Fae Schooled (Box Set)

By Emily Carrington

Three couples. Three deadly secrets. Who will survive?

Secret Identity: Half-Fae Brett and his human lover Adam thought they were prepared for the next step in their lives, until Brett’s gifts endanger everything. Will Adam’s need for independence and Brett’s overprotective streak drive the two apart, or can their love survive?

Secret Hunger: When Fionn seduced Kwaku into his bed, he didn’t realize there was a shadow hanging over his would-be lover’s head. Will Fionn be able to stop the dark forces from draining the man he loves before it’s too late?

Secret Keeping: A disabled Fae, Patrick finds a new zest for life when he leaves for college. With secrets swirling around them and the Fae Purge on the horizon, will Patrick and his lover escape with their lives and their love?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Changeling Press
• Release date: Aug 28, 2020

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Fae Schooled

Emily Carrington

All rights reserved.

Copyright ©2020 Emily Carrington

BIN: 009496-03077

Formats Available:

Adobe PDF, Epub,

Mobi, PRC

Publisher:

Changeling Press LLC

315 N. Centre St.

Martinsburg, WV 25404

www.ChangelingPress.com

Editor: Crystal Esau

Cover Artist: Angela Knight

Adult Sexual Content

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Table of Contents

Fae Schooled

Secret Identity (Fae Schooled 1)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Secret Hunger (Fae Schooled 2)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Secret Keeping (Fae Schooled 3)

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Epilogue

Emily Carrington

Fae Schooled

Emily Carrington

Three couples. Three deadly secrets. Who will survive?

Secret Identity: Half-Fae Brett and his human lover Adam thought they were prepared for the next step in their lives, until Brett’s gifts endanger everything. Will Adam’s need for independence and Brett’s overprotective streak drive the two apart, or can their love survive?

Secret Hunger: When Fionn seduced Kwaku into his bed, he didn’t realize there was a shadow hanging over his would-be lover’s head. Will Fionn be able to stop the dark forces from draining the man he loves before it’s too late?

Secret Keeping: A disabled Fae, Patrick finds a new zest for life when he leaves for college. With secrets swirling around them and the Fae Purge on the horizon, will Patrick and his lover escape with their lives and their love?

Secret Identity (Fae Schooled 1)

Emily Carrington

Half-Fae Brett and his human lover Adam thought they were prepared for the next step in their lives, until Brett’s gifts endanger everything. With factions in the magical community out to claim Brett’s abilities, putting both him and his lover at risk, college is far from what either imagined. Will Adam’s need for independence and Brett’s overprotective streak drive the two apart, or can their love survive?

Chapter One

When things aren’t resolved, bed becomes a battleground. Brett didn’t remember where he heard that, but it seemed true as he stared across the small dormitory room at his half naked lover. But looking at Adam, with his tawny hair and gold-kissed brown eyes made Brett want to forget what he’d brought his lover here for.

To break up with him.

He crossed to Adam, unable to resist his allure. It wasn’t all that strange that he was spellbound by Adam’s good looks and probably by his innocence as well. Whatever it was, and surely part of his sudden reluctance was his own weakness, Brett couldn’t end things right now.

He touched the human’s cheek and felt the small amount of stubble. Adam had shaved before the Beltane dance. Brett liked that about him. Adam had a sense of clean-cut, hometown boy about him that nothing could change. Even after living in Washington, DC, in an off-campus apartment for almost two years, he was still a farm boy. In the best possible way, Brett thought as his palm against Adam’s cheek grew warm. He smiled into his boyfriend’s eyes and wondered how Adam beguiled him just by standing there.

Of course, tonight had been all about seduction. Brett had been planning to romance Adam one last time, have something wonderful to remember, and then cut ties. Not because he wasn’t over the moon in love but because others would take advantage of that love. As others had taken advantage of the humans and other confined magical creatures back in February.

Did that mean he’d have to go without love? Brett thought that was probably true, unless he could find something powerful that could protect itself.

Thinking of the attack that had been perpetrated against SearchLight’s DC campus, against over fifty students from the second and third floors of the main dormitory, Brett’s ardor cooled a little. He’d been on one of those floors, captured and forced to wear a metal and leather collar that had repressed his visionist powers.

What’s wrong?

Brett cursed silently as Adam’s gaze drew the truth from him. Or at least as much as he could find it in him to confess. I was thinking about those damn grand Fae and bloodsucking vamps.

What brought that on?

Nothing, I guess. He didn’t quite dare to explain. Except I was thinking how the annual Valentine’s/Frost Thaw dance was cancelled because of those dangerous idiots. He smiled a little to dispel the sense of impending doom. I could have seen you dancing like tonight months ago.

Adam flushed. His cheeks were a striking pink, showing just two acne scars from his adolescence, which was only a year gone.

Brett remembered how others at school had teased Adam for being so slender and slight with so many zits. If they could see how Adam was filling out, developing muscles where he’d had few before, the girls and those guys courageous enough to admit their gayness or bisexuality would be all over him. Adam had discovered swimming, and although he’d never had a chance to learn in corn-fed Kansas, he’d taken to it like a baby seal, making tons of mistakes at first but being miserable until he’d learned to embrace the water. He had lean muscles in his arms and legs, and a six pack was well on the way to forming beneath the baggy T-shirts he almost always wore.

Now where did you go? Adam asked, stroking the side of Brett’s face with two fingers.

Lost in staring at you, Brett confessed. Then he spoiled it by laughing. Corny, right?

I like it, Adam said softly and he kissed Brett’s parted lips.

The kiss was nothing like the tentative pecks they’d exchanged when they first became interested in each other back in high school. This was instantly hot. Brett surrendered before Adam’s passion, loving the way Adam dominated many of their kisses. The shy, fumbling guitar player had given way to a confident painter and sketch artist who knew what he wanted. In some ways, Brett missed the cautious young man he’d fallen for when they were both seventeen. Because that version of Adam would have given Brett up. Not willingly but he’d have been too shy and restrained to express how he really felt.

And, damn, that was selfish.

Wherever you keep going, get back here, Adam whispered fiercely. You’re creeping yourself out. He nipped Brett’s bottom lip and that sent fire straight to Brett’s cock.

He groaned and thrust against Adam’s thigh. Their legs were almost the same length, although Brett’s torso was much shorter. He was compact, squat and strong. This meant it was easy to rub cocks on a regular basis. He changed angles slightly and ground against his lover’s trouser-trapped dick. I want you.

Maybe, he thought as Adam flicked open his fly and let his cock spring forth, I can wait a little longer to break up with him. It’s not like anyone has threatened him. And I can handle anything that comes my way if someone decides my having a human for a lover is not to be tolerated.

He dropped his gaze to Adam’s cock, smiling at the tangle of blondish, brownish hair at its base. Adam’s length wasn’t too long or too short; it fit perfectly between Brett’s lips. And although they had yet to play with the idea of Adam topping, it was something Brett dreamed of. He’d taken Adam’s virginity, what some humans called booginity, but he was longing for the reverse to be true. Adam was slightly shy; that endeared him to Brett.

Adam stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Brett’s back, drawing him close. I want you.

Then there were times like this, when Adam demanded his due. Could Brett possibly leave someone so perfect and beautiful, so passionate and so loving? So right for him in every way?

They helped each other strip the rest of the way, Adam unbuttoning Brett’s dress shirt with a care for the buttons.

So fastidious, Brett teased, laughing. He made short work of his trousers, dropping them to the floor and stepping out of them. Then he grinned at Adam.

Commando, the human noted with a smirk.

Just because I was anticipating this. And dancing with you was hotter knowing there was one less layer between us.

Then there was no more time for talk because Adam was kneeling on the bed, his hands planted and his ass in the air. He begged with every movement of his body for Brett to claim him.

The lube went on fingers; the fingers slipped inside. By now, after almost three years of this dance, the lube was almost unnecessary. In less than ninety seconds, Brett had Adam shuddering and moaning.

Brett trembled on his knees, swaying with the intensity of Adam’s scent and low cries. These were the sorts of aromas and sounds that filled his dreams.

When they were both fully erect and dripping precum, Brett pushed deep inside his boyfriend’s ass, nestling his balls right up against the round half globes. He groaned quietly and leaned forward, changing his angle enough that Adam hissed.

Brett froze. Pain?

Just… Adam let out a breath as Brett returned to his previous position. Can you fuck me from there?

Absolutely. And he did, pushing as deep as he could go and gripping Adam’s left hip as he used his other hand to balance on the bed.

Adam came first, and his whole body tensed in orgasm. His ass constricted and Brett shouted his pleasure despite the real possibility of other magical creatures hearing him. Just at this moment, filled with ecstasy, he couldn’t bring himself to give a shit about anyone else’s reactions. I love you, he said again as his climax built and rushed over him in an ocean wave.

Adam collapsed and Brett fell on top of him. They lay tangled together and Brett slowly pulled out.

I need you, Adam whispered. Forever mine.

Brett’s phone rang.

He almost let it go to voicemail, but it was his foster father’s ringtone and Reynard hardly ever called, preferring to write letters and wait for the snail mail system. He was old-fashioned that way. Brett planted a kiss on the back of Adam’s neck before rolling off the bed and going in search of his cell.

* * *

Watching Brett was like seeing a Greek god come to life. Well, all right, not quite like that because Brett was darkened by years of toil under the sun both in Puerto Rico and in Kansas. And he was shorter than many men; three more inches would have taken him to Adam’s height. So maybe more like an Irish god. He was originally from Europe, although he’d never discussed his family. According to Brett, Reynard, the fox demigod who’d taken him in when he was small, was his family. Adam understood that sort of devotion, but he grieved for what Brett had lost when he didn’t acknowledge his birth family. For Adam, family was everything. He wouldn’t have gotten half as far in life without his mother, father, and siblings. Not to mention his Uncle Jason, who was paying partially for the apartment Adam lived in while going to school to be an artist with a minor in business so he’d know how to market himself when he got out of college.

Now, watching Brett crouch in front of his bag and dig for his cell phone, Adam admired his lover’s flat and hairy stomach, his muscular legs, and the medium reddish brown of his pubic hair, which was a shade or two different than the ginger of the hair on his head. His eyes were brown, like Adams’s, but brighter, closer to amber than chocolate. "It’s my Fae blood," Brett said when Adam asked him about the unusual and beautiful color. My mother didn’t leave me with much, but she gave me that. It’s a dryad thing.

Brett was frowning and he’d settled on the floor with his legs crossed. His back was to the desk and he didn’t lean on it but seemed to melt against it. As if the desk was a safe zone.

Adam quickly and quietly wiped himself off and then got dressed as Brett said nothing that would give away the source of his tension. Sometimes, Adam wished for the super hearing that werewolves and some other magical creatures possessed. Brett didn’t have that; it wasn’t a dryad trait.

Adam considered what he did know. The caller was either the fox demigod, Reynard, who’d taken care of Brett for over a decade, or the person calling had used Reynard’s phone. That might mean Adam’s uncle, Reynard’s husband, was on the other end of the conversation.

Brett had an opinion about Jason Campbell, Adam’s uncle. He made no secret of what he thought of a man who’d hidden his own sexuality from himself for over forty years. Adam was more inclined to give his uncle a pass; the older man had grown up in a different time and been consumed by work. Being one of only a handful, or less, of human trackers in a world of werewolves, dragons, and everything else that went bump in the night could make a person bury part of themselves in an attempt to stay alive.

Dressed, he came to Brett and sat beside him, taking his hand.

Brett squeezed his fingers tight enough to hurt, letting up almost at once. He met Adam’s gaze and there was something in his eyes that wasn’t quite fear. Apprehension maybe?

Okay, Brett said after more uh-huhs and rights. I’m hearing you. I guess it won’t hurt.

More listening. Adam watched Brett’s shoulders creep up toward his ears as if he was trying to hide.

I’ll see them, Brett said at last. Just… in a safe place. He ended by saying he loved the person on the other end of the call. Then he hit the END button and turned to Adam with a shaky little smile. His fingers tightened, again painfully, on Adam’s, and his uneasy smile grew. That was Reynard.

Adam didn’t ask if everything was all right because it obviously wasn’t. Do you want to talk about it?

He’s fine, Brett said defensively. He and Jason are going on a cruise in the fall.

Adam nodded. He’d heard about that proposed cruise. So… it’s something else.

Brett frowned, which was better than that false and fretful smile. What makes you say that?

You got very still. He could have told his boyfriend about how tension was practically radiating off him. But Brett already knew his tells; it would do no good to bring them up. Brett was working very hard on getting rid of the evidence of his feelings because he wanted to do something in negotiation and had a very firm belief that revealing his emotions wasn’t the way to instill confidence in others. Adam rather thought it was the opposite, but it was one of those arguments they didn’t have because they’d never find a common ground. And wasn’t that ironic considering Brett’s career goals?

In a very real way, Brett was like Adam’s uncle, the same man who drove him crazy. Both of them were better with other people that they didn’t know than they were with their own families.

And I’m like Reynard, I suppose, because I found a way through that quietly calculating and somehow merciless exterior to the loving person inside. Adam didn’t know what had caused Jason Campbell, SearchLight tracker and hit man, to become so cold and reserved, although he had a few guesses, but he knew exactly what had driven Brett to that same place. Being abandoned by his family when he was somewhere around the age of seven and then used as a chess piece by a psychic vampire who enslaved his foster father… that would fuck anyone up.

Meanwhile, Brett had realized he might be hurting Adam because he’d loosened his grip. That deceptive smile was back on his face. You’re beautiful, but you didn’t have to dress for me. I like you naked.

Adam realized that Brett had been lying about the cruise, or at least that he’d been using that as a shield against what his foster father had really wanted to talk about. Brett absolutely didn’t want to discuss meeting them, whoever that was, and that he’d insisted on meeting them in a safe place so he felt uneasy. Instead of pursuing the matter, because Brett would only talk about it when he was good and ready, Adam said, I thought maybe we could go for a walk. Brett, who’d been confined by that same psychic vampire, loved being outside, and Adam, who’d been raised on the Kansas plains, enjoyed it tremendously.

Brett’s smile grew more genuine. You’re such a mind reader.

Adam smirked. Mind reader was a joke between them. Because Adam was homosexual, and SearchLight was operating under the belief that all QUILTBAG people had some magic in their blood. Adam didn’t know what he thought of that, but as he watched Brett rise and go looking for wipes to take care of the mess on his stomach, he grinned outright for another reason. He remembered explaining quiltbag to his parents, who weren’t exactly conservative but were as sheltered as he’d been until moving to the city. The term stood for queer/questioning, undecided, intersex, lesbian, transgender/transsexual, bisexual, allied/asexual, and gay/genderqueer. It didn’t include demisexual, which was what Adam thought he was, and it didn’t include pansexual, which was how Brett defined himself. But as a mostly inclusive term, it beat the hell out of LGBTQ.

Brett was getting changed into all new clothes. They were in his SearchLight dorm after the Beltane festivities. Adam glanced at his cell phone and realized the dance had been over for about an hour now; it was one in the morning. He’d be exhausted when the sun came up, but he couldn’t deny himself the joy of walking with Brett.

Adam glanced down at his dress clothes, shrugged, and decided it didn’t matter if he wore dress pants while Brett wore jeans. Such lack of symmetry bothered him as an artist, but as a lover he minded not a bit, especially when Brett put on his tightest jeans.

When they were outside and walking hand in hand around the brightly lit grounds, Adam asked softly, If it’s not about Reynard, if he and Uncle Jason are okay, is it something about having money for next semester?

It’s not that. The scholarship came through. He lifted and kissed Adam’s fingers. I told you about that. Why are you worrying?

I couldn’t think of anything else that would make you uneasy.

Mind reader. But Brett looked away, lowering their hands back to a swinging free position.

Adam released his lover’s hand and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. They walked on in silence for about a dozen steps.

Then Brett cried, All right, all right! It’s my fucking family. They want to see me again. After all these years. And for what reason? Because I drew their attention by working magic.

Adam waited even though his stomach had clenched. He didn’t want Brett anywhere near the ones who had abandoned him. Well, and wasn’t that interesting? He’d just been thinking that Brett needed his family in his life. But if the very idea of seeing them was terrifying Brett… Adam wanted his lover nowhere near them.

My mother wants to see me. Apparently, she and my grandmother, her mother, both. Not my father, not any of his family, which were human, but the dryads. Probably because I’m a visionist and they can’t imagine how dryad plus human produced such an ability.

Aren’t some dryads visionists? Can’t they make people see what’s not there?

Brett snorted, which lightened the mood considerably. Yeah, many of them take the idea of not being able to see the forest for the trees to a whole new level. He kissed Adam’s hand again. But half breeds aren’t supposed to be able to do such things. Maybe three-quarters dryads, but not those who are half human. He sobered a little, but when he squeezed Adam’s fingers, his grip wasn’t desperately tight. My mother says I’m legal now and they want to talk to me. He snorted. "I’ve been ‘legal’ for almost two years. What I think is that they heard about the attack here on campus. Apparently, my mother lives not far outside the city, probably in some tree-rich little town, and she heard about how I helped save my fellow students." He made air quotes around those last four words.

Adam marveled at how bitter his boyfriend sounded. It was how Brett had often presented himself during their high school years. Could it be possible she just needed an excuse to contact you? Or that she was being stubborn and this made her realize that she could have lost her son without ever seeing him again? He stopped walking so he could hug Brett close. I don’t know about her, but I was scared shitless when I finally realized you could have died that night.

Brett squeezed him, resting his cheek against Adam’s left pec. Maybe, he said after several moments of silence, but she could also just be interested in me because I finally displayed powers she might be able to use.

"You make her sound like a political figure