27. Chapter 27
Chapter 27
I managed to get inside my car before I let the tears start to fall. Grabbing a wad of fast food napkins from my glove box, I held them against my face and sobbed.
There was no way I was getting that grant. They probably thought I was a volatile, violent crazy person. I’d wanted this so badly, wanted to handle my own affairs and not be beholden to anyone else.
After dabbing my eyes one more time, I tossed the balled-up napkins in the passenger seat and put my car in gear. I was fifteen minutes into the half-hour drive when my phone rang.
I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered it anyway on a hiccuping “Hello.”
“Ms. Fitz.” I recognized his voice immediately and mentally prepared myself for the rejection. “This is Robert Nelson, one of your interviewers from earlier.”
“Yes, Mr. Nelson.”
“The Carmine Foundation is very pleased to let you know that you’ll be receiving one of our grants this year.” Everything faded out for a while as I pulled to the side of the interstate and put my car in park. I was in complete shock. The man was still speaking when my hearing eventually returned. “...very competitive this year, but you were one of the top candidates we interviewed.”
“I’m… wow. I’m a little stunned right now, to be honest.”
I could hear the smile in his voice. “Your honesty was what sealed the deal for you. I have two daughters, and I hope one day they’ll grow up to be as intelligent and brave as you.”
“Not to sound like a broken record, but wow again.”
His chuckle vibrated my ear before his voice turned serious. “I’m very sorry for what happened to you, Ms. Fitz, and I’d like to apologize on behalf of my gender. I can’t believe stuff like this is still happening in this day and age.” His sentiment warmed me.
We wrapped up the call with him promising to have all the paperwork sent to me by the end of next week, and I pulled back into the late afternoon traffic.
I squealed, the sound reverberating around the inside of my little Honda, before turning on my upbeat playlist. Swaying in my seat, I danced happily as I sang along until I pulled into the driveway.
Hawk’s truck was in the garage, and I pulled off my heels and ran up the steps, excited to tell him the news. He was shirtless, just coming down the hallway rubbing his freshly showered hair with a towel when I burst through the front door, dropped my shoes, and tossed my purse on the coffee table.
“I got it!” I yelled, running toward him. Without pausing, he picked me up and twirled me around in a circle.
“I knew you would, Bee. We’ll celebrate with whatever kind of sundaes you want tonight.”
“Thank you for believing in me,” I told him, tightening my arms around his neck. I’d only been here for about a month, but in that time, Hawk had come to mean so much to me. He was my friend, roommate, supporter, and fellow cat parent, but…
I couldn’t stop thinking about that night . The one with all the kissing. And other things. I blushed every time I thought about sitting on top of him, feeling him harden between my legs. And the hungry way he’d kissed me lived rent free in my mind.
That hadn’t happened since, but we’d seemed somehow freer with each other after that evening when I’d slept in his bed. We were more comfortable together, our hands often touching while we were on the couch watching movies. Sometimes, I leaned against his shoulder, and his big arm would surround me.
He always smelled so damn good, and I took every opportunity I could to inhale that masculine scent. I only wished he wanted a repeat of that night… and maybe more. Sometimes, I thought he did. The way those dark eyes burned into me made me wonder if he was having the same illicit thoughts as me. But he never acted on them.
Hawk was still holding me up by the waist, his arms binding me to him, and holy shit! Is he hard right now?
Trying to ignore what I felt pressed against my stomach, I pulled my head back and smiled at him as we stopped spinning. “The interview was going so well, and then one of them asked why I had quit school last year.”
The space between his eyebrows narrowed. “Fuck, what did you say?”
“I told them the truth. That I got kicked out of the university because I assaulted a professor after he sexually harassed me. ”
Hawk’s eyes softened, the color lightening slightly, showing off the warmth I found there sometimes. “I’m sorry you had to go through that again, Bee. They had no right to ask you that.”
“They didn’t know what happened to me, just that I’d unexpectedly quit school, so yes, they did have a right. They’re offering me a lot of money, and they wanted to make sure I was worth the risk.”
His jaw tightened momentarily. “I still don’t like it, and I hate that you had to share something so personal with strangers.”
“That’s what an interview is though, right? Talking to strangers and sharing your story with them?” I tried to keep my voice bright because I sensed that he was going into that broody mood he entered sometimes. The one where he went quiet and seemed to carry the weight of the world inside his head.
“I guess.” His eyes dropped to my mouth before skittering away. “I’m proud of you, Bee.”
Placing my hand on his face, I ran my fingers through his beard. I loved feeling his beard. It was well-trimmed and thick, but the hair was soft to my touch.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you thinking about what happened to Jennifer?”
Those deep brown eyes rose to mine, and I almost lost my breath at the fire I saw there. “No,” he rasped, the sound sinking into my bones. “I’m thinking about kissing the fuck out of you right now.”
When I sucked in a quiet gasp, I could taste his breath, something minty and fresh lingering in the air between us. Finding my voice, I whispered, “I would like that.”
He rubbed his nose against mine and hesitated for only a second before closing his mouth over mine. Holding me to him with only one strong arm, he slid his other hand to the back of my head and tilted my head slightly to the left.
The kiss was all soft suction and gentle pulls of my lips between his until I darted my tongue out for a better taste. Then his hand tightened on my head, his fingers searching beneath my blonde strands until they met my scalp.
Our tongues met in an erotic swirl around each other, and Hawk let out a deep groan of appreciation that vibrated my own vocal cords. Almost like I’d made the sound myself.
I felt us moving but couldn’t pay much attention to anything beside his warm, wet mouth on mine—until he settled his butt on the couch and hauled my skirt up around my waist. He never broke the kiss, not even when he arranged my legs so I was straddling his thick hips.
The hardness I thought I’d felt earlier was definitely there, a firm, hot presence that made me ache inside. My hips suddenly developed their own free will and rocked back and forth a few times. If I wasn’t mistaken, Hawk was commando beneath the charcoal-gray sweatpants he was wearing. A swirl of my sex over his confirmed it.
“Fuck, baby.” His low growl had a direct line to my pussy, which clenched around nothing, searching for something. And that something was throbbing eagerly between Hawk’s legs.
His hands dropped to my butt, his fingers tracing the edge of my silky panties before settling on the exposed curve just beneath. His fingertips were rough and urgent, digging into my flesh to haul me closer.
He lifted his hips, and we grinded against each other as the kiss grew hotter, more fervent, impossibly deeper. The man knew exactly what he was doing, his tongue fucking my mouth with smooth thrusts and hungry licks.
“I’ve been wanting to do that since I saw you in this suit and those fuck-me heels. You’re so damn sexy,” he murmured against my lips before nibbling his way over my jaw and to my throat.
Tilting my head back, I moaned when he took advantage and slid that wicked tongue of his up the side of my neck before sinking his teeth into the vulnerable spot just below my ear. A long, slow shiver made its way down my spine, and I circled my hips over his lengthy erection. He felt so fucking good.
“Bee,” he ground out against my ear, his voice sounding pained. I was afraid he was going to tell me this was wrong and we should stop. So I gripped his damp, silky hair in my fingers, twisting it as I held him to me.
Hawk worked his way down my chest, nuzzling at the top of my silk tank top as his fingers worked at the buttons on my jacket. “Can I take this off?” he rasped, and I answered by shrugging it off and tossing it to the end of the couch.
My shirt went next, and then his hands were everywhere. Warming my back, eliciting goosebumps down my side, and finally, cupping my breasts over my navy-blue bra.
Dark eyes fixated on my chest, and the look was pure, hungry male. “I want these perfect tits in my mouth,” he purred, dizzying me with the low, seductive sound. My breasts were small, but he didn’t seem to mind in the least, if the look on his face was any indication.
Hawk lifted his eyes to mine, questioning me, and I reached behind me to unhook my bra. My shaking fingers fumbled, but he pushed them away and unsnapped it with ease. As he slipped the garment down my arms, I tried not to think about why he was so adept at removing a woman’s bra.
Then all other thoughts left my head when he latched that beautiful mouth around one of my nipples. “God. Tate, yes,” I hissed as his eyes met mine.
He suckled me with long, slow pulls, all the while keeping his hands on my ass so he could rock me over his cock with the same measured rhythm.
Something built inside me, growing like an oncoming storm, ready to take me over and destroy me. And I wanted to be destroyed, as long as this ache—this need —was satiated.
“Please,” I whimpered as Hawk stretched my nipple out with a final suck before kissing his way across my chest to nuzzle the other one with his nose. His eyes were burning with as much lust as I felt.
“Please what, Little Bee? Please stop? Please make your hot little pussy come on my cock?”
“Yes, yes! Th-the second one.”
“Say it, Bee. Say you want me to take you there.” His voice was deep with a gravelly quality that told me he wanted this as much as I did.
With a confidence I didn’t usually feel, I brought my hands to his face and lifted it, kissing him hard on the mouth. “Please make me come on your big, hard cock.”
I’d never actually dirty talked before, but I thought my first time went pretty well since Hawk growled deep in his chest and went a little feral after that.
His mouth was on my other nipple, sucking with a ferocity that should have hurt but didn’t. With strong hands, he dragged me across the hard length of him, accelerating the pace to nothing short of frantic.
And damn, I was frantic too, that storm right overhead and threatening. He shifted his hips a little, and I could feel something small and hard—one of his piercings—pressing against my clit through the two thin layers of fabric separating us.
“Almost…” I panted, unable to finish the sentence because he bit down on my nipple, baring his straight, white teeth as his tongue battered the ultra-sensitive point.
He released me and lapped at the underside of my breast before sucking his mark onto the creamy white flesh there. “Your pretty tits taste better than I imagined,” he growled.
I was currently a huge fan of the sexy growl. Huge. Fan. I’d never been more turned on in my life. “More. Please,” I begged, shocked at my own voice. While Hawk’s rumbled with confident seduction, mine was breathy and needy.
The feel of his huge cock between my legs, his mouth devouring my breast and his hands gripping my rear like he would never let me go all combined to push me right to the edge. I was so close to something big, something earth shattering. I could sense it just beyond my reach.
“I want to suck on these tits for hours, Bee,” Hawk said in a hoarse voice between laps against my nipple. “I want them to be aching and raw tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.”
“Yes,” I agreed, spreading my legs obscenely wider and grinding on him.
“I want you to know where I’ve fucking been. I could come just from feeling how goddamn hard your nipples get for me.” He gave me a long, wicked suck and then stared almost reverently at his handiwork. “For. Me.”
“For you,” I reiterated because at that moment, I was his. A hundred percent and without a doubt. No one else existed in this universe or any other.
Hawk nuzzled his way up my neck until his delicious mouth hovered over mine. “Then come for me, Bee. Your pussy is soaking me, but I want you to fucking drown me.”
When his tongue pushed roughly into my mouth, taking me like he wanted, I let myself go. My entire body was infused with a devastating warmth, starting at the tips of my ears and working its way down to my center.
I rode him harder. Faster. With a passion I didn’t know I possessed. And he was fucking me back with equal vehemence, his ass lifting off the couch, that thick cock pressing against my most intimate of places.
I fucking despised his pants and my panties just then. I wanted them gone so I could feel his slick heat sliding into me. Filling and stretching.
Our mouths were as wild as our bodies, our tongues riotous and uncontrolled. I cried out my release into his mouth and felt his entire body shudder.
“Fuck. You’re making me come,” he managed between kisses as our bodies writhed together. The soft abrasion of his chest hair against my nipples only added an additional layer of sensation to the ones that were already overwhelming me… the feel of his tongue exploring my mouth… the warmth of our combined orgasms wetting our clothing .
Clinging to him like a lifeline—so I didn’t float away into the ether like a wisp of smoke—I tangled my hands in the thick strands at the back of his head, twisting and pulling, which only seemed to urge him on.
I’d had no doubt Hawk would be good at sexual stuff, having seen him in action for a brief time in the Den of Sin, but dayum ! I hadn’t expected to feel so overpowered, despite me being on top. But every thrust of his hips and clench of his fingers told me without a doubt that he was a sex god, fallen to Earth for exactly this purpose. To please a woman.
And oh, was I ever pleased. My body was a limp noodle by the time our movements slowed and eventually stopped, and I dropped my head to his broad shoulder.
Ragged breaths escaped both of us, like we’d run a marathon instead of sitting on the couch. We were chest to chest, separated only by the thin layer of our combined sweat.
“You have a very talented mouth, Hawk,” I murmured against the side of his thick neck.
He tugged my hair until I faced him, his eyes searching my own. “I’d like to show you what else my mouth can do.”
Hol-yyy shit.
I couldn’t even find the words to express how much I wanted that to happen, so I nodded, meeting his eyes and giving him the permission he sought.
“Your skirt is getting all wrinkled,” he said, sliding his hands to my waist. “Maybe we should take it off.”
The suggestion was delivered smoothly, and it emboldened me. Placing my hands on his shoulders for balance, I stood on shaky legs and reached behind me. When I unfastened it, the skirt dropped to the floor, leaving me completely bare except for my navy panties.
That’s exactly where Hawk’s attention was focused like a laser. “Do you always match your panties to what you’re wearing?”
Suddenly self-conscious, I crossed my hands over my crotch. “It’s just something I’ve always done. I don’t know why. It’s stupid.”
His hands encircled my wrists, his long fingers overlapping as he pulled my hands away. “It’s not stupid. It’s sexy as fuck.” His lips crooked up on one side. “ You’re sexy as fuck.”
Slipping his arms behind me, he rested his forearms against my butt and held my lower back with his hands. I was completely bound to him as he pressed his face against my stomach.
At the first lap of his tongue around my belly button, my legs took on the approximate consistency of oatmeal, and I reached for his hair to try and maintain some sense of balance. After all, there wasn’t anything less sexy than falling over and getting a concussion while a guy was going down on you.
Hawk’s lips were like silk as he sucked an endless trail of kisses across my abdomen, and his beard was a delicious abrasion against my flushed skin. My ears rang with the aftereffects of the orgasm and maybe due to the anticipation ramping up in my veins as he nipped my hip bone.
The ringing suddenly stopped, and I could hear Hawk humming softly as he lowered his head and licked up the inside of my thigh in a lewd—and completely hot—demonstration of what he wanted to do between my legs.
“Mmm, my Little Bee has the sweetest honey,” he groaned in a voice so deep it was almost inaudible .
“Tate.” My moan was filled to the brim with desire, causing a tremble in my voice. And then that damn ringing started in my ears again.
He lifted his head with an annoyed scowl on his face. “Answer that and tell whoever it is to fuck off because you’re busy getting your cunt licked.”
That’s when I realized the ringing was coming from my purse. My cell phone.
“Shit, okay,” I said, reaching for my purse and pulling out the incessantly pealing phone. Hawk tugged my body, twisting me until I fell onto the couch, my bare back against the cushions. I swiped the icon, pressed the device to my ear, and giggled out a “Hello,” not even bothering to check the display.
“Hey, Marshmallori. How did your interview go?”
The huge man hovered over me before shooting me a slightly evil grin and spreading my legs wide with rough hands.
Forcing my voice to sound as normal as possible before addressing my cousin, I said, “Oh. Hey, Cam.”
Hawk froze, his hands stalling in mid-stroke up my legs. His face fell, and he pivoted away, resting on the edge of the couch and running his fingers through his thick, dark hair.
Concerned, I sat up and rubbed my hand up and down his back, loving the feel of that sexy tattoo on his flesh. He stood abruptly and headed down the hallway but not before I caught a glimpse of the wet spot staining the front of his sweatpants.
Because I made him come , I thought a bit smugly.
“Did you hear me, Mal? I asked how the interview went.”
Oh. Right. My cousin was on the phone .
“It went really well. They called me back almost immediately afterward to tell me I would be receiving one of the grants.”
I heard Cam’s loud whoop at the same time the sound of a shower met my ears. Hawk must have been feeling sticky and wanted to clean up.
“That’s so fucking awesome. Hold on. Shiloh! Mal got the grant!”
Since I was sitting in the living room almost completely naked, I snagged the gray blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around my upper body. I ended up talking to my cousin, his wife, and even Bella for the next few minutes. The kid had no idea what was going on, but she was excited because everyone else was.
Just as I hung up, Hawk appeared in the living room, dressed in a tight white tank top and maroon athletic shorts. His muscles were on full display, and I wondered if it was weird that I wanted to lick every single one of them.
“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked, standing and realizing he had the straps of a small black leather duffle held in one hand.
“I need to go out,” he said, heading toward the kitchen without meeting my eyes.
“Are you getting the ice cream, or do you want me to go to the store?”
He paused with his back to me before resuming his stride. “Not tonight.”
And then he was gone, leaving me standing there wearing nothing but a blanket and soaked panties.