Page 34 of Malachi
“Malachi, wait! I want to help!” she hollered back, the shower water turning off as she reached blindly for a towel. I shook my head, deciding I could give her five minutes. The idea of her slowing me down all day didn’t thrill me, but the thought of getting to spend a little more time with her wasn’t the worst thing in the world. She would make it enjoyable, probably — er, possibly.
Moments later, she flew out of the bathroom, nearly skidding across the floor as she finished braiding her wet hair over her shoulder, still stark ass naked.
“Clothes,” she stated dumbly, looking down at her nude form. With a look of determination, she skittered to the closet, looking for clothing.
“Don’t hurry with that part on my account,” I teased lightly, taking in her nude form with no small amount of appreciation. She stood up on her tiptoes in the closet, reaching for a dress she had hung next to my own clothes. I enjoyed the way her body stretched out, immediately imagining her strung up between two trees, tied beautifully in some simple ropework while I played with her wet folds. Rope wasn’t exactly my area of expertise, not like Gideon, but I could hold my own with simple ties. I knew the safety and knew my own limitations. God, she would look good like that. All tied up and helpless for me. That would be a much better way to spend the afternoon.
I readjusted myself in my jeans, feeling myself grow hard at the thought. She caught me, turning just as I squeezed my hard length. Her eyes grew wide and a pretty blush spread across her cheeks.
“Um…” she faltered, holding her dress over her naked form.
“What can I say?” I shrugged.
“I don’t know,” she responded shyly.
“The sight of you makes my cock hard,” I said in a low voice. I watched as she gulped, her eyes wide as they drew down my body, fixating on the bulge in my jeans. The bulge I still covered with one hand. Fuck, all I wanted to do was take these jeans off, join her in her nudity, and have her watch me while I stroked myself to full hardness at the sight of her.
But there was work to be done. With a groan of frustration, I readjusted my hardness to a more comfortable position.
“Get dressed. It’s time to get to it,” I grumbled, turning on my heel and walking out the door to give her some privacy. Let’s be honest, it was to stop myself from throwing her on the bed and keeping her naked and screaming for the rest of the day.
I stalked down the stairs, wondering how the hell I had gone from viewing her as little more than a child bride to being unable to stop thinking about fucking her in such a short amount of time. It was baffling, to say the least. I suppose, to a point, Zeke was right. I had to trust. Not only trust her with my truth, as I had begun to do last night, but trust myself. I felt my walls start to rise once more, knowing that at the end of the day, I couldn’t trust her with all of it — all ofme.
There were too many secrets I held so close to my heart, they were nearly impossible to uncover. I held them tight, protected from everyone and everything, and the best way to keep it that way was to keep myself away. It was just better that way. I had opened up to her with sex, at least to an extent; that much I could do.
She joined me a few moments later, hastily throwing on her shoes and joining me by the front door.
“Are we ready?” she asked with an excitement that had me wanting to smile. I tucked it away. I needed to keep my walls up around her, to not only protect myself, but to protect her. She couldn’t handle the real me, all of me. Not now, not ever.
“Let’s go,” I groused. We walked out to the UTV, both of us jumping in and heading out over the grass. It was still somewhat damp from the storm last night, and the ground sloshed beneath the tires.
“What’s first on the list today?” she asked, nearly bouncing in her seat as we drove.
“We need to brush the horses,” I answered stoically, pulling up to the barn and parking.
“Oh, I’m so excited to see Latobius again!” she exclaimed happily, clapping her hands. She jumped from the UTV quickly, dashing inside the barn with a gleeful giggle. I followed her inside, quickly grabbing the bucket of brushes we would need. It warmed me more than words could say to see her already nuzzling noses with Latobius. He didn’t like people generally, but he liked her, and that spoke volumes. I opened the stall door, pushing the horse to one side when he tried to shove past me. Eden joined me and I quietly showed her how he liked to be brushed. Once she had the general concept down, I left her to it, moving to the next stall.
“Hey there, Whisper,” I cooed at the gray mare. She was a beauty; kind and gentle. She would be a perfect horse for Eden to ride, in all honesty. I made quick work of brushing her, taking comfort in the familiar strokes as I brushed her hair smooth and clean once more. She had an affinity for rolling around in the grass, and it was obvious she had done so just this morning. Partially dried mud and grass covered her coat.
“You’re a good boy, aren’t you, Toby?” I heard Eden coo in the next stall. “Such a strong and handsome boy, just like Malachi. Though he’s not a boy, is he?” she teased.
I rolled my eyes at her musings and her nickname for the horse, though I continued to listen.
“He’s an odd one, that Malachi. What are we going to do with him, hmm?” she spoke to the horse.
“Do you think he’d let me ride you, sweet boy?” she asked the horse. The damn animal had the audacity to whinny at her like he was speaking to her in a full on conversation. “I didn’t think so either, boy. But we will work on him, won’t we? Yes, we will. We will get him to let me ride you soon. I can be very persuasive, you know,” she prattled on. I smiled as Whisper nuzzled up against my shoulder. My brush strokes moved over the mare’s mane slowly with practiced strokes.
“She’s an odd one, isn’t she, Whisper?” I murmured to the gray mare. She shook her head in the affirmative. Horses were incredible, smart creatures. Though Latobius had another think coming if he was thinking about teaming up with Eden. She couldn’t handle a horse like him. He was a wild thing, like me. It’s why I loved him so much.
I finished brushing the mare, grabbing an apple from the bucket and feeding it to her. She took it from me, gobbling it down quickly before she ran back out into the pasture — and immediately rolled around in the dirt again. Crazy girl. Just like my Eden.
“You about done in there? We need to move on,” I griped, peering over into the stall where she and the gelding were nuzzling noses again. Fools, the both of them. I rolled my eyes and grabbed an apple for him as well. Entering the stall, I handed Latobius the apple, pulling Eden away as she pouted.
“I was just about done. He’s so beautiful,” she praised the great black beast.
“Yes, he is, and he knows it, too,” I remarked, shooting the vain beast a look as I pulled Eden from the stall, locking the door behind us and heading back to the UTV. “Let’s get going. We have much to do today and very little time to do it.”
“What’s next?” she asked excitedly as I turned the key in the ignition.
