Like Arrows (Cedar Tree #6) (40 page)

-

"S
o shouldn't we be getting your apartment empty so Neil can move in?"

It's been four days since we got back from Durango and we're on our way to the clinic in Cedar Tree for an appointment with Naomi, who's agreed to take on the day-to-day management of Kim's medical conditions. Already a follow up appointment has been scheduled with the endocrinologist who saw Kim in Mercy Hospital in Durango and started her on Synthroid©, a thyroid hormone replacement she'll have to take for the rest of her life. Naomi is doing some blood work today to keep an eye on her levels and to see whether the dosage needs adjustment.

"Actually—he's already in," I tell her.

"Where did he leave your stuff?"

"In your garage."

In my peripheral vision I see her head whip around. "When?" she half-shouts.

"Day after we got back. But he'd already packed everything a week before, when he got back to Cedar Tree. He did that on his own." I don't know what I expect. Maybe for her to get mad, but she surprises me by laughing heartily.

"What's funny?"

"You," she responds deadpan. "You think you're fooling people with your stoic poker face, but it turns out you're as transparent as the rest of us. Neil was obviously a step ahead of you."

"Bullshit," I say, but it's true. There was a time not so long ago that people never knew what I was thinking. I'd become very adept at hiding any emotion or reaction. It seems those days are over as is evident from the softly snickering woman beside me.

"Look at you!" Naomi enthusiastically greets Kim, admiring the turban-like contraption she's wearing on her head today. "Is that one of Emma's?"

I leave the girls chattering about shawls and make my way over to Kendra, who is sitting at the reception desk looking on.

"Hey you," she smiles as I approach. "Never thought I'd see the day, but you actually look happy. Never seen you smile so much. The hair though? You've gotta grow it back."

I chuckle, running my hand over the stubble on my head. "It's nice and cool though. Light too."

"Yeah, but it's killing your mysterious vibe, ya know? Although I guess you don't need that anymore. I'm glad for you, my friend. She's perfect for you." There is no regret in her voice, just genuine warmth and I smile back at her easily.

"You know, it took a while for me to see it, but once I opened my eyes it was a no brainer. You should try it sometime," I suggest carefully.

"Try what?" she asks, her face scrunched up.

"Try to look at things—at people—with an open mind. Your perfect might be closer than you think."

Before she has a chance to respond, Naomi calls out.

"You coming in, Mal?"

With a wink at a stunned Kendra, I follow Naomi into her office.

K
im

"So when do we get results?" Mal asks as he walks into the kitchen with the last of the groceries we picked up.

"She said she'd call as soon as she hears from the lab. Probably a couple of days. If they need to do an adjustment on the dosage, she'll check with the endocrinologist first and then call the pharmacy with the new script."

He nods his understanding before changing the subject. "What do you feel like for dinner?"

I still get bouts of nausea but today for the first time I'm feeling truly hungry. I eye the steaks Mal is about to pop in the freezer. "Those," I tell him before he puts them away. "I feel like a good grilled steak, a baked potato and maybe a salad, but only a little one." Mal smiles at my response and slaps the meat down on the counter before pulling me into his arms.

"A woman after my own heart. A bloody piece of meat with a side of decked out, starchy carbohydrates and easy on the greens. That's so fucking hot."

I mock-punch him on the shoulder, but can't quite stop grinning. "You just haven't gotten laid in a while—you think anything is sexy," I tease him.

"Damn right. I’m thinking anything and everything about you is sexy," he growls in my neck as he wraps me tight. "Can you feel that?"

Fuck yes, I can feel that. His hard length is pressing in my belly and for the first time in a while, my body seems to happily respond with a tingle. "I don't wanna let that go to waste," I whisper, pulling his face closer to kiss him with all the passion I have in me. The vibrations of his responding groan, as he slants his head to deepen the kiss, raises goosebumps on my skin. With his tongue strong and dominant in my mouth, I give myself over to his control and I easily let him pick me up and sit me on the counter, our contact never broken. When he pulls back, a pathetic little whimper escapes my lips.

"I want to do this properly," he explains, eyeing the plastic wrapped steaks on the counter beside me. "Wrap your legs around me." I comply immediately, grabbing on to his shoulders when he starts walking me to the bedroom, and cling to him like a monkey. He tosses me rather unceremoniously onto the bed, and before I can react, his body looms large over me. Not threatening. Never threatening, but secure and protecting. Straddling me he takes off his shirt tossing it aside, before divesting me of mine, which is sent the same general direction. I barely even notice my bra disappearing, so intent on the heat and need in his eyes. Obsidian. Dark, complex and breathtakingly beautiful—as the man. In seconds he has us both naked, his touch making me feel more beautiful than I deserve to feel. When his fingers slide between my folds I'm already slick and ready for him. He electrifies me when his fingertip lightly strokes over the little ball of nerves, gently rubbing the hood out of the way. The friction of his fingerprint is enough to have me shiver in anticipation. The moment his lips close over my taut nipple I let out a deep groan. I'm close—so close to shattering, but I want to feel him inside me. Need to be full...fulfilled...complete.

"Please Malachi. I need you."

Lifting his eyes he slowly releases my nipple from between his lips with a pop. "You have me," he says simply, before shifting his body so his hips are wedged between my thighs and I can feel the thick head of his cock probing for entrance. Agonizingly slow, he enters me, stopping suddenly only halfway inside. "Fuck. Condom," he says carefully retreating, but I wrap my legs around him and grab the tight cheeks of his ass.

"Don't stop," I plead, wanting the unobstructed feel of him inside me. I don't care about whether this is the right time or way too early to take risks. I don't even care that the likelihood of me getting pregnant—ever—is questionable anyway. All I care about, right now, is to feel alive with the possibility—just the possibility of creating something amazingly beautiful with this man.

His eyes search my face for an answer, and what he finds is calm resolve. All concern bleeding from his own face, he looks utterly peaceful as he pushes back inside me completely.

Bliss.

-

T
wo hours and three orgasms later, I'm sitting on the deck in the late afternoon sun, watching Mal expertly flip the steaks on the grill. Baked potatoes in foil are staying warm on the top rack and in lieu of greens, we've sliced some tomatoes, topped them with fresh basil and feta and drizzled them with Balsamic. Mal approved, saying that only a salad with a healthy dose of protein is a salad worth eating. Spoken like a real man.

"So when are you bringing your furniture in?"

"Don't have any," he answers, shrugging his shoulders. "Only a bunch of boxes with stuff and my clothes."

"No furniture? No bed or couch or anything?" I'm shocked. A man in his early forties surely has accumulated some stuff?

"Nope. Never really settled down anywhere long enough to get any and when I moved in above the diner, it was fully furnished. Never cared much about what I was lying in or sitting on as long as it was functional. I still don't care, as long as it has you on it or in it."

I get up and shove Boo aside, who's been drooling next to the BBQ, waiting for something to fall. Sidling up behind Mal I ease my arms around his waist. "We should look at some new furniture together. I want you to love our home as much as I do."

He covers my hands at his waist with one of his, tilts his face back over his shoulder and looks at me. "I couldn't love my home anymore than I do,
Nizhóní."
Turning in my arms to face me, he bends down and kisses the tip of my nose before trailing his fingers down from my forehead. A little smile tugs at his lips and with his next words he gives me everything.

"You are
my
home."

F
our months later

Mal

Turning into the driveway, I'm impatient to feel Kim's body in my arms—her lips under mine. My week in Grand Junction, working a surveillance detail, had been long and tedious, and the hours spent alone in my truck gave me a lot of time to think. Enough time to bring me to what should've been a foregone conclusion. One that had me make an unscheduled stop before I started my long drive back home this afternoon.

I know she's probably already eaten dinner, and given that I hadn't called beforehand because I wanted to surprise her, I don't expect a meal. Although my stomach is telling me it needs feeding. A sandwich will have to do—after.

I know the house is empty the moment I walk in. No Boo trying to knock me over, something he continues to do no matter how hard I try to break him of that habit—and no Kim fiddling in the kitchen or curling up on the couch with her Kindle. She probably took Boo for an after dinner walk on the mesa.

I quickly slap some bread together and with a sandwich in each hand, make my way outside into the chill of a beautiful fall evening. I know what route she usually takes and start walking it in reverse, hoping to bump into her somewhere. I've just brushed off the last bite when I see Boo bounding toward me, with Kim running after him, hollering at him to stop. I automatically brace for impact, first from the dog that I barely manage to push off before Kim hits me full force, almost knocking me on my ass anyway.

"Whoa! Easy, babe, or we'll be horizontal a little sooner than I'd planned." I barely get the words out before Kim has her fingers twisted in the still growing strands of my hair, pulling my head down and plastering her lips to mine.

The kiss is intense and by the time I lift my head to look into her sparkling eyes, we're both a bit breathless.

"I'm so glad you're home. I missed you something fierce," she says, her smile cracking and her face wide open.

"Missed you too, Kimeo. Didn't Kerry keep you busy enough?"

Kim started working with Kerry in the bookstore. The first few weeks part time, but then she threw herself all in. The two of them have just launched a website as well. An online bookstore if you will, where they list their entire inventory of mostly second hand books and will ship throughout the US mainland. Already they've had some great response from people able to find specific books no longer in production or the odd obscure novel. It's fast becoming busy enough to take on an additional part-timer to help deal with the volume of orders.

"I'm never too busy to miss you," she reiterates. "You've been forefront on my mind since my appointment today, but I was waiting to call until after Boo's walk."

Shit. I'd completely forgotten about her appointments at Mercy in Durango today. She was supposed to go with Naomi. I'd been so wrapped up in what I was planning, it totally slipped my mind. Quickly recovering I ask, "Tell me. How are your levels?"

She hooks her arm in mine and we slowly start walking back. "Blood counts are great. Hormone levels are steady and all other tests came back clean. And guess what? I found—"

I stop her and turn her toward me. She's fine, doing great—there is no better time. Before she has a chance to say anything, I slip the little box that has been burning a hole in my pocket all the way from Grand Junction home, into my hand and drop down on a knee. I hold one of her hands tightly in mine and her other one slowly makes its way to cover her open mouth.

"Kimeo." I stop and swallow hard, suddenly left with a blank spot where all the words to my proposal had been safely stored. Nothing. I try again, "Kimeo, I never expected you. My entire life before you I would not have been able to conjure you even in my imagination. You humble me every day with your strength and light and I'm so, so grateful you gave me a clear path out of the solitude I thought I craved. Marry me?"

I mangled the words I had planned, but I'm pretty sure the message still got through okay when she drops down on her knees before me and with her arms wrapped around my neck, her forehead against mine and her eyes wet with tears, whispers, "I would be honored."

I slip the wide band, with a single diamond braced between two teardrop-shaped turquoise stones, on her finger.

"It's perfect," she says in awe as she takes my hand and lets me pull her to her feet. "I have something of my own to add," she says as she looks up at me from under her lashes, brushing her newly grown curls off her forehead. Taking my hand, she places it on her stomach without speaking looking at me expectantly.

It takes me a second, before I throw back my head and let out a howl, which Boo takes as a sign to let out his own. By the time I look back at Kim, she's bent over laughing, with tears streaming down her face.