The Hunter (Boston Belles, #1)

by L.J. Shen

She released the arrow. I repeat: Bitch. Released. The. Arrow.

“Just so we’re clear, you may be my babysitter, but you don’t call the shots. You do not boss me around, you do not make stupid-ass decisions with your body. Finally, you do not fucking hunt me. I’m the hunter here, sweetheart. And you? The goddamn prey.”

The need to tame her made my blood boil. I wanted to fight her to the ground and devour her, ending her and ending me. Whoa. What?

“I’d like to cash in on that kiss now.”

She was so drunk on our kiss, I knew she was a second away from falling flat on her ass. I grabbed the backs of her thighs roughly, hoisting her legs up and wrapping them around my waist, pressing her against the door. She moaned a soft protest at the same time her warm pussy met my raging cock through our clothes, grinding against me.

Our hearts slammed against each other, and maybe it was because I hadn’t had any action in over a month, but the kiss made me black out a little. It was a euphoric kind of dizziness, like I’d just taken a benzo and was unsure whether it had kicked in or not. I wanted to kiss her again, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her.

Her words melted into my hoodie, muffled by it. Was it just me, or were our heartbeats freakishly loud?

No one had ever touched me the way Hunter Fitzpatrick did—like the world was ending and we had to cram all our passion into one defined moment. It terrified me how seductive the man I shared a roof with was. Because that kiss had seemed genuine, ardent, and earnest, but I knew Hunter wasn’t any of those things. In fact, that’s what had landed him under my supervision in the first place.

“Money is power, baby girl, and the universe has a twisted sense of humor, which is why I have a lot of influence. But if I do this, you make out with me—full-blown, second-base, tit-sucking, dick-rubbing make-out sesh. Oh, and I get to tour that orange forest between your legs. My time of choice, of course.”

Hunter turned to look at me. “Why am I feeling mildly uncomfortable and seriously turned on that you’ve been here before and know shit about spying?” I laughed. “I was with my dad.” “The respectable businessman,” he taunted. I shrugged, keeping my face straight. “That’s the one.”

“Fine. Run. You have three seconds.”

Enter Player 2. “I hunt you down and fuck you hard. Not deal-related. Call it hare coursing.” “Excuse me?”

“That’s the point, baby. You’re excused. Unless you don’t want to be. In which case, you run, I chase. Get out if you’re not game. Three.”

“This is happening. It is happening, and you’re frightened. It’s happening, and I’m not a part of your carefully laid-out plan. You don’t know if you have the endurance, or the guts to see this through when it’s time to say goodbye.”

“See, baby? One-hundred-percent domesticated. I may be a hunter, Sailor, but I think in your case, I’d like to keep you as a temporary pet.”

I wasn’t at risk of falling in love. Famous last words.

Something in the air changed when our eyes met, and I wondered if my friends felt it, too—the way the oxygen sizzled and crackled around us, a bonfire gaining body and speed and heat. His lips parted, and the entire room sucked in a breath, save for Aisling. There was just something magnetic and animalistic about Hunter’s presence. “I’d like to cash in on our deal now,” he said simply, still ignoring the rest of the girls, like they didn’t even exist.

“As you can see, I’m hanging out with friends.”

“As you can see…” he replied in the same measured voice, and suddenly, the music stopped and I knew everybody was glued to our exchange. “I don’t give a flying fuck.”

shot him a courteous smile. “You can wait.” “Or they can go,” he countered. “A deal is a deal, and I may be a bad businessman, but like every Fitzpatrick, I don’t take lightly to being fucked over.”

“Hunter Fitzpatrick, what are your intentions with my virtue?” I looked up, asking for the first time in a real, straightforward fashion. He smirked down at me. “Funny you should ask, Miss Brennan. I’m afraid I’m going for complete destruction.”

I just want to share something my father once told me. He said if you love someone, and they love you, there’s no point taking offense in what they say or do to you, because they never mean you harm, anyway. And if you don’t love someone, if you don’t care about them, then there’s no point in taking offense in what they say or do to you, because you don’t care about them. Either way—” “You don’t get offended,” I finished.

“The prince is not going to save you, aingeal dian. He is stuck in his castle, fighting his own battle. Are you ready to step out of your comfort zone and live?” he asked, almost brokenly. I’d never seen him so bare, so raw. “You have to let life touch you. Drown a little with me, baby.”

“You are my butterfly, Sailor. And maybe I’m not Gerald’s flesh and blood, but make no mistakes—when I finally catch you, I intend to capture you, too.”

“Cross my heart and hope to die, when I first saw you in that parking lot, I knew your blood type was gold. I think we’ll be a good lesson for each other, Sailor. You don’t know how to live, and I don’t know how to do anything but live hedonistically.”

center of his sweatpants. “You’ve already seen me naked.” I scowled, taking a step forward and wrapping my arms around his neck. He dodged me again, still watching my body. “Not willingly.” “What’s the difference?” “Then, you were a bomb waiting to be diffused. Now you’re an offering.”

“Because I’m your favorite villain,” he whispered.

Most of all, I loved that Hunter Fitzpatrick was crazy enough to screw someone behind his father’s back and risk losing his inheritance. Brave enough to fuck the daughter of a mob boss like an animal, knowing the potential consequences. He was fearless, and a rebel, and a sinner, and a saint. A prince who’d never wanted his title. A pure-hearted rake. He was everything a woman should run away from, personified. And yet here I was, falling deeper.

We didn’t talk about what we were. What we weren’t. We just existed: a butterfly and a man who appreciated beautiful things. Co-existing in the eye of a storm we’d been thrown into.

“Priceless and worthless are the same sum, presented in different manners. Words make you or break you. By cursing, you reduce yourself to someone who cannot convey their feelings sufficiently.”

His love was like the sun. Even when it wasn’t there, It didn’t mean it ceased to exist. And even when his rays did not warm her skin. He kept her universe alive. And even when the night engulfed her in loneliness, when winter wrestled him out of her life. She knew he would come back. He always did. Long after they said goodbye.

“When you’re like that, you make me want to fuck the defiance out of you, aingeal dian.”

“Swear to God, Sailor, I will fuck your mouth so hard you’ll lose teeth if you disobey.”

“I cannot keep you from making mistakes, because then you’ll never learn from them. The world is tough, and cruel, and mostly unfair. It’s our job to find a way to navigate our way in it. The more I shield you, the less chance you’ll have of surviving.”

“If you’re asking me to choose between my family fortune and a girl, my answer is obvious—the fortune.” I paused, watching his throat working behind his silky orange tie. “But if you’re asking me to choose between the family fortune and Sailor Brennan, I’m going to have to kiss your money goodbye and bow out of this one, Fitzpatrick or not.”

“I’m in love with Sailor Brennan. Shit. Okay, that’s no good.”

“End me now, Vanessa. For I’m already toast. It is much, much more embarrassing than my other brush with fame. Then, I had my dick out. Now, I have my heart on the line. My friends are going to have a field day when they see this. I was the last one standing, you see. I thought I was immune from the L-word. I always made sure to put a condom on my emotions before talking to a chick, let alone doing anything more. So many women have left me over the years, I figured leaving them first was the best course of action. But you, Sailor, you’re the one I won’t let get away.”

“Serial killer much? Yeah, but it’s the truth. I’m not let...

“Fuck me, Sailor Brennan. You really did a number on my heart. I guess what I’m trying to say—while offending the ears of every middle-aged housewife in this state—is that this is real. It’s always been real. You said I never wanted you, but the truth was, I never wanted anyone but you. Not really. But I hadn’t realized it until you walked away, and for the first time in my life, I couldn’t eat, sleep, or breathe. I see you, aingeal dian, even when you’re trying to hide. Especially when you are trying to hide. I cannot unsee you. I’m like that kid from The Sixth Sense. Only you’re not dead, and I’m not hella annoying.”

“Angry angel. Aingeal dian means angry angel. The first time I held you in my arms, at the fundraiser event, two things occurred to me. The first was that I couldn’t let go of you, even if you asked really, and I mean really nicely. The second was that I was unworthy of keeping you. I ran away from you my entire life without even knowing you, Sailor. But the moment I met you—okay, maybe a few weeks after that—I figured out not having you was not an option. So, here I am, asking for a second chance. And some ass. But the ass can definitely come later. I just want us to be us. Together. Exclusively. DoorDash and Netflix galore. Like a real couple and shit.”

“My bad. Anyway, that’s the bottom line. I’m stupid in love with you, Sailor Brennan. Will you have my dumb ass? Flaws included. No returns.”

“Say yes,” he breathed into my mouth. “Say you’ll never leave.” “Never,” I murmured. “I love you so much, Hunter. It terrifies me how far I’ll go to save you.” “However far that is, know I’ll go even farther for you.”

She was a fucking vision, Sailor Brennan. I finally understood why Knight could never touch anyone else, even before he and Luna hooked up. No other girl in the world could stir in me what Sailor did when I looked at her.

I’d never loved someone myself to know what love looked like. Not truly. Not until Sailor.

“To our kingdom, and to showing our enemies why it will remain ours. To being a Fitzpatrick.”

“My boyfriend and I have the most inappropriate sex discussions. I don’t know what to do with him.”

“I want to be your husband,” he finished, my body clenching tightly around his fingers as the orgasm washed over me.

I was the bow. He was the arrow. We hunted together. A team. We were also each other’s prey. “I want you,” he said gruffly. “Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow. Forever. I want you to be mine, Sailor Brennan. No one else’s, ever.” “Yes,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “I want that, too.”