by Bella J.
Dammit. She was so fucked.
Scarlet picked up her duffel bag and tossed it hard into his hands. “Fine. But I swear to God, if you fuck with me, Ace, you won’t have any balls left to vouch for anything ever again.”
His full lips curved into a roguish smile, and Scarlet cocked a brow. “And if you so much as think about touching me, I will make sure you breathe through a tube for the rest of your fucking life.”
“Lucky for you, you’re not my type, remember?” Hunter rushed over to the window, opened it, and stood to the side, gesturing for her to climb through. “Now if you’re done tossing your little ass kicking threats around, there are two guys outside your front door about to knock it down.”
A loud thud crashed against the door, and Scarlet jumped forward, out the window with Hunter shortly on her heels. When she glanced back into her apartment, she saw the two men crashing through her front door and all she could think about was getting away. There was just no way in hell she would go back to him.
She would rather die first.
Chapter 7
If Hunter had a dollar for each time he had to make use of a fire escape rather than the front door, he’d be living in a bigger mansion than Adam—and he definitely would not have been in the middle of this fucking mess saving a stubborn as shit woman’s ass—who he hardly knew.
He looked down from where they were standing. Of course she had to live on the top floor. To have the woman you were about to rescue from a bunch of SUV fuckers live on the ground floor would be just too much to ask, wouldn’t it? Now he had to come up with a way to get her stubborn ass down the fire escape since everyone knew women and heights were always a recipe for squealing and broken nails.
Just as he turned around, he glanced back into the apartment and saw two men bursting through the front door and rushing toward the window.
Fuck it. He’d have to carry her down.
Hunter slammed the window shut, trying to buy them some time, then flung around, ready to haul Scarlet over his shoulder. And then he balked.
Scarlet was already halfway down the fire escape, taking two steps at a time, hauling ass like she had Lucifer himself on her heels.
Damn. He was impressed…and very fucking far behind.
“Scarlet! Wait up!”
Hunter jumped over the rail and landed on the level below before rushing down the stairs. Scarlet didn’t pause for a second, and Hunter wasn’t sure he would be able to catch up with her. And the best part, she was doing all that sprinting down the stairs in high heeled boots. Im-fucking-pressive.
The second Scarlet’s feet hit the ground she ran toward where both their motorcycles were parked. He had managed to almost catch up with her, then looked back to see the two men running down the fire escape after them. From the corner of his eye he also saw two other men storming out of the building entrance and rushing toward them.
Holy fuck. Was this woman on the world’s most wanted list? Because damn, who would send out so many men in one night to try to catch one woman?
Just as he looked back in front of him, a fist came out of nowhere and almost connected with his face. Luckily, Hunter was slightly quicker than that and ducked out of the way, narrowly missing a blow to his jaw.
As he came back up, he swung his right arm and landed a huge blow against the guy’s head. Without pausing he brought his left fist up and made doubly sure this guy wouldn’t be getting off the pavement any time soon.
He heard Scarlet trying to start the Kawasaki’s engine, but there was nothing more than a choking sound.
Great. Of course the universe would not make this easy for them.
“Come on. Come on. You son of a bitch!” Scarlet kept on trying to start the damn thing, but it didn’t give.
Hunter climbed on his Ducati and started the ignition. “Get on.”
“Fuck you.” She swung the ignition again, but nothing.
“For fuck’s sake. Get on. Now!”
She didn’t even glance his way. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Hunter looked over to the apartment building and saw the men approaching them fast.
“Woman, if you do not get that fine-looking ass of yours on this bike right now, I will pull you over my lap and drive through the streets of Chicago with your butt in the fucking air. That sound fun to you?”
Scarlet let out a string of curses before she finally got off her bike. And of course, just to prove the point that this woman clearly had anger issues, she kicked the black-and-white Kawasaki just as the words, “Fucking piece of useless shit,” left her mouth.
Hunter grabbed her elbow and pulled her toward him, knowing they no longer had a second to spare. Just as Scarlet swung her leg over the bike, getting on behind him, one of the men came close enough to reach for her.
Her one hand gripped Hunter’s shoulder and he took that as his cue. With screeching tires, he pulled away, but not before Scarlet managed to kick the asshole who had reached for her right in the fucking nuts.
Poor bastard. Hunter had firsthand experience what that pain felt like. That guy’s balls would be bruised for the next month while he continuously had a metallic taste in his mouth from burping blood.
Within seconds they were two blocks away as he sped through the streets like a total maniac.
While taking turn after turn trying to get the SUVs off their ass, Hunter tried to come up with some sort of plan. But nada. There was no way in hell he would be able to figure out what the right thing was here if he didn’t have all the facts. So that meant he had to get this stubborn ass woman currently squeezing the breath out of him as she held on for dear life to fucking talk. And something told him that wouldn’t be any easy task, but Hunter loved a challenge.
Soon, after he was sure he lost the SUVs he turned into the underground parking area of his apartment building. The sound of the engine roared, echoing between the concrete walls. With a few more revs of his engine, Hunter parked the bike and switched it off.
Scarlet was off the bike and next to him within a split second, her arms crossed in front of her chest and her foot tapping on the ground.
“Where are we?”
“My apartment building.”
She gaped at him. “Your apartment building? What, you think Wolfe doesn’t know where you live?”
“No one knows where I live. The apartment isn’t registered in my name.”
“Why not? Who you hiding from?”
Hunter leaned forward with his elbows on the bike’s dash and stared at her from under his blond hair. “No one. I just like my privacy.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “You’re full of shit.”
“And you’re ungrateful.”
“Ungrateful?”
“I saved your ass twice tonight, and I have to say that it’s real fucking rewarding when you give me that shitty attitude of yours.”
She pulled her fingers through her dark tangled hair, the red streaks falling back to frame her face. “For the second time, you did not save my ass. I had everything under control.”
This time Hunter couldn’t stop himself from laughing. He leaned back on his elbow, leisurely stretched out on his bike. “It certainly seemed like you had everything under control, yes. Especially when those two men broke down your door.” He placed a finger on his chin, looked up, and feigned a look like he was deep in thought. “Oh, and it definitely looked like you had everything under control when your bike wouldn’t start and you were seconds away from being tossed into an SUV and getting your ass hauled to wherever this Wolfe guy wants you taken.”
“Don’t be a smug asshole, Ace. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time. I would have come up with something in order to save my own ass if you weren’t there.” Scarlet turned around and started walking toward the exit. “So you can stop patting yourself on the back now.”
Hunter sat up. “Hey, where do you think you’re going?”
“As far away from you as possible.”
�
��I wouldn’t leave just yet if I were you.” He jumped off his bike and started following her.
“Good thing you’re not me, then.”
“You’re a real ray of sunshine, aren’t you?”
She continued walking. “You must have gotten me on a good day.”
Hunter lifted a brow. “This is you on a good day?”
“Yup.”
“Does this Wolfe guy know what a joy you are to be around? I’m sure if he does, he wouldn’t go through all this trouble to find you.”
Scarlet stopped abruptly and turned around. Hunter didn’t even have a chance to blink when she planted one motherfucker of a bitch slap on his face.
“Don’t talk about stuff you don’t know shit about.”
Hunter looked back and into her blue eyes burning with a kind of fire that beamed with anger, hate, pain…fear. The sting on his cheek was farthest from his mind as he started to feel a very pressing need to know what had this stubborn woman so fucking scared.
“Why is he after you, Scarlet?”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest, and for a fleeting moment Hunter saw a vulnerability in her which he hadn’t seen that entire night. But like water on duck feathers, she shook it off and her expression once again became hard.
“My life is not your concern.”
She tried to turn away from him, but he grabbed her elbow to stop her, and that was when she swung a fist at his face. Why the hell was everyone trying to smash his face in?
Hunter ducked, missing her fist, and then maneuvered in such a way that he had her back pinned against his chest while he had a strong grip around her shoulders and waist.
With his lips close to her ear, he said calmly, “Those men followed us and we barely managed to lose them. They are still out there searching for you.” He gripped her tighter against him. “And believe me when I say there is no way they will not notice you walking down the streets of Chicago looking the way you do now.”
And that was the goddamn truth. Even though she was the complete opposite of what his type was, she was still fucking hot—in a female ninja slash ball-busting kind of way.
“Is that your way of saying I look good, Ace?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
She turned her head slightly toward his face and her lips came within inches of his. “If I recall correctly, you did call my ass fine looking earlier.”
“I had to say something to get you on my motorcycle.”
Her cherry red lips curved into a half grin, starting to tease him with temptation. “So you’re saying I don’t have a fine-looking ass, then?”
“I’m saying I haven’t noticed.” Which was a complete lie. Of course he noticed her curvy ass. He noticed that ass back at Twisted Fable already, and he sure as hell noticed her ass while it was pressed against his cock at that moment.
She leaned closer, her mouth almost touching his. “You’re a bad fucking liar, Ace.”
“And you’re trouble.”
Right at that moment her lips looked so damn enticing, he had to keep himself from moving that last inch and pushing his mouth against hers. He smelled the sweet cherry scent of her lips, and could almost taste it on his tongue.
Thank God she wasn’t his type or he would have been inside of her in record fucking time. Pun very much intended.
“I’m going to let go of you now. But you’re getting that fine-looking ass of yours which I haven’t noticed up to my apartment and we’re going to have a little talk.”
She smiled. “Who? You and me, or you and my fine-looking ass?”
Hunter’s gaze moved from her eyes to her lips that still remained dangerously close to his.
“I’m willing to bet that mouth of yours has the talent to get you into worlds of trouble.”
“It also has the talent to get me out of it.” She winked suggestively, then pulled herself free of his grip.
Trouble. This woman had fucking trouble written all over her in black, bold letters, and Hunter had somehow managed to get himself smack-bang right in the middle of it all.
“Well, come on, then, Ace. I’ll lead the way.” She turned around and headed to the underground entrance of the apartment building as if she knew exactly where she was going.
“You don’t even know where my apartment is.”
“I know that. I just want to walk in front so you can stare at my fine-looking ass.”
Hunter rubbed the back of his neck and snorted. For some reason he knew he was in for a shit load of trouble with this one, and a part of him was looking forward to it—except his balls of course.
Chapter 8
They stopped in front of the elevator and Scarlet turned to Hunter. “I’d like to take the stairs, please.”
Hunter looked confused. “You what?”
“The stairs. I want to take the stairs.”
“Why?”
There was no way she could tell him that she had this extreme bone numbing fear of enclosed areas. That whenever she was stuck in a tiny confined space, her heart would pound like a jackhammer behind her ribs and her lungs would feel seconds away from collapsing. She had already shown too much vulnerability to this man she hardly knew. So she lied.
“I want to take the stairs, and I want to walk first so that my fine-looking ass can be right there in front of you.”
Okay, maybe it wasn’t that big of a lie.
His eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to let this fine-looking ass thing go, are you?”
“Nope.”
“Figured.” He pulled his hand through his hair and Scarlet watched as it fell back to frame his face again. “Fine. The stairs it is. But be warned, I’m on the top floor.”
Scarlet clapped her hands together and faked a little thrill of excitement one would come to expect from a diva Barbie doll. “Oh yay, a lot of stairs means a lot of time for you to ogle my ass.”
Unimpressed, Hunter grabbed her elbow and led her to the stairs. When he opened the door, he stood to the side. “Please go first so that I can—how did you put it?—ogle your ass so that we can please, in God’s name, just move past it.”
Scarlet slowly walked by him and paused for just a second, placing her hand on his chest, looking up at him with batting eyelashes. “I’ll be sure to put some extra sashaying in my walk. You know, to make it worth your while.” She winked and then walked on, starting up the stairs.
“You know you need help, right?” Hunter started. “Professional kind of help.” He closed the door and made his way up the stairs behind her.
True to her word, Scarlet swayed her hips as they continued up the stairs. Hunter didn’t say anything, but she could feel his eyes on her ass the entire way.
“So, Ace, is this the type of thing you do every weekend?”
“What thing?”
“You know, rescuing princesses from dragons, evil witches, and little men with baby obsessions whose names sound disturbingly a lot like the word foreskin?”
She heard him snicker softly behind her. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I do every weekend. Ride in on my noble white steed and rescue little princesses from freaky villains.”
Scarlet glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “See, I knew it. I got you all figured out.”
“Seems like it. But the only problem with this little rescue mission is that according to you, you didn’t need saving.”
She held up a finger. “This is true.”
“And you definitely ain’t no fucking princess.”
Abruptly she stopped and turned around. Hunter almost knocked right into her before taking two steps back. She placed her hands on her hips. “Are you saying that I don’t have the potential to be some or other fairy tale princess?”
Hunter took a step up, getting closer to her. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Crossing her arms, she slanted her head to the side. “Explain.”
“Well, for starters, fairy tale princesses don’t have filthy mouths like yours.”
&nbs
p; “I like my filthy mouth.”
“And then there’s the whole thing where the princess is eternally grateful for being rescued by the prince that she gives him a token of her gratitude.” He held up his empty hands. “I don’t see no token.”
Scarlet narrowed her eyes, then smiled as she started to undo her corset top.
Hunter balked. “What are you doing?”
She unwrapped the top from around her body and shoved it against his chest. “Giving you my token of gratitude.”
Hunter, stunned into silence, stared at her standing in front of him in her black strapless bra. For a moment she could see that he actually had difficulty thinking as he gawked at her breasts. And then his eyes fell to the fresh black bruise on her side, the remnants of the asshole who used her midsection as a damn kicking target.
With a slight shake of his head he forced his gaze up to her face. “You couldn’t just have given me a white handkerchief like all the other damn fairy tale princesses, could you?”
“I’m special.” She shot him a half grin.
“Oh yes. So I’ve noticed.”
The way he said that was giving Scarlet the impression he was thinking more in the line of she’s a trip-to-the-mental-hospital kind of special.
Scarlet turned back around and headed up the stairs again. “Be sure not to drop my top, Ace. It’s my favorite.”
“Oh, you mean like this?”
She turned to the side and watched as Hunter held her top over the ledge.
“You wouldn’t. You wouldn’t dare.” She glared at him, and Hunter winked just before he dropped her top all the way down seven flights of stairs.
“Oh, you fucking asshole.”
Hunter suddenly had a huge-ass smug grin on his face. “Go fetch, princess.”
Good God this man was the biggest, most arrogant son of a bitch she had ever met. Dropping her top down the stairs and then ordering her to go fetch like a fucking dog. I don’t think so.