Huntsman by Cambria Hebert
43
Virginia
Villains are not born.They are made. Through circumstance, mistreatment, trauma. I don’t really know every way a villain is made, but now I know how the Huntsman was born.
Earth would hate it if he knew, as I lay here up against his side, I felt sorry. Sorry he believed his villainous characteristics were a result of his blood. Sorry he believed he was trapped by his own breeding.
Live what you know. Think what you’re taught. Become a product of your environment.
We faulted people for these things every single day. Acceptance was fickle. Acceptance was really no better than fault because we based both on our personal beliefs and experiences.
I read this quote once: “I stopped explaining myself to people when I realized they only understood from their level of perception.”
This explained the man I loved. He didn’t bother to defend how he came to be because he knew people wouldn’t understand anyway. How could they?
Yes, Earth considered himself a villain. Many people would agree.
But to me, he was a victim. A victim of his childhood, a victim of the Black Rose. A man who survived the best way he knew how.
It didn’t excuse his violence or the crimes he committed, but now I could understand.
Or maybe I was making excuses for him because I loved him regardless of his foul deeds. We all did.
Maybe loving him made me a villain too.
Maybe I didn’t care.
No. Not maybe.
I didn’t.
“I don’t expect any of you to do this,” Earth told the room.
“Do what?” Neo asked.
“To cover for me. To be here.” The power of his midnight stare beckoned me, and I looked up. His opaque gaze caressed my face almost as if he were memorizing it. His hand was strong and steady as it ran over the back of my head. “I put all of you in danger. You’re better off without me.”
He included everyone in his words, but those eyes never left me.
Beneath my ribs, my heart fluttered, making me feel slightly lightheaded. But then his words penetrated the spell he cast over my mind, and I jolted.
He grimaced slightly when my hand slapped the center of his chest, and I pushed into a sitting position.
“You!” I accused.
One eyebrow quirked.
“You were going to leave here and go back with her!” I practically yelled. My goodness, just recalling that heart-wrenching moment at the Tower when he traded his freedom from the Black Rose for all of us made me want to cry all over again. “How could you?”
“Just once, I wanted to be your hero instead of the bad guy,” he whispered, dragging the pad of his thumb along my lower lip.
Everything inside me trembled, but I refused to give in. “I don’t want a hero,” I said fiercely. “I want you.”
Impossibly, his already black eyes turned darker. I forgot I was mad he would make such a deal. I forgot everything in that moment. All that existed was him and me.
Somewhere far away, Neo cleared his throat.
“When did they fall in love?” I heard Fletcher ask.
“That explains the bruises he and Neo have been sporting,” Ethan mused.
“It was the peanut butter hot chocolate at Kismet,” Fletcher declared. “That stuff is magic.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Beau told him.
“Am not!”
“I’m happy for them.” Ivory’s voice was wistful.
“They aren’t in love,” Neo announced.
“He jumped in front of a bullet for her.” Ivory admonished him.
“Give it up, man. Just look at them,” Ethan said.
“We should give them a few moments alone,” Ivory suggested.
“Like hell,” Neo grumped.
“My head hurts,” Ivory whimpered.
I heard Neo jump up. “Come on. Let’s go find the doctor.”
I smiled a little, and Earth smiled back.
“Come on, puppy. Let’s get some food for everyone,” Ethan said, following Neo and Ivory from the room.
When they were gone, Beau cleared his throat. “Well, don’t I feel like the third wheel.”
“You’re not,” Earth said, pulling his eyes from me and giving the first indication he’d been listening to the charades of our family. “I appreciate everything you’ve done.”
Beau’s green eyes widened. “I didn’t do anything.”
“We both know that’s not true,” Earth said. “Thank you.”
Beau nodded, cheekbones turning as red as his hair. “I’ll be in the hall,” he muttered and hightailed it out.
When he was gone, Daeshim grabbed the curtain, swiftly pulling it closed. “Don’t mind me. I’m going to sleep.”
And then we were alone.
Our eyes were like magnets, the pull just too intense to ignore. “You really would have left.”
“Yes.”
“But not anymore. She’s gone.”
His expression was unreadable, his watchfulness intent. “You saw me kill more than one person tonight.”
“I watched you save many more.”
Perspective.That’s all this was. He looked on the dark side while I looked to the light.
“Why aren’t you afraid of me?”
“I’ve spent the last seven years trying to be capable and strong. Trying not to be helpless and weak. But I am.”
Nostrils flaring, he sat up, both hands grasping my shoulders. “You are not.”
I smiled at his ferocity, my heart turning over. “Maybe not in spirit.” I allowed. “But physically? Yes, I am. I fought against that man tonight, but truthfully, if you hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have won.”
He cupped the side of my head. “I’m sorry I was late.”
Pushing farther into the touch, I smiled. “Your savageness doesn’t scare me, Earth. If anything, it makes me feel safe. It seems we’re both opposite ends of the spectrum, one too weak and one too, ah, wild. Perhaps there is balance somewhere between us.”
“I’m a villain,” he whispered, pressing his forehead against mine. I could practically feel his resolve crumbling.
I whispered, “Not in my story.”
“After everything…” His voice fell away, but it didn’t matter because I knew what to say.
“I still love you.”
He drew back, seeking, dissecting… hoping. “Even knowing where I’ve come from?”
“I love you.”
Whatever resolve he clung to tumbled away, revealing the most beautiful unguarded expression I’d ever seen. And then he was holding my face, pulling me up until our lips fused around his low growl.
The sound vibrated my lips, creating a tingling sensation down my throat. I parted, welcoming him deeper, my insides turning to liquid as he claimed, owned, and caressed everything his tongue could reach.
I loved that he wasn’t gentle, how he sought to devour and possess. He kissed without holding back, unafraid to hurt me, unafraid to delve too deep.
Curling my fingers into the hospital gown covering his chest, I anchored myself as our lips slid together, slick and warm with passion. At some point, the kiss changed direction, a feat he managed without lifting his head. New possessive growls rose above us, and I mewled into his mouth, letting him feast on the sound.
A quivering sensation bloomed low my belly, tickling that invisible line that divided my body into the parts that felt and the parts that could not. Without thought, I slid a hand over my navel, pressing against my tummy where sensation sparked.
Abruptly, Earth pulled his lips from mine, the sound of our gasps beating out the loud pulse thrumming in my ears. His lips were slick and plump as they dragged across my jaw toward my neck, leaving a line of our mixed saliva trailing over my skin.
Shivering lightly, I pressed closer, the hand against my stomach trapped between our bodies as his tongue lapped over my neck, his lips latching on to that sensitive spot he seemed to have memorized.
I moaned, the sound wanton and surprising. Gasping, I started to pull away, but he wouldn’t let me. His fingers tightened in my scalp. His thumb applied pressure, keeping my head tilted enough that he could continue his assault on that secret spot.
My nipples puckered so tight that sparks of pleasure tinged with pain electrified my entire upper body and my fingers began to shake.
“Earth,” I whispered, voice wobbly and nearly unrecognizable.
“Sprite,” he rumbled, breath brushing over the wet spot against my neck.
I shuddered, fingers delving into his hair to tug.
At last, he lifted his face, eyes hooded, lips red, and a warring smirk of satisfaction and hunger playing on his lips. “Salanghae.” I love you.
Leaning in, I pecked a brief kiss against his lips, gobbling up those sweet words.
“You know a villain’s love is infallible.” He smiled. It was a soft smile that transformed his angular face into gentle curves.
“Is it?” I was partly breathless and completely entranced.
“Mmm,” he rumbled. “Because it blooms in the most unfavorable conditions, growing in darkness and surviving on hate. Nothing can destroy it, not even death.”
I didn’t bother to tell him again that, to me, he wasn’t a villain. Probably because his kind of love was exactly what I wanted.