10. Malachi
Chapter 10
Malachi
Malachi gleefully walked through Luke’s nighttime rituals with him. A shower turned into round three, and he lingered in the bathroom doorway, naked and shrouded in shadow, while Luke brushed his teeth. Their eyes met in the mirror’s reflection as Luke’s electric toothbrush buzzed. It was so goddamn domestic. He’d fight tooth and nail to stay here by Luke’s side. This was what he’d been waiting for all those weeks of pining from afar.
When they climbed into bed together, Luke’s warm, naked body pressed against him, and Malachi suppressed a groan. Luke’s ass fit snugly against his groin, and a moment later, Luke chuckled.
“How are you hard again? I haven’t come this much since I was a teenager.”
“I told you, I’m a demon. We don’t have much of a refractory period.”
“ Much of a refractory period? You don’t have any refractory period,” Luke teased .
“Okay, first of all, that’s not true. It takes a few minutes. And second of all, today has been… an outlier.”
“An outlier? How so?”
Malachi pressed closer, curling an arm under Luke’s head and the other around his waist. His lips found the bare skin of his shoulder as he spoke. “I’ve wanted this for weeks, treasure. Forgive me for my excitement.”
Luke went so still, Malachi wasn’t sure he was breathing. “Excitement?” Luke whispered, turning his head. “You were excited to finally be with me?”
Malachi raised his head. He could see perfectly well in the dark, and there was enough ambient light from the street outside coming through the slats in the blinds for Luke to see him, as well. “Are you kidding? I’ve watched you for weeks, dreaming of the moment I could finally put my hands on you. This is everything I’ve been wanting.”
Luke’s brow furrowed, and Malachi kissed the wrinkle it made on his forehead.
“Don’t worry, treasure. We’ll work on your sense of self-worth.”
Luke snorted, but it was halfhearted.
“I’m here now,” Malachi went on, laying his head down and burying his nose in the fresh cedar and citrus scent of Luke’s hair. “You’re never getting rid of me now.”
Luke melted against him, one hand encircling Malachi’s wrist. Slowly, his breathing evened out. His fingers twitched against Malachi’s skin as he fell asleep, and Malachi’s lips curled into a satisfied smile. His human trusted him enough to sleep in his presence. Incredible.
He didn’t want to fall asleep. He didn’t want to miss a moment of this. It felt so right to have Luke in his arms, pliant and trusting. Was this what it was like for Talon? If so, he finally understood. He’d do anything to keep Luke with him like this. Great and terrible things.
A part of him wondered why he felt this way at all. No human had ever affected him like this. Was there something special about Luke—besides his smell and his handsome face and his killer personality? There had to be a reason Talon had felt drawn to his human, too. Why them, and why those humans? Malachi wouldn’t change a thing, but he did wonder .
After a while, Luke’s soft snores filled the air, rhythmic huffs of breath that made Malachi feel warm in a way he wished he could bottle and keep with him forever. When he shifted over onto his back, Malachi gently rose onto his elbow to peer down at him, listening with a smile as the quiet snores grew a little louder in this position. His fingers brushed Luke’s bearded chin. He had no flaws whatsoever.
Luke inhaled—and stilled. Malachi’s head tilted curiously, and the silence that extended between them sent unease down his spine. Luke wasn’t breathing.
When he exhaled, it came out as a quiet groan. His head tossed to one side, followed by a sharp inhale. One of his legs jerked, and his brow furrowed in sleep.
He was having a nightmare.
A broken little sob spilled from his lips, and Malachi couldn’t stand another moment of it. He laid a hand flat on Luke’s bare chest, shaking gently.
“Treasure. Sweetheart, wake up. You’re dreaming.”
Nothing. With a growl, Malachi shook him more firmly.
“Luke, wake up. Wake up!”
He jerked awake, panting hard. His gaze wheeled around the room as though searching for the threat before settling on Malachi, trailing down and back up his body, reorienting himself in the present once again. Trembling hands reached out for him, and Malachi folded Luke into his arms, letting Luke tuck his face against his neck and cling until the trembling subsided.
Internally, Malachi fretted. Did this have something to do with his presence? Did he cause this somehow? The last thing he wanted was to cause Luke any kind of distress.
On barely a breath, Malachi whispered, “Is this my fault?”
With a big sniffle, Luke lifted his head and sealed their mouths together. Malachi uttered a noise of surprise, sinking into it until Luke pulled away.
“No,” he said, “you didn’t cause this. I have nightmares sometimes, about—how I got these scars.” He gestured to the side of his face.
Malachi gently trailed the backs of his fingers down the scars on his cheek and jaw. “Did you kill the thing that did it?”
Luke’s mouth twisted, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. “Yes. Barely.” He tucked himself closer, resting his head on Malachi’s shoulder, and then his quiet voice filled the air. “It was a routine patrol, not even that far from HQ. Accidents happen, y’know. Sometimes you don’t see a single monster all night, and sometimes you can barely catch a break. On this night, we came across a body. It had attracted half a dozen demons to the area, but my partner and I didn’t realize it until we were surrounded. We radioed for backup, but we were overwhelmed. Matty went down first. I tried to help him, but one of them knocked me off my feet. I felt… incredible pain in my face and neck, but I could still see him. They were tearing into him. I tried to get to him—” He broke off with a choked sob.
“Luke,” Malachi groaned, squeezing him tightly. He didn’t want to hear any more.
“The others arrived then, and the demon that had attacked me was distracted. I was covered in blood, but I had to help. Adrenaline was probably the only reason I didn’t pass out. I jumped back into the fight to help the rest of my squad. I didn’t know if Matty was dead or alive, but we had to get him out of there either way. We couldn’t leave him for the demons to feast on.”
Tears were gathering on Malachi’s shoulder, and he fought the urge to clamp a hand over Luke’s mouth. He wanted to tell this story, and the least Malachi could do was listen.
“Six demons against seven humans still weren’t great odds. We managed to kill four of the demons, but it wasn’t enough. I saw them all go down, one by one. Ross, Cole, Landon, Shawn, Frankie, Devin, and Thomas. And then it was just me. Two against one.”
Malachi pressed his lips to Luke’s forehead. “But you survived.”
“I did. One of them was injured. I grabbed the holy water from Shawn’s belt. They did plenty more damage before I killed them. I couldn’t walk by the time it was over. I’d bled out too much. I found someone’s phone in the middle of the carnage, cracked but usable, and called for help. Then I passed out. When I came to, I was in the medical wing, bandaged and doped to the gills. The only survivor of the attack.”
Luke survived, but he would carry the trauma of that night with him for the rest of his life, scarred in both body and mind. Why had the guild sent him back out into the field after something like that? A slow rage crested within him. Luke had nearly died, and what did the guild do? They patched him up and sent him right back into the field. Did Luke have a choice at all, or was it a foregone conclusion that he had to continue fighting as long as drew breath?
“Did you ask to go back into the field after you healed?” he asked, because surely the good guys wouldn’t disregard their own people’s pasts like that. Surely they cared .
Luke leaned back to peer up at him in confusion, and Malachi thumbed away the tear tracks around his eyes. “No? I’m a paladin. They put me with a new squad after I healed. Being with others gave me so much anxiety, though, I eventually requested to patrol alone. I couldn’t stand the idea of watching anyone else die.”
Malachi didn’t realize he was growling until Luke poked him.
“Why are you doing that? What’s wrong?”
“They shouldn’t have sent you back out there,” he said mulishly. “Aren’t there other ways to serve your guild and your god without risking your life?”
Luke frowned. “I’m a paladin, Mal. This is what I’ve trained all my life for. I don’t possess the skills to do anything else.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You can always learn new skills. If they didn’t give you the option for anything else, it’s because they didn’t care enough to.”
Luke sat up, and Malachi followed him, realizing his misstep after the fact.
“They do care,” Luke said, scowling. “But there are real monsters out there. Someone has to hunt them down, and I’m one of the few who can.”
“They train new paladins every year, don’t they? Why do you have to keep putting yourself in danger?”
“Why not me?” Luke said, his voice strained. “Why should new recruits— teenagers —put their lives in danger when I have the experience and the skills to handle it?”
Frustration clawing up his throat, Malachi reached for him, cradling his face. “I don’t want you to become a martyr for them, treasure. I want you to be safe .”
“I survived,” Luke whispered, the weight of his words curving his spine. “I have to keep fighting for them, because I let them down.”
“You don’t owe the dead anything, baby,” Malachi whispered, kissing him softly. “I promise you, they aren’t hanging around to watch. They’re gone, and you don’t deserve to suffer forever because of what happened. Please, don’t let this guilt crush you. I don’t want to watch you break.”
Luke’s hands fit against his sides, leaning against him to chase his mouth. Malachi obliged him, guiding him down onto the pillow as his tongue massaged Luke’s. He only parted from him, reluctantly, when Luke’s breathing became labored. Now wasn’t the time for more.
“Are you okay?” he asked. The words tasted unfamiliar. He wasn’t sure he’d ever said them before.
Luke nodded, tugging Malachi to lie flat and curling into him. “Relatively,” he croaked. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be one hundred percent okay, but thank you for listening. And thank you for waking me. No one’s ever been here to wake me from a nightmare before.”
Malachi carded his fingers into Luke’s hair, mindful not to let his grip tighten to the point of painful. He wanted to rend the guild to pieces for treating Luke like a worthless toy soldier, abandoned to his fate in the dark because they couldn’t be bothered to give him what he needed. He would always be here, he swore. His human needed him more than he could have imagined. Luke would never have to feel alone again.