by Jo Penn
But even though this was piss your pants scary, he wouldn’t run away screaming shrilly. Though that sounded like a very sensible thing to do. Nope, he’d stay right where his mate was.
“In you go. Sit and buckle in, youngun’.”
Fale did as instructed. He was in the back of a large van on a bench seat that ran along the side and faced another bench seat. Mac climbed in and sat beside him, Fale so relieved he hugged his human tight.
“I’m sorry you’ve been caught up in this, Fale,” Mac murmured, buckling in when Fale released him.
“I understood that when I left home, I was going to have to deal with different situations, like wearing shoes instead of beach sandals.” Fale held up a foot and showed off his new trainers. “They’re more comfortable than I thought.”
Mac smiled slowly and, surprising the shit out of Fale, leaned close and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. “You’re something else, Fale.”
“I am?” Fale’s brows shot right up, and he touched the spot Macario had kissed. “Wow. In a good way, right?” Mac grinned and nodded. “So are you.”
Chuckling, Mac pulled out his phone and surprised Fale again by snapping a photo of him. “And you take a good picture, too, sweetie.”
Sweetie. Mac had called him that three times now and Fale really liked it. He was sappy like that and didn’t care. He liked being sentimental and crying at disasters on the news. And he loved even more that his mate sat close and called him an endearment.
“Can I take a photo of you and send it to my family? I’ve already told them all about you, and I know they’d love to have a picture.”
“Sure. We’ll have to take a trip to your beautiful island so I can meet them all.”
Oh wow, Macario just melted Fale’s heart. Nothing ever seemed too much for Mac, and though he was a touch skittish with the whole mateship and commitment issue, he hadn’t backed away or rejected Fale. Instead, Mac was right here with him battling a horrid disease that was taking his body apart, and doing things for his brother Jayce so the siren didn’t feel too confined. He was also taking the time to get to know Fale, actually know him and take an interest in what he did.
Plus there was the kissing. Yeah, Fale had really liked the kissing. Maybe when they got home, he could get Mac into bed, and they could do some more kissing…and whatever else came up they could take in hand and finish what they started back in the car.
“I would love that, mate.” Fale stared at Mac in wonder and had to thank the Fates a million times for giving him this particular man.
There were a few light brown freckles across Mac’s cheeks, he had a small dimple in his right cheek, his eyes were a sky blue and really stood out against his reddish orange hair and pale complexion. Most of the Aston’s had golden hair and golden eyes, though Eber had whiter blond than golden hair, yet you could tell they were all related. They had the sharp chin, the high sculptured cheekbones and angular shaped faces. And they had a similar nose. Straight and a bit aristocratic Fale felt. In all, his mate was pretty frigging hot.
Mac tapped Fale’s nose. “I didn’t know you could take a photo with your eyes, sweetie.”
“Actually, I sort of can.” Fale nodded quickly at Mac’s surprised look. “It’s part of my talent, or gift as other paranormals term it. I speed read and have an almost perfect recall, so a photographic memory. My trainer says that once I have my gift fully, I’ll have a hundred percent recall.”
“You have a very impressive gift.”
“It is, in its way. I like yours. Lacy said it’s distort, but what can you actually do?”
Mac’s expression turned thoughtful, then he unclicked his and Fale’s belt and moved them to the van doors that were open a small amount. He slowly opened one of the doors more and pointed.
“You see that short guy over there with all the huge wolf shifter’s surrounding him?”
“The one with curly light brown hair?” Fale asked.
“Yes. That’s Alpha mate Tristian. He’s a sacred sun bear shifter. Right now he is using his gift of entrancement to stop the Hunters who attacked us. He’ll draw them out of hiding, make them disarm and lay on the ground. Vicus helps train Tris, so I’ve met him a few times. He’s getting stronger, can make creatures and humans do whatever he wants these days. But beneath the grumpy attitude, his moral compass points only toward good. He’ll only hurt someone to defend another, probably wouldn’t even hurt anyone to save himself. But what he does is send others into a trance like state. They can’t fight it for long. By doing this, he stops so many from being killed and injured, Alliance, Renegades, innocents, and Hunters.
“Now what my gift does is a touch similar to entrancing. I distort reality, confuse the mind, what creatures see and feel. If someone is in pain, I distort it, and they don’t suffer. If they are about to attack, I distort their perception, and they’re instantly lost, confused as to what they’re doing. Look at Eber fighting that Hunter. Tristian’s got most Hunters on the ground but there a few stragglers.”
As Fale watched, the person Eber was fighting suddenly clutched his head and spun around, eyes wide and confused. Eber kicked the Hunter over and cuffed him.
“Holy magic! You did that so easily—you did all three of them?” He stared at another creature further away who had been waving a gun at a large wolf shifter. The Hunter had dropped the gun and was staring at his wiggling fingers, mesmerized. A female Hunter sat on the ground plucking at grass. “Why are they all doing different things?”
“If I concentrate and channel my gift, I can give them each a different visual of reality. It’s clicking a switch in their minds, though I don’t have a real mind gift, it does interfere with the minds ability to think rationally.”
“Oh, that is so much better than my speed reading! Can you make them see bunnies?”
“Yes, and if I’m mean, a T-Rex about to devour them.”
“That’s so cool!”
“Not cool!” Eber snarled, throwing open the door. “You do not use your gift, Macario!”
Fale felt himself go pale. “Oh no. Lacy said it was probably your gift that was causing your body to be thrown out of sync and let the cancer in. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. How about thanks, E?” Mac smirked at his brother, moving himself and Fale back to the bench seat.
“How about a boot up your ass and an hour being poked and prodded by Layke.” Eber sat across from them, glowering.
“Nah, I’ll pass.” Mac grinned and buckled himself back in, Fale doing the same. “So what’s next? Go root out a bunch of Renegades in their nest?”
Eber continued to glower as more creatures climbed into the car. Fale knew his eyes were wide, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Gargoyles were huge! And once they were in the back of the van the space that had felt vast before now was a little overcrowded.
So to compensate for the lack of room, Fale squished himself up against his mate, probably more than necessary. He also slipped his hand into Mac’s and held on tight.
“Photo!” Fale exclaimed as the van started.
“What’s that, youngun?” one of the gargoyles asked.
Flushing, Fale leaned most of his body against Mac. “I want a photo of Mac to send to my parents.”
“Fale, beside Bruno is Anton, then Dimitri, and Berk. They are all Eber’s cousins. Guys, this is Fale Taucher—”
“Macario’s mate,” Fale said loudly and gave his Mac a pointed look. “Don’t forget to say that, it’s important.”
There was laughter in the back of the van as they drove over bumps in the road. As the laughter was coming from gargoyles, the noise was ear shattering at best, Fale wincing and rubbing his ear. One ear. He wasn’t letting go of Mac’s hand to rub his other ear.
“Got yourself a good one there, Macario.” Anton grinned. “Welcome to the family, Fale.”
“Thanks!” Fale smiled happily.
Chapter Eight
“Do you like ice cream?”
/> “Ah, it’s okay. Why?”
“I make the best guava ice cream and a pretty good coconut one, too. I’ll make them for you.” Fale rested his chin on the palm of his hand, his elbow on the bench beside Mac. “Lacy told me you make delicious herb bread. I like to cook, we could do it together.”
“I’d like that.” Mac gazed into his mate’s lovely dark eyes. “What do you like to do besides massaging and speed reading, Fale?”
Dropped off at the Aston Estate twenty minutes ago, Mac was taken into Layke’s clinic to be checked over. He’d protested, but after using his gift, Layke insisted, and River backed him up. So here he was in only his jeans with Fale seated beside him on a high stool the fae kept spinning around. Fale was just so happy. Sure, he was sensitive and felt sad about things, but his nature was to be cheerful and happy.
“Surfing, swimming, making deserts, hiking. What do you like to do?”
“Snowboarding, hiking, dirt bike riding, going out to dinner. Perhaps you could teach me to surf.”
Fale nodded enthusiastically, grinning widely. “Yep. And you can teach me to snowboard. What are the tattoos? They have a meaning, don’t they?” Fale traced a finger over a tattoo on Mac’s stomach.
“Magic. Demon. Witch. Wizard. Gargoyle.” Mac tiredly closed his eyes, though he’d never fall asleep with Fale’s fingers tracing his tattoos that covered him from collar bone to pubic area. “My family covered myself, Zander, Layke, Blazh, and Jayce in tattoos. Vicus, Eber, Vinn, River, and Lacy have them, also.”
“Protection?”
“Hmm. Stop creatures from locating us. Sensing us if they mean harm and for protection.”
“Wow. But they didn’t save you today.”
“Well, I guess you can look at it this way. We can’t stop people from seeing us, so the Hunter’s would have eyes everywhere. They see who leaves the Estate, see where we go. The same can be said for the Alliance. We have eyes everywhere, that’s why help came quickly. The Hunters are trying to get the advantage and have come up with some pretty impressive, and offensive, weapons. While I’m covered in magical tattoos, they can only do so much. Warding others off won’t work for everyone. If someone really wants to harm me, they’ll find a way. But the amount of times the tattoos have helped is well worth having them. My family will probably want to put one on you, and Lacy will do a spell to repel others.”
“A tattoo? Cool! I wanted to get some, but my parents said no, aside from my traditional one. I love yours. I can’t imagine Blazh having tattoos! He looks so clean cut.”
Mac chuckled. “Oh, my little brother is very clean cut and a smart little college student. He has a couple of small tattoos, and one on his ass stating he belongs to the Aston’s. Jayce does, too.”
Fale was wide-eyed over that. “For real? That’s so funny! Oh shit, is it that really complex one with the A in the center?”
“Yep, that’s the one.”
“You have one too! It’s like, what do they call them?”
“A tramp stamp,” Mac grumbled.
While Fale had a good laugh over that, Mac reminded his mate that he’d end up with one, too, which just had Fale grinning and nodding. After another hour they’d talked about movie preferences, family antics, and Mac’s illness. In the end, it hadn’t been such a strain to speak of the cancer with Fale. Mac was expecting hundreds of medical questions and a lot of “why couldn’t the doctors do this and that,” but Fale asked how Mac was feeling and was soothing and comforting. The young fae made it okay to talk about.
“I’ve never had a sundae in my bed before,” Mac murmured tiredly.
“We could watch that comedians live show. They’re awesome funny, and after today, I could use a good laugh.”
Mac smiled, squeezing Fale’s hand. “Thanks, sweetie.”
“I’m so happy you’re my mate, Mac. Most creatures just think I’m young, a little high strung and overly excitable, and apparently, too sensitive.” Fale blushed. “You let me be me.”
“I like who you are.”
“Do you think you could love me?”
Mac opened his eyes and smiled softly. “Yes. Definitely.”
Fale vibrated happily, beaming at Mac. “Great. I’m going to massage you now, and you go to sleep, okay? Layke said you’d be tired and needed to rest after using your gift.”
Mac didn’t argue. He was tired, comfortable, and Layke had given him something for the headache that came on during the van ride home. But mostly, he was happy.
* * * *
“His jokes suck!” Mac exclaimed. “No way is he better than the comedian just on.”
Fale licked ice cream off his spoon. “The comedian before was bo-ring. Who wants to hear Mommy jokes all the time? I mean, I like a Mommy joke as much as the next person, I have a Mom, but he could have stuck some Dad jokes and kid jokes in there. I think he’s obsessed with mothers. He probably only dates women with children and has mommy issues.”
Fale wondered if he dripped ice cream and chocolate over his mate whether Mac would let him lick it off. He’d really like that. Maybe if he just kissed Mac right on the lips, he’d get the hint that Fale was horny as hell and really needed to jump the man.
“Fale?” Mac’s brows were raised, and he was looking at Fale quizzically. “What are you thinking about?”
“Oh…dribbling ice cream and chocolate all over you and lickingitoff!” he said, rushing the end and worrying his bottom lip. “It was just a thought.”
Mac didn’t say anything. Fale watched anxiously, thinking he’d ruined their night and wondering how he could backtrack. They’d been getting along so well, he’d thought Mac even more than liked him, but now he’d gone and put his foot in his mouth and Mac would want him gone from his bed.
But Mac didn’t give Fale the boot. After putting down his barely eaten ice cream sundae, Mac turned, sitting up and faced Fale.
“I don’t like ice cream.”
“What?” Fale jerked, unsure he’d heard right. “Umm, what?”
“I don’t even like strawberry ice cream.”
“You don’t? But you said it’s okay, and you let me make you a chocolate sundae.”
“Yes, because I like you and this is what you wanted to do. You also make ice cream.”
“Okay…” This was weird. “Are you saying you only had the ice cream because you know I like it?”
“Yep. I thought that’s what mates did, right? I’ve seen Ran eat that Gods awful zucchini soup Deakin makes just because they’re mates. And he wears what Deakin tells him, even Vicus does on occasion.” Mac shrugged. “I’m not sure if I should do that or not, but I don’t really like ice cream. It goes back to my childhood when River got this freaking huge ice cream cake for my birthday, and I ate too much on a dare from Vinn and Eber. I was sick for two days and haven’t been able to eat ice cream and drink a glass of milk since.”
Fale really did try not to laugh, he even bit his lip, but he couldn’t help it. He laughed.
“Yeah, it’s funny now, but I won’t be eating that fabulous ice cream you make. I’m sure everyone else will appreciate it, though.”
Fale nodded. “You’ll change your mind when you try my fabulous guava ice cream.”
“Not a chance.”
“But that’s what mates do for each other.” Fale put on a pout.
Mac smiled and sighed. “Fine, fine, I’ll try it.”
Adorable. Mac was adorable. Fale was so glad his mate had come clean about the ice cream. Mac’s intentions had been admirable, but Fale much preferred complete honesty.
“So what else don’t you like?”
“Honey.”
“Honey! But how can you not like honey?”
“Because Lacy used to give me medicine and then a spoonful of honey. So now it just means I’m sick.”
“Oh, that’s so sad.” Fale chuckled. “What if I dribbled ice cream and honey all over you and licked it off?”
“Well, I hate being sticky, like, really can’t stand
it.”
“Oh, man, but what about sex? That can get hot, sweaty, and sticky.” Fale grinned.
“True, sex can, but I can’t have it.”
All humor slipped from Fale. “You can’t have sex? Why?”
“Because my body isn’t working properly. But,” Mac took the bowl of ice cream sundae from Fale’s hand and placed it on the side table beside his then turned back and, with a very smooth move, had Fale flat on his back beneath him.
Fale squeaked. “But?”
“But I’d be happy to lick you all over.”
“Oh yes, please,” Fale sighed happily. “And maybe your bits will work with me.”
“We can hope, sweetie.”
Oh holy magic, Fale hoped so, too!
“Umm, I know you’re not ready to be claimed and bond, so if you wanna…you know? Fool around. Fuck. That’d be awesome.”
Mac studied Fale a moment. “You want to claim and bond.”
“Oh yeah, so much.” Fale smiled at his mate, stroking Mac’s chest. “But I also want you more than anything in the entire universe. I want every moment with you, Mac, not just claiming and bonding. Everything between mates, everything we share is special.”
Mac didn’t say anything. He stroked Fale’s cheek and leaning down, took Fale’s lips softly, exploratory, erotically.
Mac didn’t push his way in, he tempted and teased, and his hands touched Fale everywhere all at once. They kissed for the longest time, Fale hard and aching but he never wanted Mac’s lips to leave his, until those wonderful lips trailed down his chin, nibbled his jaw then moved onto his neck and sucked.
“Oh Lord, yes…” he groaned.
Mac didn’t stop, thank the heavens. The man tugged Fale’s top off, very quickly followed by his own, then Fale’s pants and underwear. All the while his mate never stopped kissing, licking, and nibbling his way down Fale’s body and his hands touched, caressed, and cupped every inch of him. When his balls were fondled and his cock taken into a warm, wet mouth, Fale cried out and jutted his hips, needing a little pressure and suction. Mac accommodated, sucking Fale’s cock deep into his mouth, his tongue rubbing against nerve endings Fale never even knew were there.
