shiny money that supports your lifestyle comes from. You’re not exactly a nine-to-five office type.”
Will had reached his end with this topic. “You mean the same money they used to pay you?”
Instead of answering, Hunter rebuttoned his pants. Tucked in his shirt. Even reached for his blazer. When he started looking around for his keys, Will got the point.
“Where are you going? The spotlight moves to you and your culpability and you duck out.” Worse, they’d had sex and he panicked. Will couldn’t believe Hunter had a fuck-and-run mentality. One round and he was finished. If that was really the case, he could go and keep going.
“To get something to eat. And, for the record, we’re not done.” The keys jangled as Hunter scooped them up. “Do not move from this apartment. I will be pissed if I have to hunt you down again.”
Will waited until Hunter reached for the door to take one more verbal shot. “You think the sex means you decide what we do from here?”
“I think being in charge means I decide that.” For the first time the blank expression left Hunter’s face. He almost smiled. “The sex is a bonus.”
He saw the sex as a joke. Wasn’t that just fucking great. Yeah, Will was done. “Happy you’re satisfied.”
“You’re not?” Hunter winked. “I’ll work on that when I get back.”
“Don’t count on it.”
“Don’t issue a challenge you can’t win.” Hunter pinned Will with his intense gaze. “And so that we’re clear, we’ll be doing that a lot. The wall, the bed, the couch. The location doesn’t matter to me.”
“Do I get a say?”
“I’m betting you say yes.”
Chapter 6
Hunter made it into the hall, down the first flight of stairs, and halfway down the second before he blew out the long exhale he’d trapped inside. He knew he should keep going but his knees buckled and he sat down hard on a step.
Despite what he said and how he acted, the sex had kicked his ass. Burned right through his control. Giving in and touching Will had him thinking about fucking instead of protecting. He’d worried that would be the case, which was part of the reason he’d held off for as long as he had.
Need had been riding him ever since he met Will. He didn’t understand it. The hot collegiate type had never appealed to him before. The idea of spending a day in bed with someone sounded like torture. Sex—absolutely. Talking and the deeper stuff? No thanks.
That’s why he’d kept the screwing as impersonal as possible. Limited the kissing. Refused to see Will’s face as he came, despite how much he wanted to experience that moment. Pulling away after, building that emotional wall again, had been a matter of survival. Hell, he hadn’t even meant to let it go that far to begin with, but when Will had encouraged—hit him with the heat and the words—Hunter had slipped from flirting to action. He’d lost it, and he
never
lost it.
He glanced over his shoulder half expecting Will to be standing there. The guy struck Hunter as a runner. He’d stayed alive and out of custody, out of the hands of those who might torture him for information, ever since the explosion. Hunter admired that. It also meant Will had skills other than shooting. Skills he hid. Hunter hated that part because it made him wonder what else he didn’t know.
He still didn’t understand quite what had happened back in that room. They’d morphed from fighting to touching. Maybe that was inevitable. But the rest…He’d listened to Will and been hypnotized by his voice. Lured past what he looked like to somewhere deep inside.
As they’d sat there on the floor, he’d wanted to know more. Not just for the job. He wanted to
know
Will, understand how his mind worked. How he separated out his life from his family’s. How he’d come to be the man he was.
The BND had trained him to stay focused, keep on mission. He’d laughed at fellow officers who failed to disconnect and shun emotion. But after months
Will had reached his end with this topic. “You mean the same money they used to pay you?”
Instead of answering, Hunter rebuttoned his pants. Tucked in his shirt. Even reached for his blazer. When he started looking around for his keys, Will got the point.
“Where are you going? The spotlight moves to you and your culpability and you duck out.” Worse, they’d had sex and he panicked. Will couldn’t believe Hunter had a fuck-and-run mentality. One round and he was finished. If that was really the case, he could go and keep going.
“To get something to eat. And, for the record, we’re not done.” The keys jangled as Hunter scooped them up. “Do not move from this apartment. I will be pissed if I have to hunt you down again.”
Will waited until Hunter reached for the door to take one more verbal shot. “You think the sex means you decide what we do from here?”
“I think being in charge means I decide that.” For the first time the blank expression left Hunter’s face. He almost smiled. “The sex is a bonus.”
He saw the sex as a joke. Wasn’t that just fucking great. Yeah, Will was done. “Happy you’re satisfied.”
“You’re not?” Hunter winked. “I’ll work on that when I get back.”
“Don’t count on it.”
“Don’t issue a challenge you can’t win.” Hunter pinned Will with his intense gaze. “And so that we’re clear, we’ll be doing that a lot. The wall, the bed, the couch. The location doesn’t matter to me.”
“Do I get a say?”
“I’m betting you say yes.”
Chapter 6
Hunter made it into the hall, down the first flight of stairs, and halfway down the second before he blew out the long exhale he’d trapped inside. He knew he should keep going but his knees buckled and he sat down hard on a step.
Despite what he said and how he acted, the sex had kicked his ass. Burned right through his control. Giving in and touching Will had him thinking about fucking instead of protecting. He’d worried that would be the case, which was part of the reason he’d held off for as long as he had.
Need had been riding him ever since he met Will. He didn’t understand it. The hot collegiate type had never appealed to him before. The idea of spending a day in bed with someone sounded like torture. Sex—absolutely. Talking and the deeper stuff? No thanks.
That’s why he’d kept the screwing as impersonal as possible. Limited the kissing. Refused to see Will’s face as he came, despite how much he wanted to experience that moment. Pulling away after, building that emotional wall again, had been a matter of survival. Hell, he hadn’t even meant to let it go that far to begin with, but when Will had encouraged—hit him with the heat and the words—Hunter had slipped from flirting to action. He’d lost it, and he
never
lost it.
He glanced over his shoulder half expecting Will to be standing there. The guy struck Hunter as a runner. He’d stayed alive and out of custody, out of the hands of those who might torture him for information, ever since the explosion. Hunter admired that. It also meant Will had skills other than shooting. Skills he hid. Hunter hated that part because it made him wonder what else he didn’t know.
He still didn’t understand quite what had happened back in that room. They’d morphed from fighting to touching. Maybe that was inevitable. But the rest…He’d listened to Will and been hypnotized by his voice. Lured past what he looked like to somewhere deep inside.
As they’d sat there on the floor, he’d wanted to know more. Not just for the job. He wanted to
know
Will, understand how his mind worked. How he separated out his life from his family’s. How he’d come to be the man he was.
The BND had trained him to stay focused, keep on mission. He’d laughed at fellow officers who failed to disconnect and shun emotion. But after months
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