Heart of the Hunter (3 page)

Jake and Gianna didn’t talk as they took the elevator up to the Jake’s hotel room on the fourth floor. Ryan had dropped them off with a promise he’d return in the morning to tie up any loose ends for the job.

The elevator dinged, the door slid open and they shuffled out and down the hall to his room. He slid the key card in, waited for green, and then opened the door. Gianni walked in, dragging her bag. He followed, making sure to lock and bolt the door behind him.

After dumping her bag on the floor, she turned to him. “Take off your jacket and your shirt.”

“Whoa, baby. Let’s have a drink first and get to know each other.”

She gave him that look, the one that said she was going to knock him in the nose if he didn’t do as she asked. He had to admit he loved that look. Her gilded eyes flashed in annoyance.

He chuckled. “Can’t a guy joke around?”

“You can joke all you want after I stitch you up.”

“Okay, okay, but your idea of foreplay is not what I remember.” He slipped his leather jacket off, dropping it to the floor, then as carefully as he could he stripped off his shirt. “The Gigi I used to know was all kinds of fun.”

He sat on the edge of the bed as she gathered the first aid kit. She unzipped it and took out the alcohol swab.

“You ripped all the fun out of me, Jake.”

She wiped his arm with the wet medicated cloth. The sting was instant but he sucked it up. As she worked the pain abated a little. He watched her, searching her face, mentally tracing the lines at her eyes and the determined tilt of her mouth.

“I’m sorry I did that to you.”

She looked at him, surprised. “Doesn’t matter. It’s in the past. Anyway it wasn’t as horrid as I made it sound.”

“It was horrid enough for you to stop loving me though.”

Looking away, she didn’t comment and continued to clean his arm. Was that a tick of her eye?

“You did stop loving me, right?”

Gianna tossed the swab in the trash can and reached into the kit for the needle and thread.

He touched her hand. “Gi? You don’t love me, right?”

“Can we just get your arm fixed, please? I’ll feel better when you’re not bleeding all over the place. Because I ain’t cleaning it up.”

He dropped his hand and nodded, letting her do her thing. Although he hated any type of needle, he watched her poke the steel tip through his skin and stitch it. She was good with the needle. Always had been. Every scar he had was from a wound Gianna had sewn up. When he looked at them, he remembered her fixing him up, putting him back together again.

“Hey, remember that time in Boston when you had to stitch me up on the subway?”

She smiled. “Yeah, gave those other passengers quite a show.”

“Hey, I couldn’t help it if I got clawed across the derriere.”

“That was definitely my best work.”’

They laughed together at that.

He watched her nimble fingers complete the last few stitches and wished she would touch him in other places. He didn’t realize how much he’d missed her touch, her smell, her voice, everything about her, until now. He had been walking around broken since they’d been apart.

“You know after that last time on the subway, I haven’t gotten wounded. Not like that. Not like this. Just small cuts and bumps and bruises.”

She tied off the thread and cut it. He flexed his arm. It was good, tight work as usual.

“I guess I knew I didn’t have you to piece me back together anymore. So I better not get hurt.”

She set the needle back in the bag. “I’m not sure what to do with that, Jake.”

He shrugged. “Me either.”

Gianna zipped up the kit, picked it up, and went to set it back into her gear. “I guess we should contact the client and tell him we’ve completed the job.”

Jake stared at her, willing her to stop moving about. He didn’t want the job to end. Because then they’d be done. Again. He didn’t want to leave Canada without her.

Her back was to him when he spoke. “My old man never laughed. He was a really serious man.”

She slowly turned and looked at him.

“I’d never seen him smile or laugh. Not once. And I vowed as I grew up I’d never be like that. I told myself that I would always laugh. Always find the fun in life. Especially when everything else seems so dire. I supposed I take it too far sometimes.”

Gianna settled down on the bed beside him. “I never knew that. You never talked about your father.”

“I know. I never opened up to you and I’m sorry for that. Maybe if I had…”

“It’s okay.” She patted his hand then stood.

Jake grasped her arm before she could put distance between them again. “I’m still in love with you, Gi.”

She met his gaze. He searched her face, looking for the same emotion in her eyes. Something was there, he was sure of it. But he wasn’t certain it was love. He hoped it was.

“Tell me you don’t love me, and I’ll let you walk out of my life again. Tell me that, and I’ll accept it and move on.”

There was a long silence before she spoke. “I can’t.”

His heart thundering, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her waist. He buried his face into her chest and inhaled her scent. He wanted to sink into her, to submerse himself completely. It was here, with her, in her, that he could find peace and salvation. She did and always had possessed his heart.

Sighing, Gianna buried her hands in his hair. “Jake, I don’t know if this changes anything.”

“I don’t know, either. But I want a chance to try again.”

She pulled his head back and gazed into his face. She shook her head, her lips twitching into a reluctant smile. “You are hard to resist.”

“Then don’t.”

She licked her lips, then leaned down and covered his mouth with hers. It was the only answer he needed.

The smoldering kiss ignited every nerve ending in her body from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, and all the parts in between. Fiery tingles radiated over her thighs, surging dangerously towards her center.

Gasping for breath, Gianna broke from the kiss. Her hands raced over his back, feeling the soft skin and hard muscles beneath. Jake was indeed a beautiful man.

He pulled her down. “Kiss me again.”

He moaned as she traced the tip of her tongue around his mouth then finally stopped to nibble on his full bottom lip. After playing, she dived into the kiss, pulling, and teasing, and taking what she could from him.

The man could kiss. The hard press of his lips and the provocative way he moved his tongue over hers in a slow torturous dance sent bolts of red-hot pleasure surging over her body. He had one hand wrapped in her hair and the other at her hip. He feasted on her mouth, ripping gasps of pleasure from her with every nip and nibble. She dug her short nails in while he moved over to nibble on her chin, then down to her neck.

Finally he stood and, wrapping his arms around her, tossed her backward onto the bed. She landed in the middle, willing and ready, just as hungry as he was.

He unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them off. His erection made a tent out of his boxer shorts. Hooking thumbs in the band he quickly removed those as well. Some men would be quick to lie on the bed, cover themselves almost, but not Jake. No, he was damn proud of his form and he wasn’t afraid to let her devour him with her eyes. Which Gianna did, readily.

“Take off your clothes,” he growled at her.

She loved it when he took charge in bed, when he demanded things from her. That was one of the reasons the sex was so good between them. She trusted him completely to please her however he could. In different ways he knew she liked.

Sitting up, Gianna stripped off her T-shirt and tossed it to the floor. She then unhooked her bra and took it off, feeling the full weight of her breasts. Jake’s eyes dilated and she knew he was drinking her in.

She unzipped her jeans, then arched a brow at him. “Little help?”

He gripped her pants and in one yank he had them off her and on the floor. That just left her panties. Kneeling on the mattress, Jake hooked his fingers in them and tore them away, leaving her gloriously naked and hot for him. The ache between her thighs was so intense it nearly made her moan in anticipation.

He raked her body with his ravenous gaze. He looked like a starving man in front of a buffet for the first time in his life. He looked like he didn’t know where to start. Gianna lifted her arms and hooked them over his shoulders. She longed to feel his heavy weight on top of her.

Instead he leaned down toward her breasts and took one rigid peak into his mouth. Bowing her back, Gianni gloried in the pleasure surging through her as he sucked on one nipple and rubbed the other with his fingers. After lavishing avid attention with his tongue and teeth to one aching peak he moved onto the other, giving it equal consideration. When he was done and shifted his notice to her navel, she was throbbing inside every crevice.

Leaning down, Jake pressed open mouth kisses to her belly, his tongue dabbing at her every now and then. It tickled but she tried not to move. She liked what he was doing and hoped he’d venture lower.

“Are you hot for me, baby?” He nipped at her navel.

“Why don’t you find out for yourself?” She grinned.

He returned her daring smile, and then shifted himself. He nudged her legs apart and positioned himself between. He placed a hand on each of her thighs, pressing his fingers into her flesh.

She found it hard to breathe as he leaned down toward her aching sex. Lust pooled at her center. By the time he lowered himself to her, Gianna was nearly mad with desire. She bit down on her lip to stop from begging him.

Her breath hitched in her throat as his fingers brushed over her mound. He was careful not to touch too much too soon. He was teasing her, and it was driving her insane. She was at his mercy, but she liked that. Relenting power to him was something she could only do in bed. But it was because she trusted him so much. And she had to admit, she was able to trust him outside of the bedroom, too.

Jake continued to tease her with light brushings of his fingertips. She rose up to meet him, hoping he would end her suffering. That he would lick and suckle her, and fill her with his fingers, his tongue, anything to urge her over the edge to a mind-blowing orgasm.

She didn’t have to wait long. Lying down on his stomach between her spread legs, Jake parted her with his thumbs. He nuzzled his face into her. Lightly at first, he trailed his tongue up and down her slick channel, swirling the tip as he reached her opening. But then he picked up the pace and she nearly lost her mind.

Heaving, she thrashed about on the mattress as he nudged her clit with the tip of his tongue. He pressed her down to the bed with one hand on her stomach. He tried to keep her still as he feasted on her.

With ease, he slid two fingers into her, manipulating her with quick hard thrusts. The scorching heat between her legs was quickly nearing unbearable. Gianna was close to climaxing. The muscles in her belly and thighs tightened, preparing her for the overwhelming rush that would eventually come.

As he continued to thrust his fingers in and out, pushing as deep as he could go, Jake sucked on her. With one final stroke of his tongue, he pushed his fingers deeper. Clamping her eyes shut against the sudden rush of ecstasy, she cried out as he found her most sensitive spot. He pressed hard just as he clamped down on her clit with his lips.

She came in a hot liquid rush and she couldn’t catch her breath. Thrashing about, she grabbed onto Jake’s head, grasping for something…
anything
…to release her from the hold he had on her. Relentlessly he continued to manipulate her, stroking his tongue over her and moving his fingers inside, prolonging her orgasm.

She tried to fight it but it was pointless. So she dropped her hands, closed her eyes and rode the soaring waves of pleasure until she was spent.

Jake loved to watch Gianna as she orgasmed. It was when she was the most unguarded. It gave him an ego boost to know that he was able to give her that much pleasure.

She opened her eyes and gave him one of her saucy grins. “Play time’s over. It’s time to get serious.”

He crawled up her body and hovered over her, his arms braced on either side of her body. Leaning down, he kissed her. Soft at first, then hard and fierce and hot.

She gave just as good as he did, darting her tongue in and out of his mouth. He nibbled on her lips as she dug her fingers into his back and pulled his body down. He couldn’t resist the enticement any longer. He ached to lay with her, to be inside her—deep.

The moment he covered her with his body, her hands ran over his back, urgent and eager to possess. Cupping the back of his neck, she deepened the kiss, moaning into his mouth. He swallowed down each gasp, each heave of breath, willing and wanting to hear more of her groans. It was a powerful thing to pleasure a woman. Especially one as strong and formidable as Gianna.

Unable to hold himself back any longer, Jake nestled between her thighs, kneeing them apart, and, gripping his cock in one hand, guided himself into her. She opened for him easily and he slid all the way in.

He closed his eyes against the initial fierce assault on his body as he began to move inside her, finding a rhythm. She was so hot, so wet; it nearly did him in right there and then. Soon he was grinding on her, against her, in her. It felt so good that he moaned her name.

She wrapped her legs around him as he picked up the pace. With every thrust she dug her nails into him harder. It wouldn’t surprise him if she drew blood. He didn’t mind. They’d always been this fierce when they made love…

And it was love, not just sex between them. No matter how much she denied it, he knew the truth.

Kissing her mouth, her neck, her shoulders, Jake thrust harder, faster, burying deep inside. She gasped as he rammed into her again and again, lifting her pelvis up to meet him each time.

Muscles clenched with strain, his legs started to twitch. He was close, so close. Clamping his eyes shut, he drove into her as hard and as deep as he could, pulling her to him as he did. She raked her nails across his back and he knew there’d be divots in his flesh.

Then he heard the words that he’d been waiting to hear, that he hoped to hear.

“Oh God, Jake,” she whimpered. “I love you so much.”

In that moment, he climaxed in a violent surge, emptying himself completely. Even his mind failed to function as his body convulsed in long, hard tremors.

For several minutes, Jake lost himself. But then blinking back the oblivion, his gaze focused on Gianna and he knew he’d found the only place he ever wanted to be. With her. Beside her. Inside her.

If she allowed it, he’d never leave her side.

He drew a finger across her forehead, pushing aside the sweat soaked hair. She blinked up at him, a dreamy satisfied look on her face.

“Why did we ever break up?” he asked as he traced the usual hard lines of her jaw.

“You know why.”

“What if I promise to change, that I’ll be whoever you need me to be?”

He could see the glow starting to dampen as he spoke. But he couldn’t keep silent any longer.

“Jake, that’s the great sex talking.” She pushed him over and rolled out from under him. She sat up on the bed and started to reach for her clothes.

He rolled with her and grabbed her arm to stop her. “It’s my heart talking, Gianna. I love you. I don’t want to go another moment without you.”

She dropped her arm, and sighed. She glanced at him over her shoulder. “I don’t know. How do I know it will be different? I don’t want to risk my heart again, Jake. It hurt too damn bad last time.”

From behind, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her shoulder. “I promise you it will be different. I will do anything to not lose you again. Anything, Gi. You just have to tell me.”

She covered his hands with hers and relaxed into his arms. He kissed her shoulder again, then her neck. Then he heard her sigh again…which wasn’t a good sign. He knew her sighs well.

Dropping her hands from his, she stood and moved away from the bed, gathering pieces of her clothing along the way. “You’ve caught me off guard, Jake. I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you love me.”

She stopped in the middle of dressing and turned around to look at him. “I do love you. But I don’t know if it’s enough.”

She finished pulling her clothes on, grabbed her bag, then looked at him again. “I need to get back to my hotel and gather my stuff and check out. I’ll call the client and make sure we each get our payment.” She moved toward the door but stopped with her hand on the handle. “Look, we can talk about this again back in San Francisco. I fly out tomorrow.”

“I’m not going back right away.”

That shook her a little. “Oh, okay. When will you be back?”

Jake scooted to the edge of the bed. “I don’t know. I’m taking a little holiday. Going out to the mountains.”

“Oh. Well, then, I guess you can call me when you return.” She turned the handle.

“Come with me, Gi. We’ve never taken a holiday together before. No work, no demons. Just you and me, hanging out.”

She frowned. “I don’t know, Jake…”

He put his hand up to stop her protestations. “Tell you what, I’m leaving tonight around seven. Be here, if you want. If not, then cool, I’ll see when you I get back to town. No pressure, okay?”

“Okay.” She opened the door and left, shutting it firmly behind her.

Jake didn’t know how long he sat on the edge of the bed and watched the door, waiting for her to return. All he knew was that he was damn cold when he finally stood and got dressed.