Protecting Molly Mcculloch

by Dee Holmes

  He’d seen the look, the determination, the “I will not be deterred” fervor. Her passion was back. Once again he’d underestimated her.

  “My God, you’re not gonna give up on this until it’s finished, are you?”

  “No.”

  Hunt slammed the door and went to the pay phone. His back had broken out in a sweat and his hands were shaking. By the time he’d filled Sean in, his voice had just barely lost its gruffness.

  “Hunt, this is great news. We know where and when. You say the wife was meeting Wallace, so the hit was probably going to be in the can first.”

  “There is the chance of a cancel, you know. Solozi may not be too keen on carrying out the original plan.”

  “Possible. We’ll know for sure in a few hours.”

  “I want to know when you’ve got the exact address in Grover and the meeting set up.”

  “Hey, you’ve done more than I expected. Give it up and take the lady home.”

  “Call me on the cell. We can set up a code.”

  “Hunt, are you listening to me?”

  “We can use that system we used in the Brackett case in ‘91.”

  “For God’s sake, you’ve got your hands full with the sister.”

  “Tell me about it. She wants to be there, Sean.”

  “Now wait a minute—”

  “I know what you’re going to say. Save your breath. She knows what I just told you. In fact, if it weren’t for Molly, we wouldn’t have that. She’s going to go whether I like it or not, and believe me, I don’t like it, but we’re dealing with a determined sister. Trust me on this.”

  “This is a mob hit, not a frigging picnic.”

  “Which is why I’m going to make sure I’m with her.”

  Sean cursed, argued some more, cursed again. “I don’t want to see her there, Gresham. You keep her the hell out of the way or I’ll arrest the little bitch for obstruction of justice.”

  They set up their coding arrangement, and a few minutes later, Hunt was driving back to the cottage.

  A few hours. Just what he needed; a few hours with Molly. What was he supposed to do with her? Take her to bed, that’s what.

  He jammed on the brakes.

  “What is it?” she asked, giving him a confused look.

  “Your brother’s place. I think we should go and get things packed up.”

  “Now?”

  “We can’t do anything but wait for Sean’s call. Might as well make the time productive.”

  She frowned. “You’re probably right. And it will make the waiting more bearable if we’re doing something.”

  “Exactly my thinking.”

  AT VERN’S PLACE, they packed the personal items Molly wanted to keep. It was nearly 7:30 when they finished. Molly called Myrtle about the rest. The apartment rented furnished, so Molly paid for the damage. The landlady said she would call a co-op that took household items to pick up the remainder of Vern’s things.

  “I appreciate that,” Molly said, signaling to Hunt to take the boxes she wanted down to the car. “I’d like to have a cleaning service come in. I’ll take care of that if you could tell me what’s a good day.”

  “Get them for next Monday,” Myrtle said, as if it were the least Molly could do. “Place has been empty too long and I’m losin’ money.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Molly said coolly. “Hunt will drop off the key.” She hung up, then did a final walk-through to make sure she hadn’t missed anything. Vern had surprisingly few personal things; obviously a sign of a man who wanted few reminders of his life. She wondered if things might have been different if Vern had been adopted with her.

  She wiped away the dampness in her eyes. She couldn’t change the past; she couldn’t change her brother from what he’d been to what she wanted him to be. But Hunt’s comments about her brother’s relationship to Brandon and Francine had buoyed her spirits. In some ways Vern was honest and had a strong sense of what was right and what was wrong. In some ways he was like Hunt. Fiercely protective.

  In fact, all her thoughts seemed to lead back to Hunt. Oh, Hunt, she thought dismally. What am I going to do about you? Why does it have to be so hard, and why do you have to be so stubborn? She was positive she loved him, but he was being so difficult about their having a relationship, she saw little chance of any kind of commitment between them.

  Her problem was that she had nothing he wanted. Telling him she wanted more than sex had scared him off even more. Then she was reminded of his comment about her finding a nice guy. Perhaps she should. She might discover, after dating others, that her feelings for Hunt weren’t so intense. Besides, real love could withstand any test. Yes. Once home, she would date others and get more involved in social activities.

  “It’s late and I’m starved,” Hunt grumbled. “We done here?”

  She glanced up and her heart turned over. He stood in the doorway, his shirt slung over his shoulder and the cell phone in one hand. His hair was mussed, his cheek was smudged. Sweat glistened on his chest, and his jeans rode low on his hips.

  Her mouth went suddenly dry, and she was filled with such longing for him, she ached. She wanted to rush into his arms; she wanted to kiss him and make him want to kiss her back.

  Instead, Molly curled her fingers into her palms and glanced around for her purse. “Yes. Let’s get something to eat.”

  After leaving the key with Myrtle, they were once again in the car. They stopped at a fast-food place for burgers and fries and took them back to the cottage.

  When they’d eaten, Hunt prowled the confines of the cottage. He’d showered and changed into clean jeans, but hadn’t bothered with a shirt. The cell phone hadn’t been more than a few inches from him since he’d talked to Sean.

  Molly had showered, too, and put on an old dorm shirt over nylon running shorts. She paged through an old news magazine, but her interest was much more focused on the man pacing the room.

  She wasn’t afraid of her heightened interest in Hunt. Perhaps because she knew he didn’t belong to her, that he never would. That gave her a sense of recklessness, a need to get whatever she could before he got away from her for good.

  Desperate. That’s what she was. Desperate and hungry. Hunt had found a sensual part of her she never knew existed. Now that she’d discovered it…

  She shifted and wriggled, her body too warm and tense from watching him move back and forth in those sexy jeans. Her thoughts were racing in directions that should have shocked her, but they didn’t.

  She wanted to be with him, but she also cared for him deeply, and it was wrenchingly painful to know he didn’t want to hear it. Yet she knew he desired her. Molly’s desire was just as strong. Their time together was nearly finished. If she offered him what she knew he wanted, without the declarations he didn’t want…

  “Why in hell doesn’t Sullivan call?” Hunt snapped, checking the cell for the hundredth time to make sure it was working.

  “Probably because he doesn’t know anything.”

  “He said a few hours.”

  Molly glanced at her watch. “It’s been a few hours.”

  “How can you be so damn calm? You were the one so anxious to go to Grover. Now you’re sitting there like some college student who knows she’ll ace the final.”

  She grinned. “I always ace my finals.”

  He scowled. “I’ll bet.”

  “Except the Lose Your Virginity course. I didn’t do very well on that”

  “Don’t start, Molly.”

  “I was thinking…”

  “No.”

  “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

  “I don’t want to know.”

  “You’ll like this.”

  He looked at her suspiciously.

  “I mean, I plan to cooperate and do what you said earlier in the car. When we get home, I’m going to put you out of my mind and get on with my life. You’re probably right. All these feelings I have for you, well, given some time, they’ll
disappear. We’ve just been too close these past few days.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “You’ve decided all of that, have you.”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.”

  “See? I told you you’d like it.”

  “I didn’t say I like it. I said it Was a good idea.”

  She put the magazine aside. “So, I was thinking…” She rose to her feet and stretched, watching him watch her. He hadn’t moved. His arms were folded across his chest in that position she’d seen him use whenever he didn’t want her to get too personal. “We could say goodbye in a meaningful way,” she continued. “A sort of no-regrets finale before getting on with our lives.”

  “You want to have sex one more time,” he said bluntly.

  “I want to make love one more time,” She said just as bluntly.

  “I tossed the condoms in the garbage. Your request, remember?”

  “Then we’ll have to be careful.”

  He unfolded his arms and planted his hands on his hips. He tried to look fierce, but she saw a tiny light of amusement in his expression.

  “Walk over here.”

  She did, standing so close to him she could feel the heat from his body.

  He traced a finger down the side of her neck. “You are one determined woman, you know that.”

  She curled a finger through his chest hair. “And you’re a tough man to convince.”

  He slid his hands into her hair, dispensing with the combs that held it away from her face. She tipped her head back, her tongue wetting her lips.

  Hunt watched the motion and found it sexy as hell. “You have been a major distraction, sweetheart.”

  “I messed up all your good intentions, didn’t I?” She splayed her hands at his waist, tucking her fingers into the waistband of his jeans.

  “Yeah, and this is insane and I should be saying no right now….”

  “But you can’t because you want me.”

  “Yeah.”

  A satisfied sigh escaped her lips just as he lowered his head.

  “Ah, Molly, Molly,” he whispered, kissing her nose, her cheeks, her chin and finally taking her mouth. Just the taste of her made Hunt’s heart jump. Desire tore through him like a brushfire. His hands skimmed down the sides of her neck to her breasts, and he knew immediately that she wasn’t wearing a bra. He lifted the hem of the dorm shirt, pulling it up and over her head. Her breasts rose, firm and sweetly eager, their color a rich delicate cream. She stood still, a slight flush on her neck and cheeks. He nudged her back against the wall and cupped both breasts.

  His thumbs skated back and forth across her nipples and then he lowered his head. Taking first one and then the other into his mouth, he made them wet and hard and hot.

  Molly held him there, her head back against the wall, her pleasure escaping in short pants. His mouth moved lower to her bare stomach and along the elastic band of her running shorts.

  In a single move, he tugged her shorts and panties down her legs, and she kicked them away. She stood nude against the wall, her chest pounding, her legs throbbing. The light in the room didn’t quite reach this area, giving the shadows free rein to seduce and entice.

  Then she felt his mouth like an erotic burn, and she shrank back, but there was nowhere to go. He lingered as if time had no meaning, kissing her again and again, and Molly’s breath drifted away. She only needed Hunt and what he was doing to her. Then, when she thought she couldn’t endure the pleasure any longer, he pressed his mouth to the insides of both thighs, then slowly rose to his feet.

  While watching her, he undid his jeans and dispensed with them. Molly took in every gesture, every part of him, wanting to memorize it all. The broad shoulders, the lawn of hair on his chest that arrowed down and surrounded his hardness. He was fully aroused, and she shuddered with the memory of how he’d felt inside her, of how his body felt over hers, of how he would feel again….

  He stepped closer, slid his hand between her thighs and kissed the side of her neck.

  “Will you trust me?” he whispered, his finger sending shock waves to some part of her libido she hadn’t known existed.

  “Yes.”

  He eased his hand free, then turned her, aligning his body behind her. She felt him slide between her thighs, then position her hips. Molly froze and Hunt immediately soothed her. “Easy, easy…”

  “I’ve never done…Oh!” She panted as a wave of heat sizzled, sparked and then burst inside her. He filled her securely and with an expertise that left her reeling. Her head fell back on his shoulder and she heard him groan. His hands guided her and his whispered words made her shiver anew with need for him.

  “You’re so beautiful, so incredible…. I want you so much…”

  “I want you to love me and never stop…. Oh, Hunt….”

  He drew away, and once again turned her to face him. She could barely stand up, and Hunt lifted her into his arms so that her legs locked around his hips. Her hands gripped him, her mouth locking with his in a deep, deep kiss.

  In the bedroom, they fell onto the spread, Hunt atop her, sliding inside her with the ease of a man who had been there a thousand times.

  Her eyes shimmered as she touched his face, ran her finger over his lips.

  “Why did you stop out there?” she asked softly.

  His eyes met hers; his were deep and blue and electric with desire. “I wanted to watch you, wanted to see that flush of passion when you come.”

  She smiled. “You grit your teeth like you’re about to blow apart.”

  “Only with you. I’ve been trying to put myself back together since I first kissed you.”

  She hugged him tighter, her legs pulling him more fully inside her. “Oh, Hunt…”

  He kissed her neck, his lips brushing her breasts. She arched into him, feeling the heights of her own arousal as he slid full and heavy inside her. “Molly…”

  Hunt tried to hold back, tried to pace himself. He wanted this to last forever, he wanted this intensity, this eagerness of her body, this honesty of desire to take him to some magical place where he could throw off all the fears, all the barriers he’d erected since Kristin died. He wanted to find a way to allow himself to have Molly.

  Molly lifted into him, her pants of pleasure echoing through him like a chant of joy. Hunt whipped his head back, his own climax rushing, pounding….

  No…can’t…can’t come inside her. Damn fool…don’t come yet…not yet…

  He gritted his teeth, drawing back, pulling away, but she held him. With more than her body, with more than his thundering desperation, with more than the mating, she held him with something he couldn’t name, something he didn’t know.

  Then he saw her eyes, the pureness of her pleasure, her cry of satisfaction, the sweetness of her body taking from him, giving back in countless measures.

  Her climax drenched her and Hunt was lost. Now, pulling away was obscene. He couldn’t. The rush made him soar and showed him the inside of his soul, and that secret part of him relished the fact that he’d let down the barrier, that he’d allowed himself to want to be part of her, to simply lose himself in her.

  He lay sprawled across her, wanting to tell her things he’d never said to any woman, feelings he hadn’t had since Kristin. A ringing pushed through his thoughts. Again and again.

  Molly stirred, kissing his ear, nipping the lobe. “Hunt, the phone…”

  He blinked. Hell, he’d forgotten all about it. Pressing his hand to her spine to keep her against him, he murmured, “Let the damn thing ring.”

  “But it’s probably Sean.”

  Hunt was concentrating on the feel of her breast against his lips. It was full and warm, and he hadn’t yet had enough. “If I don’t answer, he’ll figure I changed my mind. I have.”

  She moved again, this time with more spirit, letting him know she wanted him to move. “But I haven’t.”

  When he raised his head and looked at her, her eyes were pleading, and even in his mellow mood, he knew
the plea wasn’t for more lovemaking.

  “Answer it. Please?”

  He rolled from her, rising to his feet and cursing.

  She sat up in bed, pushing her hair from her eyes as he left the room.

  In a few minutes he was back, his jeans on but unsnapped. He tossed her clothes onto the bed. “It’s goin’ down in four hours.”

  “It’s almost eleven now.” She pulled the dorm shirt over her head and scrambled off the bed. “We have to hurry.”

  He grabbed her as she rushed past him, pulling her back and making her look at him. In a chilling voice, he asked, “What if the damn phone had rung before you got what you wanted?”

  “You wanted it, too.”

  “Yeah, and I wanted it a helluva lot more than I want to go to Grover.”

  “Hunt, can’t we talk about this on the way?”

  He stared at her a long time, then released her, turning away. Molly shivered at the wall of ice that immediately formed between them.

  “No more talk. No more sex. No more anything. We go to Grover so you can reinvent your brother’s memory into whatever you want it to be. I’m finished.”

  She reached out to him, and he sidestepped her. “Please, Hunt. You’re being unfair.”

  “Unfair!” The word exploded from his mouth. “I’m being unfair? We just made incredible love together, and you toss it all off like I was your hump of the month.”

  Her eyes widened. Had he said incredible love? Not incredible sex? What had she done? “Hunt, listen to me. I’m sorry…I just…”

  He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Forget it. It’s over. It should have been over before it even started. Get dressed. I want to be out of here in half an hour.”

  He stalked out of the room, and Molly sat down on the edge of the bed, her body numb with disbelief. She’d never seen him so angry; she’d never felt so empty. My God, she’d lost him when she’d never even known she’d had him.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  GROVER WAS RURAL and woodsy with twin strip malls instead of a downtown. A few miles east of the town limits, they passed the Fish House, a large aquarium. Molly recalled that Francine had mentioned that Vern often patronized one in the area. In the early-morning hours a skunk scented the air, and in the distance came the whine of a truck headed west on the Mass Pike.