Page 23 of Speed Trap

He’s not like Benson after all.

“Is it Ryan?”

Hawk rubbed a day’s growth on his chin. “Maybe?”

I snorted. “Yes. Please get your lovely contact to tow my car. He might need to bring an industrial vacuum. There might be one inside?” I stared at the glass entrance to the office building and bit my lip.

It surprised me that Janie hadn’t come out and made a fuss. She was streamlined when it came to business, but not when it came to gossip. Hawk followed the line of my gaze, his brow dipping deep enough to give him the facade of his namesake.

“The other part is that you need to be safe.” Hawk didn’t look at me as he sent a message and pocketed his phone. He brushed my arm with the back of his hand. “You know, I expected tears from a princess like you. A tantrum, maybe.” The corner of his mouth quirked.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m pretty sure I put my big girl panties on this morning, Hawk. I’m good.”

“Mmm. ‘Bout as good as I feel when I lose a race.” His arm slid around me, drawing me into his side. I let out a long held breath as I leaned my head against the refuge of his shoulder and closed my eyes. “Coops, I know you said you couldn’t think who would do it but…Princess. Look at me.”

“What, Hawk?”

I tilted my head back and pried open tired eyes that wanted to stay shut. I got the feeling that the moment I sat down I’d be asleep, despite the turmoil swaying at the bottom of my stomach.

“I want— I need—” Hawk swallowed and halted on the broken words. “I want—ah, fuck it.”

He dipped his head, his mouth slanted over mine in a long, deep kiss that awoke every nerve ending and soothed me all at once. Hawk’s kiss softened, gentling as he drew back, his lips grazing my mouth.

“Oh.” Tingles erupted over my skin, already addicted to the feel of him and craving more. I sucked in a shuddering breath while my brain went on hiatus.

Hawk rested his forehead against mine. “Better?”

“Yes.” I whispered it, and kept my eyes closed.

“Coops.”

“Yeah?”

“Look at me, Princess.”

I tried to kiss him again to make him change his mind, as a distraction, anything. But Hawk drew back enough to stop me making contact.

“What, Hawk?” I let out a little growl that sounded slightly feral in my own ears.

He grinned. “Tell me who’s angry at you enough to ruin something you love?”

“Who says I love it?” The tremor in my voice gave me away but I held his gaze anyway.

“Damn, I love that you never back down. And I love the tiny noises you make. Do you make them in bed?”

If I’d been cold, his words doused my insides in steaming water. “When I snore? Why thank you.” I ignored his chuckle and tried to step back but wound his arms around me and refused to let go. “No, I can’t think of anyone. At all.”

“Those sorts of noises. Are you sure, Sunny?”

“Yes, Hawk,” I mimicked him. “I’m sure.”

“You give sass like that in the bedroom?”

“If we make it that far.”

My breath hitched as that last one sort of slipped out but damn, this boy brought out the worst in me. I pressed my palms to his chest and stroked downward, molding to the form of the tight abs I’d drooled over before. Maybeboywas underestimating him a bit.

My fingers skimmed lower without conscious thought. Hawk’s hands wrapped around my wrists, halting my progress. Warmth seeped from his flesh to mine. My breath hitched. His hold wasn’t tight exactly, but firm enough to stop me from pulling away.

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