by T. R. Cupak
“Jordan?”
“Yeah.”
“May I come back in now?”
“Does my answer really matter?”
“Yes.”
“So, if I said no, you would walk away?”
“I won’t like it, but yes.”
“Then yes, only because you have my water and I’m dying of thirst.”
Hunter enters the room with a breakfast tray. He places the tray over my legs and on it he has apple juice, ice water with cucumber and lemon, chicken broth, saltine crackers, and Jell-O. My stomach makes another grumbling sound, and I’m grateful he brought me back more than just the water I demanded earlier.
“The doctor gave us a list of foods that you will be able to digest easily once you woke up. This is majority of what you can have,” he tells me before asking, “Are you comfortable?”
I nod.
“Here’s your phone,” Hunter hands me my cell phone from his back pocket, “Text when you’re finished eating. I’ll give you some more… time.”
Well that was unexpected. I was sure he would stick around and babysit me.
“Thanks.”
Although everything looked boring and bland on the tray, I enjoyed a little bit of each item, except for the Jell-O. I ate all of my little sugar free strawberry Jell-O cup. With a satisfied stomach, I tried to lift the tray off of me, but I’m barely regaining the full functionality of my limbs and I couldn’t quite clear my legs. It’s like pins and needles all over my body. Being as I can’t do something as simple as move my tray, I text Monte to come get it. A couple of minutes pass when there’s a knock on the door.
“Come in, Monte.”
He peeks his head around the slight corner, “Miss Smith,” he says before coming into full view.
“It’s fine, Monte. I wouldn’t have text if I didn’t need your help.”
Monte bends to pick up the tray, but I grab his hand before speaking, “Monte, if I ask you a question, will you actually give me an answer?”
He stands to full height before replying, “Yes, Miss Smith.”
“Going forward, can I trust you both? What I mean is trust you like you two have no more secrets to tell me and that you will both be open and honest at all times?”
“Miss Smith, I don’t have any more secrets to tell you,” he says, putting an emphasis on the “I”.
“What else is Hunter hiding from me?”
“It’s not so much what he’s hiding.”
“Elaborate.”
“He’ll have to tell you, because I don’t know the exact details.”
“But you know something, so spill it.”
“Sorry, Miss Smith, but that’s on him. But to answer the other half of your question, I can assure you that I will be honest and not hide anything further, which is why I’m going to tell you that your phone now has a special tracking device.”
You have got to be joking. My foggy brain must have heard him incorrectly.
“Did you just say my phone has a special tracking device?”
“Yes. If you are out of a certain range of where you are supposed to be, then it will alert us.” Monte tells me this like it’s normal. There’s nothing normal about having my every move tracked.
“Why would I need such a device?”
“You don’t, but Hunter does. He has an unhealthy fear of losing you.”
“Really?” I ask with touch of sarcasm.
“Miss Smith, my boss will do anything to keep you safe, and almost anything to make you happy. When he said he loved you, he meant it. He’s always, been…”
“Obsessed,” I add to help Monte’s word choice.
“That’s one way to put it.”
“That’s the only way to put it.” And with that, he sets my water on the nightstand, grabs the tray, and leaves the room before I can interrogate him further. Coward.
Hunter
For once, I respect Jordan’s privacy and knock on my own bedroom door before going back into the lioness’ den. She was livid and losing control when we were trying to explain all that had happened since the hotel. I’m sure she’s not used to feeling all of her emotions since she used to medicate to keep them locked away, but now that her body is cleansed, this has to be a lot for her handle all at once. Not to mention the fact that she still has to get over what Monte and I have done to get her to here.
“Come in, Hunter.”
“How’d you know it was me?”
“Because Monte ran out of here so quick I thought he was going to trip over his own two feet.”
“Oh, he seemed to be gone for a bit.”
“Don’t treat me like I’m a moron. I know he told you everything we discussed.”
“You’re not a moron, and I’m sorry for making you feel that way,” Hunter says apologetically.
There’s an awkward silence between us. She’s looking up at me, waiting for me to say something, so I speak the first words that pop into my head, “May I?” I ask nodding to sit down beside her on the bed. She gives me another nod, so I take my place beside her, keeping one foot on the ground when I turn to face her, bringing the other leg up in a lying bent position. We continue to sit here, just staring at each other. Neither really knowing what to ask or say next.
When I left the room to get Jordan her water, Monte had her tray ready and convinced me that she needed to be left alone, that’s why I brought her cell phone with her nourishment, and let her be. Now, here we sit.
“Hunter, why is it that you said you liked me the way I was and that you wouldn’t change me, but yet, here I am, waking up from a week-long detox that I never asked for?”
“I don’t like you Jordan. I’m in love with you, and I want you around… for a long time. If you continued down your path, I feared you wouldn’t be.”
His words were spoken from the heart and they throw me for a loop. He loves me, but why? There isn’t anything but a shell of a woman to love.
“Is that the last secret that Monte couldn’t tell me?”
“Secret? There’s no secret about how I feel.”
“Then what is it that you need to tell me? Monte wouldn’t give me any other information other than I needed to get whatever it is from you.”
“Are you going to stay with me?” Hunter asks bluntly.
“Why?”
“Please answer the question.”
“It depends.”
“On?”
“What else you’re hiding.”
“I’m not hiding anything else. I told you everything and then some.”
“Then what else is there? I know there’s more. I see it in your eyes.”
“Are you going to stay with me, Jordan? Will you be—mine?”
“Jesus! What is with all the pressure? I just woke up from a week-long sleep and found out I’ve been kidnapped. You would think I would have the upper hand here. So, what, are we back in junior high now? Are you asking me to go steady? Where’s the note for me to check “yes”, “no”, or “maybe”.”
“Smartass.”
“Then stop fucking around, Hunter.”
“Answer my question, Jordan.”
“Fine, yes, I will stay. Are you happy now. It’s not like you gave me much of a choice anyway. I mean I barely have the use of my limbs right now, and, well, you did clear out my apartment so now I don’t have a home to go back to.”
“I’m sorry, Precious. I truly am. Everything happened so fast that I didn’t think twice until we were actually here.”
“Whatever you say, Hunter,” her annoyance is laid on thick, but at least she didn’t keep me from calling her by her pet name.
“I really need to know that you will be mine and only mine?” I don’t know why I’m pressing for her to answer this question. Deep down I already know the answer. Whatever war she has going on in that beautiful head of hers will end with her being mine; I don’t doubt that one bit.
“Fine, yes, now get on with whatever it is you need to tell me.”
�
��That yes wasn’t very convincing.” The unamused look she gives me is telling me that her patience with my incessant pressure to know she’ll be mine, is hanging by a thread.
“Would you like me to retract my previous answers? I have no problem changing my mind,” Jordan threatens with a murderous look in her eyes.
“You are a hard woman to please.”
“No, I’m not. You’re just making this craziness crazier,” she states, pointing out the obvious.
“Jordan—”
“Wait. Where are all my meds?” she says interrupting me just when I was about to give her the information she’s been asking for.
“They’re here, in my safe. The doctor will be back in the morning with a new prescription for you. Some sort of antidepressant.”
“I already have antidepressants.”
“He wants to change your prescription since you’re— sober.” I cringe, waiting for the backlash at the word sober, but it doesn’t come.
“Whatever. Continue,” and that was the end of that distraction.
“As I was saying, for years I’ve been planning, or shall I say scheming, about how to make the three remaining men pay for what they did to you.”
“Hold on a second. I know you have money for a lawyer, but Hunter, I’m not pressing charges for something that happened forever ago. It would be a whore’s word against theirs. I can’t go through with all of that humiliation, I just can’t.” Her words couldn’t be more definite. “You will just have to let that thought go. There’s no way I’m stepping foot in a courtroom.”
“That’s not exactly what I was getting at.”
“Then what? What else is there? There isn’t anything else.”
She’s confused, which is understandable, so I just spit it out, finally, “Revenge.”
“Revenge? Okay, so I was wrong. Apparently, you have thought of something else, and it’s completely insane. Have you lost your mind, Hunter?”
“Not at all. I’ve been plotting for years, I just needed you.”
“Me? Oh, hell no,” she states firmly. “There’s no fucking way I will be near any of those awful men ever again. Do you understand me?”
She’s scared. I get it. If I was in her position, I probably would be too, but she needs to know that she’s never going to be alone with any of them. Jordan needs to trust that Monte and I will protect her with everything we got.
“We won’t let anything happen to you. You are my life. You breathe, I breathe, it’s as simple as that.”
“Hunter, you’re asking someone who has been an addict her entire adult life to physically face the demons that made me this way. Do you not get how fucked up that is? I want no part of whatever that head of yours dreamt up.”
“I’m not asking you to give me an answer right this minute.”
“I just said no. That is my answer.” The finality in her voice has me worried. She needs this more than I do, but how do I sway her answer?
“Just think about it. That’s all I ask. Don’t let your answer be definite.”
Chapter Twelve
Jordan
What do I do? He’s offering revenge, and I would be lying if I said the thought never crossed my mind, but I can’t. I was dead serious when I told him that I never want to be near those bastards. The thought alone has my stomach twisting in and turning.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I tell Hunter.
He quickly picks me up off of the bed and takes me to the bathroom, and sets me down on my feet, and I’m stable enough to get down on my knees in front of the toilet and release the food I just put in my belly. Everything comes back up, and it hurts as it does. Once I feel like it’s safe, I flush the toilet, sit back, and then slide to the side, leaning my back against the water closet wall.
“Here,” Hunter says, handing me my water.
“Thanks,” I reply when I accept the glass.
Hunter takes a seat on the floor beside me.
“Precious, you have to believe me when I say I would never put you in harm’s way; you were my life before you ever knew it. Besides, I think you would get closure once it’s done and over. Just hear me out; listen to my plan. That’s all I’m asking for. Once you’ve heard everything, then, and only then, will I accept whatever decision you make.” Hunter is damn near begging for me to change my mind.
I’m definitely intrigued. What harm is there in listening to a man that has been plotting a revenge scheme for years. My morbid curiosity is getting the best of me, and now I have to know what his whacked-out mind has devised for my attackers. So, I nod for him to continue.
Hunter lays it all out there, leaving not a single detail out. I’m shocked that his mind could be so dark and devious. I’m confused, because the man I’ve known the past few years has only showed kindness. I’m… hell, I don’t know what else I am. This is all too much for me to handle at the moment. Oh, who am I kidding? It’s always too much when it comes to Hunter; even before he revealed who he was and that he’s known me. The way he makes my heart flutter is almost as scary as facing my demons. And this being sober bullshit is not what I expected. Having clarity isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, and Hunter has made his intentions clear as the sky on a cloudless day.
“I need to lay down,” I finally tell him.
“Okay. Let’s get you on your own feet, and back to bed.”
He helps me to my feet and surprisingly, I can stand, with a little support of his body. When we exit the water closet, I can’t help but eye the bathtub. It looks inviting even in its empty state.
“Hunter, may I take a bath? I mean, because I don’t know the last time I bathed aside from the day of our fight.”
“Of course, you can. Here, sit on the ledge, while I prepare the water.”
Hunter begins a routine that seems all too familiar to him.
“When was the last time I had a bath?” I ask.
“Yesterday. The first two were tricky, but once the doctor and I got the routine down, it was easier.
“The doctor bathed me?”
“No. He just helped with your catheter bag thing and your IV. I bathed you.”
“Oh. Um, thank you,” was the only response I had. What else could I say?
“Anything for you,” he says with a smile that nearly knocks me into the half-full bathtub.
Once the tub was full enough, Hunter helps me out of my clothes and into the steaming hot water. The lavender and vanilla bath bomb he dropped in smelled heavenly. The warmth of the water is waking my dormant muscles. My earlier soreness slowly begins to ease away.
“Do you want to join me?” I ask Hunter since he’s been sitting on the edge of the tub watching over me.
“Are you sure?” he replies, unsure of what he should do.
“I asked you, didn’t I?”
Hunter stands, pulling his T-shirt over his head, revealing his flawless torso. His chest and abs look as though they were sculpted by the Greek god’s themselves. He then removes the sweatpants and his boxer briefs at the same time. Lord, help me. Even flaccid, the man has a gorgeous cock. What the hell am I thinking? I’m in no shape to have sex, but Hunter has me wanting, needing, and aching for him.
“We can’t,” he says while sliding into the tub at the other end, facing me.
“What?” I’m confused.
“That look on your face says it all. We can’t have sex until the doctor clears you for it, okay?”
“I-I- Oh, shut up, Hunter.” Embarrassment of being caught ogling his Adonis like figure quickly fizzles out my desire for the man occupying the space across from me.
“Here, maybe this will help, “ he says, grabbing my left foot. The man definitely has a unique touch, but the way he is rubbing my left foot and calf, adding pressure in certain areas, is aiding the blood flowing through me as his hands melt away any tension. Hunter then switches his attention to my right leg, and begins the same process all over again.
“That feels amazing,” I hum out my appreciatio
n.
“I’m glad,” he replies and then turns on the jets to the tub. Some jetted tubs are loud and deafening when in a tiled space, but this one is quiet without losing any force of air coming from each of the little jets.
My feet are resting on each of Hunter’s thighs and I watch as his head drops back, relaxing in the bubbly warmth of the tub. I don’t know what possesses me to do it, but I couldn’t be naked with him and not touch him, so I use my feet and begin to stroke his dick. His head pops up as he grabs my feet, ceasing my movement on his member.
“Damn you, woman. And you say I make things hard—pun intended.”
“I said you make things difficult,” correcting him as I respond to his cheesy remark.
“Do you want me to get out so you can enjoy your bath alone?”
“I want you to come,” I challenge back.
“Jordan, don’t make me choose between your health and my dick.”
“I thought I made the choice for you.” He’s going to break. He enjoys my touch more than anything. There’s no way I won’t win this battle.
“Fine,” he says. Just when I think I have won, he maneuvers my legs outside of his, pinning them to the side of the tub with his own legs.
“Hey,” I whine.
Hunter turns the jets off and drains half of the water from the tub. His cock bobs in the remaining bit of water, and once my attention is drawn to his one-eyed snake, he begins stroking it, nice and slow.
What a jerk. He’s actually teasing me.
“You’re an ass,” I snip out at him.
“I can stop,” he threatens with his sexy smirk. I shake my head side to side, catching my lower lip between my teeth. I don’t want him to stop. Watching Hunter masturbate is way hotter than me jerking him off with my feet… times one hundred.
He continues stroking his cock a little faster and a little harder now. His eyes watch as my breasts rise up and down with every panted breath I take. I desperately want to touch myself, but fear he will end the voyeuristic show he is giving me.