Diablo's MC: Hawk's Angel

Chapter Eight

"And how am I supposed to become a member when I don’t have a motorcycle?" I asked him, curious about his answer.

"How am I going to tell you this without being too forward and scaring you away?" His head dropped, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "The only way you can become part of the club is if you become my Old Lady."

My jaw dropped to the bed as I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. I just got out of a three-year relationship, and I am not ready for another one right now. I must focus on myself, rebuild my life after everything I have lost: my job, my home, everything I had in New York.

"Hawk," I sputtered, but closed my mouth. His hand slowly went to my face, settling along my jaw. He stroked my cheek with his thumb, letting me know it was okay. "Hawk, you have to understand that I just left a three-year relationship,” I explained to him. “I lost everything. The reason I came here is to start over, to rebuild, to find myself again after being Rodney’s puppet. I don’t know if I can be your Old Lady right now."

"I understand, but we can pretend you are my Old Lady to make sure you are safe. Until your ex is going to leave you alone," he suggested. "But it will be hard to keep my hands to myself. You are beautiful, inside and out."

I laughed out loud, but briefly, as my ribs protested the laugh.

"Right now, I look horrible with a bruised face and a broken jaw," I told him.

"But still beautiful to me." His dark brown eyes locked onto mine, and it was as if time stood still. Hawk leaned in, as if he wanted to kiss me. As he moved closer, I didn’t break the lock our eyes had. Instead of kissing my lips, he moved to my cheek and kissed it tenderly.

"I don’t want to get you too excited," he whispered in my ear. "I won’t do anything you are not comfortable with, even holding your hand."

"I like it when you hold my hand," I told him. "It brings calm to my body, and your touch relaxes me, like it is doing now."

His thumb moved again, stroking my cheek. I leaned into his touch, closing my eyes.

He moved his face towards mine, and this time, he gently placed a kiss on my lips.

The kiss sent a jolt through my body, like an electric current, bringing my body to life. There was something about Hawk that woke my senses, unlike Rodney, who made them dull.

"You liked that?" he whispered after he pulled away. A moan slipped through my lips, and he chuckled. "I take that as a yes. But that is all I am going to do unless you want more later."

He leans back, pulling his hand away from my cheek. His warmth instantly disappeared, and I wanted more of his warmth.

He went to move towards the chair, but I stopped him when I grabbed his arm.

"Don’t move," I whispered. "Keep me warm."

A brief smile broke across his face. He took his boots off, carefully climbed into bed with me, and I cuddled up to him, where I fell back asleep, feeling all warm, fuzzy, and safe with him.

I don’t know how long I was asleep, but when I woke up, it was dark outside. Once again, I was alone, and Hawk wasn’t in bed with me.

I carefully pushed myself into a sitting position and tried to pull the covers off me. Someone placed a walker next to the bed for me, knowing I would need it to get to the bathroom. I used it to get to the bathroom, did my business, and looked at myself in the mirror for the first time since I had been here.

I couldn’t believe what I looked like. The swelling and bruising remained in my right eye, and a bruise formed under my left eye because of the broken nose. My lower lip appeared split open and swollen. That is why he was so gentle with his kiss. He didn’t want to cause any more pain than I already was in.

"Arielle, are you in there?" I heard Hawk’s voice in the bedroom. I washed my face as fast as I could and went back into the bedroom. In his hands were my duffel bag and backpack.

"I figured you would like your things," he says to me, holding them up. "I’ll put them over here." He takes them over to a bench and sets them there. "Anything you want from your bags?"

"There is a little black book," I told him. "I need to call my boss and let him know I am okay."

"Arielle, until we know you are safe, I can’t let you do that," he told me. "If you want, I can call him and let him know you are safe in an unknown location. Once everything has been taken care of and calmed down, you can call him."

I narrowed my good eye at him, pissed that I couldn’t call the only other person in New York whom I trusted.

He continued to explain to me, "I don’t know if this person is connected to your ex, and I will let him know where you are."

"Oli hates Rodney with a passion," I told him. "He has chased him out of the diner with a butcher knife a few times, and one time, a twelve-gauge shotgun, firing a shot at him as he ran down the street. Oli won’t betray me."

Hawk chuckled as I told him about Oli. He fished his phone out of his back pocket and handed it to me, along with my black book.

I dialed Oli’s number, and luckily, he answered after a couple of rings.

"If this is a telemarketer, I am not interested," he answered the phone.

"Oli, it’s me, Arielle," I told him.

"ARI! Are you okay?" he asked me. "I got worried after I hadn’t heard from you for a couple of days, especially when you missed your shift!"

"I’m fine, Oli," I assured him. "I had to run. Rodney tried to kill me. I caught him cheating on me with Rosita."

"That f*****g bastard," he growled through the phone. "I’ll castrate him, and Rosita is f*****g fired!"

"Oli, no! I got karma on my side with Rodney," I told him, staring at my guardian angel. "Save this number. It belongs to a guy named Hawk. I need eyes and ears on Rodney. Just until I know I am safe from him."