Page 78 of Malice
Twenty-Two
MERRI
Who knew the horseman Pestilence would giggle in his sleep? I sure didn’t, but here we were, napping on my bed after an amazing dreamwalk together, and the man giggled loud enough it woke me.
Out of all the horsemen, Malice and Grim were both restrained, but it was Malice who always felt the most closed off. I’d managed to learn things about Grim through his love of plants and the conflict he felt about his power, but Malice was locked up tighter than a cock cage—or maybe a chastity belt. So this rare moment of unfiltered vulnerability from him was the equivalent of waving a hot fudge sundae under my nose. It was absolutely irresistible.
His chest rose and fell in that deep, rhythmic way you only achieved through sleep, and I wanted nothing more than to stay here with my body against his, listening for more of those uninhibited laughs his dream was causing. Glancing up at his face, I had to fight a sigh at his handsome features. Chiseled cheekbones, an aristocratic nose, insanely long eyelashes that went blond at the tips, full kissable lips with just the tiniestindentation in the middle of the bottom one, which somehow only made it seem more lush—hence the reason I bit the fuck out of it during our dream. He even had the slightest dusting of freckles across the bridge of his nose that made him seem almost boyish in his sleep. Even with the sexy golden stubble covering his jaw.
He might be the lord of Pestilence, but he was pretty as all hell.
“I feel you staring at me, hellcat,” he murmured, eyes still closed.
“Is that a crime?”
One amethyst eye opened, then closed again. “No. I suppose not. Unless you’re plotting against me.”
“Mmmm... not at the moment.” I trailed my fingertip across his defined chest, circling one nipple and watching as it tightened. “I’ll let you know if that changes.”
“I’m waiting with bated breath.”
At first I thought he might scoot away from me, leave, and go take care of whatever it was Pestilence did, but he simply tightened his hold on me and pulled me closer.
I didn’t anticipate the wave of relief the cuddle sent through me. I guess part of me had been worried that the intimacy we’d shared in the dream wouldn’t translate to the real world. Not because he hadn’t meant it, but because Malice didn’t usually allow himself to express his feelings.
“You’re not doing a very good job of hiding your thoughts, Merri. I can feel your relief.”
“I wasn’t trying to hide anything from you. This is nice, you and me in bed. I just didn’t expect you to be a cuddles-after-sex kind of guy.”
A low, rumbling chuckle vibrated through his chest as he ran his knuckles down my side. “Honestly, I didn’t think I was either. In my limited experience, cuddling wasn’t on the menu.”
This felt like an opening to ask about his last relationship, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment with something that clearly still weighed on him. Before I could decide whether to risk it, Malice let out another laugh and an amused, “Fuck.”
“What’s so funny?”
“Sin.”
I pushed myself up on my elbow so I could look down at him. “You’re lying here with me thinking aboutSin?” I asked in mock outrage.
“He’s going to be so jealous I’m the one getting all the romantic snuggle time. Especially after what you admitted.”
It didn’t feel right talking about my feelings for Sin while lying in Malice’s bed, at least not before Sin and I talked about it, so I just let out a soft hum and snuggled back into Mal’s side.
“That’s between me and him. I owe him that privacy.”
“I owe him as well. After what he did for me, he deserves my respect.”
“What did he do?”
Malice heaved a sigh, his fingers tightening their grip on me for a second before he relaxed. “I couldn’t get free of the demon’s snare. He rescued me.”
I could sense his frustration with himself, so I booped him on the nose. “You’re a very handsome damsel.”
“Quite.”
Tension had his jaw set and brows pulled tight. I wasn’t going to let him shut down, not now that we’d made such progress.
“What did the demon show you?”
