His Every Touch (For His Pleasure, Book 8) (10 page)

“She’s not with you,” Sean told him. “Now take your stupid attitude and your dumb fucking country club ass, and hit the road.”

Hunter’s eyes shifted, a more subtle hardening that made Kallie aware his patience was wearing thin. “I think you need to try and be a little more respectful yourself. I don’t hear Kallie asking you for this kind of help.”

“It’s true, Sean,” she said, taking the opportunity to get between them. She looked at her older brother and tried to smile. “Come on, this is your night. Don’t ruin it.”

He glanced at her and back to Hunter. “I don’t like you,” he said, and Kallie saw that he really meant it.

This wasn’t just posturing, a show to prove he was still the big man. He genuinely hated Hunter on sight.

But the family was coming over now, getting in the way, asking what was wrong.

Sean’s shoulders came down and he relaxed. The chance to fight had slipped away.

He and Hunter stared at one another and something seemed to pass between them, Kallie thought. It was an acceptance. I don’t like you and you don’t like me.

That look told her that if either of them got the chance again, there would be fewer words spoken and a lot more damage incurred than bruised egos.

Hunter looked to her. “Kallie, are you ready to go?”

“Yes,” she said, not even sure why she would go with him after how he’d treated her. It was pure instinct.

She hugged her mother and father and apologized for the way things had ended, but they didn’t seem too bothered. Everyone had been drinking, they were a family of rough and rowdy boys and people were used to these sorts of spats. The fact that no punches had been thrown was a minor miracle, really.

A few minutes later, and Kallie was back in Hunter’s car and they were driving quickly through the quiet streets, neither of them speaking for a while.

Finally, she talked first. “I’m sorry about Sean,” she said.

He smirked and shrugged. “Comes with the territory.”

“What territory is that?”

“I’m a successful guy. I make no bones about it. I don’t sit around and make self-deprecating jokes and scrape and bow to other men. Sometimes when I meet up with a certain type of male, they don’t like that I won’t roll over.”

“He was defending me,” she said, suddenly hurt that Hunter saw it as purely a thing between two competitive alpha males.

“You were an excuse. It could have been about who paid the check, or me giving him the wrong look.”

“I don’t think it’s quite that simple. My brother loves me.”

“I never said otherwise.”

Kallie was getting upset again. “You really do just see females as objects, don’t you? Playthings. Territory to fight over, to mark, so that you and other men can prove who’s more dominant.”

“Don’t be silly, Kallie.” He glanced at her. “I know why you’re upset. And I totally understand. But you need to trust me—“

“Why? Why would I trust you? I barely know you, and you made me sign a contract that shows you intend to keep it that way.”

Hunter grew silent. His eyes were turned to the road. When he spoke again, she could tell he was straining to keep his calm. “You knew there were boundaries. You had every understanding of what that contract said, and you agreed to everything. I didn’t force you into this situation, Kallie.”

“I know that, but there are some things that happen, like that girl tonight—“

He slammed the steering wheel with his palm. “She’s got nothing to do with anything. Nothing.”

Kallie sat back and folded her arms. “Easy for you to say.” She shook her head, defeated. “Just take me home.”

He glanced at her. “No.”

She looked over at him, and her mouth dropped open. “What did you say?”

“You heard me, Kallie. You’re not making the decisions around here. And you’re coming home with me tonight.”

“I don’t want to go anywhere with you, Hunter.”

He smiled grimly. “You can always opt out of the contract, then. Remember, Kallie, a verbal declaration is all you need to make.”

She was stunned into silence by the ease with which he’d seen through her tantrum. Part of her wanted to make the declaration, just to prove to him that she was sick of his antics. But she knew that if she went that far, there would be no going back.

And then it would really be over, and the plain fact was, she didn’t want it to end.

“I don’t want to end the contract,” she admitted. “But I do want to go home. I’m upset, I’m hurt.”

He shook his head slowly. “You’re coming home with me and that’s final.”

Kallie sat back in her seat and stared out the window. She hated to admit that deep down, she wanted to go to his house right now and be with him more than anything in the world.

***

Hunter made love to her that night.

There was no other phrase that fit the way he held her, the way he touched her, the way he looked into her eyes.

She couldn’t resist him ever, but certainly not when he was so caring and tender.

The way he touched her, the way his lips kissed her so softly, everywhere on her body—

all of her doubts seemed to melt like ice when the sun warmed it.

And Hunter did warm her—he made her burn like fire, burn up and break apart and come back together, crying out as he pressed into her, deep inside, deeper than she thought possible.

How could he be this loving, she thought, and not truly care?

The answer was that he did care. Whatever secrets he held, she needed to try her best and trust him. That’s what she thought as they lay together in his bed, his strong arms holding her body close, keeping her near as she could possibly be.

“I never want to hurt you, Kallie,” he whispered into her ear as the night drew on, making everything seem shadowy and dreamlike.

“Please don’t hurt me,” she whispered back.

“I need you,” he said. His lips kissed her neck, as his hands started to roam again, touching her there, and there, and there.

She moaned. The heat was rising again. She wanted the flames to burn brighter than ever. She turned as his hand wrapped itself in her hair and his lips met her lips.

The fire was raging once more, an inferno, and she was loving it, knowing that in Hunter’s arms she would always be safe.

***

The next morning, Kallie told Hunter she needed to get back to work. She’d been texting with Nicole and there was more to be done at the house to prepare for baby Riley’s arrival.

“I’ve got a lot to get to myself,” Hunter told her, as they got inside his car with plastic cups filled with coffee. “My work’s been suffering since I met you.”

Kallie smiled, glad that to know what she wasn’t the only one making sacrifices in this relationship.

The drive home was nice. The morning had become quite sunny, with very few clouds in the sky. It was one of those days that made you feel like it had been rendered by an artist, that made you think there actually was a purpose to everything, that there was a plan—because how else could things be so beautiful?

They had the windows rolled down and Kallie sipped her coffee while the scenery rolled by and Hunter turned on the radio. It was enough right then to just be together and enjoy one another’s company—no conversation was required.

But the drive took a strange turn when Hunter suddenly swore under his breath and sharply applied the breaks. The car came to a sudden halt, and Kallie’s seatbelt tightened against her chest and some of the coffee sloshed out of her cup and over the side.

She looked up to see that Hunter had stopped the car to let someone cross the street. It was an old man in a wheelchair being pushed by a heavyset black woman. The woman gave them a slight wave for stopping the car and then continued pushing the old man across the street.

Kallie glanced at Hunter to see what was the matter, because she sensed instantly that something was wrong. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were flat and motionless as he stared straight ahead. She saw that his knuckles were totally white on the steering wheel.

She wanted to ask what was wrong, but knew better. No personal questions allowed, especially nothing about his psychological state of mind.

It took the woman some time to get the old man in the wheelchair across to the other side of the street, but finally she did. There were now a few cars waiting behind them and someone honked two short, blaring bursts.

Hunter turned around in his seat and glared out the back window. The honk came again, louder and longer this time. And then another. This time the driver practically laid on the horn.

“Oh, is that a problem?” Hunter shouted, pulling off his seatbelt in an instant and opening the driver’s side door faster than Kallie would have thought possible.

She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Hunter was out of the car and staring at the impatient driver, a younger man in a hoodie who looked like a deer in the headlights.

The guy in the car shrank in his seat and refused to even look at Hunter, while Hunter continued to stand and look at him, as if daring him to do something.

Kallie was shocked and horrified, worried that the police would be called—

worried that Hunter had lost his mind.

A moment later, he was back in the car, slamming the door, and driving again.

Kallie didn’t dare say a word.

After a minute or two went by, Hunter seemed to relax just a little. “People have no sense of decency.” He breathed hard through his nostrils, shifting in his seat as he drove. “There was a disabled person crossing the street. That guy couldn’t even walk.

Someone had to push him in his wheelchair, Kallie.”

She looked at Hunter, seeing the pain in his eyes. Her mind flashed back to the picture she’d found in his old copy of Blue Horizon. The picture had been of an older man in a wheelchair.

“I understand,” she said, not really understanding anything, but knowing that there must be some connection.

Hunter nodded, his shoulders coming down even more, as if her words had soothed him somehow. “Can’t even fucking walk. Probably needs twenty-four hour care, and some people…” He shook his head slowly. “Some people just don’t get it.”

The rest of the drive was quiet, and of course some of the magic had gone out of the day. When he pulled up to the end of the private road to let Kallie out, Hunter suddenly reached over and took her hand.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he told her.

She looked at him. His eyes were sad, deeply sad, she thought. “It’s okay.”

He smiled at her. “I’ll be in touch soon.”

Kallie nodded, and then opened her door and got out. Hunter gave her a quick wave, turned the car around and left.

***

Kallie wasn’t prepared for what she found when she went inside the house.

There was a loud argument going on in the foyer, and at first she was almost wondering if she’d been dropped off at the wrong mansion.

There was an older woman dressed in a lovely olive overcoat, wearing a jaunty hat and standing beside a small rolling suitcase. And this woman was screaming at Nicole, and Nicole was screaming back at her.

“I don’t know how you got past the front gate,” Nicole was saying to the older woman, her arms crossed, her face redder than Kallie had ever seen it.

Instantly, Kallie thought about Nicole’s blood pressure. “Nicole, is everything—“

The old woman ignored Kallie completely. “I’ll tell you how I got through the front gate. I told them who I was. I’m Red Jameson’s mother, and I’ve known him a lot longer than you have. I raised him from when he was in diapers. Do you know what that means? No, you haven’t a clue.”

“What I know or don’t know about raising a child has nothing to do with this,”

Nicole told her. “Red does not want to see you right now. I’ve tried my best—“

“You’ve tried your best?” his mother laughed. Actually, she cackled, Kallie thought. The woman’s eyes were like two little black marbles, rolling in her head. She looked totally unhinged.

“I did,” Kallie said. “I tried to make peace, I tried to be a buffer. But you make it impossible, Erica. If you’d waited until we were ready to invite you…”

Erica stepped forward, pointing. “I want to see my son and I want to see my granddaughter. I will not be treated like this, Nicole.”

Kallie was completely caught off guard. She had no idea what was happening or what had caused the situation, but she was more than aware of Nicole’s health concerns.

But Nicole wasn’t backing down. She stepped forward too, and she was taller than Erica, and her eyes were suddenly just as fierce. “You listen to me,” she said. “This is my house. I want you out of here, or I will have you removed.”

Kallie saw a strange look of fear—or maybe it was hatred—pass across the older woman’s face. But then she simply turned around, grabbed the handle of her suitcase, and started to walk to the front door.

Kallie was standing in her way and she stepped aside.

Erica gave her a nasty up and down look. “Is this who was going to remove me from the premises? I’d like to see her try it.”

“Just get out or I’ll throw you out myself,” Nicole said, tiredly.

Erica looked back at Nicole with a sneering, puling expression. “There are some things you might rather not know about your amazing, wonderful husband, Nicole. I’m warning you. You’re going to regret treating me this way. Maybe it’s time you realized who it is you really married.”

And with that, Erica opened the door and left. Kallie closed and locked it behind her.

Nicole sighed with relief, but then walked quickly to the phone on the wall.

“Hello, my mother-in-law was somehow let through the front gate without our permission….yes….I understand. She’s leaving now. Please see to it that she exits our property immediately.” Nicole hung up the phone, and then turned, putting her hands on her hips.

“Come on, you need to go sit down and have a drink of water,” Kallie told her.

“I’m fine.”

“Nicole, it’s doctor’s orders. Come on.” Kallie escorted her into the living room, to one of the comfy chairs. She got her a footstool so she could put her feet up, and a glass of water.

“That woman is certifiable,” Nicole said, when Kallie brought her the drink. She held it to her forehead and sighed again. “Certifiable.”