Tonight, I am as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs while I wait for Hunter to come over. He texted me about fifteen minutes ago to let me know that he needed to jump in the shower first.
My mind begins to wander, imagining Hunter under the spray of the water, soaping up his chest and hard abs. Running his hands over his arms and then down his legs, touching himself. Then I’m in the shower with him, helping him rinse off and licking drops of water off his nipples. Pushing him down onto the shower seat, I’ll oh so conveniently have to straddle his legs before taking his cock into my hands and pushing him inside—
There’s a knock at the door, followed by “It’s me.”
“Com—coming!” My body is hot and bothered. My clit is throbbing and my nipples are tight. There’s no way I can answer the door like this. “Just a second—have to wash my…uh, hands.”
“I’ll be right here waiting.” There’s a bit of humor in his tone. He must have had a good day at work, I think, as I dash to the kitchen sink and begin to actually wash my hands. No way I can lie to a cop. Right before I grab a towel, I splash a bit of cold water on my face and the back of my neck.
The sudden cold makes me shiver. I hate cold water with a passion, but sometimes a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. Unfortunately, this girl can’t change her panties.
“No more fantasizing,” I sternly lecture my image in the mirror in the foyer.
“You okay in there?”
Opening the door, I smile at him while not quite meeting his eyes and say, “Perfectly fine.”
He sets the six-pack of beer on the table in my foyer. “You look a little flushed.”
My heart leaps into my throat and I sneak a peek at him, then flat-out stare at him in astonishment. “Oh my gosh! Are you okay? How did you get a black eye?”
“If you’ll let me in, I’ll tell you all about it.”
I open the door wider and he steps inside.
Before I can say another word about his injury, he’s cupping the back of my neck and kissing me—slowly and thoroughly. His kiss does nothing for my efforts to calm down. The insistent, warm pressure of his mouth makes me melt against him. His tongue strokes mine, learning more of what I like.
He’s not an impatient kisser, not at all. Hunter has a mouth made for sinning and the skills to make me want to skip dinner and go straight to dessert.
Breaking our kiss, he leans back a little and smiles. “Hey there.”
“Hi.” My gaze can’t help but go to his bruised eye. It’s mostly black and purple. I shudder, images of staring at my own face, covered in similar shades, creeping up on me.
“I can leave if my eye bothers you,” Hunter says as he begins to run his hands up and down my arms. It’s as if he’s trying to warm me up and comfort me at the same time, which is silly since he’s the one who is hurt in the first place.
“I don’t want you to go, but I won’t lie to you and say it doesn’t bother me.”
He tilts his head to one side. “You are a very brave woman.”
“For letting you stay?” I ask lightly. A part of me wants to push him away, but a bigger part, the part that is starved for gentle and loving human contact, is greedy for more from him.
“Yeah.”
His honesty surprises me, yet it doesn’t at all. Hunter has been nothing but honest with me, even when I didn’t want to hear it. Then again, I don’t think I could be with another man who lied to me. The last two years with Penn were the worst. He constantly lied to me, and when I didn’t believe him, he’d force me to believe him.
But my bank account didn’t lie. Neither did my eyes.
“You can tell me all about your poor eye over pizza. How about that?” I ask, willing my heart to settle down.
The serious expression on his face slowly melts away, replaced by a friendly grin. “And beer.”
I shake my head. “I don’t drink alcohol…Penn spiked my drink once and…he, uh…apparently, he had me go down on him in a bar. I don’t remember it. He showed me the video right before I finally left him.” Swallowing, I take a step back, his hands falling away as I do, and go around him to shut the door. “Ruined a lot of fun things for me.”
“Including sex?”
My face heats as I turn to face him. “No, you and I…we, uh…obviously, that’s okay.”
“Except now I feel guilty as hell.” He rubs his hand along his jaw. “Your ex is an asshole, Evangeline, no two ways about it.”
“I know,” I agree in practically a whisper, then clear my throat. “I couldn’t actually see anything in the video and since I didn’t remember, it’s not something I really associate with it. Only alcohol. I know that’s stupid, but—”
“It’s not stupid,” he says flatly, his green eyes turning hard. “If I thought I could—never mind. One day, I hope that fucker gets what’s coming to him.”