"What makes you think I want to be saved?"
I frown.
"Put me down so I can tell them I’m fine."
"No way."
"You’re being dramatic, you know that?"
"What-bloody-ever."
"What’s happening here?" A tiny woman shoves at Doc.
He looks down, and his features soften. He wraps his arm around her. With his other palm he cups her swollen belly. "Red, what are you doing here?"
"What do you think?" She shoots me a glance and I blink. I can hold my own with the men…but these women who’ve tamed them? They’re another breed altogether. Not that I plan to listen to any of them... Of course, not.
I peruse the assembled faces.
There’s a flutter of wings and a dark shadow covers the space. A gust of wind lifts my hair. "Fuck me, that’s all I need."
Gabriel folds his wings, jogs to a stop, a few feet behind Doc. "Oh good, everyone’s here. We have urgent business to discuss."
"No." My voice seems too loud in the silence. Too bad. I am tired of having to constantly adjust my life to accommodate external events. This time, I am going to focus on what I need.
Gabriel stills. Tristan watches us with a troubled look. Doc pulls Alice close and she melts into him. He whispers something in her ear and she blushes. Something hot stabs at my chest again. The trust between them, the intimacy... Hell, will I ever have that with Charley? Do I want that with Charley? Hell, yes.
Does she want me after everything I did to her? I have to find out.
I drop into myself, pull the rejuvenated telekinetic net over me and Char, then I teleport out.
31
"Kiss me like my breath belongs to you and you want it back..."
-From Charley's secret diary
Charley
The geometric shapes fade away; the psychic breeze stills. A wooden floor fills my line of sight. A room comes into focus, then tilts. A soft mattress gives way as I slam into it. I bounce once, shove the hair out of my eyes. "Where the hell have you brought me?"
"Where do you think?"
I survey the unfamiliar room. To say it’s sparse is being kind. The only other piece of furniture is a chair in the corner. I glance at the open window on one side. Look the other way to find a door leading off into what must be an ensuite. The wall opposite the bed has a built-in bookcase. It’s crammed with books—hardbacks, paperbacks. There are more books on the floor. I clutch at the bedspread, and a familiar masculine scent—edgy, with a shot of mint—fills my nostrils. "This is your bedroom?"
"My house."
"I thought you lived in the barracks."
"I did."
"What changed?"
He glances away, then begins to pace, back-forth-back, at the foot of the bed.
"Hawke."
"What?"
"You’re making me dizzy."
"I’ll make you more than that." He pauses, fixes me with that familiar glare. My nerve-endings crackle; that crazy warmth pools between my legs. Jesus. A few seconds alone with him, and I’m once again being drawn into this crazy web of attraction between us… Which means nothing. The mating wound on my neck throbs. No, damn that. It doesn’t mean anything either. "I thought you wanted the mating bond to dissolve, that you were avoiding me so as not to consolidate the bond."
His jaw firms. A nerve throbs at his temple. He drags his fingers though his hair and his hand trembles. I blink. He’s nervous? Hawke’s never nervous. But then, he’s never opposed the Fae Corps. Not until today.
"Hawke, what’s wrong?"
"Nothing." He drums his fingers on his chest, shuffles his feet.
"Didn’t seem like nothing when you defied the entire Fae Corps team and whisked me away here." I scoot over to the side, swing my legs over and stand up. I walk toward him.
He scowls. "Stay right where you are."
I pause.
"We need to discuss that thing..." Color sears his cheeks. "Uh, the stuff that happened between us earlier."
"Wait." I widen my gaze, "You…want to talk?"
He glowers. "What’s wrong with that."
I chuckle, "Considering the last few times we met, you had other things on your mind…?"
He rubs the back of his neck, "Don’t you dare make fun of me."
"Or what?"
His jaw tics. "I am trying to do what’s right by you… What’s right for both of us."
I stare. "Since when are you so concerned with doing what's right."
"Since I saw you on the bar with that…" His left eyelid twitches; his nostrils flare. "That sonofabitch. If I catch him looking at you again, if he so much as comes near you, I’ll kill him." His chest expands… And expands. He bunches his fingers into fists at his sides.
A breath rushes out of me. That’s more like the alpha Fae I know. I mean, it was all nice of Hawke to try to be polite…but somehow, that is so out of character. I take a step forward, and another, until I am in front of him.
"I told you not to come close," he grumbles.
I tip up my chin, tilt my head back, and further back. "Hawke."
He frowns. "You’re making this increasingly difficult. I am trying to give you space."
"Is that why you brought me here to your house?"
"Yeah."
I slip out my tongue and he follows the movement. I lick my lips. The pulse jumps at his throat. I thrust out my chest and his gaze drops down to my nipples. His mouth tightens. This is fun. I cup my breast. His pupils darken. Damn. Why had I never noticed how tuned into me he is, how responsive?
"Hawke."
"Mmm?" The rough growl sends an answering shudder down my spine.
'You were saying…"
"Was I?"
I retreat. He bends his upper body forward. My palms grow clammy, "You...you were saying that you were trying to give me space?"
"Space." He blinks. "Right." He props his palms on his hips, "I think we should get to know each other."
I pause. "Get to know each other?"
He nods. "Not that we don’t know each other on the carnal level, but it's time we find out if we are compatible in other ways."
"Compatible?" A fine anger threads up my spine.
"I mean... We should spend some time, without physical contact, find out each other’s likes and dislikes. Hobbies…and all that shit you women go on about?"
A dull ache begins to throb at my temples. "Us women, huh?"
He draws his lips up. Is that a smile? Bet he thinks so.
I frown. "Are you okay?"
He straightens. "Of course."
"You seem a little uptight."
"Who? Me?" He widens his stance, cracks his neck. "Not at all, just practicing the skills I know would mean a lot to you."
"Like what?"
"Patience." He shifts his weight between his feet. "Uh... Empathy." He scratches his chin. "I'm trying to put your needs before mine." He waves his hand between us.
"Hmm." I press a finger to my cheek. "So this is all about me and what you think are my feminine needs?"
"Exactly."
"After all, we women are so much softer than men, we need to be treated with kid gloves."
"Right." His features lose some of the edge.
"You know how hormonal we are, huh? Especially someone like me, who is years younger than you—"
He presses his lips together.
"—someone who isn't aware of what she wants."
His forehead furrows. "Yeah…"
"So you agree?"
He drums his fingers on his thigh, "I mean, you are young."
"Aaand?"
"And trying to figure out exactly where in life you are headed."
"Go on." My voice is tight, that drumbeat at my temples getting louder.
"But it’s not only that..."
I scowl up at him. Damn the man. Why does he have to be so tall?
"I was wrong when I turned my back on you."
"You think?"
He j
erks his chin. "You can’t blame me."
"No?"
"I never meant to take you to bed …"
The blood begins to thud at my temples. "Go on." I snarl.
He drags his finger under the collar of his shirt. "I shouldn’t have mated you, Charley."
Something inside of me explodes. "Why you arrogant, conceited, full-of-yourself man! If you think this was an apology—"
"It wasn’t."
My jaw drops open. "Then why did you bring me here?"
"I had to take you away from the bar."
"Why is that?"
"Because…" he digs his fingers into his hair and clutches at it. "You touched him. You kissed him, Char."
"So, what’s it to you? You told me that you shouldn’t have mated me."
His features harden.
"Were you lying?"
"Do you remember what you said? You told me to take your every hole, to fill you up until you couldn’t feel him anymore."
"I remember every word." My pulse pounds at my wrists, behind my knees. My thighs spasm and I fold my fingers together in front of me. "Do you remember what you did after that?"
"I walked away."
"You hurt me." I swallow. "You could have had me. I laid myself open to you. I bared every last one of my deepest desires to you. You took me after that. You mated me. And you left."
"I’m sorry, Char.” He takes a deep breath. “I didn’t have a choice."
"Why?"
He thrusts out his chin and anger spools off of him in dense waves. His entire body seems to harden, layers upon layers of thick masculine tendons and flesh and bones all sewn together to form the shape of the man who has become so familiar to me.
"Damn it." His throat moves. His nostrils flare. "What do you want me to say, woman?"
"The truth. For once in your bloody life, tell me what you’re feeling."
"The truth?" He raises his eyes skyward. "You won’t be able to bear the truth."
My heart begins to thud. Turn away. Leave before he says something that he won't be able to take back. You don’t want to hear this, you don’t... Don’t be ridiculous. I tuck my elbows into my sides, tip my chin up, "Try me."
"I love you, Char."
32
Hawke
Fuck, fuck, fuck. I shouldn’t have blurted it out. I’d brought her here in the hope of talking to her. Okay, so maybe not strictly that. Seeing her with Rafael had shaken me. When the guys had mentioned that she’d been spotted dancing on the bar, I had been angry, but that was nothing compared to the rage that had filled me when she’d touched him. She’d bent toward him and he’d drawn her to him.
It had shaken me more than I’d expected... For those words to slip out. Fuck. I draw myself up to my full height. Stare at her face. Her ashen face. Her very pale features which are frozen, giving no inclination of what’s going on in her mind.
"Char?"
She shakes her head. "You don’t mean it."
"I do." I draw myself up to my full height. "I love you. I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you in those clothes that were a size too big for you. When you shuffled to the edge of the Dare, and watched the proceedings with not a change in expression on your face. You were positively bored by the sight of two grown alpha Fae beating each other. You turned and sauntered away to the edge of the shore. You kicked off your shoes, walked into the water, not caring that the waves were dragging down that too-long skirt. You walked up the shore, until you came upon a fish that had been swept up. You stopped, then, letting your shoes drop, you scooped it up. You waded out into the sea until it was almost chest high. You released the fish, then swam back. Picked up your drenched shoes, and continued on."
"You…you saw all that?" She glances past me to the door.
Oh no, you don’t. Not letting you out of my sight, little Char.
"I followed at a safe enough distance so you wouldn’t notice me. I think it was when you turned your face to the wind, let it blow your hair away from your face... You raised your face up to the gathering clouds. I saw your lips move."
She frowns. "You did?"
"You were talking to yourself."
"I wasn't," she huffs.
"You still do."
"Huh?"
"You don’t realize it, of course." I grin. "But I’ve seen you do it when you are trying to work out a problem. Like this—" I lean forward, press my thumb to the furrow between her eyebrows.
She tilts her head, "Don’t do that."
"What?"
"Touch me as if you didn’t drop that crazy-ass bomb on me."
"You asked me to speak the truth—"
"I was stupid." She begins to pace. She’s mirroring my earlier discomfort. Somehow, we’ve swapped positions in this conversation. I reach the bed, seat myself. Track her as she walks to one edge of the room, then turns and marches to the other end. "This could have been so easy and you had to go and screw it up."
"You thought you could get me to fuck you, teach you how to feel, then walk away from you?"
She pivots and glowers at me. "What do you think?"
"I think it's too late." I dig my elbow into my knee, cup my chin with my palm. "I hadn’t counted on it getting this…complicated."
She frowns, "What are you trying to say?"
"That you are not the only one with an abusive parent."
She narrows her gaze. "Excuse me?"
I drop my elbows to my knees, "That motherfucker, Dimitri, he's my father."
"What?" She explodes, then stiffens. "Hang on a bloody second, right... Okay... So that's what that...that monster meant by that weird remark in the cell?"
"You noticed."
She nods.
"You're razor sharp. You know that, Char? I didn’t even realize it at the time."
She scrunches her brow. “What do you mean, you didn’t—?" She firms her lips. "No. You know what? I don’t care. I know what you're doing, Hawke."
"Oh?"
"You're trying to soften me up." She waves her finger under my nose. "In the hope that it will change my mind about this..." she tosses her head. "Thing between us."
"Me?" I widen my gaze.
"That innocent look doesn’t work on you."
"Babe, come on," I plead. "If I wanted to bare my soul, I'd tell you how Dimitri murdered my mother; how he took me captive, handed me over to his army. Once they were done with me, I was more dead than alive, which was a mercy, considering my mind blocked out a lot of the details...including the face of the man responsible for turning my life upside down."
"Stop." She swallows. "Hawke, please, enough." She blinks, and fuck, but my heart constricts.
"Fine." I rake my fingers through my hair. "So that was sneaky and underhanded, laying it all out at your feet. Didn't mean to cause you distress, Char...but desperate times and all that..." It's true, I was pulling out all of my cards, sharing my most difficult secrets with her...as she had once done.
Fuck, this woman always manages to reverse the situation on me. What a keeper! Enough, don't go all googly-eyed on her. Last I checked, I still had my balls though... Thank fuck. It will all be worth it, if she only accepts me back.
I peruse her features,; she glowers back, "If I’d known this is how you’d react to my dancing with another—"
"Don’t you dare talk about any other man." I glare at her.
Her cheeks pale, "And if I do?"
"I swear I’ll kill any man who dares look at you. I’ll tear him to pieces, smear his blood on the floor, then fuck you in his blood. And I swear, I won't’ care if it’s your friend, or any one of those men in the bar eating you up with their eyes.
She swallows. Her pupils dilate. Then she throws up her hands, "At least this possessive part of you hasn’t changed."
"It turns you on, when I am aggressive."
"Not."
"You love it when I follow you with my gaze. And when I pull you into me, you all but sink into my side."
She presses her lips
together. "You’re right. The physical stuff between us is off the charts. When you fucked me earlier…"
I glare at her. Fucked? Why did she say fucked? It was a lot more than that. I make a noise deep in my throat and her eyes grow wary.
"As I was saying, when you fucked me earlier, I admit it was good."
"Good?" A low burn crawls up my skin.
She nods. "Okay, it was great. And then you got carried away and mated me."
The burn flares, sinking into my blood.
"Doesn’t mean that you love me."
"Oh?" The tips of my ears tingle; my canines dig into my gums.
"I think you have it all mixed up in your head. You want to be free, Hawke, to fuck other woman..." She air quotes the words, "...who will cater to your needs.” Then continues, “...and perhaps, if you like her, settle down with her."
"You have a point."
"Right?" Her face lights up. She ambles toward me. Come closer, closer, little Char. I scratch my chin, pretend to yawn.
"See? Already you are losing interest in me."
Like hell.
"You wanted us to find out more about each other, but the time for that is gone." Her jaw firms.
I tilt my head, pretend to consider her suggestion. "You’re on the right track."
"I knew it." She takes another step forward. Her scent grazes my nostrils. Femininity, sweetness, luscious heat that envelops my hardness. My groin tightens; the hair on the nape of my neck rises.
"So what do you say? Friends?"
She holds out her hand.
I glance at her proffered hand, then back to her face.
"No."
"No?"
I shake my head. “I have a better idea.”
She frowns. "Tell me."
"You have to come closer."
"Why?"
"It’s a secret."
"Umm." She blinks, scans the space, “It’s not as if anyone can overhear...”
"What’s the matter, don’t you trust me?" I allow a smirk to curl my lips.
"It’s not that…"
"Aww, you hurt me, and after my coming clean to you, too."
She huffs, then tosses her hair. "Fine. I mean, after all that build up, and you’ve been so understanding... The least I can do is humor you, huh?" She steps between my knees.
Kidnapped by the Fae: Paranormal Dark Fae Romance (Fae's Claim Book 5) Page 15
