Shadow Hawk (15 page)

B
URIED DEEP INSIDE
A
BBY
, the woman of his dreams, Hawk gripped her hips and tried to keep a grip on himself as well.

She hadn't removed any of her clothing except the absolute essentials to get him inside her. She'd barely let him touch her, and certainly hadn't let him put his mouth on her, which he was absolutely dying to do.

Nope, she just wanted to get to the big bang, and you know what? He was going to let her. He was going to let her do whatever she damn well wanted to do to get off, and then, when she was soft and sated and damp and dewy, he had plans, big ones. He'd lay her back, strip her out of those clothes she was using as armor, tasting every inch he exposed, making her forget every nightmare she'd had over the past year, everything but this.

Him.

Even his thoughts were making him hot, and he pushed up deep inside her, and, oh, God, yeah, his groan co-mingled with hers, a sound that was music to his ears. She was right there with him. Not lost in unhappy memories, but here, with him. To keep her so, he slid his hands forward on her thighs, urging her up again, guiding her nearly off him before letting go so that she sank back down, panting in a matching rhythm that shot right through him.

Again she did it, while rocking those hips, setting him on fire. Staying still was all but impossible now, and he pushed up inside her, deep as he could get, and nearly lost it right then and there.

Leaning over him, she fisted her hands on his chest, getting a few chest hairs in the mix, but, hey, she could rip them all out one by one for all he cared. He wanted to watch her come undone for him, listen to her cry out his name, feel her spasm around him and know he'd brought her there. Sliding a hand through her hair, he tilted her head back, exposing her sweet neck, which he kissed, making his way down to her collar. Nudging it aside as far as he could, he licked her skin, then dipped his head and kissed her breast through the material of her shirt and bra.

“No,” she gasped. “No, I just want to—” She broke off with a frustrated sob, her hips rocking, arching, her hair in her face, her skin damp and overheated. “Please, I just need to—”

Come
. She was so desperate to get there that she was blocking herself. “Abby.” He slid his hands to her hips and slowed her down, meeting her thrust for thrust, but going deeper now, harder, more controlled.

“I can't—”

“I'm hard as a rock,” he murmured, kissing her jaw, her throat. “You do that to me. Can you feel me?”

Panting, she nodded.

Dipping his head, he rubbed his jaw over her breast, teasing the nipple through her shirt. “You do it for me, Abby. Completely. Let me do it for you.”

“I can't—”

Pushing up her shirt, he rasped his tongue over her nipple.

She let out a sweet, shuddering sigh, and tried to move her hips faster again but he was holding them now, coaxing her to a slower rhythm, where she'd feel. Every. Single. Thing.

“Hawk,” she whispered, clinging to him as if making sure he wouldn't let go.

He wouldn't. Ever. “Right here…”

She was panting again, warm and sweet and soft, murmuring his name over and over in his ear. The sound was the most erotic, most sensual, most heartfelt thing he'd ever heard, and just a little terrifying.

She felt it, too.

“Hawk?”

“Right here with you,” he promised, breathing with her as he thrust up deep inside her, loving the feel of her breasts pressed to his chest, her thighs hugging his. His hands slipped down, cupping her ass, pulling her in, absorbing her soft gasp with his mouth.

She was going to come for him now, he could feel it in the desperate clutch of her hands, could see it in the way her eyes turned glossy and opaque. And then, with his name on her lips, she shattered, her body shuddering in his arms with so much sweet bliss it triggered his own release, dragging him under the wave of searing pleasure with her. He plunged into her one last time, trembling as he came from the tips of his toes, from every cell in his body, from the depths of his heart.

And as he went over, he had one thought—God, don't let me fall in love.

Yet as his vision faded, as an almost painful heat poured through him endlessly, he knew that whatever it was, it was much, much more than simple lust.

 

A
BBY CAME BACK TO HERSELF
in slow degrees, lethargic, replete, and more sated than she had any right to be, given their situation.

She was sprawled over Hawk's lap, her pants hooked on one ankle, her shirt half-opened and one breast revealed, the tip of which he was absently rasping with one callused thumb.

She had her face plastered to his throat, and as she took stock, she was very glad he couldn't see her face. Her legs were spread wide over his, her hands clutching him as if she never intended to let him go free.

As for his hands, well, he'd gotten quite comfortable with her body, hadn't he. His other one was intimately gripping her bottom, lightly gliding over her skin, making her want to, even now, stretch like a damn kitten and expose her belly for more.

Good God.

His face was buried in her hair, and with a long, pleasure-filled sigh, he lifted his head. His eyes were heavy with sleep, and extremely sexy as he smiled at her, looking quite pleased with himself. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She had no idea what to do or say, a definite first.

“You okay?”

“I think you know damn well that I surpassed okay.”

He grinned.

Oh, yes, very pleased with himself, wasn't he.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, he let that finger do the talking, stroking it down her throat and over her bared shoulder, where it caught on her shirt.

“Maybe next time, we could lose a few clothes,” he murmured.

“You're not wearing any.”

“I meant you.”

She looked down at her bedraggled self and sighed. “Yeah. I guess I stupidly thought that leaving them on would be like wearing armor.”

His smile faded. “No stupid. You had quite a bit to overcome.”

And speaking of that…she had come. Probably if he so much as touched her again, she could do it again in a blink. “I didn't expect it to be so…” She searched for a word, and failed to find one that suitably did the job. “Wow.”

“Me either.”

Okay, so she wasn't alone in that. That was good. It might have been a little more embarrassing if she had been.

“Abby?”

She worked on meeting his gaze.

“You don't need armor with me.”

No. No, she hadn't. And if that wasn't completely unnerving, Abby had no idea what was. She held his sincere gaze and sighed again. “I know. But I also know we don't have time for this.”

He looked as if he might argue, then nodded instead. “Sleep?”

“Shower first.” And using that as a reason to escape, she got up, somehow managed to ignore the urge to cover her good parts, and headed to the bathroom mirror.

Oh, boy.

Her cheeks were rosy, her eyes glowing. And so was her body.

Who'd have thought that damn fine sex would be part of the cure?

Not just sex, she told herself as she got into the shower. She'd had a healthy sex life before the raid, and what she'd just done with Hawk, while very hot and very unexpected, wasn't it.

It was something much, much more.

Which made this the scariest part of the entire past twelve hours.

A
FTER HER SHOWER
, A
BBY
looked at her filthy clothes and sighed, then held up what Serena had brought her. A black and sparkly sweater, low cut. Jeans, which had been made to fit like a glove.

She turned back to her clothes, but yep, they were still disgusting. Worse, her panties had somehow ripped and were useless. With another sigh, she pulled on Serena's clothes, knowing she'd never fill them out the way their hostess did. But her goal here was survival, not winning a beauty contest.

Abby opened the bathroom door, and found herself hesitating. She was embarrassed at how she'd let go with Hawk, and wasn't sure she could handle looking at him.

He'd left a light on for her, and that alone was enough to warm her from the inside out. She opened her mouth to thank him, but closed it again.

Oh. My. Goodness.

There he was, right where she'd left him, sprawled face down on the bed.

Completely in the buff.

Eyes closed, back rising and falling with his deep breathing, he was out cold.

He hadn't even pulled the covers over him, not that she minded the chance to stand there and look her fill without him being aware of it. Good God, but the man had it going on. Legs that went on forever, long, sleek, smooth back, broad shoulders, rippled arms that knew exactly how to hold onto a woman….

And then there were the good parts. She let her eyes linger in all the NC-17 spots until he suddenly rolled to his back, one arm flung up and over his eyes. She spent another moment taking in the new and even better view.

“Are you going to get over here?” he murmured in a sleep-roughened voice. “Or just stare at me all night?”

Crap. “I, um…”

Eyes still closed, he patted the mattress at his side.

Her feet made the decision for her, carrying her across the room until the mattress bumped her thighs. Without looking, he unerringly flung out his hand and caught hers, pulling her down to his side. “Just an hour,” he said, and tugged her into his arms, apparently unconcerned by the fact that once again he was naked and she fully dressed.

Well, it hadn't bothered him earlier, she told herself, and let herself relax into him. And not just relax, but press her face into his throat. She might have also inhaled deeply, and then snuggled even closer.

In response, he sighed with pleasure and ran his hands up and down her back in the most soothing gesture she'd ever experienced. So why her body tingled, suddenly hopeful that it was going to get another man-made orgasm, she had no idea.

“Still fully clothed,” he murmured, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

Along with exhaustion. “Sleep,” she ordered.

“I know…I am…” He snuggled in. “Abby?”

“Yeah?”

“Maybe next time, you could be naked, too….”

Yeah, she had to admit, lying skin to skin with him would be pretty damn amazing. “Maybe…”

He let out a shuddering sigh.

“Maybe even…” She was crazy. “Now…”

Another sigh, but no words.

Lifting her head, she stared down into his face.

He'd fallen back asleep.

The irony did not escape her. She was finally ready to shed the last of her armor, and what happened? The guy she was ready to share it with was dead to the world.

 

H
AWK AND
A
BBY MADE IT INTO
Cheyenne two hours and twelve minutes later. Hawk had allowed himself to pass out for an hour and a half before he'd gotten them back on the road.

Now they were in Serena's borrowed SUV, only a few miles from Abby's condo, and he still hadn't figured out a safe place to leave her while he retrieved her laptop. She'd adamantly refused to stay at the B&B. “Do you have family in the area?”

She turned and leveled him with those baby blues. She wore Serena's clothes, and having discovered her ripped panties in the trash, he knew she was currently commando, a situation that was wreaking havoc with his thought process.

“Don't even think about ditching me.”

“Maybe I was just asking.” He did his best to put on his Sunday church face. The one that said he was an American hero, a man who'd never lie.

“My parents sold their house a few years back and retired to Florida,” she said. “My sister moved there, too, with her kids.”

“Sounds cozy.”

“And too far for you to take me to.”

He sighed, and dropped the innocent expression. “I just want you safe.”

“If you're going to my condo, then so am I.”

“If anyone's watching—”

“Then we move to Plan B.”

This time the sound of the “we” didn't thrill Hawk. He couldn't stand the thought of how he'd dragged her into this entire disastrous mess.

She'd called Tibbs, briefly, letting him know she was alive and would be calling back with concrete evidence that would point to someone other than Hawk.

Where to take her?

“Stop trying to think of a place to dump me,” she told him.

“Abby—”

“Look, don't make me use those handcuffs again.”

He slanted her a look. “I might like that. Later.”

She shook her head. “Men.”

“Yeah. We're something.”

“Something all right. What about
your
family?”

He glanced at her. “You going to ditch me now?”

A ghost of a smile crossed her mouth. “Maybe I'm just curious.”

“My parents are gone.”

“So you don't have family to be close with either.”

“I have Logan.” His heart squeezed just a little at the thought of what Logan was going through right about now. He'd called when they first hit the road, and Callen had promised she had him good and protected. Until he could get there, which would be right after he got the laptop, it would have to be good enough.

“Turn left here,” Abby told him.

Her neighborhood was very suburban. Clean, cozy, sort of white picket fence meets the upscale set, complete with tennis court, pool, rec center…He wondered if she fit in here, and what she did on her time off. Did she wear a little white skirt and play tennis? Or slip into a bathing suit and swim laps?

“Up until last year, I never took any personal time for myself,” she said as if she'd read his mind. “I was all work, work, work.”

“And now?”

“Things have changed. I live my life. When I was on leave, I took tennis lessons. I could kick your ass all over that tennis court.”

“Now that I'd like to see.”

“Any time.”

Her smug smile was the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. “I'm going to ask you to prove that one,” he said.

“You play?”

“Well, it's been a while. In high school—”

She laughed. “I could take you.”

“What do you wear when you play tennis?”

“What does that have to do with it?”

“Well, if it's a little tiny skirt, then I might have some trouble concentrating. I'll need a handicap.”

She blinked, then smiled and shook her head, as if baffled.

“What?”

“You have this way of making me feel more like a woman in my grubbiest moments than I've ever felt in my entire life.”

“Yeah, well, you have a way about you, too, Ab.” Reaching for her hand, Hawk brought it up to his mouth. “Last night, I thought my life was over. Several times. You came through for me. I didn't realize it would be more than that, or that I'd get so much more than I bargained for. But I have.”

“I'm more than you bargained for?”

“Hell, yeah. Aren't I for you? Isn't this?”

She stared at him, then let out a low laugh. “Wasn't even in the ballpark,” she admitted. “But I can still take you on the court.”

He laughed, suddenly feeling lighter than he could have imagined, given all they had in front of them. “You're on. You're so on.”

If they lived.

“Take another left,” she said. “Don't go to the gate.”

They passed the front entrance, going around the block. “Back way in.” Abby pointed. “They're doing construction here, adding another park. The fence is down. If we walk in from there, there'll be no record of us entering.”

Hawk liked how she thought. He liked how she did just about everything, including the way she stared at him, as if maybe he was worth a second, even a third look.

And he especially liked how she clutched him when he was buried so deep inside her he didn't know where he ended and she began.

Yeah, he liked
that
a lot.

“Park here,” she said, jerking his thoughts out of bed, pointing to a handful of trucks. Construction trucks, by the looks of them, toolboxes and equipment in the back of each. “We'll fit right in.”

“How about just me fitting in?”

“You want me to wait here?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Well, glad that's settled.” They got out, and just as she'd said, no one stopped them. They walked over the downed fence, through the tall grass and trees that were being turned into a greenbelt area behind the condos, and right past the pool and tennis courts, directly into the courtyard along the back of the condo units.

“You shouldn't stay here during construction,” he said. “It's not safe.”

“A fact for which we're grateful, remember?”

No one paid them any attention as they walked the length of the courtyard. Abby gestured to the second to last unit. “Home sweet home.”

He stopped her at her back slider door and took her key. “Let me go in alone.”

“For what, you to do the caveman thing and check the house?”

“Damn it. We're not going to fight about this, are we?”

She sighed. “We left the rifle in the car.”

“Yes.” He slid his hand up to her ponytail, lightly tugging her head back so he could cover her mouth with his for a short but effectively hot kiss.

“What was that for?” she asked, just a little breathless.

“You tend to stop arguing with me when I kiss you.”

“It's because you're destroying my brain cells.”

He ran his thumb over her lower lip.

She looked at the condo. “Hawk—”

“Look, what if I promise to argue with you later, your choice, will that work?”

Abby sighed again. “My laptop is on the little table by my bed, upstairs.”

He let out a breath. “I'll be right back.”

“Okay. And Hawk?”

He turned back. Her eyes met his, those full, irresistible orbs, and in them he saw something that made him swallow hard. Oh, God.
Don't say it,
he thought. Don't bring in the L-word, because I'm not going there. So far he'd managed to keep his heart intact.

But this time, with her, he wasn't sure he could keep it that way.

She smiled, and that organ he'd been protecting rolled over and exposed its belly.
Huh.
Maybe…maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to have someone love him, truly love him, the way few had ever done. Because looking into this woman's eyes, he could see a future, could almost admit he was ready for it. “Yeah?”

She patted his arm. “Watch the second step. It creaks.”

 

G
AINES THREW HIS CELL PHONE
across his office, and all three men standing in the doorway ducked.

It hit his crystal clock and shattered. “I've got three loose ends,” he said calmly, and looked down at his computer screen, from which all of Tibbs's communications transcripts blinked back at him.

Tapping into Tibbs's computer had been nothing short of genius, if he said so himself, as it allowed him to keep track of all the players and the events.
Win.
“We need to take care of them, or I'll take care of you.”

“Sir, yes, sir. But Logan wasn't supposed to get transferred to the hospital,” Benny said in their defense. Benny had worked beneath Watkins.

Had.

Watkins had become dispensable the moment he'd balked at taking care of Abby. He'd had no problem betraying Hawk, but when it came to a pretty woman, he hadn't had what it took.

Gaines, however, did.

“Logan should never have been transferred,” Benny said again. “But Watkins—”

“
Is
dead.” Gaines looked at each of them. “As you will be if you don't fix this.” He turned back to the computer screen. Abby had called for her voice mail, from somewhere near the city limits. Somehow he just knew Hawk was with her. The knowledge that they'd taken seven hours to get into Cheyenne instead of the usual four told him that they'd stopped.