Hunter: MC Romance (Hell Reapers MC Book 1) (5 page)

Lex grabbed an empty glass, and started wiping it down to a fine polish, "Him? Don't get any funny ideas," Lex started, "he ain't no hero. That's just Hunter, and he does for himself. Everyone around here knows that, you stick around,” Lex spied me pensively, “for whatever reason, you’ll come to know that too.”

The name rang through my head and caressed my skin like a heavenly breeze. Warmth sank deep into my bones and little pinpricks of excitement washed over my body; my inner self was nodding in appreciation of all the man's features, the image of him still fresh in my mind. "He ride?" I asked. “I mean, he looks like the type.”

"Sure as shit does," Lex confirmed, “course most of us here do. Can’t see why that’d matter to you,” he said more to himself than to me; he brought over that glass he cleaned to a beer tap, filling it to the brim. He placed the glass down before me, "for your troubles, can't keep all the rabble out all the time - you know?"

I sat back down at my seat and nodded quietly, "Yeah," I said, "thanks." The golden brew had bubbles that danced freely throughout the pint glass, it's head coming to a glorious foamy top - I could smell the hoppy delights of it already, with hints of clove and a kiss of orange citrus. "If you don't mind me asking, who're they?" I made a motion with my elbow, pointing towards the table that Hunter was sitting at before he came to my rescue.

"Them?" Lex asked, looking over to the table, "you're pretty nosy for a first timer," Lex noted, "one on the right is Reyes, the other's Jameson."

"Like the drink?"

"Like the drink," Lex affirmed, "those three are tight as..." he trailed off mid-sentence, "they're tight," he snorted through his nose, and could plainly not hide the smile that started to creep up on his face.

His smile made me grin in return, "You can be straight with me," I confessed, shrugging, "I'm a dirty girl. I freely admit and embrace it. Used to be the only one at the dinner table that cursed like a sailor, when I was younger."

"Yeah," Lex glanced over at the blonde woman who he had served previously. She looked like a dancer of sorts, but I didn't see any stripping poles. "Sorry but I try to keep myself right when I'm in the presence of a lady, sailor or not. Man's gotta have a code."

"Indeed," I wondered then, what Hunter's code was. I turned back to face the dance floor, and spotted Hunter working his way back towards me. Just like that my heart rate picked up again, and I felt like I had to hide. God it was the weirdest thing, this unbearable urge to dive beneath the bar counter.

Maybe Lex would let me do that.

There was a woman then, who came along. She looked somehow familiar, with her blonde hair and skimpy outfit. She practically pranced over to Hunter, and whispered something that I couldn’t make out in his ear. A terrible feeling sliced through me; a twinge, a pull, of something that I couldn't put my finger on. The two spoke for a brief moment; Hunter laughing and nodding his head. Whatever it was they were discussing, one thing was clear - the two were close and comfortable around one another.

Her hand brushed along Hunter's waist, and then she walked away.

Probably his girlfriend. Guys like that don't just cruise through life without a partner. She's his. Right then, Hunter stalked back over to me and took a seat beside my person.

Lex stepped over, "What'd you do with the guy?"

I could see the pearly white of Hunter's teeth, seeing him close, I pinned him as being maybe late twenties, "Where else would trash end up, Lex."

Lex chuckled darkly to himself, “He better be out of there before morning.”

"Grab me a glass, and another for the lady here - for her troubles," Hunter instructed.

I flipped my hair back over my shoulder, "Oh it's okay," I said, kind of squeaking like some sort of mouse. I felt small, for some reason, "I mean - I've already got a drink. Lex here took care of me - and uh, thanks, by the way. You, you didn't need to do that," Jesus Ives, come on, "I've had my share before. Of having to deal with that, I mean."

Hunter shook his head in acknowledgment, a thin smile gracing the lines of his face, "I'm sure you have," his blue eyes appraised me from toe, to crown. "Have another on me," the man pursued.

“If you insist.” I made a gesture towards Hunter's jacket, "Lex tells me you ride." Just then Lex sat down two more glasses of beer.

There was a glint in Hunter's eyes. He looked me over again - this time making sure to get a good, long look at my cleavage, "I do. But from where I'm sittin' - I'm trying to figure if you do or not."

Like to ride, hmn? Wouldn't you like to know. I could ride with the best of them, but I've never known myself to do that for just any man. "Never have," I admitted the truth, in one respect at least.

"I can change that," Hunter offered and then sipped from his beer, "haven't seen you around here before, you know. That's usual for me." There was this unseen pull, this force that I could not ignore – a part of me hated it, and a greater part of me loved it.

"You make an effort to get to know every girl that walks in here? I had a feeling that I shouldn't be flattered," I put my elbow on the counter and rested my chin against the palm of my hand, trying to look unimpressed.

"My business to know people at the club," Hunter said, "especially people like you."

I felt a smile tug at my lips, "And just what kind of people am I?"

"The dangerous kind," Hunter looked me dead in the eyes and a weakness shot straight to my legs.

I shifted in my seat, trying to take my eyes off of his body - I was failing at this horribly. "You're not a great judge of character,” I informed him, “dangerous is the word I would least use to describe me."

Hunter nodded his head and then slammed his beer back like it was nothing, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and then brushing back the thick strands of his beautiful coffee hair. "Yeah, you're right - dangerous isn't the right word for you,” he paused, “I'm thinking the word for you is...take."

"Take?"

"As in you'd take everything, if someone would let you close." I didn't know how to feel about that - I sort of felt it was the other way around; that I'd let someone take everything from me. Hunter smirked, "as in, I'd take you outside the front and take you right there, for everyone to see."

Oh.

My throat felt constricted, and I could only imagine the look on my face was completely awestruck. A wonderful, delectable ache formed between my legs and I was suddenly becoming more and more aware of my nipples. Here he was just a second ago being the mix of perfect gentlemen, perfect kicker of all drunken-and-disturbing the peace ass. "Yeah right," I said in disbelief, trying to laugh it off, "good one."

But the way he looked at me, it was like he was seeing through me. It did funny things to my stomach, and every breath that I took in felt electric. "Darling, you can doubt the rich boys and addicts and drunks that chase you," he leaned in a little closer to me, so close now that I could feel some of his body heat mingling with my own - so close that everything that wasn't us seemed to fade away. "But don't doubt me," he breathed, as though he were confessing some universal truth that he had deigned me worthy enough to be told.

I put a hand on Hunter's shoulder and got equally close to him, "You ever hear of Aerosmith?" I could tell that he thought it a strange question to ask, he said nothing but his body language gave it all away - he bobbed his head. "They wrote a song for you," I said, "Dream On."

He backed away slowly, a grin forming on his face and then a laugh, "Wow."

"Yep."

“That's a good one," he shook two fingers at me and then moved back into my personal space. For some reason, I didn't feel repulsed by him being so close - for some reason...it felt good. "I'd still do it in a heartbeat," he said matter of factly, "half the fun's getting you to realize you want to say yes."

"You’ll find my vocabulary limited in the respect of agreeing, but overflowing in being stubborn," the words came out playful from my mouth, even though I had not intended them to be. Heat, such delightful and gripping heat overtook me. I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

Dammit Ives. You're supposed to be a semiprofessional. Kind of. Tonight, you're supposed to be...frack. I could feel Sabrina judging me from the comfort of her bed, as she was undoubtedly laying there reading one of her mystery books.

"We'll see about that," Hunter promised in that rumbling voice of his, "I could take you out, later tonight, if you want to go for a ride. Course, we'll have to dance first. You do like to party, don’t you, mystery girl?"

I raised a brow and made some space between the two of us, for I feared that if I remained too close to the man, I might find myself professionally slobbering over him and ruining his jacket. "I'm a terrible dancer," I was telling the truth, every time anyone got me to dance - I would spend half the time stepping on my partner's feet and the other half tripping over myself. If God or nature, or whatever, intended for me to dance - I would have been given a second set of feet specifically for the cause.

Hunter moved his head from side to side, his deep blue’s studying my face carefully, “Not that kind of dance gorgeous,” his hand found my thigh, and moved upwards along it slowly. Such simple, base ecstasy rolled through me; my body waking up and almost kind of pulsing at his meticulously exploring hand. “Your name,” he said quietly, his eyes and his hand and the heat of his person seemed to mesmerize me. “I’ve been wanting it since I saw you walk through the door.”

"Keep wanting," I teased in a breathy voice, opening my legs almost automatically, just an inch or two at the most. If my body was a lock, then his touch was my key.

Hunter didn't say anything to that. He just looked at me, "There's something...off about you," he softly announced, his fingers venturing dangerously close to the heat between my legs. Did he know how it ached for his touch?

He couldn’t know that. He couldn’t possibly. “Something I can't place my finger on,” Hunter continued, his wicked smile widening.

No more. I grabbed the man’s wrist and pushed his hand from me. It was like I had woken up from the most tantalizing of slumbers, “You’re right about that much,” my voice had more bite to it than I had intended.

Hunter’s jaw jumped, it was clear that being told to pump the brakes wasn’t something he was told often. Or likely even ever. “Alright firecracker,” Hunter got up out of his seat, his jacket creaking against the muscles of his body, “if you won’t tell me your name, I have to ask. What
are
you doing here?”

Me? Oh, you know. Here to spy and gather information to a newspaper that would love nothing more than to rip your beautiful face and club to little shreds; hell I could see Mr. Gates and all of the senior staff dancing on your graves right now. All of them in their suits and ties. The sky’d be clear and the sun would be shining down through the trees; there would be excited clapping from the junior staff, much hurrah and whooping – glasses of champagne for everybody, bottles of the bubbly would be popping off and spraying wildly.

I smiled, “I’m here to have a good time,” I responded, grabbing the beer that Lex had given me earlier and keeping my eyes steady on the handsome devil of a man. My fingers wrapped around the frosty glass and I downed it like a champion. I could see on the lines of Hunter’s face that he was clearly impressed. I moved in close to his ear and whispered, “are you going to give it to me?”

Hunter darkly chuckled, and our smiles became infectious to one another. “Lex,” he called out, and then craned his head to look for the bartender, “two sets of four shots. Tequila.” Hunter turned his head back to me, “I know you’re hiding something from me, but that’s okay.”

“Am I?” I gave him as innocent a look as I could muster; it wasn’t a look that I practiced often.

“Hide all you want,” Hunter nodded his head, picking me up from my bar stool and bringing me to my feet, his hands on my hips. “Do whatever it is that you feel,” he said, “just know this.”

“I’m listening,” the man’s intoxicating scent kissed at my nose; some wondrous mixture of man, gasoline and splendid cedar. I wasn’t lying either, he had my full attention – every fiber of my being was being pulled towards him.

“I get what I want,” the words rolled from his mouth like liquid silver. Seducing me, enchanting me. “I get who I want,” he continued, his one hand going to the small of my back and pulling me closer against his body, so near that my chest was almost touching him. I felt my pulse quicken and my stomach twist with butterflies, “I
fuck
what I want.” My breath hitched in my throat.

“Maybe I should leave then,” I said softly, “I wouldn’t want to ruin your perfect record, or embarrass you in front of your crew…Hunter.”

His brows rose at the mention of his name, and he looked over to Lex. He wasn’t dumb by any means, that much radiated from his being – there was no mistake that he made the connection, that Lex informed me of his name. Hunter turned back his head to face me, “Alright firecracker,” he gave a little laugh, and for some reason I found myself wanting to be lost in a sea of that laugh; I wanted to drown in that smile, wanted to feel his hand go further down my back – even though it stayed firmly planted above my ass. “You’ve got game,” oh indeed. Lex came back over with the shots, set up on a small platter, and set it on the counter. “Tonight you’re gonna hang with me and mine,” he pulled away from me then and whistled over at the table where his boys were sitting.