by Flite, Nora
“Hey,” Mal said, handing me the helmet. “You ready?”
“Yeah,” I lied. I was not fucking ready. But I was looking forward to wrapping my arms around him again more than I thought possible. Mal had changed out of his suit and was wearing just a printed T shirt and jeans. Deliciously ornate lines of tattoos raced down both of his arms and poked out from beneath his V neck collar.
Those were new too. I found myself wondering what other tattoos he had and a not-so-small part of me hoped I'd get to see them all.
Mal started the bike up and just like before, the rumble sent a shock wave through my lower body. I'd never been on a motorcycle before today and now I feared I was getting addicted. Or maybe it was Mal I was getting addicted to.
Either way that wasn't good.
Before we left he turned to me and said something, but the engine was too loud for me to catch it.
“What?” I raised the helmet's visor, hoping that would help.
“That dress looks nice on you,” Mal repeated. It was a small, sweet gesture. He didn't wait to see my little embarrassed smile, he just twisted the throttle and we were off.
I started to get worried when we turned away from downtown. I thought he said he was taking me for a drink. Mal sped up on the highway, pushing us a little faster than I was comfortable with. Where we going? When we skirted the city limits and pulled off onto a dense tree-lined back road my anxiety began kicking in.
What the fuck was I doing, riding off into the night with a man a barely knew? I hadn't even told anyone who I was with or where I was going. What if Mal had changed in a scary way? He still seemed as sweet as he was in high school, but eight years is a long time. That's not to say that he was a sweet guy back then. In fact, he was kind of an alpha male jerk to everyone else, but never to me.
I sighed, calming myself. He was always sweet to me. I mean, he could be a psycho, murderer, cannibal, but that felt silly. I didn't feel scared on the back of his bike, with my arms squeezing him too tightly. I felt the opposite. Whenever I was with him, Mal always made me feel safe.
A sign blurred by too quickly for me to catch it, but things were starting to look familiar. He turned us down a broken gravel road and more signs whipped by. I could've laughed when I figured it out. I knew exactly where we were. I was surprised he remembered.
Mal wove the bike between a few rock outcroppings and trees and parked us right along the sandy bank of the watershed area. We used to come here as kids to go swimming.
Looking back, it was kind of a horrible thing to do. It was the town's drinking water after all. I couldn't feel too bad about it, since we only swam once or twice and the water does go through the processing plant.
“This doesn't look like any bar I've ever seen.” I remarked once I was free of the bike and helmet. I was just glad my panties weren't soaked through this time. It would've been terrible if I got that wet every time I rode a bike. Although the alternative was that it only took a few words from Mal, plus him being that close, to make me wet.
I wasn't sure that was better either.
“I don't remember saying anything about a bar.” Mal slid off the motorcycle with practiced ease. He pulled a large chilled bottle of champagne out of one of his saddlebags. “I said a drink.”
“Okay, wise guy, where are the glasses then?”
“Glasses? I knew I forgot something.” Mal feigned confusion, then popped the cork with a knife he kept in the other bag. “Shit,” he jumped back from the sudden spraying liquid. The surprised smile that was plastered across his face reminded me a lot of the Mal I loved when we were kids. It was a slightly goofy side of him that he never showed anyone else. It made me feel special.
Mal laughed and clasped a hand over the bottle to stem the spray. “Looks like we're gonna have to kill it.”
He took a sip and handed me the bottle. The fizzing had died down, but I still managed to spill some on my dress. I was still mad and hurt, but I was also glad. A long forgotten part of me was at ease, it was a nice feeling.
“You know this is technically illegal.”
“Good thing most of the cops in town are drunk off their asses at a wedding.” Mal shrugged, looking mischievous.
“Are those grease stains?” I took another drink and pointed out the dark splotches on his chiseled forearms.
“Ah, yeah...” Mal wiped his arms down with a rag he had in his back pocket. “I was doing some maintenance work on a friend's car. Hey, do you remember the last time we were here?”
“How could I forget! My brother occasionally runs into the cop that chased us out of here. Officer Danvers. He's still on the force, you know.” I laughed; the fun, old memory bubbled to the forefront of my mind. “I still can't believe you used Matt Mackenzie's name when they questioned us.”
“Yeah, he was pissed because his parents didn't believe him when he said he didn't do it.” Mal kicked his boots and socks off then laid his bedroll on the dirt for us to sit on. He fished his vibrating phone out of his back pocket and answered it. “Hey, little killer, you ship out yet?”
Little killer? Mal mouthed the name Kyle at me. His younger brother. Ship out? How old was Kyle now? I thought back to when Mal, Kyle and their mother briefly lived with us. Kyle wasn't even in middle school yet. He must be what, eighteen now?
Mal ribbed Kyle a little, then wished him luck and hung up.
“How is Kyle?”
“About to get his ass kicked,” Mal laughed. He was obviously happy to hear from him. “He flies out in the morning to Parris Island to start Marine boot camp. He's a tough kid, I think he'll do fine.”
Kyle had been a little pipsqueak the last time I saw him. He was awkward and shy around girls, but otherwise seemed like a good boy. Now he's off to join the Marine Corps... It made me feel old.
“So what's the deal with you?” I asked. “Are you back or are you just passing through?”
Mal thought about it then smiled, “I'm thinking, I'm back.”
Back? Really back? I struggled to keep my excitement in check.
“You know anyone hiring vets?” He asked.
“You could check some of the fire stations in the area, they always seem understaffed.” The night air sent a shiver through me. It was a little crisper than it should've been for midsummer.
“You cold?”
“A little.” I should've packed a shawl or light jacket, but I hadn't planned on being by a lake after midnight. Especially not with Mal...
Mal took his leather jacket from the bike and unrolled it. Standing behind me, he wrapped the jacket over my shoulders. His hot breath raised the tiny hairs on the back of my neck. I swallowed hard and stopped breathing when I felt his strong hands slide under the oily leather and over my stomach.
There was nearly no light pollution and it was a clear, beautiful night. It'd been so long since I'd been out of the city. I hadn't remembered there being this many stars. Although it was impossible, I imagined they came out just for us. A column of refracted moonlight even seemed to point directly at us, like we were meant to be there, together, on that one night.
Champagne, moonlight, the sounds of hidden birds and water swells cresting against quarry walls, and long lost love... It was perfectly romantic.
And I was perfectly drunk enough to forget about years of anguish from his leaving.
Almost.
“Why did you abandon me, Mal?”
“I had no choice.” His words were low enough that they were almost just vibration in my ear. “I didn't know half of what my mom did until years later. I—” He had to stop and reorganize his thoughts. I could hear the difficulty in his voice. It was a hard thing for him to lay bare. “Shit. Where do I even begin?”
Why didn't you ever call or write? You were gone so many years after you turned eighteen, a legal adult. Why not reach out to me then? What was so wrong with me that you had to stay away for so long?
Did you really love me, or was that a lie too?
I had so many qu
estions...
“Last time we were here, before officer Danvers found us, you said nothing could ever have kept us apart.” The air between us was deathly still, I could hear his heartbeat. It was slow and loud and strong.
“I would have given anything for that to have been true.”
I didn't press him any further. It was crazy, but part of me worried that if he told me everything right then, I'd hate him. Everything was too perfect to ruin the moment with too many questions. I wanted to know everything, of course, but just once I wanted to live in a fantasy I'd been creating since we were kids.
I just wanted a perfect night with the Mal I loved eight years ago. In that moment I didn't care that it might all be a lie. I just wanted that little bit of hope. Was that so wrong?
“We're here now,” Mal turned me around. Reflected moonlight danced in his dark eyes. The serene scene stretched out behind us. “Isn't that all that matters?”
Chapter 6
Kait
We were finally together. That was all that mattered. At least for the moment.
Mal tore off his fitted shirt. My stomach tightened at the sight of massive, defined pecs and shoulders. The sprawling tattoos that covered his torso and arms made his tan skin seem to glow in contrast. There were eagles and knives, acronyms, numbers and even few names. There were so many, but they all seemed to share the same theme.
“You were in the Marines too,” I said, my eyes feasting on the all the various symbols and designs that blanketed his wall of muscles.
Mal didn't answer, he just tossed his shirt.
Mal had changed so much. He'd always been the boy of my dreams growing up, but what I saw now was so much more than that. Here was a man unlike any I'd ever seen before and that thrilled the hell out of me. The thought of his touch made my skin tingle.
I found myself reaching for the sculpted notch below his ribs. My eyesight was obviously failing me, but maybe if I touched him everything would make sense. Men couldn't really look like this, everyone knew that cover models were all photoshopped.
I traced each valley between his rippling abs all the way down to the V of his hips. I didn't stand a chance, it wasn't even fair!
“How are you even real?” I was twenty-four and my dating life was pathetic. My brother and his friends always scared off the bad boys that liked me. All that was left were the safe wimps. Guys that were handsome enough, but never excited me in any way.
Mal was the only one to ever make my blood boil, in the best and worst possible ways. I may have loved him and then hated him, but I've always desired him.
I couldn't tear my eyes off his amazing body. His hip bones stole my attention until I saw the bulge of his cock snake down his leg. Shit! I never realized Mal was so hung. My pulse rang in my ears like a downpour on a tin roof. After he'd left me, I'd masturbated wondering what this moment would've been like.
That's why I didn't stop him when he hooked rough fingers through the spaghetti straps that crossed over my chest and ran down my back. With an easy drag, the thin chords slipped over each shoulder and the bodice began to sag.
I couldn't believe it was finally happening. I was terrified but incredibly anxious, my whole body seemed to cry out for his touch.
“You're about to find out how real I am.” And in a flash of motion Mal was on his knees and my dress was around my ankles. “Fuck. I never imagined you'd look so damn good.”
Seeing him look up at me in awe made me feel like he was worshiping me. A shiver of lusty excitement ran through my body. It was every fantasy I'd ever had rolled into one moment.
“I'm a little chilly,” I lied, drunkenly trying to explain away the tremor.
“Don't worry, I'll heat you up so much that you'll be praying for rain.” Mal ran his hands up my thighs. I was already so wet and he had barely touched me. I worried I might turn into a puddle of Jello at any second.
I squeaked with surprise when Mal stood up and grabbed my waist, hoisting me into the air. I couldn't help but laugh at my reaction.
“You like that? Getting thrown around?” Mal spoke directly into my stomach. His prickling stubble felt like an exfoliating loofah, but the tinge of pain felt so good. He placed me on his motorcycle and laid my back over the handlebars. “I bet you've never been eaten out on a bike before either.”
“No,” I swallowed hard. I was terrible at sex talk, maybe it was because I never had any practice. The faint scent of gasoline, grease and sweat intoxicated me. It was all just so manly and not at all what I was used to.
“Good.” Mal had no such hang ups. Each silky word that rolled off his tongue stoked the fire that was raging inside of me. “Hold on to the handlebars. I'm going to give you the most intense climax you've ever had in your life, and I don't want you falling off before I’m done with you.”
I laughed, letting my head fall backward. It was all I could do to prevent myself from crying with excitement, fear and passion. All those jumbled emotions doubled when he peeled back the sopping wet cotton of my panties.
My naked pussy tightened at the cool air that washed over it and then instantly spasmed when his steaming hot tongue laid across it.
“Oh wow, okay!” Shit, I sounded like a giant nervous dork.
“Kait, relax. I'm not going to hurt you.” I could feel his lips move against my delicate folds, each word threatened to break me apart. “The safe word can be banana.”
“I love bananas...” I said, semi-coherently. I was too focused on the waves of pleasure his tongue and lips sent through my clit to understand what he was saying. “I mean, don't stop!”
I didn't need to explain, Mal knew what I meant. He always had. Growing up sometimes I think Mal understood me better than I did myself. That was another reason it hurt so bad when he had left, it felt like a piece of me was missing.
Apparently that piece of me was white-hot lust, because what he was doing to my pussy was borderline overwhelming. His tongue pushed back my petals, teasingly slipping in and out of my slit. I could feel his desire; he loved to make my hips buck.
“I'm going to drink you in, Kait. Every last delicious drop.” Mal made my clit vibrate with pleasure until it became too much.
My pussy began to tremble, but he didn't stop. My stomach arched forward as he brought me to the razor's edge of climax. I gripped the handlebars almost tightly enough to snap them off.
“Oh dear fucking—Mal!” The words were ripped from the bottom of my diaphragm. My body tensed so much from the orgasm that it lifted me off the bike.
Without slowing or breaking concentration, Mal snapped his hands around my thighs and raised me even higher. Unintelligible words spilled out of my mouth as wave after wave of trembles smashed into me.
He didn't stop.
Mal's tongue crippled me. My legs wouldn't stop shaking.
“Banana, Banana! Please... Mal, please!” I was panting, steam and sweat rolled off my chest and stomach. Was it possible to be killed by an orgasm?
“Are you okay?” Mal asked, gasping in air. His mouth and chin glistened in the low light. That was me all over him. Part of me was embarrassed at how soaked I was, but that was his fault.
No one had ever made me this wet before.
“Yes. Yes, I'm just—” I swallowed, letting the waves of pleasure that still wracked me die down enough for coherent speech. “Jesus. That was amazing.”
“Don't go giving him all the credit.” Mal kissed his way up my stomach. Every smack of his lips set off another earthquake in me. He slipped a hand beneath my bra as he reached my neck and face.
“Why not?” I laughed, praying for him to kiss me. “How else would you explain your superpowers?”
“You mean my divine gifts to crush your pussy? We haven't even gotten started yet.” His lips captured mine. I thought I might be able to taste myself, but the only thing I got was hints of leather and champagne.
He bit my lip and pinched my perked nipple, making my stomach arch toward him again. His other strong arm
wrapped around my back and held me up so I was able to release my death grip on the handlebars.
Both our bodies flared with heat and sweat. I groped clumsily down the muscled ridges of his side and found his jeans. Mal moved himself closer to give me better access to his button and zipper. I slid my hand down the front of the rough fabric instead. That hidden monster of a cock throbbed at my touch.
The lower I went, the more of it there was.
I'd always wondered about Mal's cock, but I never thought I'd actually get to experience it. Now that it was in my hand, I couldn't help but be intimidated. His massive member was going to tear me in half!
He was right.
We hadn't even started yet.
Chapter 7
Malik
Words couldn't even describe how much I wanted Kait.
I was surprised by my own restraint. Whenever I fisted my cock in the military and afterward, when I got out, it had always been to a picture of her.
The only picture I had of her for the longest time was from our junior yearbook. We'd left so abruptly from Kait's house that I only had time to grab one thing on the way out. That yearbook was the only thing I knew of that had a picture of her. The picture was an awkward, washed-out glamor shot that she hated, but I didn't care. I loved it.
I unclasped her bra with one hand. It was a surprisingly easy trick to master when you've had as much practice as I’ve had. I didn't bother taking it off. Like her panties I just moved it aside and went to work.
No, not work.
All the other girls I'd been with were work. Glorified masturbation. With Kait it was so much different. I knew it the second we met, that there was a strong connection between us. It drove me crazy that we could never do anything about it.
But that didn't matter right now. She was finally mine and I promised myself nothing would ever break that bond again. Kait is mine, now and forever. I'd give her the night of her life and then go from there.