by J. E. Taylor
“This is not the place,” she said, eyeing the approaching hostess.
Hunter turned his attention to the perky waitress, leveling the smile he had been told would make Mother Teresa take him to bed. The waitress reacted, smiling back and nearly ignoring Alessandra. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her bristle. If she had been in wolf form, all her hair would be standing on end and her teeth would be bared. Hunter couldn’t help it, the jealousy radiating from her stroked his ego in a way it hadn’t been stroked in years.
“What can I getcha?” the waitress asked, her sole focus on Hunter.
“My girlfriend will have a spicy chicken sandwich with fries and a vanilla milkshake,” he said, and at the mention of girlfriend, the waitress’ smile faltered. “And I’ll have three bacon cheeseburgers along with a vanilla milkshake.”
The waitress wandered away with their order and he focused back on Alessandra.
“Girlfriend?”
“It’s better than alpha bitch,” he said, and her eyes narrowed.
“I have half a mind to kick your ass,” she muttered under her breath. It wasn’t quite low enough for him not to pick it up.
“Maybe we can do that when we get back to the room,” he teased, in the same low tone. Her lips twitched into an unwanted smile and for the first time in a very long time, her smile reached her eyes.
The waitress came with their vanilla milkshakes and she gave a tight smile to the two of them and dropped the straws in the middle of the table. Hunter waited until she was out of hearing range before picking up the straws and offering one to Alessandra.
“Aren’t you tired of pretending?”” he asked, after he took a sip.
The smile in her eyes dulled. He silently kicked himself.
“I haven’t been.”
All the good humor disappeared, and he glanced outside. “What do you want to do when we get to Key West?” he asked, changing the subject because her denial was just as infuriating as her cluelessness had been. There was no use in arguing in the restaurant.
“Swim in the ocean,” she said.
“I was thinking about getting a boat. Maybe a cabin cruiser.” He sent her a sideways glance.
“Don’t you need a boating license?”
He leaned closer. “Jacob has one in his name.” He met her gaze and leaned back, relishing her open-mouthed stare. He had played shadow and then nursemaid for way too long. It was time to start peeling back the layers of who he really was. It might be a risk, but everything they did now was a risk.
“As I said before, I don’t know a thing about you.”
He grinned and took a sip of his milkshake. “The key question here is do you, or do you not, want to find out what truly makes me tick?” He challenged her with a raise of his eyebrow.
Blush crawled through her cheeks and she couldn’t meet his gaze. The waitress came with their food and he swore she exhaled with relief. Instead of focusing on her, his mind, as well as his stomach, was pulled to the plate in front of him. A small voice in the back of his head reminded him to mind his manners. He was in a public venue, not the middle of the woods devouring a fresh kill.
Alessandra must have been thinking the same, because they ate like civilized adults. When the plates were cleared, and the meal done, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and met her gaze.
“I’m going to have to go for a run after this,” he said.
“I need sleep,” she covered the yawn that followed.
“You don’t want to go for a short run?”
She shook her head and he gave a nod. After peeling off enough cash to cover the bill and a decent tip, they left the restaurant and headed back to the hotel room. Stepping inside, he closed the shades and locked the door, before sitting in one of the chairs near the table, while she changed in the bathroom. His light mood at the restaurant had darkened. He didn’t want to leave her alone in the hotel room but he needed to get rid of this pent up energy inside him. His fingers drummed on the table while his knee bounced.
Alessandra stepped out of the bathroom and his entire form went still. She wore a spaghetti strapped night shirt that came down to her mid-thigh. The sweetheart neckline showed some of her cleavage. He’d completely forgotten he had thrown that in the suitcase and seeing it on her turned the fire inside him into an inferno.
He stood to leave.
“Please don’t go.”
He stopped with his hand on the chain, fully aware that his body had reacted to the sexiness of the outfit along with the plea in her voice.
“Ally, you really don’t want me to stay.”
Silence filled the space long enough for him to glance over his shoulder. The way she hugged herself and stared at the ground clawed at him and he sighed.
“You really think I’m a bitch?” Her gaze lifted, but this time, there was a feral challenge in her eyes.
He turned to face her. “So, you really want to try to kick my ass?” He crossed the distance and stared down at her. “Go for it,” he whispered, feeling the beast bristling in him.
Next thing he knew, he was flat on his back on the ground with Alessandra straddling him. She also had his wrists pinned to the ground on either side of his head. The growl in the back of her throat was the sexiest thing he had ever heard. He smiled up at her.
She blinked down at him. “You’re not supposed to be enjoying this,” she snapped.
“I disagree,” he said and rolled, pinning her underneath him, using her grip against her. He stared down at her. His smile faded at the fear now present in her eyes. “I’m not going to do anything,” he said softly, and climbed to his knees, letting her scuttle out from underneath him.
Her breath remained ragged as she sat on the corner of the bed. He climbed to his feet and took the space next to her. The mattress vibrated, and he glanced at her. Alessandra’s entire body trembled, and her hair blocked her face.
Hunter reached out and tucked the strands behind her ear. This time she flinched away from him.
“Fuck,” he growled, and jumped to his feet. A silver knife slicing through his abdomen would have been a lot less painful. He headed straight towards the door.
“Jacob,” her shaking voice stopped him along with the use of his real name.
“What?” His heart squeezed with disappointment and a level of fury he could hardly contain. If he could turn the clock back, he would relish every scream and dying gurgle that came out of those bastards.
“I’m afraid,” she whispered.
“Of what?”
“Of everything.”
He leaned his head against the door and asked the only question that really mattered. “Do you ever think you could love me?”
“Yes,” the softest whisper reached his ears and he turned, meeting her tear stained eyes. “But I’m not sure I will ever trust anyone again.”
A part of him growled inside. He didn’t know what more he could do to earn her trust. Instead of heading out for a much needed run, he collapsed in the chair next to the door. He wasn’t going to get any relief from the pent-up emotions locked inside him. What he really wanted to do was rip that negligee off her and lick every inch of her skin.
Alessandra just stared at him. “What’s going through your mind?”
He huffed a laugh. “You really want to know?” he asked.
She nodded and slid under the covers, pulling the sheet up to her chin. She looked like a terrified child and he cursed the want pulsing in his blood.
“Honestly?”
She gave a single nod.
“I was just thinking about licking every inch of your skin.”
Her eyes widened and her cheeks turned bright pink.
“You wanted to know.”
She let out a nervous laugh and her gaze found the ceiling.
“But I’ll stay right here for the night because the thought freaks you out.”
The red in her cheeks blotched and tears slipped from the corner of her eyes.
He leaned his head b
ack and stared at the ceiling. His hands gripped the arms of the chairs so hard the metal under the fabric groaned. “Someday, I’d like to be the one to replace those nightmares with something tender and loving.”
“I have nightmares that it’s you hurting me,” she said, through a hitched breath. “Those are the ones that undo me every time.”
His gaze found hers and it took every ounce of willpower not to cross the room and take her in his arms. Every detail of her pain scraped at him and he pressed his lips together, blinking away the mist that covered his eyes.
“No one is going to hurt you like that ever again,” he said. “Not while I’m breathing.”
When she held her arms out for him, he scrambled across the distance and pulled her into his chest. Her sobs shook her form and he stroked her silky hair, softly cooing in her ears until her last hitching breaths wound down.
“On a lighter note, at least you didn’t vomit when I kissed you earlier.”
Her halfhearted laugh brought a sad smile to his lips, and a spark of hope to his heart. She pulled away and he met her gaze, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. A tear came to rest at the corner of her mouth and before she could catch it with her tongue, Hunter leaned in and delivered a kiss that caught the tear.
She gasped and the opportunity presented itself. He slid his tongue in her mouth, exploring. Alessandra stiffened under his lips, but her tongue tentatively swiped his, slowly rolling in a sensual circle. He groaned with the sweetness of it.
She planted her hand on his chest and the kiss deepened right before she pushed him away. He met her gaze and they stared at each other for what seemed an eternity. For the first time, he saw the spark of want in her eyes, but alongside it was the fear.
He planted a kiss on her forehead, and headed into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. As he stripped his clothes, he debated between a cold shower or satisfying his need for release. He didn’t think a cold shower would do anything to quell the pent up energy in the center of his being. So he dialed the water to hot and stepped under the spray. With his hand soaped up, he closed his eyes and imagined all the decadent things he wanted to do to Alessandra.
He sped his stroke as the energy pooled in his belly. In his mind’s eye, Alessandra moved under him with the same fervor, her hips rising to meet his. He clenched his mouth closed and squeezed his eyes tight as his body responded. He kept stroking, his body jerking with the force of each spurt. He slowed his stroke and opened his eyes. His jizz dripped from the wall and he let out a light chuckle at how much had come out. It had been way too long since he’d had any form of release. Hunter cleaned both himself and the shower walls and then dialed the water into the frigid zone to cool the heat still burning inside.
By the time he stepped into the bedroom, he had his libido in check. Alessandra’s soft breathing told him she was sound asleep, and he sighed and changed into a pair of running shorts. Halfway to the door, her soft groan stopped him. The acrid stench of fear spread through the room.
Her moan became a muffled scream and he closed his eyes, turning around and stepping close to the bed. Gently, he ran his fingers though her hair, starting at her temple.
“It’s okay, baby,” he whispered. “It’s okay.”
“No!”
Her scream shot to the depths of his soul and she shot up to a sitting position, panting. Her eyes darted around frantically, finally landing on him kneeling by the side of the bed.
“You died.” Her voice shook. “They found us and I watched you die.”
Hunter sat on the side of the bed facing her. “It was just a dream,” he said, trying to keep his voice soft and calm, like he always did when she had nightmares. Although the subject matter of this one was very different than the others. Usually her nightmares revolved around the horrors that happened to her in the fraternity van.
Her arms flew around his neck, shocking him into momentary inaction. When his brain caught up, his arms wrapped around her as tightly as hers were around his neck. Her trembling turned his nerves into raw receptors and he pressed his lips to the edge of her throat, nuzzling her neck. His fingers grazed the sides of her breasts. “It was just a dream,” he whispered in her ear, but held fast, not wanting this intimate moment to end.
Her trembling subsided, but her grip on him didn’t loosen, instead, her lips found the side of his neck. Her butterfly kisses nearly made him lose all the control the cold shower had given him.
“Don’t start something you have no intent on finishing,” he warned, and her teeth clamped down on his earlobe. Chills rippled through him and his grip tightened. “Ally, please,” he whispered. He didn’t know if he was asking her to stop or asking for permission to ravage her.
“I need you.”
Her whisper tickled his ear. He pulled her away, making her meet his gaze. “This isn’t what you want,” he said. Her fear still radiated like a poison on the air.
“I need this,” she said, and her eyes filled with tears.
“What do you need?” he asked, making sure he understood her clearly. An assumption right now would kill their entire future.
“You. I need you to make the nightmares go away.” She wrapped her hand around to the back of his head and pulled him to her lips.
The urgency in her kiss erased any logic from his mind and before he had any awareness, he had laid her back on the bed and his hand had already traveled under the hem of her nightshirt. His lips moved from hers to the v between her breasts. She arched into it, letting out a purr that shot his heart into his stomach. He peeled her shoulder straps down her arms and pushed the fabric of the night shirt below her breasts, taking a moment to caress each one before he lowered his mouth to her nipples.
Her fear remained, but mingled with the scent was yearning, and he continued caressing and kissing her skin. When he sat up to pull her shirt the rest of the way off, her entire body went rigid. He glanced at her, at her clamped eyes. He thought twice about removing her underwear. Instead, he lowered his mouth to her stomach, licking a path from one side to the other.
Gooseflesh rolled across the path he’d just kissed. The closer he got to her underwear, the tenser she became. While he just wanted to bury his face between her legs, he avoided that for now. Instead, he kissed his way down each of her thighs.
When he reached the top of her feet, she had relaxed enough to seem to be enjoying his pampering. He met her gaze. “Roll onto your stomach,” he said, and alarm flashed in her eyes. “Trust me,” he whispered, and took her toe in his mouth, sucking it gently before relinquishing it. He knew how hard those two words were for her and he remained in place, massaging her foot while he waited for her to comply. If she didn’t, the exploration would be over for tonight, and every cell in his body did not want this to end.
He kept eye contact and when she rolled onto her stomach and looked over her shoulder, he just sent a small smile her way. The mistrust in her eyes, along with the mix of emotions in her scent, held him in place for a moment.
ALESSANDRA STARED INTO his sparkling blue eyes, wondering if trusting him would be a mistake, but the sincerity in his gaze told her otherwise. Her entire body throbbed with adrenaline and desire, but the thin veil of fear covering her held her back from truly enjoying Hunter’s touch.
He closed his eyes and brought the foot he had been massaging to his lips, running his tongue down her arch. Her foot tingled from the contact, spiraling up her leg right to her core. She bit her lip against the moan and curled her arms around the pillow, resting her cheek on the soft fabric.
When he moved to her ankle, she did moan at the sensations his mouth and tongue created. His hands were gentle as they kneaded her calves, melting away the tension. As his hands and mouth drew close to her ass, the tension returned, but this time, it was in anticipation of his touch, not dread.
Her breath hitched when his tongue followed the line of her panties. His hands continued to massage the back of her thighs and all she wanted was f
or him to slide them between her legs and massage her clit. Hunter’s touch was intoxicating, and his avoidance of the only area clad in fabric was driving her mad.
By the time he got to the back of her neck, she was genuinely panting with need and shuddering with every swipe of his tongue.
“Roll onto your back,” he whispered.
This time there was no hesitation, and when his mouth traveled from her shoulder to her hand, she closed her eyes, silently willing him to travel lower again. When he sucked her index finger into his mouth, she opened her eyes. Every muscle trembled when he straddled her and a measure of disappointment laced her stomach when he took her other hand, exploring her with his mouth.
He followed the line of her arm to her neck before planting a kiss on her lips. Hunter pulled away and stared down at her. “I think that’s enough for one night,” he said. His voice was huskier than she’d ever heard it.
Alessandra whined. She couldn’t voice what she wanted, but she pleaded with her eyes, praying he could read her as deeply as he professed.
His slow smile sent a shiver up her spine. “You have to say the words, Leigh,” he said, and the use of the new name they’d agreed on did something to her insides she didn’t understand. Warmth flowed through her.
Alessandra licked her lips. “Please, don’t stop,” she said. Her voice trembled.
He lowered his mouth to her breasts, sucking the hard nubs until she moaned. He moved lower in as slow a progression as before. His tongue traced her stomach along the edge of her underwear. His legs still straddled her, although he had moved down over her knees.
Hunter slowly looked up, meeting her gaze as his hand slid between her thighs. His thumb slowly circled over her clit, creating an inferno inside her. Alessandra pulled her legs out from between his and spread them wide, almost ensnaring him with her limbs. Her intent was as clear as she could make it without words.
Hunter’s breath caught in his chest. The want in his eyes as all consuming as his touch.
“Are you sure?” he asked, even while his thumb kept circling.