Shattered King(56)

He pressed his mouth to the top of my head. "I've got you," he said against my hair.

I glanced back at Pierce, afraid he'd spring back up, gun in hand. But  that wasn't going to happen. There was a perfect hole through the center  of his forehead. I shivered.

Then everyone was there. Van, Jude, Neco, Zeke-they all crowded in. Jude  was on his phone and I could hear police sirens in the distance. Van  and Neco were looking down at Pierce's lifeless body like they wanted to  bring him back to life so they could kill him all over again. And  Hunter held on to me tight, kept me plastered to his front, covering my  bare chest. I clung to him, buried my face against his throat. "Get me  out of here," I whispered.         

     



 

Without a word, he carried me out of the room.





CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE


Lulu

The police finished with their questions and Hunter walked them to the  door. I watched him, the way he moved, the expression on his face. He  was struggling.

"You're angry," I said gently when he shut the door, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, I'm fucking angry."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ran . . . I'm sorry . . ."

He shoved his fingers in his hair. "I'm not angry at you, Lulu. Shit,  I'm angry at myself for letting you go. I'm angry that I started a fight  with you about something so goddamn stupid. I'm angry that fucker got  his fucking hands on you. And I'm angry he got off so damn light."

I didn't think getting shot in the head was getting off light. "He's dead," I said, again stating the obvious.

He stared at me across the room, face stony, eyes scary as hell. "He died easy."

In other words, Hunter would have made sure his death wasn't quite so . .  . fast . . . or clean. "Are you going to get into trouble?"

He shook his head. "Self-defense. I have five witnesses to back up that story. One of them an ex-cop."

I swallowed hard. "They'd do that for you . . . for me?"

"Babe, they've done it."

I was at a loss for words. I didn't know how I would ever repay them. God, Hunter had shot a man for me.

I stared down at the shirt of Hunter's I'd put on after my shower. It  was plain black and soft, and smelled like him, too. I'd stripped off  the minute we walked through the door, desperate to wash off Pierce's  blood, his touch, and climbed into the shower, the hot spray almost  scalding my skin. Hunter had climbed in with me, fully clothed, and  silently washed the blood from my body.

We still hadn't properly talked. Before the police came, I'd had calls  from Sara and Ruby. They'd been out of their minds with worry, and told  me they were coming over as soon as Hunter gave the word. Sara had  offered to have Josh for the night, and I was thankful for it. I didn't  want him around for this latest drama. As much as I wanted to kiss and  cuddle my little boy, I needed some time alone with Hunter. I needed to  find a way to explain why I'd left.

"We need to talk."

"What we both need is sleep." He came to me, pulled me to my feet, and led me to the side of his bed.

"Hang on . . ."

"We're sleeping, Lulu. That's all. I just . . . I need you beside me,  okay? When I found out you'd been taken . . . who'd taken you . . ." He  sat heavily on the side of the bed and shoved a hand through his hair,  then bent down and got to work on his boots, pulling them off. He stood,  dragged his shirt over his head, and turned to me. "Please."

I didn't know what he was thinking, but he looked exhausted, and I  realized he'd been up all night. If it hadn't been for the GPS tracking  Hunter had put on my new phone, I didn't know if they would have found  me, or when they had, what they would have found.

I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. "Okay." I needed to be  close to him as well. I climbed in. Hunter shucked off his jeans and  followed. He dragged me close, pulling me over him, and rested his hand  on my back.

Neither one of us spoke. It was a long time before his breathing slowed and he fell asleep.

It was longer still before I joined him. Every time I closed my eyes, I  saw Pierce looming over me, then the feel of his body going limp and  heavy, pinning me to the bed. The hole between his eyes.

I finally fell into a restless sleep. I don't know for how long, but  every time I woke, I was surrounded by delicious heat, by Hunter's  scent.

Eyes heavy, I blinked several times. I was awake and this time I was  staying that way. Shoving my hair back from my face, I tilted my head  back.

My cheek was on Hunter's chest, his hand on my lower back. His eyes were open and they were on me.

"Hey," I whispered.

"Hey," he said back.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked lamely.

His eyes got dark, his jaw getting tight. "No, Lulu. I'm not fucking better."

Shit. He was still pissed at me, and he had good reason to be. I'd let  fear get the better of me and run from him, what he was offering me and  Josh, and then I'd gone and put myself in danger, forcing him and his  friends to lie for me. Forcing Hunter to shoot and kill someone for me. I  tried to pull away. Lying here like this with him, it hurt too damn  much. But he held me tight to his side.

"I know I fucked up," I said. "I don't know how I'll ever thank you all for what you did."         

     



 

He gave me a squeeze, silencing me. "That's not why I'm pissed off, Lulu."

Okay, now I was confused. "So why . . . why are you still so angry?"

His eyes flashed. When he spoke, his voice was dangerously low. "I'm  still angry because you're laying here in my bed, and I want you. I want  you so fucking much I can't think straight. And as much as I want to, I  can't force you to feel the same way. I can't hold you prisoner and  never let you go. And I sure as fuck I can't force you to trust me, or  make you believe that I would never let anything from my job touch you  or Josh."

I sucked in a breath through my nose.

He just stared at me.

I tried to lift up a little and this time he let me. I stared into his  eyes and felt the heat in them move through me. The sensation was  exquisite. Knowing that he hadn't given up on me, on us . . .

"When I woke up in that room . . . I didn't know if I'd ever see you again."

He flinched. "Lulu . . ."

"No. Please. I need to say this."

He gritted his teeth and gave me a small nod.

"I tried to tell myself to just lay there and take it, whatever he was  going to do to me, just make it to the other side, make it out of there  alive . . . but then . . ." I shook my head. "He told me he was going to  kill you, that he wasn't going to hand me over. And I fought, because  there was no way I could let him hurt you . . ."

His body went tight, every muscle flexing against me.

Hunter had sat stiff during my questioning with the police, while I'd  described my attempted escape. He knew physically what I'd been through,  but not what was going on in my head. I needed him to understand, so I  carried on. "When he dragged me back . . ."

Hunter moved fast. One minute I was looking down at him, the next he  flipped us so I was on my back and he was looking down at me. "You don't  have to do this, Lulu. Not yet."

"I need to explain. Please." My hands went to the sides of his face. "Please."

His fingers tightened in my hair, but he gave me another small nod. He  wasn't happy about it, though. I didn't want to make this harder on him,  so I didn't go into detail. Instead, I let my hands trail down his  back, fingers digging into the thick muscle there. His eyes drifted shut  for a second before opening back up and locking on me. "You don't need  to force me to want you."

He sucked in a sharp breath. "Lulu."

"You don't need to force me to trust you either. I trust you, Hunter. I  know you'd move heaven and earth to make sure nothing you do at work  touches me or Josh." He didn't move, didn't speak, just stared down at  me with those gorgeous blue eyes. "I realized in that moment, in that  dark room, what I'd always known in my heart . . . a life with you,  however that comes, is all I want, all I've ever wanted, and I'd do  whatever I had to to make sure I got that chance with you again. I'd  suffer anything to be here with you again like this. To get our little  family back."

"Babe . . ." he rasped.

But I wasn't finished. "Losing you once was hard enough. When you got  shot . . ." I bit my lip, ignored the moisture gathering in my eyes, and  carried on. "I was so damn scared, of so many things . . ."

"Baby," he whispered. "You're not going to lose me."

"I don't think I'd survive it."

"I'm taking a step back," he said.

"What?" My voice came out barely a whisper.

"When we started the agency, my main reason for doing it was you, to  prove myself to you. I'd wanted to be able to give you everything,  whatever you needed. That hasn't changed. That's all I want. Besides,  Van's been getting antsy behind his desk for a while now . . . so we're  switching roles. I'll still do field work, but I'll leave the  higher-risk stuff to the other guys."