What Else Can I Cut Off?
Chuck wandered into the bedroom, adjusting the strap of her sleep camisole.
“You know, I think... oof!” She came to an abrupt stop with a heavy gust of air bursting from her lips as she ran into a solid gray wall of muscle surrounded by inky black feathers and silky hair.
“Malachi, what are you doing?” she asked breathlessly as he picked her up by the waist and crushed her to his body.
He was in his full demon form, which meant his horns were about half an inch from scraping the ceiling.
“You are a naughty, very misbehaved thing, you know?” he growled while his shadows wrapped around her.
“Kelly… you handcuffed me out there. You shot my cousin in the ass. You walked right up to the first Knight of Hell and basically had a pissing contest with her. Do you have any idea how much that turns me on?”
Smirking, Chuck threw her arms around his neck and nibbled on his jaw, her fingers tangling in the fall of his hair that she was so enamored of. “I do know,” she whispered. A small shriek followed her words as she was suddenly flying because he had tossed her across the room toward the bed.
A streak of shadows and smoke followed, then caught her, gently lowering her to the mattress as he reformed above her, still in demon form, his wings spread above them.
“Kelly, I swear you do that to me on purpose. How could I not love you?” He snapped his fingers and all their clothing disappeared, leaving them both naked and pressed very close together.
“Since Luna is in the next room, I won’t make you scream… too loud.”
His grin was completely wicked and devious as he lowered his body the length of hers and slid his mouth toward her thighs.
A tendril of shadow slithered over her stomach, then her breasts before caressing her jaw.
When his lips grazed the skin of her inner thigh, the shadow muffled her gasp by covering her mouth, not allowing anything beyond the smallest squeal to escape.
As he traced his tongue up her leg, she squirmed and arched her back.
“Wow! Now I see what you like in her!” came an annoying nasally voice from the corner of the room.
Malachi’s gaze lit with Hellfire as he glared at his cousin lounging sideways in one of the chairs by the bay window.
It was a cozy nook where he and Chuck liked to curl up and read together, not a place for annoying demons to hang out.
“Flick,” he growled as he threw himself over Chuck to cover her, protecting her from the uninvited voyeur.
“What the actual fuck are you doing in here?”
“Watching you get it on with your lady friend, obviously!” Flick drawled, rolling his eyes and sighing. He swung his feet lazily over the arm of the chair and waved a hand toward the couple on the bed. “Carry on! It was getting good.”
Smoke and shadows streamed across the room once more, only this time they wrapped around Flick’s throat, lifting him in the air, his feet dangling helplessly below him.
The dark menacing cloud reformed into Malachi’s demon body and his talons dug deeper into the copper-colored flesh of the smaller demon in his grip.
His growl rippled through the room, a stark warning that more demonic blood would be spilled that night.
“I’m… reporting… in!” Flick choked out as his claws scrabbled and tried in vain to pry Malachi’s talons from his throat. “Mal, c’mon man.” His body slammed onto the floor with a rattling thud as his cousin dropped him unceremoniously. “Ow!” he moaned. “I think you broke my ass! Again!”
“I’ll break more than that if you don’t get the fuck out of the bedroom right now and wait for us in the living room.”
A stifled laugh came from behind them as they both glanced over to see Chuck wrapped in a robe sauntering closer. She smirked as she firmly secured the belt around her waist. “I think you should break something just on principle,” she declared.
Flick squeaked and hightailed it from the room, Malachi’s laughter following him like a Hellhound looking for a snack.
“Mal, your cousin is a hot mess!” Chuck declared wearily as she pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. The sound reflected how disappointed she was; no doubt from the pleasure she’d been denied.
“I’d say he’s more of a moderately attractive inconvenience,” Malachi replied, the corners of his lips twitching as he fought not to smile at her rumpled hair and hangdog expression. She was so cute when she was put out.
“Moderately attractive…” she sputtered. “I can’t with you.” Shaking her head, she scooped both hands through her hair and tried to smooth it down.
Taking her hands in his, Malachi pressed close to her. “Don’t. Leave it messy. It gives me incentive to finish this conversation with him quicker so we can come back here and pick up where we left off. I have a deep, dark need to taste you, Kelly Charles.”
“You do say the sweetest things, you depraved fiend,” she laughed and placed her hands on his chest. Leaning toward him, she melted in his arms as he captured her mouth, the kiss growing deeper and hotter by the second.
Yanking his head back, Malachi declared, “You know what? Screw him and his shiny, annoying, bleeding ass. You’re more important!” He ripped the belt from her waist and shoved the robe down her arms. “I’m tired of getting interrupted. I need you, Kelly.”
Scooping his arm behind her knees, he swept her up and carried her back to bed.
Laying her down tenderly, he dove right in between her thighs and this time, kept his shadows at bay, letting her scream out every single bit of pleasure she was getting.
Her fingers tangling possessively in his hair as he devoured her.
After the second time she released, she tugged on him until he rose over her and drove himself deep into her body, giving them both what they’d been wanting all night.
Losing himself in the sensations of this woman wrapped around him, it was some time before he detected the slight scent of sulfur and brimstone.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw both Luna and Flick peering around the edge of the doorframe. Her eyes were wide in wonder; his were wide with mischief.
Growling again, Malachi twisted a hand toward the door, slamming it shut in their surprised faces.
“Every. Fucking. Time,” he muttered as he released hard while Kelly moaned in time with him.
Sitting on the sofa with Chuck tucked under his arm protectively, Malachi glared at the other two demons. Luna at least had the grace, angel pun fully intended, to look abashed at spying on them. Flick, on the other hand, had zero remorse, which was not surprising given his damned heritage.
“So… when I said to get the fuck out, you understood that to mean watch us instead?” Malachi glowered at them both.
“I didn’t know!” Luna blurted. “I heard the commotion and yelling and came to see what was going on.”
Flick merely grinned unapologetically. “You left the door open,” he pointed out with a tone that suggested he had already won the argument. “If you didn’t want an audience, you should have closed the door. It’s that simple, really.”
Chuck held up a finger. “Counterpoint. It’s my house; I can leave the door open if I want. But you can go right back to Hell if you don’t respect my rules. Are we clear, Flick?” When he didn’t immediately reply, she pointed a finger gun at him. “Don’t make me shoot you again. I will do it.”
At this, Flick sat up straight and clasped his hands in front of his body.
A hint of an apologetic expression crossed his face, his lips wriggling like worms as he tried to force them into a semblance of compliance.
Finally, he was able to adopt a somewhat stoic expression.
“My deepest and most sincere apologies, lovely lady warrior; a thousand pardons for my abhorrent and completely intolerable behavior.”
Flick stiffened as a low rumble filled the room. Malachi’s warning was well received. There would be no half-assed apologies or insincere sincerity allowed in this home. Snapping his fingers, Flick grimaced as a physical zipper appeared over his mouth. Message fully received, he sent to his cousin.
Good. Chuck is, without hesitation, the most important thing in my existence. I would give up my immortality for her, no questions asked. I will not have you jeopardizing that with your bullshit, Malachi replied.
Understood. Flick scrunched his nose. Is it okay if I unzip my mouth and share what I learned now?
A quick nod from Malachi had the metallic demon unzipping his lips with an ecstatic moan.
The metal teeth slowly sank back into his skin as he spoke.
“I popped back to Hell for a bit. Did some snooping, of course, and I managed to spy on Ramsilel and his crew. Those are some serious assholes; I’ll tell you that!
” Flick nodded with disgust, wrinkling his nose and eyes, his lips pursed in extreme distaste.
“But what did you learn? Aside from the obvious,” Malachi drawled, winking at Luna as she snickered.
Glancing at Luna, Flick’s mouth turned down in an exaggerated frown, his lips drooping and melting like wax. “You are absolutely nowhere near as much fun as you used to be,” he declared as his skin snapped back in place.
“Do I need to call Eefs?” Malachi demanded with a light snarl.
“No!” Flick yelped. He cleared his throat as an embarrassed flush crept up his neck, giving his metallic skin a rose gold appearance.
He ran a hand nervously over his long coppery tresses, winding them around his fingers and twirling them as he fidgeted in his chair.
“No, thank you. I do not believe Aoife’s help would be warranted in this situation.
” His tone was formal and full of calm respect. Nary a hint of mischief to be found.
Chuck glanced between the two of them before exchanging a confused shrug with Luna. “Fine, I’ll bite. Who’s Aoife?”
Malachi grinned with an evil gleam in his eye, then waved grandly for Flick to explain.
Swallowing hard, Flick spoke barely above a whisper, making the others lean in to hear him.
Gone was the cocky, self-assured demon of before.
“Eefs… is short for Aoife. That’s my twin sister.
She’s a little… blood thirsty. She likes to cut off my wings when she’s irritated.
Hurts like a bitch and they take forever to grow back.
” At this, his wings wrapped tightly around his body like a cloak, and he huddled within their leathery protective cage, shivering.
“Sounds like someone I’d like to know!” Chuck declared brightly as she tilted her head and beamed at Flick with the most sarcastic saccharine sweetness she could muster.
“I didn’t realize wings regenerated. What else could I cut off that would grow back?
” Her tone was bright and innocent, her expression was anything but.
“Don’t answer that!” Malachi barked, his eyes wide and frantic as he stared at Chuck in horror.
Luna burst into a fit of giggles as Chuck’s belly laugh filled the room.
“New fear intensely unlocked,” Malachi grumbled and glared at Flick. “Thanks a lot, Flicker.”
Flick had now regained some of his earlier confidence and smiled weakly. “You’re the one who brought Eefs up,” he declared and twirled a finger toward his cousin. “So, now that we have that out of the way, do you want to know what I found out or not?”
“Yes,” came Malachi’s hiss, followed by a surge of shadows flitting about the room. His agitation was visible as the smoky tendrils writhed about them in a jagged macabre dance. “Talk. Now,” he commanded, his tone leaving no room for interpretation.