His Regret by Bella J.

Chapter Thirteen

PRESENT

Hunter closed his eyes,trying his best to push back the memory. If only he had known that day would be the last time he’d ever see her, he would have…he would have…fuck. He would have what? Kissed her more? Held her tighter? Made love to her at least one more time? It was so stupid to think that way, to let his mind drift in the direction of a whole lot of fucking what ifs.

Tightening his jaw, he opened his eyes and stared at the tattoo spread along the inside of his right arm. Beat the odds.

Those words once had more meaning to him than all the words written in the Bible. Now all those words meant to him was that no matter what you did, when the odds were against you, you were fucked. The words inked on his skin was basically mocking him, reminding him every day there once was a time when he was stupid enough to think one could challenge fate. That a man could choose to fight, to not accept the cards he had been dealt. Schmuck.

“Hello? He-man? Are you planning on being in there long?” Scarlet slammed against the bathroom door.

Hunter sighed. What the fuck had he gotten himself into? Why the hell did he have to follow her out to that damn parking lot?

He wiped his face with the towel, the painful memories of blue eyes that once fucking owned him successfully pushed to the far corners of his mind…for now.

“I’m almost done. Keep your panties on.”

“I’m not wearing panties, smart-ass.”

Jesus. Those words might as well have been hardwired directly to his cock. Why did the urge to fuck this woman and that smart mouth of hers seem to grow stronger and stronger the more he was around her?

Ever since he had the pleasure of getting involved in her shit, he’d had this familiar knocking in the back of his head that resonated straight to his groin. And that usually meant Hunter Keaton wanted something. Unfortunately for him, that something seemed to be Scarlet Woods—or Blanchette Wolfe. Thank God she changed her name.

He looked up at his reflection in the mirror, the shiner on the side of his face blooming in all its purple and black glory.

Maybe he should just fuck her and get it over with.

No.

He would not be going there with that stubborn-ass woman. He was already in too deep in her shit, and the trouble following her seemed like it went real fucking deep.

Scarlet hammered against the door. “If you don’t hurry the fuck up, I am going to pee in your sink, I swear to God.”

Hunter zipped up his jeans, not bothering with buttoning up, and pulled his shirt over his head. He flung open the door and stared at the blue-eyed pain in his ass. “You peed ten minutes ago.”

“Yeah. I also consumed half a bottle of Jack an hour ago. So my bladder is hating me right now.” She squeezed past him into the bathroom then paused in front of the toilet, staring at him. “Dude, I’ve been getting that whole you’re into kinky shit vibe from you ever since we met, and I’m totally okay with that—really. But you watching me while I pee is like a hard limit for me.”

Hunter stared back at her, completely dumbfounded. “Kinky shit vibe? Hard limit? What the fuck do you think I am?”

“Well, if those cuffs you used on me last night, and the flogger, dildo, and two pounds of lubricant in your side drawer are anything to go by, I’d say you’re one kinky motherfucker.” She winked at him…and Hunter wanted to strangle her.

“You went through my stuff?”

“What kind of woman do you think I am? Of course I went through your stuff. That’s like standard MO for any normal woman.”

Hunter didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or spit out a whole lot of F-bombs at her. “I’m just…I’m just going to leave before I—”

“Before you push me up against the bathroom wall?” She cocked her eyebrows suggestively at him, taunting him with her goddamn attitude.

Nope. He wasn’t going to say a damn word.

As he turned to leave the bathroom, Scarlet called after him, “How many tats you got hiding under that shirt, Ace?”

He looked down at his chest and then over his shoulder at where she stood wearing nothing but one of his button-up shirts. “Enough.”

Suddenly his mind was filled with so many dirty thoughts that involved his tats, her hands, her mouth, and that goddamn bathroom wall that he had to ball his fist in an attempt to control himself. For a moment he forgot he was actually walking in the other direction, trying to get as far away from her as possible.

When he finally managed to open his mouth to say something, she reached for the door and slammed it shut in front of his face. What the fuck?

He looked up at the ceiling. “Dear Lord, you’d better give me a whole lot of patience with this one.” He looked down, then shot his eyes back up again. “And FYI, I might just end up strangling her…or screwing her. Either way, I’m committing a sin very soon. Just wanna give you a heads-up.”

“Who are you talking to?”

He turned around and saw Scarlet leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom.

“I was talking to God.”

“God? You don’t look like the religious type.”

“I wasn’t.” He turned his back on her and walked to the living room. “Until I met your demonic ass.”

“Ha-ha. Very funny.”

Taking a seat on the couch, he watched as she walked over to his bed and plopped herself down on the mattress.

“Hey. What do you think you’re doing?”

“I need some sleep,” she moaned, her voice all muffled up as she snuggled her face into the pillow.

“We need to talk, remember?” He got up and walked over to the bed.

“Later. I can’t keep my eyes open.”

Hunter stood next to the bed, staring at her laying on her stomach, arms pushed beneath his pillow. The way she was stretched out caused the shirt she was wearing to move up her thighs, exposing a few inches of the curve of her ass. She wasn’t kidding when she said she wasn’t wearing any panties.

For a second he allowed his gaze to slowly move from her ankles, taking in every inch of her beautifully tanned legs, all the way up to her thighs. It was probably very inappropriate of him to just stand there like a damn statue, staring at her ass, but those firm, curvy, beautifully shaped cheeks were just too damn pretty not to stare at.

She pulled her left leg up, and he noticed a tattoo high up on her right inner thigh. It looked like some sort of Chinese symbol. He had no idea what it meant, but it was hot as hell. Thank fuck he didn’t button up his pants or his dick would be hating him.

Everything about this woman just screamed sex—hot, heady, raw sex—exactly how Hunter liked to dish it out. And he really, really wanted to give this woman a huge helping of Hunter fucking Keaton—pun most definitely intended.

The smooth skin of her legs seemed like they were begging him to stroke his hands all the way up until he reached the tattoo on her inner thigh. Just the idea of touching her made his cock stand at attention, his loins on fucking fire.

“Stop looking at my ass, Ace.”

Hunter jerked up straight. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“Well, it’s kinda difficult when someone has their eyes glued to my ass.”

“Wear underwear, then.”

She flipped herself over on her back and stared up at him. “Now where would the fun be in that?”

The shirt she was wearing was only buttoned halfway and fell to the side, giving him a glimpse of the swell of her breasts. Beautiful, large, voluptuous breasts just begging to be kneaded and palmed—to be sucked. He could already taste her skin on his tongue, feel the flesh of her tits in his palm. Jesus fucking Christ.

With a light shake of his head, he peeled his gaze away from the woman who was laying half naked on his bed, tempting him in every way possible.

“Since you’re not sleeping, get your ass up so we can talk.”

With a loud sigh, she scooted up, leaning back against the headboard. “Are you always this uptight and demanding?”

He sat down on the edge of the bed. “When I’m kicking ass outside of a club, running for my life down a fire escape, and then speeding through the streets of Chicago to save the ass of someone I hardly know—then yes. I’m as uptight as fuck. And yes, I’m demanding in every aspect of my life.” He leaned a little closer. “And I mean every aspect of my life.”

There was a faint flush spreading all the way up the skin of her neck, and Hunter loved the fact that he had her flustered.

“Fine.” She crossed her legs, and immediately he had the greatest view of her thighs while she sat in front of him. There was no way he could have stopped himself from thinking about what kind of pleasure he could find between her legs. Thinking about how she handled that motorcycle, the strength she had to have in her thighs had him thinking about nothing but slippery hot sex, and multiple mind numbing orgasms. He couldn’t remember the last time he was this turned on, this jacked up to be inside a woman.

“So I’m going to give you the in-a-nutshell version of what’s going on here,” she started, then pushed her hand through her long, sleek hair. “My cousin, who is adopted by the way, is after granny’s little fortune. Okay, not little. Huge. But he’s scared shitless that little old me might take that away from him.”

Hunter narrowed his eyes, his attention now fully focused on her—and not what was between her legs. “Brent was adopted?”

“Yes. By my uncle, the same year I was born.”

Hunter rubbed his jaw. “If he was adopted, why would he be inheriting the fortune?”

She shrugged. “He’s the only living grandchild—so to speak. Granny doesn’t have any more living children to inherit her money.”

“You’re still alive though.”

“Yeah, but dear old Grandma doesn’t know that.”

A kind of sadness dropped like a veil over her, casting shadows of regret over her face. For a second he got a glimpse of the vulnerable Scarlet—the hurting Scarlet—and it somehow pricked at the stone cold heart inside his chest.

Not liking the feeling one little bit, he pulled his hands down his face and tried to focus on the problem at hand.

“Okay, but that still does not explain why he had all those men trying to kidnap you last night.”

Scarlet moved her gaze away from him and stared at the black sheets on his bed. “Let’s just say that I know something that might jeopardize him inheriting everything.”

“Explain.”

She squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye. “There’s nothing to explain. I know his secret, and if I should tell Granny, she wouldn’t want him inheriting shit.”

Hunter shifted, moving a little closer. “What is the secret?”

“Nope.” Abruptly, she jumped off the bed. “I’m not telling you anything else.”

“If you want me to help you, you need to tell me.”

She spun around to face him, and her eyes seemed like they wanted to burn holes in his forehead. “I never asked for your help, remember?”

“No, you didn’t.” He got up and rounded the bed to stand in front of her. “But I’m here, and for some unknown fucking reason I want to help you.” She opened her mouth, but he held up his hand. “Don’t ask me why, because I honestly don’t fucking know.”

She closed her mouth and continued to stare at him.

Without him even realizing it, he somehow managed to get dangerously close to her, staring down at her full, inviting lips, wanting to do nothing more than kiss them so hard they would be red and swollen for days. He didn’t know what it was about her. There was just something about this woman, something that seemed like it was reaching out to him—to his soul. He just couldn’t place it. But he really had this undeniable urge, this need to help her, and he had no idea why. It wasn’t like he was the kind of guy to go around helping every damsel in distress he came across. But her? He didn’t know what it was, and he didn’t even know what he was supposed to be helping her with in the first place, but something was pulling him toward her…and he didn’t like it one little bit.

“Let me help you, Scarlet.” Fuck.

For a few moments they stood there staring into each other’s eyes. He saw it. He could see her vulnerability behind all those layers of hard-ass steel and smart-mouth comebacks. There was much more to this woman than what she was allowing everyone to see. It was like he could feel her, sense her fear and her need to be free.

Her eyes softened and he thought she was actually going to let him in. But then she turned around and headed in the other direction.

“I don’t need your fucking help.”

“Goddammit, you stubborn as shit, insufferable woman.” He’d had about enough of her ungrateful, cocky fucking attitude. Without even thinking it through, he rushed forward, grabbed her around the waist, and pushed her face first into the glass of his floor-to-ceiling window.

“You really have an attitude problem, you know that?”

She placed her palms flat against the glass. The way he covered her entire body with his, the way her cheek was pressed up against the window, her warm breath fogging the glass—everything about it was so fucking erotic, he no longer thought about Brent Wolfe, Granny, or SUV fuckers. All he thought about was his anger, his frustration, how his cock was pressed against her ass. He wanted to be buried inside her right then and there—against the window with all of Chicago watching as he fucked her until dusk.

She moved her ass against him. “It seems you have a problem of your own, don’t you, Ace?”

“I can easily show you how quick my hard-on can become your problem as well.”

Her cherry scent surrounded him, her heat teasing him, taunting him, his self-control slipping little by little.

This was all so fucking insane. She wasn’t his type. He didn’t like women with big mouths who didn’t know how or when to shut up. Hunter liked his women tame, obedient, and easy to control. This woman, Scarlet, she was everything but that. She was nothing more than a fucking pain in his ass, yet his body wanted her.

Scarlet squirmed against him, and Hunter bit out a groan as the ache in his loins intensified. “Oh, I doubt it’s going to be a problem for me, Ace.”

“You’re a real fucking cock tease, aren’t you…Blanchette?”

Immediately he felt her tense against him. “Don’t call me that.”

“Why not?” He reached up and slowly wound his fist up in her hair. “Is that another hard limit for you? Being called by your real name?”

She tried to push free, but he tightened his fist in her hair and pushed her harder against the glass. He took her chin in his hand, gripping her jaw as he brought his mouth closer to hers over her shoulder. “Not so tough now, are you, Lucy Liu?”

“Let go of me,” she bit out between clenched teeth. She was angry, she was feisty—and she was making his dick throb.

With a jerk he let go of her jaw and spun her around, keeping his fist in her hair as he let his face come within inches of hers. There was violent fire burning in her eyes as she glared at him, yet her chest was rising and falling from her labored breaths, her cheeks flushed and her lips slightly parted.

“What’s the matter, Scar? You not sure if you want to kick my ass,” he leaned closer, letting his lips almost touch hers, “or ride my cock?”

She slanted her head to the side and never took her gaze off his. “If I wanted to ride your cock, I would have by now.”

Fuck, she was playing a good game. All the women Hunter had been with the last few years were too submissive to play games—too scared to play games. But this little spitfire who he currently had pinned against the window was playing, and she was fucking good at it.

He leaned down, closer to her mouth, so close he was practically kissing her. “So what you’re saying is that you’re not thinking about me being inside you right now?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” She didn’t even blink.

With a soft touch, he moved the back of his hand slowly down her arm. “You sure?”

“Yes.”

She was lying. He could see it in her eyes, the need just beaming from those beautiful irises. The flush from her cheeks had travelled down her neck, and the way she pushed her chest out just a little, pushing her breasts harder against him painted a clear picture. She wanted him—as much as he wanted her.

As he reached her wrist, he slipped his hand lower, tracing his fingers over her waist, down the outside of her thigh.

Her breath hitched, and he smiled. “You’re sure you’re not thinking about me pushing so deep inside you, hitting that spot, making your body shake with a need that will turn you fucking inside out?”

The hard-ass expression she had on her face a few seconds ago was no longer there. Instead, all he saw on her face was desire, want…need, a yearning for release. He felt it in the way her body shivered, the way she bit into her lower lip. She might not admit it, but her body was wound up tight, and knowing that she was turned on did some crazy shit to him.

She lifted her chin just a little. “That’s what I’m saying, yes.”

“You know what I think?”

“I don’t care what you think, Ace.”

“I think you’re lying.” He slipped his hand to the inside of her thigh, and slowly made his way up, feeling the softness of her skin against his fingertips. It felt even better than he imagined it would.

Gently, leisurely, his fingertips stroked up her thigh, and she closed her eyes just for a second as he came within an inch of where he really wanted to touch her. “You sure about that, Scar? You sure your body doesn’t want me?”

She didn’t answer, but there was the faintest movement of her hips, and that was the only confirmation he needed.

Taking that final inch, he traced a fingertip softly over her outer lips. She gasped and shivered, her body betraying her. When he felt how smooth and warm she was against his finger, he groaned as if in agony, and slipped his fingers through her heat, feeling how damn wet she was for him. The faintest moan escaped her, and he smiled. “I think your body is saying something entirely different right now.”

“Unfortunately for you, my body doesn’t control me.” She sounded out of breath, like she was in a struggle of her own. A battle between her body and her mind. But the evidence was there, between her legs and coating his fingers. She wanted this as much as he did.

“Maybe you should let it control you, Scar, just once.” He leaned closer and brushed his lips against her ear, inhaling, wanting more of her sweet scent. They were slowly slipping, moving past the point of no return, but he didn’t give a fuck. All he cared about at that moment was pushing this woman over the edge and watching her come undone.

Scarlet placed her hands on his shoulders, but did nothing to push him away. In fact, it felt like she was pulling him closer, wanting him harder against her. “You won’t be able to handle me, Ace.”

“You have no idea what I can and cannot handle.”

“Believe me, I’m one of those things you can’t handle.”

He pushed a finger inside her and she let out a breath while rocking her hips against his hand. “Like I said, you don’t know what I’m capable of handling.”

He moved his finger inside her, slipping it out and back in. “We both want this. So we might as well just get it out of the way.”

“Aren’t you just the perfect Prince Charming?” Her head slanted to the side while her eyes remained closed.

“I never said I was. Besides, you and I both know the Prince Charming type bores you.”

His fingers continued to work her, building the pressure in her body until it would demand release.

“I don’t know, Ace. Maybe I like Prince Charming.” Her hips moved to the rhythm of his fingers.

“You and I both know that’s bullshit.”

Watching the pleasure plastered all over her face, her body moving in search of what it wanted, looking to satiate a hunger he had instigated while his fingers were buried deep inside her, had him close to losing it in his pants.

“I only have one rule, Scarlet.” He pushed harder, moving his finger faster while she kept on making the most beautiful sounds of pleasure.

“Yeah? And what’s that?”

He stilled, letting go of her hair and grabbing her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. And then those damn blue sapphires, looking all smoky and heady, suddenly knocked the wind right out of him. Only then did he realize she had somehow managed to make him forget all about his number two rule when it came to screwing women.

Never blue eyes. Never.

Blue eyes were a hard limit for him. Always has been. Yet he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to bend this blue-eyed woman over and make her screams hit the goddamn roof.

While contemplating for a full two seconds if he would be able to break one of his rules just once, Scarlet took him by surprise by shoving her hand down his pants and gripping his cock hard.

“Jesus.” He cursed, his eyes rolling closed as an ache of pleasure shot up his spine.

“What’s that one rule, Ace?”

She stroked up his cock, and he opened his eyes, ready to break every goddamn rule he had ever made.

But then his eye caught movement out the window. Three SUVs parked outside the apartment building, men jumping out and making their way across the street.

“Fuck. Goddammit.”

Pulling her hand out of his pants, grabbing her by the shoulder, and hauling her ass away from the window all happened within three seconds flat.

Scarlet jerked her hand free from his grip. “What the hell?”

“They’re here.”

Scarlet looked from the window back to Hunter. “Who?”

“The SUV fuckers.” Hunter grabbed her pants and boots from the floor and tossed them to her. “Get dressed, we need to go.”

“I thought you said there was no way he could trace us here?”

“Guess I was wrong.”

When Hunter turned to look at her he saw the way she stared at him with suspicion burning through her glare.

“Scarlet, get dressed. We need to get the fuck out of here.”

She narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the side. “You led them here, didn’t you?”

“What?” He continued to rush around the room looking for his keys, his mind in overdrive as he tried to figure out how he was going to get their asses out of this mess. Scarlet just stood there, staring at him.

“Scarlet?”

“It was you, wasn’t it? You led them to the club, to my apartment. And now here.”

“No.” He placed his hands on his waist. “Well, yes. But just the club. Not here.” Then it occurred to him.

He scanned his apartment and found Scarlet’s duffel bag next to the couch.

“You son of a bitch,” Scarlet called after him as he reached for the bag. “I thought you said I could trust you, that you wanted to help?”

Hunter opened the bag while Scarlet was busy spewing every cuss word imaginable. He rummaged through her bag when he felt something hard and cold. Something that felt a hell of a lot like…

“A gun?” He held up the weapon and stared at her with what he knew was his what-the-fuck look.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “A girl has to protect herself.”

“From what, Scarlet? What the fuck do you need protection from?”

“I told you!”

“And I don’t fucking buy it,” he yelled back at her. Silence dropped over them, heavy and thick, sucking all the air out of the room. It was not the time to continue this conversation, but God help him, he would get answers…soon.

He placed the gun at his back and continued to search through her bag.

“What the hell are you looking for anyway?” Scarlet peeked over his shoulder.

“This.” He held up a small tracking device that he pulled out of her bag. “This is how they found us.”

“Well, shit.”

“The fuckers tracked you.” Hunter tossed the tracker device to the ground and stomped on it, crushing it in to tiny pieces.

Scarlet paled before looking up at him. “For all I know, you fucking put that thing there.”

“Oh my God. Would you listen to yourself? Why the fuck would I plant a damn tracker in your bag if I have you right here with me? That makes no sense.”

“But how—”

“I don’t know. But my guess is the guy who tried to grab you off the bike back at your apartment, he must have slipped it in your bag.”

“Goddammit,” she cursed, and placed her fist in front of her mouth. “But if they had the tracker, why wait almost an entire day to get here? They could have followed us straight here last night.”

“I have signal blockers set up.”

“Then how did he find us now?”

“It’s signal blockers, Scarlet. Not the damn Pentagon security system. Even though it’s a bitch to crack, you can still get a signal through the blockers if you know what you’re doing. It’ll just take a while.”

Hunter rushed to the window, looked down, and saw four more men cross the street, heading toward the entrance of the building.

“Come on, we need to leave. Now.” He grabbed her wrist, but she remained unmoved. “Scarlet, we need to leave. Those SUV fuckers are on their way up right now.”

While she stood there biting her lower lip, he could almost hear the wheels turning inside her head. She was trying to figure out what her options were, but just like him she knew all too well that he was her only option. He was it. She could either trust him or get her ass hauled back to wherever the fuck this Wolfe guy wanted her.

Finally, she started to pull on her pants and her boots. He let out a sigh of relief and then on instinct—or whatever—he tried to grab her hand to lead her out, but she jerked away from him. For some stupid fucking reason, he didn’t like that she pulled away from him. But there was no time for shit like that.

Hunter grabbed his keys, and just as Scarlet reached for the doorknob he rushed toward her, slamming his hand against the door. With his arm over her shoulder he leaned down closer to her ear. “Let me go first.”

Scarlet stepped to the side, and Hunter pulled out the gun, keeping it at the ready as he slowly opened the door. Glancing down the hallway, he made sure the coast was clear before nodding toward Scarlet, and both of them rushed out the door.

Scarlet made a beeline for the stairs but he grabbed her wrist. “No. They are probably already on their way up the stairs.”

“So what are we supposed to do now?” Fear spread over her face, her big eyes clouded with panic.

“We take the elevator.”

He didn’t think it was possible, but she paled even more. “Um, we can’t.”

“Yes, we can.”

“What if they are already in the elevator on their way up?” She was shaking.

For just a fleeting moment he had the urge to wrap her in his arms and to tell her everything would be fine, but he couldn’t. Firstly, because he didn’t want to lie to her. And secondly, because he didn’t care…or that was what he told himself.

He glanced at the steel doors. “There are two elevators. We just need to pray the one that opens for us first is empty. Now let’s go.” He pulled her in the direction of the elevators and pressed the down button.

Scarlet yanked her wrist from his hand and stepped back. “I really can’t.”

“You can’t what?”

For a second it actually looked like she was about to throw up. “I can’t go on the elevator.”

“Unless you would like to free-fall down this seven-story building, you don’t have a fucking choice.”

Scarlet cursed and pulled her hands down her face as she started pacing.

When Hunter noticed the light flicker on the number of the floor below them, he held out the gun and cocked it before aiming at the elevator door—just in case the elevator wasn’t empty.

The ding of the elevator caused both of them to stiffen. With the adrenaline pumping through his veins, that sound might as well have been a damn bomb going off right next to his head.

“Get behind me.”

Scarlet didn’t move.

“Get behind me, now!”

She moved in behind him and Hunter kept the gun aimed at the elevator door.

And then it opened.