AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The ten episodes of that bloody dancing show he forced me to watch spoke for itself.”
Kier had watched it?Malhad watched it? I tried to picture the two of them in the family room, whisky in hand as they settled in for a Saturday night of sequins and ballroom dancing.
I smiled and his attention slid to it, throat working on a swallow.“What are you smiling at?”
“Trying to picture you dancing along to show tunes.”
“I don’t dance.” No. I imagined he didn’t.
His gaze fell to my lips again, then back to my eyes. It was like watching a loaded spring, wound tight and then releasing again and again. On the next bounce, I caught his cheek. His fingers still gripped my chin and our hands overlapped. His breath stuttered, chest expanding and brushing mine in a caress that made me whimper. It was so long since I’d touched someone this way. Since someone had touched me.“Mal,” I whispered, praying that single syllable could convey everything I was incapable of asking for.
I felt the change in him before it even happened. His features morphed into something more determined. Tension transferring from his shoulders and down his arms to tug me closer. I all but fell against his chest, arms circling his neck, breasts moulding to the solid mass as my legs spread to straddle him. One of his legs remained bent, his socked foot planted firmly on the mattress. That had me sitting directly in the V of his lap and I felt… I felt everything. The rock-hard length he made no move to disguise pressed along the seam between my thighs. My lip caught at the sensation, teeth biting as I strived to hold back my reaction, my gut screaming at me not to rush this because his eyes weren’t on me anymore, they were pinched shut. His cheeks and ears painted fire red. His entire body trembled.
“Mal…” I whispered.“Mal, is this okay?” His nod was jerky. Eyes screwed tighter.
I should move, I decided. I started to retreat but he caught me, drawing even closer this time. The entire length of our bodies lined up and he dropped his forehead to mine, blanketing my lips with harsh pants.“Don’t move, princess… Please don’t move.”
“I won’t.” My fingers slid down his neck and across his shoulders, rubbing in tight circles. And when his eyes flitted open and met mine, only then did I move.
I drew closer until our mouths were a hairbreadth away and paused, ready to pull back at the slightest sign he might not want this.
He licked his lips and I closed the distance, finding myself surprised at how soft they were. I didn’t press, just held there, letting him decide what happened next. His answering groan was deep and masculine, his body softening beneath mine like chocolate melting on a stove, warm and sweet and delicious. It was the tamest first kiss of my life. The only one to ever make my eyes prick and my nose sting. After a long moment, I pulled back until only our lips brushed.“Was that all right?” I sounded like I’d been running.
The slam of his lips was his only answer, the tempo changing so quickly it took me a moment to catch up. His mouth slid over mine, hands tracking up my back, shaking, clenching and stroking, until they tangled in my hair, both fists tugging my head back to receive his onslaught.
I followed his lead, lips parting eagerly at the first brush of tongue. It flicked mine in a sensual slide into my mouth. I rose on my knees to take more of him.
I’d expected hesitancy. I’d expected more sweetness. He’d pulled a one-eighty on me and now I was partaking in thedirtiestkiss of my entire life. It was wet and a little messy. I could tell he was unpracticed, but what he lacked in skill he made up for in sheer enthusiasm. Mal kissed me like both our lives depended on it.
He had me on my back in a heartbeat. Hands gripping my waist, he flipped me until I was splayed out across the width of the bed. When he pressed his weight against me, I couldn’t recall if our lips had actually separated.
My legs spread open and I dragged him closer, desperate to feel his weight. He answered with a hard, slow grind that made me cry into his mouth. Then he was saying my name.April. Princess… I need… fuck… I can’t breathe when I’m near you.
I needed our clothes gone. I needed him on me—in me. I was ready to beg for just that. One second his tongue was in my mouth, fingers starting to dip beneath the band of my shorts, the next he was on his knees above me. Only then did I hear the shrill ring of my phone. It felt like moving through mud, attempting to recall if the last thirty seconds had even happened. The sight of Mal kneeling between my indecently spread thighs confirmed that it had.
The phone stopped ringing and our harsh pants filled the room. Neither of us moved. His gaze was far off, staring right through me, and something in my chest crumpled a little.“Mal…” I started to apologise and broke off. I didn’t want to be sorry.
The sound of my voice seemed to unlock him and he launched from the bed. His foot caught on one of his stray boots and he stumbled, almost falling. I shot up, hands reaching as if I could steady the trembling giant. But he was already moving, snatching up his boots, not even pausing to put them on.
Boy’s head popped up from the foot of the bed where both dogs were still sleepily tucked together as if they hadn’t just bared witness to this earth-shattering event. Mal stayed him with a hand and he flopped back down atop the blanket. I watched as he halted at the door with his back to me.“I should… I’ve got to go.” His rasp echoed off the high ceiling so I got to hear the shut down twice.
Yeah… I think I got that part. I didn’t speak the words aloud; for the first time in my life I was stunned into silence.
“I’ll leave Boy with you tonight… to watch over you, I mean,” he said before fleeing. Forget the third step, I heard every unbridled landing of feet on the staircase. Normally so sure-footed, he crashed and cursed and stumbled. My ears followed him through the kitchen and out the back door until the silence settled.
I flopped back onto the pillow.“What the hell just happened?” The clean scent of him washed over me and I yanked the pillow from behind me, tossing it across the room. As if in league with his owner, Boy flipped onto his back and farted, slow and so high-pitched Dudley woke with a start, then buried his face beneath his paw.“Some guard dogs you two are.”
17
MAL
Us – James Bay
“Mum’s going to call you,” Callum grunted, his spade slicing through the mound of wet peat and dropping it into the open kiln.
He’d arrived early today. The morning light had still been hazy when I dragged my bleary-eyed arse out of bed to greet him. If he’d been surprised to find me indisposed, he didn’t show it, declaring only that he had no appointments for the day and wanted to be put to work. I didn’t believe him. He was one of only a handful of vets on the entire island that didn’t specialise in livestock—he was busy. I’d dropped by the surgery on a number of occasions and the phone always rang off the hook. I wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth when I could use the distraction, though, so I kept my suspicions to myself.
In silence, we worked quickly, Callum familiar with the methods. He worked the wet while I worked the dry, loading it simultaneously into the kiln. This process would flavour and then dry the grain stored in the room above us, giving the whisky its unique smokey taste.
