Page 68 of Hawke

Bram choked, holding onto Hawke’s wrists, but he didn’t seem in the slightest bit worried. His face was turning purple and when I raced toward Hawke, he let go of Bram, who fell onto his knees.

“You almost killed him!” I slapped Hawke’s bare chest.

His meaty, bulky chest.Yum.

Hawke kept my hand on his chest, holding me close to his body. His lips curved into a sneer, and he pulled me away from Bram, who was slowly getting to his feet.

“It’s alright, girly.” Bram pushed up onto his knees and brushed off his shoulders. “I’m older than I look.”

I blinked, watching him move to a nearby chair and sit in it.

“It’s,I’m younger than I look, right?” I asked.

Bram threw his head back, slapping his knee. “No, I meant what I said. I’m older than I look. And quite a bit stronger, too.” He winked, but his face fell. “Ah, Delilah, how about we get you to sit back down?”

Hawke growled, pulling me closer to his body. A wave a dizziness hit me again, and he gently picked me up and laid me on the bed, wrapping me into a cocoon of blankets that smelled heavily of his scent. I relaxed instantly, but I tried to wiggle free.

“Be still,” Hawke’s deep voice didn’t invoke fear but straight arousal. My heart skipped a beat, and my thighs clenched together in anticipation as his gaze met mine.

We’d experienced so much sexual tension over the years. The past two days were full of touching that I would love to repeat over and over, but I had a job to get to.

“I have work–”

“No. You don’t,” Hawke gruffed, wrapping me back in the blankets. “You are sick. I need to get you better.”

“I don’t want to give it up yet!” I argued. “I promised him I’d help him next week!”

Hawke growled again, his teeth growing larger, bigger that his mouth should be able to accommodate. I gazed up at him, growling back, and Bram chuckled in the corner.

“Don’t worry, Delilah. I’ve already taken care of your leave of absence.” Bram used air quotations to get his point across. “It is highly advisable that you don’t leave your mate’s side.” His voice became dark. “This sickness isn’t to be taken lightly, and it could put you both in danger. You must remain close with one another until it’s resolved.”

I remained in my cocoon, and Hawke sighed heavily, brushing his messy hair with his claws. Yes, claws, they were black, long, and I shivered at what they would feel like if he decided to run them up and down my leg.

“You are killing me, Sunshine,” Hawke whined.

I gazed at his crotch and Calamity Jane. It was thick.

His nose flared and turned away from me to look out the other window on his side of the bed.

The air was not only thick with tension but questions, too. They both knew things I didn’t, and I was getting quite frustrated, but most of all, I felt tired and weak.

I hadn’t felt this way in a long time, not since…Shane.And like gravy and meatballs, I felt like crap.

“Can someone please, kindly explain what is going on?” I asked. My head slumped back onto the pillow.

Hawke leaned against the window frame, his muscular chest breathing deep and heavy. The ripple of his side muscles made me lick my lips, and Bram chuckled as he riffled through the dresser.

Bram carefully pulled out a clump of weeds and then pulled a lighter from his pocket. He grabbed one end of the object and, as the flames flickered, he moved it around the room in a sweeping motion.

Hawke paused for a moment, taking in the atmosphere, rolled his eyes, and then joined me once more on the bed. He gently ran his claws through my hair while sitting beside me. The scraping of his claws was so delightful that I almost felt my eyes rolling back into my head.

“This is white sage,” Bram began.

Bram looked like the stereotypical western man. The handlebar mustache, the plaid shirt, and the cowboy boots called him out on that. Now that he was burning a bundle a witch would use, I shifted my views on him into a whole new light.

“This burn is cleaning and purifying the room. I’m clearing out the negative energy, the doubts, the fears that would fill a human when it comes to the unknown.”

Bram continued to walk around the room in a clockwise circle, hovering the burning bundle over the bed until he placed the remaining burning sage on a plate that was safe for fire to burn on. He brushed his hands off and put his hands on his hips.

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