by JM LOWE
"What's this?" Jacks opened and saw it contained information on a large warehouse that was owned by Hunter Hotels, it had been purchased within the last 72 hours and was located approx half an hour’s drive from his parent’s estate.
"That my son is Hunters Inc headquarters, or it will be once we have finished pulling the place apart. There are a few architects who would be able to draw up some plans. I have asked for submissions by the end of the day Friday, we, as in Jenson and I will go over them and make a decision, hoping to get things moving in the next few weeks."
"Wow, you don't let the grass grow, do you?" Jacks studied the plans and Arial photographs, the property was large, with one main building that was located centrally, there were two smaller buildings, one either side of the main structure, and a large open space, the whole place surrounded by a large security fence.
The trees would have to go, or be thinned at the very least. Studying the location, jacks saw it was the only property for at least five miles in either direction, where the hell was this place?
"I liked your proposal, and I liked how you all worked together, if it's one thing you need in the world son it's people you can rely on. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that things didn't get out of hand, the last thing I want is anything to happen to you, any of you, but if it's something you feel passionately about then I think there is probably enough room in the industry for another private security firm. Although I don't think you’re going to be running around saving the planet to start with. I already know of a particularly good group that do that, run by a friend of mine as you already know, but he has said he would be more than happy to consult and help get things off the ground."
"Thanks Dad, it means a lot. I think if we are using that particular warehouse then it might be an idea to put down some roots closer to the compound, Free up the guest house. Time I found a place of my own." Jacks knew as he spoke that his path was laid out before him.
As much as he loved and respected his parent’s business, it wasn't him, not what he wanted to spend his days doing, he needed to fulfil his urges, it was time to put his own stamp on the world and HUNTERS INC was just the thing he needed to do it.
Something to throw himself into, he hoped Hannah would see him soon, it was going to kill him not being with her, hell it had not been a day yet and he was already feeling like a caged animal. Fuck ... He needed her even if she didn't know it.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Hannah turned the pages of the local newspaper for the third time in the last half an hour. She hadn't paid attention to any of the ads for jobs or apartments, she couldn't seem to focus, hadn't been able to for days.
Harry had finished sorting his spare room and she was due to take her things over that afternoon. It wasn't the most ideal situation, but she needed a place to live while she decided what she was going to do with her life and as much as she was grateful, Emma's pull out sofa bed wasn't going to be any good for her back if it was for more than a few days.
The few things she owned now fit into a simple weekend bag, having everything you own burned to the ground will do that for you. She sighed as she closed the paper.
"You ok?" Emma took the paper and opened it at the job section herself.
"Shit, I'm sorry Em, I have been so selfish, never occured to me that you need a job too. Some friend I am, You got dragged into this whole fucking mess and now were both unemployed." Hannah flinched at the sound of a loud knock on her door, was she ever going to get her shredded nerves back under control?
"Relax, it's just gonna be Harry, he's coming to pick up your thing's remember." Hannah watched as Emma opened the door and let Harry into her tiny apartment, his frame filled the door way and it made her smile to see the awkward exchange of glances between her best friend and her brother.
"You good Han?" Harry asked, all the time never taking his eyes off Emma who was doing everything she could not to look at him.
"Yeah, but I didn't need you to come and pick me up Harry, it's not like I have much stuff to bring." She pointed to the bag that was already packed and waiting near the door.
"Well I was hoping for a decent cup of coffee before we left, haven't had one since we left Jacks parents." He looked at Hannah and watched her visibly wince at the mention of his friend's name.
"Speaking of which, don't you think it’s time you called him. He's been like a kid who lost his favourite toy these past few days, been a pain in my ass asking about you without actually asking about you if you know what I mean."
"What do you mean?" Hannah paled "Look Harry, I said what had to be said to him before I left, and what do you mean past few days? What’s going on?"
Emma passed the cups of coffee round that she had poured as she watched Hannah, while sneaking glances at Harry as the sipped her steaming drink.
"I mean just that, seriously Han, you need to talk to the guy. All this running is not like you, Jacks is a good man." Harry stood, picked up her bag and opened the door. "I'll be in the car, thanks for the coffee Em"
It had been eight weeks since Jacks had seen Hannah, eight of the longest weeks of his life.
He had taken his mums advice and given her space, time to think, whatever.
To him it was simple, nothing to think about, but he knew if he pushed he could lose her, so he had waited, thrown himself into the warehouse at getting the compound sorted and running.
It had been hands on, all seven members of the now registered private security firm 'Hunters Inc' had worked alongside the contractors that had been hired, even Mikey had been happy to get his hands dirty and had been hired as head of building security.
The days had been long and tiring, but he had needed the exhaustion to help him sleep at night, Hannah’s face was the last thing he saw before sleep took him and it was the first thing he thought of when he woke, usually a couple of hours before he needed to be up.
But Jacks was growing impatient and had started losing the battle to keep away from her, how long was long enough to wait?
4.8, 4.9, 5.0. The counter on the tread mill hit the self-imposed mandatory daily five-mile target.
Jacks hit stop, stood either side as leaned into the frame of the machine, pulling his ear buds out as the belt slowed to walking pace.
As he did, the sound of voices grabbed his attention, who the hell was down here this late in the day? He had thought he was alone in the building, save the night security. Don't say Briggs and Jones had broken the no chic rule already.
"And this is the ..." Jacks recognised Harry's voice before he saw him walk through the gym door. He dismounted from the machine and wiped his sweat covered face with a towel as Harry followed by Emma and
Hannah walked into the room "Hey man, sorry, didn't know anyone was in here. Just giving the girl's the tour."
She was here, breathe man, breathe.
"It’s cool, I was just leaving anyway, got a delivery coming at home so…" Jacks was focused solely on Hannah, she was more beautiful if that was even possible. His breathing was hard and heavy and at this point he didn't know if it was from the hard run or because she was stood just feet away from him. Eight weeks had been eight weeks to many, he ached when he saw her.
Jacks…
Hannah blushed when she saw him, their eyes meeting for the briefest of moments before she looked away again, her gut twisting at the sight of him, she had missed this man so much, it had been hard, hardest thing in her life not calling him, not texting him, and it hurt, god, she had never known a feeling like it.
Why had she come? she knew it would be a bad idea, Harry had convinced her there would be no body left if they came late, again her instincts had been right, but again she had chosen to ignore them, why was it that Jacks had a way of influencing her decisions even when they were miles apart?
"Ok, well, come on ladies, let me show you the heart of operations, aka the ‘Games Room’, Briggs came up with that little piece of genius." Harry, gave Jacks a nod before he stepped between Emma and Han
nah as they turned back towards the door.
"Han..." it took all the strength Jacks had not to run across the room and grab her, but he knew he couldn't stand to just watch her walk away from him, but he wasn't an idiot, he couldn’t go all caveman on her. His heart was pounding out of his chest, fuck... think!
She stopped, but didn't turn around when he spoke, Harry and Emma had gone through the door and it had closed now, leaving her alone in the room with him.
She could do this she told herself, he didn't have that much power over her, but he did, over every part of her being. Just the sound of his voice had sent a shiver straight down her spine, straight between her legs. Damn him.
Hannah knew he was behind her even though he hadn't touched her, she sensed him, he hadn't made a sound as he had made his way across the room.
She let out a long deep breath, she needed to get herself under control, he was still as much under her skin as he had ever been, nothing had changed for her, the weeks apart hadn't helped her at all, if anything, she missed him more than ever.
Did Harry know that Jacks would be here tonight? probably, he had been nagging at her for weeks to call Jacks but she never had, even Emma had failed to get through to her and now she was stood just inches from the only man she had ever loved.
"Han, look at me sweetheart" his deep voice was soft yet powerful and Hannah knew she would crumble the moment she turned.
"I can't ... I ..." the words sticking in the throat, and then she did, she turned to face him.
He was there, so close she could feel his heavy breath against her skin, her eyes level with his wall of a chest, shit he had clearly thrown himself into either working out or moving mountains in the last few weeks, he was bigger than she had remembered.
"Yes, you can, look at me..." Jacks hooked her chin with his finger and gently tilted her head upwards. Her eyes followed slowly, she was so afraid of what she would see in his eyes, but she needed to see. Wanted to see.
"Hi…" Her voice was low and quiet, almost inaudible, but Jacks had been waiting to hear anything come out of her beautiful mouth and the simple word made his chest tighten and the cage of lions that had formed within his gut roared. No pansy ass butterflies here, this was raw and powerful.
"Hey..." He watched her, looking at her face as though he was seeing it for the first time. God, she was beautiful, and everything he could ever want, she was enough, she was everything "You think you have done running from this, from us?" He needed to know, needed her to know, no more. The fighting was over and the sooner they both realised it, the better for both of them.
"I wasn't running Jacks, I was giving you the chance to make the right choice for you. I couldn't let you just throw everything away for me." Hannah reached up and touched his face and Jacks closed his eyes and dropped his head.
"Well I hope you have realised I have no intention of changing my mind Hannah, when I told you, I meant it, I want it all, even your thick dick head of a brother and your genius best friend, if they come with you they come with me, I'll take them, I love you Hannah, have done since before I met you and I am not prepared to wait for your brain to catch up to what we both already know, that you love me too" He leaned his head against hers, their breathing becoming rapid as the urge to be together took them both.
“I love you too”
Jacks didn't shower or change, he took her hand, grabbed his gym bag and pulled her through the door.
It took all of two minutes for them to go through the security system that would allow them to leave the compound.
Jacks didn't let go of her hand until they were at the side of his car. Hannah smiled, another Rover, but this one was his and not a hire.
As much as she had pretended she wasn't interested when Harry had come home and given her daily updates on the progress of Hunters Inc, she secretly listened for the smallest of titbits of anything to do with Jacks, including when she heard they had all taken ownership of a fleet of new Range Rovers.
The row of identical vehicles looked pretty menacing if she was honest and it portrayed an image that meant business to anyone who was allowed access to the now secure compound.
"Jacks, where are we going?" Hannah clicked her seat belt into place as he closed the door.
"Wait and see, but trust me it's not too far, I need you naked and in bed as soon as possible, you have no idea how close I came to having you ride me on the free weight bench." Jacks didn’t take his eyes off the road as he spoke, he knew if he looked at her he would be done for and they would be christening the backseat, front seat, hell, even the hood of the car.
He knew her breathing was hard and he knew the swell of her breasts and that her nipples where peaking underneath her shirt, he had been nursing this fucking hard on since she walked into the gym and was gonna blow a gasket if he didn't have her soon.
The journey that normally took fifteen minutes was over in less than half that, ok so he has probably almost killed them once, twice, maybe three times, he needed her inside that building like he needed to be inside her, desperately...
Hannah had tried to take in the area as it sped past, she still had no idea where they were going, she hadn’t even told Harry or Emma that she was leaving with Jacks, but that was something she figured Harry knew would happen anyway.
They pulled up to a set off large wooden gates, Jacks typed a code into a keypad before placing his thumb onto a scanner which unlocked the gates, they swung inwards revealing a long gravel drive not dissimilar to the one at this parent’s home. But unlike that one, this drive wasn’t lined by trees, instead there where newly laid turf lawns either side with a large wall running the perimeter of the property.
The house came into view and to say it was spectacular would have been an understatement. It has a large imposing building and her first thought was that it had Jacks written all over it. He had found the property and had made sure it had as much if not more security than the new compound, one thing was for sure, if they were gonna be running around pissing the bad guys off, each member of Hunters Inc was bound to become a target at some point and nothing mattered to him more than keeping her safe.
The house was styled on an old plantation with three visible floors and a large wrap around porch, it had a double width front door that was located central to the building which kept the symmetry of the front elevation.
Hannah sat open mouthed as Jacks pulled up to the front of the house and into one of ten allocated parking spaces, he had certainly gone big, total opposite to the guest cottage that he had been calling home.
He took her hand as he opened the car door, his need to touch her was over whelming him, shit he felt like he was back in school, all fingers and thumbs when it came to a girl, this time she took it.
All he knew was that she would want to have the grand tour later, they had eight weeks to catch up on, eight weeks of not being by her side, of having her waiting for him in his bed.
Hannah tried to slow him down as he almost dragged her through the large front door, again, opened by a number key pad and a thumb scan.
"Wait, stop" She was over whelmed by the sight that greeted her as he led her into the large entrance hall.
It was clear he had thought long and hard about the design and decoration of the place and Hannah had wondered how he a had been able to do both this and the compound that housed Hunters Inc.
"What, what’s the matter?" Jacks watched her as she looked around, yeah it was big, why had he felt the need to go so large again?
“This is yours? You live here now?” yeah, and if I have my way so will you, he thought to himself as he watched her.
Jacks dropped his car keys into a large wooden bowel that was on a small side table next to the front door, yeah, the tour could wait, he had a woman to show how much he had missed her, how much he loved her.
He took her hand and led her up the left-hand side of the double staircase and into a room that was clearly the master suite.
This was off the char
t spectacular, put her guestroom furniture to shame.
The room was a vast space, what looked like a double double bed, four pillows wide, large French windows opened out onto a Juliet balcony that had a small black cast iron table and two matching chairs.
The room carried a small seating area that was next to an open fire place with a door either side, one leading into a large but half empty dressing room and the other into the most spectacular ensuite bathroom she had ever seen.
A large Jacuzzi bath dominated the almost all white room, his and her sinks and a shower that was bigger than her old kitchen with spray heads that spouted from every direction. It was as though he had raided her dreams and designed the house around every fantasy she had ever had, except this was real and it was his.
"You have been busy" Hannah was becoming over whelmed, had she made a mistake, should she have come here?
Jacks wasn't prepared to wait while her brain caught up with what her eye's where taking in, he knew it was over the top, but he didn't care, he'd had her in mind when he had designed it, and the look on her face was exactly what he had been hoping to see when he brought her here for the first time.
Right now, he just needed her in his arms, wasn't prepared to wait a second longer.
Hannah felt his warm breath on her neck as he came up behind her and snaked his harms around her waist, his large hands working their way under her shirt until they reached the underside of her breasts.
Instantly her nipples had pebbled beneath the silky material and the rush of heat between her legs was as strong now as it had been back at the compound gym.
Jacks pressed his erection against her, he didn't have much of a choice, he was full of blood and aching for release, so much it was verging on painful.
Hannah reached her hand back and rubbed him through the material of his sweat pants, the groan in his throat load and wanting.