Eruption (The Hunted Series Book 3)

by Ivy Smoak

  He smiled down at me. "Let me show you one thing first." He grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the window.

  "It wasn't a good night, but I'm not going to fling myself out the window."

  He laughed as he pushed the window up. He put his hands on the windowsill and looked back at me. "I used to sneak out of my room all the time. Let's leave this way."

  I looked past him toward the lawn. We were really high up. "I'm wearing heels. And I've had too much to drink."

  "I dare you."

  I smiled. Neither one of us had ever backed down from a dare. "Well, I guess a few more bruises won't hurt me." I took off my shoes and peered out the window. "Did you really just jump?" I tossed my shoes out the window and watched them hit the lawn below. "It seems kind of high."

  "Geez, no." He grabbed my arm and started laughing. "Were you seriously going to jump out the window?"

  "You said you did it all the time. And you dared me."

  "There's a trellis." He stuck his head out the window and pointed to the right. He started laughing again.

  "Don't make fun of me for trusting you." I poked him in the middle of the chest.

  "I'm lucky you said something before you jumped."

  "Mhm." I rolled my eyes at him as I stood up on the ledge. "Who were you running off to see in the middle of the night growing up?"

  He held my waist as I grabbed the edge of the trellis. It took every ounce of restraint not to look down. I slowly stepped onto it and was relieved to see it was as sturdy as he remembered it being.

  "Not someone. Something," he said. "That's what I want to show you. Don't look at me, watch your footing."

  I had slipped slightly when I started my decent, but I quickly regained my footing.

  "Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine. I'm a jungle gym master, James."

  "I don't doubt that at all."

  I laughed. I wasn't even sure what he meant by that. A few moments later I heard the creak of the trellis. I didn't look up to see him coming down after me. The last thing I needed was to be distracted by him.

  I tried to focus on my hands, but every now and then I looked down at my feet, reminding myself how high I was. When I was finally close enough to the bottom, I jumped. The grass was sleek and I slid as soon as my feet touched the ground, landing hard on my ass. "Shit."

  James laughed as he jumped down gracefully beside me. He put his hand out for me, but instead of taking it, I grabbed my shoes, got up by myself, and started running.

  "You don't know where we're going!" He called after me.

  It was only a matter of seconds before I felt his arms around my waist, lifting me in the air. He twirled me around and then pulled me against his chest.

  "You have a huge grass stain on that perfect little ass of yours," he whispered in my ear.

  I laughed and put my hand on his chest so I could lean back and see his face. "Why is it that I can't picture you here at all? I mean, I can out here. But this is the first time you've seemed like yourself all night."

  "None of this is me. I don't belong here anymore. I'm not sure I ever did."

  "Did you spend a lot of time outside when you were younger?"

  "I keep trying to show you." He let go of my waist, bent his knees slightly, and tapped his back. "Hop on."

  I laughed and jumped onto his back. I never minded running around barefoot, but it was sweet that he didn't want me to have to.

  He alternated kissing the crook of my elbow and pointing out things in his mother's garden as we walked farther away from the house. Soon all the lights from the house were barely visible and only the moonlight and stars were guiding us.

  "Where are we going?" I whispered.

  "You don't have to whisper, we're all alone. There it is," he said, pointing in front of us.

  I squinted my eyes. It was hard seeing in the dark. "I don't..." I stopped when I saw it. "Is that a tree house?"

  He kissed the crook of my elbow again. "Of all the things here, this was the only thing that was truly mine. Jen and Rob never even came up unless I invited them to." He stopped at the base of the tree trunk and let me slide off his back. "I was barely ever in my room in the house. I used to come here all the time. You have no idea how many times I nagged my parents to let me get a zip line from my window to the tree house."

  I laughed. "So why was this your special place?"

  "Hmm."

  "What? Is this where you used to fantasize about kissing girls and plotting evil little boy pranks?"

  He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the back of my neck. "For not having any brothers, you have it spot on."

  I laughed. I thought he might say something else, but when he didn't, I looked back up at the tree house. "Am I allowed to come up? Or are no girls allowed?"

  He laughed. "Let me see if it's still stable." I watched him climb up the steps that were nailed into the side of the tree. The boards creaked when he stepped up into the house, but nothing broke. He put his hand down. "Penny Taylor, I'm officially inviting you up into my tree house."

  I laughed and climbed the little ladder. I grabbed his hand and he helped pull me up inside. This was more what I was expecting his room to be like. I laughed as I looked around at all the toys and comic books on the floor. There were actual windows in the little tree house, which had somehow preserved everything despite the hole in the floor. There were even pictures that lined the wall. Photos of James as a happy little boy. He had the same facial features, in an adorable little boy kind of way. "You're so cute. Is this you and Mason?"

  James laughed and unpinned the picture from the wall. "Yeah. That was taken at summer camp one year."

  I laughed and snatched the picture from him. They both had braces and looked so scrawny, nothing like either of them did now. "I have to show this to Bee." I looked up at him and he was smiling at me. "I'm gaining the best family I could possibly ask for, you know. Not your parents, obviously. But your siblings and your friends. I love all of them so much."

  He scratched the scruff along his jaw line. "You have such a positive way of thinking about everything."

  "That's what they are. Our family."

  He turned away from me and gazed at the other pictures on the walls. I would have perused the other pictures too, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from his face. Even his favorite place growing up seemed to make him sad now. I wanted to joke around with him about how he barely even fit in his old tree house. But I didn't want to push him. It seemed like he had something to say. So I just waited, staring at his perfect features in the moonlight.

  He sighed and leaned his head against the wooden boards behind him. "When you asked me why I preferred here over my bedroom, I just..." His voice trailed off. "It was the only place where I felt like I could breathe."

  He had said that to me before. That he felt like he could finally breathe again when he was with me. I moved onto his lap, straddling him. "So, now I'm your tree house?"

  "I wouldn't put it that way." He placed a soft kiss against my lips, cradling the back of my head in his hand.

  "How would you put it?"

  He grabbed my lower back and rotated us so that my back was against the wooden floor and he was on top of me. "You're my life, my heart, my soul, my everything."

  He was so sweet. But for some reason all I could seem to focus on was how handsome he looked with the moonlight streaming in through the branches of the trees, dancing across his face. I spread my legs even wider and pulled my dress up my thighs.

  There was an intensity in his eyes that hadn't been there before. And any trace of sadness had suddenly disappeared.

  "You must have had fantasies of bringing girls up here, James." I reached out for the button of his dress pants.

  "I never thought I'd be this lucky."

  I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled his lips down to mine. This was always the best way to know if we were okay. We both had this internal need that was constantly clawing at the surface, ready to esca
pe. And tonight had been a complete disaster. We both needed this.

  He pressed down on my clit through my thong and I moaned into his mouth. I needed all of him.

  "James," I panted. "I need you. All of you." I reached down and grabbed his erection through his dress pants. I had only managed to unbutton them and my fingers fumbled with the zipper.

  I yelped as the elastic in my thong snapped against my hip as he tore it off of me. But the sensation was quickly replaced by pleasure as he thrust himself deep inside of me.

  Fuck.

  He groaned into my mouth and grabbed my thighs, pulling me even closer to him. He didn't wait for me to adjust to him. His fingers dug into my hips as he fucked me just like I needed him to. Intense. Raw. Perfect.

  It felt like I couldn't get close enough to him. I hooked my ankles behind him, drawing him even closer, and wrapped my arms around the back of his neck. I couldn't get enough. "More," I said breathlessly.

  He lightly bit my bottom lip and kissed me hard, completely consuming me. His mouth claimed me just like his cock, making me feel full in the most satisfying way.

  I moaned again as he tilted his hips, hitting a spot that usually made me lose control. But I wasn't ready to let go. I never wanted to let go of him. I grabbed a fistful of his hair, deepening our kiss.

  We should have been clumsy in the darkness, but I knew his body better than I knew my own. I had explored every rippling muscle and every inch of his skin. I felt the fire building in my stomach and I could feel myself clenching around him. Not yet. I wasn't done with him.

  "God, Penny." He grabbed my hands, pulling them from his neck, and pinned them against the floor of the tree house. He thrust his hips faster and harder, driving himself deep inside of me.

  I didn't want to come, but I could no longer think straight. I moaned again, trying to resist the building tension. I could stay in this elevated moment forever.

  "Come for me, baby."

  And just like that, I lost control. "James!" I felt my back arch and my body shudder beneath his as I came down hard. I immediately felt his warmth spread up into me and heard his satisfied groan. His breath was warm on the side of my neck and the comforting feeling made a lingering chill run down my spine. His chest rose and fell against mine, pressing against my taught nipples. Everything he did was perfect. Everything.

  I grabbed his face and held it a few inches above my own. "You're everything to me too. Everything, James. I'll never get enough of you."

  He lightly kissed the bruise under my eye. "I hope not."

  Part 2

  Chapter 11

  Monday

  "Strictly professional, huh?" asked James.

  "You know what I mean." I squeezed James' hand as we crossed the street.

  He ran his other hand through his hair and looked down at me. "Not really. Will you at least eat lunch with me?" He flashed me a smile.

  "Of course I'll eat lunch with you."

  "So you're fine with everyone knowing that you're my fiancée?"

  "Yes. I've already met a bunch of your employees. But the interns are new. They won't know who I am. Of course they'll find out, but I want them to know me first you, know? So I just mean like, don't make out with me in my cubicle in front of everyone."

  He laughed and squeezed my hand back. "I'm the boss. I can do whatever I want."

  I shook my head. "Exactly. Which is why I'm asking you not to."

  "So you draw the line of professionalism at PDA?"

  "Precisely." I smiled up at him.

  "But you're holding my hand on the way to work." He raised his left eyebrow.

  "I'm allowed to hold your hand outside of work."

  "Anyone from the office could see us though. You're sending me mixed signals."

  "It's my first day, I'm nervous. I need your hand."

  He looked satisfied with my answer.

  And I did need his hand. Despite what he said, I knew everyone could see the two small bruises on my cheekbone. Foundation wasn't meant to conceal bruises. Hopefully no one would say anything to me. But it wasn't a great way to start a new job. My only real job before this was at a retail store during summers of high school and my first summer of college. I hadn't worked since I had met James. He had insisted that he wanted my free time to be spent with him. And since I had been so busy during the school year, the summers had quickly become my favorite.

  Now when I looked up at the sky rise building in front of me, it suddenly hit me that I'd never have a real summer again. But I didn't dare say that to James. If it was up to him I'd never work. Even just thinking about that made me bored out of my mind. And now I wouldn't even have any friends to hang out with during the days while he was at work like I'd normally have in the summer. Everyone around me was suddenly a grown up and I refused to be left behind.

  "You ready?" James asked. He dropped my hand and opened up the door for me.

  "As ready as I can be."

  I had been inside the building countless times. Lunches, late dinners, just to stop in and say hi. Even a few late night rendezvous, which I hoped he wouldn't want to repeat now that I was going to be coworkers with all these people. James owned the whole building, but he rented it out to lots of businesses. His company was located on the top two stories. At one point I thought his office had the nicest view of the city, but now I thought that title belonged to our apartment.

  He smiled at me as he pressed the button for the elevator.

  "Stop looking at me like that." I smiled back at him.

  "Like what?"

  "In that way you do."

  He leaned forward. "You mean, in that way where I'm undressing you with my eyes and wishing I was about to fuck you in the elevator?"

  My face had turned redder with each word that came out of his mouth.

  "I'm not sure this not touching you thing is going to work out so well," he said.

  I laughed and quickly stepped into the elevator.

  He leaned against the elevator wall next to me. His arm brushed against mine. "Sorry," he whispered.

  He was going to try to be distracting all day. There was no way he was actually going to try and keep things professional. I was starting to wonder why he really hired me.

  I followed him out of the elevator and up to the reception desk. His office was to the right. The blinds were drawn along the glass walls. He usually kept them open during the day. I could feel my face blushing again. Now that I thought about it, I was pretty sure the last time I had been here we had to close those blinds. Geez, no one's going to take me seriously here.

  "Good morning, Mr. Hunter. Good morning, Penny," the receptionist, Nita, said. She was already busy typing something on her computer.

  "Good morning, Nita," James said and tapped on the desk. "Penny's joining the marketing team with the new interns. Can you take her over? I need to hop on a conference call."

  Nita smiled. "Of course. I didn't realize you accepted the position."

  "It was kind of a last minute decision," James said for me. "See you at lunch." He kissed my cheek and walked over to his office.

  My face was going to be red all day. I turned around and quickly followed Nita into the expanse of cubicles. Even though there were cubicles, it wasn't like other offices I had seen since moving to New York. It was more laid back, but still professional. The dress code was business casual, but the tech guys pushed it a little. Some of them wore t-shirts underneath their suit jackets. And there was always a hacky sack being kicked around the break room. The first time I had come, I had been surprised. James was always so professional. But maybe he just had to be since he was the boss.

  The walls were bright colors and they changed depending on the department. And the smaller departments had desks in quadrants instead of cubicles. Each pod of desks didn't have any separations between them except for the employees' belongings and computers.

  The marketing department was huge and its color scheme was lime green. The walls were lime green, the desks wer
e black with lime green chairs, and even the staplers were lime green. It was made up mostly of cubicles, but Nita walked me over to one of the few desk pods.

  "This is going to be you." Nita winked at me.

  There was nameplate on my desk and beside it was a huge bouquet of flowers. Oh my God. It wasn't PDA, but it was still ridiculously inappropriate. And I couldn't even hide them anywhere since my desk was open to everyone. Crap. Maybe I can put them under my desk? None of the other interns were there yet.

  "Everyone else is in the conference room," Nita said. "You're a few minutes late, but I'm sure they didn't start without you."

  Shit. "Thanks, Nita!" I hurried over to the conference room she pointed to and quickly went inside. "Hi, I'm so sorry I'm late, Andy." The three other interns were all staring at me, but my boss smiled.

  "It's fine, Penny." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "And most people here call me Anderson."

  "Oh, sorry Andy...erson." I coughed awkwardly. James always called him Andy. And when we had met during my interview he hadn't corrected me. This wasn't exactly a great start. I could feel the interns staring at me like I was an alien. I pressed my lips together. Maybe I just shouldn't say anything else.

  "Penny, this is Tavon, Zach, and Sierra," Anderson said and pointed to the two guys and one other girl in the room. Tavon had tight braids that ended right above his neck and he seemed really laid back. I would have guessed he belonged in the tech department if I had just run into him in the building. He didn't attempt at all to hide his yawn. Zach was the opposite of him. He looked super intense and super serious. He had dark hair almost buzzed right against his scalp. I could see a tattoo peaking out the top of his dress shirt. And Sierra looked as nervous as I felt. She had curly blonde hair and she was holding her purse like she thought a mugger might snatch it. Maybe she was new to New York. Either way, I thought we might get along pretty well.

  "Hi, guys." I waved awkwardly. They all said hi to me.

  "So this is our new marketing team, full of fresh ideas. We're going to be bouncing off all our pitches on you guys. And you'll even be getting an account of your own that I'll supervise. I think we can all learn a lot from each other, and hopefully this will be the experience that you've been seeking. Or if you're looking for a more permanent position in the future, this is definitely the way in. There's an orientation meeting in a few minutes. All the new interns from the different departments have to go. Let me show you to your desks so you can drop off your stuff first."