Hunter (King’s Men MC #1)

20. Ryleigh

20

RYLEIGH

I woke up early. Only this morning, I didn’t feel as I usually did.

I felt like I had for the past three days, and I didn’t know why that was, only that I wasn’t going to question it.

My hand moved over my bed absently, pausing when it touched the sheets beside me, frowning a little.

It was still warm.

Had I been sleeping on that side of the bed before and just rolled over to my usual spot before I woke up?

It must be, but there was just something odd about it, considering I didn’t usually roll around in bed at night.

I looked around my room, wondering why it suddenly felt different, yet I couldn’t figure out why that was.

Letting out a small sigh, I climbed out of my bed and got ready for my day.

It was mid-afternoon when a knock at my door made my heart strum in excitement .

Only one person was knocking on my door at this time, and I missed him.

I couldn’t even remember the last time I had obsessively thought about another person…

Maybe when I was thirteen and had my first real crush on a boy.

When I realized what it meant to have crushes, Joshua Roberts had definitely taken my teenage heart.

But this wasn’t some adolescent crush that would go away with time.

It was an obsession with a man who, from the outside, didn’t look like he would be good for me or my heart.

I quickly opened the door, only to come up short when I realized someone else could come knocking on my door.

Two someones.

“Well, aren’t you going to invite us in?” Mom asked, her nose wrinkling as she looked around.

The apartment building, although old, was considered luxurious.

And yet, it didn’t meet Vivian Hudson’s high standards.

A flash of annoyance moved through me.

I loved this apartment, but of course, she was going to find something about it to pick apart.

“I’m meeting a friend soon. I don’t have much time to talk,” I said, moving aside so they could pass.

“You don’t have time for your parents?” Mom asked just as she walked inside, and Dad followed behind her.

I looked outside in the hallway, but when there was no sign of Xavier, I closed the door. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be showing up any time soon.

I didn’t want him to meet my parents, not because I was ashamed of him, but because I was embarrassed by them.

And they would surely say something insulting to him.

I couldn’t have that .

I took a deep breath and braced myself as I walked out the hallway and toward my parents, who were in my living room, taking in all the furniture…

The emptiness of it.

“I’m still furniture shopping,” I said, unable to help myself. I knew they hadn’t said anything about the decoration or the lack of furniture, but I was just bracing myself for their potential criticism.

Mom made a small noncommittal sigh in the back of her throat as Dad took a seat on the couch.

“How have you been, sweetheart?” Dad asked, his warm green eyes glinting a little in the sunlight.

I took after my mom, with my slightly wavy black hair and gray eyes, but I had inherited my dad’s high cheekbones. Plus, I was told several times that I had his “likeness,” whatever that meant.

Mom always said I walked and talked like him, so I assumed that was what everyone meant.

I smiled and walked up to him, sitting down. “I’ve been good. Hap—Good.”

I cleared my throat.

I was about to say happy, but Mom would have taken offense over that. It was a good thing I stopped myself.

“When are you going to come home, Ryleigh?” Mom asked.

She went right on it. There was no mention that they had purposely missed my graduation, no mention of the fact that neither of them had called me to check up.

I didn’t call either, but I thought there was some allowance for being their child in this relationship.

I supposed not.

“I’m not coming home. I’m doing well for myself right now, and I’m enjoying living my life in the city for the first time in a long time. ”

“Are you saying you won’t enjoy your time if you move back home?” she asked.

Dad, as usual, was silent throughout this exchange, but I knew he was on my Mom’s side.

My parents had a nice partnership despite not marrying for love but for political and social reasons.

I had never seen them disagree on anything. However, that was probably expected, considering how similar their family background was to each other.

“I’m saying that I like the independence. And I like that I’m doing this on my own. And I look forward to each day. It’s not something I ever thought would be the case for me,” I said, my words filled with meaning.

I was sure my parents were thinking the same thing I was. To my abduction at fourteen, an event I had almost no recollection of—otherwise, I might have led the police to capture the man. As of right now, I was sure my abductor was still running free.

Then there was my witness to the murder of the police officer by a member of the King’s Men MC. And that seemed to have been all for nothing, considering the man still got released.

“You’ll be safe at home,” Dad said, speaking up.

I shook my head. “And am I supposed to stay home forever simply because I’ll be safe?”

Mom nodded before I shot her a look. I was sure even she knew how ridiculous that would be.

I couldn’t live my life in fear.

And what was more, I didn’t want to.

I looked up at the clock hanging on my wall just above the electric fireplace. “Do you think we can do this another time? I already made plans, and I can’t be late for it.”

“When should we do this? When you come home and visit us?” Mom asked .

I didn’t respond to that. Coming back home, even for a short visit, was the furthest thing from my mind.

“We’re just worried about you,” she said, and for the first time, I noticed how tired she looked.

I felt my shoulders sagging, and the fight I was so ready to have with them left me in one soft exhale.

I knew they were just looking out for me.

They might have gone about it the wrong way, but they were just worried.

“I’ll come over and visit soon,” I promised. “As soon as work stops being so busy.”

She looked at me, and I shot her a small smile, one that she returned.

It was better than I had expected it to be when I opened the door to them.

I walked up and wrapped my arms around her.

She stiffened slightly against me, but didn’t pull away right away.

Dad stood up and wrapped the both of us in his arms, and it felt like I was twelve again, when my parents had been my world, and things didn’t seem so scary.

Despite their flaws, I knew they loved me. I knew I was luckier than most.

“My girls,” Dad said, and I smiled a little.

“Who is this friend you’re meeting?” Mom asked.

I blinked over at her. “Just someone from my building.”

She shot me a knowing look. I was sure my face probably said it all.

“Just as long as it’s not too serious. You know we want you to marry well. My friend Sophie has a son who is moving back home after med school. John is handsome and smart. I’m sure you kids would really hit it off.”

“Right,” I said.

I didn’t bother trying to argue with her. Especially with her telling me she hoped my relationship with Xavier wasn’t too serious.

But it felt serious.

Despite the short period, Xavier felt like he was either going to be my greatest love story, or my most painful heartbreak.

I looked away from her as they pulled away, and I walked my parents to the elevator.

Dad pressed the button for the lobby, and we stood there silently, waiting for it to come up.

I resisted the urge to shift on my feet.

It didn’t matter that things seemed to be okay between us. There was never a natural flow between my parents and me.

I always felt awkward with them, and I had to stop myself from letting out a sigh of relief when the elevator doors finally opened and they got in.

I smiled and waved as the doors closed, and then I let out a small sigh.

I hoped they didn’t think it would be okay to just drop by my apartment unannounced from now on.

The door behind me clicked open, and Xavier walked out his apartment door, then.

I knew I lit up at the sight of him, and I told myself to try to control my expression, to not give away all of my cards, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Hey,” I said as he walked up to me.

He cupped my cheeks in both hands and kissed me in greeting. When he pulled away, I kept my eyes closed, leaning on him and feeling instantly better.

He was like a cure. And I thought I might need him from now on whenever I had to deal with my parents.

“Hey, yourself,” he said, and I opened my eyes, taking in his brown, warm ones. “What are you doing by the elevators? ”

“My parents came to visit,” I answered. “I just walked them out.”

Something shifted in his eyes, but it was gone before I could tell what that might be, and he smiled at me. “Ready?”

I nodded. “Let me go lock my door.”

Xavier insisted he took me out to lunch before getting ice cream.

And I would have been fine with that if lunch didn’t take so much of our time, and Xavier was just one big tease during the whole thing.

By the time we made it to the ice cream shop, I was brimming with sexual frustration, and there didn’t seem to be an end in sight.

“I have ice cream at home,” I said when he opened the door for me.

He shot me an amused look. “Okay, baby.”

I scowled at him before forcing my face to relax. His smile went up another notch, making me want to slap him and kiss him all at the same time.

“Do you want to go back and have ice cream at my place instead?”

He laughed then, and for a moment, I forgot that I was annoyed at him, just taking in the moment to soak in the sound of his laugh, the wrinkles around his eyes, making him look much softer than he actually was.

He turned to me then, his laughter slowly trailing off, and what was left was a blaze of heat in his eyes that I was already addicted to.

He came toward me, and I couldn’t help when I leaned in closer to him .

I shivered as his lips touched my ear, and I felt him smile against me before he whispered, “Go get in line.”

Then he slapped my ass.

In the middle of the shop.

My mouth opened, and I looked around. There weren’t that many people around, and there weren’t any kids—thank God—but still.

I glared at him and walked away.

The girl on the counter looked at us, muttering under her breath that sounded something like, “So hot,” before she plastered on a wide smile.

“Hi, how may I help you?”

Xavier walked up close to me, pressing his front against my back. He wrapped his arms around my middle, and I tried not to show how badly that affected me.

I obviously failed because the girl’s smile widened, and I could feel my cheeks burning.

Ass.

We finally ordered an ice cream cone—chocolate chunks for me, and plain old vanilla for him—and got out of the shop.

“Let’s walk back to the apartment while we eat,” he suggested.

“Thank God,” I said, picking up my pace. We were about one block away. It wouldn’t be too long if we ran, right?

Xavier laughed and grabbed my hand, slowing me down.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “What are you doing?”

“Taking in the scenery.”

“Why?”

His eyes twinkled with amusement, and he forced us to walk at a normal pace.

Jesus.

The blistering sun didn’t help .

I cursed him out from under my breath and took a small swipe of my ice cream before turning to him.

He was looking at me with hungry eyes.

I blinked in surprise and licked the ice cream again, making eye contact, smiling a little when he let out a small word that sounded a hell of a lot like, “Fuck.”

He quickened his pace, and now it was my turn to laugh.

I yanked on his hand, stopping him. “Wait, don’t you want to take in the scenery and enjoy our ice cream?”

He growled, the noise making my skin vibrate, just as he grabbed my cone out of my hand, walked to the nearest trashcan, and threw both mine and his away.

He came up to me and hoisted me up his shoulder.

I let out a small squeal.

“Xavier, put me down.”

“Quiet,” he said, smacking my butt. I gasped. “You don’t want to draw attention to us, do you?”

“You’re already drawing attention to us,” I said, letting out a small laugh when I started to bounce up and down from the light jog he took.

Luckily, he set me down on my feet when we got to the building.

We all but ran to the elevators and got on the empty cart when it opened.

Xavier pushed me up against the wall after he pressed the button for our floor, leaning down to kiss me as his hand found its way inside my dress, shoving his hand down my panties.

I let out a small groan when his fingers swiped across my slit.

“Fuck, you’re wet already. Is this all for me?” he asked.

I nodded as he entered two thick fingers inside me. I clenched around him just as he steadily began to finger fuck me .

My head fell back against the wall, and I let out a small groan, so close to coming.

I dug my nails into his shoulders when he increased his tempo, and just as I was about to fall over the edge, he pulled out of me.

I watched as he sucked on his fingers, taking in all of my juices, his eyes shining with dark delight.

The elevator doors opened before I could say anything to him, and then he grabbed my hand and led me to his door.

I was still in the hazy red fog of lust to notice anything in my surroundings, and that was probably why I didn’t notice the danger when it was so close by.

Xavier stopped walking in front of me, his shoulders tensing, and I stopped too.

“Xavier? Why’d you stop?” I asked.

He didn’t answer me. I would have thought he hadn’t heard me if I didn’t notice the way his shoulders stiffened even more from the sound of my voice.

I looked around him and paused as I took in the big man in front of Xavier’s door.

This man was taller than Xavier, probably by a couple of inches, though he wasn’t as wide. That wasn’t to say he was lacking any muscle definition because he wasn’t.

And though there had always been something rough and dangerous about Xavier, this man…

I shivered.

This man was cold and calculating.

I didn’t think any human emotions were hidden beneath his odd, silver eyes.

I had gray eyes myself, but they didn’t look so… inhuman.

Not the way they were on this man.

This man had dark brown hair, a strong nose, scarred arms, heavy-set shoulders, and a distinctive scar running vertically from his cheek, down the light stubble he had around his jawline, past that, ending just as it reached his left collar bone.

It was as if someone had tried to take a knife to this man’s neck.

Had tried to kill him.

That someone obviously didn’t succeed, and something told me things didn’t end well for them.

The dangerous aura that followed this man, which should’ve made me want to run back inside my apartment and hide there, wasn’t what made me still.

No, it was because this man looked very similar to Xavier.

They were related.

His brother or cousin, perhaps.

Probably a couple of years older than him and much more intense, much scarier than any man had the right to be.

I tried to swallow around the dryness of my throat when his eyes landed directly on me from where I was hiding behind Xavier.

I resisted the urge to hide fully behind Xavier.

For some reason, I didn’t want this man to think I was cowering.

His lips quirked up in a vicious smile, and I was struck with a sense of familiarity.

Had I seen him before?

“Ah, so this is where you’ve been spending all your time… Xavier .”

Xavier’s name coming from his lips sounded off. It sounded almost like a question, and his eyes danced with a kind of humor I wanted no part in.

I didn’t like it.

I wanted no part of this man to touch Xavier.

I tightened my hands around his shirt—not even realizing I had grabbed it in the first place, and Xavier took a tiny step back toward me, as if to protect me from the man .

Question was, did I really need protection from the man, or was he just being cautious?

“It’s nice to finally meet his little obsession.”

Did he just call me Xavier’s obsession?

I admitted that Xavier could be intense at times, but to think I was his obsession was something else entirely. Xavier wasn’t obsessed with me.

And why did he make obsession sound like such a dirty word?

I must have made a small sound in the back of my throat because Xavier turned to me then, his brown eyes hardening with some unnamed emotion.

“Go back to your apartment. I’ll see you later, okay?”

I licked my lips and looked off to the side of him to the man before returning my gaze back to Xavier, nodding.

“Good girl,” he said softly.

I gave the man a wide berth as I headed to my apartment.

He looked at me and smiled, baring his teeth.

Xavier let out a low warning growl, but that only seemed to make the man even more amused.

I used my keys to unlock the door, my hands shaking.

I didn’t know why I was so scared.

I trusted Xavier not to let anything happen to me, but there was something about this man that made the fear really strike its chord, and I was left feeling so out of it, I didn’t know what to do or think.

Finally, after what had felt like an eternity of fumbling, I got the door opened and walked inside my apartment, slamming the door shut and locking it behind me.

What the hell just happened?

I thought I heard the man’s laughter from outside, causing my cheeks to burn just as the door to Xavier’s apartment opened, and both men walked in, leaving me…

Reeling.