make sure to hide the entrance each time I left.

  There wasn’t much I could do about it right now, but everything pointed at Parker and Elijah being involved with that place.

  After dinner, my research would continue.

  “When is grandpa coming again?” Lou asked, eyes glued to the TV.

  “I don’t know, darling. He’s gone home.”

  “But he didn’t say bye.”

  What did I say to that?

  I had fallen slightly for my father’s bullshit. That moment he’d told me he was proud of me had snared me. As had the loving way he was with Louise. Hell, he even carried a picture of her around with him. That wasn’t just guff, I’d actually seen it.

  “He might be back soon,” I said without conviction.

  She didn’t notice that. “Hope so. He was funny. He promised to show me Faerie.”

  Like I would ever let her go there.

  “What about Orla, Papa?”

  “She’s gone too.”

  “Oh. She didn’t say bye, either. Maybe they’ll be here for my party on Friday.”

  “Maybe, darling.” That was the best I could do.

  I wanted to talk to her some more about the woman who’d briefly kidnapped her, but she’d told both of us enough already. If I started trying to link the mystery woman to Orla, then it would lead to suffering, sadness. I wasn’t putting my baby girl through any of that.

  The dead flower perfume when my daughter had disappeared had been a sign, a way of telling me I knew her.

  Was everything really that obvious? Nothing but a stupid game?

  If it was Orla, then there was something she’d taken from Louise to get to me. But what? Dad had seen nothing missing when he’d looked. Was he lying?

  The distrust hadn’t been enough. I never should’ve tolerated her or let her back in. I guess I’d fallen for her tricks no matter the resistance. She’d wormed her way in, tricked the wards, got close to my daughter. Got inside my home.