Hunter's Secret
Chapter 46 - Past

TW: Sexual Assault (Before anyone freaks out, Hunter absolutely does NOT sexually assault Raine but SA is discussed in this chapter and I don't want to trigger anyone.)

Hunter’s POV

I hesitate for only a second before I lean down and place a gentle kiss on her lips. She surprises me yet again by moving her hand up to my hair, pushing me against her lips, harder. Following her lead, I grab her waist and pull her flush against me, not breaking the kiss. She smells so good, and it completely overwhelms all my senses. She is the one to break the kiss first but only so we can take a breath, and then she crashes her lips against mine again. My heart is racing, and my blood is flowing south. I know I am going to have to stop this soon if I want to stay in control. But a part of me doesn’t want to stop.

She said she loves me. And I believe her. River is practically purring with happiness. Hearing her say those three little words actually stopped my heart for a second. I love her so much and now I can freely tell her since she said it to me.

I break the kiss and lean my forehead against hers, both of us panting for air.

“You are so beautiful Raine. Do you want to go home?” I breathlessly whisper against her forehead, and she nods her head in response.

‘Ryan, we are going home. Walk behind us.’

‘Yes, Alpha.’

Now we have a twenty-minute walk home and I have to fight against my desire to just take her right here on the table. Why did I have to choose somewhere so far away from the pack house?

I internally groan and grab her hand, helping her down the steps of the gazebo. I hear Ryan fall into step behind us and I reassure Raine that it is just him. I start off in the direction of the house, and she follows me.

“Hunter, slow down. My legs are not as long as yours!” Raine giggles and without hesitation, I scoop her up and carry her bridal style.

“There, now you don’t have to walk at all, lovey.”

“Why are you in such a rush anyway?” She laughs and I smile.

“Because as good as this dress looks on you, I think it would look better on my floor. And that can’t happen if we aren’t in my room.”

“Well damn Hunter. Okay then,” she laughs again.

The feeling of her in my arms is a feeling I will always love. She lays her head against my chest and the sparks that are flowing out of her skin seem to be all traveling down, settling below my belt, and I stifle a groan. I have never felt like this before, and I am very ready to be with her. Plus, she said okay, so I know she is ready too.

We finally made it to the house, and I put her down only to pull the key out of my pocket. My hands are shaking with anticipation and excitement that it takes me a few tries to get the key into the lock. I get the door open and pick her up again, shutting the door with my foot. The house is quiet right now, which makes me smile and I take the stairs two at a time until we reach my room.

I placed her back down on the floor and grabbing her hand, pulled her into my room. I shut my door and spun around to face her. Her eyes match the desire that I am sure is apparent in mine too. I push her back against the door and kiss her again. She fervently kisses me back, running her fingers up into my hair again. She twirls my hair around her fingers, and I unintentionally moan into her mouth. Her eyes snap open in surprise and I feel a deep blush spread across my face.

I move my lips off of hers and she smirks, and I just shrug my shoulders. I love when she plays with my hair like that, and she knows it now. She laughs before grabbing my tie, leading me away from the door. I move my hands back to her waist, pulling her closer to me and she shakes her head at me. She pushes my hands off and steps back slightly.

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She gently reached up and when her fingers brushed my neck, I let out a ragged breath. She slowly untied my tie, letting it fall to the floor before gently taking my suit jacket off.

Tired of her teasing, I pull my shirt off and her eyes hungrily roam my body. She runs her hands down my chest and over my six-pack before tucking a finger into the waistband of my pants. I stop breathing at the contact and my heart is fluttering in my chest.

‘Hey, H? Are you upstairs right now? I have something to ask you,’ Cameron mind-links me and I let out a low growl. Raine immediately removed her hands from my body, and I growl again, this time from the lack of contact.

‘Cameron, I swear if you don’t stop cockblocking me, I will kill you,’ I threaten and I can practically feel him laughing as I close the connection.

“I’m sorry. Cameron decided now would be a good time to mind-link me,” I apologized and turned around, running a frustrated hand through my hair.

She doesn’t respond so I turn back around, and she smirks, letting her dress fall to my floor. She steps out of the pile of red cloth and confidently stands in her matching underwear set. She looks at me expectantly and taking her hint, I slip out of my pants, feeling nervous as I stand there exposed. I have never been naked in front of a woman before much less a woman I deeply love. Her eyes flicker down for just a second and a lustful smile appears on her face before her eyes find mine again.

I take a step toward her, and she just silently moves over to the bed and lays down. I follow her, climbing up onto the bed, hovering over her, my hands on the bed above her shoulders, on either side of her neck. I lean down to kiss her, and she kisses me back, but this one feels different. I move my hand to undo the clasp of her bra and she shakily exhales.

“Wait,” she whispers, and I immediately remove my hand from her back. Thinking she was just nervous, I leaned back down to kiss her again, but she turns her head away as a small tear escapes down her cheek.

“Please stop. I can’t do this right now. I am sorry. I just can’t,” she quietly apologizes, fear lacing her voice and I am instantly concerned.

“Okay,” I reply and get off the bed. Just because she said yes earlier does not mean she can’t change her mind now. I could be inside her and she could still tell me to stop, and I would because she is always allowed to say no. As much as I desperately need a release, I can take care of it later. She needs me right now.

I walk over to my dresser and pull on a pair of underwear and pants before grabbing a shirt and gently handing it to her. She quickly slips it over her head and moves the sheet up over her legs. She pulls her legs to her chest and drops her head onto her knees, wrapping her arms around her legs, softly crying.

I certainly did not expect her first reaction to seeing me would be to cry. It seems rude to just walk out but I also don’t want to make her uncomfortable. I have no idea what to do.

‘Just ask her, you idiot,’ River tells me.

“Raine?”

No response.

“Raine?” I ask again, sitting down on the bed, “Are you okay?”

She doesn’t raise her head, but she does answer me this time.

“I’m so sorry, Hunter. You don’t have to stay.”

I stand up from the bed and she sighs in disappointment. I wasn’t planning on leaving but I also didn’t want to crawl over her to get to the other side of the bed. I walk over to the other side and lay back down, folding my hands under my head.

She feels me lay back down and I can hear her start crying again. I don’t say anything, and I don’t try to touch her. I just let my presence be enough to tell her that I am not going anywhere. After a while, she unfolds herself and moves closer to me. I still don’t move, not because I don’t want to hold her but because I don’t know what she wants.

Thankfully, I don’t have to guess because she tugs on my arm and I move it out from under my head, and she moves into my shoulder. I let my hand rest on her arm, and she lets out a sigh, her breath fanning over my bare chest. I

“I’m sorry,” she whispers again.

“You don’t need to be sorry. I am not going anywhere.”

Fresh tears fall down her face again, “Thank you for stopping.”

“You don’t need to thank me for that. It is called just being a decent person. I would never force you to do anything you don’t want to do, Raine. You will always be in control of everything. I will never hurt you.”

“Not everyone thinks that way,” she lowly states and I jolt up in bed, startling her and she sits up too.

“What do you mean?” I firmly ask, trying my best to keep my thoughts from running wild. River growls in my head and I know he is thinking the same thing I am, someone hurt her. He forces me back and takes control. I fall out of bed and land on all fours, shifting into River. He growls and starts pacing. I can feel his anger coursing through my veins. Honestly, it might be my anger too, but I can’t really tell. How dare someone hurt my mate!?! She snaps her fingers and River stops pacing and looks at her. She gives a soft smile and gently coaxes River over to her. She reaches out for his head, and he pushes it against her hand. She strokes his fur until he calms down enough to give me back control.

I shift back and run an embarrassed hand through my hair. I mumble out an apology and sit back down on the bed. Hearing the pain in her voice was enough to send River into full protection mode. As scary as he can be, he loves her like I do. He wouldn’t ever hurt her, but he would certainly kill anyone who tries. She softly gets my attention and I look back at her, worry tugging at my heart.

Talking like she can read my mind, “Don’t be upset, I was never assaulted or anything like that. I just mean that one of my past boyfriends didn’t really care if I was in the mood or not. It didn’t matter if I wasn’t into it. If I tried to say no, he would just pressure me until I gave in, or he would just do it anyway. It was a bad relationship and I stayed with him way longer than I should have. But I was young and stupid and didn’t know better.”

“That is assault, Raine,” I state, my voice coming out angry and strained, “If you said no in any way, shape, or form, and he used or touched your body anyway, that is assault. Even if you didn’t fight him on it. Even if you gave in. Even if you didn’t say anything at all. Silence does not equal a yes either.”

“It doesn’t matter if it was or not. It’s fine. It was a long time ago, Hunter,” she dismissively states.

“I’ll kill him,” I mutter, and she places a gentle hand on my arm, her touch quickly calming me back down.

“Not necessary. I am sorry I freaked out on you. It has just been a while and he used to hover like that above me, with his hands resting above my shoulders, and I just panicked. I am sorry. I led you on.”

“Raine, stop. You don’t need to be sorry. I just won’t put my hands there next time. And I will never pressure you. I will let you lead. You tell me what makes you comfortable and I will do whatever that is. I love you so much. All you have to do is talk to me. I don’t think you understand the lengths I would go to in order to make sure you feel loved. I will do whatever you ask me to do. I love you.”

“I do feel loved, Hunter. And I love you too. I think I am maybe just not ready yet. I thought I was, but I guess not. Is that okay?” she sighs.

“Of course. I told you I would wait forever for you if that is what it would take for you to come home with me. That applies here too. I will wait as long as you need me to. You are my mate, Raine. And as of tonight, you are my girlfriend too. I love you.”

“I love you too, boyfriend,” she whispers before snuggling closer to me. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. It doesn’t take long for her to fall asleep, and I lay here listening to her breathe. I know she asked me to not sleep in the same bed as her, but I don’t want to wake her up when I move. I don’t think she will be mad if I stay so I close my eyes too, letting sleep overtake me.

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