The Hunter

This is the first chapter of a story. 18K+ words. This chapter is meant for character development and set up. There are graphic sexual scenes described here in. All sex is between consenting adults older than 18 years old. I wrote this for my enjoyment. I hope that you enjoy the reading of it. If you are an anonymous troll looking to nit pick the story don't waste your time or mine. Please leave feedback good or bad. This is my first effort at writing, please be kind. I am looking to improve as time goes on. Thank you

The Hunter

I grew up in a rural setting. As a child my nearest neighbor was ~1 mile away. My nearest neighbor with kids was about 2 miles away, needless to say until I was in school I was socially distanced (LOL). I got a.22 pellet gun when I was 8, a Crossman 10 pump single shot. I stalked and killed a variety of birds, squirrels, other small targets of opportunity. When I was 12 I got my first real gun, a.22 caliber Mossberg bolt action, it has a seven shot clip (adjustable for either short, medium or long rifle bullets) as well as adjustable iron sights. Squirrels, rabbits, and other small game were put on notice.

Growing up it was mostly my mother along with a growing litter of half siblings along with occasional step-dad. My mom, bless her heart, hated being lonely, but her picker was broke. She couldn't pick a man worth a damn if her life depended on it. I will always remember the first time mom let me take the car out. As she handed me the keys, she stated IF your old enough to fuck'em, then your old enough to marry them. I had never heard her use the F bomb before. I don't know if she used it for effect or if she felt that strong about it, but it stuck.

My biological father was absent, and I first met him when my grandmother passed (when I was seventeen). After my introduction, we had a hit and miss type of relationship, mainly miss since I lived 1500 miles away.

I had quite a number of acquaintances but few friends high school, but the friends I had, I would go to war with. The school I attended my freshman year was about 90% white segregation was happening next year, school mandated bussing, and all that great stuff. I was going upstairs to the library and turn in my books at the end of the year, when a young man of a different race knocked my books out of my arms. He stood over and with a snarl on his face stated that if I wasn't a scared pussy to come on out to the football stadium after school. Well I wasn't a scared pussy so I along with four of my friends took him up on his offer. We stopped by the bicycle rack and borrowed a chain or two. I really had no race issues. I gave respect and expected respect back in return. I really have no idea, to this day, what prompted the melee, however, when the fight was over, me and my buddies all had angle food cake cutters in our back pockets. We had them in our back pockets on the first day of school the following year and didn't have race problems the rest of the year....Another time, my friend Rick had a girlfriend in a neighboring town. She was a waitress at a local Diner that closed late at night. We were sitting around drinking beer and smoking some weed when he got a call. There was a customer that was harassing her. She had talked to the cook about it and he wouldn't take up for her. She was crying and was pretty upset. We loaded up and about 25 minutes later we walked into the joint and sat at the bar. Upon entry she looked at us and we subtly shook our heads, we wanted to see first-hand what was going on. The guy kept asking for things (new fork, more water, another napkin, etc.) each time Melody went to his booth, he tried and sometimes succeeded in feeling her up. After the second time, Rick was boiling. When he made his move, Scotty and James went to the back to talk to the cook and me and Rick approached the douche bag and attempted to educate him on proper dining etiquette. Well one thing led to another and we ended our discussion in the parking lot. He had several bones broken in his hand and a couple of broken ribs, along with the obligatory busted lip and black eye. Come to find out, the douche bag was the son of some local town royalty. Thanks to some local people that were in the diner willing to speak on our behalf and had no love for the douche bag we were asked to leave town and not come back, which we gladly complied.

I was more of a party animal but from time to time hormones kicked in and the pursuit of female companionship became my focus. I had a steady girlfriend my last year in high school, our make out sessions were special and heated. It got to the point where her mom had a sit down with me to point out that my girlfriend did not have to get pregnant to get married. I agreed with her and with a wry smile told her that if and when we would marry, then it would be the right way and pregnancy would not be an issue until after the honeymoon. My prospects for earning a decent living I my hometown were not that rosy and my future had military written all over it. At the end of summer I went to South Carolina, joining Uncle Sam's Misguided Children for indoctrination and training. I got a "dear john" letter my second week of boot camp. Such is life.

My name is Jedidiah Jones, my friends call me JJ. My acquaintances call me Jed. My enemies call me the Hunter. I am 6'2", 220 pounds of mostly muscle. I have added about 5 pounds of excess since my injury forced me to retire from the seals. I spent 12 years on the teams in a variety of situations and a variety climates. During my time in the teams, a man named Roberto befriended me. His family was wealthy and he was being groomed to take part of the family investment business. For whatever reason, (probably after DAD was caught swimming in the secretarial pool and an ugly divorce) he decided not to partake of the family business. He still followed stocks, bonds, and his knowledge of investing strategy did not leave him, and for that I am grateful to this day. During our time together he taught me about investing, what to look for, some pitfalls, and rules of "the game". I was a petty officer second class at the time of my discharge. I have excellent hand to hand combat skills, an expert in most weapons. Like Leroy Brown, the bad boys call me sir. I still work out to keep in shape. I'm not rock hard, but my muscle definition is still there. I run five miles on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I work out with free weights and PT on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I go the bars from time to time. I enjoy shooting pool and of course there are always the girls.

After my departure from the service, my life was....well. mine. I had no real plans, no real family that I was close to, and no desire to change my current life status. I had money from enlistment bonuses, re-up incentives and other temporary pay incentives that I had invested (Thank you Roberto) well and thankfully those investments had paid off. I was comfortable and as long as I didn't get too crazy I could live reasonably well for a long time. Part of my re-indoctrination back in the mainstream of life was to set up a Facebook account, a twitter account, and an email account. I would spend about fifteen minutes a day, usually during breakfast, reviewing my "social network" of news (LOL) and contacts. I had several friend requests and followers. I turn down most friend request, choosing people that I truly know and not friend of a friend of a friend types. I seldom post anything so any followers are probably bored or extremely frustrated with my lack of "social" involvement. I do, from time to time, get contacted from head hunters about people with my skill set.

I fell into a rut and felt rudderless, no real sense of direction. I was contacted by a friend (Roberto) who wanted to meet up and catch up. We agreed to meet at a local sandwich shop to discuss some ways to rid myself from boredom. After the usual pleasantries, he asked "How have you been spending your time? Look, I know you hunt and apparently still work out, but what have you been doing? Do you have a wife, girlfriend, boyfriend? All I know is after you left the teams, you kinda dropped off the face of the earth. Look I am starting a private consulting firm and I am in need of people with your skill set. I prefer ex team members that have been there and done that. I was hoping that IF you still had the physical ability, AND IF you can pass a company physical, AND IF wanted to make some decent dinero, then maybe I could persuade you to be interested in doing some consulting?" I sat there contemplating what he was saying and remembering what those 12 years were like, the men with which I had shared experiences, some of the good times and bad. The longer I sat there in silence, memories came flooding back, little light flashes going through my mind, each one with a different experience or person or place, the more a smile crept across my lips. I must have sat there for a couple of minutes staring off into nothingness. Roberto finally spoke again snapping be back into the present. "Well, what do you think?"

"Well", I said, "I want to think about it and get back to you in a few days, would that be alright?"

"Sure", he said, "just let me know, soon if possible, if you are interested or not. And hey, it was good to see you. It is good to see that you still look in shape."

I am a confidant man in many facets of my life. Physically I can hold my own with the best. I am emotionally stable (I think) I feel happiness (check), elation (check), sadness (check), rage (when needed double check), love (good question). Other than family closeness, I don't think I have been properly introduced to love. I am not easily duped or manipulated. I am a free thinker and not usually swept in to "group think" and many times I play devil's advocate just to try and understand another person's intended point of a conversation or discussion. I am generally not shy around women and usually do not have difficulty in holding up my end of a conversation. I occasionally go to clubs or bars. I use my observation skills to see who is with who. Relationships are hard enough without outside influences. I look for decent women and try to avoid married women at all costs. I don't want angry husbands after me. I wouldn't want my woman out trolling. I really try to avoid drama especially that kind of drama in my life.

I have a fairly prominent scar on the left side of my face that goes from just below my eye socket to my jawline. Some people are shocked by it, some are disturbed by it. In my line of work, it adds to the aura of being a badass. Most people just look away when I make eye contact. My scar is my litmus test for women. If they can get past it and talk to me, then we may have a chance to carry on a conversation and possibly more. If not, then they are too shallow for my tastes.

After pondering the ponderable, I called Roberto and told him I was interested in consulting. He made all the arrangements and in a couple of days he emailed my itinerary. I was an early riser so I didn't have to change my schedule for my early flight out of XNA. I arrived in Atlanta early afternoon. I travel light so I just had a flight bag and a carry on. I was heading for the car rental and saw a good-looking woman standing with a small sign "JONES". As I approached, she smiled and said "Mr. Jones."

I replied, "You can call me Jed or JJ, please."

"Please follow me" she said.

"Anywhere" I said with a smile. She had a lovely walk, legs that went all the way up to here, and an ass that caused many a man to not look where he was going. She soon realized I was ogling here rear end and decided to walk with me instead of leading the way. I proudly extended my arm and she slipped her arm in mine as we continued to where the car was parked. She opened the rear door of a small Mercedes limo for me. I threw my carry on in the back seat and laid my flight bag over it. I then asked "Is it ok if I ride up front with you".

She nodded and said "Whatever you want is Ok with me". Oh, if only that were true. The little devil on my should was saying in my ear. During the drive (By the way, I state for the record here that Atlanta traffic sucks) from the southern side of Atlanta to the northern side (Peachtree Hilton), there was the usual small talk where I found out my driver's name was Ashley and she was kind of a girl Friday for Valhalla Consulting. She was very engaging and friendly. There was seldom a lull in the conversation. After a rather loud grumble from my stomach, the subject of conversation turned to eating and dinner. I asked if she was available for dinner and if she would join me for dinner. She smiled and replied that she was available and would enjoy having dinner with me. She went in the hotel lobby and made a call. She smiled and said our reservations are at Rays for 8:30 and if we got there early, we could have drinks while we waited. She said she would pick me up at seven thirty (after the rush hour traffic died a little).

I thanked her for taking such good care of me and looked forward to seeing her at 7:30. After watching her leave, I checked in and went upstairs to my room. I took my suits out of my flight bag and called Roberto to let him know I was at the hotel. I asked him about Ashley, I could sense his smile on the other end of the phone. He said that Ashley was a great girl, that she was someone special and a valuable resource to Valhalla. I had to agree that she was special, and good looking too. I hung up after verifying the agenda for tomorrow. I then called room service and asked for a BLT, extra B, and some fruit. About 45 minutes later it arrived and fifteen after, that my stomach quieted. I set my alarm for 6:30 laid on the bed and took a nap.

I woke up about a minute before the alarm went off. I looked around and got my bearings, realizing where I was, I got out off the bed, went to the bathroom, took care of the call of mother nature, stripped off and got into the shower and enjoyed an eight minute piece of heaven. In my opinion one of life's greatest pleasures is a nice hot shower allowing the water to flow over my body rejuvenates both mind and body. I exited the shower, dried off, and prepared for dinner. I brought two suits with, a grey pinstripe and a dark blue pinstripe. I figured a place like Rays was a dark blue suit place. After ensuring I was ready for what might come my way tonight I went down to the lobby. I wasn't there five minutes when Ashley came walking in. Daaaamn, what a fine looking woman! I thought, hoping I didn't say that shit out loud. She was sporting a very sexy, elegant little black dress. ( Did I say Daaammnn, what a fine looking woman?) she had on very nice 3" pumps and a simple string of pearls that really made her neck look like a vampire's wet dream. I rose out of the chair and as I walked towards her, the closer I got to her, the bigger the smile on my face grew (no poker face here). She reached out and took my arm and smiled, God what a beautiful smile. I leaned in a whispered, "I hope I am the first to tell you how beautiful you look tonight." She seemed to like the compliment, I thought I saw a sparkle in her eyes (may be just wishful thinking on my part).

She replied, "You look rather handsome tonight as well." We left the lobby arm in arm, she was driving, but I escorted her to the driver's door and gave her a helping hand getting into the car while trying my best (well maybe) not to ogle her assets. I must have passed that test as she looked at my eyes, I was able to meet her eyes and she smiled again. I went to the passenger side and off to Rays we went.

Rays is a fairly popular restaurant, nice atmosphere, pricey but nice. The maître de suggested we go to the bar and wait until our table came available. Excellent, I was looking forward to continuing our previous conversation. Ashley was telling me more about herself. She was the middle child of three, an army brat and was used to the usual guy stuff. She joined the marines after high school and spent 6 years in. She left as an E-6 (staff sergeant). She was recruited by the FBI and the CIA, really wanted to work outside of the government and the political BS that goes with that. She landed the job with Valhalla Consulting by a chance meeting with Roberto. She had been with VC for about 42 months. Her father had just retired not too long ago and him and his wife had moved to south Texas. She talked to them about once a month and tried to see them at least a couple of times a year. About that time our table was ready. We were seated and were looking over the menu, I asked if she came here often and what was good. She said she comes to Rays about 5-6 times a year, usually with clients or special new hires. She recommended the stuffed flounder. She ordered the filet with shrimp. She asked for the fried calamari as an appetizer. I went with the stuffed flounder and asked for a shrimp cocktail as an appetize. She ordered a bottle of white wine to go with our meal. After the server left she stated "You must be a 'special' new hire, Roberto rarely has me pick up new hires at the airport and be available for dinner." I smiled and talked about my relationship with Roberto and my exit from the teams. I didn't go into the gory details of the injury and rehab. I did ask her if she was single and she replied that she was.

I told her "It's hard for me to believe that someone as beautiful and intelligent as you are, is still on the market. It must be by choice."

"It is", she replied, "I just haven't found the right man". She continued, "I need a man that is confident, but not arrogant, caring, but not a sissy, gentle and kind, a man that will value me as a woman and a life partner. I can't and won't tolerate a player and a cheat is a vulgar life form." Her eyes flashed as she made the last statement. I knew there was some history there and chose NOT to pry into that. The food arrived and the service was great, attentive enough, but not intrusive to the continuing conversation. We finished our meal and after dinner small talk about 1030 ish. She drove back to the Hilton and I asked if she would like a night cap. She replied, "I would, but you have an early report time and a long day tomorrow. I would appreciate a rain check if that would be OK?"

"I look forward to it," I replied.

She said, "I'll be by to pick you up at 7:30, be ready. Oh, and don't forget your work out gear."

I unlocked the door to my room, removed my suit and put it away. I grabbed a beer from the mini bar and pondered the events of the last 24 hours, especially meeting a beautiful and smart woman named Ashley. She was able to look at me without freaking out about my scar, I didn't notice a repulsion by her from it. We were able to carry on a good conversation on and off for several hours, aaannnnddd, Did I say she is a fine looking woman? I smiled to myself, and turned in.

The next morning, I 'slept in' until 0530 giving myself time to SSS and get something to eat. The continental breakfast was just opening as I made my way downstairs. I enjoyed a glass of OJ while cooking a waffle. I cooked a second waffle and grabbed a few sausage links. I found some peanut butter for the waffles along with some syrup. I had a glass of milk, a bottle of water, along with a banana my breakfast feast was complete. I went back upstairs to finish dressing and check my gear. When everything was satisfactory, I went downstairs to await my ride. Promptly at 7:30 Ashley arrived. I got up and headed out the door. I put my gear in the back and got into the car. We exchanged morning pleasantries and she informed me that she would be my ghost today. She was to ensure that I made it from station to station in an expeditious manner. I told her that I really enjoyed spending time with her last night. She smiled and with a slight nod she explained that she also had a nice time. It was a short ride from the Peachtree Hilton to the Metropolis of Dunwoody. As we arrived she got out of the car and headed for the entrance to the building I grabbed my bag and was about 10 feet behind her. I was gaining ground due to my longer stride enjoying the view with each step. Daaamn, what a fine looking woman! I caught up with her just as she got to the building entrance. I grabbed the door handle and opened the door for her to enter the building.