"I think it was more than that," I counter. "She's obviously still a big part of your life." I nod towards the album.
He reaches forward to place it on the coffee table. "It's very complicated."
"Explain it." I challenge.
"We were in a lot of the same classes at school." He lifts his head to look directly at me. "She had this mess of red hair. She was cocky and brutally honest and I was a teenage boy."
I smile at the thought of Hunter as a teenager. I wonder if he was as beautifully reckless then as he is now. If he took what he wanted with the same virile force that he does today.
"We dated as kids that age do. You know..." his voice trails and I realize he's waiting for me to acknowledge the statement.
"I haven't dated much." I blush. "I'm not sure I know."
"We went to the movies and hung out with friends." His eyes are searching mine for some understanding. It's so long ago. I don't want him to tell me she was his first. I can't shoulder that knowledge. I don't want my heart to belong to his first lover.
"We kissed and held hands. We didn't do anything else."
I breathe in a heavy sigh of relief at the admission. "Yes," I whisper. "I understand."
"It was volatile and we argued. Teenagers are unpredictable." He laughs. "We broke up and got back together so many times I lost track."
I smile at the statement. I've seen brief flashes of his anger and I can imagine how that would blend with an equally temperamental redhead.
"I spent so much time at her house that I became part of her family. They helped me a lot after she died."
"What's her family like?" I ask boldly. Ever since I found out I had Coral's heart I keep flashing to her parents.
"Her mom is amazing." A wide smile takes over his face. "She's great."
I take comfort in the words. "What about her dad?"
"He died a few years ago." His gaze falls past me into the air behind me. "He had a weak heart. It didn't last long after we lost Coral."
We. The word is bittersweet. He lost Coral too. Even if they weren't as close as I thought they were. He cared deeply for her. Obviously many people did.
"Did she have siblings?"
"Two." He shifts slightly so there's more distance between us. "A brother and a sister."
"I have a brother too," I offer. "He's a jerk."
He smiles. "Coral's is too."
"What about her sister?" I've always secretly longed for a sister. Alexa is like a sister to me but it's still not quite the same as growing up beside another girl.
"Christina." He sucks in a heavy, throaty breath. "She's a year younger than Coral was."
"What's she like?"
"She's spoiled," he says tightly. "Pretentious and expectant."
"I take it you don't get along," I joke.
"We do." He closes his eyes as he pulls the knot of his tie looser. "She's just difficult sometimes. Often, very difficult."
"Do you still see them all regularly?" I ask already knowing the answer to the question. His friendship with Jax, Coral's cousin, is evidence enough of his bond to her family.
"Fairly regularly." He offers nothing beyond that.
"I'd like to meet them." I shove my hair back behind my ear. "I think I should meet them."
I feel his body tense next to mine. "No. That won't work." His tone is dismissive and terse.
"Why not?" I raise my voice slightly. "You wanted to meet me. They probably do too."
"Coral's death was devastating to all of them." He pulls his fist across his thigh. "You'd just be opening up old wounds."
The comment hurts. I have a part of someone they love inside of me. How could they not want to meet me as much as I wanted to meet them?
"You haven't told them about me, have you?" I shoot back. "Is Jax her only relative who knows about me?"
"That's how it has to be." He's unyielding. This is obviously not a subject that's up for discussion.
"Don't you think they should decide?" His unwavering stance is annoying. I want to meet them. I want them to see what I'm doing with her heart. I want them to know the life I'm building.
"I don't discuss her with them anymore." I can see the vein in his neck throbbing.
"What? Why not?"
"I killed her, Sadie." He says through clenched teeth. "I killed Coral."
Chapter 7
It's as though the words float through the air. I can't grasp them. I can't get my hands around them or my brain to absorb them. My mother said Coral died in a car accident. He didn't kill her. He couldn't have killed her.
His head is resting in his hands. I can see his measured, heavy breaths. I don't know what to say. I can't speak.
"I was driving." The emotion in his voice is thick and transparent. "I was driving the car."
"It was an accident." I reach to touch his back and he flinches. "My mother said it was an accident."
He nods his head slowly. "There was a truck. It came out of nowhere. I didn't stop in time."
"You didn't kill her," I whisper softly as I rest my head against his. "It was an accident."
His eyes dart up and meet mine. His gaze is heavy, dark and intense. I see a flash of something obscure. "It was my fault. I was careless."
"Accidents happen, Hunter." I run my hand down his back. I want to comfort him. Despite the past few days I want to cradle him in my arms and help take his pain away.
"I only had my driver's license a few weeks." He takes in a heavy breath to quiet the tremor in his voice. "She wasn't wearing a seat belt. She was sitting next me."
I move my hand to his shoulder, pulling him in closer to me. "You couldn’t have known."
"I was looking at her. She was laughing. I didn't see the truck." His face is wet with tears. "It was over in an instant."
I reach for his hand and grab hold of it. I want to shield him from this pain. I can see how it's worn on him for so long.
"We were both okay but Coral." His body shakes with sobs. "She wasn't there. She went through the windshield."
My breath catches in my chest. I can feel my heart pounding. Coral's heart. The heart she lost that day. "I'm so sorry," I whisper.
He stands abruptly, pushing my hands from his body. "She was just there. Her body was there. Coral wasn't there."
"It must have been horrible," I mutter.
"Horrible?" he snaps at me. "Horrible? It was fucking disgusting, Sadie. So much blood. Her eyes vacant and empty. Christina in the back seat screaming. I'll never forget the smell, the sounds. I'll never forget."
I sit silently. I know why he searched for me now. He feels responsible for her death. He wanted to make sure I was taking care of the only thing left of her. "I think I should go." I start to stand.
He crumples to the floor next to the couch. "I'm not a monster. Don't go."
I fall to my knees. I can't walk away. I can't leave him like this. He's bared so much. He's given me so much today. How can I abandon him?
"Hunter, let me help you." I pull myself onto his lap so I'm facing him. "Let me take the pain."
He greedily pulls my body into his. The sobs coursing through him reverberate through me. "Don't leave me. I need you."
I reach to cradle his face in my hands. I search his eyes. All I see is deep regret and pain. "I'm not going," I whisper.
***
"Thank you, sunshine." He breathes into my neck. He's been silent for more than thirty minutes just allowing me to hold him.
"Thank you for sharing so much." I shift my head from his chest so I can stare into his eyes again. The darkness is gone. Something has loosened within him.
He pushes a stray hair from my forehead. "It's so hard to talk about."
"I'll always listen," I offer. I move my body slightly suddenly aware of his growing hardness beneath me.
"You're an angel." He grazes my forehead with his lips, pulling my hips down into his lap.
"I'm just your friend. I'm not an angel."
"You're more than
my friend," he purrs softly. "I can't be this close to you, Sadie and not want things."
"We can't do that anymore." I move to pull back but it's with little effort. Feeling his erection has made me desire him all over again.
"We can and we will." His lips trace a path across my cheek.
"No," I say breathlessly. There's no substantial meaning in the word and he knows it. The faint wetness of my panties on his lap is giving my desire away.
"You want me now." His hand drops to his lap, it’s mere inches from my core. "You can have me. Anytime. Anywhere you want."
I pull myself across his groin. He's so hard. So ready. All I have to do is reach down and undo his pants.
"Use me," he whispers. "You want me."
I pull back so I'm staring into his eyes. I see my desire there. He wants me just as much as I want him. I can feel how badly he needs me. Hunger courses through me. I have to feel that again. I have to come under his touch again.
His lips seal over mine as he lets out a low moan. He pulls my bottom lip between his teeth, biting it softly, sucking at it. I groan as I reach for his belt. I fumble with it before I feel his hands take over. He loosens it quickly and the smooth sound of his zipper lowering follows. He pulls his cock free and I tremble at the sight of it. It's so large, so perfect, and so ready for me.
"You want me to fuck you, don't you?" He breathes into my mouth.
I nod quickly. "Please," I whimper. "Please, Hunter."
He pushes my panties to the side as he slides his cock along my slick cleft. I'm so wet. So ready to take him inside of me again.
"I can't get enough of you." He growls as he slowly pushes himself into me.
I move to take more of him in, leaning forward against the couch. He's so big. It's painful. So painful and so perfectly blissful.
"Fuck me, sunshine." He nips at my neck. "Fuck me now."
I move my body slowly against his, finding my rhythm. His hands are pushing on my hips, coaxing me to move faster. I do. "Oh, please," I moan through a heavy breath. "This is so good."
"This is yours." He pumps his hips up and into me. Pulling me down harder with each thrust. "Fuck me hard. Use me."
I move faster, allowing my body's natural desire to take over. I throw my head back as I grasp onto his shoulders. "Fuck, yes," I whisper. The brazen sound of my own voice is so foreign to me. I don't do this. I don't fuck men like him. Men like him. There's only one man like him.
"Christ." He's bucking wildly now, his cock plunging into me so deeply. An animalistic growl courses through him and into me.
I push harder, taking all of him. I'm so close. "It's too good," I scream. "Please, don't stop."
"I'll never stop wanting you." He groans as he empties himself into me as I rush over the edge into an intense orgasm. "I can't."
Chapter 8
"So you fucked and made up?" Alexa giggles as she fills a cream container. "Was it as amazing as last time?"
"Better." I smile. "Raw or something. It was mind blowing."
"It was weird though, right?" She places the cream down as she screws the lid back onto the container. "One minute you're talking about his dead girlfriend and the next he's fucking your brains out."
I wince at the words. "Alexa."
"Bad choice," she sighs. "So you're just going to drop all the questions and crawl back into bed with him?"
"No," I offer weakly. I'm not, am I? Last night was a start but I want more answers. I want to know more about what's happened in his life since the accident.
"When are you seeing him again?" She picks up an apron and pulls it over her uniform.
I follow suit and pin my nametag on the front of mine. "We didn't discuss it. After we had sex, he drove me home."
"What did he say? What did you talk about on the way back to your place?"
I didn't want that question to come up. "Nothing, "I say offhandedly hoping she'll let it drop.
"What do you mean? The weather? Sports? What?"
"I mean nothing, Alexa. He didn't say anything until he kissed me on the cheek on my parent's doorstep and said goodnight." I shove the words out quickly.
"You don't think that's a problem?" She rests her hands on my shoulder, pushing my hair back so my nametag is visible. "He fucked you and then just took you home like that."
"It was an emotional night." I turn away. She's right. I've thought of nothing else since he left me standing by the front door. When he came everything changed. He quickly helped me compose myself, pulled his pants up and took me home. The only word he said was a weak goodnight.
"Don't let him fuck you around." She taps me on the shoulder. "You're too good for that."
"I won't." I smile at the flash of protectiveness.
***
"When's your break?" His voice pushes through the dim lull of the crowded bistro. I turn to see him standing next to the counter. He's striking in a dark navy suit, and white shirt.
"At noon." I call back as I try in vain to finish taking an order. How am I supposed to concentrate on anything when he's standing there looking like he just jumped off the pages of GQ?
He glances swiftly at the watch on his wrist. "I'll wait."
"It's an hour away, Hunter." I smile as I take the cash the woman ordering offers to me. "You don't have to wait."
"I'm waiting," he says curtly before walking to the back of the line.
"He's so fucking hot I can't breathe." Alexa's voice trails along my neck. "Does he bark orders to you like that when he's inside of you?"
I turn quickly and throw my hand over her mouth. "Be quiet. He'll hear you."
"Christ, he's delicious. Just look at him." She twirls me back around and I stare down the line of waiting customers until my eyes reach him. He's staring at his phone. The grace with which he stands only adds to his height. He's imposing and strong and many of the women in line are twisting their necks back to catch a glimpse of him. Of the man who told me last night that I was his destiny.
"Take over for me." I push myself away from the counter. "I'm going to the back to count cups."
"You're so lame." She pushes me aside. "I'll take his order and I'll deliver it, if you get my drift."
I shake my head with laughter as I take one last fleeting glimpse of him before walking to the back room. I need some air and I need to get my head back out of the clouds before I talk to him again.
Chapter 9
"Last night was really hard for me." His deep voice fills the space in his small car. We're parked in a corner of the parking lot. "I've never shared the stuff about her with anyone before."
"Coral," I say her name softly. I don't want to shy away from that or from her impact in both of our lives.
He nods. "It's not something I like to talk about."
"I understand."
"I just want to make it clear that what we have isn't about her." His chest expands as he takes a very deep breath. "I've never felt this way about anyone."
I don't know how to respond. I want to believe in his words. I want to embrace this but there are still so many unanswered questions.
"I'm so wary of this." I just say it. I don't know how to temper it or the things I'm feeling.
"Of me?" He arches a brow. "Are you wary of me, Sadie?"
I nod. "Of you, of my own feelings, of everything about Coral." I hate that I ended that with her name. I am worried that his interest in me stems from some morbid curiosity about Coral's heart. I can't shake that.
"I want you to understand something right now." There's a stern undertone in his voice. "Something you really need to get."
"What?"
"I may have met you because you had Coral's heart but everything after that point was because of you." He tilts my chin up with his index finger. "You."
"You're like a stranger to me." I know the words will sting but I don't know how to quiet my fears. "You swoop into my life and then suddenly you're this guy who used to love the woman whose heart I have. Do you see the problem wi
th that?"
"I never loved Coral." He corrects me. "Never."
"Have you loved anyone?" I spit the question out even though it's misplaced in the moment.
I can tell from his stunned expression that he didn't see it coming. I didn't see it leaving my mouth either but it's out there now. It's floating in the deafening silence of the car.
"Once, I thought I loved a woman." He looks directly into my eyes. "I was wrong."
"Was it serious?" I press. I need to know everything I can about him. He makes me feel things that leave me open and exposed. I can't keep wondering who he is and what's on his agenda.
"There was an engagement." His choice of words isn't lost on me. He didn't say he was engaged. He said there was an engagement. There's a distance there. I can feel it.
"You were engaged? When?"
"It doesn't matter, Sadie." He expertly skirts the question as he moves his hand towards my lips. "All that matters is in this car, right now."
I pull back from his touch and disappointment courses through his eyes. "No. There's more than just us."
"What?" he asks as he leans closer to me. "What happened last night was magical. I've never wanted anything as much as you. Why can't you just accept that?"
I want to melt into his words and his arms. I want so desperately to kiss him. Nothing in this world feels as wonderful as when his lips glide over mine. Nothing except when he's inside of me. I can't think straight when he's talking like this.
"Please, Hunter." I reach to grab his hand and clasp it in mine. "Please just be honest with me."
He drops his gaze to my lap. I can sense the deflation in his stance. He's leaning forward now. "I am," he whispers.
"Do you want me because I have Coral's heart?" My heart ached in my chest as I asked the question. I want so much for him to say no. I want him to want me for me.
"I'm falling in love with you, Sadie Lockwood." He turns to look at me. "It scares the hell out of me but I can't stop it."
"Please don't say things that aren't true," I murmur. I'm falling in love with you too I want to scream back but my better judgement has a rein on that. I can't do it, yet.
Exposed - Part Two (The Exposed Series, #2) Page 3