She whimpered. Arlan ignored him, as though his command had been only for August. He raised himself on his forearms and began to pound into her without mercy, as though trying to claim her as his own.
“I said, be still.” Jay gave Arlan’s bare ass several smacks until he froze in place. Again, Jay smiled at Arlan’s final submission to his will.
“Oh God, Jay, she’s so fucking tight and hot.”
“You’ll be tighter.” Jay’s lips quirked as Arlan’s butt muscles automatically clenched in defense. He couldn’t wait any longer. He’d waited far too long. Jay tugged a little at the glass plug. “Relax, mate.” He gave Arlan’s ass another hard slap. Arlan stiffened, and then after a second relaxed, and Jay pulled the plug out.
“Don’t pretend you don’t want this,” he whispered in Arlan’s ear. “You’ve always wanted this, you little whore.” He palmed the left cheek of his lover’s ass. Arlan shivered, groaning and shaking with obvious need.
“But I’m gonna be polite and ask if you want it.” Arlan swore. “You’re an arrogant prick, Nandoro,” he hissed.
Jay continued to palm the cheek, rubbing his thumb against Arlan’s hole. “Yeah, baby, you want this?”
August whimpered with frustration beneath Arlan, arching her back to try to get more of his cock. Jay smacked him again. “You’re keeping the lady waiting.”
Arlan let go of a held breath. “Yes, goddamn you. I want it.”
Arlan rocked, arched, and pushed his ass higher in the air, pulling away from August so she groaned.
“Spread your legs, mate.”
The were-lion obeyed, spreading his legs farther apart. August moaned again, and Jay realized Arlan was stroking her clit. It made his cock jump and get even harder. He was done holding himself back. He was joining them. He would always be joining them from now on. Today was the day he would fully and completely be with those he loved.
Arlan’s biceps and triceps bunched as he pushed up and back. Jay slowly parted his lover’s ass cheeks for the first time. He heard Arlan moan and imagined his lover feeling warm air whisper across his pucker.
He let one hand cup the muscled left cheek and poured on more lube, then selected a packet from the bedside table. He tore open the wrapper of the fae condom with his teeth.
Arlan swore again. “I can’t take it anymore. Please, Jay, fuck me. Let me fuck her.”
Jaw tight from lust, Jay positioned himself at the were-lion’s hole. The tip breeched Arlan’s defenses, and Jay thought he might come right there and then. Never had he imagined it would be so warm, so tight. He surged forward slowly, taking care to watch for any sign of discomfort from Arlan. When he finally sank his cock in as far as it would go, Arlan sighed out long and loud.
“Mine!” Jay said savagely, and he meant August beneath as much as Arlan. “Yours,” August whispered in response.
Jay slapped Arlan’s thigh. “Yours,” Arlan choked out.
Jay gasped with emotion. Arlan pressed his ass back as though trying to get Jay to go deeper. “Yes, yes, baby, do that again, please.”
Arlan did as Jay commanded. Then he heard August’s moan as he slammed forward again, pushing Arlan deeper into her.
The pleasure was becoming too much for Jay to bear. He steadied himself, concentrating on not coming. Arlan flattened his back and pushed out, tight, so tight. Jay allowed another moment to get control of himself again and get used to the sensation. Then, grabbing Arlan’s hips, he set up a brutal pace.
Oh my God, I fucking love this.
He dragged his cock in and out, the heat and pressure nearly blowing his mind. Arlan’s tight ass sucked at his cock like nothing he’d ever felt before. Even as Arlan moaned his own pleasure, Jay could feel Arlan’s hand moving beneath him, frigging away at August until she cried out her orgasm on a sob.
Jay kept the pace hard and steady.
Then Arlan slumped, and he was the one shouting as he came inside their precious gift of a woman.
His body tightening around Jay’s cock was almost enough to make Jay see stars. August groaned and then giggled. Arlan shifted his hips, sinking into her again, and August cried out, another orgasm obviously rippling through her.
Arlan had never been one of those guys whose cock instantly went soft once he came. He always stayed stiff awhile. Jay rammed in deep again, and his balls tingled as a shiver ran down his spine. His orgasm crashed over him with all the subtlety of a runaway steam engine, leaving him panting and dizzy.
They landed in a tower of limbs.
He lay against Arlan’s back, aware of every rippling muscle, every glorious dip and ridge of his gorgeous lover. Jay dragged air into his lungs, unwilling to leave the tight clasp of Arlan’s body.
“Focus, both of you, focus.” Jay could barely hear Arlan’s whispered plea.
He swore under his breath. He’d almost forgotten about the tower, but he took the time to envision for half a minute. Much good that shit ever did. All it did was spoil post-orgasmic bliss.
In the complete silence, Jay kissed Arlan’s shoulder. He spread his arms around both of them, hugging them, protecting them. “God, that was hot. I love both of you. I don’t want to take another step in this world without you both. Not ever.”
Heat blazed across his cheeks at the deafening silence that was their response.
August swallowed the enormous lump of emotion back into her throat. Jay’s sweet words were like a hand reaching out that she could see but not quite grab on to. The wild, romantic declaration of love seemed somehow so unlike Jay that she hadn’t been able to find her tongue. She noticed Arlan hadn’t responded to Jay’s words of love either, even though she felt him shaking.
Jay sighed and rolled off them. Arlan did the same, drawing August into his arms.
“I guess you two just got overwhelmed with how hot the chemistry was between the three of us. Huh? That’s all.” Jay’s tone of voice and expression were cynical as hell. “Neither of you forgives me?” He looked at the ceiling. “Well, fuck. I guess you have every right to tell me to go to hell after I’ve screwed you around all these years. So fucking forget it.” He sat up. “Jesus Christ, I just… Can’t you fucking understand? I didn’t want to love so much that I’d feel sick to my stomach at the thought of never seeing someone again. I had those feelings for my mother. She might as well be dead. I thought I could ignore those feelings for you, and then having intense feelings for August too… And, yes, I didn’t want people to call me a fag, but I’m over that shit. I don’t care about that now.” Jay’s face was beet red. He swung his legs angrily over the side of the bed, yanked on the red silk robe that hung from the bedpost and belted it. “Fuck it. I’ll go take a shower.”
Arlan held up a hand. “Um, guys, I’m more worried about what’s happened to this condom. I’m not sure it held up—”
August couldn’t help laughing. “Jay, you haven’t even given either of us a chance to even speak.”
“So, speak.”
“Jay, I love you. Arlan and I both do. I know what you risked to try to save us from my mother. You’ve changed me. Your love has changed my very core, changed the roots of who I am.” The pendant she wore glowed stronger, brighter than it had before, and she knew why. A wave of bliss and happiness washed over her. “Look at this, Jay. Look isn’t it obvious what it means?”
Arlan slapped a hand against the headboard “For fuck’s sake, will you guys pay attention for a second? This thing burst.” He held up the condom. “Baby girl, I think we might have to take you to a doctor. I mean, if you want to take the morning-after pill. And, Jay, I think we’re all just feeling volatile after what happened. We do forgive you, both of us.”
August put her hand on Arlan’s shoulder and gestured at Jay. His eyes were wide, his mouth agape as he stared out the window. She struggled to sit up and peer out the window herself, at whatever he was staring at.
In the distance, on the yellow grass of the savannah, stood a massive gray stone tower, stretching up t
o the clouds.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Does he know what he’s doing?” August asked breathlessly as she called out to Arlan. Jay had run ahead of them and was nearing the tower. Memories of crying mothers and their precious stolen babies filled Arlan’s mind. The dizziness of relief at finally making the tower appear almost overwhelmed him. And while he’d lain, shaken, on the bed, Jay had dressed and gone.
“I don’t know. Let’s just try to catchup.”
They reached the bottom of the lodge’s stone steps and started crossing the wide space of dry yellow to get to the tower.
“Jay, wait!” they both called to him, and finally he stopped and turned to glance at them.
Holding August’s hand as they ran to catch up to Jay, Arlan slowed his pace for her. Sweat beaded on her brow as she ran, and he wanted to wipe it off for her. Finally, they reached the spot where Jay stood.
An unseasonable wind blew the red dust of the savannah around them.
A circle glowed around the huge circumference of the gray stone tower, pulsing and shimmering with a white-hot light. Lightning zigzagged around and above the storm tower.
“Why is the tower like that?” August bit her lip. Arlan wanted to reach out and hold her.
“It’s a ward.”
“You mean a magic ward?”
“It’s the witchdoctors’ spell of protection.”
“So, what, we’re going to be struck by lightning and die if we try to save the children?”
Arlan shook his head. “Remember, I’ve dealt with these bastards before. It’s why I told you to take your necklace and earrings off before you left the bedroom. No metal. I don’t know where the witch doctors are getting their power from. But I think at most these people are only half-fae. I’ve noticed gaps in their magic many times. I think there’ll be a gap. We just have to wait.”
Jay put his hand on August’s shoulder. “If there’s a gap, I’ll run in. You two stay out here. I have more power than either of you to fight whatever’s in there.”
August shook her head. “We’re fated mates, three into one. We’re not leaving you behind.”
“I have more magic to fight them, though. I could—”
“Now!” August shouted. Sure enough, the lightning had stopped, but it could start again at any moment.
Jay ran toward the huge wooden doors at the bottom of the tower and flung them open to reveal more stone steps lit by a single bulb. Jay didn’t hesitate to run up them, and Arlan and August followed close behind.
A wave of heat hit Arlan, giving him a fright. He braced himself against the shock of it and entered the stairwell. They kept running until they were both panting, and his throat and stomach muscles ached. The stench of sulfur, matches and eggs gone bad made him gag. Poor August gagged too. He grabbed her waist and pulled her to him on the top step. Sweat trickled down the back of his neck. The heat wasn’t completely unbearable, but it was as if someone had left central heating on too long at too high a level.
“Oh my God, how can the children bear this heat and the stench? We have to find them.” The anguish in her voice hurt him and made him admire her sweetness at the same time.
“The heat helps with dark-magic somehow.”
August nodded. “I remember this smell from my childhood. The smell of my mother’s dark magic and that of her friends. Arlan, I don’t think these are really witch doctors at all. I think they might be dark fae. Maybe even from the Half-Fae Network. But they’ve found some way to make their power stronger.”
Jay nodded. “Maybe, but don’t let the smell get to you. We can’t hesitate.”
Arlan set about flinging open the doors of rooms on any floor they came to. Many were piled high with coins and jewels. The witch doctors seemed to favor rubies. Some of the rooms were lavish bedrooms, plush with red velvet.
But there were no children.
The three lovers continued running upstairs. Arlan pushed open one of a set of huge wooden doors. It opened only partially so they couldn’t see anything. Needing to know what was inside, he squeezed through. August and Jay squeezed through after him. The doors slammed shut again behind them, plunging them into almost complete darkness.
Arlan noticed an odd wheel spinning up high. Pinpricks of light whirled along the walls and ceiling. A brush of air passed over them. They could hear babies crying from other rooms, the sounds of little footsteps running.
It seemed to be coming from above and beneath and somewhere on this very level all at once. Somewhere in this tower, there were many, many children, but none in here.
He started to find his way out again to go search for the children. But as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he thought he saw men. The flickers of light from the spinning wheel gave him a vague impression that at least three of them were massive and muscular.
Security guards.
The big, grim men walked toward them. One finally spoke. “Arlan Leonard?” The huge bastard had a thick Afrikaners accent.
“What’s that up there?” Arlan shouted to distract the men, and because he really wanted to know. The big man just swore and lunged at him, pushing Arlan up against the rough stone wall.
He pressed his hand across Arlan’s throat. Another man grabbed his arms, forcing his hands in front of him. Humming, the huge man managed to make a rope from somewhere fly through the air. It bound Arlan’s hands tight before he even had time to think. They had to be half-fae security guards, the biggest and the best. Probably giants in their family tree, deliberately bred for this purpose. And powerful. That magic was quick.
August shouted as the other men grabbed her and Jay, restraining them. The big man held his hand over Arlan’s throat and used the other to trace a blade over his hip. In the dark, another shorter man suddenly grabbed his arms.
“Tell me what those lights are,” Arlan gasped.
“It’s a fire wheel. The rhythmic blasts of light drain their magic.”
“Whose magic?”
“Them. The rhythmic blasts of light drain their magic when they sleep, drains it from their dreams. The wheel of fire spins and retains the magic. Magic for us to enjoy. As we deserve.”
“You mean you’re stealing from the children.”
The man only smirked at him. “Are you ready to die, were-lion?” The evil tone of the man’s voice frightened him almost more than the blade in his hand. The knife traveled up and down his body, tracing the vulnerable organs on the right side: kidney, heart, lungs. The half-fae played with him like a cat playing with a mouse. “Because you are going to die, idiot. Your constant interference has made a trial of what should have been simple.”
Arlan struggled and twisted but couldn’t break free of the men. He’d have to try to stall. “Who are you, anyway? I get that you’re half-fae. You’re security. But what are you doing here? What is all this?”
“For fuck’s sake, let him go, Gert! Don’t kill him.”
All of them turned toward the voice. Kruger stood in the now open doorway, holding a very large, old-fashioned book with an embossed cover of some sort.
“Professor?” August cried. “How did you get here?”
Kruger tapped a finger against the cover of the book. “Your Grandma Zenia’s journal. It taught me how to scry.”
“How the hell did you find that?”
“That was my car your mother drove down to the Zambezi River. She left her journal in it.”
“Wow. She never let me near that journal. Not ever.” August shook her head. “Do you know these men, Professor?”
“Yes. That’s my cousin. He’s a half-fae, prides himself on following the dark path.” Gert grinned. “Don’t you also pride yourself on being dark-fae, Hendrik?”
“Not anymore. I don’t pride myself on ever having been involved with any of you.”
Gert gaped in seeming astonishment. “What? What’s gotten up your ass, Hendrik? Upset you weren’t invited to the party?”
“I stopped being a greedy loser, that’
s what. I realized I have a good job, and that’s all I needed. I realized I don’t need more money and power. Not if it means hanging out with you creeps.”
“Pffft. You’re mad because you weren’t invited to be part of this. And now you can get lost, old man. The Half-Fae Network never was impressed by you. You were always low on the totem pole.”
“These children, these villagers are people, half-fae just like us. And you’ve been stealing their kids because they’re poor?”
Gert laughed. “Piss off. Go back to studying your animals. Silvara and I aren’t sharing anything with you.”
“Silvara?” Arlan stared at him. Kruger’s eyes grew wide. “What?’
Gert laughed. “Yeah, your were-lion lady friend, the one you were once so close to. She’s mine now.” He smiled smugly. “And, yeah, the two of us have been running this scam, taking any half-fae babies from the villagers around here, draining their power and making it our own. Soon, the two of us will be as powerful as any full-blood fae, and rich beyond our wildest dreams.”
Kruger’s mouth dropped open.
Gert clucked his tongue. “Regret not being as smart and handsome as your cousin? My heart bleeds for you.”
“The two of you? What about all these other people involved? The witchdoctors?”
Gert shook his head. “They aren’t witch doctors. That’s part of the scam. They’re from the Half-Fae Network. Some are Zimbabweans. They’ve been fooling people that they’re witch doctors for a while now.” He shrugged. “Why not, if it works? It makes them more malleable. They do have a little magic power, so why not call themselves witchdoctors if that’s what makes the villagers compliant?”
“You are such a piece of—”
“There are a lot of babies with half-fae blood in this area, Hendrik. And their parents are poor as fuck. They live in mud huts. They believe their magic kids are evil anyway. Why not just take them?” Rage at the injustice rose to mix with disgust in Arlan’s heart and mind. “That’s not true. Only some villagers believe that. The mothers don’t want their babies stolen.”
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