Hunter followed Riggs up the stairs while keeping his arm tightly around Scarlet. Even though this woman was as strong as fucking nails, the way she leaned into him, allowing him to support her, he knew she was about to crack wide open. And he didn’t blame her. After everything she had been through, it was a miracle she hadn’t gone crazy. And now with what James had just told her, Hunter was afraid it might just be the last push Scarlet needed to fall over the edge into nothing but darkness and despair.
Learning that she’d inherited what he could only assume was a shit load of money and assets, and that because of said money and assets her life was in danger from a man who had already taken so much from her, was a lot of shit for Scarlet to process.
How much more hurt did this woman still have to endure? How much more before she finally broke into tiny pieces that would never be able to get put back together again?
After walking down a long hall with nothing but a few pictures on the walls and bright lights hanging from the ceiling, Riggs stopped in front of a door.
“This is her room.” He glared at Hunter. “Your room is further down the hall, to the left.”
“Like hell it is. If this is where she’ll be staying, it’s where I’m staying.”
Just as Hunter was about to reach for the door, Riggs stepped in front of him. “I assure you that she won’t be safer anywhere else than right here. There’s no need to share rooms.”
Hunter leaned his face closer to Riggs. “And I assure you that if you don’t move out of my way right now, I will punch you in the face.”
There they were, like two alpha males glaring at each other while imagining who would rip off whose head first. But Riggs could be sure that when it came to the woman currently glued to Hunter’s side, he would rip, tear, claw, destroy, and fucking incinerate if it meant keeping her safe. He’d made her a promise, and intended to keep it—even if it killed him.
“Hunter, stop being such a guy. I need a shower.” Scarlet tried to pull away from his side, but he tightened his hold around her, making it impossible for her to move. And then he tightened his hold some more, probably making it almost impossible for her to breathe—which was okay. Her breathing easily was not as important as him keeping her as close as fucking possible. Did that make him a little insane? Probably.
Did he care? Nope.
Hunter slanted his head to the side while keeping his eyes glued to Riggs’s face. “You heard the woman. Now if you’ll excuse us.”
With that he reached for the doorknob and pushed Riggs to the side as he walked into the room. He turned around, shot Riggs a smug grin, then slammed the door shut in his face.
Fucking dildo.
“You should lay off Riggs.” Scarlet pulled away from him, and this time he let her.
“I don’t like him.”
“I don’t think he cares.”
“Well, if he values his life, or those white polished teeth of his, he would.” Hunter walked around the room, inspecting it. Judging by the beige sheets, brown furniture, and brown paneling on the walls, earthy and boring was definitely the theme they were going for.
He walked over the plush white carpet in front of the bed and started looking through every drawer and every cabinet.
“What are you doing?”
Hunter closed the drawer of the bedside table. “Looking for bugs.”
“Excuse me?”
“You can’t be too careful. Especially now that we know what kind of setup they have going here.” He lay flat on his back and checked under the bed, and only when he was sure it was clear did he get up.
Glancing at Scarlet, he saw her frowning at him. “What?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m going to take a shower.”
“Scarlet?”
She paused, but didn’t turn around.
“We’re going to need to talk.”
“Maybe we don’t,” she replied softly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, Ace. Nothing.” And then she walked away, into the en-suite bathroom, closing the door behind her—shutting him out.
That was exactly what she was doing. She was shutting him out, and he hated the feeling. Why, after seven years of being alone in nothing but a pit of sorrow and regret, when he finally found something that resembled hope, did it get snatched away from him in the blink of an eye? And by what? A ghost? The ghost of the person he thought he would never get over.
Rubbing the back of his neck, he sighed. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe all this was a sign that he wasn’t meant to love anyone else but Blue. Maybe he was meant to live the rest of his life alone, with nothing but memories to haunt him every day of his miserable damn life. God knew he made peace with that a long time ago…until Scarlet. Until she gave him hope. Being with her, feeling the way he did about her gave him that tiny little shred of hope that maybe, just maybe, he was capable of feeling again. But that feeling of hopefulness was short lived.
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the trinket, the chain he had carried with him all these years. The symbol that had become his cross, a reminder of what he had lost.
It was official. His life was just one big what if. What if he never agreed to run away with Blue, would she still have been in her car at that exact same time on that exact day? What if he never met her in the first place, would he still have managed to get so fucked-up over some other girl eventually? And what if…what if after meeting Blue and then losing her, he met Scarlet under normal circumstances where she wasn’t related to his dead girlfriend, would he have managed to heal from his loss? Would he have been able to love again?
What if…what if everything wasn’t so fucked-up?
Hunter tossed the chain on the bed and felt like he could scream. There was this raging animal inside him, scratching and clawing, wanting fucking out.
A knock on the door had Hunter reaching for his gun in a split second.
“Who is it?”
“Um, my name is Lily. Mr. Baxter asked me to bring you something to eat, clean towels, and some clothing.”
Food, towels, and clothes. What was this? A fucking five-star inn?
Hunter walked to the door, still holding his weapon in his hand. There was no room for taking chances in their current situation.
When he opened the door, the woman who called herself Lily stood behind a trolley. Hunter had to blink when he noticed how young she looked. Seventeen, maybe eighteen. Was she one of the girls Baxter had managed to save?
He stood to the side, allowing her to push the trolley inside while he hid his gun behind the door.
“Thank you,” he said as she walked out again.
She nodded and disappeared down the hall.
This was un-fucking-believable. Never in a million years did Hunter ever think he would find himself in a damn safe house where girls saved from slavery would be rehabilitated. It sounded like something out of a damn Taken movie.
Closing the door, Hunter noticed the rolled up towels at the bottom of the trolley. He grabbed one and knocked on the bathroom door.
“Scar. Do you have a towel?”
Nothing.
“Scar?”
He turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door. The bathroom was fogged up with steam, and he had to squint to be able to see anything.
“Scar? Are you trying to make a damn sauna in here?”
He walked further in and noticed the shower at the far end corner of the bathroom.
“Scarlet. Are you okay?”
The second he came close enough, he saw a figure inside the shower. Only, she wasn’t standing. She was sitting with her back against the wall, clutching her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth as the water came down hard over her head and back.
“Scarlet.”
Hunter pulled off his shirt and flung open the shower door, crouching down in front of her. When he felt the water on his skin, he flinched.
“Jesus Christ. This water is too hot.” It was scorching. “Come on.”
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and lifted her up. The moment he looked into her eyes, he sucked in a breath.
She wasn’t crying. She wasn’t sobbing. No. The look on her face was like ice. Cold, hard, completely devoid of any emotion. A solid nothing.
He wiped her wet hair from her face. “Are you okay?”
She just nodded, and Hunter pulled her out of the shower. As soon as he grabbed the towel, wanting to wrap it around her, he saw how red her skin was from the scorching shower she had made her body endure. It was like she was trying to burn something off of her. Trying to get rid of whatever it was that caused her pain.
He held out the towel and she lifted her arms, allowing him to wrap it around her, her eyes still empty orbs of blue. Of course, the son of a bitch that he was, he allowed his gaze to move down to her breasts. Firm, full breasts, beautiful round, pink nipples that he had sucked, nipped, and tugged so many times. Yet, standing there, staring down at them, he knew he hadn’t tasted them nearly enough.
Immediately his cock shot to attention, and he cursed his body for wanting her even though he knew Scarlet was in a bad space right now. But the selfish prick inside him made it impossible for him to not stare at her hot as hell, curvy body that knew exactly how to set his damn insides on fire.
Wrapping the towel around her, he purposefully let his knuckles graze against her skin just above the swell of her breasts. Selfish bastard.
Just as he was about to tie the towel, he paused while still looking down. It was like his hands had a mind of their own. He had no control as they moved down, softly caressing the skin between her breasts, thinking of how fucking good her skin tasted.
The towel dropped from his hands, and all she did was stand there, staring at him, allowing him to look at her—to touch her.
“God, Scar,” he whispered. “I’m such a selfish prick right now, but I want you so damn much.” He didn’t look up at her. He couldn’t. All he wanted to do was stare at his hands, his fingers as they softly traced down her warm skin, still pink from the hot water.
“Then take me,” she replied softly, still not moving. “Take what you want, Ace.”
His gaze shot up to hers, her words taking him by surprise, but her eyes were still empty, cold, not a hint of lust or warmth hidden behind her blue irises.
For a long few seconds they just stared at each other. Hunter’s mind engaged in a raging battle with his dick, his head telling him to walk away, to not make this entire situation more complicated than it already was. But his dick kept on pressing hard against his pants, reminding him that he was a man, and that he wanted to claim Scarlet now more than ever. Without warning, Scarlet grabbed his hand and pushed it between her legs, letting him feel her slick heat.
“I said take what you want, Ace.”
Christ. No matter how much he wanted to be the good guy here, having his hand against her smooth skin made it impossible for him to be anything but a damn animal.
Nothing on this goddamn earth would have been able to stop him from doing what he did next. He grabbed her behind her neck, pulling her closer, crashing his lips against hers while he pushed his finger deep inside her. She gasped against his lips and he took the opportunity to force his tongue inside her mouth, wanting to taste her as that familiar cherry scent completely overwhelmed his senses. When he felt her tongue eagerly playing against his, he felt like he could fucking roar with the lust pulsing through his damn veins. Everything about her, her taste, the feel of her skin, her body—everything wound him up so fucking tight he could hardly breathe.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, her nails pushing hard into his scalp. He didn’t care that it stung like a bitch, he liked it. It fueled his already out of control, red-hot desire for her. Within seconds the sound of their mouths slapping together filled the room, the air around them laden with sexual desire, their out of control craving for each other fueling their every move. Faster, harder, they started to ravish each other, their bodies growing more demanding with each passing second.
As she dragged her nails down his neck, over his shoulders, he was sure it drew blood. The pain mixed with the pleasure of touching her, swallowing her moans in his mouth, sent his body, his mind into a fucking frenzy.
They were kissing, touching, tasting like their lives depended on it. It was all hands, tongues, and labored breaths, trying to devour each other as fast and as hard as they could.
He pulled his hand away from between her legs, and she moaned.
“Don’t stop, Ace.”
“I don’t plan to.”
He grabbed her around her waist and lifted her while she wrapped her legs around him. Fuck him. He was in physical pain being so close to her but not feeling her around him. His body was screaming, wanting nothing more than to feel her heat possess him.
He moved to the cabinet next to the sink, and with one hand he pushed everything to the floor. The sound of glass breaking filled the room, but they didn’t stop. A fucking nuclear weapon could go off next to them and they still wouldn’t be able to stop. Whenever they were together like this, it was like they consumed each other completely.
After he placed her on the cabinet, he reached up and wound his fist in her hair, pulling her head back, wanting that soft skin of her neck offered to him like a goddamn sacrifice. While he sucked, nipped, and kissed her skin, unable to get enough of her sweet taste, Scarlet started to undo his belt, zipping down his pants.
The way her knuckles touched his skin felt like they were burning straight through to his soul. All the while in the back of his mind, he knew that this was wrong. This wasn’t the time. Neither of them were thinking straight. But fuck him, he couldn’t stop.
As soon as his cock was freed from his pants, she wrapped her hand around it, and Hunter groaned against her skin, pushing forward, deeper into her touch.
“Fuck, Scar. What the hell are we doing?” He hardly recognized his own voice as pleasure started to consume him.
“You know we need this, Ace.”
And then she moved forward, thrusting her hips, pushing his cock inside her. That was when Hunter finally let out the roar he had been keeping in. Feeling her heat, her tight walls closing around him was almost too fucking much.
Scarlet pulled his hair, lifting his face to hers before slamming her lips against his. Her teeth grazed against his lips, her tongue pushing as deep as possible inside his mouth.
Guided by nothing but desire and need, he started to move, thrusting in and out of her, needing to get that release as quick as fucking possible.
Hard, fast, and uncontrollable—that was how it was with them.
“You see, Ace,” Scarlet started, leaning against the mirror behind her, letting him watch as her tits bounced up and down as he fucked her. “This is what we need. This is how people like us deal with shit.”
She grabbed his hand and placed it on her breast, squeezing her hand around his.
Hunter was too far gone to even try to make sense of what the hell she just said. His mind was nothing but a frenzy of sensation, the need for pleasure.
While kneading her breast hard in his palm, fucking her like his life depended on it, Hunter closed his eyes and lowered his head, allowing the pleasure to consume him.
Scarlet grabbed his hair and pulled his head up with a hard jerk. “Don’t you fucking dare. Look at me, Ace. Look at me while you fuck me.”
“Fuck!” He slammed back into her hard and opened his eyes, staring straight into blue irises dark with the kind of need that mirrored his own.
Blue. From out of nowhere a picture of her face flashed inside his mind.
Harder, faster, more merciless thrusting of hips.
Blue. Memories of her beneath him, her beautiful face flushed with the exertion of their love making poured through his mind like poison. Her blonde hair splayed over his pillow, her back arching as the pleasure he gave her ripped through her body.
Blue.
Scarlet kept a tight hold on his hair, forcing him to keep his eyes on her. Blue fucking eyes. Blue eyes just like hers. It was like it was her staring back at him.
He closed his eyes, wanting to block out the image of her.
“Look at me, Hunter,” Scarlet demanded, and by God he did. He fucking did. Fuck knew why, but he looked at her. The only problem was, it was no longer Scarlet he was seeing.
Suddenly it was her face, her breasts, her body against his. It was Blue. It was all her, nothing else.
Hunter felt his spine start to tingle with the pleasure threatening to erupt from his body while his mind was still possessed with images of the woman he had lost. Yet now, he could feel her, feel Blue’s soul reach for his, taking control of him.
With another hard thrust, he lifted his hand and pushed his fingers through the blonde hair he had missed for so long, and grabbed hold of her neck as he continued his relentless pounding, his cock sliding in and out of her. And then he heard a voice that sounded a hell of a lot like his own. “Blue.”
The second he said it, it was like the haze he was in evaporated, and he instantly realized what he had done.
He stopped, his release seconds away from ripping through his body. Ice spread through his gut as the full extent of what he had just done dawned on him.
“Jesus, Scar. I didn’t mean—”
“Shut up.”
Their gazes remained locked on each other, and when Hunter noticed the hurt on her face, he cursed. Guilt spread like a damn cancer through his chest, infecting every part of him.
He wanted to rear back, but Scarlet grabbed his ass and pushed him forward, forcing him to stay inside her.
“Don’t you dare stop.”
Hunter shook his head. “Don’t—”
Scarlet flexed her hips, pushing him deeper, and Hunter immediately felt the pleasure, his need for release returning with full force.
“You fucking finish what you started, Ace.”
Determination beamed from her face while she continued to flex her hips, letting the pressure build and build inside him again. And he allowed it. He allowed her to push him past the point of no return even after what he had just done, after hurting her. What kind of monster was he?
But it was too late. He was too damn close. He wouldn’t have been able to stop even if someone held a gun to his head.
He grabbed her hips and pulled her forward, wrapping an arm around her back, pushing deeper into her. His body had taken complete control, and he continued to fuck Scarlet while images of Blue still poured into his mind.
It was like he was there, but he wasn’t. He had no control. He lost it completely. For a man who thrived on control, lived and strived for it, this fucked-up situation was all it took for him to finally lose it.
When Scarlet pushed her nails deep into the skin of his ass, Hunter came. Violent shudders of pleasure tore through his body as he pulsed his release inside her.
Everything around him went dark. There was nothing but his pleasure crashing against every corner of his body…and the images of the woman he lost. Blue.
Only when the tremors of his orgasm subsided did reality slowly start to sink back in, colors seeping back into his mind. He opened his eyes and saw Scarlet staring at him. And what he saw took his fucking breath away.
Tears. There were tears in her eyes. Tears while she stared at him with so much hurt on her face that it was almost too damn painful to look at her.
“Scar…I’m so fucking sorry.”
She didn’t say a word as she just kept on staring at him. The way she bit into her lower lip, he knew she was fighting back the tears, the hurt he had just caused her. But she was failing since the tears just kept on slipping down her face.
Jesus Christ.
He stepped back, pulling out of her, and watched in horror as more tears silently moved over her cheek.
“Scarlet—”
“Please leave so that I clean myself.” She got off from the cabinet, and Hunter glanced down at her legs, watching in horror as the remnants of his release moved down her thighs.
Dear God. Never had Hunter felt like a bigger prick than he did right at that moment. He had done some fucked-up shit in his life, but nothing came close to this.
That was when he realized he was no better than the man who stole everything from Scarlet. Brent. Hunter was right up there next to that son of a bitch.
No longer able to look at her without wanting to tear his own goddamn skin off, Hunter zipped up his pants and turned to walk out the door.
“Ace?”
He stopped and glanced at her. She was looking at the tattoo on his side, the one with Blue’s name.
“Don’t worry about it too much,” she continued. “It was good while it lasted.”
Hunter cringed when her words stabbed right through his chest. Her voice was as cold as steel, and Hunter knew that if there had been even a little piece of good left inside her, he just destroyed it.
Whatever hope she might have had, Hunter just fucking slaughtered it.