Page 53 of Heart of the Hunter (Band of Bastards #3)

A nora’s heart raced when Hunter stepped through the doorway to Galiena’s kitchen, and her breath caught in her throat when his gaze connected with hers. His lips had the faintest upward curve, as if it was a secret smile only for her, and it sent warmth swirling in her chest.

“May I speak with Anora?” he asked Galiena.

Her friend looked to her for approval before answering.

When Anora nodded, unable to keep the smile from her face, Galiena said, “Of course.” Little Ani was already sound asleep in a basket at Galiena’s feet, and she was rocking Erik, whose eyes were drooping as he sucked on one of Galiena’s knuckles.

She gestured up the stairs with her chin. “The solar is the most private.”

Hunter took Anora by the hand, his calloused fingers closing over hers possessively, and tugged her along behind him.

She had to nearly skip up the stairs to keep up with him as he led her to the solar, then shut the door behind her.

Before she could ask what this was about, he backed her into the door and caged her in with his arms. Her breath caught in her throat as he pressed close to her.

“God, I’ve been thinking about you since the moment I left you this morning.” He nuzzled her hair, inhaling deeply. “I said I wasn’t going to do this, but the moment I’m near you I lose all reason.”

She melted into his arms with a long sigh.

It felt like she’d not truly been able to fully breathe since he left her this morning, but now he was here, and she could breathe again.

Her skin tingled and her core throbbed. She put her hands on his biceps and leaned into him, her lips seeking his.

He breathed in sharply as their mouths met and his eyes closed.

Emboldened, she traced his lower lip with her tongue, eliciting a low growl in the back of his throat that she’d come to love.

He pressed her entire body against the door with the length of his own as his hands sliding up her back and curled over her shoulders as though to hold her in place.

She almost laughed at that thought because she had no intention of going anywhere unless it was with him.

He kissed her thoroughly, lifting his hands higher to bury his fingers in her hair and angle her head to his advantage.

His kisses were almost frantic as he explored her mouth with the warmth of his tongue.

Her heart raced as he overwhelmed her with his passion.

She slid her hands up his arms, then wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body closer to his.

One of his hands skimmed down her back and encircled her waist to hold her tightly against him, the hard planes and ridges of his body deliciously snug against hers.

She knew, as she molded perfectly into him there would never be anyone else for her but Hunter.

She buried her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck and tugged on his lower lip with her teeth, unable to imagine wanting anyone else the way she wanted him.

Hunter pulled his mouth from hers to trail kisses over her jaw and down her neck, his teeth nipping at the sensitive skin below her ear and above the curve into her shoulder. A sigh escaped her lips as ripples of pleasure coursed over her skin, a luxurious heat pooling at her core.

“Hunter,” she said on a gasp, “can we not go to your cottage?”

He growled low in his throat, making her knees wobble as he nipped her earlobe, then pressed his forehead to hers, his breath as rapid as her own. He closed his eyes as he let out a long sigh. “I must be away, angel.”

“Why?” She wrapped her hands around the back of his biceps as if to keep him from leaving. “Is this because of Red? Is he making you leave because of me?”

“No,” he said with a scoff, his brow creasing to show how absurd he though the notion. “What made you think that?”

“He was not very happy with you when we returned this morning. He pushed you and was berating you.”

“That was nothing. And he did it because he respects you. I expected no less from him.”

“Galiena said much the same,” she conceded. Though she understood that Red felt obligated to be her guardian while she was in his home, it still irked her that she was not considered able, at the age of twenty-four, to stand for herself. “He didn’t try to forbid you from seeing me, did he?”

Hunter laughed as he backed away from where he had Anora pressed to the door, but he took her with him with his arms still wrapped around her. “No. That would have resulted in a true fight.”

Anora rested her hands on his shoulders and drummed her fingers against him as she waited for him to explain what Red was angry about.

When he offered nothing more, she decided it was not her place to pry.

“Tell me then, where are you going? When do you leave? And does this have anything to do with Payne?”

He laughed. “You can interrogate with the best of them. I leave in an hour. I am to lead a night patrol and will be back on the morrow.” He squeezed her a little tighter as he added, “Payne will be here at midday tomorrow to meet with Hawk, and I would ask that you stay out of sight.”

“He wins if I let him dictate my actions, Hunter.” Anora dropped her arms and gently pulled out of his embrace.

She paced in frustration, hating how helpless Baron Payne made her feel.

“I am beginning to doubt we will ever find the proof we need. I’d rather confront him and force him to explain why he had the pendants, and here, with witnesses, may be the safest place to do that. ”

“Now is not the time to confront him about anything, Anora,” Hunter crossed his arms over his chest as he watched her pace. “If we accuse him of anything or reveal we even know about the pendants, he will bury any evidence he might have, and we will never find it.”

Anora stopped in front of Hunter and matched his stance with her arms crossed in front of her. “Surely, he cannot be so witless as to carry the jewels with him, but they were not at Castle Whyte, either. Where is he keeping them?”

“There is more of Castle Whyte to search. I will find them or…”

“Or what?” she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at him.

He took a couple backward strides and perched on the edge of the table, bracing his hands on either side of him as he studied her.

She bit into her lip to keep her mind off of the urge to stand between his outstretched legs and wrap her arms around his neck, knowing where it would lead.

He was far too alluring, and from the slow, arrogant smile that spread across his face, he knew it.

She cleared her throat to keep from stammering. “You haven’t answered my question.”

“I was watching you look at me, angel.”

She narrowed his eyes at him. “Arrogance is not as attractive as you think.”

He laughed. It was a deep, rich sound that she rarely heard coming from him, and she wanted more of it. “You should laugh more often. Even if at my expense.”

“I’d say that one was at mine. You have a way of drawing blood with your words before your victim realizes they’ve been cut.”

She dropped her arms to her sides and took a step closer to him. “Is that a compliment to my wit or an insult to my character?”

“Always a compliment.” His demeaner softened, but his words were serious.

“If I ever deign to insult your character, then my soul has been truly and fully reduced to ash because I will have doused the only light in my life.” He scrubbed a hand over his face and dropped his gaze to the side for a moment, then looked at her again.

“Whatever you do, angel, don’t let me douse that light. ”

She took another step closer to him. “You would never do that. I’ve seen what is hidden beneath the glaring and growling. You don’t dislike people as much as you want others to think. You’re a protector and you have a bigger heart than I think even you know.”

He stared at her a long moment, dropped his gaze again and cleared his throat, his discomfort obvious. “I didn’t want to leave without telling you. I will return on the morrow.”

“I will be here,” she responded simply, clasping her hands in front of her.

She longed to reach out and touch him, to caress her thumb over the crease between his brows, to cup his face with her hands and make him believe he was everything she said he was, everything she saw in him.

Her gut told her he was not ready to believe her, wouldn’t even hear what she was saying, and wouldn’t recognize the adoration in her eyes.

“I would ask that you stay out of sight while Edmund is here,” Hunter said. “If he gets skittish, it will make our job more difficult.”

Our job. She couldn’t stop the smile that curved her lips as she agreed in a soft voice, “Yes, it will.” She closed the short distance between them to stand between his knees and put her hand on his cheek. “This will be the only time I will hide away from him. Can we agree on that?”

Hunter pressed his lips together but relented after a moment. “Aye. We are agreed.”

“Galiena and I are invited to Lady Alyce’s private chambers on the morrow, but in the morning.

Her girls like to dote on the babies, and it gives Galiena some respite from constantly trying to entertain them.

We will be back here before the noon meal, and I will stay here until I receive word he is gone from Hawkspur. Will that be satisfactory?”

“It will,” he conceded, but she could tell by the tight set to his mouth that he was not happy about it.

She buried her hands in the hair at the base of his neck and pressed her lips to his for a soft kiss. “Be safe and come back to me, Hunter.”

His hands rested on her hips, and he pulled her closer. “Don’t worry about me, angel.”

“I know it is a simple mission for you,” she rubbed her thumb over the scar along his jawline, “but I will not rest easy until I see you again, with my own eyes.”

Hunter’s throat bobbed as he swallowed uncomfortably. “I do not expect you to always be waiting for me. It is not a life you should want.”

The pressure on her hips from his hands shifted as he tried to push her away again, but she resisted.

She refused to give him the space for the stones of the wall he tried to build between him and every person in his life.

She’d come to know that wall well over the last couple of years, watched helplessly so often when he added layers of protection, and rejoiced when he lowered it and rested his defenses, even if only for a short while.

“You can try to push me away, but I am not so easily put off.” she said in a soft, soothing voice, as she leaned into him again.

“I have no expectations of you, and I do not expect you to change who you are.” She felt his grip tighten on her hips again and his mouth opened to speak, but she stopped him with a finger over his lips, and a shake of her head.

She could see in his eyes he was going to protest, and she would not let him ruin this moment.

She wanted him to take her words with him and think about them.

If he still wanted to protest after he returned, then so be it.

“I want you to kiss me, then go do your duty as Hawk has requested.”

She melted into him as one of his arms snaked around her back to pull her tightly against him. His other hand cupped the back of her neck as he gave her a long, thorough kiss.

After he left, she stared out the window trying to ease her unsettled nerves.

She did not want anyone to force her to change to fit into their lives, and she could not expect anyone else to change to fit into hers.

But the ache in her heart and the fear in her gut as she watched Hunter leave was crushing.

She couldn’t let him see her distress because it would only distract him, and distractions were dangerous.

Could she tolerate a lifetime of feeling this way every time he left?

She couldn’t deny she loved Hunter. And she was certain he loved her.

But she feared it may not be enough.