And then, a rippling, tattooed arm reached out to shake my hand. I wanted to back away from it. I could smell the mix of sweat, cigarettes, and oil that poured out of him and washed over me. I felt my knees start to shake and my stomach flutter. What was this? Was I getting sick?
“I’m only clowning you, Kelly. You’re wound pretty tight, hey?”
My glance rose further and I finally saw the man standing in front of me in all his glory. His overalls slung down covering his lower half. His stained tank top clung to abs and a chest that didn’t have one angle out of place. Intricate tattoos covered every inch of skin I could see on his arms. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and something inside me clenched. When I took his hand, it was as if he passed some sort of electric current from his body into mine. It shot through my arms and into my entire body. My head felt light and I only hoped I wasn’t blushing.
As my eyes rose again, I saw his strong jaw and the thin layer of rough hair that covered it. I knew I had to meet his eyes with mine, but part of me felt so weakened by his touch that I didn’t know if I could do it. I felt powerless. When I finally lifted my gaze, everything I was feeling seemed to explode, bringing a rush of heat that swept over my whole body. Every sense I had fired at the same time and I was motionless. His eyes were bluer than anything I had ever seen and had an intensity behind them that made my thighs quiver in anticipation. Of what, I didn’t know, but I wanted it.
As his rough hand swallowed mine, he stared into me as if he knew every flurry of excitement, every tingle of nervousness, that was passing through me. It was as if he could sense the strange dance of fear and anticipation that was building up inside me, beyond my control. I didn’t care. I’d spent too long being in control of myself. I’d spent too long being the perfect girl for everyone else. This was something different, something strange and new, and I didn’t want it to end. Still holding my hand inside his, his gaze sending a shockwave through me, he spoke as if I was the only person in the room. No, the only person in the whole world.
“My apologies, honey. I’m Hunter.”
Chapter 3
Hunter
The trouble with laying low is that you have to blend in like you’re just any other clown in whatever nothing town you’re in. Maybe that’s just how some people are and that’s why it looks so easy, but it’s not me. I don’t look for attention, I just get it. I tried to make small talk with this chick while Denny threw back his breakfast and now somehow I was stuck offering her my hand and saying I’m sorry because she can’t take a joke. Like I’m some kind of chump. Thing is, I have to be some kind of chump if I have any chance of fitting in here, or anywhere, but it is fucking eating me. Broads. So damn sensitive. Especially the pretty ones.
When she finally looked up and took my hand, I realized she wasn’t just pretty, she was fucking beautiful. Her hair fell across her face as she raised her head and when she brushed it aside, her puppy dog eyes hit mine like headlights on a highway. I was drawn in, even though I knew I should look away. They were practically begging me to fuck her, right there. When she smiled back at me, I could feel my cock start to swell in my pants and it was all I could do not to picture her soft, supple lips wrapped around it.
Easy, fella. Keep it under control here or you’ll frighten these nice people.
“Pleased to meet you, Hunter,” she cooed.
Pleased to meet me? Where the fuck was I? Some bullshit movie from the fifties? You’re not pleased to meet me, darling. You have no idea whose hand you’re shaking, and what that hand has done.
She couldn’t see any of this though and I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her. She just stared up at me with those big puppy eyes, and I sat back down before my cock stood all the way up and I had no choice but to take her over that counter, right then and there.
Get back to small talk, Hunter. And be fucking nice this time.
“So, you ladies expecting a busy day today? Old Denny here says you’ve got the best food in town.”
Better, kid. Much fucking better.
The broad in the back laughed, and Kelly just kept looking at me with those same fuck me eyes.
“This isn’t the busiest time of year, but it’s enough to keep us on our toes, right Grace?”
I wanted to get what I needed right then and there, and I wouldn’t have minded who watched. Kelly was leaning back against the wall as she relaxed. She had her arms crossed, pushing her tits up practically to her chin. She had those full-figured, juicy breasts that I’d always had a weakness for. It was as if she was challenging me to stay in my seat and not bend her over the counter in front of Denny and the lady at the grill.
And fuck me, that ass. I like curvy women. I like having something to hold onto while I pound my cock into flesh. This Kelly looked like she’d been taken right out of my fantasies, and created just to tease my cock into submission. If I could have grabbed a hold of that ass and slid my cock inside her, fuck, I could have died a happy man.
Behave, Hunter. Say something nice, you stupid fuck.
“Well, I can imagine this far into the mountains, you don’t get much traffic.”
The lady at the grill poked her head out from the kitchen. “And how did you find us, young man? On your way somewhere and just stopped? I know that accent isn’t from around here.”
“No, you’ve hit the nail on the head there, eh,” I paused.
“Grace,” she finished.
“Grace,” I repeated. “I’m from Boston originally, but decided it was time for a change. An old buddy of mine has a little cabin high up in the mountains outside of town here, a really remote little place, and I figured I could use the solitude for a while. Some fresh air, some nature, all that.”
It was bullshit. Well, most of it. There was a cabin in the mountains, but it didn’t belong to a buddy. It was empty because I had killed the motherfucker that owned it. Again, judge me all you want, but this fuck deserved to die. He was a child molester, a rapist, and rumor had it he’d even locked up his own kid in his basement once, a long time ago, and tried to get his pit bulls to eat the kid alive. You believe that shit? So I took it on myself to put a bullet in him. Call it a public fucking service. I’d heard about the guy because he started doing business in Boston with my old man. I couldn’t stand the thought of doing business with a fuck like that. Some gangster I turned out to be. I kept killing the guys I was supposed to be working with, just because I couldn’t stand the thought of them.
“And what line of work is it that you’re in?” Grace continued, fishing for more information.
“Grace, let the man enjoy his coffee,” Kelly said.
I smiled at her. It was a smile that meant business, and she knew it.
Thanks, sweetheart. I’ll spare that pussy for now as a thank you, but I can’t promise for how long.
Fuck, she looked good. She had turned to the side and thrown her hands on her hips when she talked to Grace. I could see how well her perfect ass filled out the skirt she was wearing and the long, pale legs that were holding it all up. She had the shape I liked, and I knew just what I wanted to do with it. She was sensual, a real woman, with thighs and breasts and an ass that a man like me could sink his teeth into. I wanted to wrap her legs around my waist and bury myself inside her on the spot. I wanted to see her face and hear her moan in pure ecstasy as she took all of me into her at once. I had to get the hell out of there. I had to keep myself under control. This girl, Kelly, was getting me hot under the collar.
I downed my coffee quick and grabbed my smokes from my pocket.
“Well, Grace, it was nice to see the place that Denny keeps yapping on about. Kelly, try to loosen up a bit, sweetheart. You’ll live longer.”
Loosen up a ton, because next time I get on you I won’t be mister fucking nice guy, and it won’t be quick.
“See you around, Hunter. Don’t smoke too many of those things. They’ll stunt your growth,” she replied, winking.
“Good Lord, Kell
y. I don’t have much more room to go before I don’t fit through your door.”
And I’m growing for you right fucking now, darling. That’s why I’m stepping out for one of these.
That and I had to calm my nerves before I came in my goddamn pants.
“I’ll see you back at the shop, Denny. You going to be able to make it after that mess you just put in you?”
“Best mess in town, Hunter. You should try eating something yourself next time.” Denny spoke with his mouth full and I stole a last glance at Kelly while she watched him.
“Yeah, it doesn’t look like you leave much for the rest of us, pal. See you at the shop.”
I slapped him on the back and made my way to the door just as two guys came through. Neither of them looked like they belonged in the place. Dressed more for a big city than a mountain town like Stone Peak. They were in their mid-thirties, but dressed like a couple of frat boys. Acted like it too. One of them was laughing into his cell phone about some broad and walked right into me. He shot me a look like it was my fucking fault as he passed.
I will face fuck you and shove that phone up your ass, pal.
I got a hold of myself and figured if the girls here were offended by my small talk, they would surely take issue with me making murder in their restaurant. I took a deep breath and let it go.
“See you around, ladies,” I said as I swallowed my pride and took off down the street.
Fucking wannabe tough guy, putting on a show for his other wannabe tough guy friend.
I wanted to go back and show them what a real man looked like. As I stood outside the shop waiting for Denny, I realized I had let my cigarette burn to the end without taking a single drag. Why was I letting those punks get to me? I let them walk, but who gave a fuck? I wasn’t there to cause trouble, I was there to lay low for a few weeks. No sense in fucking things up and having to start this whole godawful process again.
I tried to think of Kelly and her sweet tits to distract me, but all I could picture were those two jerk-offs in her diner, giving her a hard time. So help me, if I found out they gave her or Grace a hard time, I would fucking break them.
I shook my head.
Fuck do you care, Hunter? She’s just some broad you hassled fifteen minutes ago. Fuck do you care if someone else does it?
The crazy thing was, I did care. I don’t know why, but the thought of those two fucks in there with her drove me insane. I’d only just met her, but already I knew something about her, and Grace, and even Denny, wolfing down his breakfast. They were on my side. They didn’t know it. They didn’t know me. But they were my people now. At least here in this place they were.
My people.
I let out a little laugh at myself. Maybe it’s something to do with the way I was brought into the world, but I’ve always been ferociously loyal. If you’re my people, then no one, No Fucking One, can mess with you without messing with me too. It’s in my genetics. I swear I must have been a wolf in a pack in a previous life.
I protected my people. It’s what I was brought up to do. And Kelly didn’t know it yet, but her sweet little ass was my people now, and those two jerk-offs weren’t allowed to mess with her.
I lit another cigarette and made my way back to the diner.
If you get back there and everything is fine, you’re putting this cigarette out in your own fucking eye. Got it?
I rounded the corner feeling like an idiot and glanced in the window of the diner. I put my cigarette out, but not in my eye. Everything was not fine. Kelly was not fine. And I was going to make fucking murder. To hell with the consequences.
Chapter 4
Kelly
As soon as Hunter left the diner, I felt a strange sense of both relief and regret. The scent of him was still hanging in the air, swallowing me and making my mind blurry to what and who had just walked in and out of my life. I felt like I was in a dream and hadn’t gotten up to start my day yet. He was just like every other work-a-day guy I’d ever met, with all his cheap small talk and bravado. Except for one thing. The bravado and arrogance in his voice seemed forced. Like he was pretending to be something he was not. The man whose eyes I looked into knew who he was and what he could do to me. Or to anyone else. He wouldn’t talk about it, he would just do it. He didn’t need to talk shit. He didn’t need to talk at all, and he knew it.
I wanted him. Or did I? It was more complicated than simply lusting for him. It wasn’t a want I felt inside me, it was a need. I needed to know who he was and what he was capable of. Why was I so drawn to him? Why couldn’t I shake the image of him holding me in his strong, muscular arms? He could be any old wrench monkey with a hard body and harder head, but I knew he wasn’t. He couldn’t be. Not the way he made my head spin. I hated myself for giving him so much thought and luckily Grace snapped me back to reality.
“Kelly, guests,” she whispered forcefully motioning to the two men who had just sat down at a table by the door.
I always loved when she called customers guests. It was just one of the ways her kind heart shined through. I pulled two menus out of the basket and made my way over to the table, happy to have something to do.
As I walked toward the table, I could already smell the stench of whatever cheap liquor they had been into the night before. One was chatting loudly into his cell phone about some girl from somewhere and all the horribly raunchy acts he had committed with her the night before while the other just sat there howling in approval. I immediately wished I was some place else doing anything different.
“Good morning, gents. Here’s some coffee to get you started. What can I get you to eat today?”
“Holy fuck, will you look at this,” one of them slurred, barely pulling his phone away from his ear. “Sorry, dude. I’ll have to call you back. Got something here.”
Something. I suppose I had been called worse, but right now it didn’t feel like it. Especially coming from the sorry excuse for a man in front of me. I could see a beer belly sticking out underneath the V-neck shirt that was too tight for his body and despite the backwards cap he wore, he was too old to use the word dude, no matter how much he wished he wasn’t. He looked me up and down aggressively with his bloodshot eyes and slapped the table in front of his friend sitting across from him.
“I told you, dude. I told you it was a good idea to stop here, man. Look at this little piece we got taking care of us this morning. You’re going to take care of us, aren’t you, baby? We had a long night, but we saved a little for you. Don’t you worry.”
It was apparently going to be one of those days. I was less a waitress and more a piece of meat. Hunter had said as much when he came in. Except these two didn’t make me feel the way Hunter had. They had none of the power he carried, and there certainly was nothing passing between us. They didn’t make me feel anything but uncomfortable and I found myself wishing he hadn’t gone.
“So, I’ll give you a couple minutes with the menu then?”
I needed to separate myself from them until I knew how I was going to get them to leave. If I could get them to leave. We weren’t exactly in a position to be turning down customers, even the ones that made my skin crawl. I started to turn and walk away when, to his friend’s delight and my surprise, the talker grabbed me by the apron, pulling me back toward him, and wrapping his arm around my waist.
“No, no, no, baby! I see everything I want right here. You going to give us a spin and show off that fine ass?”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and was genuinely afraid. Grace had slipped into the storeroom to grab stock and Dennis was nowhere in sight. It was just me and these pigs and I didn’t know how to make it stop. He slid his hand down my waist, over my backside, and to my thigh. This couldn’t be happening. I felt him start to move his hand up my leg and under my skirt.
“Please,” I stammered.
I couldn’t even get the word out of my mouth before I saw the friend knocked out of his seat and onto his back on the ground. Before I could register
what had happened, a cup of scalding hot coffee splashed across my attacker’s face. I was so confused and I felt dizzy in all the commotion.
Between the screaming of the one guy, frantically trying to wipe the burning liquid off his face, and the blur of a boot heel being brought down on the one on the ground, I had no idea what was happening. But somehow, I immediately knew who it was. Hunter.
Where had he come from? I didn’t even hear the door open or see him until it was all happening. When he turned his attention from the man on the ground to the one who had grabbed me, I saw his eyes. It was brief and he didn’t look directly at me, but he made sure I knew why he was there and who he was doing it for. It was the same intensity I’d felt when he touched me. Now it was firing out of him, but it was different. It was equally primal, but this time it frightened me. Not for my own safety, but for anyone that got in his way.
Was he enjoying this?
He got one hand wrapped around the collar on the man’s shirt and he brought the other down in a heavy fist knocking him clean out of his chair and silencing his screams. It was hard enough to hurt the man worse than anything he’d felt before, but not hard enough to satisfy Hunter. The man would have hit the floor had Hunter not held him by the neck of his shirt as he repeatedly hit him. All I could do was stand there. I didn’t know how to make it stop. I knew I couldn’t make it stop.
Suddenly, someone came running from the bathroom in the back. It was Dennis.
“Hunter. Hunter. What are you doing, boy? You’ll kill him.”
He ran over and attempted to wrap his arms around Hunter and stop what was happening, but it was as if he wasn’t there at all. With one effortless shrug of his broad shoulders, Hunter flung Dennis backwards and into the stools behind. He wasn’t hurt, but he stayed down for the same reason I stayed still. There was no stopping this.
I don’t know why, but as I stood watching him nearly beat a man to death in front of me, I felt less and less afraid of Hunter. I wasn’t bothered by what was happening. For some reason, I felt stronger the longer it went on. It wasn’t because I was mad at what had happened, though I was. The punishment these two were facing did not fit the crime. As I watched the power Hunter brought down over and over again on this unsuspecting man’s face, I felt the same heat rush over my body as the first time I looked into his eyes. The intensity, the sweat, the vein bulging in the side of his neck leading down to the rippling arm that was holding up a now unconscious body. I was light headed. It sent shivers from my head to my toes and I could feel heat coming from between my legs. Something about this seemed to be Hunter at his most truthful, his most primal. As much as I didn’t want to lose this feeling and sight of him, I knew it needed to stop. I wasn’t going to let a man die because of me.
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