Hunter (King’s Men MC #1)

17. Ryleigh

17

RYLEIGH

I woke up feeling strange.

I could still remember the nightmare that plagued me the night before, but it seemed not to have affected me as badly as it usually did.

I almost felt… well-rested, which was such an oddity that I didn’t know what to make of it.

I squinted my eyes when I turned them toward the window, even though it wasn’t that bright out yet.

My mind raced as I thought back to the dream.

It was always the same.

It started out at the cliff, where a faceless man twice my size had gotten a hold of me.

I tried to fight back. I really did, but he was much stronger than me, and I didn’t know how to escape. I didn’t know what he wanted—not at the time, not when I was still so na?ve, so fucking innocent. Then a voice shouted out for the man to stop, and I turned toward it to see…

A shadow of a man, much larger than the faceless man.

I should have been scared of this shadow, much more so than the faceless man, but I had felt nothing but relief .

The shadow headed toward me, and suddenly, everything was just black. When the picture started to come in again, I was no longer on the cliff, but in the back of that alleyway of Club X. Only this time, I wasn’t an anonymous person listening to a murder taking place…

I was the victim.

The VP of the King’s Men MC came toward me, mostly hidden in the shadows. His eyes were the only thing I could see in the dark, and they had glinted with malicious intent.

And then…

I woke up feeling so out of it.

Slowly, I moved my limbs, trying to remind myself that I wasn’t in that horrid dream world but safe in my own apartment.

I reminded myself that I had a paid job, had dating prospects with a man I was insanely attracted to, and was independently away from my family.

If only I could just push the past away.

I climbed out of bed and looked around my room.

Something felt different about it, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

Not until I returned after going into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face did I realize my phone I had left charging on my nightstand last night was unplugged.

I frowned.

Had I forgotten to charge it?

I grabbed the phone and read the battery bar.

Eighty-seven percent.

Almost fully charged.

How odd.

Perhaps I had accidentally unplugged it in my sleep last night?

That didn’t sound plausible, but what other explanation could there be?

I was reading in my living room when eight o’clock hit, and there was a knock at my door.

My heart jumped, and I tried to refrain from smiling so wide or opening the door too soon and looking eager.

I counted to ten under my breath and opened the door, and there he stood.

He was in his signature black t-shirt that clung to his muscle, showcasing just how big and powerful he looked, dark jeans and black boots.

His hair on the top was a little messy, as if he had spent the entire morning running his fingers through it.

My mouth went dry as I took in his face, from his warm brown eyes twinkling at me, as if he found me amusing, to the neatly trimmed beard, surrounded by the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen.

“Hey, there,” he said, his voice smooth.

I could probably listen to him talk all day and be happy. It wouldn’t matter what he said, just as long as he kept talking.

“Hi,” I said shyly, looking down at our feet. I was reminded once again of the size difference between us.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

I nodded and moved off to the side for him. And though I had left enough room for him to pass, his arm still touched my breasts. I wasn’t wearing a bra, just a thin dress, and I was regretting that choice now when I could see them pebbling against the fabric.

I sucked in a sharp breath and looked at him, but his face gave nothing away.

I was sure he hadn’t done that on purpose.

I closed the door behind me and watched as he made himself at home in my apartment.

He moved toward the living room, and by the time I came in, he was already sitting on the couch, looking through the book I was reading.

A romance novel.

My cheeks heated.

Especially when he looked up at me, and I could only guess what passage he stumbled upon based on the amusement on his face.

“Baby,” he said. “What are you reading?”

I glowered over at him and grabbed the book from his hand.

“A love story,” I muttered.

He laughed. “Not from what I’d just read.”

“Well, you started in the middle of the book. You shouldn’t touch my things without permission.”

I tried to walk away, but he pulled on my arm and settled me on his lap, my legs straddling his waist, facing him.

I had never been in this position with another man before.

Not even with Rhett.

It was just so intimate, and I would just have to shift a little, and my pussy would be pressed up against the lower portion of his hard abs.

My back straightened as I tried not to relax into his warm body.

Geez.

My nipples were already hard from before, they weren’t going to go back to normal from his close proximity, and I could feel a hint of arousal gathering around my panties.

I took a deep breath when he kissed my cheek. “Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make fun of you. Forgive me?”

His expression looked genuine enough, and I knew I couldn’t stay mad at him. I wasn’t, really. Mostly embarrassed.

“I might have overreacted, just a little. ”

I held up my hand, showing my thumb and forefinger slightly apart so he could see what I meant by a little .

He laughed. “Just a little.”

His hands moved down to my waist before circling and settling on the small of my back. My mouth opened, but nothing came out as his finger drew aimlessly on it.

“Relax,” he said softly as if it was easy. “I just want to hold you a bit before I take you out on my bike, and we go out for breakfast.”

“Your bike?” I asked.

“A motorcycle.”

“Oh.”

I didn’t know he rode.

That was kind of hot. I wondered how fast he would go.

I shivered in excitement, and his smile turned up a notch.

Bringing my thumb up to my mouth, I gently nibbled on it nervously as I looked at him.

We didn’t say anything for a moment, and then slowly, as if he was afraid of scaring me off, he pulled me in closer until my head rested on his shoulder, my face half-buried in the crook of his neck.

He smelled amazing.

Like the outdoors, just before a massive storm hit.

He made me just want to snuggle up close to him and not leave the safety of his cocoon.

I didn’t know how it was possible to feel this way about someone I had just met, but I did, despite his rough exterior.

There was always a strum of anticipation humming in my skin whenever he came to mind.

Xavier’s hands moved up and down my back, his fingers playing along the column of my spine, and I bit my bottom lip and snuggled in closer to him to keep from making any noise .

That felt so fucking good.

I couldn’t even remember the last time someone had touched me…

At all.

My parents were worrywart parents, but they weren’t affectionate.

The last time we had come close to showing affection was on my mom’s birthday when she had allowed me to kiss her on the cheek after I gave her a birthday present.

I was desperate for touch.

I craved it.

And Xavier was giving it to me, even if he didn’t know how much I wanted it.

His hands came back down to my waist and held them there. The top of my head burned from his heavy stare, and I braced myself as I pulled away and looked him in the eyes.

They glinted with something dark. Something filthy and dirty and wonderful all at the same time.

What would it feel like if he kissed me right now?

I might self-combust.

“Xavier?” I whispered.

“Yeah, baby?”

I opened my mouth to ask him but lost my bravery at the last moment and instead asked, “What do you do for a living?”

It seemed strange that I had slept in his bed and agreed to go out on a date with him and still not know what he did.

A shuttered look came over his eyes, and I almost took back the question. Obviously, his job wasn’t something he liked to talk about, but it was odd if he couldn’t tell me. It shouldn’t be a secret unless what he did was illegal.

I didn’t know how I would react if that were the case.

“I’m an independent contractor. ”

“What does that mean?”

“It means there are people all over the U.S. who want their goods shipped to certain places, and I make that happen.”

“Goods?”

He nodded.

“And people pay for that? Why don’t they just use FedEx or something?”

He seemed amused over that. “Ah, we’re more secure than a standard shipping company.”

“Oh.”

I was still pretty confused. An independent contractor. I wondered how he came about the job.

I opened my mouth to ask, but he moved his hands up and down my waist before settling them just below my armpits. I sucked in a sharp breath. His hands were touching the sides of my breasts. It wouldn’t take much for him to move it up and grasp my breasts fully.

My nipples pebbled, and something dangerous entered his eyes.

“Xavier?” I whispered.

Something shifted on his face. Did he not like his name? Or did he not like the sound of his name coming from my lips?

Before I could question him, he leaned forward until all that separated his lips from mine was a mere inch. I could feel his hot breath on my chin.

I licked my lips and let out a small groan.

“Fair warning,” he said, his voice gruff. “I’m gonna kiss you.”

My breath caught, and my heart thudded so loudly in my chest, it was a wonder that he didn’t hear.

“Okay,” I whispered, hesitating. It felt like I was about to experience my first kiss when I knew that wasn’t the case. “I might kiss you back.”

He closed his eyes and let out the sexiest groan I had ever heard from a man. Fuck, but I could come from the sound alone.

My pussy clenched as more arousal raced through me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and when he opened his eyes and looked at me, there was so much heat in them I was rendered speechless for a moment.

I didn’t know who had moved first.

Me or him?

It didn’t matter because his lips were pressed against mine, and I?—

I couldn’t breathe.

I felt suffocated…

In the best way possible.

He pulled back slightly and whispered against my wet lips. “Open your mouth, Ryleigh.”

I took in a deep breath and opened my mouth.

He deepened the kiss, and I came back to life in his arms.

I groaned, reveling in the feel of his tongue gliding against mine, his lips moving over mine, and even the way his beard pressed against my cheek.

I moved in a little closer to him, and slowly gyrated my hips against him, my eyes rolling to the back of my head from the electricity that built over the friction pressing up against my clit.

I swiveled my hips harder against him, again, and again, and again…

I gasped when tremors rocked my body.

I felt light-headed.

I could come from this alone.

I could come, and he hadn’t even touched my pussy yet .

“Fuck, baby,” Xavier said, pulling away and letting his lips drift down my neck. He suckled on the skin there, no doubt leaving his mark.

I moved my hips once more.

His arms tightened around me, his fingernails digging into the skin on my waist, almost to the point of pain. My fingers ran through his hair, pulling on it and exacting the same kind of pain he was giving me.

I needed more.

More of this, more of him.

“Xavier,” I moaned with a hint of frustration.

“I got you,” he promised. “I got you.”

His hands came up and grasped my breasts in his huge hands.

My head tilted back. “Oh, God.”

He chuckled. “No God here. Just you and me.”

I nodded when he pinched my nipples, twisting them roughly between his fingers. “J-Just you and me,” I repeated.

“Fuck, you feel even better than I imagined.”

Had he imagined this… me a lot?

“Tell me to stop,” he said, almost desperately.

Like hell would I tell him to stop now. Not when I was so close to losing control.

And how badly I wanted that to be the case.

I shook my head.

“I don’t think I can stop. Not until I make you come.”

I whimpered.

He chuckled against my neck, his fingers pulling on my nipples toward him.

I let out a small whine in pain.

“Does my baby like the sound of that?” he asked.

I could only nod.

“Words, baby. I need to hear you say it. I want you to beg me for it. ”

I blinked and looked at him. His expression gave nothing away, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t do anything unless I begged him.

I had never thought I would beg to… come.

I certainly didn’t have to do it with Rhett.

One arrogant eyebrow rose in challenge.

I licked my lips and opened my mouth. “Please, Xavier. Please make me come.”

“Fuck, you’re pretty when you beg.”

It should make me angry. After all, I was an independent woman.

But I fucking blossomed under his praise.

He grabbed the straps of my dress and pulled them down my shoulders, exposing my breasts to his gaze.

My nipples puckered as he took them in, not saying anything.

“How fucking pretty,” he said before taking one in his mouth.

He suckled on it, and I moaned out as my back arched, bringing more of me into him.

I pressed my pussy down on his thigh and moved my hips, trying to find that delicious friction as he pulled back and licked my nipple.

“Xavier,” I said.

“Do you like this? Do you like it when I lick your pretty nipple?”

I could only nod.

He pulled back his hand and slapped the side of my breast, turning the skin red instantly.

I gasped and looked at him with wide eyes.

That was so unexpected, yet…

More wetness gushed out of me.

“Words, baby.”

I should be offended .

What happened to the gentle giant of a man from yesterday morning?

This one was rough and… exciting.

“I like it when you lick my nipple,” I said softly.

He grinned wickedly at me, coming back and taking my nipple back in his mouth, rolling the hardened bud around with his teeth.

I pulled on his hair, wanting more of him, when I suddenly found myself shifting, and I was lying on my back on the couch with Xavier on top of me.

I looked up at him, my mouth dry.

Fuck, even the way he manhandled me was arousing.

“I had every intention of being good this morning,” he told me. “I would have come in, given you a chaste kiss, and treated you to breakfast. But you look so fucking tempting. I need a taste. You’ll let me have a taste, won’t you?”

And to make his intentions clear, his hand had moved down my body and was now cupping my pussy through my dress.

He squeezed me, and I closed my eyes, only to open them seconds later when he shifted his fingers across my clit.

“Xavier, please,” I said. I was so close. So close.

“Can I taste you, baby?” he asked.

I let my hand reach for his forearms, my blunt nails running down the skin roughly, turning it white, before leaving a pink trail behind. “ Please .”

He smiled, showing teeth.

I shivered, both from anticipation and wariness.

Leaning down, he kissed me once more, this one so different from our first.

It wasn’t frantic or desperate.

It was sweet, a whisper of his lips against mine that had me craving more. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him to me, tightening my grip when I felt him attempt to shift away.

He chuckled against my lips and kissed me once more.

There he was.

There was the sweet man I had woken next to yesterday. The man who made me feel safe and protected, though admittedly, I also love this rougher, darker side of him.

I loved all the versions Xavier was presenting to me, but a small voice in my head whispered, which one of these versions was actually the real one?

I didn’t know, and when he started to kiss his way down my body, I didn’t care.

I closed my eyes, my hands following him as he kissed me between my breasts, still left exposed, down to the flat of my belly through the thin fabric of the dress.

He bunched it up toward my waist, pulling back a little and taking in my plain baby pink panties.

His fingers pressed down on my clit through the panties, and my leg twitched in response.

“Fucking cute,” he said, making me blush.

I should have worn something sexier.

I didn’t have anything sexier, I reminded myself.

I frowned a little, and Xavier pulled the fabric to the side suddenly, exposing my bare pussy to his gaze for the first time and drawing my attention back to him.

“Lost you there for a moment, didn’t I?” he asked.

I licked my lips, unable to answer.

“It’s okay,” he said, his voice velvety smooth. “It’s my job to make sure you focus on nothing else but me and what I’m doing to you. And Ryleigh?” He looked up and met my eyes. “I’ll fucking excel at this job.”

I had no doubts about it.

I nodded, and his smile widened as he directed his eyes back to my pussy .

“So fucking pretty. And wet. Is this all for me?” he asked, massaging my pussy lips.

I turned my head to the side, my legs spreading without conscious thought, giving him better access.

He pinched the outer lips together, tugging on them.

I gasped.

“Answer me, sweet girl. Is this cunt weeping because of me?”

“Yes,” I said, thrusting my hips up toward him.

He slapped the outside of my thigh, not hard enough to leave a mark, but not light either.

I scowled at him, eliciting a slight chuckle.

“Don’t move,” he commanded gently. I stayed still, my chest heaving. “Good girl.”

I let out a small breath of relief when he went back to playing with me, his finger finding my clit and rubbing against it gently.

I focused hard on not moving.

He looked at me, his face set in sinful delight. Then he moved his fingers down and drove one thick digit into me.

My back arched, unable to help myself, as he began to fuck me with that finger.

“Fuck, you’re so tight,” he gritted out, increasing his pace. “Has it been a while since someone played with this pussy?”

I could only nod. Luckily, he didn’t call me out of not answering him again.

“Poor girl. This pussy now belongs to me, doesn’t it? And no other bastard is going to get to play with it, right, Ryleigh girl?”

I swallowed. “Right.”

I didn’t care what he was saying, just as long as he didn’t stop playing with me.

He added another finger, making me feel so full of him that I didn’t know what to do. I could only lie there and watch him.

His fingers took on a brutal thrust, and I could hear the sounds I was making as he pushed them back inside me.

I…

I…

He pressed his thumb down on my clit, and I was done for.

“Xavier!” I screamed out as I came.

He pulled out of me and slapped my pussy three times harshly.

I let out a small whimper in protest, feeling tremors that wracked my pussy from the move, yet it seemed to have made the orgasm more intense.

I was only vaguely aware of him pulling my panties down my legs, and then he crawled in between them and ate me out before I could even come back.

I twisted around, trying to get away, still so sensitive, but he grabbed my hips and kept me still, his tongue coming out and licking up the wetness.

“No, Xavier. It’s too much.”

“It’s not,” he said. “You’ll take what I give you. Now be a good girl, and let me enjoy my treat.”

I covered my face with my arms, knowing I couldn’t really fight him off, and what was more, I didn’t want to.

It was too much, but not enough.

I grabbed a fistful of his hair and shoved him down, wanting more. Just more.

He dipped his tongue inside me before pulling out and tugging on my lips with his teeth.

Pushing one of my legs off his shoulder and giving him better access to me, he raised my hips up and continued his assault, only this time, his fingers were coming out to play.

I cried out as I felt the first sign of my second orgasm .

He used his finger and gathered up my wetness and drew them down, and down…

I tensed.

“Shh,” he said. “Let me make you feel good.”

“I don’t—” I shook my head.

He pressed his thumb against my back end, not really entering me, but enough for me to feel the pressure there.

He took my entire mound in his mouth and looked up at me, his eyes dancing as he started to play with me there.

I clenched when he moved in a little deeper before pulling back out, only to enter a second time, a little deeper than the first.

He did it again and again and again, until, finally , I exploded.

He gentled his movements then, before stopping altogether, allowing me to ride off this high and come back down it softly.

I closed my eyes, my chest heaving, my pussy wet, and I knew, I knew he was looking at me.

I just wasn’t ready to look at him yet.

Not when I was feeling so vulnerable after that.

Not when I was feeling so exposed to this man, and we hadn’t even had sex yet.

I held still when I felt his finger glide up and down my cheek.

“Look at me,” he said, his voice whisper soft.

I didn’t answer him.

I didn’t think I had my voice.

Not yet.

“Baby,” he said, and the silent desperation in his voice finally got me opening my eyes and taking him in.

I was met with worried brown eyes.

We didn’t say anything for three long seconds .

Then I offered a small smile and saw his shoulders relaxed.

He quickly gathered me up in his arms and shifted us around so that he was lying on the couch and I was on top of him.

His hands automatically moved to my butt cheeks and massaged me there as I lay still, trying to keep from making any noise.

I didn’t think I could ever be as free with his body as he was with mine.

I swallowed when his finger found my crease and slid it in there.

“Xavier?”

“Yeah, baby?” he asked casually. But his eyes told me he knew what he was doing.

“Nothing,” I responded back.

He laughed, moving his finger up and down. I shuddered from the move, and after a while, he pulled away and settled his hands back on my butt cheeks.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“You mean after two mind-blowing orgasms?”

He snorted out a short laugh. “Yeah. After that.”

“Amazing. Like I’m floating on a cloud.”

Hesitantly, I let my hands roam over his chest.

“A really hard but surprisingly comfortable cloud,” I added.

“Good to know,” he said, back to sounding arrogant again. I couldn’t really begrudge him for it.

He had definitely earned his arrogance.

I looked up and watched him take in my apartment. “Nice place,” he commented.

And for some reason, I found that to be amusing.

“Thank you,” I said and laughed .

He shot me a bemused look, tinged with a hint of amusement, before sighing. “I suppose I have to feed you, huh?”

“Feed me what?” I blushed.

I could feel his erection pressing up against me. And surprisingly, I wasn’t as opposed to the idea as I thought I might be.

Not at all.

I had always found the act to be somewhat degrading and repulsive. It was why I refused to do it with Rhett, no matter how much he pressured me into it.

But with Xavier…

Repulsion was the furthest thing from my mind.

I licked my lips, and his body shook as he laughed. “Naughty girl. I meant with actual food.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

I was the only one that benefited from this, it seemed. I hadn’t even seen him naked, but how badly I wanted to.

He tapped my nose gently. “Positive. This morning is all about you.”

“Really? Doesn’t it… hurt?”

“Hurt?” he asked, one side of his lips curving upwards.

“Yeah. I heard, uh, you know, blue balls hurt.”

He shook his head, full-on smiling now. “You are an amusing little thing. How could I not know that?”

He said the last sentence quietly, almost to himself. I wondered just how he thought he could have known the kind of person I was just from the very few, brief meetings we’d had.

And the fact that I didn’t know him very well should feel daunting that I was lying naked in his arms, with nothing but a skimpy little dress covering my middle.

I didn’t feel that way.

Perhaps I was just lonely and mistaking that for this feeling of safety and excitement with a man I didn’t know. Or perhaps he was meant just for me.

The romantic side of me wanted to fall on the latter.

That he was meant for me, and that was all there was to it.

The practical part of me said it was the first reason.

The practical part of me was losing, as I found myself snuggling in a little closer to him.

He moved his hands up, playing with my hair.

“How’d you sleep last night?” he asked suddenly.

I looked up and met his stare. “What do you mean?”

He cupped my cheek with one hand, then his thumb skimmed gently over the skin beneath my eyes. “You have dark circles under your eyes. I’m guessing you didn’t sleep all that well. Is the attack keeping you awake?”

I shrugged and looked down at his chest. “A part of it,” I answered quietly.

I hadn’t realized how obvious it was that I was lacking sleep.

I had been haunted by the attack all day yesterday, almost paralyzingly so, but it wasn’t the attack that I dreamed about, and I wasn’t sure how I could go and explain my messed up past to him, especially when I had been kept out of the news both times.

Only the people in my parents’ inner circle knew about my kidnapping at fourteen.

They didn’t want the public to know, afraid it might make things harder for my dad in his growing career.

“I saw something I wasn’t supposed to,” I said finally, bracing myself for him to ask me what that was.

He surprised me when he said, “You probably did something you weren’t supposed to, too.”

I looked up and met his eyes.

I couldn’t judge his mood based on his tone of voice .

Silently, I nodded.

He cupped my face, and I felt myself relaxing when the soft look in his eyes came back.

“I wish I could take away all your nightmares.”

I smiled a little. “Perhaps not, but I think you make it feel… not so impactful.”

He smiled back at me before leaning toward me and offering a small chaste kiss on my lips that I felt all the way down to my soul.