A/N: Not sure if all of you have read Hunt Me Down and I'm not sure whether it was mentioned in this book so: Raph (short for Raphael) is Hunter's turtle.

So, how many of you have read Hunt Me Down?

For those of you who haven't and want to read it, the link will be in the first comment and given as an External Link.

*****

Nathaniel's POV

"It's not much," I muttered, leading my boyfriend into our smallest bedroom – one with a single bed, a tiny nightstand and an old wardrobe. "You can put some of your things in my room," I offered, placing Raph's makeshift travel cage by one side of the door; Hunt dropped the two large duffel bags by the other. "I'll bring you a clean set of sheets..."

"Natty."

I knew that teasing tone. I knew what would follow. It was no surprise when Hunter grabbed me by the hips and turned me towards him. His hands moved to my face and he leaned down to kiss me.

Long.

Soft.

Demanding.

"I missed these lips of yours." His hands fell from my cheeks and he glided his thumb across my lower lip.

I shivered.

"Pretty, pretty lips," he murmured, his eyes glued to my mouth. "I'd like to put something between them."

"Hunter!" I took a step back, but he took one forward. "Val and Raiden are downstairs."

"So?"

"Don't..." I could feel my cheeks burn. "Don't propose such things when they could walk in at any moment."

"So what if they could?" He placed one hand in the pocket of his favorite cream-colored sweatshirt and another grasped my chin and lifted my face closer to his.

"Don't you want it, Natty?" He purred and my lips parted.

Did I ever!

His grey eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Don't you want something in between those pretty lips of yours?" He stepped even closer so that our bodies were touching.

I gulped.

"You are such a good boy," he pulled his left hand out of his pocket, "that surely you deserve a treat."

Something smooth and round was glided over my lips and my eyes left his to look at the object Hunter was holding.

A lollypop.

A strawberry-flavored lollypop.

My favorite.

He grinned at my surprised reaction.

"Very funny, Hunter," I muttered, distancing myself a few feet from him.

"What? I know you love these things." He cocked his head to the side. "Or did you think I had other plans for that mouth of yours? Maybe you are not such a good boy, Natty. Such a dirty mind... Such wayward thoughts..."

"Just give me the lollypop." I reached out with my palm up. He placed the sweet in my hand, but when I tried to haul it, he didn't let go. I looked at him again and was greeted with that signature infuriating and enchanting smirk of his.

"I do have other plans for your mouth... But we'll leave that for tonight." He winked and my blood rushed to the area below my belt.

"You need help unpacking?" I tugged on the lollypop again and this time he let me have it.

"Not really," he replied as I put the treat in my pocket. "No need to unpack. I'll find my own place soon and be out of your guestroom before you know it."

"You don't have to hurry." I extended my arm and entwined our fingers. "I like having you here."

"But we can hardly be alone in here, can we?" He looked down at our joined hands. "Even though we both know that I'm going to come into your room and spend the night there, we have to be sneaky about it because of your father and quiet so that Val wouldn't hear what her twin is doing in the dark with his boyfriend." His gaze found my eyes. "When I get my own place, you can come over and we won't have to worry about any of that. We won't have to sneak around, we could walk naked if we wanted to, we could fool around on the couch, on the counters... Get as vocal as we'd like." He whispered the last part into my ear and I let out a shaky breath.

That sounded terribly tempting.

Scary in a way, but also terribly tempting.

A place where we wouldn't have to hide and worry about how my dad would react... Staying over at Hunt's apartment – just the two of us – would be a new level of commitment, but I was more than willing to go there; scared – yes, but the pleasant kind of scared.

"Anyway..." Hunt walked back to the door and kneeled. "Time to let you out, buddy." He picked Raph up and placed him on the floor.

"Will you keep an eye on him while I go get his aquarium from downstairs?" My boyfriend asked me and I nodded.

"Sure."

"Okay. I'll bring him some lettuce as well. You got that, right?"

"Fresh from the market." I gave another nod.

How could I not provide the little turtle with its favorite food?

"Be right back." Hunter got up and gave me a peck on the lips before leaving the room.

*****

Vallery's POV

"You seem to be in a good mood today," Raiden noted as I plopped down beside him on the couch. "Does it have anything to do with your guest?"

"Anything and everything." I grinned. "Did you see how happy they were together?"

"Yeah, I did."

"I wish Hunt would make Cherry Road 16 his permanent home in Norville; I wish he'd stay here for good."

"I don't think he'd be comfortable with your dad around." He stopped flicking through the TV channels to take a proper look at me. "Let alone with your mom."

I sighed.

"It doesn't seem like mom is going to be coming back anytime soon, Raiden."

"So, not much of a change?"

"We'll see when we visit her today." I gave him a small smile. "Thanks for coming along. She'd be glad to see you."

"Not really a problem." He shrugged. "I can't say I'll enjoy it, given how she is, but it's not a problem." His gaze fell on the bowl I was holding. "Cereal without milk?"

It was my turn to shrug.

"I thought you were proud of the way you 'cooked' cereal? Something about adding the perfect quantity of milk to it," he reminded me what I'd bragged about not that long ago.

"Well, today I'm feeling..."

"Too lazy to pour the milk," he cut me off with a little sneer.

"No. I eat cereal without milk 'cause I'm a rebel."

He snorted and went back to switching the channels.

"Here we go again," he uttered as the screen displayed a group of people gathered in front of a factory, shouting 'Save the environment' and waving 'GO GREEN' signs. "They've been at it for about a month with no result."

"Speaking of green," I pushed a handful of cereal into my mouth, "where's your brother?"

"Will you always associate that color with him?"

"How can I not after his green problem?"

He sighed.

"Liam's at home, recuperating from last night's party."

"Oh, so he was there?" I shoved some more cereal into my chewer.

"Maybe you were too busy to notice him because of your new pal." He gave me a flat grimace.

"What's your problem with Cain?"

"I don't like him." Raiden crossed his arm over his chest. "How old was he anyway? He looked older than us."

"Just a bit."

"So what? You are into older guys?" His finger jammed into the remote's button.

"Why would you think that? I told you before that he wasn't my type."

Well, he was hot, blunt and cocky, so, yes, he was sort of my type, but I hadn't felt any real attraction towards him. I'd pick spending my time with Raiden over dancing with Cain.

"That's good," he muttered and I raised an eyebrow, something which he, with his blinkers on the TV, of course didn't see.

We heard the front door opened and soon after dad walked into the living room with two paper bags from a local restaurant.

"Got some chicken soup."

"Why?" I pushed my head back and poured what was left of the cereal into my mouth. "Is someone sick?"

"No." The enthusiasm in dad's voice had lessened. "I just thought it might be good to eat something healthy."

"Aha."

"Vallery, why don't you help me set the table and we can have a nice family lunch together," my parent suggested.

"You know that Hunter is already here, right?" I turned around in the couch so I could face the man. "Does family include him too?" I asked, fake sweetness seeping through my tone.

With my peripheral vision I saw Raiden briefly close his eyes and I could almost hear the speech that he was preparing in his mind: 'Your dad was often absent, but he's here now, Val; lose the attitude'.

Same speech my brother gave me on regular basis.

I knew they had a point, but each time dad was home and talked to us with that overly cheery expression that was supposed to hide how nervous he was and simulate a positive father/children relationship... Each time I saw the fakeness and the effort, I was reminded that he wouldn't have to make so much effort if he'd spent more time with us than he had at work when we were growing up.

And each time a little voice would go off in my head, asking 'Why should I accommodate him just because he suddenly decided to play house?'

"I'll help you set the table, Mr. Reed," Raiden offered.

"And I'll go get the boys." I got up and walked past my dad without so much as a glance at him.

*****

A/N: Are you happy that Hunt is back?

Do you wish he would stay at the Reeds'?

Out of curiosity: would any of you be interested in reading the POV of Val and Nat's parents?

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