Chapter Eight – Hunter
With my arm encircled around her waist as we rode the elevator up to my room, Rachel’s body was warm and willing beside me. Three months. Three long, lonely months, without even a whiff of a woman in that hole. And now, here was one, giggling expectantly as she pressed herself against me, practically begging for one thrilling night before we both separated and never saw hide nor hair of each other again.
With the chime of the doors sliding open, announcing our arrival, we both slipped out onto the hotel floor. Nearly an hour had passed since Kris had come down and seen me with Rachel at the bar, and consequently stormed out. In the time, the young hotel clerk and I had made considerable headway.
“You know,” she said in a hushed voice, “I probably shouldn’t be doing this.”
“If it makes you feel any better,” I replied, “I probably shouldn’t be, either.”
We both laughed softly as we made our way down to my room at the end of the hall. With every step, we drew closer, and her grip on me tightened, her soft hands sliding over my sides and back. And, in turn, my own hands began to become more adventuresome.
But then, we passed Kris’s room. And everything seemed to change as an uneasy feeling began to nestle in my gut.
I wasn’t sure if it had been the anger on her face and in her actions, or if it had been the shock and disappointment that had all seemed to spring completely unbidden from Kris as she saw me at the bar with Rachel. But, the moment I looked at the numbers on her door, I saw her auburn-framed face glaring back at me with emerald eyes.
Two feet later, we were past her door and still headed directly for my room.
“What’s wrong?” Rachel asked with a giggle. “Not feeling it still?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my hands squeezing her side with less fervor than before. “Nothing’s wrong.”
“Really, now?” she asked as we came to a stop in front of my door, pressing herself into me as her arms went around my body. “Well, let’s see, shall we?”
She was up on her toes, and her lips were incoming with the inevitability of glaciers at the beginning of the ice age. Lightly chapped and covered with some kind of mildly sweet lip gloss, but still soft and full, they pressed themselves to mine.
I closed my eyes, tried to enjoy the moment. But all I could see was Kris looking at me in shock and silent rage. That feeling in my gut seemed to grow worse. Like I’d just been strapped into a rollercoaster after finishing a six-course dinner.
Rachel snaked a hand up behind my head and ran her fingers through my overgrown, shaggy hair, twining them at the nape of my neck in a move that should have sent shivers down my spine as her other hand traveled to the front of my jeans.
Nothing. Just Kris’s face, her lips pursed together in that murderous look of hers. For a moment, a thought of it being her hands moving across my body intruded into my mind, but that was quickly dispelled as the young hotel clerk pulled back. But, then, my stomach sank like I’d just taken the first loop.
“What’s wrong?” Rachel asked, a note of hurt in her voice as she continued to tease the hair at the back of my neck. “Was that not a good kiss, or something? You didn’t even…”
I opened my eyes languidly, licking my lips slightly. The taste of her gloss was still on my skin, but rather than being sweet like it had been moments before, it seemed suddenly acrid, like ashes on my tongue.
She looked up at me curiously, her hands still moving, teasing, enticing.
I shook my head as one hand removed hers from the front of my jeans, while the other gently undraped her fingers from my neck. As I did, her eyes widened in surprise, and she took a step back, shaking her head a little.
Arms crossed over her chest, she glared up at me.
“Oh, Rachel, I’m so sorry. I just can’t. Now that I’m really considering things, I’m realizing how much I need my rest. This has been a long—”
“Is it that red-haired woman that came down a little while ago?” she interjected. “You said you just worked together.”
“We are,” I said. “I mean, we do. I promise. You saw us together earlier. There’s nothing there.”
“Yeah? Well, it sure as fuck doesn’t look like it.” She leaned forward. “Do you have any idea what I was going to do to you, Hunter? What I was going to let you do to me?”
I sighed. “Honestly? A really good idea.”
She took a step closer. “And it was going to be wonderful. And filthy. And fun.”
I nodded, sighing again. “More than likely, yes.”
“You know what, though? You’re getting nothing, now.” She turned almost violently, her bob haircut flying out around her like a dervish’s robe, and began her march down the hall, her heels like nails being pounded into a coffin with every step, despite the thickness of the carpet.
I ran a hand down my face, pulling at my cheeks and chin as I watched her go, her plump hips swaying with every step, a low groan rumbling in my gut.
“Jesus Christ, Hunter,” I muttered to myself, before letting loose a long, pained sigh. “What’s wrong with you, man?”
I watched her walk the whole way, even down to the elevator at the end of the hall. Movement at Kris’s door caught my eye, though, as Rachel stood there, back to me, waiting for the carriage to arrive on our floor.
Kris stepped out into the hallway, head looking both ways as she popped out from the door. First to me, then to Rachel, then back to me. She came fully out into the hallway, arms crossed, and leaned back against her door.
“Five thirty?” she called, loudly enough to be heard, but softly enough to not disturb any of the other guests.
I nodded. “Five thirty.”
“Good. See you in the morning.”
A second later, Kris was back in her room, and the door was shutting with a certain kind of finality behind her. Beyond her, though, Rachel was staring me down. Finally, the carriage chimed its arrival, and the hotel clerk, who had been so willing and clearly so able, stepped inside.
Just as the doors closed, she gave me her final salute. Two narrowed eyes, a snarled lip, and a furrowed brow. And, last but not least, two raised middle fingers.
Two digits, which, in all honesty, I completely deserved. For more than just tonight.