Ties That Bind

“You should know us better than that,” Damien rolled his eyes at his brother as he slipped his arm around Angel’s waist and pulled her out of Devin’s hold. It was a game the twins had played for years… always trying to outdo each other when a pretty girl was nearby.

“Lucky for you guys that she does,” Hunter glared at the twins then smiled as Angel turned at the sound of his voice.

Angel’s lips parted as she laid eyes on Hunter for the first time in almost two years. Suddenly, all kinds of memories flashed through her mind, making her knees weak and her pulse race. Emails and phone calls just didn’t stand a chance against seeing him in person.

His hair was longer than she remembered, going halfway down his back in inky darkness. He looked just like one of those guys on the front of a historical romance novel where the Indian and the white girl are pictured in a hot embrace.

Blushing at the mental picture, she untangled herself from her cousins and stepped toward him. “You’re taller,” she breathed as she looked up at him. Hunter was the one person who knew more about her than her brother did.

“No, you’re just shorter,” Hunter taunted right before he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her into the air. “Unless, I do this.” She always had been light as a feather to him. He growled inwardly as she reached down for him, ending the childish ride with a tight embrace. He inhaled her scent, reminding him of all the reasons he had waited on her to come back.

Knowing they were being watched, Hunter quickly set her back on her feet and looked over her shoulder at the twins. “The pool party’s starting and there’s someone out there asking for you guys.”

“Stacey!” the twins high-fived each other. “See you two later.” They took off as if it was a race to see who could reach the girl first.

“So they finally learned how to share?” Angel asked with a straight face as she watched the twins leave then giggled lightly at her own joke.

“I think they just like the competition,” Hunter mused. “This Stacey girl shows up all the time just so they’ll fight over her… so far, neither of them has won.”

She smiled softly as she turned back to Hunter, noticing a long lock of ebony hair that had fallen into his face when he’d picked her up. Reaching for it, she tenderly moved it to the side, and tucked it behind his ear. “I feel like I can finally breathe.”

“What was stopping you?” Hunter’s voice was just as soft as hers. He knew what she was saying because he could feel it too. He felt it so much it was making his eyes burn.

His gaze lowered to her pouting lips and he felt himself getting closer… wanting to kiss her like he used to do before she left. He had been the one to teach her to kiss though he knew she had never taken it as seriously as he had. To her, it had only been childhood experimenting… to him, it had been the ties that bind.

“A person should never be separated from their best friend… it hurts,” Angel sighed and then hugged him again.

Hunter froze at the words ‘best friend’. Something she meant as an endearment had always felt more like a punch in the gut to him. Wrapping his arms back around her, Hunter leaned down to kiss the top of her head while trying to control his voice. “I know.”

She had used the term ever since she had told him all her secrets… even the secret about her and Tristian. She had once even told him that she thought she was in love with her big brother. Hunter had then started taking her into the mountains… just the two of them... and showing her all the things he could make her feel that her brother couldn’t.

That was the turning point between him and Tristian… because he knew Angel's secret feelings had never been one-sided. To his dismay, he’d only wound up convincing Angel that she was in love with both of them.

Making himself pull away, he laid his arm across her shoulder and started walking her out of the garden. “I bet you haven’t even had a chance to wind down from your fright-flight,” he smirked, knowing she hated the helicopter as much as Tristian did.

“You know… you could have talked grandmother out of doing that,” she said as she bumped against him. “You used to be able to talk her in and out of just about anything.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Hunter smirked. “Don’t blame me for that chopper ride. “Besides, I’ve been letting your grandmother get her way more often lately.” They walked across the grass out into the open. He knew they were in full view of Ashton’s room so he slowed down just for spite. No one had ever accused him of being a saint.

“You’re my hero… you know that?” Angel pulled him to a stop so he’d look down at her. “If you hadn’t found grandmother when she had her heart attack…” her voice softened to a mere whisper, “you saved her life.”

Ashton wrapped the towel around his waist as he left the bathroom. That was what he needed, a long hot shower to start the week off. Maybe he could make a really good impression on Angel’s family and stake his claim on her. He’d never worked so hard to impress a girl as he had Angel.

His last girlfriend wound up being a two-faced backstabbing whore that he’d had to teach a lesson, but not Angel. He could tell she was still a little sweet homegrown virgin that he’d had to con into getting just the simplest of kisses from. It hadn’t bothered him though. If he wanted sex… there were enough whores willing to put out, and then go away so he could spend time with Angel.

Looking in the dresser mirror, he started towel drying his hair then stopped, noticing something in the reflection. Turning toward the window, he frowned seeing Angel and Hunter standing so close that it looked like they were whispering secrets.

He clenched his teeth, making the muscles in his jaw jump as he watched his girlfriend and the Indian boy she so fondly called her best friend. Somehow, he didn’t think Hunter would feel the same about that nickname… no guy in his right mind would.

“Angel, your grandmother has always been good to me and Ray… even when she had no reason to be. I hate what happened to her,” Hunter sighed knowing that was a lie. If Isabel Hart hadn’t had her heart attack… then Angel wouldn’t be here right now. He cringed inwardly knowing what he had done.

The Shaman from his tribe had taught him all about herbs and what they did to the body as far as healing or harming. He had taken that knowledge and mixed the right concoction to cause Isabel’s mild heart attack. It had been the only thing he could think of that would make Angel come back.

“I don’t deserve any praise for finding her,” Hunter admitted with a guilty conscience.

Angel smiled softly knowing Hunter didn’t have a conceited bone in his body. Wanting him to know just how much she appreciated what he had done, she rose up on her tiptoes and gave him a soft fleeting kiss on the lips.

As she drew back from him, their eyes met and held. Angel inhaled sharply feeling the little lightning bolts streak down her stomach and up her thighs. This wasn’t the first time he had caused this reaction inside her… but it was the first time she wasn’t supposed to feel this for him. She had a boyfriend now… crushing on Hunter was taboo.

Angel swallowed as she took a step back. “Thank you for saving my grandmother. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost her.”

Hunter narrowed his eyes knowing she was denying what they had both just felt. Maybe not denying it… but definitely ignoring it. He had no intention of letting her get away with it… as a matter of fact; he intended to remind her that he was not that easily forgotten.

Reaching out, he grabbed her hand and started for the front doors. “Come on, let’s get you settled in.”

Ashton gripped the windowsill so tight he heard the wood make a popping sound. Angel had never given him a reason to be jealous before, but he didn’t like the way she looked at Hunter… the way she had kissed him. He didn’t like it one bit. He hadn’t let her come home only to watch her throw herself at other guys.

Angel stepped into the elevator shaking off the last of the electricity that kissing Hunter had caused. “So, where will I be sleeping?” she smiled knowing it was a game they used to play.

The four of them, Tristian, Ray, Hunter and herself, would sneak the register away from the desk and switch people’s rooms around just to cause mass confusion. They used to get in so much trouble for it that it was kind of amusing because now, Hunter was in charge of the very thing that used to get them yelled at.

Hunter shrugged, “I figured that you would want to be next to your brother.” He reached out and pushed the button for the fourth floor. “So I put you in your old room.”

“Glad to hear I still get a big room,” she smirked knowing the ones on the top floor where huge compared to the ones downstairs. Plus, it would be nice to feel completely at home again. “Thanks.”

“I always did think you two were a bit spoiled,” Hunter teased. “That’s why I decided to move in too.” He fished the key out of his pocket. He had taken the room right next to hers when he had moved in last month. It had let him feel closer to her even though she was so far away.

“When did you finally move into Sanctuary?” Angel asked. He and Ray had always driven back and forth every day so they could stay with their mother at night… even before Ray had gotten his license. He and Ray loved their mother dearly and made sure she was always taken care of.

When the doors opened, Hunter put his hand on the edge of the elevator door to keep it open for her. “I’m sorry Angel… I told Tristian not to tell you. I didn’t want you to worry about us.” His eyes darkened knowing she would have every right to be mad at him if she wanted to be.

“So tell me now.” Angel had a bad feeling. Hunter had never kept secrets from her and she wondered if being gone all this time had caused it. “What don’t I know?”

“Our mother died last month when the house accidentally caught fire,” he swallowed still not wanting to talk about it. “The fire department said it looked like she had been cooking and must have fallen asleep.”

Angel's lips parted when his dark eyes became luminous with unshed tears. “Oh my god Hunter… I’m so sorry. I wish you had told me… I would have come back sooner.”

“I didn’t want you to… see me like that,” he confessed as she wrapped her arms around him for the third time in the last half hour.

Letting go of the door, he let it slide shut as he reached out and touched the stop button. Placing his palms against her back, Hunter couldn’t stop himself as he pulled her flush against him, letting the smell of her hair soothe the ache inside him. This ache had nothing to do with his mother.

Angel hadn’t meant to do anything other than comfort him, but as soon as their bodies touched, she found herself pressed back against the wall of the elevator and one of his legs pushed between her thighs making them both go up in flames again.

“Oh God, Angel,” Hunter murmured against the soft skin at her neck as he felt the heat of her center all the way through the cloth that covered his leg. Grinding his thigh up against her, he lifted his head and caught her lips in a frustrated kiss. His hands traveled down her arms to capture her hands. Sliding his fingers through hers, he pressed them to the wall knowing her well enough to remember a little domination was a turn on for her. If almost counted as sex… then they had been lovers for a long time.

At first, Angel kissed him back, losing herself in the sensations he was causing, but then an image of Ashton flashed in her mind and she turned her head, breaking the kiss. She moaned softly when he breathed hotly down her neck. Pulling her hands from his, she placed them on his chest and pushed.

“Hunter?” Angel kept her eyes on the floor, suddenly afraid of what she would see if she looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I…”