Page 63 of Vampire Soldier
“Pancakes are good,” I manage to breathe out, gripping my mug tight as I try not to squirm.
Malachi hums in response, gently frees the coffee from my hands, and sets it on the counter beside us. Before I can ask him what he’s doing, I’m yelping as his hands slide under the shirt to grip my ass. He lifts me against him, his golden eyes devilish. I wrap my legs around his waist, holding his shoulders as I try not to think about how my bare pussy is against his stomach. He starts walking out of the kitchen in the direction of the stairs.
“I want a shower with you first.”
Over an hour later, after a very thorough shower, Malachi pulls the Range Rover into a visitor’s parking spot in Tonya’s condominium’s lot. I unclick my seatbelt and open the door, saying, “You don’t have to come in?—“
But Malachi is already getting out on his side, and I curl my lips and look at the ground as I battle the butterflies growing inside me. He walks beside me as we head up to the second floor, close enough that his long sleeve brushes my arm. We don’t hold hands, though, and I can’t tell if I’m relieved or disappointed.
Considering the look Tonya gives me as she opens the door before we can knock, I’m definitely relieved.
“Well, good morning,” Tonya greets us, and I know my face is brighter than a tomato right now. She makes no effort to hide her appraisal of Malachi. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
While I opted for comfortable black leggings and a light knitted sweater, Malachi’s wearing a cream long sleeve button-down tucked into tailored black slacks. He left the matching suit coat in the car, and instead of a tie he’s opted to leave the top button undone. I’m convinced his outfit, as simple as he may consider it, is worth more than half of my wardrobe combined.
“This is Malachi, he’s my?—“
“Boyfriend!” Charlie finishes from somewhere further in the condo.
“—boss.” I finish lamely.
Tonya, goddess she is, simply raises a gleeful brow. “Is he now?”
Goddess as in the female version of Loki.
“He’s awesome,” Charlie announces, appearing beside Tonya with her backpack slung over one shoulder and her sketchbook in hand. Her smile is wide and knowing in a way that makes me want to crawl under Tonya’s welcome mat. “He kicked Uncle Sam out when he came over last week before mom got home. Now we’re staying at his place in Topside. He has every season of Married at First Sight.”
Malachi’s hand finds the small of my back, warm and steady. “It’s a good show,” he says, smooth as silk. “Thank you for watching Charlie last night.”
“Oh, the pleasure was all mine.” Tonya’s grin could put the Cheshire Cat to shame. “Blake, honey, could you help me with something in the kitchen real quick?”
I know exactly what this “something” is, but I let her drag me away anyway. Charlie’s already showing Malachi her latest sketches of building designs, and the sight of him bent to look at her notebook with genuine interest does dangerous things to my heart.
He’s beside her with all six-foot-two of his dark, utterly intimidating, suit-clad vampire body folded into something warm and casual. He might as well be carved from obsidian and sunlight, golden gaze focused entirely on my twelve-year-old. Even more, there’s real fascination in his face. I don’t think he’s faking it, not even a little.
Tonya, of course, watches it all with thinly veiled intrigue before she tugs me into the kitchen, turning so swiftly I nearly crash into her chest.
“You hussy!” she whispers harshly, her gleeful expression countering her words.
“Tonya,” I hiss, pushing her further out of sight even as my body buzzes with embarrassment and that ridiculous, rising warmth under my skin. I keep my voice at a whisper. “It’s not—it’s not what you think.”
“Oh, honey, what I think,” she drawls, setting her hands on her hips and giving me that terrifyingly gleeful, all-knowing momma-bear look, “is that the same woman who messaged the group chat last week about needing a girls’ night to talk about how ‘something happened’—has just shown up at my door clearly well fucked by a six-foot-two, sculpted-from-marble, sex-god-looking Nightshade.” She throws her hands in the air. “Girl, if I’d known that’s what had happened, I’d have volunteered for babysitting every night! We thought you meant something with work!”
“Tonya!”
“What?” she sniffs, and flicks at my wrinkled sweater like that’s somehow the greatest offense in the room. “I’m glad you’re finally getting some. And from a man who’s willing to stomp Sam into the damn floor in defense of you and that baby girl? Shit, I could cry. Hell, I will cry if you tell me there’s more where that came from. And you’re staying with him?”
“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation in your kitchen.” I cover my face with both hands and groan into my palms, my skin scorching from neck to hairline. I slide my hands to the back of my neck, gripping tight and giving Tonya a pleading look. “We’re staying with himtemporarilybecause our house was broken into a couple nights ago—“ I raise a hand to cut off her no doubt indignant demand for information, “—I know, I know. I swear I’ll tell you everything. Life has just been insane for the last week and the opening last night.”
“Mooooom!” Charlie whines from by the door. “Hurry up! He said we’re going to get pancakes!”
I let out a long breath and meet Tonya’s eyes, which soften. She wraps me in a huge hug, the ones that have been keeping me sane since I was seventeen. She presses a kiss hard against the side of my head. “We’ll get together in a couple of days and then you can tell us everything. So long as you and our baby girl are safe and happy, that’s all I care about.”
I squeeze her back, relief coursing through me. “Thanks, and I promise we will.”
“Mom!”
“I’m coming!” I shout back over my shoulder, matching her aggravated tone without thinking. Oh god, Malachi is probably regretting coming with me to pick her up.
