Hope Awakened by Charlene Hartnady

Chapter 24

Hope brushed her teeth twice and gargled a couple of times, too. Until the insides of her mouth tingled. Then she washed her face with soap. She even sprayed some deodorant under her arms for good measure. That should do it. She briefly considered showering, but that might set off alarm bells. Hope felt certain that Locke would never know what had gone down.

Hope smiled, thinking about what had just happened. It was the first time she’d actually enjoyed giving head. Only because Reece had been so into it. He’d loved it. He had this way of making her feel like the sexiest woman on the planet. It wasn’t what he said; it was his actions, which counted so much more. This rebound sex thing was off the charts.

“What are you smiling about?” Locke asked as she walked into the kitchen.

Oops!She hadn’t even realized that she was smiling.

“Um…nothing! No, that’s not true…” she quickly backtracked. She could tell from the look on his face that he wasn’t going to buy the whole ‘nothing’ thing. “I’m glad that Reece and I made up. It felt…‘off’ between us, and now we’re all sorted. It’s not nice when you work with someone and there’s animosity.” She shrugged. “That’s all.”

“Good to hear. Here…” He held up a spoonful of something. A stew of sorts. “Try this.”

Shit!She’d planned to keep her distance from Locke, just in case. “I’m sure it’s delicious.” She waved a hand. “It smells fantastic. I’m just going to—"

“No, really. I think it’s missing something. Try it.” He held the spoon in her direction.

What could she say to that? Nothing, that’s what. She needed to taste the food and act like everything was perfectly fine…which it was. She walked over to him and tried to take the bite.

Locke shook his head. “It’s hot…you might need to blow on it first.” Was there a tone to his voice? A glint in his eyes when he said ‘blow’?

Nah!It was her very guilty conscience working overtime, that was all! She nodded once and blew softly on the food. Then she wrapped her mouth over the spoon and made a noise of enjoyment. “That’s delicious. It doesn’t need anything.”

Locke folded his arms, still looking at her strangely. “Since when do you brush your teeth at this time of the day? I smell the minty freshness of…” He sniffed again. “Is that mouthwash? Were your teeth feeling dirty?” He cocked his head, still scrutinizing her.

“They felt a bit…furry. You know… I’m sure you’ve had it before.” She ran her tongue over her teeth.

Stay calm.

Stay cool.

She didn’t mind all that much if Locke knew about them, but Reece was very much against anyone knowing. She had to respect that. “You know,” she carried on, “when your mouth doesn’t taste great.” Hope shrugged.

“I’ve never had anyone jizz in my mouth before. I’m sure it leaves an aftertaste,” Locke deadpanned.

Holy shit!

Shit!

He knew!

Her mouth fell open. She tried to close it and failed. Tried to speak, and failed some more. He was probably fishing. She needed to get him off the scent. “Um…what…? You…” She pointed at the hallway entrance. “You think that—?”

“I know exactly what you were doing. Do you see juvi-plumage when I shift? No, you don’t! I’m a male in my prime. I know what fucking sounds like.”

Sounds like…

What?

No!

He couldn’t have heard them. She and Reece hadn’t even had sex just then. Locke was still fishing; she was sure of it.

Hope choked out a laugh. “You think…?” She shook her head. “No way!” Shit! Shit! Shit! What to do? Deny! Deny! Deny! “You’re wrong.” She wasn’t making such a convincing argument here. She wasn’t great at lying, full stop. “So off-base.” She tried to throw out a careless laugh, but it came out sounding shrill.

“Something you should know about me – I’m a light sleeper. Something the two of you should know about yourselves – even when you think you’re being quiet,” he shook his head, “you’re not quiet enough. All that grunting and whimpering and groaning.” He laughed. “Even with my pillow over my head…” He laughed harder. Her face felt hot in an instant.

“You knew! You heard us?”

He gave her a mock dirty look. “Of course. I have good hearing for a Feral as well as being a light sleeper. You probably would have gotten away with it if I had been Andy. You would definitely have gotten away with it if I had been Zaire. He sleeps like the dead.”

“I’m mortified.” She covered her mouth with both her hands.

Locke chuckled. “I think it’s freaking awesome. I’m so happy for the two of you.”

She leveled him with a stare. “It’s just sex.”

“Just sex is perfect. It’s exactly what the two of you need.” He chuckled some more. “You’ll have to tell me how you got Reece to ignore all the rules in his book. How you got him to embrace life, just a little. I’ve been trying for an age and nothing has worked.”

“I have breasts, that’s how.” It was the first thing that came to her head.

He choked out a laugh. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right.”

Hope scrubbed a hand over her face and sighed. She made a face.

“What is it?” Locke frowned.

“Reece and I agreed that we would have to stop if anyone suspected…if you ever found out. I was enjoying myself.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’ve ruined everything. Why couldn’t you just sleep like everyone else at that time of night?”

“Don’t stop. Reece doesn’t have to know that I know. No one does. This is the best thing that’s happened to Reece in a long-ass time. You said that you were getting over a bad breakup. It’s perfect for both of you. You can’t stop. I’m assuming that the lamp breaking had something to do with—”

“Yes!” She nodded. “We fought because of Shard coming here, and then…we might have done the dirty, breaking the lamp in the process.” She giggled.

Locke grinned. “Go Reece! I’m going to ask him if he wants to swap shifts.”

She shook her head. “Don’t! He’ll know something’s up. You have to promise me that he won’t find out that you know. Please.”

“Sure…okay.” He nodded. “As I said before, I think it’s great that the two of you are together.”

“We’re not together. It’s just sex,” she reiterated. “Really good sex, but that’s all. It’s the other reason I don’t want you swapping shifts. I think I like how things are.”

“Sneaking around. Grabbing quick fuck sessions.”

She nodded. “I wouldn’t have put it quite like that, but yes, that’s exactly what I mean. It’s perfect. There’s less chance of one of us becoming attached. I’m not in the right place for something like that. Besides, I’m heading home in a few months so it wouldn’t work.”

“You could stay.”

“I can’t!” she said it a little more harshly than she’d intended.

“So, you don’t have any feelings for him whatsoever?”

She shook her head. “Look, I like him just fine but no, not in a romantic way.” If she hadn’t still been so raw after Emmet, maybe it could have gone somewhere. “I’m technically still married.”

“No, you’re not. You humans and your papers,” Locke disagreed. Reece had said something similar. There was merit in the sentiment. Locke seemed to be thinking something through. “You should know that Reece was hurt quite badly. It was a long time ago, but it…” He sighed. “He’s had his heart broken before. Ripped out of his chest and shredded into a million pieces.”

She frowned.

“I know you’re probably thinking that I’m being overly dramatic, but I’m not. It wasn’t just that I heard you together. I knew something was up between you before then. I’ve seen something change in him. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Be careful, Hope. I’m worried that Reece might end up falling for you. You might end up hurting him. He might be mostly hardcore, but he also has a heart of gold. Don’t stomp on it.”

“The last thing I want is for Reece to get hurt. I like him as a friend.” That didn’t sound right or feel right, but she went with it. “Thanks for telling me all this. I figured as much. I think as long as we keep it to fooling around, we’ll be okay. There also needs to be a definite shelf-life on our…whatever it is we have.” She almost said relationship, but that didn’t feel right either.

“As long as you know what you’re doing. You’re also a nice person, Hope. It’s easy to fall down a rabbit hole. Before you know it, you’re in too deep. Even worse, one of you is in too deep while the other doesn’t feel the same. It sounds like you have a plan though…that’s good.”

“We do.” She smiled.

“Then I think it’s great. Dinner will be ready in about half an hour.”

“Sounds wonderful, I’m hungry.” She rubbed her hands together. Hope could understand Locke’s concern, but it was unfounded. They were being careful. They’d both been clear upfront that neither of them was interested in more. “I’ll set the table,” she said brightly.