Hunter (The Fractured Fairytale Series)

by J. A. Wynters

  The house is quiet, the guests that crashed over have vacated, and the cleaning crew have somehow managed to reorganise this place. Again. I make a mental note to send them all gifts when we leave this place. I get to my room and throw off my suit, grabbing my bikini and sliding it back on. The day has been so hot, my body is on fire. A dip in the pool will help cool me down.

  I grab my towel, throwing it over my shoulder this time. I don't need to hide behind it, I don't want to. I go past the kitchen and grab my bottle of water before I head outside and set my towel down on one of the deck chairs.

  The cold water engulfs me and for a split second, it feels as if my heart has seized. I didn't expect it to be so cold. I suck in a long breath and push off the wall, sinking deeper until I'm inches off the bottom. I swim, pushing my body through the water, propelling myself forward. In this muted world my clumped thoughts fall to pieces and rearrange themselves. The stillness fills me with tranquillity, nothing can touch me down here.

  I feel the agitation of the last few days peel off my skin, dissolve into nothingness, till all that remains is my determination. I flip over and push off the opposite wall. My heart hammers against my ribs, my lungs burning, needing oxygen, but I want to keep fighting. I want to stay in control, I want to earn that first breath. Breaking the surface should feel rewarding, like I've earned it, not been spoon-fed. Anger ripples inside me as I think of Hunter’s laughter and I push the thought away into the blue, drowning it. Every cell in my body screams for oxygen, I push up and break the surface, gulping at the hot summer air. It floods my body like relief and I know that this is how I want to feel when I first get on stage. Like I’m alive.

  I do a few more laps. On my last turn, I spot Hunter standing by the window, talking to Daryl and watching me with rapt attention. His gaze makes me feel like a small boat on a very big, turbulent ocean. Feeling the weight of his gaze is like sitting and waiting for a forceful tsunami to come and tip me over. He confuses me. One moment he’s volatile and hostile and makes me want to rip his head off, the next he’s glaring at Daryl for treating me like shit, opening up about his past and kissing me in corridors, leaving me raw and disarmed.

  I let out a lungful of air, setting a stream of bubbles bursting along my face before I float face down with my thoughts on the surface of the water, blocking both of them from my mind.

  Hunter

  Daryl has a ‘chat.’ A whole lot of nothing words he throws my way. With all his many friends and parties the guy seems really lonely. I hope he doesn't plan on making that problem mine. I’m happy to watch his back, but I'm not here to be his friend or confidant. I have enough of those. Wolf is getting back mid next week and it can’t come early enough. Red might also give me the time of day, she still hasn’t forgiven me for the time she says I stole from them. She’ll come around, eventually; she always does.

  I rub my eyes and glance at the pool. My heart seizes. Emily is floating face down in the water, her body bobbing in the rippling blue. A million questions thunder inside me as I leap away from Daryl and sprint towards the patio. Where the fuck is everyone else? Why is no one watching? How long has she been face down? Fuck.

  The cold water rips my breath away and my clothes stick to my body making it harder to move. I’m on her in a second and I tear her from the water spinning her face up.

  I don’t expect resistance.

  She’s clawing at me and her body tightens in my grasp, she sucks in a breath, her face a mask of confusion and surprise.

  “What the hell are you doing?” she screams at me as the realisation dawns and my blood floods with heat.

  “I thought you were… I was…” but she’s pulling herself out of my grasp and not listening.

  “I don't need your help,” she snaps at me and starts to swim away, but I realise that I don't want to let her go. Her skin—golden and toned—feels warm and smooth, droplets of water glisten down her neck and between her breasts, barely secured by her white bikini top. “Let go of me.” She kicks under the water, the impact barely noticeable.

  “A thank you goes a long way.” I hold us there, treading water. She grimaces at me and I smirk. I can do this all fucking day.

  “Let. Me. Go!”

  “Thank me.”

  “Thank you for what?”

  “For saving you.”

  “I didn’t need saving, but if I did, I hope you’d be the last person around to do so.”

  “Ouch, you trying to hurt my feelings?”

  “Not sure you have any.” She wiggles around, trying to wrangle her wrist out of my grip.

  I chuckle. I like her like this, with a bit of fire, not just the shy mouse that hides behind overly large suits. When she sheds those, she’s a whole other person. The thought startles me, but before I have time to dwell, Emily shoots up then dives down under the water. Her hand, wet and slippery, easily slides from my grip and she disappears beneath the surface and begins to swim to the edge of the pool.

  I track her movements and follow above her as she pushes through the water. Her toned muscles ripple with her sure strokes, her long hair trailing behind her in a long, brown waves.

  She breaks the surface by the wall and I lunge, trapping her with my body, caging her with my hands, suddenly reluctant to let her go. I’ve been finding it difficult lately to keep my eyes off her, and to keep my distance. She wriggles but all that happens is that she grinds herself against me. We both feel the reaction my body has to her movements and she freezes, staring up at me.

  “Let me go.” She hisses as our faces draw perilously close.

  “You need to learn some manners.”

  She huffs and keeps glaring.

  “I saved you, you should at least thank me.” I lean in against my better judgement, but there’s something about her that keeps tugging at me.

  “Save me? All you did was interrupt my swim and now you’re trying to feed your ego thinking you’re some kind of hero.”

  “I could be your hero.” I smirk.

  “My hero?”

  “Mm-hmm.” I like having her this close, her small body wriggling against mine, warming me up in the cold water. My cock pushes against my soaked jeans.

  Her eyes burn, her hot breath fans my lips, “Won't your partner get all jealous of you pressed up against a woman? Or are you in an open relationship?”

  “My partner?” I frown. “Wolf?”

  “Is that his name? Very manly. He sounds like a big, strong man. A real hero…” She grinds against me, biting her lower lip, “Is that what you like? Is that why you seemed so happy when you thought I had a cock? Does Hunter like to play on both teams?”

  “You know perfectly well that I like women.” I push into her, my hard, cock grinding against her. She gasps before trying to push me away.

  “Do I? It’s ok to be a little vulnerable Hunter. Tell me the truth, I won’t judge.”

  “Vulnerability? That’s for people like you, not me. And judge all you want, we both know the truth.” I don’t know why it matters what she thinks of me, or why I want her to want me. She's just another girl in a long line of other forgettable girls.

  “People like me? Your arrogance is pathetic.”

  I scoff, “If I’m so pathetic why did you kiss me the other night?”

  “I didn’t kiss you, you kissed me.”

  “You keep thinking that, but we both know what happened. You wanted to kiss me.”

  She inhales looking like she might slap me before taking me totally by surprise and curling her hand around my neck brushing her fingers through my hair, her long nails dragging along my wet scalp. “You’re right,” her eyes fall away and lock onto my lips before darting back up to mine, “I did want to kiss you.” Her voice is husky and low and my insides flood with desire.

  “Well then, I know how you can thank me.”

  “Oh?” She pushes herself against me and I’m so hard I wonder if she’d let me fuck her right here in the pool. I’d haven’t done that before—in da
ytime hours.

  She licks her lips; they glisten in the sun and my cock hurts so good thinking about her sweet, tight pussy.

  “A kiss?” She flutters her eyelashes and sucks on her lower lip. I know she’s teasing, and I fucking like it. Because as soon as those hot little lips are on mine, I'm going to prove my theory right; she wants me, just like everyone else.

  “Mm- hmm.” I smile at her and she smiles back. I find myself relaxing, my body wanting to melt into hers.

  “What happened to not fraternising with the staff?” Her lips are perilously close to mine.

  “This isn’t fraternising, it's a thank you for my efforts.” I wink at her and my eyes lock on her lush lips. “Anyway, you’re off the clock.”

  Her hands weave through my hair and drag my head backwards instead of forwards, “And you're off your head, I wouldn’t kiss you if you were the last man on Earth!” she says a second before her hands leave my hair.

  Before I can grasp or react to what she’s doing, she plunges my head under the water and shoots up, using my shoulders as leverage. She slips out of the pool, stands up and walks to her towel. I break the surface, dragging in a long breath before smirking at her. Despite the sudden disappointment that floods me, my cock aches wanting her even more.

  She dries off slowly, running her towel in long strokes over her legs and between her breasts, along her neck and over her face before she sashays over to a deck chair where she stretches out without a worry in the world. Her white bikini shows off all her beautiful curves while her dripping hair falls across her shoulders. My gaze follows the droplets as they slink along her glistening skin. I tear my eyes away and suck in a few breaths before pulling myself out of the pool. I rip off my soaked shirt, it’s glued to my body like a second skin. I glance over to Emily, who’s slipped on her sunglasses. She doesn't turn to look at me and I find it hard to keep my eyes off her.

  I shake my head. What the fuck am I doing? I’m still mid-shift and all the boys have likely seen this exchange. Fuck. I stand up and pull off my shoes and socks, then strip off my jeans. They’ve stuck themselves to me, and I look like a right clown trying to get them off. I stumble and catch myself before putting all my wet clothes in a pile. I spot Daryl still standing by the window, he smirks at me from behind the glass before turning and disappearing somewhere in the house.

  I throw another look at Emily. She’s still paying me no attention and something like disappointment tugs at me. She looks mad, but she’s not acting like she is. She’s being indifferent and somehow that feels worse. Fuck it. Why do I even care?

  I leave her there in her small, sexy fucking bikini on the fucking deck chair with my wet clothes hiding my massive fucking erection.

  This day needs to fucking end.

  Emily

  Water drips down his strong back and tree trunk legs as he trudges away, an annoyed scowl on his face. The cold wind has helped to chill the inferno that’s been burning inside me ever since Hunter had me in his arms. His closeness is intoxicating and does things to my body on a molecular level, it wants to devour him. I exhale a few long breaths, cooling my insides. He puts up a cocky front, one that he shows the rest of the world, but I see goodness lurking inside him. It’s not just a hero complex, there’s so much more that hides behind his stupid pretty face. But he acts like a burn victim—too scared to come near any hot flames. He hides in the shadows just feeling the warmth, but never really revealing himself. I sigh, wishing he’d let me in instead of pushing me away and my stomach drops with a sudden free fall of jealousy at anyone who might be lucky enough to see the parts of him that he hides. I know he’s attracted to me in the way that I’m attracted to him, I've seen the way he watches me, I’ve felt his reactions; but if he thinks for one second I’ll fall into his bed cause he flashes me a few smiles and throws a few well-crafted words my way, he has another thing coming. Right?

  9

  Hunter

  It feels good to be away from work and the smell of coffee filters through the small apartment. I’ve only been here a handful of times but they’ve made a few more changes since my last visit. I stare at the framed picture, a shredded illustration that’s been pieced back together with clear tape. A half boy, half-wolf stares back at me. The details are astonishing and once again regret filters through me like sand making me feel heavier. Red is so fucking talented. I should have stayed and made sure she went to that art school. She would have been so much happier and more successful; in the same way she would have been with Wolf if I didn't stand in their way.

  I think about how in many ways his friendship changed the course of my life. Not so much the trajectory, I was always headed here, but more so that he made things easier. When I saw him that day on the oval darting towards me with fire in his eyes, I didn't think that this giant of a man would turn out to be my best friend; I thought he was going to be the one that ends me. I remember that day so clearly, how he stomped over already much bigger than all the other boys at that stupid school. I already knew what was coming. A battle of egos and a few punches followed by the endless ridicule about the boy whose clothes don't fit properly and were fifth-generation hand-me-downs with the retarded sister.

  I hate when they talked about Red like that, but they didn't know how strong she was. How she dealt with all our problems like a champion despite being so young. I remember looking at her and squaring my shoulders, my body tense and ready to fight. I wanted her to see that I’ll never back down, that I will always stand up for us and that she will always be safe. Protecting her has been my full-time job since she was a baby. I was never going to let her down.

  If Wolf wasn’t going to kill me, my chugging heart would have done it instead. It felt like it was going to explode, but I was ready. I've had big fights before and even though I was skinny, I could still hold my own. When he stopped just in front of me with a smirk plastered across his face, I thought then that I would be the one to throw the first punch. But all he wanted was to play ball. It was like he was wearing some kind of glasses that made all my scraggly clothes and appearance disappear. He didn't care at all. That football game changed everything. It was the first time since starting school with all those elite fuckers that I smiled. I had fun.

  The thing was, I was sure it would be a one-time thing. So when he showed up the next day and the next, it surprised me. At first, I wondered why a guy like him would want to spend so much time with a loser like me. I was an orphan working two jobs and looking after my sister, while he had everything—money, parents, a future.

  Trust was not something I gave out freely. When you get abandoned by your parents and left to fend for yourself, you develop a few issues. They become ingrained in your very bones. They affirm that you are not worth loving and that love is a concept reserved only for the blind and the fools.

  But the more I got to know him, the more I realised that he was just as lonely as I was. His parents travelled all the time, and even when they were around, they weren’t available to him. He said all his friends were fake and hung around cause they either feared him or wanted something from him. I assured him that he had nothing to worry about, as we weren’t friends. He laughed so hard and slapped my back that eventually I followed suit.

  After that day, we became more than friends, we were brothers, we were the family we both needed. And even though I was too proud and too blind to accept his help, he helped anyway. Looking back now, I don't know if we would have ever made it without all the “leftovers” he used to bring over and the occasional other perks. Now I have someone who has my back. No matter what. As the years went on, Wolf became a fixture in my life, I could always turn to him now, he was the one person who never let me down. He never left, he never once steered me wrong.

  It was a no-brainer that we would go to the same Uni and build our business to be the most successful security firm in London. We always knew we’d have it all, the money, the success, the women—ah… so many, many women.

  “Your sister
is a genius.” Wolf walks into the small lounge with two cups of coffee, pulling me out of my memories and hands me one. He looks good. He has a tan and the fatigue he usually carries with him seems to have released him. The bags under the eyes and the heaviness in his shoulders are gone. He seems almost light, which is strange for a man his size. He’s a fucking monster, always has been.

  “She is, yes.” I nod, taking my coffee from him.

  “She said to tell you she'll see you next time you come over.”

  “So she’s still pissed at me?”

  He shrugs, “you know what she’s like.”

  I nod, “I do, stubborn.”

  He chuckles, “She really is.” He runs a hand over his face, wiping away a grin. I have a feeling I don't want to know what he might be thinking about. “How’s the new gig?”

  “Painful. That man’s PA is doing my fucking head in.”

  “His PA?” His eyebrows shoot up and his mouth quirks to one side.

  “Yeah. Always getting in the way, being all stubborn and uptight.”

  “Uptight?” He’s fully smiling now.

  “Yeah, she just pisses me off all the time.” And she does. It really pisses me off that she hasn't cast a single glance my way since the incident in the pool, that she leaves the room any time I walk into it, or that she hasn’t offered me a cup of coffee. I’m not sure how I let it happen, but somehow she's gotten under my skin.

  Wolf’s mouth is stretched in a wide grin that threatens to become full-on laughter. He looks way too amused.

  “What?” I snap at him.

  “Nothing. Nothing at all,” he smirks.

  “Wolf.”

  “Well, when you send me all those messages about Daryl Dark and what a shit he is, I thought he must be a real dick. But now I know the real reason you have your panties in a twist.”

  “Emily?”

  “Is that her name?”