Releasing the Hunter

Chapter 26

It took the three of them over four hours to exorcise everyone that needed it and to carry out and burn the dead demons. They dug a ditch, filled it with the bodies, salted it, did the last rites and then burned the lot. Fixing the town was going to take weeks, months even. Time Ronan didn’t have or was willing to give.

When it was done, the three of them sat in the kitchen and drank whatever alcohol was available. Quinn had a beer, Ivy some scotch and Ronan had vodka on ice. After the fourth one he was starting to feel calm and controlled.

They hadn’t talked much, but after an hour of straight drinking, Quinn broke the awkward silence.

He held out his beer bottle toward Ronan. “I misjudged you. I’m sorry for that.”

Ronan clinked his glass to the bottle. “I’ll take it.”

They both drank, then Quinn said, “If Ivy thinks you’re good people, then I’m inclined to listen to her.”

“For once,” Ivy interjected.

Quinn smiled. “Yes, for once.”

“Which means, I guess I have to listen to her when she says that you’re not such a bad guy.”

“Yup, I guess you will.”

They all clinked their respective containers, and then downed whatever was left in them. Ivy grabbed the scotch bottle and poured more into her glass.

“I have to say, I’m happy they didn’t get a chance to torture me to get info from you, Quinn.”

He nodded. “Me, too.”

“Do you think you would’ve told them where the key was?”

He shrugged. “Probably.” He looked at her, and Ronan could see the love there for her. Quinn would’ve gone to hell and back for her.

Quinn started to chuckle. “It’s ironic, really. The whole time they’re asking for the key and it was right there in front of their faces.”

Ivy frowned. “What? What do you mean? Where is it?”

He reached across the table and hooked a finger into the chain around Ivy’s neck. He tugged a little, and the heavy silver cross she always wore close to her skin popped out from her T-shirt. He let it go and smiled.

She looked down and wrapped her hand around the cross. “Are you serious?”

He nodded. “I had the key encased in silver and fashioned as a cross.”

Ronan looked at the necklace, just as surprised as Ivy. It was very clever on Quinn’s part.

“I had it the whole time?” Ivy asked incredulously.

“Yup. I thought, what better way to hide it than in the open? Who would’ve thought to look for it around your neck?”

She dropped her hand and leaned back in her chair. “And here I went and brought it right to them.”

“You didn’t know, Ivy. It’s not your fault. How could you have known?”

“Was this the real reason you left?”

He nodded. “One of them. I thought it would be safe with you, especially if I wasn’t around. And especially since I disguised it so well.” He shook his head. “I just didn’t expect you to come find me after three years.” He touched her on the shoulder. “You’re a persistent one, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, too persistent, obviously.”

“The good thing is the key is safe and so are you. That’s all that matters now.”

She smiled at him, then took a hefty swallow of scotch.

Quinn lifted his drink toward Ronan. “Thanks to you, that is. You saved the day, my friend.”

Ronan filled his glass again and downed the whole thing. He set the empty glass on the table, his hand slightly trembling. Ivy reached across the table and covered it with hers. She looked at Ronan with that way of hers. There was a twinkle in her eye that made his gut clench.

“Now that that’s been taken care of—” She stood and grabbed his hand. “Ronan and I need to have a little chat.”

Quinn shook his head with a half smile. He nodded toward the back hallway. “There’re clean sheets in the room down the hall.”

Laughing, Ivy pulled Ronan down the hallway to the room. She kicked open the door and pulled him through. Before he was even fully in the room, she pounced on him, pushing him up against the back of the door. She kissed him hard, her hands everywhere at once.

Then she dropped to her knees, her fingers on the zipper of his pants. Slowly, she drew the zipper down, then tugged his pants down his legs. His erection strained against the cotton of his shorts. She rubbed him through the fabric, driving him mad with each stroke.

He banged his head back on the wall as she slowly, agonizingly drew him out. Her hand wrapped around him, she tickled the tip with her tongue.

“Damn, woman, are you trying to kill me?” he cursed under his breath as she licked him over and over, teasing him until he was as hard as steel.

“I see I’ve found your weakness,” she said between licks.

He dug his fingers into the wall behind him. “Yeah, you.”

She looked up at him beneath the hood of her lashes. It was a surprised look, a solemn one. He hadn’t meant to say it out loud but she’d driven him to it. Everything about her drove him insane with desire. Lost to more emotions than he wanted to feel. But there it was and there was nothing he could do about it.

Gripping him tight, she slid him into her mouth. He watched as she stroked him, soft then hard alternately. He could feel the light scrape of her teeth on his sensitive flesh and the gentle teasing of her tongue. It was enough to drive him over the edge.

“Ivy,” he panted.

“Don’t talk,” she said around him. “Just feel.”

Ronan reached down, grabbed her under the arms and hefted her to her feet. Wrapping a hand in her tumble of hair, he spun her around and slammed her up against the wall. He kicked out of his pants and shorts and nudging her legs apart, settled in between them.

He put his other hand down between them and undid her pants. He tugged at them until, finally, she helped him out and shimmied out of them, kicking them across the room. He slid his fingers under the waistband of her pretty panties and yanked, rending them in half. He jerked a little harder and was able to get them all the way off. He tossed the torn lace over his shoulder.

Growling low in his throat, he moved in and crushed his mouth to hers. The kiss left him light-headed, unstable. Ronan trailed his hands down her back and molded the firm cheeks of her ass, and then he picked her up. Ivy spread her legs and wrapped them around him. Gripping her tightly, he nibbled on her bottom lip, nipping and teasing, and made his way over her chin to her neck. The taste of her skin tingled in his mouth.

He nuzzled in between her legs, pinning her against the wall with his body. With the warm, wet heat of her center pressed against his erection, he thought he’d died and gone to heaven. Finally, he’d made it.

His muscles, from feet to head, trembled with desire, a ferocious, insatiable hunger. He needed to be inside Ivy now. The waiting was ripping him to pieces from the inside out.

He licked the side of her neck and nibbled on her ear. “I can’t hold back for much longer.”

“Then don’t,” she panted.

Her body quivered under his touch. He could feel the beating of her heart next to his, hard, fierce and frantic. All the things he felt for her and more.

One hand balanced her against the wall. The other he moved down between them and gripped his shaft tight, to guide him to her. Moving his hand up, he sought her. She was deliciously hot and wet and ready. Control fraying at the edges, he buried his entire length inside her with one swift thrust.

Gripping his shoulders hard, Ivy held on as he drove her up, reveling in how strong he was. Every nerve ending in her body sparked to life as he moved, slowly at first, then picked up his pace before finding a fiery tempo that sent shivers from her toes to her scalp.

She moved her head and found his mouth, diving her tongue between his lips. She kissed him with the fervor and passion that bubbled up inside her. She was ravenous for him.

He pounded between her legs as they kissed. With each thrust, Ivy thought she’d go insane with pleasure. It didn’t just ripple over her skin but surged through every inch of her body like a rush of electricity or a mind-numbing drug.

Streaking her hands down his back, she held him tight as he pushed her close to the edge of orgasm. Shifting his stance, he gripped her butt cheek tighter, pressed her hard against the wall and buried himself so deep she swore she could feel him in her chest.

Gasping from the fierce assault on her flesh, she dug her nails in and raked them across his skin, happy when he cried out in pain and pleasure. Moaning loudly, she urged him on as she bucked and writhed against his body. He didn’t disappoint but rammed into her harder and faster until she couldn’t breathe and sweat dripped off them both.

She was so close to climaxing that every nerve and muscle in her body clenched. She felt faint and her eyes rolled back. She dug her fingers into his shoulders and bit her lip. She was there, so there. And it was going to be explosive.

Ronan nuzzled his face in her neck, and hefting her up, he drove hard between her legs. He shouted out her name, again and again, until she could feel him empty himself into her. Clamping her eyes shut, she cried out at her own orgasm.

They stayed like that, linked together, up against the wall, both breathing hard. Ivy could barely think past the heat of her body and the insistent throb between her legs. All her muscles felt like they’d melted into goo. She knew she wouldn’t be able to stand if Ronan set her back on her feet.

Thankfully she didn’t have to worry about that because he lifted her up, and turning, walked across the room with her straddling his waist, drew out of her and dumped her on the bed. He stepped back and looked at her with those penetrating eyes of his.

“Just give me a minute and we can try that again.”

Laughing, she sat up, pulled her T-shirt off and tossed it onto the floor. “I’m ready when you are.”

With a smile on his beautiful mouth, he tore at his own shirt, tossed it to the side and jumped onto the bed, wrapping his arms around her and rolling her onto the mattress. “Okay, I’m ready.”