“Fuck,” Malachi growled and sagged against her. “It’s Glenda. She’s worried.” He rolled over and stared at the ceiling. “Go ahead. See what she needs. I’m going to drown myself in the coldest shower I can manage. If you come into your bathroom and find icicles, mind your own business,” he muttered grumpily. Crossing his arms over his chest, he frowned at his groin where the tented sheet displayed exactly why he was upset.
Clearing her throat, eyes wide, Chuck stared openly at this display. “You know, I’ve seen you naked, but never when you were… ahem… I’m going to go answer that before she breaks down the door.” Indeed, it now sounded as if Glenda were kicking the wood. She leapt from the bed but got one foot tangled in the sheet. Hopping on one leg, she tried to free the other. The banging intensified, and Reena howled even louder, so Chuck hollered, “Coming!” over her shoulder.
“You were about to,” Malachi grumbled before leaning over to yank the sheet away from her foot.
Flashing him a grateful smile with an embarrassed flush creeping over her cheeks, she raked her hands over the short cap of her silky hair. No doubt trying to flatten it so it didn’t look like she’d been doing exactly what they were about to do.
Stumbling over her shoes, Chuck snatched her robe from the closet and ran towards the entryway to answer the door. Thankfully, Glenda seemed to recognize that they were indeed alive and was now waiting patiently.
Groaning, Malachi dragged himself from the warm bed, staring down regretfully at the mussed sheets. His cock was throbbing painfully now with the demand for the release it had been promised. Palming himself, he squeezed and willed his body to calm down. It did not work. Grumbling about fucking nosy witches, he hurried to the shower and set it as cold as it would go. Hissing under the icy spray, he thought of several inventive ways he could justify dragging Glenda to Hell for her intrusion. Surely interrupting the multiple orgasms he’d planned to give Kelly would count as harm. He wasn’t sure Nick the winged freak would see it that way, but he could be fairly persuasive when he wanted to.
Finally calming down, at least he was only semi-hard, he stepped out and toweled himself dry. Grinning, he shifted to dog form and trotted out to the living room. He woofed a greeting to Glenda and Chuck before leaping to the sofa next to them. Curling up beside Chuck, he lay his head in her lap and grumbled his displeasure.
“Hey, Mal,” Chuck offered softly, absently rubbing between his ears.
“Don’t play me, demon boy,” Glenda snapped, pointing an accusing finger at him. “I know you can be in your other form when you want. Change. Face me like the demon you are!”
Pleased to be able to partake in some malicious compliance, Malachi jumped down from the couch and stood before her. In a blink, he morphed into his full demon form. Towering over the women, he fanned his wings lightly and bent his head so his horns wouldn’t scrape the ceiling. Bowing, he winked and asked, “Better?” in a tone that was only slightly snarky. Hegrinned, showing his fangs as Glenda’s dark brown face paled to an ashen gray that closely matched his own skin.
Reena happily trotted into the room and paused. She took in his hulking demon form and barked once in excitement before running to him and rubbing on his ankles. She reared up on her hind legs, pawing the air and prancing in excitement.
Indulging her, Malachi bent and picked up the Chuglet, then cradled her like a baby. He tickled her tummy with his talons and cooed at her. She sighed in contentment and gazed at him adoringly. Rocking her slightly, Malachi raised his gaze to the women on the couch, studying them as they did the same. Chuck was grinning at his display, no doubt aware he was retaliating for being interrupted. Glenda’s mouth was opening and closing like a fish, trying to gather her wits.
Folding his legs underneath him, Malachi settled to the floor and tucked his wings behind him. Smiling innocently, well, as innocently as a sex demon could smile, he tossed his long black hair over his shoulder. “What can we help you with, Glenda?” he inquired politely.
Demons are NOT Precious
After Glenda had regained her composure and Chuck had made them all coffee, they settled down to discuss why she was there. Malachi had already grudgingly gone to get clothes and change back to human form. Still feeling spiteful, he shifted first, then went to his room, giving both ladies a whole eyeful of what he had to offer. He heard Chuck cackling gleefully and Glenda scolding her for encouraging him.
Sitting at the dining table now, Malachi held the coffee cup between his palms. He didn’t plan to drink it but was intrigued by the way humans seemed to be fueled by their daily ritual of consuming the bitter bean water simply to get by. As the cup warmed his palms, he tuned back into the conversation about why Glenda had appeared that morning, banging on the door like she was serving a warrant.
“So, this whole time you knew Malachi was a demon?” Chuck demanded of her friend.
Waving her fingers, sending her bracelets jangling, Glenda waggled her head quickly. “Yeah, yeah, I knew. But I also knew how protective of you he was and that he would watch out for you. And yes, before you ask, Iknow what you are and what your daddy was. It’s why I’m always in your business, honey. I love you, and you need extra lookin’ out for!”
Shaking her head in disbelief, Chuck leaned back in her chair, a stunned expression on her face as she processed this news.
“I didn’t know what the boy looked like with his wings, though, damn near made my heart fall out of my chest.” Glenda tapped her finger on her lips and studied Malachi through narrowed eyes. “And you didn’t seem surprised to see it, so I’m guessing you two know all about each other now?”
Nodding with a soft smile, Chuck threaded her fingers through Malachi’s and leaned forward. “We do. He shared his background with me, and well, we’ve come to care about each other. A lot. But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here.”
“I don’t know what in the name of the goddess you were doing, but every protective ward I have set for you was going off. I wasn’t home last night; I went to help deliver a baby with a coven member. So, imagine my surprise when I walk in, and my workroom is in total disarray with all my alarms going batshit crazy!” Glenda explained.
“Hmm,” Malachi hummed, and at their inquiring looks explained. “I’ve always wondered about that phrase. Batshit crazy. I mean… who decided batshit was the craziest shit? Yeah, high concentrations will kill you with the insane nitrogen levels, and histoplasmosis is always a risk, but still, have you ever seen giraffe shit? It’s like little balls of cocoa. Oversized cocoa pebbles. How does a huge animal like that have such tiny little poos? Elephants, now there’s a respectable pile of shit. They just let it all go. And don’t get me started on hippos. Whew! But bats? A tiny flying mammal that shits where it sleeps? No, thank you.” He glanced up from where he was gazing into his coffee cup to see both of them staring at him, jaws hanging open. “What?” he demanded.
Chuck slowly shook her head and chuckled. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but you are a wealth of weird knowledge, Malachi.” Turning to Glenda, she smiled. “Anyway, as you can see, I’m perfectly fine. So is Malachi. It seems whatever alarms you have tuned to me—which by the way, stalker much?—were a little premature.”
“No,” Glenda insisted. “They weren’t, I was just delayed in receiving them. Now start from the beginning.”
Sighing, Chuck told the story of Malachi revealing her heritage and warning her of the threat against her. Then, their trip to the bar, and the subsequent attack on her. His revealing his demon form and capturing her would be assassin. Describing how Blake had grabbed her, then cut her. She showed Glenda the angry red cut and pointed at Malachi, explaining how he’d healed it from oozing grace.
He took up the narrative then. Leaving out their fight, he went to the backyard, thinking to spare Chuck the pain of his death and the angel confronting him. As they’d gone to sleep shortly after, Chuck hadn’t heard some of this. She gasped when he revealed that the angel Nick was actually her uncle. Tears filled her eyes, turning the brown irises into pools of melted chocolate he would gladly drown in to remove the sadness from her expression.
“I have other family?” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.
Nodding slowly, Malachi met her gaze. “You do. Nick, who answered my p-prayer, was an angel. He said he was your uncle from H-Heaven. I think he’s been watching you and took advantage of my feelings for you to find a guardian.” He snorted. “As if I wouldn’t have watched you anyway.” He arched an eyebrow, daring either of them to contradict him.
“But you weren’t leaving for real, right?” Glenda demanded, pointing at him.
