Exposed - Part Two (The Exposed Series, #2)

by Deborah Bladon

  He tenderly grabs my face with both hands. "You are it for me. This is it. I can't stop what I'm feeling."

  I close my eyes in utter helplessness as his words rush through me and his lips crush mine.

  Chapter 10

  "Mom says you have a boyfriend." My father taps me on the forehead. "Are you and Will back on?"

  I grimace at the mention of my ex. He couldn't hold a candle to Hunter. "No. It's someone new."

  He tosses me a quizzed look. "What's his name?"

  "Hunter," I reply. "He's older."

  "How much older?" I watch as he stands straight up and his hands jump to his hips.

  "Not much. Twenty-six."

  "Does he have a job?" My father furrows his brow before sitting back down. "What are his intentions?"

  I laugh at the questions. "He does have a job and his intentions are good." I bite my lip at the last part of my response. I think his intentions are good. I need to trust him. If I don't I'm going to drive myself crazy.

  "When do I get to meet this fellow of yours?" He takes a long sip of the coffee sitting in front of him. I waited as long as I could last night to greet him when he got home from the airport, but I was too wiped. Getting up early to have breakfast with him is the next best thing.

  "This week?" I suggest with slight trepidation. I haven't discussed my father with Hunter. Maybe I shouldn't be rushing us into something when I'm not even sure where we stand.

  "Make a reservation at a nice restaurant and invite him along." My father doesn't glance up from the newspaper.

  "Any preference?" I ask knowing he's very choosy about where he'll spend his money. I've been privy to enough of his inconsiderate ramblings at wait staff in restaurants.

  "Anywhere you like is fine with me." He pats my hand before his gaze drops back to the business section.

  "Daddy, I need to ask something?" I instantly feel a huge pit form in my stomach. This is one subject both of my parents aren't fond of. I need to know though. Any small bit of information will help.

  "Sure." He finally places the newspaper down. "What's up?"

  I study his face before I respond. He's so handsome. The grey on his temples only accentuating his strong features. My father has weathered so many storms with my brother and me. I hate to do this to him but I can't keep wondering what he knows.

  "It's about my heart donor," I whisper the words without my voice cracking. "Mom said you overheard some nurses talking that night."

  "Sadie." He spits my name out quickly before he takes in a sharp breath. "That was so long ago. It's a part of your past now."

  "It's always a part of me." I pat my hand against my chest. "I just want to know about her."

  "Your mother told you it was a young woman?" he asks with surprise.

  "She said that you heard she'd been in a bad car accident?" The question sounds genuine even though I already know the answer. Maybe I just need confirmation from my dad.

  "It was tragic." His voice tightens. "She wasn't buckled in and the boy who was driving was reckless. They hit a truck. I remember hearing she flew onto the road."

  I wince at the words. It's the same story Hunter told me only this time the words are edged with displeasure and disgust.

  "Her brain died and her parents decided to donate her organs."

  "So other people got her organs too?" I feel my heart beating harder at the realization that others may have parts of Coral too.

  "I think so." He studies my face carefully. "I don't know the specifics. All I know and care about is that her heart saved my little girl."

  "Did anyone tell you her name?" I don't want to know that. Why am I asking?

  "Nope." My father shakes his head before picking opening the newspaper. "All I know is that the accident happened somewhere on Long Island and she was airlifted to the hospital."

  I stare at his hands. They're trembling. The vibrations are coursing through the paper causing it to flutter above the table.

  "Thanks, Dad." I kiss his cheek as I rise from the table.

  "Sweetie?" he calls after me as I reach the doorway of the dining room. "Don't forget to invite your young man to dinner. I need to meet him."

  Chapter 11

  "How do you feel about parents?" I take a small sip of the wine Hunter poured for me when I arrived at his place.

  "My own or generally?" He raises his brow and smirks. "If it's my own, they drive me nuts."

  My response is stalled when I realize he's never spoken of them. "You don't talk about them."

  "I've got nothing to say about them." He pushes the words back at me and I instantly recognize it was a way to avoid the subject.

  "Are you estranged from them?" It's a stupid question but I don't want the conversation to end before I know more.

  "No." He pulls the word tightly across his lips. "I just don't want to discuss them."

  I hate when he throws a wall up. This is part of who he is and if he can't talk about his own family, where does that leave us?

  I take a bigger swallow of the wine to curb my racing pulse. "The reason I'm asking is my father is in town and he'd like to meet you."

  "Your father is back?" He shifts on the couch until he's facing me directly. "You didn't tell me he was coming back."

  "We don't talk a lot about everyday things," I murmur. We don't. Our last conversation in his car ended with us kissing for ten minutes before I had to race back to work.

  "How's your mother handling his return?" The question is ripe with sarcasm. "She seems a bit adventurous."

  "I guess." I feel slightly offended by his insulations about my mother. She may not be the greatest parent but she'd always stayed committed to my dad, or it seemed that way to me.

  "Do you like living there with them?"

  I'm not sure how to answer. I wasn't expecting him to ask me about that. "It's okay. I only do it on breaks."

  "When I was your age I had my own place." His tone is clipped.

  "When you were my age?" I parrot back. "That was such a long time ago, Mr. Reynolds. Did they even have heat and water in houses back then?"

  He kisses my nose as he chuckles. "You know what I mean. Don't you feel stifled there?"

  "Not really." I shrug my shoulders. "They don't even really know I'm there. It's convenient and soon I'll move back to the dorms."

  "I wanted to talk to you about that." He tenderly reaches to push my hair behind my ear. "Have you thought about getting an apartment off campus?"

  I consider the question. I have thought about it a lot. Not because I need the extra space but it would be amazing to have my own place. Somewhere that I can truly call home. "I've thought about it at times. Why?"

  "I don't think your bunkmate is going to appreciate watching us make love in the dorm." He runs his tongue over his bottom lip and I stare at it mesmerized.

  "We're going to make love when I'm back at school?" I cringe as I ask the question. We haven't discussed the scope of our relationship since I found out about Coral. "I mean...I... I wasn't sure if this was a temporary thing still or not," I stammer.

  "I don't want that." He shifts his body closer to mine and the soft scent of his skin is my reward. "I want to be with you. I want us to see each other as much as we can for as long as we can."

  He didn't say forever. Why would he? I study his face for some hint. What does as long as we can mean? "As long as we can," I whisper under my breath.

  "I want to move this at a pace you're comfortable with." His lips graze across my cheek and I tremble inside. My body aches for his touch.

  "Can't we just come here when we want to...to...you know?" I struggle with the words.

  "When you want to fuck me, sunshine?" His tongue slides across my neck. "When you need to feel my tongue on you or my cock in you?"

  My breath quickens at the mention of his body. "Yes."

  "Like now?" he growls into my ear. "Like you want me to fuck you now?"

  I reach for his head and pull his lips into mine. I can't
resist him. It's impossible. The moment he touches me or says those things to me, my body is on fire. I wait for him to touch me and he's focused on my face. His hands are caressing my cheeks, his tongue tasting my mouth. I pull on his shirt, fumbling with all of the buttons. His hands drop and I sense him removing his cuff links before he makes quick work of the buttons and the shirt slides off his shoulders.

  "Touch me," he commands as he places my hands gently on his chest.

  I'm in awe of the muscles and the sharp tone to them. He's so chiseled and hard. Every part of him screams pure and raw masculinity. I trace my hands down his stomach until they rest on his belt. He kisses me again and I'm grateful for the gentle reprieve. I've never touched a man like that. I've never brought a man pleasure with my hands or my mouth.

  "You're everything to me, Sadie." He pulls back from the kiss to undo his belt. "Everything."

  "I've never." I feel embarrassment slide through me. I can't tell him this. He's so experienced. He'll be so disappointed.

  "Only when you're ready." He slides his pants to the floor followed by his boxer briefs.

  I stop and look down at him. I soak in the beauty of his cock. It's so perfect. Everything about him is so well defined.

  "I want to." I slide my hand over the tip, marveling at how smooth the head is. I can barely wrap my hand around him. I want to taste him. I want it now.

  I push the coffee table back with my foot before I drop to my knees.

  "Fuck." He pulls in a tight breath as I circle the head with my tongue. "Christ. Sadie."

  I can feel his hands wrapped in my hair, pulling it, guiding me towards him. I open my lips and run my tongue over once more before taking him in. The wide crest flows into my mouth and I moan at the sensation. He groans loudly in response.

  "Like that, sunshine." He's coaxing me as I run my hand down the length, pulling it back up as I slide him effortlessly across my lips. I can't take him all the way in. There's too much. He's so big. I just want him to feel the same pleasure he's given me so many times.

  I wrap my other hand around him too, pumping him faster as I suck harder. His hands push me down and pull me up as his hips follow the rhythm. I stop and suck hard on the head, pulling it softly between my teeth. My reward is a heavy groan. "You're so good. This is so good." His voice is so low, so filled with desire.

  I take him farther into my mouth as I increase the rhythm again. My jaw aches. My knees hurt but I can't stop. I want to taste him. I want him to give himself to me.

  "I'm so close," he whispers breathlessly. "Stop. I'm going to come."

  I push my head down as he pulls on my hair. The sting resonates through me. I shake my head and moan in protest.

  "Oh, fuck." He pulls the words from deep within as his hips buck off the couch and I feel the first hot burst of him hit the back of my throat. His hands clench the sides of my face as he jerks in my mouth. More and more of him is filling me. I take it all in. This is what it's like. This is what I always want to give him.

  Chapter 12

  "You never answered my question." I smile at him across his small dining table.

  "Is it who just blew my world apart?" He winks before he takes another bite of his sandwich. "The answer is you."

  I look down at the food on my plate. I'm not hungry. I still have to bring up the subject of meeting my father to him.

  "The question wasn’t about that stuff." I grin broadly.

  "That stuff?" He cocks a brow. "You're the sweetest thing in the world. Do you know that?"

  I wince at the compliment. "I'm not sweet."

  "You are." He reaches across the table to push my sandwich closer. "You're sweet and amazing and one-of-a-kind."

  I ignore the subtle suggestion that I eat the delicious looking turkey sandwich he made for me. I suggested we eat out but he was resistant. Maybe he liked restaurants as much as my dad did. I breathe heavily as I get ready to launch into the conversation I've been avoiding all night.

  "The answer to the question is that sometimes someone else stays here and I don't want us to have to rely on this as our only place to be alone."

  I sit in stunned silence. I meant the question about how he felt about parents. He obviously was still focused on where we would be fucking once I went back to school.

  "Like a roommate?" I quickly scan the room realizing that everything in the place screams Hunter. I can't imagine anyone else staying here besides him.

  "You could say that." He darts his gaze away from me. "I just think it would be better if you had your own place and we could hang out there."

  "I'll think about it," I say without really meaning it. I'm still stuck back where he said someone else stays here.

  "Is it Jax?" I offer up the name of the only person I know who visits him in Boston.

  "Just a friend," he shoots back without any further details.

  "Is it a woman?"

  I instantly see a shift in his expression. It darkens and he silently stares at me as he chews and swallows the food in his mouth. I watch as he pulls the linen napkin curtly across his mouth before folding it and putting it next to the plate. "You need to stop this," he snaps.

  "Stop what?" I fire back. "Stop asking questions."

  "You think I'm going to jump into someone else's bed whenever I get the chance." He scowls. "You don't trust me at all."

  "I wonder why." I push back from the table. "You never answer my questions directly, Hunter."

  "That's bullshit." He stands and picks up his empty plate before throwing me a disappointed look. "I've answered all of your questions."

  "Does a woman come here to stay?" I enunciate every syllable of the question, pulling the words tightly across my lips. "Answer the question."

  "This is going nowhere if you're going to be jealous. A lot of women pay attention to me, Sadie."

  I scoff at the words. Did he actually just say something that utterly narcissistic to me? "What the hell does that mean?" I chuckle. "So now you're so stunningly attractive that women can't stay away from you?"

  "I know what I look like. I know what I have to offer." He turns and walks out of the room, plate in hand. I hear the sudden crash of it hitting something and smashing.

  "I'm leaving." I call in the direction he's gone. "I won't be back."

  "You're not leaving." He's in the doorway, his hands resting on the frame. He's imposing and strong and right now the expression on his face is bordering on intimidating.

  "You can't tell me what to do." I shake my head. How did we go from the people on the couch an hour ago to this?

  "I don't want anyone else." He throws his head back and I see the veins in his neck. "I can't want anyone else. Don't you see that?"

  "I see someone who will never be direct with me." I shrug my shoulders as I reach for the purse I dropped on the floor when I got there. "I see a man who is always hiding behind faint truths and small white lies."

  "That's not who I am." He lunges towards me, grabbing my shoulders with his hands. I almost tumble backwards from the force of his touch. "I've never been this open with anyone."

  I don't know how to comprehend that. This is open to him? Not answering a simple question is open? "This isn't open, Hunter."

  "What does that mean?" His tone is icy. It's reflected in his blue eyes.

  "You can't be like this when you're in a relationship..."

  "What?" he interrupts me. "What do you know about relationships, Sadie? You've never been in one."

  I take in a heavy breath to temper the sharp edge of his words. He's right. What do I know? I've never been in a relationship.

  "I didn't mean that." He's pulling my limp body into his chest. "Christ, Sadie. Please. I didn't mean it."

  I push back with all the strength I can pull from within me. "You're right. I've never been in a relationship. If this is what it's like. I don't want to be."

  "Don't go." He's tugging frantically at my arms as I pull away.

  "I can't stay." I pull free and turn to
walk out.

  Chapter 13

  "You know more about medicine than I do," Alexa says as she takes a bite of her pizza. "My best guess is that he's bipolar."

  I almost choke at the suggestion. I try to swallow the pizza I'm chewing on before my laughter causes it to fly out of my mouth. "He's not bipolar. He's a liar."

  "Why do you keep sleeping with him?" She picks at the mushrooms on her slice, pushing them to the edge of the plate. "There are so many cocks in the ocean. I'll find you another one just as nice."

  I push my head back to roar with laughter. "I needed that."

  "It's true." She winks as she takes a sip of soda. "Why do you think I like swimming so much?"

  "You're on fire tonight." I chuckle. "Seriously, he's got way too much going on for me. It's like a police interrogation every time I ask him anything. I feel like he's on the verge of asking for a lawyer when I ask him simple questions."

  "Maybe he's in witness protection." She pulls her brows together. "I saw something like this on an episode of Law and Order SVU. The guy wasn't who he said he was and he did a lot of messed up shit."

  I stare at her wondering exactly how her mind strings all these random thoughts together into such semi-coherent thoughts. "Maybe I'm just being too overly cautious."

  "You're not married to the guy." She points her finger at me. "You're fucking him. Don't make it more serious than it is. Just enjoy it."

  I purse my lips together as I consider her words. Maybe she's right. Maybe I need to lighten up. He did tell me everything about Coral and he seems honest about his feelings for me. Maybe I do need to just embrace it for what it is and push my doubts aside.

  ***

  I'm downstairs. Please let me up.

  I stare at my words on my phone's screen. It's been over five minutes since I sent that text and I've gotten no reply. It's eleven o'clock on a Tuesday night. I thought he'd be here. I assumed he'd be at home.

  I was in the shower. I'll be right down.

  I feel a lump in my throat at his reply. My mind automatically jumps to the conclusion that he's not alone. Why else would he be showering this late and why didn't he just buzz me up?