Page 80 of The Scribe (Irin Chronicles 1)

Chapter Fourteen

Kusadasi was a busy port town home to cruise ships, tourists, and more cruise ships. Ava smiled as she and Malachi held hands, walking down the pedestrian walkway leading to the smaller marina where sailboats moored and nightclubs flourished. It could have been any number of port cities along the Mediterranean. Turkey. Greece. Spain. There was an odd kind of familiarity that was soothing, despite the crowds.

She squeezed his hand and smiled at the family with the sleepy toddler who was nodding off in his stroller. An older couple passed by, holding hands, the woman smiling at Ava after she’d glanced up at Malachi’s striking figure. The sun had set and the humid heat of the day had given way to a soothing breeze that wrapped around her, twisting her skirt around her ankles and lifting pieces of her hair. Malachi leaned down and captured one curl that brushed in her face, stopping to tuck it behind her ear and steal a kiss.

“Are you having fun?” he asked quietly. “Do you want to go back to the house for dinner? There’s food there. And you spent all day on the beach.”

“No,” she demurred. “I’m fine. The beach was nice.”

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

For the first time in her life, it was true. Malachi had been right, the days and nights of intimacy notwithstanding, a few days after their first frenzied coupling in the scribe house, she had started to hear the familiar voices again, whispering over her mind and filling her thoughts. Unlike before, she had someone to hold on to. Someone who understood.

Imagine a person created for you. Another being so in tune with you that their voice was the clearest you’ve ever heard in your mind.

Reshon, he’d called her. He thought she didn’t remember, but in the heat of passion, the word had escaped his lips. The thought was frightening and thrilling all at once. Malachi thought she was hisreshon. Every shield she’d built over a lifetime of solitude rebelled at the thought. She didn’t want to be anyone’s perfect match. She had no idea what he wanted from her, and a small voice whispered it was simply too good to be true. Eventually, he would grow tired and leave her. Everyone did.

A quick squeeze of his hand made her look up. He was watching her with suspicious eyes.

“What?” There was no way he knew what she was thinking. It wasn’t as if he could read her thoughts.

“You’re worried about something,” he said. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” She started walking again, but he wouldn’t let her hand go.

“Me?” His silent thoughts were a swirl of confusion and concern. She hated hearing that from him. As big and tough as Malachi appeared, she knew there was a gentle part of him, and Ava suspected she was the only one allowed to see it. The thought of damaging that trust chilled her.

“I’m fine. I just—Whoa!” He picked her up and lifted her in his arms, smiling as the passing tourists laughed. Then he hopped over the rock wall and over to some deserted beach chairs near the lapping waves. He sat in one and positioned her so that her legs straddled his.

Reaching up to frame her face with both hands, he asked again, “What is it?”

“You’re being pushy.”

“This is new to me,” he said urgently. “I worry I no longer know how to care for a woman. It has been too long. I cannot care for you if you don’t tell me what is wrong, Ava.”

“Malachi…”

“You must be patient with me. And tell me what you’re thinking. You know my thoughts, but I do not know yours.” A small smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “You have me at a disadvantage.”

She couldn’t look away. His grey eyes bored into hers. His skin was illuminated by the full moon that rose over the black Aegean Sea and his dark hair lifted in the breeze.

“It’s too good,” she finally whispered.

An understanding look passed over his face, but he said, “What is too good?”

“I… This. Us. It’s too easy.”

“It should be difficult?”

“It always has been.”

He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Other men are not me.”

“Because you’re Irin.”

“Because I am me.” He kissed her chin. “And you are you.” Another kiss at her temple as his hands began soothing strokes up and down her back. She could feel his fingers playing along the delicate skin over her spine. “There are others like us in the world, but they are not us. We decide who we want to be.”

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