Page 17 of Malachi
“I. Am not. Afraid. Of you,” I spat back slowly, filled with a confidence that I had never felt before. Before he could utter another word, I took off. I don’t know what possessed me to do such a thing, but one minute I was standing there arguing with my husband and the next I was flying in the wind, my feet racing across the tall grass towards the trees.
He howled into the night sky, surprising me, but I did not dare waste time looking back at him. I raced into the trees, a smile splitting my face until my cheeks hurt. Small branches brushed over my skin, scraping uncomfortably, but I did not care. I was one with the wind, racing against my husband to some unknown conclusion that only excited me.
I expected to hear him behind me, but there were only the sounds of the surrounding forest. Everything felt heightened as my pace slowed, looking around for any sign of Malachi. Even the sound of insects seemed to flutter into near silence. My heart pounded in my chest.
The rustling of something to my left caught my attention, making me turn with a gasp.
My breaths came in quick pants. Still, there was no sign of him.
Fear gripped me, but the excitement of the moment, of something unknown, overpowered it.
“Little bird,” his deep voice, laced with something I didn’t recognize, called to me, just behind where I stood. I may not have known what that tone was, but my body did. My nipples hardened in the cooling summer air, my thighs clenching together.
“Malachi?” I called out with trepidation. A low chuckle was the only response he gave. I stepped forward slowly, the snap of a twig cracking below my step.
“Run,” his growled response came.
Without a thought, I shot forward, running through the trees again, noting the fact that this was uncharted territory. I had never run this far into his woods before. I moved past tree after tree; the brush scraping against my bare legs as I raced forward.
I slowed as I neared a stream, the sound of rushing water filling my ears as I tried to hear where he was. I stood stock still, my thundering heartbeat the only sound that overpowered the rushing stream ahead.
Suddenly, hands grabbed at me. His hands. Roughly, he pulled me back into him, my back flush against his muscled chest.
“Little bird has been caught.Tsk tsk…” his voice murmured against my head, my hair fluttering with every word.
“Malachi…” my voice breathed, barely able to form words. His body, pressing me against his large frame, held me captivated, literally and figuratively.
“Should have run faster,” he chuckled darkly. His hands grasped at me, running down my hips, gathering the material of my skirt in his large hands and tugging up. “Will the little bird fight, or will she accept?” he taunted me with every word.
“Or will she flee?” I panted back, pulling myself from his embrace, turning on a dime and racing past him.
“Oh, how delightful,” I heard him call as I raced ever forward. I stumbled over a pile of brush, gasping as my hands sunk into the moist grass below. I heard him behind me, his footfalls surprisingly light but still audible.
I found my footing, rising from the forest floor and sprinting forward.
He was faster than me. I could hear him gaining speed, closing in as he neared.
I couldn’t outrun him. He had too many advantages against me. I looked at my surroundings. He knew these woods like the back of his hand. He was larger than me; faster than me.
A large bush to my right caught my eye, and I dashed over to it, keeping my footing as light and quiet as I could. I pushed past the exterior leaves, finding space behind for me to crouch down.
My breathing was too heavy, too loud. He would surely find me. It would give me away.
Why wasn’t I afraid? I should be afraid that he would find me; that he would punish me. Instead, I found myself invigorated, excited, and…aroused. That was the feeling. I was aroused at the thought of him finding me, of him capturing me. What was wrong with me?
His low chuckle was my only warning before his hands reached into the brush, grabbing me by the arms and dragging me out. I pulled, I pushed, I tried to free myself from his grasp, wanting to run again. But he was stronger. Much,muchstronger.
I pulled away from him, using the entire force of my body to jerk forward attempting to flee his embrace. His powerful arms held my arms back, forbidding me from fleeing. My heart thundered in my chest, threatening to crash through my sternum, crumbling my ribcage around me with its force.
I was breathless. I was anxious. And I was deliriously aroused beyond anything I had ever felt before.
“Malachi,” I whispered in a trembling breath.
“What is it about you?” he whispered against the shell of my ear, his rhetorical question going unanswered as he pulled me back into him with a jerk. I lost my footing, tripping over the underbrush as I fell back against his chest.
Before I could manage a single thought, a growl rumbled through his chest, his hand capturing the slim line of my neck as he spun me around, slamming me against the nearest tree trunk. The gasp that escaped my lips was harshly cut off by his lips, pressing firmly against mine. His muscular body held me in place, his hands pinning me to the rough texture of the tree trunk, rendering me immobile.
His lips captured mine. It wasn’t a kiss; more was an onslaught of passion, a battle of his lips against mine. It wasn’t gentle or sweet as our first wedded kiss had been. It was brutal and fiery, setting something alight with need inside of me just as fear trembled low in my gut simultaneously.
