Hunter: MC Romance (Hell Reapers MC Book 1)

by Liz Lorde

  Fuck. Fuck where is it? Where is it? I could hear him banging on the door and calling my name again, and every time he did it, he was getting wilder. My hands started to tremble as I rummaged my way through to the back of my closet, opening up a big brown box of clothes I’d long outgrown. I sifted through the contents, flinging the old dresses and shirts and busted bra’s that I’d never bothered to throw away. The door boomed as he called out my name, demanding that he let me in, that it wasn’t fair that I was hiding from him. I wasn’t even sure if he was strong enough to break it down.

  When my hand found the curling iron, I felt a palpable wave of relief crash against me and I exhaled a breath. But the small joy that I felt was short lived.

  Horror ripped through my guts when I heard him threaten, “If I can’t get in, I’ll get you to come out. You love this fucking dog so much? Prove it. If you’re not out here by the time I count to ten.” No, you will not hurt my baby boy. No way in hell. “I’ll break its neck.”

  “Wait!” I yelled as I yanked the curling iron loose from the box.

  “One,” he counted and Barristan barked excitedly, “I know boy, I know.”

  I practically flew back to the door, clutching the iron in my hand and grabbing the handle of the door with my other. “Jerry,” my voice was cold as ice, “don’t you dare touch him.”

  “Two. Three. Four…”

  Sucking in a breath, I swallowed back my nerves and tried to push back the strangling heat in my throat. I unlocked the door and pulled it open, ready to assault him on first sight. When he came into view, adrenaline bloomed and I swung the curling iron with all my might, hoping to strike his jaw.

  Except he was prepared. He didn’t have any sort of weapon, but he called out my name and rocked his body backwards, moving just out of my reach. The iron cut through the air and Barristan slipped between the both of us, hiding in his favorite spot beneath the bed. I grunted and pressed forward, bashing my shoulder hard into Jerry in an attempt to knock him on his ass.

  Jerry groaned as I wailed into him, some of the breath being knocked from him. But he did not fall. No, he wrapped his lanky arms around me, trying to wrestle me and whispering, “What are you gonna do with that? Hm?” He squeezed me tighter.

  I squirmed hard against Jerry and tried to separate myself from him, but he was persistent and stuck to me like a boa constrictor. “I’m gonna bust the god damn teeth right out of your head,” I lashed out, shoving all of my weight and strength into him, only just managing to bring us tumbling to the ground. We crashed against the floor and I felt like I needed to throw up by being so close to the man. I screamed in anger and frustration and fear, pushing myself against Jerry’s chest.

  “God damn,” Jerry pushed out a hard breath, panting as we struggled against one another, “bitch. Why couldn’t you just stay asleep?” He tried to wrap his feet around the back of my knees and force himself against me, trying to jockey for position to be on top.

  There wasn’t a hot chance in hell that was going to happen. “Get. Off,” I growled, the hot embers of anger dancing across my bones. I broke free from his grasp, slipping out of his hands and yanking my foot from Jerry’s hold. I brought my hand that held the iron high into the air, winding up for another attempt to strike him. His face scrunched up, darkening in anger as he began to rise and move his hands to protect himself.

  I was quicker than him in that moment, but his hands partially messed with my swing, causing me to only clip at the top of his forehead instead of the temple I’d aimed for. The blow connected and this sickly warmth filled me on contact; this frightening satisfaction at getting the upper hand, at hurting the man that broke me – nobody threatens Barristan. Nobody.

  Jerry screeched in pain and when he went for my legs, I struck him again – connecting a solid hit against the crown of his head. This time his scream was louder and more pronounced, and I took my chance to dash from him to the phone on my living room table. I snatched it up and slid my thumb in a square pattern to open the phone, keeping the curling iron pointed at him.

  “Get the fuck out,” I boomed, keeping my measured gaze on him. My body was shaking with adrenaline.

  He groaned and struggled to lift himself onto his hands and knees. The damage that I did must have done something to him, he looked like he was feeling dizzy when he looked up at me with grit teeth and displaced glasses. “You hit me,” he said in disbelief, bringing himself wearily to his feet and stumbling to the side, placing his hand on the wall for balance. “I can’t believe you hit me.”

  “You better start, because if you don’t get out right now, you’re going to end up dead or in jail.” Only one of those threats was real, I didn’t want to have to put up with the blowback of getting him arrested – didn’t want to deal with the shame and the guilt that I still somehow felt.

  I backed up and away from the door, into the dining section of the apartment, listening to the dog barking in the bedroom.

  Jerry gave me a final, cruel and hateful look before slinking off to the front door and slipping out into the night, When the door closed, I rushed over to it and locked it – making sure to put on the chain lock as well, promising myself that I’d never not use it again. I padded over with some haste to my window, brushing back the white curtains and looking outside, watching him get into his beat up van. I could barely make out the engine of it sputtering to life, and he drove away.

  My hands were still shaking, and it felt like my heart wouldn’t settle down. I called out for my dog and sank down beside the couch, clutching the old iron in my hand so tight that my knuckles turned ghost white. Barristan booped at my side and tried to offer me his affections, but the pain wouldn’t wash away.

  And before this very moment I thought I’d been having trouble sleeping. Now I’ll never feel safe laying my head down.

  Chapter 30

  Hunter

  The anger boiled up inside of me like a disease that I couldn’t remove, rivulets of fire burning up my chest, and like a wingless demon, I shot a strong hook at Reyes. Brother or no, nobody in this world was going to threaten Jessica – she may have broken the trust that I had for her, and hell even if Reyes was right, there was just no way I could bring myself to see her harmed.

  When my fist connected against the side of Reyes’s face; when I was at the height of my anger and the pinnacle of my existence, then, and only then, did I come to understand why I felt the way that I did. In a single, scorching moment, clarity ignited down to my soul.

  I still loved that angel with every ounce of my broken being. And come death or betrayal or fucking prison, none of it mattered – there wasn’t a single greater consequence than forsaking her love.

  Reyes’ head moved along with my punch and he grunted something deep and primal from his chest, his body shifting in that same movement. Immediately he reacted with a great fury, the glint of an angry god danced in his eyes.

  In that moment, I knew fear.

  His fist came flying at me much faster than I anticipated. I tried to dodge it, but the knuckles of his hand landed square beneath my chin, causing my vision to blur with this dizzying blackness. Pain erupted where his blow landed.

  I loved her. That was all that I knew, and I felt like screaming it from the roof tops. I loved her and I fucked things up between us, and that too, I wanted to scream from the highest point.

  Reyes charged at me as though he were a bull possessed and ready to gore me. He slammed into me with the power of a man twice his size and we crashed to the floor, only narrowly missing the kiss of glass from the table.

  Pain shot through me hard and quick, and I clenched my jaw as I tried to push Reyes off of me. Flashes of Jessica skittered across the surface of my mind. “That all you got, bro?”

  The scowling lines on Reyes’ face only became more pronounced, “Just getting warmed up,” his voice was gravel and smoke, his elbow moving back for the wind up.

  Simultaneously, my hand connected with the right of his jaw; and
his connected with my nose. The air became alive with the sounds of our brotherly suffering. Me for the love of a woman, and he for the love of a family.

  I couldn’t wholly hate him for what he was doing, for what he was feeling. He wasn’t acting out of selfishness.

  But I couldn’t let it stand.

  With a great upheaval, I threw Reyes from me and onto his side; deftly maneuvering into a dominant position on top of him. He was on the defensive now. I wrestled with his wrists, trying to work him into an easier position to beat the shit out of him. “I won’t let you do it,” I breathed, “I won’t let you.”

  “You’re damming the club,” Reyes panted, trying to free himself from my grasp.

  My fist landed squarely against his nose, a fleshy sort of crunching noise popping throughout the air. Reyes swatted at me like an animal, his body twisting and writhing trying to slip free from my hold. When I brought my fist back up into the air for another blow, he was ready for it. His hand shot up to catch my attacking arm, and his other hand went straight for my throat – clenching me like a vise grip.

  Dark adrenaline pumped through me, and all of my senses reached this beautifully destructive pinnacle – every grunt and sputter; each sound of creaking bone and thudding fist was crystal clear. It’d been a good long while since I’d had a proper fight. I’d scarcely felt so alive.

  Reyes brought his head upwards and violently smashed into my chin and my mouth, trying to hit at whatever he was able from his position.

  I cried out and cursed, the pain rocking me to my core – a stinging sensation blooming across my lips, and the taste of this metallic note filling my mouth right after. The muscles in my body tightened up and this feeling of weakness rushed through me; I pulled myself away to try and make some space between us, but that moment of surrender was enough for Reyes to shove me hard, so that I spilled off of him and back onto the ground.

  “This is stupid,” Reyes snarled like a dog let loose from his leash. “Whatever happened between you two,” he said before quickly crawling on top of me. I tried to fend him off, but found the harder my muscles strained against him – the more I tried to swim against the tides, the more he used my power against me. He pinned me to the floor. “Let,” Reyes brought his fist up, and I went to block, “it go,” his fist came down.

  I managed to disrupt the flow of his attack just enough, so that he only grazed the side of my face. “No,” I grunted, spitting out a glob of blood through my red teeth.

  He tangled one of his arms against my two, so that he could try and create an opening to hit me. “You’re in love with a fucking traitor,” Reyes slammed his fist downward, the sheen of sweat clear on his face. The blow connected square against my nose. I could feel the small trickle of blood leak from my nose, more so, I could taste it with every quick breath.

  Embracing the surge of fire pumping through my veins, with my heart pounding hard against my chest, I kicked Reyes off of me. Sending him tumbling forward and past my face, I slipped out from under him like a snake and as he was twisting his body to look at me, I threw my fist at him. I could feel the hard resistance of bone, and when he didn’t drop down I sent another blow. Sucking in a tight breath, my eyes kept steady on him as he bumbled and went ass first on the floor, his weariness from the strikes evident with the way his head swayed.

  Striking out again, I pounded him with another vicious right hook to the side of his face. This time it was enough to drop him completely to the floor, his body moving in line with the way my blow found it’s mark. I exhaled a hard breath and straightened out my back, standing tall above him as Reyes rubbed along his face against the places that I’d struck. The pain in my nose radiated and my skin danced with heightened electricity; I swept my hands through my hair and looked down at the man. I put my boot against his chest and pinioned him against the floor. “Reyes,” I huffed. “Please…”

  His cold, gray eyes, locked with mine.

  “I can keep her quiet,” I pleaded more so than I was trying to assert my will over him, at the end of the day, he was still a part of the family. At the end of the day, I was the one endangering the club. “Promise me,” I said, digging the heel of my boot deeper into his chest, listening to him groan. “Promise you won’t hurt her, that you won’t tell anyone else about what you and Holly found out.”

  Bringing my boot away from his chest, I watched as his eyes remained steady on me, as he didn’t moved from the floor – save for the rising of his chest. The silence after the storm hung in the air for what felt like forever, only our breaths and beating hearts breaking it. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and then those gray demons searched my eyes. “You still love her,” I could see the smallest of bloody smirks on his lips.

  I bent down and brought my hand to him.

  His eyes slid over to my extended hand, and he considered before grabbing onto it. “Get her back,” he said, “and I’ll consider it settled. If you can’t do that, then expect Brad and Jameson to know.”

  I gave a short, stifled chuckle and helped to pull him up to his feet. “Wish me luck, brother.”

  We shared a measured smile, the blood and suffering somehow bonding us.

  Chapter 31

  Jessica

  Barristan had curled up awkwardly against my lap, he was too big to act like the puppy he still saw himself as. But I loved him for it. I ran my fingers through his coat and across his soft head. It helped to calm the turmoil in my bones. All of my worry and intruding thoughts prodded at me, I couldn’t get over the fact that Jerry had been watching me sleep. That he’d been in my place without me even realizing.

  I spent the better part of an hour sitting there with Barristan, ignoring the pressing on my bladder – trying to push out the pain in my chest and the hurt that crawled all over my body. Even with my kind of awkward position against the couch, with a fully grown dog in my lap, with everything, I still felt the fingers of sleep caressing me. But I knew it would never truly come, not after what happened.

  I dreamed awake of just falling asleep, of having that simple act de-frag my brain. To push the reset button. When my mind ached with the thought of it, I found the image of Hunter swimming into my mind’s eye. Spears of pain impaled me and when my breath hitched unexpectedly, Barristan popped his head up, his wet nose touching mine.

  It felt like the air was being sucked right out of me. Stinging just behind my eyes assailed me, and all of my pent up emotions came up in a devastating swirl. I wanted to forget about him too, wanted to erase him like a bad memory. But god, it hurt so much, because he wasn’t, was he? He wasn’t a bad memory at all. He was the good. The good that I knew in my heart of hearts I would look to for every love I could be so lucky to as experience a month from now, a year from now. Maybe longer.

  Then it all clicked.

  I’d never been in love with a person before. I’d thought that I had. I had romances, I had terrible excuses for boyfriends – worst of all, I had psychopathic abusers. But until Hunter? I’d never tasted the ambrosial fruit of fiery, passionate love and ever ripening desire. My body had craved him like it was a basic need. The broken heart that I was unfortunate enough to call my own even felt just a little more whole when we were together.

  I tried to convince myself that this was all a mistake, that I was only convincing myself of these thoughts and these feelings. Wrapping my arms around Barristan, I snuggled into him and talked to him for a couple of minutes – asking him if he was still my friend, if he still loved me. I knew it was dumb, but he was always there for me, through the good and the bad. I asked him if I had done right, if I had made a mistake, if Hunter really loved me.

  All that beautiful boy gave me was licks and curious looks.

  Laughter rolled from my throat. Not a strong one, no, not full body. But a laugh was a laugh, and it felt good to feel something other than defeat beneath the constant gaze of hopelessness.

  Barristan’s head perked up, and only one of his ears shot up. He turned his head and
became motionless.

  I felt my brows furrow, “What is it?” I waited for what felt like a good long while, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute at the most. Stillness became me, even my heart had since managed to slow down.

  Except when I heard that roaring engine in the distance, my heart began to quicken all over again.

  I ran a mental inventory of reasons as to why it couldn’t be who I felt in my chest that it was. There were more motorists out there than just him. How would it make sense? How would he even know that I’d been in such danger?

  When my mind flicked to that reeling moment of despair, I felt the bugs skitter across my flesh all over again – the burning worms digging their way through my insides. The heat retching up to my throat and rooting itself there, constantly threatening to make my body do things that I didn’t want them to do.

  God, just take away this pain.

  I hugged Barristan tighter, trying to cut down those thoughts and feelings I wanted to leave behind me. Was that sound getting closer?

  It was.

  My heart tapped quicker and quicker still against the bone of my breast. Again I tried to convince myself that there was no way it could be him.

  But I hoped that it would be. And I hated myself for it. I hated that I wanted to see him again.

  This forbidden part of me wished to feel his touch against my skin. Wanted to feel his hard muscles; needed to bury my face into his neck and sink against him, to have myself just melt away and to make the pain vanish like smoke.

  Sure enough, the sound of a motorcycle’s engine came to a stop just outside my apartment, and my heart clutched with excitement and fear. I tried to focus on my breathing, hoping beyond hope that I might be able to find my peace. There was a hard knock at the door, the one that Hunter always gave me. If I had any doubts, they were all cut from me now.