Exposed (8 page)

He stops the car abruptly before he hops out and takes wide strides to reach my spot on the porch. "Sadie," he whispers as he pulls me into his chest.

I'm taken back by the gesture and I instinctively want to melt into him. I resist. I know he's not good for me. I knew it when I first saw him the night of the benefit dinner. My better judgement just keeps hiding behind my desire.

"Let's go." He takes my hand and I feel it go limp. I can't grasp onto his but I allow him to lead me to the car. I feel numb. I'm so humiliated by what I've done. Why did I show him the most vulnerable parts of me? Why did I expose myself to him when I know he's only interested in one thing?

I slide into the car and wait for him to take his seat. "Hunter." I gaze down at my hands as I clasp them together. "I need to say something."

"We can talk at my place." He starts the car's engine. "It's private. We'll be more comfortable there."

I gaze out the window as I watch my parent's home fade into the distance.

***

"Do you want anything?" He pushes his suit coat from his shoulders and pulls off his tie. "I have wine, water, some juice I think."

"I'm fine." I watch as he unbuttons the top button of the navy blue dress shirt he's wearing. I'll never get over how handsome he is. I know I'll never meet another man who measures up to him in any way.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to call after..." His voice fades as he sits next to me. "I wasn't sure you wanted to talk to me again."

I pull my gaze up with a breathy sigh. "I'm sorry." I search for the right words. They were on the tip of my tongue all day. I knew exactly what I wanted to say to him and now that he's sitting next to me, I can't think straight.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." He gently reaches for my hand.

I don't pull back. "I shouldn't have said the things I said. What you do or don't do in Denver or anywhere else is none of my business."

"Sunshine." He inches closer to me on the couch. I feel my heart jump at the sound of his nickname for me. "When I'm working I'm typically holed up in a hotel that is opening a new restaurant. My whole focus has to be on that. I run into so many logistical problems that I can't even remember what day of the week it is, let alone what the weather is like."

I search his face for some semblance of the truth but he's stone faced. Maybe he was actually in Denver and I just jumped to the wrong conclusion.  I shake the subject out of my mind.

"I wanted to tell you about the scar, about my heart." I pull in a breath trying to hold back my billowing emotions. "It's so hard. People treat me differently when they know."

"You're so special." He leans his forehead against my hair. "That makes you even more special."

I don't want to cry but the softness in his voice and the tenderness in his words are pulling everything I've felt for the past few weeks to the surface.

"The scar makes you more beautiful to me." He moves his hand from mine to my chest. I flinch slightly at his touch. "It means you're a true gift."

I try to process his words. "It's ugly." I spit out.

"Never say that." He reaches to cradle my chin in his hand. "It's amazing. You're so amazing."

I want to kiss him. I want to fall back into that place of pure pleasure with him. I can't. I won't. I don't want to be hurt by him.

I close my eyes when I feel his lips brush against mine. Every fiber of my body is calling at me to pull back but I can't. I wrap my fingers through his hair as I let him glide his lips across mine. I'm so hungry for his touch. I've wanted him so much. I don't care if I'm one of many. I don't care if it's only until September. I need this. I deserve it. I want it.

He pushes the strap of my dress down as his lips kiss a trail to my neck. "You're so beautiful," he whispers into my skin.

I don't resist when he moves to the other strap and the dress starts to fall. I look down. My nipples are so hard. My breasts heaving under the heavy breaths from my body. The scar is there.  It's on display.

He leans down and takes one of my nipples into his mouth. I moan at the sensation. His tongue traces an outline, pulling the hard bud between his teeth. It's a mix of pure pleasure and pain. I groan at the sensation. I whimper when I feel the cold air attack my nipple as he moves his mouth to the other. He claims it with his hand before pushing the tender flesh into his mouth. I claw at his shirt, wanting desperately to feel his skin against mine.

"You want this," he growls. "You want me, don't you?"

"So much," I say through a moan.

He scoops me up in one movement into his arms. His lips fall hard into mine as he walks down the hallway. "I'm going to show you how much I want you." His voice is low and rough.

He sets me down on the floor in a dimly lit bedroom. I sense my dress being pulled down. I don't move. I want to soak in every moment of this. I want to know what it's like to be taken by a man like this. Even if it's just for tonight. Even if all I get of him is this one moment.

I watch as he quickly undresses himself. My eyes run slowly down his body, taking in the muscles of his arms, his chest and his abdomen. I settle on his cock. It's thick, strong and hard. He wants me just as much as I want him.

He pushes me lightly back onto the bed before he slides my soaked panties down my legs. "I love how wet you get."

I ache to be touched. I almost whimper at the first whisper of his hand on my breast again. "I want this," I say. I don't care what I'm supposed to feel or want. I can't think. All I can do is ache for him.

"I have to taste you." He's on his knees at the edge of the bed, pulling my body towards him. "I've been craving this taste for days."

I push my back into the bed to raise my hips. I know the pleasure that is about to come, I want to drink in every second of it. I want to feel it in every corner of my body, of my mind and of my heart.

I gasp at the first touch of his tongue on my clitoris. Just seeing his cock has made me so aroused. I know it won't take much to throw me over the edge into complete and utter euphoria.

"I love the taste of you." He laps at me greedily, pulling my desire to the surface swiftly. I pull on his hair as I come hard. I scream. I can't hold back the emotions. It's too good. It's too much.

"You were so ready." He's hovering above me now. His lips fall into mine and I get my first taste of my own desire.

"I want..." I can't finish my thought. I feel his cock rub against my thigh. It's so heavy, so full. I've never been with a man like this.

"Fuck, Sadie. Fuck." He grabs my hair, pushing it from my forehead before he presses his lips against me. "I'm clean. Tell me you're clean and on the pill."

I nod. "I am," I say. I haven't been with anyone since Will. "Please," I beg. "Inside of me."

I push my hips off the bed, trying to coax his cock with my slick cleft. I want him to slide into me. I want to feel that now. I'm going to explode.

He moans as he enters me slowly. "You are so fucking tight." His breath is labored, his heart pounding against my chest.

I groan as he pushes deeper. It's so much. I move my hips trying to accommodate more of him. He feels so deep already.

"I can't control it," he hisses before he pushes himself onto his elbows and fully into me.

I cry out at the sharp burst of pain. "Hunter."

"Christ. Christ." He finds his rhythm as his lips skirt across mine. "I've waited forever for this," he whispers into my mouth. "Forever."

I hold onto his arms, pushing up with every thrust. The pleasure is so deep within me. He grabs my hips pulling them up from the bed. I gasp at the sensation of his cock hitting me in my most sensitive spot. I can't hold back. I'm going to come.

"Oh god." I cry out as I find my release.

"Sadie," he growls as he pumps himself harder into me, emptying all his desire.

I lay still, unable to move. I never could have imagined it would be like that. That I'd feel so much so fiercely. That passion could touch so many parts of me. I'll never be the same again.

Chapter 20

"Can we talk about this?" He runs his index finger down the full length of my scar.

I nod silently. We're on his bed. The sheets are a rumpled mess beneath us and his head is resting on my arm. I'm completely exposed, yet I feel utterly comfortable knowing his eyes are scanning my body.

"When did you get a transplant?" He peers up at me.

"I was eleven." I smile back at him. "I was sick for a very long time."

"What was wrong?" His gaze falls back to my chest.

"I was born with a defect in my heart." I glance down at his finger once again touching the scar. "I was very ill when I was little. I was in the hospital a lot."

"That's horrible." His voice is barely more than a whisper.

"It was." I nod. "I kept getting sicker and sicker so they put me on the transplant list."

He leans onto his elbow now so he's facing me. "Would you have died without it?" He nods towards my chest.

"Yes."

"How did you get it? Where did it come from?" I can hear genuine tenderness in his voice.

"I was in the hospital one night and my mother came running in and said they found a heart for me." I push back the memory of that night. I was terrified.

"Do you know whose heart it was?" He asks tentatively.

"No. They don't tell you." I offer back. "It's all confidential."

"So you have no idea?" He stops his finger's path so it's directly above my heart.

"I was able to write the family of my donor a letter," I say quietly. "That was really hard."

"A letter?" His breath brushes across my nipple.

"When I was fourteen I wrote them a letter thanking them for their gift and promising them I'd take care of my heart." My voice cracks slightly.

"That must have helped them." He wraps his arm around my waist.

"I hope so." I sigh. "They lost someone they loved. I don't know how much comfort my letter gave them. I never heard back."

"I'm sure it helped them after she died." He traces his finger back up my chest.

"Or he," I say. "I never knew if it was a man or woman's heart."

He only nods in response before he moves slightly to place his ear next to my chest.

"I'm so grate..."

"Shhh." His voice interrupts me. "This is a miracle."

I close my eyes as I lie perfectly still knowing he's listening to my heartbeat.

***

"I want to clarify something." His voice startles me and I realize I've dozed off.

I look down. He's still resting his head against my chest. "What?" I ask sleepily.

"It's about us seeing other people." He slides up my body so his head is resting against mine. "I don't want to see anyone else."

"You don't have to do that," I offer. "We aren't going to define this, remember?"

"Maybe I want to." He traces his finger across my chin. "Maybe I want to be Sadie Lockwood's steady boyfriend."

I giggle at the suggestion. "You're not the relationship type, remember?"

"People change." He pulls his head up and cocks an eyebrow. "Don't you want to be my girlfriend?"

"You don't have to do this," I say the words even though my mind is racing at the thought of being in an actual relationship with him.

"I want to do this." He brushes his lips against mine. "I don't want you doubting me. I don’t want anyone else. I just want you."

"Hunter," I whisper as I scan his eyes for a clue about what he's really thinking. "What changed?"

"I had no idea how special you were." He tenderly pushes a stray hair from my cheek. "I didn't know I could feel like this again. I can't let you go."

The word again echoes through me. I can't get lost in that. Right now, right at this moment, he wants me. I want him. I can't say no.

Chapter 21

"I'm flying out to San Francisco in the morning but I'll be back by the end of the week." He pulls a few pair of socks from one of the drawers of his dresser to place in an overnight bag.

"You're leaving tomorrow?" I bolt upright. "I thought you could come to meet my mother."

He rolls his eyes at the words and then bursts out laughing. "You're taking me home to meet mom already? But we just started going steady."

I giggle. "I'm having a party for her next week. It's a birthday thing. Maybe you can come to that?"

"I'll be there." He leans down to kiss me. "I should finish packing. My flight leaves extra early."

"Should I go home?" I pull my legs over the side of the mattress causing the sheet to fall from my body. 

He kneels in front of me. "Not yet."

I stare into his eyes. "I'm still scared. You know that?"

"I know that." He nods his head slightly. "I will do everything in my power to protect this." He places his hand on my chest.

I shiver at the touch. "Thank you."

"We're going to move this along as fast or as slow as you want to."

"None of this seems real to me." A faint smile floats across my mouth. "Men like you don't like girls like me."

"The first rule in being my girlfriend is you can never say that again." He places his finger against my lips.

"But..." I start to protest but he cocks a brow.

"I have a confession." He hangs his head in my lap. "I should have told you this from the start."

My breath stalls. I don't want this moment to be broken into pieces. Please don't let him tell me something that will destroy what I'm feeling.

"I didn't come back to your house to get Petra's number." There's a hint of a small smile at the corners of his mouth. "I came back because I wanted you."

"No." I shake my head. "You're just saying that."

"You came down the stairs with your hair pulled back and your bare feet and I wanted to kiss you so badly. I just wanted you so much." He runs his hand along my chin. "I could tell you weren't sure. I could tell it was too much."

"I wanted that. I wanted to believe it that night but you treated me like I was nothing but a pathetic, inexperienced girl."

"You're not a girl. You are a beautiful, amazing woman that any man in his right mind would want." There's a hint of frustration in his tone. "Stop selling yourself short. I fucked up that night."