Crossed (17 page)

“You clean up quite well too.” I grasped his thigh, gently smoothing my palm along the strong muscle, reaching closer to his crotch.

“Grace, honestly, if I didn’t have any other plans for tonight, I’d sweep you into my arms and take you back home so that I could watch you strip out of that skin-tight fabric. Better yet, I don’t think I’d be able to wait. We’d just have to manage with the dress on.”

“And what exactly would you do?” I asked, leaning my head to the side as he continued nibbling on my neck. The unbelievable pull of his lips along my skin was beginning to break me apart.

“I’d taste every pink shade on your skin, kiss every freckle I could find, and lick the sweat beads as you writhed underneath me. I’d wait until your pussy was so wet, I could slide inside you with all my might to your deepest reach. But not before I devoured your breasts, and every curve and fold on your body, until you begged me to take you. Because the only thing that could take the ache away would be me, inside you.”

I could already feel the sweat collecting between my breasts. For a moment I couldn’t breathe. There wasn’t enough air in here, and if Hunter told me he wanted to leave right this moment, I’d tell him to hurry.

Hunter’s hand scrunched up my dress and was now resting on my bare thigh. It took everything I had inside me not to spread my legs open and yield to his insistent fingers walking along my skin. Thankfully the tablecloth was long enough all the way around the table, and the booth secluded enough, that we couldn’t be seen. And the moment the waitress returned, instead of pulling his hand away, Hunter forced my knees to fall apart and pressed the tips of his fingers against my panties, drawing them back and forth over the sheer fabric. And at that moment I felt myself leak with pleasure.

“Are you ready to order?” she asked.

I wasn’t too sure how Hunter managed to remain so composed. The waitress could surely notice what we were up to, couldn’t she? From Hunter’s calm voice as he asked for the specials and ordered his food, my date seemed to be playing the part of a gentleman quite well. Except that under the table he was playing with me, slowly nudging his fingers to the inside of the elastic on my panties. He touched my skin, and I felt my thighs squeeze his hand momentarily. This had to stop. I couldn’t do it here. He wouldn’t do it here, would he? There was nothing gentle about the way my core was getting heated. I felt like I harbored the mouth of a volcano between my legs, with sweet lava flowing just beneath my skin. Feeling my pulse speed, I began dripping with desire. This place really needed the air conditioning to be turned up.

“Would you like me to order for you, sweetheart?” he asked. “I know exactly what you like. Don’t you think?”

“Aha,” was all I could muster as Hunter continued ordering. At this point I didn’t really care about the menu, so long as Hunter would continue rubbing my swelling mound.
And would he please finally put those fingers inside me?
Gosh, it felt like it took forever for the waitress to leave.

“I don’t think this was on the menu tonight,” Hunter whispered into my ear. I grasped his thigh, digging my fingers deep into his flesh, panting with each of his strokes over my clit, as he rubbed it with more intensity each second.

“But I’m glad it is.”

“Hunter… I’m gonna…”

“What, do you want me to stop?” he asked.

“Don’t you dare,” I said between my teeth, feeling the first spasms burst through me. I no longer cared where we were or who could see us. I just wanted Hunter to bring my climax to fruition—if he cared about me at all, he’d do it well and fast. I leaned further back against the seat and partially onto his shoulder, spreading my legs wide, circling my hips to the rhythm of his touch. What I really wanted to do was pinch my nipples, or at least grasp Hunter’s leg and pump the pleasure out of him the way he was doing to me.

“Oh Grace, my love. I adore it when you succumb to my touch. Truthfully, I’d prefer my mouth on you and my cock inside you, but we can keep that dessert for when we get home.”

His breath flowed from my ear, down the back of my neck where he’d kissed me, and over my bare back, which I was beginning to arch.

“I’ll make sure to suck every sweet drop of you into my mouth and lick you dry before making you wet again, so that I can fuck you. Over and over again, until you cannot stand or walk.”

Imagining his lips on me, with the promise of afterward fucking slithering on his tongue and the constant rubbing of his thumb and pumping of his fingers inside me, I found my release. Biting my lip, keeping the scream that wanted to burst out of my lungs contained, magnified the force of the pulses that jarred my body in the plush seat. I pushed into his hand, needing those extra few strokes to finish me off until I couldn’t take it any longer and slouched in the seat, completely spent.

“Back straight, sweetheart. Here comes dinner.”

Holy shit! Did that just happen?
I was sure my cheeks had reddened—in fact, my entire body was flushed with heat. The electrifying shocks hadn’t yet left my limbs, and he wanted me composed when I’d actually forgotten where we were?

“You’re going to pay for this.” My breaths were still heavy and uncontrolled.

“I hope so,” he winked, pulling his soaked hand from underneath the table. He licked his finger and wiped himself onto the black napkin, where a wet stain remained. I felt my mouth open and didn’t know what to say. This man had a way of making everything hot.

“Don’t worry. I’m keeping this one for myself.” Hunter stuffed the fabric into his pocket.

Wiggling in my seat, I adjusted my dress just as the waitress brought our food.

“Thank you,” I smiled politely, praying she didn’t know what we were up to. Guilt must have been written all over my face.

“This is wonderful. I’m starving,” Hunter smiled. I was sure he was. From the side glance I got at his pants, it looked like I would perhaps need to sneak him to the bathroom for a quick dessert myself, and blow him until all that hot cream spilled.

“Whatever you’re thinking, Grace, my answer is yes.”

“If you knew what I was thinking, we’d be out of here already.”

He froze for a moment, as if re-analyzing his entire plan for the day, before saying, “Of all the days, today is the one we cannot rush home. Enjoy your meal, Grace.”

I wondered what was so important that he’d choose to stay here over hurrying home for a promising night of heavy sex.

The asparagus soup and grilled chicken with rosemary potatoes were delicious. We talked about work, and I told him about the stunts I’d pulled with Emma over the past year.

“How did I not meet you before?” he asked.

“Maybe you were just busy with other ladies?”

“Maybe,” he replied.

“Hey.” I punched him in his arm. He caught my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it gently.

“No one in this world could ever be compared to you, Magic Fingers.”

Hunter continued with more stories about his sisters, kayaking and white water rafting. Apparently Cindy had taken a liking to me and had been calling him more often to ask about me. That was the kind of relationship I used to have with my mom as well. Our conversation made me miss my own mom so much. It’d been too long since I’d seen her. I wished I had her in my life the way Hunter had his mom.

“Have you told your mom we’re living together?” I asked.

“Of course. I also told her you like sleeping naked and prancing around the apartment in nothing but underwear.”

“No you didn’t,” I laughed.

“I also told her how much you mean to me.” His face suddenly became serious. The same way it had up in the mountains.

“Sounds serious,” I said, feeling the same kind of anticipation I had earlier in the evening float back.

“That’s because it is, Grace. When this is all over, I’m gonna take you away for a week. We’ll go to Hawaii or Bahamas and drink coconut rum under palm trees.” His voice sounded distant, as if he was definitely planning such a getaway.

“What else did you tell her?” I felt my voice lower. My heart hammered in my chest, and I began praying that I wouldn’t need to reach for my pills right this moment. Hunter looked into my eyes, and the way he looked at me, saying so much in that moment without speaking a word, I thought I’d melt in my seat.

“How much I can’t imagine my life without you because I…”

“Would you like some dessert?” the waitress asked, startling us both.

“Actually, if you can give us a moment?” Hunter said, shaking off the sizzle that sparked between us and looking at something behind the waitress. I instead concentrated on Hunter’s beautifully bright eyes sparkling with a mysterious glow, waiting for him to continue as soon as the waitress left.

“Actually, Grace, I have another surprise for you tonight. Here she comes now.”

As I turned in my seat, a beautiful woman was walking toward us. She had perfect skin, hair styled up in a bun with stray strands whispering around her face, and freckles sprinkled over her nose and a bit over her cheeks. She carried herself with so much poise—I hadn’t seen a woman that confident in years. It wasn’t until she was closer that I realized it was my mother.

C
HAPTER
18

How many years has it been since I’d seen her? My heart was trying to free itself from my rib cage. I breathed in through my nose and out of my mouth as the room quickly became smaller and I struggled to catch enough air. It began spinning and my sight blurred. I grasped Hunter’s hand, squeezing it tightly. “Purse,” I whispered.

Hunter had my pills all ready in his hand. I swallowed them just as my mother neared our table.

“Hello, Grace,” her voice sang. She sounded like one of those fairy godmothers: utterly unbelievable. Her eyes shone with well-controlled moisture, but I was sure they would soon spill.

“Mom?” I couldn’t get more past my vocal cords.

She sat down in the booth across from me, shifting in her seat, her gaze darting from me to Hunter to the front door.

“It’s all right, Beth. They don’t know where you are,” Hunter encouraged.

“I risked a lot coming here. And I never wanted to risk you, Grace. I’m not sure this was a good idea, Hunter.”

“Beth, I promise you’re safe. You did what I asked?”

“Yes, everything.”

“Good, then relax. Nothing is going to happen.”

“What do you mean ‘risked’?” I asked.

“I don’t want them to find you,” she whispered. “I don’t want them to suck you into their life. You’ve done so well on your own.”

Except for all the times I’d wished I weren’t alone. All the Christmases and Thanksgiving dinners I’d missed. Family laughs and banter. But my family wasn’t the kind I’d imagined in my life—far from it, in fact. So maybe it was better to be on my own?

“Why are you here? Why now? I thought you wanted to stay with him.”

“No, sweetheart.” I’d never seen such a loving look from a mother, and now I felt it too. “It was an ultimatum and a punishment. I wanted to leave with you, but Frank got mad. Very mad. He said he wouldn’t be the laughingstock. He threatened that if I left, he would make you pay.”

“Why would he want to do that to his own daughter? I don’t get it.”

“Did you want to be a lawyer?” she asked.

“No, of course not.”

“Would you shoot a duck the way the boys did when they went hunting?”

I shook my head.

“That’s because you were always more like me. Drawn to seeing the good in the world and living honestly.”

“Why did you marry him?”

“It’s not important now, sweetheart. But they won’t stop pressuring you. Your father placed the entire Wagner estate in your name. His operation is being exposed by some quite skilled men”—she locked her gaze with Hunter’s—“who have the evidence to put him away. He will lose everything. The house, the cars, the company. Everything he wasn’t able to hide through you.”

“Is that why he wanted me to change my name?”

“That’s part of the reason. Grace, he needed to hide the wealth. Millions of dollars stolen and laundered. Every single penny that he had—you own it.”

“How? I have only one bank account, and the balance sure doesn’t have six zeros at the end of it.”

“One account that you know of,” Hunter added.

I turned toward him asking, “Have you verified this?”

“Yes.”

Shit! This was bad. If I had the money, they wouldn’t stop until they got it back.

“Is that why you’re here? Why you came to see me?”

“I came to see you because I don’t know what will happen. I’ve been able to keep you out of this for this long, but I didn’t think Frank would stoop this low. I’m not sure whether he’ll drag me down with him or not. I just needed to know you were okay.”

“I’m fine, Mom. But I really missed you.” I reached over the table, taking her hand.

“I missed you too. But this man here tells me we can fix things.”

I looked at Hunter. Why didn’t he tell me all this?

“I wanted to be sure,” he said, answering my unspoken question. “And I didn’t want you worried.”

I shifted in my seat, wishing I hadn’t had so much water with dinner. “I need to go to the ladies’ room. Please excuse me.”

“Of course.” Hunter stood up as I got up. The wine I’d had still coursed through my veins, making my legs sway, but my mother’s visit, here, today, had sobered me—at least mentally.

“And don’t go anywhere. I have more questions,” I said to my mother.

“I won’t. I promise.” She smiled.

Before I went to do my business, I turned the water on and splashed my face, trying to catch a cleaner breath. A lady stepped out to wash her hands and asked, “Are you all right?”

“Yes, thank you. Just a little dizzy.” I swiveled on my foot and closed the door behind me. Hearing her exit the washroom, I exhaled. What the heck was I supposed to do? I didn’t want my mother risking her life to see me. I didn’t want any of my father’s and brothers’ corrupt wealth. I wanted everything to go back to normal, the way it was before Scar attacked my salon. Well, except for Hunter. I needed him to still be in my life. He was my anchor and, besides Emma, the only stable person I had. But if I didn’t get more answers soon, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at all.