Glenda Must Die
Gentle fingers tracing his jaw woke Malachi the next morning. The scraping of Kelly’s nails on his stubble tickled as the rasping noise filled his ears. Yawning, he mumbled, “Morning,” before grinning sleepily at the gorgeous woman wrapped around him.
“You need to shave,” she teased with an amused smile. “You’re starting to look more like your canine form.” A small laugh seeped from her throat as she tried to swallow it down.
Pretending he was affronted, Malachi shook his shaggy black hair around, whacking her in the face and laughing as she sputtered over a mouthful of it. “Woof,” he responded playfully.
“Rude,” she declared and started to push up from the bed.
Grabbing her wrist and yanking her back down with one arm, he waved his other hand over his jaw and removed the stubble with a small burst of his magic. “Better?” he asked, arching an eyebrow as his lips quirked into a sarcastic twist.
Her mouth fell open as she gasped. “Wait, you can do that? Change your appearance? So, is this?” She waved her free hand at his body. “What you even really look like?”
“It is,” he reassured her. “My demon form is my truest form. My human form matches it pretty closely. I can do minor things like that. I can shorten or lengthen my hair some, but the overall features, I can’t change. Like I can’t make my nose smaller or my arms longer. Does that make sense?”
She nodded quickly, seeming relieved as her shoulders sagged and she blew a pent-up breath between her lips.
“Were you worried about that?” he asked, confused.
Tracing small circles on his skin, she mumbled something into his chest that he couldn’t hear. Lifting her chin with a finger, he stared at her until she repeated it. “I like the way you look; I don’t want you to change it.”
Humming happily, he pulled her close again. “I was worried, you know,” he admitted. At her inquiring noise, he continued. “After I turned full demon in that alley. I just… reacted when that man hurt you. It freaked me out to see your blood and grace spilled. When I realized you were seeing the real me, I thought you would turn away. I figured you would be disgusted and not want anything else to do with me.” His voice turned small and quiet with his words. He wouldn’t normally admit a weakness, a way to defeat him, but this was Chuck. He couldn’t hide anything from her.
“No, I’m glad you showed me. Honestly, your demon form did scare me at first. Hey!” she added soothingly as his arms clenched around her. “At first,” she emphasized, “but then I recognized it was you. And you were so beautiful to me. Truly, Malachi, you’re magnificent. I love your wings. Can you fly?”
“I can,” he answered, his voice gone low and husky with her words. She thought he was beautiful. She’d said it that night, but that was the heat ofthe moment. Now, there was only the truth between them. “Kelly, do you mean it? You’re not scared of me?”
Nodding, then shaking her head, she smirked. “Yes, I mean it, no, I’m not scared of you.” She laughed then at his expression as he scrunched his nose, realizing the contradictory questions he’d asked. “Malachi, you’ve only ever done things to protect me and keep me safe. Why would I be scared of you?”
Bobbing his head a little, embarrassed, he admitted, “Well, I was doing some things you probably wouldn’t approve of. I maaaay have corrupted a few souls along the way.” He smirked at her wide eyes before they narrowed, and he had a second to be concerned. “Ow!” He grimaced and glared fiercely after she dug her fingers into his ribs. “Demon, remember? It’s in my nature. Besides, all I did was give them some dark fantasies and desires. Probably the most fun some of them have had in a long time. But not you. Never you.” He trailed his fingers along her cheek, then traced his thumb over her bottom lip.
“Malachi.” Her voice trembled with nerves suddenly as her fingers whorled listlessly in the light sprinkle of hair on his chest. “I was wondering…”
“What do you want to know?” His own tone was low and quiet as he watched the red streaks swirl through her glowing aura. He had an idea about what she wanted. And if he was right, she was going to see a side of him she’d never forget.
Dropping her gaze from his, she sucked in a deep breath, seeming to fortify herself. “I was wondering since you’re a demon, and I’m half angel, if we were to… um… you know… uh…” A stifled squeak escaped from her throat when he lifted her chin to lock his gaze with hers.
“Kelly, I’m part incubus. There’s nothing you could ask me that would surprise me or turn me away. But let me help you. You want to know ifit’s possible for us to have sex? Physically? Or is there some other concern? Because I can assure you, if you’re worried about the physical part, I am one-hundred percent able and more than willing to accommodate any desire you have.”
Her breath whooshing out in a hard gust, she replied, “Okay, yeah, good to know. Umm. Yeah, that was part of it. I was also uh… wondering about my soul.”
Blinking, Malachi leaned back. “Your soul?” he repeated, confused.
“My soul,” she agreed. “If you and I—go there—will it darken my soul? Will it corrupt me?”
“Oh, Kelly,” he breathed and flipped her on her back, lowering his body over hers. “It’s the other way around. You’re putting your light into me. You’ve altered me, and there’s no going back. I can’t corrupt you anymore. The angel’s spell made sure of that. So, tell me,” he continued in a sultry whisper as he brushed her hair from her face, lowering his lips an inch from hers. “Is this what you want? Do you want me?”
A shiver rippled over her body as she moaned. “More than anything,” she whispered back before wrapping her trembling arms around his neck.
Taking her invitation, he lowered his lips to her and captured them in a kiss that should have set the bed on fire. He ground his hips against hers, letting her feel the hard length of him that left no doubt how much he wanted her in return.
The throaty moan that left her nearly undid him then. “Kelly,” he groaned, “you have on entirely too many clothes. I can fix that.”
He had just grasped the hem of her tank top when a frantic pounding sounded at her front door. Lying his forehead on hers in frustration, he groaned. “Ignore it. Please, I’m begging you. Let them think you aren’t home, and they’ll go away.”
Chuckling, she arched her back and tangled her fingers in his hair. “Agreed,” she murmured, licking up the line of his throat before biting his jaw.
Talons sprouted from his fingers, ready to shred her clothing from her body when the knocking came again. Even louder this time, accompanied by shouts of her name. It was a woman’s voice, and it set Reena off into a cacophony of howls and yips.
