Chapter 27

Kelly

I couldn’t believe I had gotten in the truck with him. I could smell the whiskey seeping out of his skin. I hated when men drank too much. Not to mention the fact that I’d spent the better part of the day trying to get him out of my head.

What are you doing, Kelly?

I had no idea. There was no way that this night ended in any way that was good for me. I knew it, but I just didn’t care.

What was this feeling?

Today made absolutely no sense to me, yet it was as if it had happened exactly as it was meant to. All the uncertainty and danger that Hunter brought into my life somehow managed to make my future more clear, like not knowing what lay ahead was okay as long as he was showing me the way. I didn’t know anything outside of the present moment, and the feeling I had of being held there by the gravity of the beast in that truck with me. My initial reaction was to worry, to be terrified of him and where he was taking me, but the reality was that I didn’t feel that way. I knew I should, but I didn’t. I felt good sitting next to him. I felt safe, even though I knew I wasn’t. As I stole glances at him from the passenger seat, I could see him slide in and out of darkness each time we passed a streetlight. I would see his broad shoulders extending out of his shirt. The way he rubbed the hair on his strong jaw as he stared straight ahead, not caring what could come at him at any moment. This was his world and I was by his side.

I watched the way his massive hands gripped the wheel and caressed it as he slid them around when he made a turn. The way the muscles in his tattooed forearm flexed every time he tightened his hold on it. I wished his hands were on me, moving across my body and wrapping around me, keeping me firmly where he wanted me to be. My mind kept flashing back to earlier in the day, to when he held me in those hands and sent me spiraling into some alternate life where I wasn’t me anymore, but his to do with as he wanted. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes so I could take in the relief I felt just by being next to him.

For as long as I could remember, my life had been about making sure everyone around me was safe and happy and that I was in complete control. My life had spiraled when my parents died and from that moment on my only focus was keeping things level. Everything was spinning and I did my best to keep my feet on the ground and not fall. When I was with Hunter, I knew I wasn’t in control. I couldn’t focus on anything else around me other than him. When he touched me, everything in my life melted away and all I could see was him. All I felt was him.

Even as I sat next to him, not saying a word, it was like we were the only two people in the world. He would disappear into darkness and then show himself to me again when the light hit. I knew he could break me whenever he vanished, but I knew he would show up again to put me back together. He left me shattered on my kitchen floor earlier, but he had reappeared tonight to put the pieces back in place. He showed me a side of myself I never even knew existed, and as much as I wanted it to not be true, I knew that was who I was now. When I met him in the diner, I felt his fury pulse through me, and when he took me in the kitchen he made me his. When he put his mouth and hands on me, it was as if my body was exploding in every direction at once, and when he put himself inside of me, he brought everything rushing back to the center. The room had gone black except for our bodies crashing together. The energy between us built and built until neither of us could take it anymore and it erupted into pure ecstasy and release. As I held onto him and he pushed himself deeper inside of me, it was like we had gone to another planet together, and then come free-falling back to earth. I had been stunned. It had all happened so fast and then he was gone before I could even begin to process what had just taken place. I felt weak, but also a sense of calm like I had never felt. It was as if everything was right where it should be as I gazed up at his intense eyes and held myself against his body. I felt like I was thrown into another place and it was where I was always meant to be. It was just the two of us and he held me close to keep me from slipping away. He took me as his, as if I had always been his, as if I always would be.

Then he left.

He left me sitting on the floor in a trance, just trying to make sense of this new world he had drawn me into.

His world.

When he walked out my door, he’d left me all alone, dazed, and lost. I had tried to find my way home, but I knew there was no going back. I was now in Hunter’s universe and there was nothing I could do to escape. I felt scared and shaken, but a part of me knew he would always be there to rescue me. I wanted to be back in my old life, but a bigger part of me couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. My eyes were open and I never wanted to close them again. No matter how hard I fought it, I would always be expecting him around every corner. It was more than a want, more than just a feeling. I needed him to be there and I knew he would be.

Tonight, just as unexpectedly and furiously as he entered and left, there he was again.

I wasn’t scared this time. I wanted to be taken wherever he was going.

I knew that’s where I needed to be.