by Violet Paige
“Where are you, Jules?”
“Sitting in my parking garage. I didn’t know where to go.”
“Text me the address. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
I hung up and raced down the stairs. I heard the text pop up on my phone. I plugged the address into the map and knew I could be there in less than ten minutes.
I pulled into the garage. Julie was still sitting behind the wheel. As soon as she saw me she ran from the car.
I jumped out, and wrapped my arms around her. I felt the warmth and softness of her body. It was only for a second, but it felt like things were different. As if maybe she had dropped the wall she had built between us.
“We’ll find him.”
She looked up at me. “You promise?”
I brushed a curl away from her temple. God, I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to hold her. I wanted to make this nightmare go away for her.
I nodded. “I promise. Now hop in and tell me all of Hunter’s favorite spots. We are turning DC upside down until we find that kid.”
I peeled out of the parking lot, my tires squealing with the speed.
We drove around for several hours, searching every alleyway in a three-mile radius and checked every bus station along the way. Once midnight hit I could see the exhaustion setting in Julie’s shoulders. I reached over and rubbed my thumb along her spine, up to her neck and back down her shoulder. She moaned deep in her throat and tilted her head to the side.
“Guess you don’t want to climb in the backseat and get some sleep?” I suggested.
She cut her eyes at me. “No. I can’t sleep until I know Hunter is ok.”
“I get it. I just see how tired you are. We’ve been doing this for hours.”
“If you want to take me back to my car, you can.” Her voice was clipped. “I’m not giving up.”
I moved my hand to her knee. “I’m not either.” I let it rest there, lingering against her skin.
I turned onto the side street that ran along the school. It was a long shot, but I pulled up to the building.
Julie screamed and I slammed on the brakes. Before the car was in park, she flung the door open and ran toward the school. Shit, she could have fallen flat on her face.
Hunter was lying bundled with his arms tucked tight inside his T-shirt on the front steps. I left the car running and sprinted after her. I didn’t know what kind of state he would be in.
“Hunter? Are you all right? Why did you leave? Are you hurt?” She bombarded him with questions. I reached out and grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back. She knew a lot of things where he was concerned, but she didn’t know he needed space. I knew she couldn’t see past her fear and worry right now.
“I’ve got him,” I told her while I bent down to pick Hunter up. “Give us a sec, ok?”
“Ok.” She nodded, taking a step back.
I felt the tight knot in the back of my throat. I needed to keep it together.
“Hey, little guy. My car is here. Want a ride?”
His head bobbed.
“All right. I’ve got you.”
He barely weighed more than a sack of potatoes. I carried him to the car and climbed in the back seat with him still in my arms. I could feel him moving against me so I knew he was ok, but he didn’t want to talk.
Julie looked down at us. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Fourteen
Julie
Hawk had swapped seats with me. I held Hunter close. I inhaled the scent of his hair. He smelled like a boy covered in playground grime. That outside earthy smell mixed with traces of soap and maybe a hint of pencil.
I looked outside the car. Hawk was on the phone. He said he would call the home so I could sit with Hunter. These minutes felt fleeting, as if I had to absorb all the pain and fear running through this child’s body.
I smoothed his hair. “It’s going to be ok. You know that, right?”
He shook his head.
“Look at me, Hunter,” I urged.
His tear-stained face was enough to break anyone’s heart.
“I want to help. So does Kane. And everyone at the home was worried sick about you. Everyone cares. You scared us, kiddo.”
He shook his head, keeping his lips pressed together.
“You don’t have to say anything, but know that I care about you more than anything else. You’re safe now. We’ll make sure you get home.”
“It’s not home,” he squeaked.
Hawk had finished the phone call and stooped his head to check on us in the car. “Everything ok in here?” he asked.
Hunter shook his head.
“Slide,” he directed me, and I scooted to the center of the backseat with Hunter’s arms wrapped around my neck. It was close and warm in the backseat, all three of us wedged in together.
“I told them we would drive Hunter home and they could expect us in about twenty minutes.”
“Thanks,” I whispered.
“No problem.” He turned to Hunter. “What made you wander over here, big guy?”
Hunter shrugged.
“Can I tell you a story about when I was a kid?”
I wanted to interrupt and tell him this wasn’t the time for one of his sports tales, but I bit my tongue and let him talk. Hunter seemed to respond from him and he had been more outgoing and excited in the past week than I’d ever seen him before.
Hawk continued. “Something really bad happened to me. Something I never talk about.”
I couldn’t look away. It was something in his voice. Something raw and real. A genuineness I didn’t know he possessed.
“I was eight when my dad left. Eight-years-old. Can you believe that?” He looked right at Hunter. “I don’t know why. I don’t know where he went. I don’t know if he ever meant to come back, but he left my mom and me completely alone. It was the hardest damn thing a kid could go through.”
Hunter pushed off of my chest and wiggled free. He wiped a tear from his cheek. “My mom left me.”
“Oh.” Hawk didn’t pity him.
“Yeah, she died. And I had to go live with a family. But they couldn’t keep me. And I went to stay with the Phillips and I loved it there, but they had to move and I had to go somewhere else.” He sighed. “And then I stayed with the Jacksons but that was the worst and they didn’t want me either.”
I had to keep my jaw from dropping. I knew all of this about Hunter’s past because of his case file. It was the most I’d ever heard him talk about it.
“That sucks,” Hawk grumbled.
“I’m tired of not having anywhere to live,” Hunter sniffed.
The need to pull him back to my arms overwhelmed me. All I wanted was to give this child a home and I couldn’t do it.
“So what was the deal tonight?” Hawk asked. “Why did you leave the home?”
“Football.”
“Football?” He cocked one eyebrow higher than the other.
I broke my silence. “Honey, you know you don’t have club again until tomorrow afternoon.”
“I know, but I love being on the field. It just makes me happy.”
I closed my eyes. Holy shit. He’d rather be here on a cold dark field than at the home where people could watch after him.
“No one loves football more than I do. I swear. But you can’t wander off like that anymore. You scared Miss Bristow. You scared me. And I want to keep playing ball with you.”
“You do?”
“Hell yeah.”
I jabbed Hawk in the side.
“Sorry. Yes, I do. But you have to follow the rules. No skipping check-in or you might not get to stay for clubs.”
Hunter nodded. “I understand.”
“Good. Then let’s get you back. It’s late and we all need to sleep.”
Hawk moved for the door, but I grabbed his wrist. I wanted to seal this moment for only another second. His eyes locked on mine and he swallowed. Even in the darkness of the backseat I could feel the heat radiating from his body.
&nb
sp; He leaned across me and for a second I thought he was going to kiss me in front of Hunter, but instead he wrapped his hand to the boy’s shoulder, pulling the three of us into a group hug.
“All right. You two stay put and I’ll drive.” He grinned.
I let my shoulders relax for the first time all night and let Kane take the wheel.
Fifteen
Kane
After we dropped Hunter off at the home and Julie was convinced there was no way he could escape his room she buckled into the front seat next to me.
I pulled away from the curb.
She closed her eyes and sighed. I felt her hand tangle through mine and looked down at her delicate fingers. “Thank you.”
“For what? Chauffer duty?” I laughed.
“You can drop the act. I know you care about him.” She eyed me.
I squeezed her hand in mine. “I do. I was just trying to lighten the mood. Heavy isn’t my thing.”
“You did heavy pretty well tonight.” Her eyes opened and her gaze drifted toward me.
God, we had been in the middle of a crisis. A child had been lost. But the way she looked at me now there was only one thing I could think of. I turned left at the next light instead of right.
“Wait, my apartment is the other way,” she argued.
“I know. But I think it’s time someone looks after you for a change.”
She shook her head. “I can’t. We can’t.”
“It doesn’t have to be the way it was at Catch.” I couldn’t believe I was saying the words.
“I don’t know, Kane. I’m trying to make good choices. I want to do things that are good for Hunter.”
“And you don’t think that includes me?” I couldn’t deny the slice of pain beneath my ribs. This was a fucking wakeup call.
“I didn’t say that. It’s just, you made it clear what kind of man you are. I’m not judging. I swear I’m not.”
“You don’t have to explain. I know exactly what I said to you. But things are different. Two people can’t go through what we went through and have them stay the same.”
She sighed. “I think I believe you.”
“How about something to eat? Maybe something to drink? A back rub?”
She giggled. “The Sharks quarterback gives out backrubs or do you think I’m that naïve?”
“I’m hoping you’re that naïve, baby.” I winked.
“Well, I’m not. I think you should take me home.”
Did she realize it didn’t matter where we went I’d want the same thing? I had to kiss her. To touch her. To soothe the hurt from the night away from her. I wanted to be the kind of man that could that for her and I don’t know when in the hell something like that mattered to me.
“After tonight you still don’t trust me?” I questioned.
“You’re not the one I don’t trust,” she whispered.
Fuck. My cock hardened at the words. She wanted me. She wanted the same thing. But I had to prove I could be the kind of man who wasn’t a sex addict. I could respect her. I could take her home and take care of her. It wasn’t about sex. It was about her.
“I have some frozen pizzas we can throw in the oven and I might even have a bottle of wine.” I looked at her skeptical face. “And a guestroom. It’s all yours. You shouldn’t be alone tonight after what you’ve been through. And to be honest, I don’t think I want to be either.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
I nodded. “Let me take care of you.”
She nodded. “All right. Frozen pizzas it is.”
“It’s good isn’t it?”
We sat on the living room floor, our plates on the coffee table and a bottle of wine between us.
Julie nodded. “If you’re trying to impress me with your cooking skills, you need some work.” She ripped off a corner of burned crust.
I chuckled. “I’m better with a grill.”
“That’s what all men say.”
“All men? And just how many men are you talking about?” I don’t know where the question came from, but I suddenly wanted to know about her. How many men had she dated? When was her last relationship? Who was the idiot who let her go?
She blushed. “It’s just an understood guy thing.”
“I’m not buying that bullshit,” I teased. “Tell me. How many have there been?”
“What? I’m not telling you that.”
I grabbed the pizza from her hand and held it up in the air out of reach. “No more pizza until I get a number.”
Her eyes beaded together. “I’m not telling you that, Hawk. That’s personal.”
“Two? Four?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Her eyes blazed.
I took a huge bite of the pizza. “Oh well.”
She lunged forward to grab it from me, but ended toppling on top of my chest. We fell backward on the floor. The pizza landed under the table and I fastened my arms around her.
She looked into my eyes before I drew her lips to mine. She kissed me slowly at first, cautiously and then I felt the weight of her lush lips bear against mine with fire.
My hands coasted over her hips and down her ass, grabbing, pulling, tugging. I wanted everything at once.
She moaned when I yanked her skirt up over her ass and palmed the bare skin of her bottom. I slapped against her, coaxing a whimper from her lips.
“Fuck,” I growled. She ground her hips into me and I slapped her again.
“Oh God.” She panted.
My eyes lit. “Do you have any idea what I want to do to you right now?”
She shook her head.
I bit her lip, before digging the tips of my fingers into her flesh. Every single part of her felt so fucking good.
“What?” Her ragged breath whispered over my ear.
“You need somebody, Jules. Somebody to worship this body. Someone who knows how to make you feel good. Someone to take care of you tonight. I want to be that man tonight. But you’ve got to let me in. You’ve got to trust I’m someone you can count on. I don’t want you to give me the freeze out every time we’re at the center. I don’t want you to pretend I don’t make you hot. I can be all these things. ”
I pried her legs apart, sliding my hand between her soaked panties. I groaned. God, why did she have to be so wet? I wanted to prove something to her, but it was going to be impossible. Could I actually not fuck her?
“But I promised you the guestroom,” I continued. “I promised this didn’t have to be about sex.”
“You did.” She wiggled her hips and I slid my fingers inside her. She hissed with pleasure. She rode up and down as I pumped hard and fast.
“But I also told you I’d take care of you.” I grabbed her breast through the fabric of her shirt while I curled my fingers deep in her.
“Ohh,” she moaned. “I want the sex.”
She clenched with intensity and I felt her honey coat over me as I moved to rub her clit. The first stroke made her flinch and then she bounced and gyrated, grinding into my thumb. Riding the friction I gave her.
My cock hardened inside my jeans. Fuck. She was killing me. I watched her as the ecstasy pulsed through her. I reached toward her jaw, jerking her lips to mine. I kissed her fiercely.
“Here’s what I’m going to do.” She looked into my eyes as I spoke. “I’m going to carry you into that guestroom and I’m going to take you out of these clothes. Strip you fucking naked. And then you’re going to crawl on that bed and spread your legs so wide for me, baby. Wider than you’ve ever had them. I’m going to suck your swollen clit into my mouth and flick my tongue along it as I shove my fingers into you over and over until you are screaming my name so loudly the neighbors above us and below us are pounding on the floor.”
“Oh God,” she whispered.
“And then, when you beg me to stop I’ll give you one more orgasm. One that will make all the others seem like they were warmups. One that will let you sleep soundly the rest of the night naked and wrapped up in my arms.
But I’m not going to fuck you. Not tonight. You understand?”
She nodded quickly.
“Good.”
I scooped her off the floor and carried her down the hall. I had a promise to fulfill.
Sixteen
Julie
Hawk didn’t have to convince me or even seduce me. But I didn’t want to tell him that. Everything he said on the living room floor was exactly what I wanted to hear. There was a throbbing ache inside me. It had started the night in the bar when we had been interrupted and had grown to epic proportions every time I saw him.
Tonight. Finally, tonight I would be healed.
He pushed open the door with his foot. The room was dark. He set me on the floor, and I tried to adjust to the lack of light when I felt his rough hands on the front of my blouse. He unbuttoned the shirt and carefully slid it off my shoulders. My bra was unclasped and on the floor in seconds.
He worked methodically, doing exactly what he said he would do. He reached behind me, finding the zipper on my skirt and tugged until the fabric fell from my hips. I shivered when his thumbs hooked under the band of my panties and dragged them over my legs and to my ankles. I stepped one foot and then another without saying a word.
I walked to the bed and laid back on the cool comforter. I felt as if I were in a trance. Some kind of sexually charged dream. I couldn’t believe I was doing this, but I couldn’t believe I would walk out the door either. He offered me something I wanted. Something I needed. Something I craved.
I heard Hawk breathe heavily as he crawled toward me.
I gasped when I felt his hands yank my feet to his shoulders, but the alarm turned to bliss when I felt his tongue dip between my folds.
I grabbed at his hair, searching for more of a connection.
He sucked harder, the more I tugged and then he plunged inside me. I bowed off the bed, lost in pleasure.
“Oh, Hawk,” I whispered.
He dipped and swirled. Flicked and pumped and then I felt the width of his fingers slide inside me and I screamed out from the intensity.
