The Lie She Almost Lost

Kerensa's POV

For one suspended second, Hunter's eyes dropped to the strip of fabric wrapped tightly around my chest.

His brow furrowed.

He looked confused at first, as if his brain hadn't caught up with what his eyes were seeing.

Then his expression changed.

That cedar scent flooded my lungs at this distance, warm and overwhelming. My pulse was pounding so hard I was convinced he could hear it.

"What..." His gaze narrowed. "That's not—"

He stopped.

He shook his head once, as if he could physically dislodge the thought forming in his mind.

"Bandages don't wrap like that."

I didn't give him time to finish.

I twisted sideways, yanked my shirt back down, and shoved past him with more strength than I knew I had left.

"Bandages," I snapped, breathless. "I pulled something in training. Not that it's any of your business."

"Let me see it."

His hand twitched toward my shirt.

"No."

I backed away, putting the edge of my bed between us.

"Touch me again, and I'll make sure you regret it."

Hunter blinked.

The confusion was still there, but anger quickly took its place. His jaw worked as if he wanted to push the question, wanted to demand an explanation, but something stopped him.

Maybe it was my earlier insult.

Maybe it was the fact that he was still pissed.

"Bandages," he repeated flatly.

He clearly didn't believe me.

He just didn't know why yet.

Then his mouth twisted.

"You've got a mouth on you for someone hiding under an ace bandage."

"Hunter."

Xavier's voice was low.

A warning.

Hunter ignored him.

He crossed the distance between us before I had time to brace myself.

His hand closed around my wrist.

"Fine," he said, his voice rough. "Let's settle this."

He didn't drag me toward the door.

He dragged me toward his bed.

My bare feet caught on the rug, and I stumbled after him, my mind still stuck on the binding beneath my shirt.

Too close.

He'd come way too close to seeing everything.

"Let go of me."

I twisted against his grip.

He only tightened it.

"Not until you take it back."

Before I could ask what he meant, he shoved me down onto the edge of his mattress.

I barely had time to catch myself.

Hunter dropped into a crouch in front of me, blocking the only clear path around him.

My breath caught.

He was too close.

His scent surrounded me—cedar, warm skin, and something darker underneath. I hated how aware I was of every inch between us.

He grabbed my hand again.

Harder this time.

Then, before I understood what he was doing, he pressed my palm against himself through the thin fabric of his shorts.

My breath hitched.

My entire body locked.

Shock shot up my arm and straight through me.

For one awful second, I couldn't move.

Couldn't think.

His hand held mine in place, and I had no say in it.

"Still think it's underwhelming?"

His voice dropped to a low, dangerous rumble.

The sound seemed to travel through my hand and up my arm, settling somewhere deep in my chest.

He kept my hand there, forcing me to feel him.

Forcing me to confront the very thing I'd used to provoke him.

Shame hit first.

Hot. Immediate.

Then came something else.

Something I didn't want.

I wasn't curious.

I couldn't be.

But my body had noticed him, and that fact alone made me furious.

I'd spent seven years teaching myself not to notice things like this.

Not to think about my body.

Not to let anyone see too much of me.

I'd learned how to disappear. How to make myself unremarkable. How to flatten every part of myself that might attract attention and become someone safe.

And now Hunter was standing between my knees, holding my hand against him as if he had every right.

He didn't.

He hadn't earned that right.

I hadn't given it to him.

My face burned, and I knew it wasn't only anger.

I couldn't look at him.

Couldn't look at my hand.

Couldn't even process how quickly he'd taken control of the situation.

My stomach twisted.

Then my eyes found Xavier.

He was standing against the far wall now, arms crossed over his chest.

And he was smiling.

Not much.

Just enough.

A lazy, amused smirk that made my blood boil.

He was watching.

Watching me struggle.

Watching Hunter.

And he wasn't doing a damn thing to stop it.

Something inside me snapped.

The paralysis broke.

I yanked my hand free so hard it felt as if I'd torn myself loose from a live wire.

"Get off me!"

Hunter barely had time to react.

I drove my knee upward.

Hard.

It connected with his groin.

Hunter made a strangled sound and doubled over, his eyes going wide as both hands flew to his crotch.

I didn't wait.

I shoved him with everything I had.

He crashed backward onto the floor.

For once, I didn't care how strong he was.

I didn't care what happened next.

All I could think about was getting away.

I scrambled backward, grabbed my shirt, and held it closed as I ran for my bed.

The curtain was only a few feet away.

I reached it and tore it aside.

Hunter's pained gasps followed me.

So did Xavier's quiet chuckle.

The sound crawled under my skin.

I practically threw myself into the little space behind the curtain and fumbled for the makeshift latch.

My hands were shaking so badly I could barely work it.

Come on.

Come on.

Finally, the latch caught.

I sank to the floor with my back against the thin wall of the enclosure, pulling my knees toward me.

My cheeks were burning.

I could hear Hunter cursing on the other side.

Xavier laughed again.

Then Hunter's voice cut through the curtain.

"Something's off with him."

I squeezed my eyes shut.

"That wasn't bandages, X. I know what bandages look like."

"Drop it," Xavier said.

His voice was casual.

Too casual.

There was no real force behind the words.

Just the sound of someone storing the information away for later.

My stomach dropped.

I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes.

I wanted it all to disappear.

Hunter's hands.

His voice.

The way he'd looked at me.

Xavier standing there, watching.

The suspicion in Hunter's voice.

None of it would leave.

And the worst part was that I could still smell Hunter.

Cedar and warmth.

It clung to my senses even from behind the curtain.

I hated him.

I hated both of them.

But my mind kept dragging me back to that single moment when I'd gone completely still.

That was what shamed me most.

Not because my body had reacted.

I couldn't control that.

It was the fact that, for one unguarded second, I hadn't known what to trust.

My anger?

My fear?

Or the unwanted awareness underneath both?

I refused to name it.

I couldn't.

I'd spent seven years building walls around every part of myself I couldn't afford to lose.

Hunter had just found a crack.

And somewhere beyond the curtain, his suspicion remained, sharp and patient, hanging over me like a blade.

This wasn't over.