Obsession

menacing sometimes, but there was good underneath.

So why were there dead bodies on the kitchen floor?

I took a deep breath. “You killed them?”

Impatience flickered across his icy expression. “I think that’s already been established.”

Knots formed in my belly. For one horrifying instance, the bodies of Richards and Zombro flashed before me. “Why?”

The look on his face said he really didn’t think he had the time to explain the why behind murdering two members of law enforcement.

Anger swirled with fear, a heady and dangerous combination. “I obviously didn’t get the memo, Hunter! The last time I checked,” I gestured behind me with one shaking hand, “they were on our side.”

“They were never on my side,” he said, thrusting a hand through his hair—a hand that had ended two lives tonight.

God, I was going to vomit.

I started to turn. I needed to get away from him—I needed fresh air. Pressure was back, building on my chest like a gorilla was sitting on it. A buzzing filled my ears.

Hunter caught me, wrapping one hand around my arm and another clamped down on the back of my neck. My pulse pounded at the firm hold. “You’re not getting it, Serena.” His intense eyes searched my face. “They came here to kill you, to make sure you never told anyone about what happened—about the Luxen.”

Confused and scared half witless, I pressed a hand to the center of my chest. My heart thudded erratically.

“They decided they’d rather keep the senator and the Luxen happy, and to do so, they were going to kill you. They aren’t on your side. And we need to get the hell out of here.” When I didn’t move, he lowered his head toward mine. “I know it’s a lot to take in, Serena. You’ve been through some crazy shit and it’s about to get crazier.”

“Crazier?”

He slid his hands to my cheeks and the coolness of his skin jolted me. “I need you to stay with me, okay? I’m going to get you out of this, but I need you to keep it together.”

“Stay with you?”

He nodded.

Then it hit me. More startling than aliens running amuck, dead officers in the kitchen, or the government wanting to give me a cement swim was that Hunter was helping me.

Hunter frowned. “You can breathe, right? You look like you’re breathing, right—”

“Why?” I grasped his wrists. “Why would you do this? You went against the DOD —the government—to help me? Why would you put yourself out there like that? Now you’re in as much shit as I am.”

Hunter blinked slowly and then pulled his hands away. He took a step back. “We need to leave, Serena. We don’t—”

“No!” My hands balled into fists as my skin tingled. The thing was, what if I had this whole situation wrong? “I need to know why you’d do this. Because what do I really know? Let me know it’s okay to trust you.”

He put his hands on his hips and drew in a deep breath. I prepared myself—for what, I wasn’t sure. “I don’t know,” he said.

My mouth worked, but there were no words.

“I don’t know,” he said again, angry. “I don’t know why I did this. All I knew was that I needed to.”

Yeah, that wasn’t telling me much. And it wasn’t a huge declaration of why I should trust him, but that was the thing. Hunter hadn’t asked me trust him. I don’t think he ever had.

I looked up, meeting Hunter’s pale eyes. The look wasn’t so apathetic now. If anything, he appeared like he was as confused as I felt.

My hands were shaking as I rubbed them together. Trusting Hunter was huge. I could be making a big mistake. What if it was Hunter who wanted to kill me? And he just liked to play with his food first? My heart twisted at that, but a tiny voice inside me told me that wasn’t the case. If Hunter had wanted me dead, he could’ve done it by now. And I had trusted him earlier.

I had to trust him again.

“Okay,” I said, and it felt like I was stepping off a cliff.

Hunter’s lips twitched as if he wished to smile, and the knots in my stomach grew.

Chapter 18

I packed what Hunter had bought me in a daze. He had dug up a small suitcase and everything fit. It only took a few minutes, but it felt like hours. By now I should be used to the unexpected—the bizarre—but I was shell-shocked by the turn of events.

The government wanted me dead.

As I flung my last pair of jeans into the suitcase, my heart skipped a beat. How in the world could I survive this if the government was also in it? There’d be nowhere I could go. I’d never have control over my life again.

The enormity of the situation pressed down upon me. I felt the telling catch of my breath again and swore.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I did trust Hunter. And right now he was all that I had to count on.

Zipping up my suitcase, I quickly scanned the room for anything else I needed.

There was nothing and there was no time to delay.

Hunter was waiting for me downstairs. His duffel bag was splitting at the seams by the door, but when I got a good look at him, I drew up short.

Wow.

He’d changed. And not just his clothes it seemed.

Under the thin black shirt, the sinew strength of his muscles strained. His thighs were like tree trunks in black leather pants. The boots he now wore were true ass-kickers. He looked nothing like the man who sat on the deck in the mornings, dressed in worn jeans. What stood before me was a full display of power that went beyond masculinity and was far too menacing. Even the wild tumble of dark hair seemed unpredictable.

Hunter oozed danger, but that wasn’t the only thing he was throwing into the air.

Excitement. The kind of danger of a man who could take care of things when they got out of hand and could, and would, fuck you senseless when it was all done.

My cheeks reddened.

Good to know my ovaries were still functioning like sex was going out of style.

Jesus. I shook my head. “You look like your brother.”

Hunter arched a single brow.

“I mean, you are his twin and all, but you really look like him.” I paused. “You are Hunter, right?”

A small smile appeared. “I like what you did with your teeth when you were on your knees before me.”

“Yeah, you’re Hunter.” Flushing a deep red, I gestured at his bag. “Where are we going?”

“We need a car. Dex is taking care of that for us.”

“We can trust him?” I asked.

“Absolutely.” He nodded toward the kitchen. “If you want anything to drink, the kitchen is clear. I took care of them.”

I shuddered. I didn’t want to know how he took care of the bodies. Frankly, as wussy as this made me, I didn’t want to think about them at all.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I’m going to take this outside.”