Imperfect Saint

by Jess Bryant

  Tyler rolled his eyes, “Fine. Whatever. Go have fun with your girl. Millie.”

  When he stood and started to turn and leave Hunter sighed, “What was it you came in here to show me?”

  “Nothing, don’t worry about it. It’s stupid.” Tyler shook him off, “I got tickets to that big base-jumping event in South America. It’s not for a while. I’ll show you all the details some other time.”

  “Okay. Cool.”

  “Yeah. Cool. See you later.” Tyler disappeared around the corner and Hunter let him go.

  He’d talk to Tyler again soon enough. He’d talk to Vaughn too. Tatum, well, he’d have to deal with her a little bit differently than he did his brothers. He’d get her one on one and talk to her about his relationship with Millie. She’d come around; she wasn’t the teenage brat they all remembered anymore. She was in college now and while she was still a bit of a diva, she was more mature. She’d hear him out at least.

  Hunter put thoughts of his siblings out of his mind and grabbed his keys off his desk. He tossed his backpack over his shoulder and flipped off the light in his office. He could be at Millie’s building in less than twenty minutes if traffic wasn’t too heavy. He grabbed the SUV out of the company lot and hit the road and just as he’d hoped he was pulling into the parking garage at Millie’s building within half an hour.

  He said hello to the doorman and then waved at the girl behind the counter. Kendra, they’d met on one of his many, many trips to Millie’s apartment. She was a nice girl, she always asked him how his day was and told him to have a lovely evening. That last part always made him grin because of course his evening was going to be lovely when he was heading upstairs to see Millie.

  He took the elevator up and knocked on the door, knowing that Kendra already would have called up to let Millie know he was here. He was right. The door opened almost as soon as his fist landed on it. His jaw dropped when he saw her standing on the other side.

  He’d been imagining seeing her. Three days without her had felt like an eternity. But he hadn’t been imagining this.

  Millie was all dressed up and ready to go out. He’d promised her dinner and a show out on the town tonight but he knew as soon as he saw her that he wasn’t going to be able to fulfill that promise tonight. That would have to wait for another evening. Because tonight he didn’t have the willpower to keep his hands off of her for that long.

  “Millie.” Her name came out a low growl and her smile faltered a little.

  “Hunter, what’s…”

  He swept through the door and pulled her off her feet. Millie squealed as he kicked the door shut behind them. Her arms instantly went around his neck and he dropped his backpack to the floor of the hallway.

  “Hunter!”

  “God, I missed you.” Hunter backed her against the wall and pressed his mouth to hers.

  The taste of her lit up everything inside him. His heart raced. All of his senses went on high alert. He could smell her sweet perfume. The taste of strawberries on her tongue Her smooth skin under his palms. He could hear the little, kittenish sound that he loved when she melted in his arms.

  “Hunter.” She moaned his name when he trailed his lips down her throat.

  “Did you miss me too?”

  “You know I did.” She whimpered when he hefted her up, forcing her legs around his waist.

  He kissed her again, stroking his tongue deep, reacquainting himself with every curve of her mouth. He sucked her tongue and rocked his hips against her. He was hard already and he just knew that if he slid his hand from her ass down between her legs that he’d find her wet for him too. She used her arms around his neck as leverage and shifted her hips too, grinding against him.

  “I want you.” He growled.

  “Want you too.”

  “Now, Millie. I want you now.”

  “Yes.”

  It was all the answer he needed. He hefted her higher and walked them into the kitchen which was just off the hallway. He knew that she deserved a bed. She deserved soft and sweet. But he just didn’t have it in him this time. Not when he’d missed her so damn bad and wanted her so damn much.

  He sat her down atop the island in the kitchen. Her heels fell off and he kicked them out of the way. He pushed her dress up and Millie raised her arms to help him pull it over her head. He tossed it aside and thanked the good lord for small favors.

  She wasn’t wearing a bra.

  Maybe she’d left it off to tease him tonight. Maybe the dress hadn’t warranted one. Or maybe she’d just thought with her small breasts that she didn’t need it. Whatever the reason, he’d never been happier to have such immediate access to those sweet little mounds he loved so much.

  “You’re going to be the death of me.” He groaned as he palmed her breasts.

  “Hunter, please.” She tilted her head back and arched into his touch.

  He gave her what she wanted without her having to ask again. He lowered his mouth and tongued her nipple. He licked and sucked until she was writhing. Her fingers flexed in his hair and she moaned his name as he worshiped her body.

  Even as he nibbled on her pert breasts, he lowered his hand to his pants. His cock was throbbing behind his zipper. He was so hard that he ached. He flicked the button open and then Millie’s hands were there, helping push the material down over his ass. He let out a choked breath when her small hand circled his thick length.

  “Fuck. Mills.” He closed his own hand over hers and helped her stroke him. “I need in you. Now. Are you ready for me?”

  “Yes. God, yes.” She was panting as hard as he was.

  “Are you sure? Baby, I can’t be gentle this time. I need you too much.”

  “You don’t have to be so gentle with me, Hunter. Not anymore.” She leaned forward and brushed their lips together, “You put me back together, remember? I won’t break.”

  “Millie.” Her words sank deep inside of him and touched his heart.

  “Make love to me.”

  His heart squeezed painfully and if he hadn’t already been head over heels in love with her he would have been in that moment. She wasn’t broken anymore. She said he’d healed her, put her back together, and made her whole. And God he loved her for saying it.

  She hadn’t said she loved him, but it was close. It was as close as she’d come to saying it even if she showed him in a million little ways every day. He wanted the words though, he wanted her to say them more than he wanted his next breath. But he also didn’t want her to say them because she was lust drunk on wanting him so he kissed her rather than risk her saying those words in the heat of a passionate moment.

  He kissed her as he pulled her back to the edge of the counter and tilted her hips up. He kissed her as he pushed aside the tiny scrap of fabric that she called underwear. He kissed her as he rubbed the head of his cock up and down her slit, making them both gasp and moan a second before he lost control and snapped his hips forward.

  “Hunter!” Millie cried out as he buried himself inside her to the hilt.

  He groaned and his fingers tightened on her thighs. He squeezed, not thinking to lighten his touch for her benefit. Not thinking about the fingerprint bruises that he might be leaving behind. He simply held her as tight as her body held him and he drove as deep as he could get again and again and again.

  He buried his face in her neck and let his hips flex. There was no thought left to it. Only feeling. The warmth of her all around him. The squeeze of her muscles as she flexed. The roll of her hips as she met him stroke for stroke. Her fingers dug into his ass, her fingernails urging him on each time he pulled back before driving deep again.

  In all the times he’d taken her since the night in the woods, he’d never taken her like this. He’d never been so rough. He’d never let himself get so out of control. He’d always tried to temper his touch, to be gentle and easy. He knew her past and he hadn’t wanted to scare her with just how much he wanted her.

  But she’d told him that he didn’t hav
e to be easy with her. She’d said she wanted him. She’d said that he fixed her, and that was a statement he couldn’t ignore. He’d needed to hear it. Somewhere, something deep inside of him had needed to know that she trusted him to be real with her, to let go. He’d needed to know that she trusted him completely.

  “Oh God.” Millie moaned, “Hunter. Hunter. I…”

  When her breath caught, he growled and nipped at the soft flesh of her earlobe, “You close, sweetheart? Yeah. You’re close. I can feel you, gripping me like a vice, that’s it baby, squeeze me just like that.”

  Millie whimpered, her head tilted back and her eyes closed.

  She loved it when he talked to her like this and he loved that she loved it. She got off hard when he told her all the dirty things he wanted to do to her. When he whispered filthy promises to her as he took her slow and sweet. Already, he could feel her body getting hotter, getting tighter, and getting even wetter as her orgasm bore down on them both.

  “That’s it, baby. Make me come with you. Take me deep.”

  “Ah, Oh, Hunter…” Millie’s nails dug in so hard he wondered if he’d be bleeding when she came.

  Her body pulsed and pulled at him. He drove deep, fucking through her orgasm. They were both sweaty and half dressed. They were wrapped around each other, connected so deeply there was no way to tell where he ended and she began. That knowledge was the thing that ultimately sent him over the edge, careening into his own climax.

  He came and he came hard. He buried himself as deep as he could get as he exploded. His cock unloaded inside of her and he’d never felt anything more perfect in his life. He loved that they’d had the talk about condoms and she was on birth control He didn’t want to have to worry about remembering to always carry enough condoms. He only wanted to enjoy the feeling of connecting them in the most basic and intimate way imaginable.

  He blacked out for a long moment. The pleasure was too much. It completely overtook him and the only thing that kept him from falling to the floor when his legs wanted to give out was holding onto Millie. He ended up with her wrapped in his arms. Her head was on his chest and his head was buried in her hair.

  “Jesus. Millie.” He finally groaned as his sanity began to return. “Are you okay?”

  “Mmm.” She hummed, her head still against his chest, “More than okay.”

  “Are you sure?” He forced himself to raise his head even though it felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. He searched her face but she looked as dazed as he felt. Her eyes were glassy and heavy lidded, completely sated with pleasure. A small smile curled her lips and he kissed the edge of it. “I didn’t hurt you did I?”

  “Never.” She nuzzled against him.

  “I was rough.”

  “You were sexy.”

  “Yeah?” His lips twitched and her cheeks flushed a brighter shade of pink.

  “I missed you this week.”

  “I missed you too, baby. So much.”

  “Mmm.” Millie hid a smile by leaning back into his chest, “I think, if that’s the kind of welcome home we’re going to have whenever you go on a job for a few days, I’ll be okay with you taking a few more on occasion.”

  Hunter barked out a laugh, “Is that so?”

  “Welcome home, baby.” Millie leaned up enough to kiss his jaw.

  Hunter held onto her as they both recovered from their intense orgasms and her words had an idea forming in his head. Welcome home, she’d said. But this wasn’t his home. He had his own place, which he’d completely ignored in favor of swinging by the office and then coming straight here. Because wherever Millie was at, that was home to him, which meant that there was only one solution.

  They needed to move in together. Then, whenever he went home at the end of a long day, he’d get to go home to her. He’d get to have dinner with her and sleep beside her every night. Being home with Millie sounded like the best idea he’d ever had.

  Now he just had to convince her of it.

  19

  Millie stirred the pot of spaghetti sauce on the stove and sang along to the Kesha song blasting from the speaker across the kitchen. She wiggled and squirmed; doing a little dance as she pretended her wooden spoon was a microphone. She laughed out loud as the song finished and she pushed her hair back over her shoulders, leaning down to check the roll of French bread in the oven and then shooing Simmons out of the kitchen before she added cat hair as the special ingredient to this little meal.

  She was happy, really and truly happy. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this way. She was brimming with hope and dreams of the future. She wasn’t just getting by anymore. She was happy and she couldn’t seem to keep the bubbling pleasure inside of her, not even if she’d wanted to.

  Maybe Lemon and her other friends enjoyed teasing her about it but the truth was, Millie didn’t mind because it only confirmed what she already knew. Life was good. Her life was great even. And it only got better every day.

  Six weeks ago, she never would have believed she could be this happy. Six weeks ago she’d looked at her life and seen only the broken pieces that still needed mending. Then, six weeks ago, Lemon had sent Hunter to play Millie’s fake date for Colin’s wedding and everything had changed.

  There wasn’t anything fake about the way Hunter felt about her. He’d told her that the first day they’d spent together and it had scared her. He’d scared her because all she’d known up until that moment was that love was volatile, dangerous and ultimately, it hurt. But Hunter didn’t scare her anymore. The way he made her feel didn’t scare her. Because there wasn’t anything ugly or dangerous about the emotions she felt for Hunter.

  He made her happier than she’d ever known she could be and when she thought about the future, the only thing that could scare her now was the idea of not having him by her side for it.

  They’d spent the past six weeks doing all of the things couples were supposed to do. They’d gone to dinner, they’d watched movies, they’d even tried to Netflix and chill but were still attempting to get through the first season of Stranger Things even all these weeks later because they kept getting distracted and ripping each other’s clothes off mid-episode. They’d gotten to know one another better. They’d learned each other’s quirks, like how Millie loved to cook but couldn’t follow a recipe to save her life and how Hunter had to sleep closest to the door so that he knew he was between her and any intruder. They’d formed their own habits, splitting shower times and setting the coffee maker to automatic so they could stay in bed for ten extra minutes. And they’d talked, endlessly, about their pasts, about their plans for the future, and about the present.

  Hunter wanted them to move in together. He’d pointed out that they spent most nights together anyway and it was true. The only nights Millie spent alone were the ones when Hunter had a job with the agency and was out of town or going to be out late. She’d balked when he first brought up the topic of them living together though and she knew she owed him an apology for that, which was why she was cooking him his favorite meal tonight.

  She planned to wine and dine him and then she would explain her less than enthusiastic reaction to his proposition. She hated talking about her past but she’d been going to therapy and working through her issues. Hunter had been there for her every step of the way and he deserved to know that her reaction didn’t have anything to do with him.

  He’d asked if they should move in together and her brain had instantly gone back to the time when she’d lived with Joshua and all of the hurt, anger, pain, and betrayal had come back in the blink of an eye.

  But Hunter wasn’t Joshua. Their relationship was nothing like hers had been with Joshua. And she knew, in her heart, that asking Hunter to move in with her, officially, was the next step in their relationship. The right step. The step that would lead to the future they talked about having together.

  It wasn’t just her relationship with Hunter that was moving forward though, it was her relationship with her family too.


  She’d known that after leaving Joshua she’d pushed her father and brother away. Even before she left Joshua, she’d been very careful to keep them in her life on the strict terms that meant they never saw the bruises or the bad days. Now, having the truth out there, knowing that they were on her side, she’d started the process to mend those relationships too.

  She and Colin had gone to lunch together after he and Reed returned from their honeymoon. She’d known that Reed wanted to go. Hunter had wanted to go too. But she’d insisted on going alone and talking to her brother one on one, and afterwards she knew that she’d done the right thing. There had been moments they both got defensive and having Reed and Hunter there would have only made the tension worse. Instead she and Colin talked for a long time, about all the things they’d never said to each other, and they’d promised that they would try to get back to the kids they’d been who had stuck together through thick and thin.

  Her father wasn’t going to be so easy to forgive and move forward. He’d made mistakes but she had too, she knew that. So they’d talked on the phone a few times but they hadn’t quite made it to shared meals yet. They would. It was only a matter of time. Besides, her dad had Hunter in his corner, though she was still in the dark on exactly how that had happened. Her boyfriend swore her father only wanted the best for her and that she should give him another chance, so she would.

  Hunter was a good judge of character. Better than her, that was for sure. And he was helping her put her life back together, piece by piece, he was the glue that was helping to fix her broken heart, make her whole, and give the family she thought she’d lost back to her, right along with her strength and confidence too.

  Over the sound of the thrumming music and the hum of the vent fan above the stove, Millie’s ears caught the sound of the front door opening. She smiled to herself. Hunter had managed to get off work earlier than he’d thought. She’d been hoping to surprise him by having dinner ready but even still, she was far too happy to see him to complain about him showing up early.