Page 69 of Phantom Riders MC: Hawk

Chapter 24

Audra

I glanced down at my empty plate, surprised that I’d eaten the whole steak. Granted, it was a small filet mignon, but I wasn’t a big red meat eater. It had been cooked to perfection and was too tasty to waste. I did, however, leave half my baked potato, which Hawk wasted no time in helping himself to. When he noticed it going ignored he simply reached over with his fork, speared it, and dropped it onto his empty plate.

The atmosphere of the brightly lit restaurant was quiet and almost intimate. When we’d first arrived there we’d been taken to a table in the corner which allowed us to observe the whole room. I couldn’t help but notice that Hawk was very observant of what was going on, but that was usual for him. The man was always on guard, ready to react if he needed to.

We ate our meal in silence, giving each other an occasional glance. Hawk’s looks were dark and intense, as if he was looking into my soul for answers. Every time I caught him looking at me I grew warm inside, squeezing my legs together to relieve the constant itch there. It was amazing how fast and hard my body responded to him. All those years of thinking Dane was what I wanted paled with what I felt from just one look from Hawk.

Great. I saw our waitress walking over, a young twenty something woman wearing a uniform that was two sizes too small and showing too much cleavage, in my opinion, anyway. She’d found every reason that she could think of to keep returning to our table. What she wanted was clear in the brown lust-filled eyes that ate Hawk up. Her nipples looked like tiny headlights and were directed right at him. I rolled my eyes, glancing at Hawk and catching his smirk. The man knew what he did to women, and as far as I was concerned, his acceptance of her flirting only encouraged her.

“Would anyone like dessert?” she reached our table and asked.

Hawk’s gaze never left mine. “My dessert is sitting right across from me.”

Well, at least that was something. I caught my breath, glancing up in time to see the waitress’s expression go from intense interest in him to confused perusal of me. I wanted to laugh. It was obvious she was looking for a reason that he might prefer me over her. Was she one of his ex’s?

“Nothing for me, thanks.”

Her goo-goo eyes moved back to Hawk. “Sure I can’t tempt you with something?” Her voice was dripping with obvious innuendo, and when she licked her lips I lost my cool.

“Am I invisible?” I snapped. She dragged her gaze away from Hawk, showing surprise at my bitchy outburst. “Or are you that stupid? Can’t you see that we’re−” I motioned from Hawk to me and back again, “Together? You can stand there all you want and make a fool of yourself, but I’m the only pussy he’s getting into tonight.”

The girl’s brows lifted, her eyes grew round, and her face turned beet red. She could only blink and stare at me like an idiot. Maybe I had been invisible up to that point. As she was clearly at a loss for words, I turned my glare on Hawk. The whole thing was his fault. The amusement in his eyes pissed me off and I kicked him beneath the table, which only made his grin bigger. Finally, the waitress walked off with less of a swing in her step.

“Is she one of your ex’s?”

“A wanna be ex.”

“Nice. Maybe you can move on to her when you’re done with me.”

His expression sobered. “She’ll be old and gray by then.” His comment took the fire right out of me. “Come here.”

I blinked, wondering what he’d do if I ignored him, scooting over anyway because it was exactly where I wanted to be. “Okay, now what?” I asked, locking eyes with him.

“We need to talk.”

It was what I’d been expecting. My gaze fell to his smooth lips, wishing that he’d kiss me. “And we couldn’t do that with me over there?”

“I wanted you close in case you need persuading,” he explained with a sexy grin.

The glimmer in his eye held me spellbound. I was used to seeing them dark and cold. “Is this about our, ah situation?” He nodded. “I know you’ve said that I belong to you, but I’m not sure what that means. Is it just something you said in the heat of the moment, or−”

“Right up until the moment you picked out Dominick’s face I was going to turn your ass loose. I couldn’t wait to get you the fuck out of my life. I didn’t like what you were doing to me. I wanted you too fast, too hard, all the fucking time. Sonya had cured me of letting my emotions get involved with my dick. It was easier fucking without all that other shit, sticking to the kind of women who expected me to be a bastard.”

“I’m not like those other women, Hawk,” I reminded him softly.

“You think I didn’t fucking know that the moment I laid eyes on you? Yet still I wanted you, so fucking bad that I just took you. I treated you like the women I was used to.””

“I didn’t complain.”

“Yeah. I noticed.”

“You got to me, too,” I said, meaning it. “Tell me what it means to be owned by you.”

“It’s simple, babe. You’re mine and I’m yours. I claim you in front of my brothers, so they all know you’re not to be messed with. I take care of you. As my woman you’ll gain the respect of the club and be protected.”

“Is that what an old lady is?” He nodded, and I knew he was watching my reaction carefully. “Why? You don’t love me.”

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