Page 67 of Hunter

He was running toward them.

I pulled both Mallory and Adair against my chest as she cried and held on tight. Then I tilted Mallory’s chin to look up at me, her brown eyes glistening with tears, and pressed my forehead to hers.

“You made his last day on earth the happiest he’d ever had,” I whispered. “And for that, I am forever grateful.”

She cried harder.

Two years ago, I had vowed to find the girl who had made Nobel happy. Now, I made a different vow. For that last moment of pure joy they had given my brother, I would make sure they got every moment of happiness they deserved.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Mallory

Two days had passedsince the confessions. I was on the mend, both physically and emotionally, and the rest of the club men seemed to have accepted me into their circle. I had no idea how much Hunter had told them, but I was grateful to them for not bringing it up.

I wasn’t sure how much emotional collapse I could take since Hunter had told me about Noble’s last day. My heart was still sore, and a part of me was annoyed that Hunter hadn’t told me that sooner. At the same time, I understood how much that memory meant to him, and how much it had taken for him to tell me. How much he had trusted me with it. My own confession showed me how much I trusted Hunter. But that wasn’t the only thing I discovered.

I was in love with Hunter.

It was different than with Noble. I had loved him, but now I realized that was built mostly on gratitude and respect. This, with Hunter, was a rabbit hole I was falling hard and fast into. One I wouldn’t escape from in one piece.

I wanted to tell him, but although Hunter trusted me, I couldn’t be completely sure he would accept me. He had said he was in it for the long haul, but that didn’t mean he was ready for love yet. I wasn’t saying never, but I knew I didn’t have the courage to confess, not when I wasn’t sure he felt the same way. I couldn’t throw myself into that kind of heartache so soon.

My feelings had encouraged me to act, and there was one act I was still waiting to do. We had fooled around long enough, and I was brought full circle to my issue from the house. Hunter still wouldn’t have sex with me.

He slept naked next to me every night, and last night I had done the same, hoping to tempt him while Adair had a sleepover with one of the other boys from the club, courtesy of Kay. Instead, Hunter had slept as close to the opposite edge of the bed as he could.

And now, I found myself staring at some half-naked girl in the hallway. I wasn’t sure what she was doing there, lying on the floor, naked from the waist down, mumbling about her sore ass. I could see faint red lines across the cheek presented to me, and I wondered if the kinky rumors I had heard about the nightlife here were all that exaggerated.

I stared at her for a good few minutes before I heard footsteps, and then a disheveled, shirtless Jax came stumbling up the stairs. I had a few nice seconds to admire the beautifully carved and tanned abs on his body and the abstract swirls of ink covering him before he face-planted on the floor. It was a shame, since he was only one step from the top.

He looked up, saw me and saw the girl, and smiled. “There ya are!” His accent was no longer hidden, but as clear as a bell. He picked himself up and moved over to lift the limp girl from the floor before throwing her over his shoulder. He nearly stumbled, and I almost had a heart attack as he moved closer to the stairs. Then he found his balance, and I got a nice view of the girl’s ass and the pretty red marks. I guessed I knew whose room she had come from.

Jax caught me looking and, for good measure, smacked the girl’s ass. She let out a loud groan.

“Dirty bastard.” I chuckled.

Jax winked then staggered down the hallway and around the corner to where I assumed his room was. I wondered if it looked anything like the one from theFifty Shades of Greymovie adaption. I admitted to being curious.

I went to the edge of the stairs and peeked around the corner enough to see where the bar started.

Girls. Girls were everywhere. All in some state of undress as if it was a condition to get through the doors. A few of them were dancing on the bar, fully naked. Some men were even putting money between their butt cheeks. I wasn’t judging them, though it was one hell of a way to make a living.

I was about to look away when I saw Anna climb up onto the bar and move over to one of the girls. This one had a bra pushing up her cleavage to cup a small shot glass, with a lime in her mouth.

My mouth dropped open as Anna crouched down to the girl’s waist and began to lick her way up to her breasts, where she pressed her face between them, took the tequila shot between her teeth, and threw back her head to down it. To top it off, she took the lime out of the girl’s mouth and kissed her hot and dirty.

Holy shit, I knew the girl was wild, but …

As Anna pulled back, she looked over the crowd and crooked an eyebrow at the huge grey-haired man leaning back in one of the seats, a girl between his legs. That girl was sucking for her life, but the president’s eyes didn’t stray from the blonde for a second.

Anna moved her gaze away and, as I thought she was about to climb down, her gaze found mine. She wore a look of surprise before her expression turned devilish. Then she smiled and winked.

If I ever slept with a girl …

It looked like Wolf had noticed what Anna was looking at, and before I knew it, he had signaled something, and then Hunter was rushing through the crowd.

I squeaked at the frown on his face and tried oh so hard to make it back to the room before he caught me. I was an unlucky person by nature.

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