I was pulled out of my musings when Hunter framed my jaw with one hand and craned my head back to gaze into his tormented eyes. “I’ve never considered myself to be a violent man, but the thought of anyone hurting you fills me with rage. I want to put my hands on that fucker and teach him a goddamned lesson.”
The confession curled through my skeleton like incense, warming my bones with its bloodthirsty nature. “My little saint,” I murmured. “How wicked of you.”
“It’s the truth. I want to end anyone who has any ill intentions towards you, doll.”
“When I saw you on that terrace, I thought you looked like a knight in shining armour from a fairy-tale romance.” I smiled. “Now I’m beginning to think I’ve pegged you all wrong. Maybe you’re more like the morally grey villain.”
“Whatever I am,” he murmured, brushing his lips against mine, “I am yours.”
My heart melted.
I should be afraid of the depth of feelings I possessed for him, but I wasn’t.
For once, I was ready to fully embrace whatever the universe threw our way and fall for Hunter, knowing he would always catch me.
CHAPTER 28
Take It Off
Gabriela
After sharing a kiss, Hunter picked up another dart while I took a sip of the champagne to mask my erratic heartbeat.
He threw the shot expertly and it landed on a triple.
I gave him a stink eye.
Hunter laughed throatily, his eyes crinkling endearingly. Fuck, he was a sight for sore eyes.
“Whatever. I’ll win this round. Just wait and see.” But when I shot my dart, it only struck a single. I resorted to giving Hunter my best puppy-dog expression, sticking out my lower lip to really drive the message home.
He let out a fake-exasperated huff, but the smile playing on his lips betrayed him. “Fine. You can ask me a question. Even though I scored higher this round.”
A little squeal eked out of me, and I turned around in his embrace and squared my arms around his neck. My happiness was contagious; it caused his smile to morph into a wide beam. “Okay, so. I want to hear about your ex, too. Tell me something you disliked about her.”
Seeing her tonight didn’t put a damper on Hunter’s mood and that was a win in my book. He was over her and I had nothing to worry about.
Hunter slid his hands over my waist. “I’m going to need more champagne if I have to talk about Ginette.”
Since my pretty boy’s hands were occupied, I only had one option. Taking a sip of the champagne, I opened my lips over his and let the liquid pour into his mouth. He drank it with a crude groan. I loved that sound. It only served to remind me of our hot shower foreplay, when he drank his cum straight from my mouth like a heathen.
“More,” Hunter pleaded.
“No.” I pecked him. “After you tell me about her,bello.”
“And what does that word mean?”
“Handsome,” I murmured. “A term of endearment in Italian quite fitting for you.”
Blue eyes swirling with a heady concoction of desire and reverence pinned me on the spot. Like he was seconds away from chucking aside our game to give us both what we really wanted. But he was waiting for the right moment.
“Handsome, huh?” He ran his hands over my hips. “I’ll take it.”
“Knew you’d like it.” I tucked aside a lone strand of his hair behind his ear. “Give me my story,bello. I’m waiting.”
He pondered for a few seconds before speaking. “Ginette was…a piece of work. That’s the nicest way I can put it. She was in the school band, a trombone player, and I thought she was cute. I asked her out and we dated for less than two years. I learned the hard way that she never really liked me—only what I represented. A popular jock who would be her ticket to high school fame. In the beginning, she was nice to me, but it was all an act. Halfway through our relationship, she turned horrible, acting like I was an inconvenience and speaking to me in a condescending manner. I didn’t see the red flags until much later because I always saw her through rose-tinted glasses. It took me a long time to understand that someone you love shouldn’t treat you that way. And despite her shitty treatment of me, I continued doing everything in mypower to be a good boyfriend. I just wanted to please her, make her happy. However, by the end of it all, it became obvious that Ginette hated everything about me. During our final fight, she said I was a boring introvert, still too emotional over my dad’s death, and that the only good quality I possessed was my dick. The worst part? She said I deserved to get cheated on—she boasted about sleeping with my teammate like it was her biggest accomplishment. I left the room in so much pain and puked my guts out in the nearest trash can.” It was Hunter’s turn to chuckle without humour and my insides clenched with agony for him. “I guess Ginette and Franco were similar in that manner, huh? Both of them diminished our worth to something so trivial.”
They really were. Those two idiots would be perfect for each other.
