Savage Collision: A Hawke Family Novel (Hawke Family #1)(84)

I know what she’s seeing, and I try to calm my racing heart as I watch her examine my legs. She hasn’t seen them before, and now that she’s seeing the scars, the muscle atrophy, all of me in all my glory, my stomach twists and my chest tightens painfully. She reaches out and runs her finger up the scar along my left shin before her eyes flick up to mine.

“Compound fracture. There are three more on my right leg. They were both crushed by the dashboard collapsing when the car rolled.”

She looks at my right leg and traces the scars slowly before turning to me, leaning in and giving me a quick kiss and taking the washcloth from me. “I’m going to take a quick shower. You start breakfast.”

I watch her walk away from me in awe. I don’t know what I was expecting when she saw all of me, but it certainly wasn’t that. Maybe Doc is right. I haven’t been giving her enough credit, but that still doesn’t mean there aren’t things waiting for an opportunity to devastate us.





While she showers, I slip out of bed and pull on a t-shirt and boxers before heading to the kitchen to start breakfast. The condo is always so eerily quiet and empty feeling when Princess isn’t here. I’ll bring her home after we finish our talk, assuming Danika hasn’t killed me once she hears everything.

I shudder picturing her reaction.

How the fuck do I tell her? She is going to freak, completely lose her shit.

Attempting to focus my attention on breakfast, I pull out eggs, bell peppers, onion, and cheese to make omelets.

As soon as I crack the eggs, she appears at the end of the kitchen island, in nothing but one of my t-shirts, her damp hair falling in loose curls to her shoulders. Her freshly-showered skin has a pink hue and she smiles at me, completely oblivious as to what is to come.

I wish I could put it off, avoid telling her and just let her have a few hours of calm after everything she went through.

“That was fast,” I say as she travels around the island and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek, followed by a knowing grin.

I know she wants to make a “that’s what she said” joke. I can practically see her restraining herself and I can’t help but laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“You.” I wrap my arm around the back of her thighs and pull the t-shirt up, confirming my suspicion she is completely naked underneath. My well-worked cock hardens. I’m tempted to pull her down onto my lap for another round right here, right now.

She glances down and smiles as I press my lips to the smooth skin of her ass. “I don’t have any clothes here,” she says with a shrug.

“I’ll have Gabe go over to your place and grab some of your things today.” I brush my lips across her skin, making my way to her stomach. She steps away and turns to face me, letting the shirt fall back into place.

“Why can’t I just go?”

Somehow, I knew this was going to be a fight. I just hoped we could hold off and save all the combat for after breakfast. I’m fucking starving, and my head is starting to pound due to a lack of sustenance.

“Look, we will talk about it later. I’m going to go take a quick shower. Will you make the omelets?”

She scowls at me, her annoyance at my delay evident. “Fine,” she says, grabbing the knife off the cutting board and grabbing one of the peppers.

I retreat to the master bathroom and shower as quickly as I can. When I return to the kitchen, she is just placing plates with the omelets on the table. She grabs the pot of coffee and sits next to my spot, pouring herself a large cup.

“You want some?” she asks with some definite attitude in her voice.

Shit.

She pours me a cup without waiting for my response and sets the pot down on the table.

“Yes, please.” I take my place and watch as she adds cream and sugar to her cup before taking a sip and moaning in appreciation. I much prefer when she makes that sound because of me, and who the fuck knows when that will happen again. The way I anticipate this morning going, I won’t hold my breath.

We eat in silence for several minutes, but I watch her out of the corner of my eye. The tension she carries is evident in her posture and I know she has to be exhausted—physically and mentally. Knowing I’m going to make things worse as soon as we finish this meal makes me quickly lose my appetite.

I push away my half-eaten omelet and sit back, watching Danika scarf down her breakfast like she hasn’t eaten in days. I’m relieved. Part of me was terrified she would slump into some sort of depression, but she seems okay today, more than okay.

I always knew she was a badass bitch, but I know she was affected by what happened last night. There’s no way a human being couldn’t be. The nightmares are evidence enough. I just hope she doesn’t do something stupid, like try to ignore it, like I did.

She drops her fork to the plate with a clank and turns to me. “You done?”

I nod and she scowls. “What? You didn’t like it?”

“No, it was great. I’m just not that hungry, I guess.”

She gives me an incredulous look and grabs our plates, taking them to rinse in the sink before placing them in the dishwasher. I head into the living room, knowing she’ll follow me when she’s done.

Besides, I need a few seconds alone to figure out what the fuck I’m going to say to her. My alone time in the shower did me no good. All I could think about was how fucking incredible it felt to be inside of her. How fucking amazing I felt watching her come apart in my arms.