Falling For Them: A New Adult Reverse Harem Collection

by C. L. Stone

  “My mum has a job here,” Lily said, and decided to concentrate only on Matt and not worry about what his slightly strange, but admittedly gorgeous, friend thought.

  “Cool. What does she do?”

  “She’s an artist, she’s been commissioned to do a painting of someone’s house.”

  Matt’s head went back, and she saw him send Nate a quick look before he was beaming back at her.

  “I know who you are! It’s my parents who’ve commissioned her.”

  “Crowder Manor?”

  He jumped to his feet, almost sending his books to the floor, but Nate’s quick reflexes saved them.

  “Matthew Crowder, at your service!” He executed a small bow and then sat back down. “See? Now it’s fate. We’re going to date because fate has brought us together.”

  “I think it was more the advance payment to be honest. I’m not a big believer in fate.”

  “No?” Matt tilted his head, his whiskey eyes still playful. “Now that’s a shame. Here, let me read your palm for you.” He held out his hand to her.

  “It’s a ploy to get you to hold his hand,” Nate said dryly.

  “One that worked,” Lily replied and extended her hand to Matt’s, palm upwards. His long fingers caught hers, and it hit her like a bolt of lightning. It hammered into her head, taking over every nerve in her body. She felt her eyes roll back in her head, completely unable to stop herself from jerking backwards, taking the tray with her.

  ***************

  “Shit!”

  Matt and Nate reacted instantly, but were still unable to stop her from slumping onto the floor. The tray of food went with her, chips covered her as she jerked, her hands curled into tight fists.

  “Alright, clear the area!” Mrs Sanderson, one of the Biology teachers, came bustling over. Nate and Matt shoved the chairs to one side. Lily was motionless, her eyes closed as Matt dropped to his knees beside her. He stretched out a hand towards her, a frown of concern between his eyes.

  “Matthew!” Nate knocked his hand away and knelt beside him. He reached out and pushed the hair from her face, her eyelids fluttered slightly and then opened. They were unfocused as she blinked, her breathing was heavy and erratic.

  “Boys, give her room. The nurse is on her way.”

  “I’m okay.” Her voice was slurred as she struggled to get to her feet, Nate could see she was more aware now and clearly embarrassed.

  A wash of concern flooded through him. He got to his feet and scooped her up in his arms, putting a stop to her weak attempts.

  “Get the bags, Matt.”

  She started to protest, but he shook his head. She couldn’t walk, and he didn’t want to put her down. She needed him, and he needed to look after her.

  “It’s okay,” he murmured. “I’ve got you.”

  She tucked her head into his neck and went limp in his hold; she’d passed out.

  “This way, Mr Cohen, please.” The sharp voice of Nurse Holden brought his head up. He saw Matt juggling his books and all three of their bags, but there was no way he was letting her go now. Something odd happened here, and he intended to find out what it was. She’d denied it strongly, but he knew she’d called his name.

  4

  FAE

  Nate crossed his ankles as he leant back on the windowsill of his bedroom. They were all here; Matt and the twins. His brothers through choice, his cousins through blood.

  Matt was sitting in the desk chair, spinning it from side to side with his feet. He was lost in thought, staring into space. There was no pushing Matt. When he had something serious to say, he would say it when he was ready. Especially after the day they’d had.

  Nate had been shocked when Lily jerked backwards and went down with a bang. It was unnerving, watching her shudder and jerk on the floor, until it stopped almost as soon as it started.

  He was watching her face when Matt conned her into holding his hand. The moment they’d touched, her eyes rolled up until all he could see were whites, and then bam, she was down.

  He’d scrambled to get to her as quickly as Matt, worry forming deep in his stomach the moment her eyes rolled back in her head. Mrs Sanderson demanded they clear the area. But he didn’t even need to think about it. He wasn’t leaving her, wasn’t backing off; he had to help her. He’d realised the moment he saw Matt stretch out his hand to her what he was going to do. It was a reckless move and one that surprised him. Matt was always the one to make sure that they didn’t expose themselves.

  She’d come around fairly quickly, but he could easily see she was still completely out of it. She’d tried to get to her feet, obviously embarrassed about the whole thing, but she was physically unable to get up. Again, it seemed totally natural to reach out and scoop her up into his arms. She’d tried to resist, but he wouldn’t let her go.

  Nurse Holden explained to them it was an epileptic fit and that she’d take over from there. They’d left then, still feeling a little shaken by the whole thing. He knew Matt was stewing over something quietly. Even when they’d met the twins later in the afternoon and told them all about it, Matt kept quiet, letting Nate do all the talking. But Nate knew Matt as well as he knew himself. Matt would talk when he was ready and not before.

  Nate knew something odd had happened even before she touched Matt’s hand. She’d denied it strongly, but he knew for sure that she’d called his name. He would bring it up with them. Though first he’d wait out Matt, knowing that what he was going to say was important.

  “I felt something.” Matt stopped swaying the chair abruptly.

  “What do you mean?” Josh asked, he was sitting cross legged on the bed. Jake was back to back with him, propping each other up, like identical bookends.

  “I don’t know. I just felt something.” Matt frowned at his knees, hands on the arm of the chair as he began spinning from side to side again. “Like she pulled something from me.”

  “Pulled something?” Josh looked at Nate before looking back at Matt quickly.

  “What do you mean, pulled?” Nate asked, and couched down to sit on the floor. He stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his ankles.

  “I don’t know. It just felt like a tugging somehow.”

  “She pulled your hand as she went back,” Nate pointed out.

  “Yeah, but it was more like an electric zap,” Matt replied.

  “Hang on, was it a tug or a zap?” Jake asked, shifting slightly so he could see Matt’s face better.

  “Are you sure it wasn’t just lust?” Josh snorted. “Let’s face it, she’s fucking hot, man. Those dimples when she smiles make us want to do some pretty sinful things to her.”

  “Thanks, Josh,” Matt said dryly. “I’m not a sixteen-year-old virgin that’s subject to my hormones.”

  “No, you’re a soon to be eighteen-year-old virgin subject to his hormones,” Jake sniggered and was rewarded with a kick to his foot.

  “I’m not a virgin.” Matt pulled a face at him. “And I’m not that desperate either!”

  “You don’t think she’s cute?” Jake asked in surprise and looked at Josh over his shoulder. “Just you and me, bro. She’s all ours!”

  “In your dreams,” Nate drawled, and looked back at Matt. “Was it lust?”

  “No.” Matt flipped off Josh and Jake when they laughed. “I mean, yes, she’s pretty, but it wasn’t that. It was odd somehow. It felt like the moment her fingers touched mine she was inside my head somehow and it felt like electricity. But as she went backwards, it was a tugging sensation.” Matt nodded as he spoke. “Yes, that’s how it felt; electricity followed by a tugging.”

  “Sure she wasn’t tugging out your brain?” Jake sniggered.

  “He’d need one first,” Josh replied, and they fist bumped, laughing together.

  “Shut up.” Matt rolled his eyes at them.

  “There’s something else,” Nate spoke up, he sat forward from the wall, his hands supporting himself on the floor either side of him. “She called my na
me.”

  “Oh, you said that. I thought you were just trying to use some lame ass way to chat her up,” Matt said.

  Nate snorted and shook his head. “Whatever. Back on track, I heard my name. My full name and it could only have been her who called it.”

  “What all four of them?” Josh asked in surprise. “Ignatius Quentin Benedict Cohen? Jesus Christ, you couldn’t mishear that!”

  “No, just Ignatius. I heard it clear as day as I walked over. But how many people even know it, let alone call me that? Apart from my mother,” he added dryly.

  “I’m sure your mum was drunk when she named you,” Jake said through a chuckle.

  “Can we please stay on track here?” Matt suddenly snapped, causing them all to look at him. “There’s something not right with this girl, and we need to know what.”

  “Not right?” Jake frowned at him. “What do you mean ‘not right’?”

  “She flips out when I touch her. She's calling out a name that is a closer guarded secret than the aliens in Area 51, then denying she did.”

  “Matt, there are no aliens in Area 51,” sighed Josh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  “That's not the point,” Matt snapped. “And of course there are. But you’re not getting it.”

  “Nurse Holden said it was an epileptic fit,” Josh said with a frown. He could see how serious Matt was and straightened up slightly.

  “There was no trigger,” Matt added. “No flashing lights or whatever’s supposed to trigger them.”

  “Nah, they don’t always work that way,” Jake spoke up. “Just being overtired can trigger them if they’re bad to start with. She’s just moved here, first day at a strange place. That’s a lot of stress; it could have triggered it.”

  “But epilepsy doesn’t explain how a new girl would know my name was Ignatius,” Nate pointed out.

  “So what are we saying?” Josh asked, his eyes on Jake’s. “She’s like us?”

  “Maybe,” Matt allowed.

  “It’s a possibility,” Nate agreed. “And if she is, then she knew my name somehow and used it to get our attention. If that’s the case, what really happened when she touched Matt? What does she want? What’s she up to?”

  “Do we go to Jonas?” Jake asked, turning to look at Nate; they all did. He was their natural leader and had been for as long as they could remember. They didn’t second guess it, they didn’t even actively think about it. Nate was the lead and that was it.

  “I think we should watch her first. It shouldn’t be too hard. She’s in the village.”

  “Derry’s Lane. They’ve rented the middle one, number two, according to Mum,” Matt spoke up.

  “Great, I’m two streets over. You’re not too far.” Nate looked at the twins and then Matt. “She might be around your house with her mum sometimes as well.”

  “Just watch her?” Josh asked. “We can do that.”

  “We like her; she’s nice,” Jake added.

  “I like her too,” Matt admitted. “I don’t think she’s dangerous, Nate. How can a girl that barely tops eight stone be dangerous against us?”

  “Come off it, Matt,” snorted Josh. “That’s a dumb question. We’re Fae. Anyone who isn’t, is potentially dangerous. There are even ones like us that are dangerous, you know that!”

  “And if she is like us?” Jake asked.

  “She’ll certainly know what you are.” Nate looked at Matt. “She would have picked it up the moment she touched you. It may have even caused the fit.”

  “Shit.” Matt ran a hand through his hair. “So what do we do?”

  “There is something else,” Nate said quietly, his fingers plucked nervously at the carpet beside him.

  “What?” Matt leant forward to get a closer look at his face.

  Nate shoved his glasses up his nose. “When she fitted… when she went down,” he hesitated, gathering his thoughts. “It was scary, I guess, but there was more. I had to get to her, to protect her, it was such an odd feeling. She’s a complete stranger, I don’t trust her, but for those few minutes I would have fought anyone who tried to make me put her down. And you”—he looked up at Matt—“reached out to heal her.”

  “No!” Matt shook his head immediately, then closed his eyes as he realised that what Nate said was right. “Yes, yes. I just knew I had to touch her, to take away her pain,” he admitted. “I didn’t even think. Not even after, not till you just said it. I would have taken her pain and exposed us all, and it didn’t even register.”

  “Fuck,” Josh hissed, and completely in sync, he and his twin turned to face them properly. They leant forward, resting their arms along their thighs. “Do you mean that she’s— What are we saying here?”

  “We’re saying nothing,” Nate said and stood up quickly, shoving his hands into the back pockets of his black jeans. “The whole thing could be a huge coincidence. Maybe I didn’t hear her say my name. I was so sure though.” He let out a huge sigh. “She may just have had a fit due to whatever… I don’t know. Maybe it just shocked me into being protective. And Matt,” he looked at him, “you feel that kind of thing more than us ‘cause of your power. Shit, if we let you, you’d heal every tiny cut we get.”

  Matt shrugged, rolling his shoulders as he sat back in the chair. “Maybe. I wasn’t thinking, that much is clear. I don’t know though. I’ve never tried to heal you when others are around.”

  “No, but let’s face it, we’ve never witnessed an epileptic fit before. It was quite shocking.” Nate sighed again, running a hand through his hair. Strands dropped into his eyes, but he didn’t move them.

  “So, do we go to Jonas?” Josh asked, once again looking at Nate.

  “With what?” Matt threw his hands out. “She had a fit, which may or may not be a regular occurrence for her. We know jack shit about her. And not a lot about what happened. What exactly are we going to say to him?”

  “Good point. So we watch her,” Jake said. “Get to know her.”

  “I think it’s the best plan so far,” Nate agreed. “It might be nothing, it might be something, but I don’t trust her yet until I know she’s not like us.”

  “And Jonas?” asked Matt. He clasped his hands together and leant forward on the chair.

  “Let’s play it by ear; see what we find out about her,” Nate said. They nodded in agreement, and he was satisfied with that. They would go to Jonas if it was warranted, but there really was no point in going to see him with the little information they had at the moment.

  It was several days since they’d seen Jonas last. Now that school had started up again, he would be busy teaching in the local primary. They’d first met Jonas when they were seven and he was teaching their year. Matt found a bird in the playground with a broken wing. Josh and Jake had already discovered they could control animals, so they’d settled the bird quietly in Nate’s hands. Matt stroked his fingers over the wing, healing it and giving himself a nosebleed in the process. They hadn’t known that Jonas was watching them.

  He’d taken them to one side and asked them how they’d done it. Nate stepped up at first, denying everything with the others backing him up. Until Jonas held up a hand, palm upwards, a blue flame dancing on his skin.

  It was the first indication that they weren’t alone. That the things they could do weren’t as freakish as they always thought. Nate was particularly relieved as his own power lay within fire, just like Jonas. Josh and Jake had the ability to calm and direct animals in any manner they wished. Matt was the healer. He could just touch one of them, and whatever scrape or bruise they had, he could fix it. But Matt’s power came with a boundary. The bigger the wound or illness he had to fix, the more it took out of him. When they were about eight, Nate fell from a tree and broke his arm. Matt hadn’t thought twice about it and healed Nate immediately, but it gave him a chronic nosebleed and made him physically sick. Jonas explained that his gift was rare and came with a price.

  Jonas also explained other things too. Things they wouldn’t hav
e believed if it hadn’t been for their own undeniable abilities. Things that they thought were fairy-tales, he explained were real. He was the one who gave them a name to what they were. They were Fae, Fairies; things that shouldn’t exist but did.

  Jonas explained that there were others like them. He warned them of what they already knew: that it was safer for them to keep their powers hidden from people. Society wouldn’t understand, and the potential for abuse was high. He’d also explained that just as in ordinary people there were good and bad, so it was with the Fae. So they’d kept it hidden from everyone except Jonas and never thought about meeting anyone else like them. Now it seemed there was potentially someone else.

  It just remained to be seen if she was like them, and if she was, whether she was dangerous or not.

  5

  DIFFERENT

  Lily opened her eyes and sighed heavily. Her headache was finally receding to a point where she could think again. The curtains were shut at her window, trying to keep the room as dark as possible.

  She lifted her hand to her forehead and moved the cool cloth that lay there. She vaguely remembered her mother picking her up from college and bringing her home. She didn’t always remember the events leading up to a seizure. Sometimes it was vague, hazy recollections, other times she remembered clearly. This time she could remember with clarity the events leading up to the seizure. She remembered talking to two gorgeous boys in the college canteen. They’d been teasing her, and she was fairly sure the one called Matt was flirting with her. She remembered holding out her hand for him to read her palm. The moment he’d touched her, she’d had a seizure. Usually that was the part where the colours swirled behind her eyes in a vivid psychedelic pattern. But this time was different. This time there were no colours. Instead, she'd seen images; random things shot through her brain. Flames, faces; faces she recognised as Matt and Nate. She’d seen a watermill by a river and the twins she'd met that morning. There were also faces of people she didn't recognise and places she didn't know. There was a flash of a house she didn't recognise. Nothing that made any sense to her. It felt as if she was looking through a photo album of someone she didn’t know.