Page 10 of Cherished

“I’m sorry!” she blurts. My heart wrenches. Fuck me, she thinks it’s her. My brow caves in anguish, but the damage is already done.

“I’m so sorry!” she repeats quietly. She slips out from between me and the railing and backs away. “I shouldn’t have—Hunter, I’m so sorry, that was… I don’t know what I was thinking!”

“Wait,” I growl. “Wait, Mia, it’s not…”

“I’m sorry,” she gasps. She whips around, and my heart twists as I watch her run back through the garden towards the penthouse. All before I can tell her it’smethat should be sorry. I want to scream after her that she has nothing to be sorry about. I want to grab her and shake her, and yell that I’m almost twice her fucking age… that I should know better.

I want to explain to her how bad it would be for her to enter my slow-crash orbit. Or to chain herself to this prison. I never should have intervened, and I definitely should never have kissed her. But I did, and I kept going anyways because around her, I’m weak. Around her, my armor fails.

“Fuck,” I snarl into the city night. I whirl and storm back through the garden and inside. I’m not going after her, though. No, I won’t chase her like a creep. I go to my own master suite and slam the door instead.

My hands clench to fists. My cock is still so fucking hard. I need to calm myself and pull back from that razor’s edge of control. I suck in a breath and go to the window. But then, I see it.

Part of the penthouse bends around an L-shape. Some of the windows in my room look into other windows of my office, the media room, and the guest quarters. Normally, this isn’t an issue. The glass is all mirrored on the outside, so you see nothing.

Unless they’re open, and right now, the guest room windows are definitely open.

Through the window Mia must have wound open for some fresh air, I can see the mirror on her wall. In it, I can see the bed. But what I really see is heronthe bed—laying down, legs wide open with her hand buried between them.

My recently semi-quelled desire blazes back to a full fire. I yank at my belt before I can tell myself not to. Before I can walk away, I’ve got my hand around my thickening cock, watching Mia touch herself.

She pushes her hand under her panties, and I watch her rubbing herself. It’s like hearing her swear earlier. It’s as if it doesn’t mesh with her sweet little innocent persona. But the juxtaposition of sweet Mia touching herself is too much for me. It’d be too much for any red-blooded man. But tonight, it’s my breaking point.

I stroke my dick, and my teeth grit. I watch her and move my hand in time. Her head throws back, and though I can’t actually hear her, I can almost pretend I can hear her sweet cry of release when she comes. Watching her convulse pushes me the brink. I grunt, and my cum jets again the glass of the window. I growl and keep coming, my sticky release dripping down the window glass.

The light in her room flicks off. I watch the light in the attached bathroom click on just as the door shuts, and I move away. I sit on the edge of my bed, in my room, in my city prison. I’ve steeled myself and made myself accept that I’ll be here forever. The Marine in me has adjusted to this, however bitter a pill it is to swallow.

But that was before Mia. That was before I was reminded of the beauty of the world. Mia’s reminded me that I have a beating heart inside of this hard chest, and a pulse in these bitter veins. And now, I’m not sure what the fuck I’m going to do.

5

Mia

The guest bathroomof Hunter’s penthouse is the nicest bathroom I’ve literally ever seen. It’s also like a third the size of my Aunt Carol’s entire apartment. I run my fingers over the gleaming brushed steel hardware and ornate pristine white marble. Even the shower looks big enough for five people. I look inside and up, and I gasp when I see the night sky through a glass roof above the rain shower head.

It’s obvious that Hunter is rich, but I’m realizing more and more than he might be beyond “rich.” This isn’t just nice apartment or nice clothes rich. This is wealthy to an unimaginable level. Which begs the question, what amIdoing in a place like this?

I catch my reflection in the huge mirror above the sink, and I blush. I’m still naked, and I hug my arms around myself. I know it was pretty dirty to… well, to touch myself like I just did, in someone else’s house. But I couldn’t help it. Kissing Hunter was like swallowing fire. It felt like jumping off of the roof into thin air but knowing you can fly.

But then it came crashing down. The look in his eyes said it all. That look of regret told me everything I already knew and know even more now: I don’t belong here. But even worse, that look was one that said I’d stepped over a line.

The shower honestly seems a little imposing since it’s so big. Instead, I turn to the opulent, marble bathtub and start the water. I notice a small metal button next to the faucet, and when I push it, pink liquid spurts out into the rush of water filling the tub. The bubbly suds are instant, and I smile in delight. Now that’s classy.

When it’s full, I climb in and sink into the water. The shame of what I just did in the guest room makes my skin tingle and my face burn, and I lower myself until my chin is resting in the bubbles. I’ve never known desire like this. I’ve never felt aching lust like the sort that Hunter’s brought out in me.

I’ve felt unprepared for the world ever since I arrived in this city. But with Hunter, I feel in over my head. My mind tries to replay what just happened out in the garden, but it’s blurry now. Did Hunter kiss me? Or did I kiss him? I want to say his mouth found mine, because I’ve never kissed anyone before. How would I have known to go in first? Or is it just that Hunter is so gorgeous, and so captivating that I lose control? After all, I can’t even remember now how it happened. Maybe that’s also what he does to me.

Whatever it was though, that kiss lit something inside of me. Which is why I found myself doing what I did the second I was alone in his guest room. When I think about it again though, I don’t feel shame. I just feel good, in a fresh, new, and exciting way. I like that he brings this side of me out. Just like I like knowing that my first kiss, tonight, was with my own personal city Tarzan.

But then, the thoughts turn sour as I reply more of what happened. Whoever kissed who, the way he looked at me after he pulled away was all I needed to know. That first kiss was more than anything I’ve ever imagined my first kiss would be. The way he touched me is nothing I’ve ever dreamed of. And the lust he brings out in me is nothing I’ve felt before.

But I don’t belong here. I don’t belong in this world where captivating, gorgeous rich men kiss you in urban garden paradises high above the lights of the city. And the look on Hunter’s face only solidifies that in my head.

The next second, I’m stepping out of that wonderful tub with my heart wrenching. I dry and dress quickly. I haven’t unpacked the few bags that Roger helped me bring over here, and I heft them onto my shoulders.

I peek out of the guest room door and see that the rest of the penthouse is dark. Hunter’s door is closed, and my lip twists. I remember that kiss one more time, and I lock it up away inside as something special. I might not belong here, and I might be way out of my league. But I plan on keeping that first kiss all to myself.

I heft my bags and trudge through the gorgeous apartment. At the large front door, I sigh heavily. I reach for the knob, twist it, and I pull the door open. Except suddenly, I gasp in shock when a heavy hand attached to a muscled forearm comes down to rest heavily on it. I whirl, and my heart skips when I look up into Hunter’s piercing blue eyes.

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