by Eve Langlais
“Hawke, dammit, answer me, man!” Keir yelled through the car speakers. “Don’t go half-cocked on us. You can’t kill them. We need them alive, to shut the gang down and get her family free. Are you listening to me?”
He growled audibly. “They might already have my mate and you want me to let them live?”
“Only so you can make her happy by giving her family their freedom. I promise you can hurt them, scare them, and make them wish they were never born. But they have to be alive for questioning.”
Hawke scoffed. “I can question them and relay any information they provide.”
Keir groaned in response. “Listen, we are two minutes away, tops. I’m not going to ask you to wait for us, but we are asking that you try to use some caution and not get killed or kill them. Bess can have her nephew only do so much, and if there isn’t anybody to take into custody…”
“Only because I want my mate happy will I spare their lives. And that’s only if she’s unharmed.”
Keir sighed. “Agreed. If they’ve hurt her, you know we’ll clean up any mess and make sure there are no bodies to be found, ever. Just make sure you get the answers we need first.”
He jabbed the end button as he pulled into the garage and opened his door before he’d even put the car in park. His mate was in danger; his wolf wanted to destroy anyone who touched her. Their breaths were numbered if she even had a hangnail while in their custody. He wanted to let out a primal howl of fury at the audacity of these men. Within seconds he’d climbed the stairs to her floor and stalked down the hallway like the predator he was.
Only caution made him slow as he approached her door and listened quietly for any clue of what was happening inside. A soft thud was the only sound and it didn’t tell him nearly enough. The man in him wanted to kick the door down and say to hell with it; the wolf in him was more cunning than that. He didn’t have a pack at his back yet, but his friends would be here soon and that was good enough for him. It was time to take down the prey.
Hawke slowly rotated the doorknob so it would make as little noise as possible and pushed the door open an inch and waited for a cry of alarm. As the seconds ticked by without anyone coming to investigate he pushed the door open a bit farther and peeked around it. The living room and kitchen were clearly empty. That only left one logical place, Shawna’s bedroom.
He made sure to leave the door cracked so that his friends could get in without detection and began his trek across the small space. His focus sharpened with each step he took and every word he heard them say.
“Let’s try this again. Where is your mother?”
Shawna’s defiant voice was music to his ears: “I already told you I didn’t know. No matter how many times you ask, the answer isn’t going to change, you half-witted buffoon.”
Hawke wanted to laugh out loud at his mate’s interesting insult. Yup, life was not going to be boring with her around.
“I’m going to ask you one more time. If you don’t answer me, I’m going to start breaking your fingers knuckle by knuckle.”
“Don’t you touch her, you filthy piece of shit. You won’t live to regret it if you do. Her mate will destroy you. He’ll keep you alive as long as he can while causing the most pain you can imagine. You think you’re badass gang members, but have you ever dealt with a shifter whose mate you’re holding tied up and threatening physical harm to?”
A loud thump filled the air and then Shawna’s shriek: “Robbie, are you okay? Stop; don’t hit him anymore,” she pleaded.
Hawke’s wolf was done waiting, pack or not. His mate was in danger and they couldn’t stand by any longer. He stepped purposefully into the room and leaned against the doorjamb.
“Boys, I think you have something that belongs to me.”
The two men jumped and spun to face him, surprise and fear evident on their faces. That’s right, fuckers; it was time to pay the piper. The taller man with the face that clearly only a mother could love raised his gun and pointed it at Hawke.
“Don’t move,” he snarled. “You’re outnumbered and we’ve got your girl.”
Hawke rolled his eyes and turned to look at Shawna. “They hurt you, babe? Your answer determines if they walk or get carried out of here.”
The ugly man blustered, but Shawna ignored him. “No, they haven’t hurt me. Just threatened to. Robbie, though, they’ve worked over pretty well. He kept drawing their anger to him so they wouldn’t touch me.”
“They get to live then. Wouldn’t you agree, boys?”
“I think you’re the one who’s going to get hurt,” the shorter of the two men growled out.
Hawke laughed sarcastically. “I wasn’t talking to you two cumsickles. I was talking to them.” He nodded behind the two men as he said the last words.
Ugly rolled his eyes and smirked. “Like we’re stupid enough to fall for that trick. We’re not amateurs.”
“You might not be, but you’re dealing with shifters now. We protect our own at any cost, and you forgot about the fire escape,” Xander whispered from behind Ugly.
This time the two men did spin around and look behind them to see Xander and Keir standing there with giant smirks.
“You have two choices: You put your guns down and go with the nice officers waiting outside and answer all their questions or you take your chances with us. Like my brother here said, we protect our own. You took my mate; that is a death penalty in our book.”
Much to his disgust, the shorter man dropped his weapon and raised his arms in the air. “My momma didn’t raise no fool. I’ve heard about the lengths your type is willing to go for revenge.”
Hawke grunted, “Well, that was anticlimactic. How about you, Ugly? What’s your choice?”
Ugly glared at him with an evil smirk as he turned the gun on Shawna. “I think I’ll see you in hell!” he screamed before pulling the trigger.
CHAPTER 11
Shawna squeezed her eyes shut as she heard the ugly man’s words. If she was going to die, she didn’t want to see it coming. The loud retort of the gun droned out all other sound. The seconds ticked by, second by agonizing second, as she waited for the pain or oblivion to overtake her. With trepidation she slowly opened her eyes and screamed as she saw Hawke and Ugly lying on the floor. There was blood everywhere.
“Hawke!” she screamed in desperation as she tried to go to him, forgetting for a minute she was still tied to the chair. “Help me,” she begged as she rocked the chair from side to side in her attempts to get her arms free.
“Shawna, listen to me.”
Slowly she calmed down enough to hear Xander. She focused on his face a few inches from her own.
“That’s it. Come back to us. Keir is trying to untie you, but you have to stay still. He doesn’t want to cut you instead of the rope,” he explained over and over until finally it sank in and she stilled.
“What are you doing? Help him; carajo, what kind of friend are you anyway? Call an ambulance; do something,” she pleaded as tears poured down her face.
“Hawke, are you done yet? He has to be alive, remember; your woman needs you. Stop playing with your food and get over here before she gives herself a heart attack.”
Shawna turned to stare in amazement as Hawke pushed himself to his feet and rushed to her side. He was covered in blood, but he didn’t appear to be hurt himself. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and never let him go. Then she was going to kill him for scaring her like that.
“Babe, I’m okay. Stop crying. He didn’t hurt me. It’s his blood; he’ll think twice about attempting anything like this ever again. Especially with two broken hands. It’s over, babe; calm down.”
As soon as her arms were free, she wrapped them around him and held on as tightly as she could. She never wanted to experience that kind of fear again. “So much blood.”
Hawke grunted in agreement. “Yeah, well, he’s going to be hurting for a while. I broke his nose, knocked a few teeth out, probably cracked some ribs, and I know I broke his hands. All in all
, he’s getting off easy for touching you.”
“I heard a shot?”
Keir answered for Hawke this time. “As Ugly there turned the gun on you Hawke leaped forward and punched the guy, just as Xander knocked his hand up so the shot went into the back brick wall. The two of them went down swinging, or should I say Hawke did. The other man went where he was put. He didn’t even lay a single finger on your man; I promise.”
“Guys, the paramedics are here to take him away. Bess’s nephew is here with his guys. They’re gonna take custody of the wayward kidnappers,” Xander said quietly as he nodded to the door and the people waiting there.
“Robbie?” Shawna cried out as she suddenly remembered her friend. “Is he okay?”
“I’m here, Miz Shawna. Don’t worry. I’m fine. Takes more than what these two can dish out to keep me down for long.”
Shawna released Hawke and rushed to Robbie’s side and pulled him into a tight hug. “I can never repay you for what you did tonight. You are my hero.”
“Miz Shawna, I’m just glad I was here, but if you don’t mind please let me go. Your shifter is eyeing me, and after seeing what he just did to that man I don’t wanna take any chances.”
All three men laughed at his words. Shawna grunted but relented and pulled back from him. “Do you need a doctor?”
“No, I’ll be fine,” he replied with a soft smile. “Trust me, I’ve had worse.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s not going to be acceptable.” They all turned to see a young man standing in the door with an apologetic frown on his handsome face. “I’m Nathaniel, Bess’s nephew. Well, great-grandnephew or something like that if you want to be technical. Anywho, my point is we need you to get checked out. Pictures will need to be taken of your injuries as well.”
Robbie sighed but nodded dejectedly. He turned to face Shawna. “I’m glad you’re okay. Don’t be getting in any more trouble while I’m gone.” He looked to Hawke and nodded. “Take care of her; you don’t find many like her anymore.”
“Don’t I know it.” Hawke stared at him for a brief moment and nodded back. “Always,” he whispered quietly.
Shawna glanced between the two men and frowned. “Are you guys communicating without talking? What do you mean, ‘always’? Always what?”
The other four men chuckled as they filed out of the room, leaving Hawke and Shawna alone. Her frown deepened as she gazed up at him. “What am I missing?”
“He told me to take care of you or he’d come kick my ass. I replied that I would and I’d let him if I hurt you,” Hawke explained as he stepped closer to Shawna to wrap her in his arms once again.
“You guys said all that with just a look? And you claim women are difficult to understand?”
She willingly let him pull her into his arms, finding comfort in the beat of his heart under her ear. She never wanted him to let go, until reality set in a few minutes later. She stiffened in his arms and pulled away. “You should let your mate know you’re okay. She won’t like that you’re here with me like this.”
Hawke groaned and pulled her to sit beside him on the bed. “It’s time we had a talk, babe.”
Shawna glared at him and jumped up to stand in front of him. “No, don’t you dare. Let me say something first. Yes, I’m deliriously happy you’re okay, and yes, I am probably in love with you. But I don’t get involved with other women’s men. And yes, I’m so excited that you gave me my job back and the promotion, but that doesn’t change the fact that you have a mate. Don’t even try to deny it. You admitted it yourself earlier.”
“I’m not—” he started to say, but Shawna wasn’t having any of his excuses.
“I have too much respect for myself to become the other woman. I may have more curves than a lot of men like, but I know that one day I will find one that doesn’t care and in fact loves me for them.”
“That’s just—”
“I know I acted like a fool earlier all over you, but I can control myself. I promise not to do that again. I just hope your mate doesn’t kill me for it.”
“You’re my—”
“So,” she interrupted once again. “I’m going to say this once and only once. I love you, Hawke Hawke, but you have to go and you can’t come back.”
“Excuse me, I hate to interrupt, but,” Keir said with a shit-eating grin as he leaned in from the other room. “But since you aren’t giving him a chance to speak, I thought I’d do my friend a solid and tell you the obvious.”
Shawna scowled at him and cocked one eyebrow, waiting for him to finish and leave.
“You’re his mate.”
“What?” she said, not comprehending what he was saying at first. She was sure she was hearing things.
Keir smiled. “I’ll speak slowly and enunciate for you. You … are … his … mate.” With those words the former playboy winked and retreated from the room.
Shawna slowly spun back around until she was facing Hawke straight on and gaped at him in astonishment.
“It’s true. I’ve been trying to tell you, but you listed all your reasons I had to leave; hell, I tried to tell you on the way to the benefit tonight too. As soon as I met you at that party a few months ago, I knew you were the one I’d been searching for. You were my other half, the one my heart beat for. When you snubbed me, I was shocked. No one had ever done that before. It took me months to track you down, and when I finally did it was to discover you’d been fired.”
“But you went on those dates with your hired mates? You told me you’d found your mate and let me believe it was someone else?”
“I signed up for the service and was going to enter the database and make sure it matched us together. I wanted you to be my fake mate until I could convince you that you really did belong with me. But then he fired you and I used that opportunity to see if the reports were true, that he was making bad matches. It had an added benefit that it gave me more reason to get you to fill in as my fake mate when they didn’t work.”
“I’m your fake mate and your real mate?” she asked with a laugh. “Is this a bad time to tell you I never filled out a form and entered it in there? Your plan wouldn’t have worked.”
Hawke stared at her in shock. “Why in the hell not? I was sure being the creator you yourself would have been one of the first.”
Shawna knew she was blushing now as she felt her face flame in embarrassment at what she was going to have to admit. “You may have only met me at that party, but I had seen you from a distance for a while. I heard about what you did for the employees and I had a crush on you. I knew no one in that system could compare to you in my mind. Once I met you, and Josie and Ally told me stories, I fell more and more in love with you. That’s part of the reason I was so mad when you showed up here. I didn’t want you to see what my life had come to.”
“I could never be ashamed of you. You’ve done nothing but sacrifice to keep your family safe. You awe me, babe.” Hawke grabbed Shawna and pulled her close. “You know what?”
“No, what?”
“I believe you mentioned something about the two of us and this bed earlier.…”
“No, our friends are still out there. I’ve learned my lesson about shifter hearing. I am so not doing that with them anywhere in this building.”
Hawke burst into laughter at her words. “Beautiful, they left five minutes ago. They gave us our privacy, and to be honest I don’t think I can wait much longer to make you mine. My wolf and I didn’t like seeing you in danger. He’s pushing me hard to claim you and put our mark on you forever.”
“Kiss me, Hawke.” The words were barely out of her mouth when he dragged her onto his lap and their lips met in desperation. Her arms twined around his neck. Pulling him closer, she brought her chest flush to his. Heat took over every cell of her body. His kiss devoured her.
Lord, the man was a kissing god. With soft strokes of his tongue, he caressed the inside of her mouth. Whimpering in the back of her throat, she moved restlessly on his lap. The long, stee
l length of his cock was poking at her ass. He glided his hands under her top, making her belly flesh quiver. When his warm hands touched her skin, desire increased inside her tenfold. Breaths turned to pants. Her body thrummed with arousal. She tuned everything but the sight of him out of her mind.
She smiled. “I want you, Hawke.”
Her bra was now the only barrier between her breasts and his hands. Swollen into tight points, the peaks of her nipples called for his touch under the satiny material. A combination of lust, hunger, and desperation flared in his eyes.
“Fuck, Shawna. I want you too.” In a smooth move worthy of any professional stripper, her hand reached behind her back, unsnapped her bra, and pulled it off.
“Fuck me, Hawke. I want you inside me, right now. It’s all I’ve dreamed about for weeks.” His hands curled around her head and held her immobile. Raw hunger made her body shudder. Their kiss turned into a greedy need to consume each other. Moisture gathered in her pussy, and an incessant throbbing took hold between her thighs. In a frantic mating, their tongues danced, rubbed, and curled over each other until passion overrode all else. Blind lust shot through her when she rocked her hips over his hard cock.
He kissed wet trails from her jaw to her breasts until he was sucking on one of her erect nipples. Her pussy clenched when he enveloped her breast with his firm lips. Soaked in her cream, her thong became a new point of friction on her swollen pussy lips. She tore at his shirt. A wanton urgency took hold of her and guided her actions. To feel his skin on hers became her only mission.
When he helped her take the shirt off, she splayed her hands over his bulging shoulders and sighed. When his warm muscles contracted, she groaned. He was a work of art. His chest was corded with muscles and bronzed to perfection. Just looking at him made her pant. Whimpers rushed past her lips when his teeth grazed her turgid nipple.
“Oh yes. Do that again.” Again he sucked and then nipped at the tight bud. She moaned and pushed her chest farther into his face. He released her nipple from his lips and rolled the wet tip between his finger and thumb, tweaking the sensitive flesh while his mouth latched onto the other one for a taste.