Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 561(@200wpm)___ 449(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
It wasn’t just about the sex, or the way the chilly air in the house—he needed to get her firewood for the furnace downstairs, and soon—had kept the two close under heavy blankets until the sun crawled high in the sky come morning. Even as a mewing kitten who clawed at the dust ruffle seemed determined to pull them out of bed before it was time.
It was the way their fingers talked in soft touches and fleeting grazes. It was how being in bed with her chased away demons in his mind that otherwise, never left him alone. The bed wasn’t just a bed, even with its history, because all he thought about when he looked at it was Gracen lying beside him. The place she was unequivocally meant to be.
Perhaps a bed was just a bed to some people, but it could be a sacred place to others as well.
Mimi gave the bed another pass with her hand and let out a wistful sigh. “It took him a whole year to get the stain-n just right.”
“Didn’t you and Popop get married a year after you met?” Gracen asked.
Her older women grinned mischievously. “He swore he started it that first n-night.”
Malachi shared a glance with Gracen.
Sometimes, people just knew.
Souls found souls.
Hearts came home.
Mimi sniffled and patted at her lips with her fingertips. “Would you get me some water? I’m thirsty.”
“Of course,” Gracen rushed to say.
He moved sideways to let her pass him in the doorway, but he was content to remain there while Mimi had her moment to revel in her memories.
A few seconds after Gracen’s footsteps padded down the stairwell, the old woman glanced his way again.
“He built me steps because the bed was too high.”
Malachi smiled. “Did he?”
“Made me feel like a queen-n.”
The silence stretched on again, but there was no disputing Mimi’s wandering gaze taking in the rest of the room and the things inside. Like the dirty clothes, his and Gracen’s, in a nearby laundry basket. Or his bags piled, and opened, in the corner.
“We had our best talks there,” Mimi added, breaking the quiet stillness again. “I miss that the most.”
“I’m sorry that you lost your husband.” Malachi added quickly, “And your son.”
She didn’t respond to his sentiments.
Mimi did, however, draw in a long breath as she leveled her gaze on him. He heard her every word clearly—no stutter on the letter N, although she lingered on it hard—as if she meant for him to.
“It is the throne of her home,” the old woman said.
“Absolutely,” Malachi acknowledged with a nod, “and long live the queen.”
Mimi cracked a big grin, and cackled a hearty laugh he’d not yet heard come from such a small and frail woman. “Better n-not forget it, mister.”
*
Mimi left to return to Valleyview Manor long before the housewarming party ended, and Malachi had lingered outside with Gracen as she said a long goodbye. With the added promise of coming tomorrow for her regular visit as usual.
The rest of the guests began to trickle out after that with the last handful of people waiting until darkness completely cloaked the property. Malachi and Delaney worked on the clean up and storage of leftover food while Gracen said those goodbyes, too.
“Remind me to thank Margot again for getting her dad to bring a load of wood,” Malachi groaned out as he climbed into bed.
Right in the middle.
Once his head hit the pillow, Malachi could have died. Sleep-wise, anyway. The end of the party wasn’t actually the end because her friend’s father came in with a half a cord of wood that Malachi unloaded and piled into the cellar with the wood furnace in less than fifteen minutes.
Gracen’s hands were too soft for that kind of work.
“It’s warm tonight,” he mumbled between the crack of pillows where his face had landed, “so it was worth it.”
He heard Gracen’s muffled laughter fill the bedroom, and then felt the shift on the bed as she climbed on top. Silk-soft palms found the rock-hard muscles of his back, and for ten glorious minutes, that woman did the best things to his body.
Malachi let her know how good it felt, too, resituating his head on the pillows as she straddled his hips and really dug into his muscles. He hissed at a particularly sensitive shoulder blade muscle that always gave him trouble. “God, yeah, harder there ...”
Gracen snickered. “You’re sounding a little like me, but something about this is different.”
Even he chuckled at that.
“Construction isn’t good for the back,” he muttered.
Gracen hummed behind him. “I guess not. Who was rubbing this out for you before?”
“I grit my teeth through it.”
Pain was part of the game. At least, he knew what his body could do.
“I bet,” she returned, the smile in her voice clear.
Without warning, Malachi flipped over to his back, causing Gracen to fall over the top of his body as she struggled to keep her balance. In only his night boxers, he enjoyed her warm skin pressed against his. He ended her light laughter by cupping her face and pulling her higher for a kiss. Not a soft and sweet one. His tongue found hers willing to tangle and ready for a taste.