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  All Marlowe wants to do is find his place in the world with someone to love. Someone who sees just who he is. Thrown out of home for not conforming to his family wishes, Angelo heads to the one place he knows he will be welcome with open arms.

  With a little help from their family and friends can Angelo and Marlowe figure out just who is stalking Marlowe before Christmas morning? Can Marlowe win the heart of the boy next door? Can Angelo figure out that even straight boys sometimes fall in love with their best friends?

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  Angels on Top

  NJ Nielsen

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright 2011 by NJ Nielsen

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Published by

  MLR Press, LLC

  3052 Gaines Waterport Rd. Albion, NY 14411

  Visit ManLoveRomance Press, LLC on the Internet: www.mlrpress.com

  Cover Art by Deana C. Jamroz Editing by Kris Jacen

  Ebook format ISBN# 978-1-60820-549-3

  Issued 2011 This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the publisher.

  Chapter One

  Marlowe had always hated his name. What normal parents, in their right minds, would name their son Marlowe. For crying out loud, it’s a girl’s name! Then again he could never claim that his parents were normal. With names like Skye and Astra, he didn’t have a hope in hell when it came to the name department. He couldn’t even go by his middle name which was just as bad as his first name... Marlowe Shelby Weldon; didn’t his parents ever think of the teasing he was going to get as he got older? Obviously not, because here he was on his twenty-first birthday, standing in front of a cake with all three names on display for everyone to see.

  “I think it’s cute,” Hunter said as he wrapped his arm around his cousin’s waist from behind and leant his chin on his shoulder in sympathy, or support, he wasn’t quite sure which yet.

  “Cute?” Marlowe whispered hoarsely. “It has never been cute.”

  “We all got unusual names, cousin.” “At least your name belongs to a man. You have never had to put up with what I have gone through. None of you have. What the hell were they thinking when they named me?”

  “That you were beautiful. Besides, Marlowe is a family name.” “Of our great Grandmother.” Marlowe rolled his eyes then smiled; as much as he bitched about his name he did truly have two of the coolest parents to ever grace the earth. They never even batted an eye when he came out to them last year and announced at Aunt Cyn’s wedding that he was gay and that his mother should just stop trying to set him up with the bridesmaids. Of course it had and hadn’t worked, as his parents had spent the rest of the party introducing him to all the single men; whether they were gay or straight. Aunt Cyn had commented that it had to have been one of the weirdest weddings that Australia had ever witnessed; she had found it hilarious that he had spent the whole night trying to dodge his own parents.

  “Come on, cheer up. I am supposed to introduce you to Gene, my neighbour. Uncle Skye has decided that you need to meet new people and since Gene and his nephew are the only ones here that you don’t know, I have to introduce you.”

  “Is he even gay?” Marlowe asked softly as he let Hunter drag him through the crowd.

  “Nope.” “So why are you introducing me then, and does he even know that I am gay?”

  Hunter grinned. “I promised Gene that if he met you, I would introduce him to Dextra; he thinks Dex is kinda hot.”

  A giggle burst free from Marlowe. “Hot headed, more like.”

  “Yup, I may have forgotten to mention that part.”

  “Not nice, cousin, that is so not nice. I thought this guy was your friend.”

  Hunter’s grin broadened. “Now what kind of friend would I be if I tried to put him off meeting the woman of his dreams?” “Oh my,” Marlowe’s hand fluttered to his throat as they came to a halt in front of a gruff looking man, “you have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.” And they were. They were a very pale lavender colour. Marlowe blushed profusely when Hunter and Gene burst out laughing.

  “You’re right Hunter, he really is a cutie.” Gene smiled and it reached all the way to his eyes, which made Marlowe melt like heated butter.

  Marlowe cleared his throat. “I hear you want to meet Dex.” They all looked to where Dextra was standing talking to a tall, very terrified looking young man. “Who is that?”

  Marlowe felt like he couldn’t breathe. The guy was absolutely gorgeous. He wished the guy would turn his way so that he could see what colour his eyes were. Marlowe was an eye man; he loved beautiful eyes.

  “That’s just Angelo, my nephew,” Gene said apologetically. “He turned up on my doorstep just as I was leaving to come here. I couldn’t leave him at home.” Gene shook his head. “His parents threw him out of home because he wouldn’t date the girl they had chosen for him. Who in this day and age does that kind of thing to an eighteen-year-old boy?”

  “Is he gay?” Marlowe didn’t know what compelled him to ask, but once it was out he couldn’t take it back. “Truthfully, I don’t know. We haven’t really had a chance to talk y
et.”

  “Maybe we should rescue him before Dex tries to eat him.” Hunter chuckled as Angelo began slowly backing away from Dex. “He looks like he is ready to tuck tail and run.”

  Gene chuckled as he stood up. “What kind of uncle would I be if I didn’t try to help the guy out?”

  “And you actually want to meet Dex?” Marlowe asked in mock amazement.

  Gene chuckled again. “Life would be boring without a sense of adventure.”

  Hunter grinned as he headed over to his sister. “Sis, leave the new kid alone. I have someone much sturdier for you to play with.”

  Dex turned and growled at her brother, but stopped dead when she spotted Gene standing beside him. Grinning she turned back to Angelo. “See Angel, now you don’t have to introduce me; Hunter has done it for you.”

  Hunter leaned over and stage whispered conspiratorially to Marlowe, “Pssst, cuz? Gene will distract her; you grab the kid and run.”

  Marlowe laughed as he grabbed Angelo by the wrist and dragged him off through the crowd. They stopped just by the bar. Marlowe couldn’t stop staring at him; he had the same beautiful purple eyes as his uncle.

  “Thanks for that,” Angelo said as they ordered a drink. “My uncle drags me here to some chick’s birthday and I get mobbed by a crazy woman.” Angelo gestured around them. “Do you even know which chick is the birthday girl?”

  Marlowe blushed. “That chick would be me.” He held out his hand. “Marlowe Shelby Weldon at your service,” he ended with a grin. He had to bite the inside of his cheek from laughing out loud when he saw the deep flush of embarrassment creep up Angelo’s neck.

  “Oh man, I am soooo sorry.”

  “What for? You didn’t name me.” Marlowe grinned.

  “I just read the name on the cake and just assumed,” Angelo said

  Marlowe shrugged. “Most people assume that I am either a girl, or I am gay; they would only be wrong half the time.” “You’re gay!” Angelo blurted out. Marlowe felt the sting of disappointment as he watched Angelo move a bit further away. “It’s not a disease you know. You can’t catch being gay from me. As Lady Gaga would say, ‘Baby, I was born this way’.”

  “I didn’t mean...” Angelo went to reach for his arm but Marlowe stepped away. “Whatever! You have a nice time now, bye-bye.” Marlowe walked away without looking back. This was his birthday and he didn’t need the downer.

  r r r

  Something deep inside Angelo bitch-slapped him as he watched Marlowe walk away. He had ruined the one potential friendship that he had found. He hated knowing that he had put the hurt look in Marlowe’s eyes. Geez, not only had he hurt him, but he had probably just ruined his birthday as well. He felt ashamed that his parent’s bigotry reared its ugly head in his actions. He had sworn he would never treat people like his parents had, and here he was upsetting someone... on their twenty-first birthday no less. That was meant to be special. How could he fuck up so badly?

  “Okay, what did you do?” Gene asked as he slipped onto the chair beside Angelo. Angelo felt so bad. “We were just talking, and then Mum and Dad just jumped straight out of my mouth.” Clenching a fist he punched his own leg in frustration. “First I call him a girl, and then I act all horrified because he is gay. He is gay, right?”

  Gene chuckled. “Yes Marlowe is gay. Very open about it. So is Hunter.”

  “How could I do something so stupid?”

  “It happens to the best of us.” Gene patted his leg.

  “What happened to Dex?” Angelo asked.

  “Shh. I’m hiding.” When Angelo’s eyes bugged out, he burst out laughing. “Only joking, she is in the loo.”

  “Uncle Gene, what am I going to do if Mum and Dad don’t want me to come home? They didn’t even let me take any of my stuff.” Angelo blinked away the tears that threatened to fill his eyes.

  “Tell me what happened Angelo?” Angelo shrugged. “They wanted me to get engaged to Rachel Harper and I didn’t want to. I mean, I hardly even know the girl; why would I want to marry her?”

  “Is that all?” Angelo shook his head. “Dad thinks that if I marry her, then it will be good for business. Apparently the Harpers are very influential. They didn’t even ask me. They just announced at dinner one night that I was getting married. He even went so far as to give me the engagement ring to give to Rachel, like it was a done deal.”

  Gene looked at his nephew in stunned silence. What the hell was his sister thinking? “What did your mum say?” “When I told Dad no, she slapped me across the face and told me to do as I was told. Dimitri tried to stand up for me but they sent him to his room. Mum said if I couldn’t do this for the family then I was no longer part of the family. Mum and Dad just turned their backs on me and told me to go.” He reached up and wiped away the tears that began to roll down his cheeks. “When I went to pack my stuff, Dad said that as he and Mum had bought it all, it belonged to them. Dimmy threw his money stash out the window to me and told me there was enough for a ticket to come to you,” he held up his hands, “and here I am.”

  “Jesus Christ! When did my sister turn into a fricken lunatic?” He pulled Angelo into his embrace. “So is that it? It’s not because you are gay then?”

  “I like girls, Uncle Gene.” “Just checking. Not that it makes any difference to me who you choose to love. Some of my best friends are gay.”

  Angelo sat back and looked at his uncle. “Really?”

  “Yes, really! I find it is easier to be open minded than it is to be critical. Life is too short to try and look for normal. Because what’s normal to me will not always be normal to you.”

  “I don’t care if people are gay either.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  Angelo frowned. “I didn’t mean to upset him, he just surprised me is all. I wasn’t expecting it.” “Then maybe you could start by apologising,” Gene said gently.

  “I’m not sure he’ll like me too much after the way I behaved.” Angelo looked onto the dance floor and watched as Marlowe slow danced with some guy he didn’t know. A smile touched his lips; of course he wouldn’t know him, he didn’t know anyone here. Watching them, it didn’t seem wrong that it was two guys dancing together. They weren’t hurting anyone, so why were a lot of people against it? His own parents would have been disgusted and very vocal about their intolerance of such things.

  “He really is a nice guy, or so Hunter tells me. I have only just met him tonight, though with Hunter being our neighbour, I guess we will see a lot more of him. Hunter tells me they are best friends and that Marlowe will be moving in with him.”

  “Is Hunter his boyfriend?”

  “His cousin.”

  r r r

  Marlowe could feel the kid’s eyes on him all night. Not that he could really call him a kid, as Angelo was only three years younger than he was. Even now as he stood here watching he knew that Angelo was trying to locate him among the many. Walking up, he tapped him on the shoulder then laughed as Angelo jumped, grabbing his heart, and glared at him.

  “Looking for something, or perhaps someone?” Marlowe smirked.

  “Yes, you actually. I would like to apologise for my behaviour earlier. I had no right to act that way.” “You’re forgiven.” Marlowe winked. “So are you gay or straight?”

  “Straight.”

  “Damn, well there goes that fantasy.” Marlowe laughed, only half joking. “Here, why don’t we start again?” Marlowe grabbed his hand and shook it. “Hi, my name is Marlowe Weldon.”

  “Angelo, Angelo Linford.” Angelo couldn’t stop the smile that came, though it faltered slightly when a young man came up behind Marlowe and slid his arms around his waist.

  “Come on lover, let’s blow this popsicle stand and go have some real fun,” the young man said huskily and Angelo chuckled when Marlowe rolled his eyes.

  “This is my party.” Marlowe pulled away from his admirer. “Why the hell would I want to leave?”

  “Because it’s boring,” the guy sa
id with a pout. “Come on. Let’s go find something fun to do.”

  “I am having fun. Can’t you see that I am talking to my friend here?” The guy reached out and slowly ran his hand down Marlowe’s body until he could grab his cock through his trousers. “Is your friend going to satisfy all those needs you have?”

  Marlowe stepped back. “Geez Clay, I have told you a hundred times or more that I am not interested in what you have to offer. When will you get that you are just not my type?”

  “Just what is your type then?” Clay snapped. “That would be me.” Angelo couldn’t believe that he was about to do this; taking a step closer to Marlowe he wrapped an arm around his waist. “Isn’t that right, honey? Marlowe is my silver lining on any given day.”

  Marlowe grinned and kissed his cheek playfully. “Definitely.” “Come on Silver, let’s go dance.” Angelo steered Marlowe out onto the dance floor. He blushed when Marlowe stared at him in curiosity. “The guy was an arse. I thought you were trying to get away from him. If I am wrong, I apologise, and we can go back.”

  “Don’t you dare.” Marlowe lunged and wrapped his arms around Angelo’s neck. “The guy totally creeps me out.” Marlowe leaned into Angelo, laying his head against his shoulder and giggled. Angelo was tall enough to make dancing like this feel so comfortable.

  “What?”

  “You just outed yourself and you’re not even gay.”

  “Oh for fuck’s sake,” Angelo groaned, and it only made Marlowe giggle harder. “Would you quit giggling?” “I can’t help it.” Marlowe pressed his face further into Angelo’s shoulder as he tried to get himself under control. “I think it is the funniest fricken thing I have ever seen.”

  “You are so off my Christmas list,” Angelo snorted. Marlowe stepped back and imitated the pout that Clay had tried to use only moments before. “Christmas is only a month away; I expect both a card and a present. All good guys buy their boyfriends really good and thoughtful presents for Christmas.” When Angelo dropped his gaze and blushed, Marlowe stepped back into his body. “Only joking; I had you there for a moment though didn’t I?”

  “Smartarse, and here I thought we were becoming friends.” He hugged Marlowe tight to him. “Hey, we fit together perfectly,” Angelo said with a grin.