by Nicole Fox
Nicholas hung his head. Good. He should be ashamed of how he reacted. Hunter didn’t care if Nicholas had only been doing his job. How in the world could he have thought Vanessa was the abuser in this situation? What an idiot. It took about two seconds of being around her to see how sweet and caring she was. Anyone could see it.
“Nicholas, will this definitely get us enough evidence?” she asked.
“If Jeremy admits it on tape, with your testimonies and Opal’s and mine, and the other evidence we have that’s not as strong, I think it’d be enough,” Nicholas said. “I’ll do everything I can to help.”
He better do everything. Or maybe Hunter would consider taking him out as an annoyance hit. He’d made things so much harder on them. If he’d seen the truth from the start, maybe this would have gone differently.
“I’m going to have this wound checked out,” Nicholas said. “I don’t want to let it go too long, and it’s starting to hurt again.”
“Do you need a ride to the hospital?” Vanessa asked.
“I think I’ll manage, but thank you.” He stood, and she rested his jacket over his shoulders. “Let me know what else I can do. Do you still have my card?”
Vanessa nodded and held open the door for him. They watched him walk out, and she closed and locked the door. Then she turned to Hunter.
“You’re making a huge mistake, and this is far too risky.”
Clearly, she had been holding back while Nicholas was still there, and now she was letting her true feelings show.
“We just went through all this.”
She shook her head. “You think I’m trusting the cops too much, but we have to! They’re the ones who will either lock up Jeremy, or me and you.”
“They’re not going to lock you up.”
“You don’t know what else Jeremy might pull. And you said the system almost took Opal, but it didn’t. We got him to see the truth and now he’s on our side. So, it did work.”
“Barely. Eventually. And maybe. I don’t trust Nicholas fully, either. He might turn on us or make a report that doesn’t quite state things how we need them to. If he decides that being around a hit man isn’t the best thing for Opal, I’m sure he’s going to report that. He might say you haven’t hurt her, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t still recommend that Opal go elsewhere.”
She must not have considered this possibility. Her mouth hung open. After a long pause, she said, “Do you really think…”
“Anything is possible. That’s why we have to do the one option that works. Get the evidence ourselves. We can only trust each other.”
“But what if it’s a trap? Jeremy has already sent other people after us. What if he only agreed to meet you so he could kill you? That’s just as possible. And it’s probably more likely than the cops messing up because he’s already sent people. More than once. If he’s already tried, why wouldn’t he try again to kill you? We need the police to be there. We can’t trust Jeremy to just show up and not try to pull something.”
“Vanessa, it will be fine. Why in the world would he try something like that with me? He knows my record. Do you think he’d be so stupid to walk into a place with a known deadly killer? It’s not like he’d win in a gun fight against me. And he knows that. So he won’t try it.”
She shook her head and the dread bloomed in her stomach. “You’re giving him too much credit. He is stupid and reckless. He would try. Even if he failed, he might hurt you first.”
Hunter came to her and took her hands in his, kissing them each. “I’ll be fine, I promise. If I’m dead or in jail, I can’t protect you and Opal, and that’s the most important thing to me. I’m not going to do anything that would jeopardize my life, and by extension, yours and Opal’s.”
“I know that’s how you feel,” she said softy. “But I have a bad feeling about this. I haven’t had much good in my life. And I feel like I’m about to lose the second-best thing that ever happened to me.”
A glimmer of surprise flickered across Hunter’s face. “Me?”
She nodded. She closed her eyes and leaned closer to him. If she looked him in the eye, she might not be able to speak the words. Her throat was already thick, but she managed to say what she felt. “I love you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. And that’s why I want you to let the cops handle this. I’ve known Jeremy for too long, and I can’t stand the feeling that he’s going to ruin my life again. Please, baby.”
She looked up at him. He leaned down to kiss her.
“We don’t have time to wait for the cops. Jeremy is past impatient. He wants you dead yesterday. If I wait even another day to do it, he’s going to act. I have to meet with him now, and get what we need. If I don’t, he’s going to send someone else. And I love you too much to let that happen.”
A smile slowly spread across her face. “You do?”
“Yes.”
He pulled her close and held her. The warmth and closeness of his body comforted her and filled her with new peace. This was everything she needed. In his strong arms, nothing could hurt her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Vanessa
“She’s asleep,” Vanessa said as she pulled the bedroom door closed.
Hunter smiled at her. He could hardly believe it. He’d known his own feelings for a while, though he denied them at every chance he could. But she’d said she loved him first. And she meant it. And he actually believed her.
Back in high school, Julia had said she loved him. And he’d said he loved her. Maybe they meant it at the time He must have, to go and do something like kill for her. But when he found out that she had lied, he doubted that she ever really loved him. Who would do that to someone they loved? Use them like that, lie to them, have them do something for you that gets them sent to jail for ten years, then drop off the face of the earth once they’re there. You’d think she might have at least visited or called or written once or twice. A thank you note maybe? “Hey, thanks for taking dear ole Dad out of the way, now I can go buy that new car I’ve been wanting!”
But after the court hearing where he’d been sentenced—the one where she sat in tears and promised to write every day and visit him every week—he’d never heard from her again. He thought maybe her mom was keeping her away, but surely in ten years, she would have found a way to get in contact if she had wanted to. It took him over a year to realize it. But once he did, he was pissed about that, too. She’d abandoned him when he needed someone the most. The only person he’d ever loved.
But now he had a second chance. He had found love once more, when he thought it was impossible and when he’d refused to let himself get close enough to anyone again. And now he had someone who truly loved him. Enough to put herself and her daughter at some level of risk to save him. She had to know it was better for him to go without the police to meet with Jeremy. And she had to know it was better for her and Opal if Jeremy was dead. Yet, her concern for him led her to do things in a way that would be good for him and less good for her.
That was what proved her love. Her willingness to sacrifice. You didn’t give up important things for someone you didn’t love. And she loved him. Now when he looked at her, all he could think of was, this may be the first person on the planet to truly love me. His parents may have had some form of love toward him at one point. Maybe when he was a baby. But they hadn’t shown it to him, and he hadn’t felt it. He felt Vanessa’s love. It lit him up.
She stalked across the room, grinning. As she approached the bed, she began removing her clothing. Hunter was already naked under the covers, waiting for her. His cock was hard and his hands itched to touch her.
She pulled off her shirt first, revealing her black lace bra that held her perfect, round breasts. Then, she slowly unzipped her jeans and stepped out of them. Her panties matched her bra. Black and lacy, clinging to her every curve. She was so hot.
She reached back to unhook her bra, and as it fell away, he took in the sight of her hard ni
pples and full breasts. She pushed her panties down, then crawled into bed, her bare ass just peaking over the lines of her back as she crawled toward him. She pulled back the covers and grinned when she saw he was naked.
“Perfect. That’s just how I wanted you,” she said.
Then she moved down under the blankets and a second later, he felt her warm mouth take in his dick. Hunter groaned in pleasure as he put his hand on her head. Vanessa moved up and down his shaft, sucking him and stroking him.
“That feels so good,” he said.
He could lie there and have her blow him all day, and he wouldn’t ever need anything else in his life. Her sexy body, hovering over him as she pleased him was the best thing he’d ever seen.
She kissed up his stomach and along his neck before getting to his lips. He wrapped his arms around her and cradled her against him. He just held her for a long while, feeling her heat and closeness and nakedness.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
He rolled over so that he was on top of her. Hunter looked down at Vanessa and ran his fingers through the hair fanning out around her head.
“You are so beautiful. I don’t deserve you.”
“But you have me, so I guess you did something right.” She giggled.
“I guess so.”
He leaned down to kiss her for a long time.
# # #
Vanessa could barely take the anticipation. What was he waiting for? She loved kissing him. His smooth lips on her, his tongue slipping in and out of her mouth. It all felt great. But her body ached for him. She was so wet, she thought she must be dripping all over the sheets by now. But he kept his erection pressed against her stomach, too far above where it needed to be.
She tried to wiggle up so that he could slip in. But he moved, too, and kept kissing her. She wrapped one leg around him. Finally, she reached down and took hold of him. She positioned him at her opening and slid down, letting him slide in smoothly.
He made a soft moaning and held still once he was fully inside her. He continued to kiss her as he moved in and out slowly. More slowly than he ever had, like he was enjoying every second of it. With each inch that moved in or out, she felt her pleasure increase. She was dizzy with it. Vanessa tried to keep herself from coming too fast, but the way he’d teased her and built up her desire for him, the way he moved so slow so that his cock rubbed on every nerve inside her, sent her over the edge.
“I’m coming,” she whispered and moaned into his ear.
He didn’t speed up like he normally did. Instead, he kept his slow-and-steady pace. She found that the orgasm came slow and deep. Different than when he thrust into her hard and fast. This whole thing felt different tonight.
Then she realized what it was. This was him making love to her. Not fucking her, not having sex or getting laid. He was actually making love, in a true and precious way that no one had ever made love to her.
Tears filled her eyes, and she kissed him harder. “Thank you,” she said.
He chuckled. “I can get you another if you like.”
She laughed, too. “Yes, please.”
He varied his thrust slightly. Instead of the rhythmic in and out, he pulled back and entered her shallowly, then pulled out again. He came back for a few shallow thrusts, then added one harder and fully deep. Then more shallow. The fluctuation of shallow and deep made her insides tighten, trying to grip him every time he came in, trying to hold him in farther. But every time, he pulled back, making her want him more. Then, when he entered her deeply, her mind spun with pleasure. It was a slow, delicious torture.
They made love for a long time. Vanessa started to think it would never end, that they would just go on like this, him filling her and making her dizzy with desire, him making her feel more amazing than she ever had in her life.
But after some time, he sped up a little. “I’m gonna come,” he told her.
And as he thrust a little harder and faster, she raised her hips to meet his, to take him in completely, and she came again as he moaned loudly and emptied himself inside her.
“That was the best sex I’ve ever had in my entire life,” she said.
He made an amused sound and rolled onto the bed beside her. “I just couldn’t get enough of you.”
“Don’t ever.” She nuzzled her nose against his. Between her legs, Vanessa was hot and felt him dripping out of her. The warm sensation was a pleasant reminder of their encounter. “I want us to do that for the rest of our lives.”
Hunter reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Really? You really want me around that long?”
“I do. I’ve never felt so safe or so loved by anyone in my life.”
“Me either. I think you’re actually the first person who ever really loved me.”
That couldn’t be true, could it? Her heart melted at the look in his eyes. So sincere, so vulnerable. “I’m sorry you didn’t have love before. I don’t know how anyone could not love you.”
“I don’t know how anyone could hurt you. You’re so soft and sweet, so beautiful and kind. Jeremy is crazy.”
Her smile faded a little at the reminder of their reality. “He is, and we can’t forget that. We can’t let our guard down for even a moment or get complacent. That’s when he’ll strike. He did it to me for years. The classic abuse cycle. They beat you, then they’re sorry, then—”
“They promise to never do it again, then there’s peace for a time until you mess up—”
“You burn dinner or state your opinion—”
“Or get another bad grade or leave your bike in the driveway,” he said.
“And then it starts all over again.”
He nodded. “We both know it well.”
“What if we made a new cycle?”
“Okay…”
She gave him a crooked smile. “We can start with amazing sex, then tell each other how much we love each other, then have a great day tomorrow enjoying each other, then at night, we can start it all over again.”
“That’s a much better cycle.” He pulled her close and kissed her.
“I know this is a tricky situation. Most couples deal with exes, but not like this. Not with them trying to kill and steal a child. It might not be the best way to start a relationship, but once we get through this, we’ll be able to get through anything. We’ll be strong and unbreakable.”
“I think you’re already unbreakable. Look at all you’ve been through. All Jeremy did to you, and you’re still you. Still a perfect mom, still loving and caring. You’re unstoppable.”
She chuckled. “I don’t know about all that. You’re forgetting that I let him beat me for years. That I let Opal see that and hear all the fights.”
“But then you got out. My mom never did. We stayed in that horrible place forever. And then, she started joining him. I guess she figured it was easier to do what he did than to try to stop it.”
“That’s so messed up. But see, you’re unbreakable, too. Now you’re this big, strong hero, come to save me and my daughter, to rescue us from the evil forces of the world. You’re our knight in shining armor, riding in just in time to save the damsels in distress.”
He touched his finger to her nose. “Well, let’s just hope that this damsel has faced all the distress she’ll have. I want to keep you, not to keep rescuing you over and over. We need a good fortress to keep the enemy out.”
She sighed and lay on her back. “And the drawbridge isn’t working right now, either. Can’t believe the servants haven’t fixed it yet. We’ll have to post extra guards tonight.”
“With extra swords.”
She giggled and reached down to grab his soft dick. “This is the only sword I need.”
“And there’s only one custom-fit sheath.”
She let her smile fade and moved her hand back to his chest to tangle in the curly hairs there. “I know we can do this. We can make this work.”
“Even if I end up killing Jeremy?
”
“Yes.”
“What if I can’t stop being a hit man after this?”
“Then, you’ll either keep trying to find a good job or go back to school.”
“What if I don’t want to stop being a hit man after this?”
She circled one of the curls of his hair with her fingertip. “Then, I’ll get used to it. I’ll start praying again and pray every night that you’ll be safe and not get caught and that God would forgive you.”
“You really think He would?”
“Sure,” she said. “He’s supposed to be all good, isn’t He? And who was that guy in the Bible who killed all those Christians?”