The Talented Mr. Rivers

by HelenKay Dimon

  In a way, he’d been on the run all his life. His mistake had been in coming home for what his father insisted would be his last request. Will had let blood rule. Gave in to the last stray feelings of loyalty to a father who deserved none.

  Now he was paying the price. Being hunted was part of it. So was being trapped in a room with a man who could turn his attraction on and off between heartbeats.

  Hunter grabbed the food container and sandwich and took them with him to the small couch. He pointed at the chair opposite him with his fork, then started eating. “Sit.”

  “The alpha dog act is getting a little old.” Never mind that being ordered around by Hunter made Will hot.

  Hunter sat there eating while studying Will. “Is this about the sex?”

  It was as if Hunter had read his mind. “It’s nice to know talking about it doesn’t scare you. I guess it’s just doing it that makes you bolt.”

  Another forkful of lettuce disappeared. “I didn’t get all touchy-feely and now you’re whining.”

  Will was done with this conversation. He needed a break, so right now he was done with Hunter, too. “Or maybe the sex wasn’t that good.”

  Hunter put the food container down and leaned back on the cushions. Didn’t get angry. Looked more on the verge of smiling. “You really think you can sell that?”

  “You can’t be good at everything. Maybe stick to beating people up.” Will dropped the duffel and shoved it away from the door with the side of his sneaker. Getting out would need to wait until tomorrow, or at least until Hunter fell asleep.

  “Is this your fucked-up way of asking for a second round?”

  “You’re a dick.” Will moved across the room and stopped near the window. He leaned against the curtains and the trim underneath. Didn’t bother to give Hunter eye contact.

  “Probably true, but you still should eat.”

  “Not interested.”

  Hunter stood up and went to the sink, taking the container with him. “We need to let the heat die down.”

  The comment sounded just ominous enough to pull Will’s attention from the lights on the street below and back to Hunter. “What are we talking about?”

  “The danger you’re in.”

  The topic guaranteed to shut down any sex talk and take them racing back to the you-work-for-me/no-I-don’t discussion. “No one tried to kill me in Paris before you showed up.”

  “Because you didn’t go outside.” The fork clanked against the inside of the sink. “I’m impressed, by the way. You don’t strike me as a hang-around-the-house guy.”

  Will was starting to miss the time alone. “You know that almost everything you say makes you sound like a bigger asshole, right?”

  “Are you unclear about the meaning of the words ‘I’m impressed’?” Hunter planted his palms on the edge of the counter. His amused expression didn’t change. “I thought I was clear.”

  He was. Crystal. “I’ll get my plan together, then disappear.”

  “You’re saying you’ll leave everything—the money, all of it—behind?” Hunter snorted as he shook his head. “Not likely.”

  Sex or no, Hunter still didn’t get it and Will had run out of the patience to explain it again. “Because the money has done such great things for my family.”

  Yeah, it was time to go. Maybe not tonight, but tomorrow. Very early. He needed a new plan since the one where he located Hunter and got answers that way hadn’t worked. That meant relaxing for a short time, then taking off, preferably without Hunter following behind and bitching.

  With one last look at the curtains and the window he couldn’t see out of, Will headed for the bed. He sat down on the edge and kicked off his shoes. The rest stayed on because a quick exit depended on it.

  “What are you doing?” Hunter asked.

  “Going to bed.” Will dropped back onto the mattress and balanced an arm across his forehead, covering his eyes. “I’ll make decisions tomorrow.”

  “I’m pretty sure we’ve already made them. You want to leave and I’m saying no. Not yet.”

  Will didn’t bother responding to that. The fight had gone out of him. More like he needed to save up his energy. Hiding out for the last three weeks had meant never relaxing and always watching. Every second. That’s what his life would be from now on. One big step into a fake life, always looking over his shoulder for his family’s enemies, most of whom he didn’t even know and couldn’t identify. Luckily he didn’t trust easily.

  Good news was he operated best when he was away from anything having to do with his family. Now he just needed to find a country where the family’s tentacles didn’t reach. Where no one would know who he was, so he could disappear into the fog, even if that meant never seeing Hunter again.

  Just thinking that made his chest ache. He fought the urge to rub the spot. Tried not to think about Hunter’s hands or the deep cadence of his voice.

  As his mind started to clear, the mattress next to him dipped. He lowered his arm and looked over to see Hunter sitting there.

  The chances of this ending well were slim. Will wanted to make that clear from the start. “Can we share the bed without you getting freaked out on me?”

  Hunter glared at Will over his shoulder. “What does that mean?”

  He cannot be this much of a dumbass. Will let his arm drop back against the pillow. “I’ve never had anyone run from sex that fast.”

  Hunter shrugged as he leaned back against the pillows and crossed his ankles one over the other. “I worked up an appetite.”

  “Right.” Will had had enough. He reached over to turn off the light on his side of the bed. That left every other light in the place on, but he didn’t care.

  For a few seconds that worked. Hunter didn’t move. Didn’t talk. If he was breathing, he was being pretty damn quiet about it. Which was all just fine with Will. He’d asked for space and got it.

  The minutes passed and the silence dragged on. After some shuffling sounds the bed moved again. Even with his eyes closed, Will could tell the lights around the room clicked off one by one. He heard the footsteps. Sensed Hunter’s presence.

  This time when the mattress shifted Will felt breathing. Right next to him. Could feel Hunter’s gaze. Despite the sensation of having someone loom right by his shoulder, Will pretended not to notice. He lay there, every muscle still.

  “Honestly, I didn’t expect it to be that good.” Hunter’s whisper bounced across the small room.

  Will tried not to react but he looked up into Hunter’s blue eyes, which stood out in the dim lights from the street. “What?”

  “The sex.”

  It took a second for the words to hit Will full force. At first they streamed through his mind, but then they settled in. Not that they made much sense. “You left because you liked it? What the hell do you do when it sucks?”

  “I’m serious.” Hunter’s voice dropped even lower than usual. He didn’t lean in or move closer. He stayed there with his head balanced on his hand and his attention focused on Will. “We both know this is a mistake. We need to stay focused and be smart.”

  For once they agreed on something, or Will was going to pretend they did. “For me that means leaving town.”

  “I’m not sure about that part….” Hunter’s voice trailed off as his hand slipped up Will’s side to rest on his stomach.

  “You’re having some trouble with mixed messages, but maybe that’s all you can send.”

  “I’m sure about your safety. The rest…who the hell knows?”

  Will had to rewind the conversation in his mind to catch up again. “Because?”

  “The safety part?” Hunter didn’t stop to let Will answer. “Getting caught with our pants off strikes me as stupid. You can say I’m not on the payroll or officially your bodyguard, but I plan to stay here until I’m sure you’re safe.”

  Will followed that jump in topics, which was nothing short of a miracle since the heat of Hunter’s hand seeped through the shirt to warm Will�
��s bare skin. Then Hunter’s thumb swept back and forth, causing the white buttons of Will’s shirt to flick open and expose the T-shirt underneath.

  In the span of a few seconds the air in the room changed. Forget cold indifference. Forget just figuring out a way to survive the night. Electricity shot through Will, touching off a zip of tension that had his insides pulling tight and wanting more.

  “What if you slept with a gun by the bed?” Will wanted to follow up the question with a touch. Run his fingers over Hunter’s neck, then down. Wanted to, but waited.

  Hunter inhaled and the breath sounded shaky. “I’ve got a gun and a knife on me. What’s your point?”

  Hunter acted like he missed the offer being put on the table, but Will didn’t buy that, not after hearing the hitch in Hunter’s voice. Still, he tried again. Wanted to be really clear. “With weapons nearby you could take your pants off.”

  “I did buy more condoms.”

  The clenching inside Will nearly strangled him now. “Well, I guess that answers that.”

  “Then explain it to me because I’d planned to throw the ones I had away, not stockpile more.” Hunter’s hand slipped up Will’s body to his chest, taking the T-shirt with it. When a sliver of skin peeked out between the edge of the shirt and the top of the jeans, Hunter bent down and kissed every exposed inch.

  “That would be a waste of good condoms.” Will didn’t even try to hide the shake in his voice.

  “You are such a fucking temptation. I don’t want to…” For a second Hunter turned his head and pressed his cheek against Will’s stomach.

  “What?”

  “Want you. To give a shit about what happens to you.” He went back to kissing. Licking Will’s bare skin, then pressing his lips against the same spot.

  That mouth…Will teetered on the edge of doing something really dumb, like breaking the promise he’d made to himself less than an hour ago not to get any more deeply involved with Hunter.

  A memory tickled at the back of his mind before blowing over him full force. “What about the other guys you bring here?”

  Hunter lifted his head and glanced up the length of Will’s body. “What are you talking about?”

  “I looked through the drawers. There are different sizes of jeans in there. By the look of them, they’ve all been worn.” Three sizes, which Will could only assume meant Hunter liked a little variety. “I figured you had sex with some guys who run away even faster than you do.”

  With a hand on either side of Will’s hips, Hunter pushed up and stared down. “I’m borrowing the place. The jeans aren’t mine and neither are whatever guys have been in them.”

  Relief punched into Will’s stomach. He hated how good the answer sounded in his head and how easily he bought it. “Not my business.”

  “Really?” Hunter started crawling. Inch by inch, he traveled up Will’s body, not stopping until his lower half balanced against Will’s and his arms straddled Will’s chest. “I think it matters to you.”

  “It shouldn’t.” And that was the most honest thing he’d said all day.

  “Maybe, but I’m not looking to have sex with anyone except you right now. No matter how much I want it not to be true, you’re it for me at the moment. Have been since I saw you on that firing range the first time.” He exhaled. “I don’t get it, but it’s a fact.”

  The second wave of relief hit Will harder than the first. “Did it kill you to admit that?”

  “It sure as hell surprised me to realize it.” He winced. “Never thought I’d say it out loud.”

  Will could see it in Hunter’s eyes. The strange mix of wariness and excitement. “If we go for a second round, do you think you can refrain from storming out once we’re done?”

  “Give me an excuse to stay.”

  There were a hundred reasons to say “no thanks” and turn away. Slip into a deep sleep and never broach the subject again. Will could think of ten without even trying. He almost listed them out loud, but then Hunter bent his head and started trailing a line of kisses across his collarbone. Deep, soulful kisses that included a bit of teeth.

  Seemed Hunter liked to skate along the edge of pain. To bite, to control. Will was all in so long as Hunter understood neither of them would be tamed in the process.

  Ignoring every signal from his brain to pull back and rethink a second round, Will’s fingers slipped over Hunter’s head. His lips skimmed the outline of Hunter’s ear. A breath later, their mouths met and Hunter shifted until his body covered every last inch of Will’s.

  Will expected detachment but he got something else when Hunter’s fingers plunged into his hair. A firm grasp held Will’s head steady as the kissing continued. Not the frenzied type from before. No, these were drawn out. More deliberate.

  Unable to hold back, Will dove in. His hands moved up Hunter’s back. For the first time, he felt the untucked shirt and loose waistband of Hunter’s pants. Now he knew what Hunter had done when he got up from the bed. He’d at least started to strip. Will was happy to help him with the rest.

  He tugged and pulled until Hunter half sat up, giving Will room to peel the shirt off. Their mouths continued to roam and explore each other as Will slipped his fingertips into the back of Hunter’s pants. Let his hands dive until his palms landed on Hunter’s ass.

  Hunter’s head shot up. “Turn over.”

  If they were going to keep having sex, he might as well learn that he couldn’t always have his way. Will was happy to be the man to teach him that lesson. “No.”

  Will squeezed Hunter’s cheeks. Let his hands slide up and down in a hypnotic rhythm that had Hunter’s hips flexing. A second later Hunter rolled to the side and leaned up on one elbow. With impressive speed he ripped his pants down and off.

  A thud sounded somewhere in the room but Will didn’t have time to investigate. Hunter was back, stretching on top of him. Slipping their fingers together and dragging Will’s arms up until the backs of his hands rested on the mattress on either side of his head.

  “I want to hold you down.” From Hunter it sounded more like a dare than a comment.

  If he thought that would scare Will away, he had the wrong guy. Will loved the whiff of danger. Welcomed the hint of battle to come. Even the demanding tone made him hard. “You’ll have to face me.”

  Hunter nipped at Will’s bottom lip. One pass, two. Then he dove into another kiss. This one teetering on the edge of control.

  It was the sign Will needed. He whispered against Hunter’s lips, “Fuck me.”

  Hunter’s hands tightened around Will’s. He pressed his lower half square over Will’s as he rubbed from side to side. The friction of hardness against hardness had Will’s control dipping low as his breathing kicked up. The pounding sensation in his veins beat harder.

  When Hunter sat up he straddled Will’s hips. For a second Will thought Hunter had given in to panic and would jump from the bed, but then his fingers settled on the top of Will’s jeans. The belt he’d hunted down earlier slipped out of the loops. In a steady pull, the zipper slid down to reveal nothing but bare skin.

  “No briefs.” Hunter’s voice cut off on the last syllable.

  “I was hoping I wouldn’t need them.” It was all Will could do to keep from ripping off the last of his clothes. With Hunter, Will wanted to be naked. Skin to skin.

  “You are a constant surprise, Mr. Rivers.” Hunter’s gaze wandered over Will, then back to the opening of his pants. “That pretty face, the smoking body. Under it all is a bit of a wild man. A guy who’s not afraid to demand what he wants, and I like that.”

  “Then you should get to it.”

  Hunter didn’t argue. With both hands inside Will’s jeans, Hunter pulled, stripping them off and dropping them to the floor in a whoosh. The whole time, Hunter’s focus stayed on Will. Toured over his body.

  Without another word, Hunter reached for a condom from the nearby drawer. Dropped a tube on the bed. In silence, he kicked off his briefs and pants and rolled the condo
m on while Will watched, unable to tear his gaze away.

  Kneeling between Will’s upraised thighs, Hunter made a show of opening the top of the lube and smearing it on his finger. Took longer than he should have. So long that Will almost lost the ability to wait. Almost grabbed the damn thing and got himself ready to go. But then Will felt Hunter’s finger and the sliding in and out. Hunter pressed and touched until the air hiccupped in Will’s lungs.

  Will tried to get his muscles to move, but Hunter was in control now. With his hands under the back of Will’s legs, Hunter pushed up. Kept going until Will’s knees neared his chest. Through every step, Hunter held Will’s gaze.

  Hunter didn’t blink as he entered him. The thrust, at first slow, morphed into a steady in and out. The sounds of sex filled the room. Will let it all wash over him, from the creak of the bed to the tiny grunting sound Hunter made each time he pulled out and dove back in again.

  Will tried to maintain eye contact, to not break the intense hold, but he couldn’t do it. His head fell back and his eyes closed as Hunter moved. And when Hunter lifted Will’s hand and put it over his own erection, helped him move in time with the thrusts inside him, Will fought to breathe.

  Thoughts raced through his head but he couldn’t ferret any of them out. All of his energy went into matching Hunter’s body as it moved back and forth. To using his internal muscles to squeeze Hunter and push him right over the edge.

  The orgasm came fast and sudden. One second Will felt the intensity building, the next he came in his own hand with his hips bucking. Still, Hunter’s hips pressed forward. Sweat formed on his chest and his muscles shook. Will watched in awe as Hunter’s body slipped into his, as Hunter’s breathing ramped up.

  Using his last bit of strength as his body still pulsed, Will reached out and dug his fingers into the back of Hunter’s neck. Brought his head down for an openmouthed, winner-take-all kiss. Clamped his thighs tight against the sides of Hunter’s hips.