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Hunter looked over his shoulder as Reece carried an unconscious Lilith to the door. Her face was badly bruised and battered. Her wrists and ankles were raw from where the chain had cut her skin. The moans of pain, even out cold, proved the rest of her body took vicious beatings as well.
“You useless, spineless prick! You’re going to die for this!” Hunter saw red, his mind went blank as he released the shackles holding his temper in check. He became a battering ram, pounding hit after hit against Rocco’s head, everywhere he could reach, anything to rid himself of the guilt. If he hadn’t left Lilith to her own devices, she would’ve been home, without a mark or a bruise on her marble-like skin. It was his fault. He was the one who had made her a target.
“Stop! Hunter, p-please stop.”
Hunter heard the hoarsely uttered words but ignored them as his arms kept pumping, his fists kept at its vicious attack against a coward he once called friend. Lilith’s state fed his continued anger to avenge the suffering she had endured at Mark’s hands.
“Please, Hunter. S-Stop!” Finally, the raw croak of Lilith’s voice penetrated the haze of fury that had turned him into a menace. Gasping for breath, he looked at her. She was clinging to Reece, peering at him through eyes almost completely swollen shut. “He’s not w-worth it. He’s not worth your l-life ending. Please. Just s-stop.”
Hunter was already stumbling toward them before she finished her plea. With trembling hands, he took her from Reece, holding her with such gentle care, his own body shuddered at the effort.
“Make sure they lock him up, Reece. Sit on him if you have to but don’t let him get away.”
“I’ve got this. You just take care of your subbie.”
Hunter walked toward the Jeep parked outside the cabin, carefully laying her down on the back seat.
“I’m sorry, Lilith. I should never have made you vulnerable to him.”
“Y-You didn’t know who he was. Nor d-did I.” She swallowed with difficulty. “He’s sick, Hunter. H-His mind is g-gone. Somewhere in his l-life, he lost himself.”
“Don’t make excuses for him, Lilith. He’s a monster, and I’m going to make sure he spends the rest of his life in jail.”
“Please, can we just g-go?”
“Yes, subbie. I’ll take you home.”
“S-Subbie? Is that what I am to all of you?”
“No, Lilith. I was a fool. Too stubborn and too proud to admit it, but you are the woman I want to grow old with. I don’t know when it happened, but I lost my heart to you.” He smiled as her split lip turned into a ghost of a smile. “I love you, Lilith. I hope it’s not too late, but I want the chance to make you love me, too.”
“I’m afraid it’s t-too late, Hunter.”
His face fell. Pride had once again become man’s downfall. This time, it stabbed him in the heart like the edge of a sword.
“You can’t m-make me love you, Hunter, b-because I already love you.”
“Ah, my love,” he gently pressed his lips against hers, careful not to hurt her. “My subbie. That’s what you are to me. My only little subbie. The ember who keeps the fire inside me alive.”
“T-Take me home, please. I need to f-fall asleep with your arms around me.”
“It’ll have to be in a hospital bed but I’m not leaving you alone ever again. You’ll be in my arms every night, from now, until the end of time.”
“I’m g-going to hold you to that.”
“You better.”
5 Years later, Club Sensations Academy…
“Peyton Jackson?” Hunter mused as he stared at the application for the parade night on his laptop. “Why does the name sound so familiar?”
“Peyton Jackson?” Lilith asked where she was curled up on the sofa staring out toward the mini forest outside. It was her favorite spot to be, naked soaking up the sun, proudly displaying her swollen tummy to her husband. “Isn’t she that investigative reporter who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize a couple of years ago?”
Hunter’s head snapped up to stare at his wife. He never got tired of watching her. Pregnant with their second child—children since they were expecting twins—she looked as beautiful and radiant as she did the first time she had walked into the academy.
“Fuck me, you’re right.” A deep line formed between his brows. “What are you after this time, Miss Jackson?” he murmured as he made a phone call to Stone.
“Don’t tell me it’s time already,” Stone said by way of answering.
