chapter 9
By the time he had called four days later, Trinity had all but given up on him. Life went on as normal; she went to work and came home. It was recommended to her to take time off for emotional turmoil, but she felt no need to. She quickly fell back into the groove of things, so was thrown off on Wednesday night when she got the call.
He called to see if she wanted to have dinner that Saturday night. She wanted to say yes, she really did, but Nicole had told her alarming information about him. It was something she needed to get cleared up before she agreed to anything.
“I want to but…” She had always planned to ask him about this if he called, but now that the time had come, she wasn’t sure how to start. If Nicci was wrong, there was a possibility it could screw everything up.
“But…?” He dragged on the single word.
Taking a deep breath she forged on. “My friend Nicci said she had met you before.” Just to clarify, “outside a coffee shop…about a week ago.”
There was no mistaking the heavy sigh that sounded from the other line. “Not one of my prouder moments.” He grumbled.
Trinity’s heart sank. It was true! Dammit, after her past, how could she willingly go out with a man like that?
He forged on since she had remained silent. “Listen, I know my friend was out of line by grabbing the kids arm, but this kid was shoving everyone around in the store and not caring. He grabbed his arm after the kid started taunting him.”
In a smaller voice than before, she asked something he had forgotten to add. “And he shook him?”
“Once again… not proud. It was actually more of a “jar” instead of a “shake”, to emphasize the point of not being a bully.”
“So your friend was a bully to emphasize not being a bully?”
There was that sigh again. “I know. It was kind of mixed up.” When Trinity didn’t speak, he continued with a refined resolve. “I understand if you don’t want to have dinner because of this, but I hope you will. What happened that day was not normal for me. You will know this if we get to know each other better. We had our dreams, but now it’s time for reality to take over.” He continued in a huskier voice, “Let’s see if we’re as good together here as we were there.”
Trinity felt her face heat up. Man, she was going to turn to mush around him if he kept talking like that. She had to keep her wits about her, because she saw him as a man that could bring any woman to her knees. He was right though; she needed to get to know him better before jumping to any conclusions. Needing neutral ground, she started to wrack her brain on where they could meet.
“Okay, but I get to pick the place.”
She swore she could hear the tension leave his body. Maybe that was because hers did too, but now a new feeling was growing…anticipation?
“There’s a place just inside downtown Chicago. It’s a small dive, but has a mean loaded baked potato. We could eat earlier then walk around some; learn a little bit more about each other.” When he didn’t say anything right away, she got worried. “Is that okay?”
“Sounds good. Would you like me to pick you up?” Malachi put the offer out there, but she thought it would negate the neutral ground plan.
“No.” The answer came out faster than she intended. “I mean, thanks anyway, but I can drive.”
“I wasn’t trying to overstep. I just figured, with your car…” He trailed off the sentence but Trinity had no problem understanding where he was going with it. She chuckled to loosen her nerves.
“Oh! I’ll just use my friends, but thank you for the offer.”
“You’re welcome.”
The honesty in his voice made her stumble over her words. “Um, what time…did you want to meet I mean?” Before he could answer, she forged on. “How about 5:30? Is that too early for you? If it is, we could make it six o’clock, but-”
“5:30’s fine.” His answer interrupted her nervous babbling and Trinity found herself smiling.
There was a silence that stretched between them. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but was filled with charged anticipation instead. What should she say now? She had no idea. It turned out to be him that spoke first.
“Please tell me you’re as nervous as I am right now.” It took a lot of guts for him to put out there like that, but did she have it in her? Deciding the truth was the best option, she told him exactly what she felt.
“Probably more, but I can’t get this silly grin off my face.” Trinity giggled, which made him chuckle as well.
The sound made her smile even wider. There’s the man she knew. She wanted more of him.
“Me either…must be kindred spirits.”
With those parting words, she gave him the name of the restaurant with the assurance he could find it. She reminded him of the time before saying she would see him then. Hanging up the phone, she felt just like when she said yes to the first date she ever had. Giddy; unbelievably, she was actually giddy!
******
It seemed like it took forever for Saturday to get there. Malachi was nervous, which was weird because he never got nervous, not even on missions.
Why could this one woman make him sweat when entering a lair of demented beings didn’t?
Because it was her, that’s why. She was the one that calmed him after a long day. She was the one that he feared would have made him want to sleep forever.
He told himself that he had to stay focused. This was for information, that’s all. He needed to find out why they dreamt of each other, and also why they hadn’t since they had met in person.
It was 5 o’clock when he parked outside the place they were meeting. This gave him a little time to sort through his thoughts. He knew next to nothing about her, except, of course, that she was human. What connection would he ever have to a human?
That was a point drilled in by his team. His mind went back to the meeting he had with them on Thursday, after talking to Trinity the day before. Whatever this was might affect them as well, so he thought he should clue them in.
He started off the meeting by mentioning the dreams. He didn’t go into full detail but gave the gist and let them fill in the holes. This got mixed reactions.
Gideon blew up. “You brought us all here to inform us of your wet dreams? This is ridiculous!”
Tori looked bored while Terah just stared at him.
While the girls sat silent, Gemariah had to add his two cents as well. “Alright man! Is she hot?”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he shook his head in frustration. “Are you finished?” The question was directed at both the men, and when it was met with silence, he started again.
“What I was saying was that I was having these dreams for a week. I was tired all the time during the day, almost enough to lose my focus. I partially believe this was the intended purpose.” He paused to make sure everyone was listening. “Here’s where it gets tricky. The day the bridge exploded, I met this same woman; in person.” Malachi held up his hand to stop the comments he knew were coming. “…and yes, I know it’s her. We have talked and confirmed that we were in each other’s dreams. She was just as shocked as I was.”
This wiped the smug look off Gemariah as he joined in the others’ concern.
“So, what now? Tori asked.
“I talked to her on the phone yesterday. We‘re meeting Saturday evening to talk.”
Gideon sat forward. “Where is the meeting taking place?”
“A small restaurant in the city.”
“That’s an odd place for a meeting; too many weak areas to get taken off guard. Why not bring her to one of our conference rooms? We could all be there.”
Malachi clinched his teeth, not wanting to go further with details about tomorrow. “She’s more comfortable there. We’re having dinner, and going to talk in a relaxed setting.”
Of course nothing escapes Gideon’s notice. “You’re going on a date? Shit, Malachi. Not only are you ditching us on patrol, but you’re doing it so you can go play footsie with some human. Pathetic! Your leadership skills are in question with this one.” His voice had risen with his tirade.
Malachi closed his eyes and counted to ten. “Yea, I’ll admit she thinks it’s a date. I thought it would be easy for her to give up more information.”
“Whoa! Let me get this straight.” Tori took no time in leaning forward to jump into the conversation. “The same woman that has been dreaming about you, and doing unspeakable things with you…” She gave a mock shudder to show her feelings about that. “Anyways, she thinks the man from her dreams is real and wants to go on a date with her. In actuality, you don’t, and she is just being led on for being a victim as well.”
“We don’t know if she’s a victim!” Gideon answered for Malachi.
Standing up, Tori gathered her stuff. “Well, good luck with this. I won’t be a part of it.”
Gideon got up as well. “Do your job for once and ask her for family history. You might be connected somehow.” He turned around to leave, but stopped when he remembered something else. “Ask if she has met anyone strange lately as well.”
Firing off his last minute comments, Gideon left right after Tori.
The three of them stood up to depart as well. Malachi glanced over at Terah, who had been silent the whole time. By the look on her face, he knew there was something up.
“Hey Gemariah, give us a minute.” He didn’t even look at Gemariah, because he was still examining Terah’s facial responses.
“Sure, I’ll be outside.”
Once he left, Malachi asked the question he already knew the answer to. “You knew, didn’t you? That day at the river…you knew about her.”
“Mal, you know there are some visions that I can’t talk about; the ones that shouldn’t be changed.” Her voice was just above a whisper.
“That didn’t answer my question.”
A groan came from Terah before she finally answered. “I kind of did. I knew there was someone there close to you that was going to die.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, she didn’t die.” Malachi was trying to understand it all.
“I know! I don’t get it. I have been racking my brain on this one.” Terah paused, trying to figure out the right words. “Whenever I look deeper at her, I can’t find anything. It’s like she disappeared from my scope; erased from the future. I can see something with anyone if I try hard enough; even small details. The only time I can’t is if someone’s gone, deceased. Therefore, all my senses are telling me that she’s…she’s dead.”
“That’s insane. How can she be out there right now, living?”
Terah started to shake her head. “I don’t know! All I know is that she was supposed to die that day, but you saved her.”
“Only because you told me to go after her!” Malachi pointed out. Then another thought came to him. “Why would you get me out there? Why would you want me to be the one to find her dead?”
Terah, more or less, was talking to herself. “Now that you mention it; that could have been what caused all this. I’ll have to look more into it.” After a brief pause, she focused back on Malachi. “To answer your other questions…I liked her; she was strong, commanding, and giving. I didn’t think she should have to die alone.”
Looking at his feet, Malachi was trying to slow his heart down. He didn’t care to think of that day and how close Trinity did almost come to dying.
Looking back up, Malachi dismissed Terah only to have Gemariah come back in.
Gemariah sat down and started to stare at Malachi. It was a little unnerving and starting to get uncomfortable. “What?”
Leaning forward, his gaze landed on Malachi’s. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?
That was not a question Malachi thought would come out of Gemariah.
“Right now, I’m cleaning up the desk so I can…”
Gemariah interrupted him. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“No Gemariah. What do you mean?”
Eyeing Malachi, Gemariah continued. “I saw you at the river when you figured out who she was. You were panicked. You can act flippant all you want, but I know that she means more to you than you’re letting on.”
He really didn’t want to lie to his friend, but he couldn’t tell him everything. “Yeah, it took me by surprise. Think about what I told you about the dreams, then think about seeing that person for the first time…dying. How was I supposed to act, when I didn’t have all the facts?”
Gemariah eyed him longer than Malachi was comfortable with. As if making a decision, he finally spoke up when he stood to leave. “Alright then, just making sure.”
Yep, that meeting went as well as expected, he thought. Now he was parked and staring at the front doors to the restaurant hoping this next one went better.
When Malachi finally entered, he looked all around but couldn’t find her. Glancing at his watch, he noted that it was a little more than a quarter after and not yet time for them to meet. He couldn’t help but to glance around in wonder. The place was no more than a hole in the wall. Of course, some of the best food he had eaten was from places like this, but he had never met a woman that preferred this over fine dining.
He had also forgotten how crowded the good ones got on occasion, which was the case now. He did not do crowds well. Dammit! Why did he let her choose? If he had chosen, he would have been prepared, knowing what to expect.
Nephilims protected the human race, but did not mingle well with large masses of them. They were taught from day one to keep a low profile, thus be killed. No one liked what they didn’t understand. In crowds, they usually stuck out because of their size, the males did anyway.
He inconspicuously made it to a table and started reading over the menu, but still felt closed in. Pulling at the neck of his shirt, he cleared his throat. The deep noise caused many people to look over at him which made him even more uncomfortable. Checking his watch again, he realized it was thirty two after. She was late. Maybe she wasn’t going to show?
Just as the thought entered his head, there was a commotion close to the door. A group of people had entered behind him and were waiting for a table to open up, but there was something else going on. Finally, he realized that there was a person maneuvering, not so graciously, through the crowd.
He immediately went on alert, expecting an attack to take place. His enemies had no qualms about charging him in a heavily populated area. Every muscle in his body tightened. That was until he heard a familiar voice.
“Excuse me”… “Pardon me”… “So sorry, I hope that wasn’t expensive”… “Excuse me”… “Can I get past you?”
Malachi was already smirking as the female broke through the crowd. When she saw him, she smiled and started walking over. He had little time before she made it over to him, but he spent the time admiring her. She was just as beautiful as the first time he saw her. Malachi shook the sentimental thought out of his head and reminded himself that this was strictly business.
Out of breath, she finally reached their table and sat down. “I’m not late.”
This of course made him smile. He cocked an eyebrow and looked at his watch.
“Hmm, my watch says its 5:33.”
She then grabbed his wrist and brought his watch over for her to look at. “Oh, I’m so sorry. It looks like a nice watch. It’s too bad it’s broken.”
When she smiled back up at him, he couldn’t help but laugh. His nervousness and anxiety about being in the midst of so many people vanished. It was just the two of them at the moment, in their own little world.
“Did you see something that looked good?”
He almost embarrassed himself by looking at her up and down, until he realized she was talking about the menu. “I don’t know. What’s good here?”
“Everything.” She grinned at him. “This is my favorite place to eat when I get into the city. I’ve been coming here for years.”
Malachi thought to file that away for later. “Ok, what are you having?”
“It’s definitely a cheeseburger day. Plus, the loaded baked potato, of course.”
“Of course.” He repeated in a sarcastic tone.
She tried to look scolding, but failed miserably. “Are you mocking me?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
They were both smiling, enjoying the easy banter. He watched as she looked down at her menu, and marveled at the slightly pink cheeks she had.
“What are you having?” Her question brought his attention back to his menu.
After a quick glance, he shut it and looked back up to her. “I’ll have the same.”
“That won’t fill you up.” He looked at her quizzically and she stumbled over her words again. “Well, it’s not that much food. That’s all I meant. I don’t know how much you can eat or can’t for that matter. You just look like you need more than that.” She held up a hand as if to stop him and looked utterly shocked. “Not that you’re fat; far from it.” She eventually stopped talking and put a hand over her eyes. “Oh brother!”
Malachi couldn’t help but laugh at her rambling, which he now knew to be a nervous habit. “It’s alright, and I was planning to make it a double anyway.” He closely examined every detail of her face and spoke to her softly. “You are so cute when you do that.”
“Do what?” She reached over and took a sip of her water.
“When you go on and on like that. Your cheeks turn an exquisite pink that transforms your whole face when you get nervous.” At his words, it started happening again, and he couldn’t help but smile. “Like now.”
She let out a small chuckle and took another sip of her water.
He noticed a small amount of discomfort in her and immediately felt contrite. “Sorry if I embarrassed you. My co-worker, Terah, says I have what’s called “Foot in Mouth Syndrome”.” The laugh she treated him too was more relaxed and open this time. “So, how did you find this place?” She looked grateful for his change in topic.
“I was brought here as a kid. This place has been around forever. The atmosphere is so great, and the smell is even better.”
“The smell?” Malachi inhaled and didn’t find anything too special. It just smelled like grease to him.
“Oh yeah! Don’t you smell it?” She shut her eyes and inhaled deeply, only to open them with a wide grin on her face. He must have shown his disbelief, because she quickly sat up straighter in her chair. “Shut your eyes.”
When he didn’t immediately comply, she reached over and rested her hand on his arm. “Come on, don’t you trust me?”
Sighing heavily, he shut his eyes. Everything immediately became heightened; sounds, smells, even the reaction his body had to her touch. Being a nephilim, his senses were already way above human levels, but this had taken them up a notch.
He could hear all the people around him, picking up pieces of different conversations. It was almost deafening and very distracting, until one voice cut through them all…hers. “Now breathe in deeply through your nose and smell all the different scents you can.”
He did as she said and was bombarded with all of them.
“Now single out all the smells that smell really good to you. What do you smell?”
What did he smell? “Hmm…your perfume smells nice.”
“I’m not wearing any.”
“Maybe it’s just your natural scent that smells good to me then.” He kept his eyes shut so he couldn’t see her, but the small caress of her thumb on his arm told him that she liked that comment.
“What else do you smell? Think…food.”
“Okay…” He dragged out the word as he thought about it. “Mmm, coffee.”
She let out a small giggle to that. “Jeeze, you’re as bad as Nicci. What else?”
When he tried again, the initial grease smell transformed into different scents. “Burgers, hot dogs, onions, and… Is that chili?”
“Some of the best.” Feeling a slight tap on his arm, he opened his eyes.
They momentarily paused to give their order to a man that looked as though he might cook as well. The interruption reminded him of his original thinking of why here and not someplace nicer. He soon asked her that exact question.
Trinity shrugged and thought for a second. “I feel comfortable here; a lot of good memories have happened here.” She looked as though she was remembering something before quickly snapping her attention back to him. “It doesn’t hurt that the food is wonderful either. Greasier than hell and horrible for a person, but good none the less. I probably shouldn’t eat here as much as I do; then I might be able to lose those extra couple pounds.” She laughed at what she considered a joke, but Malachi was baffled.
“Why would you ever want to change the way you look. Every inch of your body is exquisite. It fit my hands perfectly.” The husky remark came out of his mouth before he could stop it.
“Have you seen the size of your hands?” Her comment brought forth an instant laugh from him. Witty too, he thought. The remarkable color was back on her cheeks again, but at least she was smiling at him this time.
She quickly sobered and looked back up to him. “Listen, this time is as good as any for this conversation… The woman you were with, in your dreams…well, she wasn’t me.”
He didn’t know what to make of that. She must have seen the confusion in his look, because she went on. “Well yes, it was me, but in the real world, I never act like that. That woman had no care in the world, and at times, I feel like I carry the world on my shoulders. I can’t afford to just let go like she did.”
He opened his mouth to tell her it was okay, but she went on before he could.
“Basically, what I’m trying to say is that here, in the real world, I would like to take it slow. There was nothing slow about us before, but now, I would like to be.”
Malachi leaned forward to cup the back of her neck with his hand and place his thumb over her lips, successfully stopping her rambling. “Trinity…it’s okay. I understand.”
He could visibly see the tension leave her body. She was so beautiful, and he couldn’t help but caress her lips with the thumb that was still there. He remembered what they felt like kissing him and wondered if they would feel the same now.
“You sure?” She sounded breathless, and he wondered if she was thinking the same thing. A small kiss wouldn’t hurt would it? His grip tightened on her neck and he slowly started pulling her toward him.
“Here ya go.” The sound of plates hitting the table made them jump apart. They both gave each other one last glance before digging in to their food.
After a few minutes of eating in silence except for the small appreciative sounds after taking a good bite, Trinity started up another conversation. “You mentioned the name Terah earlier… Is she the same one that found the two girls and me in the river?”
The question took him by surprise. He didn’t know Terah had given her name. Swallowing the bite in his mouth, Malachi answered. “Yeah. She’s the one.”
“She’s very nice; was great with the girls. You said co-worker? What line of business are you in?”
Dammit!
“We work for a protection agency.” He was trying to work his way around the truth. He didn’t want to lie to her, but it wasn’t just himself that he had to think of.
“A protection agency? What were you doing at the river then?”
Man, she’s perceptive, he thought. “We were by the bridge when it went down and decided to help.” He needed to change the subject, needed to find out more of her history instead of divulging his life. “Besides your friend, there was an older woman that visited you. Is that your mother?”
She smiled when she answered him, but there was sadness in her voice. “That would have been Renée, she was my foster mom. My mother died when I was young.”
“Do you not have any other family?” He was hoping she said yes, that would make his search so much easier.
“No” She looked down at her food. “Could we please discuss something else? I don’t want to get into that tonight.”
He pasted a smile on his face for her benefit. “That’s fine.” So talking about family is a sore subject for her, he would just have to get the information another way.
Malachi needed to get her back in her light mood. He didn’t understand it, but seeing her as anything but happy bothered him. Inwardly smiling, he had an idea. “So what’s your favorite late night television show?”
Her head popped back up to look at him. Confusion entered her look right before she gave him a smile that could light the room. Obviously she was remembering their night of rapid fire questions from before.
She gave her answer, as did he. Then it was her turn to ask. They did this back and forth for the remainder of the time it took them to eat.
The night went on for much longer than Trinity anticipated. They were in the restaurant for a couple hours until they were informed their table was needed. Once outside, they walked for another hour. They had asked each other so many questions, she was sure he knew every like and dislike of hers.
She smiled when she thought of how he adamantly defended pineapple on a pizza.
They laughed together, were serious together, and even walked in comfortable silence on occasion. She couldn’t remember the last time that she had this much fun, especially with a man.
Malachi kept a hold of her hand as he walked, and she didn’t hate the feeling. She acknowledged that it was easier with him to maneuver through the occasional crowd of people. They all backed away so fast; one even tripped over his own two feet.
They were both laughing at a joke he had said when his phone rang. Looking down at it, his face transformed to the cold Malachi from the hospital and gone was the care-free Malachi.
He was talking in a language she didn’t understand. He looked at his watch, and his frowned deepened. A few more words of gibberish, and he hung up his phone. When he looked back down at her, she knew their date had just come to an end.
“I have to go. I am so sorry. It’s a work emergency.”
Trying hard not to let the disappointment show, she put on the best smile she could muster. “It’s fine. I completely understand.” She did understand, but it still sucked.
They started walking back toward the restaurant where their cars were parked. The silence was stretching on with each block. A thought suddenly occurred to her. “This isn’t one of those date escape techniques is it? Someone calls you after so long, and you decide if you want to stay or not…”
He chuckled at her comment. “Why, what an imagination you have.”
They were nearing the cars. For some reason, she had to know before they went their separate ways. She didn’t want to be the one sitting home pining, while he had no intension of seeing her again. “That wasn’t an answer.”
When they got to her car, he spun her around to face him. Before she knew what was happening, his hands were on her hips and his mouth was on hers.
Wow! This took her by surprise, but the feeling was completely familiar. She knew this mouth, these lips.
It didn’t last long enough to her liking. Malachi pulled back and pressed his mouth to her ear. He was breathing heavily at her neck when he whispered his answer to her. “No. If it were my choice, I would stay with you till you told me to get lost. I want to stay, and it is killing me to walk away right now.”
Trinity’s head was spinning. She heard what he was saying, but couldn’t put a coherent thought together to answer him. She did know that she wanted more…
She turned her head…searching. When her lips touched the corner of his mouth, he froze, but that didn’t stop her. Now that she had found his mouth, she pressed her lips firmly against his.
Malachi stayed unmoving for a few seconds. Finally, his body sagged at the same time he pushed her against her car.
The impact flipped a switch inside of her. The moment she hit the car, she wrapped her arms around him and molded her body to his.
Hands were gripping, tongues were dueling. They were kissing like they had just been re-connected after having lost one another and their hands were holding on for dear life.
Trinity lifted a leg and wrapped it around one of his. In doing so, her core got pressed firmly against his swollen manhood. A familiar feeling started to build inside her, and she couldn’t stop from moaning into his mouth.
All of the sudden, there was distance between them. They both stood there as Malachi held her at arm’s length. Her body was pressing toward him, wanting to go back to what they were doing, but his grip held firm.
When he spoke, the words came out more of a growl than in his normal sexy voice. “Slow. Remember? We agreed on slow.”
Shutting her eyes, she was trying to gain her composure. Her mind acknowledged his point, but her body was not responding as quickly. Trinity nodded her head in acknowledgement. Opening her eyes, she was finally able to speak. “You’re right. I don’t know what came over me.”
When neither of them moved, but kept staring at each other, Trinity decided to be the first. She prayed when she opened her mouth, she wouldn’t say what she really wanted and ask him to come home with her. “I think I should go now.”
Slowly, almost reluctantly, he let go of her arms and all she wanted was to rush at him again. What was wrong with her, she thought.
He looked directly at her. “I’d like to go out again. Can I call you?”
She nodded at him, and then swallowed the lump in her throat before whispering. “I’d like that.”
He then turned around and walked away. The sight was breathtaking. He was such a beautiful man, inside and out.
You are an amazing man, Malachi.
He looked in her direction and smiled but kept walking. It was as if he heard her. Shaking her head at the insane thought, she got into her car.
When she started up her car, a grin spread across her face when she thought of the great night she had. She can only hope there were more to come.