Hunter's Secret

TW: Discussion of sexual assault

Raine’s POV

The sunlight streaming in through the window wakes me up. I blink as I adjust my eyes to the light and look over at Hunter’s bed and it is empty. He is always up before I am. I yawn and become aware of the fact that there is somebody pressed against my back. And their arm is slung over me, and glancing down at the hand, I realize it belongs to Hunter. I listen to him breathe and I can tell he is still asleep.

I try to wiggle out from under his arm and he protectively pulls me back into him, burying his head into my hair. He deeply inhales and sighs. I try to move again but his arm has me secured against his body, so I give up and just relax in his firm but loving hold. Now that I am awake, all of the memories from last flood my brain and I feel my face heating up with embarrassment.

I can’t believe I freaked out on him like that. I teased him and led him on and then told him to stop. I can’t believe I cried too. I thought I had worked through all that stuff already. But the feeling of his hands above my shoulders like that just reminded me of my past experiences with Drake. Obviously, it impacted my body more than my mind remembered. I guess I never really considered what Drake did to me to be sexual assault until Hunter plainly said it like he did last night. But I guess I also haven’t been intimate with anyone since Drake either so maybe it did impact more than I thought it did and I just blocked it out.

Drake was my boyfriend and I loved him. I wasn’t in love with him, but I did love him. He said he loved me too. He was kind and could always make me laugh. Now that I am thinking about it, he never pressured me in the beginning but sometime during the two years we dated, that changed. The realization that I was sexually assaulted multiple times makes me feel disgusting and sick to my stomach. How did I not realize that was what was happening? I was so naïve. How was I so blind to the blaring red flags he was freely waving?

Hunter is so different. All I had to do was ask him to stop and he did, no questions asked. No pressure. No whining. Just immediate respect of the boundary I suddenly placed. Hell, he was naked and on top of me, I was mostly naked, and he still stopped. I know Hunter is not anything like Drake, but the memories of Drake made my body react out of self-preservation anyway. Which makes no sense to me. I don’t understand my own self. I did want it to happen. I was in the mood. I wanted Hunter. And oh my goodness, I thought he was attractive before but I didn’t know what I was missing. Now I do, and I will just say he is certainly the ‘full package.’

I feel my face heating up again but not from embarrassment this time and I take a few deep breaths, trying to calm my heart that has decided to start racing. I squeeze my legs together, trying to ignore the familiar ache that has started between them again. He slightly shifts behind me and lets out a sleepy sigh while I try to escape from his grip again.

“Five more minutes,” he sleepily mumbles, “And stop wiggling against me.”

I immediately stiffened with the realization that his hips are directly behind mine. Oops. He slowly breathes in again, moving his head even closer to my neck. His breath fans out over my skin and I shiver. He places a delicate kiss on my neck, and I suck in my breath. I feel him smile against my skin and I roll my eyes. He knows exactly what he is doing. He places another kiss on my shoulder and pulls my body closer to him.

“Hunter, if you squeeze my bladder again, I am going to pee in your bed. Please let go so I can go to the bathroom.”

He immediately lifted his arm off me, and I scrambled out of the bed, hurriedly entering the bathroom and shutting the door behind me. I let out the breath I was holding and took a deep breath in. I quickly do my business and wash my hands in very cold water. I take a few more deep breaths and look at myself in the mirror. There are tear stains where my tears rubbed off my makeup. I grab my facewash and a washcloth and wash my face, trying to remove the remaining makeup, also using cold water. I grab another cloth and dry my face. I finger comb my hair and call it good enough.

I slowly open the door and Hunter is still laying on the bed, obviously asleep again. I know this stuff with rogues has been hard on him, so I let him sleep. I grab a pair of leggings and slip them on before heading downstairs. I make it to the kitchen and Cameron is leaning against the counter, sipping his coffee, trying to use his cup to shield the smirk that I know is on his lips.

His eyes briefly turn gray, and I snap my fingers at him, “Stop, he is sleeping! Let him rest. He is tired.”

He raises his eyebrows at me, and I roll my eyes at him.

“Why? Not do much sleeping last night?” He sarcastically says, sending me a wink which I reply to with my middle finger. I open the fridge and pull out a piece of leftover pizza and put it into my mouth.

“Really? Cold pizza? That’s gross,” Cameron said, sticking his tongue out in disgust.

“I’m hungry. Leave me alone,” I flatly respond and taking my pizza, go to sit down on the couch.

“I am sure you are, Luna,” He smirks, sitting down in the chair next to me.

“Let the girl eat in peace, Cam. And you better get me some food, or you are sleeping out here tonight,” Emma threatens as she comes out of their bedroom, and he pops up from the chair, heading back to the kitchen. I shoot her a thankful glance and she smiles in return.

She sits down in the chair he was occupying and looks at me with silent questions. Holding the pizza between my teeth, I use both my hands to pull my hair back off my neck and move my head back and forth. She eagerly searches my neck for a mark but when she doesn’t find one, she nods in understanding. The smell of eggs and bacon starts wafting through the air and Emma immediately scrunches up her nose and runs to the bathroom. I hear her get sick and I feel bad for her. Morning sickness and nausea are no joke. I stand up and walk to the bathroom, still eating my pizza.

“You okay?” I ask and take another bite.

She glances up at me and seeing my pizza, immediately throws up again. She struggles to hold her hair back because her shoulder is still limited in its motion, so I move behind her to hold her hair. She continues to throw up and when she is done, she sits back on her heels. I let go of her hair and walked back over the doorway of the bathroom. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and stands up, going over the sink to wash her hands. I take another bite of my pizza and walk back out to the living room.

“You are nasty,” Cameron said, looking a little queasy himself.

“And you are a wimp. Your point?” I retort, popping the rest of the piece into my mouth.

“You just kept eating while she was throwing up? That’s disgusting.”

“Maybe to you. Bodily fluids don’t bother me, Cameron. I mean I prefer to not have them on me, but they don’t bother me anymore. Perks of being a doctor I guess.”

“Still gross.”

I shrug my shoulders and start fixing myself a cup of coffee. I feel a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist as Hunter’s smell envelops me.

“Good morning, beautiful,” Hunter whispers against my ear, his voice deep and sexy.

My heart involuntarily speeds up and I set down my cup, so I don’t spill it. He took that as an invitation to turn me around and he pressed his lips against mine. My knees betray me by weakening and he just picks me up and sits me on the counter, not breaking the kiss.

I gently placed my hands against his chest and pushed him back. He takes the hint and releases my lips. He runs his tongue over his lips, as he raises an eyebrow at me.

“Garlic?” he asks.

“She had pizza for breakfast, H,” Cameron replies and I shrug my shoulders.

“Please tell me you warmed it up first,” Hunter desperately pleads.

I smirk and shake my head no. He dramatically places one hand on his forehead and the other on his chest, feigning pain. I giggle at his shenanigans, and he looks back at me with a serious expression.

“I love your laugh,” he tells me, bringing his face closer to mine again.

“Well, I love you,” I admit, and he kisses me again. Cameron clears his throat and my cheeks flush pink.

Hunter turns around and lowly growls, “What did I tell you last night?”

Cameron pales and holds his hands up in surrender.

“Relax, Locks. I was kidding. Ish. But seriously man…” Hunter replies and I smirk at Cameron who just dramatically bows before running to the bathroom to check on Emma. Hunter turns back to me, and I smile at him. He comes over to fix himself a plate of eggs and bacon and I use the opportunity to talk to him since it is just us.

“Thank you,” I softly state and he looks at me with confusion, “For last night. I am sorry again.”

“Raine, you don’t need to apologize. You are allowed to say no and you don’t ever need to feel bad about that. Also, I am sorry for sleeping in your bed. I know you asked me not to, but you looked so peaceful, and I didn’t want to wake you, so I just let myself go to sleep too.”

“It’s okay. I am not mad. We were both really tired. I did kind of like waking up next to you. But I do want you to respect that boundary still,” I admit, and he smiles.

“Of course. And I kind of liked waking up next to you too, lovey.”

“You really aren’t mad at me for last night?” I whisper, looking down at my hands.

“I promise I am not mad. If you want me to do something or to not do something, all you have to do is talk to me. I can’t read your mind, so you have to tell me what you are thinking and feeling. And once you do, I promise I will never be mad at you for sharing that with me,” he says, standing back in front of me. He placed a gentle hand under my chin and lifted my head, so I was looking at him, “I love you, Raine. Remember that when you feel unsure.”

“I love you too, Hunter.”

I hop off the counter and grab my coffee cup, heading to go sit back down in the living room. Hunter brings his plate over and sits down next to me. He flips on the TV and starts eating. I slightly adjust my body so I can watch the TV too. Cameron and Emma come out of the bathroom and Emma immediately heads to their bedroom, holding her hand to her mouth. Hunter glances at Cameron who just sighs.

Soon Cameron walks by again with a piece of toast and heads into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

“I need to be heading into work soon. When will Rebecca and Keegan be getting here?” I ask, taking another sip of my coffee.

Hunter pauses, his fork halfway up to his mouth and he blushes. Hard.

“I um maybe told them to take the day off,” he quietly tells me.

“Why would you do that?”

“Well, I thought that um maybe you would want to take a sick day today.”

“And why would I want to do that?” I ask, completely understanding what he is insinuating but I want him to say the words. I laugh to myself as he stiffens and blushes again.

“I was maybe a little overzealous last night when I mind-linked them on our way home,” he admits, slightly shifting in his seat.

I laughed to myself again. I want to hear him say the reason, so I keep prompting, “And what does that have to do with me taking a sick day?”

“I incorrectly assumed what our activities would be last night,” he says, and I prompt him again. He sets down his plate on the coffee table and turns to face me, leaning his face close to mine.

“I thought you would want a day off because I assumed we would not exactly be sleeping. I have the stamina to go quite a few rounds and I figured you would be exhausted by the time I was done with you,” he whispers with a smirk.

“That’s pretty bold for a virgin, Hunter,” I whisper back, matching my smirk to his.

“I may be a virgin but that doesn’t mean I don’t know things. Plus, good sex is practically in my blood,” he winks, leaning back into the couch.

This time I am the one to blush and he removes the cup from my hand, placing it down on the coffee table too, and pulls me onto his lap.

“I don’t want you to feel pressured though. I will wait until you are ready. I can be patient. I love you. And I also love kissing you. Can I kiss you?” he smiles as he looks into my eyes.

I nod my head and he brushes my hair back off my neck and leans down to place a sensual kiss on my skin. I tilt my head up, giving him better access, and his hands hold my back as he trails kisses all the way up my neck. He pulls away just for a second and then slams his lips against mine. I press my hands against his chest, feeling his heart race under my palm. I have no doubt that he does know things because oh my goodness he is such a good kisser. I hear the click of a door handle and internally groan.

I pull back and when Hunter opens his eyes, they are almost completely black. We both glance over to see Cameron frozen with his hand still on the door handle but he is now standing in the living room. He glances around, for what I assume is an escape plan as Hunter moves me off his lap. Cameron gulps and decides that the best option is to race up the stairs. Hunter growls and quickly follows him, and I hear some grunting and shuffling and for a second, I am concerned that Hunter might hurt him, but the sounds quickly turn to laughter, and I can’t help but laugh as well.

I still hear sounds of them messing around upstairs and I assume they are wrestling or something because I hear someone’s back hit a wall. They are both still laughing though so I know that no one is hurt. A small knock at the front door catches my attention and I laugh to myself again as I walk over to the door. I open it and there is no one standing there. I look down and there is a manila envelope sitting on the doorstep. I pick it up and step outside to look around. I still don’t see anyone. I shrug my shoulders and head back inside the house, closing the door behind me. I open the envelope and my heart sinks into my stomach. This is really really bad.