Page 23 of Unholy

“No.” One hand drifted up, brushing Malachi’s lower lip. “I feel like I should, but for some reason, I just don’t.”

Malachi pressed closer, wrapping his arms around Luke. He tugged until they were laying down with Luke’s head on his chest, then pulled the throw off the back of the couch and draped it over them. “I’m so glad you invited me in, treasure.”

Luke shivered, and Malachi pressed his smile to the top of his head. Luke tossed a muscular arm over his middle and tangled their legs together. It was a tight fit layingon the couch like this, but they made it work. Malachi wouldn’t move for all the world.

“You like that one, treasure?” he whispered. “It’s fitting. You’re beautiful as a diamond and twice as tough. And youaresomething precious that I want to take good care of.”

“Mal,” he croaked, turning his face into Malachi’s chest.

“Yeah, treasure?”

“Shut up. Stop saying—nice things.”

Malachi chuckled. “That just means I need to say them more. But fine. I said I’d take care of you. That means I should probably get the food.”

“In a minute,” Luke said. “Let’s stay like this for a little longer.”

Victory roared within Malachi, and he laid his head back against the armrest, grinning up at the ceiling. “Whatever you want, treasure.”

Chapter 9

Luke

Malachi insistedLuke stay on the couch while he reheated the food. Naked but for the ratty throw, Luke curled an arm under his head and watched Malachi through the space over the breakfast bar. He moved around in Luke’s kitchen, in his entire apartment, like he belonged there.

How could a demon be the one who said such sweet things to him?

Luke had never really felt cared for. Growing up in the orphanage at HQ, his needs had always been met, but there were just too many children for one-on-one time. He’d been well-fed and had plenty of clean clothes and received a good education, but they weren’t family. He was just one of many, guided onto his path with the group, but never treated like an individual. And as he grew, he toughened up. He was a big man; most of his partners in the past expected him to be the dominant one in the bedroom, taking care of the other person’s needs and then his own. No one had ever laid him out and focused onhimbefore. No one had ever treated himlike something to be protected. Something precious. Somethingtreasured.

God, was it really so easy to break down his walls? Did a few kind words and soft kisses really have him baring all to ademon?

Said demon swanned from the kitchen carrying a steaming plate of food. He set it on the scuffed coffee table and pressed a hand to Luke’s chest before he could sit up. Throwing a leg over him, he sat on his thighs and slid his hands up Luke’s abdomen. His fingernails scraped over Luke’s nipples, sending heat down to pool in his stomach.

“Hungry?” Malachi asked, leaning in. His glossy hair grazed Luke’s cheek.

“Mm.” He slipped his hand under the curtain of Malachi’s hair to the back of his neck and drew him in for a kiss. “You know,” he said between languid kisses, “I was in something of a dry spell before you came along.”

He’d given up on dating even before he lost his squad. Dating within the guild was too awkward, and dating outside it meant having to lie to them about what he did for a living. He’d had his needs met with one-night stands for years, and even then, he didn’t invite them back to his place. It didn’t feel right to have a relative stranger in his private space. And after losing his squad, after he’d received the scars on his face, he’d had no interest in braving even that much closeness with someone. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a guest in his apartment, never mind someone he wanted to see him naked. The levels of intimacy involved were too much when he was trying to protect his heart. But somehow, Malachi had crashed right through all of his protective walls and made himself at home in thecenter of Luke’s world. He almost couldn’t believe how easy it had been for him.

Malachi looked delighted. “Oh, yeah? You need to get off again, treasure? Demons have very short refractory periods. I can go as many times as you want.”

Luke crushed Malachi’s body against his, sliding his hands down his bare back and into the back of his jeans. “Maybe,” he hedged.

“How long has it been since somebody touched you?” Malachi asked, wriggling free of the jeans as Luke pushed them down his legs. His boxer briefs hung in the tight fabric, dragged down with them, and soon enough he was as naked as Luke.

Luke didn’t respond right away, and when Malachi pulled back to look at him properly, a slow, smug grin overtook his face. Was Luke blushing? He was probably blushing. He hated how easily Malachi could read him.

“How long has it been?” Malachi asked again, planting his elbows on either side of Luke’s head and blanketing him with his weight. “How long since someone touched you? Since someone else saw the way your beautiful mouth opens when you come?”

“Um.” He tried to speak, but Malachi rolled his hips, and the hot glide of their cocks rubbing together rendered him speechless.

“When was the last time anyone made you feel this good, huh?” Malachi asked, nipping down the unscarred side of his jaw and nuzzling his nose in the scruff under his ear.

“This good? Never,” Luke confessed.

Malachi growled, a low, inhuman thing that vibratedagainst Luke’s sternum. “Are you just saying that to please me?”

Luke laughed breathlessly. “No, not at all. You’re so… Everything about you seems made just for me. I thought it was a trick. I thought there was no way a demon could be so perfect for me. Still do, kind of.”

---