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“So maybe we’ll skip that part, and I’ll just start fucking you again.” He pushed forward, and my entire body twitched at the sensitive contact with my clit.
“Hawk…” I warned, trying to keep my voice steady but instantly hearing that breathy post-sex tone.
“I’ll never get enough of that,” he muttered, pulling back just enough to press his mouth against mine, swallowing my extremely satisfied sigh before pulling away. “So, you have any idea where you tossed your panties?”
HAWK
“I saw your sister at the park a few days ago.”
Missy pulled her cell out of some fucking magic pocket in her dress, her fingers moving quickly over the screen while I threaded my belt back through my jeans. “You talk to her?”
She nodded, tucking the phone away again and readjusting her dress before leaning back against the wall when she was satisfied her body was once again covered. “Yeah. She’s sweet. She came and chatted with me while Kadey played with Gem. Then Kadey streaked naked across the park.”
“Of course she did,” I said with a soft chuckle.
“I was gonna ask Grace if she wanted to hang out for a bit and get ice cream, but then she just said she had to go and rushed across the road to a van.”
“She has to follow strict rules when she’s out in public,” I explained, forgetting for a second that Missy had no idea what rules or why. But I could tell the questions were instantly there as she pressed her lips together, moving her mouth from side to side as if she was fighting with the words sitting behind them.
I let out a huff of laughter, knowing exactly what was coming next but amused by the way she wasn’t sure how to ask.
“She talks and dresses funny, and when you cuss, it makes her blush,” I said.
“Yes.” She sighed, her shoulders sagging in relief. “What’s that about?”
Moving to the wall, I flicked the switches that controlled the doors. They buzzed loudly before the motors kicked in, and they began to roll up, the sunlight and heat slowly creeping in. “You ever heard of The Valley?”
She shook her head, moving closer, her eyes alight with curiosity.
“It’s a religious group outside of the city. They live on a large piece of land, and have their own little community outside of regular people,” I explained, leaning back against my ride and folding my arms across my chest. I hated speaking about these people, hated acknowledging their existence in the world, because every time I did, without fail, I could feel that burn moving through my veins, the snake venom eating away at my flesh. “Men take multiple wives, women are there for cooking, cleaning, and breeding, and you must never waver in your commitment to God.”
“I… what?” She stumbled with a heavy frown. “Okay. So why is she there and you’re not?”
“I wavered.” I lifted my arm and pointed to the scar that I knew she had already seen but had yet to question. “Punishments for asking questions are heavy. In my case, almost death.”
Her hand unconsciously pressed to her heart, her eyes growing wide.
It was a story I hardly ever told. A piece of my past that I had physical and mental reminders of every goddamn day. But she needed to know. She needed to be aware of just what kind of fucked-up man she was getting involved with. The kind of baggage I was carrying on my shoulders.
“Bishop is actually my uncle,” I continued, watching her try to make sense of what I was telling her as she paced back and forth. “He found out the prophets were planning to punish me and got there just in time. Well, in time to save me, but not in time to stop the damage that’d already been done.”
She eased forward, each step so light, so careful.
I fucking hated that.
Reaching out, I dragged her in, spreading my legs and settling her between them. With one arm wrapped around her waist, I used my scarred arm to reach up, my palm caressing her jaw before I slipped my fingers into her hair. I twisted the long, dark strands around them and tugged gently, earning me a soft gasp as I directed her head to the side and exposed her neck. “Don’t treat me like glass. This shit isn’t proof of how they broke me.” I growled in her ear. “It’s proof of how I came out of it in one fucking piece.”
She didn’t speak but instead reached for her dress.
My eyes followed as she pulled it up, this time right to her waist.
When I saw it, my gaze jerked back to hers, and she smiled. “Same.”
My hand slipped from her hair and moved down to cup her face. “What happened?” The soft pink scar at the bottom of her stomach was about six inches long and perfectly aligned with her hips.
She licked her lips. “There were complications when I had Kadey. I had a placental abruption, so they rushed me into surgery and did an emergency C-section.” Her eyes seemed to get lost, wandering around the room as she recited a story I imagine she’d told more times than she liked. “I lost a lot of blood and died once.”
“Fuck,” I hiss, the sharp curse making her jerk from her daydream.
