by Lexie Ray
It was too disturbing to consider, but it got her thinking. What if Blair was triggered now? What if she’s been in a perpetual state of being triggered, like some kind of robotic maniac? The girl Hunter had encountered in the barn with her glazed over black eyes, her lack of expression and lack of compassion, and the gritty determination—none of it represented who Blair was or who Blair had been to Hunter growing up.
A great feeling of hope filled Hunter’s heart. If she could figure out what was triggering Blair, maybe she could figure out how to pull Blair out of it.
The flutter of giggles rose up through the wall from the living room. The girls were getting up. Hunter and Ash had been functioning nocturnally for weeks, and it seemed the girls were also on that schedule. If they weren’t on it already, they would be soon.
Hunter anticipated Ash would want to get the girls to Sarah so she could begin the task of connecting them with their long lost families or provide them with support and guidance as they entered the foster care system. It was probably the right thing to do and the only option for Hunter, considering her hands needed to be free to hunt Grizzly. However, something about turning the girls over to Sarah just didn’t feel right.
They needed to find Grizzly. Would he return to the farmhouse now that it was empty of both men and girls? Where would he go otherwise? Maybe they could get Sarah to keep a look out for his paper trail—if he was dumb enough to leave one. Sarah had tracked Hunter easily enough. Maybe they’d have some luck with Grizzly. All Hunter knew was that she needed to find him. He was the last leg of their mission. He needed to die. It wasn’t enough that she and Ash had rescued the girls, freed Blair, and taken out all the men they had come across. None of that mattered if they didn’t catch Grizzly. Hunter knew deep down in her gut, he would re-establish himself elsewhere if he remained alive. He would find dark followers, start abducting girls again, and the nightmare would continue. He had to be stopped, permanently.
Ash made a noise beside her, an inhale that hitched in the back of his throat, a slight snore, waking himself. He stretched his limbs long under the covers and Hunter’s hold on him naturally fell away. His mouth found hers, and they kissed.
“Good morning,” he said quietly, as an uproar of giggles reverberated from the living room once again.
“More like good late afternoon,” she said between light pecks to his lips and cheek.
Ash rolled to his back, pulling Hunter on top of him. It was then that she realized they had discarded their clothes, every last stitch, throughout the night in a sleepy battle against the hot comforter. The way he felt beneath her, hard in all the right places and firm in the others, made her melt.
His hands, warm and large, caressed up and down the length of her back, tangling in her hair on the upswing and tickling her ass with a light feather touch on the down. Hunter kissed him, her hips rocking in smooth, shallow thrusts as though to say she’s ready for more, as though to ask, was he?
In an instant, Ash lifted Hunter’s hips slightly, adjusting his angle beneath her. The length of his hardness, once pressed stiffly into her abdomen, caught between her legs flawlessly. Hunter moaned a quiet breath of surprise. He lowered her down, sliding inside slowly, allowing her body to expand and accommodate his size.
Hunter had to fight to reclaim control over her quivering breathing and her low moans.
Ash helped her by pressing his mouth to hers, holding his lips there in a sustained kissed. At the same time, he held her waist in place. Her skin was so smooth under his grasp. He loved how soft she was and how she molded to him. The slight thrusts of her hips began to increase, indicating she was ready for more.
“We have to be quiet,” he whispered, gazing into her large brown eyes, scanning them for the flames of passion that burned brightly within—that gaze which turned him on to no end.
“I will be,” she smiled, kissing him, her body rising and falling with slippery wet precision. The angle was perfect. The length of him grazed with hard pressure along her most tender and sensitive spots. His hands wrapped around her ass and began kneading, squeezing, and caressing.
In between Hunter’s legs, a throbbing wetness and heat began to build with each downward scoop around Ash, the sensitivity rising wildly in tandem.
Ash slid his warm grip from her ass over her waist and up her chest until he was holding both breasts in his hands, cupping then stroking their peaks. Her nipples hardened in response.
Riding him was pure bliss. Looking down at him and gazing into his steel-blue eyes added to her immense arousal. Ash was hot, and Ash was hers.
A massive swell of erotic heat rose inside her, and Hunter pressed her hips flush against Ash’s, aligning their bodies perfectly. His pubic bone met hers where the sensitive heat-stricken ache was climbing to the very heights of her pleasure. She needed more, craving direct stimulation in contrast to the intense sensation of Ash, deep and hard inside her. Hunter circled her hips, grinding against him, as the sweet burning ache built up, higher and higher inside of her. Any second now, Hunter knew it would rise up, peaking to the very crest of climax.
Hunter’s eyes floated closed, as her head arched back, unable to hold his gaze. She was getting carried away in the pleasure, and so was he. She was so incredibly smooth and wet, tightly wrapped around him, like hot satin. He could feel the gentle clenches, the throbbing, the beat of her pulse, like a warm massage rippling over the length of him. Ash knew she was about to come. The furrowed brow and the eyes pinched shut in concentration, savoring every inch of him, signaled she would soon float over the edge and free fall into a gorgeous orgasm. He wanted to be the one to push her over the edge, control her pleasure, and give her what her body wanted, craved, and needed so badly.
In an instant, he flipped her over. She landed with a bounce against the mattress on her back, legs spread wide, desperate that he re-enter and resume his place inside. Ash paused; but, for only a second, so he could drink in the sight of her. Her skin was dewy with a light dusting of sweat, and her pink glistening slit was deliciously swollen, beckoning him back inside. The soft mounds of her breasts were splayed perfectly atop her chest.
Ash lowered, inserting himself expertly, and began thrusting, hard and fast into her. Hunter moaned, greatly aroused by his roughness, his domineering nature. The way he claimed her, moving in and out with strong, manly thrusts was insanely hot. Hunter wrapped her legs high around his waist but not so tight that she constricted his motion. She would never want to do that. She only wanted it harder and faster. The hot, slippery friction was all consuming. He thrust faster and faster, pounding into her tightness.
Soon, it was so fast that Hunter couldn’t tell where she ended and he began. There was nothing but a tight ball of heat, swelling and throbbing within her. She was rising up. He was bringing her there. The heat was winding tighter and tighter inside her, burning hotter and hotter, until suddenly Hunter floated over the peak, like riding the swell of a wave. In an instant, she exploded, fraying in a million directions, streamers of hot waves rippling through her. The rippling waves grew into deep, strong clenches.
Hunter moaned, riding the ecstasy of her climax, as Ash continued to pump into her. He kissed her mouth, moistening its dryness and quieting her heavy moan-filled breathing. As her body began to ebb back down, relaxing, Ash climaxed as well.
When their bodies came together it was pure perfection, every time.
After catching his breath, he lowered beside Hunter, scooping her into his arms, as always, and holding her tight. Her head rested on his chest, dewy with sweat from the exertion.
“Hey,” she said when the sun had finally set outside and the room grew dim.
“Yeah?”
“Last night, as we were falling asleep, I told you about my memory, right?” she asked. She could feel the gradual rise and fall of his chest. Then, his steady breathing went still.
How could he forget? It had been the one thing he had been avoiding—and by avoiding it he meant avoiding i
t at all costs—since this whole thing began. The fragments he had fed Hunter—the morsels of information about who he was, his life, and his upbringing—had all been intended to draw her away from this question. But a memory was a memory, and he had no control over which ones would surface in Hunter’s mind. Eventually, she would remember everything—though he had hoped it would take a lifetime.
But they were stable now, steady. The foundation they had made was solid by now, not like how it had been a few days after they had met. Gaining her trust had been an intricate dance with near detrimental ups and downs. But maybe now they were strong enough as a couple that nothing could damage them. That was the hope at least. Ash took a deep breath, preparing to answer her.
“Yeah, I remember you said that, I wasn’t asleep yet.”
“Does that bring up any memories for you? Do you remember that?” she asked.
“Yeah, Hunter,” he said before quickly saying, “I can’t lose you.”
“You’re not going to lose me,” she said, her voice soft and comforting.
“I feel like finally we’re solid, and I don’t want you to think that you’ve wasted your trust on me. You haven’t,” he said.
Hunter paused, growing dark. She lifted her head and looked him in the eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
“Just tell me you won’t leave me,” he said.
“I won’t.”
He was beginning to scare her. What could’ve possibly happened that he fears she’ll up and leave once he tells her? Hunter reminded herself that no matter what he told her, she still needed him to get through the hunt and execution of Grizzly. Whatever her true feeling ended up being, she would deal with them—and Ash—after Grizzly was dead.
“I was there. I remember. I know you’re going to be upset I didn’t tell you. I know that our biggest problems have stemmed from me withholding information from you or telling you half-truths. And I know you’re going to think that’s what this is, that I’ve kept something from you.”
“Ash, I’m not going to think that. I did before, yes, but there’s so much that I don’t remember. It’s not like you can sit me down and tell me two decades worth of information,” she said.
“I used to live at the farmhouse,” he said. “I honestly don’t remember why or how, but my earliest memories are of being there—and of you. I know I should’ve told you before,” he said.
“It’s fine,” she said. “But if you remember being kids with me…I don’t know…that seems to muddy the waters about Grizzly hiring you to find me and bring me back.”
“Not entirely, but I see why you would say that,” he said, combing her wavy brown hair behind her ear. “I was there until the horrible...” Ash trailed off, remembering his younger sister. He had been forced to kill her. It was how he had earned the bullet key chain from Grizzly.
“When your sister died?” whispered Hunter, finishing his thought.
Ash nodded. “Then, after that, I was suddenly living in this other place with the man I’d learned to call my father. It was a gruesome home, abusive. I killed my way out of it.” He paused, taking another deep breath. “Now that you and I are facing what we’re facing, it’s becoming clearer to me that Grizzly plays games. Winning to him is if he succeeds at making a killer.”
Hunter said nothing and continued to listen.
“I used to get in so much trouble when I snuck into your bed,” he said. “But I was never punished, not in a way I could recognize. He would catch me then drag me out into the hall and give me a choice. It was never really a choice, I realized much later in life. But at the time I thought it was. I would have to do something for him or else he would hurt you.” Ash stopped, his voice hitched in his throat. “It was all lies,” he said. “If I did something to save you from harm one day, then the next I would just have to do something else awful all over again. It never ended. I did things to spare you from harm until the incident with my sister. I killed her, and part of me died when I did. After that, I couldn’t anymore. I couldn’t do anything to protect you. When he posed the choice, I chose to let you be taken. Hunter, they hadn’t touched you, hurt you, or done so much as one thing to you until the day I refused. I was only six, and you weren’t much younger. I refused, and they dragged you to the barn. That’s when it started. They sent me away, selling me off to some lunatic a few towns over. I never forgot.”
“Ash,” said Hunter. “You weren’t responsible. He was manipulating you. He was an adult, and you were only a very young child. Those weren’t real choices.”
“I know,” he said. “But they felt real. It felt like my fault. It still does. When Grizzly approached me to find you, when he hired me, my greatest hope was that I’d be able to make everything right again.”
Hunter took a deep breath. “You did. You are.”
“If I had kept going, kept doing Grizzly’s dirty work, you would never have been harmed,” he said.
“That’s not true,” said Hunter. “He was lying to you.”
“Part of me will always think he wasn’t lying. Part of me will always blame myself for being too weak to keep you safe.”
“Part of me still blames myself for leaving Blair behind,” said Hunter, “so I know what you feel like. But you have to tell yourself it isn’t true. You did the best you could. You were being manipulated. He was never going to let you win.”
Ash nodded. “So you don’t hate me?”
“No,” she said. “Not at all, not even close. I love you.”
A faint knocking struck rhythmically against the bedroom door.
“Hunter?” A girl’s voice said through the door. It was Devon.
“Yeah, we’re getting up,” Hunter called out through the door.
“Take your time, we just wanted to let you know that we made pancakes.”
Hunter glanced back at Ash and raised her eyebrows, impressed.
“How’d they pull that off?”
* * *
The living room looked like a sea of cushions and blankets, as though Hunter and Ash were walking through a child’s idea of decorating. In the kitchen, Devon handed them each a plate stacked high with blueberry pancakes and dripping with maple syrup. There was even a lump of butter wobbling on top.
Hunter and Ash sat amongst the cushions and girls and dug in.
She hadn’t realized how starved she was until she began eating. The pancakes were delicious, and she couldn’t hold back from scarfing them down.
Some of the younger girls stared at her shoulder and its bandage. The blood beneath had soaked through, but only a little. Hunter pulled the sleeve of her t-shirt up to cover it. She didn’t want them to be alarmed or overly concerned.
“She’s here, isn’t she?” One of the little girls asked, still staring at Hunter’s shoulder wound, even though it was fully covered now by her tee.
Hunter looked at the girl, then at Ash.
“Yeah, honey, she is,” said Hunter.
“Blair’s bad,” said the little girl. Her giant eyes rounded even larger, worried.
“I’m going to have a talk with her, and she isn’t going to be around any of you until all of us are certain she isn’t bad,” said Hunter, reassuringly. She placed her hand on Ash’s knee, “I should check on her and talk to her if she’s up.”
“Ok,” he said.
“What’s going to happen to us?” asked another little girl.
“Are we going to live here now?” the first one asked.
Ash looked from face to scared face of the little girls, making eye contact with the older runaways in between.
“There’s a lot to figure out,” he said. “But Hunter and I know a police lady who can help.”
Chapter Ten
Hunter unlocked the door and stepped inside the laundry room. It was pitch-black, and she couldn’t see a thing.
“Blair?” she said quietly, in case her sister was fast asleep.
“My head is killing me,” said Blair through the darkness.
Hunter felt around, swinging her hand above head in the air until she grasped hold of a string and pulled it. A naked bulb overhead turned on.
Blair was curled up at the head of the cot, her knees under her chin, her hands still securely tied together behind her back and affixed to the metal leg of the cot.
“I brought you aspirin for that,” said Hunter, “as well as some pancakes.”
Hunter set the pancakes on a folding table beside the cot, then she placed two aspirin tablets down. They clinked against the wooden tabletop, rolling to a standstill.
“How am I supposed to take those with my hands tied behind my back?” she asked, an edge in her tone that told Hunter her younger sister wouldn’t easily forgive being hit over the head with a gun and dragged from her home against her will.
“I’m not going to untie you,” Hunter said firmly. “Not until we talk and get on the same page.”
“You pistol-whipped me. I have a giant lump on my skull, and my head’s killing me. What common ground do you actually think we’re going to find?” The question had bite, but it didn’t deter Hunter’s hope of de-programming her sister.
“Yes, I hit you over the head. You stabbed me. I’m not going to oversimplify and say we’re even, but for the most part, we’re even.” Hunter picked up the aspirin and leaned down towards Blair. “Don’t try anything,” she said placing the aspirin to Blair’s mouth, “if you do, you’ll be sorry.”
Blair glared at her, opening her mouth, but she didn’t bite Hunter or make any moves other than to swallow the tablets. Hunter fed her a chunk of pancake to wash the aspirin down.
Afterwards, Hunter grabbed a folding chair from between the washing machine and the wall and sat down right next to Blair, removing the burner cell and her gun from her back pockets before settling all the way down.
“So, you were up in the barn waiting for me so that you could kill me? Is that it?” asked Hunter.
Blair lowered her gaze, pressing her mouth into a hard line, refusing to engage.
