Page 37 of Rebel Hawke

When it demands I get close to this woman when I should leave her be…

When that would be safer for her, to put space between us, to keep her protected from Satriano by pushing her away from me and all things Hawke…

When I know I can’t trust myself to leave…

“What do you want to know, Wren?” I brush the silky strand of dark hair behind her ear. “I’ll tell you anything.”

Her gaze softens, some of the trepidation evaporating. “How bad is your shoulder?”

I swallow thickly, struggling to find the right words to describe what the last few months have been like. “Pretty damn fucked.”

She winces. “Who was that man? Why were you so angry? Why did you run him off?”

Her series of questions ping-pong in my ears, and they all need to be answered.

Eventually.

“I promise I’ll explain everything, Little Bird, but not right now.”

“Why not?”

I shift closer, tipping her face even higher toward mine, allowing her to feel the tension in my body, the trembling need I’m barely restraining. “Because right now, if I don’t fucking kiss you, I might go insane.”

She sucks in a sharp breath, and color splashes across her cheeks before I dip my head and press my lips to hers. It takes her a second to relax before she releases a tiny groan and leans into me, allowing me to slide my free hand around her waist and tug her up against me fully.

The press of her heat and body along mine makes my already stirred cock fully hard between us. And there isnohiding it from her. Not with the way her belly presses against it.

I kiss her fiercely, far harder and with more urgency than I should for a first kiss.

Our firstrealone, at least.

That one when we were eight doesn’t count.

This should be gentle, searching, discovering, learning each other, but I can’t stop myself from fully devouring her. From stealing every breath and little sigh. From sweeping my tongue along hers to see if she tastes as good as she smells.

Not after the dreams I’ve had, the fantasies that have overwhelmed me since she returned. Not after seeing Satriano in here with her and knowing how close she came to that kind of danger. Not after being woken at two in the morning and being told what he did last night—how easily he can take one of us and there’s nothing the Hawkes could do about it.

But kissing Wren isn’t enough.

Not nearly enough.

I tear my mouth from hers, and her eyes flicker open, hooded and full of the same lust that rushes through my veins and fuels my desire. Her chest heaves against mine, her heart thundering under her ribcage the same as mine does.

My fingers dig into her side, itching to feel more of her, to bring her even closer, which is impossible here.

No matter how much I want her, I won’t take her bent over a desk in the back of her studio for our first time. Especially not when Satriano just walked out of here with that smug look on his face.

I need her somewhere safe. Somewhere I control. “Let’s go.”

Her eyes widen. “Where?”

“My place, right now.”

“Atlas, I…” She scans the studio. “I can’t, I have too much to do today—”

The low, guttural sound that slips from my throat cuts her off, and I crush my mouth to hers again. Pleading with her without words. Asking and demanding at the same time. Her nails dig into my pecs as she meets my lips, giving it right back to me instead of pushing me away.

It would be so easy to lose myself in her like this.

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