In Between Seasons (The Fall) (23 page)

“Yes,”
Allan scolded
.

“Give me a second.”

“
Now
General
,” Allan demanded,
his voice stern.
He
sl
ipped back into the common room, but I knew he was standing just at the threshold waiting.

“You shoul
d follow him. He sounds pissed,” I finally said, and reality rushed back to me.

Hunter nodded his head
and
kissed me lightly before speaking,
“I will tell you. I promise.”

I nodded my head as he turned away
. T
he heat o
f his lips against mine killed me, and I longed to pull
him back into me. I watched his shoulders tense
and
his hands form
fists as he went into the common room.

“What?” h
e
growled
,
and
I heard his father mutter something to him
before
their voices drifted away into the sound of the music.

“Kate?
”
Mara
peaked
around the door frame,
“Are you okay? Hunter looks like he’s about ready to kill his father. I’ve never seen him that angry before.”

“His fathe
r has impeccable timing,
” I responded
,
realizing I had one hand on my lips
and
one wrapped tightly around the
heart at
my neck.

“I saw him watch you guys leave the room—I tried to stop him
,
but
he was a man on a mission,
”
Mara
ran her hands through her hair,
“Are you still having a good time?”

“Excellent,
”
I answered
as I let
my hands drop.

“Holy crap,
” Mara blurted out
,
coming forward
and
touching the heart,
“That’s beautiful.”

“He kissed me,” I uttered,
my cheeks flushed.

“Like that’s any surprise. The heat in the room between you tw
o could light the place on fire,” Mara replied as she slipped
her elbow into mine.

“I could say the same about you
and
Rob.”

“Yeah
,
but
we’re married,
” Mara replied
,
leading me back into the room.

“Do you think we’ve crossed the
line?” I asked,
the sensation that I had lost the feeling in my limbs overtaking me.

“I don’t know…Hunter knows what he’
s doing. W
e just have to trust him. I’m not sure wh
at’s going on between him and his father
though,
”
Mara answered.

I nodd
ed my head taking a deep breath before speaking,
“I forgot everyone was watching.”

Mar
a checked her hips against mine,
“Everyone’s always watching Kate. Everyone just assumes that you’re a hot POW
and
he’s a hot man. I
t makes sense you guys are attracted to each other. No one here is questioning that.”

“Except Allan.
”

“He probably wants to make sure Hunter still has
the end game in mind,
” Mara explained
, “Whatever the hell that is.”

“Wh
y can’t I breathe then?
He kissed me
and was about to tell me something
,
but then his father came—
I’m never going to know what that
kiss meant.”

“Don’t cry, Kate,” Mara said,
coming to face me.

“I’m so sick of
this,” I shook my head,
“I have to say it out loud Mara. I love that man
,
and
I’
m so afraid that he doesn’t feel the same.”

“Hey,” Hunter interrupted my rant
,
and
I could feel his hand on my shoulder.

I took a deep breath
and
turned biting my lip, “Hey.”

“What’s wrong?” h
e asked
,
his eyes moving over my face.

“Nothing.
”

“Nothing?” Hunter probed,
his thumb rubbing a tear away from my cheek.

“What was that about?”
I asked
, and every part of me filled with that fear again as his eyes darkened at the question.

“Let’s not talk about that right now. Let’s just enjoy
ourselves,” Hunter slipped
his hand in mine
and
guided
me to the food,
“This stuff looks amazing.”

“
So now we’
re just going to preten
d nothing just happened?” I asserted as I stopped
.
I needed to know what it was about.

“Not at all, I fully intend to continue to enjoy the night in the same way
…the way I planned
it,” he squeezed
my hand,
“Dancing very close to you
and
singing to you—watching your smile
and
the way your eyes look when you’re really happy
and
being really happy myself.
”

I could see the darkness floating at the edge of his eyes
,
but
when I smiled
and
nodded my head it vanished.

“Good, now what should we try first?”
Hunter asked
.

“You look tired.” Hunter observed
as he jumped
off t
he stage to where I was stood
leaning against the wall.

“These heels are killing me,
” I replied
,
s
lowly gliding my foot up my leg with a smirk.

“Me too,” Hunter joked
as he rolled
up the sleeves of his dress shirt. He had tossed the jacket shortly before
,
and
the sweat on his forehead
along with
the accentuation of his forearms made me want to tackle him.
Somehow I managed to control myself.

“Ha
-
ha
,
so
how lo
ng
does this party last?” I asked as I observed
that the crowd had thinned out a bit.

“As long as we want it to,” Hunter replied,
his hands in his back pockets.

“Can I at least take off the shoes?”

“Of course, I thin
k that Mara already has hers off,” Hunter nodded
over his shoulder at her
and
Rob dancing.

“Alright,” I put
my hand on his shoulder as I slipped one shoe off
and
then stumbled with the
other falling into him,
“Sorry.
”

“Not at all,” h
e replied,
the heat of his body wicking into mine.
I took a deep breath of his scent and smiled.

“Would you like
to dance some more?”
I asked
as I looked
up at him.

He
took a deep breath,
“Of course.
”

Seven
more songs
and
despite my lack of heels I couldn’t feel my legs anymore.  There were only a few c
ouples still on the dance floor
and everyone else
had either left or was sitting along the walls
with their
eyes half shut.
I was incandescently happy, and the fog of weariness was slowly edging into my mind
causing a drunken smile.

“Yo
u ready to turn in?” Hunter asked
with
his forehead against mine. I nodded my head
,
and
he swept me into his arms saying,
“Let’s leave them wondering.”

“Always,” I whispered
into his ear
,
and
I could see the skin prickle there.

When we got into the apartment Hunter placed me on the bed a
s I loosened the pins holding my
hair in. He sat down on the edge
and
loo
ked over his shoulder at me.  I really felt as if I was on a cloud as he
reached over
and
brushed a hair out of my face.

“You’re
so
beautiful
—I don’t want this night to end,
”
Hunter murmured with his voice soft, but it cracked at the edges as if something was wrong. His eyes said otherwise as he swept his thumb over my cheek and cupped my chin in his hand. I took a deep breath and smiled as I kissed the palm of his hand before I laid my head back on the pillow.

“I’
ve never been this happy before,
”
I said as I closed my eyes.

“I could never be happier,” I heard Hunter whisper as I drifted off into a perfect sleep.

~~~

When I opened my eyes I was wrapped tightly in Hunter’s arms
,
and
the smell of his sweet sweat wafted over me as I looked up at his sleeping face.
It felt as though something inside me had changed, and I didn’t feel any apprehension as
I leaned up and kissed his lips
. His
eyes fluttered
open, and his perfect lips formed an irresistible smile.

“Hi there,” Hunter’s
voice
was
graveled from singing the whole night.

“Did you sleep
well
?”
I asked
.

“I always do when you’re next to me.”

I shook my head as I sat up,
“I can’t believe I slept the whole night in this dress.”

Hunter leaned up on one arm,
“
I still have my tie on,” h
e replied
even though it was loose enough
that he could have easily slipped
it over his head.

“I think I need
a shower,
” I said
,
and
Hunter nodded his head
, his eyes troubled,
“You okay?”

“Yeah, go ahead
and
take that shower,
”
h
e answered
.

When I came out of the bathroom h
e was sitting on the edge of the
bed
with
his hands tangl
ed in his hair
.

“I know you’re not
ok
ay,
” I whispered as my voice cracked
.
I knew it had to do with whatever his father had told him, or had ordered him to do.

Hunter looked up
and
it looked as if
he hadn’t really slept at all. His five o’clock shadow that usually made him look sexy
now
made him look weary
as it
combined with the gaze in his eyes. He shook his head.

“It got out that one of the Ericson tribe’s daughters was kidnapped. Their chief is desperate to find who has her because he thinks that she knows something that
he wants to keep secret. He wants her back dead or alive
and
so does everyone else,”
Hunter explained
with
his
thin lips in a straight line.

“And your father
wants to know if I really ra
n away?”
I finished
,
struggling to breath
e
.
Thousands of thoughts rushed into my mind as I thought of what Hunter’s dad must want him to do to me, and none of them were pleasant.

Hunter nodded his head,
“He says I’m not thinking straight. That you could be lying to me—that I’m blinded by my feelings for you.”

“You think he’s right?”
I stumbled with the words
.

“No
,
but
he won’t listen to a word I have to say. He’s obsessed with your eyes Kate. He sees your father in you. He’s determined that you are Kate Ericson. He wants to
submit you to a polygraph test,
”
Hunter finished as he yanked at the tie around his neck.

“Fine,” I replied
,
nodding my head as I tried to keep the room from spinning.
I could do it. I knew I could, or I hoped I could.

“I don’t have time to train you
on how
to pass it,” Hunter snapped,
pulling his tie off
and
throwing it.

“What else can we do?”

“Run,
”
he suggested with his eyes locked on mine.

“He’
ll kn
ow for sure who I am then. He’
ll sen
d everyone he has after us—we’
ll never survive it,
” I responded
,
coming to stand in front of him.

He took my hips in his hands
and
put h
is forehead against my stomach,
“God damn it.”

“
What are we going to do?”

“I’ll be there for the polygraph—worse
thing
comes to worse
,
I snap the
guy’s
neck
,
and
we take our chances running,” Hunter looked
up
at me,
“You can fool the polygraph if you really believe what you’re saying.”

“
Okay, w
hen do we have to do this?”
I asked
as I tried to concentrate on the feeling of his hands against my hips instead of the impending doom that hung over us both.

A kno
ck came on the front door, “Now,
”
Hunter replied
.

“You weren’t jok
ing when you said there wasn’t
any
time to prepare.”

Hunter took a deep breath,
“I really hate that man.”

That made two of us.

“Come in,
” I said
as I stepped
back from Hunter.

“Are we g
ood to go?” Hunter asked
,
standing
as his eyes burned
into the man at the door
.

“Sure, you want to do it in here?”
t
he m
an asked with his eyes darting around the room
.

“Where does my father want this done?”

The man nodded down the
stairs,
“The interrogation room.
”

Another room that I hadn’t realized existed. I should have paid more attention.

“That’s a bit extre
me
,
don’t you think?” Hunter questioned
,
stepping forward
with
his arms crossed.

“Umm…yes,” t
he man replied
. T
he look on
Hunter’s face apparently scared
him and he continued,
“In here then?”

“The kitchen
should suffice, no?” Hunter recommended
,
nodding towards the room.

“Of course
,
Hun
ter,” the man submitted
.

“Let’s get this over with then,” Hunter pointed
to the kitchen.

The man shuffled in the door carrying an aluminum brief
case,
“This shouldn’t take
long.”

I followed them into the kitchen. Hunter pulled out a chair
and
nodded for me to sit in it.

“I’ll put it on her,” Hunter explained
as the man opened the box. The man looked up at
Hunter
and
swallowed.

“Hunter, he can put it
on if that’s what Allan wanted,” I commented,
running my hands through my wet hair.

“Actually,” t
he man began
and
Hunte
r stepped back
,
his arms crossed, “Uh
…thanks.”

The man set up the machine
and
then sat across from me,
“
I
have
a few ques
tions to solidify your identity.
”

“Of course,” I replied
,
and the questioning began.

“What’
s your name?”
t
he man asked
.

“Kate.
”

“Your full name?
”
t
he man pushed
.

“I don’t know.”

“How long ago did you meet Hunter?”

“Seven or eight months ago,
”
I replied
.

“How did you meet him?”

“In the woods,
”
I answered
.

“Did you go with him willingly?”
t
he man asked
.

“Yes, under the assumption I was a POW.”

Hunter went to stand behind the man
with
his eyes never leaving the screen on the machine. His face was expressionless
,
so I had no idea how I was doing.

“Do you know who you’re family is?”
h
e continued.

“Yes,
” I replied
,
and
both the man
and
Hunter looked up.