Page 83 of Restless Hawke

Punishing strokes.

A rhythm that won’t allow me to last much longer.

The slap of our skin and bodies coming together echoes violently around the room.

She gasps and cries out, clutching the comforter, and the way she begs for release might as well be fucking kerosene being thrown on the fire that’s been raging since the moment our eyes met at that bar.

I reach around and find her clit, clenching it between my thumb and forefinger and twisting it as I continue to drive into her, unable to keep the game up any longer.

Allegra told me what she wants.

But I’m not going to give it to her tonight.

I have to keep something from her, hold something back to protect myself.

That’s becoming harder and harder.

After seeing her at the Hawke table, surrounded by the entire family, everyone I love and care about, everyone I’m doing all this for, it felt almost right to have her there.

Like she belonged.

Just like she belongshere. In my condo. In my bed. In my arms. Locked together in the most intimate way imaginable, with nothing between us except the lies I still feel like she’s telling me—or at least the things she’s holding back.

Iknowshe isn’t being one hundred percent honest with me. It’s obvious since I was taught to sniff out a liar from a mile away at a very young age by the man who excels at it in the courtroom, but even knowing that, I can’t bring myself to walk away.

And that’s fucking terrifying.

I can’t fall for a woman like Allegra, who’s walking sex and danger and lies and ulterior motives.

They ooze out of her the same way my cum does from my cock as I bury myself to the hilt and her pussy clenches and drags out my orgasm. I collapse on top of her and roll to the side, dragging her with me, keeping myself embedded deep inside her.

It takes several moments before I can process thoughts again after that. The little rapid-fire shocks of pleasure still making my body twitch and my brain foggy.

But one thing screams at me with crystal clarity.

Something I should have demanded before we made it this far.

Before I brought her to Nana’s.

Before I introduced her to the entire family.

Before I allowed myself to give a damn about her.

Kissing the back of her sweat-dampened neck, I brush my lips against her ear. “You want my cock again…anywhere…”—I glide my palm over her ass cheek—“then I’m going to need you to come clean about everything. Do you understand?”

I can’t do this if I can’t trust her.

She nods but doesn’t say anything before her body sags even more and she drifts off to sleep.

12

COEN

Well played.

The two words scrawled across the king of hearts stare back at me.

Taunting me.