(The Marriage Groups)Elian (4 page)

 Gaige growled softly, unable to help himself, as an image rose, unbidden, to his mind of Elian, completely naked and sprawled atop a table. The delicious image continued. Now Elian was also tied down and at Gaige’s mercy, panting and moaning. Fantasy Elian pleaded for Gaige to fuck him, mark him… to please let him come. Gaige ignored the amused smirks thrown his way from Corbin and Nevin, almost positive that the two other men were both also fantasizing about Elian. How anyone could look at him and not imagine his full, pouty lips wrapped around their cock, or that round, pert ass riding it, was beyond him. He was having a very hard time remembering the fact that he was at a ceremony—one that was sacred and binding, one in which the religious xamane inside of him was very excited about.

This was the joining of his soul to Elian’s. This was the Zevinxian within him, tapping into the hidden power and magic within Elian and fusing together and becoming one. Elian would receive the full gamut of his powers once the ceremony was complete and Gaige had placed his ring upon Elian’s finger. They would be bonded for all of eternity and Elian would be able to stand against the darkness that was approaching their planet, no matter what that darkness was.

“…and do you, Gaige Nobriga-Cannington, take Elian Glinkobia as your coração, to care for him, honor him, keep him, to cherish him as the God Andalusia wills and has pre-ordained?” the priest asked him.

Gaige snapped out of his musings and looked into Elian’s eyes intently. It was rare that he ever felt the need to bare his soul and expose his innermost self to anyone, but in that moment he desperately wanted to. “With every part of me,” he responded.

He felt his heart race when Elian glance over at him and smiled shyly. It should be a crime for Elian to be as gorgeous as he was. He blew out a shaky breath as he continued to watch Elian while Corbin and then Nevin pledged their lives to him. Elian’s eyes shone with happiness, nervousness, and fear. Gaige could understand the happiness. The emotion echoed throughout his entire frame as well; he could even identify with Elian’s nervousness. Gaige wasn’t made of stone, and he was nervous as well about being able to perform sexually with his new husband, but the fear? The fear was something that Gaige couldn’t understand. Why would Elian be scared?

As soon as his mind formed the question, reason supplied the answer: Elian was a virgin.

Of course he was, Gaige knew that. All coraçãos were virgins, or should be virgins when they entered into their first marriage group. That wasn’t always the case, but in this they were assured of Elian’s virgin status. So perhaps Elian was afraid of having sex with them? That would make sense, as Elian wasn’t just having sex with one person for his first time; he was making love to three different men all at once. Gaige suddenly had an irrational urge to buy Elian whatever he wanted just to keep the other man from running away. He would do anything, absolutely anything, to keep his soul’s mate, his heart’s partner, and his Zevinxian counterpart with him for as long as he could.

“By the God Andalusia, I now pronounce you husbands under His divine sovereignty and by His pleasure. May your marriage be filled with love, laughter and may it be fruitful. You may now kiss your coração and begin the binding of your souls to his,” the priest stated and turned towards the few people who had gathered in the chapel to witness the wedding of the Royal Marriage Group to their coração. “Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you your Royal Marriage Group: Their Royal Highnesses Nevin, Corbin, Gaige, and Elian Cannington.”

The room erupted in thunderous applause as Nevin pulled Elian into his arms and planted a scorching kiss on his lips. Gaige watched as Elian went limp with desire in Nevin’s arms and felt a small smile turn his lips. When Corbin twirled Elian into his arms and dipped their coração backwards in order to plunge his tongue down his throat, Gaige almost wanted to applaud the other man’s creativity.

When it was finally his turn, Gaige stepped forward and traced his fingers down Elian’s smooth-as-silk, dark brown cheek. He marveled at the way Elian’s lips plumped and bore a noticeable red hue from the kisses he’d already been subjected to. Gaige wanted to take his time and marvel in the beauty of his new husband, his coração, but simultaneously he wanted to lift the man in his arms and fuck him against the nearest wall. Instead he wrapped his arms around Elian and pulled him closer.

“Hi,” he whispered with a grin.

“Hi,” Elian whispered back.

Deciding that the time for talking was over, Gaige lowered his head and planted his lips on top of Elian’s. Every nerve-ending in his body sighed as the taste of his future lover exploded on his tongue and filled his senses. The restless part of him wanted to tell Elian all that he knew of the younger man’s purpose, his as-of-yet untapped powers, and his magical signature that swirled through and around his aura. That part of him looked forward to the adventure and the danger that would surely follow. However, there was another part, an unexpected part of him, that wanted to do nothing more than swoop Elian into his arms and read or paint or even indulge in Gaige’s guilty pleasure, something no one knew about, not even Nevin or Corbin, which was dancing.

Gaige wanted to dance with Elian.

Breaking off the brain scrambling kiss, Gaige stepped back and stared at the young man in shock.

“Holy shit,” Corbin breathed.

“That was hot as fuck,” Nevin whispered, and Gaige grinned, ignoring the gasps of those in attendance as their monarch used profanity in a public place. Not many people knew that Nevin could swear like nobody’s business and could also drink both Gaige and Corbin under the table, but those were private things. Things shared between lovers, family.

Things shared between a king and his marriage group.

And other more important and more intimate things…

Shared between a king and his coração.

Gaige couldn’t even be upset that there were things about Nevin that he would never know; there were things about him that Nevin would never know either. Things like Gaige loving to dance, loving to garden, or what the truth about his bracelet really was. These weren’t things he liked keeping from his husbands—although neither of them needed to know about the dancing—but they were necessary.

Just like it was necessary for no one to ever find out who his parents were, or that his father had been a full-blooded Zevinxian. That was something that would have Gaige hunted in the streets of Kartas by every single full-blooded Kartusian and would have Nevin calling for his death. Even worse than that, he would have to then turn and protect himself and destroy them all. He was not a killer, but he now had too much to live for.

Zevinxians were known in Kartas as witches and beasts. Not because they had powers outside that of normal Kartusians who could all draw in the energy around them and create something small, but because Zevinxians could communicate with animals, call animals to them and bid them to carry out their wishes. Beyond the energy and the communication with animals, there was also the fact that, when a Zevinxian was cornered, trapped, or felt his life was in danger, he could become a figure of the last animal he had commanded… or he could turn into an eleven foot giant with huge hands that could shoot lightning from its mouth. It was frightening, but the God Andalusia had wisely put a restriction on when Zevinxians could become the scary monster.

No one seemed to care, however. Zevinxians had been hunted for as long as Gaige could remember, certainly before he had been alive. It had started sometime when Nevin’s father had ruled. No one really knew why the former king had held such an aversion to Zevinxians, but no one had questioned him, either. Gaige would love to change the law that called for the immediate incarceration of all Zevinxians, but he knew he couldn’t do it. Not at this moment anyway. He had to keep biding his time until things became ripe for him to bring it up to Nevin and Corbin.

Gaige smiled down at Elian again, pushing this black hair behind his ear. He had to fight to stay in Elian’s life, fight to keep the younger man in his arms, because Elian was destined to be with him, created to be Gaige’s other half. Gaige wasn’t going to let him go, no matter how much the Zevinxian form inside of him screamed out for justice.

Chapter Five

Elian

When the Great God Andalusia separated the three planets He commanded the men of Kardalusia to be fruitful and to multiply. He directed them towards the birthmarks now appearing on the bodies of Kardalusia's people that would identify their ultimate goal in life. Kardalusia began to thrive, ignoring the warning by the God Andalusia. The one that commanded them to keep their eyes open that they didn’t restrict its people. For a time was coming that they would need everyone to step outside of their supposed genetic box and fight for their people.

-
The History and Divinity of Kardalusia
. Chapter Ten.

E
LIAN
hugged his fathers tightly, swallowed back the sob that threatened to burst forth from his chest, and blinked back the stinging tears that burned his eyes. He’d always known the day would come when he would move away and go off to live with a marriage group of his own, but the truth of that knowledge hadn’t sunk in until he’d seen the carriage pull up in front of the soiree house and his new husbands all climbed in, telling him they would wait for him to say goodbye. That is, Corbin and Gaige had climbed into the carriage; Nevin waited to the side for Elian. Elian offered the older man a small smile. It was almost as if Nevin were afraid Elian was going to change his mind and run away. Which was something that would never happen.

He was committed now, totally and completely, until he died or the God of Andalusia took his husbands from him. Elian was a married man, the Royal Coração, which, according to his breeder father, was a bigger deal than even Elian knew. Which was totally not intimidating and put no undue pressure on Elian whatsoever. He’d done much studying and knew a lot about being a Coração, a breeder father, but apparently, being the Royal Coração was worlds apart from being just a regular Coração. Yep, no pressure.

At. All.

Elian smiled at his father, Delian, nervously. Delian smiled softly at his only son and pulled Elian into his arms tightly. Elian’s breath exhaled as he felt his father’s arms once again wrapped snugly around him. While Prospen had been as loving as he could have been, being a breeder father who also worked, and Link and Zorin had been subsequently as loving towards Elian, Delian had been doting, generous, and the only one in the family to spoil Elian with extreme bias. Elian loved his father and knew that of his entire family, it was Delian he was going to miss the most.

“You make sure you don’t let those men run over you. You assert yourself and make your wishes and desires known, Son. You let them know that while your birthmark states you are nothing but a breeder, there is so much more to you underneath the surface, okay?” Delian instructed him.

Elian nodded and swallowed back the lump in his throat. He wouldn’t cry, not in front of his family and especially not in front of his new husbands. With a final nod to his family, Elian turned to Nevin and walked slowly towards the king, his gorgeous, new, black-haired husband.

“I’m ready,” he informed Nevin unnecessarily.

Nevin merely nodded and gestured for Elian to precede him to the waiting carriage. Elian stepped towards the waiting vehicle, his eyes taking in the golden wheels and over-large, all-white ground transportation. There was absolutely no mistaking the royal carriage, with its large windows, gold seating trimmed in white, and white exterior. The carriage was pulled by eight large white stallions that all bore the gold crest of the Cannington royal family on their rear hinds. Elian glanced up and took note of the driver and the four footmen who sat on bench seats at the front of the carriage dressed in the white and gold livery costumes of the palace. Glancing down at his own attire, Elian felt fake, as if he didn’t actually belong with Nevin, Corbin, and Gaige. He was certain that one day they would realize what a horrible mistake they’d made when they chose him.

Shrugging off his morose thoughts, Elian accepted Nevin’s hand up into the carriage and had a seat on the bench seat facing Gaige and Corbin. Nevin followed him in shortly afterwards and Elian waved to his family as the horses began clomping away towards the palace. Refusing to look at the three older men who had married him, Elian turned to look out of the window.

Kartas was a gorgeous city. The capital of Kardalas, which was the major state in the country of Kandalus, the city was filled with lush trees and beautiful blue rivers and ponds, and paved cobblestone roads throughout. Elian was always struck by the sheer majestic beauty of the city he'd grown up around. He had been born in Karts, which was a lower income city right outside of the capital, where most of the lower level soldiers and warriors lived. Karts was congested. Homes were built tightly packed, side-by-side, so that backyards were practically non-existent. Children played in the street, in their own homes, or in the homes of their friends as the city of Karts did not have the money to pay for parks, instead taking their stipend from the royal government and building more homes, more businesses, and even more schools.

 Elian had always thought it was such a waste that there were no museums, theater halls, no places for children born with the marks of creativity on their person to go and practice and perform. Perhaps now that he was the Royal Coração he could build a park in Karts?

He quickly shoved that thought away and shook his head mentally. No one listened to coraçãos. They were nothing but bed warmers unless they had the markings of being something else, something much more special. Elian thought of Tabansi, the young coração who had also been born a doctor, and sighed wistfully. How he wished that his own heart had something else on top of it.