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 Angelic Union
79
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
“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 Angelic Union
79
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
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