The Huntress Read online

  “Suzanne tells me you’re the best defense lawyer this side of the Mississippi.” I try to make small talk but it lands on deaf ears.

  Suzanne and I stare blankly at Remington as he dazes off, looking at the crowd.

  “Ellie, another drink?” Suzanne hooks her arm in mine and leads me away from her jerk of a husband. “Sorry,” she whispers as we take seats at the marble bar, ordering a couple of glasses of champagne.

  “For what? You didn’t make him drink an ocean’s worth of grain alcohol.” I try to laugh it off, but there is no excuse for his behavior.

  Suzanne stares blankly as she pulls apart the square bar napkin that has our charity's logo printed on the center. “I just don’t know how it got like this. We used to be happy, you know?”

  I am the last person to give relationship advice and I hate listening to sob stories. “People change.” I shrug and down my flute full of bubbly in one gulp.

  “I just wish I had a way out. I am the definition of a trapped rat.” She wipes a single tear that escapes before she sits up straight in her chair. “But that is for another time. Tonight we should be relishing in our success.”

  We clank our empty crystal glasses together and order another round as the ten-minute warning for the end of the auction rings through the entire room.

  Chapter 5

  The Gift

  Ellie

  Eighteen. Growing up, I always romanticized turning eighteen, thinking of the freedoms I would be afforded, but mainly I always imagined what life would be like without my mother. That was the big accomplishment I looked forward to most of my life. I never imagined that when I actually did turn eighteen, my life would be drastically different. I had my own room for once, a car that wasn’t being held together by duct tape, clothes that fit—I mean, these were luxuries for me!

  My mind raced all over the place through most of the day. School, dinner out, a movie with my girlfriends—it was all well and good, but I had another motive. In my mind, I was finally legal. I could make my move. If I didn’t, I would never forgive myself. I’d lusted over him for far too long. I’d fucked teenage boys thinking about him. He was the one I wanted, and the only one. I couldn’t explain it even if I tried. The only thing I knew I could never live with was rejection. Would he reject me?

  I walked through the side door of the historic Boston colonial we shared, the slam of the heavy wood against the aged doorframe echoing through the house. Just like any other night, I stood in the kitchen, counting down the moments until I heard Theo call for me from his study.

  “Did you have a nice birthday, Eleanor?” His voice came from the study off of the kitchen. He spent most of his hours there, and this time of year, he would always have a fire raging in the stone fireplace. A glass of scotch sat on the end table next to his chair. I could lie in front of the fireplace and read for hours on end.

  “Very much so, thank you for everything,” I said in a quiet tone while moving in to wrap my arms around his neck. Giving him a familiar squeeze, I continued, “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me over these past couple years. It was a lot and I know I’ve been difficult at times.” I paused and took a deep breath, swallowing the large lump in my throat. Theo stood from his chair and walked across the room to his antique roll-top desk, a place where he would often spend hours working on his latest plan for world domination.

  “I have something for you, Ellie,” he said while unlocking and rolling the desk up, exposing a small box wrapped in silver wrapping paper with a light blue bow. I tried to stop him, making up excuses. He had given me far too much already.

  “You’ve already given me way more than necessary today.” I put my arms up, but he was so damn relentless, picking the box up and walking back to his chair, only pausing to hand me the small box on his way. I joked with him, trying to guess what was on the inside based on the shape. Slowly I began to pull at the seams of the paper, ripping it open as quickly as I could. Would this outdo the car? Or the apartment he had fully paid off for when I went to college? The bank account with my name on it full of money I never earned? It all was too much, but Theo was just that: too much.

  I pulled the paper back and saw a small hand-carved wooden box with an intricate heart-shaped design covering the top.

  “Open it,” he encouraged.

  Lifting the lid, I found two items. The first was a small white plastic case, and next to it lay a skeleton key. I looked at Theo with confusion because these two things meant absolutely nothing to me.

  “The key is for the box. The box…it’s your fate.”

  I looked at him with confusion. He was being cryptic, but that wasn’t anything new. He was a man of little words. Trying to get more than a sentence out of him was an event in itself. I picked up the small white plastic case; it was heavier than I had anticipated. My eyebrow rose while Theo continued to watch my reaction.

  “Open it…” he said again.

  Flipping open the box, I saw a knife. Its large blade shined in the light from the fire. It wasn’t like any knife I’d ever seen in my life. I’d seen some fucked up weapons being around Theo and some of his associates over the years, but nothing like this. Not everything he was involved in was legal. I’d jumped in on so many occasions to help him, but he would always brush me off.

  “What is this?” I asked Theo.

  “That is your fate. You’ve said you want to give back, and now it is time for you to learn how. Along with college, you are going to train. You are going to become my black widow. That knife will be exactly how you do it, your signature.” I just sat on the floor listening to his words, in a fog of confusion. My plans fell to the wayside while he explained the next years of my life to me.

  “We made a lot of plans for you Ellie, but this one isn’t something the world will ever know. For the next couple years, we are going to groom you to be a hired assassin. You have the opportunity to walk away right now if this is not something you are willing to do. It won’t be hard to find someone else who wants to be in this position, but I’ve known over the years that you have wanted to be involved in my business.”

  “Tell me more.” I wanted to know all the details before I made my choice.

  “You will go to law school just like we planned. Nothing changes there. You are going to be the most badass lawyer Boston has ever seen. At the same time, you are going to have to make some social sacrifices. Free time will go to training, going to the gym, being in peak shape. Your teacher will be one of my mentors who taught me everything I know. That knife will become second nature. One stab, then you press that button.” He pointed at a small button at the base of the knife.

  “That is called the wasp. It is full of CO2. You stab someone, press the button, and it injects the toxic gas into the body at a rapid pace, debilitating their surrounding organs and causing them to immediately succumb to the injury. I put a lot of thought into a simple way for you to accomplish your kills. No messy cleanup, no big projects.”

  The more he talked about it, the more I just wanted to scream yes. I knew it was part of my damaged past. I wished I had the option of taking out the very woman who actually gave birth to me, but that was a thought for another day.

  “The process will be long, but it is for good, I promise. The only targets are bad people, Ellie. Very bad people, the type that don’t deserve to walk this earth. I promise you that.”

  “And the key?” I asked.

  “That key opens the box, but I also have the same exact key tattooed on me,” Theo admitted. I had no idea he had any tattoos. It must have been new, because there was no way I could have gone for so many years without seeing it, especially with the amount of times I’d spied on him naked…

  “It’s a skeleton key. That design reminded me of you—beautiful but hard, delicate but cold.” It couldn’t have been more accurate. It was just who I was, who I would always be. I couldn’t run from the reality I was destined for. Without a second thought, I agreed to it all—anything to m
ake Theo happy, really. I’d walk to the moon and back for him just to repay him for all he had done for me.

  I was quiet for quite some time before making the decision to go with my original plan. We could talk about all the details until we were blue in the face…but now it was my time to finally give back, make my move, do exactly what I had been thinking about all day long.

  “I want to give you something.” I stepped back from him and walked around to the front of the chair. Hands on my hips, I ran my tongue across my bottom lip. “I want to give back in a way you’ll never forget. I’m going away to college soon, and things will be different. I just want to leave on this note…” I trailed off, taking a step toward him again. Only a single pace separated us as I watched him stare at me in silence. Several moments passed between the two of us and I thought long and hard about what I was about to do. I closed my eyes and thought about all the times I had watched him pleasure himself from afar, all the times I had run back to my room and used my showerhead as a means of pleasure.

  The time had finally come. It was right here in front of me and I wouldn’t waste a single moment. Taking one final step and kneeling in front of him, I looked him in the eyes before laying a finger on him.

  “I’ve wanted to do this for a really long time,” I said as I moved my hands to begin unbuckling his belt, neither of us saying a word while the breathing between us became more labored as my fingers fumbled like a virgin over his button and zipper. My hands shook and my heart felt like it was about to explode out of my chest. The little angel on my shoulder screamed for him to stop me, but the devil on the other side was far louder, cheering me on.

  That was when I realized he wasn’t wearing anything under the black slacks. No underwear in sight. No more barriers between me and the one thing I’d fantasized about for the past two years of my life.

  “Stop me,” I whispered as my hand reached into his pants, freeing his already rock-hard cock.

  “I’d regret it for the rest of my life if I did,” Theo said to me, eyes full of warmth—a look I’d never been on the receiving end of.

  “I couldn’t stop myself if I tried,” I admitted before running my tongue along the underside of his cock and taking the head between my lips. I dragged my eyesight back up and met his deep green eyes. He was watching every move I made when his eyes weren’t rolling back in his head.

  “Ellie, fuck…” His voice roared as I took his cock all the way down into my throat. Up and down I went while stroking his shaft. His hands began running through my long dark hair, fisting it while thrusting between my lips. He growled and pulled his cock out of my mouth. I sat there on my knees in shock, looking up at him.

  “I can’t…” He trailed off while pulling me up from the floor. I stood still in front of him, wondering if he was mad. He ran his hands through his hair before he began to unbutton the white dress shirt he was wearing.

  “Theo,” I said, and our eyes met again. I hadn’t realized I had been staring at the floor like an ashamed slut since the moment he pulled his cock from my mouth. His hand cupped my chin and his lips pressed against mine. I was lost in the pleasure of our first kiss. It was more than I ever could have expected it to be. I’d played this moment over in my head time and time again, but the real thing was sure as shit better.

  “I can’t help myself Ellie. This…us…all of this has been so fucking hard.” He let out a deep sigh and ran his hands through his hair again, this time tugging on the length. “You drive me absolutely crazy. At first you were a chore for me, a debt I needed to settle. You knew that from the very beginning, but I did my best. I tried. But as time went on and you grew, I knew this wasn’t how shit was supposed to be. It was all fucked up! We should have never met under any of these terms.” He paused, cock still hanging out of his pants as he stood in front of me, trying to spit the words out.

  “This past year you’ve become a woman. You are the most beautiful and appreciative person I’ve ever met. You are grateful and classy. The hand you were dealt from the get-go was bullshit, and I hate your mother for all the shit she put you through… It’s not fair and you don’t deserve it.” He paused and kissed me again. I was drunk with lust from his touch but his words pulled me back out of my fog.

  “This can’t be a thing. We can’t do this. We already have everything planned. This is a one-time thing. We do it, and we forget about it, or we do this and keep it behind closed doors for however long we choose. But to the public…the people out there…” He pointed out the front windows. “You are my daughter, flesh and blood. We can’t get caught.”

  He was right; it would ruin everything, including our lives. The repercussions would be endless.

  “I get it—whatever!” I yelled while dropping to my knees and taking his cock in my mouth again.

  “Get up. I’m taking you upstairs and doing this right.” His voice sent a shiver through my entire body. He pulled his pants up and picked me up, tossing me over his shoulder like a rag doll. I let out a high-pitched squeal as he ran for the stairs, taking two at a time until making it to the top, taking a right, and coming to a stop at the first bedroom door. His bedroom. Never had I ever see him bring a woman in there in all the time I’d lived here. Despite the playboy reputation, he never brought them into the home we shared. I never knew why, I just knew he didn’t do it.

  Kicking the door open, he took a few strides before tossing me down onto his giant king-size platform bed. I laughed again as I bounced against the soft mattress. Without missing a beat, he began to strip his clothes off. Buttons went flying in every direction as the shirt fell to the floor. The pants followed quickly before he started to crawl across the bed in my direction. Quickly his fingers worked on the button and zipper of the ripped jeans I had worn out with my friends. My black silk halter top quickly followed. I lay there on the bed in my bra and panties as Theo did a onceover, taking in every last inch of my pale white skin, every curve and scar.

  “Take your bra off,” he sternly demanded.

  Without thought I reached around, unhooking the white lace bra, my eyes looking up to him for approval as my hardened pink nipples met the cool night air. Goose bumps spread all across my body while he gazed at me.

  “Now the panties…” He growled and I let out a small gasp. He was going to make me take those off too? I paused for a moment, caught in the middle of my own moral dilemma once again. Should I do this? Would I be able to live with the consequences of my actions? I desperately tried to will myself out of it, but I just couldn’t. This was what I’d wanted from him. I’d wanted him in the worst possible ways. No matter how fucked up or creepy it might look from the outside, it was just different between us.

  I hooked my thumbs through the waistband of my panties and shimmied them down my thighs, slowly exposing the smooth shaved pussy I’d been desperate for him to fuck. I could see he was just as fucked in the head as I was at that moment. He was trying to talk himself out of it. He knew it was wrong, but for all the right reasons. I could have just screamed, but somehow I remained silent, my hooded eyes watching him with all the lust I’d felt for him over the years.

  “You want this?” Theo took his thick cock in his palm. “You really want this inside you?” he asked me, looking as though he expected a real answer from me.

  I nodded my head in approval while taking my hand and cupping my breast.

  “Say it Ellie,” he said.

  “Theo, please make love to me.” I kicked myself as I said it, because guys like him didn’t make love—they fucked. I didn’t want him to think I was looking for more in this than what it would ever be. It was just sex…

  “Ellie, you are the only woman I’ll ever ‘make love’ to,” he said while sliding his cock up and down my bare slit. I let out a quiet moan that only seemed to turn him on more. Taking my face in between his hands, Theo looked down at me and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips. “You are mine,” he whispered as he slowly eased his cock inside my waiting cunt.

  The
wheels of the plane touching down on land once again snap me out of a dream I often have. It is the same every time: a replaying of the time I was actually able to have him all to myself. That night changed a lot in our relationship. I gave myself to Theo, and he gave his heart and soul to me. When all was said and done, he gave me a gift.

  Chapter 6

  Seattle

  Ellie

  Stepping off the plane in Seattle, I take in a deep breath of fresh Washington air. The city is stunning with the mountainous backdrop. I didn’t realize how much I missed the West Coast until I went without for a while. Everything is perfect in Seattle—the pot, the food, the culture; it is just so different than the East Coast. After I exit the private plane at Sea-Tac, I see a private car waiting for me. Bag in tow, I make my way to the waiting black SUV. The driver comes around the car and opens the door. “Good morning Ms. McGuire,” the older gentleman says with a smile on his face.

  “Good morning, thank you,” I say while stepping into the back of the SUV. Inside, Joseph is sitting on the opposite seat. I’m not sure if I am happy to see him or not just yet. I do know that I am starving and in desperate need of some very much legal marijuana edibles—one of the best perks of the Seattle area.

  “Joseph, always a pleasure,” I say with a kiss on the cheek. After all, this whole trip is on his dime. A smile spreads across his face and I know he is excited about nothing more than the fact that I agreed to come to this. Walking into that party with me on his arm will certainly up his own personal stock in the celebrity swingers community.