by K. M. Scott
As she pondered the idea of leaving, he said, “Carla made a great pot roast dinner. Did you have any?”
She turned to face him, happy for a topic about something other than the thread count of sheets. “I did. It’s my favorite. I love when she makes it for me.”
Unfortunately, the conversation fell silent again, and she knew it was time for her to leave. Standing up, she said, “I guess I’ll go. Have a good night.”
As she walked toward the door, he asked, “Did you want to talk about anything in particular?”
Turning back, she looked at him. “No, I just…”
She didn’t know how to say she didn’t want to be alone without sounding pathetic. No matter how she tried to phrase it in her head, it still came out the same.
Pathetic.
Hunter swung his legs off the bed and stood up. “What do you say we go out for a little while? Maybe just go for a walk, or if we find a quiet bar, we could have a drink?”
The idea of getting out sounded wonderful, even as that tiny voice in the back of her mind warned her that she might run into a guy like the one at the gym earlier today. But she didn’t want to be afraid of everyone in the world anymore. She just didn’t know how not to be.
She wanted to try, though.
“Okay. I’ll grab a sweater and be right back.”
“Good. Meet you in the hallway in a couple minutes.”
As she stepped out onto the sidewalk, the chill of the night air surprised her. Wrapping her sweater around her, she tried not to look as cold as she felt.
But Hunter noticed immediately. “Do you want to go back in? You look cold.”
Alexis shook her head, eager to be out of the house for even a short time. “No, I’m fine. My blood just hasn’t gotten used to New York weather yet. My body still thinks it’s in LA.”
Satisfied by her lie, he pointed up the block. “Looks like your adoring fans with the cameras went home to bed. Let’s walk up there. We went south this afternoon, so what do you say about trying north?”
“Sure! North it is.”
Hoping once she got moving she’d warm up, she happily kept up with Hunter, who walked much faster than she usually did. Probably another throwback to her time in LA where no one seemed to ever be in a huge hurry.
Outside the apartment, he seemed far more talkative and asked her about her films and her favorite parts. She could tell instantly that he’d never seen any of her movies, but his effort flattered her.
After that conversation died down, though, they didn’t seem to be able to restart another one, so Alexis took the chance that maybe he’d like to talk about himself for a little while. He hadn’t given her any indication of his life at all before moving in to work on her case, so she couldn’t help but be curious.
“You mentioned, or maybe it was Paul who told me, but someone said you used to work for the LAPD. You look too young to be a retired cop. What made you leave LA and that job to work for this Project Artemis group?”
“They recruited me. I wanted to do something new with my life, so I said yes. But even before that, I wanted something new, so I turned in my badge and moved east to Virginia since I knew a few people in the DC area. I’ve been there ever since.”
She listened as he talked about what he did for Project Artemis, and she couldn’t help but notice he never mentioned a girlfriend or wife. But she never asked, and he never offered any information other than about his work.
He sounded noble when he talked about helping people, and as they walked the streets of the Upper West Side, she had to admit that as attractive as the outside was with Hunter, the inside was appealing too.
Curious how many women like her he’d helped, she asked, “So how many of me have there been?”
He turned to look at her and smiled, making her stomach do that flipping thing. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, how many women like me have you helped?”
A look of recognition washed over him, and he nodded. “Oh. You’re my tenth assignment.”
So he’d helped nine other women before her. Had he slept with any of them? Her tendency to be jealous reared its ugly head and made her want to ask, but she couldn’t find the right words. How could she phrase that anyway? Hey, by the way, how many clients have you taken to bed?
That didn’t sound right, and in all honesty, she didn’t want to know. She didn’t care how many women he’d been with. She just liked being near him, walking around at night like two normal people living in a big city. He gave her that, even if he didn’t realize it.
Normalcy. He had no idea how wonderful a gift that was, and Hunter gave her that in those two hours they walked around talking about his work and her films and a hundred other commonplace things she hadn’t talked about in ages.
She couldn’t remember the last time she laughed and really meant it. She didn’t pretend once the entire time, and being genuine felt better than she’d actually remembered it feeling.
When he suggested they go back to the apartment, she smiled and said yes, but she could have stayed out there in that chilly night air for hours more just talking and walking without a care in the world. For the first time in far too long, she’d gone out and had a good time.
As they rode up in the elevator to the penthouse, the reality of her life came rushing back, though, when he turned to her and said, “You don’t have to worry, Alexis. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. I’m going to find out who’s behind this and I’ll be out of your hair in no time.”
She didn’t want to focus on the stalker or anything to do with him. Shaking her head, she quietly said, “I don’t want to think about that now. I just want to think about how much I enjoyed walking around the neighborhood and talking with you like a normal person. Please don’t make me think about how much I won’t have that when you leave.”
The elevator doors opened, and without a word, they each walked to their own rooms. As he closed his bedroom door behind him, she knew she had to apologize. Hunter had never done anything but try to help her. He didn’t deserve to be dumped on like that.
Embarrassed yet again, she knocked lightly on his door as she stood there nervously trying to come up with the right words to say. For far too long, she hadn’t truly told anyone she was sorry and actually meant it. Maybe she was a diva after all.
He appeared in the doorway and smiled like he was happy to see her. “Something wrong, Alexis?”
“Can I come in?” she asked nervously.
Nodding, he stepped back so she could walk in. She cleared her throat and hoped she hadn’t forgotten how to sincerely tell someone she was sorry.
She expected him to stand at the door holding it open so after she said what she came to say she could make a quick escape. Instead, though, he closed it and then walked back to sit on his bed like before.
Alexis once again felt awkward and out of place while he looked as comfortable as ever in his own skin. As she worked up the courage to say she was sorry for what she’d said back in the elevator, she couldn’t help but appreciate that way he had of always seeming to fit in perfectly, no matter where he was.
He didn’t speak, likely thinking not saying a word would be polite, so she had no choice. She took a deep breath and did what she knew she had to do.
“I’m sorry for what I said back there. It wasn’t right to unload on you like that. You haven’t been anything but helpful, well, other than that first time we talked and you were rude. But that doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have been like that when you were simply trying to reassure me. So I’m sorry.”
She didn’t give him time to respond and turned on her heels to leave as quickly as possible. As she reached for the doorknob, he finally spoke and his words cut straight to her deepest fears.
“Why did you come in here before? What did you want?”
She closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh, unsure how to answer. Should she tell him the truth, or should she simply pretend like she always did?
&
nbsp; Did she dare show him the real Alexis or should she continue to pretend to be just the actress she showed the rest of the world?
Chapter Sixteen
She didn’t answer, but as she stood there silently staring straight ahead at the bedroom door, Alexis heard him get off the bed and walk over to stand behind her. Even if she hadn’t heard him move, she would have felt him there. He exuded a sense of power that was unmistakable, and something deep inside her craved what she sensed in him.
“Alexis, why did you come here tonight?” he asked, his voice a husky whisper.
Closing her eyes again, she made her decision to not pretend with him. Quietly, she said, “Did you like her?”
“Who?”
“The brunette at the gym with the perfect body.”
“No.”
Alexis winced at how hard he was making this for her. “Why? She was beautiful and I saw how you acted with her. She looked so perfect standing next to you.”
Hunter took a step closer to her and touched the ends of her hair with his fingertips, sending chills down her spine. “I didn’t even notice her. I was too busy looking at the most beautiful woman in the room.”
As if she’d been holding her breath from the moment he first asked why she’d come to him, she exhaled and all the fear inside her evaporated. Slowly, she turned around to face him and saw not that sexy grin she’d expected but something darker, more sensual in his expression now.
“You were all smiles with her,” Alexis said, looking up into his dark green eyes for some hint of how he felt at that moment.
“I didn’t care. I was doing my job,” he said as he took another step forward, staring intently at her while he closed the last few remaining inches between them.
Now as he stood so close to her, she noticed how big he seemed, even next to her. Power and strength radiated off him in waves that washed over her. Never before had she known any man who made her feel so confident one moment and so weak the next.
“Are you doing your job now?” she asked in a shaky voice, unsure she wanted to hear the answer.
Hunter shook his head and slowly dragged his tongue over his bottom lip. “No. You’re not in any danger from the stalker here, so you don’t need anyone to protect you right now.”
Need of a different kind coiled inside her. She watched his mouth move as he spoke, desperate to feel his lips press against hers in a kiss. Aching to feel his body next to hers, she tentatively reached out and rested her hand against his muscular chest.
His eyes narrowed, making him look hard, so she pulled her hand away, afraid she’d misunderstood the signs. But before she could apologize, he leaned in and grazed his lips against hers, so lightly that it felt more like teasing than a kiss.
And then he spoke, and she felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room.
Looking deep into her eyes, he whispered against her lips, “Alexis.”
Her name had never sounded like that coming from anyone else’s mouth before. Sexy and sensual, like a promise of something delicious only he offered.
God, she wanted him to kiss her with all the power he possessed. To kiss her and take her breath away like she knew he could.
But he simply stood there letting his mouth touch hers just enough to make her want so much more.
“Why won’t you kiss me? Don’t you want to?” she asked, terrified of what his answer would be.
“Because if I kiss you we’re not going to stop there, and I don’t know if I can hold myself back,” he said in a low voice tinged with an emotion she recognized all too well.
Need. The kind of need that forced you to choose between wanting something so badly it hurt and fearing something so much it paralyzed you.
The kind of need that threatened to burn you up inside if you didn’t satisfy it.
“Don’t hold back,” she whispered into his mouth.
He slid his hand up the column of her neck and stuffed it into her hair, tugging her head forward until his mouth crashed into hers. He kissed her hard, like he wanted her to know he’d given up on holding back, and she welcomed it, returning his kiss with one full of as much need as his.
His body pressed against hers, letting her know he wanted her for more than just kissing. She felt his hard cock push into her hip, and even without seeing it, she knew she would give anything to feel him inside her.
Hunter moaned against her lips as their tongues mixed to ratchet up the need the two of them felt. She could listen to the sound of him moan for the rest of time. Low and deep, it hit a part of her deep inside she’d only hoped existed before this moment.
Then suddenly, he pulled back and stared at her in a way that made her feel empty and alone. “Alexis, I don’t want to hurt you.”
“The way you’re looking at me now hurts more than anything you could physically do to me. Don’t let doubt ruin this.”
“I don’t doubt how much I want you. You shouldn’t either.”
She tugged on his shirt to pull him closer. “Then show me,” she said in a voice that verged on begging.
His mouth covered hers as his hands roamed over her body, pulling her jogging pants down past her knees. She wriggled her leg out as he slid his fingertip under her panties to lightly touch her tender skin.
Her body craved so much more than he’d given her so far, but part of her loved the slowness and teasing. It made her want him so badly.
She playfully bit his lower lip when he slid his finger over her needy clit, making her wish he’d just fuck her with his fingers so she could have some relief from this need that burned inside her.
Dragging her fingernails down his neck and over his shoulders, she closed her eyes and moaned, “Please…”
“Look at me, Alexis,” he ordered in a voice low and deep that resonated in the room around her.
She opened her eyes and saw him focused on her. He was so close, so intense right there in front of her, and then he slowly slid his finger over her clit, sending waves of pleasure rushing through her entire body.
A single finger pushed inside her and then another, making her eyelids flutter closed as a feeling of ecstasy washed over her. All she needed was a little more and she’d come.
But Hunter stilled his fingers inside her and leaned in next to her ear. “I want you to look at me, Alexis. I want to see your eyes as I fuck you.”
She did as he commanded, staring directly into those mysterious dark green eyes that never showed any emotion. “Why do you want me to keep my eyes open? What are you looking for in them?”
“I want to know what you look like when I get you off fucking you with my fingers.”
Oh, God, how she wanted that too! She kept her gaze fixed on his as he began to pump his fingers into her, grazing every nerve just how she needed. He inched her close to coming and then backed off, all the while staring into her eyes with a look that transfixed her.
It made Alexis want more, so she slid her hands down over his hard abs and undid his belt and then his jeans. Opening them, she pulled the fabric apart by the zipper and reached in to touch the grey cotton covering his cock.
He twitched as she ran her fingernails down the length of him through his boxer briefs. Cupping him through the fabric, she felt an ache in the pit of her stomach she recognized and reveled in.
Kissing him long and deep, he thrust his fingers into her, gliding in and out as she inched toward orgasm, but she craved something even more than that. Lowering herself to the ground in front of him, she pulled the cotton back to reveal his long, thick cock. Never before had she wanted to please a man as much as she did at that very moment. Never before had she wanted to hear that sound a man made at the first touch of a woman’s tongue to his cock.
She closed her eyes and slid her tongue over her lips to wet them. Taking hold of him at the base, she held him erect and flicked the thick vein that traveled up the side of his cock.
And then she heard that sound that made her pussy run wet. That moan at the first touch of
her tongue to the silky skin of his cock. It came from somewhere deep inside him, a place she wanted to know and be welcomed in.
“Fuck.”
The word came out in a rush, drawn out for two seconds and then three as Alexis finally reached the swollen head and sucked it into her mouth. Above her, she heard his sharp intake of breath and looked up to see Hunter staring down at her in awe. Now she didn’t need to be told to keep her eyes open because she didn’t want to miss a moment of her effect on him.
She took as much of him in as she could, using her hand to stroke him the rest of the way, all the while watching as he struggled to follow his own command. It thrilled her to know she could mesmerize him like he did her. It made her feel powerful and strong.
Suddenly, he pulled her up to him and kissed her hard. Breathlessly, he whispered against her lips, “No.”
His rejection reverberated through her brain, making her want to lash out, but before she could say anything in protest, he tore her panties off and roughly pushed her legs apart with his knee. Then he hooked his arm under her knee and lifted it in one smooth motion, so quick that she stared at him in surprise.
He stopped for just a moment, and she whimpered, “Don’t worry. It’s fine.”
The last thing she wanted to do was explain to him what birth control she’d chosen long before she ever met him. She wanted to live in this moment, to relish it and let herself truly feel it, as raw and as real as it would be with him.
Hunter groaned, “Give me your hands.”
She did as he commanded, placing them in his left palm. His strong fingers closed around her wrists, and he lifted her arms above her head before pinning them to the door.
Holding her left thigh up, he pushed his hips forward and filled her completely in one thrust. Her eyes rolled back in her head as he began to pump into her.
“You feel so fucking good. Christ, take every inch of me.”
She tilted her hips to take all of him, and she heard him moan low in her ear. Alexis wanted to touch him and pushed against his hold on her wrists. He stilled inside her and leaned back to look at her.