by R. S. Elliot
“What?” She raised a thin brow upward. “You don’t wrestle intruders to the ground and stop a potential arsonist on a regular basis?”
I laughed lightly. “No. I suppose not.”
She only smiled, then moved past me to the fridge. She held out a jug of sweet tea, offering, though I only shook my head. Having any kind of caffeine this late at night definitely wouldn’t help me sleep.
“You don’t actually think he did it, do you?” I asked finally.
Lyndsey stopped, the cup halfway to her lips. Her eyes shifted around the room and she shrugged. “I don’t know what to think anymore. But it is all very odd. Flynn will sort it out either way.”
I grit my teeth—again with Flynn. My God, this man would be a thorn in my side all my life if I didn’t get a handle on my feelings now. Though, it did bring up another persistent question.
“So, what did you need to tell me?” I asked.
Again, Lyndsey stopped, wide-eyed and fearful. As if I’d announced her execution rather than asked her a simple question. Slowly, she set the glass in her hands down, swiping a fallen curl back behind her ear. Her eyes flew to the steps leading to the upstairs part of the house. “The moment has passed. It’s hard to talk about it now.”
“Is this the part where you reveal your undying love for me?” I teased.
Because truth be told, I was close to doing that myself. I knew it the moment I saw her with Flynn standing beside her, confirmed it when I tackled a complete stranger and possibly dangerous person to the ground to keep her safe.
She was my forever. The other half of me.
My everything.
She shook her head, walking around the counter to pass me. “This is the part where I say ‘good night.’ So...good night, Hunter.”
I caught her by the waist as she passed, drawing her against me before she could leave. “Lyndsey…”
Our lips found each other’s instantly, as if compelled by some unseen magnetic force. As if being apart for so long meant one touch ruined us, revealing how terribly we’d missed one another. There was no uncertainty in her kiss, no animalistic reserve. It was just Lyndsey, just the two of us. Transmitting words of desire and love without even speaking.
My hands moved up her waist, diving beneath her shirt. Her skin felt warm and soft beneath my touch. The muscles in her abdomen spasmed beneath my fingertips, drawing her waist in on a tight inhale. She drew her lips from mine, though her arms remained wrapped around my shoulders.
“They’re right upstairs,” she whispered against the corner of my mouth.
“So what? They can get mad all they want.” Though that wasn’t her only concern was it? She hadn’t actually said what the problem was really, only that we needed to keep things quiet for the time being. Her parents expected her to prove herself, and being with me meant going against all the rules. But she could get another job. She could prove herself some other way—unless there was more to the story she wasn’t telling me.
“It’s not that. I—” She hesitated, turning to look at the doorway to the upstairs. She leaned back, pulling me up off the stool and leading me down the hallway she’d come from.
We arrived at another bedroom downstairs, not big enough to be the master bedroom, but still a decent size. She shut the door behind us and locked it.
“What is it?” I asked. “What did you need to tell me?”
“I just…” Her words trailed off in a soft whimper. She looked damn near terrified to speak. Her large brown eyes searched mine for help, sifting, pleading. I had no idea what she wanted me to say, what she expected. All I knew was all the things ready to pour out of my mouth were declarations potentially too premature to voice.
Instead of speaking, she rose up onto her toes and kissed me. Her hands latched around my neck, drawing me down to her, deepening the kiss. Whatever she wanted to say, she let her mouth speak for her.
And I understood.
I was not the only one falling hard in this relationship. I was not the only one who needed a certain someone in the room more than air to keep going.
My hands wrapped around her waist. In one quick movement, I hoisted her upward, her legs automatically looping around my waist. We moved like that, as one, toward the bed, tumbling down on the soft mattress in a heap.
I moved over top of her, sliding the camisole further up her stomach. I pressed a kiss to the center of her abdomen. I could feel small tremors in her body as my lips moved up her waist encouraging me further, resulting in me wanting to explore and taste even more. Another swift tug, and the top jerked up over her head and landed on the floor.
My fingertips traced small circles across her breast, landing on the tight peak in the center. When my mouth closed over her taut nipple, it was like tasting heaven all over again. Everything about Lyndsey sparked my nerves into roaring flames—the way she tasted, the way she sounded when she hit her climax. Like no one on earth had ever made her feel this good.
“God, Hunter,” she cried out. “No one’s ever made me feel this good.”
“I know the feeling.” My lips moved up her body, dusting kisses along her collarbone, while my hands moved downward. I pulled down on the elastic waistband of her shorts. Within seconds, she was naked beneath me, her golden hair splayed across the pillows like the eternal Aphrodite.
“Your turn.” She smiled up at me.
I was more than happy to oblige her. My cock sprang out in enthusiastic delight, already prepared. Lyndsey wrapped her hands around me. We faced one another, both on our knees, completely exposed. She ran her hand along the length of my erection, squeezing intermittently and applying the right amount of pressure in all the right places.
I groaned.
I had practically been hard since the moment I first saw her in the kitchen. Just the thought of making love to Lyndsey again, and being deprived of one week without her, was more than enough to make this moment both intoxicating and unbearable. I would never make it. Not with whatever voodoo magic her hands worked on my cock.
She bent down, closing her lips around me and sliding down, before I even realized what was happening. Sparks flew across my gaze as the hot, wet sensation of her mouth around my erection pushed me over into the edge of ecstasy.
I was damn near ready to come when I stopped her.
“I want you,” I whispered. “I want to feel you wrapped around me.”
She bit her lip and stared up at me through her hooded lashes. Our bodies shifted on the bed and she pushed me back against the pillows. One leg swung over my side until she was straddling me. Her body leaned forward and she reached into the drawer of her nightstand. She removed a condom from inside and tore the package open with her teeth before placing the ring inside her mouth. I watched her lips close over my erection, gliding the condom down my shaft in a movement that drove me wild.
She pulled back, moving her body over me and guiding my cock toward her entrance. When I entered her, I nearly lost myself. She felt perfect. As if made for my body alone.
Her hips rolled forward, taking me in deeper, taking her pleasure as she pleased in her own strides. I let her have control. She flattened her palms against my chest, while my own roamed across her skin, her thighs, her waist, and any part of her I could reach.
I wanted all of her, forever.
There could never be another woman for me.
She reached her climax, tossing her head back in rapture as her movements slowed. Her body spasmed around me. I thrust my hips upward to guide her through the last threads of her orgasm, finding my own shortly after. A blinding pulse of pleasure surged through me, radiating across my body with a heat more intense than any fire I’d ever battled.
This was different. This was Lyndsey.
This was the beginning of the rest of my life.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lyndsey
I woke up to the sound of someone pounding on my door.
Despite all the warnings I’d given myself about dropping my g
uard, especially around Kyle and Vanessa, I’d done a poor job of following my own advice.
Fuck! What time is it?
I checked the clock on my phone. It wasn’t even four in the morning yet.
The party ran late. Somewhere just past midnight was when the last guest left, which isn’t bad when you’re going out to the club or throwing a kegger at a frat house. But this was a work event that started somewhere around six in the evening. So, the idea of anyone staying around as long as they did was ludacris.
Then, after all the cleaning, it was a wonder anyone in the house was up this early. I myself hadn’t intended to fall asleep, but who could blame me after all of the excitement? Now, here I was, naked, with Hunter in my bed, and a number of possibilities to see this going horribly wrong.
It could be Aly.
It could. But I hadn’t been that lucky recently. The only good thing to come out of this whole ordeal was Hunter, and even he was about to cost me everything.
Hunter started awake beside me. He ran a hand over his face to clear the last remnants of sleep. “What is it?”
I raised a finger to my lips to quiet him, quickly dressed, then made my way to the door. I pressed my ear against the door. Maybe whoever was out there finally went away. There was no guarantee I’d be awake after all.
A dull thudding pounded into my ears as the door shook with another knock. “I know you’re awake, Lyndsey. Open the door.”
Shit. Fucking Kyle. Of all people
“What do you want?” I asked, groggily, playing it up more than I felt.
“Open the damn door.”
“To hell, I will. Not when you’re like this.”
“I doubt you and your little boyfriend in there want me waking up the entire house.”
“Shit,” Hunter whispered behind me. I turned to face him. He only shrugged and held a hand out in defeat. “Let him in.”
This was going from bad to worse too quickly.
Reluctantly, I unlocked the door and opened it. Kyle sauntered into the room, grinning from ear to ear like the cat that ate the canary. “Well, well, Hunter. I never thought you’d be slumming it with the riff raff.”
“It’s weird.” Hunter feigned genuine interest. “I said the same thing to your sister when she brought you home.”
The smile on Kyle’s face fell, and he turned his attention back on me. “Look, I’m not into playing games—”
“That’s a first.”
“—So I’ll make this quick,” Kyle continued. “Hand over the house, and we can keep this whole ordeal a secret.”
I clenched my jaw. Here it was, their plan all along, I imagine. “You’re insane.”
“It’s simple really.” Kyle shrugged, completely unphased by the evils in his plan. “You broke company policy. You’ll be fired in the morning. Which means your agreement with your parents is also broken, and you lose your inheritance. There’s no way you can afford this place without it. Christ, the taxes alone will be astronomical!”
“That’s your opinion. I’ll think of something.”
“Fine. Then, I’ll be forced to tell your parents about this.”
My chest tightened, threatening to suffocate me if I didn’t come up with a solution soon. This could not be happening. I would not lose my home to these people. They would toss all of my grandmother’s belongings into boxes and either sell them at auction or leave them on the side of the road. Every inch of this house would be redone and changed into something cold and modern to reflect Kyle’s tastes. Nothing of the original Hummingbird Hollow would remain but the frame. At least, nothing any of us would recognize.
“Isn’t that what you wanted all along?” I snapped. “Anything you could use against me.”
“Don’t be stupid.” Kyle was clearly losing his patience. He shook his head, squeezing his eyes closed to alleviate the anger building behind them. “You don’t even want the house. You’re always ready to move on to the next thing. Give us the house, and you get to keep your inheritance and whatever Mommy and Daddy want to throw your way. You’ll be set for life. You can buy your own house somewhere in Monaco for all I care. This is what works best for everyone.”
I stared him down, not answering, not backing down. There was no way around this. I couldn’t afford the house. What job could I do with no experience that would provide all the expenses on a multi-million dollar home? But I couldn’t simply hand it over to him either. It meant losing. It meant admitting defeat. And neither of those things described me.
“You have twenty-four hours to make a decision,” Kyle said, turning toward the door to leave. “After that, I’ll assume no reply is a ‘no’ and send your parents the sad news of your termination.”
I stared at the door, even after he’d closed it, for another five minutes. I didn’t notice Hunter standing behind me until his arm looped around my waist. He drew me back against him. My heart galloped. My throat tightened and my body echoed its final goodbye.
This was the end. I could think of no other way to get out of this mess.
“Why didn’t you tell me what was at stake?” Hunter’s breath feathered across my temple.
“Would it have made a difference?”
Silence reigned a moment longer, then he said, “What are you going to do?”.
I shrugged, unsure myself what the next steps might be. “There isn’t really much I can do, is there?”
“You can’t give them the house, Lyndsey. They’ll tear everything apart.”
“I know that.” I certainly didn’t need to hear it confirmed. “But if I don’t, I will lose it anyway. Some bank will take it, or the government, then sell it at auction to a complete stranger.”
“You don’t know that.”
I pulled out of his embrace and faced him. He’d already dressed, though his hair still looked a mess. Hot and disheveled was more like it.
Dammit. This was no time for distractions. This whole mess started because I couldn’t control my libido.
That wasn’t true. It had never just been about the sex with Hunter. He was the only thing that made staying in this town worthwhile.
“You’re right; I don’t know that,” I said finally. “But the possibilities of me keeping this place are so far out of my favor, I might as well give up now.”
“And then what? You’ll just pick up and go?”
It’s what I’d wanted from the start. I hadn’t planned on staying here forever. I didn’t even want the house. Now, I was contemplating living in this town, even if it was without the one place I could call home.
“Maybe it’s all for the best,” I said. “Maybe I was never meant to stay here forever.”
“That’s crazy.” Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a step back as if to catch his breath. “So, what? You’re just leaving because of this?”
“I’m not leaving. I just...I don’t know what to do.” Because I didn’t. This wasn’t a simple decision.
“You stay and fight for what’s yours,” he said.
“This isn’t a few thousand dollars we’re talking about, Hunter. This is a lifetime of money—millions versus bankrupting myself to try to save a house that should never have been mine to begin with.”
He studied me carefully, the questions already forming on his face. Disbelief covered every corner of his features. “Then, that’s it?”
I knew the question he was really asking. But I was too heartbroken to confirm it. “You can come with me.”
He only laughed softly, sounding more like a scoff than half-hearted amusement. “My life is here. My mother…”
“She can’t manage without you for a little bit?”
Hunter didn’t answer. Instead, he stared down at the floor, his feet shifting one right in front of the other. “I really wish I had been wrong.”
“About what?” I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“You being a spoiled, rich girl,” he said, before leaving me alone in my room.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Hunter
“What’s the matter, darling?” my mother asked. “You look terrible.”
“It’s nothing,” I said. “What did you need me to take care of?”
We were winding down the hours. Lyndsey had only a few hours left before her parents would know everything and either hand her back the reins to her fortune or withdraw their support for good.
And even though my mother had asked me to her home to help her with things around the house, my mind was on Lyndsey.
I’m such an ass.
I had some nerve calling her spoiled. It was not my place. She was free to live her life how she chose, even if she decided I wasn’t meant to be a part of it. Though that was partially my fault.
My life is here.
Isn’t that what I said? I’d basically told her she wasn’t worth the sacrifice. Yet, to be fair, she hadn’t been willing to stay for me either.
“Honey, you can’t tell me it’s nothing,” my mother said. “I can see it in your face. You’re upset about something. Now, what is it? Please, don’t tell me it has anything to do with this ridiculous marriage business.”
“No, it’s more like I found someone, but we both seem to want different things.”
“And what do you want?”
I didn’t even know how to answer that anymore. “A family. To settle down.”
“You have plenty of time left for that.” My mom reached across the table and patted my hand. “And, the good thing is, you can do it almost anywhere.”
“No. It should be here. I want to settle where you are and be here for you.”
“Is that what you want? Or what your father wanted?” My mother pinned me with a knowing glare, one that stole through to my very core until I shifted uneasily in my seat. “Look honey. I know you and this has never been the path for you. Yes, you want a family. Who doesn’t, eventually? But it doesn’t need to be right now.”
“But—”
She held up a hand for silence. “I know you think this is something I need right now, but guess what? I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”