Page 60 of Malachi
She was like an impish little fairy, blushing one minute and squaring her shoulders to face me the next. It called to everything hedonistic and primal within me, and fuck did I want to take it. But after the day I’d had, I needed a breather. If I took her now, like this, it would be rough — too rough — and I didn’t want that. Not now. Not yet. Possibly not ever.
“I said, I needed it, too,” she repeated, full voice this time. There was no hesitation in her words. In fact, her eyes held the same desire that I so wanted to indulge. Instead, I simply shook my head with a smile, pushing away the desire to bend her over this very bar and feast on her instead of the food on my plate.
“How was your talk with the girls today?” I asked, effectively changing the subject. I didn’t look up from my plate, not wanting to see the look of disappointment on her face. It was only a moment before she answered.
“It was a great talk, actually. The girls are wonderful,” she answered, her tone changing and matching my change of subject with no insolence. “I didn’t really know them much before now, so it was nice to get to know them on a more personal level.”
She chuckled, more to herself than to anything.
“Something tells me you learned much more personal things than you’re letting on,” I teased her, finally allowing myself to steal a glance at her. The look on her face, one of pure coquettishness, had me wanting to tickle her, to tease and pull every last bit of information out of her I could. How very unlike me. It was almost like — Ollie. That thought had me grimacing, though only for a moment.
“Let’s just say the girls are very open about how they feel about their husbands,” she tittered.
“What shenanigans have my brothers been up to?” I asked, unable to curb my curiosity.
“Well, since you asked — Your brother Zeke apparently does this thing with his fingers where he —”
“Oh fuck! No! Stop! I take it back!” I sputtered while she cackled at my reaction.
“Your face!” she gasped out between her peals of laughter. She was laughing so exuberantly, she literally had to hold on to her stomach.
“I didnotneed to knowanythingabout Zeke or his fingers,” I grimaced, taking a long swig of my whiskey, hoping to wash away the foul images in my head she had so deviously planted.
“Worth it,” she chuckled lightly as her laughter finally began to die down. “So, maybe I shouldn’t tell you about the talk, then.”
“Eden, I’m all ears for whatever you talked aboutunlessit’s about my brothers and their sex lives,” I quickly amended my statement.
“Fine, fine. I’ll stop. We talked a lot about Talia and Naomi. They told me what you had already explained, but hearing it from them was… well, it was powerful and heartbreaking,” she explained, leaning against the countertop across from where I sat. Her eyes were distant, looking off as she remembered their conversation. I could only imagine how difficult such a conversation was between the lot of them. Difficult, yet perhaps healing. Or so I hoped.
“Tell me more,” I urged her gently.
“We talked about what it was like for each of them as they learned about you all. Not just about the plan, but about the kink,” she added quietly.
“And how was that for you?” I asked.
“How was it for me to hear their stories, or how was it for me to learn about your kinks?” Saucy little minx saw right through my question.
“Just answer the question,” I commanded, eyeing her carefully. I wanted to know how she wanted to answer it.
“It was helpful, hearing their stories. It made me feel less alone in all of this,” she answered, never breaking the eye contact we held.
“You felt alone?” Her answer surprised me, though I suppose it shouldn’t have.
“Yeah, though, in my own way, I’ve felt alone in Zion since before I can remember. So having their stories reflect so many of my own doubts and worries helped more than I can express. They answered questions for me, and gave me a safe space to talk and learn,” she expressed honestly. It was an honesty I respected deeply.
“I want you to know that you can come talk to me anytime, Eden. About any of this. I know I’ve been a complete ass most of the time, but I don’t want you to feel like you can’t come to me. This isn’t easy for me, but it’s wrong of me to not make space for your questions and your learning,” I answered, internally beating myself up for being such a goddamn jackass of a recluse.
“It’s not like that, Malachi,” she answered kindly, her hand reaching out and touching my own. “Sometimes it’s nice to have people whose experiences are more like your own. You know?”
And the truth was, I did know. Having Levi and then Zeke — hell, all of my brothers — to talk to when I was first learning about kink helped immensely. Even then, there were things that were only my own. Things I had never shared with anyone apart from play partners and the one other primal Dominant at Abditory. Though he was only a visiting Dominant. It made things difficult at times.
“Tell me more,” I urged her.
“I am just in awe of those women. They are so fierce. I mean, look at Talia!” she exclaimed.
“I know. That woman has been through the ringer,” I agreed as I finished the last bite of food on my plate. She took it from me, turning to rinse it off in the sink before putting it in the dishwasher.
“Not only that, but going forward with this plan while pregnant? I can’t even imagine…” she continued speaking, though I didn’t hear what she said. The thought of Talia and Zeke’s baby — and what we were planning — filled me with a feeling I couldn’t explain.
