Stories for Malin

By Venice

His body is the colour of moonlight, spread out next to you. He breathes like a metronome, reliable and reassuring, while a faint smile still lingers on his face.

Sometimes you stay up a little longer just to watch him sleep. He lets go of everything, face covered in a gossamer veil of peaceful sleep. He's his own now, and you know that when he is his own, he's yours completely.

You want to use your fingers to investigate his textured body, thrilled as if it were the first time, as if you didn't know every line by heart. But you stop short of breaking through the filmsy glow of his skin, deciding it was best to leave him to be his own now.

Instead of tracing his skin, your mind traces back to that first time, that first meeting. And you wondered, of all the women there who fought for his attention, cluttering his vision, numbing his senses, why did he look for you? It was nothing more than a fleeting glance, a gentle brush of arm to arm, a split second.

"I saw something in your eyes." he whispered. "I wanted it for myself."

Seven years later you can still feel that look in his eyes like he had that first time, the one he enfolds you in when he thinks you're not watching. That's the look of being in another world, with you.

Your eyes are fixed on his mellow face, but your eyelids are heavy. You want to stay like this forever, but you're not fighting it. Because you know that by the time it dawns and his skin shimmers in a different light, turning his hair from silver to gold - you will be the one sleeping peacefully, and he will be awake, his fingers slowly drawing the line of your hair and neck with the lightest of touches.

Sometimes he wakes up a little earlier just to watch you sleep. He moves so close that his lips almost touch your ear, mouthing the gentlest of words. You don't need to be awake to hear them. They came to you in your sleep many times before. And they told you he wanted you to have him. Breath after breath, heartbeat after heartbeat he belonged more and more to you.

By Gina
Ok, just a quick note…Nando isn’t a baller in this story, just so you don’t get confused :D

Sighing heavily as she looked out of her bedroom window again, the blonde turned her attention back to the guy stood in her room, talking about something or other he’d done with his friends earlier that day. She’d given up trying to get back into the conversation a long time ago, mumbling the occasional ‘mm-hmm’ as he spoke to keep up the illusion that she was listening. He didn’t seem to notice though, carrying on with his explanation, complete with enthusiastic waving of the hands. She ducked her head as his arm swung millimetres away, nearly giving her a black eye. He stopped talking momentarily to check why she’d moved, nodding quickly as she told him to calm down before launching back into his story. She rolled her eyes and looked back out of her bedroom window. She could see the stable hand hard at work, his shirt cast to one side as the sun outside beat down on his pale skin. He looked up briefly, their eyes meeting, before his face flushed red and he looked away. She rested her forehead against the window, breathing out slowly as she felt her heart rate quicken. He disappeared back inside the building at the end of the courtyard and she sighed again, moving away from the window.

“Malin, are you ok?”
She looked up sharply, having almost forgotten her boyfriend was in the room and nodded.
“I’m fine, just a little tired. I might go back to bed for a few hours.”
“Oh ok. Do you want me to leave?”
She flashed him a quick smile before nodding, softly placing a kiss on his cheek.
“Sorry, I know you really wanted to tell me about your trip, but I haven’t been sleeping well recently and I could really do with a few hours. I’ll call you later.”
The guy nodded, heading for the door. He stopped just before leaving, turning to face her once more and checking if this was really what she wanted. With one final assurance that she’d call him later, he left and she was instantly back at her window, hoping to catch another glimpse of the stable hand.

It had been her mother’s idea to hire someone to help out with the horses while she was at school. She had a number of very important exams coming up and she needed to get good grades if she had any hope of achieving her dream of becoming a lawyer. She’d been reluctant to let someone else take care of her horses at first; they were her babies, her pride and joy. As soon as she’d set eyes on Fernando, she’d know she could trust him with them. He was tall, blonde and had a smile to die for. When she’d first met him, looking into his chocolate brown eyes, he’d smiled shyly, introduced himself and asked where the horses were. She’d taken him over to the stables and within minutes, he was inside, gentle hands running over the animals while he whispered soothing words. She’d fallen in love with him on the spot.

*Flashback*
“So, how long have you been working with horses?”
“Not that long if I’m honest. I just need some money right now, and I love horses, so when I saw the advert, I had to apply.”
Her jaw dropped open in shock, watching as her favourite horse stretched its neck in his direction, and he stroked its nose softly, not meeting her eyes. She found it hard to believe that this boy hadn’t been working with horses for that long. He seemed to have them under some kind of spell, even the most temperamental one was like putty in his hands.
“You’re a natural.”
He blushed and smiled at her again.
“I don’t know about that, I just feel comfortable around them.”
She placed a hand on his arm, instantly feeling the spark between them and she pulled away almost too quickly as he jumped in shock. Clearly he’d felt it too.
“I meant it Fernando. I’ve never seen them react to a complete stranger like this. The job’s yours if you want it.”
*End of flashback*

That had been six months ago, and since then, she’d watched him every day out of the comfort of her bedroom. They’d caught each other’s eye a number of times, but she’d tried to stop anything from happening. She was in a relationship already and it would get too complicated if she got involved with Fernando. He wasn’t going to be there forever, and she didn’t want to get hurt, but at the same time, breaking hearts wasn’t her style. It was clear that he liked her, he went red every time she attempted to speak to him. Once she was sure her boyfriend was long gone, she slipped on a pair of boots and headed down to the stables.

“Hey, still hard at work I see.”
The blond jumped at the sound of her voice, but composed himself fairly quickly, turning to meet her gaze.
“Yes, I’m nearly done here. I’m leaving early today, I have to meet some friends later. I can’t remember if I told you…”
He trailed off, uncertain if this was the right way to go about speaking to someone who was essentially his boss. She smiled and made her way over to the far end of the stable, picking up a spare pitchfork.
“I remembered, that’s why I came down to help out. Two pairs of hands are quicker than one, right?” She winked, laughing lightly as he blushed again. “Relax, would you? I don’t bite…unless you want me to?”
She bit her lip, a playful smile on her face. He looked down at his feet, then back up at her, an unreadable expression on his face as she leaned towards him, all thoughts of her boyfriend tucked away in a distant part of her brain. Their lips were just about to meet when a snort interrupted them, making them jump apart. One of the horses was stood just meters away from them, nodding its head and she walked over to stoke it. Fernando joined her seconds later, and as they stood on either side of the horses body, stroking its nose, their fingers brushed against each other. She took a deep breath, entwining their fingers as she stepped away from the horse, Fernando following her almost hesitantly.
“Malin…”
She pressed a finger to his lips to silence him before replacing it with her lips. Kissing him was nothing like she’d imagined it would be. His lips were soft, and his actions hesitant at first, until she placed his arms firmly around her waist and deepened the kiss.

An hour later, they were lying on the straw in one of the mucked out stalls, her head resting on his chest as she listened to the steady beat of his heart. His fingers were tangled up in her long blonde hair, a lazy and sated smile on his face. A noise outside the front of the building made them both sit up, shooting panicked looks at each other as they scrambled to get their clothes back on before they were caught. Picking up the pitchforks again, the continued working on the other stalls, just in time for her mother to walk in.
“Malin, there you are dear. I’ve been looking all over for you, I should have guessed you’d be down here with the horses. Are you done with your work?”
“Yes mum.”
“Right, in that case, when you’re done in here, dinner’s ready. Perhaps Fernando would like to join us too?”
She looked over at the boy stood next to her, squeezing his hand gently behind his back.
“If it’s not too much trouble ma’am, that would be lovely.”
“Oh no, its no trouble at all. You’re doing a wonderful job with the horses.”
He smiled softly, blushing again.
“Thank you ma’am.”
Her mother nodded, satisfied that the pair weren’t up to any mischief and headed back towards the house. As soon as she was gone, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
“That was too close.”
“Tell me about it. I thought she’d catch on for sure.”
They worked in silence for the next 15 minutes, all the while, a huge grin plastered on his face. Eventually, they dusted themselves off and looked around, proud of their work. She poked his side as he continued smiling.
“What’s so funny?”
“I didn’t know that there were perks to this job.” He replied, as he pulled her in for another kiss before they headed back towards the house, occasionally shooting shy glances at each other on the way.