In Hawke's Eyes (4 page)

“And now they want Meechi?” She clenched her hands into fists.

“He foolishly bragged that he would soon come into money from his heiress niece. They did a little digging and found out what she’s worth. When they started pressuring him to get the money, he began to worry they’d snatch her, so he did it himself.” Hawke shook his head. “He thought he was protecting Meechi, but he went about it the wrong way.”

“That doesn’t make him a good guy.”

“Shh,” he soothed her. “I agree. That’s why I’m going to talk to some friends and see what I can find out. I will locate the people he owes and take them down.”

Stephanie kissed him on impulse and rested her forehead on his chin. “You’re so amazing. I appreciate all your help, but I’m going to take care of Meechi.” She sighed. “I’m going to quit my job and look after her full time. I might even move out of New York.”

“Stephanie…”

She slipped off his lap and stood up. “Don’t, Hawke. I know you think I’m weak, and all I get is Melanie nagging me saying I can’t take care of Meechi with my eyes the way they are. Now, she might even use this situation against me to try to get custody of her. I can’t let that happen.” She burst out crying and spun on her heel to run out of the room, but he caught her and forced her gently into his arms.

“I don’t think you’re weak. In fact, I know you aren’t. If you fear Meechi’s grandmother will take her away, don’t. There’s no way a court of law will give custody to a woman who’s son kidnapped her.”

“You don’t know the hell I went through with them. Back when my husband died, they berated me so much, I actually changed back to my maiden name to break my ties, which was ridiculous since I still had Meechi. I was so emotionally done, I questioned every day whether I was strong enough to keep her. Now I won’t give her up. I will take care of her if it kills me, so if we have to leave, so be it. I can homeschool her. We can live off her allowance until I can get another job.”

“Stephanie.”

“What?” She frowned up at him.

“I know a place where she can never be hurt, and the people who live there would protect her with their lives—
all
of them. While you two are there, I can focus on finding the men who threaten you. Will you consider my solution? I promise I’m not offering because I don’t think you can care for Meechi. I just can’t bear to see you hurt.”

She gasped at his tender words and dipped her chin. “I can’t imagine a whole community of people to look out for us.”

“They are…unusual. I wouldn’t send you if the situation wasn’t dire.”

“You’re not coming?”

He flashed a grin, and his voice dipped low when he spoke. “Would you miss me?”

“Well you do come in handy for lifting heavy grocery bags,” she teased.

He smacked her on the ass, and Stephanie squeaked. Her body lit up like he set a fire to it, and her pussy clenched. She shut her eyes, lowering her head so he wouldn’t see what that one move did to her. Hawke left his hand right where it was, on the curve of her ass. She curled her fingers into his chest and breathed deep.

“I want to help.”

“I know,” she whispered and swallowed. All this time—even before her accident—she let no one in, but when Hawke asked, she said yes. Why was he so special? Was it because deep inside she needed love? While she missed her husband, the truth was toward the end they had been close to a divorce. She didn’t admit it to Hawke, but closing off her heart from the many hurts was another reason she changed her name. “Okay, I’ll go.”

At her soft-spoken words, he raised her chin and kissed her. Stephanie stretched up to her toes and parted her lips. His tongue dipped between them, and an arrow of heat zipped down to her core. With wanton abandon, she rubbed into him, feeling his arousal. Her palm longed to stroke it, but she held off.

Hawke picked her up and carried her to the couch. He sat down and drew her onto his lap. When he slid his hand between her thighs to cup her sex, she moaned and arched her back. Once again, he claimed her lips. They explored each other’s mouths, Stephanie growing hotter by the second.

Hungry for more, she dragged her dress up, and he took the invitation to stroke her pussy through her panties. She couldn’t get any wetter if she tried. He flicked aside the small patch at her apex and ran his fingers over her folds. She cried out in pleasure. When he parted the soft flesh and eased a digit into her channel, she rode it in desperate need.

Five years without a man left her greedy for an orgasm she didn’t create using her own hand. She encouraged Hawke’s touch, pulling him closer, and rocking her hips. He drove in with another finger, stretching her inner walls just a bit. Because it had been so long, she felt new and innocent. A twinge of pain made her moan. He retracted, but she grabbed his wrist.

“Stephanie, I don’t want to hurt you.”

She never opened her eyes but nuzzled his face. Their warm breaths mingled, and her heart seemed ready to burst. She put too much emotion into this. Maybe her vulnerability drove her decisions, but she didn’t want to stop.

He ran moist fingers up to her clit, and a shock of delight raced over her being. He teased the small bud, bringing it to swollen readiness, and then he massaged it in a circular motion with the pad of his thumb. The slow, steady movements caused her inner muscles to contract. Her orgasm built higher and higher. She spread her legs wider and fell back against his arm. Hawke never lost the pace he created. He controlled her pleasure, and she gave herself to it, murmuring his name.

Keening at the crest of her climax, she shook in each of her limbs. Sheer bliss exploded from her core outward. She quivered out of control with each wave, but at last when she didn’t think she could bear it anymore, the sensations settled.

Panting, Stephanie opened her eyes to peer in the direction of his face. She longed to see the lust in his gaze, to know what he thought at that moment. “Let’s go to the bedroom. We shouldn’t have done this here.”

To her surprise he hesitated, which was weird since she still felt his hard-on under her ass. Hawke sat her up and then moved her to the couch. He rose and turned away to adjust himself. Stephanie reached out and touched his leg. The hard muscles shifted beneath her caress, but he stirred beyond her reach.

“What’s is it? Did I do something wrong?” Embarrassment descended at the way she behaved. He probably thought she was a slut, especially with her ready to give it up in the living room while Meechi played in the other room. What had she been thinking?

Hawke faced her and dropped to his knees. He took her hands in his and kissed them. “You did nothing, sweetheart, except tempt me past reason. I’ve come to my senses though, and I’m glad of at least that. I want you more than I can say, but you’re in a vulnerable state right now, after what happened with Meechi. I refuse to take advantage of that. When and if we decide to become lovers, it will be because we made a conscious decision to do it.”

She understood his explanation, but it didn’t lessen her embarrassment. “Of course. I should get Meechi to bed and get ready for it myself. I have some planning to do, and I have to put in my resignation at work.”

Hawke touched her hair, but she stood up and walked over to the table where she left her writing notebook. She flipped to a blank page and made notes, the book held close to her face. “When are we leaving?”

“A couple days. Stephanie…”

“It’s fine, Hawke.” She turned and smiled at him. “Everything will be fine. I will make sure of that.”

“Okay.” He didn’t try to approach her again. “Good night. I will call you in the morning.”

Chapter Four

“Hello,” Hawke said and cursed himself for sounding weak. He expected to hear a dial tone in the next instant but instead caught dead air. “I wouldn’t have called if this was about me, or if it wasn’t a matter of life and death.”

A sigh sounded on the other end. “What’s going on, old friend? You don’t sound like yourself. Did you get some girl knocked up, and she’s freaking because she’s birthing feathers?”

Hawke frowned. “So not appropriate for our history.”

“Don’t be an idiot,” Toron told him. “One day—no—one minute with my wife in my arms and my little son calling me daddy made up for everything between us. I was stubborn not to call. I thought you would, or that you’d at least attend my wedding when I allowed Sienna to send that invite.”

Hawke gasped. “You knew she sent it?”

“Of course. Sienna wouldn’t do anything without my consent.”

“Do you
know
the woman you married?”

They both laughed, and Hawke breathed a sigh of relief.

“I thought you needed your space to move on. I certainly didn’t want to dangle her in your face. That would be cruel. Anyway, enough about that, what’s going on? Are you in trouble?”

Hawke scratched the back of his head. Did he dare suggest what he wanted? Toron would call him crazy, and his friend did whatever he thought was necessary to protect his people. Hawke wasn’t exactly one of them. The commonality came with the fact that he was a shifter, but no two animals could be more different than the hawk and the lion.

“I want to bring someone to stay out there, her and her daughter,” he blurted.

“Come again?”

“Here me out, Toron,” he pleaded. Now that he thought of it, he should never had told Stephanie he had a place for her and Meechi before he spoke with Toron. He’d have to do a lot of convincing. “She’s in trouble. Some bad people are after her daughter, and I need a place to hide her where I know she will be safe. Just until I take out those who were foolish enough to come against her.”

“First let’s deal with the fact that there was a softness to your tone when you first started speaking about this mystery woman.”

Hawke cursed Toron for his perception, but he refused to acknowledge anything. “She’s a friend.”

“A friend?”

“Yes.”

Doubt radiated over the phone lines, but Toron didn’t challenge him. “Okay, and who are these people? Shifters? What kind of animal is she? I don’t want our natural enemies in town, tempting everyone.”

Hawke hesitated.
Damn it all, why can’t this be simple?
“She’s not…uh… Hell, she’s not a shifter, and neither is her daughter. They’re human, but listen, Toron, I need your help. Sutland is the best place for the two of them while I can’t watch over them twenty-four seven.”

“Let me get this straight. You first keep my son from me, and then you disappear for a year and a half—”

“At your request.”

“—and then you want me to put my people in jeopardy to save your little human piece?”

Hawke drove his chair back and let it crash on the floor. He slammed his fist on the desktop, splintering the wood where he hit. “Don’t ever disrespect her like that again. She is not a little piece. She is a respectable woman, a
good
woman who doesn’t deserve to be hunted because her dead husband wanted to provide for his daughter.”

Toron seemed to process this information in silence. After some time, he spoke. “I apologize. It’s obvious she’s important to you, but I’m still not willing to risk my people for her. I hope you find a solution to your problem.” When he hung up without another word, Hawke stared at his cell in disbelief. He sat down slowly, running his hands through his hair. What was he going to do now? A safehouse? Stephanie might feel too restricted stuck inside a small house, and that was if he could get his friend to even arrange one. He could stay with her at her current apartment and just wait for the enemy to show up, but again, he couldn’t do investigations that way. He tended to move alone, so there weren’t many people he trusted. No one he knew in New York could watch over Stephanie.

His cell phone rang, and Hawke checked the display. Sienna’s name flashed on the screen. He waited for the tightening in his gut, the excitement to hear her voice, but it didn’t appear. He did miss his friend, but that was all it seemed to be. The warmer emotions he’d felt for her were gone.

“Hello, Sienna.”

“Hawke! It’s so good to hear your voice. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine. Thanks. Congratulations on getting married. Toron is a good man, and of course he is lucky to have you.”

He heard the flush in her tone when she spoke. “Thanks. I’m time enough for him. Aside from that. What about you? Toron told me you have a girlfriend, and she’s in trouble. I want to help.”

“Wow, news travels fast.”

“Please, he called me probably right after he hung up with you. I guess he wanted me to know you found somebody. Men. Listen, if you need to come up here, bring her. I will personally look out for her, and she can stay in our house. Goodness knows we have the space. If she doesn’t want to do that, we have smaller places on the property. No one can come into the area without four thousand people picking it up in the wind.”

Another similarity between them, he realized. They both rambled. “Uh, Toron said no.”

“Pish, bring your woman here. I will clear it with Toron. You know how anal he is with protecting everybody. He’s over the top.” She paused. “Do you love her, Hawke?”

His eyes widened, and he felt heat in his cheeks. He never blushed, and fortunately, no one was around to see him do it now. “It’s not like that between us. We’re friends.”

“Uh huh. Bring her. I’ll expect you like when, tomorrow?”

He chuckled. “The weekend.”

“Good. See you then.” She disconnected the call.

Hawke laid his phone down and leaned back in his chair. From Sienna’s attitude, he had no doubt she would clear the way to him bringing Stephanie and Meechi. The question was how to break it to them that the people they would live among were not human.

* * * *

Hawke gripped the steering wheel, tension tightening the back of his neck. They were two hours from Sutland, and still he hadn’t told Stephanie the truth. He was a coward, and that’s all there was to it. Besides, if he told her ahead of time, she wouldn’t come. She would judge Toron, Sienna, and the others without meeting them face-to-face, and that wouldn’t be fair to them or her. Unfortunately, not telling her meant she might consider that he put her daughter in danger sending the two of them to live with shifters. The thought of her hating him because of his decision ripped into his peace of mind just as much.