My Twin Flame

by C C Simeon

  Amelia shrugged. “It’s not as if I bring anything else home.”

  She didn’t realize what she had said before Hunter’s face split in two and showcased the biggest, pearly-white grin she has ever seen on him. She wanted to crawl under the desk and never get back out again.

  “I’d be honored to be taken to your home, then,” he teased. Amelia glowered at him. This bastard. He was actually making fun of her.

  “I don’t know where that came from.” Amelia was certain her face had turned the same color as her hair. Heat rose in her neck and cheeks. Hilton would have fallen over laughing by now.

  When Hunter finally wiped the grin off his face, he shook his head. “Don’t worry, I don’t take anything but work home, either—the perks of not really having a life outside of the office, you know?”

  Amelia nodded, still feeling a little flustered by her stupid comment. “Anyway, I think Joy said something about needing help with a customer, so if you don’t need me right now, I’ll just go help her.”

  Hunter nodded. “Go ahead. I don’t think I’ll have time for the project during the day, anyway, so we’ll have to make up for lost time tonight.”

  With that, Amelia nodded and slipped out the door, but instead of making her way to her desk where she would have told Joy everything, she made a B-line for the bathroom. She was a major, bloody idiot. She needed a moment to process what happened.

  ***

  Hunter didn’t know what he was expecting. He didn’t know why he’d agreed to go to her home. But he’d let his heart lead the way. No matter how sweet Hayden was, no matter how perfect his family looked when they were together, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. Someone was missing—and someone was invading. He didn’t want to think of Hayden as an intruder, but he couldn’t help it. As soon as he thought about Amelia, Hayden broke into his thoughts. He knew that he was the one in the wrong. He knew that he shouldn’t have been the one to think of her as an intruder, but he did. He did, and he hated himself for it.

  But now he was invited to Amelia’s house and although it was merely for work, it felt oddly personal. It felt as if Amelia had asked him on a date, though he was certain she hadn’t. She was just nice. She was just awkward. She was just Amelia. She was as lonely in her soul as he was and for some reason, he found it oddly alluring.

  He liked the thought of having a twin, lonely soul. He liked the idea of having someone he could share these thoughts with, without being attacked. Hayden could never understand the way he thought and did things. She would have told him that he had his family around, that he had her and Levi. But that wasn’t the sort of loneliness he was feeling. This loneliness was in his soul, and Amelia was the only one who could tickle the right spot. She was the only one he wanted to fill the emptiness with.

  He had to remind himself that it was not a date, that they just needed a place to work together. He tried, but failed terribly. Because, in the end, he knew that he was meant to be with Amelia and not Hayden. But he didn’t have it in him to hurt Hayden even more. She was already broken physically. Was he really going to be the one to break her mentally, too?

  Chapter 19: Wine and Pizza

  “I think this project is really coming together,” Hunter said, taking a bite of his pizza.

  Amelia’s living room had been converted into their office, and her two huskies were more than happy to have the company. They’d been all over Hunter when he’d first stepped through the door and, after apologizing profusely about their behavior, Amelia had realized that Hunter didn’t mind their attention, not one bit.

  Amelia had ordered pizza for dinner while Hunter continuously told them what good boys they are, and when their delivery finally arrived, Amelia had locked her pups out. If they were going to get anything done, the two of them needed to focus without having the two furballs running around and distracting them. Amelia soon learned that their cries from her backyard were far more distracting than their energy inside of the house, so she had let them back in and given each of them a bone. They were now happily chewing away on their beds, giving Amelia and Hunter enough space for them to work and eat in peace.

  Amelia looked at the mood board on top of the mantle. It was looking good, but something was missing. They needed something to make it pop. There wasn’t much color, nothing to really grab the attention of customers.

  “It needs something,” she said as she chewed on a pen. Amelia had a good eye, she knew that. She could instantly tell a customer if their logos or advertisement campaigns were going to work. She could tell when it was something that was already created, a finished product. That was easy. But doing something from scratch, building it from nothing but an idea and a description written on a sticky note? That was something completely different.

  “Honestly, when I got into this business, I didn’t think I’d be creating logos and banners,” Hunter huffed, sinking back into the couch.

  Amelia rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why you accepted this job in the first place. We do advertising, not design.”

  “Hey,” he started, throwing his hands up in defense, “I thought it would be fun to try something new. The client is a close friend of mine. He was struggling and I decided to help him out.”

  “Even if it meant doing stuff that our company doesn’t normally do?”

  “It’s good to expand, Amelia. We need fresh ideas. There’s too much competition out there for us to stay exactly the same as we have for the past ten years. The company’s done the exact same jobs, had the exact same clients since before I was employed. When I took over, I figured that I shouldn’t fix something that wasn’t broken. Lately, I’ve realized that I need to upgrade instead of fixing.”

  Amelia considered his words for a moment. “Still, I work with grocery stores and old cat ladies—I don’t see how I was a good fit for this.”

  “The project is coming along well regardless, isn’t it? We have a solid base to work with. We have enough to send to the client as examples and ideas. It’s good. It’s much better than I was expecting.”

  Chuckling, Amelia took a sip of her wine. “You expected us to fail?”

  “Yes,” Hunter admitted.

  “Then why get me involved?”

  “It would be a lie to tell you that I wasn’t intrigued by you since the first day you came in for the interview.”

  Amelia felt her stomach knot. He looked serious, but she was searching his face for some sort of indication that he was joking, that he was pulling a prank on her. He showed no such signs. He seemed comfortable admitting this, as if he had enough confidence to know that there was no shame in admitting an infatuation or an interest in someone. It was perfectly normal.

  Perhaps he knew that, if he didn’t say anything to Amelia about it, she wouldn’t have said anything, either. He had to be the confident, strong one in this relationship—whatever this relationship was. Amelia watched him for a moment, waiting for him to continue, and he smiled when he finally did.

  “I figured this was a good way of getting to know you.”

  Amelia decided that it would have been insulting to the universe if she didn’t bite. They had been talking for a few days. Obviously, there was no love between them yet, but they did have a connection—the sort of connection that came once in a lifetime. Sometimes, it didn’t even come in a person’s lifetime at all. Sometimes, it came and people missed it completely because they were afraid. They were afraid of commitment, of moving too fast, or of what people would say. It was insulting to the universe to manifest something but have it rejected as soon you got what you wanted. Sometimes, things came in mysterious ways. Sometimes, a person got what they needed instead of what they wanted.

  “And do you think you have succeeded?”

  Hunter grinned at her. “I think there is still a lot to learn about you, Amelia. There are still mysteries that need solving, and I’m pretty sure that I can solve them.”

  “Well,” Amelia replied with a shrug, “ther
e’s still a lot about you that I don’t know. We can figure it out together.”

  To her surprise, Hunter stood, holding his hand out toward her. She took it and got to her feet, her heart pounding in her throat. It wasn’t the sort of heartbeat that made you nauseous. No, this was the sort that made you want to remember the moment forever. The sort that gave you a high that became addictive. Amelia couldn’t help but think about all her past lovers, about how she’d felt around them. It was nothing like this. It was never anything like this.

  This felt real and raw. This felt like there was a fire in her belly, in her chest, in her ears. This made her feel the heat between her and Hunter. There was no spark between them, that wasn’t the right way to put it. There was something more. There was a fire between them—a fire that nothing could extinguish.

  Amelia believed in twin flames, in soul mates. She believed that there was a person for everyone, one specific person for each individual on earth. It was rare to find that person, but when you did, there was no denying it. You knew it from the moment you laid eyes on them.

  In a way, Amelia had known it when she’d seen Hunter for the very first time. She was just blind. It wasn’t the right time back then. She had to grow first, had to become the person she was today. But now, things moved so quickly, so unexpectedly… It was overwhelming in the best possible way.

  So what if they worked together? So what if they were moving too fast? She knew where this night was going, and she wasn’t going to miss out on it because she had doubts. She trusted the universe; she trusted her flame. Amelia wasn’t going to back down from it. She’d waited, prayed long enough for this. Hunter was everything she had ever wanted, and she was not going to give that up.

  Without overthinking it any further, Amelia stood on her tiptoes and kissed her boss.

  Chapter 20: A Night of Passion

  Hunter’s hands were in Amelia’s hair, pulling and twisting, manipulating her head until he had the best possible access to her mouth and neck. His lips were soft against hers, and she could taste the lingering flavor of wine on his mouth. Their tongues were in the midst of an intricate tango when, suddenly, Hunter pulled away. Amelia wasn’t left unsatisfied for too long as his lips soon reconnected with her neck. They kissed the little sweet spot where her ear met her neck, and she had to fight a moan from escaping her mouth. She was caught up in the moment, letting his hands roam her body whenever they weren’t in her hair. They groped her breasts through her shirt and bra, then moved their way down to her pants.

  Amelia ground her crotch against his hand, finding the pleasure both intoxicating and infuriating. She wanted it to last forever, but she also craved release. She needed him inside of her, giving her a night that she was never going to forget. She couldn’t decide which she wanted more.

  She pulled him back, leading him toward her bedroom. She didn’t have to turn on any lights to see where she was going. Her apartment was so small, she could easily find her way around. They kissed again, and this time, the kiss was hungry—hungrier than it had been before. It made Amelia’s stomach turn and fill with butterflies. A white-hot heat shot through her body from her core, wanting him, needing him.

  The backs of her knees hit the foot of the bed and she fell onto her back, Hunter following on top of her. He chuckled as he pulled back, unbuttoning his shirt. She watched him, the dim light of the moonlight just enough to outline his finely toned body as he peeled the shirt from his shoulders. His strong jaw clenched when she sat up, getting rid of her blouse and bra as well. Soon, they were both topless, vulnerable in each other’s presence.

  She reached out to touch him, to feel his hot skin under the palm of her hand. She traced his firm chest, his abdomen. She wanted to memorize every line of his body, to capture it and preserve it in her mind for all eternity. She didn’t ever want to forget what he looked like or the way his body moved and curled. She didn’t want to forget the way his skin felt against her own.

  Their shoes and pants were discarded in a matter of seconds, and then Hunter was on top of her, kissing her lips, then her chin, then her jaw, then her neck. He worked his way down to her belly button, then back up. His lips found hers again and he thrust himself inside of her. Amelia arched her back, not having been this intimate with a man in a very long time. She wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him deeper and deeper. Hunter groaned against her lips, buried within her.

  They stayed like that for a while, getting used to each other, adjusting to the feeling of being one. Slowly, Hunter started moving his hips and Amelia’s eyes rolled back in her head, her chest hot with the fire between them. Again and again, he thrust into her, picking up the pace with every stroke. There was nothing left between them to keep them apart. His skin was hot against hers, his hands entwined with Amelia’s over her head. She felt calluses on them, suggesting he was not afraid of manual labor. She liked the idea of him sweating in a garden or fixing a broken pipe. She liked the idea of him taking off his shirt when he mowed the lawn.

  She liked every single idea, as long as he was in it.

  Hunter pushed her over the top, sending wave after wave of pleasure washing over her body. Amelia moaned his name and dug her nails into his hands as he rode out her orgasm, kissing away her moans. His mouth stifled her groans of pleasure and it wasn’t long until she reached that edge again. This time, they tipped over it together, moaning each other’s names into each other’s mouths. It wasn’t the last time they jumped off that cliff together that night—and it certainly wasn’t going to end anytime soon.

  Amelia could see herself getting used to this, to Hunter. She could get used to his presence in her life and inside of her body. She didn’t think she would ever lose interest in their relationship. She could see their flame burning for years and years. This fire would burn without wood, without fuel—the only source would be the spark between them.

  Amelia rolled them over, now on top of Hunter. She kissed his lips again. “Ready for another round, boss?”

  “With you?” He grinned, squeezing her ass. “Always.”

  Chapter 21: Dances With Devils

  Two weeks after the attack, Hayden was back at the office. There was no fussing, no interrogations. It was as if nothing had happened at all. Hayden was grateful for this, grateful that she didn’t have to repeat the story over and over again. Her desk was exactly how she had left it. Maybe a little dusty, but that was it.

  The only person who looked even remotely excited to see her was Warren, who was waiting for her at her desk, a goofy smile on his face. Hayden smiled back at him. In the two weeks that she was alone at home, with Hunter only around at night to keep her company, Hayden had missed Warren. Of course, she was never going to admit that. There was no way that she was ever going to tell him. But still, she supposed the least she could do was hug him.

  The gesture took him by surprise, and Hayden felt his body stiffen. His hands were awkward, not knowing where to rest. Finally, she felt them settle on her back, and he squeezed gently. Probably because he was afraid of crushing her ribs or something again.

  “A hug?” he said as he finally pulled away. “And here I thought having my favorite detective back was the only present I was going to get today.”

  A laugh that sounded like a bronchitis cough left her throat and she shook her head when Warren came closer, worry washing over his face. “You’re smooth, Warren. But I have a husband, you know.”

  Warren shrugged as she took her seat, already exhausted from walking. The doctor had warned her that she was not yet ready to return to work, but there was no way this case was standing still any longer than necessary. She had already made her rounds to collect the information that Graham, the detective who’d handled the case while she was away, had gathered. It was pathetic, really. Hardly even a full page.

  Now that she was sitting, relief washed over her body and she realized how tense she actually was. The past two weeks she had been in constant pain, and it was becoming normal for her. I
t was becoming her life, though it had been getting better over the past few days. Not enough to have a remarkably quick recovery, but enough to convince Hunter, despite what the doctor had said, that she was ready to head back into work.

  ‘Hey, friends can miss friends. Even if they are good-looking friends. I mean.” Warren fixed his collar. “You missed me, didn’t you?”

  “Not in the slightest,” she lied.

  Warren’s face didn’t fall. He knew she was lying. “Well, then, I didn’t miss you either.”

  “Then we didn’t miss each other. I’m glad that’s settled.”

  Hayden was about to say something else when the telephone on her desk rang. “Radley speaking,” she said by way of greeting when she answered it.

  “Hayden, it’s great to have you back. And what timing you have. A new body has been found.” The captain cut to the chase and Hayden was grateful for it. But a new body? The very day she came back to work? That was more than a little weird.

  “A new body,” she mouthed at Warren, who seemed to go pale. “I’m on my way. Warren is here. I’ll tell him.”

  “All right. Go and catch this guy, kid. All of our asses are on the line.”

  Hayden wanted to bite something back. She wanted to tell him that she wasn’t an idiot, that she knew what her job involved, but decided against it. There was no use. It was only going to get her into trouble, and that wasn’t worth it. That wasn’t worth it at all.

  “Doing my best,” was all she said before hanging up. She felt her nostrils flare but she hid it by rubbing her face. She didn’t know why these things made her so incredibly angry.

  “Is it the Midnight Butcher?” Warren asked.

  Hayden shrugged. “Don’t know, but my bet is that it is. Otherwise, they would have called someone else to check on it.” She grabbed her car keys and went for the door. When she noticed that there was no one following, she turned around to look at Warren. “Are you coming?”