(The Marriage Groups)Elian (7 page)

Elian watched as smiles spread across the faces of the gathered staff before they all bowed and returned to their duties. Elian smiled up at his husbands, who all looked at him with pride gleaming in their eyes and turned when he was approached by one of the servants. When the slightly older gentleman reached for Elian’s robe, Elian turned and allowed the garment to be removed from his shoulders. He thanked the servant, whose name was Blake, and tried not to notice the surprise that swamped the other man’s features. Were the servants not thanked here? But that couldn’t be. Nevin, Corbin, and Gaige were some of the most respectful men that he’d met, something he’d picked up on in the few hours he’d known them. They would thank the ones who served them. Yet as he turned back to face the palace doors, Elian’s ears didn’t pick up on one of them saying thank you. Not one of them.

Unsure if he should say something, Elian nibbled on his bottom lip and walked with Nevin when the older man took his arm and led him up the stairs and inside the grand structure. Thought fled his mind as he took in the elegance of his surroundings. The carpet in the rooms off the hallway was white. The floors in the dining room and the hallway was a gold wood, the kind only found on the trees in Rowmoore. Elian knew he shouldn’t be surprised that the palace had such valuable wood, but he had to admit to a bit of awe. On the walls were digital and holographic images of the kings, Royal Coraçãos and Marriage Groups from decades and centuries past. Elian’s eyes traced over the features he saw as he was directed to the grand, spiraling staircase. His head tipped backwards as he looked up, up, up until he could no longer see any further stairs.

“How many floors are in here?” he breathed out in wonder.

He heard Nevin chuckle beside him and turned to look at his husband, willing himself to not to be caught in the smoldering good looks of the man beside him.

“Some say there are ten, some say there are fifteen. I actually have no idea how many there are. I tried exploring once as a boy, but got lost around the ninth floor,” Nevin admitted, amusement tinging his words.

“I still say that a floor is added magically every year,” Corbin mused from the other side of Elian. Elian’s head swung to look at him, his mouth falling open. Could that truly happen? Could a floor just be added on without anyone’s knowledge every year?

Seeing the teasing glint in his husband’s gaze, Elian huffed in annoyance and turned back to the stairs before them. “Which floor is our bedroom?” he asked softly.

“Our bedroom is on the fourth floor,” Gaige answered.

Elian nodded in response. He wondered then if his husbands would want to consummate their marriage at that moment, with the daylight still surrounding them, or if he still had time to call Tabansi and have a small attack of nerves. He hadn’t been able to speak to his friend in a while; he most certainly hadn’t been able to invite Tabansi to the ceremony. A flash of guilt shot through him and Elian swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat. He and Tabansi had shared almost everything with each other. To not be able to share something so important and special with his best friend made Elian feel a little sick.

“Would you like to see our bedroom before we take you on a tour of the grounds?” Corbin offered, and Elian breathed a sigh of relief. He nodded.

“Yes, I would like that a lot,” Elian responded. He took Nevin’s arm when the other man held out his elbow and steeling his nerves, took his first step up towards the stairs.

The trip seemed to take forever and Elian found his gaze sweeping over everything. From the white walls with gold trim on the first and third floor to the gold walls with white trim on floors three and four, Elian was starting to feel slightly overwhelmed at the opulence before him. Statues and vases sat on tables and in the hallway. Footmen stood at the top of every landing, each of them bowing as Elian and his husbands passed them. Elian was sure that he would never be used to the bowing or the automatic deference he received just because of his birth and who he’d ended up marrying. It all seemed... frivolous. Unnecessary and rather silly. Were they not all essentially equal? A birthmark shouldn’t make someone superior or inferior to someone else.

Elian shook his head to dispel the thoughts bouncing around in his head when he saw that they’d stopped in front of a set of double doors. They were one of two sets that lined the halls on the floor. Elian looked down the hall toward the other set of double doors and felt his brow furrowed.

“Where do those doors lead?” he questioned no one in particular.

“The nursery,” Nevin answered, and Elian could hear the excitement in his words.

“It’s empty right now, except for the royal crib. It was completely stripped when we left to come for you,” Gaige explained, and Elian felt his heart race.

He’d been told his entire life that he would be a breeder. Taught what that meant and heard the emphasis placed that as he had no other mark, it was his sole purpose in life, and while he certainly did want children, hordes of them, the sight of the nursery doors suddenly made the tightness in his chest clench and grow larger. He nodded and turned back to the bedroom doors, suddenly desperate for some time alone to talk to Tabansi.

His breath caught in his chest as Corbin opened the front door and the sight of the grand bedroom appeared. A large, group-sized bed, larger than others sold around the planet of Kardalusia, sat in the middle of the room. Four golden wood posts surrounded it with white and gold silk and gauze hanging down to surround it, giving it an ethereal glow. The bed sat on a platform with four steps leading to the top and to Elian’s eyes, the bed was another throne he would be expected to perform his duties from.

Against another wall, four large dressers stood, gold wood with silver handles. Against the opposite wall there were four doors, and Elian found himself heading toward them without conscious thought on his part. Reaching out, he grabbed hold of the polished silver doorknob and turned, pulling the door open. He gasped as he saw the large, walk-in dressing room. Turning, he stared in awe at his husbands, who all looked at him, smiling fondly. He shook his head in wonder and turned back to the other doors, finding the same thing behind each one.

Turning towards the bed, Elian saw a door nestled at the very end of the wall next to the dressers. Quirking a brow at his silent husbands, Elian hurried toward the door, not sure what he was going to find and unsure of what he actually wanted to find. The expansive, glorious black and silver colors of the room spoke to him, stirring something deep within and the sterling silver faucets made him smile.

“How did you know?” he whispered softly.

“How did we know what?” Gaige asked, his voice just as soft as Elian’s, almost reverent.

Elian turned to face his husbands, all three burly, beefy men seeming to fill the space of the bathroom around him, making it seem intimate rather than suffocating. He smiled at them, some of the nervousness and fear over what was sure to happen between them that night starting to dissipate slightly. These were not bad men and they would be gentle with him, the softness in their eyes apparent and warming his soul. Andalusia had not chosen wrong when he’d picked Nevin, Corbin, and Gaige for Elian, and for the first time since he’d turned to see the kings at the soiree house, Elian felt anticipation course through his veins.

“How did you know that black and silver were my favorite colors?” he asked with a small smile.

Nevin looked at the other two men and then back at Elian. “I wish we could take credit for that, love, but we didn’t know it was your favorite color. We all just came up with it about six months ago when we had it redone. They just seemed like the right colors to choose.”

Elian nodded and turned to look back at the bathroom. One side held a shower. Nozzle surrounded the interior and it was large enough to fit five big men. On the other side sat a large tub waiting for the Royal Marriage Group to sit within. To cleanse themselves and to grow closer with the intimacy of bathing. An image rose, unbidden, to Elian’s mind’s eye, of him in the tub with his husbands, all of them wet, soapy, and naked, touching each other, arousing and inflaming the senses.

He cleared his throat and lowered his hand to his groin to discreetly press on the erection that had hardened there. Conjuring an image of his parents looking at him sternly, Elian breathed a sigh of relief when he felt his hardness slowly start to soften. Turning back around, he found himself the subject of his husbands’ gazes. Looking down to see if anything was amiss and finding nothing, Elian looked back up at the other men, quirking an eyebrow at them. When neither of them spoke, he shrugged and walked past them back into the bedroom.

Coming to a stop in the middle of the room, Elian nibbled on his lower lip, trying to figure out how to ask for what he needed. Mainly a way of communicating with Tabansi as soon as possible.

Corbin cleared his throat, looking slightly uncomfortable. “Well, we’ll let you get settled in a bit. You’re probably feeling a little overwhelmed. We’ll give you a tour of the palace and the grounds later. Your clothes were delivered earlier. Your dressing room is the second from the right. There’s a writing desk and a telephone within if you want to call anyone. We’ll see you back here in an hour or so.”

Elian nodded, breathing a soft sigh of relief. Telephones weren’t often used on Kardalusia, most people choosing to correspond through letters or by traveling to the different cities to meet with others. He was glad, however, that every household was required to have one. He desperately needed his best friend to encourage him, something Tabansi excelled at.

“Thank you,” he said and smiled at his husbands. All three men returned his smile before turning to leave the room.

Without hesitation, Elian rushed to his dressing room and flung open the door, racing inside. Sitting in front of the vanity that resided within, he lifted the phone from the gold cradle and tapped out Tabansi’s number on the pad. His foot tapped impatiently while he waited for his best friend to answer.

“Hello?” Tabansi’s lyrical voice answered on the second ring.

“Thank Andalusia!” Elian breathed.

“Elian?” Tabansi asked, sounding a lot more alert than he had previously.

“Yes. I need you, Tab. I married the Royal Marriage Group earlier today and now I’m freaking out,” Elian’s words rushed from his mouth.

“What? Wait, wait, wait. You’re the Royal Coração?” Tabansi asked.

Elian nodded even though he knew Tabansi couldn’t see him. “Yes. It happened earlier today. They came to the soiree house and chose me. Actually, they’d chosen me a while ago and everyone knew except me. But that’s not why I called, Tab!”

“Then why did you call?”

“They’re going to want to have sex with me!” Elian said frantically.

Tabansi chuckled, “Well, of course they are. The marriage won’t be official until it’s been consummated. You know this, Elian. Hell, you took the same Coração classes that I did. So what’s the real problem?”

Elian sighed deeply, “What if I’m bad at it? What if I suck at this just like everything else?”

“Not possible. You were born to do this. Born not only to breed, but to be good in bed. You’re a Coração. You’re
the
Royal Coração, Elian. Besides, they know you’re a virgin, and if they’re good in bed they’ll teach you how to be good as well,” Tabansi encouraged him.

Elian nodded and let out a deep exhale. “You’re right. Thanks, Tab. I knew you were the right one to call.”

“No problem. Now,” Tabansi’s voice lowered and Elian started to giggle, already knowing what his friend was getting ready to ask him. “How gorgeous are they exactly?”

Chapter Eight

Nevin

N
EVIN
stepped away from Elian’s dressing room door, a small smile on his face as he listened to Elian describe the way Nevin, Corbin, and Gaige looked, excitement tingeing his words. He was glad that Elian had called his best friend and seemed a lot more calm and collected than he had been just moments before. As soon as they’d stepped into the palace, Elian had seemed on the verge of flying apart, but now he seemed almost at peace. Nevin felt his stomach clench slightly with a small measure of jealousy before reminding himself that he wanted Elian to feel comfortable and at ease, even if it took someone else to do it.

He wouldn’t be jealous of Tabansi, another Coração. He knew that Tabansi and Elian were best friends; it was something he’d learned when he’d had Elian checked out. The two were practically inseparable, and Nevin knew the separation from his best friend was going to be hard for Elian. Perhaps they should invite Tabansi up to the palace to visit. He could tell that to Elian, Tabansi was like a brother to him and having brothers of his own, Nevin understood the desire to share the big changes with them.

Nevin’s mind turned to his younger brothers. There was Walker, Waldwick, Wadley, Irwin, Ingo and Izayah. They were all really close. Well, all of them except Ingo. Nevin’s younger brother had always been a little odd when they were younger, but as they’d grown up, Ingo had become withdrawn and between his snide comments and secrets, Nevin had known that he needed to get more guards to keep an eye on the younger man. He just hadn’t done it yet. The constant letters and communications he’d received from his other brothers, Irwin and Waldwick, about Ingo, his erratic behavior and the tension the other man kept creating whenever he was around the other siblings, just let him know that he needed to do something as soon as possible. Once he made sure that Elian was settled in his new role as the Royal Coração he would pay a visit to his younger brother and see if he couldn’t fix whatever the problem was.

With a plan of action in mind, Nevin turned and headed back out of the bedroom, finding Corbin and Gaige waiting in the hallway for him.

“How is he?” Gaige asked.

Nevin smiled at his husbands before nodding. “Much better. Tabansi seems to have calmed him much,” Nevin replied before leading the way down the hallway towards the stairs. Heading downstairs to the library, Nevin’s mind instantly went to kingdom matters. There had been a number of subjects who had arrived at the palace over the last few days complaining of disturbances that they couldn’t explain around their homes. Nevin wasn’t sure how he was supposed to combat something he couldn’t see, but it had been more than one person complaining, and they all came from different areas around the planet, so he couldn’t ignore it.