by Cole, Cassie
“Sandra, will you shut it already!”
My mind raced. It wasn’t the first time I’d stared down a psycho with a switchblade, but being used to it didn’t make me any calmer. Having someone try to kill you had an affect on a man. I took a few deep breaths to allow the adrenaline to slowly dissipate. I needed to contact a buddy of mine to take care of this, but he switched out phone numbers every couple of weeks, so I’d have to contact him on the computer first. We also needed something better than potato sack string if we were going to keep Jesse here all night.
“Watch him,” I said. “I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Where’s he going?” Flop’s ex-wife asked.
He rounded on her. “Why don’t you ask him that!”
“He’s your friend!”
The wind was picking up outside, shaking the trees back and forth, but the rain hadn’t begun. Judging by the low clouds and the smell in the air, it was only minutes away. Just what we need on a shitty night, I thought as I approached my truck.
Charlotte wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I breathed a sigh of relief that she’d listened. Hopefully she was locked away in her motel room by now. I reached for my phone to tell her to turn all her lights out just to be safe, but then put it away. Better get home first before the sky opened up.
The drive home gave me plenty of time to think about how fucking stupid I was.
“Lay fucking low,” I muttered to myself. “All I had to do was avoid anything that would connect Charlotte to me. So what does my stupid ass do? Kiss her in the cemetery, and then attack a goddamn Copperhead in a bar. Jesus fucking Christ, I’m an idiot.”
I didn’t even remember deciding to grab my shotgun. I just couldn’t help myself. Jesse started talking to her at the bar with that look in his eye, and that tone in his voice, and then I was on my feet and getting my shotgun out of the truck before I could register what I was even doing.
The worst part? I didn’t really regret it. It felt right at the time, and it still felt right now, even if the repercussions sucked ass.
I have to protect her.
It was an animal instinct, deep down in my chest. The part of me that was still a caveman from prehistoric times, driven by emotion rather than thought. I had to protect Charlotte, no matter the circumstances. Even if it meant making things worse for myself in the long run.
That didn’t stop me from berating myself about it all the way home, though.
“Stupid fucking idiot,” I shouted, slamming my hand on the steering wheel. “I can’t let anyone near me. I’m radio-fucking-active. I can’t flirt with her. I can’t text her. I can’t fucking fall in love with her.”
The words shocked me, but as soon as they were out of my mouth I knew they were true. I was falling for Charlotte. I’d been falling for her ever since she walked into that jail in a dress and heels. I couldn’t help myself. She was everything I’d ever wanted.
I can’t have her.
It was a fact that was as true as anything else in this world. No matter how much I wanted Charlotte, being with her would be the same as sentencing her to death. Hell, we were in this mess tonight because I’d let my guard down long enough for her to kiss me in the cemetery. If we survived more than 24 hours, we’d be lucky.
We could never do more than that. Even the sexy texts we’d been exchanging were too dangerous. If Sid showed up one day and took my phone…
I gripped the steering wheel tighter and then forced myself to relax. First the muscles in my jaw, then neck, then arms. Soon I was breathing normally and could think straight.
Alright, so the situation.
Jesse had seen us in the cemetery. But instead of going to Sid with the information, he’d used it to try to extort Charlotte. Thank God there was more blood flow to his dick than his brain. He probably hadn’t told any other Copperheads, or else he would’ve brought them with him tonight. Either for backup, or because they all wanted a piece of Charlotte.
My anger flared up at that thought. I pushed it back down.
Even though he probably hadn’t told anyone else, I needed to be certain. I still had contacts in the Copperheads I could trust. Or that I thought I could trust.
To keep Charlotte safe, I’d risk contacting them.
And then it was just a matter of dealing with Jesse himself. Not easy, but doable once we got the ball rolling on a few things. Flop’s buddy would need to come through, as well as my transport contact to get him to Jacksonville. And we would need to hold Jesse until then and hope none of the other Copperheads knew where he had gone. We’d have to stash his bike, too. I should have done that before leaving Flop’s. Stupid.
Despite those setbacks, I breathed a little easier after thinking it all out. There was still a chance to pour the spilled beer back into the bottle.
It started raining just as I pulled up my driveway, fat drops which hit the top of my truck like frozen peas. I put the truck into park and pulled my phone out to tell Flop to move Jesse’s bike, but then I found myself texting Charlotte instead.
Me: Turn off all the lights in your motel room and close the curtains. Just to be safe. I’ll touch base in the morning. Might be skipping community service.
I hopped out of the truck with my shotgun. Once I knew she was safe, I could focus on everything else I had to do. Calling my contact, gathering supplies…
Before I could dart inside, a ding sound came from the bed of my truck, followed by someone rustling. A shape moved, climbing out of the bed of the truck in the darkness.
I raised my shotgun and pushed it up under the chin of the person who had followed me, ready to kill if it meant saving my own life tonight. I’d already fucked up by hesitating against Jesse. I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Thank fucking God I didn’t pull the trigger.
22
Hawk
Charlotte’s eyes went cross-eyed as she looked down at the shotgun pressed underneath her chin. “Um, Hawk?” she squeaked as rainwater streamed down her face.
I let out my breath and lowered the shotgun. “The fuck are you doing, Peaches?”
“I was hiding!” she protested. Everything came out in a rush. “From the fight in the bar. Then when you drove away I was afraid of scaring you, and I thought I might be safer with you than at the motel, and I kind of wanted to see where you lived…”
“You could’ve asked,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I did ask! You told me to mind my own business!”
The rain came down in sheets, plastering her silky hair to her head. I took her hand and said, “Let’s get the hell out of this mess.”
We rushed inside and I slid the door closed behind us.
“This is where you live?” she asked. “A barn?”
Her eyes scanned the room, starting in the kitchen area to the left with the gas range and stove. Across the partition wall which housed my closet and past the queen-sized bed with my big down comforter. Her gaze swept toward the bathroom, which was built beneath the loft area which could be accessed by a ladder. The string lights criss-crossing the rafters and filling the room with a soft amber light were the final thing she examined.
“It’s a renovated barn,” I said more than a little defensively. “Got running water, air conditioning, and look.” I tapped my foot. “Laminate floors.”
She gave me a curious look. “You know, my momma always used the phrase raised in a barn as an insult, but this is nice!”
“It gets the job done.”
Charlotte walked into the room, leaving a trail of water as she went. She gazed around the bathroom toward my workshop. “You work with metal?”
“I was a welder, once upon a time,” I said sheepishly. I didn’t like talking about my work.
She grinned at me. “I’ve learned more about you in the last 20 seconds than in the past week!”
I suddenly remembered why I was here, and what had happened. “You’re just going to ignore all that mess back at Flop’s?” I growled, meaner than I
intended.
“I’m not ignoring it…”
I was frustrated in a way that confused me, but I couldn’t help snapping at her. “Why’d you have to engage Jesse? You could’ve walked out of the bar.”
“Me?” she said, incredulous. “I’m not the one who brought a shotgun into the mix.”
I set my jaw. “I grabbed it in case the situation got bad. Which it did. Your welcome, by the way.”
“And all I did was slap an asshole who grabbed my ass. I wanted to leave, but I didn’t want to make it obvious that I was running from him.” The anger drained out of her face. “Hawk, he saw us at the cemetery. He knows.”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “I heard him gloating and figured that’s what he meant. Come here. We ought to get that cheek cleaned up.”
She touched her cheek and looked at the blood on her finger as if she didn’t understand. “He hit me.”
“I saw.” I pulled some bandages and alcohol wipes out of my bathroom drawer and went back into the room. She was still standing there, shocked. And also dripping water all over the floor.
“You need some fresh clothes before I let you sit on any of my furniture.” I fished around in my dresser and came out with an extra long shirt that I used when I was painting. “This’ll do until your clothes dry. Bathroom’s over there.”
She took it and went to the bathroom, leaving a trail like a human-shaped slug. I was pretty sure she was in shock now that the whole thing was over. She had that faraway look in her eyes that meant her brain was curled up in on itself for protection.
I cursed myself for snapping. I needed to be more gentle with her. She’d had a shitty fucking night.
I sat on the edge of my bed and waited. Charlotte hadn’t closed the bathroom door all the way, and through the crack I could see her reflection in the mirror. She pulled her shirt over her head, revealing the same full breasts I’d seen in her text message the other night, although held up by a bra this time. She shimmied out of her jeans and the beautiful globes of her ass came into view. I leaned sideways on the bed to get a slightly better view in the mirror. Her white cotton panties were jammed up inside her ass, leaving nothing to the imagination. I knew I was being creepy by staring, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
I wanted her. I wanted her more badly than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.
I can’t, I thought stubbornly.
She walked out of the bathroom slowly. My big shirt was just long enough to cover her panties, but it left her legs bare all the way up to the tops of her thighs. Her skin was creamy and smooth, begging to be touched…
I jumped up and met her halfway. “Here. Sit down.” I put a hand on her back and led her over to my table. She dropped down and stared straight ahead while I dabbed at her cheek with the alcohol wipe. I tried my best not to look at the sliver of panty that I could see now that she was sitting.
“That doesn’t sting?” I asked with a smile. “You barely flinched.”
“It doesn’t hurt as much as a biker trying to extort me for sex,” she said softly.
“He can’t hurt you anymore.” I peeled open a band-aid and placed it on her cheek. “I promise.”
“Is it true?” she asked.
“If Flop and I are able to take care of it tonight, then yeah. There’s a good chance we’ll get out of this mess.”
“No,” she said, looking me in the eye. There was an expression behind her beautiful eyes that I couldn’t place. “Is it true that you’re falling in love with me?”
I started to laugh as if it were a joke, but then I froze. She was in the bed of my truck. She heard everything I said on the way home.
“Well?” she said, sitting very still. Nothing moved but her mouth. “Aren’t you going to say anything? Hawk?”
“Not much to say.” I ran my thumb across the edge of the band-aid to wipe away a droplet of blood that had smeared on her cheek. “No offense, Peaches, but I’ve got more important stuff on my mind tonight.”
“I am too,” she blurted out. “I’m… you know. The same. I guess. It scares me. I shouldn’t feel this way, but Hawk…”
She trailed off as I held up a hand.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said firmly. “We can’t do anything. Now, more than ever, we’ve got to lay low. One mistake means the Copperheads will kill you.”
But she was shaking her head while I spoke. “They know. We have nothing to lose.”
“We have plenty to lose, Peaches. I’m taking care of Jesse. Don’t worry.”
“What if you can’t?” she demanded, eyebrows furrowed and a fire in her large eyes. Even with her hair matted to her head and her mascara running, she was beautiful. The kind of woman who entered a room and everyone stopped what they were doing and stared. “What if you can’t take care of it, and the Copperheads find out? What if they’re going to kill me to get to you regardless?”
I stood and walked to the sink to pour a glass of water, if only to give myself time to think. I’d been through so much shit. I’d seen so much shit, terrible things no man ought to see. It was the reason I’d quit the Copperheads. And then what they’d done to Theresa, and threatening me every day, making me feel like there was a freshly-dug grave waiting for my body.
I’d been walking around like a dead man all this time. Like there was a number over my head, the number of days I had until Sid killed me, and it was slowly dwindling to zero. I’d accepted it. After Theresa’s death, I didn’t even mind. My fate was sealed, and there was nothing I could do about it.
But Charlotte made me want to fight back.
She made me want to live.
I stood in front of the sink, my back to her, and drank my glass of water slowly. Hoping that each gulp would bring me closer to clarity about what I should do.
I finished my glass without an answer.
When I turned around, Charlotte was standing next to me. Smiling at me with those pouting lips, her eyes full of hope.
“You don’t understand,” I found myself saying automatically.
“Hawk.” Her voice was soft. “We’re alone. We—”
“No!” I roared. Not out of anger, but despair. “Can’t you see what they’ve taken from me? How Sid has carved a chunk out of my soul by killing my sister? Do you know how that makes me feel, Charlotte?”
She put a hand on my chest. Her touch was soothing, like an icepack. “Hawk.”
I trembled with frustration. With fear. I didn’t like being afraid, but that’s what I was, no matter how much I didn’t want to admit it. For the first time since Theresa died, I was afraid of losing something.
And I was staring right at it.
“If we’re going to die,” Charlotte said, her hand moving up my chest, “I don’t want it to be for nothing.”
Looking at her in the dim lights of my barn, hair soaked and a vulnerable smile on her face, I felt all my walls come crashing down.
And I gave in.
I threw my lips into hers in a deep, almost angry kiss. I crushed my body against hers and the wind rushed out of my lungs; was pulled from my lungs by the woman I was in love with. I took her mouth, claiming it as my own, bruising my lips into hers while our bodies welded together like two pieces of metal.
“Hawk,” she moaned.
I ran my hands down the smooth curve of her ass and squeezed. Her flesh was as soft and warm as I’d dreamed. Charlotte’s body was pressed tight against mine and my cock throbbed for her, pulsing with a desire more intense than words could describe.
“I need you,” she breathed into my lips.
She pulled my shirt over my head and then fumbled with the button of my jeans, then the zipper. I pulled the oversized shirt over her head, revealing the spheres of her breasts, perky and soft. Her fingers touched my cock through my boxer-briefs and I smashed my lips against hers again, growling into her kiss with need.
I wanted to bury my cock so deep into her pussy until I had nothing more to give her. I was going to fuck her so goo
d nobody else could ever compare.
We might not survive the night. There was a good chance Sid and his goons were on their way to Flop’s bar right now.
With Charlotte in my arms, I didn’t give a fuck.
If I was going to die, I was going to have her first.
23
Charlotte
It felt so good to finally give in.
The wind rushed out of my lungs while Hawk kissed me hard and deeply. I clawed at his body like an animal, fingers dragging along his chest and abs and biceps, feeling the lines of his body like the contours of a map.
Heat flooded my body, spreading in all directions from between my legs. His hand ran down the bare skin of my belly, teasing at the edge of my panties before finally curling under the elastic. He broke the kiss long enough to crouch down, pulling my soaked panties with him. I stepped out of them and he rose slowly, his face only an inch from my skin, hot breath moving up my knees, then thighs, then past my soft hair. My inner walls twitched with anticipation of feeling him inside me. Filling me.
He kissed me hard again, sucking my tongue between his lips as his hand returned to my special place. I gasped as one finger curled up and in, sliding inside the drenched walls with ease. Up and up it went, knuckles digging deeper into my warm womanhood.
“Ohh,” I moaned, falling back onto the bed. Hawk came with me, finger never leaving my warm sex. He grinned wolfishly at me as I bucked against his finger, whimpering for more.
He added a second finger inside me, pushing deeper, flooding me with pleasure. My wetness coated his hand as he twisted his fingers, knuckling into me while his thumb rubbed my clit in the soft amber light of the barn. After a week of flirting and texts, the feeling was incredible. Like scratching the world’s biggest itch.
Blood rushed through me as he pumped his fingers, twisting as he did so. Every nerve I possessed was on fire. Soon I was trembling and bucking harder against him, moaning as he watched me squirm on the bed. And when I couldn’t take it any longer he crushed his lips against mine, and I screamed into his mouth while I was shattered over and over and over.