CHAPTER 13
“Hunter,” Neil snapped into the phone later that day. He had spent the entire day in the same house with Narmada but could not look into her eyes. A deep burn started in his chest every time he looked into her questioning eyes.
“Hey, it’s Joe.” A familiar man’s voice greeted on the other end of the line.
“Joe, what do you have for me?”
“Are you okay?” The man’s voice was soft reminding him of the man who gave him a taste of family.
“I’m fine. Did you find the man?” Neil was getting impatient.
“Yes, he is in a high-end private hospital with the highest security,” Joe declared.
“What?”
“Someone wants him alive as badly as your clients wanted him dead.” Joe sounded worried.
The one time where Neil had stumbled before a kill, and it was when he saw the man’s tattoo just before pulling the trigger almost a month ago. He was tasked to kill a man staying at a motel. From the day he started the hunt for the bastard who even thought about killing the DIG, it was his way of staying within the system so he could get to every single killer and kill them.
“Who are these people and how did they get him out before your team showed up?” Neil’s voice blared in the small kitchen.
“The Singham brothers are protecting him,” Joe’s voice was a hush like he didn’t want anyone to hear.
“Who are these people?”
“Neil, why did you not shoot to kill?” Joe asked the question that has been burning in his mind.
“I don’t know, Joe. I don’t why, and the only thing that was familiar was the tattoo on his neck,” Neil confessed softly.
“Where do you think he will lead you?”
Neil had no response for Joe, the brother the DIG gave him when he adopted him.
“Do you think he will lead us to Dad’s killer?” Joe wanted to understand what compelled Neil to keep the man alive.
“No… it’s not anyone that was in the compound or part of the goon’s group… this man seems to be…”
“Could this man be your real father?” Joe blurted.
“No.” Neil never thought about his biological parents. The orphanage was his home from what he could remember, and the pastors and the orphans were his family.
“Neil… why is it not possible? Could this be someone from the orphanage?”
“If it is someone from the orphanage, I don’t care for that man. Let him die.” Neil was angry for no reason, and he turned away from the window when he felt her behind him.
“I got to go,” he declared and hung up before Joe could prolong the conversation.
Narmada stood in the middle of the kitchen looking at Neil standing by the window. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“It’s okay,” his voice was a whisper as he took in the sight in front of him. Narmada stood in front of him in a loose t-shirt—his t-shirt—her legs long and bare, and the fabric of the t-shirt loosely draped over the twin peaks on her chest.
She walked slowly toward him, her eyes trained on his. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Can I use the phone?” she chirped.
“Who do you need to call?”
“Of course, Raj. Does it look like I am going to call my parents?” she teased.
He dialed Raj’s number and held the phone in his hand with the speaker turned on.
“Hunter?” The voice was so annoying she had to try hard to keep a straight face.
“Hi, it’s me,” Narmada spoke in a seductive tone looking into Neil’s eyes.
“My sweet flower, how are you?”
“I am fine. I want to talk to you.” She sounded whiny.
“I am listening, my pure flower.”
She had to try hard not to gag on his words. “I have been thinking about what you told me, and I need to tell you something before you see me.”
Neil moved uncomfortably as she moved closer to him leaving inches between them.
“Tell me, I am waiting.”
“I am in love, Raj, and I have been for a long time.”
“In love?” The man sounded excited.
“Yes, I am in love with someone else, but that person doesn’t love me.” She faked a sob.
“Oh…”
“It took me a while, but I realized that man has no heart, and it’s no use loving him.”
“Yes,” Raj encouraged.
“I will try to forget that stone man, but I need time. Promise me you will give me time.” She glared at Neil who stood by her, his face a mask.
“Yes, darling. You take as much time as you want. I will give you your privacy at my house.”
“You are so understanding, Raj. I wish the man I fell in love with was so understanding. He was the reason I didn’t want to get married to Dev Singham or anyone else,” she rasped and noticed a sudden reaction from Neil.
Encouraged by the reaction, she gave Neil a sweet smile before hanging up the phone with Raj. “Bye, Raj, I will see you soon.”
“Yes, my sweet pea, very soon.”
Narmada continued to look into Neil’s eyes waiting for him to say something, anything.
“Who is Dev Singham?”
She was taken aback that he was asking about the man she was once forced to get engaged to almost a month ago. She curbed her need to burst out in surprise. “Why do you want to know?”
“Who are the Singhams?” His voice was gruff.
She looked at him for a long moment before responding. “What will you give me if I tell you about the Singhams?”
“Nothing,” he growled.
“Fine, I won’t tell you.” She turned away from him to grab an apple from the fruit tray. She took a sharp bite into the apple looking at him before turning away to walk back to the bedroom.
Narmada wasn’t sure how badly Neil wanted to know about the Singhams, and she wasn’t sure why, but it came at a good time. She intended to use anything and everything she could to get him to change.
She was scribbling notes on a loose sheet of paper when he walked into the bedroom. She looked into his eyes and knew he was going through crap, and she was piling on more crap.
When he did not utter a word, she decided not to be the one to start the conversation.
“Narmada.”
“Neil.” She matched his tone.
“I brought you dinner.” He placed the bowl of steaming food on the desk next to her.
“Stop pretending. I know what you want.” She laughed.
“Just eat, you don’t need to tell me anything,” he barked and started to walk away.
She reached out and wrapped her fingers around his wrist. “I need a small favor, and I will tell you about the Singhams.”
“What do you want?”
“My back has been stiff since last night. I need help stretching it.” She batted her eyelids innocently.
“How?”
“Oh, it won’t take long, you just need to hold me from behind and lift me so I stretch my spine.” She stood up and turned to stand with her back to him. She still had his t-shirt on and did not fail to catch the primitive hunger in his eyes.
“Bad idea.”
“I’ve done this before. I’ve had a lot of people help me stretch.” She lied.
She crossed her hands diagonally on her chest. “Okay, put your hands around me and lift me up.”
He hesitated for a moment but slowly put his hands around her from behind and lifted her feet off the ground. She groaned feeling the stretch. “Okay, let me go.”
He let his arms hang loose even before she could gather herself, and when her feet hit the marble floor, her ankle twisted. She collapsed to the floor with a yelp.
“Oh shit, Narmada, are you okay?”
“Ouch… my ankle hurts.” She rubbed her ankle to make the shooting pain go away.
“Oh no… I’m so sorry.” Neil sounded shaken up as he lifted her off the marble floor and placed her on the bed.
“Neil, stop it. I am fine,” she called out as he left the bedroom in a hurry.
She sat on the bed rubbing her ankle, and the pain started to subside when Neil placed a bag of ice on the swollen skin.
“I’m fine, Neil.”
“Is your back okay?” He held the ice pack to her ankle.
An idea flashed in her head. “Neil, can you ice my back, please?”
Neil knew it was a bad idea, but he couldn’t say no. “Put on some pants, and I will ice your back.”
“Are you kidding me? It is so frigging hot I was going to sit in the refrigerator an hour ago,” she retorted.
“Fine, turn around.” He watched her roll onto her tummy before placing the ice pack.
She felt his eyes on her back, and then on her legs. She still had her anklets on and knew he was fascinated by them. She made sure to jingle them from time to time in a tease.
“Neil, take off the ice and rub the muscles a little,” she mumbled into the pillow.
She heard his breath hiss, but he did not object. She waited patiently as he removed the ice pack and positioned himself to gently sit on her legs.
She moaned into the pillow when she felt his thumb dig into her lower back. “Oh my God, I’m in heaven.”
As if encouraged by her words, he brought his other thumb to rub the muscles over her t-shirt making thrills ripple through her muscles.
“Neil…” His name rolled off her lips in hard seduction, and he groaned in response. “Move my t-shirt aside.”
She called out his name in a plea as he worked her muscles over the fabric of the t-shirt. She finally got impatient and tugged the t-shirt to her side making it ride up.
His fingers froze, but they stayed on her skin setting it on fire. She moaned in encouragement feeling the heat from his eyes roaming her bare back.
Her heart was in a rage as he moved higher on her back, his fingertips setting her skin ablaze. His thumbs lost contact, and he replaced them by his palm running over her soft skin.
“You have beautiful skin,” he whispered making pleasure surge between her legs.
“Touch me like that…” Her words dove into her mouth when she felt his hands slide to the side closest to her.
Instinctively, her chest raised off the mattress to let him cup her yearning breasts. He folded the hardened buds between his fingers and pinched them.
She let out a gasp of pleasure but did not move. She took a deep breath when she felt him lowering his body onto her back, his hands running along her arms to stretch them out.
His hard shaft dug into her back making her whimper.
“Why can’t I stop myself?” His breath was hot in her hair.
“I don’t want you to stop. I want you… all of you,” she pleaded.
He groaned into her hair burying her face into the darkness.
“Neil, I want you… I’ll take whatever I can get from you. Let me be yours until you let me go.” Her words sent thrills through his veins.
“Pretend you’re mine,” he growled, ripping off her panties before turning her around to face him.
“Take me, I’m yours,” she hummed against his lips, enjoying the aggression in the kiss and his touch as his hands hungrily roamed her body.