Hawke's Claim (Fallen Saints MC Book 2) Read online

  EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2020 Winter Sloane

  ISBN: 978-0-3695-0259-9

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: Audrey Bobak

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  To my readers, I hope you enjoy Hawke and Bonnie’s story as much as I loved writing it.

  HAWKE’S CLAIM

  Fallen Saints MC, 2

  Winter Sloane

  Copyright © 2020

  Chapter One

  I hope this dress will throttle him.

  Bonnie eyed her reflection in the full-length mirror in her room. The white dress hugged her every curve, leaving nothing to the imagination. The tube top dipped low to her cleavage. When she spun, she could make out the firm shape of her ass. Bonnie killed this dress and she knew it. Too bad she was wearing it for the wrong reasons.

  It wasn’t Teddy, her prom date, she wanted to impress. Not his fresh-cheeked handsome profile she imagined kissing. She might be a virgin, but she was an MC princess. Her father, Saint, was the prez of the Fallen Saints MC. She grew up in the Fallen Saints clubhouse. She’d seen how the club whores acted around the MC brothers.

  Bonnie didn’t have their desperation or their confidence. Her father might be a bastard, but he hadn’t raised her to be a whore. Even at school, they called her a goody-two-shoes who got good grades and never got in trouble with the law.

  All her life, she wanted folks to see her differently. To say she wasn’t a reflection of the man who’d raised her. As if Saint had a hand in child rearing. Her father was like most men in the MC. He only loved two things—to fuck and fight.

  Bonnie ran a comb through her dark-brown curls and checked her makeup. Tonight, she felt wild and reckless. Rebellious. Three adjectives she’d never used to describe herself. A knock on her bedroom door made her turn. As she saw Hawke, her pulse raced. A thrill went down her spine.

  Hawke leaned against the doorway, his lips curved downward. Lately, he only seemed to have frowns for her. Now this was how a real man should look like. All rough and tumble. Edgy. Wild. Hawke always wore his dark-brown hair short, his beard trimmed. There were more gray stands in there than brown now. He wore what he usually did, the Fallen Saints MC jacket over a plain white t-shirt that sculpted his massive chest and shoulders. Hawke was also clad in worn jeans and dirty work boots, even in this house.

  She wore this provocative little number just so Hawke’s eyes would pop, and it worked. He looked her up and down. Like always, his heated gaze made her shiver. Her nipples tightened under the thin material of the dress. She imagined flinging herself at him. Bonnie was no light-weight, but Hawke was gigantic. He’d easily catch her. It was his mouth she imagined descending on hers in fierce possession, Hawke running his big hands down her curves. If Hawke lifted the hem and touched her there, at her most intimate place—

  “Hell will freeze over before I let you out of the house dressed like that,” Hawke said with a growl.

  Just like that, her initial elation deflated. Bonnie scoffed. “You’re not my father.” Hawke had been her guardian, her bodyguard, for as long as she could remember. Bonnie knew the best words that could easily wound him. Hawke flinched.

  “I’m not,” the former Marine admitted. “But you’re still going to change. Saint will have a heart attack if he sees you. Where did you even get that dress?”

  Hawke sounded puzzled. No surprise there. Saint made sure Hawke shadowed her every moment. Hawke had even gone with her when she shopped for her prom dress. This dress had looked ugly and average when Bonnie first tried it on but she knew with a little snip and tuck, she could make it fit her body like a glove.

  “Watch me.” They eyed each other like wary opponents on a battlefield. They were the most intense few minutes of her life. Sweat beaded down her back. She silently dared him to do it. To reprimand her. To throw her on the bed and tell her she needed to be disciplined. That she was his woman and she shouldn’t be flaunting her body like this because she was alone for him to possess.

  In her dreams maybe.

  The doorbell rang downstairs. Thank God. Bonnie didn’t know how long she could endure this stupid staring contest. If Hawke didn’t want her, then fine. Someone else did.

  “My date’s here. Move.” She threw him a withering glance.

  When Hawke didn’t budge, she shouldered her way past him and the doorway. Not an easy feat. Hawke grunted when she shoved at him. He placed his big and inked hand over her bare shoulder. His breathing turned harsh. Hawke only needed to tell her two simple words to make her stay.

  You’re mine.

  All this would stop. Bonnie was only acting like a brat and dressed like a slut so he’d finally admit there was more to their relationship. That she was more to him than a simple job, than the prez’s daughter.

  Hawke kept his mouth shut. He took several steps backward, as if being in close proximity to her was dangerous. Toxic.

  “Figures,” she muttered.

  Bonnie fled down the stairs. She swiped her tiny purse from the table at the foot of the stairs. She imagined the other girls in her school would have their doting parents snapping photos of them and their date. Bonnie could ask someone if that theory was true, except she didn’t have friends. From the first day she’d walked into that school, everyone knew who she was. That she was the daughter of a criminal.

  Despite her rocky relationship with her old man, she wished it was Saint seeing her off. Saint warning Teddy to keep his hands to himself and behave around his little girl. Too bad her father was off riding in the sunset, doing God knew what. Probably something illegal. Probably breaking the law. Bonnie had never been Saint’s number one priority. She wasn’t even his second or third.

  Only Hawke waited for her on the steps. The biker cast an intimidating and silent shadow.

  “You’ve changed, Bonnie.”

  What the hell did he mean? Was he judging her? Screw him and everyone else in the Fallen Saints MC.

  “In case you haven’t noticed, Hawke, I’m no longer that same little girl who ran right to you because I scraped my knee.”

  Hawke had been there, night and day. Good times and bad. Most of the locals in Redemption took one look at Hawke and ran in the opposite direction. Bonnie knew better.

  “I know,” Hawke told her simply. “That’s the problem.”

  Was Hawke ever going to do anything about this, about them? Unlikely. That was why Bonnie had to make the first move.

  “Remember,” Bonnie said. “You agreed to let me handle this. Dad said you don’t need to tail me on this date.”

  It had taken her forever to make her father agree to that bargain. She’d kept bugging him, reminding Saint that she was nineteen. That she was an adult capable of making her own choices now.

  A tic appeared on Hawke’s scarred cheek. “Saint made a mistake.”

  “Not my problem. Saint doesn’t give two shits about me. He never did.”

  “Bonnie,” Hawke said. The biker ran a hand through his hair. “You know that’s not true. Saint cares deeply about you. In his own way.”

  She snorted. “Sure, I used to tell myself that plenty of times growing up.”

  What was she still doing here? Hell. Bonnie knew the answer. She loved to banter with Hawke. Bonnie could argue with him all night long if it meant she had his undivided attention. Simply being in his presence calmed her.

  Bonnie never understood why. Maybe because even around his MC brothers, Hawke didn’t speak much, but he talked to her. Hawke opened up to her and allowed Bonnie to see a side of him he never revealed to anyone else. She was always special to him, or maybe that was only wishful thinking on her part.

  Teddy rang the bell again.

  Bonnie stomped toward the door and there he was, young and handsome Teddy. Blond, handsome, and a member of the school’s football team. A hundred girls would die to be his date. He was everything Hawke wasn’t—but she felt absolutely nothing toward him.

  Teddy had asked her three times. Bonnie only agreed to go out with him after a heated argument with Hawke. She wanted Hawke to see what exactly he was missing out on. Bonnie wasn’t an idiot. She knew it would be impossible to bring someone like Hawke to the prom but she thought they could find an alternative. They could stay home. Bonnie would’ve still donned this dress for him. They could dance in the living room, sway together to the silent music.

  “Wow, Bonnie. You look amazing,” Teddy said. “The other guys on the team are going to be super jealous.”

  He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Bonnie snuck a look over her shoulder to see Hawke blistering. The huge biker’s jaw was clenched and he’d curled his fists to his sides. It looked like Hawke was ready to erupt into violence at any time.

  His rough appearance and muscles weren’t for show either. Bonnie had seen him fight and once, even kill a man with his bare hands. Another woman would’ve been frightened of him after seeing that but not her. He’
d always been just Hawke to her.

  Fiercely protective, always nearby. Always too far away to touch. Bonnie might only be nineteen, but she already knew what she wanted. Who she wanted.

  “Oh, right. Almost forgot. I got you a corsage.” Teddy pulled out a pink flower from a case.

  Only Hawke would know she hated that color with a passion.

  “Thanks,” she said. Teddy placed it over her wrist. He rubbed his thumb over her pulse. Goosebumps appeared over her skin. She drew back away from him.

  “You ready?” Teddy asked her.

  Was she? No. Not really. Doubts crept inside her.

  Bonnie had been warned by another girl in school about Teddy. Not one of his exes, but someone a Teddy recently slept with.

  “He’s not who you think he is.”

  Her warning resonated in her head, but Bonnie threw caution to the wind. Bonnie had grown up around dangerous men, bikers who lived by their own rules and did whatever they wanted. Teddy had nothing on her father, on Hawke or the others.

  “I am. Let’s go,” she told Teddy.

  He slid his arms around her shoulders. Bonnie felt uncomfortable about that, about his casual touches, but she was good at pretending. She pretended to look bored as she walked out of the house that had always been empty. Teddy opened the car door for her, like a real gentleman. His pretty blue eyes gleamed.

  She didn’t miss the way he looked her up and down. When Hawke silently appraised her earlier, a thrill went down her spine, but when Teddy did it, she felt repulsed. She knew she wouldn’t let Teddy lay a finger on her.

  This date was just for show. Teddy was a guy. Men only had one thing on their minds, but if Teddy thought he was getting lucky tonight, he had another thing coming.

  “I’ve booked a hotel room for us tonight,” Teddy said as he got behind the wheel of the vintage dark-green Mustang his wealthy daddy probably bought him.

  “That’s a little presumptuous, don’t you think?”

  Teddy laughed. “Don’t be like that, Bonnie. You play hard to get, but I know the real you.”

  “I doubt it.” Alarm bells rang in her head. It wasn’t too late to back away from this stupid plan of hers to spite Hawke and render him mad with jealousy. God. She sounded like a spoiled princess, didn’t she?

  She turned her head back to Hawke, who was now standing at the porch, his expression dark and hard to read. One word, one gesture from her, and he’d come running. He’d always been her dark knight, except Bonnie wanted to teach him a lesson. That she didn’t need rescuing all the time. She could fend for herself. She wasn’t his princess to save.

  Chapter Two

  Hawke watched Teddy and Bonnie depart. He pursed his lips. His phone vibrated in his pocket, but he ignored it for a few moments. Hawke breathed in and out, letting his simmering rage boil over him. Hawke had been this close to wrapping his hands around that smirking bastard’s neck and choking the very life out of him.

  He knew Bonnie better than she knew herself. Bonnie was clearly uncomfortable being around that smooth-talking and cocky prick. Why was she doing this? To make a point. Hawke remembered staring down at her from the steps, feeling a little dazed. Part of him wondered when the sweet young woman he’d watched over for so many years disappeared.

  She was still there, Hawke realized. Except Bonnie had changed. A fierce and sexy woman stared defiantly back at him, daring him to cross the line between them. He sucked in the cold night air. Did Bonnie really think he was just going to stand by and let her leave with Teddy?

  His phone vibrated again. This time, he picked up the call. He wasn’t surprised it was Saint.

  “Bonnie?” Saint asked.

  “Already left with her date.” Hawke kept his tone in check. Bonnie was right. Saint was sometimes blind when it came to her, so Hawke was pretty certain Saint didn’t know there was something between them. No, that was wrong. There was a potential for Bonnie and him to be more, if Hawke let it.

  She obviously held zero feelings for Teddy. Teddy didn’t realize it yet, but he was being used. Hawke had a feeling Bonnie didn’t realize she might just be a little over her head. Teddy clearly didn’t have noble intentions. He didn’t like the way that fucker looked at Bonnie. Bonnie was only Hawke’s prize to claim and no one else’s.

  God knew Hawke did his best to keep his distance over the years. At first, he’d resented it when Saint gave him this job. He felt his talents could be better utilized elsewhere. Eventually, he understood Saint’s motivations. Saint wanted the best killer to guard his little girl. Except Bonnie wasn’t so little anymore and clearly, she had a mind of her own.

  “Hawke, you still there?” Saint asked impatiently.

  “Yeah. I’m about to get on my bike to follow her. I’ll keep my distance and make sure she doesn’t know I’m there.” Hawke might look physically imposing but he knew how to blend into his surroundings, to appear invisible. Right now, getting to Bonnie was his number one priority.

  “Good. Make sure this bastard she’s with doesn’t try anything funny with her.”

  “He’s a dead man walking,” Hawke said in a cold voice.

  Saint killed the call. Hawke mounted his bike. The engine roared to life. In moments, Hawke was on the road, the wind on his face and beard. There was nothing quite like being on his Harley with nothing but the road in front of him. Having a woman ride him was a close second.

  There was a reason Hawke only engaged in hookups and casual sex. The club whores were always rearing to go, so he easily could have his needs taken care of. He’d always been out of luck when it came to relationships. His ex-wife Cara had cheated on him with his then best friend. After Cara, he’d sworn off anything complicated.

  Lately, even while he fucked a club whore, it was Bonnie’s face he pictured, her sweet curves he imagined holding.

  Bonnie wasn’t just off-limits to him but everyone else in the club. Saint would have his head if he knew what kind of filthy thoughts Hawke entertained. He couldn’t forget how his blood had run hot when he glimpsed her in that itty-bitty white dress that covered practically nothing. Bonnie should only be wearing that little number for his eyes alone.

  Fuck. Hawke was miserable and downright pathetic. He didn’t use to be like this. Before Bonnie entered his life and became his new mission, he never imagined ever letting a woman chain him down.

  Hawke picked up the speed. He rode past the neighborhood Bonnie lived in. That was right. Hawke didn’t include Saint because Saint was seldom at the house. Saint spent most of his time back at the clubhouse. He ate, slept, and fucked there. Some days, Hawke even pretended it was just Bonnie and him living in their own little world. Nothing else mattered.

  It was becoming clear to Hawke that Bonnie was a lost sheep that didn’t know what the hell she wanted. Would it be so wrong to cross the distance between them? Clearly, she needed direction and a firm hand. Hell, she chose Teddy over him. Hawke had to admit that was partially his fault. He didn’t really think Bonnie would go through this charade just to make him jealous.

  Hawke reached the school. He parked his bike in the parking lot and looked for Teddy’s ride. There it was. Empty. Teddy and Bonnie were probably in the gym by now.

  “Did you see who was on Teddy’s arm?” he overheard one of the guys nearby asking.

  Hawke stilled. Instinct told him to linger. To listen. They wouldn’t let him inside the building anyway. It didn’t matter if Hawke changed out of his jacket. He had always stood out, even before he joined the Marines or the MC. He’d always been the big kid who stuck out like a sore thumb. Right now, no one paid him attention. Dreamy-eyed couples held each other’s hands and walked past him.

  His heart ached because Bonnie deserved the world. Hawke always hoped she’d find one decent guy in town around her age. Someone who came from a good family, who’d treat her the way she deserved to be treated. Like the fucking queen she was. Too bad this miserable town was in short supply of decent men.