“So we’ll just ride through the night,” I tell him.
He shakes his head slowly. “No, honey, we won’t. I’m tired as fuck and we’re alone.”
“So,” I whisper.
His mouth presses into a straight line and he dips his chin as he shakes his head a couple of times. “I forget, you’re not one of us.”
“One of us,” I whisper to myself.
“Yeah, Avah. You ain’t one of us, you ain’t in the life. We ride through the night, that leaves us vulnerable to some of the other surrounding clubs. Normally, wouldn’t be a big deal. At night, just me, it’s a big deal.”
A throat clears behind us, and I swing my head to the side and lift my head to look up at Keaston who is standing to the side watching the show that is me and Hawk.
“We’ll just camp out along the road. Won’t hurt nothin’ for one night.”
“Camp. Out,” I exhale. “Camp. Out.”
Hawk chuckles at the same time Keaston grunts. “This is going to be a long fucking night, isn’t it?” Keaston asks.
Narrowing my gaze on him, I wrinkle my nose. “Go fuck yourself,” I snap with a stomp of my foot.
Hawk chuckles as he reaches for me, his fingers wrapping around my hips before he tugs me toward him. He’s still sitting on his bike, not even bothering to stand up, the asshole. I don’t say a word, my eyes staying narrowed as I watch him.
“Avah, you’re high maintenance as fuck,” he announces, acting as though he’s telling me something that I don’t know. “Doesn’t bother me much, but right now you gotta get your shit together. You wasted the fucking day. We still have three hours to get home and the sun is pretty much set.”
Biting the inside of my cheek, I wonder why I’m even here. I know that it won’t be long before the senator tracks me down and drags me to some dungeon, ties me up and tortures me until he kills me for his own kinks and pleasures.
It would be easier for everyone if I wasn’t even around. I should just go and wait in my apartment for the sick fuck to take me.
“You’re pissed,” Hawk mutters. “Did you not know you were high maintenance?”
I snort, lifting my gaze to meet his. “I know I’m high maintenance. I know that I cry when I’m drunk. I know that I’m worried about my spa days and being pretty because I spent a lot of money on looking this way. And you’ve only seen me this way, so it would really blow if you saw me ugly.”
Inhaling a deep breath, I continue. “I know that this asshole is coming for me, too. If I’m such a burden, why are you even dragging me out to Arizona? He can find me just as easily there as he can in LA. Take me back.”
Keaston’s intake of breath is loud and sharp, but Hawk does nothing except stare at me. His jaw clenches and I watch as a muscle jumps in his cheek. His eyes darken to an almost pure black color and I know without a doubt that I’ve truly pissed him off.
“I should bend you over my knee and spank the absolute shit out of you,” Hawk growls.
I try to take a step backward, but his firm grip on my hips doesn’t allow it. Instead, I’m forced to stand still, far too close to him and his radiating anger. Keeping my mouth closed, I bite the inside of my cheek and wait for him to say something else.
He doesn’t do anything for a long moment, then his gaze flicks to the side before he brings it back to meet my own. One of his hands leaves my hip, his arm lifts and his palm cups my cheek.
“I meant it when I said he wouldn’t touch you, Avah. Ain’t gonna say it anymore after this,” he rasps. “I fuckin’ got you, baby. He will not hurt you. Let me protect you. I know you been on your own for a long time, you been taking care of you, but let me do this for you.”
“Why?” I breathe.
His lips part and slowly turn up into a soft smile. “Because you’re mine, honey. No other explanation needed.”
Hawk’s thumb slides across my bottom lip and I let out a trembling breath. “I’m scared,” I confess.
He dips his chin, lifting his gaze, his eyes connect to mine. “I know you are.”
HAWK
Watching Avah freak out and then turn her back to me, lying still and pretending to be asleep in the fucking desert dirt, it makes me realize that she is not okay. She is freaked the fuck out, and she’s willing to just lie down and accept what she feels is her fate far too quickly.
It’s not her goddamn fate. She’s my fate and I won’t let her be taken from me.
Lifting my hand, I shift to my side and use my fingertips to trail down her arm. We didn’t eat much for dinner, some snacks that Keaston and I picked up at a gas station, along with some waters that were in our saddlebags.
Leaning forward, I touch my lips to the side of her neck. She tries to lie still, but I can feel her body tremble and I hear the way her breathing patterns change as I touch and kiss her.
“We’re out in the open and Keaston is literally just a few feet away,” she hisses as she attempts to shimmy away from me.
I slide the hand that was on her arm around her middle to keep her from moving anywhere else. Shifting my lip to her ear, I let out a breath.
“Baby, he could be sitting cross-legged in front of us and I’d still want inside that beautiful pussy.”
She squeals slightly, turning her head and her lips
