“Bad shit, Em,” he said finally. “I saw some bad shit today. Did some bad shit. I just needed to be near you, around someone clean and whole. He wouldn’t let me have you.”
Well, fuck. Now he looked all broken, and seeing this big, strong man so close to the edge made my insides twist. I still wanted to kick him, but I wanted to make him feel better even more. Hunter turned away, so I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him back into me. My cheek rubbed against the red devil on the back of his cut, reminding me that I’d left my club behind for this man.
“You have me,” I said into his back, letting go of my anger. I started running my hands up and down his stomach. I loved the feel of his hard muscles, but this was about more than sensation. He needed to realize how much I wanted him, how special he was to me. I tugged his shirt slowly out of his pants, trailing my fingers along his bare skin. Those amazing muscles of his tightened and he groaned.
“You don’t have to tell me about it,” I whispered, knowing he couldn’t. “Just relax, okay? Let’s just finish fighting tomorrow.”
“Do we really have to fight?” he asked, sounding exhausted. “God, Em. You have no idea. No fucking idea at all …”
Shit. What the hell had happened?
I slid my hands lower and caught his fly, pulling apart the button and sliding down the zipper. His cock was still soft, something I’d never felt from him before, but instead of being disappointed I was curious.
I wanted to explore. Seeing as he clearly had something he needed to forget, now was the perfect time to satisfy my curiosity and distract him in the process. I rubbed his length gently through the soft fabric of his boxer briefs with one hand, using the other to lower his pants. He sighed, and I felt him stir to life. I continued my exploration, finding the head as it slowly hardened, running my fingers around the ridge ringing it.
“That’s really good, babe.”
“Then I must be doing it right,” I murmured, wishing I were tall enough to kiss the back of his neck. “Let me make you feel good again, Liam. I want you to feel clean.”
He reached down and caught my hand in his, pulling it away long enough to shove down his briefs. Then he was putting my hand around his cock again, wrapping the fingers around his erection and using me to squeeze himself tighter than I would’ve dared on my own.
I moved my hand up and down, his length growing harder with every stroke. Then I slid my other hand up and under his shirt, savoring the ridges of his abdominals once more before finding his chest. His nipple.
I pinched it and Hunter inhaled sharply.
“Good?” I asked, the question a whisper.
“Very,” he said. “Very fucking good.”
“Just relax and enjoy. Let me help you.”
He sighed heavily. Something had obviously gone terribly wrong, something I might never know the details of. But whatever it was, when he needed peace, he’d come to me.
I liked that idea very much.
Hunter’s cock was fully erect now. I kept playing with his nipple, working his cock slow and fast alternately, exploring what seemed to give him the most pleasure.
After a few minutes he gasped, his hand catching mine again, jerking it up and down. Now it seemed almost as if he was using my touch to punish himself. I couldn’t imagine something so rough could be anything but painful, but the groans coming from his mouth weren’t unhappy.
“Christ,” he muttered, reaching around with his free arm to grab me, pulling me hard into his body. The embroidery of his patches rubbed against my cheek. Would I ever have sex with him fully naked?
Not at this rate.
His hips started pulsing forward involuntarily, and his hand around my back tightened. My arm was growing tired but I didn’t care. I didn’t really care about anything—all I wanted was to bring him some kind of relief.
Well, that’s a lie.
I very much wanted his dick in my body, but this was clearly working for him. He needed my touch more than I needed his, at least for the moment. Hunter gave a long, low groan and then I felt it hit. He came in a series of pulses that seemed to run along the bottom of his cock. I slowed my hand, thinking I should stop, but he grasped me and kept moving.
All righty then.
I kept stroking him for another minute as his body shuddered and then relaxed against mine. Finally his hand dropped away and I let him go, wrapping both arms around his waist.
“You know, I’d planned for something a little more mutual,” he said slowly. “Sorry. Just a shit night. I’ll get you off—”
“Don’t worry about that right now,” I said, still hugging him. “You’re tired and I want you to rest. You’ll need your strength for later, I think. Right?”
He gave a little laugh, turning around to face me, raising a hand to catch my hair in that way he seemed to like so much. His lips took mine, slow and sweet. Then he pulled away, rubbing his nose gently against mine.
“I hate to say it, but I’m about a minute away from passing out, babe. Can we go to sleep? I need you all soft and sweet and wrapped around me.”
“Sure,” I murmured. I pulled away, then considered the mess we’d just made. “Um …”
“I’ll clean it up,” he said quickly. “Just get ready for bed. I want to hold you—remember that night out behind the bunkhouse at your dad’s place? Aside from the part where you nearly killed me, that was one of the best nights of my life.”
“You also held me the night you kidnapped me,” I said, my voice dry. He shrugged.
“That was pretty good, too,” he admitted. “At least for me. But I figured you might have a different perspective …”
“You’ll make it up to me,” I told him, and I had no doubt of it. But not tonight.
My beautiful man needed rest, and he’d damned well get it.
HUNTER
I woke up to an empty bed.
Em had been so cute last night … First she jerked me off like a pro, and then she’d come to bed wearing one of my T-shirts, which I’d confiscated. Guess she didn’t have time to find any of those pretty presents I’d “given” her. Not that it mattered—I didn’t want anything between her skin and mine anyway. I slept surrounded by her warmth and smell and her hair all over my face, which should’ve been annoying but in reality kicked ass.
Her face wasn’t waiting for me when I closed my eyes, though. Nope, I saw the faces of my brothers right before I’d shot them. One of them had cried, begging for his life. The other sneered and flipped me off.
Two of our own, selling us out to the cartel.
It wasn’t the first time I’d killed for the club—but I’d never had to put down a brother like a dog before. I’d known there was dissension in the ranks and fully realized that there were men who’d do anything to keep us from making peace with the Reapers. I even understood their perspective, to a degree. We’d been in a cold war with the other club for close to twenty years. That made for a lot of bad blood.
But they’d gone beyond betrayal—this was treason.
Good men died because of what they’d done.
On the long drive up from Redding, I focused on Em. How much I wanted to hold her and smell her and absolutely not think of anything but her gorgeous body and the flash of her ice-blue eyes.
Then Deke and his pet prospect got in the way and I’d lost it.
Fuck.
I couldn’t believe how stupid I’d been. I hated to admit it, but Em had been right. What the hell was I thinking, risking the peace for one night? With any luck we’d have years together, something that definitely wouldn’t be happening if I started a new war with her dad’s club.
So fucking stupid … but at least one of us had kept her shit together. A reluctant smile crossed my face, because Em had saved my ass yet again. I heard the shower running in the bathroom, and I realized she must be in there, all slippery and wet. Ten seconds later I was on my feet, sliding back the curtain and stepping in behind her.
“Hey, baby,” I whispered in her ear. “I forgot to give you something last night.”