by Nicole Fox
“You both keep me safe,” Opal continued.
“Well, we’ll certainly do our best,” Vanessa said.
“You have to do what he says, Mommy.”
“I am, honey.”
“No, you’re going to let him leave. But he can’t leave. He has to stay. You both have to be here to protect me.”
Hunter raised his eyebrows and looked at Vanessa. Maybe somewhere in all the games of Candy Land and all the talks, all the times he told her how he was hurt as a child, when he tried to make her see he had gone through the same thing. Maybe all of that had worked after all. She did trust him, and she wanted him so stay around.
Hunter put a hand on Opal’s shoulder. The sudden urge to protect this small, fragile child rose in his chest and grew hotter. He would do anything he had to for her. “I won’t go anywhere. I’ll stay right here and protect you.”
Chapter Nineteen
Hunter
Hunter peeled the door open slowly and looked over Opal’s sleeping form. It was the fourth time he’d checked on her. This time, unlike the last three, she was sound asleep. The day had upset her enough that she’d had trouble falling asleep and then staying asleep. It seemed that now things had finally calmed enough for her to drift off and get her much needed rest after a stressful day.
Now that Opal was sleeping, he knocked lightly on Vanessa’s bedroom door.
“Come in,” she said softly.
He closed the door behind him. She was sitting up in bed, holding a book. It seemed like such a normal thing to be doing that he raised an eyebrow. She tossed the book aside.
“Kind of pointless to try to read when I’ve read the same page about five times now.” She gave him a sad smile.
“Opal is sleeping. Finally.”
“Good.”
“So, what do you want to do about—”
“Hunter?”
He stepped closer to her, wanting nothing more than to slide into bed beside her. “Yeah?”
“I don’t think I can talk about this anymore.” Her voice started to shake. “Can you just… hold me?”
His mouth pulled into a half smile. “Sure.”
He kicked off his shoes and pulled back the covers to slide in behind her. She nuzzled back into him and he wrapped his arms tight around her. When she pressed back into him, her ass pressing against his groin, he felt his dick go hard. He always wanted her. He couldn’t get enough of her.
He wrapped his legs over hers and curled around her. With his body, he was showing her how he wanted to keep her close, to keep her safe. He wished he could just say it. That he could open his mouth and tell her how he felt. That he knew he wasn’t what they needed, but that he wanted her all the same. To admit that maybe the reason Jeremy was still alive was because Hunter didn’t want this to end. He hadn’t even allowed himself to think about that fact. But it was the truth.
He never took this long on a hit. Never. Usually it was days, maybe a week or two if things were complicated. But he kept drawing things out with Vanessa. Putting off leaving to find Jeremy, convincing himself that he couldn’t leave them for even a few hours because something might happen. But deep down, he knew the truth. Once Jeremy was dead, she wouldn’t need him anymore. And he needed her to need him.
He couldn’t be in their lives forever, but he was there now, and now was all he had. He had to take full advantage of every moment. And in this moment, there was only one thing he wanted to do.
Hunter let his hands move along her arm and down the length of her body. They found their way to her breasts, cupping and squeezing them gently over the fabric of her nightgown. She moaned softly when he pinched her nipple, and it made his cock twitch in his now too-tight pants. He shifted his hips to give it more space, but he’d need to get his pants off soon.
He roamed down her stomach and between her legs. Her pussy was hot against his hand, and when he pressed down, circling her clit gently, he felt her grow wet. He lifted her nightgown so he could feel her bare skin against his hands.
“You are so hot,” he whispered in her ear.
Vanessa moaned in response and pressed her hips against his hands and against his dick, moving back and forth.
She reached her hand back to run her fingers through his hair. “I need you.”
He kissed along her neck and slipped his hand into her panties. Her lips slipped wetly between his fingers. Every time she moaned, Hunter’s cock throbbed, longing to be inside her. It strained against his jeans. He had to set it free. He unzipped his jeans and kicked them off. He pressed his bare dick against the thin fabric of her panties.
When she pressed into him, he couldn’t take it anymore. He might come right now if she kept rubbing on him and moaning like that. He slipped her panties down and pulled her hips back. Her ass cheeks were hot and he rubbed between them for a moment. He had to calm himself down first or this wouldn’t last. He needed it to last.
Hunter used his foot to get her panties fully off and brought one of Vanessa’s legs backward over his. He rubbed the tip of his cock in her wetness, then pressed it inside her. She cried out and arched her back as he filled her.
With his hand, he circled her clit while he moved in and out of her slowly. He explored her body, appreciating every curve. From her hard nipples to soft breasts, her wet labia and flat belly. She was a gift all for him to play with.
Her moaning picked up. He thought she was getting close. He could go at any moment, but he wanted to really set her off. He returned his hand to her clit and flicked her between his fingers. Vanessa responded exactly how Hunter wanted. She cried out and pulled at his hips to bring him in deeper.
He sped up his thrusting as he flicked and circled her harder. He felt her tighten as she cried out again. He gave a few hard thrusts and let himself go, flooding into her.
Holding her close, keeping his dick inside her, Hunter went limp. Eventually, he slipped out of her and together, Hunter and Vanessa’s heart rates and breathing slowed. She turned to face him, nuzzling her face into his chest. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of her warm body against his.
He hoped that somehow what he was feeling got across to her.
# # #
If the day started out difficult, Hunter had made it much better. She felt safe again, lying in his arms. Somehow, it was like nothing much mattered and nothing could go wrong when they were close like this. Every time they made love it was amazing. She wanted more and more, and that made her try any way she could to fit him into the picture of their lives.
He was even starting to get so close to Opal, and she obviously liked having him around. After Nicholas left and Opal got upset about Hunter saying he was going to leave, it had given Vanessa a lot to think about. In the midst of trying to keep her safe, she hadn’t put enough thought into the fact that she was bringing someone into Opal’s life. This was the first time it had happened. In the days when she first left Jeremy, she had thought carefully about how she would introduce someone to her when she started dating again. There was a whole plan to make the process slow and easy on Opal. But that had gone out the window when Jeremy called.
Having Hunter around hadn’t seemed like bringing someone into Opal’s life, because Vanessa wasn’t dating him. She was sleeping with him and had feelings for him, but somehow, without having the technicality of dating in place, she hadn’t processed his presence in the same way. Now it seemed like if he went away, it would hurt Opal. And that was the last thing she wanted to do. It was why she’d decided to date someone for at least a few months before introducing them. She didn’t want people coming in and out of her life all the time.
Now that the damage had been done, she couldn’t stop trying to make him fit in. Things were just too good when he was around. His past and his job didn’t seem to really affect them right now. She thought about what it would be like to know he was going to work. To kill someone. Or what it would be like to see the money come in from a hit. What would she say when people asked wha
t her boyfriend did for a living? Did he have a cover story in place already? And there was always the chance he could get caught and leave them forever or for a long time. What would she say to Opal then?
Chapter Twenty
Hunter
“What do you say when people ask what you do for a living?” Vanessa asked, breaking the silence.
Great. Where was this coming from? “Umm. Usually I say construction or sales. Sales allows for a varied schedule and income.”
“What do you sell?”
“Medical equipment. I use to say insurance, but one time someone wanted a quote. So that didn’t work too well.” He chuckled. What a nightmare that had been to talk his way out of.
“Have you ever thought about doing something else?”
“Sure.” He’d pictured hundreds of job options. Tried to imagine himself there. Especially now that he met her.
When he didn’t elaborate, she asked, “Like what?”
“I don’t know. A bunch of things. I just don’t think I’m cut out for any of them.” He hated to say it, but he couldn’t be something he wasn’t. He didn’t want to lead her on or make her think that somehow she could change him.
She didn’t respond, and he wondered what she was thinking.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sure that’s not what you wanted to hear.”
“I don’t know what I wanted to hear, actually. I mean, if you had a different job, and were made for office work, you wouldn’t be the person you are. And I like the person you are. Too much maybe.”
“I’m not what you and Opal need.”
She sucked in a breath. “I know that. On some level. But when you’re here, it’s so good. You fit into our world. Whatever you think we need, we need safety and security, and you provide that. Wasn’t it clear today in the way Opal reacted?”
“It just made me think that she’s a scared little girl, and I wonder what will happen when I kill her daddy. Will she hate me or be grateful? Or will you just lie about it forever?”
Vanessa stilled and her breathing grew heavier. He realized in her silence that she was still hoping they could send Jeremy to jail instead of killing him.
“If it doesn’t come to that, fine,” he said. “But what if it does? And what if this whole Jeremy thing blows over and everything is great. What happens when the next hit comes in? Are you going to tell her what I do for a living? No. So, you’re going to lie to her. All the time. And I’ll have to lie to her, too, to protect her. She doesn’t deserve that. She deserves a father who can be there for her and be honest and support her family in a way that doesn’t involve breaking the law.”
“But…”
He waited, but she didn’t continue. “Vanessa, you need someone straighter than me.”
“I had that. He didn’t turn out to be anything good at all. On the outside, he was wealthy, from a good, well-connected family. Went to a good school, was going to be successful and all that. And look how that turned out. I don’t think anyone is completely good or bad, and even if you do things most people consider bad, you’re a good person on the inside. I see it and so does Opal.”
“I’m a killer, Vanessa. How good of a person can I possibly be if I take lives and make money doing it?”
“But you don’t kill just anyone. You only kill bad people. You’re probably helping people.”
“You can make excuses for me all day. But at the end of it, the fact is the same. I commit felonies constantly. I could be locked away for life many times over. Then what would you and Opal do? Come visit me in jail?”
“I don’t know. You haven’t been caught yet.”
“But I was once.”
“But that was a long time ago.”
He chuckled. “The statute of limitations doesn’t expire on murder. If they found something in thirty years about something I did ten years ago, they could lock me away. I haven’t been caught. Yet. But that could change. It’s part of the risk I take every time I take a job. It’s part of the job I like. Knowing that every day is borrowed, that at any moment, I could lose it all. It makes me look at life differently.”
“What if we went to some other country where they couldn’t send you to prison if evidence came up?”
“You’d really uproot Opal like that? Move her across the world just to protect me from facing justice for what I’ve done?”
“You protect us,” she insisted. “You’d give your life for us, so why can’t we give up something for you?”
“Because I would never let you do that for me. I’m not worthy of that sort of sacrifice.”
“I say you are.”
“Well, then, you’re nuts.”
She was quiet for a long time. “What happened when you were caught?”
“Well, I was doing what I do best. I was protecting someone. I had this girlfriend in high school, Julia. She cried to me more than once about how horrible her dad was. Told me he touched her and hit her. Of course, I got pissed. I couldn’t stand to think she’d gone through something like what I went through in my childhood. So, we made a plan, and I killed him. I was sloppy because it was done in anger. There was evidence everywhere. Didn’t take them long to hunt me down. Ten years later, when I was finally released, I find out the truth. She made the whole thing up. She was pissed at her dad because he wouldn’t buy her a car or some other stupid crap and wanted his life insurance money.
“Nothing was the same after that. How could I ever trust someone again? I’d just done ten years and committed the biggest crime of my life for a lie. So, I figured that if I killed once for money—or for her to get money—then why not do it again? I felt like my life was over. I had nothing to live for. So, it became about the chase, the rush of it all. I did it once more and didn’t get caught that time. Then it was, how many times can I do it and get away with it? Every time I take a life, I wonder if it’ll be the last one. If my time is finally up, and they’ll get me and lock me up for good or put me to death.”
“I can’t imagine living like that.”
“And that’s why I can’t be what you need. You’d have to be okay with all of that.”
“But what if I was okay with it?”
He took a moment to think. If she accepted it, could he really do it? “Vanessa, if you could live with knowing what I’ve done and what could happen at any time, then I would want nothing more than to have a relationship with you. And you’d be the first person ever to make me feel that way since Julia. The first person I’ve trusted since I was seventeen.”
# # #
The silence in the room seemed to go on forever. She thought about what he said. She could not promise him anything if she didn’t mean it. And she wasn’t sure if she could mean it. She wanted him, and she felt that he was good for them. But his past was scary, and the fear of him being locked up at any moment made her stomach feel heavy with dread. Could she live like that forever?
“Here’s the thing, Hunter. I’ve always done the right thing. From returning a piece of candy I stole when I was five, to changing my life to make my parents happy and fit into their picture of what I should be. I grew up Catholic, going to church twice a week, confessing all my sins. In my world, there was no such thing as premarital sex. It just wasn’t something a good girl did. So, when I got to college, I kind of… went crazy. I think all the years of not being allowed to do anything got to me. I had never drank or done drugs or had sex. But when I got to college and saw everyone else doing it and it wasn’t messing up their lives, I wanted to try it, too. I started dating Jeremy, and he kept trying to get me to have sex with him. I said I was waiting, but one night I got drunk, and we did. I got pregnant.
“I thought my parents were going to kill me or disown me when I told them. I almost didn’t tell them. I almost had an abortion, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Jeremy tried to talk me into it, but I wouldn’t. I finally told them and they made me marry Jeremy. He didn’t want to, but my parents threatened him. I still don’t know why in
the world it worked. He could have shut them up or taken care of anything with his money or connections. The only thing I can think is that they were able to convince his parents. Jeremy did everything his dad told him to do. But he hated it. And he took it out on me every day after.
