Chapter 32

Hunter’s POV

I paced around the suite, unable to calm my body. The back of my throat had grown raw with tension, since I’d seen Kara and Adrian returning together. I couldn’t tell what I was feeling, exactly. Only that it made me want to crawl out of my skin and break things and run.

And Maya had been chirping since we got back. I could tell she was delighted at the prospect of Kara and Adrian together. In the woods together.

The steak dinner I just finished turned over in my stomach.

It’s not great that thinking about her with someone else makes me feel sick to my stomach, even when I know that’s not what she was doing.

They were out on their mission.

But I hate the thought of her out with him.

Not an hour earlier I’d felt like I couldn’t imagine anywhere I’d rather be or anyone I’d rather be with than Maya. I’d been admiring her eyes sparkling across the table and longing to be here, alone with her.

But now I could only think about the fact that Kara looked tired, and I hoped she was okay, and I hated that she spent her evening with him.

I flinched as I felt a small warm hand on my forearm.

“You okay?” Maya asked in her high, musical voice.

“Yeah, why?”

“You looked lost in thought. And you haven’t sat down since we got back. I poured you a glass of wine.”

I shook my head slightly to clear it. She had indeed poured two glasses of wine and set them at the low table in the corner. And lit a candle. And her glass was half gone.

I guessed I’d been lost in my thoughts longer than I thought.

When I looked back, she’d taken off her dress and was wearing only the thin, see-through slip she’d been wearing under it.

That got my attention.

We hadn’t had sex yet, though we’d been close. We both wanted to, but I still felt that she seemed too immature for us to take that step. And she had started to hint that she wanted to make our relationship more public first.

And there was Kara, also getting in the way. Though I couldn’t figure out why I was so preoccupied with her. She shouldn’t care. Our relationship was and had always only been about money.

But the way she’d been looking at me lately: like I was breaking her heart by loving Maya.

And our sex lately: like she was desperate to hold on to me but at the same time furious that she wanted to.

But none of those things made sense.

Maya had draped herself across her chair sideways so that he slip had ridden up, almost around her waist.

I went to her.

She was blinking up at me, thrusting her chest forward. Letting her lush curves and soft skin do the seducing for her. And taking deeper breaths than she needed to, so that I could see her breasts rise and fall.

“I liked being out in public with you tonight,” she said softly as she hitched her slip up even further. “I’m tired of pretending in front of everyone here. I just want to be with you.” She emphasized the words seductively, but blinked innocently.

I felt my erection strain against the fabric of my dress trousers.

Maybe I was being stupid, with the idea of waiting. She was more than old enough. She more than wanted this, and me.

And maybe I’d stop being so preoccupied with Kara once Maya and I had taken our relationship to the next level.

I bent down and kissed her, letting my fingertips skate down the smooth fabric from her underarms and across her rib cage to her hips. I started softly, then deepened, biting her top lip between my teeth and earning a soft moan in reply.

I thought about the idea of making our relationship more public as I deepened the kiss. I didn’t hate the idea as much as I thought I would. One of my main drives had become to protect Maya, and giving her standing in the pack would be a very clear way to do that.

Kara’s face popped into my head.

I drew back, not bothering to let go of Maya’s lip gently. She gasped as I drew my closed teeth away.

“What is it?” She asked. “What’s wrong.”

“I need to check on Kara,” I said without thinking. It was true. That was my problem.

Whatever else had been going on with us, and her. Whatever Adrian thought, or anyone else at all.

She looked sick and exhausted, and I couldn’t rest without making sure she was okay.

It was a strange feeling, wanting to protect someone who had literally never needed anything from me besides my pocketbook. Maybe my cock now and again, that I certainly wasn’t the only one she could have had.

But there was something wrong with her and I had to see if I could help. The mission had been too strenuous or involved to talk about, and she was now suffering.

I had to go and see.

“I need you to leave, Maya.”I said slowly.

“What?” She shot sharply.

“I need to go make sure Kara’s okay,” I said, surprised that I didn’t care how furious I was making her. “I don’t want anyone to find you in here without me.”

“Who’s going to find me here? And why do you care?”

“Someone could need me. And we’re not going public yet. As you know.”

I opened the door and hesitated, waiting for her to dress and leave. She walked out without a backward glance, moving quickly with fists clenched. I was going to pay for this.

But I couldn’t make myself care.

My heart was beating fast as I knocked on Kara’s door. I didn’t know what I was going to do if I found Adrian there. If she opened the door looking disheveled, this time actually from sex and not a run through the forest.

It seemed like it took forever for her to answer, but she did, alone.

I felt calmer for a moment, then panicky again when I saw the bags under her eyes: the way it seemed like it was costing her to hold herself upright.

“Are you alright?” I asked softly. She tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brows. I didn’t think that was fair. Surely it wasn’t the first time I’d ever shown concern for her.

“Just tired,” she said finally. “Did you need something?”

I walked in and poured a glass of water, handing it to her as we both sat at her kitchen table.

“Let me call the pack doctor,” I said quickly.

She shook her head, waving the idea off with a casual gesture of her hand.

“I’m fine. Anyway, did you want a briefing on what we found? I was going to prep. a full intelligence document first thing in the morning, but I can tell you what we found out.”

It didn’t seem fair to tell her I was just here because I’d been worried about her. Whatever I felt for Kara, Maya was still my fated mate.

“Please,” I said. My worry for Maya crept back in as Kara told me about the rogues’ leader, and their search for a female with special abilities.

“We’ll have to place her under more special protection,” Kara finished. I nodded.

“Good idea,” I replied quickly. “Thank you.”

My worry was a deep pit in my stomach, some for Kara, who still didn’t look anything like her usual healthy self, and some for Maya, who for some reason seemed to be the target of the rogues’ plans. It was deeper for Kara, maybe because it was the first time I’d really felt worried abutter, or maybe because I knew her so much better.