chapter 17
Something was wrong with Malachi. Ever since she had woken up in the hospital he had been aloof and downright cold towards her.
He was driving her home in Gemariah’s truck, and it felt like an entire universe separated them instead of the actual two feet. He wouldn’t look at her. All he did was stare out the windshield and the only movement she saw was the occasional tick from his jaw.
He was pissed!
There was only one thing she could think of why he would be mad at her, and it was one of her biggest regrets of the night.
“I’m so sorry that I sent Gideon away! It was stupid, obviously I see that now.” He didn’t even acknowledge that she had spoken. “Come on Malachi! You have to talk to me eventually.”
When she reached over to touch his arm, she tried not to feel too hurt when he jerked away. Who was she kidding, the reaction hurt like hell! He remained silent till they pulled in front of her house. He shut off the car before he finally spoke. “Get out.”
Dread filled her when she thought he was just going to do a dump and drive. That was until, she watched as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the truck himself. She watched as he stood and waited for her but this is where she drew the line. He won’t say anything to her, when all she wants is for him to wrap his arms around her and warm up the bone deep cold that has seeped into her body. Now, he thinks he can order her around like a dog? He’s got another thing coming.
Looking put out, he eventually walked over and opened her door. “I said get out. I need to get you settled, let’s go.” He wouldn’t even look at her for heaven’s sake!
“I’m sorry, when did I become your lap dog?” She watched as his nostrils flared, and praised the lord that she got some sort of reaction from him.
“Please. Can we go inside now?” He spoke through clenched teeth as he gestured toward the house, but it was an improvement at least.
Trinity slowly lowered herself from the truck, trying to be careful not to bump her bad arm. Her pain was slowly starting to return from whatever Gemariah did earlier, and the thought terrified her since Malachi had refused to stop and fill her prescription for pain medicine. A little help down would have been nice, but she knew it wasn’t going to happen from the man that couldn’t stand her touch at the moment.
When they got to the front door, Malachi unlocked the door and let them in. Walking inside a familiar environment caused all the exhaustion to finally hit her. She felt like she could lie down and sleep for days, but first, she needed a shower…badly. It was hard to believe that the attack only happened hours ago. She could still feel the grime from Seth’s touch and could still see the dried blood around her nails, hers or Hugh’s, she didn’t know.
She stood at the bottom of the flight of stairs that stood between her and her hot shower. There was no way she could tackle those by herself. Turning, she found Malachi putting her stuff down on the end table and she cleared her throat to get his attention. “Could I get a little help, please?”
He looked to her, then to the stairs, and back to her again; probably trying to judge if she could make it on her own or not. Screw this! She didn’t need him. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed onto the railing with dear life, and hauled herself up to the first stair. Yep, pain was definitely coming back, she thought. On the second stair, she faltered a little and wobbled backwards. For a moment she thought she was going to fall, but two hands grabbed her hips to stable her.
She didn’t even want to look at him right now. This was too much! He was pissed off and being a jerk about everything. Yes she screwed up, but dammit, she needed him now more than ever; not as a body guard, but as the man she loved.
Trying to cover up the sob that forced its way out, she made a small coughing noise and prayed he didn’t notice. Her head was bowed down so he couldn’t see her face. On top of everything, now she couldn’t keep her emotions in check. Man, she couldn’t wait for this night to be over.
“Don’t.” His mouth was pressed against her hair and caused the single word to be muffled. Before she had time to think what she wasn’t supposed to do, he was lifting her in his arms and easily striding up the stairs.
Trinity didn’t fight it. This is what she needed at the moment, so she rested her head on his shoulder while she was swept off her feet.
He didn’t put her down until he reached her bathroom and placed her in front of the shower. Reaching over, he turned on the shower just short of scalding; the way she liked it. While the water was warming up, he unhooked her arm brace so he could slide her shirt off. He was being very careful, but when the shirt was pulled from her, her arm was accidently bumped and she hissed through the pain.
His gaze immediately shot to her face? “Hurt?” He actually looked surprised. Hello…broken arm.
She bit her cheek to stop the smart ass remark and nodded instead.
“Since when?”
“The car.” She spoke quietly, afraid to wake the sleeping bear.
Frowning, he examined her arm. “If I fix your arm, you can’t go back to the doctor like they told you to do.”
Part of her wanted to yank her arm away and tell him to take his offer and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine. That would be for how he’s treated her tonight. Another part of her wanted the connection with him, even if it was fleeting. She sucked it up and chose to go with the latter.
“Please. It is starting to hurt quite a bit.”
Biting her lip, she watched as resolve crossed his face before determination. He wrapped his hand around her bad arm, right over the break, and she clamped down harder to silence any noise she might have made from the pain.
She watched as Malachi’s hand started to glow a spectacular gold color, and warmth started to seep into her skin. She actually felt the bones in her arm correcting themselves. It was not a painful feeling, but still different none the less. The whole process only took a minute, but when he let go, her arm was pain free. She held it up in amazement, rolling the wrist and rotating her arm to see everywhere.
“Turn around.”
The comment brought her back to what was going on. The fact that she was standing, half naked in her bathroom that was already starting to steam up, finally crossed her mind. The effect was instantaneous. Her breathing deepened and she looked at him through her lowered lashes. When she took a step towards him, he put his hands up and took a step back.
“Don’t.”
There was that word again. It must be his favorite one tonight.
“Turn around.”
Grudgingly, she obeyed, but also leaned in to shut the water off. Fine, he was bent on healing her wounds, but she wasn’t about to let all her hot water run out in the process.
She winced when the tape pulled at her skin as he removed the bandages on her back. She heard him suck in a breath, right before his hands were on her. The feeling was expected on her back, but what she wasn’t expecting was the warmth to spread throughout her body. The pain in her ribs vanished as well as the constant ache in her head. Looking down, she witnessed firsthand, the small scrapes and bruises on her hands and arms vanish. This was all a little much to take in, and she swayed before catching herself on the bathroom wall.
“Are you okay?” His voice was rough, but he quickly removed his hands.
“Yeah.” She whispered back. “How can you do that?” She had wanted to ask that question the moment she found out about these “special abilities”, but something was always more pressing at the moment. Sure she was curious, and it was a little nerve wrecking finding out something that monumental, but it was still Malachi.
Instead of answering her, he reached around her and turned the water back on.
“Get cleaned up.”
That shower looked so inviting. She was no longer in pain, but was still bone weary tired and knew nothing would be better right now than stepping in. Well, maybe one thing…
“Care to join me?” She spoke in the sultriest voice she could muster and flashed him an inviting smile. This wouldn’t be anything new for them after sharing quite a few showers, but she needed him to forgive her and maybe hold her for a while.
The comment seemed to have the opposite effect on him, and he treated her to a long, drawn out sigh. “Could you just do what you’re told for once?” He barely looked at her as he spoke, and then turned to walk back into the bedroom.
When he walked out, Trinity was crushed. Only one thought was going through her mind.
Please don’t leave me.
Fighting back the tears, she removed the rest of her clothing and stepped into the shower. The water felt phenomenal, helping to wash away the residual stiffness from the night’s events. She scrubbed her skin to the point where it was turning a bright pink, and washed her hair three different times, until the water ran clear and not a muted pink.
She got out the moment the water started to turn cold. Not knowing how long she had been in there, she figured Malachi wouldn’t be waiting for her any more. She dried off and wrapped the towel around her until she could find some clothes.
Squaring her shoulders, she resolved to stop moping around and do what needed to be done, on her own. She hasn’t needed anyone since she was ten years old, why should now be any different. Time to take care of herself again, she thought. Opening the door, she marched into her room, only to stop in her tracks when she saw Malachi sitting in her chair with his head in his hands.
“I figured you’d be gone by now.” Trinity spoke as she made her way over to her dresser.
“We needed to talk.”
“Oh! Now you want to talk?” Who the hell did he think he was? She gave him no slack and kept pulling out clothes to get ready for bed. If he wanted to talk, why not all the other times she had tried earlier?
“I figured it would be fairer to you, if you knew what was going on.” He showed no signs of being effected by her outburst.
“Fine!” She turned toward him and crossed her arms in front of her chest, noting that she was still standing in only her towel. “Start talking.”
Standing up, he dropped his hands in exhaustion. “This isn’t working.”
“What’s not…our talk, you trying to be a jerk, me…the list is endless!” Trinity visibly swallowed. “You mean us?”
He sighed and ran his hands roughly through his hair. By the looks of it, it hadn’t been the first time. Staring at the ceiling, he finally answered her. “We can’t be together anymore. There are too many factors, stuff you don’t even know…”
“Then talk to me dammit! Tell me!” She yelled and finally got him to look at her. She felt like the world was coming down around her. This couldn’t be it.
“It’s complicated.” He looked like he was going to say more, but shook his head instead.
“How do you know? You haven’t even tried to tell me anything.”
He started to pace back and forth. “Don’t you get it? I’m not good for you!” His voice was now close to yelling along with her.
Unbelievable! That said, she eliminated the distance between the two off them and grabbed onto his arm to stop his pacing. Her grip got tighter, instead of releasing him, when she felt his flinch. “Let me make that decision! And for crying out loud, stop acting as if my touch repulses you!”
All of his attention was now on her. “Dammit Trinity, I can’t let you touch me!” He tried to pull his arm free, but she was not letting go. Finally, he stopped and slumped his shoulders in defeat. “I wouldn’t be strong enough to stay away from you if I let you touch me. That is the thing I look forward to every morning when I wake and miss it when you’re not around. It’s addictive.”
She didn’t even give a second thought to stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him. His body stiffened, but at least he made no attempt to pull away. “Please talk to me.” She whispered into his chest.
He ran his fingers through her wet hair, before gripping onto the strands to pull her head back so she could look into his face. “You are a stubborn woman, you know that?”
Trinity ran her hands up and around to rest on his chest. She had to let him know. “Then it’s only fitting that I fall in love with an equally stubborn man.” She spoke softly to him, hoping not to scare him away.
“Stop.” He pulled her away from him and tried to turn away. “You can’t love me.”
“Of course I can, and I do!” When he tried to pull away from her again, she grabbed onto his shirt and wouldn’t let go. “Dammit, stop turning away from me!”
“Well, you shouldn’t love me! You have no idea what I am…I’m a freak!”
“Hey! Don’t talk like that. You are a wonderful and kind man, and I won’t allow anyone to talk like that about you…even if it is you doing the talking.” She was so frustrated. Malachi stared skeptically at her and she continued. “You help anyone and anything that needs it. Not only are you a great leader, but you have a group of people you work with that consider you a friend, even though to you they are always just your “team”. They would not consider you a friend for no reason.”
Trinity reached up and put her hand over his heart. “This is so big, but you won’t let anyone in. I love this, I love you.”
Malachi grabbed her upper arms and pulled her flesh against him. He was inches from her face when he growled down at her. “You don’t understand; I’m dangerous.”
“Not to me you’re not.”
“I could hurt you.”
Trinity moved close enough that their lips were just a whisper apart. “Do your worst.”
Trinity barely finished talking before his mouth was on hers in a punishing kiss. The grip on her arms became even tighter as she tried to match his adore. She lost track of time and everything around them as they stood there. It was as if their mouths were fighting to see who would come out on top. She knew that Malachi was trying to frighten her away, but his kiss was doing the complete opposite.
Malachi ripped his mouth away, and they both sucked in a much needed breath, before he quickly spun her around so her back was against him. She could feel his erection pressed against her back, and nothing could stop the slight moan that slipped past her lips.
“My worst, huh?” He whispered into her ear before biting her lobe. The nip was hard enough to elicit a sharp jolt of pain, but was gone almost immediately. Not before eliciting a shot strait down to her core and a longer moan came forth.
Malachi had maneuvered them over to the bed, and stopped once Trinity’s thighs touched the mattress. In the next instant, he ripped the towel from her and threw it across the room before bending her down onto the bed.
Following her down, he covered her body completely. “Stay.” He bit out the command in her ear before standing back up. The order was so intense that she had no intension of not following it.
Both hands were gripping her hips, as he slowly ground his denim clad erection against her bare sex. It felt so good, but Trinity needed more.
His movements stopped, and she knew he had stepped back when she felt the cool air on her overheated skin. His hand was now trailing down her back, and she heard the rumble in his chest as he slowly drew it down.
When his hand got low enough, he kicked her legs out wider to get a better view. The lower his hand got, the heavier Trinity’s breathing became; the suspense was killing her. He paused in his descent at her tiny virgin opening and moaned as he traced a finger around the opening. “Ahh, there are so many things I want to do to you right now.” A sound of appreciation came from him when her body let forth a shiver. “Tell me, Angel. If I wanted to take you here tonight…” He made his point clear by pressing barely the tip of his finger inside her. “…would you let me?”
Trinity could barely think through the waves of emotion crashing through her. She felt her body heat up with the intense feeling of excitement, from doing something that felt forbidden. She was nervous, but knew there was no other person she trusted enough with the idea.
“Yes.”
Trinity heard his sudden intake of air, but he removed his finger and kept on with his descent downward. “Possibilities…maybe another day.”
“No, we’ll just stick with this tonight.” He made his point by inserting a finger into her p-ssy. She was already wet and ready for him, and she could tell he liked that by his groan of approval. “Maybe even this…”
Before she knew what he was going to do, he used his other hand to stick a finger in her mouth. “Suck.” She did as he told her and almost came on the spot when he groaned in approval. “You’re very good at that. When I’ve finished with you this first time, you’re going to get down on your knees and lick our juices off my cock until it’s clean. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.” She felt herself spiraling out of control and quickly building, getting ready to explode just from his words. He suddenly removed his hands and she wanted to scream in frustration.
“Not yet, Baby.”
When she had calmed down, he entered a finger inside her again, but quickly added another. All she could do was grip her comforter with both hands and moan into her bed. When he turned his hand and bent his fingers to massage her inner wall, she screamed in frustration. She needed more, she needed him. Pushing back onto his hand, she tried to convey this.
He didn’t stop his slow agonizing rhythm, but did insert one more finger.
“Please.” She begged, almost in tears.
Never stopping his torment, he leaned over once more to talk softly to her. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to f*ck you hard and fast, unlike anything we’ve ever done.” His soft tone contradicted his crude words, but Trinity felt her body clinch in anticipation. “After I’ve come and you’ve cleaned me off, I’m going to take you again and again, as rough as I want, however I want, as many times as I want.”
Trinity closed her eyes from the mental picture, and a shiver ran through her.
“Scared yet?” He growled.
She opened her eyes and stared right into the gorgeous green eyes of the man she loved. “Bring it on.”
The challenge was cast, the gauntlet was thrown, and she was not backing out for the life of her.
Resolve entered his eyes as he stood up. Trinity heard the telltale sound of a zipper right before his cock replaced his fingers. He rammed into her and the feeling was too much. He was very large, and she felt her opening stretch and the fullness inside of her. The first thrust made her explode into thousands of pieces, and she screamed through the release she had desperately needed.
His grip on her hips was brutal, and she knew there would be marks there tomorrow. He held still inside of her and groaned, obviously enjoying the feel of her contracting around him. Before she could catch her breath, she felt his body shift.
“Now.” That single word was her only warning before he slammed into her. The rhythm was punishing and she was held down to the point where she couldn’t move. This was a new experience for her and she couldn’t stop her panting and moaning. Never did she think she would enjoy being rough this much. Already, she felt herself building again.
Letting go of her hips, he grabbed a leg and brought it up to the side, so her knee was balanced on the edge of the mattress. The new angle was all it took to make her explode once more. She screamed into the bed and reached back to grab onto him. He slowed through her release, prolonging it even more, and she thought she was a goner.
Malachi all of the sudden pulled out of her and stepped back. She whined in protest, but it quickly turned into a squeal when he flipped her over onto her back. Her legs were hanging off the edge, and he brought them up to bend next to her body before slamming back into her. After coming twice already, her body was fully prepared for his sudden entry.
When he started his unmerciful pace again, he was even deeper than before. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of him. He was touching places inside of her that had never been touched before, as if they were meant for him alone. She was exhausted, but that didn’t stop her body from climbing up once more. She knew this time was going to be explosive, and needed to hold onto him. She grabbed his arms and gave a slight tug. When he didn’t move, she managed to gasp out two words. “Kiss me.”
They were his undoing. He released her legs and let out a long groan before wrapping his arms around her, and pressed his lips to hers. He kept moving as if he was trying to climb inside of her, pushing farther and farther. He was all around her, and when she wrapped her arms and legs around him, it was if they were truly one.
It was as if fireworks suddenly went off. She tore her mouth away and yelled his name, as her body tried to arch off the bed only to be held down by his body on top of hers. Her body was tightening around him, and every pulse made her gasp for air.
“Shit. Trinity!” Malachi yelled as he slammed one more time into her and held himself there. Trinity gave a long, drawn out moan when she felt him come inside of her. She raised her head and pressed her lips against his; not in a punishing kiss as the times before, but one that was entirely soft. Closing her eyes, she tried to put as much love into the kiss as possible.
After a few minutes, Malachi pulled out, before moving her up the bed so her legs were no longer hanging over. He was lying in between her open legs with his head buried in her chest. Trinity lovingly caressed his hair, running her fingers through it as they stayed like that.
“I was so scared.”
Malachi’s raw voice brought her out of the tranquil state she had entered. “What do you mean?” She didn’t stop what she was doing with his hair, afraid that he would stop talking.
“When I heard you on the phone…I thought…” He couldn’t finish the sentence, but wrapped his arms tighter around her and adjusted to bury his head in the bend of her neck instead.
“I know. I’m okay though.” She did know, because she thought the same thing…that she would never see him again.
He propped himself up on his elbows to look down at her. “God help me, I love you too. I don’t know what I would have done if things would have ended differently. He could have taken you, or worse, and I couldn’t do…”
That was as far as he got, before Trinity put her fingers over his mouth to silence him. “You cannot dwell on the what-ifs. Yes, tonight was awful, but I’m fine, thanks to you.” Regret started to seep in. “I only wish I could say the same for Hugh.”
Shaking off the unpleasant thought, Trinity focused on something more uplifting. She placed her hand on his cheek and smiled. “You love me?”
Malachi sighed in resignation, but Trinity noticed his lips twitch. “Yes, I love you.”
“Say it again.”
“I love you.”
“Again.”
He laughed. “I love you.”
“One more time.” Trinity couldn’t help but laugh with him.
“You know, I could just show you how much I love you.” He punctuated his words by leaning down and running his tongue around one of her nipples.
She gasped at the sensation, but gave a slight push on his shoulders. “Get up.”
The urgency in her tone made him move quickly. He stood up, but looked at her quizzically. “What’s go…f*ck!”
When he stood up, she wasted no time in dropping to her knees and quickly maneuvering his jeans down further, before running her tongue up the underside of his cock.
She looked up at him through her lashes and gave him one of her best seductive smiles. “Just fulfilling my promises…” With that, she wrapped her mouth around his impressive erection, and watched as his head dropped back in rapture.