AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After a short while, her eyes began flicking to me too. Then finally, after setting the ice cream aside, she asked,“Have you spoken to your brother today?”
I paused.Why would she ask about Callum?After all that had transpired in the past days, I knew it was me she wanted, but it didn’t stop that little spike of fear.“Not since this morning… should I have?”
She grinned, flashing all of her square little teeth.“Just wondering if he fessed up.”
“To what?”
Her fingers walked up my chest.“Pushing us together. Apparently, he and Heather have been trying to set us up for weeks.”
What?I shook my head. That couldn’t be right. My mind tumbled back over our every interaction with fresh eyes.“How did I not see this?”
“I didn’t either, not until I went back to the tasting event last night and he basically admitted to seeing us together in the dunnage. Then Heather confirmed it today.”
I shifted to my elbow, facing her fully in the bed.“Why would they go to all that effort? Why not just tell me?”
She smirked, pretty green eyes sparkling with mirth.“You’ve met you, right? It probably would have made you hate me more.”
I flinched. Is that what she thought? Stroking her cheek, I tucked a curl behind her ear.“I’m sorry I made you feel that way. Every awful thing I ever said to you was a manifestation of my own fear, my own self-doubt.” I looked directly into her eyes so my words could not be misconstrued.“Ineverhated you. I tried at first, even believing what I did about you. It didn’t work. Would I have liked everyone having an opinion on my feelings? Probably not. But it wouldn’t have pushed me further away—itcouldn’t.” I stroked her ear lobe with my thumb.“There wasn’t a day or a moment when you finally worked your way beneath my skin, you were already there… every time I saw you, you buried yourself a little deeper. You were inevitable, princess. Holding back my feelings was like trying to hold back the tide.”
Her entire being seemed to light from within and the next thing I knew, she was in my lap, her tiny hands taking mine.“I think those big shoulders of yours would have been up to the task.”
Chuckling, I brought her hand to my mouth, nibbling on the end of her index finger.“From now on, every time you sass me, you’ll lose a finger.” She gasped a little when I bit down.
“You wouldn’t. You’ve become too attached to my fingers.”
Her words sent a flush of heat up my neck and she hummed at the sight, bringing our foreheads flush.“Please never stop doing that.” My confusion must have been apparent because she continued,“Blushing… after every filthy thing that’s happened between us.”Oh. Instinct had me dropping my chin, but she caught my jaw before I made it very far, looking at me head on.“You’re beautiful.”
“You’rebeautiful,” I returned, stroking her hair back.“So beautiful it’s hard to look at you sometimes.”
Her hips dipped against me. Mine punched right back.“I want you to look at me. I never want your eyes anywhere else.”
Our lower bodies fell into a steady, sensual roll. We couldn’t help it. When I was with her, I needed to touch her. When I touched her, I couldn’t ever get enough. It took all of my strength to hold myself still.“I don’t… I don’t want you to think this is all I want from you.”
“I know.” Her expression softened and she kissed me, tongue flicking over my top lip and tracing along the scar cutting through my facial hair.“Can I ask about this?” she pulled back to whisper. Her face was so open, I knew I could refuse and she wouldn’t resent me for it.
“Yes.” My swallow felt tight.“It’s never been a secret.”
Her finger hesitantly replaced her tongue, stroking the raised flesh with a reverence that had me biting the inside of my cheek.“You always seem so conscious of it… you shouldn’t. I meant it when I said you’re beautiful. Every little part of you.”
I stole her hand, pressing a kiss to the palm and then holding it between us, content to count every freckle across her knuckles as I spoke the truth.“It’s not the scar I hate, it’s as much a part of me as my eyes or my hair colour. It’s… it’s what it represents, I guess.”
“What does it represent?”
I shrugged, suddenly unsure how to explain it.“All the ways I grew up differently. My cleft palate was on the severe end of the scale, meaning the tissue all the way to the back of my mouth didn’t join up while I was in the womb. Because of that, I needed multiple surgeries over several years as a child, as well as speech therapy. You know my dad’s a doctor—an amazing one—but also old school.”
I felt her stiffen slightly.“In what way?”
“He put all his efforts into‘fixing’me, finding the best surgeons on the mainland, the best speech therapists, even when it meant paying privately. But once the surgeries were over, he had no knowledge on how to deal with the mental aspects that developed along with it. I was continually out of school, always healing at home rather than playing outside with my siblings. When Iwasin school, I grew anxious—worried about looking different and sounding different. The few times I went to him, he essentially told me to man up, so I stopped asking for help and now… I don’t know how to be around people. I either grow anxious and I say the wrong thing—” I broke off as my chest began to tighten.
April was already shaking her head, pressing her chest flush so I couldn’t escape.“Your words are perfect.”
“Foryou. Though I still don’t know how, I feel like everything I say is wrong.”
“Because I know your heart.” Her hand flew to my chest, like she could heal the bruised organ with her caress alone.“Everyone in Kinleith knows. Why do you think the tasting event was so successful? They weren’t there for me or Kier’s legacy. It wasyou, Mal. People care for you and want to help.”
That couldn’t be right.That voice in my head immediately started to shut her words down, then I stopped, tired of that old behaviour. Sure, I kept to myself, but I was an active member of the community. The distillery provided local jobs. I helped my neighbours whenever I could. I stepped up when Kier needed it. I had my siblings and April.“I guess I got so used to doubting everyone’s motivations… even yours,” I said somewhat guilty.“When you arrived, I used every excuse I could think of to try to explain away the connection between us. You were sad about Kier, or you pitied me.” I cringed.“I stopped expecting anything from anyone so I wouldn’t get hurt.”
“You can have expectations with me. I want you to have them.” Her words were fierce, spoken directly to my lips.“When you feel anxious, what can I do? How can I help you?”
