Savage Fae (Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Book 2)

by Caroline Peckham

  “Yes, he’ll be as big as his father one day.”

  “And just as powerful!”

  Elise stood back, looking between us with a bemused expression. Marie and Latisha fell on her a second later, showering her in compliments and stroking her hair. She took it all in her stride and I swear I fell a bit harder for her.

  Dad had returned to sit at the head of the table and cleared his throat heavily. “Shall we eat?”

  “Of course, my love.” Marie swooped down to kiss him on the cheek, flattening a crease in his shirt as she did so. Latisha went next, kissing his other cheek and arranging his golden hair over his shoulders. My mother dropped down beside him, taking his hand. She wasn’t the best cook and Dad never expected it of her. He didn’t even use his Charisma on his wives, they were just so damn in love with him that their Lioness natures caused them to fawn all over him.

  My Charisma was pretty much constantly switched on and I knew dad disapproved of that, but he disapproved of everything I did so what was the difference?

  Elise and I took our seats on one side of the table and she immediately found my hand, squeezing encouragingly. It felt so good to have her here. Dad wasn’t even being that bad. He usually found fifty things to be disappointed with me for before I’d even made it in the door. So far, this night was a serious success.

  The rumbling of an engine caught my ear and I frowned as headlights flashed through the window.

  “Who’s that?” I asked just as the front door opened and the sound of heavy footfalls carried this way.

  My brother Roary strode into the room and I almost busted a tooth as my jaw locked tight.

  For fuck’s sake I had one request for tonight! Him not being here.

  His hair was dark and shining with more body than mine; he had half an inch of height on me and a constant war hero expression on his perfectly chiselled face. His leather jacket strained against his muscles and his aura screamed dominance.

  “Hey little brother,” he said as he spotted me, then he bowed his head to Dad like a douche. A low purr emitted from Dad and I growled in response, tightening my grip on Elise’s hand.

  Safira jumped to her feet, rushing to embrace him, cooing louder and more enthusiastically than she had done for me. And she was my damn birth mother. Marie was his.

  “Don’t mind if I drop in for dinner, do you Mom?” the way he said Mom was so fucking possessive. Like she belonged to him more than she did to me. And from the look in her lovestruck eyes, she felt the same way.

  Fuck a duck.

  “Of course not, darling,” she said sweetly, pulling out a chair for him opposite me.

  He dropped into it, resting back in it and slinging his arms across the seats either side of him. His gaze arrowed in on Elise and fear crept under my skin. Elise might not have fallen prey to my Charisma before, but Roary had more control over his and the vibe he gave off was seriously powerful. I hated when he came to visit me at Aurora Academy because all of my Mindys dropped me like a sack of shit to serve him instead.

  Please don’t take Elise from me.

  My hand was locked so tightly around hers I was surprised she hadn’t yelped in pain yet.

  “And who’s this?” Roary asked, his eyes raking down her in a way that said he was sizing her up as a potential mate.

  I opened my mouth to answer but choked on the words. Because what could I say? If I told him she was my girlfriend she might laugh and tell my whole family that she wasn’t. And if Roary’s Charisma was already affecting her, she’d probably be in his lap within the next thirty seconds, stroking his damn perfect face anyway.

  “I’m Leon’s girlfriend, Elise,” she said and my heart melted, my grip relaxing on her hand.

  I smirked confidently but a challenge flashed in his eyes that drove panic into my heart. He wasn’t done yet.

  “Are you now?” he asked in a deep growl, one brow arching. Then he leaned forward with a conspiratorial grin. “Are you sure my little brother can handle you, buttercup?”

  A growl rumbled through my chest and Elise squeezed my fingers.

  “My name’s Elise, not buttercup. And he handles me just fine.”

  Roary grinned like he’d won something but I had no idea what and it pissed me off to no end.

  “Yes well that’s quite enough about that,” Dad cut in, throwing a frown at me as if the tension in the air was my goddamn fault.

  Roary rolled his shoulders back, shedding his jacket to reveal the taut muscles straining against his black shirt. There are other colours on the spectrum, asshat.

  Marie and Latisha appeared, nearly dropping the trays of food they were carrying in their excitement to get to Roary. They planted them down on the table, falling all over him while he gazed at me intently with a grin pulling up one side of his mouth.

  “That’s enough, we’re all starving,” Dad said firmly and they hurried about passing out large bowls of stew and hunks of freshly baked bread for everyone.

  Marie and Latisha sat either side of Roary, one of them stuffing a serviette into his collar while the other attempted to spoon feed him. He waved her way with a grin, digging into his food.

  “You know it’s rude to use your Charisma at the table,” I pointed out and Roary cocked his head.

  “I’m not using it.”

  “Liar,” I growled, looking to my mothers who seemed desperate to get close to him again.

  Roary shrugged his huge shoulders, giving me a blank look before returning to eating.

  Dad didn’t say a word. But if I’d used my Charisma on our mothers, he’d have scolded me and dismissed me from the room. Roary got away with everything. Always had. My whole life, he’d been the golden child. And I was always chasing to catch up.

  “Did you see my latest steal out there?” I looked to dad hopefully and he nodded.

  “Yes, it’s a nice car,” he said and a grin bit into my cheeks.

  All three of our mothers jumped up and rushed to the window to have a look and I beamed proudly, stealing a glance at Roary’s expression. He swept a hand through his hair, saying nothing but our mothers were about to rub it in his face anyway.

  “Oh my gosh, it’s beautiful!” Marie cried.

  “And what a colour,” Latisha cooed. “Would you call that marine or navy?”

  “What? It’s yellow,” I said in confusion, rising to my feet as Roary stretched his limbs languidly in my periphery. I headed to the window and my heart fucking broke as I realised what they were all looking at.

  “No,” I gasped. It was Roary’s car. The fucking Car. The one I’d spent the last year planning on stealing. The one I’d dreamed about, jerked off over, fucking cried about. The unstealable car. And my brother, my fucking brother had gotten it first.

  “How did you get it?” I rounded on him with a snarl.

  “Get what?” Dad rose from his seat, moving to the window to have a look himself before taking in a breath of shock. “My boy! This is the proudest moment of my life.”

  Pain speared through me at those words and Roary just shrugged – just fucking shrugged like it didn’t mean anything.

  “It wasn’t that hard,” he said, not even cockily, just like it really wasn’t that hard.

  “You knew how much I wanted that car.” I pointed at him accusatorially.

  “The opportunity arose and I took it,” Roary said calmly. “It’s not a personal attack.”

  “Everything you do is a personal attack,” I snarled.

  “Oh come on, you can’t really think that.” Roary yawned, checking his watch like I was holding up his day.

  Our mothers started clearing the table and Latisha pulled the serviette from Dad’s shirt collar, dabbing his mouth before heading away into the kitchen with the others.

  I was about to rage out further when Elise stood up, drifting to the seat next to Roary’s and dropping into it with a sexy as fuck smile.

  “How did you steal it?” she asked, resting her hand on his arm and he grinned, wideni
ng his legs as he gave her a look that said he was going to fuck her. But I’d take him to the grave before I ever let that happen.

  He could have the Mantorghini. He could even have my father’s respect and my mothers’ position as their favourite. But he could not fucking have my girl.

  Roary slid his gaze over me with a cocky as fuck look in his eyes and leaned close to whisper in my ear.

  “I just lifted the key from the owner,” he purred. “I don’t over think things like little Leonidas does. When I see something I want, I find the easiest way to achieve it. Follow the path of least resistance.”

  My smile widened and I shifted a little closer to him. “So Leon’s smarter and you’re simpler?” I asked, batting my eyelashes.

  “Yeah, I…wait, what did you say?” Roary frowned at me, his golden eyes swimming with suspicion but I just kept my expression neutral.

  “Do you work out?” I asked, my hand sliding around his bicep as I inched closer to him again.

  Leon stalked around the table and lowered himself into the seat beside mine, a growl escaping him that had the hairs rising along the back of my neck. I could feel his eyes on me but I didn’t look his way as I waited for Roary’s answer.

  “Yeah. I can bench two-eighty,” he said with an air that said that was nothing, flexing his muscle beneath my hand.

  “Wow. That’s almost as much as Leon,” I said, gushing as I continued to stare at him.

  Roary’s brow pinched and he threw a look at his brother across me.

  “What are you pressing now, then, little Leonidas?” he asked, like he didn’t really give a shit but he was still flexing his bicep beneath my hand so I was gunna guess that was bullshit.

  “Three twenty,” Leon replied smugly and I was glad I’d been right about that.

  “Nice,” Roary said dismissively. “But I don’t like to skip leg day,” he joked, pushing a hand through his dark hair.

  I dropped my hand to his leg as he said that, squeezing the top of his thigh. He shifted in his seat, dropping his arm around the back of my chair and leaning closer to me with a smirk that said he thought he had me. I moved my hand, almost skimming his junk and he cleared his throat, tossing a glance at his dad as he rearranged himself. The second he moved, I shifted my hand with a spurt of Vampire speed, hooking his car key out of his pocket and tossing it beneath the table into my other hand. I caught it neatly and pushed it into my own pocket, all without him even feeling me withdraw my palm from his thigh.

  I really loved being a Vampire.

  “Oh yeah, I can tell you work on these too,” I said, doing my best to sound impressed as I pulled my hand back.

  “Elise, would you like to come on a tour of the house?” Leon asked, reaching out to tuck a lock of my hair behind my ear. My skin tingled where he touched me and I turned his way with a sweet smile.

  “Okay,” I agreed, getting to my feet and taking his hand as he practically dragged me from the room.

  Leon tossed an irritated glance back at his brother before the door swung shut behind us but I pretended not to notice. We started walking along the wide corridor at a fast pace and I let him lead me as I gazed at the family photos on the walls and took in the sheer size of the place. You could have fit my old apartment inside one of the rooms here on its own. I hadn’t even realised people really lived in places like this.

  “Sorry about Roary,” Leon muttered. “He uses his Charisma like a damn sniper rifle. I didn’t know he’d be here tonight or I wouldn’t have brought you. I didn’t mean for him to lure you in like that.”

  “Like what?” I asked innocently. “He wasn’t doing anything to me.”

  Leon frowned at me like that was somehow worse and I bit my lip against telling him about the car key yet. He’d brought me here under false pretences after all so he was really due a little punishment.

  “You never told me you had a brother,” I said curiously just as we reached a door at the end of the corridor.

  “That’s because I wish I didn’t,” he muttered before pushing the door wide and leading me into a bedroom which I guessed was his.

  “Don’t say things like that,” I muttered, a flash of pain driving through me at the offhand remark.

  Leon seemed to realise he’d said the wrong thing and blew out a breath of frustration. “I don’t mean it,” he said. “It’s just my whole life, Roary’s made me feel, somehow…lesser. And the worst thing is I don’t even think he does it on purpose.”

  I wandered into Leon’s room, brushing my fingers along a shelf filled with Pitball trophies and eyeing another filled with action figures.

  “I get that,” I said slowly, hiding my smile as I looked around the room, preparing for my payback. “He is very…you know…”

  “What?” Leon demanded, stalking after me.

  “Well,” I said, looking over my shoulder at him as I reached his bed, my fingertips skimming his Solarian Pitball league duvet cover as I drew out my answer. “He’s very…tall.”

  “I’m tall,” Leon said indignantly, stalking closer to me. “I’m six, two. Being taller than that is unnecessary.”

  “I guess,” I agreed like I didn’t agree at all. “He’s also really strong…”

  “You literally just pointed out that I can bench more than him,” Leon huffed.

  “Yeah. But he doesn’t skip leg day,” I teased, reaching out to brush my fingers over Leon’s strong thigh.

  Leon growled but there was a light in his eyes too as I kept my hand on his leg.

  “And he does have really nice hair,” I added.

  “What kind of Lion has dark hair?” Leon scoffed, though I could tell my comment had pissed him off.

  I reached up with my other hand to twist my fingers through Leon’s golden mane with a smile. “There is one thing about Roary that was absolutely better than you,” I said in a low voice and Leon growled in frustration.

  “What?” he demanded.

  I leaned closer to him, tiptoeing so that I could whisper my answer in his ear. “He didn’t lie about me being his girlfriend.”

  Leon groaned, finally catching on to why I was tormenting him as his hands caught me around the waist and he pushed me back down onto his bed.

  I laughed as his weight fell over me and his mouth moved to my neck. “Okay. I deserved that,” he said between kisses which set my skin alight for him. “And I promise to work really hard at making it up to you.” He shifted lower, pushing my sweater up so that he could paint kisses down my stomach and I moaned softly in encouragement as he continued to head south. “It’s just that I never seem to be able to do anything good enough for my dad. And I knew he’d be impressed by you…”

  My heart leapt at his words and I reached out, stopping his descent as I pulled him back up so that I could kiss him instead.

  “You should never think of yourself as not good enough, Leo,” I breathed, cupping his cheek in my hands. “You’re one of the best people I know.”

  A deep purr came from him in response as he pressed his mouth to mine and I drew him closer hungrily.

  A knock sounded at the door and we broke apart a little breathlessly as Roary entered. He arched an eyebrow at the sight of the two of us tangled on the bed and Leon sighed as he stood up, offering me a hand to pull me up too.

  “Dessert is just about to be served,” Roary said lightly, his gaze sliding over me like I was a puzzle he was trying to figure out. “Do you like sweet things, Elise?”

  “Oh I’m a sucker for sugar,” I agreed, walking across the room to join Roary and looking back at Leon with a smirk.

  Roary offered me his arm and I took it, letting him lead me back to the dining room while Leon followed along behind us. I could practically feel his tension returning and I got the feeling he still wasn’t convinced that Roary’s Charisma wasn’t affecting me.

  Roary led me back to the chair beside his as we entered the dining room and I dropped into it willingly. Leon sat on my other side, frowning faintly as I kept a
sweet smile slapped on my face and I reached out to place my hand on his thigh beneath the table.

  “Can I get you another drink?” Marie offered and I nodded as she refilled my glass with wine. She didn’t even ask the men at the table before hurrying to top them up too and I had to admit that the three women of the household seemed particularly content with their roles fawning over the males.

  “Are you still working that bank heist?” Reginald asked Roary as he took a long drink of his own wine.

  “All finished,” Roary said with a shrug. “That’s actually why I’m back early. I needed to get out of the city before the FIB came looking for me.”

  “What was the take in the end?” Reginald asked conversationally like robbing a bank was no big deal.

  “Just under one point two million by the looks of it.” Roary shrugged. “I’ll have to pay my Undercats a cut of course. After that it’ll probably be about nine hundred grand. Give or take.”

  All three of their moms started clapping and fawning over Roary, praising him on doing such a good job while he accepted their attention like it was silly of them to be impressed by such a little thing.

  Leon’s posture had tensed to the point where it looked like he might just smash his wine glass if he gripped it any tighter as he watched them.

  I rolled my eyes like Roary didn’t impress me one bit and Leon’s gaze softened, though not enough for my liking. I leaned forward, slipping my hand right up Leon’s thigh until I felt his dick twitch and he sat up straighter in his seat.

  He opened his mouth but no words came out and I smiled knowingly before withdrawing my hand.

  “Roary’s been away for a few weeks, visiting Cobalt City,” Marie said dotingly as she returned to her seat. “And we’ve all missed him dreadfully.”

  “I’ve missed you guys too,” he said fondly, leaning back in his chair again. “Even little Leonidas.”

  “I knew a girl from Cobalt City when I was growing up,” I said enthusiastically.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah, she called it the city to visit.”

  “It sure is,” Roary agreed, smirking like his life was so shit hot it didn’t even need explaining.