CARSON_Satan’s Ravens MC

by Kathryn Thomas

  Ali appears in the hallway, wielding her straightening iron, eyes wide with panic. “What are you doing?” She looks at Melissa, hissing urgently, as if anything could be heard over the incessant pounding.

  “I’m going to open the door.” Melissa looks between her friend and the hair accessory she’s holding. “What are you doing?”

  “It was the first thing I picked up.” Ali waves away Melissa’s amused expression. “Now I’m thinking I should maybe invest in a baseball bat.”

  “I’ll get you one for your birthday. But don’t worry about it for tonight; you won’t be needing it.” Melissa pauses just by the door, her hand on the lock ready to turn it.

  “Why not? Are you going to go all Karate Kid on their ass?” Ali doesn’t even pretend not to be genuinely excited at this prospect. “What if they have a gun?”

  Melissa doesn’t think it would be wise to tell her blonde friend that the person on the other side of the door almost certainly does have a gun. From the way Ali was clutching her makeshift weapon, Melissa didn’t think that it would do much for her confidence.

  “It’s just Hawk.” Melissa makes a calming gesture to her friend. “Go back to bed.”

  Ali raises her eyebrows and shakes her head, holding her hand up to her heart. Melissa realizes that Ali had been more frightened than she was making out. “Better let him in before he wakes up the whole neighborhood.” Ali rolls her eyes, no doubt thinking about their nosy neighbors having a field day with a biker turning up at their door in the middle of the night and using his fist as a battering ram.

  Melissa takes a deep breath, and only when she hears Ali pad quietly back into her bedroom does she open the door. The expression on Hawk’s face takes her breath away, and not in a good way. His hand is raised mid-beat and, when he focuses on her, the intensity in his eyes tells her that he’s mad, really mad.

  “You know we have a doorbell, right?” Melissa tries to summon some of that sass that has served her so well in the past. Hawk doesn’t say anything, brushing past her to walk through the door. “Come on in.” She mutters the last sarcastically, under her breath.

  “Don’t be cute, Melissa.” He levels his index finger at her, as if he were a teacher telling off a naughty school kid. “What the hell happened?” He doesn’t even try to pretend that he’s not spitting mad.

  “Hawk, can we not do this right now? It’s been a really long day—”

  “And the night is going to be even longer if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on with you!” He plants his hands on his hips, looking at her, clearly completely confused.

  “Hey! Back off, pal!” Ali’s voice startles them, and they both turn around to see her advancing towards Hawk, matching his angry expression.

  “Ali, it’s fine.” Melissa tries to stop her friend from intervening, but it’s too late, telling Ali not to get involved is like asking water not to be wet.

  “You can’t just wake up the whole damn neighborhood in the middle of the night, come waltzing in, and then start a fight with my best friend.” Ali draws herself up to her full height, but Hawk still towers over her—although she doesn’t give any sign that she’s the least bit intimidated. “Haven’t you done enough damage?”

  “Hold on a second there, counselor. This isn’t really any of your business.” Hawk makes a calming motion with his arms, but that just seems to fire Ali up even more.

  She starts to poke him in his broad chest. “No, I will not hold on! I’m the one that has to pick up the pieces after you go and break her heart! I’m the one that has to watch her mope around the house like a lost puppy without being able to do anything about it. I’m the one that has to gain five pounds while we go through the pizza and ice cream breakup faze together! So don’t you dare tell me that this isn’t my business.” Ali pokes him again for good measure, and Hawk takes a step back. Melissa just watches the scene play out, shocked and not a little bit amused.

  “Alright, alright, enough with the poking!” Hawk holds up his hands in surrender. Ali looks proud of herself. “I’m not here to hurt Melissa; I’m not here to break her heart; I’m here because she walked out without so much as a goodbye, and I want to know why.” Hawk holds Ali’s eyes and watches as her shoulders relax a touch. “I’m here because I care about her.”

  Ali seems to consider this, giving Hawk the look that Melissa likes to refer to as her ‘lawyer look.’ It’s the one she uses to size people up and to gauge whether or not they’re telling the truth. Melissa had no doubt that she would use it to become a kickass attorney. When Ali is satisfied with what Hawk is telling her, she turns to Melissa, giving her the same once over. “Is what he’s saying true?”

  Melissa tries not to wilt under the judgment in Ali’s eyes and lifts her chin, a posture that her friend no doubt recognizes as her digging her heels in.

  “Fine, whatever!” Ali throws her hands up in resignation. “From what I can tell, the two of you deserve each other. Just do me a favor and try to keep it down.” She shakes her head at them both, as she heads back to her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

  “What the hell is up with girls poking me recently? First Felicia, now Ali.” Hawk rubs his chest absently where Ali has no doubt left a mark.

  Melissa sighs deeply, turning to face him again. “Maybe it’s a sign that you need to work on your attitude.” She gives him a pointed look.

  “My attitude? I’m not the one who disappeared in the middle of the night. Do you know that I was worried about you?” He looks at her accusatorily, taking a deep breath and lowering his voice, no doubt remembering Ali’s request about the noise. “Did you even think about that?”

  Melissa winces at his words. The truth was that she hadn’t thought about that at all. “I’m guessing you figured out pretty quickly that there wasn’t any foul play.” She sasses him to cover the fact that she’s actually a little ashamed of herself.

  “When I saw your car was gone, I figured that this is where you’d be.” Hawk shakes his head and paces around their tiny family room. “What I still haven’t been able to figure out is why.” He turns and looks at her expectantly, asking the question that Melissa had hoped she’d have a little more time to prepare for.

  “Hawk, I really don’t want to talk about this now. Please.” She looks at him pleadingly, and Hawk seems to take in the sight of her for the first time since he’d arrived. He sees her eyes, still red from crying, and the defeated slump of her shoulders.

  “You’re the one who always wants to talk things through, Melissa. After everything that’s happened these past few days, I think I have a right to know. I think I’ve proven how much I care about you, so I’m here. Let’s talk.” He motions for her to take a seat on the overstuffed couch as if they were in his house not vice versa.

  For a few seconds she remains standing, not wanting to have this conversation, but she can tell from the expression on Hawk’s face that there’s no way he’s letting her get out of it. So, dutifully, she sits. Hawk makes a small, satisfied sound and then resumes his pacing.

  “What happened to make you come running back here?” He shakes his head, like he can’t get his brain around what the reason could possibly be.

  “You really have no idea?” Melissa knew that men were clueless about a lot of things, but she’d assumed that there was some level of common sense at work.

  Hawk sighs deeply. “I’m not a complete idiot, Melissa. You were angry that I told you that I didn’t want you involved in this whole Wes mess. It wasn’t exactly hard to tell that you were pissed. But being pissed at me and walking out without a word are two different things, at least in my book. I figured you, of all people, would get that.”

  Melissa opens her mouth to correct him and then closes it again. It was clear that he wasn’t just talking about them. Hawk was thinking about his dad who left them saying he was going out for a pack of smokes and then just never came back. He was thinking about her father, who hadn’t even bothered to stick around for her
birth. Melissa bites her lip, berating herself in her own mind. Nice one, Potter. She’d done the one thing that Hawk was terrified of—she’d walked away without any kind of an explanation. He was right; she should have known better.

  “I’m sorry.” Her words seem a little feeble. “I didn’t think.” That was the truth of it. She hadn’t really thought about what she was doing; she’d just acted on her emotions. It was something that Ali had always encouraged her to do, but probably not with this specific circumstance in mind.

  “I still haven’t finished working on your car. It needs an oil change before it just stops dead on you in the middle of the road. You could have been stranded in the middle of freakin’ nowhere at God knows what time of night!” He’s angry, but not like the night before when he had torn up his studio. This was more frustration born out of fear for her safety, and it made her feel like she’d been an even bigger idiot than before.

  “I’m sorry.” She repeats the words, looking at her bare feet and chewing on her lip as she takes on board what he’s told her. She really had been thoughtless; she hadn’t thought at all.

  “We’ll tow it back into the garage tomorrow; it’ll need to get the all clear before I let you drive it again.” Hawk lets out a sigh, his shoulders relaxing a little as some of the tension drains out of his body. He gets closer to her, standing over her and leaning down. Her heart picks up the pace, the way that it always does when he’s anywhere near her.

  “I can’t read your mind, ‘Mel.” His words are quiet, as he leans down towards her, closing the distance between them, and kisses her on the lips. She opens her mouth willingly to him, and his tongue delves in deeper, probing and exploring her, tasting her. Melissa feels need pool between her thighs, and she deepens the kiss, wrapping her hands around his neck. Hawk grabs her ass and pulls her up so that she’s standing, plastered against him, and left in no doubt that he’s as turned on as she is.

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  It would be so easy to fall into bed with Hawk now and let their bodies do all the talking. It would be magnificent and passionate and intense and all the great things that they are when they’re together, when they’re joined. The world seems to come to a complete stop around them as the kiss makes her knees weak. But this was partly why Melissa had walked away tonight, and if she just succumbs to the chemistry between them, then she knows she’ll be angry at herself in the morning.

  “Stop.” At first, Melissa barely recognizes her own voice. It’s so husky and sounds like it’s been wrenched out of her.

  Hawk goes completely still, as if he’s been frozen in time. He pulls back and looks at her, his eyebrows raised, making sure that she really had meant to say it. “Stop?” The question in his eyes speaks volumes.

  Melissa pushes away from him, getting some distance between them before she has a chance to change her mind. Her body is a complete traitor to her whenever Hawk is involved. Hawk is still watching her with a wary expression, looking at her as if she’s a ticking time bomb.

  “This is why I didn’t tell you I was leaving.” Melissa can’t help but feel a little silly now that she’s about to say what it is that’s been bothering her.

  Hawk looks at her blankly, the blood seeping back up towards his head slowly. “I’m gonna need a little more than that, ‘Mel.” He folds his arms, never taking his eyes off of her.

  “I knew that if I walked in while you were showering, we’d end up doing this.” She gestures vaguely between them, feeling a little silly that she can’t even say the word after they’ve been so intimate so many times.

  A wicked smile breaks out on his lips. “And that would be bad because…?”

  Melissa has to stop herself from falling into the trap of Hawk’s eyes. “Because I feel like we’re either at each other’s throats or falling into bed.”

  Hawk frowns at her, looking like he’s trying to process what it is that she’s saying. “You’re telling me that you’re mad because I want you all the time.”

  His frank words accompanied by his frank stare make her blush and wonder if she’s not being a little neurotic. “I’m not mad, not about that.” She shakes her head, trying to get her thoughts into some kind of order. “I’m mad about you telling me what to do. The reason I walked out was because I wanted to be able to talk about it without it degenerating into an argument or hot shower sex!”

  Hawk’s mouth tips up in a smile. “Hot shower sex?” He watches with amusemen,t as her face starts to burn.

  “You know what I mean!” Melissa folds her arms over her chest, suddenly wishing she was wearing something that gave a little more coverage than the silky camisole and shorts that did nothing to hide how hard her nipples were at the mere thought of Hawk in the shower.

  “Okay.” He nods slowly, processing. “One thing at a time then; I’m not trying to tell you what to do, ‘Mel. I’m just trying to keep you safe; there’s a difference.” He holds up his hand to stop her from interrupting him. “I don’t want you involved in what’s going on between the club and Wes because you’ve done enough already. It’s up to us to get ourselves out of this mess. I don’t want you anywhere near it.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m talking about, Hawk. You can’t just order me around and expect me to obey like a dog!” Melissa realizes she’s dangerously close to shouting and swallows hard, forcing herself to quieten down before Ali comes out and gives them some more choice words.

  “Is that what you really think? That I’m some kind of Caveman?” Anger flares behind his eyes.

  “You have a way of assuming that I’m just going to do as you say. It doesn’t sit well with me.” She shrugs, trying to keep her voice reasonable.

  “I want to keep you safe, Melissa; that’s all. I didn’t realize that was so bad.” Hawk looks so sincere that Melissa has to stop herself from reaching out to him.

  “I want to help the Kings. I’m part of the reason why this has all happened, and I want to help fix it. It’s important to me. You’re all important to me.” Melissa stops short of saying what’s in her heart; it doesn’t feel like the right time. Chicken.

  “Alright.” Hawk huffs a sigh.

  “What?” Melissa blinks at him.

  “I said, alright. You can help.” Hawk throws his hands up in surrender. “But anything to do with him getting what he wants out of you is off the table. I don’t even want to hear you talk about it again.”

  Melissa considers this for a moment, wondering what other options they have, but she nods. Pimping herself out to Wes is the last thing she wants.

  “And the minute I think you’re in any kind of danger, you back off. Got it?” He levels her with a serious look that makes her swallow hard, suddenly nervous about what she’s getting herself into.

  Stand up straight, Potter. You can do this. “I can look after myself you know. I thought you’d have figured that out by now.” She lifts her chin.

  “Don’t push me, Melissa. Wes may have a crush on you, but that doesn’t mean he won’t lash out if he’s backed into a corner. I’ve seen it happen time and time again, and I won’t allow you to get caught in the fallout. And it’s not just him we need to worry about; it’s the Kings, too. If any of them find out that you’re involved in the Tribune…” Hawk doesn’t finish his sentence, but he doesn’t need to, they both know what he’s leaving out. His dark eyes are stormy, and there’s no hint of a smile on his luscious lips. “Now, do we understand each other?”

  Sufficiently cowed, Melissa nods. This must be what the Kings see when they look at Hawk. Despite the fact that he’s just a prospect, they show him a whole lot of respect. It’s not hard to see why. He has an intensity about him that makes his presence known as soon as he enters a room, and it makes it impossible to look anywhere else but directly at him.

  “Good.” He nods, satisfied that she’s not going to make herself a target for Wes to lash out at or for the Kings to make an example of. He strokes Cat, who has taken up residence by his feet, behind her ears befo
re he stands, moving towards the front door with those fluid steps of his.

  “Where are you going?” She frowns at his back, as he stops just in front of the door he’d been hammering at so violently only a few minutes ago.

  “Home.” He says the word simply, as if there were no other possible answer.

  “Oh.” Melissa blinks at him, surprised. She just stops short of asking him if he’ll stay, needing to conserve at least a little of her self-respect.

  He raises an eyebrow at her, reading her thoughts the way that he always does. “You said that we were either fighting or fucking.” Melissa shivers at how he says the word, imbuing it with a huge amount of sexiness. “So I’m proving you wrong.”

  Melissa takes a step towards him, stopping just short of actually touching him. “What do you mean?” She’s pleased that the panic she’s feeling at least isn’t showing in her voice.