Page 43 of Natalie's Nighthawk

“You’re staying again?” she asked, trying and failing to hide the joy in her voice.

“If you’ll have me.”

“Well, sure. But I thought you’d want to get back to Nighthawk tonight.”

“I’ll get up early.” He pulled her into his arms as they rose to their feet and gave her a loud kiss catching everybody’s attention. Most of the expressions around the table were ones of happiness, but Lauren had that weird look again. He tried to place what it might be but failed. Before he could study it more closely, she had turned to say something to Logan. He shrugged, said his goodnights, and ushered Natalie out the door.

As they were getting ready to go upstairs to bed, a flicker of light caught Graham’s attention outside. “Fuck,” he shouted, and rushed to the door.

“What is it?” Natalie gasped spotting what had grabbed his attention as he ran out onto the porch. The pumpkins that had been decorating the steps were now directly in front of the door and burning. Someone had set them on fire.

While Natalie stood in shock, Graham had raced to the side of the house, grabbed the hose, and doused the mess. Once the last flicker of flames had been put out, Graham was on the phone with Ian.

“Are you okay?” His voice slowly pulled her out of her shocked stupor, and she nodded.

“What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know, Chickadee. I don’t know.” Graham wrapped his arms around her as they stood staring at the remains of the fire. If he hadn’t noticed the fire…if they had gone to bed…the whole house could have burned down, a thought that filled him with a sense of dread.

Ian arrived with the Fire Chief who after careful inspection identified the mess as arson. The Chief, assuming it was a bunch of kids doing stupid shit for an early Halloween prank, didn’t garner much hope that the culprits would be found.

Graham laid awake in bed long after Natalie had dropped off, his worry about the fire consuming his thoughts. He wasn’t convinced the culprits were kids as the Fire Chief alluded.

Remembering the footprints they’d found earlier and now this intentional act of arson, his senses were tingling. It was going to be a long week, knowing he wouldn’t be able to return to see Natalie because of work.

Chapter 15

Fridayevening,GrahamracedtoLakeHaven,anunfamiliarfearclogginghisthroat.He’dbeenoncountlessrescues,somemoredangerousthanothers,buthe’dneverbeforefeltsuchanall-consumingfear.

Natalie had called him from the back of an ambulance. Some drunk asshole had jumped the curb and nearly hit her as she walked home; almost taking his precious chickadee from him. Anger warred with fear in his mind. And until he could lay eyes on Natalie, the fear was winning.

She was in her studio when he found her, standing in front of the painting she’d been working on. She didn’t notice he was there, so he took advantage of her distraction to study her carefully. She looked none the worse for wear from her battle with the sidewalk; she’d been able to leap out of the way of the car. He knew, though, that her clothes were hiding the worst of her scrapes and bruises. He took a step forward, needing to touch her, when a floorboard squeaked under his foot. She turned to face him, and the look of relief in her eyes nearly undid him. She vaulted into his arms. He caught her and kissed her thoroughly.

“Fuck, Natalie. Fuck,” he moaned. He felt out of control, murderous.

“I’m okay,” she whispered between kisses. “I’m okay.” He didn’t know if she was trying to reassure him or herself, but he needed confirmation she was indeed all right.

He grasped her hands in his noticing her wince. Turning them over, he saw the raw, redness of her palms. Fury burned in his gut. Someone had dared to hurt his chickadee; he needed to see the rest.

He reached for the bottom of her shirt, carefully pulling it up over her head. Worked his way up from her palms, he saw more scrapes on her elbows though the rest of her torso was unmarred.

Kneeling in front of her, he gently tugged her pants off and leaned closer to place soft kisses on her bandaged knees before deftly pealing the tape back on one side of each bandage to see the damage for himself. The broken skin was nasty, but the paramedics had done a good job cleaning the gravel and grit of the sidewalk out of her wounds. The remnants of blood left on the pristine white of the bandages knotted his gut and made him grind his teeth. From his position on his knees, he looked up to find her eyes blazing with trust and love. He wrapped his arms around her, his cheek against her stomach. Her hands dove into his hair, and he squeezed her tighter, never wanting to let her go.

He rose to his feet and moved her to the small love seat as he removed her bra. Natalie lowered herself to the couch, and he made short work of his clothes. In their rush to be naked, he heard a rip as he removed her panties. Neither of them cared. Then, in one long thrust, he entered her. They both groaned in pleasure. Ithadfelt like an eternity since he’d been inside of her. But in reality, it had only been four days.

With a few thrusts, she was quaking with release, her inner muscles gripping him. He continued to pound into her, desperate to be part of her, to be as deep as he could get. He no longer recognized anything but pure carnal pleasure as he lost himself in her.

Her orgasm tore through her. Tremors vibrated as the tight grasp of her pussy strangled his cock. He slammed into her one last time, his release deep within her, her name a desperate groan against her skin.

They lay there, his cock still pulsing inside her, locked together in ripples of aftershock. When they had both returned to earth, Graham lay on the couch beside her, his legs dangling off the edge as they spooned. Clearly, this thing wasn’t made for him. But he wasn’t going to complain, not with Natalie laying naked in his arms.

“I guess it’s true,” she sighed.

“What is?”

“Youdidmiss me.”

He moved her hair aside and kissed her neck. “Those guys I work with just aren’t as good company as you are.”

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