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Chapter Fourteen
Vanessa
Vanessa had dozed off after making love to Hunter, but once she was awake, she sat straight up in bed.
“Something wrong?” he muttered.
“I need to get Opal and bring her home. Who knows when that CPS guy will come back.”
“I’m sure you have a few days.”
“Maybe.” She chewed her lip and details started to run through her mind. Was it safe here? If they needed to wait for CPS to return, how could they make sure nothing happened to Opal in the meantime? “Hunter?”
“Yeah?” He rubbed his face and looked up at her.
“Will you stay here? With us, I mean? For a little while? Until I know that Opal is safe? If we can’t run and we have to be here for CPS, but Jeremy knows we’re here, I don’t know if Opal is safe and I—”
“Vanessa.”
She closed her mouth and looked at him.
“Yes.”
She blew out a long breath. “Thanks. I don’t think I’d get any sleep if it was just me and Opal in this apartment.”
“I will protect you both. I told you that.”
“I know, but having you stay here is different. I’m not sure what I’ll tell Opal.” Vanessa was starting to feel like it had been much too long since she’d spoken to her daughter. But she couldn’t risk calling and having it traced to the farm house. That needed to remain their safe place in case they needed it again. “I’m going to shower so we can go.”
She gathered some clothing and went into the bathroom. With the hot water on, she didn’t hear Hunter come in. He pulled back the curtain, and she screamed.
He pressed his lips together to avoid laughing.
“What are you doing! You can’t sneak up on me like that.” She slapped his bare chest.
His smirk faded into a hungry gaze. He stepped into the hot water and pulled her naked body close.
She let out a sigh. “I hate you right now.”
“I’m okay with that.” He kissed along her neck, letting the water run down his face and her body.
Despite her racing heart and anger at being startled, she let out a moan when he pinched her nipple.
“We don’t have time for this,” she said. “I have to get to Opal.”
“I can make it really fast.”
“Hunter.” She stepped away from him. The idea of fast shower sex with no foreplay at all, when she wasn’t in the mood, felt much too much like the sex she’d been forced into her whole marriage. She didn’t want to ruin things between them. “No.” Her voice shook when she said it, and she half expected him to grab her and take her right there in shower anyway.
But he stepped back to give her room and said, “Can I at least watch you finish your shower?” The crooked smile returned to his mouth.
She let out a sigh and relaxed. “If you must,” she said, chuckling.
She hurried to finish, every minute that passed feeling like hours since she’d seen her daughter. The worry intensified and ate at her stomach. What if something had happened to her and Mari? What if Jeremy had found them? What if he had Opal right now?
When she stepped out, Hunter took a quick shower as she dressed. By the time she’d dried her hair and was ready, he was dressed and stood in the bedroom, checking his guns.
“Ready?” he asked.
