Heart fucking racing, I keep riding, eyes darting as far as the light will let me see. I round a bend and skid on the brakes when I see a small girl, back against a tree, head in her hands, body trembling. Fuck. I stop the bike and she looks up, eyes startled and wide. She’s not bleeding from what I can see. And I thank whoever looked after her for that, because fuck, if something happened to her ...
No.
I stride over, squatting down in front of her. The light from the bike is shining over us, and I can see her face. She’s sobbing, her face is red and puffy, and she looks terrified. I cup her cheeks in my big hands and say, really slowly because she’s too upset for me to speak fast, “Are you okay?”
She begins to nod, and then she shakes her head and starts crying harder.
“Amalie,” I say over and over, even though she isn’t looking at me. “Amalie, angel, fuckin’ look at me.”
She’s still shaking her head, crying so hard her tiny body is shaking.
I gently put pressure on her cheeks and she finally looks at me again.
“Are you hurt?” I ask her.
She nods. “M-m-m-my ankle.”
I pull back and reach down, running a hand down her leg and reaching her ankle. Shit. It’s swollen, big and purplish looking. She twisted it hard, possibly even broke it.
“I’m goin’ to carry you to my bike, and get you home, okay?” I ask her, holding her red, broken eyes.
“Okay, Malakai.”
Her voice is so fucking soft, and so fucking broken, it breaks my damn heart. I reach for her, scooping her up into my arms, and I carry her to the bike. She’s so light I can hardly feel her weight as I move. When I reach the bike, I place her on the front. Off-road bikes are a little different to what I ride, the seat is long and mostly flat, so the passenger can go on the front if need be.
I climb on behind her, curling my hand around her waist and pulling her so she’s nestled firmly between my legs. She softens there, melting into me, her head slightly resting on one of my biceps. I start the bike and take off, going a lot slower now. She doesn’t move much, but I’m sure I hear her wince a few times. She’s in pain, and every bump is probably agony. I get off the trail as fast as I can. It’ll be smoother once we reach the paddock.
When we do, I open the gate and ride in, making sure it’s locked behind me. We take a steady journey home, not wanting to injure her any further. When I see the ranch come into view, I exhale. When we reach the gate, Scarlett has already come running out. Her eyes are wide and she says to me, “Is she okay?”
“Twisted ankle, that’s as much as I can tell for now. She’s upset. Your horse is in this paddock, I locked it in.”
Scarlett nods and we ride through. She locks the gate behind us and meets us back at the barn. As soon as we’re in the light, she runs over to Amalie, cupping her face. “Amalie, are you okay?”
Amalie nods, and softly says, “I’m so sorry Scarlett. I only wanted to go for a ride. Something scared him and he reared up ...”
“Oh, honey, it’s not your fault. Not your fault at all. Let’s get you inside.”
I get off the bike and take Amalie into my arms, carrying her inside Scarlett’s cottage. I place her down on the sofa, and she looks up at me, eyes so fucking broken it hurts to look at her. I kneel down in front of her, taking her foot into my hands and inspecting it. Don’t think it’s broken, but she did a good job at twisting it.
I look at her again. “Don’t think it’s broken, but you should probably get it looked at tomorrow anyway.”
She nods.
I look to Scarlett to tell her to get some ice, but she’s already by my side, ice in hand. I take it and place it on Amalie’s foot. She winces and looks down. I look to Scarlett, and she gives me a pleading expression. As if begging me to do something.
I don’t know what I’m supposed to fucking do.
I’m not made for these kinds of situations.
“Maybe she should have a shower, she’s covered in dirt. I’ll make her some tea,” Scarlett suggests.
Maverick appears from her bedroom, wet from a shower, and his eyes fall on Amalie. “Fuck, bro, what happened?”
“Horse dropped her,” I mutter.
“She hurt?”
“Body? Not so much. Mind? Yeah somethin’ is very fuckin’ wrong.”
Maverick looks at Amalie, and his jaw tightens. Like me, he doesn’t like seeing anyone in pain. And the kind of pain Amalie is in makes you feel it right to your core.
I reach for Amalie’s face, making her look at me.
“Goin’ to walk you into the shower, you good with that, darlin’?”
She nods.
“Won’t look. Just want to make sure you don’t trip.”
She nods again.
I help her up and take her weight as we move toward the shower. Scarlett calls out to me on the way past. “She can stay here tonight. I’ll make the spare room up, okay?”
I nod and take Amalie into the bathroom, carefully closing the door behind us and leaning her against the sink so I can step back. “You goin’ to be able to get in there?” I ask her.
She stares at me for so long I wonder if she’s heard me at all. I’m about to repeat myself when she slowly, hesitantly, raises her arms. It takes me a moment to realize what she’s asking, but when I do, fuck, my dick hardens in response and my heart makes me feel fucking strange.
It’s an unfamiliar combination.
“Want me to get your clothes off, angel?” I murmur, holding her eyes, before dropping to her lips.
“Yes,” she whispers.
I step forward, putting my hands at the base of her shirt, and then slowly I pull it up and over her head. I toss it to the side and then stare, for a moment, I’m a little fucking blindsided. Because across her abdomen, is, without a doubt, a scar from a serious burn. Her skin is raised and damaged, purplish almost.
I look back up at her, and she looks terrified. Her eyes are on mine, and I know what she’s thinking. She’s thinking I’ll be disgusted. She’d be fucking wrong. The most beautiful things in this world are created from the ugliest pieces that are molded together until they become something that will take your breath away.
Amalie is one of those beautiful things.
“Nothin’ could make me think you weren’t the most beautiful fuckin’ woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Nothin’.”
Her bottom lip trembles, and I catch one lone tear that slides down her cheek with my thumb.
“If someone fuckin’ hurt you, Amalie, rest assured, I will make them wish they were never born.”
She shakes her head. “No,” she whispers. “No one hurt me.”
I study her, and she bites her bottom lip, and fuck if my cock doesn’t lurch in my pants. She’s the most beautiful, mysterious fucking woman I’ve ever laid eyes on, and I want to know every inch of her. Inside and out. I reach for her jeans and unbutton them, sliding the zipper down slowly, glancing up at her once to see her watching me with a nervous but lusty expression.
Lust looks fucking breathtaking on her.
I peel her jeans down her legs, going down with them. As I go past her soft, white panties, my cock strains so hard I’m afraid it’ll break out of my jeans. She lifts her leg and I slide one foot out, then carefully, the other. It takes a bit of shuffling, and wincing from her, because of the swelling, but I get them off. I toss them aside too and reach for her panties. I hear her take in a quick burst of air, and I hesitate, thumbs hooked into the side.
I look up at her.
“Tell me you don’t want me to do this, baby, and I’ll walk out of here. But know this, I fuckin’ want it, more than I’ve wanted anything’ in my life.”
She leans forward, and I swear, I fucking swear, my heart stops beating. “Keep going.”
Her voice is barely a whisper, but I hear her words clearly. I lower her panties. I take her in once I’ve tossed them to the side, and my breath freezes in my lungs. Fucking. Perfection. She’s the most
beautiful woman I’ve seen. Not because of her body, I’ve seen nicer bodies, but because of the heart that matches her body. I stare at it with appreciation, with awe, with lust, with need.
I want her, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to have her.
Whatever it takes.
-8-
AMALIE – NOW
My heart is slamming against my rib cage as I stare down at him. He’s looking at me with an intensity I’ve not felt in my life. He’s staring at me like I’ve stopped his entire world, and the only thing penetrating his vacant thoughts are me. Just me. Slowly, his head tips back and he looks at me, eyes blazing.
“You’re fuckin’ incredible,” he tells me, the words slow, dragged out.
For the first time, I wish I could hear his voice. I wish I could hear the way it sounds. Is it husky? Raspy? Thick? Deep? Instead, I feel it. I reach down, and touch his chest, whispering, “Say more.”
“Can’t take my eyes off of you.”
I feel the rumble of his deep voice through my hand, and my heart starts pounding harder. Yes. Utter perfection.
“More,” I breathe.
“Goin’ to take your bra off so I can see your pretty tits, then we’re gettin’ in that shower until you moan my name.”
My skin prickles. Feeling the vibrations of his words through my fingers is like learning to breathe for the first time. A little unnatural at first, but once you ease up and let it in, it’s as if you’re suddenly free. He rises to his feet, reaching around me and unclipping my bra.
I shouldn’t be doing this.
I know that.
My mind isn’t in the right place, I know it isn’t, but I can’t stop myself. I don’t want to stop myself. I need to feel him. I need something to make this emptiness inside me disappear, just for a moment. Malakai is something else, he makes me feel things that terrify me.
I swore I wouldn’t, but tonight I’m going to let him have me.
Just tonight.
He steps back, and with eyes full of lust and a heart full of desire, I watch him shrug off his jacket, letting it drop to the floor. Then he reaches down, pulling his shirt up and over his head, revealing the most incredible, most powerful body I’ve ever laid my eyes on. Bronze skin pulled tight over firm, bulging muscles.
That’s the first thing I see.
The second is the tattoos winding over his chest and down his stomach. Heaven. Dangerous. Deadly. I bite my bottom lip, suddenly nervous. The power he holds is utterly terrifying, and yet I can’t look away. He takes the top of his jeans and unbuttons them, letting them slide down his legs. I don’t see them hit the floor.
Because I can’t move.
My eyes are trained in on him, and I have forgotten how to breathe.
The top half of him was something, but him as an entire package is something else. I’ve never seen a man that looks so strong, so powerful, and so ridiculously gorgeous. He could snap you with one flick of his hand, and yet at the same time you want those hands on you, cupping your cheek, running over your body, fixing everything that is broken.
My eyes slide down to the equally powerful, strong and thick part of him standing upright between his legs, and my cheeks burn. He has a ring, right through the top, and for a moment, I just stare at it, mouth slightly agape. I’ve never seen anything like it, not once in my entire life. Granted, I’ve not been with many men, but I don’t know that I’d call Malakai a man.
No.
He’s a force. A strength. An undeniable pull.
Perfection.
“Never seen a cock ring, sweetheart?”
I look away, flushing, and cross my arms over my chest. He steps forward, reaching over and pulling my hands down, holding my eyes, the intensity in his rather terrifying. “Do not pull away from me, Amalie. Do not hide. Do not cover up. Every flaw, every perfection, everythin’ about you is mine. Don’t ever take that away.”
I swallow.
I’m in too deep, I know I am, but I can’t seem to stop myself.
“You don’t know me,” I whisper. “Not really. We’ve not talked about ourselves, or our lives. How can you possibly be so sure I’m yours?”
“Because, like you don’t need sound to feel. I don’t need words to feel. I can read it, I can see it, I live it.”
Dammit.
What am I doing?
Malakai pulls me gently into the warm shower. Carefully, helping me so I don’t put weight on my throbbing ankle. When the water hits me, I moan, needing its warmth to ease my broken body. He leans down, filling his palm with soap. He runs it over my body, starting at my shoulders and slowly moving down, over my breasts, kneading them as he does.
All the while his eyes hold mine.
“I’m not going to fuck you in here tonight. I will have you, though, Amalie. For the rest of my fuckin’ life. But now isn’t the time to start that.”
I think I just fell in love with him.
God dammit.
He keeps rubbing the soap over my breasts, making my nipples perk to life. I whimper, I can’t help it, it feels so incredible to have hands on me again. Hands that want me. Hands that need me. I close my eyes for a moment and just relish in how good it feels.
His hands move down, the soap mostly gone off them, and he circles around and gently grabs my bottom, squeezing it in his hands. I moan and open my eyes, glancing down at him. He looks up, water trailing over his massive body, green eyes sparkling, hair falling wet over his forehead. “You have a beautiful ass, sweetheart.”
I swallow as his fingers slowly curl around to the front. His eyes drop to it, and I could swear I can feel his chest vibrate with a growl against my body. Slowly, as if tormenting me, he slides his finger into my folds. Electric sparks explode in my body and I put my hands on the wall on either side of me. Up and down his finger slides, slowly building me up, slowly making my body come to life.
He rubs lightly at first, gently grazing over me, and then he starts rubbing with a little more pressure and I can’t stop the whimper that escapes my lips. It feels incredible, so utterly incredibly. “Oh, god,” I breathe as the pressure keeps building and pleasure comes to life, starting off as a slow burn and slowly traveling out until it’s a raging fire.
“Malakai,” I whimper. “Oh, God.”
I come, so hard I have to press a hand over my mouth to stop the moan that threatens to let the whole cottage know exactly what’s happening to me in here. Malakai slips his finger from my depths and looks up at me, and oh, I swear, I want to cup his face in my fingers and kiss him until we both stop breathing.
He stands up, as if reading my mind, and cups my face in his hands, kissing me. It starts off slow but gradually builds until our tongues are dancing, our lips are crashing, and our bodies are molded together. I reach up, curling my fingers into his hair and tugging him down, trying to make the kiss deeper, even though it’s already as deep as it can get.
His hard length is pressed against my belly, and it only makes the ache inside me stronger.
Only when Maverick pounds on the door to yell that our tea is ready, and Malakai relays this to me by pulling away and turning his head, yelling something and then telling me what’s happening, do we separate. Carefully, I get dressed with Mal’s help and we both head out to the living area where Scarlett and Maverick are waiting.
And smirking.
My cheeks burn, and I smile shyly and hobble over to sit next to Scarlett on the sofa. She turns to me. “Are you okay, honey?”
I nod. “Yeah, I’m going to go to sleep soon, I think. I feel ... drained.”
“Is everything okay? Did you want to talk about what upset you?”
I stare at her, then glance at the other two men. They’re all watching me. They all want answers. But I don’t want to ruin this. This moment. This moment where they believe that I’m not a terrible person. So, I smile and say, “I just had a hard afternoon, it happens sometimes. I’m okay now. I didn’t mean for what happened tonight to happen. Silver got scar
ed and reared up.”
“Silver?” Scarlett asks, with a smile.
“I didn’t know his name, so that’s what I called him.”
She smiles a little. “He’s only new, he’s a well-trained horse but hasn’t spent time on trails. I’m sorry that happened.”
“It’s not your fault.”
I sip my tea, and the two men disappear to talk for a few minutes. I tell Scarlett I’m going to bed and she helps me into the spare room. Once I’m sitting comfortably, she looks to me. “You sure you’re okay?”
I smile, even though inside I feel like I’m just falling to pieces. “Yeah.”
“How about you and Malakai?”
She’s smiling. She can’t help it. I smile back, flushing. “I like him, so much, I’m just ... scared.”
“Of what?” she asks me, taking my hands. “He’s such a good man. I know he’s a biker, trust me I had the same thoughts, but they will take care of you. I promise you that.”
“It’s not that, I just ... I don’t know.”
I look away, because I know she can’t continue talking if I don’t look at her. I’m a coward, but I don’t want to answer questions. I just want to sort myself out and fix this. Whatever it is.
Malakai deserves better.
Scarlett squeezes my knee, and I glance at her. “I’m so tired. Thanks for letting me stay, Scar.”
She looks sad, but she reaches forward and hugs me. “Goodnight, Am. Come and get me if you need anything. Anything at all.”
“I will, thanks, and Scar?”
She smiles. “Yeah?”
“Say goodnight to Malakai for me.”
She goes to argue, but closes her lips and nods. “I will.”
When she’s gone, I roll to my side and stare at the wall, feeling drained, exhausted and in pain.
I turn to my other side and gasp when I see Malakai standing at my door, eyes on me, looking intense. My heart races and I sit up.
“You can’t get away from me that easily, darlin’.”
I look away, exhaling, and then I look to him again.