The car ride back to Hunter’s house was a quiet one, neither of them feeling very talkative after a day that could only be effectively described as a royal clusterfucked shitstorm. Emma felt pretty numb and the only time Emma spoke was when she had to ask him for his cell phone. Hers was out of battery and she needed to call Antony at the pub to tell her that she wouldn’t be going in today. 2nd day on the job, and she was already calling in sick. Fantastic impression.
He didn’t seem surprised, and judging from the way Kat, the waitress who had trained her, grabbed the phone to say, “Fuck. Me. Bitch, you okay? Tell me they’ve got you in quarantine!” she could safely assume that yes, word had already gotten around and people definitely had an idea of what had happened.
Reassuring Kat that the only time police put people into quarantine was when they had diseases like Ebola, Emma hung up and spent the rest of the car ride trying to warm her hands against the air vents on the dashboard.
Hunter didn’t say much, but he certainly made his presence felt and known the entire car ride home. The nerve of him – he was brooding. What in the world did he have to be pissy about? If there was anyone who had the right to be mad about something, it was her. He’d known, from the very moment he’d come home in the morning, that someone had set out to kill her. He had ample time to tell her too. He had ample time to tell her a lot of things, like the lighthouse, and land, but nope – he hadn’t breathed a word of it.
She was aware that she was possibly projecting her fear and anger onto him, but at this point, she had nobody else to blame and seeing as that Hunter hadn’t exactly made her life easier in any way, it felt pretty good as well.
She ground her teeth to bite back her words. She was in a bitchy mood, but didn’t know how to handle the two hundred and thirty pounds of muscle sitting beside her that she was intrinsically attracted to. He was sadly the closest thing she had to a friend here, but he was also excruciatingly difficult to get along with, had made it a mission to fuck up her life, and was her opposite in every way imaginable.
Oh, and she’d slept with him too. Although, there’d been no sleeping. She rolled her eyes as she looked at the dark foliage whisking by outside the window. Yeah, there’d just been a lot of pulling, grabbing, pushing and thrusting.
“What’re you rolling your eyes about?”
She groaned to herself. Of course he’d look over just then. “Nothing.”
“Suit yourself.”
Why was it always like this between them? They’d get a little bit close, before recoiling double the distance as if the compensate for the minutia of warmth they might have shown each other for a fleeting second. Whatever.
They pulled up to his house, and she wordlessly went about to gather her things. It didn’t take long, since she just had a duffel bag of clothes and toiletries. She wrapped up the canvases that she’d begun working on and tucked away her paints and brushes into a plastic bag before heading downstairs to meet him at the car again.
God, she actually couldn’t wait for this day to be over. The trepid edges of exhaustion were beginning to grasp at her, and she needed to press her life’s ‘exit’ button for at least a solid nine-hours before she could deal with everything again. She was grateful that it was a quick drive over to her own house, and she kept her eyes peeled to see where the security detail was camping out. They must’ve gone mad incognito because she didn’t spot a thing.
Everything was dark, just as she’d left it, when Hunter pulled up on her driveway. Emma could immediately spot a tiny red dot just above the trellis that adorned the front of the house, sprawling with overgrown foliage. That was probably one of the cameras they’d installed.
She was about to thank him for the ride and jump right out when he killed the engine. Not really aware of what to do other than simply stare at him, she watched him lean back and pull out a duffel bag of his own before exiting the car.
After a momentary lapse in sanity, she came to her senses and quickly followed him outside, “what are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” he responded without looking back at her. He pressed a button on his FOB and the car locked behind him.
She had made an effort to avoid looking at him the entire ride so it was the first time she was getting a good glance at his face. Under the light of the moon alone, she could tell that he looked pretty disheveled compared to regular standards. His short hair was standing up a little, as if he’d been brushing his fingers through it more than normal and his four-o-clock shadow was more like an eleven pm shadow. Damn it. Even when he was tired, he managed to look downright fuckable.
“I don’t know what it looks like you’re doing. Do you think I’d ask you what you were doing if I knew you what you were doing?” she stopped just short of bumping into him as he paused to shuffle through his pockets. He pulled out a key and shoved it into the aged keyhole. “How the hell did you get a key?”
“It’s a copy. The detective has one too.”
“Wait,” she didn’t have time to deal with that complete intrusion of privacy since Hunter was already opening the door and stepping inside, “I didn’t invite you in.”
“I needed a change of scenery.”
The hallway was dark like a cave, and she could see him feeling around for the lights, “and just what does that mean exactly?”
“You’re not staying in this house alone.”
“Uh…” she simply watched him before he disappeared into the living room and she begrudgingly followed him inside, “Was that a question or a statement?”
“Where the fuck are your lights?”
“Because I can take care of myself.”
“Ow,” he snapped as he stubbed his toe on the couch by accident. “Lights first, talk later.” Emma sighed in aggravation before moving back to the entryway to flip on the lights. She turned on all the lights at once, and then balked as nothing happened. She tried two more times before it dawned on her, and she cringed. “Fuck.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Hunter was using the flashlight from his phone now and he was annoyingly flashing it on her face.
“I forgot to pay for electricity. Or gas. Or heating. Shit.”
Her confession was met with a drawn out stretch of silence before an inevitable sigh, “are you serious?”
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. “It’s been a hectic few weeks. I haven’t had one day to myself.”
“For fucks sake Emma,” was all Hunter said before walking past her to go back outside again. Feeling stupid, irresponsible, and embarrassed above all, she simply stood in the doorway as Hunter fished around the back of his jeep before bringing out two flashlights.
“I might know where my dad stored some candles,” her voice was small as she took one of the flashlights, not able to look him in the face. She hadn’t spent many nights in the house, but she was still accustomed to where a lot of the things were. There was a bundle of wax candles in the bottom drawer of one of the kitchen cabinets, and she fished them out along with the matchsticks. God, she’d even set aside the money to pay the utilities bill a while ago. She’d simply forgotten to send it in. It was first on her list tomorrow. She hadn’t fucked up in ‘adulting’ in so long that a permanent blush of embarrassment had tinted her cheeks since she’d realized her error.
When she came back out into the living room, she found that Hunter had changed and was in a pair of slacks and a black t-shirt. The flashlight had cast a pale light on the sparse living room and slowly, an amber glow filled the place as they lit a few of the wickers.
“You really don’t need to do this,” Emma finally said once they’d lit all the candles and Hunter had begun to make himself comfortable on the couch. “I’ve got a detail, and cameras installed, and like the detective said, the guy isn’t going to come back anytime soon.”
“Sorry, princess.”
“Don’t princess me.”
“Don’t tell me what I can or can’t do.”
“Are you referring to the princess comment or the staying at my house comment?” His lip twitched as if keeping in a smile, “both.”
“Considering that both are related to me, I have every right to tell you what to do.” “Look – I need a place where nobody’s going to come looking for me, all right? I’ve got the house phone ringing non-stop from media outlets, worried townsfolk, and a lot of people poking their nose where they shouldn’t be. So this arrangement works for the both of us. You’ve got a man licensed
to carry a gun sleeping in your living room, and I can catch a peaceful night’s rest.”
She bit her lip, not able to smooth the tension from her face as she stood there watching him get settled in to sleep on the couch. She knew a lot of what he had said was bullshit, but appreciated that he wasn’t holding this over her like another unpayable debt. She’d be lying to herself if she said that she wouldn’t be a tiny bit nervous sleeping in this house alone, despite the various methods of protection offered to her.
How the tables had turned. Just a few weeks ago, she had persuaded him into letting her sleep on his couch and now here he was. Could her life get any stranger? “Won’t people at the station find it strange you’re staying here?”
“What’s it to them?”
He was impossible to reason with. “Fine,” was all she said, before standing up to leave, “There are extra blankets in the linen closet upstairs if you get cold.”
“Thanks,” he gave her a tired smile from the couch, and she gave a tight-lipped one back. “Been a strange day. You ok, Emma?”
“Yeah, of course,” she replied robotically. It’d been the mechanical response her tongue had gotten used to saying. Before Hunter could press any further, she turned and made her way up the stairs with one candlestick in hand.
It took her a good twenty minutes to get changed, wash up, and get the bed ready to sleep in. One thing was for certain - actors in period pieces dating back to the 17th century made using a candlestick as their primary light source a thousand times easier than it actually was. Aside from the persistent worry that she was going to knock it over and set the house on fire, everything was still dark as shit.
When she finally settled into her bed, she let out a deep sigh of relief. The day was over. Thank fuck.
She still couldn’t believe Hunter was here right now, in her dad’s house, on her couch, spending the night downstairs. It was all so weird but she was just too god damn exhausted to deal with it right now.
She sighed for the umpteenth time as she lay there, unwinding down, listening to the sound of the wind pressing against the windowpane and the gentle rustle of the branches outside. It had begun to snow not too long ago, and she watched absentmindedly as the stark white pieces of ice began to pool up at the edges of the window. The house was old, and had its own creaks and groans, but those she was used to and in a bizarre way, remembered how the noises used to comfort her when she was a child.
This town was somewhat of a nightmare now, but at one point in her life, she had loved it. She remembered being happy here, before the fighting and the yelling and the divorce. She was glad a lot of it was a faint memory, but it was so strange to think that at one point in her life, she’d loved waking up here every single day.
A little while passed and she found that she couldn’t sleep. Every time her eyes began to flutter shut, something would jolt her awake – a thought, a sound, or a noise she may or may not have heard. She groaned. This was the worst. Exhausted to the bone but too fucking traumatized to actually fall asleep.
Ten minutes later, her eyes fluttered open again as she began to hear movement downstairs. Hah. Well, looks like she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep tonight. She lay there idly, listening to him moving around, go to the kitchen, come back to the living room…
Wait.
She stilled as she heard Hunter’s footsteps on the staircase, before relaxing as she remembered she’d told him about the blankets in the linen closet. He was just here to get those. Right.
But he most certainly passed the closet and was still heading down the hall, she tensed up again. He opened her bedroom door and she immediately sat up, heart fluttering a little bit. “What do you want?”
“Jesus, someone’s testy,” he had his blankets in his arms as he walked in, closing the door behind him. “It’s freezing downstairs.”
“I told you there were extra blankets -.”
“Yeah, well I don’t want the extra blankets,” he dropped his blankets over hers, and began to make himself feel at home, forcing her to move over.
“Hunter, you are not sleeping in my bed.”
“Haven’t you heard about body heat?”
“I…” she flailed for words. They had agreed on one round of sex. Not on sleeping, cuddling and sharing body heat with each other. “This is ridiculous. You’re taking up more than half of the bed.”
“Not my fault you forgot to pay for gas. Scoot over.”
“You’re literally double my size.”
“Then make space.”
“I’m already up against the wall.”
“Why is your bed so small?”
“Ask my dad.”
“Can you not bring up your dad when I’m in bed with you?”
She could almost see him grinning in the dark, “you are so fucking enjoying making me uncomfortable, aren’t you?”
“You’re easy to tease.”
She punched him – she hoped hard – on the shoulder but judging as his body was made out of stone, she only managed to hurt her knuckles in the process. She sighed prissily before turning over and laying back down, not allowing him to get a rise out of her further. If he thought he was going to watch her squirm, he was wrong.
She was still for a second before she sat up again, gathering up the extra pillows on the bed.
Once she had three she put them in between the two of them, and laid back down.
Now it was his turn to speak, “Are you joking?”
“Do you see me laughing?”
“Did you actually just create a pillow wall between us?”
“If you’re forcing me to share my bed, then it’s by my rules.”
“Have you forgotten that we’ve already had sex? Why are you pretending like we’re fourteen years old now?”
She pulled the blankets up to her chin, and hoped he couldn’t see her blush in the dark. “That was a one time thing.”
“But we were interrupted.”
“One time thing.”
“You enjoyed it.”
“I wouldn’t be so smug if I were you,” she kept in her own smile now, knowing that she was probably wedging a screwdriver into his ego. What was it with men and wanting to know that they were good at it?
A pause before, as expected, he exclaimed, “what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, nothing.”
“Emma -.”
“I’m not the one who only lasted, like… five seconds.” She actually held in a giggle now, almost feeling his frustration. Of course he’d been great. Of course she’d enjoyed every god damn second of it.
He, however, didn’t need to know.
“I told you that I needed to let off some steam first.”
“Hunter, the pillow wall is in effect. I’m tired and I’m falling asleep. Goodnight.”
She heard him grumble, properly riled up, before muttering something and turning around. Smile on her face, she closed her eyes again and tried to pretend that a man who had the power to turn her body into putty wasn’t laying right behind her.
She wasn’t sure if it was the fact that the sound of his even breaths were comforting, if it was his solid, secure presence that was calming, or if he truly had been right about the body heat thing (she was toasty warm under the covers now), but within minutes of him cozying up behind her, she fell asleep.
x.x
She didn’t know what woke her up but when she eventually did, she writhed her body in a stretch, feeling so snug and cozy, that she let herself drift back into a slumber again immediately.
When she woke up a few minutes later (it could have very possibly well have been a few hours later), she snuggled further into the blankets, not having felt this warm in weeks.
She blinked.
Aw fuck.
Struggling to get her senses awake and mind working, she looked down to see a very manly, firm arm draped around her stomach and a pair of legs intertwined with her own. The blankets were twisted around them, as if they’d tugged and pulled over them in their sleep, but the sheets only entangled them now.
She closed her eyes, wondering if this was maybe a dream, and opened them again. Nope. That steady breathing on her neck was definitely real, the rise and fall of Hunter’s chest against her back was very real, and the firm grasp with which he was holding her was also very, very real.
What the hell had happened to her pillow wall?!?
Discombobulated, she took a few moments to go through the options.
She could a) try to untangle herself and risk waking him up in the process, which would be awkward and embarrassing. b) she could try to untangle herself, risk waking him up, but succeed without doing so which would be ideal. c) she could pretend to go back to sleep, and simply wait for him to wake up first, and leave it up to him to pretend this hadn’t happened.
After a solid few minutes of silent contemplation, she decided on C.
After all, she hadn’t cuddled with someone in what felt like years, and Hunter was definitely not a bad choice.
So she did that. Whatever. Everyone had their guilty secrets here and there, right? Relaxing, she softened into his hold and closed her eyes again, hoping to catch a few more minutes of shut-eye. An alarm went off not soon after, and she felt Hunter jolt awake. He immediately pulled away, taking a few seconds to do so, and leaned over the bed to turn off the alarm on his phone. Emma breathed a sigh of relief and kept her eyes closed, hoping he would pretend their little spoon-fest hadn’t happened and be off for work.
To her surprise, he settled back in and languidly wrapped his arm around her once again, pulling her closer. He exhaled deeply, as if breathing her in. Her heart immediately jumped to her throat. Uh.
Ok. This hadn’t been part of any one of the options she had brainstormed a little while ago.
His hand smoothed over her ribcage before lightly skimming her stomach, while his legs locked hers in. Judging from the fact he wasn’t trying in the slightest to be discreet, either he knew she was awake or he wanted her to be.
Two light kisses on the back of her neck proved that point, and she found that she wasn’t breathing. Fuck. Why did her brain literally turn to mush any time he used that mouth on her? And just like that, he was done. He uncoiled himself and sat up, brushing his face in order to liven up. “I’m off to work. Make sure to get the grocery shipment at noon today.”
She didn’t even pretend to be asleep, “what do you mean?”
“You still work for me, remember?”
“Are you serious?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? You have a loan to pay off,” he looked at her from half-lidded eyes, his shirt crumpled and hair tousled, looking like a Greek god that had just woken up from a slumber. She, on the other hand, probably just looked like a drowned cat.
“You’re a piece of shit,” she responded in a deadpanned voice and he laughed in response.
“Thanks. And for God’s sake, don’t forget to pay your utilities off today.”
“Stop being such a dad.”
He actually stopped mid-motion and she could see the wheels turning in his head. Oops. Was that the wrong thing to say? “Hunter -.”
He was straddling her within an instant, and her breath left her voice as she felt her body electrify under his touch. Gosh, he was heavy, but the weight of him felt hot above her pelvis and she found her body craving for him to touch her.
His hands unabashedly smoothed up her shirt and her breath hitched in her throat as he pulled it over her breasts to bunch the material against her mouth, trapping her arms above her head in the process. She foggily realized he had single-handedly undressed and gagged her mouth with her shirt all within one move. She was actually impressed.
All thought ceased as his mouth began to leave little kisses up her ribcage, achingly slowly, until his lips settled over her nipple. When his tongue dipped and left a slight trail, she arched her back, immediately wanting more than he was giving. His weight on her was steady, trapping her underneath him, and she groaned lightly into her shirt as he took his time licking, grazing and sucking on her breasts. And just like that, it was over. He gave one lingering kiss before he pulled back, and goosebumps prickled her skin at the sudden dearth of heat. Pulling the shirt out from her mouth, he smoothed it down and she took in a shaky breath, her eyes locking with his as he leaned in close.
“Careful with what you call me,” he muttered as he gave her a quick, biting kiss on the neck. She could feel that he was hard, and that leaving her high and dry was probably as painful for her as it was for him. But he didn’t hesitate. With a lingering look, he got up off her bed, gathered his belongings, and left the room to head off to work.