He was reaching upwards in the pantry, grabbing on to what seemed to be a half empty container of coffee. He’d been quiet all night. Never had he uttered a word, or even looked her way. Did he know?
She paused from removing the pan out of the oven, her eyes darting to stare at him clank a mug down on to the marble counter. He continued, clearly making the most of the silence. First, a rinse of water, then another, to fill it. Second, he placed the mug in the microwave, pushing the one-minute button twice.
After that, he began searching for another mug. Perhaps he promised Vitaly a drink as well, guessing from the conversation the two had been holding all night.
Once she scooted the pan of bread to the far side of the oven top, Malina poked a knife through it, just to be sure the food was cooked. After pulling it out with a satisfied nod, she felt his presence searching behind her.
And maybe she was being paranoid, but something about the way he moved around her automatically roused her senses. Senses that she couldn’t quite identify.
“Excuse me,” his stare found her own, “I just need to reach above you. Apologies,” he groused, with one hand lifting to pull the cupboard open, and the other to keep his balance on the counter.”
That’s when Malina felt it again, the pit. It was buried deep in her stomach. She wished she could feel him again. The first time it was through a curtain of course. But after that experience, she always wondered what it felt like for him to touch her, to really touch her.
She kept her head down, as he pulled what he was looking for from its hiding spot.
“Got it,” backing away from her, Kellan repeated the same regimen he’d done to the first cup. But this time Malina didn’t want to watch him.
Instead she turned her attention to pulling plates, and getting them ready for the food. Malina took a knife from the draw, and begin slicing into the bread once she felt it was cool enough. And it was in that very moment, she felt his eyes on her back. Although, one thing she failed to discern was if he’d been casually watching, or eagerly observing.
She pondered for mere seconds, until she heard his soft footsteps patter down the hallway, and back in to the room with everyone else. Something she would’ve admitted was that her heart dropped a little. But soon enough, she’d brought herself back to her senses, reminding herself about Chadwick. They weren’t quite legitimate. Yet. Things just needed time.
Her thoughts had gotten the best of her, because in only moments Kellan was at her side, sipping his mug of black coffee. “You need help?” he asked calmly.
The other cup was gone. Presumably he’d given it to Vitaly. Which left for no distractions, or intrusions. Wait, why was she thinking this way? Why didn’t she want anyone to intrude on the two? All she was doing was cutting bread, and him casually watching her.
“I got it,” she murmured.
Now, slicing bread became nerve racking. She’d cut, then plop the block shaped piece on to a plate.
Positive he finished his drink, Malina watched him quietly place it in to the sink. And just when she moved to pick up the first two plates from the counter, her breath caved in. It wasn’t too loud, the slam one plate made as it hit the counter. Thankfully, the other was a bit more successful, landing in to the hold of Kellan, who’d just pulled away from kissing her neck.
“Shit,” she whispered.
Balancing the plate in his palm, he softly pressed it into the table. “You have no idea,” he whispered in her ear. He repeated what he’d done the first time, but slower.
Malina thought she could handle it. Yet, still found herself almost skipping a breath. It was far different from feeling him through a curtain. It was real. He was warm, and very much determined.
She couldn’t find the words to stop him. She didn’t want him to. Malina needed him to stay, just where he was, for as long as possible. She tried reaching ahead for stability. Her fingers grasped on to the edge of the island, as his lips undoubtedly carved bruises in her skin. Malina should have told him to be careful then. There was no way of hiding them with the length of her hair, but instead a quiet moan escaped from her mouth.
If you counted fourteen seconds as a long-lasting, that’s how much he gave her until eagerly spinning her around. His thumb weighed down on her bottom lip.
A bubble of laughter sounded in the living room, which triggered her to pull back.
Kellan couldn’t hear a single thing going on in the other room, and was subsequently going on pure wit. Or, so she thought. He had closed the door that led into the kitchen, which was something she failed to notice before. That, and his left hand was now pressed firmly in to the wall behind her, carefully feeling out for any type of vibrations that signaled interference.
“Tell me what you want to do,” he murmured in her ear. The hairs on her back stood up. Her breathing hitched. “I told you it would build up, Malina.” The arm that was reaching for their protection was now wrapped around her waist.
“Are we done?” Kellan squinted in confusion. “This is what we let it build to.” she responded,” Now we’re done.”