Page 35 of Altered

I needed him to chase my demons away.

"Can't sleep, sweetheart?" Hunter asked as he walked over to his dresser and pulled open a drawer. I watched him slip on a pair of snug black boxer shorts. He turned to face me then, the embodiment of masculine virility.

The sight of him caused a sigh to escape my lips and I pressed my aching cheek to my shoulder.

The intensity, the yearning, the passion… I felt itallfor this man.

It didn’t matter what we'd done tonight, or the secrets weighing heavily on our shoulders.

I stillwantedhim.

"No," I whispered, breathing hard and fast. "I was waiting for you."

His brows furrowed. "Hope, I didn’t bring you here for that, baby."

"I know," I croaked out, feeling the familiar rush of heat flood my body. "But I needthat…" Swallowing deeply, I added, "I needyou."

I watched him watch me, and no warning my brain was giving me was enough to stop my heart from hammering in my chest, screaming out for him, demanding I claim him as mine.

I wanted him to catch me because I was falling for him and I wasn’t going to be able to break my fall. I didn’t want to be brave. I didn’t want to be clever or smart. I wanted to fall helplessly in love with this man and not feel shame for it. The only place I felt like I could be who I truly was inside, was when I was in his arms.

Everything about this man was so foreign to me.

I was completely intrigued by it all.

Like how deftly he handled fire arms – as if he'd been doing it for years.

He was the definition of the apex predator, and I hiswillingvictim.

"Why me, Hunter?" I asked, tone low, voice raspy.

He arched a brow in confusion. "Why you?"

"Yeah," I breathed, nodding slowly, never taking my eyes off his. "Why do you love me?"

"Because you're my best friend," his response was immediate and unwavering. "And I've never felt… aconnectionto another person like the connection I feel with you."

"Really?" I croaked out.

"I love you, Hope," he replied, soothing me with his certainty. "I think I've loved you since that very first day in Ireland." He shook his head, as if thinking back to that morning in Cork. "The minute you walked into Noah's hotel room after all hell had broken loose. You were all pissy and had smoke steaming out of your ears." He smirked at the memory. "I looked into your eyes that day and saw the girl inside. The one that reached me at a deeper level than anyone else. The girl hiding behind the mask of pretense. The girl that was screaming out for someone to save her." Hunter shrugged helplessly, giving me a rare glimpse of the vulnerability inside the man. "I saw you then, and I see you now."

I got it.

Understood his words.

I felt them too.

Right down in the deepest part of my heart.

"I'm not going back to him." Hunter opened his mouth to say something, but I quickly cut him off. "I mean it, Hunter." He needed to hear mytruth. "I'm done with the lies and the hiding, and I am sooverbeing that scared little girl you saw in Ireland," I whispered, trembling like an ivy leaf, as I watched him walk towards me. "I know you can't hear it tonight, but one of these days I'm going to tell you all about the crazy love I have in my heart for you."

Vulnerable and exposed, I stood up and pulled his t-shirt over my head. Clutching the fabric in my hands, I forced myself to look up at him.

To see and be seen.

My heart hammered in my chest, my blood bubbled in my veins, my air caught in my throat, but I did it.

I made myself face him.

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