Page 48 of Leading Conviction
Hannah waved him off, breaking eye contact with an awkward huff. “No, I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to get into it.” She sighed. “I came to get Tommy for bed.”
“Right.” The hesitation in Hawk’s voice made her stomach leap.
Stay.
The thought came unbidden, but once she’d had it, she realized how much she wanted to say it out loud. She’d already begged for it once before, though. There was no way she’d do it again, no matter how much she wanted to. She couldn’t bear the rejection.
“Well, um, I guess I should be a gentleman and escort you to your room, then,” Hawk murmured and held open the rooftop door for her.
The gesture would’ve made other women smile, but all she wanted to do was slam it shut and pounce on him. Whether that was to yell at him or kiss him, she didn’t know, but the urge was strong. Her emotions had always been overwhelming around this man, and nearly a decade of yearning between them did nothing to remedy that.
“Thanks,” she said curtly, unable to hide her disappointment.
But as soon as she was about to walk through the door, a strong, calloused hand tugged her back and spun her around.
This time, her sky came crashing down.
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
There was nothing tender or gentlemanly about the covetous way Hawk’s lips slammed against hers. He devoured her the way she’d had to dream about for years with her hand between her thighs. His scent enveloped her, drawing her into him and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He bent to lay his glove on the ground and as he stood, he scooped her up underneath her thighs. She locked her heels around his lower back and held on while he carried her across the roof.
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask where they were going, but she forgot the question entirely as his own tongue pushed through her lips, insisting on entry before it dipped into her mouth. When that warm, slick muscle intertwined with hers, tingles zapped down her spine and she moaned into his mouth.
He cupped the globes of her ass and lifted her higher. Before she could register what was happening, he plopped her into the helicopter’s pilot seat and threaded his hand through her hair, unraveling her braid. His large palm spanned the back of her head, cradling it as his tongue dove deeper into her mouth and his other arm curved around her hips to scoot her close until her core pressed against his upper abs.
“Goddamn, you taste like home, dove,” he moaned against her lips. “Like sweet tea and oranges.”
“Made my recipe this morning,” she replied with a smile and pushed her center against him to find some friction. “Glad you like it.”
“Fuck yeah, I do. I love it.”
He was only talking about sweet tea, so why did those last three words make her heart race in her chest faster than it had in years? It was exhilarating to know he still had this effect on her after all this time. Exhilarating… and terrifying.
With one hand still tugging her hair, Hawk’s other hand slipped underneath her T-shirt next to her jeans' button. His fingertips grazed the sensitive skin along her waistband. Her lower belly flipped but even as her legs tugged him closer, she stopped him with her hand on his wrist.
“Hawk, wait… I don’t know.”
He pulled away and nodded at her words.
“I know,” he sighed. “It’s too soon—”
“No, it’s not that, it’s just…”
How could she explain it? It wasn’t too soon, not for her. She’d been missing this man for nearly tenyears, two of which she’d thought he was gone forever. But before he left, they’d had a level of trust that she still needed now. She wasn’t sure if she could give herself to him, not yet.
But soon.
His eyebrow rose along with his voice as he spoke, “Talk to me, dove.”
“My life has been so out of control lately,” she finally whispered. “Not knowing where I’ll be living, who I can talk to, whether my art will pay rent. It’s been uncertainty day in and day out. I want to trust you. But I don’t know if I can give over what little control I have.”
Understanding relaxed his handsome features. “That makes total sense. We can go back downstairs…” He trailed off as she shook her head.
“I don’t want to stop. I just don’t want to move forward yet.”
Hawk frowned. “Okay, maybe I don’t get it.”
She groaned into a laugh. At a loss of how to explain it to him, her gaze flitted around her surroundings, to see if anything could help.
