by Lynn Hagen
Throwing the sheet back, Jet sat on the side of the bed. He still had a headache but not as bad as before. He could do this. Jet wiggled his toes and nodded to himself. Piece of cake.
He hopped from the bed…and crumpled to the carpet. Thank goodness he’d used his arms to brace his fall, or he would’ve hit his head.
“Dang it,” he said into the light blue carpet. Though he had to admit, the carpeting smelled nice.
He struggled until he had his back against the wall. Jet breathed shallowly and then used his back, and the wall, to push himself to a standing position.
He listened to see if anyone was close by then tried again, pushing away from the wall.
Jet face-planted the carpet, again. If he kept this up, he would have carpet burn up and down his arms.
The door opened, and Raven walked in, a mug in his hand. He looked down at Jet and arched a brow. “What’re you doing down there?”
Jet flipped to his back and sighed. “The bed was too comfortable so I decided to rest down here. Can you throw me a pillow?”
Raven set his mug on the nearby dresser and scooped Jet into his strong, muscled arms. What Jet wouldn’t give to stay there. But that was a pipe dream. As soon as Raven found out what Jet was, the guy would be out of there.
After his mate buried Jet’s body.
“If you had to use the bathroom, all you had to do was holler.” Raven placed him on the bed and fluffed the pillow behind Jet. He tucked the sheet around him and sat on the side of the bed.
The mention of the bathroom made Jet’s bladder twitch, but there was no way he would ask Raven for help. He already felt helpless enough.
He also had to get out of there before Arion found him. Jet would never forgive himself if anything happened to his hosts or the doctor. Was the doctor still there? Jet didn’t bother to ask.
“I really have to go.” Jet tried to sit up, but Raven laid his hands against Jet’s chest, although he applied zero pressure.
“I can take you.”
“Not the bathroom,” Jet said in frustration. “I have to get out of here.” He waved his arms to encompass the room.
A thought struck him. Duh. Jet could shimmer away. That would be best for everyone, although he didn’t know where he would go. With him being broke and now on the run, his choices were zilch. But at least no one in the house would be put in harm’s way if Arion or even Panahasi found out where he was.
“Whoa, slow down,” Raven said when Jet tried to sit up.
Jet knocked Raven’s hands away and had a feeling his mate had allowed him instead of Jet having the power to do so. He was all of five feet four inches while Raven looked to be over six feet. And the guy had impressive muscles, whereas Jet had barely any definition to his body.
“Stop holding me down,” Jet snapped.
“You need your rest.” This time Raven glared at him, and Jet didn’t like that look. It said Raven could do some serious damage if he wanted to. “Why are you trying to leave?”
Jet tried to shimmer, but it was as though his battery was worn down. He flickered a little, but his ability was all sizzle and no bang. It seemed even his mind needed rest. Jet even tried to use his wings, but they remained hidden inside him, refusing to come out.
Raven looked incredulously at Jet. “Did you just try to shimmer out of here?” The guy didn’t appear the least bit happy. “Is it because we’re mates?”
Jet could stick to that lie and crush Raven’s feelings, but he didn’t have it in him to be so cruel. He wasn’t anything like his parents. They’d treated Jet like he’d been invisible his entire life, and when they did pay him attention, it was with contempt that their only child wasn’t “dark” enough for them.
His parents never missed the chance to tell him what a disappointment he was or to make him feel so invisible that he wished he’d been born to a different family.
Raven snapped his fingers in Jet’s face. “Earth to Jet.”
“I just want to be left alone.” Jet curled onto his side, giving Raven his back. He would be a disappointment to his mate, too. So why even bother?
“Fine,” Raven said in a calmer tone. “I’ll give you some space, but only if you promise not to try and get out of bed again.”
Jet lifted his arm, giving Raven a thumbs-up. He listened to the door close, and he wanted to bawl his eyes out. Why couldn’t anything go right for him? What he wouldn’t give to be the perfect mate for Raven. But that would never happen, so there was no use wishing for it. The damage his parents had done would be everlasting, and Jet being born an Unseelie was a black mark on his soul.
Chapter Three
“Just give him time.” Moose slid a glass of tea across the patio table.
The ice clinked as Raven watched the sun slowly lower past the top of the trees.
Of course Moose and Grayson had heard Jet’s outburst. Fucking shifter hearing. But he didn’t hold a grudge against them. It wasn’t as though they could help it. Even so, Raven felt the sting of embarrassment that they knew his mate had rejected him and had tried to bail on Raven.
Things were already messed up with his father, and Raven had no doubt Robert McCoy would send men to find him. He’d just been hoping that, when he’d discovered Jet was his mate, something would finally go right for him, that he would have someone he could find solace in, someone he could find a slice of happiness with.
“No offense, but I’d rather not talk about this.” Raven picked up his glass and took a drink of his tea. He considered Moose a friend but not enough that he wanted to open up and spill all his feelings.
Moose snorted. “I forgot that you’re the strong, silent type that lets his problems fester inside him rather than talking it out with a friend.” Moose stood. “While you’re wallowing, I’m gonna get something to eat. Great talk. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”
“I’m not wallowing,” Raven argued as Moose walked away. He’d just grown up with a father who thought weak and soft feelings were for pussies. Raven had been groomed for leadership, and men of his stature hid their feelings and led a strong pack.
Not even in the privacy of his own bedroom was he supposed to let his guard down. A leader always represented strength. They didn’t show vulnerability of any kind.
That had been the topic of many arguments between him and his father. Raven hadn’t lived by those rules, and his father had never approved of his only son, the future pack leader, sitting on the ground and playing with the pups instead of walking rigidly through their small town and showing himself as a tough but fair man.
It was all bullshit to Raven. He felt he should get to know people individually, on a personal basis, whereas his father just looked at the pack as objects to protect and rule over.
Those lessons had come after Raven’s mother had died.
Too bad Raven’s mother hadn’t been alive. She always knew how to soften her mate, to make him see reason. But since her death, his father had become as cold as ice and hard to reach.
Leaving his glass on the table, he walked inside to check on Jet, passing Moose in the kitchen. Raven just wanted to be near his mate, to smell his flowery fragrance, and to reassure himself that the little fairy…fae, was okay.
When he cracked the bedroom door open, Raven found Jet asleep. He was still lying in a tight little ball, but one of his hands was tucked under his cheek and a fierce feeling of protectiveness filled Raven.
He would find out who had done this to Jet, and then Raven would eviscerate the bastard for drugging his mate. He would also help the fairy—he couldn’t stop using that word mentally—piece together his lost time.
The sound of the central air kicking on made Raven go to the window and close it. He secured the latch and drew the curtains before turning back to face the bed.
Jet’s eyes were open, and the stunning amber color once again made Raven breathless. Did Jet even realize how beautiful he was? Maybe not by human standards. Then again, neither Raven nor Jet was human. Ev
en so, he found the fae’s imperfections enchanting—like how his nose had a slight upturn on the end of it or the smattering of sexy freckles that dotted Jet’s nose and cheeks.
He even had a tiny gap between his front teeth that Raven found endearing.
Jet’s not human. Raven’s mind circled back to that fact as he cocked his head. “Why did you smell human when you collapsed in my arms?”
Jet’s dark brows dipped. “I have no idea. Then again, I have no memory of the past two weeks.”
That had to be terrifying to have the last fourteen days erased from memory. What had Jet done in that time, who had he been with, and had he been taken care of or abused? Those questions gnawed at Raven as he pulled his shirt over his head.
Jet’s amber eyes widened. “What’re you doing?”
Raven wanted to roll his eyes at the scared look on his mate’s face. “I’m tired and need some sleep. Since you don’t want me in my human form, I figured I’d sleep in the bed in my wolf form.”
Jet’s lips slightly parted as he looked away. “I never said I didn’t want you. I just said I had to get out of here and that I wanted to be left alone. I never rejected you.”
When Jet tried to sit up, Raven moved to the bed and slid his hands under his mate’s arms and helped him. Jet’s skin was warm to the touch. Raven was thankful he was no longer burning with fever.
He tried to pull his hands away, but Jet grabbed them and held them in place. “There are things going on that you don’t understand and I can’t explain to you.”
“There’s nothing you can’t tell me.” Raven took a seat on the side of the bed. Sitting on the soft mattress intensified his exhaustion, but Raven and Jet needed to talk, to clear the air, although he didn’t want to tell Jet about his father and his demands.
Who wanted to get caught up in that kind of mess?
Jet’s gaze lowered. “There’re things I can’t tell you, even though I want to.”
Raven might not know much about the fairy world, but he knew enough to ask, “Seelie or Unseelie? Those are the only two fairy types I know of.”
Jet shoved at Raven as he tried to scoot away. Raven caught his mate around his waist to stop him from falling out of the bed. “Slow down, Jet. It doesn’t matter to me what you are.”
His mate looked over his shoulder at Raven, stark terror in his amber eyes. “You can’t mean that.”
Raven gave a sharp nod. “Unseelie, got it.”
Jet slapped a hand over Raven’s mouth. Raven had a childish urge to lick the man’s hand. “Keep your freaking voice down,” his mate said with a hiss. “Are you trying to get me killed?”
“By someone in this house?” Raven said after he removed Jet’s hand from his face. “Grayson is human, so he has no clue what an Unseelie is. As far as Moose goes, the guy just seems to roll with the punches. I highly doubt he’ll care, unless you try to use dark magic on him or his mate.”
“And you?” Jet asked with hesitation.
Raven shrugged. “I can’t see you using dark magic to hurt anyone, so—”
“Never!” Jet curled his lips in and pulled from Raven’s arms. He sat on the bed and pressed his hands into his lap. “That’s why I’m this huge disappointment to my parents. I’m too nice and not evil enough to be their son.”
The confession punched Raven in his gut. He bared his canines, pissed that Jet’s parents would view him as any kind of disappointment. Then again, Raven’s father was not a shining example of how a parent should behave.
“I know where you’re coming from.” Raven bent and unlaced his boots. They could keep talking, but first he was getting comfortable. “My old man has a heart encased in ice. He’s pissed because I refuse to take over the pack and his precious company when he retires. He thinks just because he’s stupid rich that he can throw his weight around.”
He straightened and looked at Jet. “I’d like to say I walked away from his fortune, but I’m not that altruistic. I took my inheritance and bounced. I hadn’t talked to him in three decades until he called me yesterday and threatened to hunt me down and drag me back home.”
That was the most Raven had talked in a long time. He was also shocked he’d spilled everything to Jet. He always liked to keep things close to the vest, but it was just too easy to talk to his mate.
Jet scooted closer. “I leave the dark realm once a month to visit my cousin. Poppy is sweet and naïve, and I always check on him because he’s in hiding, too. But since I didn’t return after my weekend with him, I know King Arion will be hunting me down, or sending someone to do it. I’m also afraid Panahasi will punish me since he sealed the realm and forbid anyone from leaving. That’s why I have to get out of here. I can’t bring that kind of trouble to this house.”
Ah, now Raven saw Jet’s problem. He was glad they’d cleared the air and that his mate hadn’t truly rejected him. “Let’s get some sleep tonight, and then tomorrow I’ll take you to my home. That way no one else will be caught up in our bullshit.”
Jet’s shoulders sagged. “I like that plan. Moose seems nice, and I don’t want any trouble here.”
Raven stood and slipped off his jeans and underwear and, finally, his socks. “Scoot over. I’m exhausted, and I want to hold my mate.”
Jet blushed seven kinds of red as he moved, giving Raven room to slide in next to him. Raven pulled his mate into his arms, spooning him and thinking about Jet’s issues.
If anyone thought to harm the little fairy, they had another think coming. Raven would protect Jet with his life and kill anyone foolish enough to try and hurt him.
“Does that mean you’re stupid rich, too?” Jet asked. “Because I’m stupid broke and have nowhere to live while I’m on the lam.”
Raven chuckled against Jet’s shoulder. “Get some sleep, sweetheart. You never have to worry about those things again.” But as Raven closed his eyes, he knew being mated to a dark elf wasn’t going to be as smooth as he made Jet believe. His mate was right. There were a lot of preternatural out there that killed Jet’s kind as soon as they found out someone was Unseelie.
He would just have to make sure no one found out.
“Tell me it wasn’t that easy,” Jet said in the quiet of the room. “Tell me you really did accept me without any reservations.”
Raven had. He knew what it was like to have to hide who you were. For Jet, the bad reputation of his people made him feared by many. And Raven, the heir to the McCoy pack and enterprise, had to hide the fact that he was gay. His pack wouldn’t understand, wouldn’t accept the fact that he’d rather have a man by his side than a woman.
That was one reason he had left and refused to return. He couldn’t live that lie. Now that he’d found his mate, Raven knew he couldn’t keep Jet as a side piece just to please his father and the people he ruled over.
The thought left a bad taste in his mouth.
“Without a single reservation.” Raven glided his hand up Jet’s side. “Now clear your mind and get some sleep.”
Raven was dying to claim Jet, but it could wait. His mate was still recovering from whatever drug he’d been given, and Raven wouldn’t take advantage of him.
Jet shook his head, his rainbow hair tickling Raven’s nose. “My head has been cleared enough. You have no idea how scary it is to lose a chunk of memory.” He turned over in Raven’s arms and looked up at him with those pretty amber eyes. “I need to find out what happened to me in those fourteen days.”
Raven glided his hand over Jet’s hair, moving the strands from the side of his face and tucking them behind his pointy ear. When his thumb brushed the tip, Jet shivered and moaned as the point twitched.
“We’ll piece everything together.” He pressed his lips against Jet’s forehead, reminding himself, and his wolf, that Jet wasn’t ready for sex. The guy couldn’t even stand without falling over. Jet needed time to heal, not get ravished in bed.
But Jet had other plans. He slid his hand down Raven’s bare chest as he bit his lower lip. Raven
couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped and filled the air between them. “If you keep this up, my honorable intentions of letting you get some rest will be gone.”
“I’ve rested enough.” Jet’s hand moved downward, teasing Raven’s navel with small circular patterns. “More sleep isn’t what I need.”
A bolt of lust shot through Raven’s body. “What do you need?”
Jet slid a leg over Raven’s hip and used his hands to steady himself. Fuck, he looked beautiful sitting atop Raven. “I need you.”
As much as Raven wanted Jet, wanted to be inside his mate, he pressed his hand on the man’s hip and shook his head. “You need your rest.”
One of Jet’s dark brows arched. “Are we going to argue about this all night, or are we gonna get down and dirty?”
With a growl, Raven spun until he had his mate on his back. “If you get dizzy or if anything else goes wrong, you better tell me.”
Raven’s honorable intentions had flown out the window, especially when Jet wiggled out of his clothes, his hard length jutting between his legs. Raven’s canines threatened to lengthen, but he held them back as he crawled backward down Jet’s body.
His mate’s eyes widened seconds before Raven took the man’s cock down his throat.
“Oh my god!” Jet arched his back as his legs spread wider, giving Raven more room to play. Raven ran his fingers up Jet’s inner thighs and palmed his balls, giving the wrinkled sac a light tug.
Raven pulled back when the room faded and he found himself on a sandy, deserted beach. Palms trees swayed, and the ocean lapped at the edges of the sand. The sun was setting, creating a breathtaking view.
“I’m sorry.” Jet propped himself on his elbows as he looked down at Raven. “It’s a simple illusion. I promise it’s not dark magic. I wasn’t even aware I could do this right now, with the way I’m screwed up. I was just thinking I wished we were somewhere nice, and then poof, here we are. But we really haven’t left the room. I just wanted privacy so Moose and his mate couldn’t hear us.”