His Regret by Bella J.
Chapter Twenty
Something was up.By the way he had paled after she asked that question it was clear she had asked the right thing at the wrong damn time. She still wanted the answer though.
She slanted her head to the side. “So?”
Hunter shifted, grabbed her hips, and pulled her off, placing her on the floor next to him. She watched as he got up and grabbed the CK underwear she bought him, pulling it on. It fit perfectly, and she smiled, admiring how good his ass looked in the black underwear.
He turned to face her, his perfect body glistening with sweat. “I probably should have told you my rule before we—”
“Before we fucked each other senseless?”
“Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck, his blond hair one sexy hot mess around his face. Seeing him looking so damn uncomfortable was quite amusing.
She sat up, not the least bit shy of still being naked. “What’s the rule, Ace?”
First he glanced to the left, then to the right, and over her head out the window, staring at the ocean.
What the fuck is up with him?
“Hunter?”
“I only have sex with a woman once,” he blurted out, and an uncomfortable silence settled over them.
“You only screw a woman once?”
“Yes. Just once. There’s no second time.”
Well, that sure as hell explained a lot.
Just looking at the tattoos on his body told her that he had some shitty things he probably had to deal with on a daily basis. And knowing that he only screwed a woman once made her wonder who the girl was who’d fucked him up so badly he was afraid to commit to anything more than that first fuck. Not that she was one to point fingers. God knew she had her fair share of shit to deal with. But now she wondered what was hidden beneath all those layers of muscle and attitude.
Hunter grabbed a white robe she had bought and tossed it over to her.
“So let me get this straight.” She caught the robe and pulled it on. “You’ve never screwed the same woman twice?”
“Not for the last seven years, no.”
“Why?”
“That’s none of your business.” He brushed past her.
“Wow.” She rolled her eyes as she stared after him. “Are you always such a joy to be around after sex?”
“You must have gotten me on a good day.”
“Ha-ha, smart-ass. I see what you did there.” She searched the bags from her little shopping spree. “No wonder you only want to screw the same woman once. None of them want to screw you again with that shitty attitude of yours.” And then she found the bottle of Jack she was looking for. “Aha. Knew I had you tucked in somewhere.”
When she looked over at Hunter, she noticed he was watching her hold the bottle like it was the Holy Grail. She narrowed her eyes. “I can only put so much shitty alcohol in this body, okay? I’m used to the good stuff.”
He snorted.
“Hey.” She held up a finger. “None of that. Now make yourself useful and get us some glasses. I’ll wait on the deck.”
She had wanted to get into the pool on the deck ever since they arrived. Now was her chance to drink some good whiskey while enjoying the perfect view of the ocean.
“Why don’t you go up to the Jacuzzi?”
“What? It’s the middle of the damn summer. Plus, I turn into a prawn when I’m put in too hot water.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You’re weird.”
“So I’ve been told numerous times.” She opened the sliding door and stepped onto the deck. “Now, if you don’t bring those glasses, I’ll be drinking out of the bottle soon.”
She placed the bottle on the side of the pool and took off the robe before stepping into the cool water. It was soothing to her body. Hunter sure as hell gave it to her rough and hard, exactly the way she liked it. She was achy all over, but the good kind of ache. The satisfied kind of ache.
Because of her past, and the fact that she was constantly running for her life, Scarlet hadn’t had a lot of lovers. The few men she did sleep with were nothing more than one-night stands—kind of like the rule Hunter had, only it wasn’t a set rule for her. That was just the way it was. She had no other choice. But one thing was for sure, none of them came close to Hunter.
He totally pushed the envelope, giving her much more than she bargained for. Just by looking at him she knew he would be a fucking devil in bed, but she didn’t know exactly how bad. Good bad. Awesome bad. Fucking mind blowing bad.
The moment she slapped him, she’d taken one hell of a chance. Hunter was a control freak, the dominant type. And when she hit him across the face, she knew it could go either way. Lucky for her, it went exactly the way she wanted it to. He embraced it, the pain, the fury, the lust. The way his eyes darkened, the way his cock pulsed in her hand after her palm connected with his face, he relished everything she gave him. After that, the heat between them got ramped up to a scorching level. Just thinking about the bone numbing, spine tingling, stars seeing climax that ripped through her body while he was inside her had her all turned on again.
“Why are you naked in the pool?”
She looked up at Hunter towering over her from behind. “I forgot to buy swimwear.”
“Yet you bought six bags of lingerie and you don’t even wear underwear.”
“Shut up and pour me some whiskey.”
He shot her a half smile and poured their drinks. Scarlet stared out over the ocean admiring the view. The sun had set and the moon was casting the most beautiful shimmer over the ripples of the water. Scenes like this could make one easily forget about all the evil in the world, all the pain and turmoil. To watch the waves softly crash on to the sand, and see lovers walk hand in hand on the beach made it seem like everything was right in the world.
“He probably comes here often.”
“Who?” Hunter placed her glass next to her.
“Adam. With a house like this, he’s probably here every damn weekend.”
There was a rustle behind her and Hunter got into the pool—naked. She shot him a questioning look.
He shrugged. “Why should you have all the fun?”
“If I remember correctly, you had a hell of a lot of fun yourself, Batman.”
“I didn’t hear you moan. Oh yes, you did moan. Fucking loud. I think the neighbors are smoking a cigarette right now.”
For the first time in years, Scarlet felt her cheeks flush. Dear God, she was blushing. Since when did she fucking blush? Hopefully, he didn’t notice.
“Oh my God, Scar? Are you blushing?”
Goddammit.
She reached for her cheek. “I told you I turn into a prawn when I’m hot.”
“It’s not hot.”
“Well, aren’t you Mr. Fucking Observant?”
Hunter snickered next to her, and she couldn’t help but smile herself. Oh God, were they having a moment? It felt like they were having a moment.
After emptying his glass, Hunter placed it on the side of the pool. “And the answer to your question is no. Adam doesn’t come here often.”
“What? Why?”
“That man has more money and dick than brains. His life is just one big fuck-fest filled with women and bourbon.”
“Lucky man.”
“Do you know how many times I’ve had to save his ass from murderous husbands and obsessed women? That man whore is probably my biggest damn client.”
Scarlet laughed. “At least his oversexed life is easy money for you, then.”
“True.”
Silence settled over them, but it wasn’t the uncomfortable type. The crashing of the waves echoed through the night, the soft breeze rustling through the leaves of the surrounding trees. It felt so serene. So peaceful. She couldn’t remember when last she felt so…relaxed.
“Hunter, how did you find me?”
“Nope. A good PI never outs his informants.”
Scarlet peered at him, and he smiled.
“I will tell you, though,” he started, “it wasn’t fucking easy finding you. It took me a long time to get a trail on your ass. How did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Manage to disappear off the damn radar. Apparently, Brent hired a few PIs to find you, but no one ever could.”
Scarlet stared at the tumbler in her hand. “Until you, that is.”
“Yeah. Until me. Seriously, though, how did you do it?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t do much really. I got a few fake IDs, colored my hair, and made sure I didn’t stay at the same place too long.”
Hunter stared at her, dumbfounded. “That’s it?”
“Yup. Guess I’m lucky that way.” She shot him a sly grin.
“Ah-huh.”
More silence settled around them, causing Scarlet to shift a little. Especially since it seemed like they were suddenly sitting very close to each other. Did he move? Did she move? Did both of them move while they had that moment?
Hunter cleared his throat. “So you’re okay with the whole not screwing the same woman twice thing?”
She turned to him and frowned. “Sure. Everyone has their thing, and not eating from the same apple tree twice is yours. Although,” she grinned at him, “the second apple could be much sweeter.”
“I doubt that.”
She took a sip of her whiskey and relished in the smooth taste. “So what’s the plan, Ace? You gonna hide me out here forever?”
Hunter poured himself another glass. “Well, you said Brent was adopted, so I’m going to call in a favor tomorrow morning and try to find out who this guy really is. His background. But, Scar,” he turned to face her, “I know you’re not telling me everything. If there is anything that I need to know in order for me to help you, you’ve gotta tell me.”
“I already told you—”
“Yeah, I know. All I need to know. But somehow, I doubt that.”
He stared at her with his emerald green eyes, and she swallowed hard. It felt like he was staring straight through her, searching for her secrets, rummaging through her soul to find out what she was hiding. The way his eyes searched hers was like he was trying to piece together a puzzle, trying to get the bigger picture.
What would he think of her if he knew the truth? Would he think her weak, or pity her? God, she hoped not. She wasn’t weak, and she sure as hell didn’t need anyone’s pity. She just wanted to be left alone, to be able to live freely without looking over her shoulder like a damn criminal.
Unable to handle the heat creeping up inside her chest while under his gaze, she stood up and stepped out of the pool.
“I’m gonna crash. You still hell-bent on sleeping in the same room as me?”
“Definitely.” There was no hesitation in his answer.
“You sure? If anyone does try to grab me in the middle of the night while you’re not there, I pack a mean punch.”
“And if that doesn’t work, you sure as hell dish out an epic bitch slap.” He placed his hand on his cheek, and they both burst out laughing.
“Fine, Mr. PI Man.”
“Scarlet?”
She stopped and glanced over her shoulder at him. “Yeah?”
“Could you start wearing underwear?”
“Why would I do that?”
He shrugged. “You know, since there is a man in the house. Me.”
“True. But I already fucked you, and you have this whole not eating at the same restaurant twice thing. So not only do I just plan on walking around without underwear, but I plan to walk around butt naked.” She winked at him and walked toward the house feeling like she’d just slam dunked the poor sexy bastard.
“I fucked you, by the way,” he called after her.
“Keep on telling yourself that, Ace.”
