Hunter deserved that. He deserved that mom and dad I saw in the park. He deserved his own room that he could cram full of seashells from beach trips and rocks and sticks he found outside. A place that was his own. Not a cot he shared in a room with six other boys. He needed clothes and shoes he could be proud to wear. He needed a lunchbox and his own pencil case.
And I knew what was looming ahead of us… Christmas. The thought of this child waking up in the group home without family and with no one to hug him killed me. The tears stung the corners of my eyes.
I was wracked with guilt and love. It was an odd combination that tugged my heart to my ribs.
“Miss Bristow, can I do the flight stimulator this time?”
I blinked. “Did you stay stimulator?”
“Yeah, when I get to fly.”
I laughed. “Yes, but let’s call it the simulator, ok?”
He didn’t care. He kept running, chasing the leaves on the sidewalk. And that was the bliss of childhood. The despair he had felt twenty minutes ago was erased by the promise of watching Hawk’s game tomorrow.
One glimmer of hope and all the darkness faded for him.
I sighed. If I only it were that easy for me.
By the time I dropped Hunter off at the home he was exhausted. We had covered every square inch of the museum. I bought him popcorn and a special soda float before we had to leave.
Usually Saturday nights were hard for both of us, but this one was different. We had tomorrow to look forward to. And I knew that was because of Hawk. He had given Hunter something to be happy about.
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning after breakfast, ok?” I reminded him.
“I’ll wait right here. On the top step.”
“Ok. Sounds like a plan.” I smiled. I wanted to hug him, but I waited to see which way his body moved.
He put his hands out and I stepped forward, feeling them wrap around me. I inhaled his earthy boy smell and smiled.
“Good night, honey. Try to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow.”
He nodded. “Good night, Miss Bristow.”
I handed him over and made sure he was on the other side of the partition before I left. I didn’t want a repeat of last night, but I was certain Hunter wouldn’t run away again. He was too excited about tomorrow. And so was I.
21
Kane
From the window in my loft I could see Christmas lights popping up all over the damn city. The holidays meant playoff season to me. Growing up, it had meant waking up to a cold house with a few shitty gifts under the tree.
My mom did her best. I knew she did, but it didn’t make the holidays any sweeter. Instead they were hell. She’d cry all damn day. I didn’t know if it was because she missed my dad. Looking back, it was probably because she was alone. Alone with me.
While she sank into her grief I was left to figure out mine. But what did a kid know about how to deal with feelings? I didn’t get why I hated the holidays until I was old enough to know they were shitty because I had always spent them miserable instead of happy. My world was wrecked because the adults in my life couldn’t get their shit together.
Hell if I was going to let that cycle continue.
I didn’t know why in the fuck I was even considering this, but I knew I had to do it. I had to at least try. I couldn’t let shit like this keep happening. Not to another kid.
I had thirty minutes before Julie would arrive. I pulled out my phone and hit Savannah’s number.
“Babe, big day tomorrow,” she answered.
“Yeah. Yeah, it is,” I replied. “Look, I need you to do something for me.”
“Aww, shit. Did you get arrested again?”
I shook my head. “No. Fuck no. It’s bigger than that.”
“Huh. Ok, go ahead.”
I took a deep breath. I’d be damned if I let that kid have a shitty life. “I want to adopt a kid.”
“Holy shit,” she blurted out. “Sorry.”
“It’s one of the kids at the school. Hunter Evans. He’s been bounced around from foster home to foster home. He needs a place, you know? Can you look into it? See what I need to do to get him here.”
“You’re serious? The night before playoffs and you want to talk about daddy daycare shit, Hawk?”
“Damn it, Savi. I’ve never been more fucking serious. Can you do this for me or not? I could use your help.”
She sighed. “Do you have any idea what you’re getting into? Legal red tape. Guardianship. Supervised visits. Court appearances. My sister and her husband went through this process. It took two years. I watched them go through the most emotional roller coaster of their lives. It’s not going to be easy, Hawk. I just need to know you’re in this for the long haul before you go down this road.”
I rubbed the back of my head. I knew it was going to be hell. If it wasn’t, the kid would have had a home by now. A real family. Instead, here I was—the last mother fucker on the planet who should be trying to take on the role of parent.
“I know. I don’t care. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll pay whatever it costs. Just figure out the details for me.”
“I can do that for you. Can you give me a week?”
“Yeah. I’ve kind of got a big fucking game tomorrow.”
She laughed. “I’ll be there.”
“Oh, that reminds me. I need box passes.”
“For Pops again?”
Shit. I should have included him. I’d get her to call him and extend a third ticket. “Yeah, call Pops for me and ask him. But the other two are for Julie Bristow and for the boy Hunter.”
“Ahh, I see what’s happening.” She had that tisk-tisk sound in her voice.
“You don’t see shit, Savi. Just get the tix.”
“You’re playing house. I knew it. You fell for the teacher chick and now you want the kid. Presto family.”
I rolled my eyes. It was a good thing Savannah was a chick or I’d deck her for saying shit like this to me. “She’s in my life. He’s in my life. Get them tickets,” I growled.
“Got it, boss.”
“And this is completely confidential. I don’t want anything getting out until I know I can move forward. I can’t give the kid hope, then yank it away.”
“Hey, I’ve seen what my family has been through. I wouldn’t do that. I’m only giving you a hard time. I think it’s amazing. Honestly, I knew you had a heart of gold in there somewhere.”
“I’m serious.”
“I’ll start on it Monday after we get through tomorrow. I have press requests coming in every thirty seconds. Let me handle that and then we’ll see how to make you a daddy.”
I grinned. “Deal. Thanks.”
“It’s what you pay me millions for.”
I laughed. “Good night.” I hung up and stared at the city below me.
Playoffs. Christmas. Fatherhood.
They were all only weeks away.
The doorbell rang and I rushed toward the door. There was one woman who put all of this in perspective for me and she was standing on the other side of the threshold.
22
Julie
The door flew open and Hawk’s broad shoulders filled the frame. I almost sighed out loud when I saw his smoldering eyes and cut jawline. His hands snaked around my waist, capturing my lips with his.
“How was your day?” He stepped back so I could walk inside.
“Amazing.” I smiled. “I told Hunter about the game tomorrow and it was like instant medicine. He was inside his shell. You know how he gets. And then poof—he was over it and couldn’t wait to go to the museum.” I faced Hawk. “You did that. You made him so happy today.”
“Technically, I didn’t see the kid. I was in playbook meetings and watching tape.”
I swatted at his chest. “You know exactly what I mean.”
“I’m glad you’re both excited about the game. I think my friend Pops is going to be there too.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. He’s an
old friend. You may have seen him at Catch.”
I glared at him. “I worked there all of one night. I have tried to block it out.”
He chuckled. “I think that night turned out pretty good for both of us.”
I realized he had stepped toward me and I was backing up, step by step, toward the bedroom.
“You think?” I teased.
He nodded. “I do. But anyway. I didn’t want you to be surprised by Pops. He was sort of a father figure. He’s the one who got me to play peewee ball. Went to all my games as a kid.”
I missed my turn and my back landed against the wall.
Hawk’s hands pressed into the wall behind me.
“Sounds like another nice guy I know.” She smiled.
“I’m not a nice guy,” he growled. The sound sent shivers down my spine all the way to my core.
“Yes, you are,” I pushed back.
“Are you trying to test me, baby?” His finger hooked on my scarf and it loosened from my neck.
“I know how nice you are.” I baited him again.
“Fuck, and I thought you paid attention this morning.” He gripped my chin between his fingers as he plunged his tongue into my mouth, holding me in a fiery kiss. His body pinned me to the wall.
“Everything you did was sweet,” I breathed.
His fingers threaded through my hair, yanking my head up. His teeth grazed over my throat. “Then I need to reintroduce you to my cock, baby.”
I gasped. I felt the warm rush between my legs. He had already made me soak my panties and I was fully clothed. We hadn’t made it to the bed yet.
I couldn’t stop. I looked in his eyes. “Tender. Gentle.”
He growled. “You know exactly what you’re doing.”
I shook my head. “And so warm. Kind, really.”
His teeth sank into my shoulder. I wobbled. “You know you’re getting ready to get fucked so hard, baby.”
I shook my head wildly. “Please.”
“You don’t get to make requests.”
My eyes widened. He cut through me with his piercing stare.
“But I was just—”
He stepped from the wall. “I want your clothes off. I want you in my bed.”
I nodded. He hadn’t released me enough for me to move.
“And when I walk in that room, I want to see your hands on that sweet pussy of yours.”
Oh God. I opened my mouth to protest, but I had pushed too many of his buttons. He was firing on every level of testosterone and it was dripping from his body to mine. He moved his hands off the wall and I turned for his bed. I peeled the clothes from my body and slid in between the sheets.
I didn’t know how long he was going to make me wait. I didn’t know what he was doing in the hall. I had never let a man watch me touch myself before. I was so incredibly turned on, I was afraid I would combust before he walked in. Every nerve ending was like a live wire.
My hands slowly explored the roundness of my breasts and the softness of my belly before smoothing over the waxed skin between my legs. I let one finger and then another slide between my folds. I sighed with satisfaction as a little bit of the pressure was relieved with my own touch. But it wasn’t enough. I wanted Hawk.
The more I thought about what he was going to do, the more the cream flowed between my legs. The harder I massaged my clit. My hips bucked under me. One hand flailed out to grab a handful of his designer sheets as I dipped inside my walls.
“Oh, God,” I whispered heavily.
And then my eyes opened and Hawk was standing over top of me.
“Fuck I could come on you watching you do that.”
“Will you?” I asked. My fingers moved deeper inside me.
He was naked. His glorious body loomed over me with the promise of a primal fucking. I shivered and my clit throbbed.
And then I looked down at his hands. He was holding my scarf.
“You’re close, baby.”
I nodded. “So close.” I couldn’t stop rubbing. The friction felt too good. My nipples perked and hardened.
“Not without me.” He yanked my hands away and I whimpered. I ached so badly it hurt. I wanted the release. I needed the orgasm.
“Hawk,” I pleaded.
“See, I think you have me confused with a nice guy.” He rolled me on my stomach, and pinned my wrists together behind my back. “You think I’m some redeemable good man under this hard body, don’t you?”
I nodded, my face smothered by the pillow. “You are.”
Within seconds he wrapped my plaid cashmere scarf around my wrists and bound them with a final knot. He tugged it tightly. “That will hold.”
I felt my core ripple with excitement.
He climbed behind me. I felt his hard shaft drag over my ass. He slapped me once and I bucked in the air.
“Shit,” I whimpered.
My clit throbbed. More. I wanted more. My orgasm was hovering, begging to break free. I didn’t know what he had planned with my hands bound. I was at his mercy. My body was his to pleasure.
His fingers dug into my hips as he pulled them in the air and I adjusted to my knees supporting me while my shoulders remained on the bed. My hands stretched down my back, but I couldn’t hold onto anything. Grip anything for support.
I realized just how much control Hawk had. This was a test. A test for me to give my body to him. To absorb every thrust. To let go. To stop my body from trying to find strength and support somewhere else. The sheets couldn’t help me. Not the bed. Nothing but giving myself over to him was going to work. That was where the ecstasy was.
My chin rested at my shoulder.
“I’m not a nice guy, Jules. I’m the guy who’s going to fuck you senseless. I’ll make you come as hard and as fast as I want.” He yanked a handful of my hair and I bit my lip with excitement. “And if you call me nice again, I’ll just fuck you harder.”
He didn’t give me a chance to warm up. He didn’t seduce me with foreplay. He knew I was soaking wet. He slammed into me and I screamed as he filled me with his thick cock with the deepest thrust. I was swollen from this morning and I moaned as the fiery friction turned to hunger.
He pushed inside again and I knew I was dripping all over his cock.
The vibrations started quickly. Out of nowhere, the orgasm flooded my senses. I was too lost to try to reel it back in.
Hawk slapped my ass and I bucked as it skyrocketed like a rocket from my core, squeezing his cock like a vice.
“Fuck, baby. Fuck,” he growled, slamming into me again.
“You’re so nice and sweet,” I panted. “So nice.”
He rammed his shaft so far inside I screamed his name. My arms tried to reach for something, but they were glued to my back. My tits hardened and little electric shocks ran between my legs.
“A good guy,” I breathed.
He reared back, smacking me at the same time he thrust his cock, hilting himself in me. But now I knew the rhythm. I knew the power we had found in each other’s bodies. I harnessed it. I reveled in it. I fucking soaked in every drop of the intensity.
Hawk kissed my back and his tongue ran along my shoulder blades. I sighed, feeling another orgasm build inside me.
His hand reached underneath me, plucking at my clit while I bounced and rode the firestorm of heat.
He kicked my knees farther apart and I thought I would fall to the bed, but he steadied me with one hand.
“I’m going to fuck you deeper than I’ve ever been. Over and over. I promise you that.”
I saw stars dance across my vision. I was so close to exploding. All I needed was a gentle push. A tiny wave in the general direction. I bucked my hips up and down, begging him to push me over the edge.
He roared as he slid into me with a slow steady stroke that bound us together tighter than the scarf ever could. His hand traveled over my back, dipping to my breasts, then to my mouth. I instantly sucked his fingers and then I crumbled. My body fell in around itself. I didn’t know wher
e I ended and where he began. My whole life, my whole existence seemed centered around this one moment. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t move. My body convulsed around his cock as he slid in and out of me, squeezing him tighter and tighter with each contraction.
I didn’t know if this was ever going to end.
I didn’t know if I ever wanted it to.
And then I felt Hawk flex and seize behind me. “Oh fuck, baby. Fuck.” He gripped my ass roughly as he pounded into me and unleashed his release inside me. He shook and vibrated, emptying his seed deep in my walls.
My eyes closed as I felt his lips cover mine gently. After being royally fucked exactly how I wanted, it was the most tender and sexiest kiss he could give me.
He rolled off of me.
“You ok?”
He moved to untie my wrists.
I grinned. “Perfect.”
He dropped the scarf on the floor and pulled me to him. I nuzzled into the warmth of his solid chest.
“I knew you were a nice guy,” I whispered.
He laughed. “Give me a minute, baby, before round two.”
I rolled on my side to face him. I traced the line of his jaw. My eyes lifted to his. “I loved it.” I kissed his full lips. “Just know that.”
He brushed my hair off my shoulder and kissed me lightly where his teeth had once bitten me. “I did too.”
“I’ve never let someone do that before. I didn’t know I’d like it.” I drew a circle over his heart. I could feel the erratic rhythm over the heat of his skin.
“But you did?”
I nodded. “Is there more?”
His eyebrows arched. “More?”
“I want to know all your good boy ways.” I reached between us, taking his cock in my hand.
He hissed with pleasure. “Fuck.”
He reached for the covers, pulling them over us. “You’re not backing out of this.”
“Never,” I whispered.
“Good. Neither am I.”
23
Kane
We lined up on the field just like every other time before now.
Beauty and the Billionaire Bachelors Page 20