Some Kind of Magic (24 page)

Some Kind of Magic |
R. Cooper

166

Right now. He could lick that patch of skin and more, not

certain why he was fighting the urge when he could feel his

cock swelling, and the fairy was offering. But his heart

pounded again, with that same alarm, like something bigger

than him was hovering just out of sight.

Cal Parker, half-fairy, wouldn"t hold back his moans. His

taste would be as rich as his scent, and though it would scare

his precious little fairy ass right out of the house, Ray wanted

to shift, shift just enough, to something bigger and rougher

and stronger to handle that unknown threat. Something with

teeth. He would pin Parker to the floor, the wall, and take

what was his, what was right there for him, all but wrapped

in a bow, and he would mark it, bruise so everyone knew. If

they couldn"t detect his musk, his come all over Cal Parker,

then they"d see his marks and know that this was his, this

was his mate. Cal Parker was his mate and—

Ray shut his mouth, stopped the low growl he was

suddenly aware was coming from him, and looked, shocked,

at the man across from him.

Cal still smelled—would
always
smell, Ray knew—

intoxicating. Ray backed up another step, though he wanted

to reach out, hold him, soothe that look of concern from Cal"s

face and lick any wounds, real or imagined, that he might

have inflicted with his careless words. He wanted to lie at Cal

Parker"s feet. He wanted… he wanted Cal Parker.

Cal Parker was his mate.

His—they had told him it was like this, but Ray hadn"t

believed them. That it would be this sudden, this

overwhelming.

He"d only known the man three days for Pete"s sake.

Three long, tense days of feeling on edge, wary and horny

Some Kind of Magic |
R. Cooper

167

and stupid. Of looking into those eyes and breathing in and

growing angry without wondering why, only knowing that

he"d been furious in a way he"d never been to find a fairy

smiling back at him. Leering, teasing, flirting.

Because he was Fairy, and that"s what they did. Nothing

else. One night stands and booty calls. But never anything

longer, not that Ray had heard, unless he counted old stories,

which he didn"t, because the old stories about werewolves

were always wrong, and so the others were probably wrong

too. The evidence in front of him, however, the street fairs and

the nudity and nightclubs that said only too clearly that fairies

didn"t settle down, didn"t bond, didn"t Mate. Fairies were…

they weren"t… like Ray.

“You okay? I didn"t think you were that shy, Branigan.”

Parker was talking, hopping in place while Ray was trying not

to howl. “Tough Being detective and all, with those fierce

glares and that, really quite impressive, body. Sorry. Was

that, uh, guy, special to you?”

He actually pouted at the idea. Pouted. Probably at the

idea of a serious relationship.

Fucking fairies, Ray thought, but it lacked heat.

“Why are you here?” It was squeezed from him. Parker

just waved a hand.

“The case. I know you didn"t want me around. You don"t.

And I don"t either, well, I
didn"t
. No need to make my dad too

happy here by admitting he was right, and I can be of use to

the PD. But I had a thought earlier.”

“And you came here?” Ray could follow that train of

thought, if he tried. Just ignore his current stampeding

emotions and focus on the case, on why Cal would come to

Some Kind of Magic |
R. Cooper

168

him and not Penn or one of the other detectives. “How did you

know where I lived?”

“What I need usually makes itself known to me,” Cal

hummed, ogling Ray before going back to bragging, or just

talking, Ray couldn"t tell. Mate. This was his mate. He was

numb, also, possibly on fire. Drowning. He inhaled and felt his

world steady itself: his mate was near. “Also, I read your

file—yes, I had to
borrow
it to do that. Oh, you aren"t snarling

at me. Are you sure you"re okay? Maybe that Lex guy wore

you out….” His tone said he doubted it.

“I"m not worn out,” Ray snapped back into the

conversation and gave Cal one of his so-called “fierce glares.”

Parker
wriggled
, for all appearances, utterly
delighted
to hear

that.

“I feel like I can almost see you baying at the moon when

you do that. Have you ever taken a lover as the wolf? You

know, I"ve never seen a Were in action.” He was not so

innocently curious. Ray"s chest tightened.

“You don"t know what you"re—haven"t you ever heard of

sexual harassment?” He tossed out anything that would make

Cal stop, let Ray have a moment to consider this. Mate. It

couldn"t be real.

“I don"t work for the department officially, remember? I"m

just doing my dad a favor by helping you with this one case.

Does the wolf make you rough or is that all you?” Cal"s voice

was rough too, suddenly. His mouth possibly dry as well,

since he licked his lips, once, twice. Ray wondered what

rosewater would taste like on Cal Parker. He"d never liked it,

too sweet, too strong, but he thirsted for some now. “I know

you don"t like me, but we could make like a moonlight sonata

if you want. You"re so….”

Some Kind of Magic |
R. Cooper

169

He couldn"t help wanting to hear everything Cal Parker

had to say.

“You aren"t answering.” Cal pointed out, which perhaps

to a fairy was the same as not saying no. Ray
wasn"t
saying

no, he couldn"t even argue. “Tell me.”

“This is….” Inappropriate. But exactly what Ray was

thinking, wondering if a fairy could even handle half of his

Were nature. “I"m not telling you anything.”
But I could show

you….

He didn"t say it, but the growl was building again,

slowly, like the hunger in his stomach, the sizzling heat under

his skin, the itch to get naked. His mate was in front of him,

this beautiful creature. The air was full of him, just as

beautiful, but nothing to the scents they could create together.

Ray made himself look at the door and think of Lex, who

hadn"t seemed so confused anymore after meeting Parker,

after seeing Ray push himself between them. It was all so

obvious now.

Cal hadn"t liked being kicked off the case, or quitting, or

whatever exactly had happened that afternoon. Ray"s memory

was suddenly fuzzy with the image of Cal fluttering into his

face, pouting in a fairy version of unhappiness, his full,

savory, bitable
bottom lip out to let Ray know he was

displeased, deliberately pushing past Ray as he"d flounced

off.

An unhappy fairy shouldn"t have come back. And never

to Ray"s doorstep, even if they didn"t have any sense of

boundaries.

“The case can wait.” He was breathing hard, but

whatever, it had been a long few days, a long few moments. A

half-fairy. He"d never even heard of that. “Since you found

Some Kind of Magic |
R. Cooper

170

your way here, you can find your way out. I"m going to take a

shower.” He didn"t look at Parker, but he got it out, and then

he moved too quickly down the hall to his bedroom, nearly

gasping at the heavy, lingering smell of sex by the bed, the

wet stains still visible.

He wanted to cover them with Cal"s, make it clear that

this was their bed, their lair, and Lex would never come back.

He wanted Cal to know that, and bit down, hard, to stop

himself from shouting it out.

He shed his pants as he hurried into the bathroom, and

as the air hit his skin, knew he was close to shifting. With Cal

still too near, in his neighborhood, within reach, he didn"t

dare.

He turned on the water without caring what temperature

it was and stepped in. It was hot, steam rising instantly

around him as he closed the door. He bent his head to let

water into his hair and because he was shaking like he"d run

a marathon and had to shut his eyes to focus on just heat and

water. He inhaled to let steam clear his senses. That was it,

all he wanted for the present as he tried to wrap his mind

around this.

He"d never really expected a mate, some wolves never

found theirs, after all, and he was alone in the city. He"d

certainly never expected it would be—

“By the way, was that ending as I got here, or did I

interrupt you?” Cal"s voice made Ray lift his head to track the

sound, the presence. He imagined that goddamn little fairy

sitting on his toilet and shook his head.

“Because you could have invited me to join you. He

wasn"t bad looking, and you look like you"d show us both a

very good time. No aftershave for you? At all? Is it the smell? I

Some Kind of Magic |
R. Cooper

171

read somewhere that werewolves have a highly developed

sense of—”

“Cal—Parker.” He couldn"t quite recover from the shock of

Cal being there with him, and how much his mind and body

and heart seemed to welcome him, and from the idea that this

half-fairy knew anything at all about his kind.

Most were content with the lies in the movies. Calvin—

Cal"s father—had said Ray wouldn"t believe the things tucked

away in his son"s brain, but Ray hadn"t expected glimmers of

Were lore.

“Parker. I told you to leave.” He wasn"t picturing Cal in

his bed, though it wouldn"t have been a threesome. Cal was

where Ray would narrow his attention. No one would belong

there between them, no matter how nice.

“No, you didn"t actually.” Cal hummed again. “Not

explicitly.” Ray grunted and put his hands up high to the

smooth tile by the specially installed showerhead. He was

too… naked… for this.

“Then I"ll be explicit—” Fairies made no sense, or they

made too much.

“Please. Be as explicit as you want, Branigan,” Cal

whispered back, and Ray turned, trying to make out his form

through the frosted and steamy glass. But whatever had

compelled Parker to follow him into the bathroom had stopped

him before he"d come into the shower too.

If he had…. Ray swallowed. He couldn"t speak as he

saw himself lifting Cal up and fucking him in the corner of the

shower, Cal"s hand grabbed for the showerhead, his body

wet, bare, the floor swirling with sparkles as his cries echoed

off the tile.

Some Kind of Magic |
R. Cooper

172

“Oh fine, ignore me. I"ll talk about the case then.” Cal

was pouting; Ray knew it without looking. That lip. He

wondered if Cal was really upset, and then what he could do

to make him feel better. He had a feeling he already knew.

Fairies weren"t subtle.

He"d never wanted to hide behind anything more in his

life than the glass walls of his shower.

“Have you ever met a goblin, Branigan? They"re kind of

like gremlins, only nearly as cranky to outsiders as you were

when I interrupted your little tryst. I"ve never seen anything

as hot as you, barely in your pants, sweaty and breathing