Unexpected Angels 1
Angelic Union Levi, Erik, and Marius think that by moving to sanctuary they’re getting their happily ever after, a future that includes a small wedding, some cake, and a little family drama. Little do they know that Levi and Erik’s angelic fathers have a surprise wedding present for them—four Elite guardian angels sworn to protect them. Brax, Axis, Keer, and Jade claim the three are destined to be their mates and that they’ve been watching over them since the beginning. They also offer redemption for their Fallen lover, Marius, and a family far larger than any of them had originally planned for. Can Levi, Erik, and Marius overcome their insecurities and fears for the chance at a love of a lifetime? Or will they let their scarred pasts ruin all chances of happiness? Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Fantasy, Ménage a Trois/Quatre Length: 35,828 words
ANGELIC UNION Unexpected Angels 1
Jana Downs
LOVEXTREME FOREVER MANLOVE
Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK IMPRINT: LoveXtreme Forever ManLove
ANGELIC UNION Copyright © 2012 by Jana Downs E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-044-6 First E-book Publication: August 2012 Cover design by Harris Channing All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers Dear Readers, If you have purchased this copy of Angelic Union by Jana Downs from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.
Regarding E-book Piracy This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book. The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment. This is Jana Downs’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Downs’s right to earn a living from her work. Amanda Hilton, Publisher www.SirenPublishing.com www.BookStrand.com
DEDICATION To everyone who believes in second chances and unexpected blessings.
ANGELIC UNION Unexpected Angels 1 JANA DOWNS Copyright © 2012
Prologue The décor was simple but elegant. White and pink rose petals scattered down a white cloth aisle ran the length of the space. The happy threesome stood under a rough wooden arbor decorated in creeping vines with white and green and pink blossoms. The chairs were also polished natural wood, but at the ends of the aisles matching bouquets of flowers hung from dark- and light-green ribbons. It was a lovely space. Madigan’s eyes slid over the audience. Everyone here was ridiculously attractive for the most part. The human families were easy to pick out on the left side of the aisle. They all sat clustered together and just didn’t seem to have that extra something that separated the celestials from everyone else. He turned his thoughts away from the subject and focused on Levi and Erik, who stood on either side of Marius. They both had on white tuxedos with white shirts and pale pink ties underneath. It seemed to suit the nephilim, giving them that bridal quality that Erik had protested earlier in the day. Marius on the other hand wore black, but his tie, too, was pastel pink. All three of their hands were linked and they stood before two very large angels who Madigan assumed were Levi and Erik’s respective biological fathers. Behind them stood four
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more angels in strange-looking black and navy blue uniforms with silver sabers at their sides. “Who are they?” Madigan asked Bren as they waited for the ceremony to begin. “They are Elite Guardians. It’s a special title and position given to guardians who have given their lives to protect their charges,” Bren explained. Madigan frowned. “So they’re ghosts?” “Nope.” Bren shook his head. “They’ve been resurrected by the seraphim to serve in a special guard position. Think of them as the special forces of heaven’s National Guard. Usually they’re gifted to certain angels that have proven themselves worthy and in need of them to use for their own purposes. I have no idea why Levi and Erik’s fathers brought them, but it may be just a way of showing respect. It’s a high honor to have them present.” “Do you think they’re expecting trouble?” Madigan asked, a trickle of fear finding its way into his mind. “Not in dress uniforms they’re not. It’s all for display. No one is anticipating actually having to use those weapons.” The music began to play, and Madigan was happy to hear the ushers tell everyone to be seated, though he did wince when his ass collided with the unforgiving surface of the wooden chair. Man, their quickie had been vigorous. The harps and violins rose in crescendo and then fell silent. “Welcome, friends and family, to the union of these three gentlemen in holy matrimony…” The words were comforting and familiar in their cadence, and Madigan found himself listening more to the tone of the speaker rather than the actual words. After one of the fathers spoke, the other one began speaking about the joys of marriage and the rightness of a proper union. Madigan would’ve thought it was all lovely except that it seemed a little off for some reason.
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“Methinks that someone’s daddy is not happy his son is marrying a fallen,” Bren whispered in Madigan’s ear. Yeah, that was probably it because the dark-haired guy on stage did not look very pleased as he lectured about love. If anyone else noticed, they didn’t look like it, but Madigan definitely detected a little tension. “Happens at every wedding, Madigan. No worries. Family drama is par for the course,” Michel said in a low voice. “It’ll be okay once we get to the reception. We put your wedding present by the cake for them to use.” He added the last with a wink, and Madigan felt relief that they had arrived on time. He’d ordered the cake servers and champagne glasses only a few days ago, and it had been a question whether or not they could be engraved and delivered in time. “I’m glad. I hope they’ll like them.” “Madi, you have great tastes. I’m sure they’ll love them,” Bren said from his other side. “As is tradition in the heavenly realms.” The first father was speaking again, louder this time as if he wanted everyone in the very back to hear him clearly. “Myself and my friend gift unto you these guardians to watch over you and yours as you begin this new life together as married partners.” Madigan’s mouth hung open in shock, and Marius exploded. “What the fuck?” Erik grabbed Marius’s arm before he could go at the two angels, who wore matching looks of smug satisfaction on their faces. The entire collection of guests began to murmur in unease as Erik and Levi started whispering rapidly to Marius in an effort to keep him calm. “Holy shit. That is low down and dirty,” Michel muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. “What’s going on?” Madigan asked. “Their fathers just assigned those four Elites to Levi and Erik as additional protection. By the laws of heaven, Marius has to accept them into their home. If he refuses, he takes his status from fallen to irredeemable, meaning he’ll be considered a demon and have to report
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to the under realm for orders. However, with nephilim hunger, the potency of the guardians will tempt even the most devoted nephilim. They’re trying to put a wedge in between Levi, Erik, and Marius. It’s a dirty fucking move.” Bren sounded downright pissed about it. “Thank you, Father,” Levi said, his voice shaking. “We accept your warriors with pleasure.” Marius snarled something that sounded far from complimentary. Madigan didn’t know what they were going to do. Poor Marius. That is terrible. “Then with the power vested in me by the heavens above and the Creator of all things, I pronounce you bound. May you have an eternity of happiness,” Levi’s father said. Madigan was sure that the declaration was the oddest end to a wedding that he’d ever experienced. The four angels stepped forward and bowed over first Marius’s, then Erik’s, then Levi’s hands. None of the wedding party looked happy about it. The two angels who’d caused the chaos went over to the human families who were in attendance and rounded them up with some brief instructions to get them moving in the direction of the hotel. The angelic guests were more reluctant to follow. “It’ll work out,” Michel said firmly as they stood and began to follow the guests back toward the reception area. “Marius was worrying over how to protect Levi and Erik when he was injured on the flight over. Perhaps this will be an answer for them.” “Still think it’s shitty,” Bren growled. “Agreed,” Dex seconded, dropping an arm around Madigan’s shoulders as they walked. Cross remained quiet for a minute before he spoke. “We will support them if they need it, but I don’t think we can do anything to fix it. There is enough on our plates as is.” Madigan nodded in agreement even as he wished there was something he could do to make it all better. Marius, Levi, and Erik had been his only friends since joining this world of angels, and he
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hated that he was helpless to assist them as a new problem was dropped into their laps.
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Chapter One Marius was furious. The anger was etched into every line of his normally handsome face. Levi worried his bottom lip as Erik held onto Marius’s hand for the sheer sake of keeping him from hitting someone, namely their fathers. Levi didn’t know exactly what had happened just now, but he knew it was something awful. “It’s our wedding, Mar. You gotta calm down.” Erik was whispering, but Levi could hear him all the same. “You’re always worried about our protection. Well, now we have four extra bodyguards to help you out with that.” The wedding present that Levi’s father Perc had given the threesome was four Elite Guardian angels to assist Marius in guarding the two half-angels he protected. On the surface the wedding present looked perfectly legitimate. Hunters, a radical faction of angels, sought to kill all half-angels, known as nephilim, that they could. They viewed them as an abomination, and Levi had found out firsthand a few years ago how deep that hatred ran. The burn scars that decorated his back were clear evidence of it. So the fact that Perc and Desc, Erik’s father, were giving them guardian angels made sense. However, even Levi, as naive as he knew he was, could see the not-so-subtle dig at Marius. Not many angels tolerated the fallen. When their fathers had accepted the invitation to their wedding, Levi had thought that they might try. He’d been wrong. “They’re never going to replace you, Marius. We married you. We’re in love with you. No one can take that away.” Erik’s calm words didn’t detract from the veritable line of tension that Levi could see in his aura. The ability to see auras was a trick Levi had always
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been able to use, and it served him well to note the emotions of the people around him. Levi sighed heavily as he watched Marius’s aura darken as his fears were spoken. “They want you to choose them over me.” Marius spat the words. He looked downright sinister now in his black suit and with a vicious look in his eyes. Levi never forgot that Marius was just one step up from being a demon. He didn’t play by the same rules other angels did, and if he thought that the Elites were going to threaten their relationship, he wouldn’t hesitate to take action for it. Unfortunately, it would also damn his soul. The idea made Levi sick. “We won’t do that. Please, Mar, calm down. You’re going to spoil the wedding for Levi. He wanted this, remember?” Erik dangled the flag effectively. The one thing that was guaranteed to calm Marius down in a hurry was the idea of hurting Levi. Whereas Erik and Marius could argue and scream and fight each other on practically everything, they both treated Levi as if he were a precious porcelain object. It was a wonderful change from how Levi was used to being treated, but he still didn’t like to be used like a choke collar. “We all wanted it, Erik,” Levi said, reaching out with both of his hands. They reached out to him in unison, each taking one of his hands. He was small even compared to Erik, who was medium height, and both of their hands swallowed his. It may have made him sound weak, but he liked the differences in their sizes. He’d always had a thing for overpowering men, and he got that in spades from his two lovers. They stood on either side of him, Marius in black, Erik in white that matched Levi. Both had on the pale-pink ties that Levi had picked out. Both wanted their happily ever after to begin. Marius was a good foot taller than Erik with pale-white hair that had a green tinge to it, like a white rose, pale-white skin the color of milk, and green eyes. His hair color matched his wings almost exactly when he had them out. They were invisible to the guests at present thanks to a makeshift rune placement that had been sewn onto Marius’s back. Where
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Marius was pale, Erik was tan, displaying his mother’s Latina heritage, no doubt. He had dark-brown hair and teddy-bear-brown eyes. Levi glanced behind him at the still-silent guardian angels dressed in their black and navy uniforms, silver sabers at their sides, and realized that they may have hit yet another bump in getting to that happily ever after. They’d moved to the town of Titanvelle, or Urun as the angels called it, more or less a week ago but had been planning the move here for months. Marius had already purchased them a house in one of the better neighborhoods that surrounded the city of sanctuary’s epicenter and had the entire thing decorated when they’d arrived. The rambling colonial was everything that Levi had ever wished for in a house as a little kid. But beyond the sheer aesthetic appeal of the house, the fact that it was in a town of sanctuary had made the location infinitely appealing. Founded by an archseraphim for his two nephilim lovers, the city was a celestial neutral ground, a haven for those who were seeking refuge from the hunters. It had been the one place in the world where Levi had felt safe. “We’re going to enjoy tonight, angel,” Erik said in his ear. “Nothing is going to spoil it. We’re going to go into the reception hall and cut our wedding cake and act like everything is just fine.” “Until we go home and have to let them ride with us.” Marius snarled from Levi’s left. Levi squeezed the fallen angel’s hand. “We will redefine normal, lover man,” Levi said, his usual optimism rearing its head. “They might not be so bad.” “If your fathers hadn’t planned on you sleeping with them, I might say you’re right. As is, I frankly don’t give a flying fuck.” Marius was in a hell of a mood if that was the attitude he was assuming. Levi’s heart fell. He’d just wanted one day, just one, one day of perfect and absolute happiness. It had started out so good! They’d woken up to presents from Marius, two beautiful teardrop necklaces of sapphire that had been mined by Marius himself along with a note that said simply “Something Blue,” which Levi had found beyond
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adorable. Their friends, Madigan and his five guardians, had made them breakfast and escorted Erik and Levi to the beautiful historic hotel where they’d be spending their wedding night, and the day had gone according to plan. Until his and Erik’s fathers had decided to ruin it by pissing Marius off. “Hey, beautiful. Don’t make that face. I’m sorry for yelling. It just makes me mad that they are trying to manipulate us that way.” The apology was unexpected from Marius, but then again, the fallen angel was a sucker for Levi and Levi knew it. “I’m sorry, too. I just…want everything to be okay.” Levi felt shame burn him up as tears flooded his eyes. “I will promise you that we will do as little as possible to interfere in your life, little one. We are to protect you and comfort you, not make life difficult for you.” One of the guardians stepped forward, the black-haired one with the most vibrant green eyes Levi had ever seen. “My name is Axis.” “No one asked you, asshole,” Marius snapped, his face darkening in rage. “You need to shut the fuck up and get away from my lover.” “Marius, please, stop yelling,” Levi begged, beginning to cry. Most of their guests had gone up to the reception hall at the hotel, but there were a few that were lingering near the outskirts of the clearing. He just didn’t want to deal with this in front of everyone. Axis held up his hands in surrender. “I apologize. I thought to alleviate the little one’s concerns, but you are obviously handling it, fallen.” Levi took his hand from Erik’s grip and stuck a single finger in Axis’s face. “I will not tolerate you making Marius feel bad about anything that concerns me. He works really hard to make me and Erik happy.” The guardian looked startled for a second before a slow grin stretched over his face. “My apologies, little one.” His eyes flicked in Marius’s direction. “The fallen is a little harder to love than you are, but I will make every effort to be agreeable for him.”
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Marius’s eyes widened. “Fuck. You.” “Not yet, Marius. Soon enough, though.” **** Levi was so glad when the reception was over that he could’ve melted into bed. The tension had ebbed somewhat during the course of dinner and the dancing afterward, but he could still feel Marius’s stress despite the jovial atmosphere. The cake that Madigan had made for them had been absolutely breathtaking and had tasted just as perfect. He was going to make a mint at his bakery once he got everything arranged to open. It had been white with pink sugar cherry blossoms and delicate green sugar lace that had been exactly what Levi and Erik had asked for. If only Marius hadn’t been so melancholy throughout, he might’ve enjoyed it better. Erik opened the hotel with the sliding key that the reception desk had given them, and Levi immediately sank into the high-backed chair that was just inside the entrance as soon as he was allowed into the room. Marius stomped into the room behind them, yanking off his tie as he went. Levi was surprised he didn’t choke himself on the thing as he twisted it around his neck. If it hadn’t been for Erik, Levi never would’ve gotten his tied this morning. “Where are we to go?” Axis asked as he came into the room just before Marius slammed the door. The other guardians waited in the hallway. Marius whirled around and stalked up to the angel, getting close enough that their faces were separated by only an inch or two of space. “It’s my fucking wedding night, champ. Go fuck yourself for all I care, but get out of my God damn room.” Levi winced at Marius’s phrasing and was surprised when Axis didn’t back down.
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“I have a mission here, Marius. Whether you like it or not. I need to know where you want us. That’s all. I’m not asking to join you. I’m not asking for favors. I’m asking you where my men can get some sleep, considering we flew over nine hours to get here.” Axis voice was even, but his tone was deadly. Levi’s heart went out to him for flying so far, but if he didn’t step in, there was going to be trouble. “We have the whole suite. Why don’t you let them stay in the spare bedroom?” Levi suggested, hoping some of the hostility would fade if he offered a small suggestion. “And let them listen to us fuck all night? Not likely,” Marius snapped. Levi winced and curled up in the chair, wrapping his arms around his knees as he did so. He hated fighting. He hated it worse than anything. All this was leading to was one big confrontation in which Marius was going to get permanently exiled from heaven and turned into a demon. While it wasn’t unheard of that the irredeemable found redemption, it wasn’t as easy and came with impulses that were hard to control. Levi’s eyes began to water. “Please, Marius, please let them stay. I don’t want you to fall forever.” The idea of Marius being less than he was seemed unacceptable. The angelic part of Levi ached to help him find his faith again. He’d been healing him and Erik little by little, but tonight might’ve wrecked it all. The way Marius had explained it, Elite Guardians were given as a high honor, and to refuse meant a refusal of angelic assistance. For a fallen that meant a rejection of heaven. It would drop Marius’s status from being fallen to being demonic, and the change seemed horrifying. Marius made a noise of frustration and turned from Axis to sink into the floor at Levi’s feet. “I don’t know what you want me to do, Levi! I can’t fix this! God damn it, I want to make it better, but I don’t know how!” “Can’t you see this as a gift? Forget the reasons that our fathers gave us the guardians and find the good despite it. You’re always
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saying how you wished that you had more people around to protect Erik and me—” “I didn’t mean right this fucking second!” Levi pushed on, shaking as the emotions inside him boiled over. “You wished this into existence, so you’re going to have to deal with it.” Levi was a huge believer in fate. If something was meant to happen, it would, regardless of what they did to prevent it. He reached out and cupped his lover’s cheek. He knew the reason this was hitting Marius so hard was because the big fallen was two things, a control freak and immensely insecure when it came to his fallen status. He swaggered around easily enough, but when it came down to it, he was ashamed that he wasn’t one of the favored angels anymore. “I don’t know if I can do this.” Marius sounded strangled as he spoke. He buried his head into Levi’s abdomen, uncaring that the guardian still stood in the room. The fallen angel took a deep shuddering breath as Levi wrapped his arms around him. “You can do this. We’re sharing our home with the angels. It’s no different than the way we’ve been sharing with Madigan and his lovers.” He looked up at the guardian. He was happy to see that not an ounce of satisfaction was displayed on Axis’s face. In fact, there was a vulnerability and pain there that Levi just couldn’t place. Axis really was handsome standing there in his uniform. Levi’s nose twitched, and arousal started tickling the edge of his consciousness. Shit. He hadn’t meant to pay that much attention to the angel. He forced his attention away and back on the lover in his arms. Levi sighed. He felt like such a jerk for even being remotely interested. He belonged to Erik and Marius and no one else. Stupid nephilim instincts. Those instincts turned him into a sex-crazed maniac most of the time. Every touch was like a hit off a crack pipe. He began to shake harder. He didn’t want to upset Erik and Marius, but the angel smelled so good. He turned glittery eyes at Axis.
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“Can you please wait out in the hallway for a minute? I…I need a second.” He prayed that Axis would be a gentleman about it, and thank God he was. As soon as the door clicked shut, Marius raised his head. There was a wary feral look in his eyes. “You want him.” “I do not,” Levi said, knowing that his scent would betray him. “I can’t help my instincts and how my body reacts, but I do not want him.” The tears he’d been holding back dripped down on his cheeks. He felt so dirty for wanting all the time. It was so damn shameful that he couldn’t control his own body for a minute. His lovers probably thought he was a whore. “I’m sorry, beautiful. I seem to be saying that a lot today.” Marius pressed a kiss to Levi’s lips. “Please, don’t cry. It’s okay. I know it’s just your instincts. I shouldn’t blame you for them.” He sighed and pushed himself off his knees. Levi ached to take the burdens from his shoulders, but he knew there was no way Marius would let him. “We can figure it out, Mar,” Erik said, grabbing his lover and taking off Marius’s suit jacket in one economical move. “Until death do you part, remember? If we do this together, we can make it. They are just our bodyguards and our houseguests. We don’t have to act on instincts.” Marius took a deep breath again. “Okay. You can tell them that they can have the extra bedroom.” He turned. “I’m going to take a shower. When I get back out, I want both of you naked and waiting on me. Clear?” Levi smiled at the bossy tone. “Yes, sir.” He gave a little salute followed immediately by a giggle. Marius finally smiled. “That’s more like it. Love you two.” “Love you, too, Mar,” Erik said immediately. Levi loved how they both melted now when they looked at one another. In the beginning it certainly hadn’t been like that. Marius and Erik had either been one of two extremes, fucking or fighting, and sometimes both simultaneously.
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“Love you, Marius.” Levi added his voice to the chain, and he let Marius’s smile fill him with warmth. Erik turned toward him as Marius shut the door to the big bathroom and started the shower. “You okay, angel?” Levi nodded. He was fine. It was Erik and Marius that he worried about. The only time he wasn’t fine was when they were upset or thought bad about him. “I’ll go talk to the guardians if you want,” he offered, struggling to take off his tie. The damn thing was so knotted that he wasn’t sure he could manage. Erik knelt in front of his chair and swatted his hands away. Levi relaxed and gave a sheepish grin as Erik undid his mess. “Sorry,” he murmured. “No big, angel,” Erik said. He finished in under a minute, a record for one of Levi’s knots. They were forever threatening to buy him shoes with Velcro ties because shoelaces constantly had to be cut off his feet. “I’ll talk to them in the hall. You just go on into our room and wait for me and Marius. Okay?” Levi shifted uneasily. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Erik.” He paused. “They smell really good.” He knew Erik would understand even if Marius flew into a rage at the thought of them wanting someone else. “You don’t think I should go alone?” Erik asked, a little annoyance in his voice. Levi sighed. He couldn’t say anything today without offending his lovers. “I’m saying be careful, please. I love you, Erik, and I don’t want you beating yourself up because you’re attracted to them.” That was the thing about Erik. He was honorable down to the core and devoted on a level that Levi had thought only existed in fairy tales. He would consider it cheating if he looked at another man with anything resembling lust. Erik could say what he wanted, but he was a softy when it came to them. “He’s trusting us to go out there and tell them where to sleep,” Erik said, swallowing hard. It was difficult being a nephilim at times
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like this. If they were bound, married in angelic terms, it would be different. While the human ceremony was nice, it didn’t focus their hungers like being angel bound would. Once that occurred, they would be finally be able to relax in other people’s company. They would only crave their lovers. “I had a vision about them.” Levi’s head snapped up, and he searched Erik’s face for the truth. Part of Erik’s angelic power was to be able to have celestial visions, in essence see the future or the correct path for them. It was how they’d avoided the hunters before Marius had found them. Hell, Erik’s visions had led to Marius as well. He’d seen the bar where Marius would be the night that the hunters caught up with them. “What was it?” “I saw Marius standing with them as a guardian. He was redeemed, Levi. They…touched us in my vision.” He blushed but pressed on. “They loved us.” Levi didn’t know quite how to digest the information. If Erik had a vision like that, it could only mean that it was the right path, but…Marius was so very unhappy in this situation, and Erik and he didn’t know these angels from Adam. It seemed the most farfetched thing Erik had ever said. “Don’t tell Marius. He’ll flip.” Levi knew it in his gut. Marius would go crazy if he knew. “What should we do?” Erik asked. Levi had no idea. “I don’t know. Let’s see how things go.” He motioned to the door. “Go on and tell them. I’ll wait here for you.” Erik nodded before putting his hand on the doorknob. He took a deep breath and seemed to steel himself for the confrontation that was to come. Levi’s heart ached. He wished that for once, life would be easy for them.
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Chapter Two Axis had anticipated the little one coming out to inform them that they could sleep in the spare bedroom. He had not expected to have the prickly nephilim Erik to come out to tell them. He breathed in the nephilim’s scent with a pang of longing. Unlike most guardians, the Elites were a breed unto themselves, and as such had certain differences from most of their angelic brethren. Knowing who their true mates were, for example, was one of their many quirks. The newly married threesome didn’t know it yet, but they belonged to him and his men. “Hello, gorgeous,” Keer purred as Erik nearly bumped into him as he came out the door. Axis reached out and cuffed the back of his head. The violet-eyed angel didn’t need to be stirring shit unnecessarily. Keer shot him a “go fuck yourself” look and turned his attention back to Erik. “You guys can sleep in the spare room, but don’t be too loud.” Erik seemed to put everything he had into the glare he leveled at Keer. Axis resisted the urge to chuckle. He was going to be a handful. “We won’t. You won’t even know we’re there.” Axis pushed off the wall and came to stand in front of Erik. There was a good six-inch difference in their height. “We appreciate the resting place.” “I–it’s for Marius’s sake, not yours. We don’t want him to become a demon.” Erik stammered through the sentence, his hands clutching rhythmically at his sides. Interesting. So he felt the pull. Axis filed the information away for future use. “Neither do we. His redemption is one of the many reasons we’re here, Erik,” Jade spoke up, which was a surprise in itself. Jade never
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spoke unless someone made him. “We don’t want to cause you any pain.” Erik seemed to have a moment of weakness and stepped toward Jade. “I want Marius to be happy.” “He will be, Erik. This isn’t easy, but you know it will all work out for the best. I promise.” Jade’s red eyes were fixed on Erik. “Protecting all of you is our main priority.” “Even Marius?” Erik looked entranced as he asked the question. His hand rested gently on Jade’s chest. This was going to get bad if Axis didn’t step in. “Especially Marius. But we’ll discuss this tomorrow when you get up. It is your human wedding night. Enjoy it with Levi and Marius,” Axis cut in and shot Jade a look that had him taking a step back. Erik looked forlorn for a moment before he seemed to come back to himself. “You’re right. Now isn’t the time.” He took a deep breath and shuddered. Their scent must’ve been playing havoc with his nephilim senses. Erik turned his big brown eyes to Axis. “Thank you.” Axis inclined his head, knowing that he’d saved the nephilim from a potentially harmful situation and was happy to do so. They would have time to touch soon enough. Erik led them back into the suite that had been set to be the place where the three were to spend their wedding night. It was an elegant cream affair with stark white and pink roses scattered throughout the space. Candles were lit, and the very atmosphere seemed to be thrumming in encouragement to join with lovers in a celebration of flesh. Axis only regretted that he would be unable to share it with them. The nephilim didn’t waste any time leading them directly to the extra bedroom and ushering them inside. His men immediately fanned out in the room, taking up strategic positions and giving the space a thorough, if brief, once-over. Axis’s eyes hit the bed. That was not
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going to fit all of them. It was a full bed. The damn thing probably wouldn’t even fit Keer if he stretched out. “Um, towels are in the bathroom,” Erik said. He pointed to the smaller bathroom attached to the bedroom. “Marius is really pissed. So, uh, try not to come out until breakfast if you can help it.” Axis nodded even as a few of his men looked offended by the suggestion. “Don’t worry, Erik. We’ll stay put.” One look silenced the restless looks the others were giving him. They would talk in a minute. The second the door clicked shut behind Erik, the entire squad turned on him. “Why are we in here instead of out there with them?” Brax demanded. “They’re our mates, too!” “I can’t believe you let them talk us into a bedroom like this. We were better off sleeping in the fucking lobby,” Keer rumbled, his signature sneer firmly in place. Axis raised a hand for silence. “They don’t understand yet. The three of them belong to us, but they’ve encountered nothing but trouble from angels. Even the nephilims’ own fathers wanted to punish the man they love by giving us as a gift.” “We were always meant to go to them!” Keer protested, jerking the buttons on his uniform so he could shrug off his jacket. “And we’re not just some guardians that their fathers chucked at them. We’re bloody Elites!” “We have been waiting for months for our opening,” Jade reminded. The quietest of them spoke in the same calm tones that he used when reining in the young ones he guarded. Before he’d become an Elite Guardian, he’d been the guardian of several children. “If the opportunity hadn’t arisen, who knows when we would have been able to approach them without them fleeing. They don’t trust angels.” “We should’ve just gone after them when we first found out that they were ours,” Brax declared. “We’ve known about them since the three of them met. Our hesitation makes us Johnny-come-lately to this
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party. All of us should’ve been up there getting married today, not just them.” “The time was not right for Marius’s redemption, Brax. He would’ve bolted if he knew we were watching,” Axis explained patiently. He unhooked the cuffs on his jacket and shrugged the garment off his shoulders. “Don’t tell me that you weren’t proud of them for declaring their love today? It was beautiful.” And it had been. Even if they hadn’t been in the place they should’ve had in the wedding. Marius, Levi, and Erik had been on the run for months. The angelic sect that hunted Levi and Erik’s kind had been just one step behind them the entire way. Though often Axis and the others had intervened to prevent anything serious from happening to the three men who were their mates, it hadn’t been easy watching them grow close while the rest of them waited on the periphery for Axis to give the go-ahead. “Why hasn’t Marius bound the two nephilim yet?” Jade wondered. It was a legitimate question. By all rights, Marius should’ve claimed the two nephilim and bound himself to them in the angelic fashion. Axis folded his uniform jacket neatly and put it on the small desk that was pushed into a corner. “He can’t. He doesn’t know why he can’t, but he knows something is holding back the bond.” Axis’s trousers came next. He toed off his dress shoes carefully and slid the black material down his hips. When he stood in his undershirt and white boxers, he turned back to his men, who were in the midst of their own undressing. “The reason is that we’re not involved. He cannot bond with them until he is redeemed, and he cannot become redeemed until he bonds with us.” Keer frowned. “Huh?” “The Archseraphim Daisis explained to me when he sent us after the three of them that in order for Marius to rise from his fallen state, he must agree to put himself under our care. Once that occurs, we can all bond with Erik and Levi.” Axis knew that the complicated nature of their mating was one of the many reasons that his men were so
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impatient. The tenuous existence of their mate bond was a reason for anxiety to begin with. Coupled with the knowledge that at any moment their mates might reject them, it was a miracle his men hadn’t mutinied. “We need to court them properly. This will be a lot easier if they at least like us.” “So we’re not telling them?” Keer asked, his violet eyes flashing. Axis shook his head and pointed toward the door. “You want to go out there and declare to Marius that not only are we his mates but we are his lovers’ mates as well? He will lose it.” “So why now?” Jade asked. “Marius was always going to be the toughest sell. As you guys know, he’s a fallen angel. As such, he distrusts pretty much anything resembling angelic order. And let’s face it, you don’t get more angelically ordered than Elite Guardians. We exemplify heavenly virtues and are honored for being the epitome of guardianship. He’s going to hate us for those reasons alone.” “So it’s fucking hopeless,” Keer sneered. He closed his eyes, his whole body practically bleeding disappointment. “No. It’s fucking complicated. We’ve waited five thousand years for this. We need to show a little compassion for our mates who haven’t known of us that long,” Axis snapped, losing his patience. They weren’t the only ones who felt the need to be with the three men in the other room. “Easy, Axis. We know that you need them as much as we do. We’re all just very tired and need some rest. We flew quite a ways today.” As usual, Jade provided logic for the group. Jade was quiet, but he got shit done. Axis sighed. This was going to be an uphill battle no matter which way he looked at it. He just hoped when he got to the top that his mates weren’t going to run down the other side. He glanced up at his men, who were following his example and stripping off their uniforms. Everyone looked beat.
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“I’ll sleep on the floor,” he declared, taking a position by the closet. Maybe things would look brighter in the morning. **** Marius scrubbed the flesh on his arms until the skin was angry, red, and raw. He just wanted to rub away the entire day and everything that had gone wrong in it. The “happiest” day of his life was now officially the most fucked-up day of his life. His marriage had become contingent on him accepting the everlasting presence of four angels who were everything he wasn’t, honorable, considerate, and downright fucking annoying. If he were honest with himself, which he had no intention of being, he would say that his lovers deserved to have men as high as the Elite Guardians as their own. But he was selfish, and he couldn’t and fucking wouldn’t give them up. “Still more concerned with your needs than those of others. Marius, have you learned nothing since I banished you to Earth?” The sound of his old archangel’s voice made him freeze in his frantic washing. What the hell was Archangel Uriel doing in his bathroom? He pulled back the shower curtain and found his old boss reclining against the double sinks. His gorgeous tan-skinned and dirty-blond-haired self looked right at home there. He was dressed in human street clothes. A gray T-shirt and a pair of ratty-looking blue jeans completed his outfit. “Uriel?” he asked. “And your IQ dropped to boot. Damn, boy, what have you been doing since you lost your job?” Uriel asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Trying to survive while getting shot at by Michael’s nutjobs, avoiding hunters, and making money. Other than that, I’ve been smelling the fucking flowers,” Marius snapped before he thought better of it. His white-blond hair stuck to his face, and he pushed it
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angrily to the side. “Did you know what those pricks were going to do on my wedding day?” Uriel shrugged. “Those Elites were going to come to you one way or another. I sent them. Perc and Desc were just the vehicles I used to deliver them.” “Trying to get me damned, boss?” Marius asked, a feral grin lighting up his face. If he were going to go down for good, he was going to go out with a fucking bang. He could already imagine getting out of the shower, getting his fallen weaponry, and sneaking into their room. It would be as easy as one, two, three. Uriel reached out and smacked the side of his head, sending it crunching into the tile of the shower. “You idiot. Of course not. You made a mistake a long time ago and needed to learn why it was a mistake. Your nephilim have taught you that lesson well.” It was true. Before, when Marius had been a hunter himself, he’d hated nephilim with a passion and enthusiasm that bordered on sheer madness. Meeting Erik and Levi had changed all that. He’d learned to love again. “But not to trust again,” Uriel said, reading his mind. “I didn’t send the Elites here to punish you, Marius. I sent them here to give you what you need.” “And what is that?” Marius asked, rubbing the place on his head that had collided with the shower. “Redemption.” The word was a carrot that was dangled effectively. Marius’s heart skipped a beat. Real redemption? He would finally be worthy of his lovers, finally be able to make them proud, finally be able to protect them as he wanted to. He’d known fallen that had waited thousands of years for a chance at redemption and had never received it. “How?” He forced the word out past the giant lump in his throat. Hope was an ugly thing when it was false.
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“You know Elites are different than other guardians?” Uriel asked. He nodded. “Do you know how they are different?” Marius made a noise of frustration. “What is with the school lesson? I don’t give a fuck. They are guardians who have given their lives for their charges and are brought back to life by seraphim. Because of their sacrifice, blah, blah, blah, they’re granted certain powers.” “The power of duality. They are given animal spirits that they can shift into at will,” Uriel said. It took Marius about three seconds to burst out laughing. “Are you serious? They’re shape-shifters?” He dissolved into peals of laughter. “What do they shift into? Ooh, let me guess, wolves? Lions? Tigers? Bears? Oh, my!” Uriel let him get out his laughter before he answered. “Winged horses called Pegasus, actually. The steeds of heroes.” “You’re serious.” Marius blinked. “You’re dead serious.” “Of course I am. I don’t tell you this idly. It is a closely guarded secret that only a handful of people know.” The archangel picked up a towel off the towel rack and gave it an experimental pop. “Their kind is blessed with a certain ‘knowing’ that informs them who they are to bond with, their mates, essentially.” “And what does that have to do with me? And how the hell does this tie into my redemption?” Marius asked impatiently. Uriel twisted the towel in his big warrior hands. “Before you fell into trouble with Azrael and those hunter zealots, you were chosen, destined is probably the better word for it, to become an Elite, Marius. You were always a great guardian, and it was foretold a long time ago that you would join the ranks. Typically, one has to die to be granted entrance, but because of the prophecy, the seraphim made exception for you. You were meant to join Axis’s group.”
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Marius was stunned by the revelation. Him, an Elite Guardian? No way! “Your path to redemption lies in joining their ranks and submitting to Axis’s command. He is the leader of the bunch, and you would have to take his directive,” Uriel said. “What about Levi and Erik?” Marius asked automatically. As much as he really disliked the idea that his lovers’ fathers had tried to use the Elites as a way to put a wedge between him and his lovers, the idea that fate had ordained it to secure his redemption made him feel marginally better. “That is the part where the question of ‘mates’ comes into play,” Uriel said slowly. “The Elites have always maintained that the three of you were their mates.” He paused. “If you join their ranks, you’ll be agreeing to become their mate. The question will be posed to both of your nephilim lovers as well.” “Holy fuck,” Marius cursed. “This is redemption? Impossible choices!” “You said not a week ago that you envied the guardians of your nephilims’ friend Madigan because they had enough protection to care for their lover. You’ve always known something was missing but never knew what. This is the answer you’ve sought, Marius. The emptiness you’ve felt will only be healed by the joining and angel bond that you will get when you unite with all your mates.” It was the most patience Marius could ever remember Uriel showing when explaining things. Marius hung his head and watched the water as it swirled around the drain. It kind of resembled what was going on in his head. The swirling confusion of thoughts was giving him a headache. “That’s why we couldn’t properly angel bond, isn’t it? Because I was meant to be one of them?” He asked the questions because he had to know. He’d wanted to bond with his lovers from the beginning and had always felt inadequate knowing that he’d never achieved it. No
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matter what he’d done, he’d always fallen short of truly bonding with his nephilim. “Yes, Marius.” “And if we refuse?” “Then you’ll never know the joys of being fully mated with your lovers nor will you ever find redemption.” Uriel didn’t sound happy at all. “So we’d be stuck in limbo and my lovers would still be vulnerable.” Marius sighed. Why couldn’t his life be less complicated? What the hell had he done to piss off the fates so much that he was punished with a “destiny” like this one? “It isn’t an easy choice, but it is a choice, Marius. Why don’t you get to know the Elites better? Give them a chance.” Uriel seemed to actually care whether or not he did so, which was weird because Marius had always assumed Uriel was still pissed that he’d gotten his ass thrown out of heaven. “They’ll like the Elites better than me.” The words came out of his mouth before he could stop them. He turned his face into the water spray to hide the tears that sprang to his eyes at the thought. Uriel snorted. “Give me a break. They love you so much they’d deny their own happiness for you in a heartbeat.” “I don’t want that. I want them to be happy. But I want to be happy, too. Is that selfish of me?” He knew on some level that it was, but damn if he could help it. “You want what is best for them?” Uriel asked, avoiding the question. “Yes.” “Then consider it at least. Stop acting like a jealous barbarian and think about what’s best for them…and for you, son. I think becoming an Elite would open up a whole new world for you and your lovers, but it’s ultimately your decision.” Uriel glanced toward the doorway that led to the bedroom that Marius was sharing with Levi and Erik. “Think about it.” In a blink, he vanished.
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“Fucking parlor tricks,” Marius muttered, going back to his shower. Tonight was supposed to be his wedding night, but it sure as hell didn’t feel like it. It felt like he’d just gotten on the most bizarre ride of his life and there was no getting off. **** Levi lay on the bed naked, counting invisible spirals on the ceiling. He imagined them expanding as he watched them and was pleased when his mind made them do so. They pulsed with his heartbeat. The shower stopped in the other room. “About time. That was the longest shower in history,” Erik griped from his position on the bed beside him. He’d gotten out his Architectural Digest and had been flipping through it for the past twenty minutes. Levi never really got into reading. He’d never really gotten into school for the most part. He was lucky he’d graduated knowing how to read and write. “He felt violated. That’s why he was showering,” Levi said astutely, running his fingers along the rigid duvet on top of the bed. He knew better than to climb under the sheets before he, Erik, and Marius had their fun. They’d just mess them up and have to change them, and it was a pain in the ass. “That’s awfully observant of you,” Erik noted, putting down his magazine on the bedside table. “How come you always know how we’re feeling?” “Just lucky, I guess.” Levi knew it was a little selfish, but he liked that his lovers didn’t know what he could see with his powers. If they knew, they might try to control how they were feeling, and nothing was more beautiful to Levi than the splash of color that accompanied any emotions his lovers felt. The bathroom door opened, and Levi was relieved to see Marius’s aura had gone from being dark and ugly to being a more vibrant shade. It was a deep purple of confusion, but it was better than the
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black rage of before. When their eyes met, Levi saw a burst of pink amidst the purple and smiled. Marius loved them so much. “Enjoy your shower?” Erik asked, drumming his fingers on his tanned, rippling abdomen. “I don’t know if enjoy is the right word, but I am calmer,” Marius replied, dropping his towel like he usually did as he got just outside the bathroom door. It hit the carpeted floor, and Erik’s eyes immediately sparked fire. It was a pet peeve of his, one that Marius just enjoyed aggravating. Levi suppressed a giggle. It was good that Marius was feeling a little more playful. “I felt someone else,” Erik said. Levi turned to him in surprise. He hadn’t felt anything. He frowned. Apparently he wasn’t the only one keeping secrets. “Who else was in the bathroom with you?” Marius climbed into bed and immediately went to lie in the center of the bed. Levi crawled over him so that he was on one side while Erik was on the other. Unlike Erik, he wasn’t afraid of being perceived as the bottom in a relationship, so he rested his head on Marius’s strong chest. He reached out and toyed with the dusky pink nipple near his mouth with his fingertips. It pebbled immediately. Levi just loved to toy with Marius’s body. The pale creamy skin was as soft as rose petals. “Enough, Levi. We need to talk first.” Levi heard the command and made a little huffing noise. He’d been in need all day, and neither of his lovers had seen fit to take care of him. Besides that, he was feeling more than a little lonely with all the emotional walls that his lovers had had up since the ceremony. “I love you, angel, but we do need to talk first,” Marius said, more gently this time. Levi smiled. Yeah, he had his men wrapped around his little finger, and he knew it. He flipped to his stomach and put his head in his hands, looking at his two lovers. He still didn’t know what he’d done right in his life to deserve them. Handsome didn’t even begin to apply to his lovers. Marius was the tallest out of the three of them, well over six feet with long white-
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blond hair that had just a hint of green in it. Like the petals of a white rose, Marius managed to make it look natural and beautiful despite the odd nature of the coloration. He may have had a chip on his shoulder, but it was only to hide the kind heart underneath the tough visage he presented to the world. Levi knew he was a big softy. Erik was taller than Levi by a good half a foot but not the colossal tallness of their fallen lover. He was just under six feet with tanned skin, chocolate-colored hair, and eyes that were the exact shade of coffee beans. When he smiled, it was wide and revealed dimples, which Levi loved to kiss whenever possible. He was a nephilim like Levi but had an inner strength that Levi didn’t. He was fiercely independent, and it was a trait that was frequently a point of frustration for Marius but a point of admiration for Levi. “I’m so happy with you two.” Levi sighed, not realizing he’d spoken aloud until both of his lover’s expressions softened. He blushed. “We’re happy with you, too, angel,” Erik said with a smile. He turned his eyes toward Marius. “So what are we going to do with the lot of them?” They all knew exactly who “the lot of them” were. Levi figured that the angels in the other room weren’t bad per se, but they were causing both Erik and Marius stress. Though Levi felt an odd draw toward them, the same draw he’d felt toward Erik and Marius, he knew he couldn’t even begin to go there. It was frustrating feeling things like that and knowing that they were wrong to feel them. Marius sighed as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. “I spoke with Uriel in the shower.” Erik immediately gave a low growl, the same kind he gave when he saw guys hitting on Marius when they went out. Levi smiled. His jealousy was adorable. It struck Levi what Marius had said. “Wait, the angel you used to work for? What did he want?” Levi asked. In the entire time that he’d been with Marius, they’d only twice come across angels who didn’t try to immediately kill Marius.
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Marius took a deep breath before looking off at the opposite wall, away from his lovers. “To offer me a chance at redemption.” Levi gasped. He knew how rare of an opportunity it was for one of the fallen to be offered the opportunity to prove themselves as worthy to become angels once again. It was almost unheard of, or so Marius had said time and time again when Levi had asked him about his fallen status. “What’s the catch?” Erik asked suspiciously. Levi turned surprised eyes on his lover. He hadn’t even thought there would be conditions on such a thing. Marius had been great at both protecting them and living the best life he could in the time Levi had known him. He figured Marius trying so hard was enough. “It can’t be a coincidence that we get four Elite Guardians and then you get an offer of redemption. What is going on?” Marius sighed and traced the curve of the stitching of the comforter, the gesture nervous and uncharacteristic of the proud fallen angel that he had grown to know and love. “Uriel has put the condition of my redemption on two things. First, that I join the ranks of the Elites as a Guardian.” “Oh, my God! That’s fantastic!” Levi interrupted excitedly. Erik held up a hand to settle him down. “Let him finish, Levi.” “The second part is the part that is going to cause problems.” Marius hesitated, obviously not wanting to finish. He took another deep breath. “We’d have to become their mates, angel bound to them.” Levi anticipated an explosion from Erik. Instead, he got a sigh of relief. “Christ,” he whispered, closing his eyes. “That explains… Marius, mates? Why does that word sound different from being angel bound?” “They’re shape-shifters. Pegasus shape-shifters. The ability to turn into the legendary carriers of heroes and know who their mates are is a gift from the Creator,” Marius said. “They say that we were destined to be theirs and that is why the angel binding didn’t work.”
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Levi sucked in a sharp breath. The attraction made sense if that were the case. I’m not a super slut after all. “Marius, what are we going to do?” Levi asked, unsure of their entire relationship suddenly. “What does this mean for us?” “Nothing, baby. It doesn’t mean anything if you don’t want it to,” Marius reassured automatically. “I don’t even know how I feel about it yet. But, if you’re not comfortable, it won’t happen. We’re happy together.” “But…if you deny this shot at redemption, you don’t get another chance, do you?” Erik asked, trembling. As strong as the other nephilim was, he turned into a real marshmallow when he was confronted with something that affected either of his lovers. Marius hesitated, and Levi knew the truth before he said it. If they turned down this opportunity, Marius would never be granted redemption. “No,” Marius whispered, so soft that Levi barely heard him. “Then we have to become angel bound to them,” Erik said firmly, his voice taking on the determined cadence it often did when he was faced with adversity and had to make a touch decision. Marius let out his breath in a hiss. “Let’s not be too hasty. I haven’t even discussed it with them yet. And…I don’t know if I’m keen on sharing you two.” “I dreamed about us with them,” Erik said, driving the point home. Levi saw the words strike Marius like a blow. Marius probably understood Erik’s gifts better than Levi, and the importance of his dreams was an ever-present factor in their shared lives. Levi reached out and took Marius’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “It will work out, Mar. It will. Maybe the whole point of all of this is finding even more people to love.” Levi believed it with everything that he was. Love was one of those things that changed worlds around. It had when he’d found Erik and then again when he’d found Marius. There was an infinite space inside him for more.
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“Oh, sweet baby, you’re so innocent,” Marius said, smiling a sad smile. Erik took Marius’s other hand. “We can take it as slow as we need to, Mar. We don’t have to rush into this.” “I don’t know how long we have,” Marius protested, squeezing his eyes shut. “It doesn’t matter. Time is just a number. If it’s meant to be, it will happen as it’s supposed to. Things might change once you’ve become an Elite,” Levi said, pressing a kiss to Marius’s neck, cheek, and lips. “You have such faith, baby.” Marius nuzzled his cheek. “Such faith in things.” “You’ll take care of us, Marius. You always do. No matter what.” Levi was great at seeing life in those terms. He could rely on his lovers absolutely, and he always would. He reached for Marius, knowing his lover needed the comfort. “Make love to me?” The question was answered by a low needy growl. He never had to ask twice with his lovers. Marius claimed his lips in a kiss, and Erik’s lips traced the curve of his spine. The colors in both their auras glowed a bright gold that had Levi shutting his eyes. Basking in their light was wonderful but so beautiful that it hurt sometimes. Nephilim hunger boiled through him, necessitating wicked wanton behavior in the worse way. Before he’d found them, he’d been so hungry for touch all the time. He hardly believed that they were okay now. Really okay. Married. We’re married, and we have Elite guardian mates, and everything is going to work out. Levi was sure of it. Erik’s hand found his cock and started stroking him slowly, building the heat to a fever pitch in much less time than Levi had thought possible. He needed so bad…Marius broke the kiss and rolled, pinning Levi’s smaller body beneath his own. Erik’s hand came off his dick, but that was all right because then Marius was humping against him, grinding their arousals together as Levi gasped
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and squirmed against him. So good. It’s always so good. Erik straddled his head as Marius pushed two fingers into Levi’s needy hole. This was one of their favorite positions and one guaranteed to have Levi mindless in two seconds flat. Erik traced his already-slick cockhead against Levi’s lips, asking for entrance into his mouth. Levi lapped at the sensitive tip with his tongue as Marius stretched his body with his fingers. He was so turned on by what was to come he thought his head might pop off. “Suck it, Levi, baby. Suck it real good.” Erik’s growling words were perfect, and Levi opened his mouth eagerly to accept the thick length of his lover’s prick into his throat. He whimpered around it as he heard the sound of the lube cap come off. Yes. Yes. Fill me. Make me yours all over. Marius! Erik! Yours, yours, yours! He loved belonging to them. Loved being protected by them. He writhed as the head of Marius’s cock breached his tight ring and began the slow glide forward into his body. “Erik, lean forward. I want to taste you,” Marius commanded as he sank to the hilt inside Levi. Levi went nuts. He loved that Erik would be fucking his mouth while Marius was fucking Erik’s ass with his tongue. Oh. Oh. Oh. Please. Please. Do it. Do it. Do it. He tended to take up internal mantras when they had sex, and this time was no different. If anything, this felt even more desperate. Tomorrow things would change, but right now it was just them as they’d always been, making love like tomorrow would never come. Erik groaned above him as Marius started to move his hips, pounding into Levi and scoring his pleasure spot with each desperate lunge. Levi sucked and swallowed around Erik’s prick, using the action as a point of focus while his body was catapulted into a land of pleasure. “Not gonna last,” Erik grunted, gripping the head of the bed as it thunked against the wall. “It’s too good.” He was careful not to fuck Levi’s mouth too deeply, but the smaller nephilim could tell how
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close he was by how hard and how much he was leaking pre-cum in a steady stream. In my mouth. Come on, Erik. Let me swallow you down, lover. “Come down our Levi’s throat, Erik,” Marius demanded against the swell of Erik’s behind. Levi’s body jerked at the command. Oh how he loved when Marius talked like that. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! That’s so–fuck–coming! Levi! Mar!” Erik’s pleasure splashed against the back of his throat and filled his mouth with Erik’s warm cream. Levi swallowed eagerly, loving how good it was between them. He lapped at Erik’s spent shaft, cleaning it while Marius growled and drove himself against Levi’s prostate with every feral lunge. One of Mar’s large hands gripped Levi’s hip while the other reached between them and kneaded the tight sac between his legs. Levi whimpered and moved restlessly against the stimulation. He used to be ashamed of his wants, of his desires to mix a little pain in with his pleasure. Marius and Erik had changed that. Erik rolled to the side so that Levi had an uninterrupted view of Marius fucking him. “Harder, please, Marius, please.” He needed that hand that was playing with his balls to tighten just a bit. It would send him off the edge like nothing else. Erik’s hands went to Levi’s now sweat-slicked chest and ghosted across the pebbled nipples he found there. “Yes. Yes, Erik.” The anticipation of what was to come made Levi just a little bit needier. Still, Erik and Marius continued to torment him, not letting him get the essential pressure he needed to orgasm. “Now! Please, now!” he begged. He was almost to the point he’d start crying. He needed. God, he needed so much. “Our baby needs us,” Marius said, his voice a guttural rumble of approval. He loved playing with him, the sadistic bastard. My sadistic bastard. Erik chuckled. “Looks that way.” “Going to come for us, pretty baby?” Marius asked, squeezing the hand on his balls, increasing the pressure to just what he needed. Levi
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cried out, his cock swelling impossibly. Erik’s hands on his nipples twisted, instantly reddening the peaks. It was all it took to send Levi careening over the edge. He literally screamed then, mind blanking as he was thrown into a delicious abyss. Distantly he heard Marius’s shout of release, and then he was floating back down lazily into his body. He felt like pure liquid warmth. His eyes were heavy as Marius withdrew from his body with a groan and Erik slid off the bed to no doubt fetch a towel in the bathroom. “Love,” he said, unable to form any more coherent sentences than that. Marius chuckled, his long hair forming a forest of white and green as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to Levi’s lips. “Love,” he returned, rubbing their noses together. “Sleep, baby. We’ll face things fresh in the morning.” “You’ll try to like them?” he asked, already starting to doze. “Yeah, baby, I’ll try.”
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Chapter Three None of them slept well that night. Keer opened his eyes and nearly groaned as his stiff muscles protested the waking. He’d listened intently as their mates had moved in their sleep, as restless as the Elites were in their tiny bedroom. Their presence really unnerved the three. Of course after they’d had sex loud enough that everyone in the room had a hard-on, it was no surprise that none of the Elites slept well. They had a damn good excuse. It was excessively hard to get some shut-eye when he had to listen to the men he wanted most having sex without him. “We’ve got movement in the second bedroom,” Brax, also known as I.T. to those who knew him well, said from his place in the closet. He had his iPhone out already, despite the obnoxiously early hour. He was probably Googling the nearest Starbucks. The man was addicted to coffee. “Shut up, I.T.,” Keer groaned, rolling to his stomach. “Just saying that we should get up and get moving if we plan to accompany the three of them to their home. They’ll probably try and book it while we sleep,” Brax said, fiddling with his phone some more. “God, man, did you sleep at all?” Keer was the grouchiest out of the bunch, and he knew it. “Angry Birds.” “What?” “I was up all night playing Angry Birds. It’s this free download game. Addicting as hell,” Brax said, not looking up. His dark-blue eyes were trained on the screen in his palm, his chocolate-brown hair
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falling into his face every time he dipped his chin too low. Brax was lucky that the Elites didn’t have a uniform code that dealt with hair. “Angry Birds Space is pretty cool, too. I wanted it, but I didn’t know if it would be cool to purchase it.” What the fuck ever. Weirdo. “Axis, we’ve got movement. You want us to get up?” Keer asked, sitting up and nearly hitting his head on the desk he’d half laid under. Damn. They really needed to get a bunk situation going when they got to their mates’ home. Jade and Axis stirred on the bed. Though Axis had offered to sleep on the floor, it was no place for their commander to rest nor his second, Jade. Keer had volunteered himself and Brax for floor duty. “Yeah,” a groggy Axis said from the bed. He was not a morning person. Never had been. “Everyone get uniforms on and ready to—” A soft knock interrupted his sentence. Every Elite in the room inhaled sharply at the smell of nephilim and fallen on the other side of the door. Keer’s body gave a visceral reaction guaranteed to get him pummeled by the overprotective fallen if he saw it. Marius’s growling countenance was sexy. It was Marius’s head that popped around the corner as the door was opened. “Hi,” he greeted. “Did I wake you guys?” “We were just about to rise, Marius,” Axis rumbled, his black hair roughed up from a sleepless night. “Good morning.” Keer was surprised when Marius ducked through the door and his two lovers followed him. The smallest one, the pretty blond, Levi, closed the door behind them. Yesterday they’d been furious with them, treating them like plague. And today they were coming en masse into the room they’d stuck them in? “Good morning,” Marius murmured. He still didn’t look thrilled, but at least he was tolerating the presence of the four of them. “I spoke with Uriel last night.” The mention of the archangel had Keer perking up. Heavenly interference was something that none of them had been expecting. They expected a much worse battle to their mating.
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“Oh? And what did Lord Uriel have to say?” Axis asked carefully. Marius’s forest-green eyes were trained on Axis, but he shifted nervously. “That I can have redemption.” Keer sucked in a breath. Redemption was excellent news for a fallen angel. It was an opportunity that was rarely granted to those who had fallen out of favor with the Archangels. “That is wonderful news, Marius. I had hoped that the heavens would grant you that hope. You have watched your lovers diligently since the beginning of your journey together,” Axis said, the genuine warmth in his expression blazing like the sun. Keer found it difficult to feel such happiness for the men who’d rejected them so thoroughly. His pride had been wounded by the scene at their wedding, especially since he hadn’t protested the wedding not including them to begin with. He’d supported his mates, been happy to stand by their side as they celebrated their love. Then they’d acted like they had viral plague when the angels had been assigned as their guardians. Marius had assumed their assignment to the threesome was only for the two nephilim. He’d been wrong. Marius continued. “He said that I was supposed to join the Elites.” “That is a matter for the seraphim,” Axis said. “Ours is not a volunteer order.” “I am aware.” Marius sounded much surlier than he had the moment before. Keer rolled to his feet and crossed his arms over his naked chest. “If you’re aware, then you realize that what you’re saying sounds ridiculous.” Keer blinked, and Archangel Uriel was standing in the middle of the room. Now that was unexpected. “Not really. Considering that the seraphim sent me as a messenger.” Uriel inclined his head toward Marius. “So you’ve decided to join up with the Elites?” Marius gave a curt nod. “Good. And the rest?” Uriel asked.
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Marius nodded. “We’re considering it.” “Ah. A proper courtship then? Excellent,” Uriel said cheerfully. His eyes found Axis. “The rite is to be carried out upon arrival at Marius’s residence. I’m assuming you can perform it effectively?” Axis nodded. “Of course. If it is commanded, I can perform it.” “I thought an Elite had to die and be resurrected?” Levi asked, fear in his voice. Brax cut in from the closet. “It is typically how an Elite is chosen, but it is not the only way an Elite can be created. In theory there are other ways.” “So you’re giving us permission to turn Marius? And this is an order from the seraphim?” Axis asked. Keer had known him long enough that it was obvious to him that Axis was tense despite his cool-as-a-cucumber demeanor. The addition of another Elite, when not done by a seraphim, was an extremely intimate event. To perform the ritual transformation with one’s mate was an intimacy that was unparalleled. “Yes to both questions,” Uriel said with a smile. In a blink he was gone, no doubt returning to his noncorporeal form on the other side of existence. “That’s wicked,” Levi said, the cutest expression of awe plastered over his face. Keer longed to separate the distance between them and show him just how adorable he thought the other man was, but he knew that would only incite trouble. He hugged his chest tighter. He hated having a one-sided anything. No less a one-sided crush on his mate. Fucking hormones. Who said that knowing who one’s mates were was a blessing? It was more like a curse. To know something belonged to him and was denied him for no reason drove him absolutely mad. He looked up to see the little nephilim regarding him with a knowing expression. Christ, he hadn’t meant to be so obvious.
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“We have a complimentary breakfast for the three of us downstairs,” Levi said, smiling softly. “Do you want to join us?” His eyes never left Keer’s. Keer was enchanted by the pretty nephilim. “I’m afraid we’ll have to decline, little one. We don’t have any street clothes and do not wish to infringe upon you and your new husbands,” Axis said. Keer nearly snarled in his direction. Why was he allowing such distance between them? “It’s really not an imposition,” Levi protested. Well, at least one of my mates is fighting for it. Keer’s perfectly manicured fingernails dug into the palms of his hands. Come on, commander. Give us a chance to win them over. “Please, we want to get to know you better.” Erik’s voice joined Levi’s, and Keer couldn’t help but smirk at the torn look on his commander’s face. Yes. They were going to get their way. **** Levi shifted nervously as they all crowded into the elevator. Despite the fact that it was of generous size, Levi felt the press of six other male bodies despite the fact that none of them were touching him. One of the Elites turned his head to the side and sniffed like a dog scenting the air for quarry. Levi tilted his head to the side and looked at the male closer. Did he really have red eyes? Red? They were a gorgeous crimson color to go along with his golden-blond hair. It was downright exotic. Levi’s eyes traveled down his frame. He was lean and muscled. Beautiful. Stop looking at him. He’s not your husband, and you’re getting hard. Fuck. Stop it, Levi. He wrapped his arms around his waist and tried to make himself as small as possible. Just because they were giving the men a chance didn’t mean that they were giving into them. Just because they were courting didn’t mean that he could… Bite into that delicious ass in front of me. Rub against him while he kisses my mouth, while Marius fucks me in that possessive way he does when he
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shares me with Erik. Oh, God, and Erik…Erik would get his own set of sexy Elites. No. Stop it. A low growl sounded from the man in front of him. “Jade,” Axis rumbled in warning. “Sorry, Commander.” The blond turned forward and concentrated his attention on the front of the elevator. The disappointment that went through Levi seemed entirely inappropriate. He reached down and tried to discreetly rearrange his half-hard cock through his blue jeans. Erik bumped into one of the Elites, the violet-eyed one, and nearly stumbled. The violet-eyed angel wrapped his arms around Erik to steady him. “Watch your hands,” Erik hissed as the hands in question lingered on his hips. Levi’s arousal went from a simmer to an open boil. Oh he liked that. He liked seeing Erik being touched. Levi had always been a bit of a voyeur, but he’d never realized the depth of his enjoyment until finding his two husbands. The possibilities opened up with the addition of the four Elites posed so many temptations that Levi was quite sure he’d be panting if he spent another five seconds in this elevator. “Sorry, gorgeous.” The violet-eyed angel grinned. “Knock it off, Keer,” Axis commanded. Keer was very slow to obey, letting his touch linger long enough that Erik bristled visibly. Levi’s eyes flicked to the elevator numbers as they flashed. One more floor. “You can’t blame them, Axis,” one of the angels, who was operating some kind of technological device with his fingers, said without missing a beat. “He smells fantastic.” The elevator dinged. They piled out of the elevator and onto the marble floor of the lobby. Marius and Erik automatically fell into step on either side of him, acting like some kind of bodyguards despite the angelic nature of their company. They were always so afraid that Levi was going to get overwhelmed. It didn’t matter to them that in the grand scheme of
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things Levi tended to cope better with new things than the both of them. He was smaller and therefore, in their minds, he needed protecting. It was almost sweet. He hid his smile with a quick glance to his feet. It was relatively quiet, and their feet echoed off the floor as they made their way toward the small in-house restaurant located just past the concierge’s desk. The historic building was no less fancy than any modern hotel that Levi had ever stayed in. Marius had chosen well for them. It was terribly romantic. He glanced at all the uniformed men walking beside them. It didn’t feel unnatural for them to be there. Erik’s tension was unnecessary. His dream said so, and Levi’s feelings felt so. Marius’s green eyes fell on him. There was fear in those emerald depths. It made Levi’s chest tight. The possibility of hurting Marius seemed absolutely abhorrent. Until he accepted the Elites, Levi wouldn’t even entertain the possibility. Didn’t matter that they smelled good and Levi’s instinct screamed at him to rub against them like a cat. He sighed. This was giving him a headache. Erik reached out and gripped his hand, giving it a squeeze. “Relax, baby. No worries. Nothing is going to happen that we don’t all agree on.” Erik always seemed so strong to Levi. He panicked when change occurred, but otherwise, he was a rock. He was nephilim like Levi, and as such, he should’ve technically been more like Levi, but he was far from dependent on their fallen lover. They paused at the Please Wait to Be Seated sign as a man in a three-piece suit came over and motioned for them to follow him. No doubt they posed an intimidating picture. The Elites were massive, and Marius was just as big. Erik fit in with them despite his smaller, more average human size. It was then that Levi realized that he was the only one who didn’t fit. He’d been described more than once as a twink. He looked down at his body. He was thin and scrawny. His
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fingers went to his belt loops and twisted the denim strips he found there. Anxiety started bubbling in his stomach. “You’re perfect,” Marius said, putting an arm around his shoulders as they walked up to a long table toward the back of the restaurant. Levi shot his lover a grateful smile. “I know you think so.” Marius and Erik had been the only ones who had ever made him feel perfect and beautiful. The scars that scoured his back like so many divots of shame didn’t bother them. His eyes went to the Elites. Would they bother the new men in their lives? “We’re sorry about the mix-up,” the waiter apologized. “We were under the impression that the rest of the wedding party wouldn’t be attending breakfast. This is the only table large enough to accommodate. Is that all right?” Erik gave a nod. “Of course. This will be just fine.” They took their seats, the Elites on one half of the table, and Marius motioned for Erik and Levi to sit on the other half by him. The sound of creaking chairs and rustling menus permeated the air. This is awkward. Levi was eternally grateful when the waiter filled his water glass and asked if he wanted some orange juice. More silence followed their drink orders and dragged on in painful permanence. Levi took another gulp of water. No one seemed willing to break the endless click of ice cubes in the water glasses. Levi couldn’t take it anymore. “So, you guys are military, sort of?” Pulses of vibrant blues surrounded the Elites as he asked the question. The color of pleasure seemed so strange for something as simple as Levi’s voice. “Sort of. We’re heaven’s shock troops. Most guardians work independently. We’re the only faction in heaven that works like a unit,” Axis said, his voice warm and soothing. Levi could get used to hearing that voice. Levi smiled. “That sounds exciting.”
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“Not as exciting as you think. We rarely get to go on mission. They only bring us out in dire situations or on special missions,” the violet-eyed one said. He took a gulp out of his orange juice and gave Levi a cocky grin. “I’m Keer, by the way.” “Keer? That’s an interesting name.” Levi sipped his water. His eyes went around the table. They were all unique, exotic, just like Marius. Keer had violet eyes and dark hair. He’d never seen eyes like that. They all seemed to have unique coloring. His friend Madigan’s guardian angels all had normal coloring. He wondered why all the angels in his own life were so unique. His eyes went to the next person down the table. “I’m Jade, little one. Second-in -command after Axis.” The angel’s voice was a deep rumble that caused goose bumps to skitter across Levi’s skin. Jade certainly had a bedroom voice. Couple that with those red eyes and blond hair, he was beautiful. The blue-eyed, brown-haired one finally looked up from his handheld device. “I’m Brax, but the guys call me I.T.” He lifted his device and waved it. “I’m a little bit of a technophile.” Keer snorted. “More like a techno addict.” Levi giggled. The grin faded as Marius pursed his lips. He only did that when he wasn’t happy. “Sorry, lover man,” Levi muttered. “No reason to apologize, beautiful baby,” Marius said. “I’m just…a little weird right now. Don’t mind me.” Painful sick green blossomed around everyone’s aura in the room. Keer leveled a smile that was pure sex in Marius’s direction. “Don’t worry, baby, we want you, too.” That green faded a bit and a sort of orange-yellow, a color of attraction, took its place. Marius’s face reddened, and an answering orange bloomed in his aura. “Shut up.” Levi looked on curiously. He’d never seen Marius uncomfortable in that way, at least not with anyone but Erik and Levi. “May I take your orders?”
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Levi jumped as their waiter walked up behind him and spoke. Six men growled in unison at Levi’s discomfort. Axis was the first to speak. “Four sets of scrambled eggs with cheese, three waffles, two pieces of sausage, four pieces of bacon, and two biscuits on the side of each.” He paused. “What are you, Erik, and Levi having?” The waiter blanched and gave a little nervous laugh. “That’s a lot of food.” Axis raised his eyebrows. “We’re a lot of men.” Marius looked fairly impressed. “I’ll have the pancake platter and the breakfast steak with toast.” “I’ll have waffles, two sausages, and two eggs, please,” Erik said, handing over his menu. Levi glanced at the menu. There was no way he could eat that much food. “Um, can I have some oatmeal with some fresh cut fruit and some bacon, please?” “You can have whatever you want, beautiful baby,” Erik assured. “Anything at all.” “Sure you don’t need more food?” Axis asked. “Nephilim need to keep up their energy.” “I’m fine, thanks.” Levi took another sip out of his water glass. It was almost empty. He was going to have to get another space-filler at this rate. “Can I get a refill of water?” “Absolutely.” Silence descended on the table again as the waiter went off to put their order in. Damn. Breakfast is going to be really, really long. **** Erik was thrumming with energy by the time the table was cleared. His nephilim side was in some serious need. He didn’t know how Levi was standing it. His stupid instincts were clamoring for him to get naked and get laid in the worst ways. All the men in the room
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weren’t helping. Their scents and the memory of their touches left over from his dreams were making him hard and needy. Marius shot him a knowing look and bumped his leg under the table. “Can it wait?” “I don’t know,” Erik answered honestly. He met Jade’s eyes from across the table and let those ruby eyes heat his blood to a simmer. Oh, shit. No. I don’t want Marius to get pissed at me for— “You want them,” Marius growled but there was lust shimmering in his eyes. “I should be jealous.” “But you’re not?” “No.” “Because we’re your mates,” Jade rumbled, interjecting himself into their conversation. Marius turned his attention to Jade. “That remains to be seen.” Jade nodded. “You’ll understand when you’re one of us.” A rumble of neither disagreement nor agreement sounded from his fallen lover. It was a sexy sound. Erik’s cock hardened as he stared at Jade’s mouth. What would it feel like wrapped around his— Jade’s red eyes lit on him. “If you continue to look at me like that, I will fuck you.” Silence descended over the table in an instant, and four pairs of eyes zeroed in on Erik and the Elite who’d spoken. Erik groaned, part in embarrassment, part in desire. “Marius?” The question was answered by Marius pushing back from the table and grabbing Erik’s wrists, all but dragging him off his seat. The Elites gave each other hard looks, and Keer’s lips twitched in amusement. “Axis?” Marius growled. “Yes?” “Watch Levi for me.” Erik was stunned. Marius must have actually been on board with this giving-them-a-chance thing if he was trusting the Elites to watch their Levi while Marius took care of Erik’s needs. Erik almost felt bad for dragging Marius away from the table like this, but his nephilim
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instincts had him ready to crawl into the nearest lap he could find and dry hump his way to half a dozen orgasms. As a young half-angel, his libido was extraordinary and required more than an average number of sexual releases a day to keep satisfied. It wasn’t as bad as when he’d first hit angelic puberty, but it was still pretty bad. He felt sorry for Levi, who had hit his angelic puberty early after a group of hunters forced him into his angelhood and hadn’t had someone like Marius to guide him through it. Erik shook his head. He wouldn’t think of that. His body started to throb in the telltale fashion that signaled his overwhelming need. Marius tugged him away from the table without a backward glance, another first for him when leaving either Erik or Levi alone. In Erik’s mind, everyone was staring at him as he was led through the restaurant, lobby, and into the lobby bathroom. “You said you couldn’t wait,” Marius said by way of explanation. Erik couldn’t argue with that. He couldn’t wait. He was near bursting. They slipped into the bathroom and locked the door behind them. Erik jerked his belt free of its loop and popped the button right after. The marble-topped sinks looked perfect for what he had in mind. He shoved his pants down his hips and down to his ankles. Damn. In his haste he forgot to take off his shoes. Marius reached down, yanked off Erik’s shoes, and tossed his pants across the tiled floor. He reached in his own pants pocket and extricated a small tube of lube he kept stashed there for occasions such as this. He was a real Boy Scout since becoming lover to two randy nephilim. He spread his legs as Marius came in between them and jerked his legs on either side of the fallen’s hips. Marius slicked his prick with the lubrication and wasted no time in burying himself in Erik’s willing ass. The slight burn and quick stretch made Erik hiss, but his instincts were already forcing him to move his hips in counter rhythm to Marius’s thrusts. He cried out as the fallen unerringly found his prostate.
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“Fuck. Yes! Hit it, just like that. Hm, Marius.” Erik knew he talked like a prostitute when he had sex. He couldn’t help himself. It was something he’d picked up when he’d first started as a teenager, and it had only grown more pronounced over the years. Couple that with the fact that Marius was amazing in bed, and he turned into a dirty-talking maniac at the drop of a hat. “Gotta hurry, Erik. Someone is going to need the bathroom at some point,” Marius rumbled, fucking Erik in a way to guaranteed to get the results he wanted. “Shit. Should’ve taken off the shirt. I’m going to get it messy,” Erik cursed as Marius reached between them and started stroking him from base to tip. His hand pistoned up and down, demanding his pleasure. Erik’s eyes rolled, and he lost track of his thoughts as the joining of their bodies became his world. The familiar buzz of angelic energy coursed through him, spilling out into the air around them in a burst of air that ruffled the paper towel dispensers. The power struck against Marius’s body, crackling as it did so. The fallen angel groaned, and his hips drove into Erik’s ass with renewed vigor. He loved when Erik unleashed his angelic side on him. The power elevated Marius’s spirit and enhanced his own power in a sensual manner that always made Marius go nuts. “Christ, Erik,” Marius panted. His ass throbbed as Marius pounded away in his hot channel. He loved when Marius lost control. The only thing that would’ve made the situation better was if Marius was shirtless so that he could stroke his wings through an orgasm. The tingling at the base of his spine signaled his impending orgasm, and Erik relaxed and let it sweep him away. There was nothing more satisfying than letting Marius have him. He didn’t need to worry about what life would mean once he left the hotel or what the future held for the four other men that were at their breakfast table. Nothing mattered but the hard cock inside him and the tightness of his sac as his dick jerked in the valley between their bodies,
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shooting his cream over his abdomen and onto his shirt as he’d predicted. Marius followed right on his heels, groaning his satisfaction as it echoed off the bathroom tiles. His muscles bunched, and Erik let his fingers trail down his fallen’s sweat-slicked chest and then around to his back as Marius rested against him, panting for breath. The man certainly had impressive shoulders. Erik’s head rested against the mirror, and he didn’t even mind that the faucet dug into his lower back as he leaned too far back. “Hm, love you,” Erik murmured. Marius shuddered through the last of his pleasures and gave a sigh of contentment. “I love you, too.” He paused. “We should get back to the table. I shouldn’t have left Levi alone like that.” “Hmm, then I guess you need to get your dick out of my ass, huh?” Erik teased. “Yeah.” He kissed Erik’s lips once more before pulling from his body. Erik was pretty sure the water faucet had left an imprint in his lower back. **** Levi had to have drunk half a gallon of water over the course of the awkward moments of the meal, but he was only sipping on his water glass now. Brax estimated that he was relaxing in marginal degrees. He finished his status update on Facebook and sent his siblings an e-mail to let them know about the progress before closing the browser on his phone. “So, Levi, how was your food?” Brax asked, moving his phone to the side of his plate so that he wouldn’t be tempted to play with any of his apps to cover the slight nervousness that he was feeling. The beautiful blond nephilim with his sweet smile and big cornflower-blue eyes favored him with a shy look of pleasure from
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beneath nearly imperceptible blond lashes. “It was good. I’m really full.” “You hardly ate anything,” Keer protested, his violet eyes flashing with some unnamable emotion. Keer was beautiful, commanding, and vain. Brax figured that he didn’t like the fact that Marius hadn’t ordered more for Levi’s consumption, worse, he wasn’t given a say at all. Controlling was Keer’s middle name. “Why don’t you order a little something else?” “Leave him be, Keer,” Axis warned, crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s kind of sweet,” Levi said, running a hand through his hair and making it spike up in the cutest messy fashion. Keer actually blushed. “I’m not hungry though.” Blue eyes came back to Brax. “So are you always going to have your nose in all your gadgets?” Brax swallowed. “Sorry, I, uh, like technology.” Wow. That sounds bloody well brilliant of me. “Is that the new phone? The MegaAmeriDroid thingy? I think I saw it on TV a few days ago.” Levi leaned his chin on his hand. “Show me how to use it?” Brax shoved back from the table and was over to Levi’s seat so quickly that he toppled his chair over. The nephilim giggled as Brax slid into the chair that Marius had occupied the moment before and nearly hit him in the face with his phone. Levi managed to duck and giggled. “You like your techno stuff.” “Yeah,” Brax said a little sheepishly. “It really does make life easier.” Levi leaned into him to look at the screen as Brax’s fingers played over the touchscreen to unlock it. He handed it over to Levi and watched as happiness played over his face as he discovered Brax’s plethora of games. “This is fun.” Levi beamed at him. “How do you play this one?” He was cute. He was adorable, and he was theirs. Brax showed him how to operate the game and watched as he played it. The minutes went by, and everyone at the table stared at Levi. Brax scented the air
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discreetly, drawing as much of Levi’s fragrance into his lungs as he could without being obvious about it. He’d never forget that scent. “Why are you smelling me?” Levi asked. It was then Brax realized that Levi was no longer engrossed in the game but was staring at him. “Uh.” Brax stalled. “Because you smell good?” Levi’s big green eyes didn’t seem to miss a single thing. “You look happy,” he said. “Like you’re exactly where you want to be.” He reached out and traced Brax’s jaw. The touch went down to his toes. Brax licked his lips. “Easy, Brax.” Axis issued the warning with ease. “If Marius comes back to Levi in your lap, he’s going to flip out.” Levi didn’t seem too concerned about it. He just leaned closer, and Brax felt the inexplicable pull of their bond. Brax’s gaze zeroed in on his lips. He really wanted to kiss him. He’d never felt the need to kiss before. He’d done it, of course, but it had never been a bonedeep ache. Axis sighed. “You should’ve gone with Marius and Erik if you were in need, Levi. If you touch him, I will not reprimand him.” Brax wished Axis would shut the hell up. Out of all the angels at the table, Levi had chosen him. That had to have meant something, right? Levi brushed his lips over Brax’s in the chastest of kisses. “Levi.” Brax breathed the name. “I just had to see if it felt right,” Levi said, pressing a kiss to his lips once more. “It does.” “Glad to have been of service,” Brax managed to say. He was pretty sure that all the blood had drained out of his head and traveled down to his lap, so he was lucky he could form even that complicated of a sentence. The sound of footsteps interrupted whatever Levi was going to say, and both he and Brax looked up to see a disheveled Marius coming toward them. Brax blinked and tried to move back from Levi’s face slowly as not to startle the fallen.
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“Did you enjoy yourself, lover man?” Levi asked, not moving a muscle. “You kissed him?” Marius asked, ignoring Levi’s question. Levi’s expression hardened. “Yes. I had to know if it felt right. It does. They belong with us, Marius.” The fallen paused as if he was contemplating Levi’s answer. “All right, then.” His eyes went to Brax. “Be gentle.” Brax was stunned. Was this the same man who was furious at the prospect of having them come into their home yesterday? “I will be.” Marius’s jaw ticked, but he nodded. “Is it true that I will understand this after I am redeemed?” Brax shrugged. “That’s the theory. When you become an Elite, you’ll be able to know who your mates are. I can e-mail you a brief if you like to look over before we do it.” “No, thanks. Erik is upstairs changing. We need to finish packing our stuff up before we leave. Levi, come.” Marius turned around, obviously expecting Levi to jump up and follow. Brax’s heart fell. Marius was taking Levi away from them again. He’d already taken Erik away and had stashed him upstairs. How were they going to get to know them if they weren’t allowed to sit with them for more than twenty minutes at a time? Levi reached out and squeezed Brax’s hand. “I’m going to stay here with the Elites until we’re ready to go. We’ll meet you two in the lobby when we’re done with breakfast.” Marius froze and half turned back toward the table. He opened his mouth before closing it and pursing his lips. “You said that we should give them a chance,” Levi said. Marius nodded. “I did.” “Then I’ll stay and talk with them. Okay?” There was a pause as Marius considered it. Finally he nodded. “As you wish, little one.” His eyes went to Axis. “Will you watch over him?” “Of course.”
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Chapter Four Marius had a bag under each arm as he and Erik made their way into the foyer. The sight that greeted him was one that made his heart trip around in his chest like an old vibrating alarm clock. Levi was laughing as two Elites took turns chasing him around Axis, who was telling them all to stop acting like children. Levi looked so content and so carefree that Marius couldn’t help but smile. “He likes them,” Erik commented from his side. He’d ditched his dress pants and had donned jeans for the ride home and changed into a black pullover that had an AE label over the right pectoral. “It seems so.” “He looks really happy.” “Yep.” “It’s making you nervous,” Erik noted, bumping their hips as they walked. Marius’s eyes never left Levi’s smiling face. “More than I can express. But…it kind of relaxes me, too. I can’t explain it. I want to believe that everything is going to be all right and that they are going to love us, but I worry that it’s not going to happen or that they’re wrong somehow.” “We’ll find out soon enough. Either way you get your redemption and we will be just fine.” Erik smiled reassuringly. “Marius!” Levi shouted, grinning ear to ear as Brax caught up with him and swept him off his feet and swung him in a wide circle as Levi laughed at his audacity. Marius waved to him, and Erik’s smile widened. “You are a sucker for him.”
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“Aren’t you?” Marius countered. Then they couldn’t talk anymore because Brax sat Levi on his feet and he immediately streaked toward them. Marius opened his arms to receive him as Levi flung himself into the circle of his arms. Marius chuckled. “Have fun?” Levi grinned ear to ear and nuzzled Marius’s chest. “Yeah. The Elites are funny. Brax let me play his Angry Birds game on his phone. He said he’d get me the game on my Kindle. Isn’t that great?” “It is,” Marius agreed. Levi looked up into Marius’s face. “Did you and Erik have fun without me?” “We did,” Marius said. He gave Levi a squeeze and kissed his temple. They were married. It struck him then for some reason. Yesterday had been such an emotional roller coaster that the realization that they were bound in some small way had seemed vastly unimportant. Now it gave him something that he would always have, something that predated the possible merging of their family with the Elites. It comforted him to know that he had something fundamentally separate from them. Was that selfish? “You look sad,” Levi murmured, his face falling. Marius cursed himself internally. He couldn’t keep doing this. His redemption and his lovers’ happiness hinged on Marius’s ability to accept that his perception of himself and his relationship may encompass more than he’d originally thought. “No, little one. I’m not sad. Just confused about my feelings.” Marius tried to answer as honestly as he knew how. His lovers had taught him how to communicate in the rough year that he’d known the two of them. “They belong to you, too, Marius. I know it. I feel it.” Levi gave him a smile so soft it just made Marius feel like a marshmallow. The little nephilim could twist him around his pinky like the most loyal of dogs, and Marius loved every second of it. “I believe you, little one.”Marius swerved as a fellow guest of the hotel nearly barreled over him. He’d become an expert at twisting his
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wings out of the way of humans who walked too close. Despite the fact that they were charmed to be invisible unless he called them into form, they were still there, and if someone bumped into them, the humans could definitely feel them. “Sorry!” the short, blonde, spiky-haired female called to him, heading toward the front desk. “Good dodge,” Erik complimented, nudging him. “I can’t wait to get home so you can let your hair down.” He had a singular fascination with Marius’s wings. Whenever they made love, he always either wanted to touch them or actually touched them. Marius didn’t see what the fuss was about. It was just bones and feathers. They reached the Elites where they stood just inside the entrance on either side of the door. They certainly looked striking in their uniforms, even wrinkled. Axis stepped toward him, and Marius stood his ground. A feeling speared Marius’s gut, and he wasn’t entirely sure it was a bad feeling either. Whoa. Where had that come from? “We already had the valet bring the car around front. The rest of the Elites thought we’d follow you overhead just in case,” Axis said. His eyes were a brilliant shade of green. Since it was Marius’s favorite color, he felt like that justified the attraction. “You’re starting to feel it,” Levi whispered to his right. Marius shot him a “huh?” look followed immediately with a small “shut it” expression. The last thing he wanted was to reveal even the minutest of weakness toward the Elites. Axis seemed to take it all in stride. “Is that all right?” “It’s fine. I’d feel better if I had extra eyes watching over us.” It had been the one thing he’d yearned for over the course of their flight from the hunters in the past year. Thank God they wouldn’t have to deal it anymore. Sanctuary was a safe place, but old habits died hard. He still felt like he was going to come under attack at any minute. The slow smile the Elite gave him let Marius know that the angel was pleased. “Sure thing, Marius. We’ll follow you to your house.”
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It was on the tip of his tongue to correct Axis with an “our house,” but the thought startled him so much that he just opened his mouth and gaped like a fish. “Marius?” Levi’s voice steadied him. If Axis noticed his discomfort, he didn’t acknowledge it. Instead, he gave them a soft smile and turned from them, barking out an order to the other Elites that they were leaving. “I’m feeling strange. It’s growing. It’s getting stronger.” Marius whispered the words. Levi looked up at him with those gorgeous blue eyes. “It’s meant to be, lover man. Trust it. Your color is starting to even out. You’re relaxing into it. That’s a good thing.” His “color” was starting to what? What did Levi mean by his “color”? “Marius?” Erik asked, concern lacing his voice. Marius shook his head. “I think all this talk about destiny and mates has me a little overanalytical. I keep looking for signs where there probably aren’t any. Let’s get in the car.” **** Marius relaxed on the ride home. The reason behind his relaxation was obvious. The Elites were flying overhead, watching over them, taking care of them. It was a nice change of pace. He’d mentioned to his friend Michel only weeks before how lucky he was to have multiple partners to help him watch over his nephilim lover. To say he’d been shorthanded in protecting his own lovers was an understatement. There had been times he’d been woken up in the middle of the night and had to gather their things and run. Running had become second nature during their time outside Sanctuary. Now that they lived somewhere safe, he wasn’t sure if he could do contentment.
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Erik drove the car while Marius took up the backseat, his wings unfurled as they turned onto the road that would lead them home. It was nice not to have to worry about them being bunched up like they were tied together. He wished he had a stronger charm to make them mold seamlessly into his back in a series of glyphs. It would make him more human for his lovers, more convenient. “Are you nervous?” Erik asked as they drove into the entrance of the subdivision that they lived in. “Why would I be nervous?” Erik rolled his eyes. “Because of the redemption thing.” Marius shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m more wigged out by how, if it happens, we’re going to be adding four new people to our relationship.” He really didn’t want to think about it, but it looked like he wasn’t getting a choice. “I never get over how pretty it is here,” Levi cut in, interrupting their repeated conversation of fears and changes. The houses had yards that were very angel friendly when it came to landings. It was one of the things that had appealed to Marius when he’d researched the area months ago when they’d decided to get married and try to settle down together. All the houses were sturdy brick and private enough for Marius’s tastes. They also had multiple exits. Everyone in this neighborhood understood what it was to be on the run from the hunters. The angels who tried to wipe them out as abominations were greatly feared and numerous. This town, with its cobbled streets, quaint downtown, and sprawling residential areas, was the only place of rest for most people like them. Fallen, angels, nephilim, and the humans who knew their secrets walked freely through it. It truly was a sanctuary. They pulled into their driveway at the end of the cul-de-sac just as the four Elites landed in the front yard of the two-story colonial that Marius had purchased and moved his lovers into just weeks beforehand. He wondered if Madigan and his lovers were still there in the guest rooms downstairs or if they’d moved into their own house
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closer to town already. To be honest, he’d been so distracted for the wedding preparation that he’d completely forgotten when they said that they would be moving out. “It’s good to be home,” Levi murmured, smiling softly to himself as he often did when he was thinking something beyond Marius’s understanding. His smallest lover seemed to see and feel things that were beyond the physicality of Earth so often that Marius wondered how exactly his powers were manifesting. Levi had come into them early, and they’d been expanding ever since. Marius knew he hid a lot of his talents from them, but he couldn’t bring it up without evoking some painful memories. Levi considered his powers his secrets, and Marius wouldn’t try to push. Erik put the car in park, and the Elites surrounded the car. Marius tensed for half a second before they started pulling bags out of the trunk as Erik hit the release button. Keer opened Erik’s door, and Brax opened Levi’s. He guessed that Marius was just supposed to fend for himself, which didn’t bother him. If he was really going to be redeemed and join the Elites, it only made sense that they would view him as an equal. He swallowed at the thought. Disbelief filled him. Was he really considering this? “Marius?” Levi asked, linking their hands, and pulled him from the car. “Are you all right? It’s okay to be scared, you know?” “Yeah. I know.” Marius’s body tightened as the front door of their house swung open. Who the hell was— Madigan stepped out into the sunshine, a black duffel bag in his hand. He smiled brightly and waved. Marius relaxed. Christ. “Welcome home, newlyweds!” Madigan’s cheerfulness struck a nerve. Marius was not in the mood for cheer. He felt brittle. Levi raced up the steps and flung himself into the other nephilim’s arms. “Thanks,” his little love chattered, “did you enjoy the wedding?”
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“It was great. Absolutely lovely.” Madigan’s eyes went to Marius before sliding to the Elites, who fanned out on either side of him. “So, how you doing?” That was a loaded question. Levi paused, and Marius could almost see the wheels in his head turning. “I think we’ll be all right.” “We’ll be here if you need us,” Madigan said, giving Levi a squeeze. Marius’s gaze went back to the bag clutched in Madigan’s hand. “Are you leaving?” he asked. Madigan half shrugged. “We’re starting to take the bags over to the new house. The contractor called this morning and said we could start moving in whenever. The work upstairs won’t be done for another three weeks, but the downstairs bedrooms are ready to go.” He smiled softly to himself. “Plus, if we move over, the boys think that they can get the upstairs finished in a week.” “You have to love how stubborn our celestial counterparts are,” Levi said, beaming. “Well, congratulations on getting into your own space. Will you call me when your bakery opens?” “Absolutely, but it’ll be a while. We want to get settled in, and I don’t want to rush getting things set up. Our families still need to meet and whatnot.” He hefted the bag higher up on his shoulder. “I’m just glad that the boys are relaxing a bit now that we’re in a city of sanctuary. I actually got out the door and no one yelled at me when you guys drove up.” “Madigan! Madigan, where’d you run off to?” Dex’s booming voice sounded from inside the house. Madigan winced, and Marius felt a grin stretch his lips. If Marius knew nothing else, he knew how guardians functioned, and there was no way any of Madigan’s would leave him alone for more than a minute. He was the same way with Levi and Erik. He glanced over and saw a smile on Axis’s face as well. The Elite winked.
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Madigan turned his head and yelled over his shoulder. “I’m out here with Levi!” Almost instantly Dex and Michel appeared in the doorway. Dex dropped an arm around Madigan’s shoulder and took his bag. “I’ll help you put this in the car, baby.” Madigan’s face reddened. “I can do it, you know.” “I know. But I want to help.” He steered him down the steps. “Welcome home, guys,” he said in greeting as he passed. Levi and Erik climbed the stairs and disappeared into the interior of the house. Marius went to follow only to have Michel put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “Can I talk to you?” the angel asked. Marius glanced back at the Elites, who waited patiently on the steps for him to lead on into the house. They are so beautiful, all different, like the hues of uncut gems. The thought scared him a bit. Those sorts of thoughts were creeping in with frightening regularity. I want them. He didn’t want to want them, but, God help him, he did. What if they grew to hate him? What if they convinced Levi and Erik that Marius was hopeless? He swallowed. “Sure,” he heard himself say. He motioned to Axis. “Help them put our stuff away?” “Of course, Marius. We’ll do whatever you require of us.” He wished for the millionth time that Axis and the rest of the Elites were smug, stuck-up bastards like most other angels that he met. He could’ve said no to this, could’ve hated them like he wanted to, if they were. Marius was fallen. He was a bad egg. Didn’t they know that? He felt so defeated by their kindness it wasn’t even funny. He and Michel circled back through the yard to the side of the house. Marius tried not to let his nerves get the best of him as he paced on the small walk that ran between the mulched flower bed and the lawn. Again Michel put a hand on his shoulder. “What did you need, Michel?” Before coming to sanctuary, Marius and Michel had never gotten along. A recent near-death
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experience had left them a bit closer, and now Marius almost considered the guy a friend. Blue eyes regarded him, seeming to look a lot deeper into his mind than he thought possible. “You are all nerves and tension, man. You look like you’re strung out on drugs or something.” “Fucking fabulous,” he snapped. “I’ve had a really stressful two days, bro. No wonder I look like shit!” “I know they’re Elites and I know they’re here to be guardians to your boys, but you seem like there is more going on than that. I was worried about you. You looked like you were stepping to the gallows when you got out of the car.” Was he a fucking mind reader now? “I…” He paused and shook his head. He sighed. “Everything is so fucked up. They say they’re our mates. Our mates. Not just Levi and Erik’s, but mine as well. I’m attracted to them and resent them, and I don’t know what I’m thinking most of the time. They offered me redemption, Michel. A chance back to heaven. I just have to be an Elite and guard Levi and Erik as well, and I am so fucking scared that this is all some kind of joke and that it’s some shady plot to get my boys away from me.” He hadn’t realized how much he’d needed to say that aloud until that moment. A sob lodged itself in his throat. It was a weakness he wouldn’t let his nephilim lovers see, but it had been roiling in his gut like poison. Michel looked at him for a long minute before he spoke. “It’s not bad being in the sort of relationship that Madigan and the rest of us share. It’s unconventional, and I’ll tell you it’s not easy making sure everyone is happy, but it’s so worth it. If everything is legitimate and it will grant you redemption, I encourage you to take the chance.” “You know, you’ve been a really good friend lately.” He paused, “I don’t think I’ve ever had a friend before. It’s nice.” Michel smiled. “I’ve been in a similar situation, so I understand not knowing how to feel about it. Madigan is going to leave our telephone numbers on the fridge. If it starts to stress you out and you need someone to talk to, I’ll be there.”
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“Thanks. Do you, I mean, does it get easier? The relationship thing?” “Yeah, it does,” the angel said. “I’ve never loved anything like I love my men. Just remember, we had to get bound really quickly as well, so rushed isn’t always a bad thing. The Elites are supposed to be good men. You seem to trust them already anyway.” He did trust them, oddly enough. He trusted them enough to watch his most precious gifts, his lovers. Erik and Levi were everything to him, and he trusted them with the Elites. “When are you getting redeemed?” Michel asked as Marius chewed on that bit of realization. “Now. I mean, it was supposed to happen when we got back here.” Michel nodded. “Then it’s probably a good thing that we’re clearing out of here, hmm?” He extended his hand, and Marius reached out to shake it. “You’re a good man, Marius. May you find happiness and redemption with your partners.” “May you find happiness with yours.” Marius felt like something clicked then. Life had just gotten much more complicated than it was before, but it felt like it was going to be okay. He said his good-byes to Michel and circled round the house to the back porch that led to the back door. They hadn’t even had a chance to try out the new patio furniture. They’d anticipated having guests over at some point, so they’d bought two long outdoor sofas as well as a long table and some chairs. He eyed the table. If the Elites stayed, they’d need a bigger table and at least one extra chair. The back door had no key but instead had a keypad that engaged the four bolts inside the door. Security had been Marius’s number one priority when getting specs on the house, and luckily, due to the number of nephilim, fallen, and their human loved ones in the area, security was everyone’s main priority. There wasn’t a safer town in the whole state.
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He keyed in his passcode and entered the mudroom that was attached to the laundry room. The house still felt foreign to him in a lot of ways, like it wasn’t real. They hadn’t made any memories there yet. I’m stalling. He was nervous about what was to come. “Marius!” Brax’s voice made him jump. He looked up and saw the whole lot of angels and his two nephilim, led by a very smuglooking Levi, in the kitchen gathered around the island. He toed off his shoes and exited the laundry room, tucking his wings as he passed through the smaller door. Most of the doors were equipped to accommodate angels’ wings, but that one seemed smaller. He scraped his left one against the frame and winced. Ouch. Brax had finally put away the device he was always staring at and had one arm draped over Levi’s shoulder as he approached. Marius raised an eyebrow at the casual way he was holding onto Levi but didn’t say anything. Those two had really seemed to hit it off. He met Axis’s green eyes. “Sorry about that. Is Levi giving you all the grand tour?” “Yes,” Axis said, his voice as calm and measured as it ever was. The angelic commander didn’t seem to ruffle about anything. “We’ve decided that either the main bedroom or the downstairs den would be sufficient for the ritual. Which do you prefer?” No beating around the bush with this guy. “The den will be fine. I don’t want to mess up the bedroom if it’s messy.” Is it messy? Holy shit. Axis chuckled. “It shouldn’t be messy at all, but the den it is.” The angelic commander stepped forward and put a hand on Marius’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. It wasn’t sexual, but Marius felt it all the way down to his toes. Erik’s nostrils flared behind them, and a look of pure lust crossed over his face. I’m so very, very lost. “It’s a little different from everyone, but it should be painless. The change is intimate though, so much more intimate than binding oneself to an archangel. I just wanted to prepare you.”
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Marius shuddered at the words. They sounded husky to his ears. Was he hearing things? He felt weird. “Hmm, I’m glad you’re starting to feel it,” Keer murmured just audibly enough for Marius to hear. He wasn’t sure what Keer meant exactly, but he could guess. This mating thing was a little weird. “You’ll understand after,” Axis said. He let go of Marius’s shoulder and took a step back. “Boys, set up in the den.” “Come on, little one, you can help,” Brax whispered loud enough for the whole room to hear. “I’ll come help, too. Is that okay, Marius?” Erik asked. Do you need me? his eyes seem to ask. Marius waved him on. “I’m good. Go.” “Does anyone have hand sanitizer? My bottle is empty,” Keer said as they left the kitchen through the side door in the direction of the den. “You’re so weird with that shit. You are aware you’re an angel, one who can’t get sick, right?” someone, probably Brax, asked. A snort followed. “I like to be clean.” Laughter sounded, and then they must’ve passed into the living room because their muffled voices were all that he could hear after that. He looked at Axis, unsure of what he was expected to do. The angel was strong-looking, not as tall as Keer, but there was something about his demeanor that made Marius aware of the fact that Axis was very capable of taking care of himself. He let his eyes wander down the prime frame in front of him. He took in the lean hips, wide shoulders, black hair, and vibrant emerald eyes. He was quite the picture. “Marius?” He blinked. “Did you say something?” The angel gave him a knowing smile. “I said, I want you to be comfortable for the ritual, so I needed to let you know what that entailed. Is that all right?” Marius nodded. Prepared was good. He should really be embarrassed about staring at him, but he just couldn’t
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seem to help himself. “Good. You’ll need to remove your clothing and uncloak your wings. You’ll have to be completely open to my power.” “Your power?” Marius asked. That sounded, well, intimate. “Yes. I’m going to force it into you. My animal is going to work through your soul. We’ll do it together. When we’re finished, there will be a piece of me inside you always. Then you should be able to shift just like I do.” “Shifting, huh, that’s…interesting.” His mind couldn’t even fathom that sort of ability. He laughed at himself then. He could imagine beings that could take souls, shift time, summon swords of light with their minds, but he couldn’t think of a being who could turn into something else. The thought of Axis inside him was oddly stimulating. He swallowed as his mind fell into the gutter. “So afterward, I’ll know that this is right? After this, I’ll know for sure?” Axis nodded slowly, his eyes warming exponentially. “Yes. After the rite, you should know irrefutably that we are yours and you are ours.” “Good. That’s good,” Marius murmured. His eyes had somehow become fixated on Axis’s lips. What would he taste like? He always had to be so gentle with Levi and even Erik at times. He wouldn’t have to be gentle with a male like Axis. The air changed, suddenly charged with a feeling it had been missing before. “Marius.” The word was a whispered groan. Marius stepped forward so that their chests almost touched. Their eyes locked, and that tension racketed up exponentially. Axis leaned forward but refused to cross that last inch of space between them. “If you wish it.” Do I want— The question went unanswered as Marius leaned forward and met Axis’s lips. The kiss sizzled, and an awareness zinged up his spine in the exact fashion it had the first time Erik had growled at him on the balcony in the hotel in Tennessee months ago and taken his lips in a kiss. Axis put his hands on his hips and drew him so that their bodies were meshed head to toe. The hard press of
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Axis’s uniform-clad cock dug into the skin between Marius’s groin and belly button. He groaned. That felt fantastic. Their tongues slid against one another, the plunges a frank mimicry of sex. Marius wove his hands through Axis’s short locks and gripped tight. Taking control of the kiss felt right. The island was right there. He could…Axis bit his bottom lip hard enough to make Marius growl. Someone didn’t like being sexually bossed around. It was kind of hot. Mine. The internal snarl startled Marius enough to break the kiss. His eyes popped open and found himself staring into eyes so emerald green, so much the color he favored, that he was lost in those crystalline gem-like depths. He tried to jerk away so that he could clear his head, but Axis wasn’t letting him go. “Easy,” the Elite commander said. Marius didn’t fight him on it. It seemed too much effort to move away at any rate. They breathed together, leaning against one another until their panting breaths evened out to something more normal. Their erections didn’t fade, but time seemed to momentarily lose its meaning. “Was I too hasty by offering you what you wanted?” Axis asked as Marius finally managed to take a step back. Marius shook his head. “No. That was…enjoyable.” More than I expected it to be. His eyes went up Axis’s frame. He wants me. It showed in every hard line of Axis’s body. Maybe they were legitimate. Maybe this isn’t just about Levi and Erik. Axis’s face lit up with a slow, warm smile. “You’re beginning to understand.” That smile stayed in place. “Shall we go to the den now, Marius? Are you ready?” Marius nodded, putting aside his fear and embracing the situation he was in. This was a new beginning, and it was about time that he stepped up to the plate.
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Chapter Five Erik felt something, an energy in the air, a tension that shouldn’t have been so heavy with only a few blue and white candles lit. It wasn’t a bad feeling per se, but it felt weighty, real. “You’re sensitive to the energies here,” Jade said, lighting another dark blue candle and setting it on the floor along the line of the nearly perfect circle of candles they’d made in the carpet. Erik shrugged. “I am a little sensitive to angelic stuff. I always have been. So has Levi for that matter.” He looked at Jade, really looked at him. He was a handsome angel. He would give him that. A sudden image ghosted up in his mind, Levi riding Erik’s cock while Jade pounded into Erik’s ass from behind while yet another angel, Keer, took his mouth. He shuddered, unsure whether it was the future or a fantasy. Jade’s nostrils twitched, and their eyes met. Levi’s soft giggle had him breaking the eye contact. Erik glanced over to see Brax cuddled with Levi on one of the couches they’d had to push away from the center of the room. They were apparently engrossed in whatever game that Brax had on his iPad. Levi looked so relaxed perched in Brax’s lap, leaning against him. He never relaxed that much around angels. “You guys are ours.” It wasn’t a question. Erik could see the future as it stretched out before him. Things in it were constantly changing, but the consistent thread seemed to be that they would become angel bound to the Elites. Ever since they’d shown up at the wedding, it had been in the future.
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Jade was silent for a minute, searching Erik’s face for God knew what. “You believe that completely now. You see more than what the eyes do, like your Levi does.” “Levi doesn’t see anything,” Erik said, frowning. “He’s sensitive, but then so is Marius when it comes to who wants to kill us.” Jade shook his head. “He sees in truth in people, which is why he knows what everyone is feeling. He sees Brax’s awkwardness, his loneliness, his belief that he will not be the type of man his mates would desire. It is something they share, so they have already bonded over it. That bond will extend to the rest of us soon enough. But Brax has a vulnerability that Levi desires to nurture and heal. He is nostri medicus, our healer.” “And what does that make me?” Erik asked. Jade winked. “You’ll be a warrior like us someday, hellcat. You’ve got the temperament.” Erik laughed. “Hellcat?” “It is appropriate. It is the only creature that demons cannot tame in their underworld. It is fiercely independent and loyal to its family but no one else. It suits you.” The smile Jade gave him went down to his toes, and the compliment seemed to lodge itself in the base of his spine, spreading steadily downward. He wanted to touch this beautiful man. Not until Marius knows for sure. Not until then. It was difficult being torn between what he knew instinctually and what felt like he had to do. Marius didn’t “see” like he did. Though he trusted Erik’s instincts, he found it difficult to believe anything that he didn’t find out for himself. Trust had always been their fallen lover’s biggest issue. “Would you stop with the techno-chatter, I.T.? You’re giving me a headache,” Keer snapped as he deposited the last armful of cushions onto the couch beside Levi and Brax. “Want me to build a program to calculate the probability of me kicking your ass for snapping at me?” Brax asked, not missing a beat.
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“A warrior nerd. That’s kind of hot,” Erik said before he thought better of it. Jade laughed, and Keer shot him a disapproving scowl. “It’s time.” Axis’s voice cut through their fun, returning the atmosphere of seriousness as he and Marius stepped through the door. Erik took a step back from Jade and looked at his fallen lover. He looked…relaxed. Erik frowned as he took in his appearance. Levi clapped from the couch and gave a little squeal that made Erik jump. “Oh! You like him!” Okay, what the hell did that mean? Marius blushed. Blushed? Erik blinked. What exactly had happened when Axis was “preparing” Marius for what was to come? His eyes zeroed in on his lips. They looked a little swollen. Realization dawned. “You kissed him!” he accused, laughing in sheer relief. This wasn’t going to be as difficult as he’d originally imagined. Marius’s blush deepened. “Did you like it?” Levi asked, hopping down from the couch and streaking across the floor to fling himself into Marius’s arms. Marius grinned. “Yes, little one. I liked it.” He spun Levi in a circle, and as Erik took in the sight of them, he also saw how it was affecting the other Elites in the room. They were all smiling. This was good. Right. They stopped spinning, and Levi was placed back on his feet. “Let’s get redeemed, shall we?” “I can’t wait for you to be our guardian for real, Marius,” Levi said, hugging Marius’s waist. “It’s going to be so great.” “It is,” Marius agreed. He raised his head and met Axis’s eyes. Something seemed to pass between them that Erik couldn’t quite understand. “So how do we do this?” Erik asked. Jade patted his shoulder. “You don’t do anything, hellcat. You sit on the couch with Levi and watch until we’re finished. Afterward”— his voice took on a husky timbre—“afterward you might join us.”
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Erik shivered, nodding his head in agreement as his libido took that to a sexual level that nearly had him rubbing against the angel in want. He beckoned Levi away from Marius and plopped down on the couch. “The energy in the room may be a little overwhelming at times, boys,” Axis said, his voice filled with heat as well. Erik’s body tightened, and his dick filled. “You may have to sate one another if you stay.” The Elite commander looked at Marius. “If you have issue about us seeing that, I understand and will ask the nephilim to leave.” Marius swallowed visibly. “If what you say is true and we are meant to be with one another, I will have to get used to more than your eyes touching them.” “An answer, Marius, yes or no.” “They can stay.” The fallen paused. “I want them to stay.” Erik drew Levi to his chest, holding him close. Why did he just feel like he’d agreed and committed to something a little wilder than watching someone chant and light some incense? As the Elites began stripping off their clothing, he lost the ability to breathe. Yeah. It looked like this was going to get a lot crazier. Erik licked his lips and tried to remember why that was a bad thing. **** Marius watched as the Elites stripped off their clothing, revealing bodies that were prime examples of male flesh. They weren’t being overtly sexual, but there was an element, a feeling that Marius had in his gut, that said they felt the tension as well. Most angelic rituals had an element of nudity to them, so that wasn’t the reason Marius was all but panting about their nakedness. It was because it was them that Marius wanted to rut like a bull in springtime. As it had been with Levi and Erik, a part of him was screaming that they were his and he needed to touch them.
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“Wait.” The word was out of his mouth before he thought better of it. The Elites turned to him in unison. Marius’s heart constricted as they looked at him like he was going to slap them. They have really been tiptoeing around me, haven’t they? He was going to have to make up for that. “What is it, Marius?” Axis asked, brow furrowed. “I don’t need a ritual to tell me.” He looked at his nephilim lovers. “They’re ours, aren’t they?” Levi grinned. “Yep. Erik saw it, I feel it, you feel it. Ours.” Marius nodded. “I don’t want to agree to this because I’m getting redemption out of it. If we’re going to be together, I want it to be because we want to be together.” “It would alleviate your fears if you did this, Marius,” Jade said softly. “We understand your need for reassurance.” “My gut tells me the same thing it did about Levi and Erik. You’re right, I don’t trust angels. But I trust you all, and my instincts haven’t steered me wrong yet.” “Then grant us the intimacy of your redemption,” Axis rumbled, pleasure painted across his face. “Let today be the day we start over together.” “Is that all right with you?” The question was directed at his nephilim. They nodded, smiling brightly. Erik looked relieved, and Levi looked pleased as punch. Pleasure blossomed in Marius’s chest. Yeah. I think I finally did something right. He stripped off his own clothing and tossed it outside the candled circle. The other Elites were a bit neater with their uniforms, but soon all of them joined him inside the flickering light. “Gents, wings out,” Axis commanded. Immediately the Elites dropped their charms, and wings of the most unique hues Marius had ever seen came into view. Axis’s wings were black edged in a vibrant, almost neon green, Jade’s were bright yellow with streaks of orange throughout, Brax’s were dark navy blue with ice-blue tips, and Keer’s were probably the most unusual. They resembled peacock feathers.
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Marius uncloaked his own wings and the vibrant white and pale green seemed to fit with the others nicely. “Whoa! It’s like a rainbow of awesome!” Levi said from the couch, laughing. “Very beautiful, guys,” Erik echoed Levi’s sentiment in an amused tone. He was the one with the wing fetish. Marius grinned. The others wouldn’t know what to do with Erik. The nephilim loved to touch and caress angel wings. He just adored the reactions that Marius gave when they were stroked. “This is the most unusual redemption I’ve ever been to,” Marius muttered as three of the Elites took up a triangular position inside the circle and extended their wings so that they touched and formed a wall of feathers between Marius, Axis, and the rest of the room. He looked into Axis’s pretty green eyes and watched them fill with heat. “Relax, Marius, this won’t take hardly any time at all.” “I’m not worried.” He wasn’t. He was relaxed and curious but not anxious, not anymore. The conversation he’d had with Michel what seemed like weeks ago ghosted up through his mind. He’d wanted security, and he’d wanted his nephilim to be better protected. Maybe he’d also been a little jealous of the love and obvious adoration that was shared between Michel and his five other lovers. “Hmm, that’s good.” Axis stepped forward until their chests touched. The naked skin on his own made Marius’s body jerk in appreciation. “No fair!” a slightly breathless voice exclaimed from outside the triangle of feathers. “We want to see.” “Levi!” Erik’s voice hissed. “Stop interrupting them!” Marius and Axis shared a chuckle. Their nephilim were too damn cute. “Their” nephilim? Huh, well, I guess that’s right. “This part will only take a minute, boys, patience,” Axis said. The twittering immediately fell silent. The other Elites started silently laughing as well, betrayed by the slight shaking in their shoulders and
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wings. Axis rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “I think this is the least formal redemption I’ve ever been to.” “Were unconventional,” Marius said, leaning his forehead against the Elite commander’s. “Do me, Axis.” A low growl sounded. “You are temptation, Marius.” Their lips met for the second time in less than an hour, and this time, Marius didn’t let himself get tripped up over the whys and the what-ifs. It felt good to kiss Axis, better than good. It felt fantastic. Their tongues touched, and an energy in the form of a soft blue light began to pour into Marius’s mouth, startling him. He tried to pull back, but Axis was having none of it, his hands like vise grips on Marius’s waist. “Just let go, sweet Marius. You don’t have to fight anymore. I have you. We have you,” Axis’s voice echoed in his mind. Marius’s heart pounded as the kiss stretched on and he began to see and feel the connection forming first between him and Axis and then between him and the rest of the Elites. He could really “see” them for the first time. He saw Brax’s awkwardness over his nerdiness, Keer’s vanity as a mask for his insecurity about his exotic looks, Jade’s fear of being alone, and Axis’s bone-deep need to nurture which had been denied all these months that they’d been a part of Marius, Erik, and Levi’s lives and yet separate from it. In that moment they saw him as well. The part of him that was fallen, tainted, began to burn. He whimpered in fear. He wasn’t good enough, wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t— “Shhh, Marius, let it go. You’re an Elite now. No longer fallen. You belong with us and we with you. Nothing can take that away.” He clung to Axis’s voice, needing it to be an anchor point in the storm of his heart. “Look at our nephilim.” The command was easy to follow as Keer and Brax each lifted back one of their wings and let him look on Erik and Levi, who were tearing one another’s clothes off on the couch.
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They were lost in their instincts. It was beautiful. Marius broke the kiss he was sharing with Axis and just looked at them. He could watch over them always now. “Yes,” Axis said. He’d never fear falling in battle because the others would watch over them always. “Yes.” Peace unlike anything he’d ever felt before wound its way into his soul. Yes. He was home. The last bit of his fallen self burned away, leaving only angelic energy in its place. The storm had passed. He was free. The angels surrounded him, touching him, soothing away the hurt from the past few months. “Is it over?” he asked, his voice hoarse for some reason. “Not quite yet,” Jade murmured, licking a path up the inside of his arm to the bend of his elbow. Axis did the same to the other side while Keer and Brax kissed the back of his neck. He felt a sharp pinch on both of his arms and looked down to see both Axis and Jade withdrawing small ornate knives from his flesh. His blood ran in two tiny rivers from the cuts. “Your blood,” Axis said, the words seemingly part of the ritual. “My blood.” He nicked his wrist with the blade and pressed it to the wound he’d created. Fire radiated from the place where their blood mingled, causing Marius to gasp. “Your blood,” Jade echoed, “my blood.” He did the same to the other arm, and Marius squirmed. It wasn’t painful per se, but it sure as hell wasn’t pleasant. His idiot cock thought it was though, stirring hard and hot against his thigh. “Your pleasure,” Keer spoke, winding his arm around Marius’s waist to take up the now burgeoning erection he had there. Marius’s hips bucked, suddenly on the edge of orgasm. “Our pleasure.” As the last word sounded, the edge fell off and he careened headlong into pleasure that nearly had his balls turning inside out. The sticky liquid splashed against Jade’s torso as he stood in front of him. The other male groaned before wiping his hand through the sticky mess that Keer milked out of him and used the spunk as lube to jack his own
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hard length. Marius shuddered, his eyes crossing. Distantly he realized that Keer had also come. The liquid heat had splashed against the swell of his ass and was currently making a path down its curve. “Your pleasure,” Brax’s voice rumbled, his hand snaking around to take Marius’s cock from Keer’s grip. His flagging erection swelled instantly. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I can’t come again. Fuck. Shit! The Elite pressed a kiss to Marius’s neck before whispering the words that Marius was anticipating in his ear. “Our pleasure.” Marius groaned as cum shot out of his tip, decorating Axis’s lower stomach and cock with its offerings. Like Jade had done the moment before, he used Marius’s liquid as lubrication to masturbate his weeping dick. The only sound in the room was their soft panting. Something was building inside of him. He could feel it from his toes through his entire body as if he were a teapot about to boil over. Every nerve ending tingled, and every inch of skin that the Elites touched seemed hypersensitive. He cried out, his body unwilling or unable to deal with the insanity that was going on inside his flesh. The impossibility of an unflagging erection was a reality as he was posed on the razor’s edge of pleasure for the third time in a row. “Forever,” Jade groaned, shooting his heat onto Marius’s groin. Marius whimpered. “Forever,” Axis rumbled, jerking his pleasure over Jade’s. Marius lost it, his whole body seizing as the third orgasm in so few minutes ripped him from his earthly body and spun him off into the stars. He might’ve screamed, he wasn’t sure, but all he knew was that the Elites were there throughout it, anchoring him to this plane of existence so that he didn’t drift off into eternity. Awareness flickered in his chest as he looked into the pleasured faces of the Elites. Mine. All mine. Axis had been right. He knew that they were his. His mates. A foreign element had taken up residence in the most instinctual part of his soul. He examined it for a second and got the eerie impression that it was looking back at him. It nodded to
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the connection between them, showing him irrevocably the bond between each and every one of his mates. “That is your animal,” Axis whispered. Why he was whispering, Marius didn’t know. But it seemed appropriate. “We’ll teach you how to call him out of you later. Until then, get to know him. He’s yours forever.” Erik and Levi stepped into the circle and dropped to their knees in front of Marius. Their eyes seemed too shiny, too dilated, still overwhelmed by instincts that they didn’t understand. Levi leaned into his body, lapping up the sticky pleasure that decorated his skin and groaning at the taste. Erik did the same, and all the Elites groaned. It was a hell of a sight, the two nephilim contributing to the ritual in their own way. Once he was cleaned to their satisfaction, they sat back on their heels, smiling up at him. Marius reached out and petted both their heads, loving them more than he ever had before. It seemed by accepting the taste of the others, they were accepting the relationship between them. It pleased Marius to no end. “I need a shower,” Marius rumbled, helping both of his nephilim lovers to their feet. The others looked at him expectantly. “Join us?” “It is our pleasure,” Axis said. “I want to come together with you all,” Marius added as Axis waved his hands at the others who busied themselves by blowing out the candles. “I need it.” I need to solidify whatever this is between us. Axis’s green eyes darkened. “We would like that.” Those eyes went to the nephilim. “Are you two all right with that?” “Yes,” Levi all but panted. “Please.” “What he said,” Erik said, absentmindedly rubbing his own hard arousal against his thigh. The nephilim had only come once as far as Marius could tell and once was never quite enough for them, especially with all this stimulation. Marius was pleased with their agreement. Good. All his mates needed to be together. Marius especially needed them all together.
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Axis nodded. “Go start the water. We’ll be there in just a minute.”
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Chapter Six Levi felt like he was on a cloud as they climbed the stairs to go to their massive bathroom that Marius had thoughtfully had installed. His once-fallen lover seemed like he was finally on the same page as the rest of them, and the feral light in his eyes told him irrevocably that there was going to be some much-needed physical release just as soon as they stepped into the spray. Levi’s body had no problem with that, it was still weeping from earlier. Erik and he had taken the edge off with their frantic coupling, but Levi had learned a long time ago that a nephilim’s appetite for sex often boggled the minds and libidos of lesser men. “Good God, little one. What happened to your back?” Brax asked as the Elites caught up with them on the stairs. Levi flinched, and Erik stepped between him and the Elite who’d spoken. “Don’t talk about his back. It bothers him.” “Who the hell did that to him?” Keer snarled, trying to step around Erik on the stairs. Levi felt tears flood his eyes. No. No. Don’t look at them. Don’t, please, ugly. They’re so ugly. Marius’s arms wrapped around him, cradling him to his chest as Levi began to shake. He’d grown so used to being around Marius and Erik that he hardly thought of the scars anymore. Insecurity swamped him. Will they think I’m ugly? “Shh, baby, they don’t think anything bad about you. They think you’re beautiful. They are just outraged at whoever hurt you,” Marius said, calming some of his fears. Levi hated the scars with a passion and hated the one who’d given them to him even more.
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“Who, Marius?” Brax asked. He’d never heard Brax sound like that. He was always so gentle whenever he was showing Levi a game. He glanced at their auras, sick green and dark black anger. He whimpered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin the mood.” “You didn’t, little one,” Brax said, gentling his voice. “I just want to know who I have to kill.” Levi pulled from Marius’s grip, sidestepped Erik, and threw himself into Brax’s arms. The Elite looked stunned. “No! No! Promise me that you won’t ever, ever, ever try!” Levi screeched, the tears flowing freely now. “I don’t want to lose any of you. I just found you!” “Shh, little one, I was half joking. Shhh, easy there.” Brax looked helpless as he held on to Levi’s shaking body. “What is going on?” Axis asked from the bottom of the stairs. “Azrael,” Marius said grimly. “He found our Levi before I did. He hurt him.” “I’m sorry, Levi,” Brax said, rocking the smaller man gently. “I really am.” Levi realized that he was hurting his lovers with his behavior. Grow up, Levi. They’re all strong warriors. You need to stop falling to pieces every time someone says his name. He shook off Brax’s hold, though he made sure to kiss the Elite’s cheek before he pulled back. “I’m fine. I just, it bothers me, the scars. Please, just don’t mention them again.” He paused, the words he hadn’t meant to say forcing themselves from his throat. “Don’t ever go after Azrael. He’s evil in the worst ways.” “Azrael is a power-loving moron who has gotten too big for his breeches lately,” Keer sneered, his hands in tight white-knuckled fists. “If we—” “This is a sanctuary, Keer. You will not even contemplate starting trouble here. I do not want you to fall over something as insignificant as Azrael,” Axis interrupted, leveling a glare at the other Elite. “And you are hurting our Levi with your careless words. One day he will be
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able to spit in that asshole’s face, but until then, we will avoid the subject out of respect for our lover.” Levi perked at the word. “Lover?” “Soon,” Axis promised as Marius nodded his head in approval. “Just as soon as we stop arguing on the stairs and start that shower.” Levi’s heart pounded. Yeah. He could get behind that idea. **** Erik adjusted the temperature for each of the showerheads until the whole room was a steamy paradise. The ferns they’d placed in the corners of the room added to a relaxed atmosphere. Marius had really designed the space for comfort. The lavender oil burners tucked away in cubbyholes around the sink testified to that as well. Levi sat on the space between the sinks and watched as the men stood waiting on what was to come. The original plan was for the shower to be huge so that Marius could stretch his wings out while they bathed. Levi giggled. Now the shower felt too small. It was funny how “big enough” suddenly became too small given a different perspective. Brax sidled up to him and leaned against the sink beside him. “You okay, little one?” Levi tilted his head to the side, watching the Elite. He was contrite. The deep green in his aura said as much. “I’m fine, Brax. I’m not as fragile as Marius and Erik like to believe. It was traumatic, and yes, sometimes I freak out about it, but I survived. I just don’t want to think about it anymore.” He touched the back of his neck where the scars began. “It’s just so ugly that I get self-conscious when people mention it.” “It’s not ugly,” Brax said immediately. Levi had heard that before from Marius and Erik as well. He just didn’t believe it. Instead of arguing though, he just went quiet. There was no point really in arguing. Everyone just got upset, and he felt bad.
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“It’s going to be a tight fit,” Erik announced as he stepped into the steam-filled shower space. “I don’t think it’ll be a problem. We’re going to get really close anyway.” Jade’s husky rumble from the middle of the throng made Levi’s libido perk up. “Is this really going to happen?” Levi whispered. Brax leaned over and pressed a kiss to the curve of his throat. “Yes, little one. This is really going to happen. We’re going to become angel bound. Is that okay? I mean, we sort of assumed yes, but…” “I want it,” Levi said, turning his head so that their lips met in a chaste kiss. “Marius and Erik would be happier.” “What about you? Would you be happier?” Levi thought about it for a long minute, turning over the possibilities in his mind as they stepped one by one into the shower. “I think so. I can’t be one hundred percent sure or anything, but it seems like I would be with you guys, you know?” Brax nodded and offered Levi a hand down as it became their turn to squeeze into the shower. Levi smiled and took the proffered hand. Maybe their happily ever after involved more than just the three of them. He could dig that. “Like a high school locker room,” Keer said, wrinkling his nose at the lack of space as Levi wormed his way into the middle of the pack. He laughed. There were three showerheads, but it was still crowded. “We’re going to have to remodel if communal shower time becomes an everyday thing.” Levi reached out and traced the yummy six-pack Keer had as the Elite complained. The slight touch made Keer jump, and Levi smiled up at him under lowered lashes. “You sure do complain a lot, Keer.” The man swallowed. “I am, uh, just.” Levi’s hands traced lower. “I just like things to be orderly.”
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Levi smiled and used a featherlight touch to trace the hard swell of Keer’s arousal. “I like mess,” the nephilim murmured, continuing those soft caresses. “Messes have their places,” Keer agreed, his violet eyes darkening to an even more fantastic shade of amethyst. Levi’s hand gave him a firm stroke. “Mess me up, angel?” The low, needy groan that sounded sent a bolt of need through Levi. Oh, God, yes. Between Erik and Marius, the need had been kept in check. The overwhelming desire had been taken care of but never quite sated. He’d never been bone-deep exhausted before from lovemaking, and now, finally, he felt that maybe he would be. “Whatever you want, little one,” Keer rumbled. Brax’s hands settled on Levi’s hips from behind. “Both of us?” the angel asked. Levi moaned, his eyes shutting as his mind short-circuited at the suggestion. “W–Where’s Erik and Marius?” He needed to know they were with him in this. Brax chuckled and pointed over to the first spray where Axis was holding onto the showerhead for dear life as Marius sucked furiously on his cock. The former fallen jerked his own dick in unison to the firm bobs of his head. Erik was wrestling along the long tile wall opposite them with Jade, fighting like he’d always secretly wanted to do, though not so secret to Levi, with Marius. He’d always found submitting to another lover more satisfying if there was a test of wills at first. Thus why the sex after he and Marius had a big fight was always so killer. Their formerly fallen lover had treated them both like precious glass. It was good to see someone who would give Erik that edge that he craved though. It was gorgeous to watch. Brax used his distraction to slip two fingers between his cheeks to circle the puckered entrance that was begging to be filled. Levi’s head kicked back as one long digit stretched him. He whimpered, his need growing in leaps and bounds with each passing second. Had he ever needed like this?
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Keer went to his knees in front of him and swallowed the entire length of his prick. Levi gasped. His hands immediately went to that beautiful head of hair, petting, praising with unidentifiable word babble. It felt good. So damn good. Another finger stretched his backside, demanding his smaller body accommodate the thick digits. The burn was something that Levi always loved. “More, more, more,” he chanted the word over and over like a prayer. He squirmed, trying to get a deeper penetration to hit his prostate. Brax’s hand came down with a playful crack on his left ass cheek. “Settle down, boy.” The unexpected hardness to the tone had him looking over his shoulder. Brax winked. “Settle down and you’ll get my cock. Let me get you ready. I don’t want to hurt you.” Levi shivered. Oh, yes. He loved being spanked, held down, owned. It was his fetish, and it was something that made him fly. He wasn’t ashamed of the need anymore either. Marius and Erik had taught him that it was okay to ask for what he needed. “Do it again,” he panted. “Do what, little one?” He turned his head to look Brax in the eyes. “Spank me. Please.” The surprise that flickered across the angel’s expression made him worry that he wasn’t going to get what he wanted. He whimpered. “Please.” Keer gave the head of his cock a final lick. “You like a little pain with your pleasure?” He nipped the inside of his thigh hard enough to sting. “Yes!” he cried out, his hands tangling in the angel’s hair. “Hmmm,” Keer all but purred against his thigh. “Kinky baby.” He did it again, and Levi’s eyes crossed. Brax pressed a kiss to his neck, biting in time with Keer’s nips on his thighs. His cock slid along the valley of Levi’s ass, teasing. “Need some lube.”
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Levi groaned in frustration. He wanted it now. “Water is enough. ’Sides, I like the burn.” He needed to be filled or else he was going to go crazy. Keer went back to sucking his cock at the same time Brax pushed his thick head into Levi’s hole. He screamed in sheer bliss at the stretch. “God, you didn’t say he was a screamer, Marius. That’s so fucking hot,” Jade panted from somewhere across the shower. The sound of smacking flesh and Erik’s needy cries said that he hadn’t finished yet. Marius chuckled, his voice hoarse. “Yeah, my baby is a screamer.” “You okay?” Brax asked in a strangled voice. It was probably difficult for him to stay still. Levi was about to scream again if the man didn’t start moving. “Fuck me already!” he snapped, pulling forward before shoving back to impale himself on Brax’s dick. The angel’s control seemed to break at the action, and then he was pounding inside Levi’s ass like he owned it. “Impatient, pushy bottom!” Brax growled, his hand smacking Levi’s cheek with every hard lunge. “Sorry, sorry, yes!” Levi had no idea up from down. At that point all that mattered was that the mouth on his cock and the one in his ass didn’t stop until he came again. “Fill me up. Please, fill me up. Brax!” Keer hummed around his arousal, and Levi let out another scream. He was speared by pleasure. So much pleasure. “Want you after, Keer. Want you to fill me up, too. Make me yours? Please?” Brax sucked his neck hard enough to leave a hickey behind. Levi’s eyes crossed. “All of us are going to make you ours, Levi. Promise.” The picture of them all taking turns fucking him was too much. Levi keened his pleasure, letting it sweep him away as his dick jerked and poured his cum into Keer’s suckling mouth. A few thrusts later Brax stilled and heat flooded into his still-throbbing passage. Brax
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turned Levi’s head to press a kiss to his mouth. He was in heaven, sheer heaven, because he knew it wasn’t over. “Want,” Levi whispered. His voice was going to be gone after this, he just knew it. Keer surged to his feet, leaving Levi’s still hard cock swinging in the air, and Brax pulled out with a groan. The sticky proof of his orgasm began to leak out from his hole and decorate his thighs. “So messy,” Keer purred. It didn’t sound like a bad thing. His finger played with Levi’s pucker. “Gonna make you dirty before this shower is done.” He picked Levi up and took him to the nearest showerhead. Erik was already pressed to the wall with the adjacent downpour soaking him and Marius, who were fucking vigorously in the spray. Levi wanted that position. Had Jade finished? “Shh, baby, gonna make you feel good again,” Keer said, bringing his attention back to Keer’s body. He settled Levi’s legs on either side of his hips and tilted his groin so that his hole was exposed and ready. Levi’s insides clenched. It was like they could read his mind, give him exactly what he wanted, craved. Keer pushed inside without resistance, Levi already stretched from the strong fucking he’d been given just a moment ago. He paused once he was inside, and Levi undulated his hips, trying to get him to move. Keer’s hand popped his thigh. “Patience.” He so wasn’t good at patience. He squirmed. It was then he saw Jade stepping behind Keer. What is he— Realization dawned. Oh, God, that’s hot. Jade’s hands brushed his calves as they spread Keer’s buttocks. “Hmm, fuck him,” Levi murmured. “I am, lovely boy,” Jade said. He’d never thought red was that pretty of a color until he saw Jade’s eyes. “Then I’m going to fuck you.” The words were perfect. I’m going to be so sore after this... It was going to be good, though. They were all going to show how much they wanted him until he couldn’t move. It made him feel so
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beautiful, so owned. They’d keep him safe. The thoughts probably didn’t make sense to a lot of other people, but Levi was more primal in his understanding of relationships than most. Then Keer’s thrusts took on the desperate edge of a man about to blow, and Levi lost the thread of his thoughts completely. He held on for dear life and let his angel side sing. **** They washed one another slowly in the aftermath of their sexual romp. Erik’s legs were trembling as he raised his face to the spray, which by some miracle had not run out of hot water in the very lengthy time they’d been in the bath. Jade ran the soaped-up sponge down his back reverently as he finished washing his face. Every man in the room had been buried inside Levi, who Marius had already taken off to bed because the man couldn’t stand afterward, and then they’d teased and tormented him until he’d cried out in the circle of their arms. Emotionally he’d been so overwhelmed that he just couldn’t seem to form a complete thought about anything right this second. All he could do was feel. “Thank you,” Jade whispered as he finished with Erik’s back. “Turn around, hellcat. Let me get your front.” Front. Right. Erik turned, nearly stumbled. “Easy, Erik. You probably should’ve gone to bed with Levi. We were a bit too vigorous with you guys.” “Y’all were perfect,” Erik said, closing his eyes and swaying. He’d never felt so sated. Every ounce of tension was drained from his body. Worries seemed superfluous at best. Jade smiled and started washing his front. “Hmmm, I like the mint julep in your voice.” “Sorry, comes out sometimes.” “Don’t apologize. It’s beautiful. Where exactly do you hail from?” “Cleveland, Tennessee.” He’d grown up there, been happy there until his twenty-eighth birthday when everything had fallen to hell.
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“Worked at the Coca-Cola plant with my brothers. Well, half brothers, I guess. My mama remarried after she had me. The accent sticks.” “Does your family still live there?” “Aw, hell, don’t make me think about that. I stay away from ’em. Safer that way.” After the hunters had come after him at his work and nearly killed his youngest brother, he’d gotten the hell out of dodge and never looked back. It had taken him nearly two years before he’d run across someone who could tell him what the fuck was going on. After that he’d known he couldn’t go back. In his mind, if he stayed away, so would the hunters. They’d proved him right for the most part. Jade’s soothing hands never faltered on his skin. “You guys have a lot you don’t talk about. Marius doesn’t talk about falling, you don’t talk about your family, Levi doesn’t talk about his scars. It seems like you’re doing a lot of hiding and not a lot of healing.” “Haven’t had time to heal.” It was truth. They’d spent their entire time running away from the big bad ugly hunters, and they hadn’t had a lot of time to lick their wounds. “We’ve done our best.” “And we will do our best to help,” Jade said in a firm tone. “Okay.” Thinking was bad. He just didn’t want to, because then he’d have to think about what it meant to be in a relationship with an entire band of angels. Axis finished washing off in the shower next to him just as the water started to get chilly. “I think our hellcat needs to be put into bed with our little one and our new Elite.” “Yours?” Erik asked. “Yeah, sounds a lil different, but yeah. Y’all’s.” Axis smiled, chuckling. “‘Y’all’s’ it is.”
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Chapter Seven Jade couldn’t quite believe they’d finally come together with their mates. The months they’d been on the outside looking in had been torture. He sat at the island in the kitchen as the coffee chortled happily in its pot. It was only seven a.m. and everyone else was still in bed. The three new members to their family plus Axis were in the master bedroom and Keer and Brax were in the guest room. Jade hadn’t slept well on the sofa where he’d finally managed to doze off, but he’d missed the warmth of his lovers. The Elites had refrained from sleeping together before, feeling that the pleasure to be had between them would be more appropriate once the rest of their mates joined them, but they’d gotten used to snuggling down in one big dog pile. They hadn’t known about one another being mates until they’d been assigned to Axis’s unit to watch over the two nephilim and their fallen. Having come from various other archangels, they were a unique collection of abilities and strengths that worked in harmony to protect one another. They had waited patiently for their other mates to join them and it had been more than worth it. The room that Marius had built would accommodate a larger bed. They’d just have to order it. He hoped that today when they discussed the particulars of their new arrangement that they could agree to let Jade take care of that. Axis would no doubt have a list of things that needed to be done, but Jade really hoped to take the responsibility of picking out something for them that they could use after their angel bonding. He tensed as the back door opened, the beep of the alarm system letting him know that it had been unlocked. This was a sanctuary
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town, but it wasn’t without its own dangers, and he really wouldn’t put it past Azrael to launch a completely deniable sneak attack on someone. That bastard really needed to go down. He prayed that a lucky nephilim would one day get the honor of taking the man out. Why the Creator didn’t interfere was anyone’s guess, but there was a legend in Elite lore that spoke of a time when injustice from the heavens necessitated a joining of Elites, guardians, fallen, nephilim, and humans in order to restore peace between the races. It would be interesting to see if it happened the way the legend said it would. Footsteps echoed in the mudroom, and Jade drew a flaming dagger into existence in his fist. Whoever picked seven in the morning as a prime time for trouble or a visit deserved the scare he was about to deliver. He wished he had the ability to communicate with the commander and tell him what was going on, but he figured if it was something he couldn’t handle he’d just yell. Though he doubted it was anything more serious than some wannabe thieves. This was a nice home after all. He came around the corner just as the nephilim who’d greeted them when they’d first come home yesterday toed off his shoes. The nephilim yelped as he caught sight of Jade and backpedaled into what had to be one of his guardians, who was shirtless and sporting a bonding tattoo on his bicep. The guardian snarled, his black eyes flashing fire. “What are you doing here?” Jade asked, leaning against the doorframe and playing with the knife in his hand in lazy, sure movements. “I’d thought you and your guardians had cleared out by now.” “Hey, asshole, we were here first, and it’s none of your goddamn business why we’re here,” the dark-haired angel snapped. “And you sure as hell better stop threatening Madigan with that toothpick you are swirling around like a baton. I will fuck your life up.”
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“Bren!” the nephilim said, putting a hand on the angel’s arm. “Don’t threaten him.” “Why the fuck not? He’s threatening us.” Bren glared at Jade, who continued to twirl his knife. “Answer my question. What are you doing here?” “We were getting the last few bags that wouldn’t fit in the SUV. We’d ordered a bunch of stuff online and had it delivered here. It’s been piling up in the room we used,” Madigan said, stepping closer to Jade and holding out his hand. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Madigan Parker.” The little redhead resembled his father so much that Jade was momentarily taken aback. It was a younger smaller version of the archangel. Even his aura felt the same. Jade wasn’t an expert on auras but every angel could feel them and it was obvious just looking at Madigan that his and his father’s auras were the same. Like our Levi, he’s a healer. Jade stopped spinning his blade and willed it out of existence. “Jade, second-in-command of Axis’s Elite team.” He took the nephilim’s hand and gave it a firm shake. Untapped power zinged up his arm, making it go instantly numb. He snatched his hand back and shook it. Madigan frowned. “What?” Jade looked at Bren. “You need to start training that boy before he shakes hands with a human and fries their brains.” “Don’t tell me how to treat my lover. We begin training this week, so back the hell off.” Bren put a hand on Madigan’s shoulder and drew him back toward him. “Did he zap you?” The Elite smiled and nodded. “Little bit. Let me help you with your stuff.” Madigan looked surprised. “Um, okay?” Bren looked torn for a split second before nodding his assent. “Cool.” ****
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Marius knew the world had changed when he opened his eyes to the early dawn light. He was on his back, wings spread out, Erik tucked tight to his side. One of Axis’s green-tipped black wings was draped over his hips, his head resting gently on a pillow from his place on his stomach. He couldn’t even see Levi, who was hidden beneath a mound of covers and Axis’s other wing. Energy thrummed right under his skin, warming him exponentially. He stretched luxuriously. The only thing that would make this day better would be if the rest of the Elites were cuddled into bed beside them. They needed a bigger bed. “Hmmm, good morning,” Erik murmured, nuzzling his white wings. The action sent shivers up his spine. Wings were intimate things. “Morning, love.” He kissed Erik’s lips and rubbed their noses together. “How you feelin’?” “I’m great. Peaceful yet energetic. How are you?” He asked the question pointedly. Erik had been at the center of the male attention even after he had taken Levi off to bed in an exhausted heap. He’d never known the depths of Levi’s hunger until last night, and now he was even more grateful for the existence of their new lovers. Mine. The sentiment felt natural this morning. That strange new internal entity all but nuzzled his insides in agreement. “Sore. Hungry. Good, though. We’re on the right path now.” Erik offered him a sheepish grin. Was his nephilim blushing? He looked so carefree, more carefree than he could ever remember seeing him. “What time is it?” Levi’s sleep-roughened voice was muffled when it sounded. He was absolutely terrible without his morning coffee. The surly note in his words attested to the fact that this morning would be no different than any other. Erik rolled his eyes before turning on his side so Marius could pull his wing free.
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“Morning. Pretty early. I’ll get coffee,” Erik said, sitting up. He immediately groaned and laid back down, clutching his no doubt sore thighs. “Never mind. You go get coffee, Mar.” Marius laughed. “Done.” He paused. “Is Axis still asleep?” “Yep,” Levi answered. He giggled. “We wore him out last night. I don’t think the guy had any loving in a while.” “None of them had,” Marius said. “They’ll learn how to keep up. I’ll get the coffee. You two cuddle in for a bit. You guys want breakfast while I’m down there? Nothing complicated.” “Toast,” Levi demanded. The word was barely understandable. He really was useless without his coffee. “Two sugars.” Erik wrinkled his nose before worming his way back under the covers and sidling up to Axis’s other side where Marius had been. “Coffee. Black. No food. Maybe later.” Axis just snored lightly. Life had definitely just gotten interesting. **** Marius managed to put on a pair of boxers before tackling the stairs. About halfway down he spotted Madigan’s red head as it came out of the downstairs room where he and the rest of his guardians had been staying up until yesterday. Jade was with them, shirtless, carrying a big package that said USPS on it. Marius growled. Why was one of his mates shirtless with other men in the house? Jade laughed in the same quiet manner with which he seemed to do everything. He got a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth and laughed without his teeth showing. Bren came out of the room behind them, carrying yet another box, and he gave Jade a slight friendly shoulder bump as they crossed into the foyer. “Use the front door next time, you two,” Jade said, unlocking and opening the door for them. “Sneaking into the back like a couple of thieves is a guaranteed way to get Axis’s panties in a twist.”
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Madigan laughed. “Fine, fine, we’ll make a mental note. We just didn’t want to wake anyone. Will you tell Levi to give me a call whenever he gets up? We need to plan our photography session. It was our wedding present.” “Absolutely. I’m sure he’ll give you a call whenever he gets awake.” “Madigan!” Marius called out. The redheaded son of Raphael turned around and smiled. “Marius! Hiya!” He waved and motioned to the two angels beside him. “Hope you don’t mind. I put my guardian and your Elite to work.” Marius finished descending the stairs. “I don’t mind. I mind that mine is shirtless, though. What’s up with you stripping my lover, Madigan? You need more man-candy to look at?” It came out more snarky than joking as he’d intended. He crossed the few feet to join them on the foyer. Madigan blinked. “Lover?” He turned toward Jade, whose face had gone completely blank. “You’re his… Huh.” The nephilim swallowed. “Where’s Levi?” “Madigan, we need to go,” Bren said, his face as blank as Jade’s. Madigan ignored him. “Where is Levi? Where is he?” “In bed, asleep with our lovers,” Marius said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Why do you want to see Levi so badly?” A trickle of jealousy went through his chest. Logically he knew it was irrational, but the urge to snarl at Madigan was strong. He smells like sex and other angels. Why does he want my boys? The thought was so far out of left field that it startled him into taking a hasty step back. Madigan was his friend. He had no reason to think like that. Madigan was loyal to his guardians. He didn’t want his men. Marius rubbed his temple with four fingers, massaging the headache that was forming there. He’d never been threatened by Madigan or any of the other guardians before. In fact, he’d been a little envious.
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Jade spoke up, his voice soft and soothing. “It’s the possessive instincts, Marius. They’re even stronger than your angelic ones. Elites feel deeply in all ways. Go to the kitchen while I put this box in Madigan’s car, and then we’ll get the boys some breakfast, hmm?” “Screw you both for trying to get me out of the way. Where is Levi?” Madigan demanded, stepping around Marius and heading toward the stairs. Marius growled and moved at the same time Bren dropped his box and threw himself in between them. Bren fell into a fighting stance, and his wings exploded from his back, ripping the black T-shirt he had on. Lucifer’s angel, Bren, drew his angelic sword at the same time, filling the room with the heat of angel fire. Marius glared and did the same. “Stay away from my mates.” “Marius, what the fuck is wrong with you, man?” Bren asked. “I mean, really, what the hell? We’re supposed to be your friends!” Jade’s arms wrapped around Marius’s waist and hauled him backward. “You are friends. Mar, think. Think, sweet formerly-fallen, think. Madigan is just worried about Levi. No one wants to harm us and no one wants to take us from you. I promise.” “Mine.” “Yes. Yours. You claimed us last night, remember? We’ve all gone into this thing together. We’re supposed to be angel bonding today.” Jade pressed a kiss to Marius’s neck. “Sorry about this. It’s just so new and the bond hasn’t really settled into his skin yet. Once the sigils are in place, he’ll feel a lot better. Let me get him back upstairs, and I’ll bring Levi down, hmm?” “Bren, they’ve done something to them!” Madigan sounded almost hysterical. He wasn’t really visible from behind Bren’s black wings, but the sheer fear in his voice was easily discernible. “They’re Elites, Madigan. They wouldn’t do anything to them that they didn’t want done.” “I just need to see Levi. Make sure he’s okay.”
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“We’ll go get him, Madigan. Again, I apologize for this. I’ll help you get the boxes in just a minute.” The grip on Marius tightened, and Marius felt the urge to struggle against him, despite the fact that he wanted to go. It didn’t make sense. “Easy, Marius. I’ve got you.” Marius let him drag him backward, away from his friends and back toward the stairs. “Jade?” he asked, needing him to ground him. Jade managed to get him all the way up the stairs before the need to touch had Marius turning on him. He turned and wrapped his arms around Jade’s neck and hugged him. “I need.” “Then you’ll be given what you need.” They stayed locked right there, holding on to one another. Marius was afraid for the first time in a long time, not of hunters or any other outside force but of himself. What have I become? “Easy, Marius. Once the bonding ceremony takes place, you’ll feel better. Also, once you shift into your other form for the first time, you’ll feel better as well.” “Promise?” He sounded small and scared to his ears. Normally he would’ve hated himself for it, but after last night and with the feelings that were swirling through his head right now, he just wanted his mates, his lovers, with him. “I promise, Marius. When we first saw you guys and knew that you were ours, we had similar reactions. It took Axis a while to wrangle us into being civilized, especially when there were threats on your life.” Jade looked almost amused at the memory. “This is different for you, but it’s not bad.” Marius took a deep breath. “I just feel like my skin doesn’t quite fit right yet.” “It’ll ease.” He sure as hell hoped so. He’d thought he’d gotten past the instinctual need to hover over his lovers and growl like an animal. “Let’s go get Levi, hmm?” Marius winced as he recalled his original purpose for going downstairs to begin with. “I should’ve brought him coffee. He loves his coffee first thing, and he’s a grouch if he doesn’t have it.” Come
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to think of it, Erik wasn’t exactly sunshine and roses either first thing in the morning. Jade wrinkled his extraordinarily handsome nose. Marius rolled his eyes. Handsome nose? Really? “You guys have to stop drinking that sludge. It’s terrible for you.” “I agree, but I’m not arguing with Levi about his coffee. The last time I tried, my ears were left bleeding. So I’ll pass.” Jade grunted and drew back from the embrace. “You steady enough to go on now, Mar?” Marius nodded. He needed to hurry and get Levi up so that Madigan and his guardian would get gone. He liked them, but he just didn’t trust himself to handle another situation like the one downstairs again. “Jade?” “Huh?” “Next time you answer the door or company comes over, put on a shirt.” A low chuckle sounded. “Sure, Marius. I can do that.”
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Chapter Eight Axis ended up carrying Levi downstairs into the kitchen after they all managed to wrestle the smaller man into some long pants and a tank top. Coffee was put in his hands the second he was deposited into the dining room chair so maybe, just maybe, Madigan wouldn’t have to die for getting him out of bed so early. Levi glared at his friend over the top of his steamy cup. No promises, though. “I’m sorry I dragged you out of bed, Levi. I really am.” Madigan apologized for the fiftieth time since Levi had sat down. He was sitting on the chair beside him looking contrite and more than a little nervous. “Marius is sure acting weird though and being all caveman about all of you and the Elites being lovers. What’s up with that?” Levi took a sip of his coffee, brain not functioning as he tried to keep up with Madigan’s babble. “Huh?” Monosyllabic was his middle name, apparently. “Are you okay?” “Coffee.” Oh, look, two syllables. Madigan looked more than a little confused. “Huh?” “I need coffee.” Look at me go. Another sip, gulp. He wrinkled his nose. He liked the chicory coffee better. Who had brewed him the regular Folgers stuff? That was Marius and Erik’s sludge. He wanted his own. “Oh.” Madigan paused awkwardly. “You are a coffee fiend, huh?” Levi nodded. Now he was getting it. “Okay, I’ll let you finish your cup then.” Thank God. He is a good friend. I don’t have to kill him. Levi turned his head as the front door shut loudly. The boys must’ve
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finished loading Madigan’s car with the rest of their stuff. There hadn’t been many boxes to begin with, but they’d been unwieldy things. He was glad the Elites were there to give Bren a hand. He smiled as he thought about them. His new lovers. His new mates? Was that the word? Madigan looked at him like he was a puzzle that the other nephilim just couldn’t figure out. “You look relaxed, happy. So is this true? You and the Elites?” “Erik had a vision, and I see what they are to us. They’re ours. Like your guardians are yours.” It was the only way Levi knew to explain it. Madigan nodded. “I get it. It’s not about the number or anything. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. It just seems really sudden, and I didn’t want to think that you’d been forced into something like that. Michel mentioned that Marius might get redeemed, but I didn’t know it would happen so fast. He also didn’t give me the particulars of if you guys were going to angel bond. So I was worried.” He paused. “Have I mentioned that I’m sorry for being a psycho with them?” “Don’t worry about it.” Levi smiled. “It’s nice to have a friend.” Really nice, actually. He remembered in high school he’d had a couple friends, but none like Madigan. His mind strained to recall their names or even their faces. Azrael had stolen all of them from him. Every memory that wasn’t painful had been swept under a haze of pain thick enough that on Levi’s best days he could only recall wispy impressions. Madigan reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “Hey, don’t look so glum about it. I was going to have Marius or Jade have you give me a call, but since I’m here I’ll ask now. When do you want to do the photography session?” “We’re still doing that?” Levi asked.
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“Of course we are. It’s a wedding present, goofball.” Madigan’s grin widened. “We’re not going to cancel just because the wedding party got bigger. I’m assuming you want them in the pictures?” “Oh, yes, please!” He was almost vibrating with excitement at the thought. “And Miss Kitty, too! She’s going to be in the pictures.” His cat was the only pet he’d had in his entire life, and he wasn’t going to let her miss out on the pictures either. He loved pictures. Like perfect memories preserved forever. It was one of the reasons he kept scrapbooks. When they ran from the hunters the only two things he ever cared about grabbing was his photo book and his cat. Madigan laughed at his enthusiasm. “Done and done. Where is Miss Kitty? I haven’t seen the little furball since we came in. She typically greets people at the door.” Levi shrugged. “She took a liking to Keer from what Erik tells me. The Elite was seen cuddled with her after our shower last night.” “Probably doesn’t know what to do with all the male attention around. So I was thinking the photography session next Friday. What do you think?” Levi nodded. “Heck, yes. We don’t have any plans that day that I know of.” They continued to chat idly for a few minutes as they shared their coffee and Levi asked a million questions about what it was like to be in a permanent relationship with six other guys. Two more he was used to, but the dynamic changed when four more were thrown in. “Hey, bright eyes! You ready to go?” Bren’s voice yelled from somewhere in the direction of the foyer. “Yeah! Be there in a second!” Madigan pushed himself back from the table, and Levi attempted to do the same. “I’ll walk you out,” Levi said in his usual cheerful manner. Things just looked bright today. He went to stand only to have his legs shake so badly he had to sit back down. He wasn’t hurting per se. His muscles were just so damn weak. “Um, well…”
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Madigan laughed, brown eyes sparkling. “I’ve been there, man. Trust me. After they’ve all had me, I can’t move. No wonder, what was his name? Axis?” At Levi’s nod he continued. “No wonder Axis had to carry you in. Why don’t we plan on a barbecue next week and get our boys together? I’ll cook.” Now that was something Levi was helpless to resist. Madigan may have been just a baker, but he was also a hell of a chef. They’d been spoiled when he’d lived here because between Erik, Marius, and himself their food was mediocre at best. Levi burnt water, so that wasn’t happening at all in his case. “Sure. Let me make sure it’s okay with Marius, and we’ll make plans. He was supposed to be starting a new job as an enforcer at the sanctuary prison downtown, but now that he’s an Elite I don’t know if he’s doing that anymore.” “Sweet. Just let me know.” Madigan waved from the entryway. “See you later, Levi.” Levi waved him on and eyed the coffee pot across the room. Hmmm, that wouldn’t do. “Marius! I want another cup of coffee!” **** “I wanna tattoo, too!” Levi whined as they set up the living room to accommodate the tattooing equipment, which consisted of a chair and small table with bottles of ink, wells, and the little whirring machines that were bound to give Levi a headache. “Consorts do not get tattoos,” Axis repeated for the fiftieth time. “We’re giving you handcrafted jewelry made from magic alloy. Isn’t that enough?” “I want your names on me,” Levi said, begging him to understand. He liked being claimed by them. He didn’t want to just be able to slip that claim off his skin and put it in a box. He wanted it on him always. “Six names. That’s all I want.” Axis’s jaw flexed. “Six names down your chest like a banner is not a small thing, Levi. I don’t want to hurt you.”
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“But everyone is getting two names with the sigils on their arms. I don’t think I’m asking for too much to get six names on my chest. It adds up to less than what you guys have on you combined.” Erik finally cut in as Levi had known he would. He hated being made to feel like he wasn’t included in equal measure down the line. “I agree with Levi. I want a tattoo, too. We’ll wear the bands, but we want the tattoos as well.” “For the love of the Creator, you two! Why are you being so stubborn?” Axis asked in exasperation. “Because they’re our mates and they want to stand with us and not behind us,” Marius said. He’d been the first one in the chair, shirtless with his wings out, waiting for the tattooing to commence. “Let them get our marks on them. This isn’t a bind between guardians and their consorts. This is between Elites and their consorts. We can buck convention a bit, can’t we?” Axis’s frown just deepened. “Spoiled. You’ve spoiled our mates rotten.” Marius grinned unapologetically, the expression boyish in comparison to the other faces Mar had made before meeting the Elites. It’d been three days since Madigan’s visit, and Levi had been itching to have this done in time for their portrait session on Friday. “We’re going to have to work on this being spoiled issue.” Axis sighed. Hmph. We’ll see about that. Levi knew how to twist Erik and Marius around his finger. He looked at Brax, who was looking more than a little torn by the exchange. It looked like Brax wasn’t too far behind in falling into the give-Levi-what-he-wants club. He did a mental happy dance. It was good to be loved. Wait, do they love me? The thought made him frown. They were his mates, so they had to care about him, but did they really like him or were they just tolerating him because he was destined to be theirs or whatever? Did it even matter? Too much thinking. It makes my head hurt. It doesn’t matter. He’d wait on the I love yous from them. That would be
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something special, and it wouldn’t happen overnight even if the marriage did. Two weddings in one week. I’m a lucky guy. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Axis. Let the little ones have their tattoos. I like the idea of having our names in their skin.” Keer was unexpected help in the argument, but Levi would take it. He so deserved a reward for being awesome. Erik’s nostrils flared. Uh-oh. Levi knew what that Latino temper was about to do. “Hey, bud, I didn’t ask you to take up for me, and for your 411, I am not little. I don’t need tall, dark, and purple-eyed to come to my rescue. I can handle Axis.” Levi smothered a giggle. Oh, boy. Keer looked like he’d been slapped through his handsome face. “Handle me?” Axis asked dryly, his lips twitching. “I’m twice as big as you and outweigh you by a good forty pounds. That’s not even including the fact that by angelic power standards you’re an infant and I’m a grown man.” Erik pointed his finger in Axis’s face. “Honey”—that honorific was only reserved for when Marius had done something that meant Erik was about to flip his shit—“I hate to inform you, but I will kick your butt up one wall and down the other. Feel me?” He dissolved in a Spanish litany detailing all the ways he was going to put Axis in his place. Levi did giggle then. Oh, boy. They’d really got him going. As wound up as Erik was, it’d be midnight before they actually got to the ceremony. With a groan of surrender, Axis crossed the distance between them and claimed Erik’s still-talking mouth in a kiss. He struggled at first but eventually relaxed underneath the sensual assault that the Elite commander had just leveled at him. “Now why didn’t I think of that?” Marius asked, grinning. Axis broke the kiss and gasped as Erik bit his bottom lip. “Fine. I give. You two can get our names on you.” Levi clapped his hands together happily, and Erik got this satisfied cat-that-ate-the-canary
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look on his face. “We’ll do the regular bonding ceremony first and then a part at the end for your tattoos. Okay?” “Fine by me,” Levi said in a chipper tone. “Me, too,” Erik echoed. “Great. Now may we please get this show on the road? It takes forever to organize you guys.” The complaint was delivered with a smile. Levi had thought that his first wedding would be the happiest moment of his life, but he realized that this was probably going to be the best one ever. He’d finally found his peace, his protection, his men, and even though they’d met at different intervals, his family now felt complete. **** Keer had never in a million years thought he was going to mark his skin with anything other than cologne. He’d been surprised how right it had felt to be able to ink the names of his two new beloveds in his skin. He touched the tattoo beneath the white gauze pad as he waited for the last Elite, Axis, to get tattooed. He could already feel the bond running through him, soothing away the fear of rejection and loss with a magic older than time. His animal may have been satisfied by their physical union, but even it felt better once the magic settled onto his skin. It felt like coming home. Levi and Erik had already stripped off their shirts and had the stenciled names applied to the center of their chests. The marks were going to look beautiful, and a fierce possessiveness filled him at the thought. Mine. Ours. Yep. He could already see himself falling hard for the two. His eyes went over to Marius. The surliest member of the threesome had evened out temperament-wise since his redemption. He seemed much more content and lovable now than he had before. There was gratitude where there had been resentment before. Keer was happy that they could take some of his burden. Their fallen mate
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had done so well protecting the nephilim over the past year, and he deserved a much-needed break to enjoy life. Levi sidled up to him where he stood beside the doorway. “Keer?” “Yes, little one?” “Will you be the one who inks me? Erik wants Marius to do him, and since we have two of the gun-thingies, I thought you could do me.” Tears sprain to Keer’s eyes. “Y–You want me to? Me? Why?” He’d figured that he’d get Brax to do it since they’d been so chummy with the video games lately. They’d even hooked up the giant flatscreen to an Xbox, Wii, and old Super Nintendo and had taken to playing it after dinner. Out of all of them, Brax was the one who seemed to make fast friends with the little nephilim. “Yes.” The word was soft. “You know what I need.” Keer’s cock hardened at the thought. He did. He knew that when Levi said “no” and “too much” sometimes he meant that he was just getting to the place where he could fly into space. He understood Levi’s limits. “I won’t hurt you.” I won’t hurt you in any way that you don’t want me to, anyway. Sexually, Keer had always been a little rougher than the other Elites. Levi was the yin to his yang. Levi’s cornflower-blue eyes lifted to his. “I know.” Pleasure curled through his gut. “Thank you, little one.” “All finished,” Axis announced as the bandage was applied, and he was able to stand. “Grab another chair for Erik. Levi, sit here. Who do you want to do your tat?” Levi linked their hands. “Keer said that he would do mine. I’d like that.” His commander smiled. “Keer it is, then. Erik?” “Marius,” Erik said instantly. “I want him to put your names in my skin so that he knows that he approved it.”
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Marius smirked. “Baby, I know I approved it. I put a ring on your finger a couple days ago. Let someone else ink up your skin. So long as my name is on the list, I’m content.” “You’re sure?” “Absolutely.” Keer was happy that Marius was finally letting them act like the lovers they were. At first Keer had been terrified that Marius would never come around. Axis had told them over and over that it would take time. Keer was just thrilled it only took a couple days and redemption to make Marius relax. Erik only hesitated a bare moment. “Jade, will you…” “You don’t even have to ask, hellcat.” Jade’s rumble of pleasure was filled with pride. It was strange how the most outspoken of the bunch was the one who’d bonded quickest with their quiet second-incommand. Levi raced to the chair after it was wiped down and plopped down. Keer couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. He was so alive. So very alive in comparison to the rest of the world. Keer took up his place by the tattoo gun where the ink was as Axis set up the other machine for Jade’s use. He hoped that soon Axis would stop managing and start courting them. Despite the fact that he was openly encouraging the Elites to get to know and enjoy their new mates, he wasn’t really taking an active role in the process. Keer dipped his needle tip in the inkwell and pressed a kiss to Levi’s forehead. The nephilim smiled up at him so sweetly that Keer fell a little bit more in love. He hadn’t done enough in his life to deserve this moment of happiness. “It’s going to burn a bit,” Keer warned as the little needle started to move faster than his eye could see. He pulled the skin tight and applied the tip to the design. Axis’s name was at the top of the list as their commander and their ranks followed. He started in on the A. Levi’s eyes widened as if he didn’t expect it, and then his mouth formed a puckered O.
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“You okay?” Levi groaned and licked his lips. “Afterward I want you to fuck me, please.” Keer’s eyes flicked down Levi’s body and took in the cock straining against his denim. He resisted the urge to growl. “Like that, sweetheart? Is it good for you?” Levi panted. “Hurts good. Finish, please.” He loved the way Levi said please. It was his magic word that got him everything, and Keer knew it. The tattoo only took forty minutes, but to Keer it took forever as Levi panted and his hips swiveled as he tried to stay still under the pleasure/pain from the artwork. Sometime along the way Brax and Axis had gotten closer, and they, too, were as stimulated by Levi’s display as Keer was. As the last letter was completed and Keer used the solution to wipe down the tattoo of any additional ink, Levi let out a low moan of want. “Want. Please.” “Let me cover the tattoo, little one, and then you can have us.” He looked up at his fellow Elites. They wanted him badly. The naked want on his commander’s face was probably the sharpest though. He looked starved for attention, and Keer knew just how to give it to him. He hastily applied the gauze. “Commander, why don’t you go first? The little one needs someone to take control of his wants for a bit.” “Yes!” Levi gasped, shimmying out of his blue jeans. “Right here.” He was trembling, and Keer had to reach down and squeeze his dick through his pants to keep from coming just at the sight. Naked, Levi was spread against the chair, his chest decorated with their names in swirling angelic script of protection. Though it wasn’t visible under the gauze, the knowledge that it was there was hot as hell. Keer had the sneaking suspicion that this would not be the last tattoo Levi wanted. “Lube, Axis,” Brax said, handing their commander a small tube of the stuff. Axis hadn’t been the first to sate Levi before, and Keer knew he’d relish the experience.
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“Is this what you want?” Axis asked Levi, turning the smaller man’s chin so that he had to look at him. “Yes. Oh, yes. Axis. Be with us. Please?” It seemed that magic word worked with their commander as much as it worked with them. He groaned and popped the button off his pants in his haste to have them off. Keer sucked in a breath as his wonderfully thick cock was exposed to the warm air. Axis had the most gorgeous dick of anyone Keer had ever seen, and that was saying something considering that Keer had the privilege of having six other gorgeous male specimens as his mates. Axis’s arousal was made to be sucked. “Let me slick you,” Keer said, snatching the lube from Axis’s fingers. “Brax, get Levi ready.” “No problems there, Keer,” Brax said, dropping to his knees beside the chair and spreading Levi’s legs wide. “I want to taste your pretty ass, little one. Is that okay?” “Fuck! Yes!” Mr. Monosyllable was back. Levi had to be enjoying himself. Brax wasted no time in devouring the hidden bit of flesh and using his hands to stretch Levi’s hole. The sound of flesh smacking flesh drew Keer’s attention to the other chair. Erik must’ve enjoyed his tattoo as well because he was bent over it while Jade fucked him hard from behind and Marius shuttled in and out of the nephilim’s whimpering mouth. Keer slicked his hand and reached for his commander’s cock. Three firm strokes had Axis arching into the circle of Keer’s fist. “Always wanted to jerk you like this, commander,” Keer admitted as he played with Axis’s hard flesh. It was so damn arousing to hold the length of his superior’s dick in his hands. He wanted to taste him, but he’d save that pleasure for another day. Axis let out another low groan. “Yeah? You have fantastic hands, Keer. You, uh, gotta do this more often.”
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“Done.” Keer would agree to just about anything right now. All things considered, most of his reasoning capabilities had traveled the way of his blood, south. Levi let out a keening sound as Brax put three thick digits inside him. “He’s ready,” Brax said, pulling back. Keer gave Axis one last stroke before releasing him so that he could come between Levi’s pretty white thighs. Axis must’ve been in more need than Keer had originally thought because he was almost violent as he thrust his entire cock into Levi’s tight passage. The both of them groaned at the sensation, and then they were coming together with a desperateness that was all smacking flesh and gasps. The grip on Levi’s hips was hard as their commander moved his body in every way to bring the both of them the maximum pleasure. Keer took up a stance on one side of the chair while Brax took up a position on the other. They both started jacking their cocks furiously to match the speed of Axis’s lunges. Levi turned his head and watched them, wild eyed and wanting. “Good boy,” Keer rumbled, sweat trickling down his neck. “Our boy,” Axis echoed. Levi clawed at Axis’s back at the words, going crazy. The commander hissed at the deep red scratches, and Levi let out a little noise of distress. He was spinning out of control, and he needed something to keep his hands grounded. Maybe they should invest in a couple pairs of heavy cuffs so that Levi would feel more settled when they overwhelmed him. Keer grabbed one of his hands, and Brax did the same. “You need something to hold on to, you hold on to us,” Keer said, instinctively knowing what it was the nephilim sought. Levi squeezed his hand in gratitude before turning his attention back toward Axis, not that the attention was ever really off of him considering how he was being fucked, but he turned his eyes back to him anyway. Keer continued to work his cock, wanting to orgasm when his mates did. Over his shoulder Erik found his release, the scent of it filling the air.
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Jade and Marius groaned, lost to their own pleasures as Erik found his. He worked his hand faster, needing to come. “On three,” Axis said, his voice a gravel-filled demand. “One.” God, I’m gonna come so good. “Two.” Christ, hurry. Oh, man. Not gonna make it. “Three.” Keer cried out as spunk shot from the tip of his cock, and Levi screamed his pleasure to high heaven, convulsing against the seat as Axis filled him with cum. Keer had to steady himself by grabbing onto the seat, nearly stumbling from the sheer pleasure of it. Their combined orgasms decorated Levi’s stomach, and they all breathed a collective sigh of relief as they came floating back down to Earth. “Well, we’ll have to clean up again, but damn, was it worth it or what?” Brax said, grinning from ear to ear. “Are we ever going to make it to a bed?” Axis wondered, grabbing a paper towel that was on the table beside the chair and wiping off Levi’s stomach. “Not until we have a bed big enough to house all of us,” Jade said from somewhere over Keer’s shoulder. “It should be here this week.” Keer warmed at the possibility, tucking his spent cock back into his blue jeans. All of them in one bed? He couldn’t wait.
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Epilogue Levi was grinning ear to ear as they went over to the computers to choose which prints they were going to use for their photos. The men had put him in charge of getting the ones he’d liked, and Madigan was going to help him out. “They look so handsome in their suits, but, ooh, look at the causal one. Their printed tees and blue jeans look hot, too. Man, I can’t decide.” Levi was so excited he couldn’t sit still. He twirled in circles on the tall bar chair that was set up by the computer like he was a little kid with too much energy. Madigan sat in front of his own computer looking at pictures of Levi’s six lovers in various poses. “They’re all studly. You’re right. It’s super hard to decide.” “We could do one of each, couldn’t we? I mean, so long as we don’t get too many prints?” Levi really wanted a few different kinds of picture to put in his scrapbook. “I think so.” Madigan lowered his voice to a conspirator’s level. “Besides, Cross didn’t give me a limit, so I think it’s cool if we get whatever we want.” Levi giggled. Oh, yes. He did so love the way his friend thought. The work room that Marius had set up in the room adjacent to the study was going to be an awesome scrapbook room, and he was going to stuff as many memories as he could onto pages. “Stop that! You’re going to snag the shirt, fur ball!” Keer rumbled from behind them. Levi turned his head in time to see Keer bring Miss Kitty eye-level to glare at her. “Stop digging your claws into my A & E shirt, brat cat.”
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Levi shook his head. That man has a love-hate relationship with my animal. Seriously. He couldn’t even sleep with Miss Kitty anymore because she was always with Keer, but Keer was always complaining about her. It was pretty funny. “I think one, five, six, nine, and twelve are the prints I want,” Levi said, turning his attention back to the screen. He pressed the touchscreen to indicate his choices. “Nice. I like them.” Madigan touched his own screen to put in his choices before they both swiveled around to watch their men chatting idly by the exit, waiting on them. The Elites had just changed out of their uniforms to their casual wear and Madigan’s guardians had done the same. The group of them looked striking, like they were a model call rather than a family photography group. “We have some handsome gents, don’t we?” Madigan asked, smiling. Levi leaned back against the counter, eyeing them. “The handsomest gents in the universe.” He really believed that. There weren’t any men anywhere else that even held a candle to the sheer masculine beauty his men exuded. Heck, even Madigan’s men paled in comparison. He had yet to see them shift into their winged horse forms even though he’d been begging for days. Axis had promised a quick jaunt out to the park one day to show him soon since Marius needed to practice in his nonhuman body as well. They were supposed to be opening up a facility in town to show other nephilim how to use their powers as well. Madigan had been their first sign-up, after Levi and Erik, of course. The archangels were even going to give a grant to the Elites, which now included Marius, to help fund the office space and whatnot aside from their regular salaries. The future looked brighter than ever, and Levi couldn’t wait for whatever came up next. His relationship may not have started in the conventional manner, but his lovers weren’t conventional anyway. He touched the skin above his heart where he knew his lovers’ names
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were inked into his flesh. Come to think of it, I’m not very conventional either. He smiled his secret smile and eyed them all appreciatively. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
THE END JANADOWNS.BLOGSPOT.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jana Downs lives in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina with three cats, one dog, several dozen fish, and a very understanding partner-in-crime who hates to read but makes exceptions for her stories. You can usually find her either watching bad reality TV, buying way too many books on Amazon, or dreaming up another man or two to occupy her time because life is good but several drop-dead gorgeous nonexistent men is just better.
For all titles by Jana Downs, please visit www.bookstrand.com/jana-downs
Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com
