Taming Hawke: Book #3 in the Blood Brothers MC Series

by J. A. Collard

  “What’s going on at the club?” I ask instead as I take a sip of my coffee, trying to control my disappointment.

  “Quill called to tell me he’s calling church. Just club business, babe, nothing for you to worry about.” He picks up his clothes from the floor, kissing my forehead as he pushes past to enter the bathroom. I hear the shower going and it takes everything in me not to follow him in there.

  I’m about to say fuck it and tear his T-Shirt off and join him, when I hear a buzzing sound. At first I think it’s my phone, but when I walk to the dresser I can see it’s Hawke’s. He must have placed it there when I was in the bathroom.

  The light on the phone flashes to announce a text message, and my finger hovers over the Open Message button. Should I? I’m contemplating reading it. I can still hear the shower so I take a deep breath and quickly do it.

  My heart stops when the sender is an unknown number. I quickly read what follows.

  “Reece, I just wanted to thank you for last night, it means so much to me that you still care. I want you to know that I will always love you and I just hope that one day you will forgive me. Always yours, Josie.”

  I drop the phone on the dresser and move over to my bed, sinking onto it. This message confirms that Hawke was with this Josie woman last night, and the fact she calls him Reece makes me think she knows him on a personal level. My eyes burn with unshed tears as I try desperately to hold them in. Hawke can’t know that I’ve seen the message. She said that he still cares. What does all this mean? Is Josie an ex-girlfriend? Or is he seeing her behind my back? All these uncertainties are driving me insane.

  I hear the shower switch off, and not long after Hawke comes out, dressed and with his wet hair in a neat bun. I watch as he puts on his socks and boots, and places his cut on. I get up from the bed and walk over to my dresser, getting some underwear out of a drawer, ready for my shower. I feel Hawke’s arms wrap around me, and the smell of soap and shampoo surround me.

  “Have to go, baby,” he whispers in my ear, and I swallow hard, feeling a burn at the back of my throat from tears threatening to appear.

  I take in a deep breath and turn to face him, plastering on a smile, concealing the hurt I feel.

  Placing his fingers under my chin, he forces my gaze to him. “You okay, babe? Something on your mind?” His eyes show warmth and concern.

  I wrap my arms around his neck and bring him forward for a kiss. His warm lips touch mine and I slide my hands to his face, controlling the kiss, loving the way his mouth takes over in a frenzy of need. I can feel his erection on my thigh, and wetness pools in my center. God, I’m insatiable.

  Once again Hawke pulls back, grinning down at me. “Babe, I gotta go. Quill will have my balls if I’m late.”

  I give him a weak smile, and he rubs his thumb over my bottom lip before moving to the dresser, grabbing his phone, and walking out of the bedroom. I don’t know how I get the nerve, but I can’t let him go, knowing he’s hiding something from me. “Where were you last night?” I ask, bringing Hawke to a standstill.

  He stops and turns to face me, hands on his hips. “What do you mean? I was at Quill’s bachelor party.”

  “Yeah, I know that, but where were you when they turned up to Beats?”

  Hawke eyes narrow and he looks down at the floor. I feel the breath leave my lungs in anticipation of his next words. He looks back up at me and I sense something in his stare. Pain? I just can’t put my finger on it.

  “Babe”—he strides toward me—“I had club business. Quill needed something done and asked me to take care of it, that’s all.” He stops in front of me, placing my loose hair behind my ear. “Hey, look at me,” he says in a low tone, and I look up from my feet and into his eyes. “I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize what we have. You got me, babe?” He cups my cheek and I nod my head, not able to speak. Leaning in, he gives me one last peck on my lips. “Now, I need to go. I’ll call you later on and we can go out for dinner. That okay by you?”

  “Sure,” I reply rubbing his chest. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  He grins, showing off his straight white teeth, and walks down the hallway, slamming my front door behind him. I hear the rumble of his motorcycle as he takes his leave, and I sink to the floor and let the floodgates open. That’s the first time Hawke has lied to me.

  Hawke

  Riding to the clubhouse, I can’t help but have the feeling something’s up with Luisa. It killed me lying to her in there. I wanted to tell her, I did, but I need more time. I have shit to do at the clubhouse today. Quill called this morning to let me know that Ink Me, where Tess works as a tattooist, was broken into last night, and the place has been trashed to hell. Blaze is going out of his fucking mind knowing that Tess could have been hurt. Luckily, she’d shut the shop and left for the day. Quill’s pissed because they found a brick used to smash the window in, Be Warned written on it in red paint.

  Walking into the clubhouse, I see Jasmine at the bar eating breakfast. I sneak my hand around her and grab a piece of her toast, shoving it in my mouth.

  “Hey,” she whines. “I was eating that.”

  I can’t help but chuckle as I continue to munch on her toast.

  She turns around on her stool and fists me in the gut. “I’m pregnant, Hawke, don’t mess with my food,” she demands as she pulls the rest out of my hand and takes a huge bite, a grin on her face.

  “What the fuck’s going on here?” Quill questions. He walks up to Jasmine and places a kiss on the side of her head.

  “Your boy here just ate my toast. Please explain to Hawke how I get when I don’t eat.”

  Quill mouths, “Don’t do it, man,” and shakes his head. Then he rotates his finger at the side of his head, trying to let me know she’s nuts. I laugh out loud and Jasmine turns to face Quill, then fists him in the stomach this time.

  Quill bends over, pretending it was a hard blow. “What was that for?” he bellows.

  “That’s for making fun of the mother of your child, who by the way, needs all the food she can get, since she’s eating for two.”

  My smile widens, and I can’t help but see how pregnancy is changing Jasmine. She’s glowing and looks gorgeous. Not that she didn’t before, but now she has this angelic look about her.

  Quill pushes her hair behind her shoulder, and leans in and whispers something into her ear. Jasmine turns a bright red and pecks Quill on his lips, whispering, “I love you, baby.” I walk away toward Blaze, in conversations with Gunner, and pour myself some coffee and join them.

  “Boys,” I announce, and they turn toward me, giving me their attention.

  “Hawke,” Blaze says.

  “Tess all right?” I ask as I take a sip of my coffee.

  “She’s a little shaken up, but she’s fine,” Blaze replies. I see something flash in his eyes as I stand to my full height.

  “What is it?”

  “Gunner and I have been talking. We think it’s a warning on our club.”

  I place my coffee on the bar. “From who?”

  “That’s what I wanna know,” Blaze replies.

  “Can’t be the Gypsy Brothers. They’d have to be fucking stupid if they were the ones responsible for this.”

  “I know what you’re sayin’, brother, shit just don’t make sense.”

  “Church, now,” Quill announces and we stop our conversation, following Quill into the room we call church.

  I take my usual seat to the left of Quill, and Blaze to his right. I’m VP of the Blood Brothers MC, and Blaze the sergeant at arms. He’s the protector of the club, and when shit goes down, he’s first in line.

  I watch as each member takes their seat, except for the prospects. Torch and Rhyder know they’re not welcome at church yet. Only when you’re a full club member are you privilege to what goes on behind these doors.

  Quill slams the gavel down on the table and all eyes focus on him.

  “Boys, Ink Me was broken into last night.” Voices raise as Quill make
s the announcement, and he bangs the gavel down once again to quiet them.

  “We don’t know if this is a warning to our club, or that they’re stupid fuckers breaking into an MC tattoo parlor. But the fact there was a message on a brick saying be warned, makes me think the message was for us.”

  I look over at Blaze and find his jaw clenched, fists are squeezed shut, as though he’s gonna punch something.

  “Cool it, Blaze,” Quill demands. “We will handle this.”

  Blaze looks up at Quill and nods his head, then growls, “We better fucking do something, my woman could have been hurt last night, and I’m not taking the risk of that happening.”

  “You just keep her safe and we’ll handle the rest,” Quill replies. “Tracker, go back to Ink Me and check the surveillance cameras out front. See if they picked up anything.”

  “Got it, Prez,” Tracker replies.

  “Hawke?”

  “Yeah, Prez?”

  “You go with Tracker, from now on we travel with company. I want no one on their own, we don’t know who these fuckers are, and what they want. And I want no mention to Jasmine about this. You got it?” Quill asks, looking at me.

  “She ain’t gonna find out from me, man,” I reply, raising my palms to him.

  Quill nods, then focuses on everyone in the room. He turns to Blaze. “Blaze, man. Get the shop fixed, and tell Tess we’ll have a member of this club watching the shop till we find out what’s going on.” He taps Blaze on the shoulder, adding, “I promise, brother. I won’t let harm come to her.”

  Blaze nods at him, then looks over to me. I nod, letting him know I’ve got him. Tess is like family to us. She’s been coming to this club for a while now, ever since she caught Blaze’s eye, the day he went into her tattoo parlor to get his ink done. I was there that day, able to confirm Blaze was a goner as soon as he set his sights on Tess. He’d played it down, though, acting all smooth, having Tess check out his other ink just so he could show off his muscles to her. And Tess, well, she’s beautiful. Olive skin, dark hair and green eyes, tattoos trailing down her arms. Blaze pretty much fell for her that first day, and it wasn’t long till he made her his old lady.

  When Tess was having trouble keeping up with the rent on Ink Me, the Blood Brothers stepped in and took over the rental payments. So you could say it’s our business, but Tess is the one that runs it. She’s fucking amazing at what she does and we wouldn’t want to take it away from her. She does all the club’s tatts, including mine. We all have the Blood Brothers emblem on our backs, and anything else we want.

  I’m brought back to the present when I hear the gavel slam down on the wooden table, announcing church is out. One by one we exit the room, and Quill holds me back, pulling on my shoulder. I turn back to face him. “Got a minute?” he says.

  I nod, then shut the door when all the brothers have left.

  “What’s up?”

  Quill rubs his jaw, then looks at me. “Just making sure you’re cool with what went down last night. I mean, with Josie and all?”

  I sigh, and take a seat at a nearby chair, resting my head against the back of it. “She’s fucked up, man,” I admit. “She’s taking drugs and dancing at a fucking strip club. The Josie I knew was smart, successful, and full of life. I know I shouldn’t care but… I’m worried about her, brother. She says me leaving turned her to drugs, and I fucking hate that I could be the reason she’s like this.”

  Quill kicks my foot as I look up at him. “What the fuck was that for?”

  Quill gets up in my face, growling, “You listen here, Hawke. This isn’t on you. You got me?”

  I scratch at the hairs on my cheek, thinking about his words.

  “Don’t you dare fucking blame yourself, she had it coming. The bitch fucked another man when you were going to marry the woman. Don’t you dare blame yourself. You need to end all ties with her. You got me?”

  I tighten my jaw and jump out of my chair, stepping into Quill’s space. “I know she fucked another man, you don’t need to remind me of that, brother,” I say, growling back.

  I take a deep breath, trying to control the anger seizing me. I don’t know what the fuck’s up with me. Ever since I saw Josie last night, watching her hurt herself… it’s fucked me up.

  “Hey, man. Calm the fuck down. I’m just worried about you, brother,” Quill admits, squeezing my shoulder.

  “I know, man. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m letting it get to me. I mean, she fucked another man. I shouldn’t care what she’s up to these days.”

  “You’re a good man, that’s why,” Quill says.

  I smirk. “Why do we sound like we’ve grown pussies all of a sudden?”

  Quill laughs out loud, and I follow along. “Women….” I shake my head.

  “You’re damn straight,” Quill replies, and his face turns serious. “You need to tell Luisa about her. She deserves to know about this. Don’t fuck up what you have with her. Learn from me, brother.”

  I nod in agreement. I will, I’ll do it tonight.

  “Good man. Now let’s get out of here, I’ve got a few calls to make.”

  I follow Quill out the door, my smile vanishing when I see Jasmine storming toward me, looking pissed. “You!” she says, pointing at me.

  I glance beside me to Quill, then back to Jasmine. I point at my chest. “Me?”

  “Yeah, you. You buffoon. We need to talk, now.”

  “Baby, calm down. You shouldn’t be so pissed in your condition.” Quill grasps Jasmine’s face between his hands. Her eyes never leave mine. “Baby,” he repeats, trying to gain her attention.

  She finally looks at him. “Quill, this is between me and Hawke. I need to talk to him now,” she demands, and Quill looks over his shoulder at me.

  “What did you do?” he questions, eyeing me.

  “I have no fucking idea,” I reply, walking closer.

  Jasmine slips out of Quill’s embrace and grabs me by my cut, pulling me toward the back of the club where our pool tables are. I turn back to Quill. “You gonna come, brother?”

  “Ha! I know when to not come between a woman that’s pregnant and pissed.”

  “Fuck you,” I mouth as I follow like a good puppy dog, not wanting to piss off the pregnant woman more than she already is.

  Luisa

  Grabbing my phone I sit on my bed and dial Jasmine’s number, needing my best friend right now.

  Jasmine picks up on the first ring.

  “Hey, you. How’s your hangover?” she asks giggling.

  “Hey, Jazz. It’s not bad considering.”

  “What’s up, Lu? You sound different.”

  I sniffle, trying to hold back my tears, not wanting to upset my best friend. But I can’t, I can’t hold them in. Right now, I feel as if Hawke has ripped my heart out.

  “Lu? What’s going on? Are you okay? Talk to me.”

  I reach for a tissue on a side table, and dry the tears that have escaped my eyes.

  “Where are you?” I ask noticing there’s noise in the background.

  “I’m at the clubhouse. I slept here last night. Quill wanted to be here in the morning and wouldn’t let me go home alone, even though I told him it’s no big deal. But you know how alpha he is.”

  “Yeah,” I whisper and smile, understanding exactly what she means. I envy what Jasmine and Quill have. Their love is so strong that when they’re together, you can slice a knife through the sexual tension. They’re made for each other and I can’t wait till their wedding day. I only wish I could have what they have with Hawke. I’m not saying I want to get married now, I just need to know where I stand, and if I do have a future with him.

  “Why don’t you come down here? Hawke’s here, they just stepped into church.”

  “No!” I cry out, and place my hand on my beating chest. “I mean, he doesn’t need to know that I’m on the phone to you.”

  “What’s going on, Lu? You’re scaring me.” I can hear rising panic in Jasmine’s voice.

>   I sigh. “Oh, Jazz. I need to talk to you.”

  “Sure, Lu, you know you can always count on me. Do you want me to come over?”

  “No, it’s fine,” I reply, pushing myself back against my bed pillows. “I just need to ask you something.”

  “Sure, go ahead. Wait, let me go to Quill’s room where I’ll have some privacy.”

  I hear Jasmine’s footsteps, and then a door slamming shut.

  “Okay, shoot. What’s up?”

  “Well, you know last night, how Hawke didn’t turn up to Beats with Quill?”

  “Yeah, he was doing something for the club.”

  “Yeah, well that’s what he said, but this morning I heard him whispering on the phone to Quill. I listened in and heard him tell Quill that he’ll tell me about Josie in his own time.” I take a deep breath and continue. “Then when he was in the shower his phone received a message, and I couldn’t help but check it. It was from this Josie person, thanking him for last night, saying that it means a lot to her to know he still cares. Jazz, she said she will always love him,” I whisper hoarsely, and tears begin to roll down my face. I can’t help but cry out my despair.

  Jasmine is silent so I look at the display on my phone, checking if we’re still connected. “Jazz, are you still there?”

  Her voice is quiet when she replies, “I’m here, Lu.”

  “Well, what do you think? Am I going crazy?”

  Silence again.

  “Jasmine? Please, I need my best friend right now.”

  I hear her shuffling. “I’m sure it’s all a misunderstanding, Lu,” she finally says. “I think you should ask him about it.”

  “I can’t. How am I supposed to bring it up when I shouldn’t have been reading his messages?”

  “Look, I’m telling you this because you are my best friend,” she says on a sigh.

  “You know something, don’t you?” I ask, feeling my breath escape me.

  Silence once again.

  “Jazz?”

  “I promised him I would let him tell you.”

  A lump forms in my throat and it burns. I place my hand over my chest, trying to calm down, but at the same time I’m so scared of what Jasmine knows.