The Innocents

by Cara North

  “Grace?” Stephanie was blushing and in shock. It was all happening so fast.

  “Hey kiddo.” Ethan hugged Stephanie, stepping between her and Malcolm. “Be nice to this guy all right?”

  Malcolm overheard the conversation and wondered why she was getting the warning and not him. Chase and Ethan were viciously protective of Stephanie, as much as her brother and Joshua had fought over her several times.

  “But…” She started but Ethan turned to look at Malcolm.

  “You know we trust you.”

  It was all he said and all he had to say. Malcolm nodded. That was his warning. He had been friends with Chase since they worked on a Habitat for Humanity house. Malcolm was raised to feel a certain level of responsibility for others and he followed through on that. He volunteered when his schedule allowed. Ethan stepped aside and pulled Grace into his arms for a passionate kiss. The man acted like he hadn’t seen his wife in years rather than hours. Malcolm smiled. He hoped that love would be the same for him when it happened.

  Grace shooed them with a hand not breaking their kiss. Malcolm laughed and looked at Stephanie. “Well?’

  “Well, I guess we are on our way.” Stephanie walked toward the limo and slid in. Once he was beside her she started to fidget, caught herself, then stopped. She drew a fortifying breath and straightened like a proper lady. “Where are we going?”

  Malcolm shrugged then opened the envelope. “No way!”

  Stephanie leaned over and squealed when she saw the agenda, all her properness failing. “Disney?”

  * * *

  “This is going to be awesome!”

  “I’ve never been… I’ve always wanted to go…” She smiled and leaned closer to see the agenda.

  “This has been a dream of mine since I was a kid.” Malcolm sat back and smiled. “I thought I was going one year, but I got a little sister instead.”

  Stephanie laughed. “I’m sure my brother felt the same way when I came along. My dad always wanted to take us but my mother was afraid we would get lost in the crowds.” Stephanie relaxed back in the seat. It was unusual to be so comfortable. It was like she was hanging out with an old friend not a man she had dreamed of. And she did have dreams about him, vivid, breathtaking, leg shaking dreams. She shook her head hoping to shake those thoughts.

  “I won’t lose you.” Malcolm shot her a serious glance. Stephanie was the very object of his obsession, had been for months. He met her at Chase’s wedding and had thought about her every moment since.

  Stephanie had the man she wanted exactly where she wanted him. Now came the hard part, following through. Right now he was perfect. At any moment he could say or do something stupid and she would be stuck with him. Of course, Chase and Ethan wouldn’t have let this happen if he was an idiot. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-one. How old are you?” Malcolm had never asked.

  “Nineteen.” Stephanie half smiled.

  “Yowch.” Malcolm thought she was older. She was only two years younger than he was but still the word teen made her sound illegal.

  “What? You’re like a minute older than me, so don’t even.” Stephanie straightened her back and scowled.

  “I just thought you were older. It’s no big deal, I mean it’s not like we’re eloping here, we’re going on a little weekend getaway, just two friends going to Disney.” Malcolm wanted to make her feel safe and comfortable. Especially since he noticed there was only one room reserved for the both of them. He silently prayed for two beds. As an afterthought he added, “On Valentine’s Day.”

  Stephanie smiled her winning smile. Of course they were just two friends. He probably wasn’t interested in her. Especially now that he knew her age. Malcolm was beautiful in her opinion. Surely he had women of all ages crawling all over his sleek body. What would he want with a nineteen year old virgin?

  “Unless you were bidding on me because you thought I was sexy.” Malcolm teased. “I mean, I am a good looking man. Between Grace and my Momma I thought I might get a complex.”

  “Who?” Stephanie gulped.

  “My mother. The aggressive black woman in the front row.” Malcolm waited. He wasn’t sure if she knew he was mixed, his father Irish, his mother African American. He knew that women tended to see what they wanted to see, and his blue eyes and light skin often made them see a real tan white dude with thick hair.

  “That was your mom?” Stephanie smiled. What a relief. “She doesn’t look old enough.”

  “You be sure and tell her that when you meet her.” Malcolm laughed. “She’s a lawyer, my dad’s a preacher. It makes for an interesting household.”

  “I bet.” Her brows drew together in great concentration. “Can I ask you something?” “Sure.” He shrugged.

  “How did you get those eyes?” Stephanie was mesmerized by his sky blue eyes.

  “My father, he’s Irish. And I mean straight from Ireland Irish. He came to America when his mother died to live with his grandparents who had immigrated years before to be with their other daughter. Anyways, long story short he enlisted in the Navy and met my mom.” Malcolm returned his attention to the paperwork.

  “I have a feeling that is a real short version of that story.” Stephanie laughed.

  “Does it bother you?” Malcolm would rather know right now than to fool himself all weekend. He was so drawn to her it would break his heart, but he had been rejected before.

  “No, I mean if you don’t want to tell me your life story I understand…”

  He smiled. “I mean does it bother you that I’m black?”

  “No. Should it? I mean, does it bother you that I’m not?” Stephanie hadn’t really considered it. She lived in New York so it wasn’t uncommon to see people of all different races in various relationships. Her mother had taught her to be prejudice on a financial level; she would care less about race as long as he was a doctor or a lawyer. Malcolm was a firefighter so that could be a problem.

  “No.” No one had asked him that before.

  “Good.” She said decidedly. “Let me see that paperwork.”

  Malcolm handed her the sheets and waited. She looked up with a bit of trepidation in her eyes. “There’s only one room.”

  “Yeah, but there has to be two beds. Chase wouldn’t send you off with a guy and one bed.” Malcolm tried to reassure her. “I’m safe Stephanie. I don’t plan on sleeping with you, or touching you at all, for that matter. I mean, we barely know each other.”

  “Oh.”

  He couldn’t tell if she was disappointed or relieved. The limo stopped and he peered out the window. They were already at the airport. “I hate flying.”

  Stephanie jerked her head up. Did he just admit a weakness? Being around the men in her family all her life, she didn’t know men could do that. She knew they had them, she just wasn’t aware that men knew they had weaknesses too. “You do?”

  “Yeah. I have since I was a kid. On the way back from Japan we almost crashed.” Malcolm swallowed hard. He was only seven but every time he had to fly the fear threatened to choke him.

  “Oh my. Would you rather drive?” Stephanie placed her hand on his arm. The slight contact was enough to sear her fingertips and set sparks flying in all directions throughout her body.

  “No. I don’t let fear rule my life.”

  She gulped. Wow. She had pretty much let fear run her life. This was the first break from her mother. The first step away from society life. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

  “I’m positive.” Malcolm opened the door and got out. The driver pulled out their bags and Malcolm tipped the guy. He started into the airport with Stephanie right beside him.

  She tried to grab her luggage but he gave her such a scowl that she drew her hands back and walked beside him instead. Once they had checked in Malcolm took some Dramamine and waited for the flight.

  She tried not to stare at him but it was an effort. “You need more water?”

  “I’m good.” He hated looking like a weakling, b
ut he was man enough to accept who he was. Stephanie didn’t seem turned off by it. If anything she was more attentive to him.

  By the time they were airborne he was asleep. Stephanie relaxed in the first class seat and pulled the t-shirt she still wore up to her nose. It smelled like him, all spicy and male. He shifted and she pulled her head up, the last thing she needed was to get caught smelling him. He settled again and she was so tempted to touch him. Maybe if she just feigned sleep she could rest on his shoulder a moment.

  A instant later she was sleeping.

  Malcolm awoke when the flight attendant shook them. Actually, she shook Stephanie who was snuggled up to his arm. Her head on his shoulder, fallen strands of her long blonde hair tickled his arm.

  She sat up in a flash.

  “We’ve landed.” The woman smiled warmly.

  “Thank you.” Stephanie blinked rapidly and then tried to straighten her hair.

  “We’re here.” Malcolm smiled. “I am so psyched! I hope our hotel has a restaurant in it, I’m starving.”

  “Me too.” Stephanie fought the blush and got off the plane. She could feel the crease on her face from sleeping on his shoulder. How had she actually fallen asleep?

  * * *

  Opening the door to the room at Disney’s Boardwalk Hotel Malcolm’s hands shook like he was opening the door to their honeymoon suite. He didn’t know why he was nervous. Maybe because he wasn’t sure what she was expecting from him. He had tried to convey the message that they were here as friends, though he wanted more, he wouldn’t do anything about it this weekend. This weekend he would spend getting to know her. His worry was that she may be like her male cousins, or worse, her brother. If Stephanie was easy it would ruin everything. He had a difficult time finding a woman to match him in values, and one thing he valued was a relationship between a man and woman.

  “See, two beds.” He let out the breath he was holding.

  “And a balcony.” Stephanie opened the door and let in the night air. “Look we can see the water, and all the people, there’s the ESPN restaurant…”

  “They have room service, we could decide on the best plan of action for tomorrow.” He put her suitcase on the bed closest to the door and his next to the balcony.

  “I want that bed.” Stephanie turned. Why did he put her next to the door? Shouldn’t the man be next to the door in case someone tried to get in? Not that anyone would, but still.

  “Okay.” He switched the suitcases. He had put her next to the door so she didn’t feel trapped. “So what’s the verdict on dinner?”

  Malcolm punctuated that question with a stretch. She watched his long arms reach over head and then he pushed up on tiptoe and leaned back a little. His t-shirt rose to reveal his navel. Stephanie fought to keep a coherent thought. “You’re tired?”

  “It was a long flight and there is so much to do and only two days to do it in.” Malcolm tugged his shirt down and twisted side to side relieving some of the tension in his back.

  “Let’s order in then.” Stephanie picked up the menu and read the options out loud. How she had been so drawn by a navel was ridiculous. He had promptly covered it, releasing her from the spell. She needed a shower, a cold one to knock some sense into her. Somehow she was hyper aware of him. She had never lusted after anyone in her life. She had made several jokes about the women who lusted after her brother. Now she was the weak one.

  Malcolm ordered a steak and breaking her mothers’ number one rule, Stephanie ordered the same. She was on vacation with a man that apparently had no real interest in her, so what the hell? Stephanie decided right then and there to eat whatever she wanted and to relax.

  “I’m going to grab a quick shower while we wait on the food.” She gathered her pajamas and cosmetic bag and headed into the bathroom.

  Malcolm set about unpacking his own bag. When Stephanie returned from her shower he decidedly needed to grab one himself. She was pretty all done up, but in heart print pajamas, wet hair and with no make up on she was breathtaking. “Did you plan that?”

  “No. I had no idea. Grace packed the bag for me.” Stephanie tugged at the cotton shirt. It covered her, and the soft pajama bottoms were warm for the weather but they covered her too.

  He took another slow look at her from her red toenails to her wet hair. “I’m going to grab a quick shower myself.”

  “I hope I didn’t use all the hot water.” Stephanie had taken her time. Enough time for him to completely unpack and get settled in, and he had the park maps out on the table ready for them to make decisions on.

  “I’ll be fine.” He didn’t plan on using any hot water. He needed to cool off.

  Chapter 2

  “Okay you have to stop talking now.” Malcolm smiled, though in the darkness she couldn’t see him. It was odd being in the same room with her. The more time he spent with Stephanie the more he realized she was everything he wanted.

  “I told you to stop talking an hour ago.” She giggled and then yawned. “We’re supposed to get up in four hours to start our adventure.”

  “Okay. No more talking. Sleep.” He said definitively though he didn’t know how he was going to sleep sound for four hours when he was afraid his dreams may betray his moral intentions.

  “Okay.” Stephanie agreed. “Goodnight.”

  He waited a few seconds then added, “Goodnight.”

  He could hear her giggle but she didn’t say another word.

  * * *

  Stephanie slapped the alarm clock and found the button to silence the screaming thing. A few moments later she came to her senses. Her eyes opened and he was there, a few feet away in the other bed still asleep. Sitting up in the bed she could get a better look at the sleeping Adonis. Somewhere in the night he had put in earplugs and apparently gotten hot because his shirt was no where to be seen and the blanket was dangerously low on his waist.

  She was both relieved that if she talked in her sleep he obviously didn’t hear her, and feeling a little like a peeping Tom since she was ogling a man in his sleep. But since he was sleeping she could stare at him without fear of him catching her. Last night they had talked about all sorts of things. They had a great deal in common which only made her resolve to make him ignore the fact that she is nineteen and fall madly in love with her anyways.

  Right now she had the pleasure of looking at a man in a way she had only dreamed of. His hand shifted to his groin and he made an adjustment in his sleep. The voyeuristic thrill of seeing such a motion set her blood on fire and she knew she had to wake him up and they had to get out the door before she lost her senses and made a fool of herself.

  “Malcolm,” Stephanie shook his shoulder and his clear blue eyes opened quickly. “It’s time to get up.”

  He looked at her confused for a few moments then realization set in. He hadn’t dreamed last night. He was in a hotel room in Florida at a theme park with Joshua’s sister, Chase and Ethan’s cousin. His dreams had led him to believe he had violated many personal agreements he had made to himself, his father, and God. Stephanie’s expression reassured him he had done no such thing. “Hey.”

  He pulled the earplugs out of his ears and became conscious of his state of undress. He often got too hot when he slept. He also became aware of other natural reactions as Stephanie perused his body at will with her eyes.

  Malcolm rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

  * * *

  Later that day…

  “We made it!” Stephanie laughed as they entered the hotel right as the rain started.

  “I think we could take a nap before dinner.” Malcolm looked at the object of his affection as they rode the elevator back to their room. If he had any doubts about Stephanie, she had erased them this afternoon. She was fun, driven and a virgin. She admitted that it probably had more to do with her brother killing someone than her choice, but she also admitted that she was glad now. He wasn’t as honest, but she didn’t give him a chance; her assumption was that he had plenty of experie
nce, so he modified it a little bit.

  Unfortunately, thinking he had experience eased her comfort level and apparently made her want to be more experienced because she stood closer to him in lines at rides, slid her hand in his when they walked and gave him looks like the one she was giving him right now.

  “I think that’s a good idea. I’m beat.” Stephanie bit her bottom lip and hoped that she wasn’t being too forward, but in the course of one afternoon she had gone from being in lust to being in love. Malcolm made her feel whole, safe and somehow free. She couldn’t get close enough to him. She wanted to crawl under his caramel colored skin and stay there forever.

  As they entered the room they could see the rain was really coming down. Thunder rolled and people were running to get inside everywhere. The storm had crept up out of nowhere.

  “I hate thunderstorms.” Stephanie stared out the large balcony doors and watched the people below.

  “Really, I’ve always kinda liked them.” Malcolm couldn’t keep his feet from walking him closer to her. A loud crack of thunder shook the building and Stephanie all but leapt into his arms. “I like them even more now.”

  “Don’t make fun of me.” Stephanie looked up at him as he looked down at her. His breath smelled like cotton candy. His blue eyes seemed darker. His arms wrapped around her in a tender but firm embrace. She licked her lips, sure he was about to kiss her.

  “I’m not.” His words were breathless, quiet. His head tilted ever so slightly in an effort to be closer to her. She tiptoed up to meet his lips and another crack of thunder punctuated his feelings exactly.

  Stephanie wrapped her arms tighter around him and she didn’t let him back out of the kiss. Not that he was trying to, but she knew any minute he would come to his senses, and right now she wanted to lose hers. The closed mouth kiss turned into a gentle open mouth exploration of lips, then tongues.

  They gripped one another tighter, pulled their bodies together and continued to kiss until they absolutely had to breathe again.

  “Stephanie…”