Chapter 317: The End?
Malachi and Celeste didn't leave each other for the span of the whole night.
It was an experience unlike any she had ever felt before.
Her long dry spell paired with Mal's insatiably created an exquisite hell that she didn't know if she ever wanted to escape from.
The twenty two year old was very affectionate.
Even if Celeste was sore and needed a moment to recover, Malachi would still adamantly caress her skin or leave small marks in places no one else would notice.
Normally Celeste felt she might consider such a thing overstimulating, but it was quite far from unpleasant.
She felt as if her entire body was humming with echoes of his touch that only amplified the intense pleasure that followed when he inevitably continued.
But as exhilarating as the evening was, Celeste was still only human.
There was a limit to just how much intercourse her body could take before pain and discomfort began to outweigh the pleasure.
Celeste lost count of the amount of orgasms she endured before finally collapsing.
Only now did Mal feel like he may have overindulged in his excitement.
Celeste was a beautiful wreck; heaving dryly as she was covered in their sweat and a familiar dried black substance.
The only dissapointing part of last night was that Mal never got to finish inside of his longtime crush.
He was fully aware that Celeste hadn't fully made up her mind around him yet.
So since he didn't want to tamper with her emotional state even a little bit, he withheld himself from taking that final step.
…His libido was still screaming at him that he hadn't made the right choice, but luckily his idea of morality was stronger.
While Celeste was still trembling, Mal knelt by her side and lifted her off the floor.
She groaned in his embrace and spoke in a hoarse, tired voice.
"N-No more… I can't-"
"Don't worry, we're done for the night, love. We're just going to get you cleaned up."
Celeste's ears turned red. "I-I can do that myself, Malachi. Please put me down…"
"…"
Malachi paused in the hallway and tried to put Celeste back onto her feet.
Unsurprisingly, she went down immediately like a newborn baby.
She would have hit her nose square on the floor if Malachi didn't catch her and put her right back in the same position as before.
"…I hate you."
"I love you though?"
Celeste turned away in the hopes that Mal wouldn't see her face turning red.
He did.
"I'm not gonna force you to say it back, but I am still going to say how I feel. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"…J-Just help me get into the bath." She said quietly.
Though she was still acting with a hard exterior, Mal could feel himself cracking through it.
He carried her into the bathroom and ran the water for both of them until it was at the perfect temperature.
Lowering both of their bodies in, he placed her in between his legs so that she could recline back into his chest and rest her body.
For a while, the two of them stewed in complete silence- the only sound being the occasional drip of water into the tub.
Sense they were in close contact, Malachi could hear Celeste's thoughts kind of like they were background noise in his brain.
However, he decided not to listen to them this time and instead give her a moment to herself.
He simply ran warm water along the exposed parts of her body; cleaning her skin and hopefully soothing her muscles as well.
"That was…" Celeste became quiet as if she couldn't get the last word out because it was too embarrassing.
Malachi kissed her at the base of her neck and he felt her body tremble in his grasp once again.
"…For me too."
Celeste was glad that the water was fairly hot, so now she could blame her flushed face on something other than his words and body.
"…This doesn't change anything for me, you know..? It was a nice night and all, but I want us to put this behind us… I still can't be in a relationship with you."
There wasn't a single part of anything that Celeste said that surprised Malachi.
But just the same, none of it really deterred him either.
"Well since we're being honest, this doesn't change a whole lot for me either…"
He gently touched Celeste's cheek and turned her face towards him so that he could see her beautiful expression.
"I am never going to let you go. No matter what you think, I am going to earn your heart by any means necessary."
Celeste saw Malachi's lips slowly moving towards hers, and she knew that she had to avoid them.
And yet despite her mind yelling at her loudly to move, she closed her eyes instead.
-
"And then what happened???"
Malachi chuckled at Luna's rare display of childlike curiosity.
"We kissed, finished bathing… and then she asked me to leave."
"I see…" Luna actually looked a bit disappointed like she was hoping for much juicier details.
When Malachi left Celeste's company, it was already 5 am.
He returned to New York to find that most of the girls were still sleeping, but Luna remained awake and seated on the couch.
Since it was already morning and the girls would probably wake soon, Mal stepped into the kitchen and started cooking breakfast for the loves of his life.
But of course, Luna wanted to know everything that'd happened while he was gone. Starting with the reason why he smelled of Celeste.
Even little Shiro had crawled into her master's lap so that she could listen in on this bit of sexy gossip.
And so, Malachi told them everything from beginning to end. And when it came to the details of his first night with Celeste, he didn't spare any details.
Luna listened intently, and she never made him feel like he was in jeopardy of saying something that she shouldn't have and earning her ire.
When he finished, she looked at him with a tiny bit of pity that didnt escape his notice.
"...Do you really think you can convince her?"
"She's stubborn... but she can't hide her feelings as well as she thinks." he started to smile.
Mal suddenly paused momentarily as he glanced at Luna.
She was already staring back at him with unhidden interest, and when their eyes met she broke out into a small smile.
"Something on your mind?"
"...Do you ever resent me?"
"Only when you and Joanne drink all my wine without leaving me any."
"Babe, I'm being serious." Mal hid a smile.
"And so am I." Luna suddenly stood up and came around the kitchen island.
She wrapped her arms around Malachi and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.
"You've asked me and all of the others this frequently since we've been together. And miraculously, our answer has yet to change. I wonder why that is?'
"Me too, that's why I asked..."
"Smart ass." Luna bit his ear hard enough to cause discomfort. "Do you want my answer to change to 'yes' one of these days?"
"No, but-"
"Then you should stop asking as much." Luna emphasized. "We love you because you are considerate of us, but you should know by now that if we really had a problem we would tell you. Especially Anna."
Malachi could not argue with such fool-proof logic even if he wanted to.
Luna rested her cheek on Mal's chest as she took the eggs off the eye of the stove. "Besides... It isn't as if we don't all end up falling in love with each other too. So if one of us is guilty of something, then we all must be."
"...I don't deserve any of you."
"I'd beg to differ, darling. Just take a look at this."
Luna pointed to the stove where several different meals were in production.
Sei liked lighter meals for breakfast, so she was being made a small omelette with chunks of ham and tomatoes.
Luna and Nadine would just drink the blood of whoever was sitting next to them.
Anna was seemingly attempting to become a diabetic, because she usually wanted French toast and pancakes on Saturdays.
Bianca was less complicated; requiring only a bowl of cereal and a coffee to adequately get her engines running.
Joanne usually only ate a bowl of cut up fruit and toast with a mimosa strong enough to make even Dionysus consider AA.
"You care about us, Malachi. In a way that I believe no others men in this world would. That is why we all stand beside you, and why we trust you with our hearts in a way that few women would dare to."
Luna took Malachi's face into her hands and stared into his eyes warmly.
"So long as you continue to be the man that you are, we will always stick beside you. And once you finally seduce that stubborn Celeste… our 'little' family will be complete."
Luna leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.
Perhaps more than anything else, this was exactly what he needed at the moment. Mentally and physically.
He opened his mouth to let her know just how much he appreciated her when suddenly he got the strangest, most annoyed feeling.
Not even a minute later, Serana came in through the front door holding her breasts and crying.
"WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME GETTING YOUR TITTIES PIERCED HURT THIS BADDD?!?"