Hawke's Flight (Julia Hawke Series Book 3)

by Natasha West

  The Julia Hawke series:

  Book Three

  Hawke’s Flight

  By Natasha West

  Copyright © 2017 by Natasha West

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  It was seven o’clock in the evening and I was watching a blood red sunset from a comfy chair on the deck of a beach house, a book in one hand, wine glass in the other. It was almost perfect. Only one thing was missing.

  That one thing suddenly rose from the ocean and began to walk toward the house. She was quite a sight. The water from the ocean trickled off her beautiful, alabaster curves and her long, dark blonde hair glistened in the late light. Penny Stone, goddess of the ocean.

  She sat down on the chair next to me and grabbed a towel, dabbing at her hair.

  ‘How’s the water?’ I asked.

  ‘Amazing. You missed out.’

  ‘It’s way too late in the day for swimming. You must be freezing.’

  She shrugged.

  ‘I don’t mind the cold.’

  She nodded at the novel in my hand.

  ‘How’s the book?’

  I glanced at the cover. It was called ‘Many Moons Ago’ and it was Penny’s first novel.

  ‘Pretty fantastic. Even on the third read.’

  She blushed, modest as ever.

  ‘You have to say that, Julia.’

  ‘No, I don’t. I could deflect you with words like ‘vivid’ ‘interesting’ or ‘colourful’.’

  She stopped towelling.

  ‘Is that what you did with your old students? Threw flashy language at them so they didn’t realise you didn’t like their work?’

  ‘Only with the sensitive ones. Sometimes I could be blunt, if I thought the writer could take it. But sometimes you have to tread softly. Hurt feelings aren’t an especially useful teaching tool.’

  She smiled as she sat back in the chair, pouring herself a glass of wine.

  ‘I was one of the sensitive ones, as I recall.’

  ‘But your work was always good. I never had to dodge the truth with you.’

  She laughed softly and took a sip.

  ‘I wouldn’t go that far.’

  She smiled to let me know she wasn’t being serious. I looked at her frankly.

  ‘Never the truth about your writing, then.’

  We looked out at the water, lapping gently onto the shore. As I glanced back at Penny, I saw a trace of sadness touched her large jade green eyes.

  ‘I’m not ready to go home yet’ she said wistfully.

  ‘We’re not going home yet. We’ve still got one more night.’

  ‘But it’s so beautiful here. I never want to leave. One more night isn’t enough.’

  I raised an eyebrow.

  ‘You’d be surprised how long a night can be.’

  She didn’t look at me, but I saw a smile creep onto her lips as she watched the shore.

  ‘You really can make anything smutty.’

  I feigned innocence.

  ‘I don’t know what you mean. I’m simply saying that nights can feel short or long, depending on your perspective.’

  She threw her towel at me and I dropped the book as I tried to deflect the soggy item. I quickly grabbed the book from the deck, brushing off some stray sand.

  ‘Careful! That book was a gift from the author. It’s very precious to me.’

  ‘It should be. I put your name in the dedication.’

  ‘I can one-up you on that. I wrote a whole book about you.’

  Penny’s smile was sunshine itself.

  ‘I’m not going to forget that anytime soon. If it wasn’t for that book, we might not be here right now.’

  It was true. It had been nine months since Penny had shown up on my doorstep, telling me that she loved me, mirroring what I felt for her. And it was all down to a book I wrote.

  It had been a long road to get to that point. We’d met over three years ago, but in that time, we’d both done a lot of changing, a lot of growing up. That was about right for Penny, who was now a recent graduate of twenty-one years old. I’d taken a bit longer about it than I probably should have. I’d had my thirty-ninth birthday a few weeks ago, but I didn’t feel that old. Somehow I still felt like I was only just starting to grow up. I put that down to Penny in part. She’d had me feeling like a love struck teenager since she’d turned up at my house in the middle of the night, nine months ago. But it wasn’t only that.

  When I’d first met Penny, I’d been a writing professor at Medford University. Yes, past tense. Because I’d developed some habits that weren’t exactly conducive with the University’s policies on fraternisation with the students. That’s a gentle euphemism for sleeping with my students, if you didn’t catch it.

  I’d been doing that for six years, choosing the right kind of girl from every new first year class. Then I’d take my time, seducing them over a period of months. It was an elaborate chess game and it kept me amused. And then came Penny.

  She was the complete reverse of the other girls. She was shy, unassuming and extremely inexperienced in the ways of the world. She was exactly the kind of girl I would never normally touch, choosing instead the more seasoned girls, the girls for whom an affair with a teacher was simply something to add to their sexual résumé.

  But still, something about Penny had called to me.

  I’d fought the attraction, and so had Penny, she’d since told me. To the extent that she hadn’t even understood how she felt until the day we first slept together. She’d had a boyfriend, and another life in mind than one with a female teacher double her age.

  Nonetheless, it had happened anyway. And from that, I’d found myself slipping into an affair with her, one that broke every rule I had for my sexual dalliances. Because I’d fallen in love with her.

  But then my former indiscretions suddenly came to light. And both Penny and the University had found out. I lost my job and much worse, I lost Penny. It broke my heart. But I poured that devastation into a novel about my time at Medford.

  And I’d tried to get on with my life. But I’d never forgotten her, never really stopped loving her. I knew that she deserved better than the liar I’d been, so I didn’t try to contact her. I let her be while I made a new life for myself, pushing forward. I told myself I’d moved on.

  Then, out of the clear blue sky, we met again through sheer chance. And we decided to try to be friends. And again, I fought like hell not to want her. But I couldn’t help it. Penny was simply everything I’d never realised I wanted. She was honest, sweet, and wise beyond her years. Not to mention incredibly beautiful, although it didn’t compare to her astonishing inner beauty.

  When the undeniable attraction became a problem for us both, we’d tried to walk away again. But not before I’d gifted her with my book, never dreaming that it would change everything.

  She’d read a full account of my terrible behaviour and how meeting her had changed me. It was an honest and frank book about my own failings. But it was also a heartfelt love letter to her.

  At that time, I’d been struggling
with my own demons, asking myself why I’d made so many stupid mistakes in my life, lost so much through my own behaviour. And at the sharp end of those mistakes, the very apex of them, had sat the loss of Penny. And I’d finally understood why I’d lost her. I’d needed to control so much in my life that it had blinded me to the things that really should have mattered to me. And that blindness had made me a manipulative liar, a selfish woman who found it difficult to look beyond my own immediate and petty needs. It had made me half a person. But losing Penny from my life for the second time had made me take a long hard look at that person, to realise I didn’t want to be her anymore.

  And even though my book had shown the very worst of me, its existence had been a blessing in the end. It told Penny everything I’d never been able to say to her. And she hadn’t looked away.

  That was nine months ago. But it had felt like the blink of an eye. I’d been pretty wrapped up in Penny, never able to get enough of her. Every new thing I learned about her made me fall deeper in love. And incredibly, I felt that come my way too.

  Penny suddenly stood up.

  ‘I’m cold, I need a hot shower.’

  ‘Told you.’

  She turned to me and shook her head.

  ‘Do you really want to be saying I told you so, when I just told you I was going to be wet and naked in a few minutes?’

  ‘I withdraw my previous statement.’

  She turned and walked into the house and I heard her call softly ‘Well, are you coming?’

  I could have waited a few minutes to make her wonder if she’d overplayed her hand. But who was I kidding? I stood quickly and went into the house.

  The door of the bathroom was open a crack; steam was drifting out. I pushed the door open gently and there she was, soaping her body. I walked in, already beginning to pull my clothes off. Penny turned as I dropped a shoe with a clatter.

  ‘Is the invitation still open?’ I asked, knowing what the answer would be.

  Penny smiled and popped open the shower door.

  ‘Always.’

  She watched as I discarded my underwear and stepped into the small, steamy space, behind Penny. Deliciously hot water poured down my body as I leaned toward her, the sights and smells of her filling my senses. I pushed her hair off the back of her neck, kissing the exposed skin. I felt her head drop forward to allow me maximum access and I flicked my tongue along her spine. She always tasted good, and even with traces of the salty water still present, she was a heavenly flavour. I began to move my lips around her neck, pulling her head back as I reached her jugular. I lingered there, knowing the skin is most sensitive at its thinnest points. She moaned appreciatively.

  She spun around, her hands finding my face, pulling me into a deep kiss. I felt her naked body pressed up against mine as the water trickled down us, her hands reaching up into my hair as she pulled me even deeper into her. Her wet leg reached around me, pulling me against her as she leant up against the glass wall of the door. Her petite body wrapped itself tighter around me and I felt myself falling deeper into the moment. I teased my tongue deep into her mouth and then…

  POP!

  Suddenly, I felt myself beginning to fall forward, Penny underneath me, and we hit the floor with a smack. It took a second to realise what had interrupted the erotic moment. The shower door. We’d forgotten it could only take so much pressure. Penny and I were sprawled on the bathroom floor, water everywhere. Penny groaned in pain underneath me.

  ‘Are you alright?!’ I asked.

  She started to laugh softly.

  ‘I got a bit carried away. You have a way of making me do that.’

  I realised my full weight was still on top of her and I began to climb off her gingerly but I felt her arms pull me back into my original position.

  ‘Wait a second. As long as you’re here, you might as well make it worth my while.’

  I was amazed.

  ‘But aren’t you hurt?’

  ‘I’m a little sore. But you could probably make me forget the pain if you tried hard enough.’

  I smiled slowly.

  ‘I’m no doctor, but I’ll do what I can.’

  I began to move down her body. Soon enough, Penny was groaning again. But this time, not with pain.

  I woke suddenly, alone in bed.

  After we’d finally gotten up from the bathroom floor and gone straight to the bedroom to continue what we started in more comfortable surroundings, we’d both fallen asleep, drained from hours of passion.

  The room was dark, the sun now vanished completely. I turned to the other side of the bed, expecting to find Penny fast asleep. It was empty.

  I got up and walked into the living room. No Penny.

  I glanced at the window and saw that she was outside, back on the porch, in the pitch black.

  I opened the door and she looked around in surprise.

  ‘I thought you were asleep.’

  ‘I was. And then I realised you’d gone wandering. What are you doing out here?’

  ‘I suppose I was just making the most of the final few hours of this view.’

  I sat down next to her on the two seater.

  ‘You’re acting like you’re going to prison tomorrow.’

  She laughed.

  ‘I don’t know; this has been so perfect. It’s hard to think it’s going to be over.’

  She looked out at the black waves, seemingly troubled by something, something more than the end of a holiday. Whatever it was, I hated to see her sad, even for a moment. I reached for her hand.

  ‘It’s not over. Because what’s been good about this isn’t just some sand and water. It’s you and me.’

  She smiled and squeezed my hand.

  ‘Yeah, you’re right.’

  We sat in silence for a moment.

  ‘Maybe it’s what we have to go back to that’s bothering me.’

  ‘You’re going back to a meeting with your agent, to discuss what you’re going to do next. That’s not so bad, is it?’

  She didn’t answer. Was that really what was bothering her? Her book had come out a few weeks ago to quiet approval among critics and moderate sales. But I had no doubt that in time, it would be successful. That’s why I’d recommended Penny’s book to my publisher, despite her protests. She’d wanted to ‘make it on her own.’ But after several debates about it, and after much explaining that the publisher was not going to print it on my say so, that it would be assessed on its own merits, she caved and let me pass it on.

  And my publisher, Jill, had adored the book. My own book was out by that time, after what could be described as a rather dramatic road to publishing. Jill had originally had an agreement to print it with Barret and Foster, but after the head of its parent company had decided to kill it due to an old personal grudge (if you’re wondering if I slept with her and dumped her, you’re right. I did), Jill had decided to leave Barret and Foster to start her own imprint, not enjoying the feeling of having her strings tugged from above. And she took my book with her.

  It was released three months ago and had done better than expected, with sales that were steadily growing and good reviews. And now I had a contract to write a new book. Jill had strongly requested a sequel to my first book, but I felt like it was time for a new story. Although I didn’t know what it was yet. I was still trying to come up with something and nothing had felt right so far. But I wasn’t too worried. The muse would come when she felt like it, I told myself. She was a bitch like that.

  But Penny was obviously a little stressed at what came next for her. Her book had been out only a month and Jill hadn’t asked for another book from her yet.

  ‘Penny?’

  She turned to me, distracted.

  ‘Hmm?’

  I raised an eyebrow.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  She shrugged.

  ‘I don’t really know. I haven’t really got anything to complain about.’

  ‘But something’s bothering you.’

  ‘
I guess it just feels like things are about to change.’

  I moved closer to Penny, wrapping one leg over her.

  ‘I guess it is. But whatever happens, this won’t change. You know that, right?’

  She turned to me and kissed me softly on the cheek.

  ‘Yeah, I know.’

  She snuggled into me and we both turned back to the shore, watching the black water drag its cold fingers along the sand.

  Chapter Two

  I was staring out of the window, watching the car next to us. A toddler was watching me from his car seat, seemingly fascinated. I crossed my eyes and his face broke into a delighted grin. The car moved off ahead but the boy watched me until he couldn’t twist his head round any further. And he was gone.

  I turned back to face the front windscreen and saw a sign that read ‘Medford – 40 miles’. Almost home.

  I turned to look at Julia, who seemed in a state of highway hypnosis.

  ‘You want me to take over for the last leg?’

  She glanced at me and smiled.

  ‘You can’t drive.’

  ‘Yes, I can. Not in any legally recognised way but I can drive.’

  ‘You’re telling me that if I said to you right now ‘Sure, you drive’, you’d get behind this wheel with no license?’

  I shrugged.

  ‘I don’t care about the law.’

  She started to laugh, her brown doe eyes shining in the late afternoon sun.

  ‘Alright. You drive.’

  I sighed.

  ‘Fine. You called my bluff.’

  ‘I knew it. You’re too much of a good girl.’

  ‘And I suppose you’re a bad girl?’

  ‘I think my credentials in that department are well established.’

  I shook my head.

  ‘Nonsense. You’re just a soft hearted romantic when you dig a bit deeper.’

  She considered it for a second and threw me a small smile.

  ‘You’re the only one that ever dug that deep, believe me.’

  She looked back at the road and I took the opportunity to watch her as she concentrated on the road. It was always my favourite way to see her, when she didn’t know I was looking. That patrician profile, the beautiful skin, her long thick dark hair. Those eyes. I’d been able to look at her as much as I wanted the last nine months, but still, it was all I ever wanted to do. My friend Lucas had once described her as a ‘world class hottie’ and he hadn’t been exaggerating, she truly was that. I still found it difficult to believe she was really mine.