Page 96 of Hunter

Then she straightened and walked out the doors, a touch of coolness in her gaze.

The word,slut, was whispered from her lips as she passed me, and obviously not low enough because Xavier stiffened beside me, his face set in a thunderous rage as he looked at her.

I shook my head. “Just ignore her, and she’ll get the hint.”

“Oh, she’ll get the hint, all right,” he said darkly.

I shook my head. “She’s not worth it. And I’m okay.”

He took a deep breath as if to calm himself, and when he turned back toward me, the angry look was gone.

In his eyes was the softness that I was slowly getting used to.

It wasn’t soft like other people’s softness. In fact, the look seemed to contradict who he was as a person, but it was a softness I knew was reserved solely for me.

I smiled at him, and he pressed a final kiss on my lips before stepping on the elevator.

I waved at him until it closed, and I could no longer see him. Then, I walked to my apartment with a wide smile.

19

ROMAN

I watchedthrough the camera as she set about her nightly routine, focusing when I saw her begin to undress, leaving her standing in her room with nothing on but pale blue panties.

If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought she knew I was watching her, with the way she moved, the seductive sway of her hips when she walked, and the way she bent over to grab a sleep shirt on the bottom drawer. Her ass faced the camera… and what a fucking ass it was.

The little play I gave her the other day was nowhere near enough of what I wanted to do with her.

There would come a time when I would fuck her ass, and she would beg me for more.

Perhaps there was something wrong with me.

Certainly, a psychologist would have a field day trying to explore the dark recesses of my mind.

I couldn’t bring myself to care or stop.

I just fucking wanted her.

Not to hurt, although a little bit of pain could be fun during sex, and with the way she had responded when I slapped her tit… yeah, she fucking loved a little pain with sex.

But I didn’t want to hurt her beyond that.

I wanted to treasure her.

Protect her.

And if I was capable of it, I wanted to love her.

I looked across the room in the warehouse, where my brother stood next to Dominic.

Dominic was saying something to him, and though Micah nodded along, his eyes were trained on me.

I knew I couldn’t keep Ryleigh a secret from him for long.

I just needed more time to ensure he wouldn’t try to hurt her once he found out.

Trybeing the operative word.

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