a losing battle (free at last Book 2) Read online

  “So what are you saying, Carey?”

  “I think she’s fallen out of love.”

  “Are you sure?” My heart starts beating faster. Is that possible? Is it possible she’s finally free? Can I finally hope?

  He shakes his head. “I’m not positive, but sure enough to go spend the night somewhere else tonight.”

  “Why?”

  “You need to talk to her, Hunt! You need to show her you’re still as interested as you used to be. You are, right?”

  “I only made it through Hell Week because of her. Thinking of her.”

  He gives me a satisfied look. “I love both of you. You’re family to me, and I want you to be happy. And I believe you could make each other happy.”

  “What…” I clear my throat. “What am I supposed to say to her?”

  He laughs. “I love you would be a good start.”

  “Oh… Okay.” I promised her not to initiate anything between us ever again, but Carey is right. I need to try again, tell her she deserves better than a loveless relationship. “Carey…”

  “Yes?”

  “Are you and me okay?”

  He grins. “If you don’t start keeping in touch with me better, we won’t be okay much longer, man.”

  “I’ll work on it. Promise.”

  He nods. “Whatever is going on between Mac and Dad has nothing to do with me. I’m always in your corner. I’m always here for you. I’ll always think you’re the coolest guy in the world, and nothing can change that. But you should show me the same kind of respect.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  “Okay, let’s set the table. It smells great.” Carey turns on the burner below the pot of potatoes, and we do excellent teamwork setting plates, knives, and forks out on the table.

  14

  Mackenzie

  When I get back downstairs, the delicious smell of braised meat enters my nose. They’ve remembered the potatoes, too. Usually, you’d eat a risotto with osso buco, but Carey doesn’t like it.

  “Hey,” Carey says as I walk into the kitchen.

  “Hey.”

  I never thought it would affect me so much having Hunter here. I thought I could handle being near him—maybe tell him I realized I have feelings for him. But when he took me in his arms, I almost melted.

  “Thanks for remembering the potatoes.”

  “Sure thing, doll.”

  Hunter snorts and smiles at Carey. “You’re still calling her that?”

  Carey laughs. “Somehow, it stuck.”

  I frown. “What was that stupid nickname about, anyway? You sound like a 1940s gangster.”

  They both laugh but don’t reply. I give Carey a stern look.

  He playfully raises his hands. “Okay, okay. In the beginning, we weren’t so sure about you.”

  “I vaguely remember,” I say sarcastically.

  “Mac,” Hunter says quietly.

  “It’s okay. Forgiven and forgotten.”

  “Anyway,” Carey says.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t tell her.” Hunter sounds unsure.

  “Mac can take it,” Carey says before continuing, “We thought Dad was just with you because you were young and hot. Like a sex doll.”

  “A sex doll? Doll is short for sex doll?” I ask incredulously.

  Hunter runs a hand across his face, looking embarrassed.

  “But…you kept calling me that after you started to like me! Or are you just pretending to like me?” I ask, feeling my stomach grow queasy.

  “No, Mac, no. It wasn’t like that,” Carey says, putting his arm around my shoulders. “We never pretended with you. Later, it took on a different meaning for us. Not sex doll, just an affectionate term. You know you’re family to both of us.”

  I nod and look at Hunter, who looks sad. “I’m sorry Mac.”

  “It’s okay, I—”

  “What, baby?” he asks, coming closer.

  “You’re the only family I’ve got,” I say and swallow.

  “The three of us?” Carey asks.

  “I shake my head. The two of you.”

  They both hug me tight, and I’m glad to have them here, the three of us are back together, if only for a weekend.

  After dinner, Carey says goodbye and goes off to a friend’s, and I load the dishwasher. Hunter tries to help me, but I tell him to sit down and rest on the couch. After all, he’s just gotten through BUD/S. I don’t really know what the training entails, but I’m sure it can’t have been easy.

  When everything’s in the dishwasher, I go to the living room and sit with him, kneading my hands. He smiles and moves closer. He puts his giant hand over my small one.

  “Why are you nervous?” he asks.

  “I’m not.”

  His smile brightens. “Don’t lie to me.”

  “I…”

  He smooths a strand of hair back behind my ear, strokes my cheek, and runs his thumb across my bottom lip. “Baby…” He puts his hands on my hips and pulls me onto his lap. I’m straddling him, his hands on my back. He pulls my hips toward his own. I can feel his arousal.

  “Hunter…”

  “Listen to me, okay?”

  I nod.

  “I love you, Mac. I’ve been in love with you almost from the first moment I saw you four years ago. I know I was an asshole in the beginning, but I’ve been wanting you the entire time. I haven’t slept with another woman because I only want you. Only you, baby.”

  Tears well up in my eyes. “You slept with Brittany.” I don’t know why I say it. I shouldn’t care. It doesn’t make a difference. We’re finally getting a chance to be together. And yet… Obviously, the thought of it has hurt more than I was willing to admit.

  He gives me an irritated look. “No, I didn’t.”

  “Yes, you did, on your eighteenth birthday.”

  “Mac…”

  “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. You can sleep with whoever you want,” I hurry to add.

  He strokes up my sides, touches my arms, and lovingly takes my face in his hands. “Mac, I swear I’ve never slept with Brittany. Not even once. And definitely not on my eighteenth birthday. I ran into her, and she came on to me. I went with her because…you know…she was a hot woman in her mid-twenties. What was I supposed to say? But at her place, I realized I only wanted one woman in her mid-twenties. I only wanted you. I wanted to sleep only with you. I wanted only you to suck my dick.” He grins at me, and I punch him in the stomach.

  “So, I told her I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to sleep with her. She went nuts.”

  I frown. “What do you mean?” He looks insecure, so I add, “We’re no longer friends.”

  He looks relieved as he nods. “Thank God. That woman was a real nutjob.”

  “What did she do?”

  “I told her no, but she tried to persuade me to have sex. In not such a nice way.”

  I look at him in shock. “But…”

  “Nothing happened. She was mad, but I just left her.”

  “She shouldn’t have tried to bully you into sex.”

  “She didn’t succeed.”

  “Doesn’t matter. It’s a question of decency.”

  “And since then, I haven’t slept with anybody else, either.”

  “That’s more than two years,” I say incredulously.

  “Almost three, but, hey, who’s counting?”

  I look at him, my fingers burrowing into the T-shirt across his stomach. “I’m still with Carter.” At least, until I tell him it’s over.

  “I know, but Carey says it’s not going great.” He looks at me hopefully.

  I swallow. “That’s true, but…”

  He licks his lips, and they look so juicy with that moist shimmer on them. I bend forward and press my lips to his. He’s surprised, but it only takes a fraction of a second before he pulls me in closer. Hungrily, his tongue slips into my mouth. I moan quietly, wrapping my arms around his neck. His tongue is gentle yet passionate. His hands move down my back, land on my but
t, and squeeze. I moan loudly as his fingers explore my curves.

  He pulls away. “Baby, do you want this?”

  I nod, and with a turned-on grown, he conquers my mouth again. I don’t realize what he’s up to until I’m lying on my back underneath him on the couch. His fingers push up the fabric of my top, and he kisses my belly, moving up, kissing my breasts through my bra before pulling down the cups and, with a moan, taking my nipple into his mouth.

  “Oh, baby, this is so hot. So ridiculously hot,” he mumbles quietly. His fingers tease the other nipple, gently pinching, tenderly twirling. I lift my hips, trying to get some friction.

  He smiles against my skin.

  “Hunter, please,” I beg, because he’s going way too slow for me.

  “I’ve been waiting for this for ages,” he says, “so I’m going to take my sweet time tasting you.”

  I moan, frustrated. He laughs and devotedly licks my nipples.

  “Off with this,” he commands, and I pull off my shirt. At the same time, he lifts my upper body to open my bra. “Fuck.”

  “What?”

  “Opening a bra is not like riding a bicycle,” he jokes, but I realize he’s nervous.

  “Shhh,” I say, pushing him away. He doesn’t know what I want but follows my command. I push him into the pillows and lie down on top of him. I stroke his cheeks. “It’s just me. Mac. No need to be nervous.” I sit up, knees on either side of his hips, and reach behind me. I open my bra to free my breasts.

  “Fuck, Mac.” His voice is hoarse.

  I bend forward and grab his hands, closing them around the base of my breasts. He squeezes, kneads, and massages me. I bend down further, bringing my nipples closer to his mouth.

  “Yeah, baby, fuck yeah!” he mumbles and starts licking and kissing them. He sucks one nipple deep into his mouth, and my torso arches.

  “Oh, yeah, Hunter,” I whisper coarsely.

  I put my hands around his head and pull his face closer to me.

  “I love your tits,” he says when he lets my nipple pop out of his mouth and sucks in the other one. “Such sweet, hot tits!”

  “Lick them, please lick them,” I moan.

  And he does. I pull away and put my lips on his. We kiss with so much passion goosebumps spread across my body, and one shudder follows the next.

  I search for the hem of his shirt and pull it over his head so I can plant kisses along his neck. Out of the corner of my eye, I see ink. He’s had a tattoo done. I sit up to see what he’s wearing on his skin. I can see the corners of another tattoo on his shoulder, but across his heart, there is one small word.

  Mac.

  I put my hand on my mouth, my eyes welling with tears. “Oh my God…”

  He strokes my thighs up and down. “You know how much I love you. I wanted your name on my skin, even if… I’m so happy, Mac.”

  I nod, bending forward. I kiss the tattoo, running my lips and tongue over it. I love it. I find his mouth again while my hand reaches for him through his jeans.

  “Fuck, baby, I’m not going to last long with your hands on my dick.”

  I look at him and smile. “How long are you going to last with my lips around it?”

  His eyes widen, and I grin before planting kisses down his torso.

  “Mac, don’t…” I’ve arrived at his fly and proceed to open the buttons. “Mac…”

  I stop. “Don’t you want me to take it into my mouth?”

  “Fuck, yes, but…”

  “But what?”

  “I don’t want you to feel obliged,” he says, and I can see it’s difficult for him to say this—the idea of me giving him a blow job turns him on more than anything else.

  I lick my lips and bite my bottom lip. “Ever since I’ve seen your cock, I keep imagining what it would taste like.”

  His eyes widen before his eyelids come down halfway. “Fuck!”

  I stroke him through his jeans. “May I?”

  He gives a short, sort of pained laugh. “Any time, baby!”

  I kneel between his legs and pull down his jeans. My tongue licks across his dick, which is still inside his boxers. He clenches his fists and flings back his head. His entire body is tense. The veins start showing on his throat.

  “Fuck,” he growls, sounding so animalistic I can feel my panties soak through.

  I smile and do it again.

  “You damn tease,” he says.

  I stick one finger inside his waistband and pull lightly. He raises his hips, helping me free his cock. Hunter seems to have rubbed off on me. I don’t usually say cock. But Hunter is a man, and nothing else would sound manly enough.

  When he’s unwrapped, he stands in front of me hard and proud. My mouth waters when I see his dark red glans shedding the first milky drops of lust already. His cock is long and thick, with a vein running along the bottom.

  “Oh my God,” I mutter and grab it with both hands. I stroke him up and down, seeing more milky drops emerge. “Hunter…”

  “What?” He sounds tortured.

  “I want you to watch.”

  He snorts, sounding tortured again. “I’ll come immediately.”

  “It’s okay, babe. Then I’ll go again.”

  “Babe?” he asks.

  “Is that all you heard?”

  He laughs quietly and gets up on his elbows.

  “Hey, babe,” I say and look at him. “I want to be able to look you in the eyes.”

  Before he can say anything, I take him into my mouth.

  “FUCK, Mac!” he gasps.

  “Hmm.” I lick across his tip with my tongue. “So good.” I have both hands around his shaft, leaving only his tip free for my tongue to pamper. I lick across it again and again, dipping my tongue into the small indentation from which his cum emerges. I lick across his frenulum, making him harder. “So hot!” I breathe.

  Hunter is breathing heavily and looking back and forth between my mouth and my eyes. I keep looking at him. I want to see what he likes and what he doesn’t like. It feels so incredibly good to have him in my mouth.

  I move my hands in circles, and he growls, “Yeah, Mac! Fuck, this is good! Keep going, baby. Please, don’t stop!”

  I close my lips around his tip, pushing them against the edges, sucking hard.

  “Fuck, baby! So good, so good. My cock looks so good inside your mouth,” he gasps in a staccato fashion. “Fuck, baby! This is even better than my dreams.”

  I take one hand off and take him deeper into my mouth. My lips run up and down his shaft. Up and down. Again and again, my tongue licks across his skin. I take his balls into my free hand and stroke them gently.

  “Yeah, fuck! So damn hot! Your mouth was made to do this.”

  I look down.

  “Look at me, baby!” he gasps. “Don’t take your eyes away from me!”

  My eyes fly to his.

  “Yeah, that’s it, baby. Suck harder, please. Suck harder!”

  I do, and he gasps and moans, and I see drops of sweat running down his stomach.

  “Fuck, I’m going to come! Baby, I’m going to come! No! Fuck!” Before he can think about not coming in my mouth, sperm shoots out of him. He groans so passionately, I almost come with him.

  “I’m so sorry, baby, so sorry. I—”

  “Shhh… Hunter, it’s all right. I wanted you to come in my mouth.”

  His eyes find mine, and he smiles, looking relieved. “I don’t want to force myself upon you in any way.”

  I lie down on top of him, kissing his lips. “Whatever you’re doing with me is consensual. I want to pleasure you, just like you want to pleasure me, right?”

  He nods. “Yes, but I don’t want to trigger anything—”

  “You won’t. I feel completely safe with you.” And it’s true. I know a hundred percent that I can trust him. He will take care of me, even if it means missing out himself. But I’m not planning to let that happen.

  He wraps his arms around me and kisses me gently. “I love you, baby.”r />
  I nod. “I know.”

  His hands stroke my back. “You’re so hot, Mac. I love everything about you.”

  “Even my big butt?”

  “Especially that.” He grins, kissing me on the head. “Mac?”

  “Yes?”

  “I really want to lick your pussy.”

  I laugh and say, “Sure thing, babe.”

  He gets up and throws me across his shoulder, which makes me laugh. His hand is on my butt, and he smacks it lightly. “I want you in a big bed with lots of space.”

  I’m quiet for a moment. “Your bed?”

  He stops. “My bed?”

  “Your room’s been left untouched.”

  “Fuck, Mac! My fantasy is finally going to come true! I’m going to fuck you in my childhood bed.”

  I smack his butt, and he laughs, taking the steps two at a time. He marches through the door and drops me on his bed. His fingers are on my shorts, which I’ve put on instead of my dress. He opens the zipper and takes them off, panties and all. His breath stops for a moment as he looks at me.

  “Baby…” I can hear so much emotion in his voice that I get all warm. He strokes my stomach, plants a kiss on my hips, then hangs his head for a moment. “You may think I’m a fourteen-year-old teenager, but I’m about to come again just from seeing your pussy.”

  “Oh, Hunter,” I moan, getting wetter still.

  “I want to stick my tongue inside you, my fingers. I want to taste you, baby! Fuck. You drive me crazy.”

  “Please,” I beg. “Please do.”

  “Just a moment, love. I don’t want to make a fool of myself.”

  “You can’t.” I stroke his head, and he kisses my palm as it reaches his lips. “Everything you’re doing is perfect. And it turns me on so much.” His breath gently flies across my stomach. “Even your breath is making me wet.”

  “Are you wet for me?” he asks.

  “You have no idea how much I want you!”

  He positions himself between my legs and opens them wide. His shoulders hold me open, and he gently strokes me with his fingers. I tremble, every muscle in my body tensing upon his feather-light touch.