Page 62 of Protecting his Secrets

“I can’t wait to hear them,” Nick said, studying him.

“What?” Malachi finally asked.

Nick shook his head, a small smile playing around his mouth. “I love that I can get to hear them. That this isn’t a quick flying thing we’ve got. I love that we’re thinking long term. At least, I am.”

Malachi put his cup down and grabbed the laptop from Nick’s lap, putting it on the table before straddling him. Sliding his arms around his neck, he smiled, and though his stomach was churning with the potential for being rebuked, he laid his heart out. “I am, too. This is it for me. You’re it for me.” He inhaled. “I love you.”

Nick’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping, and his gaze frantically mapped Malachi’s face. “You do?”

Malachi nodded, scratching his nails through Nick’s hair. “I love you, Nick Tennant. I think I probably did before I even let myself. You’re a kind, generous, funny, lovable rogue, and I love you.” Now Nick hadn’t thrown his words back at him, Malachi felt braver.

Suddenly, Nick crushed him against him, burying his face in Malachi’s neck. He trembled, and Malachi’s heart grew more when he heard the muffled sniffles. Nick wasn’t one to show his emotions all the time, needing to keep them inside him because of his job, and with his friends, he would let some of them out, but with Malachi…he bared it all. So many nuances about this man made him love him even more.

Nick pulled back, cupping Malachi’s cheeks. “I love you.” His voice broke, but it had never sounded more beautiful.

This time, Malachi’s eyes filled, but he grinned. “We’re such saps.”

Nick smiled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Dropping his head, he brushed his lips across Nick’s mouth, letting his eyelids close and the scent and feel of him settled into Malachi’s bones. And as the kiss deepened, the taste of him was something he would never forget.

They pulled back a long few minutes later, and Nick skimmed his thumb across Malachi’s bruised lips. “Quick question. Why Kai Ruffers?”

Malachi grinned. “Because I wanted to rough them up for being assholes.”

“I love you.”

Malachi smiled. “I love you.”

Exhaling, Nick said, “Let’s catch this asshole so we can live in peace and have a party, yeah?”

“Deal.”

Malachi made them some more drinks while Nick ran down to Sec HQ for a laptop he could use. While he waited, he checkedhis emails. He’d been lax in checking them for the past couple of days because of everything that had happened, and the ones that had come before weren’t anything to write home about. Nothing had ever jumped out at him as being more than nasty words.

Until now.

Malachi/Kai,

Being two-faced is not a positive personality quirk. You either love the royals or you hate them. Which is it? What would your boss say to finding out that you’re messing with his articles by counteracting them under the Kai Ruffers name? That you didn’t have the same opinions as Adelaide Thompson?

Would you still have a job to support your family in times of ill health?

And to be in a relationship with the very same bodyguard that protects the royals? Tut, tut, tut, Malachi.

Personally, I don’t think you deserve such benefits when you don’t believe in what you write. I think I might need to rectify that. Nick looks so delicious through a scope.

Hold on tight, Malachi. Your life is about to become a rollercoaster.

The moment he finished reading, he was up and out of the suite, racing down the corridors towards Sec HQ. Nick had to be okay. He had to be. He was inside Windsor Castle. No one could shoot him there, right?

Pain lanced through Malachi’s chest as he pumped his legs and arms faster through the corridor, but as he rounded a corner, he crashed into someone, landing on his ass. He didn’t care. He scrambled up.

“Malachi! What’s wrong?” a voice shouted, but he didn’t have time. The voice didn’t belong to Nick, and he needed to find him, needed to make sure he was okay.

He reached Sec HQ and banged on the door with his fist. The door opened a sliver, and he started babbling immediately.

“Where…Nick? He…safe? Where’s…Nick?” he panted.

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