The Ascended: The Eight Wings Collection

by Akeroyd, Serena

  He tapped his chest. “I felt it.”

  “She was only fifty-seven. Way too young to pass. D-Did you try to communicate with her again?” Gabriella’s tone was wistful.

  “No. It would have been too complicated. Linford left the troupe a year or so after we decided to break apart from Gabriella, and another brother, Gerard, passed. Both were replaced with cousins of mine. The bond was with myself, Gerard, Linford, and my brother Darvich.”

  “Didn’t you want to see her?” she asked sullenly.

  “Of course, but we don’t always get what we want in this life, girl,” he groused. “Sometimes, there are other requirements. Like duty to one’s line.”

  I felt the pointed dig, but ignored it. “The Cuban Conclave never missed Gabriella? They didn’t search for her?”

  My father shook his head. “It’s like she never existed to them. I’d believe that if I knew that kind of magic was beyond her, but—” He blinked. “Son of Sol. Linford.” He ground his teeth. “Linford must have helped her. He could erase memories. How could I forget—” His mouth pursed. “Of course. He got to me too.”

  “She must have kept in contact with the father of her baby,” Gabriella murmured. “She told me in a vision that she knew I was destined to be a witch born Fae.”

  He grunted. “That takes no foresight.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Witch born Fae aren’t all that unusual,” he explained. “If the child of a Virgo bond mates with a human and procreates, that child has all three races present within its body. It will manifest wings and a witch’s power, all while quite capable of being mundane like a human.

  “That isn’t exactly common knowledge,” he reasoned, “but your grandmother would most definitely have known that.”

  Gabriella’s brow puckered. “This doesn’t make any sense. Why did she lie?”

  “I don’t know, but there must be a reason behind it.” He drummed his fingers against the desk. “Did she say why the family left for the US?”

  “Because of a vision of me being a witch born Fae.”

  “I wonder if that is only a half truth.” He grunted. “I must speak with Linford, see if he remembers anything about that time.” Noa’s lips pursed. “I’ll be in touch, but Joseph, do not make any rash decisions. The bond will overtake you. Remember that.”

  He clicked off before I could do little else than flip the bird at the screen.

  ❖

  Gabriella

  My abuela had been lying to me, to us all for years. Decades, even. Sol, my mother had been living a lie since she was a child.

  I tried to process that, but couldn’t. How could I? It didn’t make sense, dammit!

  “Did your mom never mention her father? Didn’t you know your grandfather?” Daniel asked quietly.

  It was a simple enough question, but when I thought on it, truly thought on it, there was a large blur in my mind. It was like an oil slick in a puddle. I could see through it, but it was all stained and marred, unable to clearly discern.

  “I don’t think it’s something we ever spoke of.” I blew out a breath, my cheeks billowing with the motion. “Seems like we didn’t speak enough about anything,” I rasped.

  “No family does.” Joseph grunted. “Mine is one of the worst. My father and I are the antithesis of close, and yet, he considers himself close to me.”

  Shooting him a look, I inquired, “Do you wish you were?”

  “Not really.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’ve never approved of him. Of the way he holds the witches—”

  “But he said it himself. He keeps them safe. Do you believe that? Or do you think he’s lying?”

  He took a seat on the sofa opposite me, and after plunking his arm on the rest, began to toy with his bottom lip. “No, I don’t,” he admitted softly, pausing rubbing his lip before starting it up again.

  Watching him rub the small mound he plumped up ignited fireworks that shot through my veins. I didn’t know why my focus was on that one small spot, but it was. My vision narrowed to his fingers, and my breathing rattled as my desire overtook all rational thought.

  A groan sparked from beside me, jerking me into awareness. “That scent,” he purred, and it took me a second to realize it was Matthew. “What is it?”

  “Arousal,” Daniel growled, and finally broke me free of the magnetic clasp my eyes had to Joseph’s mouth.

  Amazing what embarrassment could do.

  “You can’t smell that,” I half-squeaked, feeling mortification flushing through me. I made it a statement, and definitely not a question.

  “I can,” Daniel grumbled. “It smells like vanilla and honey.”

  “He’s right. It’s like you started baking,” Matthew commented drily, at least, I figured he was trying to be dry—his words came through huskily, and the gravel in his voice scraped down my raw nerve endings, making me shudder with delight.

  Gulping, I forced myself to calm down and moved so I wasn’t looking at any of them, because that was just danger all around. Instead, I focused on my knees.

  Knees were innocuous, weren’t they?

  It wasn’t like I was about to start getting turned on by my own joints.

  It might have worked, were it not for there being a strange need burning inside me that hadn’t been there before.

  Mere seconds earlier it hadn’t been there, but now? It felt like I had a flame flickering to life in my belly, and all from watching Joseph touch his lip, after a confusing conversation that meant my whole life was a lie.

  It was easier to throw myself into the flames of this passion than contemplate what I’d just heard, but even as the thought drifted through my mind, I knew that was a lie. There was no using what was between my Virgo and I as an excuse. This passion was all consuming, not some means of wasting time, of avoiding what we’d learned.

  This was a desire that had the power to burn me to a crisp, but I’d be reborn in its embers.

  Reborn as theirs.

  My skin felt tight, like I could burst through it with little to no strain. My belly churned with a hunger that no food could ease. My body ached with a pain only they could relieve.

  As these sensations swirled inside me, I understood what Noa had meant.

  No other male had inspired such feeling, such violent lust in me. No other male had made me hunger for them in this way. I was theirs, but more than that, I was theirs to take. To claim. To own.

  I wasn’t a woman who appreciated possessiveness. I was too strong, too bullheaded and obstinate, but this bond decimated me. Knocked down all my walls, exposing the softest parts of me to their gaze.

  And the craziest part of all?

  I knew that what I exposed was safe in their care.

  They’d never hurt me. They’d kill to protect me. And I wanted that security. Craved it like I’d craved nothing else in my whole life.

  A hand grabbed my knee, and the feel of callused flesh against my skin had me groaning and tumbling back into the sofa, relaxing and submitting in a way I never had before.

  It should have frightened me, but if anything, it just felt so right. So natural.

  I shuddered and turned my head to stare at the arm that the hand belonged to. Slowly, I moved my gaze along corded muscle, thick and brimming with strength, before meeting sinew, then more tensed muscles as his bicep and triceps strained—was he holding himself back?

  I’d seen Daniel tense earlier, had watched him Hulk out at the mere notion of my being in danger, but now, this was different. I felt no intrinsic need to soothe him, just the burning urge to have this itch deep inside me scratched.

  Maybe he could douse the fire raging within me.

  Maybe he could ease this eternal ache I only just realized I had.

  My breathing was low and sharp as I watched his hand drag down my leg. My skin was bare until mid-thigh, where my loose workout shorts came into contact with his fingers. As they began to dip under the hem, I spread my legs, bu
t Matthew’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.

  “This isn’t wise,” Matthew rasped, and when I whimpered in distress, and shot him a pleading look, I saw sweat beading on Matt’s forehead, and noticed his gaze was directly between my legs.

  “He’s right. We need to discuss the bond,” Joseph whispered, and when I looked at him, he was staring at my covered pussy too.

  “What’s to discuss?” Daniel ground out.

  “You heard what Seph’s father said,” Matthew reminded him thickly. “The bond turns us into base creatures, and we’ve certainly been acting like knuckleheads these past few days.”

  “Because we haven’t fucked—”

  “My father’s troupe brother got her grandmother pregnant. They evidently fucked without claiming her, and yet my father still said they were atavistic.”

  Though I processed his words, I wasn’t really listening. Everything had boiled down to the men surrounding me. Their strength, their power.

  I needed them to show me both.

  Wanted to feel it. Wanted it thrusting inside me again and again until I was reminded of just how powerful they were. Until I felt the bruises of their strength in the morning.

  If they were going to protect me, then I needed them to show me exactly how they would—I needed to see their might, needed to feel it inside me as they fucked me, giving me what I needed, taking what was rightfully theirs.

  Joseph leaned forward, and I watched as he licked his lips, his eagerness evident even if his tone had been anything but excited.

  I couldn’t stop myself from acting on instinct—I spread my legs more, letting the fabric cut between my pussy lips.

  The three of them groaned, and sweet victory soared inside me. I felt weak, more subdued than usual, but also, so alive and vibrant with it that I knew these feelings could never be wrong.

  I arched my hips down and back, pushing into the sofa cushions to cause more tension in the fabric. When it cut deeper between my slit, I grunted as it nudged my clit.

  “I want her,” Daniel rasped, “more than I want anything else in this world.”

  “You don’t know what you’re saying,” Matthew whispered, but his hand moved to my thigh and his fingers trailed the same path Daniel’s had.

  My hands soared higher to cup my breasts, but they were restrained by a heavy-duty sports bra. The thick, voluptuous flesh craved their attention, and the need was so insistent that I sat up with an abruptness that startled the men into growling. The sound was nothing like a grunt a man might make. This was their beast, a beast I had stirred to life with the bond, reacting to every move I made.

  A part of me recognized that they thought I was about to flee. The notion that they might chase me, hunt me down, set sparks igniting in my blood.

  Why the idea thrilled me, I wasn’t sure, but it did. Fuck, it did.

  When I was sitting straight up, I pulled my loose tee from around my waist and hauled it overhead. When that was on the ground, I unfastened the front clasp of my sports bra and released my breasts from within its constraints. Only then did I realize I could have used magic to will my clothes away, but now, I was glad I hadn’t because their growls had sent a lick of heat to my core.

  I wanted their beasts out and ready to claim me, and the threat of my fleeing had brought them exactly where I wanted them—to the surface.

  The second I felt a flash of freedom, Daniel was there. His hands grabbed mine at the wrists as he drew me down onto the sofa once more.

  Everything I knew about the Fae blurred into nothingness as he and Matthew acted against what I’d learned. When he pushed me across Matthew’s lap, and pinned my hand down on the cushion beside him, Daniel should have been revolted. Disgusted. Should have reared back with just how vile the prospect of him sharing me with Matthew was.

  But he didn’t.

  If anything, when he dropped down to my breasts, he feasted, and that was all he was focused on. He lapped at my nipples, biting down on them with his teeth before raking the nubs and tightening them into taut peaks, then sucking the sensitive points, drawing more of my flesh into his mouth.

  My back arched, my body desperate as I sought more of him, more from him. I wanted him between my legs with a mindlessness that, had I been thinking clearly, would have stunned me senseless.

  I was a woman, a witch. I was free with my body, found no shame in it or the sharing thereof. I had enjoyed many such hookups with guys I’d known, and some with strangers on one-night stands.

  But, in all those encounters, I’d never felt like this.

  Had never experienced such desperation, such need. It made me want to cry. That was how overwhelming it was. I wanted to sob as I pleaded with them to give me what I needed— fulfillment.

  In the haziness of these feelings, I could recognize why such a sensation would be repugnant to a strong woman. Why she’d back away from such a connection, but at that moment, I couldn’t think of backing away—I wasn’t close enough and Daniel was pretty much devouring me from the waist up.

  I began to struggle as he kept me pinned there while Matthew flicked and pinched the nipple Daniel wasn’t tormenting. Knowing Joseph was watching all of this made me feel like I was going to burst into flames.

  Twisting my head so I could look at him, I saw he had his cock out and held firmly in his fist. The tip was wet with pre-cum, and the sight held me transfixed.

  I needed that in me.

  Needed his hardness filling me, his wet seed in my mouth, pussy, ass, wherever he wanted to give it to me.

  I began to roll my hips, arch my back, twist and writhe and wriggle. Anything, anything to entice them. To make them give me what I wanted.

  The sharp slap Daniel landed on my thigh had me jerking in surprise, but when it was followed by him pulling my shorts off, and then tearing my panties from me?

  I was more than happy with the spanking.

  The second I was bare, I could scent it. I was wet. Slick. It poured from me, drenched me. Proved that I was beyond ready for them.

  Daniel stared at me with glinting eyes. The regular dark blue had morphed into a black that something deep inside me recognized.

  I needed him to be like this.

  Needed him raw and rough and crude.

  Needed this ferocity, this bestial temper to rain down on me.

  When he leaned down, he pressed his nose to the ‘V’ of my pubis. I didn’t care that I’d been working out, didn’t care that I hadn’t had a chance to shower, and Daniel? It was evident he didn’t give a fuck, either.

  He purred.

  Sol, he purred.

  I didn’t know why I’d done that, never mind that he could too, but the sound? So close to my pussy? It made me moan and spread my legs wider. I needed him, anyway I could get him, and anyway he’d give himself to me.

  I wasn’t a strong witch at that moment, wasn’t witch born with Fae wings, wasn’t even a budding fashion designer.

  I was nothing more than a woman.

  A set of ovaries and a uterus within a bag of bones.

  He stripped me away until I was nothing but my hormones, and rather than horrify me, I luxuriated in it.

  His tongue fluttered out, tracing along the crevice he’d just sniffed, and as he tasted me, I shivered. The move had Matthew placing both hands on my tits as he rested his forearm on my arms to keep them over my head. In tangent to Daniel’s teasing, he squeezed the voluptuous flesh in strong palms that made me crave more from them all. Sol, I wanted everything. Everything.

  All they had to give would never be enough.

  Daniel moved down slowly, fluttering his tongue along, and then his wings began to beat. They washed me in our mutual scent, making Matthew and me groan as we were battered with an essence I didn’t know how to describe. I knew their sense of smell was more advanced than mine, but it was just us—Daniel and I. Need and lust and arousal combined.

  He grabbed my legs at the ankles, spread them wide, then once he had me where he wanted me,
he let go of my legs and fell between them to feast. There was no other word for it. His mouth was glued to my clit, his fingers inside my cunt as he tongued me and finger fucked me. Never letting me up, never letting me go. I soared, higher and higher, only to crash down, lower and lower as his movements stopped.

  The slickness between my legs grew even more copious, to the point that he was making noises with his fingers. The old me would have cared, would have been embarrassed. This Gabriella? She reveled in the sound, even as she fought against Matthew’s hold on her upper body, twisting and writhing in an effort to get free.

  As Daniel gave me everything I needed without somehow giving me everything I wanted—how he did that was beyond me—I felt a disturbance in the air.

  When I saw Joseph approaching us, I licked my lips as my gaze dropped to his shaft. Fae cocks were unlike human and witch cocks. I’d never seen it for myself, but it was said they could knot. Whether that was just talk or not, I wasn’t sure, but as I stared at his dick, fascinated by the sight of it, I recognized no other sign that it was in anyway abnormal.

  His knees pressed into the cushions, and before I knew it, his cock was there, pressing against my mouth. He didn’t give me a chance to say no or to refuse him—but I didn’t want to. Every single part of me wanted him inside me. With the move, Matthew had to let go of my tits, and I hated the loss of him, hated it, needed him to be a part of this as much as the others.

  Before I could fret too hard, Joseph began to thrust between my lips, making my mind flutter away from my concerns. He was slow at first, but steadily growing faster. My mouth was wet, slick too, like it had been preparing for him all along. As he thrust into me, using my lips as though they were a channel, I watched the corded strength in him reveal itself to me.

  His throat was taut with muscle that led down to pecs and abs, which were so delineated, I could trace the path to his cock blindfolded with them as my only guide. He was shirtless now, but his shorts were shucked around his thighs, and I wanted to grab onto his ass, have him move inside me harder, faster, but he maintained the pace, his eyes constantly on me.