Chapter 14
Hunter
I had to admit those kittens were pretty damned adorable. I looked up to say something of the sort to Jada to find she wasn’t looking at them.
She was looking at me.
She stepped closer, slow, deliberate, her bare feet soundless against the worn wooden floor. The hesitancy in her eyes warred with the determination in her stance. I could feel the tension crackling between us, hotter than the fire behind her.
She brushed her fingers against my chest, light as a breath, but it might as well have been a live wire pressed against my skin. My muscles locked down, my pulse a brutal thud in my ears.
“I want you,” she whispered.
The words hit like a strike to the ribs—sharp, unexpected, and impossible to ignore.
I swallowed hard, my jaw clenching as I fought against the visceral response surging through me. God, I wanted her. If I was honest, I’d been wanting her since the night in that cabin when she’d barreled into my life, broken and lost and looking at me like I was the only thing standing between her and oblivion.
But was it smart to make everything more complicated?
“Jada…” My hands hovered near her waist, aching to pull her in, to mold her to me, but I didn’t. Couldn’t.
She took the choice out of my hands. She closed the distance, lifted onto her toes, and kissed me.
Soft at first. Hesitant. Like she was waiting for me to stop her. But I didn’t, and when her fingers curled into the fabric of my shirt, when she pressed closer, the kiss deepened, turned urgent.
A groan rumbled up from my chest, and my hands found her waist, gripping her as heat and need tore through me. She was fire against me, her body fitting against mine like she belonged there.
She did. And that was the problem.
With a harsh breath, I tore myself away, taking two steps back like I’d been burned. My chest heaved, my fists curling at my sides as I fought against every instinct demanding I take her back in my arms.
My breath came out rough, uneven. Every muscle in my body was locked down, coiled so tight I was afraid of what would happen if I let go. Jada was still standing there, looking at me with eyes too raw, too open. I forced my hands to stay at my sides. If I touched her again, I wouldn’t stop.
“Jada, we shouldn’t.” My voice came out thick, unrecognizable even to myself.
Her expression flickered, something vulnerable flashing across her face before steel replaced it. Her arms folded, her spine straightening. “Why?”
I knew that tone. Defensive. Braced for impact. I’d rather walk through fire than hurt her.
“Because I don’t remember my past?” she continued. “Because I’m broken?”
The words slammed into me harder than a sniper round, hitting places I wasn’t prepared to defend. I shook my head, jaw clenching as I tried to find the right words, but hell if I knew what they were.
“That’s not it,” I finally said.
Her laugh was sharp, bitter. “Then what? Because from where I’m standing, this feels a hell of a lot like rejection.”
She wrapped her arms around herself, as if she could hold herself together with sheer will alone. And maybe she could. But I knew the truth—she was clinging to the present because she had nothing else. No past. No anchor. And now, she thought I was pushing her away.
I muttered a curse, running a hand through my hair, trying to get my shit together. “It’s not you, Jada. It’s me.”
She flinched, just barely, but I caught it.
Her face twisted, a flash of hurt so quick she probably thought I hadn’t seen it. Then, just as fast, she smoothed it away, shutting down. Going cold. A mask. I hated to see it.
“Right. Got it.” Her voice was flat, like she wasn’t completely in the room anymore. “You don’t want someone like me. I don’t blame you a bit.”
“That’s not?—”
She took a step back, putting distance between us, and I hated that more than anything. “It’s fine,” she said, voice clipped. “You don’t have to explain. I should’ve known better.”
Fury and regret roared through me. This wasn’t what I wanted. This wasn’t what I meant. But she was taking my restraint as rejection, and hell, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
I closed the space between us in one move, gripping her face in my hands, tilting her chin up so she had no choice but to look at me. Her skin was warm beneath my palms, her pulse hammering just as hard as mine.
“You don’t get it,” I ground out. “I want you so bad I can barely breathe, but I can’t risk hurting you.”
Her breath hitched. “You won’t.”
She said it like it was the simplest thing in the world. Like she believed it with everything in her.
She didn’t know. She couldn’t.
“I don’t trust myself,” I admitted, my voice raw. “My head isn’t always right, Jada. I have—” I cut myself off, jaw clenching hard enough to ache. How the hell was I supposed to explain what my PTSD did to me? She knew a little, but not much. The nightmares. The blackouts. The times when control slipped through my fingers and I didn’t even realize it until it was too late.
Things had been good the past week, but they might not stay that way.
Her hands slid up my chest, slow and deliberate, like she knew I was on the verge of pulling away again and wasn’t going to let me.
“Hunter.” My name on her lips was softer this time, no anger, no defenses. Just trust. “I trust you. I want you.”
That trust wrecked me. The want did too.
She leaned in, her body pressing against mine, and something inside me snapped in the best way possible.
With a rough growl, I closed my arms around her, hauled her against me like I could imprint her on my skin and keep her there. Our mouths crashed together, nothing soft, nothing hesitant this time. Just heat and need and the kind of desperation that didn’t leave room for second-guessing.
She thought I didn’t want her? I was about to show her with no words at all.
One second, I was holding myself back, trying to be the better man, the one who did the right thing. The next, I had her pinned against the wall, my body pressing into hers, my hands framing her face as I kissed her like she was the only thing keeping me alive.
Because maybe she was.
Jada gasped into my mouth, but she didn’t hesitate. She didn’t pull away. No, she met me right there in the fire, her fingers tangling in my hair, her body molding against mine, soft where I was hard, warm where I burned.
I groaned, deep in my chest, sliding my hands down her body, learning the shape of her, needing to know every inch. This wasn’t slow, wasn’t careful. It was desperate, consuming, the kind of kiss that demanded surrender.
And she gave it to me.
Her nails scraped against my scalp, sending a sharp thrill down my spine. Her hips tilted toward mine, like she couldn’t get close enough, and that was it. I was done.
“You’re sure?” I stepped back, chest heaving. I needed to give her one last chance to change her mind.
“Please, Hunter. Yes.” Determined eyes locked on mine as she fisted my shirt, pushing it up my chest. I reached down, pulling the fabric from her hand and ripping it over my head in one quick motion. She reached out and ran her hands along my torso, and I loved the bite of her nails as she grazed my skin.
I reached for the hem of her shirt and quickly drew it over her head, tossing it to the side. Creamy flesh peeking over dainty blue lace filled my vision, and I was lost.
Cupping her breasts in my palms, I ran my thumbs across her nipples before leaning forward and sucking one into my mouth with the lace. I flicked my tongue back and forth over the hard peak, causing a shudder to run through her.
Her head fell back against the wall. “Oh my God. More.”
With all the little noises she was making, I wasn’t going to last long. I was harder than I could ever remember. I reached for her again and finished removing her clothes, and then I shed the rest of mine.
I lifted her effortlessly, hands gripping her thighs as she wrapped around me. I clenched my jaw, feeling her wet heat against my cock. Her breath hitched as she ground against me, trying to ease the building pressure. I tightened my grip and walked us toward the bedroom like a man possessed.
I only stopped to grab protection, thankful that was included in the Resting Warrior stocked cabin. I’d take this condom over a full pantry of food.
Lowering her onto the mattress, I hovered over her, bracing myself on my forearms. She was staring up at me, lips swollen, cheeks flushed, eyes dark with need. It nearly undid me.
“This is gonna be hard and fast. Tell me if I need to stop,” I rasped, pressing my forehead against hers, trying to find some kind of control, even as it slipped further from my grasp.
“Don’t stop.” One hand slid down and wrapped around my cock while the other gripped my side, nails digging in just enough to make me shudder. “Please.”
Like I had any hope of stopping now. I reached down and slid one, then two fingers inside her, making sure she was ready before I replaced my fingers with my cock. Her slick walls gripped me like a vise. I couldn’t stop the low growl that escaped as I slid inside her.
“You feel fucking incredible wrapped around me.”
I claimed her mouth again, still trying to slow myself down, letting myself feel every second of it. This wasn’t just about heat or desire—it was about something deeper, a connection I’d never let myself feel with another woman.
Slow definitely wasn’t an option as her tight heat surrounded me. Jada met me stroke for stroke, her body moving with mine. I lifted one of her knees so she could take me deeper. She countered by wrapping her legs around my hips, causing me to hit harder, deeper, until she was writhing beneath me.
Time blurred; the only thing anchoring me was her—her touch, her breath, the way she said my name like it was the only thing she remembered, the only thing that mattered.
I claimed her mouth again and worked my hand between our bodies, finding her clit. Circling the hard bud twice was enough to set her off, and she dug her nails into my back as she clenched tight around me.
It was all the invitation my body needed. My control shattered, and I thrust into her deep, so fucking deep , catching her cry in my mouth as we both flew over the edge.
This might be the only sex Jada could remember, but it was damn sure sex I was never going to forget.