In Between Seasons (The Fall)

by Giovanni, Cassandra

  “I know you Hunter. I know what that look in your eyes means. You told all of these people the same thing you’re going to tell him. Do any of them suspect who I really am?”

  “Not at all, they think you’re some runaway I picked up on my way home from a failed mission,” he answered, looking up at me.

  “Theoretically though, if your father knew who I was…he’d have me killed?” I asked, reaching up and shutting off the shower.

  “Don’t faint on me again,” he remarked, holding his arm out for me as I stood, “but, yes.”

  “It’s sad that your father would kill me, and he doesn’t even know me,” I said.

  “This is a sad world,” he shrugged, “He would have to go through me first and he’s an old man…he’d never win.”

  “So I shouldn’t be scared?” I asked, beginning to step out of the shower, but thinking the better of it.

  “Not at all.”

  “You should be scared,” I growled, grabbing the removable shower head and turning the shower on. I aimed it at him just as he was about to ask why, “of me.”

  “What’s wrong with you?” he shouted, trying to remain serious, but unable to stop his laughing when he saw my face through the stream of water aimed at him. He slipped on the floor trying to get to me, and I started laughing.

  “Who’s the klutz now, huh? Huh?” I taunted as he grabbed for me. I dropped the shower head as his strong arms pulled me across the threshold of the tub into his arms.

  He rolled his body on top of mine, “Still you,” he said, his chest rising against mine as he laughed, pinning my arms back as I tried to slip out of his grip.

  The room had disappeared for me, and all I could see and feel was him. Our laughter had stopped at the same time, and my senses could keenly hear our breathing. For once I felt I couldn’t decipher the look in his eyes as they searched my face. I felt the words were written all over my face, and I wondered what he was looking for. I wanted him to find it in me because I had found everything in him. My heart hammered against my rib cage, threatening to implode, as his lips reached for mine. I could feel his sweet breath washing over my lips like a tease.

  “What the hell?” Hunter asked as someone knocked on the door to his room. It was as if all the air had rushed into the room at once, and I was dizzy from it as he put his forehead against his forearm, “Coming,” he said, pushing his body up and over mine.

  I pulled my knees to my chest and placed my forehead on the top of them as I desperately tried to reconcile the thoughts rushing through my head. I looked up, and he was leaning against the door frame still dripping wet. I watched him silently as the rain began to ping off the glass of the sky lights above us. He sighed shaking his head.

  “My father will be here tomorrow,” Hunter finally said as he looked at his feet.

  “So soon?” I asked.

  “When my father gets something into his head there’s no stopping him,” he replied, his eyes meeting with mine.

  “Right,” I said, standing and pushing past him.

  I was at the front door before his voice stopped me from continuing.

  “Where are you going?” he asked, and the look in his eyes was desperate.

  “For a run,” I turned the handle, “You can come if you want.”

  He shook his head, his hands planted in his pockets, “Sometimes I don’t understand you.”

  “Are you coming?”

  “Of course I am,” he answered, his eyes fading from desperation to something I couldn’t quite peg, “I have to make sure you don’t fall on your face too much.”

  Once we were on the ground I took off running.

  “Just try and catch me,” I taunted, not looking back as I sprinted and leapt over the logs and rocks in my way.

  It took Hunter a good five minutes to catch up to me, and I had to wonder what was taking so long. I knew if he wanted to he could overcome me in a matter of seconds.

  “Finally,” he huffed, grabbing my waist and tumbling to the wet ground with me.

  “Are you trying to kill me?” I asked, laughing as the few crisp leaves still on the ground flew up in the air around us.

  “Not at all. I knew this pile of leaves would be a nice landing spot for us,” he joked as he leaned up on one arm with a smirk.

  “I love the smell of fall leaves,” I commented, picking one up and twirling it.

  “Me too,” he reached up and crushed it from my hand, “I’ve been thinking that I should teach you how to fight.”

  “Really?”

  “And you’ve apparently gotten over the tripping over nonexistent objects thing, so I think you’re ready,” he replied, standing and giving me his hand.

  “I really had to concentrate.”

  He reached up and gently pulled a leaf from my hair. It drifted in a slow fluid movement to the ground, and I found my mind wandering. I saw it in his eyes that his mind was following mine. His hand went to his own hair, shuffling it to make sure there were no leaves in it.

  “Err…so teaching you will be more about finesse than strength,” Hunter finally said.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “That everyone I’ve ever taught has had different equipment to work with,” he replied, rubbing his chin stubble.

  “I’m pretty sure that only applies when naked,” I teased with a smirk.

  His face flushed red in an instant, and I saw him try to check his thoughts, “Right but there’s a difference in the level of strength as well.”

  “If you say so,” I replied, and before I could react he had bent my arm behind my back and was standing with his chest pressed into my shoulders.

  “I say so,” his breath warm on my bare neck, “If we want you to beat people trained similar to me we have to teach you finesse that men don’t posses.”

  “I’ve seen you fight Hunter, and you have plenty of finesse,” I commented, my head tilted sideways, and his breath hit my cheek sending tingles up my spine.

  “Yes, but that’s something I didn’t teach them because they didn’t need it, and most likely if they trained anyone else it would be lacking too,” he explained, loosening his grip on my arm.

  “Are you going to teach me how to fire a gun too?” I asked, rotating my shoulder.

  “I didn’t hurt you did I?” he asked as he rubbed my shoulder with his hands.

  “Guns?” I repeated as I shook my head trying to concentrate.

  “Eventually, but this is more important. Anyone can aim a gun and fire, but not everyone can judge when someone will shoot and dodge the bullet. We and all of the tribes have limited armories, so hand to hand combat is much more prevalent. Hands can kill just as easily as guns,” he clarified, letting his hands drop from me.

  “Do you want to teach me this because I might need to defend myself against your father?” I questioned as I turned to face him.

  “I realized that I need you to be able to protect yourself just as much as I can protect you. Just in case…” his voice trailed off.

  “In case?”

  “My father always has a reason for coming—usually it’s because another tribe is getting stronger than he likes.”

  “I forgot that everyone is our enemy,” I said, sighing.

  He tilted my chin up, “But we aren’t.”

  “So what are you going to teach me first, oh wise one?” I asked as I tried to regulate my breathing against his touch.

  “Basics for when someone may catch you off guard,” he turned me so my back was to him, “Say someone grabs your arm from behind. You turn, grab their hand with yours and twist just right,” he explained, showing me the motions, “You can dislocate their shoulder. It won’t kill them or permanently injure them, but it causes a hell of a lot of pain and disables them from attempting anything else.”

  “How am I going to practice this?” I asked, cringing at the thought of doing it to him.

  “About a quarter mile that way is the training dummies. You can dislocate as many
of their shoulders as you want, “he nodded into the distance over my shoulder, and I was instantly relieved.

  Chapter 19

  I could feel every muscle in my body screaming out in agony as I rolled over in the bed. Training with Hunter was hard, but I was doing my best to keep up with him. He seemed genuinely impressed with what I could do, and for the first time ever I didn’t feel like I couldn’t walk in a straight line without getting hurt. Hunter was encouraging even when I did something stupid, or fell straight on my butt, which was often. He kept a firm military face when he chastised me, but the shine in his eyes showed his amusement. When I opened my eyes and looked up at Hunter putting on his sneakers I saw that he had already put on his emotionless façade in preparation for his meeting with his father. I tried to smile at him, but I knew it came out in a grimace as I felt the fear boiling up inside my stomach.

  “Good luck,” I finally managed to choke out.

  “I’ll need it with my father,” Hunter replied as I squeezed his knee with my hand.

  “It’ll be fine,” I reassured him as I sat up in the bed and pulled my knees to my chest. I wanted to believe the words too, but Hunter’s silence said how he felt.

  “I’m just afraid of what I might hear,” he responded as he ran his hands through his hair and flopped back on the bed at my feet.

  “Do you want me to stay in here all day?”

  “These guys can’t keep their mouths shut. I have no doubt that he already knows you’re here. So there’s no reason to trap you in the bedroom all day,” he answered, stretching his arms back, and then standing.

  “Should I make dinner for three?”

  “That’s a good idea; suck up to him with your great cooking. I like it. Use the main kitchen and we can eat in the private dining hall.”

  “Chicken parm with garlic bread?” I suggested.

  “You’re going to make me fat,” Hunter teased, patting his stomach.

  “Yeah, I might believe that if I hadn’t seen you with your shirt off,” I laughed.

  He lifted his shirt half up, “I think I’m getting fat.”

  I rolled my eyes as I took in the distinct shape of his hips against his jeans and his flat stomach. I knew the blush was already heating up my face, “If only I was that fat.”

  “Hey, I’ve seen you with your shirt off too,” he reminded me, his lips curling in a smile.

  He still had his shirt half-up, and his arms were placed so his forearms flexed, and I knew I needed to retaliate, or end up drooling all over myself. I stood and pulled my shirt off throwing it into the laundry basket, “I’m getting fat too,” I sighed, my hands on my hips.

  Hunter blinked twice and turned, “Go take a shower, you smell.”

  Chapter 20

  I had started cooking dinner unnecessarily early, and taken my time with everything. The dinner was going to be perfect, so Hunter’s father would have no cause to complain about something other than my presence. Every time I thought about his father it sent my stomach reeling, and my blood pressure sky rocketing. The thought that pounded in my mind was the fact that this man had ordered me to be killed. For how much he hated my father, they sure did have a lot in common.

  “I thought we might find you here,” Hunter said, coming into the kitchen.

  “Hi,” I replied, reminding myself to breath as I turned to see Hunter with his father next to him.

  “Dad, this is the woman I told you about—Kate, this is my father,” Hunter introduced us with his eyes stiff and dark.

  “Nice to meet you,” I said, drying my hands on the washcloth that was on the oven and holding my hand out to his.

  “You as well, Kate,” his father replied, shaking my hand with one solid pump.

  His eyes were narrowed at me, and I felt as though my insides were bubbling again. It was obvious his father was no trained fighter, and was fed well. He wasn’t a fat man, but he certainly wasn’t going to be protecting himself. His hair was much darker than Hunter’s, almost to the point of being black, and his eyes were just as dark. The only similarity that I could see in their appearances was their thin lips and solid jaw lines.

  “You’re eyes are so familiar,” he dropped my hand, “What tribe are you from again?”

  “Hunter didn’t tell you that I don’t know?” I replied.

  Hunter’s father nodded his head with his lips pursed, “He did, but how could you not know?”

  “They never told me. Everyone went by first names,” I explained, and I had to put my hands behind me because I was clenching them into fists.

  “I told you Dad, she had no idea about the world she was living in,” Hunter cut in, his voice rigid in displeasure.

  “Well, you sure ran away into hell, huh darling?” his father questioned me, his lips in a stoic line.

  “Well…”

  “The name is Allan,” he added with an arrogant smirk. He was handsome in Satan-like way.

  “Well, Allan I prefer the truth to an elaborate lie,” I clarified, locking my eyes with him before turning back to the stove. His eyes were a black soulless pit.

  “She’s a pretty one, Hunter,” Allan commented, and I could feel the tension building in Hunter even though I couldn’t see his face.

  “Yes,” Hunter replied.

  “From a peaceful tribe you said?”

  “Yes,” Hunter repeated, his voice deepening.

  “There’s no such thing son, but you’re a smart man, and I trust you’re not just thinking with your cock,” Allan ridiculed, and I dropped the spoon I had been stirring the sauce with, “You okay, darling?”

  I was trying to keep my voice level as I answered, “The sauce jumped and burnt my hand, Sir.”

  You son of a—.

  Chapter 21

  “Do me a favor?” I asked, shutting the door to Hunter’s apartment behind me.

  “Yeah?” Hunter replied as he sat on the bed and took his sneakers off.

  “Never call me darling again?”

  He looked up with a smirk, “Didn’t enjoy his company?”

  “How did you come out of that?”

  “Good question,” he ran his hands through his faux hawk, “You grow up with something that you can’t stand and you learn how to not be like it. It seems to me that you mastered that talent too.”

  “Thank God,” I retorted as I sat on the love seat and crossed my feet under me.

  “You got pretty feisty for a second there with him though,” he stood from the bed, “I quite enjoyed that.”

  “I couldn’t tell from the massive amount of tension that was oozing off of you. I thought you might explode at any point during dinner,” I observed as he sat down next to me and placed his hand on my knee.

  “There was one point where I almost did,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a drawer handle, “Cracked this thing right off by accident.”

  “I bet I know what comment did that one in.”

  “The one that made sauce spontaneously jump and burn you?”

  “Are you sure you haven’t killed me yet because you want to seduce me?” I teased, smirking as if it was a joke, but my stomach was doing a jig. I had to admit that with each moment I spent with him my physical attraction to him was being outweighed by the emotional one. It was making it hard to not be impossibly happy at our impossibly slim odds of ever being together.

  “If I had wanted to seduce you by now I already would have, don’t you think?” he replied, winking at me as he reached around me and grabbed the remote. I knew he had done it purposely, so that the heat of his body washed over me and frazzled my nerves.

  “Maybe I’m not that easily seduced?” I managed to say.

  “I guess I’ll just have to try harder,” he joked, but I still felt that he was stressed. He stood again and began pacing the room with his hands raking through his hair. His jaw was clenched so that it accentuated his strong chin.

  “What’s wrong?” I questioned.

  “A lot of things,” Hunter retorted.
/>
  “What did he tell you?”

  “He thinks that you’re father is planning something big and seeing I failed to find out what the secret weapon was he had a few words for me. Are you not telling me about the secret weapon because you’re afraid I’ll use it against you? Because I swear to you that I won’t…I just want to protect the both of us. As far as my father’s concerned he can rot in the hell that he’s created,” Hunter explained as his green eyes met mine, and he shook his head in disgust.

  I leaned my head back against the couch and closed my eyes, “I really have no clue Hunter. You know I would tell you. I’ve been betrayed by everyone I trusted. It wouldn’t matter to me if I told you.”

  He sat on the bed with his head in his hands before looking up at me, “You think I’m going to betray you too?”

  “That’s not what I said.”

  His eyes searched mine, and I stood going to him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and put his head on my stomach. I ran my hands through his hair.

  “What else is bugging you?” I probed.

  “I don’t know how this is going to end, but I don’t feel as though it’s going to end well,” Hunter explained with his breath coming out in an agitated sigh. I knew that I should feel the bubbling in my stomach of fear, but with him so close to me I couldn’t give in to it. I couldn’t let my feelings mix with his and make him more desperate. He needed me to be strong at that moment.

  “So your father really despises mine?”

  “Don’t fool yourself; the feeling is mutual,” he answered as I pulled away from him and flopped back on the bed to stare at the ceiling.

  “What else does that mean?”

  “I’ve got to promote some of the trackers to hunters and send them out on missions to your home,” he explained, turning and leaning on his arm. The muscles in his arms bulged with the flawless lines that formed his veins against his soft skin, but for once it didn’t distract me.