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  “I want to know,” I said. The truth was I was not sure, but not knowing had to be worse than anything he could tell me.

  He frowned, seriousness dominating his hard features. “You understand that I am, uh… Known to many.” Famous was the word he desperately tried avoiding. “And I could not risk… Not that I do not trust you, Rachel… But my lawyer and I had long conversations…”

  I was frowning now as well. “Conversations about what?”

  “I must not risk revealing my secrets without a certain, uh, guarantee that they would stay exactly that.” He straightened his back and fixed his shirt, emphasizing his physique.

  “I won’t tell anyone, if that’s what you mean,” I said.

  He gave me a smile that almost made me feel stupid. Yet, for some deeply twisted reason which I really had to think about at some point, I liked it. “I would need you to sign a certain document that all I told you would stay… Just between us.”

  I pulled back, suddenly scared. I’ve seen way too many shows where things would take an ugly turn at these moments. My eyes had widened a little and I was looking for words, but failing. “A contract?”

  “More of a… Confidentiality agreement.” He sighed. “I like things most people would find, uh, disturbing. You must understand, I cannot risk this ever reaching the eyes of the public.” He must have read my thoughts and figured it out before I could, because he gave me an out there. “I’ll let you think about it.”

  With that, he fixed his shirt and strolled out of my room.

  I sat there for a long time until the food finally arrived, thinking of all the things that could go wrong. I thought of everything sinister that he could possibly tell me and more and more I was certain that no man was worth it. I did not want to know.

  This had given me the clarity I desperately needed. There are plenty of attractive men out there and some little crush I had for my boss’ client was not worth it. I did not want to get trapped in some twisted fantasy and tread the thin ice for the sake of some attraction I had hardly even been aware of.

  I made my decision just as the food arrived: I would not ask him anything else.

  I had work to do.

  CHAPTER 7

  Hunter never mentioned out conversation the next day.

  We spent hours in the car, talking about our expectations regarding the project. I was highly confident that we would reach positive results, in time. And out of nowhere, I was far more confident in myself. It was a nice change. This whole trip had left me feeling odd for a while, and I felt as though I was taking back my real self.

  Was it because now I knew that Hunter was more than willing to share his secrets with me, even if it meant signing some contract, or because I was working again, I could not tell? Nevertheless, I felt better about myself.

  As we drove and talked, I kept looking at Hunter. His confident posture, his cool eyes and heavenly face and there was a small part of me that felt a little sad. To say I was attracted to him would be an understatement - yet I could not bring myself in such a position. I must not.

  The scenery around us changed from the concrete of the city, through endless fields into mud and wooden docks, behind which another set of concrete buildings and asphalt roads was perched up. The car halted, the driver killed the engine and I felt needles piercing my skin. It was the moment of truth.

  As we exited the car, children of all ages were starting to notice us. Some of them were obviously helping with the fishing work, while for others I could not say. Perhaps they were employed, perhaps they were poor, or perhaps they just when where other children went.

  Children were not the only ones whose attention we managed to attract. Grown men and old women were around the street, pausing to look at the car and at two foreigners, dressed far too well for field work.

  Hunter looked around, then at me.

  My eyes met his and lingered there. No hint of a question was clouding his determined expression. It felt almost as though he did not care what I had decided. I should be glad about that. I did not want to reject him - I was not sure whether I could.

  It was becoming clear to me. If I wanted him, or at least a chance to be with him, I would have to sign the agreement to keep his secrets. I would keep them anyway, if I were with him. What could be so awful about him that he could not risk telling me - that he could not be sure I would keep my mouth shut.

  That lack of trust, however natural it may be, was embodied in his contract. And that was something I just could not agree to.

  I looked away, then at him again.

  He smiled. “Follow me.”

  I did. We crossed the street which, compared to the capital, was not that busy at all. The scent of barbecue filled my nostrils and I suddenly felt water in my mouth. It was the power of Vietnamese cuisine that did it to me.

  As we approached a group of children, they started chuckling and saying something to each other. They had their brave faces on, unlike the grown-ups, pretending that they had not been staring. Here and there, some of the older women smiled a wild smile for us, but it was the children we wanted to see smiling.

  “Hello,” said Hunter as he approached the group. They were around ten years old, none younger than nine, I would guess, or older than twelve or so.

  “Hello,” one boy replied. He had a mop of dark brown hair, the same color as his eyes, and a broad smile I would remember for the rest of my life.

  Hunter smiled too. “Do you speak English?”

  “No,” the boy said. It made Hunter guffaw and turn for the interpreter. He approached at once.

  “What’s your name?” Hunter asked the boy. He looked at Hunter with curious brown eyes and thought about it. Then he looked at the interpreter, who translated.

  “Xuan Bach,” he said.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Xuan Bach,” said Hunter, extending his arm and shaking the boy’s skinny hand. “Do you go to school?”

  The boy said a few short words, then thought, then said a few more. “I do… But only two times a week. My friends go every day.”

  Hunter nodded. “Two times? And do you like it there?”

  “Yes,” Xuan Bach replied. “I like playing with my friends.”

  It made Hunter laugh. “And what’s your favorite subject?”

  “Math,” the boy said.

  Hunter made an impressed face and asked the boy why he only attended school twice a week. He had no need to ask - I could have told him that - yet I loved him for asking it. He wanted to feel it, he wanted to hear it from the children affected by it.

  He and Xuan Bach talked for a long time, and other children, a girl called Nguyen Linh, and a boy called Hu’u Quann joined in. None of them attended school every day, and all of them were working instead. The three Hunter talked to were doing some menial tasks with their parents. Xuan Bach was clearing tables and sweeping floors in his parents’ little restaurant, Linh helped her mother serve the tea on some mornings on the street and Hu’u Quann helped his father run a shop.

  It was common to see these things. Reading about it had made me feel as though all labor was a grave injustice and abuse, despite knowing that the children did feel gratification. They felt as though they were helping and it mattered to them. It also mattered to them that they could every once in a while buy something for themselves with the money they had earned. It was an empowering thing - one I had taken for granted.

  The more they talked (and Hunter had a way of making them comfortable talking a lot - he treated them like grown people and trusted them to know what they wanted to say), the more I realized there was no other way to deal with it, but the way my team had devised.

  One by one, the children we had met, needed to go. They all had their big smiles on, they all liked math, they all wanted to learn English and they all had to work the next morning.

  When the last two of the children Hunter talked to left, he turned to me. It had been well over an hour, nearly two, since we arrived. Hunter’s suit was dusty from
sitting on a short concrete wall near the docks, but he did not seem to care.

  “Our unofficial polling is complete,” he said with a sad smile. I had not yet seen this side of him. “You were right, Rachel.”

  It should have made me feel proud, but sadness was all I felt. It clutched at my throat and tightened its slender fingers. I wanted to cry, but how absurd would that even be.

  My pursed lips stretched into a half-smile as my eyes met Hunter’s. Suddenly, I could not hold it back. Yet I did not want him to see tears in my eyes, not again. I did not want him to think me weak.

  I did all I could to hide the storm that raged inside me. I leaned forward, wrapped my arms around him and rested my head against his shoulder for one single moment, to get myself together. “Thank you.” It was a whisper, quieter than the wind, but he heard it. I wanted to thank him for the recognition, I wanted to thank him for the opportunity but most of all I wanted to thank him for what he was doing for those children. I could only hope he understood it. I felt his arm around me, and a gentle squeeze which was all I truly needed.

  The words rolled off my tongue in an instant. If I had debated it, I would not have said them, but when I did, my mind was set: “I’ll sign your contract.”

  CHAPTER 8

  I had decided it on a whim when I was passing through the city center’s colorful stalls. Bright colors may not have been to my taste, but the vendors had a lot to offer besides. Now that I was standing in my panties and my bra, in front of the mirror, staring at the long black dress I had bought in the spur of the moment, questions were starting to pop up in my head.

  I did not want it.

  But I really did, too. It was hard to decide. Some childish feeling of excitement would come over me whenever I imagined putting it on. Then it was stomped to death by my adult insecurities.

  I glanced into the mirror. My belly was flat and smooth, my breasts firm in my black bra, skin shining, my hair lightly curled, brown and falling over my shoulders. My lips were full and red, but I added a shade darker lipstick and contoured my cheekbones just enough so that he could notice. I was never heavy on the make-up, and tonight was no different - but I felt as though an effort was needed.

  When Hunter had invited me for dinner, my heart skipped a beat. I accepted immediately, before panic could make me change my mind. He was not really the type of a guy I used to date. This… There was a lot of pressure involved. We were doing business together; he was always in the public eye and there was that heavy secret he needed me to know before we had any chance at dating.

  I slid into my black dress and when I looked at the way it outlined my shape, I could not help but smile.

  I was hot.

  I could hardly remember a time when I felt this way. Something as simple as a dress, for an occasion, made my tummy flutter.

  Hunter’s suite was a sky villa. I knocked on the door and within moment I could hear footsteps approaching. He opened the door, wearing his finest dark blue suit and his trademark suspenders. The ruby cufflinks were in stark contrast with his suit, and his eyes were as icy as ever. There was a twinkle in them and that made all the difference. The way he looked at me was not as cold as the hue of his eyes, but it still made me pause.

  His smile took away all the tension. “You… You look stunning.” He moved from the door. “Won’t you come in?”

  I was standing there, words ringing in my ears. I look stunning, I thought, a wide smile crossing my face. I walked inside and scanned the rooms, nearly losing my breath. In the middle a table for two was set up with candles burning bright, casting long shadows against the walls. The lights were dim, coming from various lamps in corners. Through the window, I could see the endless glimmering lights of the city beyond.

  He read my face. “It’s a date, isn’t it?”

  I smiled as I looked at him. It was a date, after all. Hearing him say those words nevertheless made me dizzy. It was not only attraction that I felt for him as he led me to sit down and poured me a glass of wine, but lust. I wanted him more than I had ever wanted anyone in my life. He was the ultimate man. Even this grave secret of his could not cloud his magnificence.

  I was sure he could tell. Or was it just his natural confidence? That could have been the trick.

  We ate the strangest food I had ever seen. And we ate plenty. Fish simmered in sauces so long its bones had melted away, beef marinated in the most exciting flavors, salads with plants I had never even heard of, and for dessert something as odd as all that came before it. It was a mixture of crushed ice, sweetened milk and various fruit that was for some reason served hot. The taste was an explosion of contrasts in my mouth and by the end of it, only the empty bowl could tell me whether I liked it or hated it.

  “You know,” Hunter said as he leaned forward, “I liked you from the moment I first saw you.” That was a few years back, when I first got my job. “But when we met at that elevator, with that pile of papers… I lost myself completely.”

  I lowered my head and looked at him from beneath my eyebrows. It was a mysterious look I only saved for the special occasions.

  “I wouldn’t want to ruin this…” He exhaled. And that’s when I saw it - he was nervous. He was afraid of me. He was afraid of what I would think of him. And it all became so clear to me - I knew what his secret was. I knew what he was afraid of and I could help him. The man who helps the world was in need of help.

  I laid my hand on his, not fearing his reaction the way I had on the airplane. He looked into my eyes, and I looked into his. His soul lay bare before me. I smiled. “You won’t ruin anything, Hunter.” My hand slid up and down his, just enough to tease him.

  “You really want to know?” He did not wait for my reply. “I am som…”

  “Sh,” I whispered and leaned forward. “Don’t say it.” His expression was one of confusion, but I did not torture him for too long. “Show me.”

  His mouth fell open. He was adorable beyond any words. It took him a moment, but he slowly got up and took my hand, raising me gently up. The room was so silent that I could hear his shallow breaths.

  His fingers were clutching mine as we stood, facing each other, breathing slowly. His confidence has returned to him and he took a step closer. His hand closed around mine and his free arm wrapped around me. I felt both safe and nervous in his arms. He pulled me close together and I felt it. I felt all that attractiveness between us, all that hunger for passion. I would let him do whatever he wanted, just so I could be the one he was doing it to.

  His breath was hot on my neck as he leaned forward. His lips did not touch my skin at once, but lingered there, sending shivers down my spine. I wiggled in his arm, but he pulled me closer and held me still as his lips finally brushed off my neck. It ticked me to madness.

  He pulled back and looked into my eyes. The ice shattered in his, and fire was burning in him when he leaned and pressed his lips against mine. They were soft, but very much dominant. The tip of his tongue touched mine and I loved every moment of it.

  His hand, on my lower back, pressed me close to him and with little surprise I felt that he was hard.

  The notion went against all my previous experiences, but it was not something I had not expected. I no longer knew what or who I was - all I knew was that I wanted him.

  He turned abruptly and took me toward his bedroom. Candles were burning all around, flickering lights casting our dancing shadows onto the walls. I had barely enough time to notice any of it before his lips pressed against mine again.

  I moved my hand up his torso and rested it on his strong chest. I felt his muscles flex, as he was showing off. His hand was in my hair, holding the back of my head, and his lips moved to my neck again - he was teasing me and driving me crazy. I felt his teeth bite my ear and I nearly squealed.

  My medium length nails dug into his shirt and muscles as his bite intensified. His crotch, harder by the second, was pressing against me, pushing and grinding. Oh, but he had the total control over himself. He kne
w exactly how far he could go before the point of no return. All he was doing was testing my limits.

  “Are you afraid of me?” His words were low and quiet, yet they boomed in my ears.

  “No,” I whispered, uncertain whether that was what he wanted to hear.

  He smiled. “Good.” Then, in one sudden move, his hands wrapped around my wrists and tightened the grip. It was not painful, but it sure as hell was not liberating either. Still, I sucked in a breath of air, all innocent and confused, and looked into his eyes, pleading. “I want you to do things for me.”

  His voice was a low growl, nothing like the man I had worked with. His charisma, on the other hand, was all I had come know and a thousand times more.

  “What would you like me to do?” I had no control over my voice - it was starting to get high pitched. He freed my hand and I reached down his torso, caressing his abdomen and brushing my fingers lightly against his hard length.

  He sucked in a breath of air. “No.” With one hand, he pushed mine away, then rested it on my hip and slid it up my dress, the back of his hand crossing my breast and sending tingles of excitement through my body. “I want to watch you do it to yourself, Rachel.” The words made me feel dizzy. I could not say what it made me feel - it was a new sensation.

  He swiftly hooked his fingers under my dress and made pulled. It slid off from my shoulders and I held it crossing my arm around my breast, as though I was about to defend myself from him. We looked at each other for one long moment, before I moved my arm and let the dress slide and drop onto the floor.

  Hunter took a step back, his eyes scanning me. A smile showed in the corner of his lips and in his eyes, and it made me proud. I was proud that I could please Hunter Green.

  I rested my hand on my belly and slowly started moving it down. It felt odd, with him watching me I felt completely naked. Heat started rising into my cheeks as I reached the edge of my sexy black panties. My fingers played with the edge, then I hooked my thumb inside them and teased an inch of my skin hidden below.