Jai rolled his eyes, and Noel laughed. With a naughty wink my way, Noel threw himself at Jai, his voice high and dramatic as he wailed, “Jai! I must have you. I cannot wait another second. Take me now, right here in the hallway!”
“Of course, lover!” Jai bellowed, grabbing Noel and tossing him rather rudely onto the carpet.
“Ouch! Son of a bitch,” Noel screeched as his head thunked against the floor, but Jai didn’t hesitate in pouncing onto his Other with a weird Tarzan-inspired yell.
“I ravage you now,” he said in a deep, caveman voice, and I wrapped my arms around my stomach and laughed.
Gideon did his best to step over their ridiculous embrace, but Noel snagged his ankle and yanked. “Fuck!” Gideon went down, somehow kicking Jai in the face.
Pain crackled through our bond, and Jai yelped. “My nose! You broke my fucking nose.”
Helping Jai off of Noel, I made sure he didn’t spill blood on the carpet as Noel scampered away. “He was just saving me from being ravaged,” he said as he crawled up Gideon’s sprawled body. “My hero!”
As Jai’s nose snapped back into place, his eyes watered, and he glared at the blob of flailing limbs that made up Gideon and Noel. Gideon was attempting to get away as Noel peppered his face with grateful kisses.
“Don’t leave me!” Noel cried, “The knave might return to deflower me. Don’t let him steal my flower!”
“I don’t want anything to do with your flower,” Jai growled as I cleaned the blood from under his nose, tears flooding my eyes as I laughed. “It’s probably been over-pollinated!”
“Don’t slut-shame me, you bitch,” Noel squawked.
“Why is this happening to me?” Gideon lamented, finally surrendering to Noel’s overzealous affections. “I just wanted to go to work.”
“You’re my favorite people in the whole world.” I sat back on my heels and wiped at my eyes.
“Aww,” Noel cooed as he starfished on top of Gideon’s prone body. “That’s so sweet. I’m totally gonna blow you later.”
Jai prodded at his sore nose, scowling deeply. “Way to keep it classy, Noel.”
“I really have to go,” Gideon said, even as he ran his fingers through Noel’s hair, a secret smile on his lips.
“Meeting Tabitha?” Noel asked, and I was happy I wasn’t the only one to frown at the mention of her name.
“Yes, negotiations are still ongoing.”
“Will the Fallen really be given amnesty?” Jai asked. “I mean, they’ve been banished for millennia.”
As Noel rolled off Gideon, Gideon sat up and straightened his tie. “Well, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? The trials after the Heavenly War were fueled by anger and grief as much as justice. I feel that many who were condemned shouldn’t have been punished so severely.”
“They were innocent?” I asked, all traces of humor fading.
“Not innocent, per se, but some of them were trapped, same as I was. And they simply didn’t have anyone to advocate for them like I did.” Gideon rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. “And it was so long ago. People change. I’d like to think we can build a world where we’re at peace with each other instead of always fighting.”
Gideon’s phone rang shrilly, and his shoulders slumped. “Great. Now I’m in trouble.” His complaints were weak compared to his grin as Noel smacked a wet kiss to his cheek. “I’ll see you all tonight.”
We bid him farewell as he lumbered down the stairs, answering his phone on the way. His energy buzzed through the house a moment later as he teleported away.
“He’ll be fine, Riles.” Jai drew me close and kissed my temple. “He’s done way more dangerous shit.”
“That’s comforting,” I said sarcastically, and Jai pinched my side in punishment.
“So what are we gonna do with our day off?” Noel propped his chin on his hands, lying on his stomach at the top of the stairs.
“Sex marathon,” Jai purred as he nipped at my earlobe.
Wrinkling my nose, I shoved him away. “Maybe later.”
“What do you want to do instead?” Noel stood and helped me to my feet as I considered my answer.
“Honestly, I want to watch movies and play video games. Like how we used to before everything got complicated.” I squeezed Noel’s hand. “I want to paint your nails.”
Noel beamed at me as Jai kissed the top of my head. “Sounds good, shortstack.”
And that was exactly what we did.
We played video games and watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a cult classic according to Jai and Noel. It was possibly the oddest thing I’d ever seen, but I enjoyed watching Jai and Noel act out several of the scenes as the movie played behind them.
At some point, we created a train and painted each other’s nails. Jai insisted I polish his nails with a “badass” color, like black. I painted his nails a glittering pink. He didn’t complain a bit.
Noel chose orange for his fingers and red for his toes. Since Gideon was secretly obsessed with my toes, I chose his favorite color for my toenails. Dark blue. Noel colored my fingernails yellow. Jai got his wish for black polish on his toes.
The sun was starting to set as I lay on the couch, my feet in Noel’s lap, my head on Jai’s thigh. Noel was playing a game on his phone as I read Percy Jackson. Jai’s eyes were closed, but he wasn’t asleep, his callused fingers sifting through my curls.
“I have a pop-up ad for natural male enhancement.” Noel tipped his phone in my direction, revealing a poorly drawn penis that was much too large. “Are you unsatisfied with my dick size?”
“Um, no. Should I be? You’re pretty big,” I said, and Noel flushed bright pink.
“Oh,” he said with a smug air. “Well. Good.”
Jai snorted. “Guess that means I’m pretty big too, huh?” He tugged playfully on my hair, and I grinned up at him with a nod. “Good boy.”
Preening at his praise, I returned my attention to my book. Until a thought struck me. “Wait.” My book fell onto my chest. “I’m a lot smaller than you. Is that bad?” I looked at Noel. “Are you unsatisfied?”
“No, of course not.” Noel wriggled until he hovered over me. “It’s all about proportion. Your cock is perfect, and you always leave me satisfied.”
He kissed me as Jai chuckled. “I’m glad everyone is satisfied.”
“Hush, you,” Noel muttered against my lips. “Riley and I are having a moment.”
“A moment about dick sizes?” Jai picked at my hair again, and I smacked him with one hand while my second curled around the back of Noel’s neck to pull him back to me.
We didn’t do much talking after that.
Chapter Nineteen
By the time a deal had been brokered, the Fallen had negotiated for monthly angelic blood supplies, immunity for all but the most egregious of war crimes, and less rigid parameters on their banishment from Utopia. In exchange, they agreed to help the angels raid Purgatory to rescue those imprisoned there, and they would also offer aid if—when—Lucifer retaliated against Heaven.