Heart of the Hunter (28 page)

I
LOOKED OUT TOWARD THE
mountains as I sat with my head buried in Hunter’s chest. I didn’t want to open my eyes. I wanted to just curl up in his arms and sleep. I could feel his heart beating and I could smell the mixture of sweat and blood on his skin. Part of me didn’t believe any of it was real. Like I was going to wake up in my home covered in sweat and gasping for air as I came out of a feverish dream. But as I heard the crackling of his cigarette and felt his arm go around me, I knew I wasn’t dreaming. His massive hand gripped my shoulder and pulled me closer to him and I opened my eyes to look up at him.

His sweat and blood soaked face glistened as the sun crept out from behind a cloud and shined down on the destruction that had just fallen at his hands. I looked over at Lucas, sitting on his other side.

How would we come back from this? How would things ever go back to normal?

As I turned my head and let my eyes run over the limp, dead body of the Boston gangster that lay in front of me, I knew that they wouldn’t. Things would not go back to the way they had been. A person couldn’t unsee something like this. My life as I knew it was over. Lucas’s childhood was over too. We had both been dragged into Hunter’s world and there was no going back. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I wasn’t sad. I was just overcome by it all.

I thought back to earlier in the day. Up in the bedroom, Hunter standing up from our bed, me lying there beneath him. He’d been going to tend to Lucas. In that moment, I had felt nothing but pure happiness, like my life was just how it should be. Now, sitting here with the two of them and all the carnage around us, I felt the exact same.

When I had put on my housecoat and walked to the bedroom window, only to see a knife at Lucas’s throat, I felt terror. When two men came crashing into the room moments later and dragged me downstairs, I felt terror. As they dug a knife into Hunter’s back while I stood by helplessly, I felt terror. It was a terror that
this
life, my
new
life, was over. Not for one second had I wished I could go back to before I’d met Hunter.

As soon as I saw him come around the corner of the kitchen, I knew that this man was never leaving me. Even as a purely evil and sadistic person held a knife to my throat, I felt safe looking into the powerful blue eyes of the man I loved. The man who loved me back and would demolish anything in his path so long as I was safe and we were together. No one else could give me that feeling. No one but him. I wrapped my arms around him and the tears came. Not out of sadness, but out of pure joy and relief.

I slid myself off Hunter and pressed my lips to his cheek as he cradled my head in his hand. He turned his face toward mine and planted a kiss on my lips, digging his fingers into my hair. As I pulled back, I looked deeply into his clear blue eyes and saw the look I had been waiting my whole life to see. It was the same look he’d given me in the diner when we first met, and I knew it was the way he would look at me for the rest of our lives. I pressed my lips to his and then let my face run along the coarse hair that covered his jaw.

I moved around Hunter and took Lucas in my arms, pulling him close to me and cradling him. There was nothing to be said. Nothing that
could
be said. For a child to witness something like that was unimaginable. He had already seen so much pain in his short life, and now this.

“Lucas. Lucas, baby, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. You are so brave, baby. You are so incredibly brave.”

I could feel tears streaming down my face as Lucas squeezed me back. I pulled myself away and took his head in my hands and looked down at him.

“Lucas, are you all right? Let me check you out.”

I searched frantically for wounds, but I didn’t see any. Any blood on him was not his. Relief washed over me as I kept weeping and holding him tight.

“I’m fine, Kelly. I wasn’t going to let them hurt you. I was scared, but I wasn’t going to let them hurt you.”

I couldn’t believe how calm he was and the words that were coming out of his mouth.

“Lucas, it’s not your job to protect me, but you were so brave. I’m so sorry.”

He just looked up at me with all the sincerity in the world.

“You’re my sister, Kelly. No one is ever going to hurt you.”

I felt the tears gushing harder. This boy, my sweet brother, I couldn’t believe it. The fire in his eyes was real. He was too young to have seen this and to be acting like it was all okay. How could he just be okay?

“Lucas, you need to know,” I started, trying to explain everything, but Hunter put his vice grip hand on my shoulder to stop me.

“Luke. Look at me, pal.”

Lucas’s eyes turned from me and stared up at Hunter.

“Luke,” Hunter started. “I don’t know what to say to you. Your sister is right. It’s not your job to protect anyone, all right? That’s my fucking job.”

Luke’s gaze dropped toward the ground in embarrassment, but Hunter wasn’t done.

“Hey, I’m not done talking here, pal. Look at me.”

Luke slowly brought his eyes back to Hunter.

“It’s not your fucking job, understand?” Luke nodded slowly. “Now, that being said, you fucking saved my life. You saved your sister’s life.”

Lucas lit up like he was receiving a medal.

“I was down, pal. I was down and I was hurt. That’s not something I’m used to. If you hadn’t had the balls to do what you did, we wouldn’t be sitting here. You’re a fucking champion, kid. Tough as fucking nails.”

Hunter reached over and squeezed Luke’s shoulder as he smiled bright.

“All of this, this shit. This is my fault, okay? And I promise you will never have to save my ass again. All right, tough guy?”

He pulled his hand away from Lucas’s shoulder and lit another cigarette.

“Don’t worry, Hunter. I’ve got your back. You’re my boy,” Luke said.

I turned to Hunter.

Lucas’s words had caught him off guard and Hunter choked on the smoke as he let out a deep and hard laugh. I would never get tired of hearing that laugh, even if it only happened rarely.

“You’re goddamn right, kid,” Hunter chuckled. “I’m your fucking boy.”

Chapter 54

Hunter

T
HERE WASN’T A THOUGHT IN
my entire fucking head. I sat breathing in the sweet smell of another battle won and taking the smoke deep into my lungs. I didn’t have a care in the fucking world.

It was a completely new feeling to me.

I stood up and looked down at the broken and bloodied body of my old man. That sorry excuse was the only family I had. Until I showed up in this nowhere town, that is. Until I met Kelly.

I watched as she and Lucas pulled themselves up and held each other tight.
This
was family.
These
were my people now. They always had been. We had been apart until fucking yesterday, but now, here we were.
Together
. And that was the way it was going to be until we drew our last breaths in this fucked up world.

Suddenly, Kelly shot up.

“My God, Grace, Grace, oh my God.”

She and Lucas both took off, running to the front of the house.

“Hey. She’s fucking fine,” I started to yell and then stopped myself. I had checked Grace’s pulse on my way into the house. She was fine. Well, maybe not fine, but she was breathing. That was the most any of us could hope for.

“Fuck, go. I could use a second to myself here,” I muttered as I watched them peel around to the front of the house.

I realized in that moment that I was no longer by myself. All my goddamn life it had been me against the fucking world, but that was done now. Wherever I went, Kelly would be right there. Those big green eyes, that smile that made me go weak in the knees, that body that seemed to be created just for me, she was mine and she was mine forever. I followed them to the front of the house knowing it, and for the first time in my life, I was good. I didn’t want her to go away. I wanted her to stay. And I knew she would. Things were going to be different and that was just fucking fine.

I rounded the corner and set eyes on the rest of the mayhem I had brought on the place. Bodies littered around the driveway and blood pooling in the dirt, cars with bullet holes in them and weapons scattered around. I looked down on my blood stained shirt and wiped my face on it. I couldn’t tell what was mine and what belonged to the line of bodies I had just stacked.

Well, I guess not everything is different, hey pal?

Grace was just coming back to consciousness on the porch, and Kelly and Lucas were helping her up to lean against the house. Poor girl had taken a shit kicking. If I could have revived my old man I would have done it just to fucking kill him again.

Who does that shit to a woman like Grace? Fucking asshole got off easy.

“What, what happened?” Grace said, trying to get her bearings.

Good fucking luck, sweetheart.

“Where are those people? What happened here? Is everyone okay?” She was frantically looking around and trying to digest what her eyes were seeing.

“Are they dead? Are all those people
dead
?”

Lord willing, Grace.

“Yes, Grace. Those people are, well, those are bad people and they are all dead.”

Kelly was doing her best to comfort Grace, but it was going to take more than some encouraging words. I’m sure she’d have a piece of her mind to give too, but I didn’t fucking care. I just moved past them to the porch and made my way through the door.

“Hey. Wait, young man. Get your behind back out on this porch,” she hollered after me.

Give me a fucking break, woman.

I leaned forward on the wall with my hands and then pushed myself off, making my way back to the porch. Grace was staring up at me with anger in her eyes.

“Now, you listen to me. I don’t know who you are and what you’ve done, but.”

“Grace, that is enough,” Kelly said to her.

“No, Kelly,
I’ve
had enough. There is something on my mind and I’m going to say it.”

I closed my eyes and scratched my forehead, convincing myself that there had already been enough death today. Barely.

“As I was saying, I don’t know
who
you are, or
what
you’ve done, young man, but I am going to thank the sweet Lord tonight that you were here.”

Kelly and Lucas looked at each other, up at me, and then back at Grace. They clearly hadn’t been expecting a stamp of approval from her. Shit, neither had I.

“You are a force of nature and I don’t doubt that you brought this on us, but in God’s good name you sure finish what you start.”

I looked at her. She was smiling warmly up at me.

“Thank you, Hunter. You are a good man. Don’t you forget that.”

I put my hand on the doorway and smiled back at her.

“I’ll try, ma’am.”

She looked at me and smiled.

“Now where is the phone? We have to call the sheriff and report all this.”

I stared down at her and just shook my head.

“No. No, Grace.”

“But we have to,” she protested.

I just put my hand up. She sighed deeply and nodded her head. For all her fucking know-it-all bullshit, at least she could pick her battles. And she had the good sense to know this was not one of them.

Good fucking call, woman.

The three of them embraced tightly on the porch as I walked through the door and up the stairs.

What in the fuck had just happened to me? I walked into the bedroom, grabbed the bottle of Jack off the dresser, and collapsed onto the bed. I lifted it upside down and let the sweet liquid pour down my throat. I pulled it away and let my arm fall to the mattress. I felt like I was about to sleep for a fucking century.

I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, Kelly was straddling me and spreading open her housecoat. I could feel my cock rising in my pants as I looked at her perfect tits that just sat there in front of my face. My eyes moved down across her stomach and I could see her hand sliding between her legs.

“I believe we have some unfinished business, Mister Donnelly.”

I flipped her over and pinned her on the bed as she let out a beautiful laugh.

“Mister Donnelly is lying dead in the backyard, sweetheart. Just call me Hunter.”

She bit her lower lip as she smiled and I pressed my lips hard against her.

“Hunter, Kelly,” Lucas called from downstairs.

No. Fuck, no. I thought this shit was done. Were there more men down there?

I leapt up and ran to the door with my fists clenched and ready for whatever was in front of me.

Do you not see the pile of bodies, motherfuckers? I will add to that shit.

I raced down the stairs and came crashing out the door. Did I leave one alive? Did more come? I scanned the front yard and didn’t see a goddamn thing.

“Luke. Luke. What the fuck is going on?”

Then the little punk called out from the other side of the porch. He was sitting with Grace in the swing. Nothing was wrong, except for my heart beating out of my chest, and the massive hard on I had in my jeans.

“Nothing, Hunter. I just wanted you and Kelly to come sit with us.”

Kelly came out the door behind me, but in much less of a hurry. She wrapped her hand around my waist and pressed her head into my chest.

“Sure, Lucas. Sorry, baby. We’re not going anywhere,” Kelly said, as the kid smiled and I tried to calm myself down. This shit was going to take some adjustment. For everyone.

“Well, speak for yourselves,” Grace said, as she slowly stood up and walked to the door. “These old bones need to lie down and rest while we figure out what kind of mess we’re in here. I still think we should call the sheriff, but, whatever Hunter says.”

I shot an icy stare at her and she recoiled.

“I know, I know,” she said. “I guess you’re the law here now.”

I glared back at her.

You’re goddamn right.

She disappeared into the house, leaving the three of us standing on the porch, looking out at the chaos of my life, the chaos that was our lives. Things were different for me now, sure, but their world had been turned upside down. They were pulled into this nightmare and now we were in it together.