She gave a bitter laugh, her stomach twisting. “Hunter, I figured that out a long time ago.”
His mouth tightened, but he plunged on. “I’m not a martial arts instructor. I’m an agent for the Elite Shifter Agency and have been for the last eight years.”
Gemma blinked, and then blinked again. She couldn’t have formed a word if she tried. Thick silence hung above them as his words looped in her head.
“The ESA?” she finally said in a flat tone. With a forced laugh, she shook her head. “You. An ESA agent. That’s rich, Hunter.”
He didn’t even look offended, just watched her and then gave a slow nod. With his free hand, he reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a badge, flipping it open. Before she could completely take in what she was looking at, he went on.
“When we first met, I was working on a case that dealt with a pretty high-profile drug dealer. When our target made an attempt on my life, the agency made the decision to let it appear that he’d succeeded in killing me.” He flipped his badge closed and pocketed it again. “I spent the next four years without exchanging a word with my family or anyone I loved. I was reassigned to cases on the other side of the country, even then only under deep cover. It wasn’t until the dealer and his team were finally prosecuted, convicted, and locked up that my agency felt it safe for me to resurface.”
Gemma’s pulse raced within his grasp and she felt strangely light-headed.
Hunter’s lips twisted into a smile, but there was no humor behind it. “To come back from the dead essentially.”
She shook her head slowly. “You’re really an ESA agent? You told me you were a martial arts—”
“I know what I told you, Gemma.” He stood up with a sigh and released her, walking to the window to look out over the night. “The agency encourages us to keep a low profile. To be careful with whom we divulge our careers to.”
“Right,” she choked on emotion. “And I was just some woman you were screwing.”
His fists clenched. “You were so much more than that. You can’t possibly know how much you meant to me. I’m so sorry. If I could have sent word, I would have. My own parents didn’t know where I was…”
“But they knew you were an ESA agent.”
“Yes.” He turned to look at her. “And I would have told you as well, not long after our night together. I wanted so many things for us after that night together.”
Something warm sparked inside her. Maybe hope. Maybe not. She snuffed it out, knowing there was no room for such an emotion.
“When I was told I could resurface, I went to find you first.” He paused. “You were already engaged.”
Pain ripped through before the anger overpowered it. “Don’t turn this on me. I had no clue what happened to you,” her voice shook. “You have no idea what I went through—”
“I can guess,” he said gently. “And I’m so sorry. I would have left you be, let you get on with your life.” His jaw hardened. “But once I realized who you were marrying, everything changed. I couldn’t let you marry Jeffrey Delmore.”
Gemma stood from the bed, her heart pounding in her chest now and tears of frustration prickling. Everything he said sounded crazy. Like something out of a bad thriller movie. Hunter was an ESA agent who’d had to feign his own death? The fact that he worked for the ESA alone was surreal enough.
And yet not once since the moment he’d shown her his badge had she doubted him. Her stomach flipped, and a hope she’d long ago smothered threatened to resurface. No. Never again.
“You lost any right to interfere in my life, Hunter. Fine, you’ve explained where you were the last five years—but let me be clear. There is no chance of us being together again. Ever.”
Hunter crossed the room in seconds, pulling her flush against him. When she struggled, he slid his hand into her hair and tugged to hold her still.
“Don’t be so quick to say that.” His gaze raked her face and then her body. “Not after this afternoon.”
Her body stirred to life, moisture already gathered heavy between her legs. Stop. She silently willed herself to be strong. “This afternoon was a mistake. It won’t happen again.”
“And I’ve told you that it will.” He gave a soft laugh and moved his other hand down her back to cup her ass. “Many times.”
“Never.”
“Always.” His mouth covered hers, gently, almost lovingly before his tongue slipped inside to explore.
She pushed at his chest, arched away from him, but he gave her no leave. Instead he reached down to hook one of her legs around his waist.
A second later, his thumb was on her clit, stroking away any leftover inhibitions. Slow and steady, his hand moved on her. The sounds of her slickness filled the air when he pushed a finger inside her core. Her hands ceased to push him away, instead moving over the hard contours of his shoulders as she moaned softly into his mouth.
Physical. It was only a physical reaction her body was having. He meant nothing to her anymore. Nothing.
Her heart tripped, calling bullshit on her inner pep talk.
Hunter’s fingers moved faster on her, bringing her closer and closer to that intense release. His mouth sought the pulse beating wildly in her neck, sucking hard as he marked her in the same spot he had years ago.
Her body exploded, sending her mind into a zone of colors and free falling. She gripped his shoulders, holding on for dear life as she trembled through the aftermath.
Hunter lifted his head and brought his fingers—which had just brought her release—up to his mouth. He licked the tips and closed his eyes, desire and pleasure sweeping across his face.
“I rest my case.”
Her pulse still thundering, Gemma blinked to clear the fog from her mind. Rest my case?
“You should eat your dinner. You’ve got to be hungry, and we still have some serious things to discuss.”
Oh, God, he’d simply touched her just to prove that he could. That she would let him. And dammit, she had. She was such a complete fool.
My body, not my heart. She repeated the mantra in her head as she went to pick at the food on the plate. She would need the energy from the food, because tonight she would escape. She had to escape.
Already her heart was at risk, not to mention her future. Guilt twisted in her gut.
“What else do we have to talk about?” she asked quietly, cutting into the steak on the plate he’d given her.
“Jeffrey Delmore.”
Her knife and fork scratched against the plate as her hands jerked in surprise.
“What about him?”
Hunter’s gaze clouded, and he sighed deeply, folding his hands across his chest.
“What do you know about the man you were supposed to have married?”
She ignored the “supposed to have married” comment and took another bite of meat. Once she swallowed, she cleared her throat.
“He’s a very generous man. Runs a nonprofit organization for runaways.”
“Is that so?”
Gemma lifted her chin. “Yes. Where are you going with this, Hunter?”
“How does he help the runaways?”
“He helps send them home—if they wish. Or if they don’t wish to return home…he finds another ideal situation for them. But he gets them off the street.”
“I’m curious about this…other ideal situation.”
She ate a bite of roll, eyeing him warily.
“Have you met any of these girls?”
“I have.”
“Do you follow up with them?”
“Why on earth would I? Hunter, I don’t run the organization. Jeffrey does.”
Hunter answered her question with another one of his. “How does Jeffrey Delmore make money, if it’s nonprofit?”
Gemma drew a slow breath in. He was treating her like she was on the witness stand. This was ridiculous. “I really am under no obligation to answer your questions, Hunter.”
“I could send Joaquin or Brad to que
stion you if you’d like.”
“Maybe that would be better.”
His eyes narrowed. “Answer me. They may not be so nice in their efforts.”
“This is nice?” She snorted and shook her head. “Jeffrey comes from a very well-off family, if you must know. Money is rarely an issue for him.”
“Have you ever noticed anything suspicious? Anything that caused you to think something wasn’t right?”
She opened her mouth to say no and then hesitated as something flickered in the back of her mind. But just like that, the thought was gone again.
“No. I’ve never noticed anything.” She set her knife back down. “Now it’s my turn to do some questioning. What’s your deal with Jeffrey?”
“Besides the fact he took my woman?” Hunter raised an eyebrow, his lips twitching. Then his expression sobered again. “The ESA has been investigating Jeffrey Delmore for several years now. We have reason to believe his organization to help runaways is a front for something entirely more sinister.”
“Sinister?” she sputtered. “Like what?”
“Like trafficking women in the billion-dollar industry of underground fuck hunts.”
“Fuck hunts?” Gemma stared at him, not sure what a fuck hunt was and not sure she wanted to know. But she was certain Jeffrey had nothing to do with it.
“I’m not surprised that you’ve never heard of them. In fact, it relieves me. Some of the men at the agency were convinced you were in on it.”
“In on what? Hunter, you’re not making any sense to me. Tell me what a fuck hunt is and why you think Jeffrey has something to do with it.”
Hunter’s jaw flexed. “Shifter women have been disappearing for years now, turning up dead from being shot in their animal form. We got a lead a few years back from one woman, a werefalcon who escaped. The story she told was that she had been driven to a farm and handed off to a man who savagely raped her. Then she was injected with a drug that forced her to shift into her were side, after which she was set free on the expansive property. Set free and hunted.”
Gemma gripped the edge of the bedspread, her blood chilling as nausea threatened. Being raped in human form and then hunted and killed in shifter? Who would do such a thing? The idea was too horrific to even be believable.
“You can’t be serious. Surely nobody would—”
“Listen.” Hunter sat down on the bed and held her gaze. “The woman was a runaway, Gemma. She told us it was one of Delmore’s employees who’d taken her to the ranch.”
“No. You’d say anything to keep me from marrying him. You lie, Hunter.”
“Not about this, Gemma.”
“Get out.” She scurried off the bed and away for him. “Get out.”
He stood and gave a slight nod. “Don’t believe me? Fine, let’s watch a little movie. Maybe you’ll change your mind after watching the recorded statement of the woman who survived.”
She ground her teeth together, watching him move to the door. It was a farce. It had to be. Was Hunter framing Jeffrey to get her back? The idea was ludicrous, but she couldn’t discount it.
The door shut behind him and locked.
When he came back, she’d be prepared for him. She’d find a way to escape and get back to Jeffrey and discover for herself just what was going on.
A twinge of unease kicked in her gut, and she rubbed the back of neck. A little voice in her head argued what if Hunter’s right? Jeffrey was a wonderful man. For God’s sake, the city had given him an award for being an outstanding citizen last year.
There was no way he could be involved. This was just Hunter being ultra-possessive and doing anything he could to get what he wanted. He’d probably even suckered in a few of his friends at the ESA to help.
She paced the room and clenched her teeth. Well, this time, Hunter wouldn’t get her.
Chapter 6
Gripping the film that would hopefully persuade Gemma, Hunter made his way back to her room. Frustration ate at his belly that she didn’t believe him, that she’d been so quick to even dismiss the possibility.
Unlocking the door, he pushed it open and frowned. It was dark. Shit, what the hell was she trying to pull? He crouched on the defense, moving inside, looking for the light switch.
“Ummph.”
He staggered under the weight of whatever she smashed across his back. The pounding of her feet echoed as she shot past him and through the open door.
“Dammit.” He stumbled after her as broken glass fell from his clothes.
Up ahead he could hear Gemma thundering down the stairs, putting more distance between them as she made a run for the front of the building. And chances were she’d get there before him.
Shit. He’d been an idiot, treating her too soft, giving her too much damn freedom. Reaching the bottom of the stairwell, he turned just in time to see the front door swing open and Gemma sprint out it—shifting mid-leap. And then she was off—running to God knew where. Hell, she probably didn’t even know where she was going.
Joaquin appeared in the hall, eyebrows raised. “Who just went out the front door?”
“Gemma.”
“Well, that’s not a good sign,” Joaquin drawled and followed him onto the porch; they both glanced around. “You want me to help you search?”
Seeing a flicker in the moonlight to the north, Hunter shook his head.
“I’ve got this.” His low response trembled with barely restrained anger.
Hunter leapt down the few stairs and headed out after her. His body stretched and popped in a smooth transformation to jaguar. The clothes he’d changed into earlier exploded from his body, which was the reason he preferred being naked. He’d only put on clothes tonight to make Gemma feel more comfortable. Stupid.
She’d pushed him too far this time. And when he found her, she’d know just how foolish it had been to run. Run from the house, but, even worse, to run from what they had together.
He growled, and picked up speed. Tonight everything would change. Tonight he would take her full submission.
His paws slapped the earth as he let out a frustrated growl. His temper spiked as he jumped over a large rock along the riverside. Who was he kidding, though? He wasn’t just angry with Gemma; he was angry at himself. He’d ignored all his training and instincts and let his guard down. Dammit, he knew better. But she did that to him, made him lose all sensibility.
He slipped on the rocky banks, trying to find purchase as he kept his speed.
One good piece of luck was that he’d picked up her scent. She had indeed gone this way. His gaze flickered out over the water, and he pushed aside the brief stab of unease. He highly doubted she’d have tried to cross the river. Not at night.
Hunter slowed his run; the fur on his back lifted in a warning that something had changed.
The surface of the shoreline narrowed, merging into the hillside. He glanced at the ground, sniffing to keep her scent. That’s when he noticed. The paw prints had changed to footprints. She’d shifted back to human.
He hesitated, debating whether to continue in jaguar form or shift back as well. With his dark fur he’d be more stealthy in the moonlight, but he knew the terrain well and could acknowledge that traversing it in human form might be easier at this point.
Knowing he had already lost too much time, he shifted back and a moment later ran with quick intent across the hill—following the trail of her footprints in the moonlight.
She’d turned away from the river. Interesting. Was she heading up toward the hills? But why? That would be the complete opposite direction of the road back to the city.
He froze as something blocked out the moonlight to his left. Hunter spun and dodged to the right, barely missing getting smashed in the head with a fist-sized rock.
“Are you insane?” He stepped toward her, but she danced backward.
“I won’t go back, Hunter. I won’t listen to your lies.” Her shoulders quaked, her pale skin luminescent in the moonlight.
“Gemma.�
�� He put out his hand to calm her.
She lunged at him again, but he grabbed her wrist. Spinning her away from him, he wrapped his arm around her waist and squeezed her slight bones until she cried out and dropped the rock.
She struggled against him, groaning with frustration.
“You’d hit me over the head with that?” he rasped harshly, his fury hardly abating. “Do you realize it could kill someone?”
Gemma stilled, her breathing uneven, before she let out a choked sob and crumpled against him.
He tightened his arm around her, pulling her body harder against his. His cock ground against her back, just above her ass.
“Why, Gemma?” he asked again, his voice hoarse. Incredulity still rolled through him. And yet his body reacted to being so close to her softness, to her scent, and to the sound of her rapid breathing.
Releasing her wrist, he moved his hand to cup her breast. squeezing the soft flesh until she whimpered.
Against his rough palm, her nipple hardened.
His voice cracked. “Answer me.”
He needed to know. Needed to hear her admit that she’d been willing to use such violence against him. If she said the words, she wouldn’t need the rock. The realization alone would kill him.
*
Gemma’s heart thudded so loud in her chest she was certain he could hear it. Realization at what she’d almost done sunk in. She’d tried to bash Hunter’s head in with a rock. Her throat tightened with emotion, and she choked out a gasp.
How had it gotten to this point? What was she doing? Facing the truth and her fear with violence? She hadn’t wanted to believe what Hunter had said about Jeffrey, but deep in her gut, she knew he was telling the truth. And each mile she put between herself and the house had compounded her suspicion that it wasn’t a lie. Especially when she’d started to remember things…
“Gemma?”
“No,” she whispered, her words barely audible. “I could never hurt you, Hunter.”
Hunter’s relief was evident as he buried his face against her neck.
“Then tell me why,” he demanded roughly and moved the arm that was around her stomach, sliding his palm downward to tease his fingers into the curls between her legs. “Why do you continue to fight me? To fight us? When your body makes no such pretenses.”
His to Reclaim Page 5