Camp Hardwood by Alexa Riley

Chapter One

Piper

Iskim my fingers over the small baby bump and I know I’m going to have to get bigger clothes soon. It is getting harder to hide and it doesn’t help that I can't stop eating every five seconds. I somehow bypassed the throwing up stage of my pregnancy and went straight to wanting to eat everything.

I’ve really gotten myself into it this time, but I’m lucky Camp Hardwood took me in. I had nowhere to go and I’m still not sure what else I’m going to do. Can I really have a baby at camp? Mrs. Cyprus knows I’m knocked up after my dramatic trip to the hospital. Thankfully the baby is fine and the bleeding was normal. My iron was super low and I passed out. I have to keep eating more, which was really a wonderful thing to hear. That little scare almost did me in but it made me realize how much I truly want this baby. I knew I loved it before, but after thinking that it might all be taken away, everything changed.

I sit in the kitchen waiting for Tia to come back and I can smell cookies baking. I think she and Van snuck off somewhere, but she has to come back soon. They’re all over each other and I hate how much I wish I had that. I did at one time, but look where it got me. Pregnant with nowhere to go.

I keep waiting for my father to turn up. It’s that or he’s completely written me off. He probably told his friends or colleagues that I’m off at some fancy school or something. He’s good at hiding what’s really going on. He would lose his mind if he found out I was pregnant. And not only am I pregnant, but it was one of his top men who put this little baby inside my belly. I can’t help but wonder if Hawk is looking for me too. If my father wanted me found he’d send Hawk to carry out the search.

It’s ironic since he’s the one who left me. When I woke up the next morning he was nowhere to be found and I kept thinking he’d come back. I thought maybe he only slipped out to get us breakfast or something. Our night together was intense and everything I could have hoped for. He wanted me with an almost angry passion and I’d never felt so alive.

I waited for hours and hours until I finally left the hotel room, realizing it was all pretend. It was my eighteenth birthday the day before and I’d wanted Hawk. I lured him to the hotel and gave myself to him. He took what I offered and was pissed about it, but he still did it.

I lost count of how many times he’d taken my body. I might have been a virgin that night but he had me over and over again. I still can’t wrap my mind around how he fit inside me because Hawk is almost four times bigger than me. He’s as big as the ranger Moose who keeps watch on everyone around here. I’m tiny and it’s why my belly is already showing.

My father isn't a good person, but that didn’t stop me from lusting after a man who was willing to do business with him. I asked my father once what Hawk did for a living and he told me nosy little girls come up missing.

We lived in a fancy home in the richest part of town and everyone knew who my father was when we walked down the street. They’d all smile but it was as fake as my own. He doesn’t care as long as everyone falls in line.

I knew that day when I checked out of the hotel I wasn't going back home. I took the money I’d slowly tucked away and bought a car. I let it take me as far as the thing was willing to go. That’s how I ended up in the middle of nowhere. Well, not nowhere exactly. Camp Hardwood. This place is full of sun and smiles, and happy unicorn hearts dance over people's heads here. I don’t want to go anywhere else but I don’t know how I’m going to have a baby here. I’ll figure it out—there’s no other option. I’m not going to raise my baby in my father’s world, even if he’d let me. I want a world like Camp Hardwood for my baby. Its life will be full of warmth and love.

“I made cookies!” Tia says as she walks back into the kitchen. Her cheeks are more pink than normal as she slips on her oven mitts.

Her red curly hair is a mess and I think I see a leaf in it. Her lips are swollen, too, and if she thinks she’s hiding that she and Van were together, she’s wrong. Tia’s shy smiles fooled me at first, but I think that girl has a dirtier mind than anyone I’ve ever met. She just hides it better than most.

Since the moment I saw Hawk my mind started coming up with all kinds of things I wanted him to do to my body. But then I think about where it got me and I push those thoughts away.

“I’ll get the milk.” I hop up from my seat and make my way to one of the many staff-only refrigerators in the kitchen. I grab a bottle and a couple glasses, knowing Van will be along shortly and will want some too.

When I turn around I freeze as my eyes lock with a very pissed-off Hawk. He’s wearing a black shirt that runs tight across his broad chest. He’s not wearing his usual slacks and shirt. Instead he’s in boots and jeans that showcase his thick, powerful thighs. The glasses I’m holding shatter as they fall to the ground.

“Piper?” Tia asks, her eyes bouncing between me and Hawk.

Instead of answering her, I do what I’m best at. I turn and run.

I don’t know why I run because there’s really no point. If Hawk wants to catch me he can.

“You’re going to hurt yourself!” he bellows from behind me.

I stop running because he’s right. I’m known for being clumsy and I don’t need to run anywhere. I was just at the hospital a few days ago. I don’t want another trip there until it’s time for my little one to come into this world.

“I’m calling Ford!” I hear Tia shout from behind me as I walk quickly to my cabin.

“Muñeca,” Hawk says under his breath.

The one word almost has me tripping over my feet. It’s been so long since he called me that, maybe even years. It means “doll” in Spanish and he used to say I looked like a little doll when I was a girl.

“I’m fine, Tia. I know him,” I shout over my shoulder, not wanting to get the Cypruses involved. I can’t see Tia because Hawk is practically on top of me now and I have to fight my body’s reaction to his closeness.

“What are you doing here?” I turn my head to watch where I’m going as I stomp toward my cabin. I let out a small scream when I’m lifted off the ground and into Hawk’s arms.

“You think you can just take off?” he asks, tightening his hold on me. “Four fucking months, Piper.”

“I’m an adult! I can leave if I want to!” I shout to his angry face.

I should be afraid. Everyone is as scared of him as they are of my father. I keep my distance from my father because I’m fearful of what he might do, not because his size intimidates me. My father is short and pudgy, but even as a person who can’t run for long without almost dying I think I could outrun him while knocked up.

Something in Hawk’s eyes makes people steer clear of him. He looks like he could kill a man with his bare hands. But he’s handsome. Some don’t know how deadly he can be, but if he got that glint in his eyes people would pee themselves. I don’t know why it never worked on me. I guess I’ve never had it directed my way either. He’s given me looks that tell me he’s not messing around, but I don’t think it ever had the intended effect on me. It only turned me on and made me want to push for more. I knew I could be bratty with him and get his attention. Others may not want his eyes on them but I’ve craved it ever since I met him.

“Trust me. I know you’re a fucking adult, Piper. I was counting down the days.” His tone is calm. Too calm.

He keeps walking, somehow knowing the way to my cabin. When he enters he walks over and sits me down on my bed. It’s easy to tell which is mine since there are only two beds in the room and mine is unmade. I’ve also started tossing some of my stuff onto Tia’s since she doesn’t stay here anymore. I’ve had the cabin to myself but I hate being alone.

He turns to head back to the door and I wonder if he’s leaving. Panic rises in my chest before he slams it shut and locks it. First I try to run and now I don’t want him to go. I really am a mess. I’m going to blame it on the pregnancy hormones.

He puts his hand on the door and stands there for a moment. I watch him take a few deep breaths in and out before he finally turns to look back to me.

“Hawk,” I whisper, and he’s in front of me before I can get it out. He surprises me when he falls to the floor in front of me, onto his knees.

“I want to see, muñeca.”

I don’t know what he means but he goes for my shorts and pulls them off of me. There is no reason to fight him because I know he’ll win. And if I’m honest I think we both know when it comes to my body it belongs to him. It always has.

He spreads my legs with his hands as he brings me to the end of the bed. “They said there was spotting.”

I look down at him and realize that’s how he found me. He must have checked the hospital, but that didn’t matter either. If Hawk was looking for me he was going to find me at some point. The man can hunt anything down and I knew I could only stay hidden for so long. I just wonder if he’s looking for me because my father paid him to. I can only surmise he’s acting on my father’s orders, because Hawk left me in that hotel room to begin with. If he wanted me he’d have been there the next morning because I waited for him to come back. I always felt alone before, but in that moment in the hotel room, it was an awakening. I didn’t want to be alone anymore and I was going to go make a home somewhere else.

I reach out to touch his short hair and remember how good he felt under my touch. I dreamed that one day he’d be my home, but I knew deep down it wasn’t possible. My father would never allow it, and who knew what Hawk wanted? He never spoke of other women and he didn’t wear a ring. I never saw him with any of the random women who would come and go through the back door of our house.

I thought he was different from the rest of my father’s hired men. I swear I could feel it in my soul that he was good.

“Answer me, muñeca.” I think he means to speak harshly but I don’t miss the crack in his voice.

“It’s normal. I’m just low on iron,” I tell him. “Please don’t take me back there.” I move my hand away but Hawk catches it. He brings the palm to his mouth and kisses me there. It’s so soft and gentle my heart squeezes.

“I’m not taking you back to your father.” His hands grab the edge of my panties. The simple white cotton is no match for Hawk as he rips it and stares down at me. “Muñeca, are you bare?” he asks.

“I shaved it for you that time—” I cut myself off, knowing I shouldn’t give him all the power. “I like it this way.”

“Yes. It shows me all of you.” I try to close my legs, but his broad shoulders stop me. My clit is pulsing with a need I don’t want.

“Lift your shirt and show me my son.”

“How do you know the sex?” I glare at him. I only just found out at the hospital.

“I know everything about you.” He lifts my shirt himself, resting it on top of my bump so it won’t fall back down. “He’s big already.”

“His dad must be a big guy. That helps me narrow down who the father might be,” I spit out, and Hawk is on his feet in a second. He pushes me down into the bed, hovering over my body.

“That mouth of yours.”

“Maybe if I used my mouth more I wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Hawk’s face turns deadly but I feel no fear. We both know I’m running my mouth because I can’t help myself and it’s worse when I’m upset. My stupid eyes fill with tears and Hawk’s whole face changes in an instant.

“I deserved that. I’ll let that one go, muñeca, but don’t speak of other men touching you again. I don’t care if it’s made up or not.”

I nod as one of the tears escapes and he leans down, kissing it.

“How can you be so mean and sweet?” I whisper. I don’t know if I want to wrap my body around him or push him away.

“You bring out the sweet. You also have a way of bringing out other things.” He closes his eyes as he drops down more and buries his face in my neck. He’s careful not to put any weight on my belly and I hate how much I love that.

“I miss the smell of you,” he moans, running his nose along my neck.

I’ve missed everything about him. There wasn’t a second that went by that I haven’t wished things had been different.

“I don’t know why you're here if you’re not taking me back to my father.” He lifts his head to look down at me. “But please don’t hurt anyone here. They’ve taken care of me. They gave me a home.” Before he can respond, Hawk is on his feet and the door to my cabin is swinging open.

Ford and Van are standing there along with Moose.

I have no idea how this is going to go, but I know only I can defuse it. I get off the bed as fast as I can and try to step around Hawk. Hawk’s hand flies out to stop me and it’s then I remember I’m not wearing anything below the waist.