Chapter Four

Sky’s mind raced while Hawk was in the bathroom and he completely missed the man returning to the room until the sound of rustling through the bag reached him.

His eyes flew to Hawk and the man’s face held that damned smirk, and when Hawk dropped the towel, Sky yanked his eyes away.

The rustle of clothing did nothing to calm his pulse and when the bed bounced, he fucking squeaked.

Hawk chuckled and Sky swung around with a hot glare, only to find the man sprawled on the other side of the bed—wearing only a pair of boxers. He’d trimmed his beard into a short, sexy frame of jaw and lips.

Sexy? Shit.

“Might as well stretch out.”

He clenched his teeth at the low, rumbling words and tried to get his mind off the man’s fresh smell from the soap in the shower and the sleepy look—and why the hell was he suddenly fighting the urge to crawl into the big man’s arms and cry?

“Asshole,” Sky muttered instead.

“What’d I do?”

He glared. “Ever occur to you that I might like a shower?”

Hawk studied him for so long, Sky looked away.

“Give me your word that you won’t attack me again and I’ll let you have the bathroom.”

Sky snapped around with a frown. “What if I escape?” Great. Just tell the guy your plans. Ugh.

Hawk nodded to the door. “Out there? You don’t know who is waiting for you.”

“What’s that mean?” He plucked at the bedspread.

“It means since I didn’t kill you, then he’ll send someone else.”

Sky shivered at the banked anger in Hawk’s deep, rasping voice and sighed. Better the devil you know than the ones you don’t, he thought, pulling at his bottom lip with his fingers.

“Okay, I won’t attack you.”

He might as well play along, right? Although, when he got the chance, he was going to get away from Hawk and disappear.

It took another minute or so for Hawk to respond and he almost thought the guy had changed his mind, so when Hawk launched off the bed, Sky jumped. Hawk sauntered around to his side, opened the bedside table, and took out a key.

Sky’s mouth dropped open. His freedom had been there the whole time?

“What?” Humor laced Hawk’s green gaze.

“Like I said—asshole.” Sky pressed his lips into a flat line.

“If it were me, I would have checked the drawer first thing,” Hawk said, leaning closer.

Sky’s mouth went dry when the man’s head dropped, their faces only an inch apart. Green eyes locked with his, but then Hawk’s gaze dropped to his lips. Was Hawk going to kiss him? Sky’s stomach lurched and lips parted, but the man reached out and lifted his cuffed wrist and released it.

Sky vaulted away and over the side of the bed and stood there clenching his fist, heart pounding, before he spun away and huffed into the bathroom. He gave the door a good hard swing and it closed with a resounding bang.

Hawk grinned. Damn, the man had a temper. He reached down and adjusted his dick before placing the lamp back on the nightstand and the plug into the wall. Striding over to his duffle, he took out a black long-sleeved t-shirt, socks, and his dark gray sweatpants with the drawstring. Reaching the bathroom door, he knocked.

“What?”

“I have a change of clothes for you.”

It didn’t take but a few seconds for the door to yank open and Sky to snatch the clothes, then he slammed the door. Hawk was faced once again with the wood.

“Don’t forget to wash behind your ears.”

“Fuck off!” came the snarl and Hawk laughed loudly.

He was still smiling when Sky left the bathroom in a cloud of steam and soap. As he’d suspected, the clothes swallowed Sky, but at least the young man was clean. Tired lines etched on Sky’s face and when he turned toward the bed, Hawk faked sleeping with his eyes closed.

Sky began ruffling through Hawk’s backpack, but he couldn’t find the man’s weapon in there. With a sigh, he glanced back at the bed. Hawk was awfully brave sleeping right now. What if he was a killer? He could lift the chair and bring it down on Hawk’s head.

Some assassin this guy turned out to be!

His lips pressed flat and he gazed longingly at the empty side of the wide king-sized bed. Tip-toeing to the far side, he eased onto the bedspread cover and pulled the end hanging over the bed to cover him. The least the guy could do was let him get some sleep.

What if he kills me in my sleep?

He blinked his eyes open.

Don’t be stupid. If he wanted you dead, he would have done it already.

True.

Which posed the question…why hadn’t Hawk killed him?

It also reminded him of his fucking stepfather. What comes around goes around, fucker. If one thing Hawk showing up had shown him, Sky was done hiding and running. Perhaps it was time to face the monster in the closet and confront his stepfather.

With that thought, he let the softness of the mattress suck him down into a deep sleep.

Sometime during the night, Hawk came awake to find Sky’s body stretched half on top of his with the blond’s head tucked beneath his chin. Somehow, the man had moved closer to him without him knowing. The killer instinct that had kept him alive all these years hadn’t been alerted when Sky had curled himself around him.

Gently lifting his arm, Hawk tried to move the slender man over, but Sky whimpered and dug in closer.

Fuck.

Hawk dropped back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

When Sky continued to whimper, Hawk wrapped the man up and held him tight. The whimpers turned to animal sounds of panic and Hawk cupped the back of the man’s bright head. Panic turned to soft sobs and Hawk ran his hands soothingly down the younger man’s back.

His eyes burned in the darkness as the rage built and he lay there with murder on his mind. A few hours later, Hawk dropped into a light sleep when Sky finally settled down and grew quiet.