His Every Move (10 page)

Hunter’s eyes narrowed and his whole face grew animated. “The theater was closed,” he said, and shook his head. “And was the location kind of isolated, mostly empty?”

“Yes.” Her stomach fluttered anxiously.

“Nobody was there but you. Coincidentally.”

“That’s true. It was just me, alone. And Levi hadn’t shown up yet, so I decided to leave. I was relieved to be going home, actually.”

Hunter clapped his hands. “Of course that idiot set you up. He was supposed to get to know you, gain your trust. And then he was supposed to get you alone and hurt you, Kallie.”

“But why?”

“Terrence was sending me a message. Terrence wanted to hurt me because I’m helping Scarlett. And he knows that you’re part of my life.”

Kallie shut her eyes tightly. “If all of this happened to me because you’re messing around with that woman…are you trying to make me hate you, Hunter?”

He walked back to the bed and sat down next to her, taking her hand again. She tried to pull away from him.

It was as if she was divided in two. One half couldn’t be without Hunter, and the other half wanted to slap him and run in the opposite direction.

“Listen, Kallie. I tried to protect you. I was having someone watch over you, just in case.”

“You were having me followed,” she said angrily.

“Yes. In order to protect you from this kind of thing. But you told me to go away and leave you alone. So I stopped having you followed. I stopped protecting you.”

“I don’t need your protection, Hunter.”

“You do. If I’d kept looking after you, this would never have happened.” He leaned forward and touched her cheek. “I learned my lesson, Kallie. I’m never going to let you out of my sight again.”

Tears started rolling down her cheeks. She looked at Hunter and his eyes were moist as well.

“Hunter, why did you have to get involved with that woman? Why? Do you see what you’ve done to me?”

“Listen,” he said. “I should have come clean with you about Scarlett from the start. I admit I was wrong. I should have told you everything about her, because you deserve to know.”

“I don’t care anymore. It’s too late now.”

“Let me explain. Please, Kallie. Let me explain what happened and why I felt I had to help her.”

Kallie looked at him. “Are you in love with her?”

“No. I’m not in love with her.”

She found herself feeling relieved at his answer, even as part of her was furious with him for his stubborn ways that had created so many problems for the two of them.

“Have you slept with her?”

“In the past. The distant past.” He looked at the floor, seeming to collect his thoughts. “I met her at a very difficult time in my life. Scarlett was a dangerous woman and I was a man with a death wish.”

“Why did you have a death wish?”

“We can get into that another time,” he said. “But when I met Scarlett, I was at a low point in my life. She had her own problems, one of which was that she’d gotten herself into a relationship with a very nasty fellow named Terrence.”

“Are they married?”

Hunter sat back in his chair, folding one leg over the other. “No. She lived with him.”

“And how did the two of you meet?”

She wasn’t sure that she even wanted to know the sordid details, yet she somehow couldn’t resist. Besides, it made her forget about the tremendous pounding in her head.

“We met through a party that Kane had at one of his homes in Las Vegas.”

Nicole glanced at him. “Is that where you meet all your girls? Kane’s parties?”

“Coincidence, I swear. And besides, this was a very different party from the sort he throws now that he’s married.”

“I’m not sure how much more of this I want to hear.”

“I’ll keep it simple. Scarlett and I met at the party, and we began seeing one another. She didn’t tell me about Terrence right away, but eventually I found out. In any case, our relationship was something that I hung onto like a lifeline. She was the person who introduced me to the concept of domination and submission, at least in a formal sense. Somehow, it helped me to pull myself out of the downward spiral I’d found myself in.”

“How long were you and Scarlett together?”

Hunter shrugged once more, as if the subject made him uncomfortable. “I don’t know. Maybe six months at the most. Near the end, it turned into me trying to get her to leave Terrence, since I’d become aware of how dangerous the guy was.”

“And how dangerous is that?”

“Very.” Hunter met her eyes and she looked away.

“I guess I should know that, shouldn’t I?” she laughed, touching the bandage on her head.

Hunter flinched, as if it hurt him just to look at it. “He’s got a screw loose. And he’s mixed up with other bad people. Terrence makes a living intimidating people and sometimes hurting them. So this is nothing new to him.”

“Why wouldn’t Scarlett leave him?”

“I don’t know. Mostly fear, I suppose. But also—he was her true Master in a sense, and she was strangely subservient and obedient to him.”

“But she carried on an affair with you—“

“He knew about that. Not about me, specifically. He understood and encouraged her to have sexual encounters with other men so that he could then punish her for them.”

“That’s disgusting,” Kallie said, wrinkling her nose.

“I agree.” Hunter wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, absentmindedly, as if just talking about this was making him feel dirty. “But while Terrence might have allowed for the occasional indiscretion, he didn’t know she was involved in a real long-term relationship with me. Once he found out, all bets were off. She disappeared from my life soon after, and I wasn’t quite sure what had happened to her.”

Kallie didn’t know what to think or feel about any of this. “You didn’t try to find out?”

“I tried, but Scarlett didn’t seem to want me to reach her.”

“Maybe it was Terrence who didn’t want you to reach her.”

Hunter nodded. “Possibly. But Scarlett was complicated. As much as I believed she should leave Terrence, there was a part of me that thought our relationship was just another way that she sought attention and punishment from him. And she craved punishment above all else.”

Kallie turned away from him. She was repulsed by his explanation of his relationship with Scarlett. It was dirty, and she felt dirty in relation to it. The fact that she and Scarlett had shared Hunter meant that in a way, Kallie had also been exposed to Terrence. “I wish you hadn’t told me all of this.”

“You wanted to know. And I owed you an explanation.”

“I just wish none of this had ever happened.”

“What went on between Scarlett and I ended well over four years ago. And I hadn’t seen her in person until she showed up at the restaurant that night. The night you found us talking, she came to tell me that she’d finally left Terrence and was completely alone and without any resources.”

“Did she want to get back together with you?”

Hunter didn’t answer. He stood up suddenly, shoving his hands in his pockets and turning away. “I suppose she did, but I made it very clear that wasn’t going to happen.”

“You swear to me that you haven’t slept with her? Not even a kiss?”

Hunter turned and faced Kallie again. His eyes were unwavering. “I swear I haven’t been involved romantically with Scarlett since she showed up in my life again.

It’s been strictly friendship—I wouldn’t even call it friendship. I owe her a debt and I’m trying to pay it off.”

“What kind of debt do you owe her?” Kallie said.

“In a way, she saved my life. And now her life’s in danger, and I need to do my best to return the favor. I can’t just throw her out on the street and let Terrence have his way with her. You understand that, don’t you?”

Kallie nodded slowly. “I don’t like it, but I guess I can understand why you feel you owe it to her.”

Hunter’s eyes softened. He walked to the bed and took Kallie’s hand once more.

His touch was soft and gentle and warm. “You can see why I haven’t wanted to tell you about myself. I don’t want to expose someone like you to…the kind of person I am. I need to keep you at a distance so you don’t get hurt.”

“But that can’t work,” she said. “You can’t be in a relationship with someone you don’t even know. At least, I can’t.”

“I just wanted to protect you. But I failed.” His eyes hardened again as he looked up at the bandage on her head. “I won’t fail again, though,” he said through partially gritted teeth. “I promise you that, Kallie.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s not your fault.”

“I’m going to make someone pay dearly for what they did to you.”

“Hunter, please. Don’t talk that way.”

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Fine. No more of that talk,” he said.

“You should probably rest.” He slid the chair back to the wall, and she was certain he was going to leave.

“When will I see you again?” she asked.

Hunter smiled. “Oh, I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here until you’re released from the hospital.” And with those words, he sat down on the chair and got comfortable. “You rest now, Kallie. I’ll be right here.”

She couldn’t believe her ears. Kallie didn’t know if Hunter had lost his mind, or maybe—just maybe—he’d finally found his heart.

***

The next morning, after changing out her old bandage in favor of a smaller dressing, Doctor Scofield told Kallie that she’d be being released sometime that day.

“Everything looks good,” he said. “However, you’re still going to have to be in bed for at least another five or six days, with just short walking breaks, using crutches so that ankle can heal. Every couple of hours, you should walk around the house on your crutches or take a short walk outside for maybe five or ten minutes.”

Kallie nodded. “Thanks, Doctor Scofield. I’ll do that.”

The doctor examined her chart, as Hunter sat in the chair and listened to the doctor’s explanation. Hunter had slept overnight at the hospital, and Kallie had indeed found herself resting much more peacefully knowing that he was nearby.

A few times, she’d woken up and seen him in his chair, typing on a laptop he’d brought in from his car.

This morning, he looked disheveled and tired, but still gorgeous. The scruffy beginnings of a beard only served to make him sexier, she thought.

“…to take home with you,” Dr. Scofield said.

Kallie realized she’d been too caught up thinking about Hunter to listen to what her physician was telling her. So she just nodded appreciatively.

“Any questions?” the older man asked.

“When will her follow-up appointment be scheduled for?” Hunter asked.

The doctor turned to him. “I’d say a week or ten days from now, we’ll want to have a look at that head wound to see how it’s progressing. She’s got fifteen stitches in her scalp but they’ll dissolve on their own. Also, we should have a gander at her ankle, too. Sound good?”

Hunter stood up and shook the doctor’s hand firmly. “Thanks so much for everything you’ve done for Kallie,” he said.

Dr. Scofield seemed almost embarrassed. He laughed. “It’s my job.”

“It means a lot to me,” Hunter said. “So thanks again.”

“Okay. Well, good luck and be sure to let me know if anything comes up,” he said.

After the doctor left the room, Hunter walked over to the window and looked outside. “It’s gray and rainy,” he said. “It’ll be nice to get you home and start a fire, get some soup cooking on the stove. Do you like chicken noodle?”

Kallie looked at him, confused. “I guess.”

He nodded, still looking outside. “Good.” He checked the time on his phone.

“I’m guessing we’ll have you out of here in about three or four hours, knowing how this stuff usually works.”

Kallie just accepted what he was saying. “You don’t have to stay here with me all day,” she said. “Nicole texted me and said she’ll be here with Red in about fifteen or twenty minutes. I’ll be safe and taken care of.”

He spun around and his eyes were intense again. “The only way I can know that you’re safe for sure, is if I’m with you.”

Kallie felt a warm glow in her stomach, and it spread through her whole body.

The way Hunter looked at her now was beyond anything she’d ever felt before. It seemed as though the trauma she’d undergone had awakened some protective instinct he had, and now he didn’t want to leave her side.

The truth of the matter was, she loved that he was being this way. Even if he was taking it to extremes, she enjoyed having him near her, knowing he would be protecting her at all costs.

And why should I feel bad for that? She thought. I’ve been assaulted. Anyone would want to feel safe after going through what I’ve been through.

Hunter sat down in his chair and pulled out his laptop again, while the nurse brought in a tray of bland eggs, dry toast, coffee and orange juice for breakfast. Despite the fact that the food tasted like someone had found a way to suck all the taste out of it, Kallie was hungry enough to eat most of it.

Hunter had her coffee, since she wasn’t particularly interested in it.

As she finished her breakfast, Nicole and Red came into the room. When they saw Hunter sitting next to her, both of them stopped smiling and grew quiet.

“How are you feeling?” Nicole asked, walking over and sitting lightly on the edge of the bed.

“Good. Thanks.”

Red folded his arms and stood at the end of the bed, his mouth a straight line.

“They got rid of your mummy wraps,” Nicole laughed, pointing to the significantly smaller dressing on Kallie’s head.

“Yeah, the doctor said everything looks really good. They’re going to release me sometime today.”

Red nodded. “Good. We’ve got your room made up for you at home and—“

“She’s coming home with me,” Hunter said from his chair.

Red wouldn’t even look at Hunter, but he responded to him anyway. “Kallie lives in our home and she works for us. We’ve got a perfectly good room for her and she’ll be very comfortable there.”

“I don’t think that’s the best place for her,” Hunter said.

“Well, what do you know about what’s best for her?”

“Honey,” Nicole muttered, lightly touching Red’s arm.