Page 29 of Malachi
“I don’t know. Are you going to answer any of my questions with something other than a question?” I pushed right back, crossing my arms over my chest defiantly. He was starting to annoy me with his evasion game.
“Your tits look amazing like that,” he said with a smirk, his eyes scanning low towards the very thing he spoke of.
“You’re incorrigible,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes.
“Rolling your eyes like that makes me want to spank you,” he said with such heat and such lust that it nearly took my breath away. Who was I kidding? It did take my breath away. It made my heart speed up and made me ache low and deep in my belly, just as I did when he was chasing me through the trees.
“But what does that mean, Malachi?” I pleaded with him, pulling my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them. I rested my chin against the top of my knee, finding the position comforting. It offered me a bit of protection, though I did not know what from.
“That’s a long story for another day,” he sighed heavily. “If ever,” he added under his breath, though I could still hear his words clear as day.
“You confuse me,” I sighed. Pushing this point might very well be useless in the end.
“I’m a confusing guy,” he shrugged noncommittally.
“But you don’t have to be. If you would just open up and talk to me. That’s all I want,” I whined.
“You don’t want this, Eden,” he grumbled. Eden. He had used my name for the first time all evening. For some reason, that small fact had me wilting with disappointment.
“Why did you call me Eden?” I asked him.
“It’s your name,” he once again shrugged off.
“You know what I mean. Don’t treat me like I’m stupid,” I huffed, hugging my knees closer.
“You’re not stupid. I did not say that,” he spoke insistently.
“Then don’t treat me like a child,” I spat defensively.
“But youarea child,” he tossed right back. We were arguing now, plan and simple.
“But I’m not. I’m of legal age anywhere in this entire country, and yet you treat me as though I am… I don’t know… inconsequential. How can you do that?”
“Do what?” he spat, his brow furrowed. This time it was he who crossed his arms defiantly over his chest.
“You treat me like a child almost every hour of every day, but when you want your…needsmet, you treat me like an adult. You can’t have it both ways, Malachi,” I hissed. That had him going quiet. His arms fell back into the water as he pondered my words.
We sat there for a long time, silence hanging around us like a thick fog.
“Will you come sit with me again?” he asked, much more gently this time, his hand reaching out for me.
“Will you answer my questions?” I tossed back with no small amount of sass tinging my voice.
“Yes.” His answer stunned me to near silence. My eyes shot to his, finding a quiet honesty in their dark brown reflection. I thought about it for only a moment before I took his proffered hand and let him pull me back to him, turning in the water until I could rest against his chest again. He eased me back against him until my head rested against his shoulder and we were once again as we were before.
“You deserve honesty,” he began. I stayed quiet, understanding the gravity of the moment. Malachi was not a man of many words, so when he spoke, you ought to listen. So listening is exactly what I did.
“You’re right,” he said with a heavy sigh. He had grabbed the soap at some point, because as he spoke he began running the sudsy loofah over my skin in lazy strokes. “You deserve honesty and I have not given you that.”
I stayed quiet, listening to him speak as he slowly washed me with more care than I could imagine.
“There are things about me that are hard to explain, hard to put into words,” he spoke slowly, his tone low and soft. “I did not want to marry.” He spoke the words through clenched teeth. I could feel his tension in every muscle of his body. They were difficult words, and I was well aware of it.
“I did not want to marry, either,” I admitted, deciding that if he was willing to bare his soul, then so should I.
“What?” he asked so quietly I could barely hear him, even though his lips were so close to my ear.
“It’s true,” I said with a slight shrug. “I did not want to marry.”
