Downs, Jana - Angel Bound [His Guardian Angels 1] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever ManLove - Serialized) (15 page)

“Yeah, whatever. You’re sulking.” Madigan pulled back the  shower curtain and glared at Bren. The angel closed his eyes to block  out the image. He didn’t want Madigan pissed at him, but dammit, he  wasn’t used to hiding how he felt about anything. “Look at me. Now.”

Bren reluctantly pried his eyes open and gave Madigan his full  attention. The concern he saw swirling in the depths of his lover’s  irises made him swallow guiltily. He shouldn’t have made Madigan  worry over him. He had enough to worry about.
 
Damn my  impulsiveness
.

“You’re worried, Bren, and all of it revolves around Cross. Want

to tell me what is going on?”

“I really don’t want to go there.” Bren turned, breaking Madigan’s  gaze, and snatched up the bodywash. It smelled like tangerine or  something else citrusy. Hard fingers pinched his arm. “Ouch,” Bren  yelped. He rubbed the area with his hand and glared at Madigan.  “What was that for?”

“For being a stubborn ass.” Madigan’s hands were planted on his  hips like he was preparing to chew Bren’s head off.
 
Whatever
. “You  were fine twenty minutes ago. What has changed?”

Bren swallowed hard. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

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“Tough shit, Bren. If you want this to work between us, you’re  going to have to talk to me about things that make you a little  uncomfortable. That’s what being in a relationship is like. You have  to communicate.”

“I—” He hesitated. “I don’t—”

Madigan gave a frustrated sound and shoved his pants to his ankles before kicking them off and stepping into the already too-small shower stall, crowding Bren despite their size difference. “I don’t care if you don’t want to talk. Talk to me.”

“You like him more than the rest of us!” Bren blurted before he

could stop himself. He felt his cheeks heating and stared doggedly at  the white walls around him. Anywhere but at Madigan.

“So that’s what this is about,” Madigan said softly. His hands  touched Bren’s chest, which only made the angel want to get away  from him faster. Bren didn’t want Madigan to be so understanding  and perfect. It would hurt less if Bren could just stop thinking and  caring so much about the other male. He didn’t want to want Madigan  like this. “You think Cross is going to take me away from you all?”

Bren nodded curtly.

“Cross was the one who sent me up here to check on you. I  wanted to let you pout by yourself. I don’t really tolerate temper  tantrums very well.” Madigan paused, and a small smile lit up his  face. “Well, unless I’m throwing them.”

“I’m sorry.” Bren’s voice was barely audible. He hated  apologizing. Hated it passionately. But he felt like he should  apologize for being pissy...again.

Madigan hugged him around the waist, laying his head on Bren’s  pectoral muscle. The angel immediately ensconced his lover in a  tighter embrace. “Bren, the point I’m trying to make with this isn’t to  make you apologize. Cross sent me.
 
He
 
was worried about you.  Despite you guys’ animosity toward one another, he’s reaching out to  you through me. He really wants to make this thing between us mean  something and be fulfilling. I know there are a lot of ‘what-ifs’

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floating around. Trust me. I get that. Hell, I don’t even really know  you all, and Yuri I met, what? Twelve hours ago? My body reacts to  you guys. All of you. Equally. I don’t know if that’s going to develop  into something deeper, but I hope it does. I’m not the kind of person  to be sexually involved with someone and not have something more  to it, you know? It took a lot for me to agree to this bond to begin  with because of the length of time, and lack thereof, that I’ve known  you. I’m not asking you to become best friends with Cross or  anything, but can you at least try to get to know him a little more  before you decide that he’s Satan?” Madigan winced at the phrasing  as he seemed to realize what he said. Bren was one of Lucifer’s after

all. Bren smothered a laugh, but his shoulders shook at the wide-eyed  look of apology that Madigan gave him.

“I will try for you, bright eyes,” Bren promised. He kissed  Madigan’s temple. “I feel really high maintenance. I normally hate  that quality in men. I’m sorry.” That was the second time he’d  apologized today. It had to be a record for his lifetime. He was sure of  it.

Madigan pressed another kiss to his chest. “For the record, Bren, I really do like you and Cross equally. I don’t have favorites. He’s just…easier, you know? He makes me feel safe and comfortable all the time. You take me out of my comfort zone, and I love that, but you’re not what I’m used to. You push my limits.” When he whispered it against Bren’s chest, following it with a soft kiss ending in a lick, those words did not seem too bad. The smell of nephilim filled the now-steamy air. It made Bren feel a little light-headed. It smelled like plumeria or something equally exotic to him.

“Madigan,” Bren groaned as his body started to harden.

“Sorry, pubescent angel sex drive. Remember?” The boy rubbed against him deliberately.

“The hot water won’t last forever,” Bren reminded.

Madigan all but purred, “So keep me warm.”

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Bren growled, the noise low and feral. He should really insist that they get out and get Madigan into a warm bed before they started playing around, but damn it all, Madigan did not play fair in the least.  He wasn’t a good guy like Cross. He lifted Madigan’s legs and wrapped them around his waist before sliding into the hot core that welcomed him. No, he wasn’t a good guy. But Madigan preferred him that way.

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Chapter Sixteen

“I give myself to you, Yuri. With this ring I am bound,” Madigan  repeated dutifully as Yuri slid a platinum bracelet on his wrist next to  the ones Cross, Bren, and Dex had already given him. It was an  angelic version of a wedding band except each band of metal was  engraved with sigils of protection in a swirling angelic script that  Madigan couldn’t read. The whirring sound of a tattoo gun was the  only oddity to this private wedding. Instead of wearing jewelry like  Madigan, Michel was inking matching sigils along with Madigan’s  name in a band around each deliciously shirtless angel’s bicep. The  angel room was the crowded with these huge men whose wings were  in full form behind them. It was primal.
 
Friggin’ hot.

“I accept your pledge. You are my consort from this day forth.”  As Yuri finished speaking, Dex stood up from Michel’s makeshift  tattoo chair, the black ink gleaming with whatever aftercare sludge  that Michel had rubbed into his skin.

“Nice,” Dex complimented, lifting his arm to exam Michel’s  handiwork. “Very artistically done.”

Michel smiled and popped his gloved knuckles. “Thanks. Next  victim.” Yuri plopped down in the chair and offered his arm.

The room was then silent again with the exception of the hum of  the machine as it traced the angelic letters on Yuri’s skin, cementing  their relationship. Madigan fingered the bands, twirling them around  on his wrist. He wished his mom was here. He’d always imagined his  mom being there on his wedding day. She’d been planning it since he  was five after all. Though she probably hadn’t planned on having five

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other grooms to contend with when she’d started planning. Of course  it wasn’t really a wedding. There wasn’t cake.

After another minute, Michel snapped his gloves off and came to  stand in front of Madigan. Bren put on a pair of gloves and poured  another thimble-sized cup of black ink.

“Are the gloves necessary? I mean, can you guys even get  infection?” Madigan wondered.

“Nah, we can’t,” Michel answered. He extracted a band of metal

from his jean pocket. “The gloves are to keep the ink from staining  our skin. It’s hell trying to wash it off, and it stains.”

Madigan laughed at the fastidious angels. Whatever reason he’d  imagined for the gloves, that wasn’t it. Michel offered him the band,  and Madigan allowed him to slide it onto his wrist. He was going to  feel like he had a pocketful of change on his wrist whenever he  walked, but it couldn’t be helped.

“I give myself to you, Michel. With this ring I am bound.”  Madigan repeated the words for the fifth time, and a tingle of  “knowing” slithered through his consciousness. He looked at each  man in turn, realizing their worth to him. They were truly his now. All  of them. A contentment filled him. He felt like all the tension of the

past few days had been drained out of him like a boil.

“I accept your pledge. You are my consort from this day forth.”  Michel leaned forward and kissed Madigan’s lips. “Nice to be hitched  to you, cutey.”

Madigan couldn’t agree more. He knew whatever obstacles they  faced in the future that these men would protect him. Beyond that, he  hoped that they would grow to love him. Madigan already felt the first  stirrings of deep affection growing deep inside him for each of his  guardians. Michel walked a few steps away and sat down for Bren,  who immediately set to work on his tattoo.

He watched as his men joked about the lack of pomp in their  ceremony and what they would have for breakfast tomorrow morning.  Bren ribbed Cross for the apparent “girlyness” of his sigils, and Cross

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smacked him on the back of the head in turn. Michel talked avidly  with Yuri about other tattoos he’d given other immortals in his time,  and Dex nibbled on Yuri’s neck and whispered something in his ear  that made Yuri laugh.

These beautiful angels were all his, and Madigan looked forward  to a future that they could all share. Together. The nephilim smiled  softly to himself. He couldn’t wait.

End of Book 1: Angel Bound

To be continued in

Book 2: Angelic Ties

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.

Also by Jana Downs

Siren Allure ManLove: Ravyn Warriors 1:
 
Ravyn’s Blood

Siren Allure ManLove: Ravyn Warriors 2:
 
Ravyn’s Heart
 
Siren Allure ManLove: Ravyn Warriors 3:
 
Ravyn’s Destiny
 
Siren Classic ManLove: Ravyn Warriors 4:
 
Ravyn’s Dance

Available at

BOOKSTRAND.COM

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com