Birds of Prey

by Dahlia Rose

  “Tiana, Jesus Christ, are you trying to kill me with fear?” Joslyn yelled.

  “Yes, it’s all about you, Joslyn, because God knows being stuck in the damn mountains and almost being left out in this damn monsoon was my ideal vacation,” Tiana snapped.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but damn, I thought you were eaten by Bigfoot,” Joslyn said.

  Tiana snickered. “No, I was found by a very grouchy artist who likes his privacy. I think this is a very bad idea, Jos. I want to tell him the truth and let the chips fall where they may.”

  “He may kick you out into the wilderness on your own if you do that,” Joslyn pointed out.

  “He didn’t have to take me in in the first place,” Tiana shot back. “Listen, I don’t want to do this anymore. You’re going to have to go the direct route to get the story.”

  Joslyn was silent and then gasped. “That’s what this is! You like this guy and you’re putting him above me. Tiana, you’re nothing to him. Even if he sleeps with you that’s all it will be. You’ll be just another girl.”

  “Thanks for thinking the best about me, Jos,” Tiana said wounded. “You know what I would chalk this up to. As usual, you’re being the news shark and all you care about is biting into your story, even if it’s at my expense. But I also know you really feel like plain Jane Tiana can’t get a man. I’m your pity friend, not like Katrina and the others who you socialize with.”

  “Tiana, that’s not true.” Joslyn used the soft voice that Tiana knew so well. It was her I-want-out-of-this-conversation-with-a-free-pass voice.

  “Bullshit it’s not. They are your let’s-get-pretty-and-go-play-with-the-stars friends and I’m the comfort-blanket, went-to-school-with-you friend and when shit goes wrong you can whine about them to me,” Tiana snapped. “How many of them would’ve come out here for you, Jos? None of them and you know it. So I’m going in there and I’m telling him the truth and you can figure your career out on your own because you know this just-another-girl could never get anyone like Hawke.”

  “Jesus, Tiana, you’re being so very high school,” Joslyn said. “Call me when you’re thinking straight.”

  “That won’t happen.” Tiana pressed the end button on the SAT phone and glared at it as if Joslyn could see her.

  Every time she thought Joslyn was getting better she went back to the same trifling behavior. God, to think she came out here trying to help her. She fell for Joslyn’s sob story about being a woman in a man’s world and needing something to make her career pop. Again, she had let herself be used and it sucked ass. She shoved the phone in her pocket and stomped back towards the house angrily. As she opened the door she saw that Hawke was sitting at the kitchen counter sipping from a mug.

  “Enjoy your walk?” he asked casually.

  “I was going a bit stir crazy, so I decided to go outside for a little bit,” Tiana said.

  “You should be careful. The fog can cause people to get turned around.”

  “I wouldn’t be out there if you even had one iota of entertainment other than books,” she snapped and then sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m just out of my element. You’ve been very hospitable in your way and I shouldn’t complain. But when this weather shifts to normal and I can go home, you definitely won’t hear me complaining.”

  She felt Hawke’s light brown gaze on her before he stood and said, “Come with me.”

  Tiana stood where she was when she saw that he was heading towards his bedroom. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I doubt we’re talking about the same kind of entertainment here.”

  “Really, that’s where your mind went?” Hawke actually grinned and it transformed his face to boyish handsome. “I have a TV with a WiFi hot spot and Movie Masters on it. You can watch TV while I work.”

  “You’re telling me that all this time you have had an actual TV and Internet in there and never said anything?” Tiana scowled.

  “I just did. Coming?” he asked.

  “Hell yes, I am.” Tiana walked towards him with determination. “Do you have popcorn?”

  He nodded. “I’ll get some. Anything else?”

  “Nope, that’s it for now. I’m just happy to have something to do other than stare at your walls,” she answered.

  It took a few minutes, but he came back with a big bowl of popcorn and was carrying two glasses of water as well. After he showed her how to work the setup, she settled happily into an overstuffed chair he had in his room to watch horror flicks.

  After nearly half an hour had gone by and after one too many screams, she noticed that he had stopped what he was doing on his laptop and was staring at the TV with a frown.

  “Why do they always run upstairs instead of out of the house only to try to climb out a window onto the roof, slip and hurt themselves and then get killed in the end anyway?” Hawke asked. “That girl could’ve run outside the second she heard the noise. And how is it she’s in a nightshirt? Two seconds ago she was in a sweater and jeans.”

  “If she wasn’t stupid who could the serial killer go after?” Tiana laughed. “Besides, she deserves it. Less than five minutes with a cute guy in a house and she’s in a night shirt.”

  “Isn’t that how it always goes?” Hawke teased.

  She threw a piece of popcorn at him. “Ha ha. Is that how it is for you? Women throwing themselves at you in nightshirts?”

  “They don’t get that far,” he said. “I usually shut it down way before then.”

  “They’re probably all sexy and wearing gorgeous expensive clothes and dripping with charm,” she said and winced at the acid in her voice. Of course, she was thinking about Joslyn and her friends. “I doubt there are any women at your openings like me who wear little makeup and come in comfy jeans and a favorite T-shirt.”

  He was silent for a moment and then said suddenly, “Maybe if they were more like you, I’d be more tempted to give them a chance. You seem to be the real deal, Tiana. Honest, sweet and refreshing.”

  “You make me sound like homemade lemonade, but don’t let the disguise fool you. I’m probably not a nice person,” she said.

  “I have a good sense about people and you don’t strike me as a mean girl,” Hawke said. “Anyway, watch your movie and I’ll get back to work.”

  The rain started to fall steadily again and in between the second movie he decided to make dinner. Hawke refused her offer of help and came back with two plates of sausage and fried potatoes with corn on the side. He ate while he worked and she ate while starting the movie Jaws.

  After she finished eating, she pulled a soft blanket from the back of the chair to cover herself with. The day passed with lazy steady rain falling and Tiana fell asleep watching movies in his room. She opened her eyes when she felt him lift her and was pressed against his hard chest.

  “Hi,” she whispered. “You can put me down now.”

  He walked out of his room and the few steps to hers. “Maybe I like holding you.”

  “That’s a big three-sixty from wanting me out of your house,” Tiana commented softly.

  “You’re different, I guess.” Hawke cleared his throat. “I don’t meet many people who I like.”

  “Hawke, I don’t know what happened in your past but not every person you meet is bad.” Tiana put her hand on his chest. “Sometimes, you let people in and they hurt you, trust me, I know, and then there are times when you get the unexpected surprise of a person who truly cares for you. But you have to open up. If not, you’ll spend your life alone.”

  “Alone has suited me just fine so far,” Hawke said huskily.

  “Has it really?” Tiana asked.

  Hawke didn’t respond. Instead, he pressed his lips to hers. She made a soft sound of surprise and then her eyes drifted shut. She knew it was impulse on his side, but that didn’t make it any less sweet. His lips were firm and the taste of him made her moan. Tiana opened her mouth willingly and invited his tongue inside. He took the invitation with a low groan, all the while holding her in his arms.
She ran her hand up his chest and into his hair at his nape and felt him shudder in response. The kiss became hotter and she wished she were on her feet so she could mold herself to him. As she immersed herself in the kiss, Joslyn’s words came back to haunt her. She wasn’t the girl that got the perfect guy. Plus, she was lying to him and in his home under false pretenses. That made her pull away and struggle feebly to be put down.

  After she was back on her feet, Tiana kept her hand on his chest and bowed her head to keep her composure and after a few moments of silence said, “That was unexpected.”

  “But good,” he murmured.

  Tiana looked up at him. “This can’t happen. I can’t be used for comfort and satisfaction and then I go back to my world and you stay here in yours.”

  “Who said that would happen?”

  Tiana sighed. “Because you live like this and I live in an apartment in the middle of the city. You don’t want my world and I don’t think I could be a part of yours.”

  He smiled mirthlessly. “You don’t like the forest or the trees.”

  “It’s not that, even if…” She shook her head. “You’re not willing to let anyone in and that includes me. Sex without love is not how I live. I need more than a good time. I need a connection. I guess my friends are right; I’m a plain Jane who lives in an unrealistic world. Don’t be mad. I just can’t do this.”

  Hawke placed a kiss on her forehead. “Good night, Tiana.”

  “Good night.”

  She stepped into the room and closed the door before she could change her mind and rush back into his arms. Instead, she locked the door. It would be so easy to succumb to the passion of being with him. With one kiss he invoked such sensations. Imagine what he could do with just one touch. But, no, it wouldn’t end well and going back to Charlotte with a broken heart would be much worse. Tiana prayed for the weather to clear so she could go home. There was only so much she could take. She just needed to go back to her small clothing boutique and her life in general, no matter how mundane it may be. Hawke was someone she could fall for big time. Then wouldn’t she be the biggest fool in the world? Falling for a guy she never would have met if she wasn’t trying to expose his life for the scoop of the year for her friend.

  * * * *

  Hawke paced the floor of his house. He seemed to be doing that a lot since Tiana was around. He was replaying the kiss in his head over and over on a loop. Each thought about how her lips tasted or how her body felt gave him a rush of instant arousal. It wasn’t just because he hadn’t been with a woman for a long time; his last relationship cured him of being too trusting. It was Tiana, the way she smelled, the way she breathed or smiled, the shyness she showed at certain times. She was a breath of fresh air. Her personality was not fake and her laughter real. None of the other women he’d met showed an ounce of interest other than how his status would elevate theirs.

  When she was watching movies in his room and explaining the bad plots of the horror movies on the screen, he saw the animation in her eyes and the way she pulled him into watching with her. She was a different kind of girl, that was for sure, and he wanted her. There, he admitted it. He wanted Tiana Swan. But she was right. He held himself back and for good reason. Maybe it was time to take that first tentative step into trusting again, trusting someone other than his one friend with his secret of what he is. Hawke was still working things out in his head when she walked out of the bedroom with a soft yawn and stretched.

  “Oh, I didn’t think you’d be out here,” Tiana said with a hesitant smile. “Good morning. Shall I make us some breakfast?”

  “Good morning,” he answered. “Yeah, that would be good, but first can we talk?”

  He was going to jump in headfirst before he talked himself out of it.

  She dropped her gaze and walked towards the kitchen. “There’s nothing to talk about, Hawke. It was just a kiss. I don’t have any designs on your money or your fame. We’ve been in close proximity for a few days and it just happened. You don’t have to worry.”

  He caught her arm before she could move past. “It’s not any of that. Can you…just sit down, please?”

  “Um, okay.”

  She sat on the nearest couch and Hawke sat across from her and took a deep breath before speaking. “You know how people have two sides to them and sometimes a person can be surprised by the other side?”

  She looked at him warily. “If you tell me you’re a Hannibal Lecter type and you’re trying hard not to eat my face I’m going to have a problem with it.”

  “Who is Hannibal Lecter and why would he or she eat someone’s face?” Hawke asked confused.

  “Never mind, it’s a movie, and since you have no clue what I’m talking about I think I may be safe,” Tiana said. “Please continue.”

  “You are so weird, but here goes.” Hawke rubbed his hands against his jeans. “Tiana, you’re right. I shut people out and I have for a long time, but I have a good reason for it. I’ve never known my birthparents and, my foster parents, who I thought loved me, never really did. And then a woman who said she loved me…well, that ended up far from the truth. Somewhere in there I lost my faith in people and decided to live away from them. It suited me and my second nature.”

  “Second nature? You make yourself sound like a Jekyll and Hyde kind of guy.” Tiana licked her lips nervously.

  “Nothing like that, but there’s another side to me that I hide from the world, from everyone,” Hawke said. “I am my namesake.”

  “What do you mean?” Tiana looked confused.

  He met her gaze. “The name on my birth certificate is Gavin Harper, but when I turned eighteen I changed it to Hawke to match my second nature. I become a hawk.”

  “Okay,” she said slowly. “So you’re telling me you think you can change your body mass into that of a hawk’s.”

  “I don’t think I can, I know I can,” Hawke said. “I can see you’re skeptical, but it first happened when I was a teen and as I grew up I learned to control it at will.”

  “Uh-huh.” Tiana looked down at her hands.

  “The hawk on the balcony was me. I had gone out for a fly that morning and when I got back I wasn’t expecting you to be there and then I had to wait until you went inside to change back,” he explained. “I gave you the little peck, and I didn’t mean for my beak to scratch your skin.”

  “I told you that story that same morning, that’s how you know,” Tiana pointed out.

  “Okay, but when you pulled your hand away you said, ‘Okay, I get it. That is your space and I was in it,’” Hawke countered.

  “You could’ve been listening in your bedroom.” He could see that she was unwilling to believe.

  “I’ll show you then.” Hawke pleaded with his eyes. “Please don’t be scared of me. I would never hurt you. I swear to you I’m not a freak, I’m just different. It has taken me years to accept what I am and I have just now begun to.”

  Tiana nodded. “Okay, I won’t be afraid.”

  “I have to get naked or my clothes will trap my wings,” Hawke explained.

  “Do you want me to look away?” A smile pulled at her lips and Hawke could see that she still didn’t believe him and was amused by the whole thing.

  “No, I don’t want you to miss a thing.” Hawke gave her a crooked grin. “Please don’t freak out and run screaming into the forest.”

  She lifted her hand. “I swear I won’t run away in hysteria.”

  He could see her getting ready to call him crazy. What woman—or person for that matter—wants to believe that someone they know can morph into a hawk? The last woman who he had opened up to about it…well, that ended badly. He met Tiana’s eyes as he pulled his white T-shirt over his head and then kicked his loafers off. She bit her lip as he worked the button of his jeans and Hawke had to look away. Looking at her with desire in her eyes would make him think less of showing her his secret and more about fucking her until they both couldn’t stand.

  When he was naked, he closed
his eyes and he heard the hawk cry in his mind. His second nature felt glorious when he let it free. He felt the shift of his bones as his shoulders hunched forward and he fell to his knees. He heard her cry out as the skin that covered his body moved and shifted making room for feather and to accommodate his smaller size. His wings spread and feet turned to large talons while his face and neck took form. Finally, it was over, and he cast his hunter’s gaze towards the woman who sat wide-eyed on the chair across from him.

  “You weren’t lying or crazy. Y-y-you’re a hawk,” Tiana said in amazement.

  He couldn’t answer, but it thrilled him that she wasn’t screaming and running around the room throwing things at him.

  “If I touch you, will you come at me again?” she asked hesitantly.

  She moved forward, not expecting an answer, and when she ran her hand across the feathers of his back she gave a breathless laugh.

  “You’re so big and beautiful, so very special,” she said in a quiet voice. “I cannot believe I’m touching a hawk that is a man…or is it vice versa?” She gave a gentle laugh. “Either way, you are magnificent.”

  When he changed, she had gotten to her knees to be at his size and at his level, but now as he shifted back to human, Tiana scrambled backwards. After the shift was finished, he was on his hands and knees and when he looked at her, her chocolate brown eyes were wide with amazement or was it excitement? Hawke moved forward on his knees slowly, arousal pulsed through his veins. When he was in front of her, he put his arms around her and covered her body with his until she leaned back and was lying flat against the braided Indian rug.

  “I’m going to kiss you and I’m not going to stop. I plan to have you naked and hot under me and fuck you until we both fly to the skies.” He growled huskily. “Say no now, Tiana, because when my lips touch yours, you’ll be mine.”

  She pulled his head down to hers and initiated the kiss. Well, hell, he thought with pleasurable surprise. He slid his tongue into her mouth and pressed his body against hers. His cock throbbed between her legs. He wanted her free of those clothes so he could sink himself inside her. When she saw his second nature, she didn’t react in horror but saw him as a beautiful creature. It was new and a heady feeling, and made her even more sexy in his eyes. He wanted to make love to her like a man possessed. Tiana was about to be his in every possible way.