Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 2)

by Caroline Peckham

  I rolled my eyes. “Never mind.” I tossed him a salute and headed for the door.

  “Leave us alone, Mindy,” Leon said and I gasped as a small stampede took place.

  “I left first!” one girl cried triumphantly as she reached the corridor before the others.

  “Well I was second!” another called and I gaped at them as they hurried away as fast as possible, the door swinging closed behind the last one to leave.

  It was weirdly quiet in the wake of the Mindys and I shifted awkwardly as I was left standing before Leon.

  “Sooo, you were saying…” Leon asked hopefully.

  I pursed my lips as I regarded him. I was here to apologise but he should too. The way he’d gone at Eugene was uncalled for.

  “I was saying I’m sorry for being so hard on you,” I admitted. “But I stand by the point that you went too far.”

  “I know,” he sighed, pushing himself to his feet and closing in on me slowly.

  I tipped my head back to look up at him as he took measured steps towards me. “You do?”

  “Yeah…it’s my Order. We’re like super laid back, love to chill and just take life easy like ninety nine percent of the time. But if we enter the hunt we just kinda snap.” He shrugged. “It doesn’t happen very often but if I lose it, I go full blown Lion.”

  “Full blown asshole more like,” I teased.

  “I felt like a sack of shit for upsetting you and fucking it all up,” he admitted as he came to a halt a few inches away from me and the heat of his Element washed around me. “When I got back here, Mindy noticed I was feeling down and called my pride to come cheer me up. They went code blue.”

  I snorted a laugh. “So if things don’t go your way, you have to console yourself with foot rubs and being hand fed?”

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “It usually works, too. But this time nothing made me feel better until I heard your voice.”

  “You care way too much about my opinion of you,” I teased.

  “I do,” he agreed. “Am I forgiven then?”

  “Will you leave Eugene alone?” I clarified.

  “Sure. That kid’s not a threat to me. But I won’t put up with him hiding in bushes to jerk off over you.”

  “Ew. I don’t want that mental image, thanks. And I don’t think you have to worry, I told him I don’t need another Source but I said he can hang out with me sometimes if he wants to so I think he’ll either approach me publicly or not at all now.”

  “Good.” Leon reached out to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear and I couldn’t help but smile at him.

  “So I guess my idea of doing something nice for you was pretty pointless then,” I said, looking around at his room which was now completely clean and tidy. The food and drink that had been gathered for him was laid out on his desk. In short there wasn’t one conceivable thing that he needed doing for him.

  Leon shrugged one shoulder then his eyes sparked with some idea. “Well…there might be one thing you could do for me that the Mindys don’t,” he began hesitantly.

  “What?” I asked. Wondering if he was about to ask for some kind of sexual favour. That wasn’t going to happen if he did. Besides, I’d seen the way his Mindys looked at him and I knew they’d be more than willing to do that kind of thing for him if he wanted them to. My gut twisted uncomfortably at that idea and I almost asked him if he was screwing any of them, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear the answer.

  He seemed nervous as he went on and my interest piqued. “You could…maybe…brush my hair.”

  I snorted a laugh. “What? Why won’t the Mindys brush your hair?”

  A low growl rumbled in Leon’s chest. “Because that’s a big deal in my Order,” he explained, a touch of vulnerability lighting his gaze. “Male Lions don’t just let anyone paw at their mane. In fact, I’ve never wanted a girl to do it before now.”

  “Really?” I asked, feeling weirdly flattered by the odd request.

  “You don’t have to,” he said quickly, like he wasn’t sure he should have said it.

  “Do you really want me to?” I asked.

  A slow smile pulled at Leon’s lips and his eyes darkened with desire. “Yeah, little monster, I think I do.”

  “Okay,” I agreed, feeling like I was actually saying yes to something much more important than just brushing his hair.

  Leon’s smile widened and he caught my hand, tugging me after him as he climbed up onto his bunk. He turned on the TV hanging from the wall at the foot of it and switched

  on FaeFlix, setting a movie running without giving much attention to what he’d selected.

  I arranged his super fluffed pillows behind me against the head of his bed as I sat up and Leon looked at me seriously as he handed over a hairbrush.

  “Are you sure about this, Leo?” I asked because it was beginning to feel like a really big deal and I wasn’t sure why but butterflies were writhing in my stomach.

  “Yeah. If you are?”

  I leaned forward and gently touched my lips to his. A deep rumble sounded in his chest, almost like a purr.

  “Come on then,” I urged, leaning back and crossing my legs so that he could lay his head in my lap.

  Leon turned over and lay down, his head landing between my thighs and I drew his long, golden hair out from beneath him.

  I lay the brush on his scalp and gently ran it all the way down the length of his hair. Leon closed his eyes and groaned with pleasure and I smiled to myself as I repeated the process.

  Every time I ran the brush through his hair, his back arched a little and he shifted in my lap, a deep purr coming from him.

  “By the stars, you’ve got no idea how fucking good that feels,” he groaned as I kept going.

  “Shh,” I teased. “I’m trying to watch the movie.”

  Though in all honesty, my gaze was fixed on him as he lay before me and I was absorbing the pleasure each brush stroke gave him as if it was my own.

  “Okay,” he murmured. “Anything you want. So long as you don’t stop any time soon.”

  I bit my lip as I ran the brush through his hair again. I probably should have been protesting against doing this for much longer but for some strange reason, I really liked doing it and I was quite happy to stay here for the rest of the evening if he wanted me to.

  I lay on a bench in the gym on Saturday morning, pressing three hundred and sixty pounds of weight while sweat dripped across my scarred chest. I was the strongest motherfucker in the damn school because pain didn’t stop me. I pushed beyond it until my body was forced to adapt. It all came down to mindset. And I had a lot of fucking experience holding out through pain thanks to Mariella.

  With a grunt of effort, I racked the bar and wiped the sweat from my eyes with a towel. When I removed it from my face, I found a lavender haired treat standing over me with a hungry look on her face. Elise unashamedly raked her eyes down my body and I cocked my head.

  “Friends don’t check out their friends,” I said dryly and she smirked.

  “I think I recall it was you and Dante who made the rules on that deal. So I am sure as hell gonna look if the fancy takes me.”

  “Why don’t you look a little closer then? You could get down here and let me see how many times I can bench press you?”

  “Because you’re a sweaty Betty right now. So ew.” She backed up, her face saying she was anything but repulsed by me as I stood and towered above her. I snatched up my protein shake and gulped down several mouthfuls. While I was drinking the bland mixture, I noticed she had hiking boots on, a black rain mac and a pack slung over her shoulder.

  “What’s with the outfit?” I frowned.

  “We’re going for a walk,” she announced and I grunted, heading past her in the direction of the shower rooms.

  “What would be the point in that exactly?”

  “To hang out,” she answered as she hurried along behind me.

  “I told you how I feel about hanging out.” Several of the Brotherhood were throw
ing us curious looks and Bryce glared at Elise in a way that made me want to break his jaw.

  “Okay well I’ll just wait out here while you shower,” Elise said airily.

  I came to an abrupt halt and she walked straight into my back. I turned around as she pouted and I gave her a curious look, trying to work out her motivation for wanting to do this. But I came up empty.

  She smiled playfully and something inside me melted like hot glue seeping between the cracks of my being. If Elise Callisto wanted to spend time with me, I’d be a fucking idiot to refuse, though I still didn’t really understand the point of what she had planned.

  I gave her a stiff nod, then walked into the shower room and tugged off my shorts. It wasn’t long before I was washed and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, pulling on my leather jacket and checking my Atlas. I’d started my workout at the crack of dawn to get every moment possible out of the lunar allotted time and now my shitting horoscope had arrived, demanding I read it.

  I tapped on it, skimming through it to check if there were any warning signs of an Oscura attack today, but instead find myself grumbling at what it alluded to.

  Good morning Capricorn.

  The stars have spoken about your day!

  With the planets firmly in your favour, expect to have a great day, although not in the way you might predict. Though your mind is focused on work matters, your heart will drift elsewhere, causing you to forget about your upcoming plans. Today is a day of rest, peace, and of learning to embrace the tingling in your soul which will point you in the right direction.

  I gripped my Atlas with a growl. I did not fucking tingle. And if my horoscope suggested it one more time, I was going to head to the horometer in the Capella Observatory and break it into a thousand pieces.

  A message came in on my Atlas, taking my mind off of the stars prediction for my day.

  Scarlett:

  Any word on the delivery yet?

  I frowned, tapping out a quick reply.

  Ryder:

  The Kiplings want more time. I’m putting pressure on them. I’ll update you soon.

  Scarlett:

  We’re only going to get one shot at this. If they can’t get it, maybe we should consider other options?

  Ryder:

  They’ll get it. Wait for my confirmation.

  Scarlett:

  Are you sure you want to do it this way?

  I still don’t understand why you changed your mind.

  Ryder:

  He’s the only one who can keep balance right now and I don’t want to bring a war on our people.

  I stuffed my Atlas away, pushing business from my mind as I headed back out to find Elise.

  She was sitting on a thigh press machine chewing gum and looking like a special brand of crazy I wanted to own the copyright to. I whistled to catch her attention and she looked up, frowning at me as she flipped her legs over the side of the machine then slung her bag over her shoulder and walked straight out of the gym.

  What the fuck?

  I hounded after her, finding her outside Voyant Sports Hall where a persistent drizzle hung in the air.

  “Why’d you walk out on me?” My brows pinched together. I was never going to work this girl out.

  “Because you whistled for me like a dog.” She folded her arms.

  “Oh.” I thought on that. “And that’s….not okay?”

  “No Ryder. It isn’t. It’s fucking rude.”

  “Right,” I said. “So you don’t wanna go for a walk with me now?”

  Her hard expression broke into a bright smile. “Of course I do, silly!” She grabbed my hand and towed me in the direction of the Empyrean Fields.

  “It’s raining,” I noted.

  “And?”

  “And it’s raining.” I shrugged.

  “Great. Thanks for the world’s most basic weather report, but maybe you should consider other career options.” She mock saluted me and I smiled while she wasn’t looking. The second she turned to look at me again, my face was set in its usual steely mask.

  Her hand stayed firmly in mine and it felt so fucking good, I bet I could have come just from this touch alone. Which was insanity personified because I needed pain to come not fucking hand holding. That wasn’t my style at all. And yet I was still doing it, wasn’t I? Just holding it. Then she threaded her fingers between mine and my heart stopped pumping blood for a full second.

  Why does she make me feel like my body is about to give up on me? I work my ass off in the gym not to be weak and she makes my heart stop just by holding my damn hand. Maybe I need to up my protein doses.

  We wandered into The Iron Wood and Elise kept slowing me down as I upped my pace.

  “Why are you dawdling?” I glanced over my shoulder as I tried to tug her along again. Her head was tilted to look up at the thick canopy above and she breathed in the fresh piney air with a smile. Rain dotted her cheeks and clung to her hair, making her look like some mythical fairy creature I wanted to capture in a jar.

  “There’s no rush. Just take it all in,” she sighed, looking to me with a teasing grin like she knew I didn’t know what the hell she meant by that.

  “Right. I’m taking in that brown tree stump over there,” I said sardonically. “And that brown puddle there and that brown leaf over there.”

  “You’re so uptight, Ryder. Don’t you ever just enjoy stuff?”

  “I enjoy you,” I said, immediately cursing myself for letting the words slip out, but her eyes brightened like they’d made her happy. And that felt good. Too fucking good.

  “Well okay, I’ll gaze at the forest and you can gaze at me.” She giggled and I smirked, figuring that sounded like a decent compromise.

  We walked on toward Tempest Lake and out onto the pebbly shore that ringed it. Elise released my hand, taking the lead as we picked our way across the stony beach.

  “How far are we going?” I called as she continued on and on.

  “As far as we want to go!” she called back with a laugh.

  I smiled again and let it sit there on my face while her back was to me. Smiling wasn’t something I allowed myself to indulge in often, but around her it was difficult not to give in to it. Not that I’d let her see when I could help it. Smiling was a weakness. And if Elise realised I had those, she’d probably cast me aside. I had a reputation and that was what most girls were attracted to about me. Because in all honesty, I didn’t have much else going for me when you dug beneath that. So whatever Elise liked about me, it probably had to with the arrogant bravado I wore like armour.

  I followed her around the lake until we’d made it all the way to the other side. The clouds floated low across the water, hiding the view behind us, cocooning us in a world of our own. From here, it looked like the academy didn’t even exist. Just the clouds, the forest, the lake and us. Which seemed like perfection to me.

  She moved into the trees and I headed after her as she began to climb a steep hill higher into the woods. I soon caught her up and shot her a glance, her eyes sparkling with life.

  “I’ve got something for you at the top of this hill,” she said with a grin.

  My ears perked up at that and I quickened my pace, her laughter following me as she jogged to catch up. With her Vampire speed she could have sped to the top of the hill and waited for me, but for some reason she didn’t, labouring on at my side.

  We finally broke through the trees at the top, entering a clearing that circled back onto a wide ledge which overlooked the lake. A gigantic oak tree stood at the edge, offering us shelter from the rain as we moved under it. Elise dropped her bag, taking out a large blanket and placing it down on the ground before dropping onto it and patting the space beside her.

  I eyed her on that rug with my heart thumping. We were alone out here and she was all mine.

  “You either trust me a lot, Elise, or you’re not as clever as I thought.” I moved to sit beside her and my arm brushed against hers.

  “Why’s that?” She arch
ed a brow, placing her bag in front of her.

  “How many people in that school do you think would want to be alone with me up here?”

  She blew out a breath of laughter, reaching out to brush her thumb across my cheek and painting a line of heat beneath it. “You don’t scare me. Besides, I’m fast. You’d have to catch me if you wanted to hurt me.”

  “I do want to hurt you though,” I said in a gravelly tone. “I just happen to want to make you come at the same time.”

  Her lips parted and her pupils dilated. “Those don’t sound like the words of a friend.” A blush lined her cheeks and my mouth hooked up at the corner.

  “Well I’m learning on the job seeing as you’re my first one.” I rested my head against the trunk of the oak tree and Elise frowned.

  “That’s pretty sad, Ryder.”

  I shrugged and she crawled toward me, taking something from her bag with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I brought lunch.”

  “I’ve got a protein shake in my bag,” I said dismissively.

  “Yeah, that shit needs to stay in your bag and preferably end up in the trash later on today. You’re gonna eat what I give you.”

  “I’m only agreeing to that if your pussy’s on the menu.” Not that I could actually have that if it was.

  She smacked my arm with a smirk. “Nope. Something better.”

  “Impossible,” I remarked and she shook her head at me, hiding a smile as she lifted a pot of strawberry ice cream under my nose.

  My body turned to cement as I stared at it, my throat constricting as fear held me hostage. She knew what it meant to me. She’d seen it in my vision; me sitting with my father as a boy eating that very flavour from a cone. But I wasn’t that kid anymore. In fact, I was so firmly detached from him, his memories might as well have been artificially planted in my head.

  “Elise,” I rasped as she peeled off the lid, moving onto her knees before me and brandishing the spoon like a weapon.

  “You can say no,” she said gently. “But you should say yes. What have you got to lose?”