Page 42 of Hunter

“Coffee?” Daniel calls over to me from the kitchen as I nose around the faces in the photographs, smiling at a certain print that shows him with his twin. They’re identical apart from their eyes. Daniel’s are green, whereas his twin had one that was blue and one that was green.

“Not for me, thanks,” I reply, suddenly feeling stupid because that’s what he had asked me up for. “Got any tea?” I quickly add to sound less ridiculous. I then meander around the room before sitting rigidly on the edge of the couch.

When he eventually places the mugs down onto the coffee table and sits next to me, I realize my alcoholic buzz has worn off and I’m nervous again. I thank him with a smile and then bring the cup to my lips, burning myself in the process. I pretend not to notice, but it stings, and I end up blowing out of my lips in a strange-looking attempt to cool it down. Daniel immediately comes up beside me to look at my now very sore top lip. He laughs at my ridiculous behavior and then gently places a kiss on where I’ve just hurt myself. I feel my cheeks heat but then he pulls me back to rest inside of his arm.

“I’m such a dork,” I declare with laughter.

“You’re nervous,” he smiles, “there’s a difference. But can I reassure you by telling you I’m by no means planning to do anything with you tonight. Well, maybe kiss you when I drop you home, but that’s all, and only with your permission.”

“Your well-mannered persona is a little unnerving, Daniel,” I admit. “After all, you’ve seen the kind of guys I’m surrounded by.”

“Would you rather I was like that?” He frowns, looking extremely perplexed by the idea.

“No, sorry, forget I said anything.” I shut my eyes tightly, wishing I could swallow my words back up. “Crap, do you have any ice?”

He grins cheekily at me before getting up to retrieve a bag of ice so I can put it on top of my lip. When he gets back, he places it on my mouth and holds it there for me.

“Lou, I know you love your brother, and I can see he clearly loves you,” he begins, then looks away for a moment, “but I’m not that kind of guy. I’m definitely not like your ex who pulls guns out on people just for looking at you.”

I don’t answer him for a bit; I’m not sure what to say. The two significant men that have been in my life, my brother still being one of them, aren’t really as bad as he’s making them out to be. It’s just the way they’ve lived their lives, how we were all brought up. I’m not the meek and pathetic little woman that he’s making me out to be, but ever since I was attacked, I’ve allowed a man, my brother, to control my life. That’s not his fault though, it was just easier to let him.

“Tell me what you’re thinking, Lou,” he says before brushing the back of his hand down my cheek, “I can always tell when your mind is ticking away.”

“My brother is not the big, bad monster you’re portraying him to be and I’m not as weak as you think I am.”

I begin to sound more and more angry as I push the words out of my mouth. I don’t think that all of it is aimed at him, but I do feel like he is judging us.

“Oh, God, Lou, that’s not what I think at all,” he blurts out, throwing his free hand up defensively. “You are one of the toughest girls I’ve ever met, you and Izzy both are. Shit, I’m sorry.”

“No, look, I’m sorry, this is all wrong, I should go.” I stand up and let the bag of ice drop to the floor with a crash, prompting us both to fall to the ground to begin picking up the pieces. “Look, Daniel, you’re my boss and we live in completely different worlds, so maybe this is a wakeup call-”

“Fuck, Lou, I’ve been waiting for you to pull this on me,” he says with a hint of irritation. “Maybe you’re right.”

He sighs as a flush of disappointment floods through me, but I remain silent until I pick up the very last ice cube and place it back inside the bag.

“I’m not nervous,” I tell him without thought.

“What?” he asks, looking up at me suddenly.

“I’m not nervous about being with you, Daniel.” I kneel back and perch on top of my heels so I can look at him properly. “Tony makes me nervous, the man who attacked me makes me nervous, but you don’t. The only other person who makes me feel as safe as you do is Phoenix.”

His hands palm my biceps as he brings me in closer toward him, looking at me for some sort of permission to kiss me. When we finally meet in the middle, his movements become more urgent than the last time we kissed, and it brings a warm, tingly, and excited feeling deep inside of my stomach. I wrap my arms around his neck at the same time as his arms reach behind my back. His kiss is all adult and sophisticated like he’s a master who has been schooled by a deity of passion and romance.

“I should go but I want to stay,” I whisper into his ear as he begins kissing me down my jaw and into the crook of my neck with his open mouth.

“I want you to stay,” he mumbles against my skin, “dear God, I want you to stay, but I don’t want to scare you, Lou.”

I laugh softly but it soon becomes hard to concentrate when I feel his cock thickening against me down below.

“I told you I feel safe with you, and I want you to touch me…please.”

It’s enough to have him scoop me up into his arms with effortless grace and march us into his bedroom. At least, I think it’s his bedroom. I can’t take much in because we are kissing one another with such abandonment, the outside world looks like a hazy blur. He places me on the end of the bed so I’m sitting with him kneeling in front of me. Slowly, and with his eyes on me the whole time, he removes each of my shoes with precision. My breath hitches when he takes hold of my right leg and begins kissing, all the way up from my ankle to my knee. Once he hits the hem of my dress, he straightens up to kiss my hardened nipple through the thin fabric. My head lolls back as I throb with need under his tongue which continues to circle each one with careful flicks and sucks. His hands begin to move the hem of my dress up my thighs until I need to lift myself up to help him strip the whole thing away from me.

I lean back as he looks over my almost naked body, the cold air hitting my breasts with a delicious tingling sensation. He lets out a long breath before sinking down to his knees again, his warm hands reaching up to stroke down my body until they hit the tops of my thighs. His lips press against mine one more time before hooking his fingers over the tops of my panties and pulling them down ever so slowly to reveal my nudity.

Taking me in one more time, he releases a deep groan of approval before sinking between my thighs and kissing me, open mouthed on top of my clit with such intensity, I gasp. My hand reaches for his hair as he begins licking me through my wet folds, his hands grasping onto my waist to help ground me. He moans as I arch myself toward him. Becoming hypnotized by the sheer pleasure of his touch. He moves with the right amount of pressure to bring me to the edge, to make me squeeze my thighs around his soft dark hair and pull him in closer.

“Oh, God!” I moan as I reach the edge of a precipice I haven’t been to for a long time.

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