Forever Yours, Sir (2 page)

Sh
e didn’t know Brax and Holly and she could care less about their lives. Jacey should have been protected at all costs.

Cady
answered any questions directly aimed at her, but otherwise she was happy to blend into the furniture. She didn’t belong here. This wasn’t a really expensive hotel, but it was a lot nicer than the places she was used to. They hadn’t wanted to let her past the front desk; it had taken a lot of fast talking and a few false threats. Even after that one of them had escorted her to this room.

She didn’t think s
he looked that bad. She had clean clothes on, sure they were a bit worn in places, but they covered everything they needed to. Still, the front desk employees seemed to think she was some sort of petty thief.

Dumb asses.

“Okay, that’s all for now. You can all go. Cady, can you remain please?” Hunter turned his icy blue gaze on her.

Fuck. Why? He’d given her the money she was owed
. She’d turned up here this morning, far as she was concerned her job here was done. But she waited until everyone had left and it was just the two of them left.

Hunter s
tood and moved toward the side table. “Coffee?” he asked.

“No thanks,” she replied stiffly, disliking the fact that he was standing behind her, but refusing to
show her nervousness by turning around.

A plate of muffins
was placed in front of her as Hunter took the seat next to her. She had the urge to move over and put some distance between them. He made her nervous. Not because she thought he’d hurt her, although she had no doubt he could. Without even breaking into a sweat.

But she knew he wouldn’t. Cady had good instincts about people
and she didn’t think he would physically hurt her. But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t a threat. There was something about him that intrigued her. She’d actually found herself dreaming about him. She’d wake up in a light sweat, her pussy throbbing with need.

She’d never reacted this way to a man before. Just having him close enough to catch his scent, to be able to reach out and touch his ski
n was torturous. Her nipples hardened. Luckily her loose shirt hid her reaction. She resisted the urge to squirm and press her thighs together as her clit swelled.

Chri
st, she had to get over this. It was ridiculous. She barely knew this man and after today she’d never see him again.

“Thank you for your help, Cady,” Hunter said. The words sounded slightly awkward. She’d bet he wasn’t used to thanking people.

She shrugged. “You paid me.”

He tilted his head to one side, studying her and she resisted the urge to look away. His gaze narrowed.

“That wasn’t the main reason you did this, though, is it? There was a fair amount of risk to you, but that didn’t bother you, did it? Why not?”

What was this? Twenty questions?

“Everyone was at risk,” she replied. “I got paid for a job, I did it. Just like everyone else.”

“But this is what we do,
what we live for. I was impressed with how you handled yourself.”

Cady snorted. “I pretended to be Jacey. I ate some food, made small talk and tried not to show how bored I was. Not that hard.”

“You’re sensible, you’re a good shot and you can keep your cool. Gray has been at me for a while to hire a woman. There are often situations like last night that call for a woman.”

“So why haven’t you hired someone
already?”
Where was he going with this?

“Because I
’ve been resistant to the idea. I’ve always been against putting women into dangerous situations. It goes against who I am. But with the right training, I think you’d fit in.”

“You’re offering me a job?” she asked, incredulously.

“Yes, I am. Before you reply, though, I should tell you that there would be conditions you’d need to fulfil.”

“Like what?” she asked, suspicion clouding her mind with possibilities. If he was about to ask her for a blow job she’d kick his balls so
hard…

“So suspicious,” he said. “Do I want
to know what you were just thinking?”

“Probably not,” she admitted. “Tell me your conditions.”

“You’d need to move to Dallas. There will be times you’ll travel, of course, but we would need you to be based in Dallas.”

She nodded, somewhat impatiently.

“You’d be given extensive training, of course. Knowing how to shoot and having a few defensive moves wouldn’t be enough. Plus, there would be some rules.”

Rules? S
he didn’t like the sound of that.

“You’d need to learn to follow orders. I would expect obedience.”

Obedience? Was he kidding her?

“Right,
is that something you expect from all your employees, is it, Mr. Black?” she asked coldly.

“I expect my team to follow my orders.”

“So you told Tiny that you expected him to
obey
you when you hired him?”

“Tiny was a
Marine. He knows how to take orders. He also weighs about three times what you do and he can kill a man with one hand tied behind his back. I don’t need to watch out for Tiny. You’re infinitely more breakable, you don’t have a military background and you’re a woman. A condition of your employment is that you will answer to me when it comes to your safety. If you can’t handle that then there is no job.”

“Fine.” She stood and turned to walk out.

“Cady,” he said sharply. “Stop.”

Keep moving, damn it.
But her body wasn’t listening to her. Did he have some sort of superpower that made her body obey him?

“L
ook at me.”

She spun around, glaring at him. “What?”

His gaze narrowed and she swallowed hard as he just stared at her for a long moment. His piercing blue eyes didn’t miss a thing. His chiselled face wasn’t classically handsome, but he was sexy as hell.

“I don’t like the attitude in your voice, pet,” he said silkily.
Fuck, that voice. So dominant. It struck a part of her she thought she’d long since buried.

Show no weakness.

“I don’t give a fuck what you do or don’t like. And I’m not your pet.”

Although the thought of being his wasn’t entirely repugnant. Cady had a feeling that anyone who belonged to Hunter would
be well taken care of. He would never allow any harm to come to those under his protection.

But the price would be too much. Because he would demand all of her, and she could never give him that.
She refused to ever love anyone again.

Fuck, what was her problem
? He wasn’t offering her a ring or even sex, just a job.

“
Thanks for the job offer, but I don’t want it.”

“
You can’t keep yourself locked up behind that bitter shell, sugar. You have to let people in at some stage. You have to learn to trust a little.”

How the hell could he read her so well? She gaped at him. Maybe he really did have some freaky powers.

“I’ve been where you are, Cady. Unwilling to trust, to let people help me, to show them the real me. I thought it would make me weak, but it doesn’t. It makes me stronger. Because I have people who I can rely on, who have my back. That’s what I’m offering you, Cady. But you’ll need to lower those shields a bit. Yeah, I can be a demanding, bossy bastard. Yeah, you’ll probably come up with a variety of ways you’d like to kill me, but I take care of my people. I’d be your boss so I’d be in charge of your safety. That’s not unreasonable.”

She snorted. “Our definitions of unreasonable seem to differ. I’m not a charity case you need to rescue, Hunter. I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, how’s that working out for you so far? I’d bet you’ve barely got a hundred bucks to your name and your clothes are so threadbare you’ll soon be able to see through them. I’m offering you a way out, Cady.”

“
So this is because you feel sorry for me?” She couldn’t smother the stab of pain. “You don’t really need a female on your team, do you? You just want to make yourself feel better. Well, you can take your offer and stick it up your ass, because I can look after myself just fine.”

Cady turned to storm out of the room when Hunter grabbed her arm, turning her back. His touch wasn’t harsh, but she reacted
instinctively, kicking out at him, raising her fist to hit him. He easily blocked her punch, grabbing both her wrists in one hand as he turned, pushing her up against a wall.

She breathed heavily. “Let me go, asshole.”

“No,” he replied.

She pushed against him, but he held her still, an unmovable force. A
tendril of panic unfurled.

“Stop looking at me like that. I’m not going to hurt you and you know it,” he snapped.

“Really? How do I know that?” she growled back, her temper rising. “We’re alone. You’ve got me pinned against the wall, holding me against my will. Why should I believe anything you say?”

“Because, brat, the very last
thing I want is to hurt you. If you keep living the way you are that is exactly what is going to happen. Right now I’m holding you against your will, but not because I want to hurt you. What happens when someone with bad intentions gets you like this? What are you going to do then?”

“This!” She slammed her head forward
.

H
e managed to turn her head at the last second so she caught him on this cheek. She attempted to bring up her knee between his legs, but she had little room to maneuver and he easily sandwiched her legs between his.

“Calm down, Cady.”

“Let me go.”

“No.”

His whole body engulfed hers, his scent filling her senses, drugging her.

“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured
huskily.With his free hand, he tucked her hair behind her ear, his fingers gentle against her skin. Arousal filled his face as he watched her hungrily, like he could eat her up.

He leaned in, his mouth brushing across hers. He pulled back slightly then did the same again. And again. Christ
, who knew what a turn on such a fleeting touch could be? Her pussy clenched with need.

She’d never wanted someone to kiss her as much as she wanted him in that moment. Hunter ran his thumb over her lips. “Part your lips for me, baby. Let me in.”

She opened her mouth, unable to deny him. He dipped his thumb inside her mouth.

“Suck,” he ordered.

She sucked on his thumb, both of them moaning slightly.

“Damn
, I swear I nearly came in my pants. Do you know how hot you are? I have to taste you.”

H
unter took her mouth in a kiss that melted her toes and turned her legs to mush. She sagged against the wall, trusting him to keep her up. Hunter wrapped his hands around her waist, lifting her up. She placed her arms around his shoulders as he plundered her mouth, swamping her with a need so intense she could have cried.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “Should have done that the first day I met you.” He took her bottom lip between his teeth and tugged gently.

“You smell so good,” he murmured.

“What, for a homeless person you mean?”
she said sharply, trying to regain her senses.

His gaze narrowed
, sharpened, the arousal dissipating. That should have made her happy. She should never have allowed things to go this far. He was an arrogant, egotistical, Neanderthal who she had no intention of seeing ever again.

So why did she regret the wor
ds as soon as she’d spoken them?

“No, that’s not what I meant. And
you used to live on the streets. You don’t any longer.”

“
Did a mental hospital test too many drugs on you today?” she said. “Just where do I live now?”

“You’re going to live in a fucking apartment, with four walls around you and a roof over your head. I’m not going to let you go from my arms back out onto the streets. I’m not going to spend my nights worrying if you’re cold or hungry or worse. You’re going to take the job, Cady and you’re going to allow me to take care of you.”

Okay, so there was a part of her that kind of melted at his words. But that part was buried deep. Because there was no way in hell she would just let him take over her life.

“Put me down.”

“I want your promise. Promise me that you’re coming back to Dallas with me.” His erection pressed against her and she licked her lips, nearly giving in to her need. But they didn’t know each other so he couldn’t actually care about her. He wanted to fuck her and once he’d had his fill, he would kick her to the curb.

Well, she was no whore. That was the one line she hadn’t crossed. That and murder. Although she was quickly rethinking that stance.

Reaching into the front pocket of her hoodie, she wrapped her hand around the small cylinder inside.

“I
’m not going anywhere with you, Hunter. I’m no charity case and I am definitely no whore.”