Hunter (King’s Men MC #1)

22. Ryleigh

22

RYLEIGH

I paced up and down the apartment, not knowing what to think or feel.

A total of eight long hours had passed since Xavier told me to go back to my apartment, and he left with that—I shivered— man .

There had been no phone call, no text, no nothing to tell me not to worry.

I was fucking worried, because I couldn’t imagine what Xavier might have to do with that kind of man. And it made me wonder what his past could be.

Perhaps he was just related to some of those people, but he had been able to walk a straight line.

Even I could hear the naivety in my own thoughts.

Was he a good man?

I rubbed my hands up and down my arms to ward off the cold as the next thought shifted through my mind.

Could I let him go if he wasn’t?

It should be telling that I didn’t know the answer to that question .

Tears of frustration stung my eyes, and I moved toward the window, looking down at the parking lot.

I came up short when I saw his bike parked on the side.

“What the hell?”

It hadn’t been there when I checked the parking lot an hour ago, but it was there now, which meant he was home.

He was home and didn’t think to let me know so I wouldn’t worry?

That frustration and worry I had been feeling suddenly turned into anger, and I walked out my apartment door and straight to his without a thought.

I knocked on the door—loudly—three times.

There was nothing but silence for a moment, and I felt silly just standing there, blinking away the sudden burn in my eyes.

If this was somehow over, shouldn’t he say that to my face instead of hiding away like a coward?

I knocked on the door once more, letting out a small groan.

Just when I was about to walk back inside my apartment, the lock clicked open, making my heart palpitate along with the sound that seemed to echo loudly in the empty hallway.

Xavier’s door opened, revealing the man.

Anything I wanted to say to him, any words I wanted to hurl his way for making me worry, died instantly from my lips when I got a good look at him.

I gasped when he shifted a bit, and I caught sight of his bandaged arm, a small patch of blood already seeping through.

“What happened?” I asked, walking over to him.

I hesitated, unsure of where I could touch him. Did he have any other injuries that I couldn’t see?

He smiled. “Hey, baby.”

“Where are you hurt?” I asked, my lips trembling a little .

“Just a small scratch on my arm.”

“This isn’t a time to joke,” I said.

He laughed, and I felt my shoulders sagging from the sound. If he was laughing, then it wasn’t serious… right?

I didn’t know.

The most I had ever gotten injured, besides from my fall— push —off the cliff, was when I accidentally cut my finger while washing a knife after dinner.

Had to get three stitches for that.

His eyes moved over my face before down my body and stopping at my middle. I looked down and realized I was wringing my hands together while I was talking to him.

He held out his hand to me.

I shook my head. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

He rolled his eyes as if the thought was so ridiculous and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me close to his warm body.

I instantly relaxed.

“I was so worried. Are you okay?”

“Ah, you didn’t have to worry about me. I’m not easy to kill.”

“That’s not funny,” I said.

He shook his head. “I’m being serious.”

Before I asked him what he meant, he was pulling me back inside his apartment, shutting the door, and leading us to the couch, where a first aid kit was on the coffee table.

“You’re bleeding through the bandage,” I said.

“Come help me rewrap,” he replied calmly.

I nodded. The fact that he sounded so calm, so blasé about this whole thing, helped calm me down. Perhaps I was making this out to be bigger than it actually was.

Plus, helping him would give me something to do, and allow me to assess the injuries for myself .

I moved over to his other side, to his injured arm, and carefully unwrapped the bandage.

“Why didn’t you come over as soon as you were home?” I asked.

“Didn’t want to scare you,” he replied gruffly.

I paused. “Is it that bad?”

I started to twist the white gauze away from his arm when he answered, “I’ve had worse.”

I frowned.

Would a contractor really be used to having these kinds of injuries? And what kind of injury was it?

I gasped when I pulled the gauze out all the way. “You need to go to the hospital!”

“No.”

“But—”

He grasped my chin, directing my attention back to him. “Ryleigh. I said no.”

“Why not? This is beyond a first aid kit.”

It wasn’t bleeding as much as I thought it was, but it still looked pretty deep. I couldn’t tell based on the shape how this happened, but something told me it wasn’t just a normal work accident.

He left to go somewhere with his… I wasn’t sure who that man was, but I knew he was dangerous, and Xavier had left with him, and now he returned home like this?

“Don’t worry about it. Why don’t you grab a clean cloth from the cabinet near the sink and wet it to clean away the blood.”

My lips trembled, along with my hand. I did not know how to do this. I had never had to deal with something like this before.

“Hey,” he said softly. “Just do as I say, baby. And don’t think.”

“Right, like that’s possible,” I muttered, standing up .

He slapped my ass with his good arm.

“Hey,” I yelled, looking back at him. “Be careful.”

He smirked. “Can still spank that cute little ass of yours, don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t worried,” I snarked.

His smile widened, and I walked to the kitchen.

What a fucking mess this entire day had turned out to be.

I quickly found the cloth, wetted it with warm water, and walked back to him.

We were silent as I ran the cloth over the wound, cleaning it up and putting some sort of gel-like solution on it as he directed me.

I wrapped him in a new gauze, leaned forward, and kissed it once that was done.

He sucked in a sharp breath from the move, and when I looked up at him, his gaze was directed at me, something dark swirling in the brown irises.

“Where did you go?” I asked, straightening and letting my fingers roam over his muscular arms.

“To work,” he answered evasively.

I knew he could see the doubt in my eyes when I said, “And this is normal? To go to work and come back injured?”

“Fuck, no. I got careless.”

I didn’t know what that meant, but I breathed a small sigh of relief. At least he wasn’t going to work expecting to be hurt because it happened so often.

“Who was that man?”

He looked over at me carefully. “My brother.”

“Your brother?”

I guessed it, but I was still surprised when he confirmed it.

I shuddered.

“Hey, Micah’s harmless. ”

“Micah?” What an unusual name. But not so uncommon, because I swore, I had heard of that name before.

Where had I heard it before?

His eyes shut off. “Yeah. He’s harmless to you .”

Did that mean he wasn’t to anyone else?

And somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to believe that was true. Micah had looked at me as if I was an inconvenience he wanted to get rid of.

“Do you think it will be true if you say it often enough?”

His face darkened with some unknown emotion. “Hey, I’m serious. I won’t let anyone hurt you, least of all my brother. And he’s not so bad once you get to know him.”

Yeah, I didn’t think I would want to get to know him any time soon.

No, thank you.

I opened my mouth to ask him how the injury happened when he pressed a calloused finger against my lips.

“No more questions, okay?”

I frowned. Did he really think that would work? He said no more questions, so there would be no more questions?

I would have said that to him if he wasn’t kissing his way up and down my neck.

I sat still. Trying hard not to show just how badly he was affecting me like this.

He brought the tender skin on my neck between his lips and sucked on it.

I was sure he was going to leave a mark there.

Oddly enough, I found I didn’t mind it too much.

My mom would be horrified that I was letting a man leave a hickey on me, but—but?—

I wanted to be marked by Xavier.

I wanted to be claimed by him.

I wanted him to keep me and never let me go .

All of my problems just seemed to disappear when he was around, especially when he was touching me like this.

He let go of me and skimmed his lips up to my ear, taking in an earlobe between his teeth and rolling it.

Goosebumps rose on my skin, and a throbbing started in my center, becoming more and more noticeable the longer he touched me like this.

“Xavier?” I asked.

“Hmm,” he said, not letting go of my ear lobe. His hands came up, and he cupped my breasts, squeezing and molding the supple flesh, playing with it.

My nipples hardened, aching so badly, begging for his attention.

“What are we doing?”

“You were such a good girl for me, helping me rewrap my wound. I have to thank you.”

“T-Thank me?”

I gasped when he finally played with my nipples, pinching the nub to the point of pain before letting it go and smoothing it over with the palm of his hands, only to start back up again.

“Ow,” I said.

He pulled away and grinned sadistically at me. He liked it when he hurt me.

He pulled on the nipples with rough movements before twisting them with his fingers.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, his voice sounding like delicious, dark sin.

He pulled down the straps of my dress, baring my breasts to his gaze.

He licked his lips, his eyes focused intently on them. “What would you like as a reward, Ryleigh?”

“Reward?”

“Oh, yeah. Reward. Would my girl like me to eat her out, see how many orgasms I could wring from her before she begs me to stop?”

I squirmed. That shouldn’t sound appealing, but my pussy clenched from his words, and I knew I was soaking my panties already.

He raised one hand and cupped me, his thumb moving over my nipple.

I attempted to move in closer to him when he pulled back and slapped the side of my breast, hard.

“Hey,” I protested.

He pushed me back down on the sofa, grabbed both of my wrists in one hand, and raised them above my head. I tried to move them, but he tightened his grip.

He moved between my legs, pressing close enough that I could feel his erection against my center.

He slapped my breast again, this time, near the center.

The pain was much more than it had been the first time, yet, there was a telltale sign of arousal seeping out from me.

“These are mine,” he said, plucking at my nipple. “I can do whatever the hell I want with them, can’t I?”

“Xavier,” I moaned when he twisted my nipple.

“Say it, Ryleigh. Say these are mine. My fucking toys. My property. Just like you’re mine. My property. My sex toy. My whore.” He looked down at me, his eyes dark and rough—a look I had never seen crossed over his face before. A sliver of fear ran through me, but along it was heat and arousal. “My goddess.”

I nodded. I could be all of those things for him, just as long as he kept touching me like this.

He pulled back and slapped my breast a few more times, making me try to squirm away, yet, wanting to come closer to him, all at the same time.

He tightened his grip on my wrists and leaned down, taking an aching tip in his mouth .

He looked up and met my eyes as he rolled my nipple between his teeth, making my back arch.

“Say it,” he said, pulling away slightly. He licked my nipple with the flat of his tongue, wrenching out a small whimper from me.

“I’m y-your property,” I said, my face burning. My mom would be horrified by the words uttered from my lips. And what was more, no one was making me say them. I said them because I wanted to. Because I liked the idea of being owned by Xavier… to this extent. “I’m your sex toy,” I added, the heat in his eyes encouraging me. “I’m your whore. Your goddess.”

It should make me feel degraded. But it just made me feel powerful because the heat in his eyes was real. Xavier was just as affected by me as I was by him.

He leaned down and grabbed something from inside his boots.

My eyes widened in shock when he pulled out a knife, yet I trusted him not to hurt me… not without my consent first. And though he looked like he had experienced all sorts of kinks, I hadn’t.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about knife play, though.

He surprised me when he grabbed the fabric of my dress up and ran the knife through it, ripping it apart before I really understood what he was doing.

“Hey! I like this dress.” I said, as he pushed the tattered fabric away from my body.

He winked. “I’ll buy you a new one.”

He used the knife on my panties as well. The muscles of my pussy clenched.

“Fuck, baby. Do you know what the sight of you looking like this is doing to me?”

Before I could answer, he pushed his erection against me, again, and again, and fuck, again .

I let out a loud moan. “I-I have a pretty good idea.”

He started to thrust his hips, mimicking the movement he would make if he were fucking me. The thought only sent me on a tailspin.

I grabbed his hips and held him to me, wanting more. “Xavier.”

He pressed his thumb against my clit, making my leg twitch, and my hips moved up, trying to get close to him.

He tapped the outside of my thigh. “Hold still.”

I heaved out a hard breath but held still for him as he began to play with my clit, his thumb moving in frustratingly slow circles.

My fists clenched. “Please.”

“I did promise you a reward, didn’t I?”

I nodded eagerly, and he laughed.

“How could I deny you? How could I ever deny you anything?”

“Then don’t,” I said. I wanted to come so bad.

He grabbed my legs and placed them on both shoulders, raising my hips up and bringing my pussy toward his mouth.

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the feel of that first contact of his mouth against me.

I closed my eyes as he moved his lips over my slit, taking in my juices in his mouth before he let his tongue come out and play, eating me out even more vigorously.

My muscles tightened, and a small spasm started rocking through my body, then building, and it wasn’t a small spasm, but multiple ones that I didn’t know what to do with. The more he continued to eat me out, the more aggressive the spasms grew until I knew I was so close to falling over the edge.

I opened my eyes and looked at him.

He moved his lips up and lapped at my clit, his eyes meeting mine as he did it, dancing in the light .

My head fell back on a small moan, and he slapped my ass.

I gasped and turned back toward him as his mouth moved over me, and when I felt my eyes start to shut once more, he landed another smack on my ass, this one harder than the first.

Message received.

I glared at him.

He pressed a smile against me before taking more of me in his mouth.

His fingers came around, and he played with my back end.

I shouldn’t be surprised at that, but I still was.

I knew he liked to do ass play, but feeling his fingers there was still a shock.

What was even more shocking was that I liked it.

He pushed one finger inside me, and that was all it took to make me fall over the precipice.

Xavier let my hips down on the couch, and he leaned back so that he was between my legs, taking me back into his mouth.

My back arched, trying to get away from him.

He settled his hand on the lower portion of my stomach, holding me still as he continued his rough movements.

“Oh, no,” I groaned.

The bastard just laughed against me.

My head moved from side to side, still not having quite come back down from the first orgasm, and this wasn’t helping.

My skin was still so sensitive.

I tried to move back again, but he wasn’t letting up.

Not until he drew out another orgasm from me.

And another one.

Tears stung my eyes. “No more. ”

I didn’t think I could take it anymore.

He kissed his way up my body, settling between my legs. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he leaned down and kissed me softly.

I closed my eyes, savoring the taste of him— and me— just as he pressed down against me.

I gasped and pulled away.

We didn’t say anything as he continued to dry hump me until I could feel a small hint of orgasm peeking out.

“Xavier.”

His eyes shifted.

“Xavier,” I said.

I wanted him to fuck me. But I didn’t know how to ask for it.

He cupped my cheek and kissed me roughly before pulling away, a world of emotions in his eyes.

I tugged on his shirt, and he helped me pull it off.

“How’s your wound?” I asked, eyeing the white gauze.

“Barely notice it.”

“Good,” I breathed out, taking in his naked torso for the first time.

Fuck. He was toned and muscular and tattooed.

Not as heavily as I thought.

There was one naked woman on his bicep that I was fascinated by. She looked like a goddess, with her long hair shifted to the side, as if the wind was blowing on it. There was one of a realistic lion on his right rib. I let my fingers trace along the words written underneath. It was in another language… Latin, perhaps, and I couldn’t wait to explore more thoroughly. A skull tattoo with butterflies coming out of it sat on his chest…

And I lost track of the others when he cupped my breast again and played with my nipple.

“Xavier. ”

He pulled away long enough to push his jeans down, kicking them off along with his boots. They fell with a thud on the floor, and then he was fully naked with me for the first time.

I let my hand run over the muscles on his shoulder blades. They bunched up from my touch, and he pushed himself closer to me.

My breath caught when I felt his erection pressed up against me.

We didn’t say anything as he grabbed himself and pressed the tip against my entrance.

I trembled, widening my legs and inviting him in.

He pressed in deeper another inch.

My eyes rolled to the back of my head at the stretch… the burn…

It fucking hurt so good.

He was so big, and it had been so long, and I?—

I just wanted more and more and more.

He moved in another inch, then another. My nails dug into the skin on his shoulders.

“Look at me,” he gritted out.

My eyes sprang open, and I looked at him.

“I want you to know who is fucking you, got me?”

As if I could forget. I nodded anyway, keeping my eyes on Xavier as he came in another inch before he roughly thrust his hips, settling himself fully inside me.

My eyes widened at the intrusive move, feeling him everywhere .

Sex had never felt like this before, and he hadn’t even fucked me yet.

I moved my hands up and gripped his hair.

He let out a low grunt but didn’t stop me when I pulled him down to me.

“Fuck me, Xavier. Just fuck me, please. ”

“Your wish is my command,” he cooed softly.

And then he fucked me.

He fucked me hard, and he fucked me fast.

I tightened my arms around him, holding him closer to me, afraid that he might disappear from me if I let in even the tiniest hint of space between us.

I wrapped my legs around him as he moved a little harder against me, making me see not just stars but the entire galaxy.

“Fuck, you feel so good around me,” he gritted out, making me clench around him. He groaned from the move. I loved the sound so much that I did it again. “That’s right, baby girl. Squeeze around me. Let me feel your tight little cunt around me.”

I gasped at his words, feeling more arousal coming out of me and making a wet mess between our bodies.

“How close are you?” he asked.

“Close,” I breathed out. “So close.”

“Take what you need,” he said.

I skimmed my hand down my body, playing with my clit.

Xavier watched with rapt attention, his eyes dark and his breathing erratic. I closed my eyes and, with a shout, came.

I was sure my release had more to do with his attention than with me playing with my clit.

My back arched, bringing him closer to me, and he continued to pound inside me, never once letting up.

A second orgasm came out of me from the move, and I pulled him back down and buried my face in his neck, hoping to ride it out, when I felt him shaking above me, his cock swelling.

“Oh, God,” I said softly while he let out a low shout, spurting his release inside me.

I closed my eyes, taking in the feel of him, the wetness… the mess …

My eyes sprang open.

“Xavier, we didn’t use a condom,” I said, tapping his shoulder.

Fuck.

How could I have forgotten such an important step?

He pulled back from me, and though his expression was set in seriousness, there wasn’t concern in them like I expected.

Why wasn’t he as freaked out as me?

“Ryleigh, I’m clean. I’ve been checked and haven’t been with anyone since I met you.”

I pulled back and looked at him. “Really?”

He nodded. “Really.”

“I’m clean, too. And I haven’t been with anyone… in a while.”

A look of arrogance entered his eyes. “Is that so?”

“Yes, but there are other things to worry about with unprotected sex than contracting a disease. I’m not on birth control.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, “Would it really be such a bad thing to bring a baby into this world?”

I pushed him off me, wincing a little when he pulled out, his cum dripping out of me. He seemed pretty fascinated by the sight.

And I tried not to let his huge dick get to me, but fuck, that was supposed to be after his release?

It was a miracle he didn’t tear me in two.

“Be serious about this,” I said. “I’m not ready to have a baby.”

He let out a small sigh and finally brought his eyes up to mine. “I am serious. I know you’re not ready, and I’m not forcing you. Just reassuring you that if this does end in pregnancy, I won’t run. ”

I made a face. “I don’t want you to stay with me out of obligation.”

His eyes hardened, and I almost took the words back. “You really think I would stay with you out of obligation? When I am with you, I’m with you a hundred percent, baby.” He reached out his hand and pulled me into his lap.

I tried not to move around much, especially since I could feel his cock digging into my ass.

He grabbed my hips, stilling me. “If I don’t want to stay with you, I won’t stay with you, but I also wouldn’t leave my kid if you got pregnant. You would still have me, but that’s not the point because I want to stay with you. Got it?”

Oh.

I nodded. “Got it,” I said softly.

Funny thing was, I did feel reassured.

Though I planned on going out and buying a Plan B first thing tomorrow morning.

Besides, my chance of getting pregnant was slim, considering my irregular cycle. It was still best to be cautious.

“I can hear you thinking,” he muttered.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not thinking about anything. Not me.”

“No?” he asked, his eyes taking on a mischievous gleam.

He ran his hand down my body, between my breasts, over my belly button, and finally, cupping my pussy.

He turned me around until my back was to his chest.

“Spread your legs,” he said darkly.

I whimpered and did as he asked, spreading my legs and placing them on the outside of him.

I looked down as he played with my pussy.

“Look how pretty this little cunt looks,” he said, “with my cum coming out of it.”

My inner thigh muscles clenched from his words, and I watched as he stabbed a single finger inside me .

Slowly, he finger-fucked me with it.

“Are you sore?”

I nodded. “A little bit.”

But I wasn’t going to tell him to stop.

“Do you know how fucking badly it turns me on to know you’re hurting a little?”

I swallowed, unable to voice my answer, but I did know. I could feel him growing hard behind me.

He pulled back out of me, and I bit in a small protest, which quickly disappeared when he landed three sharp smacks against my pussy.

I grabbed his wrist, and he looked at me in amusement.

I didn’t know if I wanted him to stop or continue.

“Are you wet for me?”

I could only nod.

He pulled away and massaged my pussy. “Fucking drenched,” he gritted out, moving up and playing with my clit.

Our eyes met as he continued to rub my clit, and it wasn’t long before the orgasm hit me again. I leaned my head against his chest, taking in his scent while I tried to return from the fall.

And when I thought I could open my eyes and take him in, I found him smiling just as he brought his fingers up to his mouth and sucked on them.

“Fucking delicious,” he said with a smirk.

I went to buy Plan B early the next morning while Xavier was taking a shower and getting ready for his day.

He had work, and though I asked him about it, his answers were evasive and vague.

He didn’t want me to know certain aspects of his job, which should have been a red flag, but I was still hoping that it was mostly about protecting his client’s privacy.

Perhaps I was making this into something bigger than what it was because I was still feeling off from meeting his brother.

Micah.

I could have sworn I’d heard it before. I just couldn’t put my finger on when or where, and I had been trying to figure that out for most of the night.

I ran the name over and over in my head as I stepped off the elevator onto my floor, stopping when I saw Trinity standing in front of me.

My eyes narrowed on her.

I still hadn’t forgotten that she’d called me a slut, simply because I had been able to make Xavier mine and she couldn’t.

We didn’t say anything for a moment, and I walked past her, heading for Xavier’s door, when she stopped me by saying, “I tried to warn you.”

I turned and looked at her. “Warn me?”

“About him,” she said, directing her head toward his door.

I narrowed my eyes. “Do you even know his name?”

I wouldn’t have noticed how her expression shifted slightly if I weren’t watching. She didn’t know anything about Xavier, yet she was acting petty and possessive over the man.

I frowned a little at the thought.

How much did I really know about Xavier?

I shook it away when Trinity responded. “Does it matter?”

“Do you know me?” I asked. “Do you know my name?”

This time, her cheeks turned red, and grudgingly, I admitted that even her blush was pretty .

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. Please leave me alone.”

She shot me a disgusted look, making me pull back. “Look at you, talking so arrogantly. You barely know the man, and yet you already gave him the key to your apartment.”

“What are you talking about?”

She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “It means I have known girls like you my whole life. You talk and act like you’re such a good girl, but when it comes down to it, you’re just like the rest of us, being led on by a big dick.”

“Now you’re just crazy,” I said, turning away. I was not in the mood to deal with someone like her so early in the morning. I hadn’t even had my coffee yet.

“I see him coming into your apartment almost every night.”

That gave me pause. I turned back to her.

“What?”

She smiled triumphantly as if she had found some information to bring me down. “Don’t act high and fucking mighty. We don’t know if he isn’t just one of many, and your door is nothing more than a revolving door for other men.”

I watched her walk to the elevator, still mulling over her words. What did she mean when she said she saw Xavier coming into my apartment at night?

I let out a small laugh when I was alone in the hallway.

She probably saw him go in his door and thought it was mine.

“What a crazy woman,” I muttered to myself as Xavier opened his door.

He looked out into the hallway, clear panic in his eyes, which lessened marginally when he saw me standing there.

“Ryleigh, what are you doing out here?”

“I went to buy Plan B. ”

“Oh,” he responded, looking down at the plastic bag in my hand that contained a chocolate bar and the empty box that had held the Plan B. “Did you take it?”

I nodded.

I might be seeing things, but he almost looked disappointed.

“Come back inside,” he said, opening the door wider for me. “And in the future, please don’t leave without telling me first.”

I smiled a little and walked over to him. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to his body.

He smelled like his shampoo, some earthy brand that was just delicious on him, and his hair was still damp, along with his beard.

I cupped his cheek, letting my palm feel the softness of the hair there.

“It’s sweet of you to worry, but I’m fine.”

He rolled his eyes and pushed me further inside, spanking my ass as I walked.

“What is up with you and spanking my ass?” I asked, rubbing away the sting and glaring over at him.

“You leave without saying anything, and I’ll bend you over my knees and show you what happens when you make me worry.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Not happening, buddy.”

He walked up to me, his eyes turning seductive. I shivered, wholly seduced. “Wanna bet? You have such a spankable ass, it would be a waste to go even one day without spanking it.”

I didn’t know how to take him seriously when he talked like this. So instead, I laughed, planted a quick kiss on his lips, and walked further inside the apartment, feeling his heated eyes on my back the whole time.