Finding Forgiveness(19)

“Hunter.”

Roman’s voice was loud enough to carry but he wasn’t shouting. But Hunter didn’t miss the tremor of concern in his voice so he snatched up the gun and ran in the direction he’d heard Roman calling from.

“I’m coming.”

Fear rattled through Hunter at the thought of Roman having come face to face with a bear and he quickly double-checked the rifle to make sure a round was chambered. He already had the gun raised to his shoulder as he spotted Roman standing near a cluster of bushes just a few dozen yards beyond the campsite.

“What? What is it?” Hunter asked quickly as he scanned the area.

“Please tell me that’s Lucy,” Roman said softly, his eyes at a spot near his feet.

Hunter’s relief was so prominent that his knees actually felt wobbly but he managed to close the distance between him and Roman who was standing perfectly still. A skunk was just feet from him, its dark eyes staring at him as its nose sniffed the air.

“It is,” Hunter said with a chuckle.

“How can you be so sure?”

“See that scar on her face? Gran thinks the coyote that killed her family almost got her too.”

“Thank fuck,” Roman muttered but when he started to move, Hunter snagged his arm.

“Just a second, let me distract her. It’d be a shame if we had to shave all your pretty hair off,” Hunter said with a smile.

“Asshole,” Roman bit out.

Hunter reached into his pocket and pulled out what was left of the granola bar he’d been snacking on last night before Roman’s arrival. Lucy instantly went on alert at the sound of the cellophane and she didn’t hesitate to waddle her way over to him. He broke the granola bar up into a couple of pieces and scattered them around the ground and then slowly stood and reached for Roman’s hand.

Once they were well out of spraying range, Hunter began to laugh. A glance at Roman’s irritated features just had him laughing harder and a second later he found himself being pressed up against a tree, Roman’s big body pinning him in place. All his humor quickly fled and he stifled a moan when Roman restrained his hands by holding them against the tree next to his head. Being at Roman’s mercy should have scared him but it didn’t. Not even a little bit.

Roman didn’t speak or move as he held him in place. His cobalt eyes just held Hunter’s as if he was looking for something. Finally, he whispered, “Morning.”

Hunter’s mouth felt dry as he said “morning” back. His eyes dropped to Roman’s mouth and he wondered what Roman would do if he closed what little distance there was between them and ran his tongue over the seam. Would Roman open to him instantly or would he make him work for it?

It took a second for Hunter to realize Roman was speaking to him because it felt like his heart was pounding so hard that it was all he could hear in his head. “What?” he asked dumbly.

“Would you show me the hot springs this morning?”

Hunter managed a nod. Spending even another second in Roman’s company was an incredibly bad idea but he knew there was pretty much nothing at this point that would drag him away from this man even a moment earlier than he had to.

“And then maybe you can show me some more of the land?”

Right. Because last night hadn’t changed the reason Roman was here.

Hunter tugged his hands free of Roman’s hold. “Sure. Um, can you call my dad to let him know you want to see it? He thinks I spent the night at a friend’s house.”

If Roman thought the request was strange, he didn’t say so. “I have a charger for my phone in my rental. How about we check out the hot springs and then we can head back to my car and I’ll call him from there? Maybe we can head back to town to get some breakfast?”

“There are some fast food places about twenty minutes from here. They have drive-thrus.”

Again, if Roman thought his behavior was odd, he didn’t call him on it. He simply said, “Sounds like a plan” and began walking back towards the campsite.



***

Roman pulled his car into the spot next to Hunter’s car. Hunter got out of his own little beat up Escort and fidgeted on the curb as he waited for Roman to get out. Once he did, Hunter extended his hand and murmured, “It was nice to meet you. Have a safe trip home.”

The impersonal gesture irritated Roman and just served as icing on what had turned out to be a disappointing day. And it had all started as soon as he’d grabbed Hunter and pinned him to that tree. It had been an impulsive move on his part. One second Hunter had been laughing at him and the next second Roman had needed to feel Hunter…needed to drink down the vibrancy that was written all over his beautiful features as his shallow chuckles had to turned to a full-on laugh that had pervaded his entire body. In that moment Roman had finally seen his first glimpse of the real Hunter – the one who wasn’t terrified of being outed or facing a future that wasn’t of his choosing. So he’d grabbed Hunter and as soon as he’d felt Hunter’s lithe body lined up with his, Roman had gotten lost in himself, in Hunter, in what he wanted and what he was doing. And when he should have been trying to find a way to distance himself from Hunter, he’d found himself voicing an excuse for them to spend another day together.