Fever Fae Read online

  Baron’s handsome face distorted with rage.

  “How dare you, peasant girl!” he snarled, his fangs showing again. “Not even the Dawn Queen taunts me this way.”

  He zoomed toward me, a murderous glint in his eyes. I dashed, too, trying to dodge behind him so I could stab him in the ass with the umbrella’s sharp point.

  Then the peripheral of my sight caught Rowan joining the fray. The three of us zoomed and circled like racing cars on the expressway.

  The dudes were superfast, which didn’t surprise me. I was only shocked by my speed. I hadn’t known I could do this and that I could move this damn fast. But then I’d never had a challenge before. I guess I just proved myself to be the girl who could rise to the occasion.

  “Stop!” Rowan called. “This is going nowhere. Blame yourself, Baron. You misjudged and underestimated the girl.”

  After a few rounds when no one could get the upper hand, Baron gave up, ceasing his chase. As soon as he returned to where he had stood and remained motionless, I stopped, too, and shrugged.

  Rowan positioned himself between Baron and me.

  “You won’t touch that girl, Summer King,” Rowan announced. “I now declare she’s under my protection. Harm her and you’ll go to war with me, brother.”

  My mouth dropped open. They were brothers? No wonder they argued incessantly.

  “Only because she insulted me,” Baron said sullenly. “Half-brother.”

  “She has spark,” Rowan said. “I don’t see that often.”

  “She isn’t what she appeared to be,” Baron said accusingly, switching to the Fae tongue, and glaring at me with his bloodshot eyes. “No humans can do what she just did. Not even a High Fae can resist me. Whoever glamoured her used a very powerful spell or charm that even we didn’t see through it. I’ll find out who she is. If she’s the dark one, I’ll have every right to eliminate her.” He sneered at Rowan. “That’s the agreement all four courts signed, and I don’t think you’ll go to war with three courts for a girl.”

  My throat tightened with cold fear and fury. I had defied and humiliated him, and in return that asshole could falsely accuse me, then try to kill me again.

  I had made an enemy of a monster.

  Chapter 3

  What the fuck is the dark one?

  Like Darth Vader?

  But I couldn’t ask either of the Fae dudes since I still pretended to not understand their language.

  “She’s not a dark one,” Rowan snorted in his Fae tongue. “You just can’t handle having your ego bruised and your pompous ass kicked.”

  “She shot foul liquid into my eyes!” Baron said, squinting to show that he still suffered pain. “If I weren’t so powerful, that little twat would have blinded me.”

  So I was a twat now. This asshole couldn’t make up his mind.

  Rowan nodded. “She also kneed your balls. I hope you got some pleasure out of it. In the Night Court, don’t they say that pain breeds pleasure?”

  Baron hissed.

  “You started it, anyway,” Rowan continued, his voice icy again. “But if you brand her as a dark one, every bounty hunter will come after her, and I’ll hold you personally responsible. I’ll become your true enemy in every sense. So be reasonable, Baron. Does she look like an abomination to you? Look at her lovely and bright golden hair.”

  “Appearances can be deceiving,” Baron said, but he gave my hair a few glances. My sister, Safiya, was forever jealous of my hair. “What does she have to hide that she has to wear such a powerful glamour?”

  “She isn’t aware of our kind,” Rowan said. “Did you see how confused she looked when we first came to her land? All she has is attitude, which I appreciate. And to be level with you, I’m sick and tired of this whole hunting the darkfae sham.”

  “Careful, Winter King!” Baron warned.

  “Threaten me again and see how far that carries you,” Rowan said, his voice colder than frozen steel. “Your court might be diligently hunting dark and rogue Fae, but this girl isn’t one of them. Look the other way, Summer King, and tell your knights so.”

  “Still love playing the noble king?” Baron asked, hatred burning in his eyes. “That was how you stole Minerva from me. Too bad you couldn’t protect her either, and you let her die in your court.”

  “Don’t test me.” A muscle jumped on Rowan’s jaw. “I don’t plan on failing again.”

  “This girl will suffer the same fate,” Baron said vindictively. “But first thing first. Let’s find out who the fuck she is.”

  Both gorgeous “kings” snagged their intense stares on me. Two pairs of eyes, one amber and one gray, roved over me inch by inch.

  My cheeks flamed as I remembered I wore only a long, pink T-shirt that said: What’s my weakness? Six pack abs and a trail of golden hair. Maybe that’s why Baron thought he could play with me. The hem dropped a couple inches down my thighs.

  At their scrutiny, my breasts grew heavy. And before I knew it, my taut nipples pricked against the fabric.

  What the actual fuck?

  Angry and uncomfortable with this sudden hotness washing over me, I popped up the umbrella to block their view of my breasts and bare legs.

  “Do you realize it’s rude to stare?” I hissed.

  “I apologize,” Rowan said, a hint of a fancy smile tugging up his curvy lips. “I wasn’t staring, my lady. I’m merely studying you as I’m mesmerized.”

  Now I was a lady?

  “You stared at me,” I said, refusing to accept the role of lady after they’d been so rude. “You also checked out my boobs, which was super impolite.” I spun the umbrella to cover myself more and snickered. “See any better?”

  Then a sudden knowledge came over me from reading a paranormal romance book a few years back. The author classified Fae as a cruel species who, unlike humans, lacked the ability to lie. But should I trust a novel for crucial information?

  Baron grinned, inflating his sexy bad boy charm. Other chicks might dig that, but it was lost on me. I knew he wasn’t any bad boy.

  He was a monster with fangs, and he’d intended to kill me. I’d always remember that.

  “I can do more than stare,” he purred.

  “I’m sure. You tried that already.” I raised the bathroom refresher to remind him. “Many dudes, like you, thought it was cute to use the pickup line, ‘suck my cock,’ before they realized that they might not like how they were being sucked.”

  Rowan laughed. “I told you she’s got spark. Maybe you should go somewhere else to try your charm that never failed before, Baron.”

  Baron ignored his half-brother’s jabs, but he dropped his sexy grin. “What are you, girl?” he demanded instead. “Show your true self.”

  “I don’t have a whole day for this bullshit,” I said. “Get off my property.”

  A sudden searing wind whipped at me, and I yelped as the wind tore the umbrella from my hand, nearly throwing me to the ground on my ass. As soon as I steadied myself, I was busy holding onto the hem of my T-shirt and keeping it down.

  “She’s also foul-mouthed,” Baron commented with a smirk.

  “Drop the sun wind, Baron,” Rowan said. “You’ll show the lady respect.”

  Then an icy wind came out of nowhere and crashed into the hot wind. A sheet of steam rose where the two winds met, and then the wind ceased.

  My eyes went round. Holy fuck. They weren’t just nuts. They had elemental magic, too, something I never would have believed before today.

  Yet I wasn’t the only one whose eyes widened in shock.

  Both Fae stared at me, an uncomprehending expression rippling across their faces. They staggered back, putting their shaking hands in front of them, whether to reach out to me or to fend me off, I couldn’t tell.

  Baron gasped as if he suddenly had a hard time breathing. “Her scent.”

  Now they blamed my smell? They had conjured up the wind.

  Sure, I hadn’t showered yet today, and I’d been cooking eggs and serv
ing bacon, and I had sweat a lot due to fear and fighting monsters, including them. But I shouldn’t have smelled horrible enough to gag them.

  My face flushing in humiliation, I turned my nose down my left shoulder and sniffed my armpit as subtly as I could manage. I did not stink.

  “Impossible,” Rowan croaked. “I’d given up the hope a century ago. How can this happen now?”

  “How dare you attack a good American citizen with your voodoo in broad daylight?” I yelled at them. “There’ll be consequences. And I don’t smell!”

  “What’s your name, my lady?” Rowan asked, his eyes no longer icy and hard. Instead, concealed pain and longing shone in his eyes, which were more blue than gray now.

  Baron nodded at me, too, wanting to know my name as well.

  The heat in their intense gazes threatened to combust me. A trace of gentle air current swept by me, twirling my hair and caressing my skin. A complex scent assaulted my nostrils—summer sunlight shining through rain, honeydews in the frost, sandalwood and sex. The intoxicating scent stole my breath and lit all my nerve endings on fire, making me instantly and embarrassingly horny.

  I’d never felt such unholy lust for anyone before. Not for my good-looking boyfriend whom I left behind at Columbia University. Not even for the quarterback of the high school football team—the hottest boy I’d ever met.

  Yet now I was vomiting lust, eyeing the two fanged monsters in front of me like they were the most delicious cake.

  I stalked toward them, my hips swinging, eager and desperate to get my hands on them. I’d slide my wanton fingers down Rowan’s cut chest to his hard stomach, then slip further down. After I had some fun with him, I’d try his brother. I’d take them both.

  Judging from the devouring heat in their heavily lidded eyes, I was confident they desired me just as much.

  “Evie!” Fawn’s calling through the broken window in the kitchen reached me, a swirl of cool air chasing away the excessive heat in my mind.

  Fawn, my innocent, defenseless sister. I had a family to protect.

  I forced myself to halt, but my body wanted to keep going. It craved the beautiful monsters more than anything. It answered their mating call like hearing a siren song. Their scent and desire flowed in my veins like liquid fire.

  Just let me taste them a little, and then I’ll stop.

  My will said no, and my fingernails dug into my palms until they bled. Pain lanced through me, cutting a path to my lust-addled mind and finally cleared the rest of the haze. I looked at the males and the curved alley and the sky behind them and swallowed. I hadn’t thrown myself at them and performed whatever they wanted me to. Relief flooded me that I’d stopped myself before it was too late.

  Rowan and Baron stepped toward me with their arms open, insane hunger lighting like fire in their lust-filled eyes.

  “Stop!” I shouted, lifting my refresher and spraying in their direction.

  They blinked as if they just woke up, and paused their advance. Yet they still leaned forward, eager to pounce.

  “What the fuck, dudes?” I yelled at them, mimicking how the street gangs talked to scare these two away. “What did you do to me? It’s uncool.” My accent thickened. “You fuck with me again, I’ll fuck you up.” I shot two fingers toward the level of their eyes.

  “I think you fucked us up already,” Rowan said grimly, his eyes remaining bright with a trace of a red ring around his irises. A puff of icy steam escaped his lips as he exhaled.

  Damn his kissable lips. I wanted to tangle my fingers in the silky, thick mane of his hair and drag him down toward me, so I could lick them like the goddamn forbidden fruit—

  I ripped my gaze away from his mouth.

  “Normal people don’t do that, dude,” I murmured over his confused look. “It’s summer. You shouldn’t feel that cold. Your trench coat is also out of season.”

  An understanding flashed by his eyes, easing off the haze of lust in them.

  “I’m from the Winter realm, my lady,” Rowan said. “I can’t change my nature anymore than my heritage. However, to please you, I’ll put up the glamour. But then, you might see through it.”

  We were so not on the same page. We weren’t even carrying on the same conversation.

  “Sweet girl.” Baron’s voice dripped with honey as he put on one of the most striking smiles a male could do. If I hadn’t seen his vicious side not so long ago, I’d have bought his new persona.

  “I’m not sweet,” I said before he could go on. “You should not pretend, either, Scarlet-shirt. You won’t get a damn thing from me with your sweet talk.”

  Rowan chuckled in approval. “You’ll fit in with the Winter Court just fine, my lady.”

  “Like hell she’ll go with you.” Baron pulled his lips back and snarled at his half-brother.

  I stepped back in alarm. Were they going to kidnap me?

  When Baron turned to gaze at me again, he was all sugary as he prowled closer. “I just want to talk to you undisturbed.”

  “Stop!” I ordered, waving my refresher in front of me. “Keep your distance.”

  Rowan darted into Baron’s path. “She said stop, and you’ll keep your distance. I won’t let you screw this up.”

  The air current still circulated between the three of us, and both Fae sniffed again as if they couldn’t get enough of the scent in the wind.

  Lust coursed in me again, making me think of their cocks. I pictured myself writhing beneath Rowan while he pounded between my thighs, his hard muscles flexing with the movements. Or I could ride Baron while Rowan drove into me from behind.

  I’d never had two dudes at once. It could be fun, right?

  Liquid fire inside me burned hotter, licking my cunt. And I had no armor against my dirty thoughts.

  Perhaps it was something in the air that stripped off my control. I was never this outrageous.

  I held my breath. If I stopped taking in their intoxicating scent that must have pumped my sexual drive, then maybe I wouldn’t want to fuck them so badly.

  The kitchen door behind me clanged open, followed by a rush of footsteps.

  I shifted my pose to face the Fae sideways and watched in horror as my siblings poured out of the house.

  They were my vulnerability. They should never have come out to be exposed to predators.

  “Evie, where did the monster go?” Emmett asked in his lenient voice.

  “What did I say about staying inside and locking the door?” I snapped at them. My voice had never been this steely and sharp. As I turned to glare at my siblings, they cringed, even Safiya. But then she raised her chin and roamed her eyes over Baron, then Rowan, stars filling her eyes.

  My stupid, spoiled, entitled teenage sister was instantly smitten, not knowing what kind of danger she faced.

  I sighed. I couldn’t really blame her. Even I wasn’t immune to the beautiful monsters’ allure, and I was older and more experienced. I’d almost become their victim. Even now my body still hummed with lust.

  “Hi.” My sister flashed a sweet smile that she used for older good-looking boys and waved at the Fae. “I’m Safiya.”

  Baron and Rowan gave her and my other siblings a passing glance before sliding their gazes back to me, a question in their eyes.

  “Get in the house now and lock the door!” I barked in a cold voice that I’d never used on my siblings. “Including you, Safiya. Do as I said.”

  They didn’t move, still darting curious, hesitant gazes between me and the two Fae.

  “Now!” I barked. Power rippled off me.

  My siblings widened their eyes before fleeing back into the house. Someone slammed the door.

  They could hate me for being unsympathetic and rough, but I’d do anything to keep them safe. That was the silent vow I made to my parents when I returned home, put aside the life I wanted, and focused on getting us through this.

  My frosty gaze flickered to Baron and Rowan. I needed to chase them away and return to finish packing my siblings’ lu
nchboxes and drive them to school.

  “You have many younglings in the house?” Rowan asked softly.

  Baron regarded me, something I didn’t like flashing by his golden eyes.

  “I’m the head of this household,” I said, my voice sharp and firm. “And both of you are trespassing. Leave my property now. My brother has called 9-1-1, and the authorities will be here any second.”

  Baron chuckled, his sensual sound making me hot all over again. “But you said you were the authority figure here.”

  “You think this is funny, prick?” I said. “You invaded my property and threatened me. You probably set that monster loose on my siblings.”

  “I’d never harm the young,” he grated. “Where are your parents? Shouldn’t they be the ones taking care of the children?”

  “That’s none of your business,” I snapped. “And for your information, my parents work in a top security company. We have shotguns that I won’t hesitate to use if I see you again. Leave now, and don’t you dare come back.”

  Rowan sniffed as he pondered. “They aren’t your real siblings. None of them are. They don’t smell anything like you.”

  Baron nodded. “You aren’t human. I didn’t realize it at first.”

  “Fuck off. Now,” I said, acid and steel in my voice.

  “My apologies, my lady,” Rowan said, his gray eyes still brimming with heat that made my heart flutter, no matter how angry I was. “I mean you and your siblings no harm.”

  He gave me a respectful nod before he strode away, his trench coat flapping in the wind. When I blinked, he was gone beyond the alley.

  A strange sense of loss sputtered in my stomach.

  I returned my blazing fury to Baron. He held my gaze with a wicked, hungry fire of his own, and it somehow also stirred something inside me. I glared at him.

  “I see I overstayed my welcome,” he said.

  “You were never welcome,” I said.

  He smirked. “We’ll meet again, Evie, and we’ll start over. I promise you.”