Fae Magic: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (Forsaking the Fae Book 1)

by A. M. Hardin

  He snarls at me. “You dare to speak to me like this? Your own father? Your king?”

  My mouth curls into a wicked smirk. “You are no blood of mine. Nor are you my king. I relinquished all rights you believed you had over me long ago.”

  “Crystal,” Levi warns, his hand outstretched toward me.

  “Why don’t you both calm down,” Ezra suggests, subtly stepping in front of me.

  The whip I’ve become accustomed to since I was a child appears in my father’s hand as he takes a threatening step toward me. “Impertinent child.” With a slash of his wrist, the whip wraps around my throat, tightening and slowly cutting off my air supply. I ignore the instinct to loosen the noose around my neck. “You will learn to show respect to your elders, girl.”

  “Respect someone who doesn’t give a damn about anyone but themselves?” I choke out. “No thanks.” I hold my hand in front of me and a red and black butterfly appears. My father falters, fear shining in his gaze.

  “No!” he snaps. “Only the strongest of the dark fae have that ability. There’s no way you fall in that category.”

  He raises his arm and the whip tightens more. The butterfly I summoned lands on the whip and within seconds, the whip starts to disintegrate. My father’s eyes grow wide as he swallows hard.

  He takes a shaky breath to steady himself while I simply stare at him, daring him to strike me again. I’m beyond done taking his shit. He can kiss my ass if he thinks I’ll do what he wants without question.

  “I will take my leave now,” he says slowly. “However, things have not changed. You will still be confined to your bedroom. You will be marrying Julian in one week. I suggest you make your peace with that, Crystal. After all, everyone has a weakness. You happened to bring two weaknesses along with you on this trip.”

  I glare at him. “Is that a threat?”

  He grins evilly. “You’re damn right it is. And if it comes to it, it won’t be just your friends who suffer for your inability to follow orders. Innocents may just become involved as well.”

  With that, he leaves, not allowing me to say anything else. I glare at the wall, my chest burning with a fire that I can’t extinguish.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Crystal

  Once my father disappears I push a blast of power into my dresser, causing it to explode, throwing clothes everywhere. I glare at the falling clothes, wishing that it was my father I was destroying and not the damn thing that holds my clothes.

  “Crystal,” Levi says carefully, almost as if he expects me to turn on him just for speaking.

  “What?” My voice holds no emotion as I stare at my now ruined dresser.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Your throat is bruised,” Ezra adds softly.

  “So is her damn face,” Maxwell grunts, sounding annoyed.

  “I’m fine,” I tell them a heartbeat before I hear a knock at my door.

  “Hey bitch, I’m coming in, so you better not be playing naked twister with those sexy as fuck guards of yours!” Jade shouts playfully as the door opens. I roll my eyes as Levi and Ezra chuckle, the sound strained, while Maxwell raises an eyebrow in my direction. Jade takes one look at me and her expression darkens while she takes in the state of the room. “What. The. Fuck. Happened?”

  “Nothing. Did you get what you said you’d bring me?” I ask, keeping it vague.

  “What did she say she would bring you?” Maxwell asks, being nosy as fuck anyway.

  I ignore him, keeping my focus on Jade. She nods and holds out a small vial. “It’s not much, but it may help a little.” I reach out to grab it, but she pulls it back. “Hold on. I-I don’t know if it’ll work, Crys. It may not be strong enough to help with. . .” she glances at my guards before turning back to me, “. . . the thing we were talking about.”

  I reach for it again and this time she doesn’t stop me as I grab it. “I don’t care,” I mutter. “I can’t. . . this is something that I need to do for now. Even if it doesn’t help much, thank you for bringing it,” I tell her earnestly.

  Jade watches as I swallow the contents of the vial, wincing slightly at the bitter taste. “Are you okay? What happened to you?”

  I snort. “My father’s idea of giving love,” I grumble.

  “She provoked him,” Levi corrects, drawing Jade’s attention his way. “She was looking for a fight. Care to explain why?”

  I glare at him before shaking my head at Jade, who’s looking at me with a “can I?” expression on her face.

  “You’ll figure it out eventually, if you haven’t already,” Jade says vaguely. “I have to get going, I barely made it past the damn guards your father has posted in the hall. They only gave me a few minutes to visit.” She points at me as she makes it to the door. “You owe us an explanation on why the hell you’re stuck in your damn bedroom until further notice. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “I’m going to bed anyway. I’ll see you tomorrow.” The door closes behind Jade and I glance at my guards. “Decide who’s staying in here with me tonight, I guess. I’m going to get ready for bed. I don’t want anyone hanging around outside my damn room, making it more of a damn prison than it already is, so go to your own if you’re not on guard duty, please.”

  After leaving the bathroom, I see Ezra leaning against my vanity. He has a troubled look on his face, but his eyes are determined.

  “So, you were the one to draw the short straw,” I say casually, tossing my dirty clothes aside.

  He watches me silently as I move closer, eating up his space to grab my brush off the vanity. I run the brush through my hair and meet his gaze as I step back. “What?”

  “Are you okay?” he asks, eyes on the welts around my neck.

  I run my fingers gently against my throat. “Yeah. It’ll be gone by morning.”

  Finished with my hair, I set the brush back down and make a face. “Okay, spill it. Why the weird face?”

  I sit on my bed and tilt my head as I watch him. He moves in front of me, kneeling between my legs.

  What the hell?

  He clasps my hands in his, holding them firmly. Flashes of him in his youth slam into my mind so fast it almost gives me a headache.

  Ezra as a child laughing, the lightheartedness almost becoming my own.

  A young teenage version of Ezra cursing the Gods for something that I can’t understand.

  Ezra, —looking to be in his later teens—and a female tangled together in bed.

  The last is a frequent memory that slams into my head, adding to the headache, and making my stomach churn with jealousy. What makes it worse is that the female seems to be constantly changing. Almost as if he’s never been with the same woman twice.

  “What are you doing?” I ask, not entirely sure if I should be wary or annoyed at this moment.

  “I just want you to answer a few questions for me. Please answer them honestly, princ—Crystal.”

  I look at him warily. “Alright,” I say slowly, attempting to break the contact between us, so I can stop seeing bits and pieces of him that make no sense.

  I’m honestly not likely to answer them if they hit too close to home. But I don’t tell him that. Instead, I simply watch him, trying to figure out what he has planned.

  “Why did you goad your father tonight?” he asks, his tone compelling.

  “Because I’m losing control,” I answer immediately. I gape at him and try to escape his grasp again, but he only holds on tighter. “What the hell are you doing to me?”

  I didn’t mean to tell him that. I was going to say that I did it because I wanted to.

  The flashes haven’t started up again, but I know they will if he doesn’t let go of my hands. I try to wrestle my hands away, but don’t get anywhere.

  “Losing control of what?” he asks, ignoring my struggling and my question.

  “My powers, my mind. Take your pick.”

  Shut up.

  “What was in the vial that Jade gave you?”

  Don�
�t say it.

  “A serum.”

  “A serum for what?” he asks patiently. Gods, I want to punch him in the face right now. And I will. Once this bullshit is over. As soon as he lets go of me.

  Damn it. No.

  “It’s to help me get better control until we get back to the human realm.”

  Fuck my life. Shut the hell up, Crystal. Just stop talking.

  “What do you need to do in order to gain better control, other than taking this serum.”

  Oh Gods. Don’t make me say it.

  I’m sure he sees the plea on my face, but he doesn’t say anything, just waits for me to stop fighting his compulsion. “Fighting. Using my powers will usually help to keep them under control so long as I don’t use too much, but just enough to take that edge off.”

  He narrows his eyes at me. “That’s not all, is it?”

  I bite my lip so hard I can feel blood trickling down my chin as I shake my head. Tears prick my eyes as I try to fight the urge to tell him. “No, it’s not,” I grumble, unable to stop it any longer.

  “Crystal,” I meet his eyes and see him looking at me with total understanding and patience. It’s both soothing and irritating at the same time. “I swear to the Gods, you can trust me, princess. I will never use what you tell me against you. However, we can’t have you hiding things from us anymore. I didn’t want to have to resort to this, but you’re not opening up on your own and we just want to help you.”

  “Please stop,” I whisper, a tear falling down my cheek. “I can’t—”

  “Why can’t you tell me?”

  Mentally cursing him, I answer, “I can’t let anyone in.”

  He frowns, looking confused. “Why can’t you?”

  “They always get hurt.” I struggle harder, working to free myself of his grip, but I don’t get anywhere. I don’t want to use my magic on him.

  When I nearly slip out of his grasp, he says quickly, “What is the other way for you to get more control?”

  I stop fighting and look in his eyes. Why can’t they just leave me be? “Sex,” I mutter. His eyes grow wide, but he doesn’t let me go.

  “What do you mean sex? What about it helps?”

  “It’s difficult to explain. It’s kind of the opposite of a succubus. Whereas succubi need to have sex in order to live or whatever their reasoning for sex may be depending on breed . . . When I have sex, I push some of my powers into my partner. They don’t receive the ability to use my powers, they just have a wicked adrenaline rush or something similar. The point of it is that I’m getting rid of the excessive energy from my powers in order to get a better grip on them.”

  “Why do you have to wait until you go back to earth to have them under control again?”

  I sigh but realize that he didn’t push the urge to tell him in that question. “You can let go now,” I tell him. “I’ll tell you without the weird ass power you have. You already have most of the story, there’s no point in keeping you out of the loop now.”

  He studies my face for a moment, deciding whether I’m telling the truth or not. Finally, he nods and releases of my hands. Thank Gods. My head was starting to spin from all the information that was blasted at me while he was touching me. Too much information, but at the same time, not enough to make sense of any of it. The only thing I truly understand from all the shit that was slung at me was that he used to be a serious womanizer. I don’t know if that’s changed, but I have a feeling that it has. None of the memories were him as an adult with a woman. Not as he is now, anyway.

  “Why do you have to wait, Crystal?”

  I wince. “Because I can’t fuck anybody here,” I tell him bluntly. It’s not the complete truth, but it should be good enough.

  “Crystal,” he says my name with a sigh. “Why do you think that?”

  I raise an eyebrow at him, not believing that he doesn’t see it. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

  He narrows his eyes at me as he moves to sit on my bed beside me. “I’m not kidding. You’re young, yes, but I’m sure there are plenty that would want to take you to bed.”

  I scoff before I can stop myself. “I have guards, Ezra. That doesn’t exactly give me any chances to get with anyone. Then there’s the none-too-little matter of me being engaged to Julian. If anyone were to touch me and my father found out about it. I’m sure he’d have them killed. Plus, add in that I didn’t gain my powers until fifteen. Everyone looks down on me. I won’t sleep with someone that views me as weak simply because of genetics.”

  “Guards understand that there are. . . needs to be met. Anyone that looks down on you for being a late bloomer is a fool. As for the engagement and your father’s reaction . . . isn’t that his decision if he decides to take that risk?”

  I gaze at him, stunned. “Ezra,” I whisper, my body subconsciously moves closer.

  He cups the back of my neck as he also moves closer. Those flashes start up again.

  Ezra in a battle, bruised and wounded, but continuing to fight for his life.

  “Crystal, what’s the real reason you have to wait? I don’t buy that as being the only reason.”

  My eyes widen as I tell him, “Because the ones I want. . . I can’t have all of them. Not in that way.”

  Shit. Motherfucking asshole!

  I let my damn guard down thinking he wouldn’t use that damn power on me again.

  “Who exactly is it that you want?” he asks, his breath brushing against my lips. Tempting me more than it really should be.

  My breath catches in my throat before the answer slips out. “You, Levi, Maxwell, and Julian.”

  His eyes widen for a brief second before they grow heated. “You desire all of us?”

  Instead of giving me time to answer, he closes the distance between us and kisses me.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Crystal

  I gasp as his hands grip my waist and pull me into his lap without breaking the kiss. More of his life flashes in my head, but I ignore it, completely focused on the male wrapped around me.

  Seemingly of their own accord, my arms wrap around his neck. I lose myself in his kiss as his hands slip under my tank top.

  “Ezra,” I mutter as a hand travels up my stomach. The warmth from his hands leaving a blazing trail of heat in their wake. My breasts feel full, my nipples tightening in anticipation.

  He pauses in his exploring and meets my eyes. “What?”

  “We shouldn’t,” I say, my worry for him starting to overpower the desire that started flooding my system the moment his lips pressed against mine.

  His mouth curves slightly a moment before he kisses a trail down my neck and his hand starts moving up again. “Isn’t that my choice as well? I’m aware of the repercussions, Crystal. I want you. You want me. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that.”

  His finger brushes against my nipple, drawing another gasp out of me. It’s been so long that it’s like every touch goes straight to my clit.

  “Stop thinking for a little bit. Stop worrying. Just let me make you feel good. Let me help you get control.”

  I gaze at him through dazed eyes. “I don’t want your pity, Ezra.”

  His eyes flare with an emotion I can’t place and the hand near my waist grips me and pushes me against him so I can feel his cock straining at his jeans. I bite back a moan at the contact.

  “Does this feel like pity, Crystal?” he bites out. He uses the hand at my waist to guide my body and make me rock against him.

  I whimper as I feel the pressure of his cock against my clit. Considering I’m only wearing leggings. I might as well be naked while rubbing against him like this.

  “Does it?” he asks gently this time, no bite to his tone at all. He brushes his lips against my collarbone.

  A shiver racks my body. “No,” I answer finally, not even caring that the word comes out a little breathless.

  I feel his lips curve against my skin before he pushes my shirt up and over my head. My nipples har
den even more as the cool air hits my bare skin.

  “I don’t want to use you,” I murmur as he uses his hands to move my hair out of my face.

  “I don’t see it as you using me, baby.” He brushes his lips against mine before he switches our positions and lays me back on the bed. He moves over me and places a kiss against my heart before removing his own shirt.

  I reach out to touch him but stop just short. He gently takes my wrist and guides my hand the rest of the way to his chest. “You don’t need to be scared to touch me.” He brings his head down and kisses the corner of my mouth. “Stop thinking, Crystal. Just feel. Feel me.”

  My eyes close as his mouth comes down on mine again. Deciding to do as he says, I focus on the feel of his lips against mine, his hands roaming across my skin. I grip his shoulders as his cock presses against my center again. I moan into his mouth, my pussy clenching.

  The rest of these clothes need to go.

  Almost as if reading my mind, Ezra breaks the kiss and moves down my body, slowly sliding my leggings and panties down my legs. Once the barrier is gone, he nuzzles my upper thigh, inhaling deeply.

  “You smell like heaven,” he growls as his lips burn a trail across my thigh to my pussy. Without any more delay, his tongue darts out, licking from my pussy to my clit. He circles my clit with his tongue, then dips his tongue into my pussy.

  Pleasure zips through my body as his tongue continues to torture me slowly. My fingers grasp his hair as I moan, helplessly bucking against his mouth. “Ezra,” I moan, not sure if I’m begging him to stop or begging him for more.

  He thrusts two fingers deep into my pussy as his tongue lashes at my clit. Just like that, I shatter beneath him, crying out as my orgasm rolls through me.

  He leans back, a satisfied expression on his face as he slips his fingers into his mouth, sucking them clean.

  “If I weren’t putty right now, I’d be slapping that smug ass expression off your face,” I grumble breathlessly.

  He chuckles and makes quick work of his pants. I take a moment to take him in. In a word, he’s fucking ripped. Broad shoulders, strong chest, and that fucking V that’s like an arrow pointing to his dick. His cock is long, thick, and hard. My mouth goes dry as I watch him. He stands at the edge of my bed and grabs my ankles, dragging me down the bed until my legs are wrapped around his waist.