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A breeze blew in that smelled of rain In the distance, thunder ruainst a darker, turbulent sky

I waited for him to co&039;s co? What an odd way to describe a stor and watched the clouds billow over the mountains, then skate across the tops of the trees Soon the only illu

I&039;d always been fascinated by it The way the sky see in the black velvet curtain, allowing the electric sizzle to escape

"When I was a child," Iout"

"Perhaps it is"

He laid his hand overOur hips and shoulders brushed The chill of the storm front stirred our hair

We watched in co this in tune with anyone except Grace I&039;d never been this comfortable with a man, ever What was it about him that made me trust?

The wind picked up; the lightning broke right overhead "We should go in," I said

He turned toward me and touched ht glint of his eyes "I don&039;t have to stay"

I s up to brush his partially dried hair back froht "I want you to"

"Stay?"

"And all that staying iers and led hiered, and I paused to shut the sliding glass door, then stick the iron bar between the two panels for good measure

Malachi watched ain I swear"

"You can&039;t be withflashed across his face, there and then gone the next instant I thought itthe same air as you"

He&039;d said that before; the old-fashioned phrasewarm and solid shift just belownose he sticks into business he should not"

"Balthazar"

"He will not cohed Wouldn&039;t that be nice?

"Balthazar lives and works here," I said "I have to deal with him"

"I wouldn&039;t want your job, Claire"

I remembered how he&039;d flown over the head of the horse to smack into the trunk of a tree "I wouldn&039;t want yours, either"

For an instant I thought how different ere, how odd that our lives had crossed, and what a gift that we&039;d have these few days together

"Let&039;s not waste any hten you"

I stared into the endless darkness of his eyes and told hi, Claire"

"You plan to hurt me?"

He looked away "How could you think that?"

"Exactly So why shouldn&039;t I trust you?"

"Sometimes people are not what they see like what he&039;d seemed

But the time had come to move beyond the past I couldn&039;t let the bastards win By running back here, I&039;d done just that, and it hadn&039;t helped Josh had just followed me

But I&039;d stood up to him, and now I needed to stand up to as left of my fear I wanted to do that with Malachi

"I believe you&039;re exactly what you seem," I said "A man orks hard Who takes care of his people Who&039;s honest about what he wants" I stepped closer, leaning up to brush lad what you want is me I want you, too"

I&039;d never said that to a man Not that there&039;d been all that h school, working, trying to make a name for myself All of which seeh the house, shutting off lights as ent so that darkness spread behind us as we continued to walk into the light

We reached ht fell; I could barely see the outline of his face

Suddenly he jerked his head toward the hall where Oprah&039;s eyes glowed eerily disembodied The sudden movement caused her to hiss

I shut the door "She doesn&039;t care for storms"

"Poor beast," he murmured

I started toward the bed; anticipation ht switch and the harsh electric glare flooded the rooain, I jumped like Oprah after a loud noise and spun around

"I want to see you," he said

That I wasn&039;t ready for My body wasn&039;t bad, but it wasn&039;t good, either It certainly wasn&039;t on the caliber of his

"Please," he continued "I&039;ve been waiting to see the pale moon of your skin and the fire of your hair when I&039;m inside you"

My moon-pale cheeks blushed fiery red "I - I can&039;t"

The thought of having sex with the lights brightly shining was too much for me I couldn&039;t do it I&039;d panic at the worst possible o through with soain

"You&039;re so beautiful," he aze at every inch of you"

He started toward esture "I don&039;t want the small, but then, Malachi knehy, or at least the root of it Still, I expected him to turn around and leave I was too much work Especially for a man who could have anyone he wanted in any town, anywhere But Malachi surprisedflashed, lohite "I swore to you I&039;d neveryou didn&039;t want to do" He flicked the switch "I o?"

Silence descended, broken only by Oprah&039;son the other side of the door and the distant ru away

I opened e crack, followed by a bolt of lightning so bright I had to close my eyes, yet still I saw it etched on my eyelids, froze the words in my throat

Oprah squalled and the scritch-scratch of her claws tearing at the wood floor as she ran to her safe place downstairs seemed almost as loud as the rasp of the startled breath I drew into ht in front of ht, and I knew I didn&039;t want hi ently I wanted to weep

Since that would kill the mood even quicker than any panic on my part, I kissed hiue, I tangled ers in his still-damp hair, and the curls tu from his ear tickled the sensitive V of skin between er, and I moaned into his hs hit the bed, then tugged him onto the mattress with me

We bounced once before he pulled away "Claire, it doesn&039;t have to be like this"

"Like what?"

"So fast, so - " He broke off

"Desperate?"

"I know you&039;re not desperate," he said softly "Neither aood sex in the last year

"We&039;ll go slowly" He sat up, bringingtheo at all"

He dropped my hand and turned away "Then we shouldn&039;t"

"We should" I touched his shoulder "I need this I need you Mal, please"

His skin twitched beneath my hand, al into a tree The guy probably had bruises everywhere Maybe I needed to be gentle with hiued me What if I treated Mal as if he were the broken one?

Slowly I eased ainst his shoulder, pressed et," I whispered "Everything but you"

He turned inflashed, weaker, hardly a flicker, and in it he appeared anguished "There&039;s so much about me you don&039;t know"

"I don&039;t want to know It&039;s just you andelse, ly torn, and for an instant I wondered what he ht confess A hundred thousand lovers? Thievery? Murder? STDs?

Crap

"Do you have a condom?"