Authors: Holly Hood
“Like what?”
“
I don’t know.
But,
it’s there.” I pulled away,
trying to
control
the urge to touch him
again
.
“Why the doubt?”
Hutch sat up, close enough to make my heart pound in my chest, but still he didn’t
make a move
. “Why are you so afraid to give into your natural urges?”
I scoffed. “We know the answer to that.”
Hutch rak
ed his hand through his hair.
“Because y
ou have a boyfriend.
”
I nodded. That was the reason
why
being around Hutch was so difficult. You weren’t supposed to be attracted to other
guys.
Slade doesn’t care about you if he did he wouldn’t hang around with Audrey.
I told myself.
“So then you admit there is something you want from me.” Hutch sat back satisfied, dropping his leg
s
across my lap
getting comfortable
. “It would
imply
maybe your feelings for your boyfriend aren’t as sincere as you think.”
I rolled my eyes, him and his
words,
although
fancy,
they were
only
words. “You just want to get in my pants.”
“I’m a guy of course getting into your pants sounds like a good time.
Nevertheless,
that’s not it,” he sat up, planting
his feet
firmly on the floor.
I didn’t know how to respond. He was cocky and confident, but also honest. And not afraid to open up to me, he expressed his feelings a whole lot more
than
Slade that was for sure.
“So if you don’t just want in my pants
,
what do you want?” I raised an eyebrow, studying my hands waiting for an answer from
Hutch. Maybe I was being foolish to ask such a thing.
“I want to help you. Show you that being capable of
unexpected
things isn’t all that bad. I want to teach you how to embrace it, because I can tell
you’re
special.” Hutch stood
up. He
slipped a stone from his pocket and put it in my palm.
I rubbed my fingers across it not sure
why
I was even holding it and what he was trying to show me.
“What is it?” I asked
confused.
“
A stone…
nature.”
He
took it back and
steadied it in his palm. “My brothers and I use everything around us
to harness energy. If you open yourself up to
nature
you will be
surprised
at
what you
are
capable of.”
I didn’t understand. “I thought you said what I was
, was
dark and part of something evil?”
“I did, but I never said
you
were dark or evil. You were given
power,
Hope. You need to learn how to
have
control
over
what
you’re
capable of, or else it will control you.” Hutch sat down beside
me. He
rubbed the stone between his
palms,
and then he brought the stone to my cheek. I pulled back,
surprised
by
the coolness of the stone. He rubbed it in his hands again and quickly touched
my
hand.
“
Ow
!” I exclaimed at the
unexpected
heat attacking my skin. He chuckled
,
laying
the stone in his palm. He closed his eyes and slowly the stone hovered above us.
“What would you do if you
could?
Let’s start with the stone.” He flicked his fingers bringing the stone to rest again in his palm.
“I-I don’t
know,” I
stammered. I
was never good with magic.
Slade had promised to teach me everything I needed to know. And then that just never happened. I was left with the ability to do amazing things, but no way to know exactly what to do with it.
“Change its color, ima
gine the color, feel the color.
”
H
e pushed the stone in my palm
acting like it was that simple
. I brushed my hair off my shoulder
determined to do something right for once
, my fingers
encircled
the stone as I concentrated. I opened my hands smiling at the lovely shade of lavender staring back at me.
“What a great choice,” Hutch said with a smile. He took the stone back. “Now I want you to tell me something
,
but with your mind not your words, Hope.”
This was familiar to me. Like the moment in my bedroom when I was thinking about Slade
all
alone,
and he had heard me. I wondered if it was similar to that. And I wondered if Slade was capable of that why he didn’t do it all the time
to communicate with me
.
I nodded, thinking something I never would have the guts to say out loud to Hutch. Knowing that more than likely he was going to prove me wrong when he told me what I was thinking, but I didn’t care
,
I thought it anyways.
Hutch studied me closely, concentrating hard, his expression stern. I waited, my insides fluttering with the
exhilaration
of
what was to come.
I concentrated on the words, the
unspoken
message I was trying to
communicate
to
him. I
saw the words dancing around in my mind like tiny butterflies,
and suddenly the corner of his mouth curved upwards a hint of a smile playing on his lips.
He moved in, not tearing his eyes away from mine. “Are you sure
you’re
dying for me to kiss you?” he teased. I nodded eagerly
happy that it worked
.
His
hands tangled
in
my
hair. He
inched towards my
lips,
and I was so ready it was
making me crazy. I touched his neck
,
lifting my head
prepared
for the
kiss;
it was the only thing that was on my mind
. I could smell
him. A
fresh scent coupled with
aftershave
, and
at last
his lips met mine
, delicately at first making my heart skip beats
.
His tongue
teasing
me forward
right into his arms
, I wrapped my arms around his neck falling back on the
couch. He
followed
. My insides
blazed
with
desire. My
body
was
running on pure adrenaline
and
liquor
. I wanted
him,
and I didn’t care if I was drunk or foolish. I just wanted him.
I didn’t want to think about my problems. At that
moment,
there were no
problems, no
dad to worry
about,
no
so-
called boyfriend
who ran around with other girls behind my back. It didn’t matter, all that matter
ed
was the taste of Hutch’s lip and how his hands felt against my skin. And I liked that.
Hutch backed off, his hands trailing down my
spine. His
fingertips teased my flesh
. My body throbbed with
desire
for this guy. “I think
you’re
beautiful,
and I swear this isn’t
me trying to
sweet talk
you
. The things you do to me, Hope.” He pushed my hair from my neck. I closed my eyes at the delicious feel of his lips
on my skin
.
“You don’t have to say those things.” I
kissed
him. “I want you as much as you want me right now.” I panted, tugging at his hair, our lips colliding, our
breathing,
passionate
and labored.
My lips throbbed from the intensity of his
kiss,
and I wanted more.
“I like the sound of that. Say it again for me,” he coaxed, slipping his hands
beneath
my shirt. I raised my hands freeing myself from my tank top.
“You want me to tell you that I want you?” I asked,
letting him undress me
. I pulled his shirt over his head, and he didn’t fight
me. He
let me free him from his shirt
.
I touched his
muscular
stomach, reveling in the smooth tan skin free of tattoos
beneath my fingertips
.
Hutch pulled me close,
winding
a hand through the length of my hair
. He
tugged my head back
planting
a
mind-
numbing kiss
on my
lips. My
body trembl
ed
. I felt like I was about t
o
explode.
He had a way about
him. He
did things to me that I never felt before. He like
d
control,
and I was willing to give it to him just to be
free,
for the moment.
He dropped back on the couch, helping me into his lap, his hands skimming the length of my body. I smiled as his fingers slipped between the denim of my shorts and my skin. He watched me with a satisfied grin on his face.
“
You’re
such a beautiful girl.”
I kissed him again, feeling nothing but excitement
that
this stunning creature was enamored by me.
By me, a simple
brown-
haired girl
with
so many
problems on her shoulder
s
and he didn’t care.
I pulled his hands
up
to my stomach, coaxing him to touch me.
Dying to know how it
felt to have
his hands on the parts of me that
was
dying for his
attention that
quite honestly needed it
. He took hold of the string of my pink bikini
pulling it
free from my neck.
I flushed scarlet, exposed and
uncertain
if I was all that he was hoping I was. His hands touched my breast, making them insignificant in his big grasp. Our eyes
locked,
and he tugged me to his chest.
“Please tell me this is what you want to do, because I might go mad if I’ve got it all wrong,” he whispered against my
jaw. His
breath tickled my neck sending shivers down my spine.
We kissed
,
breaking apart for a few useless seconds, his thumb brushing my lower lip as he waited for my reply. I grabbed his hand placing it on my bare chest.
“Do you feel that?” I asked
,
referring to the
pounding
chaos taking place
on the
inside.
Something that told me I wasn’t wrong, that I was feeling something other
than
disappointment or betrayal. I needed to feel it.
Hutch nodded.
“I want
this. I
want
this so much,” I moaned against his mouth.
“Promise?” he asked, pulling me against him, his hands in my
hair. Everything
was so intense.
Even so, without warning
my heart was saying STOP!
A set of headlight
s
illuminated the room shocking me into
panic. I
covered my chest frightened that we were about to be caught in such an intense and intimate moment
. Hutch lifted me
effortlessly
from the couch
into his arms
heading for his bedroom. He kicked his door open not bothering to turn on a light. I stumbled toward his bed, but he yanked me back pushing
me
up against the
door. It
shut
,
leaving us alone in his room. Free to do what we wanted without fear of being caught by his brothers.