Melissa looks at her mother gratefully, and they all set about choosing appetizers and entrees. Melissa looks around the table and feels a sensation that she has never experienced before. There’s something special about having two of the people that she cares most about together, in the same room. But it’s not just that, they’re getting along like a house on fire. Violet seems charmed by Hawk, and Hawk and Patrick have no problem finding common areas of interest. All in all, the night couldn’t be called anything but a great success. Melissa is almost disappointed when the check is called, and it’s time to leave.
“So, you ride?” Patrick and Hawk lead the way towards the parking lot.
Melissa stifles a laugh. She’s probably had a little too much to drink, but she’d worry about that in the morning. “Hawk learned to ride a bike before he could walk.”
“You’re into bikes?” Hawk gives Patrick a surprised look, ignoring Melissa’s interruption.
“I love them, but I don’t get a chance to get out as much as I’d like.” Patrick shrugs as if to say ‘But that’s life’ and the two men lapse into talk about motorcycle makes and limited editions that just sounds like Greek to Melissa.
“So what’s going on?” Violet hooks her arm through Melissa’s, forcing her to hang back from the men a touch so that they can have some privacy.
“With what?” Melissa frowns at her mother, her alcohol fuzzed brain taking her a few extra moments to catch up.
“With you two. I may be your mother, but I’m not stupid.” Violet takes hold of Melissa’s shoulders, making her focus. “He seems like a great guy, and he clearly cares about you. So, what’s got you all bent out of shape?”
“It’s…it’s complicated, Mom.” Melissa shakes off her mother’s concern.
“It’s a relationship, of course it’s complicated, Melissa!” Violet looks up at the sky for strength. “Nothing about being with another person is simple. That’s just how this works. But if you care about him as much as he clearly cares about you, then it doesn’t matter how complicated it is. You decide that you’re going to be with each other in spite of all the reasons your little brain is telling you not to.”
“How do you know what my brain is telling me?” Melissa gives her mother a sarcastic look.
“Because I too was twenty-two once.” Violet gives her daughter a withering look. “So, how serious are you two?”
Melissa rolls her eyes at her mother. “Well, I think we’re a little way off from picking out china—if that’s what you mean. What about you and Patrick?”
“I really like him!” Violet gives off the megawatt smile that’s been a permanent fixture on her face since the start of dinner.
Melissa laughs at how much like a teenager her mother sounds. “He seems really nice.”
“So, does that mean that you approve?” Violet bites her lip in an expression that Melissa recognizes as something she must have inherited.
Melissa blinks at her mother. “Are you asking me what I think you’re asking me?”
It’s Violet’s turn to roll her eyes this time. “Well, we haven’t been seeing each other for very long, so I don’t want to jump the gun, but…he’s dropped a few hints.”
Melissa opens her mouth in shock, not for the first time that night. “Mom, it’s only been a couple of months, isn’t it a little, I don’t know, soon to be talking about churches and white dresses?”
Violet gives her daughter an indulgent look, one that Melissa would probably have found frustrating under other circumstances. “It could be a couple of years, a couple of months, or a couple of hours. It doesn’t matter, Mel. When you know that you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you just know.” Her mother gives her a wink, and Melissa can’t help but laugh. They embrace warmly as they hit the cold air outside. “Ah, boys with their toys.” Violet looks over Melissa’s shoulder, as her daughter twists around to see what she’s talking about.
Patrick is crouched next to Hawk’s motorbike, making appreciative noises. Melissa overhears something about ‘horsepower’ and ‘polished chrome’ before she fades out of the conversation.
“I think it’s time we left these two bright young things to the rest of their evening, don’t you?” Violet places her hand on Patrick’s shoulder, and he looks up at her with so much love in his eyes that you’d have to be blind not to see it.
“I guess so.” He takes her hand and reaches the other out towards Hawk to shake. “Pleasure to meet you, Hawk.”
Hawk smiles back, returning the shake. “Same to you, Patrick. And if you want some company on a ride one of these days, let me know.” Patrick nods in agreement.
Hawk reaches his hand out to shake Violet’s hand, but she looks down at it, frowning. Melissa watches as Hawk’s shoulders tense up, as if he’s expecting her to embarrass him. Always expecting the worst, Melissa thinks. It’s probably a pretty tough habit to break. But instead of taking his hand, Violet reaches up to plant her hands on his shoulders and gives him a kiss on each cheek. Hawk stands stock still, as if he weren’t at all expecting what had just happened. Violet leans in and says something quietly in his ear, and Hawk looks at her seriously and nods once, emphatically.
“We hope to see much of you, Hawk.” Violet gives Hawk a serious look and then does the same to Melissa.
Before she moves off with Patrick towards the car, Violet turns around and looks at Melissa, smiling cheekily. “So…do you know, Mel?” She doesn’t wait for a reply before she gets into Patrick’s car. Melissa watches them as they buckle up and drive off. Then, it’s just her and Hawk left alone in the lot.
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
“Do you know what?” Hawk’s voice breaks Melissa’s reverie.
Melissa shrugs. “I guess, Mom got a little carried away with the wine.” Melissa knows exactly what her mother was talking about, but she doesn’t feel like it’s something she can share with Hawk without him thinking that she’s some kind of crazy woman.
“I like her. You’re a lot like her, you know?” Hawk keeps looking towards where the car had left the parking lot.
“Apart from the red hair, most people don’t really think we look alike. Apparently, I take after my father. Lucky me.” Melissa rolls her eyes.
“Maybe you do, physically at least. But your mom’s a good person. She has the same kind of light that you do, the same way of looking at the world and making it seem better.” Hawk sighs deeply, as if it were something that he could never have imagined existed.
“She’s the best.” Melissa smiles without the slightest hint of irony; she really did believe it. She turns to Hawk, prepared with the questions she needs to ask. They can’t just continue with the evening as if nothing of any note had happened. “How did you know I was here?”
She folds her arms, staying just out of reach of him. So far, Hawk had made good on his promise; he hadn’t touched her. She’d held his hand at the dinner table, and when she’d released it, he’d made no move to take it back. But the intensity that draws her to him is like a moth to a flame, and it just keeps getting harder and harder to ignore.
“Felicia told me you were meeting your mom’s new boyfriend. Ali told me where.” He shrugs, looking not at all embarrassed at having tracked her down.
“Ali told you? I thought after last night you’d be on her ‘persona non grata’ list for a little while. You must’ve done some serious sweet talking.” Melissa raises an eyebrow at him, watching as he smiles at her in a way that makes her stomach do somersaults.
“She took a little convincing; that’s why I was late.” He gives her an apologetic look. “But eventually she believed what I was trying to tell her.”
Melissa narrows her eyes at him. “And what was that?”
Hawk rocks up and down on his heels, a gesture that she’s only seen him use when he’s nervous. “You know, ‘Mel, you look amazing.” He looks at her appreciatively—in a way that makes her cheeks heat.
In her high heels, she hardly has to look up
at him at all, but with the energy that he radiates off, she still feels as if he towers above her. “You don’t clean up so bad yourself, Mr. Ownes.” She smiles wryly at him. “Nice misdirection, too. So what did you say to Ali that made her give me up?”
Hawk rakes his fingers through his hair, mussing it. “How did you think tonight went?”
Melissa stifles a sigh, knowing that she can’t force him to say something that he doesn’t want to. But oh how she wants him to say it. “I think my mom loves you, but I think you already knew that.” She gives him a pointed look, and he responds with a rueful grin. “So, how’d you get to be so good at the whole ‘meet the parents’ thing?”
Hawk looks thoughtful for a moment until his standard half-smile is safely back in place. “I don’t know. It was kind of my first time.”
Melissa looks at him in shock. “What about high school girlfriends? You never had the big, ‘Make sure she’s home by ten o’clock’ talk?” Melissa points her finger at him, mimicking an angry father, or what she imagined that would have looked like.
Hawk laughs. “No, but if they looked as cute as you did just then, I wouldn’t have minded.” He smiles at her, and Melissa sways a little feeling herself get lost in his eyes.
“So, why did you decide to this time? What changed?” She shivers in the cold wind.
“You did.” Hawk gives her a serious look that makes her insides warm despite the cold outside. “Let’s get you home.” He hands her the spare helmet that she’d come to think of as her own and motions her towards the bike.
As she wraps her arms around Hawk’s waist and they zip through the streets, Melissa is reminded of her first time on the back of his bike. It doesn’t seem like it was only a few days ago. She clutches onto him, breathing in the smell of his leather jacket and holding onto him, feeling his muscles tense against her hands. When they pull up outside her house, Melissa finds herself wishing that the ride would never end. All she wants is to hold Hawk and to be held by him.
Melissa pulls her dress down as she jumps off the bike. “I guess this dress isn’t really made for a motorbike. I probably gave half of Portland a view.”
Hawk looks at her—from the tips of her stiletto shoes, up her long legs, over her dress, and up to her gently tousled hair. “You look beautiful.” He tilts his head, as if he’s considering something. “But if you’re going to be riding on the bike, we should probably get you some leathers.”
Melissa feels a little tingle starting in her toes. “Does that mean you want me to ride on your bike?”
Hawk takes a deep breath, like he’s calling on his stores of patience. “It means that you’re the only one I want to ride on my bike.” Hawk closes the distance between them, stopping just short of her.
“What did you say to Ali?” Melissa looks up at him, biting her bottom lip, suddenly nervous.
“I told her how special you are to me, and that I wanted to be there for you tonight. I knew it was important for you.” Hawk’s hands clench and unclench by his side, and Melissa wonders if he’s finding it as hard not to touch her as she’s finding it to be without his touch. He takes another step towards her, so his head is only inches away from hers. “I told her that I’m in love with you.”
Melissa’s eyes widen in shock.
“Now it’s your turn, Melissa.” Hawk takes a deep breath, his voice low. “What did your mom ask if you knew?”
Melissa finds her voice on the third try. “She asked if I knew that I wanted to be with you, if I knew if I loved you.”
Hawk’s eyes burn with intensity. “’Mel.” His voice is husky, and she feels it right down to her bones. “So, do you know?”
Melissa finds herself nodding without even realizing it.
“I need a little more than that, ‘Mel. You haven’t exactly been your talkative self, tonight.” Hawk huffs a laugh, but it’s more nervous tension.
“I love you, Hawk.” Melissa says the words, words that she has been holding herself back from speaking because she thought that it was too much too soon. Now, all she cares about is how she feels and what she wants—and she wants Hawk. She reaches up and kisses his lips, softly, pulling his head down to meet hers.
She teases her tongue between his lips and tastes him, eliciting a deep moan from inside of him. She rocks back onto her heels, feeling buzzed from their kiss. She looks down at Hawk’s hands and sees that they’re still clenching and unclenching. He hasn’t made any move to take her in his arms, to touch her face, or to slide his fingers in her hair like he normally would.
“You said you wouldn’t touch me until I begged you to.” Melissa’s heart feels like it’s hammering out of her chest.
Hawk nods slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. “That’s what I said.”
Melissa looks up at him, her eyes heavy with desire. “So, now I’m begging you.” She reaches up and kisses him hard, smiling as his tongue tangles with hers. She feels his arms take hold of her waist and pull her closer to him, melding their bodies together and turning them into one hot, beating heart.
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
How Melissa manages to get her key into the door, she’s not certain. Her hands are shaking with anticipation. She is so desperate for Hawk’s touch that she feels like she might explode. As soon as the door is closed behind them, he is on her, kissing her deeply, imprinting his mouth on hers, and making her squirm in her already-wet panties.
His hands cover her breasts, kneading them gently through the thin material of her dress. She moans into his mouth, and her hands behind his head pull him even tighter towards her. They explore each other’s mouths with their tongues, intertwining them, tasting each other as if it were the first time. Melissa runs her fingers along the waistband of his jeans, pushing up the hem of his shirt to feel the hard ridges of muscles underneath.
They kiss and fondle and stumble their way down the hallway to her bedroom. Melissa spares a quick thought of thanks that Ali was out with some of their college buddies tonight. Hawk kicks the door behind them closed and takes a step away from her, drinking in the sight of her.
“You’re so beautiful. I haven’t been able to think about anything else all night, except what it feels like to be inside you.” He crosses the space between them, kissing her hard. Melissa melts against him, her pussy warm and aching with need.
He swipes the hair from her neck, exposing the soft smooth flesh that he loves to touch and that he knows sends her wild. He takes his time, kissing the sensitive spot behind her ear, then the base of her neck, her collarbone, and the hollow of her throat. She wriggles against him, her nipples hardening against his chest as shivers run up and down her body like the most delicious tremors.
His hands dip down to her thighs, stroking her legs in slow circular motions and lifting her dress as he pushes up towards the heat between her legs. Melissa’s breath comes out in short pants, making her feel like she’s not getting enough oxygen into her lungs—as if desire is making everything else secondary. She lifts her arms up for Hawk to pull her dress off in one smooth motion, leaving her standing in front of him in her underwear.
Hawk gazes at her, as if he would consume her all at once. That’s exactly what she wants him to do, what she needs him to do. He smiles wickedly, as if he knows exactly what’s going through her mind. In that moment, Melissa can tell that he’s going to make her work for it.
“Hawk.” His name is a plea on her lips, a need that has to be satisfied.
He strokes his fingers from the hollow of her throat, down between her breasts, and over her flat belly, stopping just short of where she needs him—at the top of her panties. His fingers linger there, clearly enjoying the way she leans into him, needing more from him. But he’s going to make her wait. His fingers follow the path that he’s been drawing down her body back the way that they have come.
“Hawk.” She shifts in front of him, wriggling in her wet panties, trying to get some kind of relief from the ache between her legs that’s becoming almost painful
.
“I told you I was going to make you beg.” His voice is low, barely a whisper in her ear, and she shivers in spite of herself.
“Hawk, please. I need you.” Her fingers start pushing his t-shirt up, needing him to shed some of the clothes keeping their bodies from the skin to skin contact that she so desperately needs. He allows her to lift the shirt off, exposing his beautiful, hard body. She runs her hands up and down his chest and his abs, licking her lips in anticipation of how it will feel to have to have his muscular body against hers. Oh Lord, she wants him so badly.
“What do you need me to do, Melissa?” His voice is like velvet.
“Touch me, please. I need you.” She feels like she’s going insane with desire.
“How much do you need me? Tell me.” His voice is tight, telling her that he’s not finding it as easy as he’s making out to touch her.
“I feel like I’m going to go crazy if you don’t touch me. Please, Hawk.” She bites her bottom lip, overcome with lust.
CARSON_Satan’s Ravens MC Page 43