by Mara Lynne
“And you believe Damien?”
“He promised.”
“And you think Damien will not break his promise?”
She rises from her feet, incensed. Her raging eyes are boring into his soul. “Yes, he did, Hunter,” she tells him as she tries to take charge of the overwhelming emotions. “He tried many times. I don’t think he’d live up to his promise. He tried to convince me to go with him, to open myself up for him, to love him again. And yes, I was tempted if that is what you want to know.”
She faces him, trembling. Her knees buckle under her, but Hunter quickly grasps her arms, keeping her upright.
“Even though I rejected him so many times, he did not stop because he knew it was his only chance. And when he brought me back here, I wanted to look back to him. I was tempted to…”
He cuts in, the lump in his throat growing in size, “Tempted to go with him?” And leave me? he wanted to add. “What made you stay then?”
“I could only think of you,” she softly says. “When I look at him, I see you. Even when I close my eyes, I hear your voice. You stopped me from going with him, Hunter, and I know I made the right decision.”
He gulps. The lump in his throat shrinks, and his chest is freed from the blocked air. The sudden respite saves him from instant death.
“And when you’re with me, do you think of him?” Still, thorns prick his heart. The fear of hearing Angel’s answer courses in his nerves like a river in a rainstorm.
Her eyes fall to the ground.
“You love him still?” He tilts her chin so that their eyes meet. He sees doubt in them but not denial, only the truth.
Her silence sends the right message even though it is not what he wanted to hear.
“If you still love him, why didn’t you leave? You could have fixed things with him.”
Slowly, she reaches for his face. Her hand and fingers rest on his face, touching them.
“Because I love you, Hunter Stone,” Angel gently utters. “I would burn if I deny myself that truth. I love you.”
Closing his eyes, he listens to her. It makes his heart flutter and warm.
“I’m sorry for being stupid,” she adds. “For loving two different people at the same time. I’m sorry for loving Damien. I could not help it. I tried to wipe him out. I swear, I did all I can to forget him. I was doing well, until he came back and it’s never the same again. Just when I thought I was in control of everything, he appeared and ruined things for me. And I realized it wasn’t gone. I can’t make it go away, Hunter. I don’t know how.”
Her tears say how sorry she is. Hunter wipes them down with his fingers.
“I will understand if you despise me for this. I cannot blame you,” she says, “but please don’t doubt my feelings for you. I do love you. You were with me in my dark times. You were there for me and love me for my nuisances. I choose you. I choose to be with you. And it will break my heart if you decide to give up on me.”
A sigh frees itself from his windpipe.
“Give you up?” he says. “I’m not giving you up, Angel. You’re all I have now.” His grasp on her tightens. “What makes you think I’m letting you leave me? Fuck, Angel! You are mine! Do you understand me? You belong with me.”
Once again, she bursts into tears. Hunter hushes her by stroking her face gently.
“You are mine! Damien will have to kill me first before he gets his hands on you, okay? I won’t let him have you. I’m not stupid. I could give up everything but not you. Do you understand me?”
She nods.
“Please don’t think that I doubted you. I will never do that.”
“I’m sorry,” she says.
“Listen, babe. I know we can get through this. We’ll do this together, okay? I’m going to do all I can to help you get over him, but you’re not leaving me. You stay with me, okay?”
“Okay.”
Hunter leans down and kisses her on the mouth. Her crying wanes down as soon as she starts to reciprocate his passionate kisses.
There’s no way he’d let Damien have her.
He will never give his brother another opportunity to steal from him his possession—not Angel, not her heart, not her body and soul… not anything that is his.
Their foreheads and noses kiss after their lips separate from that long, soft connection.
“No more secrets from now on,” he starts.
“No more. I promise,” she responds. Her heart is now free of the burden she has been carrying for a time.
“Good.”
“Why are you smirking?” The glint in his eyes alarms her.
“Because I want to continue what we have started.” His fingers are already untying the lace of her robes.
“Which is?” she innocently asks.
Hunter smashes his mouth to hers, and her robes fall off her legs.
Chapter 22 –Breaking the Borders
As Angel stirs from her sleep, she feels an arm over her chest—large, hard, but comforting. Hunter is dozing off behind her, plunging his head at the curve of her neck. His balmy breath is raising the tiny hairs on her back, sending tingles all over her body. She feels sore all over her. Her limbs are exhausted, and her muscles around her thighs, hips, and down below ache extremely, that whenever she moves, she feels them revolting. Nonetheless, Hunter’s touch quickly eases the discomfort. The close distance between them assures her of the world.
She turns to face him, and his peacefulness invites her to greet him good evening with a gentle kiss on the lips.
“It’s almost six,” she says softly.
His eyes flicker at the sound of her voice.
“We should get something to eat.” She strokes Hunter’s face with her fingers, chuckling when a smile breaks the thin line on his lips. He’s already awake, and yet he pretends to be asleep. “You’re already busted, you know!” She laughs, giving his nose a soft whisk one last time.
Hunter responds by hauling her closer to him so that Angel is pressed totally into his body. She feels so warm and soft, tempting and sedating, like she’s pulling him to bed for infinity. Their bare legs intertwined with each other under the covers that partially covered their bodies. He raises his hand to her head and begins to run his fingers through her hair. She smells of lilac and honey.
“Who says I’m faking anything?” he speaks, controlling his amusement.
“You were faking sleep, Mr. Stone,” she replies.
“No, I wasn’t. I was sleeping, and you woke me up.”
“Liar!” Slowly, she turns to her side, so she basically faces Hunter with her elbow propped on the pillow, using her arm to leverage her weight. She then bends down to rain tender kisses on him.
“You know what? I could do this all day long,” he says. He was not talking about the rain of kisses for sure.
“Really? You won’t last an hour,” Angel chides with a chortle in the end.
Hunter, taken aback by her remark, squints his eyes in disapproval. He levels himself with her, propping both his arms at her sides like barricades. His gaze hooded, and his muscles tensed. Hunter is on top of her, managing to get her thighs wide open with his knees.
“Seriously, Mr. Stone, we need to eat.” That’s all she can manage to say. Besides, she’s too sore for another sail with him.
But Hunter silences her with a fervent and wild kiss on the mouth, and she is instantly lost in another world. Her core prickles as it feels the impending danger awaiting just outside her, patiently waiting for the best time to get in. The sensation worsens when his mouth gets wilder and rowdier to the extent of his large muscular frame holding her down the bed, taking away all her strength to resist. Then just before her hands could travel from his shoulders, Angel jerks out of the blue at the feel of his finger touching her already sensitive and wet entrance. She stops for a second and lets the spectacular sensation down below tame her. Hunter chafes the area extra-carefully while he ravages her with rough kisses. She moves her body up and down, following the flow
of hot liquid flowing inside her. The stream of pleasure paralyzes all her limbs except for the voluntary physiological response to Hunter. She feels like she’s in a race, in trouble of crashing into anything that she passes by because of speeding, like standing tiptoe at the edge of a cliff with angry winds pushing her off to the bed of rocks below. And by the time his finger stroking her area starts to pick up its pace, she gasps and moans as a seemingly infinite volume of air comes out of her chest. And she screams as soon as Hunter’s fingers slide into her opening. For a while it stays there, pushing itself deeper as she claws her fingers on his skin.
“Hunter… stop please,” she cries as tears of bliss gathered at the edge of her eyes.
“Should I?” A naughty smirk blooms on his face, breaking the kiss momentarily. “Should I stop, babe?”
“Please!” she exclaims, biting her lips and trying to preserve what remaining self-control she has.
Hunter draws her up until she is sitting on his lap, quickly shoving his hardened manhood inside her. Hunter holds her close and grabs both her hips so he could guide her movement.
“Hunter…”
Her voice tastes like a scrumptious delicacy to his ears, and he feels his entire body ringing, his manhood hardening and throbbing together with hers. Oh, she is tight! She is a sight to behold—not anymore the sweet innocent angel he used to know, but a silent, dangerous temptress she has perfectly become. Her face wincing with pleasurable pain is more than an addicting substance for him, more of an obsession than he thought. His hands explore the soft mounds of her breasts and the rigidity of her pink nipples which his tongue is raring to taste. They are yet to reach release, and he is already tempted to take in those mounds of womanhood of hers—those round and plump bosoms that bounce as she rides the tempestuous waves of carnal gratification.
In his mind, he curses every time he slides into her so willingly and freely. Her wetness is allowing him to reach her darkest corners so easily as she cries vehemently in ecstasy.
She screams her loudest, and Hunter knows she’s coming near, and so is he. Hence, he rams her down the bed and gives the strongest push he could. His member thudding heatedly as he thrusts into her.
Then another one, and Angel squeals.
And another one… and another… and another… until she is silenced. Her mouth opens wide while Hunter is left catching his breath.
The heat has peaked, and it is time to cool things down. Hunter falls onto her, landing face-first on her beautiful bosoms. He is exhausted but satisfied as hell.
Yes, she gets the point he’s trying to get across her.
“And so, babe…” he begins, still breathless.
“I’m completely famished now,” she says. Well, it’s the truth. “We seriously need to get food.”
“You know what? You’re right!” he answers, grinning. “Looks like we headed on to dessert before the main course.”
Such a tease! she thought.
“I should go down now and see what Mrs. Jurgen has for dinner,” Angel tells him.
“Let’s go out for a change. Come to think of it, we haven’t actually gone out on a date, have we?”
Angel quickly tries to remember an instance where he took her out for dinner or something like that. Well, he does not really come across as someone who is romantic, so she did not expect anything romantic from him at all.
“I thought this is just not your style.”
Hunter shrugs his shoulders and grunts. “I like not to conform sometimes.”
“Well, impress me then, Mr. Stone.”
***
Angel dresses into a short champagne knee length dress with a scalloped bodice and sweet heart neckline, holding her hair in a simple pony tail.
“Where are we going for tonight, Mr. Stone?” she asks as soon as she reaches the brick stair landing of the entrance to Hunter’s mansion where his car is waiting. Hunter has an awed look on his face as Angel comes out of the entrance, left tongue-tied until she’s an inch away from him. Her kiss brings him back to reality, and words instantly fly out of his mouth.
“You never fail to take my breath away, Ms. Mohr,” he says.
“Hugo’s choice of wardrobe is excellent. All the credit is his.”
“What’s a dress if the wearer is not as lovely as you?”
A blanket of crimson spreads across her cheeks.
“My oh my, Hunter! You’re totally surprising me now.”
He leans forward and plants a kiss on her lips as a reply. “Shall we go now, babe?”
***
It did not take long for them to arrive at the city’s airport where Hunter’s private plane is waiting. She did not really expect to travel somewhere out of New Jersey for dinner, did she? But she keeps silent and lets Hunter unfold all his surprises uninterrupted.
“Ontario, Canada?” Her eyes fall out their sockets upon hearing Hunter’s private plane attendant say the words once they have settled in the plane. “Why are we going to Canada?” she asks him.
“Dinner,” Hunter simply answers with a reassuring smile.
Canada for dinner?
“Don’t worry, babe. All is settled.”
Only less than an hour later, the plane lands on Ontario grounds, and Angel is transported to Marriott Hotel. Just before they check in to Hunter’s reserved room, she could already hear the strong current of the Niagara. From the windows of her car as they near the hotel, she sees the curtain of water with dancing rainbow lights moving all over it.
She has always wanted to see this, and she is not wrong about its beauty—it’s a spectacle, like a garden in spring laden with full blooms and sweet fragrances. It’s picturesque. It’s almost a disgrace when morning comes, and this beauty has to end. Then again, she does not know how Niagara would look like in the mornings and can’t really say if it would be less breathtaking. Perhaps it’s even more beautiful as she could see the pristine clear water falling effortlessly.
Hunter notices the pure admiration and astonishment on her face, and he swears to himself to do all he can to keep this happiness. Well, it’s Victoria who told him about how Angel looked like when she told her about the prospects of an outdoor wedding. It’s obvious she would want it only if there were no churches in the world.
“It’s very lovely.” Words come out spontaneously from her mouth as her gaze journeys from east to west, appreciating the view in the room through the wide curtain wall. Right as they reached the room, Angel hurried to see the view, not minding the hotel attendant’s effort to help her out of her coat.
Without her knowledge, as she continues to allow herself be overwhelmed by the out-of-this-world splendor, Hunter has already taken in people to prepare their dinner. The table’s all prepared with white linen and candles, roses and sweet wine.
It was not until he turns off all the light in the room and they are both alone when Angel’s attention is shifted to him. The rainbow colored lights from the Niagara are highlighted, and they spread across the night sky like a dreamy explosion looking from Angel’s view. Some of its colors pierce through the glass windows of their room, adding up to the magical ambiance of the night. Tears of amazement pooled out of her eyes which caught Hunter’s interest immediately.
He wipes them off her face. “You said you are hungry, didn’t you?” he says in his teasing voice. Oh, how he loves to see Angel’s innocence and simplicity ascend through small acts of love. She’s easily pleased, and that’s what sets her apart from the others. Simple things become lavish and huge for her.
Nodding her head, she tells him, “Yes… I can’t believe you did all this in two hours.”
He helps her out of her coat, and Hunter mindlessly throws it over to the bed.
“I heard they have the best steak in here,” he says.
She lets out a chuckle.
“I’m impressed, Mr. Stone,” she says as she looks straight into his eyes. “You are an expert when it comes to melting women’s hearts.”
“It wasn’t d
ifficult to do, you know.” The side of his mouth curves into a naughty grin.
“Are you saying I’m a simpleton?” She tugs him on the chest.
“No, but I do know you’re a crybaby.”
“A crybaby?” Her voice is a pitch higher than normal, and her forehead creases.
“Not the whiny little brat, babe,” he immediately clarifies. “I always find you cute especially when you wrinkle your nose and you roar in fury against me.”
“I do sound like a beast in your description.”
Laughter erupts from Hunter.
“Well, you are a lovely beast. Come, let’s eat now before our food gets cold.”
They eat together what is prepared on the table: cheese soufflé, a Red Hereford Rib Steak aged for twenty-eight days, and of course, a bottle of red wine.
After that, Hunter leads her out to the balcony which she thought did not exist. A better view of the falls stuns her immediately as she crosses the sill. The chilliness of the night and the swift brush of air to her skin raises all the hair in her body, but Hunter is there to warm her. Standing behind her, he embraces her from the back.
“It’s like a picture coming straight out of the books,” she says under her breath. “It’s very hypnotic.”
But the falls have very little effect on him. It’s Angel that made his night perfect and beautiful.
“Are you happy?” he asks.
“Yes, I am,” she replies. Who wouldn’t when they’re seeing the falls as close as this?
“I mean, with me. Are you happy with me, Angel?”
She notes a tinge of loneliness and perhaps uncertainty in his question. She turns to face him and squares her hands on his face. Indeed, something is troubling Hunter; she could see it on his face, and she has an inkling of what it could be.
Assuringly, she responds, “If I am not, I wouldn’t be here with you.”
Chapter 23 –Red Herring
“You did well in your speech, darling,” Mary tells Damien who seems to have been freed of a massive burden on his shoulders. “James is proud of you.”