My fingers curled around his arms, and in the next moment, in a rush, we were up against the wall, my body pressed against his.
His mouth opened in shock, but I simply covered it with my own before he could speak. Before he could even breathe.
And then…pleasure. The warmth bloomed against my mouth, heating my cheeks, my neck, traveling down my arms, even inside of me, and to my cock, which hardened against my jeans.
When I released his arms, he lifted his hands to slide into my hair, feathering through the strands in the back.
I moaned against his mouth, going rock hard. I wasn’t the only one. I could feel the heat of him against me. My hips pinned him to the wall and his cock pressed against bone.
His hand slid down my neck, cold for only a moment before the heat swirled in me again.
“This is—” I broke off, mouth unable to move from his long enough to get out a full sentence— “completely wrong—”
He ran his tongue along my lower lip. “Does this feel wrong?”
“It feels…” I shut my eyes. “Like agony.”
His mouth came away from mine, his head thunking quietly against the wall behind him. He couldn’t move, but I wasn’t hurting him.
At least not physically.
My eyes came open, and I saw it right away in his face. The hurt. The pain of what I’d said.
I shook my head. “No—no—that’s not what I mean. Agony, yes. But only because I know I shouldn’t be doing this. Only because I keep trying to fight it when I just want to give in. To touch you. It’s a need inside me, gnawing at me and I—I—”
He blinked and then slowly leaned in again. His lips brushed mine. “Don’t fight it.”
“I don’t think I can anymore.” But then I heard Mr. Dupont walking down the hallway and rushed away from him, moving faster than he could see.
One moment, I was pinning him to the wall, my body blocking his in, and the next, I was standing behind a chair at the table, my erection hidden.
Hawk blinked a few times, and when he realized what had happened, he reached up to straighten his hair. He smiled as Mr. Dupont came in with a tray for coffee.
I watched as Hawk thanked the man, looking far more at ease than he should in a vampire’s house.
In fact, he should be terrified. But I knew I’d never hurt him.
When he ran a hand through his dark hair again, all I felt was tenderness for him. I knew exactly what Jonathan and David had felt now and knew why they hadn’t wanted to be separated. Why Jonathan was willing to leave our clan to be with his soulmate.
But I still didn’t know Hawk’s intentions. All I knew was that it felt like I was going to die if I wasn’t with him.
He looked up when Mr. Dupont left, a small smile curling his lips. “Not that I needed proof that you are who I think you are, but I think I got it.”
“And still, you’re not scared.”
“I told you. You saved my mom’s life. I’m assuming you could have killed me more than once in the time we’ve spent together. But you haven’t laid a finger on me.” His lips curved even more. “At least not a painful one.”
My cock twitched. I wanted more than anything to touch him again, but I forced myself to keep my distance this time. There were far too many other things at stake now, including the lives of all the members of my clan.
But god, when he stood there looking at me like that…I’d never seen so much trust from someone I barely knew. Save for our encounter when he’d been just a child, he had no reason to trust me. Especially not so completely. So much to put his life in my hands.
Being Fated meant a total and complete transformation, it seemed. Hawk was unequivocally a part of my life now, and I had no idea what to do about it. Only that losing him would mean losing a part of myself.
“I can’t tell you anything else about myself until I speak to my clan,” I told him.
He sipped his coffee, considering this for a long moment, and then finally nodded. “I understand. But I have so many questions.”
“Personal or professional?”
He walked to the table and sat in one of the seats, far enough away I felt comfortable relaxing again. The closer it was, the harder it was to control myself.
“Both, I guess. I mean, I’d never write something I didn’t have permission to write. But I’ve been researching you—your kind—for a long time. I’ve traveled all over the world to try to find a vampire. Any vampire.” He leaned forward, shaking his head. “I can’t believe I actually found you, though. The one I’ve been searching for this whole time.”
“But why?” I asked, joining him at the table. “Why was it so important for you to find me?”
He wrapped his hands around his mug, warming it the same way his fingers warmed me.
I tucked my hands under the table so I wouldn’t accidentally reach out to him. I was already struggling with being this close. No wonder Jonathan and David refused to be apart for long. Being Fated was a powerful thing. Inescapable.
“First, I think it was just to prove I’d actually seen what I’d seen. After all, I was old enough to understand that saving someone’s life usually didn’t involve drinking their blood.”
I grimaced. My mistake. One of very few I’d made in a situation like that. I hadn’t had time to erase memories—to compromise what they’d believed. And at the time, I’d thought Hawk too young to remember what had happened. Or maybe too young to truly believe what he’d seen. That maybe the shock would have taken over and he’d have no idea what really happened.
“When I was a teenager, my father died. A heart attack. I was…lost. I don’t know what I would have done if my mom wasn’t there. And the only reason she was there was because of you.”
He smiled at me, the kind of smile that made a man feel like he was the only person on the planet.
“You saved her and she was still there for me. After that, I wanted to thank you. I’d already started researching, but then I made it my mission to find you—or at least, find another vampire. So I could find proof of what had happened. During that research, I came across other supernatural beings. I found haunted houses.” He shrugged. “It was a job, mostly, and a means to an end. The more I studied the paranormal and supernatural, the more of an expert I became. It allowed me to write books and have income, but mostly to have the money and time to travel and do more research.
“And then one day, when I was having lunch with a friend in Chicago, a man came up to our table.”
His gaze faltered, and he looked down at his mug. “I don’t know who he was—he wouldn’t give me his name.”
“What did he want?” I asked, forgetting my infatuation for a moment. “Did he hurt you?”
Hawk’s gaze came back up. The look he gave me was tender enough to almost derail me again. “No, he didn’t. He asked if I was Hawk Verity. I told him I was. He asked me if I knew anything about the clan of vampires in Silver Creek.”
My hands curled into fists. “What did he look like?”
“He…he was tall. Slender—but muscular. He had dark hair, long enough it was in a bun. I didn’t notice the color of his eyes. I was—I was distracted. I’d been asking everywhere I went for clues about you. I never expected someone would come find me. Do you know him?”
“I have a guess,” I murmured. A vampire hunter. Maybe part of the family who had killed my parents.
“Who was he?”
I stood, anger simmering inside. “I don’t know for sure, but it’s doubtful he was on our side. If he was offering you information, he probably wanted to expose us. Either way, it means someone knows where we are.”
He stood as well, concern on his features. “I’m sorry. I had no idea—”
“It’s not your fault,” I assured him, already pulling out my phone to summon the others. “If not for you, we wouldn’t have this information. We wouldn’t know that there was information about us and where we’d traveled to. If you’ll excuse me.”
I put my phone to my ear and walked out of the library, calling Jonathan first. He, above all, would understand how serious this was. And how we might all be in grave danger.