by Shannon West
Jace yawned and stretched. “Give Marie my love.”
Jace heard Hawke chuckling as he shut the door behind him. He loved the sound of the sheriff’s laughter, and it made him feel good in a way that he hadn’t felt for years. Shit. He definitely had to get out of here soon. He was getting almost chummy with the guy, and he hardly knew him. It was way too quick to feel like this about him. That head injury must have been a doozy because he really had, apparently, lost his mind.
****
Hawke was still smiling as he got into his police SUV and headed into town. Maybe the night before had really been as uneventful as he thought, and he could relax a little, knowing that tonight was the last night for another twenty-eight days. Before this last bunch had come of age all at one time, the last few years had been fairly peaceful, and he was ready for it to be that way again.
The only real trouble over the last few years had come, as usual, from one source—Holden MacKay, from the nearby MacKay pride.
Holden MacKay seemed to despise Hawke from the first moment they set eyes on each other in the county high school. They’d been rivals all through those years, and later MacKay had even run for county sheriff against Hawke. Not, Hawke felt sure, because he wanted it, but just to keep the office away from Hawke. Or at least, that’s what Hawke had always suspected.
Shortly before the election, which had promised to be a close one, MacKay was arrested for possession of drugs. He’d claimed he was framed, and it was certainly possible. Supporters on both sides were pretty crazy and over the top, but Hawke had nothing to do with it. And though he’d questioned his supporters closely, he’d never found anyone willing to admit they’d done anything. His father had called in some favors and got the charges dropped, which was a very good thing. None of the MacKays or the Sutherlands could spend time in jail, obviously.
When MacKay lost the election, his father had set him up in business, and now Holden was a tavern owner in the western part of their county. He mostly stayed out of Hawke’s way, but Hawke strongly suspected he was the one who had been supplying the boys in his town with beer and liquor, despite the fact that none of them were old enough to buy it legally. There were rumors he sold them drugs too, but so far, Hawke hadn’t been able to prove anything against him.
Maybe now that the boys were legal and had gone through their first shift, they’d settle down a little and get jobs and responsibilities that would keep them busy. After tonight, he’d be able to focus more on Jace, too, and figure out how to keep him here without having to hold him against his will. What a fucking mess! It was just his luck to find a mate who was not only human, but stubborn as hell.
When Hawke walked into the office, Bart was sitting there with his feet propped up on the desk, looking at a catalog of police paraphernalia. He looked up at Hawke and said, “Afternoon, Sheriff.”
“Hey, Bart. I assume everything is quiet since you seem to be taking your ease.”
Bart put his feet down on the floor and closed the magazine. “Everything is dead quiet. No phone calls, nobody stopping by, nothing.”
“Well, that’s good. If it stays quiet like this, I’ll probably just go on home in about an hour and rest up. After tonight, hopefully everything will be normal again for a while.” Hawke walked into his office and sat down to catch up on paperwork. Hours later, he sat back in his chair, thinking about Jace again and how nothing in his life was going to be like it was before his mate rolled into town.
He took the list out of the drawer that Jace had given him that first day. Tomorrow, he’d make sure that he contacted each family and tell them to talk to Jace, and to not give him any problem. They could come to the office here and that way he could keep Jace right where he could see him. Having to make contact with each family should keep Jace here a couple of days more, but then what? He had to have some kind of plan for keeping him here and maybe he could formulate one while Jace was asking them his questions.
Hell, maybe he’d just fuck him into staying. That’s what he’d like to do, and if he was reading Jace right, he might be agreeable to that. Well, the fucking part anyway. There was no doubt that there was a strong attraction between them. He knew why he was so instantly attracted, but wasn’t as sure of Jace. Sometimes, if the mating instinct was very strong, the recipient—in this case, Jace—could sense it too. In the past, potential mates had reported strong attraction almost immediately to their mate, and even noticed a strong scent. On the other hand, Jace might just want sex and nothing else, and how could Hawke explain the whole mate concept to him without telling him everything?
Even if Jace wanted a relationship with Hawke, how did you tell someone that it meant giving up whatever life you had and coming to live here for the rest of your days? Oh, and by the way, your mate will turn into a big mountain lion every twenty-eight days. Yeah, that ought to cement the relationship.
Hawke looked at the clock on the wall and realized that he had been in his office for over two hours and hadn’t heard the phone ring one time. He got up and walked to the outer office where Bart had resumed his position with the catalog and his feet propped on the desk.
“Well, Bart, you were right. There’s absolutely nothing going on here, so I think I’ll go on back to the house. If you need to leave early, go ahead. Everybody in town knows how to get in touch with one or the other of us, whether we’re here or not.”
“Okay, Sheriff. I’ll probably hang around for another hour or so. My wife told me to meet her at the diner for an early supper.”
“All right then, I’ll see you tomorrow.” With a wave of his hand, Hawke walked out and steeled himself to go to the diner to pick up supper. It was always a challenge to see if he could get in and out of there without losing his temper with the surly Marie. Thinking about her reminded him of what Jace had said as he was leaving the house earlier, so he was smiling when he walked in.
“What the hell are you so happy about, Sheriff?”
The sound of her voice wiped the smile off his face. “Just thinking about getting some more of your good food, Marie.”
“Did you already eat both plates you bought yesterday?”
Taking a deep breath, Hawke said, “Sure did, so I’m going to need two more today.”
“You keep eating like this, Sheriff, you’re going to need to order some bigger uniforms. You might want to, anyway. Those pants are already too tight.”
Another deep breath. “Today, just give me green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy, biscuits and, oh yeah, some of that fried squash on both plates.”
She turned toward the kitchen and Hawke heard her muttering what sounded like, “You might want to think about getting a salad on one of those plates.”
“What was that you said?”
“Never mind. I was just sayin’. Hold your damn horses, and I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she tossed back over her shoulder as she walked through the swinging door going into the kitchen.
She was, indeed, back in a few minutes and Hawke paid and got out of there as fast as he could. Lord, that woman was the spawn of Satan. He decided that he was going to have to start buying more groceries and cooking at home. Maybe since Jace would be staying, that would actually be enjoyable. And Jace would be staying. He couldn’t possibly let him go.
Walking into his house about ten minutes later, Hawke almost dropped the Styrofoam plates he was carrying. Jace was walking out of the laundry room, just off the kitchen, wearing nothing but a towel, the water droplets glistening on his chest.
Jace jumped when he saw Hawke and said, “Shit, Sheriff, you scared me. I didn’t expect you back this early. I just took a shower and was going to wash my clothes. I hope that’s okay.”
Hawke hadn’t uttered a sound, had simply been staring at Jace’s body. That towel sure as hell didn’t hide much and Hawke was fighting for some semblance of control. Managing to find his voice, he said, “Uh, no, I don’t mind. I mean, yeah, it’s fine. No problem. Go ahead. I might just get a shower too since I�
��ll be out all night. Then afterwards, we’ll eat.”
“Okay, I’ll be out in a few minutes,” Jace said, turning to go down the hall.
Hawke watched his ass as he walked toward the guest room and wondered how much longer he could maintain his control. His cat was close to the surface right now, with all its primal mating instincts clawing at his insides. His dick was granite hard and his balls ached for relief. He’d better get in his room and get in a cold shower before Jace saw his cock pushing against the zipper of his uniform pants.
In his room, Hawke shed the last of his clothes and climbed into his own shower. Still hard as a rock, Hawke soaped himself, slowly moving over his aching cock and balls, deciding he probably just needed to take matters in his own hands before he jumped the boy. Fantasizing about Jace’s hard, muscular body bent over in the shower with Hawke’s cock sliding in and out between those cheeks, he soon found the release that he needed. It felt good—not as good as the real thing would have felt, but it helped.
Having finished his shower, he walked naked into his bedroom to dress. Before he had made it two steps into the room, he stopped dead, totally shocked to see Jace standing in the doorway, still wearing only a towel, and now with his mouth hanging open in shock.
“I-I’m sorry,” he managed to stammer. “I came to tell you that I put supper out. I knocked on the door, but you didn’t answer. I thought that you might have fallen asleep, so I came in to check and then, I heard the shower just as you turned it off, and then you came out before I could leave the room.” All this had been said in a rush without Jace taking much of a breath. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”
“That’s okay,” Hawke said, not quite grinning. “Take a breath, for God’s sake.” Hawke watched him trying to avert his eyes, but not quite looking away, and finally zeroing in on Hawke’s cock, which was standing up hard and ready for action again, as usual with a mind of its own.
Jace turned quickly toward the door leading into the hall, muttering something about checking to see if his clothes were ready for the dryer yet. Hawke turned toward his dresser and grabbed some sweatpants, pulling them on without bothering with underwear. He stood there for a few minutes, trying to get control, because he apparently had no control anymore, at least not when Jace was anywhere around.
Pulling a soft, comfortable old t-shirt over his head, he walked down the hall toward the kitchen. Jace had finally found his grass-stained pants and pulled them on, thank God, and he was putting glasses with ice on the table. Hawke strode over to the refrigerator, grabbing a couple of Cokes.
Still not able to look him in the eye, Jace fumbled around with his knife and fork. “This looks good.”
“Yeah, the vegetables at the diner are great. Not really healthy, like you probably eat at home, but it’s almost worth it to me to put up with Marie to get some of the diner food. Note I said almost.”
Jace laughed, a bit more at ease, and took a bite of his dinner. “You’re right, these are about the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever had.”
They ate in silence for a while, and then Hawke told Jace that he was going out to patrol again that night. “I’ll be gone all night, or most of it, and you need to keep all the doors locked and don’t go outside for any reason. I want your word on that.”
“Okay.”
“I mean it, Jace. This is important.”
“I said okay. What else can I say?” Hawke gave him a hard look, his lips pressed tightly together, but didn’t say anything else. “Listen, I think I have a solution about your work. I’m going to call some of the folks on your list and have them come down to the office so you can interview them. How does that sound?”
Jace blinked at him. “That would be great, Sheriff. I’d really appreciate that.”
“Okay, so give me a day to get it set up, and I’ll take you to the office with me, and you can ask your questions.” He looked up and found Jace still staring at him with a surprised smile on his face. “Oh, and call me Hawke. That’s my first name.”
“Thank you, Hawke. For everything. You’ve really been more than kind. I’ll pay you for all these meals just as soon as I get my expense check.”
“No problem,” Hawke said, and they ate the rest of their meal in companionable silence. When they finished eating, Hawke let Jace clean the kitchen at his insistence and went over to the living room to relax. “I think I’ll watch a little of the news before I have to get ready to go on patrol.”
Hawke plopped down in his favorite chair and put his feet up on the ottoman, while Jace finished straightening up and came over to sit beside him. Hawke tried not to stare at him, but kept stealing glances out of the corner of his eye. Damned if he wasn’t just about the best looking, sexiest little thing Hawke had ever seen. With Jace’s tanned, muscular body and that shaggy hair that looked like he had just gotten out of bed, it was a struggle to keep his hands off him. After tonight, they definitely had to have a talk.
Chapter Six
Jace sat on the sofa, trying to concentrate on the news, but he could feel Hawke’s eyes on him from time to time and it made him restless. Well, that wasn’t exactly the truth. If he was honest with himself, it really had more to do with remembering how Hawke looked bare-assed naked. Holy shit, the man was hot. And big. Jace wasn’t exactly small, but Hawke made him feel that way. Hawke was big everywhere–huge shoulders and biceps, big thighs, broad chest with a smattering of black hair, and a treasure trail leading to a very impressive cock in a nest of dark curls. He had made quite a picture standing there, one that Jace wouldn’t soon forget.
One thing was for sure—Jace had to stop remembering right now, because his own cock was beginning to tent the sweatpants he had on. He kicked his shoes off and pulled his legs up on the sofa in front of his groin so that Hawke wouldn’t see. How embarrassing would that be if Hawke noticed his hard dick and wasn’t interested? Jace thought he might be, but he wasn’t sure.
Jace really wasn’t all that experienced because it didn’t take much experience to go to a club and orchestrate a brief hook-up, no strings attached. He’d never done much more than blow jobs, really. He knew that he would have to find out one way or the other about this man before he left town because this was the strongest attraction that he had ever felt for anyone. And what was that faint scent he smelled every time he got close to Hawke? He’d thought that it was some kind of cologne, but now he wasn’t sure, because he had smelled it when Hawke had just gotten out of the shower.
He smelled it now and it made Jace want to jump into Hawke’s lap and lick his way down his body. Hawke glanced over at him as if trying to figure out what Jace was thinking. Oh no, trust me, you don’t want to know. Jace looked back at Hawke and smiled.
“What time do you need to leave, Sheriff?”
“Soon. I’d like to get started just before dark. As a matter of fact, I need to go get ready now.” He got up to go to the bedroom, shooting Jace what he was almost positive was a regretful glance.
Jace was still on the couch when Hawke came back into the room, wearing his sweatpants with a t-shirt that said Sheriff’s Department on the front and Sheriff on the back.
Jace looked up at him and asked, “You’re not wearing your uniform?”
“Nah, I decided that if I’m going to be up all night I might as well be comfortable. Besides, I’ve got my gun and my badge with me. That should be enough if I run into any kind of trouble.”
Jace frowned. “What kind of trouble?”
“I’m not really expecting any, but you never know.”
Jace didn’t like the sound of that, but felt that it wasn’t any of his business, since he had no relationship with the sheriff. That brought up another question in his mind that had been nagging at him. Did Hawke have a significant other somewhere? He hadn’t seen any evidence of anyone else living there, or even visiting, but how could somebody as good-looking and hot as Hawke not have someone?
“Is this about what attacked me?”
“Maybe. Look,
Jace I’ll talk to you about it tomorrow, okay?”
More stalling. It was becoming a regular thing with him. Was he really going out to patrol and investigate or was this a booty call to some chick—or some guy? Jace was dying to know.
He was almost afraid to ask, because he was scared of the answer. Maybe he’d work on his courage tonight and ask Hawke to stop stalling him in the morning during breakfast. He was a grown man after all. He could take whatever it was Hawke seemed to be hiding from him.
Before he could stop, he heard himself asking, “So, Sheriff, do you have a significant other somewhere?” So much for gathering his courage and waiting till breakfast.
Hawke had been walking toward the back door, but he stopped now and turned to look at Jace. “What?”
“Significant other. You know, girlfriend…uh, boyfriend?”
Hawke stared at him for a minute, then he smiled. “No, neither one.” He raised an eyebrow and continued, “But if you’re asking what my preference would be, I’d have to say somebody that looks an awful lot like you.”
Jace’s mouth dropped open, and he felt a blush stealing over his cheeks. He was about to say something more when he saw Hawke looking past him out the window at the darkness. He strode quickly over to the glass and stood looking out. Jace could have sworn that he almost heard a growl coming from Hawke. What had he seen out that window?
“W-What is it? Did you see something?”
“No, it’s nothing.” Hawke looked back over his shoulder and said in a husky voice, “Sorry, Jace, but I’ve got to run. I’ll see you in the morning and we’ll continue this discussion. Remember what I told you. Stay inside and away from windows and doors. Keep the door locked, and don’t open it for any reason.” Then he turned on his heel and strode from the room.
Jace listened to the sound of the SUV engine as it went down the driveway and thought how empty the house seemed when Hawke wasn’t there. What the hell? He was getting absolutely sappy. He turned back to the TV and searched for a good movie to watch. Finding one, he stretched out on his back. He watched two movies, in fact, before he fell asleep on the sofa again like he had the night before.
