Page 59 of Savage Guardian

Tonight, though, rather than rushing to the compound to get to Fae, he’d been hurrying to get to Church—because that psycho Banshee had shown himself again. Yes, he should have taken a moment to greet Fae, to explain to her he was in a hurry and would talk with her after Church, but with his curt manner and week of less than kind actions, Fae had acted out.

Fae had wanted to leave the compound, to risk the danger of the psycho in the shadows. Well…Hawk would give that to her. He wasn’t taking her back to the compound; he was taking her to his place. Where he would show her actually how dangeroushisshadows could be.

He parked his ride in his gravel driveway, turned off the engine, and dismounted. Fae flung herself from the bike, her gaze on the one-story bungalow.

“Where are we?” she asked, her voice filled with trepidation.

“My place. Come on,” he said, turning to walk to the door, not bothering to wait for Fae. She’d follow. He could see by the fire in her eyes that she was gearing up for a fight.

He smirked to himself. He was looking forward to it.

He unlocked and opened his door, stepping inside. Finally, he turned to see Fae. She was stopped just on the other side of the door, staring into the living room, her eyes wide. He could see her thoughts crossing her expression. She was wary but curious, intrigued yet anxious. She wanted to step inside, but she wasn’t sure she’d like the outcome.

He knew he needed to give her space to decide on her own—at least until she was inside. Then it was game over. Hawk took a step back and waited.

Fae stared at him, biting her sexy as fuck bottom lip. He watched as determination settled over her features, and he bit back a smile of victory.

Fae stepped inside and shut the door behind her.

He was before her, standing over her, peering down into her wide, fearful eyes in a blink.

Grabbing her face between his hands, he growled.

“You took a stupid risk, girl. You know that the crazy stalker is out there, and you still left the safety of the compound. And you didn’t just leave; you took off without protection.”

“Tessa was there,” she interjected lamely, trying to pull her face from his grasp and failing.

“Fuck that. Tessa couldn’t have stopped anyone if he had got a shot at her knee. I love the woman, but she isn’t as capable as she wants to think she is—and you let her drag you from the safety of the clubhouse to a fucking strip club? Are you fucking insane? Do you know what could have happened to you there? How hard would it be for this Banshee whacko to blend in with the crowd in that place, watching you, waiting for you to hit the bathrooms, or spiking your drink? All it would have taken was a single move to get at your kidney with a concealed knife, and no one would know you were bleeding out until they stumbled over your body on their way to the bar.”

White as a sheet, Fae trembled, her whisky eyes drained to muddy water.

The breath left his body in a whoosh when the need to comfort her detonated in his chest. He wanted to throw his arms around her, press her against his heartbeat, and feel hers in return. He wanted to take her mouth and taste her once again. He wanted to lay her across his couch and find that indescribable pleasure once more.

As if stung, he dropped his hands from her face and crossed the room from her, his chest heaving with uneven inhalations. What the hell was that? How could such a small woman affect him so deeply? Why did he keep losing control of himself around her? She wasn’t who he’d wanted just two weeks ago. She wasn’t the woman who’d been haunting him for nearly two years, and yet just the thought of her turned him inside out.

She was fucking with him, and she didn’t even know it.

Thrusting his hands through his hair, he threw his head back and cursed into his ceiling. Pacing, he waited for the urge to cross the room and ravish her mouth to subside.

She was quiet, observing him, and he could feel the waves of growing agitation roll from her.

“I know I shouldn’t have gone with Tessa, but…I just needed to get out of there,” Fae explained unsatisfactorily.

“There is no reason good enough for why you left the safety of the clubhouse to fuck around at a strip club. You could have been hurt—and it wouldn’t even have to be Banshee that does it. Those places are a hotbed for predators, and you are the perfect, juicy little lamb, waiting for the wolf to come and gobble you up.”

She gasped, her face turning red. Good, she was weaponizing her response.

Bring it.

“You aren’t my boss, Hawk. I can go wherever the hell I want, and I don’t have to ask permission.’

“It’s my job to keep you safe!” he ground out, pounding a fist against his chest.

“I’m not your job! Carrie is your client, not me!” Hawk sucked in a breath at the sight of tears spilling from her eyes.

Fuck. Shit! This isn’t what he wanted. He wanted her fire, yes, but not this. Not this pain.

Before he could interject, she continued. “I’m just the arbitrary side character that you’re stuck dealing with because I found the head in the box. If I hadn’t found it, if Benson hadn’t called you, you would still avoid me like the plague. So don’t for a goddamn minute act like you really give a shit about me. You can growl and snarl at me all you want, but this isn’t about your job or your duty to the club. This is about you hating the fact that you ever put your hands on me. You regret having sex with me, I get it, and now you’re feeling guilty about rejecting me, and you’re thinking that if you put your energy into guarding the loser step-sister, you’ll feel better about how you treated me.”

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