Hunter (A Dark Assassins Novel Book Five)

by Ullmer, Valerie

  Neri shook her head. “No, it means you enjoyed it enough to come.”

  His arm moved away from his eyes before he glanced down to capture her gaze. “I don’t know what I did in this life or the one previous, but I thank whatever deity above for the simple fact they brought you into my life. You, Neri, are perfect for me and I hope I’m the same for you.”

  “You are, Hunter. I feel it in every fiber of my being. But, where was I before you interrupted?”

  Without waiting for an answer, she swallowed him down and although unable, she tried to smile around his huge cock in her mouth.

  Soon, she became lost in her movements and the sounds she drew from Hunter. Her rhythm didn’t break when Hunter’s breathing became erratic or when his hips tried to move up and he forced himself back down, pressing both fists on his hips. But she wanted to experience everything, so when she pulled off this time, she made a demand.

  “Hunter, stop being so controlled.”

  This time she took him whole and when the head was near the base of her throat. His gasp thrilled her, but it wasn’t until she swallowed, the muscles constricting against the glans, that he came down her throat.

  “Holy ever living fuck. Neri!”

  She didn’t bother to hold his hips, but his muscles locked down and other than the jerk of his cock in her mouth, his body was stiff.

  He was earthy and salty, a little bitter, but all Hunter and she savored his unique flavor as his cock continued to throb, swelling and retracting, in her mouth. Not wanting to hurt him, she pulled back without too much stimulation. But when she reached the tip, she pressed a small kiss to the skin.

  Hunter panted on the bed, trying to catch his breath as he came down from his high, and it was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. His skin had a bright sheen that made the dark olive color stand out. His chest heaved up and down and she noticed his nipples were still hard, straining up toward the ceiling.

  Neri reached between her legs and found her clit with her fingers, moving her eyes over his flushed and slicked skin. Without moving her eyes away, her fingers slid down, and she gasped at the wetness coating her fingers. She needed to come. And she didn’t think she had time for Hunter to recover.

  Again, her fingers moved over her clit, soaked in wetness and silky against her skin. After several strokes, she was close to coming, so close, when Hunter’s voice broke the sensual fog.

  “What are you doing down there, angel?”

  His deep voice, combined with the feel of her fingers, triggered her orgasm. She flopped onto her back on the bed, unaware of how she looked or the jumble of words spewing from her mouth and rode the wave of pleasure. At that moment, she understood how intense her orgasm became the more her fingers kept up the movements and she wanted this intense orgasm to continue for as long as possible.

  That is fucking hot!

  Can’t… talk.

  Not knowing if minutes passed or days, Neri’s body relaxed allowing her spine to come in contact with the bed as her chest heaved with the staccato rhythm of her heavy breaths. Her eyes stayed closed until Hunter’s hand moved up her stomach and chest before he laid a finger in her bottom lip and pulled it from in between her teeth. She hadn’t remembered biting it.

  His lips pressed against her own and she hummed. Her lips tingled, but so did her entire body. But with Hunter near, there was a buzz of electricity that gave life to her spent body and she wanted Hunter inside her.

  “Are you ready?” she asked.

  Hunter groaned into her mouth. “You are trying to kill me.”

  Neri shook her head and laughed at the banter back and forth. “Nah, why would I do that. If I couldn’t suck your cock again and have you shoot down my throat, I could never to live with myself.”

  Her words had the exacting affect she wanted. She smiled as Hunter hovered over her, resting his weight on his forearms, with a fierce look on his face.

  “Down a few more inches, love, and you’ll be inside me.”

  Her smile turned into a gasp when dropped his weight onto her and reached for her hips, surging inside her in the next second. A loud moan escaped as her pussy gripped Hunter’s cock, still pulsing from her orgasm, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Her thighs tightened and her arms circled his shoulders when he lifted her off the bed and leaned back on his haunches.

  Their faces were mere inches apart. She’d never seen such a fierce look, but his bright green eyes flashed with love and need. She cupped his face, and she kissed him, trying to deepen their connection. But he moved and she could only hold on.

  He drove his hips forward and because of her position straddling his thighs, his cock brushed the one area that tore a scream from her throat. She wanted to beg for more, for everything, but the words struck in her throat as he dropped his hips and pulled several inches out of her. A whimper was all she could manage. Before he was almost all the way out, he drove back inside.

  Hunter!

  He kept up his relentless thrusts, holding her tight against his body. The first time had been incredible, but this was something on another level. Her head dropped onto his shoulder and the muscles of his neck corded. On instinct, she leaned forward and scraped her teeth along the band of muscle most prominent and groaned along with Hunter when his hips stuttered and he changed the angle of his hips.

  “Bite me, angel. I need you to claim me.”

  Neri stiffened in Hunter’s arms and images of the shifter she’d killed the other night flashed in her mind. And if she claimed him, would her bite be deadly? If there were a probability, which there was, a gigantic one, she refused to put his life in danger.

  “It’s okay,” Hunter murmured.

  “No, it’s not. I was about to bite you, to inject you with venom, because I wanted to claim you as mine. But then the image of the dead shifter flashed, and I… can’t. I can’t do that to you. Even if you hate me and don’t want to have anything to do with me from now on, I—”

  “Angel, no. Neri, listen.”

  Hunter waited until Neri pulled back and met his gaze. He wiped the tears from her face and kissed her, a brush of his lips against hers, before he gave her a small smile.

  “I can never hate you. And I wanted you to bite me because I claimed you, but that’s reckless.”

  Neri shook her head. “Instincts, remember. Your instincts knew it was okay but mine, until Liv tells me my bite and venom won’t hurt you, I can’t put you in danger. I also think because I was half-shifter, your venom wouldn’t hurt me like mine can hurt you.”

  Hunter wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. She blew out a relieved breath as he laid his head on her chest. But soon the warmth coming from his body and the realization he was still hard and aching inside her precipitated her hips shifting forward.

  “Do you—”

  Before he could finish the question, she lifted her hips and dropped back down, driving his cock deeper and deeper with each plunge downward. The next few feverish minutes were all about the feel of Hunter inside her and the heat that flared underneath her skin as his hands caressed her. Before she even realized her orgasm was on the precipice, her muscles clamped down on Hunter’s cock, holding him inside as she threw her head back and screamed through her release.

  As the throbbing subsided, she sucked in a deep breath and moaned when Hunter’s release shot inside her. She clamped down on him, milking him until his head dropped forehead and his arms tightened around her back. Unable to hold themselves up any longer, they dropped onto their pillows, facing one another and Neri couldn’t help the smile bursting through.

  “Happy?” Hunter asked, breathless.

  “I’m with you, so yes. More than I ever believed I could be.”

  They grew silent, but Neri didn’t take her eyes off Hunter. He had the same problem. But it wasn’t until a chill shivered over her before they moved.

  “Shower first and then breakfast?” Hunter asked.

  She was thinking about a nap fir
st, but her stomach rumbled at that moment and her cheeks grew hot. Hunter chuckled and before she had time to feel embarrassed, he lifted her into his arms and moved toward the bathroom. The shower filled the room with steam and she moaned the moment the hot water poured over her body.

  They made quick work of the shower and when Hunter shut it off; he glanced up and caught her gaze.

  “What are you thinking?” she asked.

  Hunter smiled. “I think we should see Thalia today. She needs to know you’re safe.”

  “How do we find her?”

  “Xander sent me a text last night with her address. What do you say?”

  Neri’s hand flew up to her throat, and she nodded. She’d missed Thalia and she was thrilled she was healthy, but another part of her didn’t want to intrude on her life. But Hunter had a point.

  “Okay.” Her voice was small.

  Hunter kissed her forehead. “We’re in this together. This way you’ll know how she feels.”

  “Thank you.”

  “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you, angel. Now I found you, I’m never letting you go.”

  As Neri stared into Hunter’s gaze, she knew his words were both the truth and a vow. She made the same one, including that she would love him for the rest of her existence.

  CHAPTER TEN

  HUNTER

  The nerves coming for Neri had been palpable on the drive down the mountain and he wondered if she might hyperventilate as they turned onto the street where Thalia lived. Her eyes widened as she took in the aspen and pine that dotted neighborhood with ranch-style houses. They were ordinary and yet inviting. Despite the snow earlier in the month, the colder weather hadn’t set in, so the grass was still a lush green from the warmer than average summer that year.

  Hunter pictured Neri’s life here. Her fighting Thalia as she tried to wake Neri for school, running errands for her mother, laughing and enjoying life.

  “You’ll be okay. If the situations were reversed, you would want answers?”

  Neri blew out a sigh and nodded. “Yeah. But four years is a long time.”

  Hunter squeezed her hand and opened his mouth to encourage her without pushing her before she was ready when the front door opened. Neri froze, and he snapped his mouth closed.

  Both of their eyes moved toward the front door and he flinched at the loud squeak of the screen door opening.

  I’ll take care of that.

  They were both silent as who he assumed was Thalia stepped out onto the porch.

  Thalia Costa surprised him. He expected someone in their fifties or older, but Thalia looked to be no older than thirty. He sensed her eyes on him and when he met her gaze, waves of confusion hit him. Not fear, only confusion.

  Because of his size, when he wasn’t working, he tried to blend into the background. For this visit, he dressed in a simple gray long-sleeved shirt and worn jeans with tennis shoes. But at over six foot and built, he looked like a threat no matter what he wore.

  To distract Thalia away from him, he glanced down at Neri at his side.

  He sucked in a breath. Neri had tears flowing down her cheeks and while everything in his being wanted to wrap her up and protect her from this moment, she needed to confront her past, for both women’s sakes. The tears turned into a choked sob at Thalia’s next question.

  “Moró korítsi?”

  Hunter, confused by the obvious question in her words, turned to Neri who nodded.

  “Yes, mamá, it’s me.”

  Not understanding the flurry of emotions on Thalia’s face and in her dark chocolate eyes, Hunter jumped, although he would deny it to anyone who asked, when Thalia screamed in delight and launched herself at Neri.

  His mate allowed Thalia to run full force into her arms. With the gentle ease, in the same way she held Silas whenever he jumped into her arms, she wrapped them around Thalia as the woman cried.

  The sobs tore at his heart, but it was the way Thalia gripped Neri’s shirt with one hand and her hip with the other, as if Neri would disappear and all of this was a bad dream, had him swallowing down the lump that formed in his throat. He understood in a way he never had before he met Neri. The constant worry of someone after her, wanting to hurt her or kill her.

  But his life, the darkness and death, the blood and the fear, never should have crossed paths with these two women. They lived their lives ignorant of the dangers lurking not ten miles from where they stood, and yet, Neri, pulled into this nightmare, became part of his life, part of him.

  He understood in that moment what he hadn’t standing outside in the periphery as he watched his fellow assassins find who destiny deemed them worthy to find. Mates, the one’s you loved with your entire being, not only your heart, and protected with your life, are the end all, be all of your existence. And because of who Neri was to him and would continue to be for eternity, he understood Thalia’s grief in striking clarity.

  Hunter hovered near the two women. He didn’t want to intrude in their reunion, but knowing emotions drained every ounce of energy once the tears stopped flowing, he took one step closer to be there when either of them needed him.

  Standing stock still, some time passed before Thalia lifted her head and cupped Neri’s cheeks, wiping away the tears with such love etched on her face. Neri smiled, which turned into a laugh, when Thalia beamed at her, her heartbreak soothed for the time being.

  “Where have you been, moró korítsi? And your hair and your beautiful brown eyes.”

  “Um, it’s a long story,” Neri hedged.

  Hunter shook his head. “You should tell her the truth. She’s family.”

  They had gone back and forth as they ate breakfast that morning and gotten dressed. Hunter understood that some humans couldn’t handle a secret such as immortals, but Thalia was her family. That made Thalia his family.

  Thalia turned her curious gaze back on him. Although she couldn’t read his mind, something about her warned him about the danger of crossing her.

  “And who are you?”

  Without hesitation, he replied, “I’m Hunter, I’m Neri’s immortal mate. I’m an immortal shifter if you wanted to be specific. I shift into a black panther.”

  Instead of wondering what he meant, Thalia nodded her head once and turned back to Neri. “Let’s go inside and I’ll make tea. We can talk and catch up.”

  “We would like that,” Neri said.

  Thalia nodded and led them inside her house. The walls in the living room were a beautiful blue-green color that matched the creme chairs, sofa, and love seat, all splashed with blues and greens. But Thalia led them into the kitchen with a wooden table. A familiar wooden table.

  “You bought one of my tables and the matching chairs to go along with it.”

  Thalia laughed. “I bought this at Lancaster Furniture down on Snow Lane. I had a good feeling about the pieces once I saw them and I had to have them.” She directed them to take a seat and moved to the stove, flicking on the burner for the kettle.

  They settled next to each other, facing Thalia, and Hunter wondered how long it would take before she asked her questions.

  “Where have you been, moró korítsi? Oh, I’m sorry. I’d given myself at least fifteen minutes before I interrogated you, but you’re here and I can’t...”

  “You have every right, mamá. I never intended to leave.”

  “What… what do you mean?”

  Neri glanced at Hunter and he gave her an encouraging smile, squeezing her hand resting on the table.

  “From what we’ve learned over the past few days, someone kidnapped me in front of Standard Biotech on the way home from the store. Xander found they kept me there for a few weeks until I escaped. My memory is very sketchy. I remembered a girl from the orphanage when I was ten and after Xander told me about a foster mother, I remembered you. I remembered our life here. But nothing about the time they held me.”

  Thalia jumped when the kettle whistled and poured the water into three teacups with the bags a
lready inside. Neri hopped up and carried the tray to the table before her and Thalia sat.

  “What did they do to you?”

  Neri swallowed and reached for Thalia’s hands. “We think a scientist there, Dr. Stevens, injected me with shifter venom and I transitioned into a shifter who, as I remember from my memory, couldn’t shift. So instead of killing me or letting me go, and this is from what I remember, injected me with a combination bioweapon and vampire venom. Instead of killing me, my body accepted the injection so I’m a hybrid, half shifter and half vampire.”

  She continued, telling Thalia all about how she’d met him and explained about his family, the assassins and what they’d discovered as she replayed the events from the past couple of days.

  From the expressions on Thalia’s face, she understood the harsh realities of life and didn’t seem fazed at all by immortals; shifters and vampires alike. The love that shone in her eyes was the same look Xander and Frost, or any of the immortals, had whenever they spotted Silas. It promised unwavering support and love, with no explanation needed.

  “Dr. Stevens… why does that name sound familiar?” Thalia asked.

  “Older man, long face with cold eyes, and long, lanky legs?” Hunter described.

  Recognition lit up Thalia’s eyes. “Yes, he came by here saying his car broke down and asked to use the phone. But he told me he worked at the hospital, but there are three. As he was dialing, his eyes kept darting around the house, searching for something. I forgot about the entire incident after he left, but then you disappeared three weeks later. Oh, Neri, I’m so sorry.”

  “No, mamá, you didn’t know what he wanted. We still don’t. But I’m healthy. Do you want to come live with me, in case he comes back?”

  Thalia shook her head. “No, moró, he won’t come back. I read in the paper about a year after you disappeared he died in a car accident. I remember seeing the picture and thinking he must have had more car trouble, and that’s what killed him. Now, I’m not so sure. And besides, I’m never leaving my house. We built a life here, and for me, it’ll always be here. But…”