Page 51 of Malachi
“It just…” he trailed off in a huff. I could feel the frustration emanating off of him in waves.
“It just what,” I urged him to continue.
“I just want it to be over,” he admitted, standing and taking on my earlier stance of pacing about the open space of the room. “It makes me angry to even have to deal with it. The fact that I’ve now put you in the middle of it? Fuck!”
“Malachi, I understand. But you didn’t put me here,” I explained softly, not wanting to add to his frustrations as I chose my words with careful consideration.
“Like hell I didn’t!” he scoffed derisively. “I agreed to marry you, therefore pulling you into a dangerous situation you weren’t even privy to. And then I lied about it!”
“First of all,” I fought back, standing to face him as he paced. “You didn’tputme here. I was already here. You didn’t make this situation appear out of thin air. You are just the person who made me aware of it. It’s not your fault. I want to know. I want to be aware of the truth.”
“You know what I mean,” he spat back, shooting me a look of annoyance.
“No, I don’t think I do. You are the first person to actually be honest with me! Lord on high, Malachi! Don’t you see? You have nothing to be ashamed of or to feel guilty about, other than hiding it from me. And if I’m being utterly and completely honest, I can’t even truly be mad at that!” I argued.
“You’re not making sense,” he retorted.
“Yes, I am. Think about it logically for a moment. We’ve been married all of what, a week? And you think you did me some great disservice by not laying all these unfathomable truths at my feet on day one? Let’s take a minute to think of what that would look like.Hello, new wife. Welcome to your new home. This is the kitchen. Through there is the bathroom. And just there in town is where the Elders kidnap, abuse, and sell young girls for profit to line their purses and support their misogynistic cause.Yeah, that would have beensomuch better, wouldn’t it?” I sarcastically laughed.
Now we were both pacing. Our almost dance-like movements would have been funny to any onlooker as we both silently moved about the room, both equally mad, frustrated and feeling out of control.
“Don’t be facetious, Eden. It’s not a good look for you,” he barked at me sharply.
“Come off it, Kai. Everything looks good on me,” I sassed, uncaring that I was absolutely and unequivocally poking the beast. So much so that he turned and growled at me in response.
“Promises, promises, Beast.” I don’t know what had come over me, teasing him like that, but I couldn’t seem to help it. It eased the tension. Or at least, replaced it with a tension I was much more comfortable with.
“Careful, Eden,” he warned low in his throat. To hell with it. I decided to throw all caution to the wind.
“Fuck being careful.” I spoke carefully, my voice controlled as I ceased my pacing and looked at him full on in the face. He needed to see that I was not afraid of him. That Beast inside him didn’t scare me. I wanted it. I found myself craving that side of him.
The new knowledge, the horrors of what the Elders had been doing, and the uncertainty of it all had me wanting to run. But I did not want to run away. I wanted to run, yes. But I wanted him to chase me. I wanted him to claim me.
“Eden, this is not the same,” he spoke carefully.
“I do not care,” I retorted, our eyes locked on one another as the tension in the room shifted from fear and uncertainty to a spark of sexual need that thrummed low in my body like a rhythmic drum.
“You are aware of everything now. You know the truth. You know the plan. You know what it is I want,” he warned.
“What do you want? Tell me everything,” I pleaded. I was ravenous for it, hungry for his truth and for this—whateverthiswas.
“I want you,” he growled, his honesty so blatant and visceral I could almost taste it. “More than that, I want you to want this as much as I do.”
Those weren’t easy words for him to speak, and I knew it.
“I want to chase you until you can barely breathe,” he said, his voice full of promise and dripping with sexual desire. “I want you panting, half with exertion and fully with need. Need for me, and me alone.” He stepped closer, and I could feel the urge to run, to chase, to be claimed, pounding against my chest with every heartbeat.
“I want this,” I admitted without reservation. I took a tentative step forward, wanting to show him I meant every word I uttered. “I want to run, but I want you to chase me. I want to feel my heart pounding in my chest as you find me, as you take me, and as you claim me.”
“Careful, Eden. Those are dangerous words,” he all but purred as we came toe-to-toe with one another. I could feel heat emanating off of him as our chests rose and fell with each needy breath we took.
My hands found his chest, feeling his heart beat fast, mirroring my own.
“I’m not afraid of danger, Malachi,” I whispered. Truer words I had never spoken. I was not afraid of him.
I felt the rumbling of his growled response before the sound hit my ears.
“You don’t just want to run, do you, Little Bird?” he teased, teasing me with his rhetorical question. I shook my head slowly, unable to tear my eyes away from his sultry gaze. “You want to be caught.”
