Angelic Union (8 page)

“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 bone-deep 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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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.