Page 40 of Cruel Expectations

“But you were on your own, without your friend.”

“Look, don’t bring this up in front of Meadow. She’d only worry, and there isn’t any point now, is there? I’m home.”

With a dead body in the pond where they used to swim in summer.

She shuddered.

When they reached the front porch of the house, she mounted the bottom step. Hunter faced her, still inches taller despite her being on the stairs.

“Stay in the house until Colton or I come talk to you about this.”

Dazed, she nodded.

He started to turn to walk away, and she caught the front of his shirt, pulling him back.

“Don’t leave. Tell me what is happening. Do you think that man died of natural causes? That he got drunk, fell in the water and drowned?”

The shivers she’d felt sliding through her on the walk home hit full force. She clamped her trembling fingers into fists and tried to keep Hunter from taking notice.

“Christ, Ivy. You’re shaking like a leaf. Come here.” He rubbed her arms, his touch on her bare skin warming her fast.

When a bigger quake hit her, there was no concealing it. Hunter gave her a sharp look before wrapping his arms around her and yanking her against him.

She sucked in a deep breath, and her nose flooded with the masculine scent of bodywash tinged with musk. Oh god, he smelled so good. He was so big and strong and…

She tipped her face up, lips on offer.

His eyes roamed over her features—then locked on her mouth a split second before he slammed his lips over hers.

Dark need washed through her. A squeak escaped her throat as he took command of the kiss.

His firm lips were unutterably soft as he angled his head and applied the barest pressure. Another murmur broke from her, and he tightened his hold.

At the same moment, they gasped as if breaking the surface of a sea they’d been drowning in for far too long. Their tongues met, and he plundered her.

Ivy swept her tongue across his, tasting him, learning what made his chest vibrate with a groan. Her body heated. Her shivers fled.

She lifted her arms to loop around his neck, leaning into him and matching him stroke for stroke.

She forgot about the pain of the loss she’d lived with for so long that it had become a thick fiber of who she was. She stopped thinking about all the creditors her father owed—or why.

She lived, breathed and felt Hunter.

Suddenly, he tore from the kiss. “Stop! Ivy, we have to stop.”

“No.” She followed him, covering his mouth with hers until he responded and kissed her back.

Again, he twisted his mouth free. “Ivy—”

“Don’t stop, Hunter. I want you.”

With a groan, he locked his hands on her waist and lifted her off the bottom step, setting her firmly on the porch.

Chest heaving, she stared at him. “I want you.”

“You don’t always get what you want.” His chest moved as if he couldn’t figure out how to fill his lungs with enough air. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that?”

Holding his stare, she reached for his hand. He stared down at it for several aching heartbeats. Then he spun to go.

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