Unforeseen Heartbeat

by Maureen Mayer

  You think you’re safe, you fucking slut? Think again.

  He won’t always be around to protect you.

  I blinked rapidly, reading the words over and over until my trembling hands let the paper slip through my fingers. My eyes shifted back and forth, wondering if the person who continued to torment me was out there watching me, waiting for my next move. My instincts were telling me to run, but it seemed at this point that wasn’t even an option, and he made that very clear.

  “H-how did he even know I was here?” My voice lowered to a whisper.

  Hunter leaned his forehead against mine. “Shit, babe, I have no idea. I wish I did, but you can’t let him know he’s getting to you. Scumbags like that feed off of your weaknesses, and he’ll just keep coming back at you tenfold, if you give in to what he wants. He wants you to be afraid. He wants to break you down, and once you submit, that’s when he’ll strike. Just remember everything that I’ve taught you. You are such a strong person, one of the strongest people I know, and I’m not just saying that because you can pin me to the ground in five seconds flat.” He laughed softly, and I eased into his strong, encompassing arms. “You have such a big heart, and while some might think that makes you weak and vulnerable, you use it to your advantage. You protect the ones you love, including yourself. Haven’t you ever heard the saying ‘you cannot love another, until you love yourself’?”

  I nodded against him, wiping the tears that slowly trickled down my face, and Hunter lowered his voice for my ears only. “It’s the people who have never felt love that are weak. And you, Maddie… you love with your entire being. I have never met anyone as fiercely passionate as you are, and the more I get to know you, the more you let that side of yourself shine through. Don’t ever lose that. Don’t ever think that you aren’t loved and aren’t capable of loving. I could tell from the moment I met you that you had your guard up, and I’m not going to pry and ask who or what caused you to withhold that beautiful piece of your heart, but I’m glad that you finally let me see it and experience it firsthand. I can see now that you are so much stronger, and this asshole that keeps fucking with you, he’ll see it, too. And if he’s lucky, he’ll never have to feel the wrath of Madelyn ‘Lil’ Rambo’ Harrington.”

  I was full out laughing through my tears, and Liberty and Shayne must have thought I’d lost my damn mind. Leaning back, I gazed up at the man whose words filled my heart, stretching it beyond what I thought it was ever capable of. I pressed my tear-stained lips to his, tasting the salty droplets as my mouth brushed over him

  “I’m sorry I’ve been fighting these feelings for so long. It’s just… I never thought anyone could possibly want me for me.”

  Hunter cradled my face in his hands, delicately stroking his thumbs over my cheeks and erasing my tears. “Maddie, I will always want you. All of you. Please don’t ever doubt that. Don’t ever doubt my feelings for you, because this…” He took my hand and placed it over his heart, covering it protectively. “This is all yours.”

  I drew in a long, deep breath, savoring the moment as I permanently locked it away in my memory. I never wanted to forget the way he looked at me as he uttered those words; never wanted to forget the beautiful ache in my chest when he told me his heart was all mine. God, all of the feelings I fought so hard to contain came flooding through, and I was about ready to burst. I reached up, digging my fingers through his soft hair, and our lips collided in a feverous frenzy. I caressed the seam of his lips with my tongue, and his mouth parted, searching eagerly for me. Never in my life had I been kissed so voraciously, and when he softened the kiss just the slightest bit, a whimper escaped me, demanding he kiss me harder.

  Someone cleared his throat behind us, and I smiled, dragging my teeth over Hunter’s lip. I peeked over my shoulder and found that Liberty and Shayne were still standing there, both appearing a bit uncomfortable by our blatant PDA. Shayne looked as though he were concentrating intently on something at his feet, pretending he hadn’t heard or seen us, but Liberty was panting heavily with her hand over her chest and her faced flushed like she had just had the best orgasm of her life.

  “Dear Lord, could you guys be any hotter together?” Liberty raised her hand, fanning her face. “I swear you two must have just made a baby the way you were going at it.”

  Hunter buried his face into my neck laughing, and all I could do was roll my eyes. “Calm your tits, Liberty. There’s nothing wrong with a little kissing.”

  “Ugh, that wasn’t kissing, sweetie. That man was fucking your mouth like there was no tomorrow. Jesus, didn’t you guys release all of that pent up sexual tension this weekend?”

  My mouth gaped at her assumption. “Liberty!”

  “Damn. There goes fifty bucks down the drain,” she grunted in disappointment.

  I threw my hand up on my hip, shaking my head. “Should I even bother asking how you lost the money?”

  “Probably not, but I’ll tell you anyway,” Liberty smirked. “Brett, Robbie, Lance and I had a bet going, on when you guys would finally cave in and do the nasty. Clearly, I guessed wrong.”

  “And what about you? You didn’t join in on their little bet?”

  Shayne raised his hands defensively, all the while laughing at our exchange. “Hey, I already know what it’s like being on your shit list, so I opted to stand this one out.” He smiled, knowing I’d appreciate that. Smart man.

  Liberty linked her arm through mine and pulled me over toward Shayne’s Jeep to start unloading the boxes they had packed for me. “So you guys seriously didn’t fool around at all?”

  “Hey, I never said we didn’t fool around.” I grinned wickedly.

  “I knew it!” Liberty shouted, and I threw my hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh. Hunter and Shayne looked back at us curiously, and I shook my head, smiling at them.

  “Will you keep it down and help me carry these in? We can leave the heavier ones for Hunter and Shayne.”

  “All right, but don’t think you can steer me away from the subject so easily. Have you guys talked about it at all? Having sex that is.”

  I opened the door to the apartment and set the box I was carrying down in the living room. “Not really. Everything escalated so quickly this weekend, but like you said, the sexual tension has been building between us for a while now, so no real surprise there. Had he been willing to go further, I probably wouldn’t have said no, but, honestly I’m glad he wants to take his time. I think it’ll be a lot more meaningful when it does happen.”

  Liberty smiled and pulled me down beside her on the couch. “I’m so happy for you, Maddie. I really am. Do you remember what you told me when I first started dating Shayne, before you even knew it was him? You said that sometimes you just know when it’s right. Well, I’m telling you right now that he is absolutely, without question, the one for you. Everyone else can see it, and I think you’ve finally come around to see it for yourself. I think you’ve finally found the peanut butter to your jelly. The spaghetti to your meatball. The—”

  “Seriously, Liberty?”

  She shrugged. “The pearl to your oyster? Do you like that one better?”

  I shoved her shoulder, giggling. “Thanks, I needed a good laugh. I’m finding it hard to find anything to smile about lately. Well… other than Hunter.”

  “Girl, that is what I am here for. Now, speaking of something to smile about, have you asked Hunter about coming to the Halloween party? We already booked the hotel room, so everything’s a go.”

  We headed back outside, and I leaned against the Jeep while Liberty reached in for another box. “Yeah, but we haven’t really put any thought into our costumes yet.”

  “You better hurry up and decide, because the party is this Friday.”

  Oh shit, that’s right! Well, if I had it my way, we’d dress up as Adam and Eve and have our own private party, but I already promised Liberty we would come so I couldn’t back out now.

  Liberty went inside ahead of me, but I stayed back when I heard
Shayne mention my name on the other side of his car. He must not have seen that I was still out there, because their conversation was clearly not meant for my ears.

  “You’re going to have to tell her sooner or later, man. The longer you keep this from her, the harder it will come back to bite you in the ass.”

  “I know, I know.” He sighed. “Fuck, I hate that I have to do this. I promised I would never hurt her, but I don’t see any other way around it.”

  My heartbeat quickened, deafening me as the blood rushed to my ears. What could he possibly be keeping from me that would hurt me? And how was it that Shayne knew about it? There was no way he was cheating on me when we had only just made things official the previous day, but in the back of my mind I knew it had to be pretty serious for the guilt to be eating away at him like that. I decided to let it go for the time being until he manned up and told me himself. No point in worrying myself over something that might turn out to be nothing at all. Right?

  The next week flew by at a snail’s pace, and with Hunter’s words still reeling through my mind, my anxiety was at an all-time high. I just couldn’t fathom what he’d be keeping from me, and the fact that he still hadn’t told me hurt even worse than finding out the truth. It was nearly impossible to concentrate in any of my classes, and I was pretty sure Hunter had picked up on my lack of focus, because no matter how hard he tried to distract me, nothing seemed to get through to me. When he wore his dress fatigues to class on Monday, my normal response would have been to drool at the sheer, rugged sexiness exuding from him, but even that was a bust. What the hell was wrong with me?

  Well, Friday was a welcome distraction, and although Hunter and I were still attending the party together, and in coordinating costumes no less, at least I would have a chance to let my hair down and ignore the pink elephant in the room for just one night.

  “Are you sure this isn’t too revealing?” I stood in front of the hotel mirror, turning from side to side, and inspected the skin-tight black mini skirt, red corset and tiny black blazer that barely served their purpose of covering up my lady bits. Liberty and I arrived at the hotel early, so we could get ready in one of the adjoining bedrooms while the guys set everything up for the party in the suite. We had already been at it for almost an hour, and I was just about done putting the finishing touches on my costume. Hunter was either going to blow his load in his pants or be royally pissed when he got a look at me… maybe both.

  Liberty eyed me suspiciously. “Since when do you care about how much skin you’re showing? You look fucking hot! Isn’t that what really matters?” She went back to applying her lip gloss and smacked her lips together.

  “Yeah, but I wasn’t planning on having the goods hanging out for everyone to ogle at all night. Hunter’s probably going to blow a gasket the moment he lays eyes on me.”

  Liberty shook her head and came over to help pin back the loose blonde strands that had slipped free from my bun before placing a shoulder-length black wig over my hair. “Maddie, you look gorgeous. You’re probably the sexiest Lois Lane I’ve ever seen. If anything, my costume isn’t sexy enough. I tried talking Shayne into going as Batman and Catwoman, even told him I’d go the whole nine yards and wear a latex catsuit, and you know what he said? ‘Baby you don’t need to wear things like that for my benefit.’ I mean, really? Who the hell said I was doing it for him? Maybe for once I wanted to feel sexy for me. Lord knows, when we get married, he’s never going to let that shit fly.”

  “Well, I think you look pretty damn good for a lion tamer.” I tapped her ass with her leather whip.

  Liberty looked down, running her hands over her shorts. “Yeah… after I turned these khaki shorts into hot pants and stripped the sleeves off of the shirt. I still haven’t told him I did that yet, either.” She put her finger up to her lips and giggled. Maybe Hunter wouldn’t be the only one blowing a gasket tonight.

  “And I take it Shayne is going as your lion?”

  “Yeah. He said that when I came along, I was the one who had finally tamed him.” Her smile was beaming. “It was actually really cute the way he brought up the idea for our costumes while we were laying in bed one night…”

  I shook my head “You guys are so fucking adorable it makes me sick.”

  “I know.” She smacked a big wet kiss on my cheek. “But you love us.”

  I slipped on my patent red heels just as there was a light knock on the door. Robbie popped his head in to check if we were ready and released a low, drawn-out whistle. “Damn, ladies, you are smokin’! And, baby girl, if I wasn’t batting for the other team, I would bend you over that bed and—”

  “Robbie!” I cut him off before he could finish, and it was then I finally got a good look at his costume… or lack thereof. I guess I couldn’t really be mad at him; at least he managed to keep his junk covered this time. “What the fuck are you wearing?!”

  “What? Girl, do not tell me you’ve never heard that Lonely Island song?” I groaned knowing exactly what song he was referring to. “It’s my dick in a box!”

  “Yes, unfortunately, I can see that.” Including his bare ass.

  “Oh, come on, you’ve gotta admit it was pretty creative?” He wiggled his eyebrows at me, and I finally burst out laughing, because it really was the perfect costume for Robbie.

  When the three of us stepped out of the bedroom, we found that the suite had been completely transformed into our own mini nightclub. Lights swirled around the room in a kaleidoscope of colors, matching the rhythm of the music. The smell of alcohol was already permeating in the air, and I felt my body sway side to side as my senses became hypnotized. A small bar was set up in the corner, where I caught a glimpse of Brett, or should I say The Hulk, mixing drinks for some of our guests. All of the furniture had been pushed aside to make space for a small dance floor, and Liberty grabbed my hand and spun me around, dipping me and almost crashing me into another couple. We both grabbed hold of each other, giggling as we regained our composure.

  “Guys, this looks awesome! Seriously, I’m impressed.”

  “Thank, sweets.” Lance came up and pulled me into a side hug.

  “And who are you supposed to be? You’re looking very Brad Pitt-esque.”

  “Good guess!” He flipped over a sign hanging around his neck that read “What’s in the box?” and I knew instantly that he was Detective Mills from the movie Se7en. Paired up with Robbie’s dick in a box, I think it was safe to say they won the award for most original costumes, hands down.

  A prickling sensation ran up my neck, and I felt him before I could see him. That flicker of electricity that was always present whenever he was nearby was thick in the air, and I knew that he had just arrived. Footsteps slowly approached from across the room, and my body tensed up as he snaked his arms around my waist from behind. His hot breath blew over my skin as he pressed his lips to my neck. “Mmm, Lois, maybe we should give Jimmy the rest of the day off so we can have the office to ourselves.”

  I giggled, leaning back against his chest, and decided to play along. “I like the way you think, Clark. Oh, but what if Perry catches us?”

  Hunter let out a hearty laugh and spun me around in his arms so that I was facing him. His sultry hooded gaze locked onto mine from behind black-framed glasses, and he licked his lips as his eyes raked over my body. “Well, Lois, he better prepare himself for one hell of a show.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. “You look beautiful, Maddie.”

  “You don’t think it’s too much?” I ran my hand over the wig nervously.

  “Baby, nothing could ever be too much or too little on you. You always look gorgeous. Although, I can tell you right now, I’m never letting you out of my sight, because every guy here is going to want to steal you away from me.”

  Heat crept up my neck, staining my cheeks red, and I quickly dipped my chin down before he could notice. I knew Hunter meant it as a form of flattery, but I couldn’t help but be reminded of all the times I found myself crawling into bed with
a guy, willingly giving myself over to him after being told how much he wanted me. But from them, they were nothing more than empty words, and now I wanted more. I deserved more, and I thanked God every day for bringing Hunter into my life, because he had already given that to me.

  “Baby, what’s wrong? Why are you hiding from me?” He tucked his finger beneath my chin, tilting my head back until he was able to look directly in my eyes.

  I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. “I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, and I guess I’d rather spend the rest of the night alone with you. I’m not really in the partying mood.”

  Hunter’s grin spread, and he pulled me into his chest. “Don’t worry, babe, we’ll get some alone time later on tonight. I’ve got a surprise waiting for you when the party is over.”

  I winced, hoping Robbie’s costume hadn’t given him any ideas. “So help me God, if it’s your dick in a box…”

  Hunter’s head fell back and his body shook with laughter. “No, I promise it’s not my dick in a box.”

  “Hmm, yeah, I’m not sure if you’d be able to find one large enough to fit yours.”

  “I won’t disagree with you there, sweetheart.” Hunter brushed his lips against my temple, and his breath tickled my face as laughter continued to rumble through his chest. “Would you like something to drink?”

  I nodded, and while Hunter went off to fetch us drinks, I figured it was time to mingle with some of our guests. Looking around at all of the people jam-packed in our suite, I hardly recognized anyone, and it didn’t help that they were all disguised by costumes. As I turned to head back toward the bar in search of Hunter, I ended up colliding into a hard chest and nearly fell flat on my ass.

  “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was—” I straightened my clothes, making sure nothing was exposed, and came face to face with the last person I ever expected to see again. It seemed the restraining order I had filed while pressing charges two months ago meant nothing to him. The corner of his mouth twisted up, spreading into a malicious grin, and when I tried to step around him, he pressed me up against the wall with his arms caging me in.