20. Luke
Chapter 20
Luke
Waking was a Herculean affair. Luke drifted in and out of consciousness for an indeterminate amount of time. Sometimes he heard voices, other times it was quiet. Once, he heard the low hum of a familiar voice singing in his ear, soft hair tickling his face. He knew that voice, wanted desperately to go to it. He tried to reach for it, but his limbs were too heavy, and his voice seemed stuck in his throat.
Eventually, he peeled his eyes open. Malachi’s living room was alight, suggesting it was still daylight, but he was facing away from the windows. The dark kitchen was empty, and the apartment was quiet. A blanket covered his body.
Luke moved slowly, expecting pain, but there was none. Wait, why was he expecting pain? He didn’t remember precisely what happened, only that something terrible had . He’d gotten dangerously hurt somehow. Malachi’s raw scream echoed through his memory, and a bolt of fear cut through him. Malachi had been in danger. Where was he now? Was he hurt?
“Mal?” he croaked .
Arms tightened around him. “I’m right here, treasure.”
His eyes filled with tears, which alarmed him more than anything else. His body was reacting viscerally to something he couldn’t yet remember. “What happened?” His breath hitched. He found Malachi’s hands under the blanket, tangling their fingers together and clinging tightly.
Lips pressed against his neck. “Oh, baby, it’s okay. We’re both safe. What do you remember?”
He shook his head. “I should be hurt. I know that, but I don’t remember why.”
Malachi helped him sit up—he was weak, why was he so weak ? Soft blankets were layered both under them and over them, though they appeared to be naked. Malachi’s bare chest was a reassuring warmth against his back, and he turned, nuzzling closer.
“Did you undress us or did we do something I forgot about?”
Malachi snorted. “I undressed us. We were… covered in blood.”
A thousand questions crowded up his throat, but he swallowed them back down. Malachi would explain. He could wait long enough to give him the chance to.
“You were leaving to go to the guild to give them your resignation. Do you remember that?”
Laying in bed with Malachi, exchanging declarations of love and Malachi asking him to move in with him. “Yeah, I remember that.”
“I walked you down the stairwell. And at the doorway, you were attacked.”
Pain in his abdomen. Blood dripping from metal. ‘You are hereby banished.’
“It was paladins. They stabbed me in the back.” He should definitely feel something about that, but numbness spread through him instead. It would take a while to process what had happened.
“They did,” Malachi said through gritted teeth.
“What happened after that?”
Malachi didn’t respond right away, his fingers tickling the back of Luke’s hand. “You went down. I… killed them, and called Talon and Alex for help because I didn’t know how to help you. They told me to feed you my blood.”
Luke’s throat bobbed, embarrassment flooding him for some reason. Drinking his blood sounded strangely intimate. “Why?”
“Apparently, it has healing properties. Among other—things.”
Luke tilted his head back to peer up at him. “What things?”
“Um. I’ve never exchanged blood with a human before, so I didn’t know any of this until Talon told me. But apparently, if you have a steady diet of a few drops of my blood every month or so, you would be functionally immortal.”
Luke blinked. “What?”
Malachi pursed his lips and nodded. “Yeah. Stronger, faster, better healing, and… you would stop aging. As long as you have demon blood in your system, you don’t age. It heals you so fast that your cells regenerate or something.” He shrugged dismissively. “Talon tried to explain it, but I was distracted.” He kissed Luke’s shoulder.
“That’s… crazy.”
“Mm-hm. Apparently, Talon and Alex have been exchanging blood for a few months now. He even has this little ring that has a blade in it so they can—you know what? That’s TMI. Anyway. How are you feeling? ”
Luke spared him a smile. “Surprisingly good, considering I was just stabbed in the back a few… hours ago?” he asked.
Malachi nodded. “About four, I think.”
That was shocking. “Your blood really healed me that fast?”
“Mm. Right away. I saw the wound close with my own eyes. Alex said he thought the blood loss was what kept you out for so long. That might take a little longer to replenish. They left after Talon explained the stuff about the blood, but they said to call if you had any problems. Alex wishes you well, by the way.”
Luke sighed, tangling their fingers together. Malachi’s rings pressed against his fingers, and he realized they didn’t clack against his own. He pushed the blankets down and turned his hand over.
“My ring?”
“Um.”
Luke looked back at him. “You can tell me. ‘M not angry.”
Malachi relaxed. “I gave it back to them. I took… Well. I killed them all. And then Talon cut off their ring fingers, with their rings on them.”
Luke’s stomach turned. “Jesus, Mal.” Even though they’d tried to kill him, he was glad he didn’t have to see that.
“I told you what I’d do if anyone tried to take you away from me,” Malachi snarled, tightening his arms and legs around him. “I told you I’d kill them. They hurt you. You were bleeding out. I should’ve sent back their heads .”
Luke twisted around and kissed him silent, mashing their mouths together. It was off-center and messy and perfect. Malachi’s body slowly unlocked, curling around him once more. Even at his most wrathful, Malachi made him feel nothing but safe and cared for .
“You sent them back how?” he asked when they parted.
Malachi licked his lips, as though savoring Luke’s taste. “Talon can do this teleporting thing. He took me to the guild’s front gate. We tossed them all in a bag, along with yours, through the gate. And flipped off the camera.”
Luke snorted. “God, I love you.”
Malachi stared at him for a moment, and then, to Luke’s surprise, ducked his head and sobbed . “Oh, treasure.” He rocked them from side to side, his face buried in Luke’s neck. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever hear you say that again. They almost had you. A few more minutes and you’d have been gone. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”
Luke carded his fingers into the black waves of Malachi’s hair. “Mal. Mal, I’m right here. I’m okay. You saved me.”
It did beg a question for the future. He hadn’t thought that far ahead, but Luke would age while Malachi stayed the same. As it turned out, there was something they could do to prevent that. Would Luke want that? Eternity?
He didn’t know. But he certainly wasn’t going to rule it out.
He peppered kisses to Malachi’s cheek until he turned his head and gave Luke his mouth instead. His face was dry, but his crimson eyes were red-rimmed, his expression drawn.
“Can I ask you something?” he ventured.
“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing?”
Luke smiled. “About the, uh, blood thing. Would you… want that? For me to take your blood regularly enough to?—”
“Yes,” Malachi interrupted, and Luke let out a short laugh at his eagerness. Malachi smiled, but his eyes were serious. “If that was something you wanted, yes. I almost lost you today. I can’t think of anything better than having you forever. ”
Luke ducked his head, turning to press his cheek to Malachi’s chest. “Okay. Good to know. It’s… a big decision.”
“It is. And you’ll have all the time you need to decide whether you want it. I’ll make sure of it.”
Luke relaxed. There was so much he didn’t know. So much about his life was an uncertainty now that his worst fear had finally been realized. He’d been banished from the guild. For the first time in his life, he didn’t have them to fall back on. But—also for the first time in his life—he didn’t need to. He had something better than the guild. He had Malachi. As long as he had him, everything else would fall into place. He’d come out of his worst fear in the arms of the man he loved. Everything else was golden.
Luke dozed on Malachi’s chest for a while. Malachi didn’t seem to be in any hurry to move, and even turned the television on with the volume down to occupy himself while Luke rested. But eventually, he couldn’t deny that he would have to get up and face the world—if only to shower.
This wasn’t the first time he’d experienced an injury, but it was the first time he’d experienced blood loss without the injury compounding it. His limbs felt weak, his body exhausted from the simple act of picking himself up off the couch and going into the bathroom, but there was no pain accompanying it. He moved slowly, his body conditioned to expect it, but it never came. Malachi followed on his heels, turning the shower on for him. He wasn’t surprised to find Malachi’s shower was as nice as the rest of his apartment, a big, walk-in stall with a glass wall and pale stone tiles. He also wasn’t surprised when Malachi wordlessly stepped in after him. Malachi was bloody, too, after all.
They soaped each other up with slow, languid strokes. Malachi’s hands grazed his stomach and back where the sword had gone in, and Luke looked down at it. He remembered seeing the tip of the sword protruding from his stomach. The only evidence he’d been hurt was a faint scar; it looked years old rather than hours. He looped his arms around Malachi’s neck and buried his face in the safe shelter of Malachi’s neck, content to stand under the hot spray and turn his brain off for a while.
When the water began to cool, Malachi finished washing them both up and guided Luke from the shower. He wrapped them both in fluffy towels and led Luke into the bedroom, where he pushed Luke down onto the bed and clambered up after him, pulling the blankets around them both.
“I’m still wet,” Luke protested weakly.
“Don’t care. Do you feel okay?”
“Besides being wet, yeah.”
Malachi dragged one of the towels out from under them and scrubbed vigorously at Luke’s hair, until Luke sputtered out a laugh. “Better?”
“No!”
Malachi tossed the towel away, beaming. “There you are.”
“What are you talking about?”
He kissed him softly. “You’ve been out of it since the attack.”
“No, I… haven’t?” He thought back. He’d been asleep for a while, but he’d also been… quiet. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I’ve just been thinking about everything. ”
Malachi settled closer, tucking his arm under his head. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Luke shrugged. “There’s really nothing to talk about. It’s over. I’ve never been this… adrift, I guess, but it’s not a bad feeling. I’m adrift but not lost, because I have you.”
“Damn straight you do,” Malachi agreed. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
Luke smiled. “Good. Remember, humans have to take time to process the big stuff.”
“Right, yeah,” Malachi said, trailing a hand up to stroke Luke’s scruff with his thumb. “I can see how near death experiences count as big stuff.”
Luke snorted. “Exactly.”
He draped an arm around Luke’s waist. “So, you’re fine, you’re just… processing?”
“Yeah. I still want to move in with you. Although I don’t think we should stay here. They know where you live.”
“They know where we all live,” Malachi pointed out. “Even Talon. They’ve been following us, remember?”
“Oh, I remember,” Luke said.
“They’d just follow us to any new place we move to. Until this blows over, we’ll just have to watch our backs. And maybe keep you in bed for the next year.”
Luke laughed. “A whole year? You really do want me to get fat.”
Malachi drew his arms around him. “And have more of you to love? You’d hear no complaints.”
He rolled them over, pressing Luke onto his back and kissing him, slow and deep. Luke opened his mouth, eager for more, and Malachi’s tongue stole into the space he made, stroking against his. His damp hair brushed Luke’s face, the strands silky and cold. He wrapped his arms around Malachi, tugging him on top of him. Their legs tangled, and when their naked hips slotted together, they both moaned.
Malachi pulled away first. “Are you okay? Hurting anywhere? Tired?”
“No, God, please, I just want to feel you. I may have lost a lot today, but I’ve gained a lot, too. I gained a future with you.”
Malachi’s next words were muffled between their mouths. “Luke, fuck , you can’t just say stuff like that.”
Malachi rocked his hips, crushing their mouths together as he reached between their bodies to wrap a hand around both their lengths.
“This good, treasure? You like this?” he crooned.
“Yeah,” Luke moaned. “Yeah, just like that.” He flexed his hips up in an attempt to meet Malachi’s thrusts.
“Could definitely keep you like this for a year,” Malachi said, his lips brushing Luke’s. His smile softened his crimson eyes, and Luke’s arms tightened around him. “You feel so good, so perfect underneath me.” He groaned. “I love the way your cock feels. The sounds you make for me. I could do this for hours, take you to the brink and watch you hang there.”
Luke moaned. He’d like that, too, even if he wasn’t sure his body could handle it right now.
As though he could read his mind, Malachi said, “Maybe another day. Right now I just want you to feel good. Are you close, baby? Can you come for me?”
He was , actually. Embarrassingly close. Malachi smeared the precum down their lengths, easing the way.
“Mal, I’m so close, please, just a little more.” He fucked up into Malachi’s tight grip, pleasure burning through him.
“I’ll get you there, treasure.” He sucked a wet mark onto Luke’s collar, and his free hand teasingly pinched his nipple, and Luke was gone, coming with a breathy sound.
He dragged his fingers through Malachi’s damp hair, turning his head to the side and clamping his teeth down hard on the meat of Malachi’s shoulder. A broken gasp fell from Malachi, and he shuddered, his cock jerking against Luke’s as his seed coated their stomachs.
Luke gentled his mouth, kissing the bruise left behind by his teeth, and Malachi raised his head to smile down at him, his gaze heavy-lidded and fond.
“Orgasm button,” he said, and Luke laughed.
Malachi didn’t move, and Luke was content to bear his weight, his hands stroking up and down his back, luxuriating in the feel of his warm, bare skin. Malachi did the same, planting kisses wherever his mouth landed—Luke’s face, his neck and shoulder, his chest, his chin. Luke couldn’t remember ever feeling this sated.
“I’m so glad you saw me that day,” he said, emotion making his voice brittle.
Malachi raised his head, looking down at him fondly.
“And I’m glad you decided to approach me. And didn’t give up no matter how many times I pushed you away.”
One corner of Malachi’s mouth quirked softly. “Me, too. It was a foregone conclusion the moment I saw you. Something in me just went ‘oh, that’s the one.’ There was no question. It didn’t matter how long it took. Somehow I knew you’d one day be mine.”
That wasn’t normal. Most people didn’t look at someone and simply decide that person belonged to them. If anyone else said it, it would sound crazy. Luke knew that, recognized it, but it didn’t matter. Malachi wasn’t normal. He was a demon. He didn’t abide by the usual relationship or even human standards. Maybe he’d been human once, but that was probably centuries ago. Luke had never felt wanted the way Malachi wanted him, wholly and completely. There was comfort to be found in that unwavering want.
He tilted his head up, and Malachi met his mouth with a soft, smacking kiss. “I love you,” he declared, and Malachi beamed. “Nothing else matters. Not the guild or where we live or what I’ll do now that I don’t work for them anymore. We can figure all of it out.”
Maybe the guild would come for them again. The danger probably hadn’t passed yet. But whatever the future held, they would weather it together.
“We can, and we will,” Malachi agreed. He shifted off of Luke and tucked himself against his side. “But first, a nap.”
Luke chuckled, drawing the blanket up over them. “Yeah. A nap sounds good.”