60. Wren
He kissed me like he never wanted to stop. The feel of his lips on mine was like a dream, half remembered. I’d spent so long thinking about the night we’d been together, that it often felt like I’d imagined the whole thing. If it weren’t for the existence of Cooper, I might not even believe it myself.
But in this moment, it was real, and Hawk was here, kissing me, touching me, wanting me, and I reveled in it.
I was still reeling from the things he’d told me. The fact that Hawk hadn’t even known Cooper existed changed everything. It meant that all this time, he hadn’t been avoiding us, living his life while we were on our own.
It meant that he had been on his own, too. Trapped in a marriage made of lies to the woman who had apparently orchestrated the whole messy situation.
All this time, I’d made him the villain when he’d really been a victim.
Just like us.
And that realization broke my heart.
I knew there was still a lot to work through, things that needed to be discussed and decided on before we made any important decisions, but for now, I just wanted to kiss him.
Hawk tilted his head to one side, using his hold on my cheeks to direct our kiss, his tongue testing the seam of my lips as he sought entrance. I granted it, parting my lips as his tongue swept inside like a conqueror, taking what he wanted with determination.
Lifting my own hands, I placed one on his firm bicep, the other I threaded into his hair, giving a gentle tug as I pulled him closer. The sound Hawk made had me squirming on the couch, the pure manliness of it sending a delicious tingle through my entire body. He was just so damn sexy, the feel of him against me so alluring that I lifted up, aching to get closer to him, to connect us even more.
Using the hold I had on his arm, I pressed Hawk back into the couch, lifting up on my knees as we moved so that we didn’t break our kiss. Leaning forward, I pressed my chest to his, loving the feel of his body heat against my aching nipples. God, he had gotten so much broader since the last time we’d done this, his frame filled out from lean to muscled in a way that made me want to run my hands over every inch of him. I couldn’t seem to find enough places to touch him.
Hawk apparently felt the same, because his hands landed on the outside of my thighs, his calloused fingers gliding up and down my legs, stopping just shy of the curve of my ass.
“Fuck, Bird,” he whispered on a groan, and I swallowed the sound. “The things you do to me.”
“I could say the same,” I replied, dragging my palm over his firm chest. “So hot.”
Suddenly, Hawk shifted, his hands catching me around the backs of my knees and pulling, the movement causing me to flop over backward onto the soft couch cushions, where I landed with a startled yelp.
“What—?”
“When I invited you here for lunch, Bird,” he rumbled, his voice rough and low, “I told you I intended to eat.”
With that, Hawk ducked down, shuffling back and situating himself so that his broad shoulders pried my knees apart. I was filled with a sudden wash of hesitation, not at all as confident as I had been when we were kissing.
“Wait,” I said, attempting to press my thighs closed but only managing to squeeze them against Hawk’s shoulders. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Bird, I don’t have to do anything.” Hawk met my eyes with a devilish smile before he dropped his gaze to the apex of my thighs, licked his lips, and said, “But I sure fucking want to.”
With that, he flipped up my skirt, tugged my panties to the side, and feasted.
The man ate me like he was starving, face buried between my legs as he used the flat of his tongue to sweep me from bottom to top. When the very tip of his tongue dipped inside me, he gave another groan of satisfaction and wrapped his large hands around my thighs, fingers digging in as he pulled me closer to him.
“Oh, fuck,” I hissed as his lips teased my clit, offering just a hint of suction before he moved back down, circling my entrance again before pressing his tongue in as far as it would go.
Releasing one of my legs, Hawk shifted his body to the side, giving him room to slide one thick finger inside me as his tongue rapidly flicked over my clit. The added stimulation from his finger had me flexing my muscles, tensing my legs and involuntarily thrusting my pussy against his mouth, desperate for more. Looking down the length of my body, I caught sight of Hawk’s eyes as he gazed at me from his place between my legs. His dark blue gaze was hooded and filled with heat as he watched me watching him go down on me.
The connection between us grew taut, and when Hawk added a second finger, I detonated, my body pulling tight as a drum as I came in a wave of heat and satisfaction. Hawk kept at it until I sagged against the couch, then slowly withdrew his fingers before holding them up and inspecting them. I could feel my face heating as he stared at his damp digits before he slid them into his mouth and licked them clean.
Once he was done, he righted my panties and lowered the hem of my skirt, all while I laid on the couch, my chest rising and falling as I came down from the rush of my orgasm.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever tasted anything as delicious as you, Bird.”
“Hawk,” I started, sitting up as some semblance of clarity returned. “We should probably slow down.”
“Baby, that was slow,” he teased, running the back of his knuckles down my warm cheek. “The memories may be fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure we went a bit faster last time.”
I let a grin break across my face before I caught myself, pursing my lips and frowning in an attempt at seriousness.
“I mean it. I can’t afford to get swept away. I can’t afford another surprise, Hawk. And we absolutely have to think of Cooper. I need to find a way to tell her that you’re her father.”
“She doesn’t know?” he asked, hurt lacing his words, and I bit my lip as guilt flooded my chest.
“I couldn’t exactly tell her, could I? Tori threatened to sue me if anyone ever found out, and toddlers aren’t known for keeping secrets.”
Hawk frowned, drumming his fingers against his thighs as he thought it over.
“I get it,” he finally said, but I could tell that he still didn’t like it. “What have you told her? About her father, I mean?”
“Well,” I said, sinking my teeth into my bottom lip. “For the most part, I told her that her dad lived far away and that he couldn’t be with us. I never gave her a reason, and after a while, she just stopped asking.”
He nodded, his gaze going distant as he stared at the photographs on the far wall. Sabrina had taken every photo displayed in the house, her artistic eye capturing the local scenery in gorgeous shots of black and white. Looking at them now, I admired the clean simplicity of her photos, the way the varying shades of gray rendered every detail clearly, the lines and shades clean and clear.
If only everything could be a simple.
“Do you—” Hawk started, then stopped and took a steadying breath. He wouldn’t meet my gaze, but his hand continued to fidget, belying his anxiety. “Do you think she’ll forgive me?”
My heart clenched, the vulnerability in his words endearing him to me even more.
“I think she’s a smart girl, Hawk,” I said, reaching over to lace my fingers with his. “I think that if we’re honest—as honest as is appropriate, anyway—that Cooper will make an informed decision about how she feels. I won’t force her to spend time with you, but I won’t discourage it, either. If you are serious about getting to know her, I think it will work out just fine.”
“I am serious,” he insisted, his fingers squeezing mine. “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my entire life.”
“I believe you,” I said, and it was with some surprise that I realized I did. Hawk seemed genuinely invested in doing the right thing by Cooper, and I knew that I wasn’t going to stand in his way.