“You mean the way he says Shark?Of course, it’s hard to miss.”
“That’s what we mean by dropping Rs.”
She suddenly knew what he meant and found herself making a surprised O with her mouth as she thought about what she’d heard and how Warren spoke.
“No, Warren doesn’t do that.But Father Monro does.Warren speaks slowly, though.Way slower than most of the men in Jericho.”
“That’s good!”Hawkeye said before turning back to Shark.“Thank you.That’s all I needed.”
“You just wanted her to hear me say my name?”Shark said with a frown.
“Exactly.We’re trying to find someone.We needed to know if he has any accents, so we know where to look for him.She didn’t know what I meant when I asked if he dropped his Rs.”
Shark shrugged, turned and left.She watched him go, wondering about the blue hair.She’d seen women with strange, bright colors in their hair since she’d been sent away from Jericho, but never men.Did it have a meaning of some kind or did he just like it?She wondered what it might be like to do something like that.To do something wild and crazy, just because you wanted to.
“Anything else you can think of?”Pike asked.
She answered all their questions, or at least what she could, until Dax returned with their drinks.He sat bottles of beer in front of Hawkeye and Pike, then a bottle of water and another that she recognized as a soda, as well as a glass full of ice in front of her.
“Thank you,” she said to Dax, then waited until he walked away and turned to Hawkeye.“Did you order this?”She pointed one finger at the bottle labeled Pepsi without touching it.
“I did.Try it.”
She shook her head.“What if I don’t like it?I don’t want to waste it.”
Hawkeye shrugged.“Try it.If you don’t like it, I’ll drink it.”
She stared at him for a moment, disbelieving.“You’re willing to drink after me?”She’d been taught that you don’t drink after anyone or eat after anyone—it was dirty.Not even her parents or Warren would touch something once she’d had a bite or a sip.And if she didn’t finish whatever it had been, she would be punished for wasting it.
Hawkeye watched her.Delilah found herself unable to break the hold of his gaze.She couldn’t bring herself to look away.His arm hooked around her waist and tugged her close.He leaned forward, moving slowly as if to give her time to move away.But she couldn’t.
He was going to kiss her.She wanted to know what a kiss felt like.She’d heard some of the women in Jericho talking about how much they liked when their husband’s kissed them, but she had never been kissed.Warren wasn’t interested in anything that couldn’t end with her pregnant.
She’d asked him to kiss her once.Once had been all it had taken to make sure she’d never asked again.
When Hawkeye’s lips brushed against hers, it brought her back to the present.She couldn’t help herself as she leaned closer.There was more to it than this, she knew, even if she didn’t know how.It didn’t take much for him to coax her mouth open, then his tongue dipped inside, tasting and teasing her.
Delilah lost track of everything but the two of them.Hawkeye’s mouth on hers, the taste and feel of him as he tugged her against him.Heat spiraled through her.Her breasts ached.Something she couldn’t name pooled low in her belly, making her shift her hips.Moisture pooled between her thighs.She lifted one hand to the back of his neck, keeping him from pulling away.She didn’t know what was happening, but she liked the way he made her feel.
He would keep her safe.He wouldn’t hurt her.What more could a woman who couldn’t even do the most basic thing a woman was for—have children—ask for?
She was only vaguely aware of a throat clearing somewhere nearby.It didn’t even register until something bumped into Hawkeye jarring them both.He pulled away, slowly, as if reluctant to leave her.When he looked away, he lifted his gaze to someone standing beside the table.
“What?”He snarled in a way that he’d never talked to her.or at least not yet.She had only known him a few hours, she reminded herself.
She blinked a couple of times, trying to get her brain moving again.She looked at who was standing beside the table and her face heated.It was Raven.The club president.What must he think of her if she let a near-stranger kiss her like that in front of everyone?
“Just thought she probably wouldn’t want that to continue out here,” Raven said.“I tried speaking to you first, called your name, but you were too lost in each other to hear me.”He glanced at her then back to Hawkeye.“Take her to your room.Have you given Pike what he needs to get started?”
“We’re working on it.”Hawkeye loosened the arm holding her against him.She missed the heat but was glad someone had stopped them.Delilah wondered if she was a hussy.Her face heated even as she thought about it.She wasn’t sure what the word meant but she’d heard the older women in Jericho use it when talking about some of the others.They’d said that this one or that one was a hussy because they enjoyed the marriage bed a little too much.She hadn’t understood it then.She sure as hell didn’t enjoy what Warran did to her.But then Warren had never made her feel the way that a single kiss from Hawkeye had.
“Is this the man you were given to?”Pike said, drawing her attention.He picked up his computer and spun it around.
Delilah nodded.“That’s him.He’s older now but that’s Warren.”She’d noticed no one else called him her husband either.She didn’t know why but she wasn’t going to remind them.She was determined that if he didn’t have to admit he’d ever been, even falsely, married to her, then she didn’t have to admit to him either.She hoped she’d never have to see him or think about him again.
