Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
She was free of her mother, until she came back around and life got complicated again. Nikki didn’t wait for Hawk to follow her.
She started down one of the paths that seemed uninhabited. She needed a few moments to think, clear her head, push all those bad memories back into the box, and keep it sealed tightly shut. Each memory of her mother shouting at her, slapping her, back where they belonged. The name-calling and the nastiness all got shoved aside. She didn’t need to think of the men who told her how ugly she was. Nor the men that told her she might be ugly now, but there was going to come a time she’d be beautiful. The wandering hands. The darkness.
“Hey,” Hawk said, grabbing her, and suddenly she was in his arms.
She had been close to panicking.
He didn’t squash her ice cream, but he held her close. The smell of leather and oil, along with his masculine scent helped fight the demons taking over her thoughts.
“It wasn’t always a good time,” Nikki said. “The drugs messed with my mom, and it either turned her into a good parent or a bad parent. Also, jealousy. My mom got jealous a lot, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. She would accuse me of trying to take her men. I never wanted her men. Never wanted anything to do with them.”
It was like something had lifted and the moment she began to talk, she didn’t stop.
She told him about the man that locked her into a cupboard, sealing up all the holes so she had no light and only a bucket to use as a bathroom. How to this very day, she was still afraid of the dark. The men that tried to touch her. How some of the men made her mother jealous. All of it spilled out, and by the end, her ice cream had melted and the cone was soggy.
Hawk took the ice cream from her, throwing it to the ground for the birds to eat. He took her hand, and one by one sucked the ice cream from her fingers.
Nikki didn’t know if this was him being caring, but it felt so different. She was a little taken aback. She didn’t know what to think or to feel.
There was a pulse between her thighs, and it was like an instant tug on her clit as he sucked each digit clean. In a strange thought, she was so pleased she washed her hands regularly. Once her hand was clean, he cupped her face. Did he see that she was a little shaken? She didn’t know if it was from spilling the truth, or what he’d just done to her hand. It felt … incredible.
“It’s okay,” he said.
She believed him.
This was another odd feeling. All her life, people had let her down, and she had gotten so used to that feeling, she didn’t believe anyone who told her it was going to be okay. Why would she? Most people who told her it would be, often lied. Her mother being the biggest liar of them all.
“No one is going to hurt you anymore.”
“That’s why I moved out,” she said.
“No one has tried to hurt you at the trailer?”
She shook her head. “I mean, I was robbed, but that happened once and I was working. I’ve put extra locks and secured it a little better.” She knew if someone wanted to get into her trailer, no locks was going to stop them.
“You won’t have to worry anymore.”
She let out a little laugh. “I’m so sorry about this,” she said.
“About what?”
“This, I mean, I’ve spilled my guts to you. All you wanted was a ride, and I sucked the fun right out of it.”
“You did no such thing.” He reached out and tucked some hair behind her ear. “You did exactly what I wanted you to do. You trusted me.”
Even still, this was embarrassing to her. She felt her cheeks heat.
“So, uh, do you want to tell me anything about you?” She really wanted him to share something.
Hawk stared at her. “I got one of the women at the club to pay a visit to your friend,” he said.
“What?”
“Diana hit you, and I made sure she paid the price.”
Nikki couldn’t believe what he was telling her. “You’re being serious?”
“Yes.”
“You hit Diana?”
“No. I take care of bigger problems. This was between the women.”
Nikki didn’t know what to say. “Is she okay?”
“She treated you like shit, and you still care?”
“She is still my friend.” Then she frowned. “I don’t know if she is or not.”
“Someone who doesn’t have your back is not your friend.”
****
Hawk arrived at Nikki’s trailer, and before he even had a chance to knock on her door, she stood with it open.
“Don’t you have anything better to do?” she asked.