Page 40 of Malachi
Eden. My thoughts raced as fear gripped me like a vise. My phone safely pocketed in my jeans once more, I raced back to the house. I couldn’t shake the fear that they were already there, already had her. I knew what they did to little girls here, and Eden was just barely a woman herself. If they took her —
No, my mind wouldn’t let me finish that thought, blocking off the horrific images before they could even begin as a means to protect itself. The muscles in my legs burned as I ran faster, pushing myself further until I could see the house. I raced up the back porch, slamming the back door open with a loudbang!
“Eden!” I bellowed, my heart racing so fast with fear, I could scarcely catch my breath. I stood there, just inside the back door, and listened, cursing the sound of my breath and my own thundering heartbeat as I waited for her to respond.
There was no sound. No call. No response.
With bile stinging the lining of my esophagus, I raced through the house, my feet carrying me even as my mind swirled and finally opened the floodgates of the images I had just suppressed. Images of her being captured, of her being tied up and tortured at the hands of the monsters I had once called family. I swallowed hard, forcing the stinging bile down as I checked the living room, the hallway, the den, and finally raced up the stairs, almost tripping in my haste to find her.
“Eden!”I screamed, slamming open the door to our bedroom. Empty. She wasn’t there. I had turned on my heel, one foot out of the doorway, when I heard it.
The shower.
I flipped around so fast I almost lost my balance, tripping and barely catching myself against the wall as I ran into the bathroom.
“Malachi!” she cried out happily, her form barely visible through the fogged up glass of the shower door.
I fell to my knees, uncaring of the pain that shot through my legs as my kneecaps collided with the tile flooring. I was going to be sick.
“Malachi?” she called out, opening the shower door and peeking her head out, not that I could see her. My vision swirled as I struggled to keep the contents of my stomach firmly placed in my body for much longer. “Oh, my word! Are you okay?”
I heard her feet slipping against the tile floor as she rushed to me. My eyes opened again, looking up at her wet, naked form. It didn’t phase me. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her to me as she let out a shriek, falling against me until I could pull her down with me to the floor and into my lap. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close. One hand found the back of her neck, feeling her pulse beneath my fingertips, my other arm like a steel band around her waist.
“You’re okay,” I huffed, finding it nearly impossible to catch my breath. It wasn’t from exertion. It was from fear. I was close to hyperventilating as tears pricked the edges of my eyelids.
“Um, yeah? Why wouldn’t I be okay?” she chuckled lightly, her fingers threading through my hair soothingly.
“Don’t worry about it,” I sighed. “All that matters is that you’re okay. Everything is okay.”
“Malachi…” she trailed off, holding my head to her chest as we held one another.
“Kai,” I corrected her, barely muttering the word against her skin.
“Huh?”
“Call me Kai. Everyone I care about does,” I murmured quietly. I could feel her smile against my head, but she chose not to respond. I was grateful for the silence. It gave me the time I needed to calm down my racing heart and find a bit of normalcy again.
Unfortunately, that normalcy came with an uncomfortable air of realizing what a fool I had just made of myself. I had shown her a vulnerability that I did not show people. But she had seen it. And I couldn’t undo that.
“Um,” I lamely stuttered, pulling away from her. “I should let you finish your shower.” What a fucking lame thing to say. But it gave me the excuse I needed to extricate myself from her, setting her to the side and rising to my feet. My knees cracked, the pain of falling onto the floor in a great, pathetic heap rushing back to me. I held my hand out to her, helping her up.
“The shower isn’t what I’m worried about, Malachi — er, Kai. I’m worried about you.” I had to look away from her. Her eyes were wide, filled with concern, and it tugged at me in a way I was not prepared for. I wanted to comfort her. I wanted to pull her into the bedroom and lay her down on the bed, but not for sex. Just to hold her; to find comfort in her embrace.
I wasn’t ready for that. I wasn’t ready for any of this.
“Finish your shower, Eden. I’ll be downstairs preparing dinner,” I grumbled, turning on my heel and heading out of the room.
“Kai, wait! Talk to me,” she pleaded with me, the sound of concern and care in her voice nearly breaking through the walls I was trying desperately to reconstruct. I stopped in my tracks, but I did not look back at her. I couldn’t.
“I’ll be downstairs.” With that, I walked away. I left her there, and I walked as casually as I could out of the room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Then, and only then, did I let myself relax. I took a breath, and then another. Until I regained the control I needed.
I prepared a simple dinner, going through the motions as I focused on things I could control. My to do list of work that needed to be done. That was the only thing safe to even try to focus on. If not for that, I would be fixated on Levi and whatever the fuck that phone call had meant. Or the plan with my brothers and how the hell we were going to move forward with all the Levi shit. Or worse yet, Eden, and all the fucked up emotions that one sweet woman was evoking within me at a lightning pace.
I had just plated our food when my phone buzzed in my pocket.
The southern pole barn. 8pm. - Zeke
Fuck. I was meeting with my brothers, and — glancing at the clock on the stove — they would be there in ten minutes. Shit. I had taken too much time dicking around with work in the barn after Eden had gone back to the house.
