Once Upon a Rainbow, Volume One

by Mickie B. Ashling

  “You were preoccupied.” Noah’s voice shook as he quipped back.

  This time, Leo did not get up and Noah fell to his knees.

  Chapter Nine

  THE HANDCUFFS WERE just a little too tight around Leo’s hands. Erik had made sure of that. There was also a series of chalk runes drawn over the incubus’ skin.

  “I should have known I would get caught eventually.” Leo sounded unperturbed by the situation he was in. His offhandedness rankled Erik. He hoped the fucker would try something because he wouldn’t mind punching the smug look off the incubus’ face.

  “The pretty witch and the wolf.”

  Noah took a step toward Erik, clearly unnerved by the creep. Erik let out a warning growl, which the incubus ignored.

  “You’re just so delicious together.” Leo actually licked his lips with a dainty pink tongue, and Erik let out a significantly more vicious growl. Was the idiot trying to get knocked out? He tried not to enjoy the way the incubus flinched away too much.

  Erik turned his back on Leo and chivied Noah onto one of the sofas. He was almost asleep on his feet. Erik had never seen Noah use so much magic before; he hadn’t even known that he had been capable of it. He sat Noah down and offered him a drink, plain tap water.

  This whole case had been one big damn mess. Just looking at Noah increased the guilt he felt. Noah hadn’t really even meant to be on the mission, but he had saved the day. Erik had been useless. Erik had been worse than useless. It made his gut churn.

  Noah let out an enormous yawn and rubbed his eyes. “You should phone Alice.”

  That was the other thing. Now that he was free of the lotus machine, Erik realized that something had gone wrong. They had been trapped for days even if it only felt like hours, but no one had come to help. He fished his phone out of his pocket. By some miracle, it still turned on, but there weren’t even any missed calls. Erik hit the speed dial, and Alice answered on the second ring.

  “Hey, Erik.”

  Erik ground his teeth and clenched his jaw.

  “Where the fuck have you been?”

  “At the station…” Alice’s answer and casual tone only served to infuriate him more. “You’re not due back for hours.”

  “What the fuck? That doesn’t even make sense. We’ve been trapped for days!”

  There was a cracking sound as Erik’s grip tightened enough on the phone that the plastic began to buckle. A gentle touch drew his attention away from the pathetic explanation Alice was uttering, and Erik whirled round to see Noah. The witch was frowning, a small crease between his eyes. Noah tilted his head, and Erik knew the witch had figured something out.

  “We must be in a time pocket?” Noah trailed off, sounding uncertain.

  “Ten points to the witch,” Leo called out from his position on the floor.

  “Shut it.” Erik barked Noah’s observation into the phone.

  “Just when I think I’ve got used to all the weird shit, you pull more out,” Alice muttered, and Erik’s lips almost quirked into a smile.

  “So are you coming to pick up this guy?” he asked. “We also need some serious medical attention for people.” Erik paused, his heart heavy as he delivered the bad news. “We weren’t fast enough for all our missing guys, but number thirteen—the kid—he’s here, although he’s not in a good way. Noah had to use his own energy to help.”

  Alice confirmed they were on their way, and Erik hung up. He wanted nothing more than to go home and hide away from the world. He hated it when they were too late. How was the kid meant to come back from something like this? Being trapped for days, maybe weeks thanks to the time bubble with an energy-sucking incubus?

  “I just don’t get it,” Noah commented from his position on the sofa. He was half-asleep, but the frown line hadn’t gone. Noah obviously wanted answers.

  “You don’t get what?” Erik’s voice softened as he stroked Noah’s arm.

  “Why?”

  “Don’t we all want power?” Leo asked, batting his eyelids in a way that Erik suspected was meant to be attractive. It was sickening.

  By Erik’s side, Noah shook his head. “Not at the expense of other people.”

  Erik had never heard such a tone of disgust from Noah before.

  Leo opened his mouth, but Erik had had enough. “Shut it,” he snapped at the incubus. Then he went one better and grabbed a tea towel they had been using for first aid and stuffed it into Leo’s mouth. He didn’t want to hear another word from him. The anger surged, but Erik forced himself to stop and breathe in. Those damn drinks. Who knew how they were still affecting him?

  “Let it go, Erik,” Noah said, his voice quiet against the background noise. “Let’s just wait for everyone to get here and go home.”

  ERIK CARRIED NOAH from the car to his house. His wolf demanded that Noah stay on pack land even if it was just for one night. Looking at the perfect man in his arms, Erik was terrified that he might lose Noah thanks to his own stupidity and uselessness. Noah was supposed to be his mate, but he hadn’t even been able to protect him.

  “You’re thinking too loud.” The words were slightly slurred, but Noah had opened his eyes and was blinking owlishly at Erik.

  “We’re going to be okay?” Erik asked as he deposited Noah on the sofa in his living room. Noah propped himself up enough that he was able to look Erik in the eye.

  “We’ll be okay,” Noah agreed. “We’d be better if you cuddled me to sleep, though.”

  Erik chuckled. Tired Noah was demanding. He moved Noah back into his arms and carried him through the hallway and up the stairs. He cast a longing gaze at the bathroom, but the siren call of the bed was too much and Erik deposited Noah carefully onto the sheets.

  “You should take your jeans off,” he prompted.

  Noah groaned. “You just want to see me naked,” he grumbled while fiddling with the belt. It took far longer than it should have to undo the contraption, but Noah finally got it undone and shimmied out of the trousers. Erik had taken his own clothes off and pulled back the covers. Noah climbed in and smiled sleepily up at Erik.

  “Night, you.”

  Noah fell asleep far before Erik. The wolf stayed awake, enjoying the sight of his mate in his bed. Noah was more than a bit battered and bruised, but he was alive and he was safe in Erik’s embrace.

  “ERIK!” THE SOUND of his name being hissed woke Erik from the most pleasant dream. “Oi, I need to pee.”

  Erik blinked into consciousness and promptly released Noah. He gestured vaguely in the direction of the en suite as Noah hadn’t exactly been up to the grand tour the night before. The clock on the bedside table showed that it was late morning. Erik had no intention of going into work before the afternoon, though.

  Noah popped his head back around the door a few minutes later.

  “I really need a shower, but it looks awfully big and lonely,” he hinted shamelessly.

  Erik laughed. “We can’t have you getting lonely.”

  Noah turned the shower on to warm up as Erik walked in. Erik had thought that after the debacle of the past day—days?—he wouldn’t be able to stand up, never mind get an erection, but it turned out that he was wrong on both counts. One look at Noah standing there naked was enough to change his mind on that front.

  Noah waved one arm under the stream of water to test the temperature.

  “Well, are you coming?” he asked as he climbed in.

  Erik bit his lip to stop himself laughing.

  “Not yet,” he snarked, “but I hope to be.” The snort of laughter from Noah was the most beautiful thing that Erik had heard in days. He couldn’t help but dart forward and kiss him.

  Something wet and heavy hit him on the chest, and he glanced down to see a washcloth. Noah gave him an innocent look and passed the shower gel.

  Well, two could play at that game. Erik poured out a large dollop of shower gel into his hands and then leaned forward to massage it into Noah’s shoulders. He kept his touch sensuous until Noah was squi
rming for another reason. Noah’s dick was definitely paying attention.

  “It must be my turn?” Noah pleaded between gasps.

  Noah dropped to his knees, and Erik let out a curse. Noah on his knees was a sight to behold. The cheeky bugger began to rub shower gel into Erik’s calves and worked his way up Erik’s legs. Erik was torn between watching and wanting to look away because Noah got shamelessly close to his dick and he was pretty sure he would come as soon as it was touched.

  Noah licked his lips, and Erik had enough. He grabbed Noah’s shoulders and hauled him up into a ferocious kiss.

  “You little minx.”

  Noah smirked and gave back just as good as he got. He ran his hands down Erik’s chest and latched onto his dick, stroking it up and down. Erik fumbled for Noah’s and pushed him against the side of the shower. He knelt down and wrapped his lips around Noah’s dick, sucking as hard as he could and bobbing his head back and forth. Noah groaned and twined his fingers into Erik’s hair, encouraging the movement.

  “Fuck, Erik.”

  Erik ran his tongue along the bottom of Noah’s dick and Noah came. Noah fell to his knees so they were on the same level and attacked Erik with a fierce kiss. He grabbed Erik’s dick and stroked him off with sharp movements. Watching Noah jack him off was one of the hottest things that Erik had ever seen, and it was far too soon when he came over Noah’s hand.

  “I love you,” Noah whispered, leaning against Erik’s damp chest. The words brought a swell of emotion that meant everything to Erik. Erik leaned down and kissed Noah’s forehead.

  “And I, you.”

  About the Author

  Riza lives in the east of the middle of England, a.k.a. the East Midlands, with her fabulous collection of books. It’s very much like the rest of England there but with more ‘ducks’.

  Riza began writing stories at a young age to the annoyance delight of anyone she could bully persuade to read them. Now somewhat older, if not wiser, things haven't really changed.

  Twitter: @rizacurtis

  Website: www.rizacurtis.com

  Sleeping Beauty

  A. Fae

  MY PARENTS WERE desperate for a child. Hell, the entire district was desperate for a prince or princess to be born. You see, my parents, King and Queen Lockhart, and their family line had ruled the district of Juniper Hills for a long time. They were kind to the people, contrary to how the emperor would rather they rule.

  The country was divided into districts back then; several of the old-fashioned states combined to make districts. A king and queen were set to rule each district, but they had to report to the bigoted pig of an emperor, who ruled over the entire United Districts of North America. He allowed quite a bit of latitude to the king and queen as far as how they ruled their kingdoms, but it was contingent upon the continuation of the family line. Hence, where my story begins.

  So, my parents finally got pregnant. The day I was born, I was told, the entire kingdom—just about—turned out to await news of my birth. Mom said she pushed for hours and finally gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. And this is where things get a bit complicated.

  As was typical in those days, I was taken by the palace doctors for a complete body scan check to make sure everything was in order. When they brought me back to my overjoyed mother, who was reluctant sit still the entire time I was gone, the doctor had a grave look on his face.

  My parents, of course, expected the worst; I had a heart defect, cancer, some other horrible disease or condition that the scan picked up. My mother immediately began to weep, snatching me from the doctor’s arms and placing me to her breast. I latched on and began to suckle, and at that moment, she says, she calmed herself and thought there was nothing in the world that could change how much she loved and adored me.

  My mother said I had a full head of inky-black hair. My eyes were the color of green algae. She said I had the sweetest button nose. Overall, she felt, as most mothers do, that I was the most beautiful child that had ever been born. If what the doctor was about to deliver was some sort of death sentence—yes, a bit more morbid, I thought every time she told me this story—she and my father would enjoy every moment they had with me. But the sentence they would receive was far from a death sentence, but for me, it would be a life sentence.

  “What is it, Dr. Richards? Tell us our boy is okay,” my father begged.

  The king gripped his queen’s shoulder lightly with his left hand, his right hand stationed on his hip. “The boy…” Dr. Richards began as he adjusted his spectacles over his eyes. “When looking over the full-body analysis scan in search of any internal organ or congenital defects that we could possibly take care of now—”

  “Get to it, Doctor!” my father yelled at him, anxious to find out what the hell was wrong with me.

  “Well, Your Majesties, it appears that, although the child has gonads externally, internally he has the reproductive organs of a female.” The doctor winced, my mother said, waiting for the reaction he was sure to get.

  My father’s arms dropped to his side, he recalled, and he clenched his fists like someone had just said fighting words. “What?” he growled. “What the hell do you mean, Doc? Spit it out. Explain.”

  “Pardon me, Your Majesty. What I’m trying to say is that your child is intersexed,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “But…but…his penis? How can he have both?” my father inquired.

  “Well, it actually happens once in a couple of thousand births. Before the technology we have today, often parents didn’t discover such a condition—” He was very tender with the word condition, they told me. “—until typically puberty.” He motioned with his hand, dismissing the matter completely. “No worries, though, Your Majesties. We can correct it with a vaginoplasty or remove the uterus and ovaries as soon as the baby is weaned.”

  “My baby is a girl!” my mother snapped as she covered me against her breast like she was trying to stop the conversation from entering my ears. “We will call her Talia. Princess Talia,” she decreed with a quick nod of her head.

  The three of them decided at that moment that I would be raised as a girl. My mother was the queen after all; therefore, what she said went. I would be allowed to make my own decision when and if I was ready to. I, ultimately, decided to wait until I was eighteen years old. I wanted to be able to do all my own research and be old enough to really know what I truly wanted.

  The palace staff who had been privy to my situation were required to sign a confidentiality agreement saying that they wouldn’t reveal anything they had learned. Of course, most of them were truly loyal to my family—and still are—so they probably would have kept my secret anyhow. I would be able to decide, when I was ready, what I wanted to do.

  When I say that I was raised as a girl, please don’t think it was pushed on me, because it wasn’t. Of course, I was provided with everything a princess or prince could ever need or want, but it wasn’t limited to pinks, dresses, dolls, and such. I could play with, wear, and do pretty much anything I wanted while I was growing up so long as I didn’t do anything in which I was able to get hurt…or Mom would have freaked.

  I was loved and adored by everyone around me. And as far as the people of my district were concerned, I was Princess Talia. But, there was someone outside the palace walls and the family who knew my secret. The neighboring district, Pine Meadows, had a son, Prince Sebastian Hill, who was my age. We grew up together and were inseparable. I don’t remember how old I was when I told Bastian the truth, but I didn’t hesitate, and he just shrugged and it was never really brought up again while we were kids.

  BEFORE I GET too ahead in my story, I must mention another stressor my poor mother and father were put under in my childhood—as if they needed another one, right? But when I was seven years old, the royals from other districts were overly curious to meet the new princess. Typically, in royal society, we aren’t introduced to the outside world until we turn old enough to act grown for a formal event. My parents’ only so
lution was to throw a huge private dinner party in my honor followed by a party for all the districts and their families.

  I remember being semi-excited, at least about the after-dinner party, not so much about a formal dinner where I’d have to sit and practice all the table manners and proper etiquette my governess had been teaching me for so many years. But, of course, I knew better than to cross the old biddy. Her painful pinch for disobeying and acting the fool was worse than any missing of the mark could possibly be. She could be sitting all the way down a large banquet table that seated a hundred or more, and if I misbehaved, I would feel the most agonizing, searing pain course through my body from where she pinched me. And the crazy part is that, of course, I would immediately look around to check to make sure she couldn’t see me before I did whatever I did, and from way over there, she would just smile at me as sweetly as could be. Eeeww! That woman gives me chills even now just thinking about it.

  At this dinner party, all thirteen districts were represented by the royal heads and their families. Also in attendance were any important diplomats or visitors from Emperor City. More importantly for me, my seven godmothers would be present. I recall them filing into the receiving area where I was waiting in line with my family. They reminded me of a rainbow, each one dressed head to toe in their own individual color. About four foot something, each of them waddled down the receiving line until they reached me.

  I was always so tickled when they, one by one, stood before me and passed on the blessings of the gods to me. That is, all but one. For some reason, I always received a vague, muted blessing from the godmother dressed all in red. Even as a child, I felt there was something just not right with this little woman. I could have no idea that what she wished for me that night was far from a blessing, but rather a curse.

  Everyone was seated for dinner that night—a dinner of beef tenderloin, truffle potatoes, string beans, homemade wheat croissants, and a crème brûlée with that melted sugar top that cracked just right when a spoon is tapped against it. If someone was a vegetarian—though most wouldn’t say they were because it was thought to be rude—a special meal could be made for them. Each adult was served a goblet of Bordeaux; children received an exciting fruit concoction with a little toothpick umbrella that had a cherry and orange slice stabbed through it.