by Elise Noble
“Well, not yet. Erin interrupted us.”
That thing about laughter being the best medicine? It was true. Malachi looked at me, I giggled, and then we both doubled over.
“If we can get through this past week…” I snorted, which was horrifying, but Malachi only laughed harder. “We can get through anything.”
“Insane exes, stalkers with eyesight problems, assholes at the gym…”
“Ohmigosh! I forgot to say—Lisa heard about a guy getting a sheep tattooed on his face, and I was wondering…?”
“It was a pig. Emmy can’t draw to save her life.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks, except this time they were all good. Malachi still wiped them away with his thumbs.
“No crying in the bedroom. That’s my rule. Unless you’re weeping with shock over my size—then I might make an exception.”
Was that an invitation? It sounded like an invitation. Years of practice meant I got his belt buckle open faster than he could draw his gun, and oh my… He was big everywhere.
“You might as well shred the rest of the dress,” I told him. “Have at it.”
One good tug and it was gone. At least it wasn’t the favourite little blue number I’d originally wanted to wear to the contest. I was still a few pounds off fitting into that again, but judging by Malachi’s low whistle, he didn’t care.
“Tell me you always wear this shit.”
“Fancy underwear? It’s kind of my thing. Even if I’m plain on the surface, I like to feel pretty underneath.”
“Miss Thomas, you’ll never be plain. But please, abuse my credit card and buy as much of this stuff as you want because I want to peel it off you every night.”
“Every night? So you want to become my new roommate?”
“Maybe… I figured you could just move in here when you’re ready.”
Was he joking around with me? “Here? Into your monochrome palace?”
“Redecorate it. I don’t care.” A quick fumble and my bra ended up on the floor. He squeezed my boobs together and grinned. “Now I can stare at these all day without risk of you slapping me.”
“You might want to look at my face occasionally too. It’s only polite.”
He came in for a kiss, deep and slow, pausing to suck on my bottom lip and give it a nibble. Yes, I liked bedroom Malachi already. Bedroom Malachi was fun, and that was a whole new experience for me. I gave a little hop and wrapped my legs around his waist. My thighs were sticky, and that fact didn’t escape his notice.
“You’re wet as fuck, babe.”
“I’m also impatient as fuck. So hurry the fuck up and fuck me.”
“I love that mouth on you.”
“I can do more than curse with it.”
He fell back onto the bed with me sitting on top of him, cowgirl style.
“Dead. I’m dead.”
“What happened to your stamina? Once your muscles build up…” I mimicked.
“One second.” He reached behind him to the nightstand and grabbed a handful of condoms out of the drawer. “Take your pick.”
Flavoured, ribbed, glow in the freaking dark… Rather than dwell on why the hell he had all those, I thought positive—I was truly spoiled. But I picked out an extra-sensitive because I wanted him to enjoy this too. He groaned when I rolled it on, and when I lowered myself on top of him, he let out a long exhale then offered me his hands to steady myself.
This. This was what I’d always wanted. A real partner, not just in the bedroom but everywhere else too. And I’d found him. I’d finally found him.
Waking up in Malachi’s house was different than waking up in my apartment. Not just because of the king-sized bed and the warm body wrapped around me, but because of the silence. At home, there was traffic even early in the morning, and before my upstairs neighbour had started trying to deafen us all, there’d been footsteps and voices in the hallway. Here, there was birdsong.
The peace gave me time to think, and by the time Malachi stirred, I had two questions I needed to know the answers to.
“You’re still here,” he mumbled, his arms tightening.
“Of course I’m still here. You thought I’d leave?”
“Couldn’t blame you after yesterday.”
Which brought me to my first question…
“What happened to Erin?”
It had gone blessedly quiet, and thanks to Malachi’s distractions, I’d temporarily forgotten about her.
“No idea. Want to find out?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure.”
“Better the devil you know.”
Malachi found his phone and dialled, and it only took a moment for somebody to pick up.
“Lemme guess—you want to know what happened to Looney Tunes?”
Emmy sounded kind of sleepy.
“Imogen’s here, and you’re on speaker.”
“Imogen’s there? At six a.m.? Then that means… Oh, fuck. Luther won the pool again. We should start renting him out as a psychic. Uh, congratulations.”
“Thanks. Where’s Erin?”
“Right now? I’m not totally sure. We dropped her off in Kentucky.”
“What do you mean, dropped her off? And who’s ‘we’?”
“Me and Fia. We left her at the side of a road.”
“What? Just left her there?” I asked. “In that negligée she was wearing?”
“Bet it didn’t take long for her to hitch a ride.”
“Oh my goodness.”
“Hey, it wasn’t that bad. She had her purse. Well, sort of. Fia emptied the contents over a half-mile stretch then chucked her clutch into a bush. It probably took her a while to gather everything up.”
Perhaps I should’ve felt guilty since I knew how horrible it was to be abandoned alone on the side of a road, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. In fact, the thought of that banshee trying to walk back to Virginia in four-inch pumps brought a smile to my face. After all her antics, Erin deserved everything she got.
“Do you think she’ll come back?”
“I told her that every time she got within a hundred yards of you or Mal, we’d collect her and drop her one state farther west. Unless she wants to end up in the Pacific, she’ll quit while she’s ahead.”
“Thank you. For everything.”
“Just make him happy, yeah?”
Then she was gone, and I took her advice to heart. Thanks to my former career, I knew how to take a man right past happy and all the way to delirious, only now it was pleasurable for both of us and not just for him.
Afterwards, Mal lay spread-eagled on the bed.
“Going to the gym every day in no way prepared me for meeting you. Those jaw muscles are something else.”
“Then you’ll just have to practise every day until it becomes second nature.”
“I’ll have to go to the office for a rest. Are you working today?”
“Ten until five thirty. You?”
“I can work around that. Where are we staying tonight? Here or your place?”
My second question… “I was thinking about that. Were you serious about me moving in one day? I don’t want to sound pushy or anything. It’s just that if I only need my apartment for a few more months, I might be able to get by without a roommate. Apart from Stef, I always seem to end up with crazies, and if I can be on my own then—”
Malachi pressed a finger to my lips. “Given the choice, I’d have you living here by the weekend.”
Did I hear that right? “Like, this weekend?”
“Too soon?”
“I’m just… I never…”
“Give it some thought. I’m ready whenever you are, but there’s no hurry.”
“So no roommate?”
“No roommate. I’ll help out with the rent if you need it. But you’re still getting an alarm system.”
Was a day after your first semi-official date too soon to tell a man you loved him? Because I did. I loved Malachi. I loved everything about him. The first half of my
life might have been a crazy ride, but now I’d arrived at my destination, and I’d spend the rest of my time exploring everything it had to offer.
Finally, I felt complete.
EPILOGUE - IMOGEN
TWO MONTHS. IT took me two months to abandon any pretence of living in my apartment and hand the keys back. Which was longer than the three weeks it took for me to tell Malachi I loved him. Luckily, he’d said it right back, that day and every day since.
For the first month, I’d been terrified Erin would make a reappearance despite Emmy’s assurances, but then Malachi heard on the grapevine that she’d gotten married. Married! Apparently, she’d pledged her eternal love to some poor schmuck who picked her up at the side of the road in her underwear, a schmuck who just happened to have a healthy trust fund. Goodness knows what sob story she’d spun him, but she was out of our hair, and for that, I had to be thankful. Malachi gave them three months, max.
The second month, I’d had a crisis of confidence that this was all too good to be true. I’d got everything I’d always wanted, and the part of me that used to quake under the covers at night as I listened for Kyle was terrified I’d wake up and find myself back in a nightmare. But Malachi knew something was wrong, and he had a way of drawing the darkness out of me and replacing it with light. He reassured me this was real. That he was real. That we were real.
Tonight, he was working late, which meant I could organise my first ever girls’ night in my new home. A home I adored. Malachi had given me free rein with the decor, although so far, I’d only managed to buy a rug for the bedroom, a pair of sun loungers, and a new cookie jar. It was too cold to sit outside now, but I loved having so much space. On weekends, I helped Malachi to get the garden ready for winter, pruning shrubs and carrying the more delicate potted plants into the greenhouse. In the evenings, I was teaching myself to cook properly, and of course, there were plenty of fresh herbs. We even had a compost bin. Niles would’ve been proud.
As I’d feared, I didn’t sleep well when Malachi was away on a job, especially when he couldn’t tell me what was going on, but I was learning to cope. The Blackwood control room was only at the end of the phone, and they didn’t mind if I called for reassurance, day or night. And now that I’d seen Malachi in action first-hand, I knew he could look after himself.
Roxy and Stef were on their way over, pizza was being delivered, and Jean-Luc had donated pastries. I’d had a lucky escape there—he was already on his second girlfriend since Marelaine, and yesterday, he’d complained she was getting too clingy.
My phone chirped to let me know a car was at the gates, and when I checked the app, I saw it was Roxy’s Audi and buzzed her in. Now that I was living there, Malachi had overhauled the entire security system because he wanted me to be safe. I thought that was a bit drastic, but Stef and Roxy assured me that Oliver and Gideon had done exactly the same thing when they got together.
Roxy parked next to my car and hopped out with Stef. Yes, my car. Malachi had bought it for me since I was learning to drive. He refused to let me repay him, the same way as he refused to take any rent money. Despite being only two years older than me, he owned the house free and clear and told me to buy myself more underwear with the money I saved instead.
“Hey, I brought wine,” Stef said, squeezing me tightly. “And candles. The candles are actually from Bradley, and he says he’s going to bring over throw pillows this weekend. I’m not sure whether you’ll want to warn Malachi or not.”
“He won’t mind.”
“Lucky you. Oliver’s started dropping them down the trash chute now.”
Roxy tried to hug me too, but it was difficult with the huge bouquet of flowers she was carrying.
“I accidentally let slip to Gideon that we planned on doing face masks, so he sent three thousand dollars’ worth of spa vouchers. Basically, we’ve all got to get a massage every month for the next year. Sorry.”
“I think I can live with that.”
“What are we watching?” Stef asked. “An old classic?”
“Nope, because you’ve seen them all. Tonight…” I gestured towards the living room, where bowls of popcorn awaited. “Tonight, I give you the new Scott Lowes movie. It’s set on a tropical island, and he takes his shirt off a lot.”
I could still look, okay?
“Does he have a suntan?” Roxy asked. “Tell me he has a suntan. I had to watch three autopsies today, and there’s only so much pasty skin a girl can take.”
“He has a suntan. And a six-pack. Stef, do you need a corkscrew?”
“I came prepared. We just need three wine glasses.”
I’d missed the girls. Between me meeting Malachi and moving house, Stef having a baby, and Roxy’s new job at the hospital, we hadn’t seen enough of each other. But that could change now. Life had finally settled down.
And I was happy.
Relaxed.
At least, I was until my phone rang during the closing credits. My back stiffened automatically when I saw it was a Cleveland number. Who the hell was calling me from Cleveland?
“Hello?”
“Miss Thomas?” a woman said.
“Who’s asking?”
“This is Detective Marquette with the Cleveland PD Bureau of Special Investigations.”
I gripped the phone harder. “What do you want?”
“Is this Imogen Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“I’m afraid I have some… Well, I’d normally say bad news, but I’ve been reading through the complaint you filed a decade ago, and I’m not so sure. I’m afraid Kyle Thomas has been found deceased. I believe he’s your brother?”
“What?”
“It happened a week ago, but he’s only just been identified. We had his prints on file from an old shoplifting charge. I’m afraid he took his own life.”
“How?”
“A single gunshot wound to the head.”
“Are you sure? That it’s him, I mean.”
“My colleagues in Michigan assure me there’s no mistake. They’ve closed the case, but there’s still the body to consider.”
“What’s that got to do with me?”
“Do you want to claim it?”
“You said you read my file?”
“Yes.”
“Then you already know the answer to that. Try calling my mother.”
“From what I understand, she’s hospitalised for a heart condition at the moment.”
“Then I guess he’ll just have to rot.” I screwed my eyes shut for a second. “Sorry. I’m not trying to be awkward. I just don’t want anything more to do with either of them.”
“I can appreciate that. Is there any other assistance I can offer?”
“No, nothing. Have a good day.”
I hung up, breathing hard. Stef and Roxy stared at me.
“Was that what I think it was?” Stef asked.
“If you think my brother’s dead, then yes.”
“That’s, uh, good news?”
My response was to walk to the fridge in the kitchen. Emmy had given us a bottle of champagne as a housewarming gift, and we’d decided to save it for a special celebration. Tonight was that occasion. Malachi would understand.
In the living room, I popped the cork, and it ricocheted off a piece of black-and-white abstract art Malachi had confessed to buying on the internet while drunk.
“Yes, it’s good news.”
“How did he die? I hope it was painful.”
“He shot himself.”
“Suicide?”
“That’s what the police said.”
But I knew differently. Kyle was far too arrogant to have taken his own life. He’d had help, help from someone far smarter and more cunning than he was. I allowed myself a small smile.
Stef had scored gold, Roxy ended up with platinum, and I’d gotten lead, but I knew now that I was the winner. Lead was an anchor, keeping me grounded in a world that veered from scary to chaotic at times. Lead was a shield protecting m
e from hurt. And finally, lead was a bullet, an efficient way of cutting the cancer out of my life.
Malachi was my lead, and I wouldn’t change him for anything.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Blackwood Elements series continues in Copper…
When Tai Beaulieu impulsively hands in her notice by text message one dreary January morning and sets off in search of adventure, the last place she expects to end up is Africa. But soon she’s in Egypt, home to ancient tombs and spectacular temples. Plus friendly locals, a rather nice English businessman and, an American tourist who doesn't know when to butt out.
Along with roommate Tegan and archaeologist Miles, Tai sets out to explore everything the city of Luxor has to offer. But soon, she’s keeping a terrible secret, and she’s not the only one.
For more details: www.elise-noble.com/copper
My next book will be Possessed, the third book in the Electi series, releasing in May 2019.
Geneticist Nicole Bordais has one goal—to find a cure for her supernatural powers so she can walk the streets of California without the spirits of the dead constantly harassing her. But when her scumbag of a boyfriend steals a precious family heirloom and skips town, her priorities change. Now, along with her best friend Lulu, she’s on a mission to get her necklace back.
Part-time bounty hunter Beckett Sinclair doesn’t want to hunt down escaped felon Corey Hastings. No, he’d rather stick with his regular job as a nightclub bouncer and his hobby researching the paranormal. But family obligations send him west, where he finds more than he bargained for in San Francisco…
For more details: www.elise-noble.com/possessed
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