chapter 13
As the door closed, Trinity was once again alone with Malachi. She couldn’t have been more nervous. The last ten minutes had been a train wreck. She wasn’t planning on keeping those things from him forever. She just wanted more time before he thought she came with too much baggage. Her stomach was rolling, waiting for him to say something.
They were both silent for far too long. Trinity got up the nerve to say something first. Placing her hands in her back pockets, she finally looked at him. “What do you want to do now?”
He walked up to her and stopped when he was practically pressed against her. Trinity shivered as he ran his hand up her back and all the way into her hair. Pulling her head back, he looked into her eyes and spoke deeply. “What I want to do, and what we have to do, are two different things.”
After brushing his lips against her forehead, he stepped to the side. Raising his hand in the direction of the living room, he indicated she should go first. “Shall we?”
Trinity walked into the room and watched as he stepped around her and sat on the couch. She quickly followed suit. This was feeling too formal, so she propped her leg on the couch and angled herself so she was facing him. “Ok, what do you want to know?”
He turned to look at her, and she couldn’t help but think that he looked so sad. He reached over and took her arm, running his hand up it until he reached the bruise. “First, tell me who the hell did this to you.” As an afterthought, he added, “And what is all this shit about a stalker?”
Trinity knew this conversation was going to happen eventually, but she didn’t know where to start. After some thought, she figured the most logical place to start was the beginning. “I started dating this guy around two years ago named Seth. I was stupid, naive, and thought I was in love.” Trinity rolled her eyes at the old memory. “That was until around six months into our relationship when he started to change. He became more irritable with things and started yelling more often. I mean…we always had our little disagreements, like any normal couple, but they started getting more frequent and he would get angrier.
The next part was harder to admit. She took a deep breath and looked directly at him. “Then one day he hit me. I remember it like it was yesterday, but I still don’t know what exactly happened. One minute he was yelling about the meat at dinner being too dry, then the next thing I knew his hand came across my face.” Trinity didn’t realize she had started to cry until Malachi brushed away a tear. “I was in such shock. I mean, I hadn’t been hit like that since I was a kid, and this was from the man that swore I would never have to go through that again.”
“Wait a minute.” Malachi turned more alert than he already was. “You were hit as a kid?”
Trinity put her hand on his thigh and he quickly covered it with his own. “That’s a long story as well. If you really want to know I will tell you, but let’s get through this one first.”
When he nodded, she continued. “I never told Nicci about the first time. I never told anybody…till now. I know it sounds so cliché, but I wanted the man he was to come back. I figured if I stayed and tried to make him happier, he would. Needless to say, he never did, and it became much worse.”
“Why didn’t you leave? Malachi squeezed her hand.
She took her hand away from his and rubbed the tops of her thighs. Looking at the wall, she told him one of the hardest parts. “Oh, I tried one time. I had a photography studio at the time and tried hiding out there. He found out and started it on fire to flush me out. I never got to see what became of my store because he snatched me away the moment I got outside. He then kept me chained in a room at our house for a week.” Trinity shut her eyes to ward off the memories of that week; no food, hardly any water, and that was the easy part. “Eventually he let me go, but not before he told me that if I ever tried to leave again, no one would ever find my body.”
Malachi stood up and started to pace the room. He didn’t say anything, but looked murderous. She saw the muscle tick in his jaw, and knew he was barely keeping himself in check.
“Are you okay? I’m almost done.” She tried to reassure him.
Trinity could have sworn she heard him say something about being surprised she would ask him that, but all he said to her was, “Go on.”
“After that, I never saw anyone anymore. I stayed at the house, even when he was at work, because I didn’t want him to think that I left.” She put her head in her hands out of shame for how she acted earlier. “How come I didn’t see this before? With Nicci… I’m never around…just like before. How was she supposed to know this time was different? Ugh!”
Malachi crouched down in front of her and pulled her hands away. “You can call her in a little while. Please go on.”
He looked pained at the idea of hearing more, but she did anyway. “The beatings were getting horrible, and more frequent.” She fought not to cry, but her voice was still catching. “I was afraid that one time he would go too far and kill me. I knew that I had to leave and take my chances.”
Trinity stared at the wall over his head and got lost in the memory. “One night, he left me on the floor of the living room when he finally made it to the bedroom to pass out. I crawled out. I had nothing with me, but I left anyway. Somehow, I got myself pulled up and started walking. When a car came by, I was able to flag them down. At this point, I didn’t care who picked me up. I just knew that I had to get as far away as I could. Luckily it was a nice couple that dropped me off at the closest hospital.”
She glanced down to see how he was taking everything. His eyes were squeezed shut and she knew this would probably be the last that she saw of him. At least she knew that she was capable of loving again, and she had some really good memories to look back on.
Please don’t hate me…
His eyes popped open. “Don’t ever think that!”
“Think what?” She asked startled.
He visibly swallowed. “Just the look on your face… Please don’t think that I will ever think any less of you. None of this is your fault.”
“It’s so much Malachi, and there is so much more you don’t know. Why would you want someone with so much…past?”
“We all got skeletons in our closet, Angel. Some of us just have more shit to contend with than others.” Her words were now thrown back at her and something about his body language told her that he knew what he was talking about.
Sitting back down on the couch, he pulled her over to sit across his lap. “What happened next?” He waited for her answer with his arms wrapped around her.
Snuggling in, Trinity started her story again. “When I got to the hospital, I sang like a parrot.”
“Canary”
“What?”
“It’s canary, you sang like a canary.”
“You sure?”
Malachi just gave her a look and she went on. “Anyways, I spilled everything. They called Joseph and Renée who then called Nicci. All my bruises and cuts had to be documented, and I had to endure tests.” Trinity shuddered at the thought of the tests, which made Malachi’s grip tighten on her. “There was a police report filed, and policemen were stationed at the door to my hospital room. Apparently, assault wasn’t the only thing the police wanted to talk to Seth about. Well…he made the mistake of trying to find me there. The police caught him off guard and he ran. He disappeared and no one could find him. When he didn’t resurface, the police told me to contact them if I heard anything, but after so long, he’s not their top priority.”
“I had just started to relax; he had been missing for a little over a year. I had moved on with my life until all of the sudden he decided to make himself known.” She proceeded to tell him about the roses and finding them every morning in her classroom.
“How do you know they’re from him?” Malachi asked.
“That’s the thing. I had my suspicions because of his stupid color coding system with the flowers, but I wasn’t completely sure.” Trinity paused, knowing that he wasn’t going to like the next part. “That was at least until this week. It was when I was leaving the restaurant that we had lunch at; the time you had to leave early. He grabbed me when I got to my car.”
Malachi had all but stopped breathing, and she didn’t know how he was going to take the next part. “He asked about the roses. The part that freaked me out the most, though, was when he mentioned you. He got angrier the more he talked about us together. It makes me wonder how he’s getting his information or where he’s watching me from.” Trinity shivered at the thought.
“He didn’t touch you anywhere else did he? He just grabbed your arms?” Malachi’s voice was clipped. Trinity had been around enough in her life to notice when a man was livid, and she believed he had surpassed that point. It showed how far she had come along, since she still felt incredibly comfortable around him.
Trinity didn’t answer right away. He was already worked up enough she thought. What was the point in making him anymore angry?
“Trinity…” Malachi growled at her.
“Okay, he kissed me.” When she felt Malachi take a deep breath, she decided to intercept the outburst with the rest of the story. “But Malachi, you would have been so proud. I was able to push him away. I had never felt as strong as in that very moment. When he came back towards me, my knee went into a particular part of his anatomy that men cherish. While he was gasping for air, I escaped. I never felt so liberated from him until that very moment.”
“Who else knows about this?”
“Well obviously Nicci…but I also went to the police right after it happened. That’s it.”
Malachi adjusted her on his lap and relaxed a little. “Well, you won’t have to worry about that happening anymore, because as of tomorrow, I’m putting a protection detail on you.”
Trinity squirmed off of his lap to stand in front of him. “What? That’s not necessary.”
Placing his hands across the back of the couch, he looked completely at ease, but the strain in his muscles proved otherwise. “It’s just until I find him.”
Trinity knew that she wouldn’t want to be Seth when he found him. How could she convince him to let this be? She could care less what happens to Seth, but she couldn’t bare anything happening to Malachi for defending her.
“And what do you plan on doing when you find him?” She asked while placing her hands on her hips.
He sat forward and locked eyes with her. “I’m not going to lie to you. It is going to take every fiber of my being not to kill him. You said the cops were looking for him though so I’ll turn him in.”
He added the last bit with a shrug and Trinity didn’t believe it for a second, but she had to understand something else. “What exactly do you mean by protection detail?”
“A member of my team will be with you every second of every day.”
“Ah, no! That’s a little extreme; don’t you think?” She couldn’t imagine a shadow around her at all times. Plus if they were with her, who would be helping him when he needed them?
“Don’t worry. He’s a measly hu…a mere man.” She wondered what the slip up was about but he continued. “It shouldn’t take me long to find him.” As if an afterthought, he smiled at her. “This is what we do; don’t worry.”
Trinity sat back down across his lap and snuggled in. “Just promise me you won’t do anything stupid! I would hate for something to happen to you because of my mess.”
“Do I strike you as the type of person to do anything stupid?” He asked as he wrapped his arms back around her.
She couldn’t help but smile at his statement. “You seem like the type of person to do anything you want, be damned the consequences.” Trinity felt the rumble in his chest from his chuckle.
“You know me too well.” She could hear the smile in his voice before he kissed the top of her head.
There was a calm that settled over the two of them. Trinity felt an enormous weight lifted off her shoulders from revealing so much. Everything was out there now, and she just prayed that he still wanted to be with her. Eventually, she felt her whole body relaxing as he started to massage her scalp.
“Are you up to telling me about what happened when you were a kid?” He asked in a whisper.
Not willing to give up some semblance of the euphoria she was in, she didn’t want to discuss every detail. “Is the short version enough for tonight? Then I can go into more detail another day.”
“You tell me whatever you want to.”
She was quiet for a little while. She didn’t know the best way to start this. How would he ever understand, unless… “Are your parents still alive, Malachi?”
Trinity felt his whole body stiffen. “Why do you ask?”
“Just curious, I guess.” She shrugged as she started idly running her finger over his chest.
He was quiet for so long that Trinity feared he wasn’t going to answer. Suddenly, she felt him take a deep breath. “I never knew my father, but my mother died when I was still young.”
This made her sit up because it was somewhat similar to her. “What happened to you?”
He shrugged, but wouldn’t look in her direction. “I was living in the mountains then. She died when I was young, and the people that found me took me in.”
Trinity knew there was much more to the story than he told, but she could also tell it wasn’t something he was willing to discuss right then. It did make it easier to go on with her story knowing this about him. “Both my parents were murdered when I was ten.” She sighed and laid her head back down on his shoulder. “They were wonderful people. I couldn’t have asked for better parents. I cannot say the same for the first and second set of foster parents they put me with. Both sets were abusive, mentally and physically. After I got moved from the first house, they put me with another couple. There were other kids in that home, but I only connected with one of them, Nicci. She was younger and a lot smaller than me, so I did what I could to protect her, the best I could. Our social workers were crap and didn’t do anything. This is the reason Nicole became a social worker; to be one of the good ones.”
Trinity’s hand unknowingly gripped Malachi’s shirt when she paused. She chided herself for getting bothered by what couldn’t be changed before she let go. “When I was thirteen, my “foster dad” started to notice us in other ways. I got scared, panicked, and did the best I could to get a hold of my social worker. Thank God someone listened to me before anything happened. All the kids were removed from the house, but luckily they did what they could to keep Nicci and me together.” Her voice became lighter. “That was when they placed us with Joseph and Renée, and I am grateful every day that it was them. They are wonderful people that gave me the most normal childhood they could manage.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you. No one deserves to go through what you have.” She couldn’t decipher his tone, so she sat back up to look at his face. He was so handsome she thought, especially when he looked as sincere as he did at that moment.
Trinity just shrugged. “It’s alright. I’m just a walking advertisement for the saying “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Taking a deep breath, she knew she had to lighten the mood. This wasn’t everything that needed to be discussed, but they had to be done for the night. Shaking off all the depressing emotions that she went through in the last thirty minutes, she moved to straddle his lap.
She could tell by his expression that she surprised him. The expression quickly changed to awe when she ran her fingers through his hair; playing with his hair and massaging his head at the same time. “Tell me something I don’t know about you.”
He groaned and shut his eyes. “I love it when you do that.”
“I already know that.” Trinity laughed.
“Okay. How about that I really like it when you sit on me like this?” Malachi moved his hands to grab her hips.
Trinity wiggled a little, which caused him to grip her hips tighter before she whispered. “By what I feel…I believe I already know that as well.”
They locked eyes and Trinity knew that this night was going to change their relationship drastically. She wasn’t a casual person when it came to sex, and she prayed he knew this. Worrying her lip, she wondered if he was on the same page as her.
“What’s the matter?” His voice had gone soft, knowing that something was on her mind. How could she explain to him how uneasy she was? It had been close to two years since she had given herself to any man. What if he didn’t enjoy it? What if she did something wrong?
“Has it been a while?” He softly asked. It was amazing how well he could read her, she thought.
Trinity nodded. This would change everything. She hoped he understood how personal this was to her. “There hasn’t been anyone since Seth. I hadn’t even considered someone else until our dreams. Needless to say…I’m a little nervous.”
“Understandable.” His voice had gone gravelly.
“This is not something I take lightly.”
“As you shouldn’t.”
Trinity dropped her head onto his, pressing their foreheads together, and groaned. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you? Fine…” Resolved, she lifted her head. “If we do this, it’s only me. I won’t compete with other women. Same goes for me…you’re it.”
“Ah Trinity, my angel…” He started running his hands up and down her back. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re it for me and have been for a while. I haven’t even thought of another woman since the moment I dreamt of you.”
Trinity was speechless. Staring at him, an unfamiliar emotion surged through her. She felt strong and confident to know that she had that much of an impact on him. At that moment, Trinity knew she was in the right place and with the right man and without much more thought, she kissed him. All her emotions went into the kiss, and she hoped he understood. No more waiting.
The kiss quickly turned into one that was making her toes curl with every swipe of his tongue. She couldn’t get enough of his mouth. One moment he would be following her lead, then he would change and be more aggressive. It was showing her that this was going to be a shared experience of control.
Their hands were everywhere. While his were running from her neck all the way to her knees, hers couldn’t move from his firm chest. The feel of all that strength made her shiver with anticipation.
Malachi suddenly pulled away. “We can’t do this here.” He was breathing hard when he nodded his head toward the hallway. “Bedroom”
“Okay.” Trinity responded absently and immediately resumed kissing him. It was physically impossible to stop, she thought. He tasted of raw hard male and she wasn’t letting that go. Digging her fingers into his hair, she tried to hold him in place but he still managed to pull away again. Not willing to be deterred, she moved her mouth to his salty and equally tasty neck.
Trinity nipped his ear, then felt the vibration when he growled slightly. “I mean it. Wanna make it…special…You need candlelight…music…a bed for heaven’s sake!” He was having a hard time talking and Trinity knew his resolve was slowly slipping. “Condoms…they’re in the bedroom.”
“The pill.” She slid over the neck of his shirt and bit his shoulder at the same time she pressed herself down onto him.
“Shit!”
She heard Malachi, but was too busy concentrating on trying to reach the skin underneath his shirt to pay that close of attention. She felt him adjust before the room was filled with soft music. Finding the hem of his shirt, she went to lift it up, but quickly found herself grabbed around the waist and tossed across the couch.
“Eeek!” Trinity squealed before she started to giggle.
Malachi had a smile on his face. “Beds are overrated.”
That was all he said before his mouth came down on hers with such vigor, she had to hold on to him just to keep up. She reached around him and felt fabric when all she really wanted to feel was skin. Finding the hem of his shirt once again, she pulled at it until he sat up and helped her remove it the rest of the way.
Quickly throwing his shirt across the room, he sat her up to remove her shirt as well. She was now grateful that she had invested in new underwear. They were a plain white, but were trimmed with lace to accentuate her features, exceptionally well with the matching bra she thought. Watching his expression as he stared down at her, she thought of the money spent and figured it was well worth it.
He wasted no time in covering her again. Trinity started running her hands all over his sides and back, loving the way he felt. Making her way to his chest, her fingers grazed a nipple and he groaned into her mouth. Figuring out that she loved the sound, she did it over just to hear it again.
Wanting more and not wanting to wait, she grasped the front button to his pants and pulled. She needed to touch as much of him as she could. Using both hands, she quickly had his pants unbuttoned and unzipped before he grabbed her arm to stop her.
“Whoa…what’s the rush?” Malachi asked as he tried to catch his breath.
“I need…I just…need.” As she said the last word, she used the other hand that was not being held away and quickly moved it inside his pants to grab him. The moment her hand wrapped around him as much as she could, he buried his head in her neck and groaned.
“Baby, don’t…” His voice was clipped and muffled.
Ignoring him, she had a light grip on the tip before slowly moving her hand up and down. Her grip was firm and she periodically squeezed to make it tighter.
“Don’t…stop, don’t stop.” It sounded as if he had a hard time getting the words out. When he started to lightly thrust into her hand, she gave a small triumphant smile. He felt so good, so powerful in her hand, which made her feel powerful as well.
She stretched her hand down further and lightly rolled his testicles in her hand, at the same time she bit into his shoulder. Raising her head she licked away the sting of the bite and marveled at his taste.
“I can’t wait for this to be inside of me, filling me.” She punctuated her statement by giving him one hard squeeze.
His response was so quick that it took Trinity by surprise. He grabbed her arm and successfully pulled her hand out of his pants. Before she could contemplate what was going on, he had both her arms pinned over her head.
“Baby, what are you doing to me?” He shook his head as if confused.
“Malachi…” She groaned and arched into him. She wanted her hands back and let him know by tugging her arms.
“Oh, I don’t think so. It’s my turn to drive you out of your mind now.” He leaned down and kissed her, lingering when she wanted to get on with it. He then slowly moved his mouth to her neck.
“Is that what I did to you? Let my hands go and I can do even better.” She gave a small tug again but at the same time, tilted her head to give him better access. “I believe you already have an idea of what I can do with my mouth.” Tomorrow, she would probably be shocked at the things she said, but right now, she could care less.
He still had ahold of her wrists when he slowly dragged his tongue down the middle of her breasts, until he reached the edge of her bra. Taking his time, he started to nibble around the edges. He looked up at her and stopped what he was doing. “As you know what I am capable of with mine, but we can always explore your ideas later tonight.”
Just thinking about before, she realized that this was so much more intense than any dream could be. With every word he said, she could feel herself growing wetter.
Malachi started running his fingers over the cup of her bra and playing with the lace. “This is nice. I’ll buy you another one.” She was confused at his words before he quickly grasped the side and ripped it from her.
“Ahh!” Trinity threw her head back and arched her body. Nothing had ever been ripped off her before. It was surprising how much she enjoyed it.
“You are beautiful.” He sounded as if he was in awe as he was staring down at her.
All she could do was stare back up at him. This was it. This was the feeling that had always been missing. She felt cherished, sexy.
He leaned down to feast on one of her breasts, first running his tongue in large circles, but soon spiraling to the middle where she needed his mouth the most. After what felt like eternity, he finally latched on and sucked the nipple into his mouth. Air hissed between Trinity’s teeth and she tugged on her arms again, needing to hold him in place.
Malachi was extremely thorough and treated both breasts to the same ministrations. Trinity felt like crawling out of her skin. She needed him, sooner rather than later.
“Malachi…please…” Forming coherent words was starting to become difficult as she mewled.
“I know, angel. I’ll take care of you.” He said this before his mouth started to move lower. Suddenly stopping, he looked back up at her. “I’m going to let go of your hands now. Keep them there until I say.”
“But...”
He didn’t let her finish the protest but instead let out another slight growl which made her grudgingly nod in agreement.
Malachi sat up, got her jeans unfastened, and started working them down her legs. When he grabbed her panties, he lightly tugged them and looked at her. “Should I?”
Oh she wanted him to! She bit her lip and locked eyes with him. After what looked like careful thought, he slowly dragged them down her legs as well. A tiny flame of disappointment went through her, but was quickly snuffed out when she saw he was staring at her.
Moving her legs gently apart, he continued to just look at her when she desperately needed him to touch her. After a minute of him doing nothing, she started to feel self-conscious and went to close her legs.
“Don’t!” His voice was stern and his hand was firm when he moved her leg back to where it was. After kneeling in between her legs, he then ran his hand down her thigh to lightly play with the dusting of hair she had down there. “You don’t hide from me angel.”
“Malachi…” Her breath caught and she started to squirm.
“Shh.” He ran his index finger down, over the *oris and inserted his finger inside her. He watched as he pulled it out and inserted it back in. After a few more agonizing slow times, he inserted a second finger.
Trinity couldn’t stop squirming. It felt so good, but there was no way to slow down the feeling that was rapidly building inside of her. It was too much.
“Oh Malachi…” She reached her hands out to grab him and pull him back down on top of her. He immediately complied, but angled himself so he wouldn’t have to stop what his hand was doing to her.
“What is it baby? Have I driven you out of your mind yet or should I show you what I can do with my mouth now?” His voice was soft yet husky at the same time.
The thought terrified her and excited her at the same time. She didn’t know how much more of this she could take, but just thinking about it made her insides constrict.
She knew he had felt the small movement as well because he smiled down at her and kissed her again. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
The next thing she knew, he had slipped them off the couch and onto the rug. Except this time he was on his back and he had positioned her to straddle his face.
Before she could even adjust, his mouth was on her. She used one hand to grab onto the couch to keep her steady and the other one, she threaded through his hair. His tongue was on her…in her, and he was relentless. Every memory she had of him doing this was diminished by the actual thing, and it didn’t take long before she was moaning and gasping for air.
“Oh yes…please!” She dragged on the last word, hoping he would realize how desperate she was.
He kept one hand on her hip, but moved the other around to play with her over sensitized nub. The moment he touched her, she shattered into a million pieces. As she came, she screamed out his name and held onto him for dear life.
Even though she had just had the most explosive orgasm she could ever remember having, he didn’t let up. On the contrary, he gripped her hips tightly, enough to leave a bruise, and worked at her harder. It was as if he didn’t want to let her go.
Eventually, she had lost all strength to hold herself up and sagged from the exhaustion. When he finally let up, he turned her around before laying her on the floor. She watched with hungry eyes as he stood and discarded his jeans along with the boxer briefs.
Trinity couldn’t look away. If there were such things as Gods, she thought, this is what they would look like. He was tall and beautifully muscular with a body that was strong and sculpted with scars, plus a cock you could only dream of. When he smiled down at her with glistening lips, she thought how devastatingly handsome he was.
He stood patiently, letting her look her fill, until she held out her arms and he readily joined her. All the fire and urgency from before had fallen away, and all that was left was tender kisses and soft touches. It was perfect, she thought. Opening her legs wider, she accommodated the width of his hips.
Never letting his lips leave hers, he aligned their bodies just right and grasped his cock to direct himself to her opening. “Ready?” Pulling a breath away, he asked before doing anything.
Not trusting her voice, she nodded and pulled his head down for another kiss.
As he started to enter her, he abruptly stopped and lifted his head again. “Please don’t disappear.”
The whispered words reminded her of how they had always woken up apart before. Reassuring as possible, she wrapped her arms around him as far as they would go. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Obviously content with her answer, he continued to slowly enter her again. Wow, he was big. She could feel herself stretching and didn’t know how much more her body would allow. It was like nothing else she had ever felt before, and her body started to tingle and shake with anticipation.
When he finally stopped, they both let out a deep breath. He started to lightly kiss her and she felt her body relaxing around him. “I need you to take all of me angel.” His words stunned her to know that there was more. Malachi gently grasped her hips to angle them up. She felt so full, so wonderful; she couldn’t possibly imagine how much mor-
Malachi thrust the rest of the way into her and she felt like she was on fire. She opened her mouth on a silent scream only for it to be covered by his. He kept his body completely still and it was driving her crazy. As if having a mind of its own, her body started to move underneath him.
“Wait, hold still…” Malachi’s voice sounded strangled as he gripped her hip to hold it down.
Trinity tried, she really did, but instead her legs wrapped around him and she squeezed.
“F*ck!” He ground out before pushing himself onto his elbows and started to move, in and out. It started off slow but quickly became faster…harder.
Grabbing her hand, Malachi slammed it down next to her head and held on. Leaning down, he buried his head in her neck. “So good…so…good.”
She completely agreed. Feeling the familiar feeling build up inside her, she used her available hand to wrap around him and hold on. With every thrust, she climbed higher, until she couldn’t take any more. Her moans had turned into screams. The louder she got, the faster he moved, until she broke. She could feel herself contracting around him, squeezing him even tighter.
“Malachi!” she screamed at the same time he pushed into her a final time, yelling out as well.
Before fully collapsing on top of her, he rolled onto his side and brought her along with him. They were still connected and holding onto one other’s slick bodies; both trying to catch their breath. After a few minutes, Trinity said the only thing she could think of. “Wow!”
“You can say that again.” She couldn’t prevent the delectable shiver as he pulled out of her. The small movement had him speaking hesitantly. “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Leaning over, he brushed the hair from her face.
Trinity thought for a moment, taking note of everything she felt. There were many feelings coursing through her, but one thing she knew for sure, nothing came close to pain. In fact, she was curious as to when they could go again.
“Never better.” She smiled up at him before worrying her lower lip.
Visibly relaxing, he propped his head in his hand but didn’t move away from her. “What is going on in that pretty little head of yours?”
Creeping her fingers up his chest, she stopped to run the pad of her thumb over his nipple. His breath caught and she looked up at him through her lashes. The look gave him the answer he was looking for and she felt him start to grow hard against her leg once again.
“I like how your mind works.” His chest rumbled when she ran her tongue up to his collar bone. He flipped them around so she was straddling him and she giggled at the sudden movement.
He looked up at her. “This time we are going to make it to the bedroom first, though.” He sounded so determined.
“Most definitely.” She said as she lowered herself onto him.
Trinity collapsed onto his chest, breathing heavily, and Malachi swore his heart was going to pound out of his chest. After so many times, he couldn’t imagine even being able to go again, but it seemed like every time with her, regenerated him for more. He had always had increased stamina, but she ended up giving him a run for his money.
It was early the next day, and they had finally made it to the bed a couple hours ago. After another round on the floor in front of the couch, he was dead set against making love to her again outside of the bedroom. That was until they got side tracked in the front entry and then again in the hallway when Trinity dropped to her knees in front of him.
They couldn’t keep their hands off each other, but eventually made it to the bedroom. Once there, they spent over an hour just exploring each other. He didn’t think there was an inch on her body he hadn’t touched or tasted during the night.
Malachi ran his hands up her perspired back and felt the familiar stirring, but pushed it away. They were both exhausted and needed to get some sleep.
Reaching down, Malachi grabbed the covers and pulled them over the top of them both. Just when he had begun to relax, Trinity started to stir. Her hands set about wandering his body and he felt the butterfly kisses across his chest.
Weaving his fingers through her hair, he moved to halt her progress. “I don’t think so, Angel. Give me at least a few hours to rest and we can go again. Just sleep.”
Trinity groaned and propped herself up on her hands to look down at him. As if coming to a decision she said, “Okay”, gave him a quick peck on the lips, then bounded off the bed to the bathroom. She was only in there a minute before coming out with a towel wrapped around her. Malachi then watched in utter disbelief as she opened the bedroom door as if to leave. Before fully walking out, she turned to look at him. “Come find me when you wake up.”
“What? Whoa, where do you think you’re going?” What the hell just happened here, he thought as he sat up in bed.
“You said you needed to sleep; I was letting you sleep.” She sounded baffled, as if he wasn’t supposed to have a problem with this. Well, he had a big problem with this.
There were many times in his long life he didn’t mind being treated as a boy toy, this was not one of those times. He’d be damned if he’d let his Trinity do that. “It’s three in the morning. I think we both need some sleep, don’t you?”
She waved it off like it was nothing. “It’s alright. I don’t need to sleep. I’ll just go get dressed and…”
“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Malachi didn’t even let her finish what she was saying. He hated the idea of her alone, in his living room, putting back on the clothes he had meticulously removed.
With his quick speed, he made it off the bed, wrapped his arms around her and carried her back to bed, but not before removing the towel she had used to cover herself. Laying her on the bed, he wasted no time in wrapping himself around her.
“Really Malachi; I’m not tired.” Ignoring her protests, he buried his face in her shoulder before nuzzling down deep. She ended up giggling when his stubble tickled her skin.
As he was lying there, he remembered something Nicole had said about nightmares and everything started to make sense. Not that he didn’t enjoy the night, but when he thought back; after the first couple times together, Trinity would come on to him after he finally felt her body relaxing. He should have put two and two together sooner, but it was hard to think strait then. Pulling back, he looked at her. “This wouldn’t be another attempt to avoid falling asleep, would it?”
She didn’t say anything, but he had his answer by the way she stared at the ceiling and nervously chewed on her lip.
“They’re that bad, huh?” He tried to ask in the most soothing voice he could manage.
“Sometimes” she whispered. He must have nailed it, because she knew exactly what he was talking about.
“Do you want to tell me about them?”
She laughed out loud. “Not before going to sleep, if that’s what you’re going to make me do.”
“I’m not going to make you do anything, but I would really like it if you would.” His reasoning made sense, but it troubled him that she believed she didn’t have a choice.
Trinity sighed in defeat but then flashed him her mischievous smile. Turning on her side, she snuggled close before running her hand down his body. “You can give me something remarkable to think about right before falling asleep.”
Grabbing her hand to stop its path, he laughed at her persistence. “You little lush! Now, we sleep.” He leaned over and gently kissed her neck. “But don’t be surprised if I decide to take my breakfast in bed.”
They were both settling in when a thought occurred to him. “How much sleep do you get a night?”
“I don’t get too much sleep on the weekends, but I at least try to get a couple hours on weeknights.”
He was in shock knowing, that any mortal needed more rest than that. Then he remembered that this had been going on for over a month. “How do you function? You have to be dead on your feet.”
“Caffeine! Lots and lots of caffeine!”
“Well, let’s hope they don’t come tonight. If they do, remember that I’m right here.” With those last words, they snuggled down for the night. Malachi waited until he knew Trinity had drifted off to sleep before soon following.
Malachi woke to the sun shining through the window. Looking back at the clock, he realized they had been sleeping for a good six hours. That was when he heard it, a subtle but definite snore. Looking toward the other side of the bed, he saw Trinity. She was lying on her stomach and was buried amidst all the covers and pillows. She looked so peaceful that he didn’t want to disturb her.
Slowly and carefully, he climbed out of bed and slipped on a pair of pants. As he headed for the kitchen, he remembered the comment he said about having breakfast in bed. She’s has to eat something too though, he thought.
He looked around for ideas on something to make. Never learning how to cook, he was limited on the food in his house. If it couldn’t be nuked or eaten as is, he didn’t have it. This always worked out well for him, but put a damper on things now.
Deciding to go simple today and pick up stuff later, he grabbed two bowls out of the cupboard for cereal. After further examination, he found frozen waffles, but then noticed they were a week expired. Screw it, he thought as he tossed them into the toaster.
For a last minute grab, he snatched a banana. Looking at everything he had come up with, he felt pretty proud of himself. Sure, it wasn’t a high quality breakfast, but it would work for today.
He had just picked up the tray when he heard a bloodcurdling scream that made his blood run cold. Knowing that it was Trinity made it even worse, and he dropped everything he was holding. He started to think the worst as he was running to the bedroom. Had his property been breached? What he saw when he reached the bedroom made his heart hurt. Trinity was thrashing around on the bed…kicking and swinging at nothing there.
Rushing over to her, he tried to wake her up. She wouldn’t wake, but she did stop moving. Tears were running down her face and she was breathing heavy.
“He shouldn’t have had to die that way.”
Her voice broke as she said the words, but he could still understand them. He had no idea what she was dreaming about, but knew he wanted to get her out of wherever she had ventured. Giving her another shake, he tried again to wake her up. “Trinity, come back to me baby.”
She slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room. When her gaze landed on him, she flew into his arms and held on tight. He could feel her shaking and started to run his hand up and down her back to sooth her. Berating himself, he knew he shouldn’t have left her, especially since he told her that he would be there.
Remembering what she said while she was sleeping, he thought of the one time he had said those words. It was a while ago when a longtime friend of his was tortured and killed right in front of him. The anguish was almost unbearable, and he prayed that, for her sake, her dream wasn’t as bad as that was for him.
She was still gripping onto him and he wondered if talking would help ease her sooner. “Tell me what happened.”
Shaking her head against his chest, she stayed quiet.
“Okay. When you’re ready…” Why wouldn’t she confide in him?
Once she relaxed enough, she let out a long breath and plopped herself back down on the bed. “Ugh! This sucks!” Looking at him, she sighed. “Did you know that lying in bed and sleeping used to be my favorite things to do? I have such a comfy bed too, cushioned…heated…the works. Now I avoid it like the plague.”
“We’ll figure it out. They’ll stop, and then you can show me this “comfy” bed of yours.” He laid down next to her. “You have to tell me what are in these dreams though, so I can help you determine what’s causing them.”
“I will, just not right now, okay?”
“That’s fine.” Remembering things that were said last night, he had to reiterate a few things. “Do you have plans for today?”
“I have to grade projects that were turned in on Friday. It should take a good portion of the day. Why?”
The anticipation in her voice killed him because he knew she was expecting to do something together. That made this even harder and he knew he was about to sound like a dick. “I needed to know so I could determine who would be with you today. I have some work to do, or else it would be me, but I can’t.”
The look on her face almost made him change his plans, but he couldn’t postpone finding the dickhead that attacked her. Through the entire explanation, he wanted to yell and break everything he could get his hands on. His self-control was paper thin, and the only reason he held it together was the thought that Trinity needed him. When he found him, he would have to be sure to bring someone along to pick him up or else he might turn him into tree mulch and laugh as he begs for mercy.
“I told you last night. It’s not necessary.” Except for today, she sounded more resolved.
He knew if he tried to intimidate her, she would laugh in his face, so he went the other route. “Please. Just until I find him. I need to know you are safe.”
She stared at him for a moment then pointed her finger in his direction. “Fine, but not a moment longer.”
“Deal”
With that settled, he decided to lighten up the mood. He pulled her towards him. “How about that breakfast now?”
“Okay, what did you have in mind?” She flashed a giant smile.
Everyone always says that actions speak louder than words. He quickly ducked down and covered his head with the comforter. It didn’t take him long to find the spot that quickly made her cry out.