Page 7

Malachi held a snoozing Danny in his arms, his mate’s head resting on Malachi’s chest. Danny snored softly, his lips parted, and his brow relaxed. They’d spent the entire previous day and night making love, at least as much as Malachi could handle. At this point, he wondered if his dick might fall off.

Sure, he’d heard plenty of tales about what other fated couples experienced when their Nephilim went into heat. But hearing about a heat and actually going through one were worlds apart.

Malachi cuddled Danny tighter, placing a light kiss on the top of his head. As much as he wished they could remain in bed another day, with or without extracurricular activity, Malachi had missed Michael's updates the day before.

While Danny was dozing after their third romp, he went downstairs to check in and get a refill on food and drinks. He figured he could leave Danny some refreshments while he joined the others for the final report on the events at the Wheeler Opera House.

However, Michael had informed him that his place was with his mate for now, and he’d brief him later. Malachi sensed he was being phased out of active operations. That was typically what happened when a Slayer was united with his mate. Yet his situation was unique. Malachi wasn’t sure what took precedence. His obligation as a Slayer that hadn’t reached his kill quota? Or as the mate of a high-level Nephilim.

“Baby.”

Malachhi gave Danny a slight jostle. “We should get up so I can get you something to eat.”

In truth, he was rather hungry himself. Satisfying Danny had been a lot of work. He grinned to himself. Not that he was complaining.

“Mmm…”

Danny stretched with a long groan. “Fuck. I was definitely ridden hard and put away wet. Princess needs a shower.”

Malachi laughed. “I’ll go make some coffee, then join you.”

The suite they were using had an attached bathroom, so they’d been able to lose themselves in their own private paradise.

Danny rolled out of bed. “Coffee. The elixir of the gods.”

He paused, tapping a finger to his lips. “Am I allowed to say stuff like that. What with the Divine Spark being top dog.”

Malachi stood, rubbing his lower back. Rolling around with Danny had taken a bigger toll on his body than most demon battles.

“Don’t worry about it. Obviously, humans have worshipped many gods over the ages and have expressed themselves in a multitude of ways. The Divine Spark is much more complicated than a single God. They encompass all that is creation.”

Danny scrubbed his face. “Okay. Remind me not to ask deep, theological questions before coffee anymore.”

Malcahi chuckled. “Deal. Do you want anything else while I’m down there?”

“More fruit. And the croissants, if there are any left. That should hold me for now.”

Malachi strode over to Danny and gave him a quick but firm kiss. “Be right back.”

After giving Danny’s smooth ass cheek a quick squeeze, he yanked on his discarded jeans, then jogged down the stairs. No one else seemed to be around, and Malachi wondered if they should be vacating the safe house as well, or if Michael had purposely sent everyone away so he and Danny could be alone.

While the coffee brewed and he piled up a new platter with goodies for them, he remembered when Dante and Amir first got together. Their relationship progressed quickly, the same as his and Danny’s. But they hadn’t been anywhere special like the Aspen mansion. They’d made do with the lair in Southern California, with very little privacy.

Once he had everything ready, Malachi made his way up the stairs, balancing everything carefully. When he reached the closed door to their suite, he silently chided himself. Had he known no one else was around, he could’ve left it unlatched to simply push his way in.

He carefully set the food tray down, then used his free hand to turn the door knob, being careful not to slosh the mugs of coffee he held in his other hand. Malachi had barely opened the door when he was met with the sight of a naked Danny frantically rushing around the room, tossing clothes around, and pulling up chair cushions.

“Hey, slow down. What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

Danny’s hair was dripping wet, and beads of water decorated his skin, so it appeared as if he’d rushed from the shower without drying off.

Danny paused, staring at him with a worried expression. “Do you remember if your friend Cassiel had my stuff with her when she brought me here?”

Malachi tilted his head, wondering what stuff Danny was referring to. “I’m afraid not. The only thing you had with you was what you were wearing.”

“But I was wearing my jacket.”

Danny clutched his hair. “It had everything in my pockets—my phone, keys, wallet... Everything. Why would those asshole demons steal my stuff? I need that shit.”

“I see.”

Malachi rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay, let’s figure out how I can help you fix this.”

Danny arched his eyebrows. “You’re way more grounded and mature than I am. I hope you can put up with my freakouts.”

Malachi pressed his lips together. “Stop that. I’m honored to be with you. Let me get the food from the hall, you sit down over here…”

he gestured to one of the chairs at the table. “…and have some coffee. I’ll get you a towel too, so you don’t catch a chill.”

While he gathered everything together, he ran Danny’s concerns through his head. Even if he didn’t use a phone, he knew humans were unusually attached to them. They also needed special cards for money, another card to prove they were who they said they were, and of course, keys were essential for any being. Everyone needed those.

Malachi sat down with Danny and laid his hand over his mate’s. “If you’re worried about money, I’ll be taking care of you. Food, shelter - everything you could ever want will be provided. I’m not sure where we’ll be living permanently yet, but the next time I see Michae, I’ll press him to give me an answer.”

Danny tipped back his head, muttering to himself. “I never thought this through. Of course, we’d be living together, starting a new life.”

He dropped his head in his hands. “Holy shit. I had a shift today. They’re going to kill me.”

Malachi shot to his feet, his gargoyle fighting to be set free. “Who the hell is going to kill you! I’ll rip them to shreds!”

Danny gasped, grabbing Malachi’s arm. “Whoa there, Tiger. No one is going to literally kill me.”

He paused then sucked in a breath. “Well, at least not anyone I know. I meant I’m in big trouble because I missed my work shift, and I need my ID, all the stuff in my phone. I probably have at least a thousand missed calls.”

“I see.”

Malachi lowered himself onto the chair, his rage slowly dissipating. “I will certainly ask Cassiel about your jacket, but I’m afraid it’s unlikely she brought it with her. I saw her lift you then race from the room before the shadows could harm you further.”

Danny let out a long sigh as he fell back against the chair. “That makes perfect sense. I’m sorry if I sound ungrateful. Obviously you weren’t worrying about all my crap, that’s ridiculous of me.”

He sighed again. “It’s not the end of the world. It’ll just be a hassle to replace everything.”

“Is it vitally important that you have these things? Like I said, I can provide for you.”

Danny smiled at him as he took a sip of his coffee. “You’re the sweetest. I’m not expecting that, though. I can still work and contribute.”

“Uh…”

Malachi cleared his throat. “I appreciate your willingness to do your part, but your role as my mate and a Nephilim won’t be fulfilled in the human world.”

Danny stopped mid-chew, setting the other half of his croissant down. “Oh. Like, I’m never going back?”

His eyes darted around the room. “But, what will I do all day? Don’t get me wrong, the fucking?”

He bit his bottom lip. “Sublime. However, I doubt that it’ll be an around-the-clock activity.”

Malachi winced. He truly was out of his element. The next time he saw Dante, he’d have to be sure and apologize for teasing him when Dante was so befuddled by Amir.

“It’s unsafe for you in the human world, so there’s that. But also, we’ll have a home to build together with our children. I imagine I’ll be transferred to training, or perhaps assigned to oversee a territory.”

Danny arched his eyebrows. “Before I get to the part where I’m snippy, I’d like to state that I’m very much looking forward to having kids, raising them, all that good stuff. But I’ll also need to do something else with my time. Kids grow up, you know? Then what?”

“Well, of course. I don’t expect you to give up everything to raise our children.”

Malachi racked his brain for the right answer to Danny’s query. “Because of your Nephilim status, Michael might have an assignment for you.”

He chewed on his lower lip. “Or maybe you have other interests you’ve always wished to explore? Amir has two children, but he also studies ancient texts and analyzes where other hidden relics might be found.”

Danny snorted. “Yeah, unlikely that’ll be my calling.”

“Okay…”

Malachi struggled to come up with other options. All he ever thought about was protecting this, killing that, when it came to his duties. “Ezekiel’s mate is a doctor. So they work together when healing is required.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Mal. Come on. Do I look like I’ve studied medicine?”

“I’m sorry. I’ve never thought about these things before.”

Danny pressed his lips together, nodding. “No, you’re right. This isn’t on you. I can’t expect you to decide for me. This is my problem.”

He picked at the other half of his croissant. “All I’ve ever done is party and purposely reject anything and everything my parents wanted me to do.”

“But you’ve been working and taking care of yourself. That’s something to be proud of.”

Danny shrugged. “I guess. Skiing is just something I’ve done all my life, an opportunity to move away from my family. I’ve never considered it a long-lasting career choice.”

Danny gave him a half-smile. “And I doubt there’s much of a call for skiing gargoyles and angels.”

Malachi chuckled. “No. I don’t imagine there is. But maybe there’s something else that you haven’t considered yet? Perhaps something you rejected because your family was encouraging you in that direction, but you secretly wished you could do.”

Danny tucked his damp hair behind his ears. “Hmm. Well, at one point, when I was younger, I really got into cooking. I used to watch all those gourmet cooking shows, especially the challenges. I would experiment, try to copy what they did by inventing recipes of my own.”

Malachi did love a good meal. “Why didn’t you keep pursuing that?”

Danny stared at his fingers, fidgeting with them. “I was still in the pre-teen, lack of self-confidence phase. My sister mocked me, and my parents were horrified. Apparently, crafting gourmet meals made me gayer. And the fact that I was in the kitchen spending so much time with the ‘help’ mortified them even more. They completely shut me down, and I’ve never returned to cooking.”

Malachi frowned. How dare Danny’s parents treat him like that? Under different circumstances, he might feel guilty about taking Danny away from his family. Not anymore.

“If you ever want to pursue that again, you can experiment on me.”

Malachi patted his belly. “I love a good meal.”

Danny laughed. “I might take you up on that. But I should wait and see if Michael gives me some cool Nephilim stuff to do first.”

He raised his hands, wiggled his fingers, and waved them from one side of the room to the other. “Pew, pew, pew. I’m still holding out for superpowers.”

Malachi laughed, relieved that his mate wasn’t upset anymore. He hadn’t expected Danny’s distress to hurt his heart so much.

He reached across the table and clasped Danny’s hand. “I’ll help you however I can. But now that you’ve brought up your old life and possessions, if there’s anything you’d like from your apartment, we should retrieve it today. I’m afraid you won’t be going back there anymore.”

Danny squeezed his hand back. “Wow. Reality is setting in. I’m really doing this.”

Malachi’s stomach clenched. “Do you still want to?”

Danny jumped up from his chair and rushed over to Malachi. He draped himself across his lap and wrapped his arm around Malachi’s neck.

“Are you kidding? Give up my hunky gargoyle? No way, buster. You’re stuck with me.”

Danny slipped his tongue between Malachi’s lips, and he allowed his mate to take control. With each hungry swipe, Malachi was reassured of Danny’s affection, his belief that they could build a life together.

Malachi made a solemn promise to himself. He would devote his existence to Danny’s happiness. His mate deserved nothing less.