Scarlett Hood & the Hunter Read online

  Relief washed over his face, and color began to come back to his cheeks. “I’m so sorry. Your granddaughter was never my target.”

  Granny looked down at me. “I’ve got to go feed Blue’s horses. I won’t be gone long.” She then glanced at Jack. “I trust you will help Scarlett get cleaned up?”

  He nodded. “Absolutely.”

  Granny patted my knee. “Good. When I return I’d like to hear more about this Bernie Wolfe character you were both foaming at the mouth about when you came in and decided to stain my couch merlot.”

  Chapter Six

  I clapped my hands together and practically scared Scarlett into a sitting position. “Okay, so I guess it’s time we get you cleaned up.”

  She shook her head, and a mess of crimson spirals moved haphazardly across her fair face. “Oh, ouch.” She reached up and touched the back of her head.

  I was instantly at her side. “Lie back down.” She gently slid on the couch. “Crap. Maybe you have a concussion.” I looked behind me at the front door, but I knew Granny had already left. I carefully sat beside Scarlett and moved a wayward lock away from her face. I leaned over and started feeling behind the back of her head. I felt her eyes on me as I groped her head like I was checking a watermelon for freshness. I really wasn’t sure what I was doing because suddenly touching Scarlett sent my senses into overload. Her hair was soft and silky between my fingers. I slowed down my rhythm and gently massaged her scalp. A low murmur escaped her lips. I quickly glanced at her, and her eyes were closed. I wanted to lean over and kiss her perfectly plump lips, but I returned my focus to her head where my hands wove through her wild hair that was a wonderland of richness. Even though she was soaked in wine, her head smelled like lavender. Now when I looked again at her, she looked up at me and smiled.

  “I don’t feel any bumps?” I asked as more of a question than a statement.

  Scarlett’s deep, husky laugh rose to my ears like an aphrodisiac that sent a signal to my brain and straight to my jeans as if she had suddenly cupped my cock. Her laughter was that enticing. It spiked a primal desire to have her beneath me with her mouth wrapped around my cock, which was beginning to grow as fast as my field of bean stocks.

  I quickly shook my head and jerked away from her as if from a hot flame. “Yup,” I said brushing my hands together and trying to shake free from the heat that radiated between us. “I think you’re A-okay. Okay-dokay.”

  She looked up at me, and her faint green eyes questioned me. “What happened?”

  I shrugged. “Nothing. Just taking Granny’s orders to get you cleaned up. So let’s get moving and get you ready.” I hiked my thumb toward where I imagined the bathroom was located. “I’ll start the shower, run a bath, or grab a bucket of water from the well.” I scratched my head. “I’m not sure if there’s running water out here. But no matter.” I snapped. “I’ll do whatever it takes.” I pointed to Scarlett. “To get you freshened up.” Who am I? I sounded like some jingle writer for a feminine hygiene commercial.

  Scarlett shook her head. “But Granny won’t be back for at least an hour.”

  I nodded. “Yes, but she left me in charge to get you cleaned up.”

  Scarlett slightly raised her hips off the couch, and her yellow skirt fell forward to reveal sheer panties that were streaked red. But even stained in wine, it was clear to see that Scarlett was a true redhead.

  “I don’t think I should move in my condition,” she said with a coy look on her face. “Could you help me, Jack?”

  I swallowed hard and looked at the tiniest, barely-there V-shaped panty that was held together by thin, pink, spaghetti-like straps that hugged Scarlett’s narrow hips. I wanted to gnaw them off with my teeth to get to the strip of hair that was tucked beneath the sexy sheer. Instead, I held Scarlett in my gaze.

  “Maybe you hit your head too hard?” I said trying to maintain some semblance of control, trying to be the good guy, trying to remember that we just met. Trying to get a handle on a situation that was suddenly moving too fast, too soon, and yet felt so right, which made no sense at all.

  Scarlett rolled her head from side-to-side. Locks of her hair swayed in a truly mesmerizing, hypnotic fashion. “Jack, Jack, Jack. You over-think things way too much. If this Wolfe guy really is so bad and I really was in harm’s way then you just came and rescued me.” She looked up at me, and in that look I could have shot my load.

  “Shouldn’t we be living in the moment?” Her voice dripped with sex appeal, and my mind and body stopped working together. “Shouldn’t we forget what’s behind us and start moving forward? I’m not usually this way, but tonight hasn’t gone anywhere like I had planned. I met some Wolfe in the woods. I knew he was bad news, I knew that, but I didn’t listen to my gut.”

  For a moment anger flashed across her face. “I should have listened to my first instinct. But I didn’t.” She shook her head. “I did what was expected of me. I shared my dessert. I played nice.”

  Her hands were in her lap, and she opened them like she was releasing a bomb. “And then because of my kindness, I got knocked out by you, and now you tell me that Blue may have lost everything?” Her voice dropped like she was about to cry. “If we can’t save what Blue lost…”

  Scarlett placed both of her hands over her chest, and in that moment I could tell that what she needed. What she wanted wasn’t necessarily me, but some retreat, some reprieve, some form of escapism from everything that had just happened. And if I could give her thirty minutes, though I hoped much longer, of total release, what was the harm?

  “I didn’t hit my head too hard,” she said. “But I am having a difficult time getting up off this couch because I’m feeling a bit dizzy.” Her tone started to shift. “So I was hoping that maybe you could help me?” She leaned on her elbows and partially unzipped her gray hoodie. “It’s really wet and uncomfortable.” She looked up at me, and I knew it was my last chance to give her something I’m sure she never asked for and never had to ask for. “Could you help me out of this?”

  I knelt down in front of her while she lowered the rest of the zipper. Perfectly plum-shaped breasts, which strained against what was once a white, lacy bra that was now streaked with merlot, greeted me when I carefully reached for her arm. She turned toward me, and her left breast practically popped in my mouth.

  She wiggled out of her hoodie and dropped it to the floor. “Are you good at unclasping a bra?”

  I could no longer speak. My hands found their way behind her back that was caked with dried wine, and with a flick of my wrist her bra released in my hand. She slid out of it, and her breasts fell out of their constraints. I was there to cup them in my hand. My thumb circled her nipple until her back arched and low moans drew from deep within her. I circled the other nipple until I thought she would explode.

  “Oh, Jack.” Her head leaned back against the couch, and her nipples were erect with pleasure. I suckled on them volleying my attention back and forth just enough to tease and titillate without numbing the sensations. It was a fine balance and one that I prided myself on mastering. If this was our only moment together I wanted to savor every part of her succulent body. And her breasts were a magnificent feast.

  I held one gently in my hand while I ran my tongue down her neck and around her rosy areola circling her fruit until she cried out for more.

  “Jack!” She dug her hands in my hair while my tongue worked its way down her the curve of her body until it dipped toward her sheer panties. I moved my mouth toward the thin straps along her hips, and she arched to meet my tongue. I barely ran the tip of my tongue down the center of the sheer V-shaped material that separated me from her pleasure zone, and she screamed in agony. “Please, Jack, please.”

  But I never went beneath the panty. Not yet.

  “Shhh.” My tongue worked down her thong to her ass. I flipped her over and pulled her skirt up so my hands could roam her perfectly heart-shaped ass while my tongue separated her cheeks and licked sweet wine. The taste was
an explosion of flavor in my mouth that was bitter, sweet, and tangy. I planned on savoring every drop of wine off her body.

  Scarlett lay on her stomach, her crimson hair spilling down her back, groaning with pleasure. She was beautiful. I gently grazed her ass with my wet finger, and her head nodded.

  “Yes. God, yes.”

  I slid my wet finger provocatively between her cheeks taunting the opening with the sensation of pressure, but never penetrating. I held onto her hips as if I was going to mount her at any moment. She moaned and arched her ass toward me.

  But right when she thought the moment of ecstasy, the moment of release, was upon her, I moved away. I appeared in front of her at the base of the couch and pulled off my shirt. And with a snap of my wrist I unbuckled my belt and unzipped my jeans. I kept my fly open and watched her eyes widen as part of my cock poked through the opening.

  I knelt toward her and touched the tip of my cock to her lips. She opened her mouth wide, but I pulled my cock away. She looked up at me. I moved toward her again and poked her mouth with the tip. She took a lick. I pulled away, and when I exposed more ridges of my rock-hard, expanded cock to her full mouth, she took a longer, more satisfying lick. I placed my hands on my hips and moved more and more of myself into her mouth in slow, deliberate strokes. I gave her as much of myself as I wanted when I wanted.

  It didn’t take Scarlett long to understand it was all about the tease and building up to the maximum payoff.

  Scarlett leaned on her elbows. With her ass fully on display and her breasts hanging like ripe, succulent fruit I didn’t stop her when she inched my jeans off my legs. I stood in front of her and decided what I wanted next. Her green eyes looked up at me. They were dark, and in their darkness I saw her curiosity and complete surrender. I stood at the base of the couch with my cock in her face. She gently nibbled on the tip, and then I placed the entire length of myself into her mouth. She coated it with her salvia that dripped down her chin. I gently pulled out of her and walked behind her and touched the wet tip of my cock against her round ass. She arched into me.

  “Yes,” she said.

  I grabbed my jeans off the floor, reached into the back pocket and fished a condom out of my wallet. I tore off the wrapper, and the distinct scent of latex rose in the air between us. It wasn’t a sexy smell like Scarlett’s hair, but slipping the thin veneer over my shaft and watching my cock glisten as I stood in front of her heart-shaped ass, brought safe sex to a whole new level. There was something about Scarlett that I’d gladly wear a box full of rubbers if it meant being able to be with her again and give her this kind of pleasure.

  I knelt between her knees and gently moved her thong aside and her cheeks apart. I leaned down and licked the opening. I moved the tip of my cock toward it, but not into it. She reached her hand beneath her and started rubbing herself.

  I grabbed her hand. “Don’t.”

  Her green eyes, now even darker, pleaded with me. “Please.”

  I shook my head. “Wait for it.”

  With my cockhead poking the opening of her ass and practically penetrating the seal, I reached around and grabbed one of her breasts and firmly squeezed her nipples. She cried out in pleasure.

  “Jack!”

  I moved my cock away from her ass and my finger took its place. I dove into her. She moaned as my finger pierced the opening. I fingered her while my cock stood at attention between her thighs. She raised her hips wanting me inside her, but I made her wait. I moved my cock between her thighs, but my finger moved faster.

  I leaned over her and fingered her ass deep and hard while I rubbed her nipples. The combination drove her crazy. She ground against the couch until she screamed, and I felt her body constrict and orgasm.

  She knelt on the couch, and I pulled aside the V-shaped panty and peered at the patch of strawberry-colored hair. I parted her thighs with my head and buried my mouth on her hot, creamy lips that oozed with cum. She gushed into my mouth. I tasted her richness inside me. Tangy, sweet, thick. I licked her tender, swollen lips and ate the bounty she presented before me.

  “I want you,” she said as her juices collected in my day-old scruffy beard.

  I licked her lips and then licked up to her ass before taking my mount from behind her. My cock slid into her with force and intensity. Her lips clamped down on my cock.

  “I’m going to milk your cock,” she said with heated breath.

  She tightened her hold and moved her pussy up and down against my cock like a fist. My mind shut off, and my body went into sensory overdrive. Her juices flowed down my balls onto my ass, and her muscles worked to milk my cock like it was ready for harvest.

  She reached beneath me and stuck a wet finger up my ass while she milked my cock with her pussy. I felt a burst of cum shoot out of my cock. Not the full load, but enough to get my attention. She hit my erogenous zone, and it spiked my rhythm. I dove deeper into her pussy, and she dove her finger deeper into my ass. If there had been another person in the room I think we would have put his cock to good use. She fingered my ass, and I forged her pussy with my cock that had taken root deep inside her. Together we worked to milk my cock until it exploded.

  We collapsed on the couch and turned on our sides. My hand cupped her breast and held her nipple, still wanting to play, but knowing that Granny would be home soon and that there was still a Wolfe lurking in the woods.

  Chapter Seven

  The cadence of his breathing against my back and his muscular arms wrapped tightly around me lulled me into a slumber I had not known. I could have slept for days. I felt safe in Jack’s arms. It was as if I always belonged there and not as though I had just met him mere hours before.

  I didn’t fall asleep with shame or remorse from hooking up with a virtual stranger. Or for even coming on to him in the first place. It wasn’t something I ever did, but as I lay in his arms with my ass pressed against his generous cock the only thought I had was when could we do it again?

  But as I began to awaken, the feeling that stirred wasn’t regret. It was not wanting this moment to end. I didn’t want to leave Jack’s arms. I didn’t want to have to exchange pleasantries or engage in awkward “now what” conversations. And I don’t think Jack would require any of those talks from me. It’s why I just wanted to stayed tucked in his embrace. I wanted this one slice in time to be completely free from what was expected. I could be Scarlett, and Jack could be Jack. And together we could be … oh, what we could be together. It boggled my mind and stirred my body.

  But I knew my time in make-believe land was coming to a close. I knew Granny would be walking back from Blue’s house and that she’d expect me to be changed. She’d expect a full report from Jack on Wolfe’s whereabouts and what we planned to do next. She’d expect that I would have done what she had asked. What she wouldn’t expect was for her granddaughter to be sprawled naked on her couch with Jack the bean farmer, now turned rogue SEC agent.

  His lips grazed my neck, and I kept my eyes closed, focused on the sensation of his mouth against me.

  “You awake?”

  I nodded, and tears stung my eyes.

  “Maybe we should get you in that shower?” he said in the softest voice I have ever heard.

  Again, I nodded.

  He lightly swatted my ass and made me laugh when I most felt like crying, again if for no other reason than I had found a little sliver of happiness in the Dark Forest on the darkest night when I least expected it. And now I had no idea if this unencumbered, free-to-be-me, kind of happiness would find its way back into my life. It wasn’t that I didn’t have a good life. I just didn’t have a Jack in my life. There were guys I dated. But there weren’t any guys like Jack.

  I rose off the couch and started toward Granny’s bathroom when he called out after me.

  “Don’t go stealing all the hot water.”

  I gently looked over my bare shoulder at the man who had tried to knock out the bad guy and instead crashed into me and shook my head.

&n
bsp; “I know how you Hood girls are,” he said with a wry look in his eye. “First the hot water, next my heart.”

  I smiled and knew that there wouldn’t be any awkward conversations or weirdness. Jack was a hero kind of guy. He wasn’t your average hero by any means. But he was my kind of hero because he was flawed. He knew going after Wolfe was an impossible task. That the odds were stacked against him. Yet at every turn, I knew Jack would be the hero in his own story. And I was more than a little curious how this was going to end. I practically had a skip to my step when I headed toward the shower.

  Chapter Eight

  “So if Blue did sign over her land and stock portfolio to this Bernie Wolfe character then she’s lost everything?” Granny asked.

  Scarlett had emerged from the shower in what could only be described as virtual eye candy. She was in jeans, a barely there cream-colored peasant-like shirt that had strings that laced up the front and played peek-a-boo with her ample cleavage, which made paying attention to the conversation at hand a near impossibility. Still I tried because both Granny and Scarlett were intently staring at me.

  “Wolfe’s running the tried and true Pinocchio scheme.” I smiled toward the two women whose curly hair and green eyes were a near perfect match. Though fortunately I would never confuse the two. Every taste and curve of Scarlett’s body was forever seared in my memory. Now the red-headed beauty was looking at me.

  “Pinocchio scheme? No idea what that means?” she said.

  “Are you saying that Geppetto is behind all this?” Granny Hood slapped the edge of her kitchen table. “I knew there was something off about that little woodcarver. I mean any man that builds puppets for a living.” She shook her head. “Not right, I’m telling you. Something’s not right there.”

  I held up my hand. “No, no, Geppetto has nothing to do with this—only that this type of investment scheme is named after one of his wooden puppets.”