Angelic Ties, page 1
part #2 of His Guardian Angels Series
His Guardian Angels 2
Angelic Ties
Madigan Parker thought accepting a relationship with his five guardian angels was difficult. He's learning that being in a relationship with all of them is more difficult as personalities clash.
Bren still distrusts Cross, Yuri believes he's the odd man out, and Michel is just too nice to put his foot down with any of them. While Dex is the only one admitting to the mutual affection and attraction that is growing between them, Madigan has his hands full.
He wants to take back his life and reopen his business. But being a baker proves difficult as old enemies circle closer, and keeping his lovers safe proves to be a lot trickier than Madigan originally thought. Torn between the life he had and the new life awaiting him, he has to decide if staying in the town he calls home is worth the risk to his men and to his heart.
Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Fantasy, Ménage a Trois/Quatre Length: 28,514 words
ANGELIC TIES
His Guardian Angels 2
Jana Downs
LOVEXTREME FOREVER
MANLOVE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: LoveXtreme Forever ManLove
ANGELIC TIES
Copyright © 2012 by Jana Downs
E-book ISBN: 1-61926-595-8
First E-book Publication: April 2012
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2012 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
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PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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DEDICATION
To Kandyce. Just because.
ANGELIC TIES
His Guardian Angels 2
JANA DOWNS
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
Madigan glared up at the two men who circled above him like hawks twelve feet up in the air. The analogy was apt because they were angels after all.
“Give me back my book!” Madigan shouted as they tossed his paperback back and forth between them. It was the most ridiculous version of monkey in the middle Madigan had ever been subjected to.
When the angels had wandered outside to test the barrier, Madigan had tagged along with his book in hand in hopes of returning to it when they’d finished. So much for that.
Bren swooped low, his black wings tucked against his body as he dove and offered up the novel to Madigan’s outstretched fingers, only to snatch it back and toss it to Michel when Madigan’s fingertips grazed the spine.
“Argh!” Madigan yelled in frustration. They’d been playing this game in the front yard for almost half an hour now. He was freezing.
It was a ridiculously cold October. He wrapped his Harry Potter yellow-and-maroon scarf more tightly around his neck and crossed his arms. It was hard to believe only a few weeks ago, the week of his birthday, that he’d been wearing a T-shirt outside and worrying about rain. That was before the weather had turned cold and the threat of Angelic Ties
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death had confined Madigan to his mother’s house until his five guardian angels could come up with a solution to protect him against his enemies. They had found a rather unconventional solution to the problem, one that required Madigan to essentially marry all five of them for a temporary cease-fire. They were all still getting used to the idea.
It was the first day they’d ventured outside in almost two weeks.
Cross and Yuri had been working on creating a barrier between the yard of Madigan’s mother’s house and the rest of the neighborhood. It wasn’t to keep the hunters, those angels which hunted nephilim like Madigan, out. It was to keep the neighbors from seeing angels flying in and out of the house. None of the angels could drive, and Madigan hadn’t been able to since they wouldn’t let him leave the house without all of them in tow. His car wasn’t big enough to fit five massive warrior angels plus himself.
“Bren, Michel, knock it off.” Cross’s stern voice was a welcome interruption. Madigan glanced up in time to see his red-haired lover walk down the steps and onto the sidewalk. Their eyes met. “The barrier seems to be holding. No one is standing and pointing.”
“I’m more worried about one of them dropping my book in a puddle,” Madigan griped. The two angels above him landed softly on the grass a few feet from where Madigan and Cross were talking.
Michel’s aqua-colored eyes shone with mischief. “Sorry, cutey.”
He tossed the book across the space that separated them, and Madigan nearly dropped the book himself when he caught it.
He glared at the angels. “You guys suck.”
“Only when asked nicely,” Bren quipped, not missing a beat. His black eyes focused on Madigan, and the nephilim felt the heat of it down to his toes. His sex drive immediately kicked in, hardening his body in preparation for some serious fucking. He sighed and rolled his eyes. Angelic puberty gave him a perpetual hard-on the likes of which he’d never experienced before. It was a constant state of 10
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readiness that the angels in his life were more than willing to indulge him in.
“So when can I go back to work?” Madigan wondered before the others caught wind of his idea and whisked him elsewhere. The angels shared a look. Madigan frowned. “What? It’s a simple question. I agreed to stay here until we found a way to keep me safe outside the house. We did that. Good Eat Sweets is losing business every day I’m ‘on vacation.’”
“We understand that—” Cross began. Oh no. Every time he started the conversation, Madigan knew that the guardians were about to make a demand of him that he was going to hate.
“Dammit all, Cross. Don’t you do this,” Madigan interrupted.
“Told you he wouldn’t go for it,” Bren cut in. He pointed at Cross and glared. “He wants you to stay in sanctuary indefinitely.”
Cross snarled. “Way to be a team player, Bren!” He clenched his fists and returned Bren’s glare. “You agreed to this last night.”
“I wasn’t happy with it then, if you recall.” Bren crossed his arms and stepped closer to Madigan.
“Not. The. Point,” Cross snapped.
“When did you all have time to have this little conversation?”
Madigan wondered incredulously. They hadn’t gotten into bed until almost one last night after they’d spent most of the evening making love. Coming together with them was always a decadent experience and left him utterly exhausted. He didn’t understand how any of them had the energy.
“After you went to bed, we went into the angel room and had a guardians’ meeting,” Cross admitted after a moment of silence. “Yuri assessed the situation from his position as our scholar and told us that the binding, though we’re very firmly connected to you, has weaknesses in the bond between one another.” His eyes shot to Bren before coming back to Madigan. “That means that it’s not one hundred percent safe for you to leave sanctuary.”
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“Can we take this conversation inside?” Michel interrupted the explanation. “Madigan is shivering.”
They al
Michel’s arm settled over his shoulder. “Stop thinking so hard, cutey. I promise that we’ll be reasonable.”
“What’s your version of reasonable?” Madigan shot back, leaning into the touch. He looked up at the kissable lips of his angel lover and sighed. He could forgive them all for almost everything when they were touching him. Michel’s mouth was fuller than most, too.
Absolutely yummy.
Michel’s face broke out into a grin. “We’re divinely reasonable.”
“Divine huh?” Madigan poked his lover’s ribs. “And what does this divine reason get me?”
“Five overprotective angels and a lot of orders.”
Madigan huffed. Now that was truer than any statement ever made. He hadn’t seen any members of the sect of angels who were calling for his blood since the night of his birthday, but he heard enough about them to fill a book. Each of his angels told him stories of the downright hate crimes that the hunters committed against half angels like Madigan. Death was apparently the kindest option that the hunters offered. But it was hard to be fearful of people that he hadn’t seen or heard from in weeks.
Once they were all situated in the angel room, Madigan turned on them. “So I think keeping me here under lock and key for an indeterminate amount of time is complete bullshit. My mom left me the bakery to manage, and we’ve made zero money since I agreed to be under house arrest. Beyond that, you all promised me that once we were bound together I would have more freedom. Do the words cease-fire ring any bells?”
“We’re having trouble bonding together, Madigan. You have to understand it isn’t every day that angels from different choirs bond. It 12
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simply isn’t done,” Cross hedged. So he was to be the spokesman for the group, eh?
Madigan growled. “I don’t care if it isn’t done. It isn’t done in my world to marry five other hunky men, either, but I did it. That is no excuse, and you know it. I’m going to work on Monday come hell or high water, and you guys will work out your differences by then.” He pointed to first Cross and then Bren. “You two especially. Every night we’re in bed together, you two never touch. It’s time to get over it.
Got me?” The two angels looked like he’d sprung another head. “I mean it!” he snapped. He had been frustrated over their inability, no, unwillingness to connect for weeks now. “Either you two work something out or else neither one of you bother coming to my bed.
I’ve had it with your schoolyard bullshit. We’re a family now. For better or worse. Start acting like it.”
Bren was the first to react. “That’s bullshit, bright eyes! We can’t just manifest feelings and trust between us because you declare it so.”
“In this I have to agree, Madigan. You’re being unreasonable,”
Cross agreed immediately. “The hunters will not care that you have a business to run, and I will not take a chance in losing you.” Those copper-colored eyes of his slid down to the floor. “You mean too much to all of us.”
“But for this to work, you have to all mean something to each other as well. Yuri, tell them,” Madigan said in exasperation.
Yuri nodded his dirty-blond head. “I agree with Madigan. The ancient texts specifically said that we all had to bond as well. You two both focus all your energy on Madigan and none on the rest of us.
You’re being selfish dicks.”
“I’m not being a selfish dick!” Bren exploded in his usual show of temper. “I would die for Madigan!”
“You’d have to be willing to die for the rest of us, too, Bren,” Dex spoke, uncurling his massive bulk from its position against the wall.
“You’re fine with taking pleasure from the rest of us but not giving it.
And Cross won’t even give us that.”
Angelic Ties
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“Oh give me a break! You and Michel and Yuri love each other?
Riiiiggghhht. Just because you’re more willing to fuck each other stupid doesn’t mean that you’re in love,” Bren snapped.
Dex took a menacing step forward. “I care very deeply for everyone in this house, Bren. Everyone. Including you. Don’t you dare dismiss the deep affection I feel. If that is what love is, then rest assured, I love you all very much.”
Bren gasped, and Madigan smiled. Dex had been the scariest out of them all at first, but his tough exterior hid a heart that was soft and loving. He was proud of his man for making that announcement.
Madigan stood and walked over to the big angel and embraced him in a tight hug.
“Thank you, baby,” Madigan said warmly. “That means so much to me.”
Dex kissed the top of his head. “I meant it, Madigan. We’re bound, and I won’t allow any fears to keep me from my mates.” He shot a look at Bren and Cross. “Any of them.”
Yuri clapped his hands. “Well, now that that is settled, I guess you two better start working on your relationship if we’re going to Madigan’s work on Monday.”
“What do you mean ‘we’?” Madigan squeaked. “I can’t have all of you in the bakery!”
Dex squeezed him tight. “We can’t leave you alone, Madigan.
Besides, I’m sure you will be able to find us something to do.”
“Oh for the love of God!” Madigan moaned. How was he ever going to get anything accomplished with his massive band of angels in tow? They were beautiful and distracting, and he could guarantee none of them knew the first thing about baking. Well, maybe Dex, but that would be it! “I’m going to the kitchen to make some sandwiches.
Who wants one?” he asked, trying to distract himself from the growing feeling of dread that opening the shop Monday was going to cause. He was going to have a mess on his hands.
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“I’m so in!” Yuri called, jumping down from his perch atop the couch and sprinting toward the French doors.
Dex started laughing. “Me, too.” He scooped up a protesting Madigan and took off in pursuit. Madigan rolled his eyes, but the laughter was infectious and soon he was laughing right along with them. He was sure his angels could work out some of the kinks in their relationship by Monday if it meant that would be the only way they had of protecting him. As much as Madigan hated to play dirty, he wasn’t above it to ensure the safety and happiness of his angels. If that meant he’d have to play hardball, so be it.
Angelic Ties
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Chapter Two
Bren and Cross stood and started making their way to the door in an effort to follow the other guardians and their charge into the kitchen. Michel slapped a hand on either of their shoulders.
“Boys, we need to talk.” They turned in unison to glare at him.
“You know that you’re being stubborn about this, and it’s about time for you two to learn to share.” He licked his lips nervously. “I think I’m the best one for the job.”
“Madigan can—” Cross started.
“No, Madigan can’t. Every time you two share him, you start competing. You have to have neutral ground to start on.” He pointed to himself. “I’m about as neutral as you can get. I can bottom or top, and I don’t mind being completely one or the other. Not to mention Dex will not have the patience for your mouth, Bren. And Yuri will be cracking smart-ass jokes in an effort to hide his nervousness with you, Cross.”
“I don’t see why Madigan can’t be in the middle if we promise to try and not be so competitive,” Bren grumbled.
Michel shook his head. “It’s not about tolerating one another so that you can touch the one you love. It’s about loving each other and wanting to touch one another. Working as a team will help that.”
They both opened their mouths to protest, but Michel cut them off.
