MALACHI “Could you really not find a middle sized hot air balloon for the sunrise?” To that, I have no audible response. So, I lift my gaze to meet Jaxon, who is leaning against the couch in front of me. I wonder if he’ll still be full of talk when I break those fingers of his. He throws the last piece of chocolate into his mouth as he frowns at me. “Does it really have to be tethered? The whole point of hot air balloons is the thrill that comes from knowing you’re no longer on solid ground.”He speaks like he’s ever been in one before. His words are so rich coming from someone who was scared of heights for so long, Ronan had to sit with him during every flight. I make no mention of it. I’m in no mood for any form of stress tonight. “I had three hours to make all the arrangements. Could you please give me a little more credit?” “It has to be perfect, Malachi,” Ronan cuts in, strolling into the living room with his hands behind his back. It becomes increasingly hard to resist
SARAH I might just be in love. And it sucks. It really sucks because the last time I was, my heart was trampled upon without the slightest consideration. But with them, it was different. Yes, our relationship was wild, crazy, and other words that don’t even explain the half of it. Still, despite all the chaos, there was a grounded feeling that came with being theirs. In all that madness, there was safety. So when they ask me to trust them, I find myself doing so. I’m even so comfortable, I tell them not to hang around other women anymore. Really, what? Stepping out of the bathroom, I smooth my hands over my skirt and clear my throat, while trying to ignore the warm moistness between my legs. My panties are a mess, no doubt. Hopefully, Julian doesn’t have the same sharp sense of smell Malachi does. Speaking of Julian, I find him still seated on the same spot he was when I left. My face lights up in a nervous smile when his gaze lands on me. He tilts his neck to the right, almost
RONAN My heart’s going fucking wild in my chest. One more second of having her so close to me, and I’ll snap–I need to be inside her. But ever-stubborn Sarah cannot seem to see that, or she does, and she has a plan to infuriate me until the very end. She rolls her warm brown eyes and slips from grip as her back touches the glass mirror behind her. “Oh please,” she tuts.“Are you really going to fuck me here while your date is out there waiting?”I plant my right palm on the glass, closing in. I’ll do anything to get a whiff of the sweet vanilla scent she’s wearing tonight. It’s been too long. Too damn long. Yes. I know I saw her last night. That’s a whole twenty four hours without a taste of her. She has no idea how difficult it’s been. “First of all,” I whisper into her right ear. “Yes,” That is my answer to her first question. All it’s going to take is her permission to ruin her on this sink, and I’ll do so without so much as a thought. “Secondly,”It’s Malachi who speak
SARAH Slowly, I turn in the direction of the voice, and there he is, with the most crystal shade of ocean blue eyes. Ronan HawkThorne. To his right is Jaxon, with his gorgeous brown eyes, and Malachi…I shake my head, pushing those thoughts away. They can’t always get their way because they’re smoking hot, and I’m madly in love with them. “I’m not crying!” I bark at him without looking. If I do, I might get lost and completely forget myself. “I’m just flustered,” I continue. “My date accidentally called me a slut twice in a row.”Malachi’s grey eyes narrow on me. “Date?”A scowl snatches the lines of Ronan’s face. “He did what?” Jaxon cracks his neck. Left. Right. Then his knuckles follow, one by one. I watch Ronan give him a nod before he turns to walk away. Knowing them, I’m immediately alarmed. “And where do you think you’re going?” He pauses and turns to me. “You can’t possibly think he’s going to get away with that.” My eyes narrow, and my lips press into a thin line
SARAH It’s refreshing, to say the least. I mean, the last time I laughed this hard was in Mykonos, with them. The thought hits me with a pang of guilt. Well, guilt and another feeling I recognize too well: longing. I miss them, and I know we agreed to keep our distance till I sorted myself out, but I still missed them so much. They were the first people I wanted to call after my press conference. I needed to tell them it was all over, and I was all theirs now. I actually don’t know why I didn’t. Julian is good company though, I’ll give him that. Apparently, he was impressed by how well I held my own at the press conference, despite the dangerous questions that were thrown at me. I was quite surprised when he asked me out to dinner, but he totally won me over when he said it was to celebrate my divorce. Leaving Aaron was definitely worth a celebration. Why am I laughing so hard? You might ask. Well, it’s because of the “HAPPY DIVORCE” chocolate buttercream seated on the table in
JAXON “I SAID I’LL HANDLE IT.” I take one deep, long breath in. “BROTHER RONAN WILL TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING, OKAY?” I let it go, slowly, steadily, until my lungs are empty and I’m sure I’m not stuck in a twisted trance. Ronan’s words from fifteen years ago echo in my ears. Yes. I know he took care of it. He always does what he says, always keeps to his promises no matter how big or small. It’s been almost two decades, and…I know I never asked how he handled it after all those years. We had made it an unspoken rule never to speak of it again. So how? My right leg continuously taps against the floor as my heart and mind race at a pace that makes it so fucking difficult for me to breathe properly. I grip the phone harder with my shaky fingers, making sure it doesn’t slip away. If it’s real–if this is real and not some after product hallucination of the dream that snatched me from my sleep this morning, I need to know. My jaw hardens as I speak. “Listen, I do not know who you a