Rebel: House of Fae: A Dark Fae Paranormal Romance

by Rosemary A Johns

  What had I said?

  I studied the way that Beau’s face was even paler than before. “Ehm, maybe you’re the one who needs to calm down?”

  “You say it so casually,” Beau muttered, blinking rapidly. “As if it wasn’t what I’d waited for my whole life.”

  His wings twitched: the advanced stages of touch starvation. Had it driven him crazy?

  “Well, thanks for the chat, but we need to get out of here. Do you know where the others are?” I turned back to the wall, banging on the metal with a clang.

  “The Duke of Wells shan’t let you out,” Beau’s voice sounded hollow. “He’s forbidden me to tell the Forest Fae the truth because it’d endanger me, but I believe that it’s more likely that he’s ashamed of me. You see, I’m his only son, and he locks me in here whenever I disappoint him. If he’s decided that he wishes you to spend the night in here, then there’s no escape.”

  Beau was Wells’ son…?

  I ought to hate him now on principle alone.

  Yet I didn’t because I finally understood why a Court Fae was risked here at the reform school: he was visiting his father.

  Beau was subjected to the same lessons as the other students like he’d been sentenced to a crime.

  Beau was innocent.

  My hands balled into fists.

  I knew that Wells wielded power as Head of House but not that he could treat his own son in this way.

  All of a sudden, it was clear to me that the division between Court or Forest Fae didn’t matter when it came to brotherhood. Whatever happened, Beau’s fate was entwined with mine. But how could I convince Emerald that she needed to save Beau as well? He wasn’t part of my tribe or the Day of the Wicked. Yet there had to be some way to take him away from the cruel Court.

  If I survived, I couldn’t leave him behind.

  Wait, how long had this silence dragged on? Did that mean it’d been my turn to respond?

  A resigned look had settled on Beau’s face. He’d expected me to reject him. He was, after all, the son of the man who I’d been rebelling against ever since I was a kid.

  Beau’s expression became shuttered, as he deliberately plumped the rags like they were feathered pillows and settled down with his back to me. “Keep it down,” his slim shoulders were tight, “some of us need our sleep.”

  At last, I smiled because for the first night since he’d arrived at the reform school, Beau wouldn’t sleep alone. Instead, he’d experience what it was to sleep like a Forest Fae.

  I longed to stroke him, until his wings stopped twitching. When I dropped to my knees and crawled behind him, he froze.

  “What are you doing?” Beau demanded in a panicked whisper.

  “Shh, sleeping.” I sighed with contentment, wrapping my wings around Beau’s middle.

  “You’re a strange fae.” Beau glanced over his shoulder at me, although I noticed that unlike the last time that I’d hugged him, there was no demand that I not touch him.

  “It has been said.” I snuggled closer, sniffing his hair that smelled deliciously of peaches.

  I sucked a strand just to see if it tasted as sweet. I sighed dreamily when it did.

  Beau yelped. “Liberties.”

  My eyes widened. “If you’re the Duke of Wells’ son, then that makes you…”

  Beau twisted in my arms; his face was so close to mine that I could see each delicate eyelash and feel every gust of his breath across my lips.

  Beau’s smile was smug. “The Marquess of Wells, which interestingly enough as a Court Fae means that I outrank you.”

  I groaned. Karma bites me in the ass again.

  Amusement danced in his eyes. “Perhaps, you should try calling me Your Lordship…?”

  Why was it so sexy the way that he blushed, even as he tried for commanding?

  “Of course, Your Lordship,” I whispered against Beau’s lips. I had no problem with someone who was either higher rank than me or who was, like Emerald, more powerful. In fact, it was a turn-on. By the way that Beau moaned and his prick pressed against my thigh, having someone finally acknowledging his status was a turn-on for Beau. He was a Court Fae, color me surprised. “As you’re now the leader,” Beau moaned again, wrapping his arms around my neck, “how about telling me why I’ve been trapped down here with you?”

  Beau licked his lips, and his wings fluttered. “My father is allowing you to take the blame for the fight. Your friends look set to be apportioned some of the blame too. When they carried you here, the Countess and he had a terrible argument over it. The Countess said that you provoked the battle, even though the other fae are remorseful and have confessed. They almost killed you; I don’t believe that they meant to.”

  I snorted. “That’s funny because it certainly felt like they were trying.”

  Beau nipped my lip, and my eyes widened in surprise. “Surely you don’t blame your own people for being angry and scared? They lost control of their emotions and should be punished for it, but you of all fae should understand them. They have no control over their own deaths. They look at you and see someone who doesn’t belong, just like when they look at me. But yet they know that their suffering is because of you.”

  “Don’t pull any punches.”

  Tentatively, Beau raised his hand to stroke the back of my cheek; I wondered if he’d ever done that to another fae before. The gesture meant everything to me because I knew how hard it was for him.

  “They don’t know the Court, or what you’ve suffered. They’re not as strong as you, Your Lordship,” Beau breathed.

  Beau’s magic entwined with my own. He was pledging to follow me, even though he outranked me. In fae tradition that bound us closer than a bond.

  I buried my fingers in Beau’s feathers, and he shook at the sudden touch. He was more sensitive than any fae I’d known because of the touch starvation. I massaged along his feathers, tracing each one individually, as he panted.

  “And you survived the Court, Wicked Reform School, and your own father.” I remembered with horrified disgust the way that Wells had dunked Beau in the grimy water. “They’re not as strong as you either.”

  “You still don’t remember me, do you?”

  I blinked. Remember him…?

  Why were my guts roiling like I’d forgotten Felix’s birthday and his cute face was about to crumple only much worse?

  “I don’t remember why I’m not covered in burns,” I answered with my classic distraction technique.

  By Beau’s narrowed eyes, it hadn’t worked. “The counselor healed all of you, even Apollo. She’s truly the most powerful succubi that I’ve ever known.”

  “You’ve known many?” My bond sang at the thought of Emerald after the intense way that she’d visited me through our connection on the pitch.

  Yet why was I surging with jealousy?

  On the other hand, the idea of Beau and Emerald together was hot.

  Beau waved his hand airily. “The Countess is friends with the Succubi Court. Father has allowed me to dine with Emerald and him since she was hired by the Dean. I like her because she notices me.”

  “The Dean hired her?” I wanted to ask just precisely what liking Emerald meant, but first, I needed to know why our Emotions Counselor hadn’t been directly hired by Wells.

  Beau bit his lip. “I just know that the Dean hired her into the school, and then Wells gave her the post as counselor.”

  Was that normal?

  This time, I needed to distract myself from the troubling thoughts. I tightened my fingers in Beau’s feathers, and he arched like I’d squeezed his prick.

  Interesting.

  “Too much,” Beau gasped. “It’s like this…swelling of pleasure inside me and it’s cresting but just…not quite. Plus, we’re breaking three Dictates right now.” He humped against my leg; his prick was hard and pulsing. “All this pleasure beneath my skin, and I need…”

  He broke off with a sob.

  “I’ll give you what you need.” I swept my hand a
cross the nape of his neck, squeezing. “Just hold on a little more. I promise, it’ll be worth it.”

  I rubbed my prick against his, and sparks of pleasure shot through me. My balls were full and aching. Desire coursed through me, driving me closer and closer to the edge, but I held myself back with a struggle.

  Beau needed touch and intimacy. He needed to feel this.

  I caught his lips with mine; they were sweet and soft. Yet the way that he pushed back, meeting every thrust of my tongue, was passionate and spoke of a desperate yearning that I didn’t understand. When he sucked on my lower lip, biting it, I clutched him by the neck, dragging him onto his back, and caging him underneath me.

  Beau’s prick was hard, but his eyes were wild. He lay beneath me with his wings outstretched like he was my sacrifice or craved to be.

  What was I missing?

  Beau’s alabaster chest rose and fell too rapidly. I caressed along the path of his muscles, and they jumped.

  “How could any father keep their son from touch?” I watched the way that Beau both arched into and then immediately away from every caress.

  “You don’t have a father.” Beau’s voice was suddenly low and dangerous. “You wouldn’t understand. My father lost his wife who he idolized, and I can never live up to her ghost.”

  “I’m sorry.” I kissed Beau’s pink nipple in apology, and he gasped. “But I have a brother. I thought for a long time that he’d simply abandoned me as a Hostage Lord to the Court. Of course, I know now that the Queen had him by the balls. If he hadn’t handed us over, she’d have murdered the entire tribe. I wish that Quinn hadn’t rebelled for my sake. But at least I know now that he never stopped standing with me wing by wing.”

  “I’m thrilled for you.” Beau’s mouth twisted like he was holding back tears.

  Why was he using my sarcasm?

  I tenderly kissed Beau’s chest, before resting my head against it and wrapping my wings around him. “Go on then. Why should I remember you?”

  Beau stiffened. “I don’t know. Why should you remember a child who played with you at Court? I imagine that you hated all Court Fae back then, and I was only too stupid and lonely not to realize that you merely tolerated my presence. Father allowed me so few play hours that those I spent with the Hostage Lords, who always appeared so full of joy despite being apart from their families, were the best of my life. I didn’t exactly know how to play, so I mainly hung around on the edges watching…”

  Oh no, please no, how could I’ve forgotten…?

  “You were the cute kid who always asked shyly to play chase,” I said.

  I remembered now.

  Beau had been the only Court Fae to treat Felix, Radley, and I with kindness. He’d never jeered at us, when we’d been in the Kneel of Shame and sometimes, had sneaked us water. Yet even back then, I hadn’t known his name because in my mind, he’d merely been another enemy Court Fae.

  I’d been an idiot because in fact, he’d been a Marquess, who’d been as lonely as us and had only wanted our friendship.

  Beau’s heart was thudding too hard in his chest. I could hear its rapid drumbeat, and it was matched by my own against his.

  I wished that I could go back and change things. Our companionship had meant so much to Beau, and yet I’d forgotten it entirely.

  Beau nodded. “I’d seen you play chase once, so I knew how to play it. I longed to break into the closeness that you three had. I knew that I never would. For years, I’d dream that you’d invite me to join you as one of the Fae Four.”

  My breath hitched. I’d offered that so casually earlier.

  Beau should punch me in the dick.

  Instead, Beau stroked his hand through my hair like he was touching a god. “When I became older and father stopped me playing with you, they became my happiest memories. I had to hide my excitement when I was first ordered to accompany father to the Wicked Reform School because I’d see you again. Let me guess, you don’t remember our first meeting here, either?”

  It was strange to have been important to someone, and yet to have barely noticed them.

  I flushed with shame.

  Radley, Felix, and Apollo had been my family and world for so long, maybe I’d forgotten that other people existed, loved, and hurt as well. If I could be open to Emerald’s bond uniting us, then I could be open to finally seeing Beau.

  “Was I a jerk?” I entangled Beau’s legs with mine, so that every inch of our skin was touching.

  “Of course you weren’t, Your Lordship, you were perfectly kind. You were never anything but kind to me like you’d be to a stray kitten that’d wandered over to join in the fun.” I winced: ouch. “That morning, I’d had a terrifying meeting with the Dean, been intimidated by a gang of Forest Fae, and shown this cell if I misbehaved by father. I was frightened, but then I saw you, hanging around underneath an apple tree. I’d rushed to you, thinking that I’d have a group of friends at least. You’d been laughing at something Lord River had said, then you’d turned to me coldly like I was a stranger and asked, “Are you lost?” You had no idea who I was.”

  “I didn’t even know that I’d spoken to you.”

  Beau wrenched back my head. “I was so devastated that I just stood there in silence like…you’d broken me…and Lord Brooke muttered something about kicking haughty Court Fae’s asses, if they were crazy enough to bother the Marquess again… So, I didn’t.”

  “I’ve spent the last days and nights doing nothing but thinking about you, as well as searching for you in every face.” I wrapped my hands around Beau’s cheeks hard, even as he gripped my hair like we both needed the pain and connection. His olive-green eyes were pooled with tears, and when one fell, I licked it from his cheek. “Even when I was kneeling in pain or having iron balls thrown at me, you were what I was remembering: the Marquess of bloody Wells.” I pressed my lips against his in a kiss that willed him to both believe me and to force myself to imprint the feel of them. I couldn’t bear the thought that I’d ever forget him again. “You’re mine now. I can’t take back the years that I wasted without your friendship; I wish that I could. But your silent loyalty and love is a gift. I swear on the forest that you shall never be forgotten again.”

  I moved up and down against Beau like it was a dance, never letting go of him, as he never let go of me. Our pricks rubbed against each other, pushing us both towards that crest of blinding pleasure.

  Beau trembled, and his wings curled around me, pulling my body even closer against his.

  “Not yet,” I murmured, “together.”

  Beau’s eyelashes fluttered against mine, and I trapped his moan with a hard kiss, as we both hit the crest together and came.

  I shuddered at the sensation of my prick pulsing against Beau’s, sticky with a mixture of both my own cum and Beau’s.

  We didn’t always recognize what was precious the first time, or even the second.

  I was blessed by Belenus that Beau had offered me a third chance.

  Beau vibrated with bliss, yet his smile was shy. I loved that he no longer hid his emotions behind an expressionless mask, as the Dictates taught.

  “We’re truly together now?” Beau asked.

  I traced my name on Beau’s stomach through the pearly liquid. “Look, I’m even marking you as my official property.”

  When Beau laughed, I was shocked at the beauty of the sound.

  By the surprised way that he clamped his hand over his mouth, I guessed that it was a long time since he’d broken Dictate 987: Laugh quietly.

  Then Beau lowered his hand, and all of a sudden, he was serious again. “I’m afraid that I’ve been rather selfish. I didn’t want to spoil my first night alone with you by admitting that you’re to be punished further tomorrow morning.”

  I stiffened, and my pulse raced.

  Sorry, Emerald, but I just didn’t appear capable of avoiding punishment.

  “What’s it to be this time? Prostrate of Disgrace? Dunk in the Pond? Or…”

 
; “You’re being sent with your friends for a session with Professor Emerald.”

  I grinned, kissing the tip of Beau’s nose. “I’m failing to see the downside.”

  “Only, the Countess argued that first you’re to be sent to the Dean of Discipline’s office.”

  Ah, that actually was scary.

  Had Beau only admitted who he was and such crushingly sad memories to me because he thought…what? That tonight could be our last night together…ever? That it didn’t matter if he finally flayed himself before me and risked rejection because it was his final chance, since tomorrow I could be eaten by flesh eaters, weighted and sunk to the bottom of the ocean, or literally flayed?

  I wondered if he’d kick his haughty self if I survived.

  I raised my eyebrow. “And your father just decided to throw his wicked boys onto the Dean’s non-existent mercy?”

  “That was why they argued. The Countess said that they could blame the Hostage Lords as the troublemakers who’d caused the fight. My father is desperate not to lose face, and you’re the scapegoat.”

  When Beau settled his wings around me, tugging me to nestle facing him on the rags, I spooned him.

  Despite all my pranks and rebellious behavior, I’d never been summoned to the Dean’s office before. Wells had always dealt with discipline within the House of Fae, which is how he ran things.

  I kissed Beau on the forehead, before closing my eyes. But how could I sleep? Tomorrow, for the first time since I’d been sentenced, I’d meet the demon Dean.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Wicked Reform School, Dean of Discipline’s Office

  Wednesday 28th April

  I perched on the edge of the soft green couch in the small waiting room to the Dean’s office, shifting anxiously. My fingers clawed into the fabric. Everything smelled fresh in a fake way like it’d been sprayed out of a can. I wrinkled my nose, as I squinted at the morning’s light that streamed through the window. After a night in the dungeon, I couldn’t look away from the sun, even though it burned.

  Where were Felix, Radley, and Apollo?