her in. Hauk winked, calm as he always was, and she smiled. With a twisting push, she had her wrists free and stepped into position for an arm lock.
* * *
Hauk was having a shitty day. Started in the hospital, a crap way to start any day, where he’d been attacked by a gang of these damn Atropos. Then he arrived here to check on Jolie and found her in their hands. Shitty fuckin’ day.
Jolie knew the escape from that hold; they’d drilled it until it should be second nature. But if that ass so much as nicked her, Hauk was going to lose it in a murderous way. He kept Jolie in his sights as he turned to the other three goons. With the authority gained from his years as a drill sergeant he yelled, “Down!”
Most of the dancers dropped, clearing a path to a goon. Two strides forward, and Hauk grabbed him. Threw him over his hip.
Goon Number Two threw a punch.
Hauk dodged under and threw an elbow to his solar plexus. Rotated his fist up for a backhand to the face, and the guy’s nose popped with a spray blood.
A back kick to One, already writhing on the ground, knocked the wind out of him. Knee up, and Hauk jammed it into the gut of Two. Two crumpled, and Hauk tossed him to the ground.
Jolie had her attacker on the ground. Good girl.
Hauk faced Number Three, threw his hands out and stepped forward, threatening. “You wanna pick up your friends and get out of here, or join ’em groveling in pain? Same difference to me.”
Three stepped back, hands raised in a pacifying gesture.
“Then get the fuck out of here while I’m feeling generous.” Hauk threw a glance at Mercy, and she started pulling dancers away from the sprawled goons, just in case they decided to do something fancy.
Hauk jogged up to Jolie.
“I asked you what your name was,” she was saying.
The guy yelped, “Ric Suarez!”
“Nice thumb lock,” Hauk commented with far more cool than he felt. He loved sparring with Jolie. He despised seeing her in a real fight.
“Thanks!” Jolie said brightly. Damn though, he did like to see that smile of success. “Hauk, this is Ric Suarez. He threw me into a wall.”
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. Thanks for the assist.” She retrieved her phone from the guy’s pocket then released the thumb hold.
Suarez stood up, eyes blazing like he was about to do something stupid.
So Hauk punched him.
Suarez stumbled back into the railing. His buddies had already scattered and, seeing that, Suarez turned tail and fled.
A scan to ensure they were really gone, and Hauk faced Jolie. “What happened?” A bruise had started to color across her cheekbone. He gently touched her jaw, tipping her head to give him a better view. “Did he give you that? I’m going to kill his ass.” He turned to go do that.
Jolie tugged him back around. “You’re out of the hospital.”
“Yeah.” Even with that bruise spreading down her jaw—Jesus, how hard did he throw her? Ric Suarez had better run in fucking terror next time Hauk saw him—Jolie was magnetic, grinning up at him with those gleeful green eyes. Every time she shot him that smile, he wanted to kiss every freckle on her nose and anywhere else she had them, too. He couldn’t remember ever wanting a woman so much.
The anxiety he’d felt during the time they’d been apart started to close up his throat. For two weeks he’d lain in that damned hospital bed, fearing she’d change her mind, that once she had the space to think about it, she’d realize he was undereducated and over-ugly. A brilliant, talented, gloriously sexy woman like her could do so much better.
But her voice was a low purr as she said, “Yay.” A hop, and her legs wrapped around his hips. He caught her, twining his arms around her waist as her wrists slid over his shoulders.
Jolie had jumped into his arms.
No hesitation, no consideration, she’d reached for him freely, as if wrapped around him was exactly where she wanted to be. Happiness lit him from the inside, relieving the tension that had increased with every beep of his heart monitor. She bit her lip and studied his wrecked face with no hint of anything but joy, and he didn’t know how she did it. Hell, he could barely look at himself in the mirror some days.
But in the end, it didn’t matter how or why, just that she was here