Chapter Four
Hunter
I don’t know what came over me.
She was just so close and she smelled so good: vanilla and lavender. I wanted to act noble. She was beautiful, and she looked like she deserved more than me mauling her out on my sister’s patio.
But I couldn’t stop myself. The curvy brunette was insanely gorgeous, and I had to have her.
When I’d put my luggage in the guest room at my sister’s house, I’d thought about just turning in for the night. After all, I was tired and I knew I had to make some calls in the morning. Earplugs would keep the pounding noise out, and I could ignore the shaking of the walls. But as I sat there, all I could think about was her. I had to know who she was.
I needed to know her name.
And before I knew what I was doing, I was walking down the stairs, surveying everyone for a glimpse of my mystery woman. No such luck. It was like she had evaporated into thin air. My eyes scoured every room, and before I knew it, Kristi had appeared, grabbing my arm and dragging me into her mother’s home office.
“Uncle Hunter, what are you doing?” she hissed, setting her red cup down on the large desk in the back of the room and looking at me like I was crazy. “People keep coming up to me and asking me who you are!”
“I’m just looking for something. Why?” I asked, crossing my arms. In the back of my head, I could already hear the timer counting down. The longer I was in here with my niece, the less time I had to find my mystery girl.
“You know it’s my annual first day of summer party! I have a reputation to keep,” she said, smiling. Unlike her brother, who was pretty much a male airhead, Kristi was always thinking about her social status. She was constantly worrying about maintaining her status as queen bee among a bunch of teenage girls.
And frankly, Kristi’s annual parties had been going on for years now. I hated to admit it, but the first one had actually been my idea. That was probably another reason Kristi and Aaron knew I’d never bust them. After all, the year after my father had given me sole ownership of Maddox Media, I’d spent the summer setting up various meetings to discuss the future of the company while babysitting my sister’s kids.
One day, Kristi had been lounging by the pool while her brother was doing laps. She was whining about the kids at her school. “No one invites me to parties. How am I supposed to climb the social ladder is no one is going to give me a step up?”
Because I was sick of listening to her complain and overwhelmed with my new business responsibilities, I’d done something irresponsible.
“Why don’t you just throw a party? That’s what I would do.”
I hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but the following night I was shocked to see that the house had been invaded by schoolkids.
I cornered the twins. “Kristi, this isn’t what I had in mind,” I said sternly.
“I need this Uncle Hunter. Please?” Kristi had made puppy eyes at me and batted her lashes until I’d agreed.
And the annual party had been going strong since then. I knew it wasn’t a good idea, but I always pretended to look the other way as Kristi and Aaron lived the life with their friends. At least I could always be the fun uncle.
But now, I was going to work my mistake to my advantage.
“Kristi,” I said. “You’re the queen of this place, and I need your help.” As I spoke. I looked around the room. Pictures adorned the walls. Family photos mostly, but there was one of Kristi with a group of friends that caught my eye. One of the girls was familiar, and my stomach lurched to the side when I realized she had been standing with my mystery girl.
“Sure,” Kristi said lazily. “Happy to help, Uncle Hunter. What is it?”
“Who is this?”
Kristi grabbed her red cup and walked over to look at the picture on the wall. “Oh, Justine?”
“Yes, I just saw her downstairs.”
Kristi’s eyebrow went up in surprise. “She’s one of my good friends. You’ve met her last summer. She’s here with her cousin.”
“Her cousin?” I inquired.
Kristi shrugged her shoulders. “Her cousin is down here for the summer. Justine says she’s been pretty sheltered her whole life. You can tell, kinda. The girl just seems really self-conscious.”
“That’s her,” I said. It had to be her – the gorgeous goddess I’d seen downstairs obviously wasn’t used to big parties like this. She’d stuck out like a sore thumb.
“Well, whatever, I’m going back downstairs,” Kristi said, her manner disinterested.
I turned around to follow her out the door. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Kristi laughed. “That isn’t much.” She laughed as she drained the rest of her drink. “Are you okay? You look kinda tired,” she added.
I needed to get a grip. I didn’t want my niece to know I was lusting after her friend’s young cousin. “Like I said, just a little tired. I think I’m going to go outside to get some fresh air.”
Kristi pointed towards the kitchen. “Go relax,” she said with surprising sternness for a teenager. “You’ll feel better.”
Kristi disappeared down the stairs and after a second, I followed.
I was only going to stay a bit longer. Maybe get some air outside to calm down a bit. Because what the hell was I thinking? Was I really stalking a girl I’d seen for only fifteen seconds? One who was probably underage despite those luscious curves?
Shit, I deserved to go to jail. But then, I went out on the porch and she was there. My mystery woman.
She was like an angel bathed in the moonlight. And when I found my voice, I asked her trivial questions. Her voice was melodic. Just from listening to her speak, I thought she was probably a singer.
I was trying to talk myself away from touching her, but the closer I got to her, the harder it was to keep myself away from her. But then I smelled the gorgeous girl, and I just couldn’t take it anymore. I moved toward her, crushing into her mouth against mine. It didn’t take long for her to open for me, like a flower in bloom. I backed her up against the wall near the door, and surprisingly, instead of being scared, she pushed further into me. She moaned softly.
“Dani,” I growled into her mouth. “I need you.”
I wanted to swallow her into my body. I wanted to pull her so close that we became one person. Dani’s hands went to my hair as I grasped at her back. Heat rushed through my veins as I slid my hands down her dress and squeezed her ass. She whimpered and moaned into my mouth, fingers threading through my hair.
Dani’s nails dug into my skin, no doubt leaving marks. But I didn’t care. My hands went lower, to the bottom of her dress. I grasped at her thigh, feeling the goosebumps of her skin. I started to lift up her dress.
I was so crazed with lust that I didn’t hear the door open to the side.
A voice sounded out.
“Dani!”
The beautiful brunette jumped in my arms and gasped. “Oh my gosh!” She yelped. “Justine, you scared me!” We were both breathing hard, hearts pounding fast.
“Justine is my cousin,” Dani said quickly as she pulled away from my grip. She was only a few inches away from my me and I was already missing her and aching for her warmth.
She pushed her dress down few inches as I straightened out my jacket. I wasn’t embarrassed at being caught. To the contrary, actually. But she seemed to mind that someone had walked into to us, so I tried to right myself as best as I could.
Justine, looking exactly as she did in the picture that I saw in the office, looked between the two of us, trying to figure out what was going on between us.
“I’m sorry, I just got a text from my mom. She’s kind of freaking out that we aren’t home, so I think we should go home.”
Dani blinked. Her lower lip was caught between her teeth as she looked at me.
“Oh,” was all she said. “Okay. Well, if you’re sure.” She clutched her arms like she was cold and then looked at me. There was a tense moment between us before Justine grabbed her hand and led her out of the patio.
She was walking away from me.
I couldn’t let that happen.
I couldn’t just let her leave.
Desperate for more, I darted after her and touched her shoulder. She spun around, and looked at me.
“When can I see you again?” I asked in a deep voice. “I need to see you, Dani.”
Dani was stunned at what I had said, as if she didn’t understand my question. I was about to repeat it again, when Justine interrupted.
“Oh, I bet you’ll see her around,” Justine said with a wink. “Now, come on Dani, we have to go. My mom is just going to make it worse if we aren’t home soon,” she said importantly.
Dani smiled at me before she reluctantly followed her cousin away. I stared at her body, admiring the way her ass swung from side to side like a luscious pendulum. When they were both gone, I closed my eyes, pressing my back against the cold wall. I felt on fire, as if I was on a cliff looking down a canyon. It was going to be a long night for me, thinking about my beautiful brunette angel.
I went back into the house, taking the steps slowly up to my room.
“Uncle Hunter!” I spun around to see Kristi standing behind me. “Did you find what you were looking for?” she asked. Her eyes gleamed mischievously.
I tried to keep my face as impassive as possible. “I just went outside to get some air.” Kristi’s eyebrows went up but she didn’t make a comment. I ignored her stare and turned back around, heading to the stairs. “I’m going to go to bed. Make sure all these kids are gone by the morning.”
“Of course. Have I ever let you down?” I heard Kristi say, before she called back to me. “Hey, is it okay if I go out tomorrow with Justine? She wants to go shopping and show her cousin around a little. I thought it would be fun,” she mentioned casually, like it was no big deal.
It was strange that Kristi was asking me, as she had never asked for permission before. Was she dropping a hint, somehow or other? Had she caught onto my real motives?
But my niece’s expression was casually innocent. Besides, I wasn’t going to miss out on this opportunity.
“How about I give you a ride tomorrow?” was my nonchalant offer.
“Sure thing,” Kristi chirped, innocent as an angel. “Thanks!” she added before bounding out of sight and leaving me on my own. Slowly, I made my way to my room, shutting the door and sitting on my mattress. Because was I really scheming to meet up with the beautiful Dani again? A girl my niece’s age who’d likely just graduated from high school, young and pure?
But the memory of those soft curves pressed against my hardness and the sweetness of her mouth drove everything else out of my mind. Because I had to see the beautiful Dani again … even if this was wrong.