39. Hawk
39
HAWK
K ara’s face was flushed when she came out of the bathroom, her skin wet like she’d had to splash water on it to cool down.
All I could think about was her in there, fingers buried deep in her pussy, muffling her cries while she came, and the fact she’d been so turned on she hadn’t even been able to make it home so I could do it for her.
I gave her a cocky grin. “Feel better?”
She didn’t say anything, just walked past me.
I frowned and followed her, catching her gently by the elbow. “Hey. Are you okay?”
She pulled her arm out of mine. “I’ve changed my mind. I want to watch the movie.”
“Okay…” I had to jog a few steps to catch her.
She didn’t say anything.
Doubt crept in. Fuck. I’d pushed her too far. I’d been nudging at her limits, knowing she had no experience. I’d gotten off on breaking apart the walls she’d put up and unveiling the woman she hid inside. One whose body came alight when I touched her.
Telling her to go come in a public bathroom had clearly been a step over the line.
I followed her into the auditorium and sat beside her in the darkness, shooting glances at her for the next two hours while she steadfastly stared at the screen, her hands firmly on her lap.
If the movie hadn’t been so full of people, I would have been tempted to try to coax her into letting me apologize. With my tongue buried between the lips of her pussy.
But considering that was basically what had got us to this point, it was probably better that the auditorium was full and there was no chance for me to get on my knees.
My dick was hard for her again, but I forced myself to watch the movie.
When it finished, we walked out into the light, and I slipped my arm around her shoulders. “So, what did you think?”
She cringed away from my touch. “Take me home, please.”
There was a distinct chill in her voice I’d never heard before.
I’d heard her scared. Tired. Happy. Turned on.
Never angry the way she was right now.
I followed her to the car, running over the entire night in my head. I had no experience with dates, but I thought it had been going pretty well. We’d talked. I’d said more to Kara tonight than I had ever spoken to Amber or Kiki in the years I’d known them. I’d told her things only my best friends knew. She’d been insecure about being with me in public, but I thought I’d done a good job of reassuring her that the things I wanted from her were more than just a quick fuck at the clubhouse. I thought I’d shown her how much her body did it for me, even if I’d never been with anyone like her before.
But I’d done something wrong.
I opened the passenger-side door for her and cursed beneath my breath as I closed it after her.
This wasn’t just her getting a little overwhelmed and needing a minute to calm down. This was her shrinking away from me like she couldn’t stand my touch. Like it was me she was scared of.
I’d clearly fucked up. Royally. This was more than me just wanting her to come in a public place. She’d been into that. I knew it.
I jogged around to the driver’s side and got in, starting the van.
Kara refused to look at me. She twisted to one side, staring out the window. I got us out of the parking lot and along the bluff road that would lead us back to the compound. It wasn’t a long drive, but the minutes felt like hours, each one so painfully silent that by the time we pulled into the Slayers’ driveway, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“What did I do, Kara?” I asked quietly.
She didn’t answer.
Her silence was deafening.
I strangled the steering wheel, fighting the urge to demand she talk.
If I demanded it, she probably would. Fuck, I’d told her to drop her arms so I could see her hard, greedy nipples through her shirt that first night she’d walked into my room and caught me fucking my hand. She’d stood there, watching me come, just because I’d told her to.
But while I liked bossing her around in the bedroom, this felt different.
This felt fragile.
Like if I made demands of it, I could break into so many pieces it could never be repaired.
So I pressed my lips together and forced my concentration to the road.
Taillights up ahead had me slowing, peering through the darkness at the bikes maneuvering through the gates. Fang waved me over as I approached, and I rolled the window down. Music from within the compound filtered through the night air, and I jerked my head toward the gravel drive that led down to the clubhouse. “What’s going on? Who was that?”
Fang sighed heavily. “You’re late to the party, brother.”
“What party? We weren’t having a party tonight?”
“We are now. And it’s a full house. Guys from the Louisiana chapter have been arriving for hours.”
I frowned, irritated they’d shown up here without so much as a word of warning. “What the fuck for?”
He shrugged. “No idea. War was waiting for you to get back before we take their prez and VP to church.”
Awareness prickled over the back of my neck. “War called all the Saint View crew in?”
Fang nodded grimly. “You’re the last to arrive. We’ve just been keeping everybody happy. We’ve been supplying the alcohol. They brought a few women. Everyone is having a nice time.” He glanced down the hill. “So far anyway. War ain’t happy about them just showing up here uninvited.”
Not that he could say that. There were laws between chapters. Rules that had been set in stone from the club’s conception. The Slayers were a family, no matter which chapter you were a part of. You never turned away a brother when they arrived on your doorstep, wanting a roof over their heads or a bourbon in their hands.
I glanced over at Kara and then back at Fang. “Are Kian and Vaughn at your house with Rebel and the kids?”
“I sent them all over to War’s place. Vincent and Nash are there too.” He leaned past me to talk to Kara. “Hayley Jade as well. Rebel picked her up on their way. They’re all waiting for you.”
That was smart. Keeping all of their families together. Kian, Vaughn, and Nash could all hold their own in a fight, but Vincent was lethal. Kara would be safe with them. A hell of a lot fucking safer than she’d be here tonight, with fifty extra bikers all hoping for a good time. “Tell War I’ll be back in twenty. I’ll just take Kara and then we can call church.”
“No,” Kara said sharply.
Fang and I both looked over at her.
I reached over and squeezed her leg, but she flinched away from me, like we were right back where we started, and like I hadn’t just had my hands all over her in the lobby of that theater. What the fuck was going on?
“Kara, there’s probably a hundred people down there, throwing what will likely be an all-night party,” Fang explained gently.
“Great,” she bit out through gritted teeth. “Sounds like fun. ”
I stared at her. “Fun? No. Not fucking fun. You have no idea what a Slayers’ party is like. Especially not one with out-of-towners. You’ve only ever been to family events. That’s nothin’ like what’s going on down there tonight. I’m taking you to War’s place. You’ll be safe there.”
My mouth dropped open when Kara yanked on the handle and shoved the door open. She unclicked her seat belt and got out of the van, storming around to the front and through the gates, lit up by my headlights.
Fang and I stared wide-eyed.
“What the fuck did you do to her?” he asked me.
I shook my head. “I honestly have no idea.”
“I’ve never seen her act like that. Should I go get her? I mean…she can’t go down there.”
It was what my gut instinct said to do as well. To keep her away. Keep her locked up safe and sound at War’s place while I dealt with whatever the hell was going on.
“Kara,” I called.
But she didn’t stop.
“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered to Fang and then shook my head. “I’m not gonna carry her out of here kicking and screaming. Are you?”
He stared at her stomping down the driveway. “If you tell me to, I will. But I won’t be very happy about it.”
“Me neither.”
“So what’s the other option?”
Her accusations that we were keeping her imprisoned the same way Josiah had played over and over in my head. She wasn’t mine to control. She was a grown woman. She had a child. Who was I to tell her what she could and couldn’t do? “Rebel and Bliss both had to learn what Slayers’ parties were all about. Kara does too. We can’t protect her from everything, and if she’s going to be my woman, she needs to know what she’s getting herself into.”
Fang stared at me. “If she’s going to be your woman…” He leaned back against the gate and stared at me hard. “Are you for real, Hawk? I’ve known you a long time, and you’ve never once looked at a woman as anything other than a warm place to sink your dick. If you’re fucking with her, getting your rocks off on toying with her because she’s so innocent she’s practically Bambi, then—”
I glared at him. “Then nothing. Because I’m not fucking with her.” I pulled at the stupid cable-knit sweater that made my arms itchy. “You think I’d wear this shit for a woman I didn’t like? You think I’d take her out and spend hours talking to her? You think I’d spend every minute of every fucking day thinking about how sweet and good and sexy she is?”
Fang stared at me. “You gonna put her on the back of your bike?”
I sucked in a breath.
He might as well have asked me if I was in love with her.
It was the same thing in our world. No woman rode on the back of your bike unless you were willing to put a ring on her finger.
My brain said no.
My stupid fucking heart screamed yes.
I twisted on my heel and got back in the van. Screw Fang. Screw his stupid questions. He wasn’t in a position to ask me shit like that.
I got in the van and went after Kara .
All I could think about was how she’d feel, her sweet thick thighs wrapped around mine. Her soft tits pressed to my back. Her arms wrapped around my middle.
Every person we passed knowing she was off-limits because she was on the back of my bike.
She was my Little Mouse.
My woman.
Mine .