by L. J. Dee
I looked around me, stunned. How long had I leaned against that wall with my eyes squeezed closed, waiting for a kiss that never came? It only felt like a second, maybe a millisecond, but he’d disappeared silently, like vapour, and I hadn’t heard a thing.
“There you are,” Charlie laughed as I jumped in the darkness and he looked down at me, puzzled and bemused, stroking a soft finger across my forehead as I tried to steady my breathing. “What are you doing in here?” he asked, casting a bemused frown over my trembling body.
“I was looking for you, I needed to know that you’re okay,” I stammered.
“You’re sweating,” he said as a shiver ran through me, my body unable to decide if it was too damn hot or too damn cold.
“You don’t look great, Chas. I think you might be coming down with something,” he said gently as I shook my head, trying desperately to think of an excuse to explain away my erratic behaviour, wondering where the hell Roman had gone.
“I’m fine. I was trying to find you, to see how things went with Scarlett. I came in here, but I got spooked. I think this house is scary,” I said as he laughed. That should work.
“Of course it is; it’s a stately home, Chas. The original part of the house dates back over three hundred years. There have been at least four murders and a handful of suicides here. It’s only right and proper that we have a few ghouls to share the old place with,” he said as I stared at him in shock.
“Really?” I gasped as he nodded his head, laughing.
“Sure. I haven’t seen them, but other people have,” he smiled, flashing his eyebrows.
“I can’t sleep here then,” I muttered as he frowned.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he laughed as I shook my head.
“I’m not. I’ll drive back.” What was I saying? This little fib was spiralling out of control. The pixie had won the battle for now. There was no way I was going anywhere.
“You won’t, Chas, you’ve had more than a couple of brandies. Listen, the lodge is set up for guests if you really don’t want to stay in the house,” he smiled, putting a comforting arm around me.
“I bloody don’t,” I said, wondering if my white lie had just come back to bite me on the arse. I didn’t fancy the house much now, but being alone in the lodge by the lake had ‘Midnight Massacre’ written all over it.
“What did Scarlett say?” I asked, opting for a change of subject. He stared at me momentarily before walking away and looking out of the huge bay window onto the gravel drive and the low lit fountain.
“I’m going to see her, to talk,” he said as I frowned deeply, thinking back to what Lucas had said and worried that he might be acting rashly.
“Be careful, Charlie. Can’t you sleep on it and go in the morning?”
He shook his head ruefully. “She wants to see me now, Chas, and I owe her that. I think she’s waited long enough for an apology.”
“If she loved you as much as you said she did, then she might want you back. You buried your dad today and you’re vulnerable, Charlie. Take your time to decide what you want, because if you sleep with her, it might mean a whole lot of trouble that you’re not prepared for. Think things through and make sure you don’t stay over unless you are absolutely certain that you want to get back with her. Anything else just isn’t fair on either of you,” I said as he sighed deeply.
“I know, babe. I doubt she’d want me back after what I did, but she deserves an apology and I need to do that face to face,” he said, pulling out his phone and calling his driver to come to the house.
“I mean it, Charlie. Make sure you think about it from her point of view and don’t get carried away unless you’re certain what your heart wants. Things are different when you have a past with someone, and I know you, Charlie Hunter. A forgiveness fuck won’t be just that, at least not for her. Just be careful,” I smiled as he hugged me tightly, laughing gently.
“You don’t have a very high opinion of me, do you, babe? I can keep it my pants you know! I’ll go and tell the others. They probably won’t be too happy with the news.”
I followed him out of the dark lounge and into the study, taking the chair by the fire, basking in the warm glow and feeling the piercing eyes of Roman Hunter all over me. My gut was churning and I wasn’t sure why.
“I’m going over to Scarlett’s,” Charlie announced as the brothers turned to look at him.
“Think about what you’re doing,” Lucas said as he nodded curtly. It didn’t look like he wanted any more advice.
“Chas won’t stay in the house, I’ve told her she can sleep in the lodge. She’s afraid of the ghosts,” he grinned as Jess raised her eyebrows.
“Since when are you afraid of anything, Sis?” she quipped as I turned to look at her, noticing the smirk that was playing on Romans face and it took all my strength to look away.
“Since I stood in that haunted room down the hall,” I said as Charlie nodded.
“Seriously, she was sweating and shivering,” he laughed as Tyler looked up from his brandy and Romans smirk broadened. ‘Cheers, Charlie’, I thought. If Roman was in any doubt about how much he affected me, he wouldn’t be now.
“Roman’s staying in the lodge,” Tyler announced as Charlie’s face fell.
“Why?” he asked as Roman looked up at him.
“Because I fucking hate this place,” he said firmly as Charlie cast a glance at Lucas.
“There are two bedrooms in the lodge, it will be fine,” Lucas said as Charlie frowned at me. Concern and sadness washed across his features before he was distracted by the sound of wheels on the gravel outside. I wondered if he was worried about something happening between me and Roman. Part of me was undeniably worried about how things would go with Scarlett. We were friends, and we were close, and I guessed it was a natural reaction. He left the room looking like the weight of the world was crushing his shoulders and a strange silence ensued.
Tyler was the one who eventually broke it. “Do you think he’ll come back?” he asked, turning to Lucas who sighed deeply.
“I hope so Tyler,” was his only response. I risked a glance at Roman who seemed to be watching me intently as my cheeks flared involuntarily. My sister caught it and smiled to herself. Ordinarily she was the flusher in the family, not me, and she looked particularly smug.
“It might be a good thing,” she said, turning to Lucas as he squeezed her hand, laughing gently.
“Nothing about Scarlett Everett is ever a good thing.”
“Hey, stop dissing my sister,” Roman chuckled, but he was the only one who found that little remark amusing, and it was clear his brothers were still reeling from his earlier revelations. “Jesus, lighten up,” he said, pouring another brandy and coming to stand by the fire, looking down at me. He placed his firm hand on the back of the leather chair, next to my head. I was trying desperately not to reveal to the rest of the room just how much his presence bothered me.
“Is she that bad?” Jess asked as Tyler nodded.
“She’s worse than that. You wouldn’t know it if you met her, she’s extremely skilled at hiding her natural disposition if it suits her. If it doesn’t, you’ll know about that too,” he said as I glanced up at Roman who was smiling, no doubt knowing just exactly how I was feeling right now as I squirmed under his gaze.
“She’s manipulative, devious, a compulsive liar with an unshakable ego and a blind conviction that she’s right about absolutely fucking everything. If she wasn’t adopted, I’d assume it was genetic,” Roman laughed and this time Tyler laughed too.
“Jeez,” said Jess as the room fell silent again.
“She did adore Charlie though,” Tyler said, sighing deeply. “And whatever we might think of her, he always maintained that she was really good to him.”
“Where did you go, Roman?” Lucas asked suddenly.
“Why?” he replied, switching his lingering gaze from me to his brother.
“Because I’ve had a private investigator trying to track you f
or months. This guy is really good, but it was a dead end at every turn, as if you vanished from the face of the earth,” Lucas said seriously.
“It’s my job to disappear. Good to know I’m doing well at it,” he smiled with satisfaction as Lucas held his gaze. “I was in Bosnia, then Serbia and then I had some business in Syria,” he said as Tyler raised his eyebrows. “I learned he’d died when I checked the website. Luckily you high profile bastards are easy to keep track of,” he grinned as Lucas laughed gently. “And I saw your new single on MTV, Tyler, it’s pretty good,” he said as Tyler smiled broadly.
“Really?” he asked, the praise from his older brother lighting up his features and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Yeah. I’m proud of you, kid,” he said as Tyler bounced up from his chair, hugging Roman tightly as he put his arm around his neck, wrestling him and ruffling his hair as Jess and I laughed. Even Lucas was smiling and it was good to see. The events of the day had taken a huge toll on everyone, but my mind was racing.
Roman Hunter was a mystery. What the hell kind of job made you need to disappear to Eastern Europe for months on end? I was desperate to ask, but there was something about the man that made me stop. He was hardly an open book, and even his brothers who’d paid a P.I. to try and trace him weren’t asking. I felt sure they would if they could. From the snippets I’d picked up from Jess, no one really knew what Roman did and I wasn’t certain it was altogether above board. There was something dangerous lurking there, and right now it only added to the sexual appeal. I really needed to get this thing under control.
“I love you, Roman, I wish you hadn’t left,” Tyler said as he managed to wriggle himself free from Roman’s now loosened grip.
“I had to,” he said simply as he resumed his position next to me.
They spent the next hour discussing how the day had gone as I sat quietly listening and feeling guilty that I’d missed it. Scarlett had turned up with her father, much to everyone’s annoyance. Aside from a curt nod and a brief handshake from Lucas, the Hunter family had avoided them completely, and they’d left straight after the service.
“I wonder why they didn’t come to Mum’s,” Tyler said as Roman stared at him.
“Are you kidding, Tyler? Dad would have put Everett in the fucking ground if he’d shown his face after what he did,” Roman laughed as Tyler put his head in his hands.
“I still can’t believe she had an affair,” he said as Roman walked across to him, resting his arm over his brother’s shoulder.
“It was a long time ago, Ty, well before you were even born. Don’t let it taint your memories of her and forget about Everett. Dad won that battle,” he said, patting his back and smiling at him. It was touching and affectionate and made me warm to him even more.
“It’s funny, but I have some memories of that time. They’re sketchy, but things changed. Dad was never around and then all of a sudden he was. He started doing things with me and Charlie that he’d never done before. I was much younger than Dex, probably three, and Charlie would have been about two. I obviously had no idea what was going on, but I think riding out on the lake with Dad and Charlie was probably my first clear memory of him,” Lucas said sadly as Jess kissed him softly, resting against his chest as he pulled her tight.
All the fears I’d had about Lucas had been unfounded and my heart clenched, smiling at my sister and glad that life had finally thrown her a break. Lucas’s phone beeped suddenly as he looked at the incoming text, frowning deeply.
“Charlie isn’t coming back tonight,” he said as I took a sharp intake of breath that didn’t go unnoticed. That could only mean one thing. Charlie Hunter was back with Scarlett and there was a niggling part of my brain that let me know I wasn’t remotely happy about that fact.
Chapter Three
“I’m going to go to the lodge now,” I tried to smile, rising from the chair as Lucas rose too.
“I’ll get your bag and walk you down there,” he said as I shook my head.
“No need, unless there’s a headless huntsman on the loose in the grounds.” I looked outside across the dark acres and suddenly decided that a bit of company might not be a bad thing. The whole ghost business had started out as a bit of a cover up, but there was definitely something iffy about this place. If I wasn’t careful my imagination would go into overdrive and I’d wind up scaring myself shitless.
“No, but I’ll walk you anyway,” he smiled as I hugged my sister, deciding not to hug Tyler because that would mean I’d have to hug Roman. The very thought sent my heart hammering through my chest and my palms sweating in a strange autonomic response that was I trying desperately hard to conceal.
“Goodnight everyone,” I said as they mumbled their goodbyes, all except Roman who just stared at me, running his tongue across his firm pink lips and silently suggesting it might not be goodnight for the two of us. At least that’s what I hoped he was suggesting, following Lucas out into the hallway and shoving the thought to the back of my mind. What the hell was I thinking? He was Charlie’s brother.
He wasn’t like the rest of them and I doubted that had anything to do with genetics. For all Tyler Hunter was the budding rock star, there was only one badass in this family and Roman Hunter was it. He was edgy, unpredictable and just about the sexiest man I had ever laid eyes on.
I sat there stoking the fire that Lucas had built and wondering whether to go to my room. I should, I knew I should. Close the door and try to sleep, knowing that soon he’d be here, and ignore the fact that beautiful man would be laid in the next room. I had to do it whether I wanted to or not. If I was sitting here when he walked in, there was every chance that with one move he’d have me naked and I’d be powerless to resist. I’d felt it twice already – every cell in my body on fire for a man I’d never met before and I rarely felt that. Who was I kidding? I had never felt like this.
I wasn’t like Jess, I was a realist. Unobtainable men were one thing; Roman Hunter was a level above. Unfortunately, he was also the first man ever to make me seriously consider abandoning my list. I knew enough already to realise he didn’t tick those damn boxes.
But he definitely ticked one. There was hot and then there was Roman. Christ, I needed to get a handle on this.
He was a lone rider, an independent soul and it was instantly evident he wasn’t the type to be tamed and it wouldn’t just be women. He was exactly the kind of man from whom a girl like me should run a mile. I wanted the whole package. There was no way I’d be left like mum or Jessica, penniless and struggling, raising kids with no support from a man. It had destroyed my mother. She loved us and she tried her best, but she was dead by her mid thirties, consumed by an aggressive disease, never having had it good. Life was not to be endured; it was to be enjoyed. Jess was getting that now and I was delighted for her, but it hadn’t always been that way.
I made my way into the guest room, pulling on the black negligee I’d brought for my trip and crawled under the covers. It was cold in here. I guessed it was seldom used in the winter months. Already I missed the glow of the fire, wanting to curl up on the huge chair in front of it, with one of the blankets that was laid out on the dresser in the corner, but I couldn’t risk it. As much as the thought of Roman Hunter was seriously appealing, it was also seriously dangerous.
My stomach flipped as I heard the front door open, slamming shut with such force that it would have woken me even if I had been able to sleep, wondering what the hell had gone on in that house since I’d left.
I heard the liquid being decanted, once, twice, three times, laying there and desperate to go and see him, but knowing there’d be only one ending if I did. Thoughts of Charlie entered my head. I’d sent him back to his girlfriend and I wasn’t sure why I’d done that. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but from the conversation in that room after he’d left I was worried I’d done him a major disservice. There was an undeniable part of me that stung deeply when that text came through. We were friends and that was a
ll, but I couldn’t deny that I’d hoped we would be more. That chance had gone now. Charlie had seized his opportunity and maybe it was my chance to do the same as my mind flashed back to the graveyard and that solitary walnut coffin, resting in a six foot hole.
The crash of the glass against what sounded like the brickwork of the fireplace shocked me back from my thoughts as my heart pounded in my chest. I rose, moving to the mirror to check what I looked like. This wasn’t normal behaviour for me, but the pull of Roman Hunter was just too strong. I wanted to make sure he was okay; at least that’s what I was telling myself.
I wanted to make him okay, wanted to taste him, to feel him, to know if that electric connection I’d felt in the graveyard and again in the house was a one way street or if he felt it too. He wouldn’t be a keeper and I was playing with fire. This was Lucas and Charlie’s brother, but the lure was filling my cells with every passing second, my blood coursing through my veins with an excitement that was palpable. Before I could stop myself, I was making my way to the lounge to see just exactly what was happening by that fire.
I stopped dead in the doorway as he turned and stared, intense blue eyes burning into mine as he stalked towards me. I grabbed the wooden frame for support under the glare that sent my heart hammering, my stomach spinning into a thousand knots and my nerve cells stratospheric. He was breathing hard, dangerous, dark, menacing and angry, never breaking his hold on my gaze as he moved closer and closer, stopping only a foot away. I could feel the rage radiating from his body, like a coiled spring ready to explode. It was a unique sensation, as terrifying as it was thrilling and I couldn’t speak, swallowing hard and unable to breathe. God, this was intense.
“I suggest that unless you want my cock buried deep inside you in the next two fucking minutes that you turn around and go back to your room,” he said, the fierce aggression in his voice unwavering as I tried to process his words. There was no seduction, no romance, just the threat of pure unadulterated carnal fucking. Lust, not love, not friendship, no kindness, but brutal, no holds barred sex that would batter our senses as well as our bodies and for a second I couldn’t move.
