Page 32 of Altered

"To your place?" was my immediate response. "Because I don’t want to be without you tonight." I knew how desperate I sounded and I didn’t give a damn. It was what it was; a messy, clusterfuck of a night, but one I had every intention of ending with him.

With shaky hands, I closed the truck door and pressed my back to the cool metal, using my body to make my feelings as clear as possible. "You're taking me homewith you, right?"

I wasn’t going back to Denver tonight.

Not when my home was standing right in front of me.

I watched as Hunter rubbed a hand over his stubbly jaw, eyes locked on me. "I said I was taking you home, didn’t I?" Closing the space between us, he pressed his big body to mine, hips pinning me to the metal, and growled, "Do you have any idea how much I love you?"

"Yeah," I whispered, body burning with heat, as I wrapped my arms around his waist and tugged. I was tall for a woman, but this man made me feeltiny. He was just so tall, and strong andmale. Craning my face up to look at his, I breathed, "I think I do."

"Seeing you tonight," he confessed, thumbs stroking my cheeks. "Lying on the ground, drenched in blood, with that bastard on top of you?" He clenched his jaw several times before he spoke again, "I've never been more goddamn scared in my life…. "He pressed a kiss to my cut and whispered, "And the only damn thing I could think was 'you're too late again'."

"Hunter." Unsure of what to say to comfort him, I pulled him closer to my body, unable to get close enough to the only place I wanted to be. "I'm okay." If I could crawl inside him right now, I would.

"Are you?" he asked in that direct way, blue eyes locked on mine, staring into the deepest part of my soul. "Because I'm not." He exhaled a shaky breath as he ran his hand through his hair. "It was like my world had ended right there in that kitchen," he admitted, voice torn and hoarse, before bowing his head. "And I keep thinking that when I go to sleep tonight, I'm gonna wake up in the morning and find you dead."

"That's not going to happen," I choked out. "I'm here. I'm real. We both are."

"I will keep you safe, sweetheart." he declared, hands cupping my face. Leaning closer, he stroked my nose with his. "Nothing's gonna touch you." When he looked at me again, there was a glint of unknown danger in those blue depths. "Never again," he promised, eyes glittering with treachery and darkness. "You have my word on that."

Heart racing, I could do nothing but reach up and cover his hands with mine.

The intimacy of this moment was too much.

It was all toomuch.

"I don’t want your word, Hunter," I whispered, entwining my fingers with his, as we stood in the street. "I just want you." A deep shudder rolled through my body and I had to take a moment. "What you did tonight?" I croaked out, finding my voice again. "What you did for me–"

"I did what needed to be done, HC," he cut me off by saying. "And I'm gonna keep doing what needs to be done. Taking care of business." I felt his thumb trail small circles across my cheekbone. "Making shit safe for you. Makingyousafe."

"What about you?" I blurted out. "Who's going to keepyousafe?"

"I can take care of myself." He smiled, but it didn’t quite meet his eyes. "Been doing it for a long time now, sweetheart."

"Not anymore," I whispered. "Never again, in fact."

Hunter arched a brow. "What are you saying, HC?"

"I'm saying you have me."

And then I kissed him.

I heard the sound of tires screeching from somewhere nearby, but nothing could distract me from this moment – fromhim. Nothing could take me away from the man who had altered my world.

"Tomorrow," I whispered against his lips, making promises in the darkness. "I'll tell him tomorrow." I felt his body stiffen, and watched as his eyes clenched shut. "Don’t you believe me?"

"I believe you mean it tonight," he replied, voice hoarse, blue eyes piercing into mine.

"You'll see," I told him. It was like my heart had made the switch many months ago, right along the same time as my body, and my brain and pride were only catching up now. As for my conscience? It had been given its pink slip. Taking his hand in mine, I pulled it to my lips and kissed his raw knuckles. "I'm yours."

In a world full of uncertainty and pain, I knew I would go down in flames to keep this man safe.To be with him.

My heart demanded nothing less.

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Chapter ten

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