by Lane, Soraya
That only made them come closer.
“Hunter, let’s just go,” she said.
“Listen to the girl,” one of the guys taunted.
“No!” The word hissed from her as Hunter launched at them.
She was scared he was going to change, but his control was faultless. He grabbed the first guy in a movement so fast he didn’t even see it coming, then slammed him into the ground. She could see how tight he was holding him, knew he could snap his neck in an instant if wanted to. If he let himself go.
Hunter’s foot kept him pressed face down while he stared at the other two. She watched the animal within him flicker, could almost hear the growl echoing in his chest.
“I think it’s time you went home.” His voice was cool.
The other two men disappeared. Hunter let his foot go and gave the guy on the ground a shove forward. “You too.”
Riley was too shocked to move. Hunter pulled her arms up and helped her into his jacket.
“Riley, let’s go.”
She took his hand as he pulled her up, let her head fall back as he planted a rough kiss to her lips, before dropping his helmet gently on her head.
“They’ll be back soon, with more guys and tire irons,” he said grimly. “I’d rather not change and take them all. Not here.”
All she could do was nod, even as he lifted her off the pavement and put her on his motorcycle.
Hunter stood back then, eyeing her. She watched as he rocked back on his feet, eyes set softly on hers. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” He looked guilty. “I didn’t scare you, did I?”
Riley shook her head. The situation had scared her, but Hunter hadn’t. All she’d know for sure was that Hunter wouldn’t let them hurt so much as a hair on her head, and he’d been more in control than she’d expected he could be. Given the threat.
A sad look passed over his face, one she couldn’t read.
“I know I look like the bad guy, Riley, but I’m not.” He gave her a wry smile, shuffled his boots before meeting her eyes again. “I’m the good guy here. I would never, ever hurt you.”
Riley’s face flushed hot. “I know.” Her voice came out as barely a whisper. “I know.”
It was like he had more to say. Like there were things he wanted to tell her. But she understood. Hunter was her ally. Her friend. Her protector.
And he wanted as much as she did for that to develop into more. She could see that now.
He gave her a quick grin before jumping on the motorcycle in front of her. Her hands found his waist again before they sped off, happy to touch him, be close to him, especially when she didn’t have to meet those green eyes that seemed to see straight through to her soul.
She snuggled against him, face buried into him, but her mind was still racing.
Riley didn’t care what he’d done to that guy. He’d had it coming. The challenge she’d watched scared her because she knew he’d fight to the death for her. Knew that more than ever now.
But the kiss before?
The murmur of his mouth on hers, the burning she could still feel there, made her realize she might have been wrong about him just going along with Sophia’s hopes for them. Hunter couldn’t have acted that. Surely? Couldn’t have said those things or kissed her like that if he didn’t mean it.
If he had, there were roles waiting for him in Hollywood.
No matter what happened, regardless of what her destiny was, she would never forget Hunter. How could any other boy compare when she knew what it was like to be in his arms. To have his lips touched to her own. But twenty years old?
But if Hunter died protecting her, protecting her pack, she had a feeling her fate would be the same as Sophia’s. A life alone, without a mate.
Because Hunter would be impossible to replace once she’d accepted him.
She pressed her body closer to him, lips to his back, as if she could inhale him. If only the ride home was longer.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Riley didn’t want him to go, but she was too embarrassed to ask Hunter to stay over again. And after the way she’d reacted to his kiss, she wasn’t sure if either of them had the self control to spend the night in close quarters. Not tonight anyway.
“Thanks for dinner.”
Hunter gave her that heartbreaking grin he seemed so happy to throw her way. “Sorry about, you know, what happened.”
She shrugged. “I don’t think a polite go away would have worked, somehow.”
Hunter was still seated on his motorcycle. She wondered if he didn’t trust himself either. If he didn’t want to test his self control. Or maybe that was wishful thinking.
“I guess I better let you get some rest, huh?”
She nodded, twisting a section of hair between her index finger and thumb. It was weird. Just before, it had been so easy between them, and now it was awkward. Like she didn’t know what to say or where to look all over again.
“See you in the morning,” he said.
Riley wished she had the nerve to walk toward him, plant a kiss on his lips and whisper goodbye. But she couldn’t.
Just thinking about doing it made her feel… nervous. Sick. Scared.
“Bye.” She raised her hand.
Hunter gunned his ride into life, started to roll away, then slammed on the brake again just as fast. He thumped down the stand.
Riley swallowed. Hard. She still hadn’t moved, not a muscle.
He jumped off, stalked toward her, his mouth set in a firm line. She wanted to step backward, away from him, but her feet wouldn’t move. He scared her and thrilled her, all at the same time, her senses burning at the sight of him covering the ground between them.
Hunter didn’t stop. He grabbed her around the waist with one arm, the other hand tangled in her hair, dragging her forward.
Her head fall back, eyes closing as Hunter dipped his mouth to hers. He didn’t so much graze her lips this time as press them so hard it almost hurt. But it didn’t. His tongue searched out hers, teased her, as he held her tight against his body. She could feel the heat of him, the hardness of his frame and the thump of his heart, crushed to hers. She’d never experienced a kiss like it.
He knew what he was doing, was so sure of himself, and she loved it.
When Hunter pulled back, she opened her eyes, bravely meeting his. He traced a finger down the side of her face, like a feather trawling her cheek until it came to rest on her chin. Tucked under it to tilt her face to his.
“Good night,” he said, voice husky, low.
“Night,” she whispered.
He dropped a kiss to her forehead, then to her cheek, and then to her eyelids, both of them, as she let them flutter shut.
Hunter stepped back and dropped his hand from her waist, a smile still lighting his face.
She watched as he got back on his Harley, gave her a few fingers raised in a wave, then slowly pulled away. Riley watched until his taillight had disappeared.
Damn than leopard.
A word flickered through her mind that she wanted to ignore but couldn’t. A word that had been circling through her brain like an eagle over its prey all night.
Love.
There was a chance, just a chance, that maybe she was already in love with him and that scared her more than the kiss. More than anything.
Because now she knew that she was at serious risk of a broken heart. And it was going to make her decision that much harder.
Riley reached for her mobile phone when she walked into her room, hitting the on button with her thumb. She’d completely forgotten about it since she’d arrived. Sophia didn’t have a phone line, and she’d been too busy to even think about it.
The phone bleeped to life. Then bleeped and bleeped some more.
She sighed. A week or so ago, her phone had been like an extension of her hand. Now, it just annoyed her. She didn’t even care who’d called or what she’d missed out on. Nothing seemed important anymore.
Riley didn’t even bother to check t
he texts, voice mail only. Her mind was too full of Hunter to bother with texting anyone back.
She pressed her ear to the phone. Her mailbox was full.
The first message was her mom. It was nice to hear her voice.
The next was her friend Lisa. She listened to the first part of her gabbing away and hit delete. Then a boy she’d been out with once. Hearing his voice made her backbone shudder. Delete. There was only one boy she was interested in now and she doubted he even had a cell phone.
Her mom again. Worried. Then her dad, telling her that her mom was hysterical and needed to hear from her. She deleted a few more from friends, then heard her mom’s now frantic voice.
Oh no. If she didn’t hear back from her soon, she was driving down herself to see her. To take her home.
Riley didn’t bother listening to the rest. She hit speed dial and waited. She hoped they weren’t already on their way. Besides the fact that she wasn’t quite sure how she’d deal with them being here, she wasn’t going home. Not now. She wasn’t ready for braving her old world again yet.
Plus she didn’t want to leave Hunter. Possibly ever. Or her sister.
She was dying to see Claudia, and she didn’t want to see the haunted look on her mom’s face again any time soon. The look she’d had since the day Claudia had passed.
Before coming here, the word passed had only made her angry. Her sister had died. She’d believed she’d gone forever. Saying passed made it sound okay, like nothing bad had happened. Like she’d just moved on and headed elsewhere. Like it wasn’t permanent.
Now it turned out that passed was a pretty good word for what had happened to her. But her mom wasn’t ever going to see Claudia again, which would only make her feel guilty about her new ability. About what she’d have to keep secret for the rest of life, while her mom agonized over what she could have done differently. About whether it was somehow her fault.
Her parent’s answer phone clicked in. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. It was pretty late, but still. Surely they hadn’t packed up and headed out here yet?
“Hi Mom, hi Dad, just wanted to …”
“Riley.” Her mom literally screamed down the phone at her. “Riley is that you?”
“Yeah, Mom. It’s me.”
Phew. If they hadn’t got in the car yet she should be able to talk them out of coming.
“Honey, where have you been? What happened? Why haven’t you called? Where are you?”
“I’m fine, Mom. I’m at,” she paused, “Grandma’s, I just haven’t had my phone on.”
“Tom, it’s Riley!”
She balked at her mom’s loud scream for her dad. Was she seriously that excited about hearing from her?
The time had gone fast for Riley, but she guessed for her mom, time without either of her daughters had been hard. She never should have waited so long to phone, but it wasn’t like she’d done it on purpose.
“Mom, are you there?” she asked.
“Of course I’m here! You don’t know how worried I was.”
“I’m sorry, Mom,” she said, honesty making her voice crack. “Gran’s kept me pretty busy, I didn’t mean to worry you. Please don’t worry.”
“I think we’ll come and get you, don’t you think? It’s time to get you back home.”
“No.” Riley yelled. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her voice. “I mean, I’m really liking it here, Mom. It’s helping me, you know, come to terms with stuff.”
Her mom went quiet. “Honey, are you sure? You don’t have to pretend.”
Riley waited, composing herself. She didn’t want to screw this conversation up, and she really did feel torn between here and home. “I miss you guys heaps, but I want to stay. Please.”
“She wants to stay, Tom.”
Riley listened for her dad’s response as he spoke to her mom.
“Leave the poor girl alone. If she’s happy, leave her be.”
Riley realized she’d been holding her breath.
“Did you hear your father?”
“Yeah. He’s right Mom.” She held her breath again, waiting for her mom to agree.
“Okay, for now then. But you call, Riley, every day.”
“Okay, Mom. I’ll call, I promise.”
“I love you.”
Riley did shed a tear then. A wet trickle hit her cheek. It wasn’t that she wanted to go home, but she loved her parents. She hated thinking of them brokenhearted with no children at home. Both their daughters gone. And now possibly never coming back, or not for long anyway.
“I love you and Dad too. Heaps. Bye.”
Sophia knocked on her door then. As if she’d been listening, waiting for her to say goodbye and hang up the phone.
“You okay in there?”
Riley nodded then realized Sophia couldn’t see her action. “Yep, I’m fine. Just give me a minute.”
“Only checking. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Riley wiped her tears away and shook her head, trying to get rid of her thoughts. But it didn’t work. The tears only started to fall harder.
She tried to console herself with thoughts of Hunter, of how she’d felt being in his arms and at his side tonight, but nothing could take her mind off her parents. Or her future. Of giving up life as she knew it to stay here.
Even thinking about Claudia hadn’t helped.
Why did making the right decision have to be so hard?
Riley couldn’t do much about her puffy eyes. She’d lain in bed crying for what had seemed like hours after speaking to her parents. But today was a new day. A fresh start of sorts.
Because today, she should be seeing Claudia. And she’d definitely be seeing Hunter, which made her smile even wider. Last night it was as if she was being sucked into a dark, fierce hole. Today? Her future, her decisions, didn’t seem so ominous.
“Hunter’s here,” Sophia called out from somewhere in the house.
She’d expected him to just be waiting out at the tree later. Not quite this early. But she didn’t care. So long as he came, it could be midnight and she wouldn’t mind running out to greet him.
Riley gave her hair one last brush then swung open the door to her bedroom. Before hitting what felt like a solid wall of stone.
“Oomph.” She looked up at Hunter. He hadn’t even moved with the force of her running into him. Six-feet-whatever of impressive… yep, muscle. She couldn’t think of a better word.
“You okay?”
“Can everyone stop asking me that?” she mumbled.
Hunter cupped her chin with his hand and raised it, studying her face. “You’re not okay.”
He frowned. She’d never seen his face pull down into a frown before.
“Let’s just go, all right?”
He unhooked his palm and reached for her hand. “We need to hurry.”
She let herself be pulled along with him, out the door. They didn’t even stop to say goodbye to Sophia, but then she probably knew where they were going. She and Hunter seemed able to communicate pretty promptly when they needed to.
“Are you going to tell me what this is about? Why we’re in such a rush?”
He grinned. “Just follow me. Get undressed and change as soon as we hit the forest.”
At least running this fast beside him took her mind off her parents. And once she changed, they would be the last thing occupying her mind. She hoped Claudia was still on the agenda.
“Come on Hunter, tell me.”
“I’m taking you to Claudia, but we need to get a move on. Sophia’s orders”
Riley ran faster than she ever, in her entire life, had before.
Danger or no danger, whatever the reason for needing to see her so promptly, she wanted to see her sister. And nothing was going to stop her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Riley had never been quite so exhausted. Or exhilarated. Not even that first day when she’d discovered her ability.
“Slow down.”
She still didn’t like being told what to
do, but she was fast learning that Hunter’s commands were worth listening to.
He must have heard her grumble though. “When you’re the leader you can order me.”
She kicked out at him with one leg but he dodged her. She couldn’t ever imagine being the one to give orders, but then she’d never exactly imagined doing this either. And she still couldn’t even catch him unawares with a sly kick.
“Why are we slowing?” If she had to follow his orders she was at least going to ask questions.
He gave her one of his delicious, teeth-baring feline grins. Maybe he was trying to look fierce, but she took it as a smile.
“I didn’t think you’d want to be sweaty and out of breath for seeing your sister.”
She glared at him. She wasn’t exactly capable of getting sweaty as a cat, and it wasn’t like they needed to use their mouth for communicating. She could be exhausted and still think what she wanted to say. Unless she was actually able to talk properly to her sister?
“Stop.”
This time she didn’t even hesitate at his command. Riley locked her paws into place and froze. She could feel everything around them. The movement of the leaves bustling back and forth on the trees, the rustle of a small animal as it moved, the gentle whoosh of air as it passed through Hunter’s nostrils.
Then she felt him move backward, slink away.
She spun around. Frightened. She didn’t want to be alone out here, even for a second.
“Where are you going?”
His eyes said it all before he even spoke to her. Happiness mixed with sadness, like he was pleased for her but worried too. Like he was torn between leaving her and staying by her side.
“I’ll be nearby, you’ll be safe. I just want you to enjoy it when she comes.”
Riley shook her head. She felt vulnerable. Alone.
“But I want you here. You belong here with me.”
His mind was obviously made up.
“Just think her name.”
And he was gone.
Riley didn’t like being alone, not when she knew it wasn’t safe for her out here. But she did what Hunter had said. He wouldn’t ever put her in danger, at risk. She had to trust him.