Page 36 of Malachi
“I guess I hadn’t thought of it like that,” she muttered, more to herself than to me. She leaned up against the counter, her hands situated behind her as she tried to lift herself back up to the top where I had placed her just this morning. I watched with a grin as she tried and failed three times in a row to hoist herself up.
“Here, let me,” I finally took pity on her, my hands grasping her waist and lifting her as though she weighed nothing at all. In truth, it was easy as hell to lift her slight form. She was a tiny thing, and it made me feel strong, masculine.
“So how did you get into all of it?” she asked, leaning forward. I placed my hands beside hers, leaning forward until our foreheads nearly touched.
“It just sort of happened. I tried things out until I found something that fit me, I suppose,” I shrugged her question off.
“That doesn’t really answer my question, though. How did you know what to try out?” she questioned further. She was an inquisitive little thing.
“Let’s just say there were things available to learn, so I learned,” I once again evaded her.
“You can be infuriating when you get like this, you know,” she sighed, rolling her eyes.
“You can be infuriating when you bother me with your incessant questions,” I teased her right back, winking at her.
“Are you ever just going to answer my questions plainly?” she asked again with a huff.
“Are you ever going to do what you’re told?” I smirked at her and she giggled. “Come on. There’s more work to be done.”
With that, I helped her down, and we got back to work. This time I kept her busy enough that she didn’t have time to ask questions. Thank fucking God.
CHAPTER10
EDEN
He was impossible. That’s all there was to it. I had tried to ask him questions, but time and time again, he evaded my curiosity, shoving me off with his teasing and acerbic remarks. Why couldn’t he just understand that I wanted him, exactly as he was? Why was that so difficult?
I pondered these questions over and over. We had made love twice now, though I’m not sure those were the words I would use to describe our particular activities. I had imagined being intimate with my husband in our marriage bed, the lights off, and in the dark of night. That’s how Mother had described it. But being out in nature, surrounded by the trees, covered in mud while he ravaged me with pure and wild abandon had surpassed any fantasy I could have ever concocted.
He was wild and raw one moment, and then in the next instant, he was resigned and guarded. I wanted him to let down his walls, to show me his truth, as I so desperately yearned to show him my own. I needed to get him to open up. He seemed to do so in one of two spaces, either out working on the property, or after sex. On the one hand, getting him naked sounded like the best possible solution to the problem, but I knew that there was no way on Earth I could get him to shirk off his daily chores. Especially not on a day like today. It was absolutely gorgeous outside. The sun was shining, the breeze was absolutely perfect, and there were the most perfect fluffy clouds in the sky, rolling by so lazily they almost seemed to be a painting.
He had been out working all morning, this time demanding that I stay inside and take some time off after the hard labor we put in yesterday. In all honesty, I was sore beyond belief. He had me mucking out stalls and helping him to paint a shed on the far end of the property. It had been hard work and my body ached with the memory of it.
It was time to take matters into my own hands. I looked through the closet, realizing with a grimace that all the clothing that was work appropriate in my belongings was dirty and in the laundry. I had already put the clothes into the washing machine, but that did not help me right now. What to do, what to do?
I turned around, eyeing Malachi’s dresser and deciding what the hell? What could it really hurt in the end? Looking through the chest of drawers, I found a pair of sleep pants that would suffice for the day. I could have worn one of his t-shirts, but they were baggy and thin. I had it held in my hand, ready to pull it over my head when I thought better of it. If he had me mucking stalls again, there was no way on Earth I was going to be in a thin t-shirt where all that horse crap — literally — could seep through to my skin. No, I needed something thick and durable. Walking back to the closet, I flipped through his hung shirts, finding a soft flannel that felt almost like velvet under my fingertips. It was perfect.
I pulled it on, realizing just how small I was compared to his large frame as the fabric hung clear down past my rear. I buttoned the shirt over my small breasts, down the line of my stomach, and left the ends open. Pulling them up, I made a tie at my waist. It wasn’t perfect, but it would work. I tied the drawstring of the pants tight, rolling up the material at the ankles so that I didn’t trip. Time to get my surly, burly husband to talk.
It wasn’t an easy search, finding him out on the property, but it truly was a gloriously beautiful day outside. I headed out past the garden, making a mental note to come back later and pick a few things for dinner. I walked past the chicken coop and out towards the barn, breaking out into a run after a few yards. It was exhilarating, my blood pumping through my body, my breath coming in pants as my sore muscles warmed and stretched under the exertion.
I jogged up to the barn, taking a second before entering to bend in half, catching my breath with my hands braced on my knees. Before I could step inside, I heard Malachi’s voice. I paused, listening to him speak.
“I don’t care, Zeke. You, Ollie, and Gideon need to get here,” he huffed, obviously annoyed at Zeke, who I could only assume was his brother Ezekiel. But what had him so annoyed?
“I don’t know why you’re arguing with me about this. Levi cannot be trusted,” he shouted, the sound of his footsteps quickening, first coming, then going. He was pacing.
“I’m not going to get into it right now, Zeke. I’m saying that you guys need to figure out how to get here so we can all talk. Then I will explain everything. I promise,” he grumbled, his pacing quickening with his obvious frustration.
“No, donotinvolve Levi. How many times do I have to say it?!” he shouted, his voice ringing through the barn and making him even easier to hear.
“Fine. Yes, tonight. Perfect. Whatever,” he nearly growled. I heard his footsteps walk away through the barn, away from the door, and he didn’t say anything else.
What had that been about? The Temple sons were coming here tonight? I had half a mind to mention it to him, feeling a stress fill my body at the thought of hosting people in our home. I had never hosted anything before in my life. My mother handled that. While I had watched her and helped her too many times to count, handling it on your own was a completely different monster.
I slipped through the door of the barn, letting my footsteps fall heavily, louder than usual, to alert him of my presence.
“I swear to God, Eden, not now,” he nearly growled at me, standing across the barn from me, his back still turned.
