Imperfect Saint

by Jess Bryant

  He’d given her an extra night to be sure she wanted this. He’d told her that he wanted this, with her. She’d said she wanted it . He’d called a time out long enough to find a condom and she’d helped him locate what they needed to be safe. She was all but begging for him and he couldn’t keep himself from giving her exactly what they both wanted.

  But that didn’t mean he had to rush it.

  She’d told him last night that it had been a long time for her. She’d only ever been with her asshole ex. He’d never taken the time to make it good for her. Hunter wouldn’t be another man that took from her. He intended to give her everything she’d ever wanted, everything that he was.

  He was hers.

  “I’m gonna go slow.” He whispered against her neck as he removed his hand and slid his hips up until just the tip of his cock rested at her opening. “I don’t want to hurt you. I won’t hurt you, Mills. I promise.”

  “I know, Hunter. I know.” She cupped his face between her hands and leaned up, kissing him as he began to push into her.

  She was tight. Good lord was she tight. He’d known she would be but even still, he nearly lost all control as soon as he pushed into her and felt all that soft, clenching heat around his cock.

  He paused and simply kissed her for a long moment. He held himself steady and kept his hips from punching forward into her in on a solid drive. In that moment he was suspended somewhere between heaven and hell and he would have happily stayed there forever so long as it meant he was connected to Millie like this.

  But she refused to let him hold back.

  Millie wrapped her arms around him and rocked her body against his. She tilted her hips to meet him, forcing him to slide deeper. When she dropped her hips he caught himself falling into her and then she was there again, pulling him in again, inch by inch, taking more of him as she panted and writhed beneath him.

  “Hunter.” His name came on a whine. “Please. Move.”

  “Am I hurting you?” He groaned into her neck, already starting to pull back when he felt her hands on his ass, her nails digging into his skin.

  “No. Move. I need more. I need you to move. Oh God, please.” She gasped his name again as she pushed her hips up and finally took all of him. “Hunter, fuck.”

  He lost it. Millie begging for him was one thing. Millie fucking herself on him was another. But Millie actually cursing at him, telling him to fuck her, when he was fairly certain he’d never heard her say a bad word in all the months he’d known her, that was what sent him fully over the edge.

  He levered himself up on one arm and used his other to grab her ass and lift her off the bed. He tilted her hips and drove into her. Millie cried out and he groaned in response.

  It was good. So damn good he did it again, and again. He slammed into her harder and faster. The bed squeaked and the headboard smacked into the wall. Their breathing grew louder, their grunts and cries of pleasure echoing in the small space. And all the time, they held onto one another, moving together in a rhythm that their bodies knew instinctively.

  She was perfect. She fit him perfectly. She gave as good as she got. Kissing him. Holding him. Scratching him. Calling out his name as she met him thrust for thrust. Sweat dripped from his chin as he worked them into a frenzy and she licked it off, moaning in pleasure at the taste of him.

  God had made her for him. He was certain of it. She was his match in every way.

  “Perfect.” He grunted as his thrusts shortened and he felt that first tingle of awareness race down his spine and straight to his balls. “Millie, baby, you’re so damn perfect.”

  She made an incoherent noise but he recognized it for what it was. She was close too but she wasn’t quite there yet. She was reaching for the cliff but she couldn’t fall over it alone. He knew her sounds, knew what her body needed. He’d taken the time last night to learn and this was why. She’d never come before, not just from sex, but she was going to come with him and he wasn’t going to stop until she did.

  He dropped her hips as he continued to pump into her. She didn’t even lose pace. She just gripped him harder and met his next thrust with another moan.

  Hunter slid his hand around her hip. He found her mound and then pushed lower. Millie gasped, her entire body jerking beneath him when he found her clit and squeezed. He steadied her, pushing his weight onto her to keep her where he wanted and then he started to rub as he thrust into her.

  “Oh God. Hunter!” She didn’t just gasp his name, she screamed it and he growled in approval as he felt her body tighten around him.

  “That’s it baby. Let go. Take the pleasure. Take what I want to give you.” He flexed his hips and worked his fingers in faster, tighter circles over her clit. “Come for me, Mills. Give it to me. You came on my fingers and my tongue last night. I want to feel you come on my cock. That’s it. Squeeze me tight. God you feel good. So good. Fuck, yes. Millie. Yes.”

  He knew he was muttering incoherently by the time her body went tight beneath him, strung taut like a bow, and when she snapped, he went right over the edge with her. His climax hit and he drove deep inside her as her body pulsed all around him. He kept thrusting, going blind with the need to fill her with his seed, to mark her, to claim her, to make her his in a way that meant he could keep her forever.

  It was only after the bright white light of his orgasm passed that he remembered he’d stopped them to get a condom. Thank God. He’d known he wouldn’t be able to stop once he got started. He’d kept her safe. He’d protected them.

  “Oh… Oh… Oh Hunter.” Millie was heaving in breaths, trying to regain her own head and he shifted to the side to give her more room to breathe. Only she didn’t let go of him. She followed him over as he crashed to the bed, ending up sprawled across his chest again, just like she’d been when they woke. “Oh, wow. That was…”

  “Nothing one-sided about that, baby.”

  She laughed a little and kissed his chest, “I was going to say perfect.”

  He hummed his approval. Perfect. That’s what she was. That’s what they were together. He’d somehow known it would be like this between them.

  Hunter knew he needed to handle the condom. He needed to get up and clean them both off. They needed to find their clothes and get dressed. They needed to pack their things and say their goodbyes. They had lives in Nashville to get back to and they both had to be back at work tomorrow.

  Millie sighed against his chest, “Not yet.”

  “Hmm?” He realized his eyes had drifted shut and forced them open again.

  “I don’t want to leave this bed. Not yet. Let’s stay this way a while longer. Just the two of us. Happy and safe and together.”

  “Are you reading my mind, woman?” He chuckled as he readjusted their positions on the bed enough that he could get the condom off and drop it into a wastebasket on the floor.

  “Maybe.” She smiled up at him.

  “Then read this…” He met her gaze and thought about all of the things he couldn’t say out loud, not yet.

  He told her with his eyes that he wanted this to last forever. He told her that he’d never felt like this with anyone. He told her that she was special and that he intended to spend the rest of his life showing her just how amazing she was. He told her that he was falling in love with her and that even if she didn’t want to think ahead, he was already planning the rest of their lives together.

  Millie only smiled and leaned up, kissing him softly, “I’m sleepy too. Let’s just lay here and rest for a while.”

  Hunter grinned and let her tuck herself back into his side. He hadn’t been thinking about going to sleep at all. But then again, now that she mentioned it. He was happy and warm and sated, at least for the moment. He had the woman he wanted for the rest of his life in his arms, in bed, and he couldn’t hold back the yawn that came as he closed his eyes and simply held her.

  His last thought before he fell back to sleep was that he’d been right. This weekend had changed everything and there was
no going back. He’d never be able to sleep without her in his arms again and he didn’t want to.

  17

  Millie was nervous, which was ridiculous. She knew that. She had no reason to be nervous. This was her office. This was her business. She was the boss here. So what if Lemon was coming by for a quick meeting before she flew back to Texas? It wasn’t as if this was the first time she’d been to Millie’s new office.

  Hell, Lemon had been here just a few days ago, when she’d put the crazy plan in motion that had changed Millie’s life forever.

  She should be happy to see Lemon. She owed her a huge debt of gratitude. If it wasn’t for Lemon, she wouldn’t have this life that she had. Her job. Her business. And now, Hunter. Every good thing in her life, Lemon had been the one to push her towards it.

  Then again, if she was honest with herself, she wasn’t only nervous about seeing Lemon. She knew her boss well. Lemon would never be able to sit through their scheduled meeting without pressing Millie for all the details of her weekend first. But the real person Millie was nervous about seeing was Lemon’s bodyguard, also known as Millie’s new boyfriend.

  The thought alone made her smile.

  Hunter was hers. Her man. Her boyfriend. He’d told her so himself. He’d given himself to her and all he’d asked in return was that she be his too. Her heart ached at the thought of him, of his sweetness, of his kisses, of the way he managed to turn her inside out with nothing but a look.

  When he’d dropped her off at her apartment last night, he’d kissed her until she’d been certain her mouth was bruised and her legs were jelly. It had taken every ounce of courage she had to invite him in but he had turned her down. She’d been crushed for all of two seconds until he tilted her chin back up and told her that he had to be at work early in the morning to get Lemon to the recording studio, and that he wanted her to take the night alone and think about everything he was offering her before she decided if she was really ready to jump into this thing with him.

  As if she hadn’t already? She was in deep and she had no idea how it had happened. All she knew was that spending a night alone in her bed after a weekend of being in Hunter’s arms had only made her miss him. She wanted him, all of him, in her life and in her bed and in her heart. She couldn’t wait to see him again and tell him as much, but at the same time she really didn’t want to confess she was falling in love with him in front of their mutual boss either.

  Millie paced to the window and peered out, chewing on the inside of her cheek. She wanted to see him. She was nervous about seeing him. She felt like a teenager again, all butterflies and hopes and dreams. She’d thought that after everything Joshua had put her through that she knew better than to get her hopes up like this, but apparently he hadn’t knocked all the girlish fantasies out of her after all. They were still there, lurking in her subconscious, hidden deep, but being with Hunter had brought them all right back to the surface.

  She wanted it all. She wanted her dream job where she could work hard and be the boss and she wanted the handsome man to go home to at the end of the night. She wanted the big house with the yard, and she wanted that dog she’d always dreamed of curled up in the sun with Simmons the cat. And someday she wanted the butterflies in her belly to grow into tiny little humans that would fill her world with the kind of joy she’d never known. All of the dreams that she’d let slip away, the ones that she’d tried to forget, they all came back to her when she thought about being with Hunter.

  He wasn’t the kind of man that would accept half measures. He wanted all of her. He wanted a future with her. Maybe it had started as a weekend away, as a fake date or a cover story, but the things he made her feel were real and honest and she knew if she gave him a chance that he would help her feel whole again too.

  It had already started. She felt more like herself than she had in ages. He made her feel strong and confident. Just being around him, being with him, made her happier than she’d been in far, far too long.

  “Knock knock.”

  Millie spun around to find Lemon Kelly strolling into her office. Her eyes took exactly half a second to scan her friend. She looked the same as always. Her blonde hair was down around her shoulders in loose waves and topped by a wide brimmed hat. Her tall, willowy frame was covered in an oversized tunic and dark wash skinny jeans and she was prancing around on high-heeled boots that probably cost as much as Millie’s rent.

  Each and every time she saw Lemon she was reminded that if they weren’t friends, she’d hate the woman on principle alone. Not only was she tall, blonde and gorgeous but she was also rich, talented, and as of late, overwhelmingly happy and in love with a man that thought the sun rose and set on her cute little ass. Yeah, Lemon had it all. Everything a girl could want. But despite the fact that she was also supposed to have a bodyguard at her side, namely the one man in the world Millie now thought of as hers, Lemon was alone. Millie glanced past her friend to the doorway, waiting for him to appear and when he didn’t, she frowned.

  “Oh my God, you’re as bad as he is.” Lemon dropped her purse into one of the chairs and then sat in the other, primly crossing her legs this time, “Hunter is parking the car and then I have no doubt he’ll run up every flight of stairs in this building if he thinks it’ll get him to this office faster than the elevator.”

  Millie bit her lip to stifle a smile as she went around to sit behind her desk but of course Lemon noticed it and laughed.

  “Oh, don’t play all coy with me. I’ve already spent all morning grilling him for details since my best friend won’t return any of my text messages.”

  “Your best friend has been in meetings all day and in case you’ve forgotten, this is supposed to be a business meeting to discuss your summer tour for next year.” Millie folded her arms and tried her best to look professional. “We should be discussing business, not my love life.”

  “Aha!” Lemon all but squealed, “So there is a love life huh? I knew it! Come on Mills. Give me details. You owe me that much considering I’m the one that knew you were secretly crazy about each other and set you up last weekend.”

  Millie chewed on the inside of her cheek and shot the doorway another look.

  “I told him he couldn’t see you until after our meeting was over so he isn’t standing out there listening in.” Lemon wagged her eyebrows playfully, “Business first, and by business I mean I’m making it my business to find out exactly what happened this weekend before I move an inch.”

  “What?” Millie was distracted by Lemon’s insistence that Hunter wouldn’t be barging through the door anytime soon.

  “Millie, you can buy the best concealer in the world but you can’t hide the truth. Not from me.” Lemon tapped her own cheek to make her point, “What happened this weekend?”

  “Oh God.” Millie instantly touched the spot that she knew was still bruised beneath her makeup, “You don’t think Hunter…”

  “Of course not.” Lemon frowned, “I know him better than that. I’m the one that sent him to protect you. He would never hurt you but I want to know who did, how, and why.”

  “I thought…” Millie went back to chewing her cheek, “I thought you said you already grilled him.”

  “I did. He wouldn’t tell me. He said that’s your story to decide to share or not.” Lemon harrumphed and crossed her own arms across her chest, “Funny because I thought he worked for me, but no matter how many times I remind him of that, or of the fact that I’m the one that sent him with you to protect you, he won’t crack.”

  “He’s a good man.” Millie smiled softly and Lemon loosened a bit.

  “Yeah. He is. But whoever did that…” She motioned to Millie’s face and frowned, “And I’m guessing it was your ex, isn’t a good man.”

  “No. He’s not.” Millie sighed, knowing there was no use keeping this particular secret to herself anymore, “And yes, you’re right. Joshua hit me while we were in Brentwood for the wedding.”

  “If he’s still breathing then
Hunter didn’t do the job I sent him to do.” Lemon hissed.

  “No. He did. He saved me, Lem. He saved me in so many ways this weekend I can’t even put it into words what having him there meant to me.” She swallowed past the lump in her throat, “Thank you for sending him with me. I owe you so much already that I’ll never be able to repay but…”

  “You owe me nothing. We’re friends. Friends look out for each other.” Lemon reached across the desk and squeezed Millie’s arm, “And friends also set each other up with the super hot guy that’s totally into them. Now that you can thank me for.”

  Millie managed a choked laugh, “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Lemon sat back in her chair. “Now, spill all the juicy details that I can’t get out of Hunter.”

  Millie knew it was useless to put Lemon off. She’d no doubt heard some of the rumors for herself already. More than once Millie had walked out of her office only to stumble upon a hushed conversation that abruptly ended when her employees saw her. She’d caught enough of the exchanges to know that despite Nashville being a big city that the music world was small and gossip was already circling about problems between the Turner and Bell families.

  People were figuring out that Joshua hadn’t been part of Colin’s wedding and that was the kind of news that generated talk. The two of them had always been a package deal. Even after Millie split from Joshua, he’d still been linked to Colin and to the family business. Turner Bell was a family label after all, and Colin and Joshua stood to inherit fortunes as well as the company someday and they’d do it together just like their fathers and grandfathers before them. Joshua being MIA at Colin’s wedding had been like a warning alarm for everyone in the music industry to start paying attention.

  The bruise Millie was still sporting on her face certainly hadn’t helped matters any. She’d tried to cover it up as best as she could. She knew all the tricks after all the years she spent with dealing with the fallout from Joshua’s temper. She owned the best concealer money could buy and to an untrained eye, it was almost unnoticeable. Almost.