Elemental Fae Academy: Book Three: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance Read online

  Contents

  Elemental Fae Academy

  Part I

  Prologue

  1. Claire

  2. Claire

  3. Vox

  4. Claire

  5. Titus

  6. Claire

  7. Sol

  8. Claire

  9. Exos

  10. Sol

  11. Claire

  12. Claire

  Part II

  13. Vox

  14. Claire

  15. Exos

  16. Vox

  17. Cyrus

  18. Vox

  19. Claire

  20. Titus

  21. Claire

  22. Cyrus

  Part III

  23. Claire

  24. Exos

  25. Claire

  26. Sol

  27. Claire

  28. Titus

  29. Sol

  30. Vox

  Part IV

  31. Titus

  32. Claire

  33. Exos

  34. Sol

  35. Sol

  36. Claire

  37. Cyrus

  38. Claire

  39. Cyrus

  40. Claire

  41. Exos

  Part V

  42. Claire

  43. Cyrus

  44. Claire

  45. Sol

  46. Claire

  Epilogue

  Midnight Fae Academy

  Chapter One

  Fortune Fae Academy

  Chapter One

  About Lexi C. Foss

  Also by Lexi C. Foss

  About J.R. Thorn

  Also By J.R. Thorn

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Elemental Fae Academy: Book Three

  Copyright © 2019 Lexi C. Foss & J.R. Thorn

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book may not be redistributed to others for commercial or noncommercial purposes.

  Editing by: Outthink Editing, LLC

  Cover Design: FrostAlexis Cover Designs

  Published by: Ninja Newt Publishing, LLC

  Digital Edition

  ISBN: 978-1-950694-15-0

  Created with Vellum

  To Baby Thornie, for pushing your mom and Auntie Lexi to finish this very long book on time for your arrival into the world. You’re beautiful and we love you!

  And to the readers, for following Claire’s journey. We hope you enjoy Book Three!

  Elemental Fae Academy

  Book Three

  How is a girl supposed to concentrate with five hot fae mentors? It’s not like I have a lot to do or anything.

  Royal Coronations.

  Finals.

  A Solstice Ball.

  And a mother hell-bent on ruining the fae world.

  Just another ordinary day for me, Claire Summers, the Halfling fae with access to all five elements.

  Everyone is counting on me, even my esteemed mentor, Elana. Because I’m the only one with enough power to take my mother down.

  But what if it’s all a lie? What if the bad guy I’ve been chasing all along is the one standing right by my side?

  I’m in for the fight of my life with five fae protectors and an ally I never saw coming. It’s up to us to save the Fae Kingdom before it’s too late. And it’ll require giving my heart to all my mates, to guard and to hold, for eternity and beyond.

  Note: This is book three of the Elemental Fae Academy trilogy. There’s a lot of heat in this one, and a scene you don’t want to miss between Cyrus, Exos, and Claire.

  Part I

  Prologue

  Claire

  My mother’s alive.

  I repeated that phrase over and over again in my mind and out loud until someone shook me out of my stupor. No, not someone. The ground. Sol.

  I blinked and met the concerned gaze of the Earth Fae. He stood stark naked before me, his muscular form momentarily grabbing my attention before I frowned at the males standing around me.

  All of them were naked except Exos.

  And no one seemed to be noticing this apart from me.

  I cleared my throat. “Uh, guys...”

  “What do you mean, Ophelia is the one who orchestrated your kidnapping?” Vox demanded, his arms folded over his lean torso. While Sol was built like a solid linebacker, Vox had a runner’s build. And Titus, well, he reminded me of a wrestler. No, a boxer.

  Why were they all naked, again?

  Right. We’d been in bed.

  And then Exos came and revealed—

  “My mother is alive,” I whispered. “And you’re all very naked.”

  Titus smirked. “You didn’t mind that a few hours ago.”

  Honestly, I still didn’t. But it was damn distracting.

  “From what Cyrus and I have discerned, Ophelia is very much alive and using Mortus as a puppet. It’s the only explanation for what has happened.” Exos glanced up at Sol. “It also explains why the Earth Fae are slowly dying.”

  “Because she’s the cause of the plague,” my earth mate replied softly.

  “We think she’s using Dark Fae magic,” Exos added. “And Claire coming to the Academy is what has led Ophelia to come out of hiding.”

  “Dark Fae magic?” I repeated.

  “Vampires,” Titus muttered, shuddering. “Vile fae. They live on human blood and play with the dark arts.”

  “Vampires are real?” I squeaked. “Like Dracula?”

  Exos sighed. “They’re not vampires the way you’ve been taught. But yes, other types of fae exist.”

  “What other types?” I demanded. “Werewolves? Skinwalkers? Demons?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Claire,” Exos replied, shaking his head. “What matters is Ophelia is using dark magic to weaken the Elemental Fae.”

  “Seriously, are werewolves real?”

  He just gave me a look. “No.”

  “Demons?”

  “Also, no.” He shook his head, his expression softening. “We can talk more about the types later. I promise it’s nothing alarming.”

  “Says the fae who just revealed vampires exist,” I muttered.

  He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Before we get to all that, I need to ascend, and I want you with me, Claire. As my mate.”

  Wait… “Like… fully mated?” I asked, my heart skipping a beat.

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  “Yes,” I parroted back at him, not even needing to think about it. “Yes.” Because I refused to lose him again. Ever. And this would make our bond permanent. Unbreakable. Impenetrable. “Yes,” I said again.

  His lips twitched, his blue eyes glittering with amusement. “Well, at least I know how to make you agreeable. Just put you in a hallway of naked men.”

  I narrowed my gaze. “Don’t ruin the moment, Exos.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it, princess.” He pulled me into a hug while the others murmured around us about my mother and what that all meant.

  “Do you think taking her to the Spirit Kingdom is a wise move?” Vox asked, his tone holding a hint of something I couldn’t quite define. Not jealousy, exactl
y, but a touch of longing underlined in concern.

  “She’ll be there with me and Cyrus. We won’t take her anywhere near the death fields.” Exos pulled me to his side, his arm securing my shoulders. “But it’s her decision if she wants to go back there.”

  I swallowed, recalling what happened the last time I visited the Spirit Kingdom. The stark desolation of the lands, the way the death fields had nearly claimed my soul, and that little flicker of light in the distant village housing the only remaining Spirit Fae.

  Ninety percent of them had perished because of my mother, leaving them with only two royals left—Cyrus and Exos. My mates. My loves. My fae.

  Allowing Exos to ascend on his own wasn’t really an option.

  It would also mark me as a coward.

  No. My mother had taken enough from me, from them. She wouldn’t take this, too.

  “I’m going,” I said, feeling the confidence of those two words all the way to my bones. “It’s where I’m meant to be. Where I’m needed.” I had to show the fae world that I wasn’t afraid. I might be Ophelia’s daughter, but I wasn’t her.

  Vox, Titus, and Sol all studied me with resignation in their gazes. They could feel my decision through the bonds, my spirit’s need to finalize my connection to Exos palpable to everyone in the hall.

  “Hurry back to us, little flower,” Sol murmured, giving me a small grin. “I’ll make sure your peach trees are ready.”

  “And I’ll see what I can do about cleaning up around here,” Vox added.

  Titus winked. “Meanwhile, I’ll supervise and keep them out of trouble.”

  Sol snorted and Vox shook his head. “If anyone will be supervising anyone, it’ll be me,” Vox declared.

  I think they’ll be just fine for a few days, princess, Exos whispered into my mind.

  My lips curled in amusement as all three of them began bickering in a playful manner. Yeah, I agreed. I know. I hated to leave them behind, but they couldn’t enter the Spirit Kingdom.

  We won’t be gone long, Exos promised softly. A week at most.

  And when we returned, I would have two full mates. Water and Spirit. With three more to go.

  I kissed them all goodbye before taking Exos’s hand.

  It was time to face my future. My mother. And all fae kind.

  My name is Claire Summers and I accept my fate.

  Whatever that may be.

  Claire

  “Hands above your head, princess.” Exos loomed over me in an all-black suit that clung to his form in unfair ways—ways that forced me to obey him.

  I stretched my hands above my head and gripped the bars of his headboard. “Happy?”

  His ocean-blue eyes ran over my naked body and smiled. “Yes. Very.” He slowly unraveled his tie while keeping one knee beside me on the mattress, his opposite foot on the ground.

  We were supposed to be going to our mating ceremony, but Exos had pulled me in here instead. Not that I was complaining. However, I did want to move to the final level with him. I almost lost him once. That would not be happening again.

  “Mmm, the beauty of spirit is how solitary it is,” Exos murmured as he drew his silky tie along the center of my torso up to my collarbone. “We don’t require an audience, Claire.”

  I frowned up at him. “What do you mean?”

  He slid the silk around my wrists, tying the fabric into a sturdy knot. “This is our ceremony, Claire.” He leaned down to kiss me, silencing whatever comment I could have uttered back to him. But he had to hear my shock, just as he’d clearly overheard my pondering about him taking me here rather than to the ceremonial room.

  “Every element is different. Some require the formality, and while Spirit used to indulge in a similar tradition to the others, we gave up on it years ago. Not enough of us left to fill a room.” He righted himself, slid the jacket from his shoulders, and walked over to a corner desk to drape the wool fabric over the chair.

  “We’ll be celebrated tonight after the coronation,” he continued, returning to the bed to smile down at me. “But this morning and this afternoon are for us and us alone.” He punctuated the words with a tug against the silk binding my wrists.

  I glanced up to see them secured to the headboard—something he must have done while we kissed. Clever fae. It left me naked and bound before him.

  His grin told me he more than approved.

  “We’re going to bond, Claire,” he said, his tone holding a delicious depth to it that scattered goose bumps across my flesh. “We’re going to bond all day.”

  My lips formed an O, but no sound escaped me.

  Because he had started unbuttoning his shirt and I only had so many functioning brain cells around a disrobing Exos.

  For months, he’d explored my body without allowing me to return the favor. Well, this last month hadn’t been his fault. My mother had held him captive underground.

  Because she was apparently alive.

  A train of thought I was so not going to consider right now.

  No, I much preferred the sight of male sin before me.

  I nearly swallowed my tongue, Exos’s body an art crafted by the Fae gods. His shirt fell to the floor, his muscles rippling along the way, and his hand landed on his belt. “Are you ready to recite your vows, Claire?”

  Uh… I licked my lips. “Does it involve saying them around your cock?” Because I could totally get behind that. While I’d seen Exos naked before, I’d never been gifted the opportunity to memorize him with my tongue. And I would very much enjoy doing that right now.

  His lips curled. “The ceremony only works if your words are intelligible, baby.”

  “Then you probably should have left our clothes on.”

  “What would be the fun in that?” he countered, the leather sliding from the loops of his pants. “I thought you enjoyed a good challenge. Isn’t that how we met? You were dared to kiss the man at the bar?”

  “The very handsome man,” I clarified, recalling the night we met. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

  “Do you regret it?” he asked softly, kneeling once more on the bed, his pants unbuttoned but still zipped. He cupped my face, his eyes holding mine. “Do you regret kissing me?”

  I swallowed and shook my head. “No.” I still mourned Rick, my friend who had died in the resulting fire, but I no longer held myself responsible for the massacre.

  Mastering my powers had provided me with a new view of the world, a deeper understanding of my control. There was nothing I could have done differently that night, apart from not kissing Exos. But even then, I’d been a ticking time bomb.

  “You’re mine,” I said, wishing my hands were free to grab him. “I’ll never regret claiming you.”

  His lips curled. “That’s good, Claire. Because I’m about to make you mine. Forever.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Cyrus? Can you help us with the vows?”

  My eyes widened as Exos’s brother entered the bedroom in a suit, his light hair mussed in that way I adored. He smirked, his hands tucked into his pockets. “You just had to one-up the mating ceremony, didn’t you?”

  Exos gripped my thighs while casually replying, “You chose your platform; I picked mine. And in my opinion, a bed is far more appropriate than a ceremonial altar.” His sapphire gaze slid to mine as he gently spread my legs to expose my intimate flesh. “I prefer my method of worship.”

  Cyrus snorted and stopped beside the bed, his icy blue irises grinning down at me. “I think I prefer your method, too.” He tilted his head. “You ready to say your vows, little queen?”

  My mouth went dry as Exos positioned himself between my splayed thighs. He couldn’t mean to—

  I arched off the bed as his lips closed around my clit without warning.

  “Fuck,” I breathed.

  Cyrus tsked. “That’s not how the vows go. It starts with, ‘I, Claire, accept the power that binds me to Exos, born of Spirit.’ ” He arched a blond brow. “Now try again.”

  Exos slid his tongue thro
ugh my folds, his gaze holding a wicked glint as he watched me.

  “I… I…” Oh God. I writhed, unable to focus, my veins flooding with liquid fire. This wasn’t fair. How either of them expected me to focus—

  Cyrus palmed my breast, his touch eliciting a long, needy moan from my throat.

  It was official.

  These two were going to kill me.

  “Focus, little queen,” Cyrus whispered, his lips brushing over mine. I hadn’t even felt him lean over the bed. My senses were all focused between my legs and on my breasts. “You don’t want to lose Exos again, right?”

  I shuddered, shaking my head. Those words registered in my thoughts, the notion of severing my connection to Exos a very real threat. Because it had almost happened.

  “Then repeat after me.” He lifted just enough to capture my gaze and hold it. And he repeated the first sentence of the vows.

  “I, Claire,” I began, my fingers clenching as Exos did something sensuous with his tongue. “Accept the power that binds me to Exos, born of Spirit.”