You Promised Me

by Lucy Scott Bryan

  Caleb realises then that Hunter is with me.

  “What happened?” I hear Caleb offer quietly as I walk out of the bathroom and over to Matthew who is waiting to escort me to the media who are holed up down the hallway.

  I don’t really try to listen but I hear the pleas in both their voices and the rising anger when the discussion invariably turns to Dom.

  "Stop Gigi, please...." Hunter grabs for my arm, the desperation evident in the tone of his voice.

  I turn and watch him approach me warily, but he stops after one step.

  “I freaked. I was being selfish and I am sorry. You send me spinning in a thousand directions with one of your glances. When you speak to me you distract me. I lose myself in you. I think maybe all this shit with Dom, the worry about you, had me reacting before I even listened to what you were trying to say,” Hunter speaks honestly from his position in the door of the bathroom. I can see his body twitching to come closer. His face open. See this is what I admire about Hunter. He is never afraid to lay it all on the table.

  “It’s funny that is what I was trying to say to you too Hunter. Nothing more, nothing less,”

  Caleb walks to Matthew then and stops in front of him. “We will wait here and you go cancel the media. They can wait, this is much more important for the Bellafonte Corporation than a pack of hungry dogs looking for the best drama. Hunter, take Ginny into Maneseto’s rooms and we will be there in a minute.”

  “No. I do the media and then I need some time alone. I am not pushing anyone away, I am not running away, but I have had a hell of a week. Let me catch myself!” I growl in my frustration.

  Hunter looked somewhat abashed but he must have felt the same way.

  “I’ll call you later Gigi,” he says and then walks over and kisses me on the cheek before walking out. And despite him doing exactly what I ask, I feel like shit. All my freaking out brain caught is that Hunter was leaving, again.

  I arrive home utterly exhausted after leaving my family at the hospital. The interview had gone as well as could be expected. Leah is briefing me on everything that happened at work as Matthew pulls up and parks downstairs in our apartment. Thankfully he had been quietly talking on his mobile the whole way home. I had asked for some space and that is what they gave me.

  I let Matthew lead us up to our apartment and wait inside the front door while he double checked each room and once he gave me the all clear, I wander into my suite, closing the door and flicking the lights on.

  I turn the TV on to something that provides a gentle background noise and then I stand under a hot shower for way too long. The last thing I feel like doing is blow drying my hair but I had little choice unless I wanted to look like a swamp monster in the morning. By the time I am done, I am pretty sure I am a zombie walking. My phone pings as I am just settling into the pillows propped up on my bed.

  Can we talk? a little smile breaks over my face as I read Hunter’s text.

  Come have breakfast with me. Early. Let me sleep now. You make me feel all sorts of things, but right now I can’t even speak. I quickly text back.

  I’ll be there very early. And for the record you make me feel ALOT too. G’night my Gigi xx

  I wait a bit longer in case he responds, but then put my phone on my bedside table and roll over so that I can see out my window at the lights. Thankfully my thoughts settle a little bit, I still don’t have any answers but at least my head isn't swirling as much.

  A soft knock at my door woke me and a quick glance at the time confirms it is only five am. The door opens slightly before a dark shadow slinks in. I can smell Hunter before I can make out his face in the dawn light and I shuffle over in my bed and wait for him to take off his shoes. He is wearing gray baggy sweats that should not have looked as good on him as they did.

  “Hey Gigi. I couldn’t wait any longer. Caleb let me in. Hope you don’t mind. Any news on your grandpa,” he whispers as he balances on one leg to pull off his shoe before hopping onto the other one. Then he climbs on top of the cover, grabbing my blanket to cover himself.

  “Hop under Hunter. He is doing better than they thought. I am so thankful,” I say quietly, sleepy still.

  “Good to hear. Safer for all of us if I stay right here Gigi,” he replies as he pulls me into his chest. “We got too much to talk about. You know what will happen if I climb in there with you.”

  I smile into his t-shirt covered chest. Silly man thinks I won't be tempted with him still dressed and on top of the bed. I snuggle in deep before I let my hands wander finding the edge of his shirt and quickly feeling over his chest. My hands slow as they travel over his body, his warmth is all sorts of delicious and I try to get even closer to him. My eyes are closed and he feels very nice indeed.

  Hunter rolls over onto his side so that I can cuddle into his chest and he drops the smallest of kisses to my forehead.

  “Stop touching me Gigi. I came to have breakfast with you, not be your breakfast,” he laughs softly. I like this side of Hunter.

  “Why does it feel so okay for you to be here Hunter? I haven't seen you for years. I have no idea where you have been but it’s like I don’t even care. We treated each other so badly at St Joseph’s, but it just seems so inconsequential. You make me feel so strong one moment, so weak the next but even at my weakest I am stronger. Strong enough to say I want it all with you irrespective of what we have said and done to each other before,” I say as I start making my way up his throat laying a series of little kisses as I get closer to his mouth.

  “Gigi, you know you speak the very same words I think. Look at everything happening around us pretty girl. People, events, time, keep pushing us back to each other. I am starting to think fate is getting impatient with us,” Hunter holds me tighter to him as we both stop talking, the impact of our words hitting home. He kisses me softly, his touch a physical reminder of the truth in his words. Our kisses of course deepen, but he pulls away from me.

  “We can’t lose ourselves again without first talking, Gigi. As much as I want that, we really do need to talk. So, you little monster, turn your ass around and keep your hands to yourself. Let me hear your story, what I missed out on. Then, to seal the deal on just how awesome a boyfriend, lover, partner, whatever we call this, I am going to make you, my world famous banana choc chip pancakes. Then I am going to lock that fucking door and pretty much devour you. But first, we talk,” he manhandles me so that I am looking in the opposite direction and then he pulls me back into him so that we are spooning as we both look out the window to the rising sun.

  “So start talking Mister, then we can make out before we eat,” I offered, looking over my shoulder at him.

  He leans in and kisses my mouth in a kiss that is definitely not chaste, nor friendly. It is lucky indeed that he turned me, or I will have no trouble taking it further. But Hunter is keen to talk this morning.

  “Tell me about this thing with Dom, Gigi. I don’t understand why you didn't tell me sooner,” he growls into my ear, keeping his cheek to mine.

  “Tell me why you left,” I respond tartily and I can feel myself tense up in his arms.

  “Hey, I am not having a go. Just relax. Let’s talk about Dom first,” he soothes.

  And despite not wanting to, I spill all about Dom. Hunter holds me while I cry. He squeezes me tight as I start to let my emotions steal my oxygen and then his gentle fingers unpry my fists, when they squeeze so hard my knuckles turn white.

  Gentle golden rays from the dawning sun, starting creeping into my room as I talk. I follow their progress as they move higher over my quilt, a good indicator of how much I say to him. Hunter continues to console me in some parts, I feel his jaw clenching against my head in others. He doesn’t interject and lets me get the whole story out. We are just approaching the reason for me attending their engagement party when an alarm sounds above us.

  “What is that?” I ask confused, listening closely to the siren, but Hunter is up and out of my room before answering.

&nb
sp; Matthew is already in the hallway barking commands at Hunter within moments and pushes the door to my room open more. He keeps watch over me and uses a series of hand movements to get me up and moving as he speaks quickly into his mobile phone. He hangs up and then steps further into my room, deviating into my walk in to grab a set of clothes.

  “Quick, it’s a fire alarm. We need to go. Security downstairs confirmed it is on the floor above. We need to move now Gin.” Matthew stands still and waits as I scramble to dress myself and then the three of us are sprinting to the door.

  “Where is Caleb?” I ask as we near the front door.

  “Went to get milk,” Matthew responds nonplussed, as he locks the apartment after us.

  Hunter grabs my hand and the three of us move swiftly to the fire escape. It is surprisingly quiet on our level, despite there being two other apartments. Hopefully, they escaped already.

  We burst into the stairwell and Hunter stops suddenly. I guess he thought it is strange that the stairwell is dark and empty too. Matthew closes in behind me. And the silence of what should have been full of panic and anxiety surprised us all. As the door closes behind us it steals the light and the darkness engulfs us. The noise of the door locking echoes down the stairwell, hauntingly.

  Someone, either Hunter or Matthew pulls me and pushes me up against the door, flattening me so that my back is to the door and I can feel them both in front of me. My heart thuds in my chest and Matthew leans back into me whispering softly that I am safe. Hunter growls in agreement. We don’t move which leaves me feeling even more antsy, but I have complete faith in Matthew. He is strategic in his method and brutal when required.

  My ringing mobile echoes through the pitch black, the little flashing lights providing us with a little light.

  Hunter reaches back and takes it out of my hand, answering it without words, waiting to see who the No Caller Id will be.

  But no one responds. Instead the lights in the stairwell flicker back on and we all look around to see what is going on.

  Matthew’s mobile buzzes in his hand and he looks down, we all do. It is Caleb.

  “Where are you?” he asks, even from my squashed position still against the door I can hear Caleb.

  “Where are you?” Matthew responds tersely.

  “At home. Why?”

  “Let’s go,” Matthew commands and moves me off of the door so that he can swing it open and we all stumble out of the stairwell.

  “Someone is playing games again,” he growls into the phone to Caleb, as we approach our apartment front door.

  Caleb meets us at the door, ushering us inside but Matthew stills before coming in further.

  “Lock the door down, hold tight. I am going down to see security. I spoke with them and they confirmed there was a fire above us. The alarm sounded,” he says as he jogs over to the lift.

  The door closes behind us and Caleb moves quickly to our kitchen.

  “It will be okay,” he says after looking at both Hunter and me.

  “We all heard the alarm Caleb and Matthew spoke to security before we evacuated. When we went into the stairs, all the lights were off. And then to top it off her phone rang and there was no one there. Forgive me if I am pissed off,” Hunter snarls before walking over to look out the window.

  Caleb looks at me before walking over and tucking me under his chin, pulling me in for a hug.

  “Come on, Hunter was going to make you breakfast before we were interrupted. Hunter, you’re up,” Caleb says softly as he guides me to a chair at the breakfast bar.

  “How can you be so relaxed?” Hunter barks out without looking away from the view out the window.

  “We are all okay. That is all that matters Hunter,” Caleb offers, “We have been doing this a while now. It will be another one of Dom’s games.”

  “How can you be so sure?” he asks again, his irritation tainting each word. He turns to look at Caleb, his annoyance shining bright in his eyes.

  “Cause he will be all sorts of pissed off now that you are here. Don’t you remember all the fun at St Joseph’s or did you miss it completely because you had your head stuck up your ass?” Caleb’s soft words are hard now.

  “Watch it,” Hunter snarls as he steps closer to Caleb, his finger jabbing out “You don’t fucking know anything about what happened at St Joseph’s,” my eyebrows jump up high at his words.

  A strange silence fills the kitchen at Hunter’s words. I watch him from the breakfast bar as he all but descends upon Caleb. But Caleb doesn’t cower in his presence, instead he stands taller, almost daring Hunter to spill.

  Once again though we are all saved by the bell or should I say, Hunter’s phone. I watch as his eyes flare as he reads the text he receives before his eyes flash up at me.

  “I have to go,” is all he offers me but he turns and starts walking down the corridor towards the front door.

  “Hunter, where are you going?” I ask as he strides away from me. “Hunter!” But still he keeps walking, closing the distance between him and the door even quicker now that I am behind him.

  He has his hand on the door and before I can even stop the words tumbling out of my mouth, they fall into the empty space between us. “Where are you going?” I demand.

  He turns then, his eyes are burning in his anger. Anger which I feel is directed at me.

  “I’ll talk to you later Gigi. I have to go. I said that already,” he replies. A coolness descending upon us.

  “Where?” I ask again, taking a step to him.

  “It is not your concern,” he offers as soon as I finish. His words are quick in rebuttal.

  “Fuck you, Hunter. Everything you said before means nothing, I take it. You know what, fuck you and the horse you rode in on,” I say my words, feeling them clashing against his anger.

  His beautiful blue eyes look at me and they tell me enough.

  I turn and walk out of the small space that is closing in on us both. And even before I reach my bedroom, I hear the front door slam, it rattles my bones. Well, it feels that way to me. I retaliate by slamming my door shut, feeling pretty fucking stupid.

  “Don’t you fucking dare,” his voice bellows at me as my door swings open. Both him and his words surprise me, I was sure he left. His shoulders are bunched high in his fury.

  “What are you so angry about Hunter? What did I do that made you react like this?” I taunt him. This is the Hunter and Gigi I know, that I am comfortable with. This is why I doubt everything that has happened with us over the last few days. This, this is our normal. And I don’t want it, not now that I have tasted the other side of him.

  “One text and look at you. You can’t even look at me without that sneer on your face. Your pretty words didn’t mean anything in my office, did they? Laying in my bed, who was that? Because let’s face it, only minutes ago you were going to run away again. One text and you are running from me. You even told me it wasn’t my concern. So Hunter, let’s do this now. Let’s be done with us. If you react like that, I want no part of it. No part of you!” I hiss at him. I put my back to him, I can’t even look at him at the moment without wanting to scream.

  A rush of air at my back is the only warning I get before he is on me. His mood suddenly changed. His body surrounds mine and pushes me forward towards the glass. My arms flailing out to stop me being forced against it. And then he is on me, one hand snaking over my shoulder, latching me to him, the other pushing my hair off of my neck. His teeth find my shoulder and he bites down into it as he rolls his body over mine.

  “Don’t you run from me again Gigi. Your venom might have kept others away, but it doesn’t scare me,” he whispers, his teeth still biting down onto my shoulder. And the hussy that lives inside of me, the one that Hunter has awoken, tilts her head in the opposite direction so he has better access. His arms readjust themselves so that he curls one under my arm. The other hand is cupping my breast as he licks my neck from his bite to under my jaw line. “Don’t follow me with anger again. I was
leaving because I didn’t want to poison us with my family. They already hate you. I haven’t listened to them since I was ten. You know that, but blood is blood, I can't ignore family whether I should or not,” his mouth is on my jaw and his tongue licking up the side of my neck until he is just centimeters from my ear. He drags my ear lobe into his hot mouth, sucking it in gently as he pinches my nipple through my t-shirt. “I would never ever hurt you….” he moans into my ear as he rubs over the back of my body.

  “Don’t you see, that is the problem? I know nothing of who you are, irrespective of how good you make me feel it is a bit of an issue,” I respond softly. If Hunter and I are just fuck buddies this can work, as easy as night and day, but we will never be just friends, or enemies with benefits.

  A throat clears behind us and I look around Hunter, in the opposite direction from where his mouth is on my face and see Caleb watching closely at our interaction. He offers me a little smile.

  “Hunter, I'm going to give you the low down on Ginny. She is a snitchy witch when she is hungry and despite your hands all over her, even from here I can see that she is needing food,” Caleb offers from my door which is wide open. He walks away before either of us can offer an excuse.

  "Are you hungry?" Hunter sucks on my ear again, my eyes close as a million zings flash through my body.

  "Damn near starving," I whisper before I turn in his arms and pull him close, so I can deepen our kiss. My hands bury into his hair as I slant and tip his head slightly so I can lick my way into his mouth more. I trail my mouth slowly over his in a series of kisses that has him pulling me in closer, before I bite down gently on his lower lip, tugging it. My eyes watching the desire that shine back in Hunter's.

  "So um, I wasn't joking. Let's go before you two start arguing again. She needs to eat and I need to get out of this apartment," Caleb bangs on my open door making me jump in my surprise and Hunter looks over his shoulder, his smile dazzling. He is usually so much more guarded than this, but what did I care? I love seeing him happy.