Just To Be Loved

by Lee, Vivian Rose

  As her brothers and cousins laughed and joked with Mya, Hunter stood to the side all alone as this entire charade was making him sick to his stomach. Just look at her. She was sucking them all into it, and if he wasn’t careful he’d be sucked into it as well, although he could not deny his attraction to her, and attraction that was anything but brotherly. He could smell her scent before she entered the room, and he didn’t mean her delicate perfume. From the moment he first saw her he wanted her, and he certainly noticed that she made herself scarce whenever he was around. But the little rabbit couldn’t run, not this time. He felt her eyes on him just as he always did, but when he looked back at her, she quickly averted her eyes. Was she attracted to him as well? Damn it, why in the world did he want that psycho’s daughter so badly anyway? Looks like it was time for him to slake his lust on Heather again; she was always up for some hard wild sex.

  He was ready to leave the gathering and get in touch with Heather when Ghani summoned him to her side.

  “Let me tell you something grandson,” she said getting right to the point. “If you do anything to push my granddaughter away I will tan your hide. Do we understand each other?”

  “Ghani, I…”

  “Hunter Trent Mason, don’t you dare run her away from us. She has our blood my love; she deserves some happiness too.”

  “Ghani, how can I trust the child of a psycho? What if this is just some ploy by her and her mother to destroy my father?”

  Ghani could see the turmoil in his eyes. “You truly believe that don’t you?”

  Hunter nodded curtly.

  “Uh huh, well let me tell you what I see. I think you feel more than distrust for Mya, I think you…”

  “Ghani, please,” he interrupted. “I just want her gone before she really does something to hurt this family.”

  “No you don’t son. You want her. I’ve only been here a few hours and I can see it in your eyes every time you look at her.”

  Hunter bent over and kissed her cheek. “Goodnight Ghani.”

  “It won’t stop until you face the truth Hunter,” she called out after him.

  Hunter said goodnight to the rest of this family, giving Mya a simple nod before leaving the house. Once he got outside, he sat in his Mercedes with his heart pounding. Was he that obvious? Or was it just that Ghani could see through a person and look right into their heart?

  Chapter 7

  Hunter lay with his head back while Heather pleasured him with her mouth. His eyes were closed and he imagined that it was Mya’s sweet mouth closed around him. He groaned and dug his fingers into her silky curls, and grasped her hair holding her as he moved into her mouth. Just then, his eyes snapped open. This was not Mya.

  “Stop Heather! Stop!” He barked.

  “Hunter, what wrong?” Heather asked, still down on her knees.

  Hunter rose to his feet and fixed his pants.

  “Hunter, talk to me. Please tell me what’s bothering you,” she implored him.

  Hunter stared at her. I’m just lusting after another woman. He thought that, but he couldn’t tell her that. He did after all have plans of maybe marrying her one-day. Instead, he sighed and pushed his hand through his long hair. “Get up we need to talk.”

  Heather settled on the sofa, but Hunter remained standing.

  “What is it darling? Tell me so I can help you.”

  “It’s my father’s daughter Mya; I don’t trust her,” he admitted.

  “Why?” Heather inquired. She knew Hunter had been preoccupied lately. Whenever she wanted to talk about their relationship, he brushed her off.

  Hunter told her about Mya’s mother and also expressed his concerns about the situation.

  “Until I can get rid of her before she acts, I’m going to put our relationship on hold Heather. It’s not fair for me to hold to something I can I give yet.”

  “We can watch her together Hunter, please don’t do this.”

  “I’m sorry Heather, but until I find out what she’s up to or until I’m sure my father is safe, I think we need to stop seeing each other for a while. Please say you understand.”

  Heather knew that that girl would be trouble for her, and she had to think of a way to get rid of Mr. Trent’s bastard child once and for all. No one was going to stop her from having Hunter Mason, and if he needed her to understand right now she will understand; but what she was actually going to do was help him get rid of her.

  “Yes darling, I do understand,” she said having a sudden change of heart. “I’ll give you the time you need.”

  Hearing this, Hunter smiled. He kissed Heather softly on a forehead right before he walked out the door and left her there alone. Lost in momentary thought thinking how to best turn this situation to her advantage, she leaned on the door he just exited. She needed a plan that would not only shed light on some kind of wrongdoing, but also prove beyond a doubt that Mya was involved. Drawing a blank, she went into her bedroom, clicked on the television, and lay across her bed. She stared blindly at that television, and after clicking channels looking for nothing in particular, a show on the Mystery Channel caught her eye. In the episode, a woman hired a hit man to kill her elderly husband, but the hit man she contacted was an undercover cop who set up a sting. After a few meetings, the man took the order for the hit and the money and then turned a woman into the police. The woman got arrested and was incarcerated.

  Heather’s lips curled to a smile. A set up… and it could work too because Hunter already suspected that she would do his father harm. She sprang up out of bed. She could do the same thing to get rid of Mya. All she had to do was find someone to help her. She knew a lot of people, some good some bad, but of the ones with a less than flawless character that she knew, Clayton Harris was the first one that came to mind. He was a former FBI agent, and now a private investigator, and not quite as honest as he should be. As long as she’s known him, he always straddled the line between legal and illegal, and for the right price, she knew he could be bought. All she had to do was give Clay information on Mya and then he would take it from there. Ever since she joined the Trent family, Hunter didn’t mind talking about her, and at times she seemed to be all he talked about. Because of his constant ranting, Heather knew that Mya attended class from early morning to midafternoon at Arkansas State University, and majored in architectural engineering. Smiling sadistically, she dialed Clayton’s number.

  “Hello Clay,” she greeted. “I got a job for you.”

  When the call ended, Heather smiled. “I’m doing this for us Hunter,” she spoke aloud. “Nothing and nobody will ever come between us.”

  She invested far too much in Hunter to let him slip away, and if getting rid of that woman was the only way to see to it that he stayed, then so be it. Hunter was on the verge of settling down, and he was going to settle down with her.

  Parked in the student parking lot, Clayton watched for the red hair medium brown Mya Trent. Thankfully, he had a nephew that it also attended Arkansas State, who happened to know who Mya Trent was. He had two weeks to get this done. For the ten thousand dollars, he could get it done in a day, but first she had to get some photos, call in some favors, and manipulate this and that. After that, Mya will be gone, and he’ll be ten grand richer. From the story that Heather told him it should be easy to set up her to fall. Twenty-seven years ago, her mother tried to kill Henry Trent, but got away. She raised his daughter and the child grew up hating her father and wanted revenge for the life he denied her. Since he didn’t do murder, he had to come up with a plan that would either run her out of town or put her in prison, but that was no problem at all. Clay chuckled. This was too easy... almost like getting money for nothing.

  When she finally came into view, Clayton’s eyes widened. Mya Trent was beautiful. Heather never once said how beautiful she was, but then again there was no reason to expect that out of the Heather. In her estimation, there was no woman alive who was as beautiful as she was. All she told him was that the girl had long ugly red
dull hair, medium brown skin, and that she was short, but after seeing her in person, it sort of caused him to wonder about what she did to Heather. He had no idea, but whatever it was, it had to be huge. He’s known Heather since his days of being one of Senator Burton’s bodyguards, and if Heather wanted someone out of the way, ten times out of ten they were gone. In so many words, her daddy had power so she had power, and that made her dangerous and rotten to the core.

  Clayton lifted his camera and started clicking pictures of Mya as she moved up the walkway to the Student Union Building, and then pressed in his nephew’s phone number.

  “David, she is standing in front of the Student Union Building. Get there quickly before she leaves,” he ordered.

  “Okay Uncle, so all I have to do is talk to while you get the shots right?” David asked.

  “Yes, but don’t forget to turn on the recorder; I need a sample of her voice as well. Try to get her to talk as much as you can, and then meet me at the coffeehouse for your money,” he said before ending the call.

  David was his sister’s kid. He was an all right nephew; a little nerdy, but highly intelligent. If David knew he was setting this young woman up, he would want no part of it, so Clay told him that he was on the job and following her, and that she was suspected of being part of a drug ring on campus. Clayton took a few more shots of the couple together, and then called David back to tell him that he did well.

  That was strange Mya thought, frowning at the young man as he walked away. Why was he so interested in her all of a sudden? He was about nineteen or twenty years old, so he could hardly be interested her romantically. She had first noticed him in her calculus class, but he had never shown any interest in her before. As a matter of fact, other than Stephen, she didn’t have any friends on campus, and Stephen hasn’t spoken to her since her brothers crashed her first date with him. Myra shrugged and continued through the building to her last class.

  Henry and Sylvie had gone for a few weeks to visit Uncle Jackson and would return on Monday. They wanted Mya to come along, but she had to work on her term paper. This would be the first time she would be home alone, and for Mya, it was another milestone in their relationship. To know that they trusted her enough to be alone in the house caused her heart to swell with love and respect for the both of them. Later as she lay across her bed studying, she reminisced about meeting her grandmother and uncles. It had been two weeks since the introduction and during that time, she had spoken to Ghani daily. Ghani insisted that Mya accompany her on a shopping spree for her World cruise, and during the times that she stayed at her condominium, they would talks for hours. Mya even confided in her about her deepest feelings, even the ones she felt for her mother that she never shared with anyone. She didn’t understand how she could love her mother and then hate her just as deeply. She voiced her shame and embarrassment when her mother destroyed families in the many towns that they lived in, and the ghetto drama that ensued when the wives of all these men that she slept with came to the house to confront her. Sometimes they would even fight in the front yard. It didn’t bother her mother one bit that Mya had to attend school with all the children of the families that she destroyed, nor did it bother her that they called them both names. Her mother never understood that what was no problem for her, Mya had to endure every single day of her life. The sorrowful pain of all those bad memories still cut Mya like a knife, but Ghani’s wisdom-filled reply placed her heart in her grandmother’s hands forever.

  “You are so much like me, but it’s time move on baby girl. You are stronger than you think. You have lived through abuse both mentally and physically and still you stand and that’s what’s important. Don’t hold on to the past or dwell on the bad things. Just think about the wonderful future in front of you and the love of your new family. Everything has its place and your place is here with your family. We love you and anything your mother has done in the past is just that, in the past. It has nothing to do with you. I know you have a good heart and always know that your Ghani loves you very, very much.”

  Mya rolled onto her back and hugged her textbook to her chest. Ghani was right, everything was falling into place and she could let go of the past and look forward. She rolled back to her stomach, and once again focused on her studies. She was writing an essay on The Cultural and Structural Concepts of Architect. Her father encouraged her to use any of the many textbooks he had in his study on the subject, and hoping to give her essay more depth, Mya gathered her books and headed for his office. She sat at the desk looking around the warm cozy room and smiled. This room reminded her of her father, as the scent of his cologne lingered in the air, along with the occasional cigar that mom allowed him to smoke. The leather bound books that sat in the floor to ceiling bookcases lining the walls made her think of the rooms in the Victorian houses of centuries ago, but she digressed; time to stop the moss from gathering and get to work. She looked through her book bag for her compass, and realized that she must have left it up to room, but rather than go back upstairs, she looked through her father’s desk. She was sure he had one somewhere. She pulled out several drawers still coming up empty, but she knew he had one, she’d seen him with it many times when he worked from home.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Hunter shouted from the doorway. Startled, Mya’s head rose and she dropped the papers she had in her hand.

  “I--I was looking…,”

  Hunter didn’t give her a chance to speak. “I knew it!” He growled as he came further into the room and moving swiftly towards her. He grabbed her, his large fingers biting painfully into her arm, and pulled her from around the desk. Mya snatched her arm away from him.

  “Answer me!” He shouted. “You couldn’t wait to be alone in this house. I knew you were a psycho just like your mother.

  “I was looking…”

  “Shut up!” He snapped. “Mom and Dad will finally see you for the con you are. I want you out of here! Do you understand me? I don’t care where you go; I’ll tell Mom and Dad you had to go away. Let’s go!”

  Hunter grabbed her again, but Mya had had enough. Since the first day that they met, he has been nothing but rude and insulting, and she was tired of it

  “What did I ever do to you?” She shouted as tears rolled down her face.

  “Oh please. Spare me those fake tears you turn off and on like a faucet, but I guess it’s like mother like daughter.”

  Before Mya could stop herself, she slapped him hard across the face. Momentarily stunned, Hunter stared at her, but his reaction was swift as he pulled her into his chest and looked at her through eyes that were filled with disgust. “If you ever hit me again, you will live to regret it!”

  Hunter stared down into her frightened eyes. “I’m not like my mother,” she sobbed defeated.

  Hunter’s heart pounded against his chest, he could feel her heat radiating through his clothing. His body tightened as did his grip on her arms. His head lowered and he claimed her mouth. Mya struggled to get away from him at first and then gradually relax in his arms. Hunter pulled her closer into him. His hands gripped her hair tightly holding her head in place. Her first kiss and she felt like she was going to combust. Her arms eased around his neck her hand fisted in his hair. Hunter groaned and intensified the kiss. Her lips hypnotized him his heart leaped and kicked into overdrive. He lifted her offer feet. He had to have her wrapped around him. He had to quench this lust for her; this obsession.

  Frantically their mouths battled. Hunter’s hands slipped under her dress holding her behind in his hands pushing her into his swollen manhood as he rubbed against her responding flesh. Hunter lifted his head and set her down. Both breathing heavily as he stared at each other Hunter cursed and swept off her feet taking their grand staircase two at a time while Mya clung to him tightly her face pressing his neck her body trembling.

  Hunter kicked open her bedroom door closing it behind him. In the back of his mind, it screamed, what the hell are you doing? But he couldn’t stop now he had to
have her and he had to have her now. He laid her on the bed and went down beside her. His mouth covered hers swiftly. Mya's arms closed around his neck holding him tightly to her. She never felt anything so exquisite. She knew she should be pushing him away but for the life of her, she could not bring herself to do so. This was wrong she knew what was wrong. This man has only shown aversion to her ever since she walked into this house. She also recognized she had a sick attraction to him. This was wrong. She knew this man hated her and she lay here and let him touch her. She pushed at his shoulders, but he didn’t budge. She grabbed his hair and pulled it. He groaned and lifted his head his piercing dark eyes to look intently into hers.

  “What are we doing?” She whispered.

  “You want this as much as I do,” he said his mouth attacking the side of her neck.

  “No I don’t want this, this is wrong.” Hunter sat up swiftly, sitting on the side of the bed his hands pressed to his face.

  Mya reached out in gently touched his back He flinched away.

  “Why do you hate me so much? What did I do to you?”

  Hunter lifted his head and looked over at her. She was so beautiful and he wanted her. She was right, this was wrong. This obsession he had for her was out of control. Damn, he almost raped her because he wanted her so bad. Hunter rose up from the bed his back to her moving towards the door.

  “Please Hunter, tell me why you hate me so much.”

  Hunter stopped but he didn’t turn to look at her. “I don’t hate to Mya I just don’t trust you,” he replied exasperated turning to face her. “Tell me why you came here after all these years? Tell me what you want from my family?”

  Mya sat up in the bed her back was to the headboard her knees into her chest. “I came here because I had no one else; it’s true I knew how my mother felt about your father. Sometimes I believe she lied about Henry Trent. She had so many men in her life my father could’ve been anyone, but he was the only one she ranted about how much he hated him how he ruined her life. Many times she told me how much she hated me because his blood flowed through me. She blamed him for her lack of money and the lack of the lifestyle she wanted. When my mother died…, she paused. “I don’t know why I came. I guess out of curiosity. I wanted to know who this man is she claimed was my father. If my mother thought, Henry Trent was a monster he couldn’t have been much of one because I thought my mother was a monster. If you only know what she’s done in the name of survival, you’d be shocked. This family was not what I expected. I didn’t expect to be welcomed into a family so warmly. I had every intention of just leaving. I love your parents, I love this family. I know it’s only been a short while that I’ve been here but I do with all my heart I love them and I would never do anything to hurt them. Now tell me why you hate me so much?”