Heart of the Hunter (13 page)

Good fucking riddance, Stone Peak, Montana. You almost had me.

I put my cigarette out with my boot when I got to the front of the shop. I made my way around back to the office entrance and peered in the window. Sometimes after a good piss up, Denny would sleep it off on the couch in there so he didn’t have to stumble his drunk ass home the extra few blocks.

No sign of drunk Denny tonight though.

I tried the door handle and hoped he had at least forgotten to lock up. No such luck. I took a step back and kicked the fucker in, sending it crashing against the wall.

No alarm. No guard dogs. Nothing. You have to love a sleepy town’s security systems.

I fumbled around in the dark until I found the light and flicked it on. The office was a goddamn mess, but I knew the keys to the tow truck were in there somewhere.

Jesus Christ, Denny. I’m a fucking slob, but at least I don’t own a lot of shit.

There were half eaten sandwiches, open porno mags, paperwork from God knows how long ago. I noticed an unopened can of beer sitting next to the antique machine Denny called a computer. I picked it up and cracked it open, taking about half of it down in two gulps. It was piss warm, but tasted good after swilling whiskey with Deacon for the last few hours. It’s always good to switch it up from time to time. I finished the can and threw it over my shoulder on some pile of shit that was lying around.

I was tossing anything loose off the desk when, all of the sudden, I heard the familiar jingle of a keychain hitting the floor.

There they were. I’ll have her back in a few hours, Denny. Keep dreaming of burnt bacon and young pussy you could never catch.

I made my way to the front of the shop just as I saw and heard Deacon pull up out front in his vintage Camaro.

Jesus Christ, Deacon. Bring a louder fucking automobile next time. Dickhead.

I walked toward the entrance, unhinged the lock, and threw up the sliding door. No sense in being quiet since old Deacon was driving a roaring machine in a town where you’d hear a pin drop.

“Nice car, asshole. Real fucking subtle. Why don’t you hit the horn? I don’t think everyone is awake yet.”

Deacon just leaned toward the passenger side and smiled as he revved the engine and made the car roar.

“Subtle like beating two motherfuckers to death in a small town diner at noon? That kind of subtle?”

“Yeah that same kind of subtle, dickhead. And they lived. So, I guess for me that is kind of subtle.”

Deacon laughed as he sat back and took a pull of the whiskey bottle.

“Move that fucking beast back so I can pull the truck out. This place isn’t far. Just follow me.”

He saluted me as he reversed.

What a dick.

Chapter 23

Kelly

I
PULLED MY CAR IN
front of the diner and shut the engine down. I rarely left the house at this time of night and the streets were eerily silent. Not that Stone Peak was ever a busy place, but there was always a familiar face around to give a smile or, at the very least, someone in a window going about their day in a comforting way. I was the only person on the entire street and I suddenly felt very aware of that.

Relax, Kelly.

It’s been a day to forget and it is almost over. Lock up the diner, drive around the corner, drop the keys, and you can go home to the people you love. You can do this. Your life is under control. You’re safe. You have everything you need. You don’t need to go mixing things up.

I felt silly for having to give myself a pep talk to do such simple things, but more had happened to me in the last day than the entire last year. I took off my seatbelt, opened the door, and got out of the car.

When I got to the front of the diner, sure enough, the door was open an inch or two. You had to really hold it closed when you locked it and clearly Grace hadn’t been herself when leaving today. I could see that the bolt was out, but she just hadn’t pulled the door tight enough for it to latch.

Poor, Grace. I knew that what had happened this morning at her diner wasn’t my fault, but I still felt guilty, like I had somehow been responsible for bringing this beast into her life. It was ridiculous and I knew it wasn’t true, but I couldn’t shake the feeling. I refused to deny the connection that I knew Hunter and I had. Although it might not have been my fault that he came crashing into our lives, I could make damn sure that he didn’t have a reason to stay. I had to put everything I felt about him aside and realize what was good for me and the people I cared about. And that’s just what I was going to do.

I pulled the diner door tight and made sure the bolt slid all the way in, locking the place up for the night. There was no real need to lock the door in this town, but getting that done felt like I had taken a step toward piecing myself and my life back together. It only took one day for Hunter to tear it apart, and I was going to get it back on track tonight.

I walked back to my car and opened the door. I could hear a ridiculously loud engine roaring somewhere close by.

Kids, I thought, don’t they have anything better to do?

I sat in the driver’s seat and took a moment to laugh at myself. I was the oldest twenty-three-year-old on the planet. Here I was out at a perfectly reasonable hour for someone my age, scolding someone in my head for having a little fun. Sometimes I wondered about myself, if I was missing out on some things, letting my youth slip by.

Well, you had your fun this afternoon, Kelly. How did that make you feel after all was said and done? Was it worth it?

I had no answer for myself.

A big part of me wished I had never met Hunter. He flipped my life upside down in one afternoon and left me with this painful rock sitting in the pit of my stomach. I missed him and hated him at the same time, and I had never been more confused by anything or anyone in my entire life. I wanted nothing more than to be rid of him and the ache he caused in the pit of my stomach. At the same time, there was an equally big part of me that couldn’t imagine him leaving my life as quickly and effortlessly as he had entered it, and was terrified that I might never see him again. He made me feel more alive than I ever had, and he did it with hardly a word. He just looked into me with his sharp, deep, blue eyes, took me in his worn and powerful hands, and made me feel things I’d never felt in my life. With one movement of his tongue or lips, he had me questioning everything about myself. When he pinned me down on my kitchen floor and plunged himself so far into me, he did more than open me physically, he opened up my eyes to a whole new world. It was a world of intensity, of primal desire. He’d needed me and I’d needed him. There was nothing that was going to stop him from crushing our bodies together in a sweaty and blissful union. I still ached
from
him and I still ached
for
him.

But it couldn’t be. He was like a wildfire and I knew there was nothing I could do to contain him. I knew what I had to do and why. I couldn’t let him swallow me up in his raging flames. No matter how much I wanted and needed to be there.

I put the key in the ignition and turned the engine. Nothing.

No, no, no. Not now. Please, not now. Stupid, beat up, old car.

I stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. I tried the engine again.

Nothing.

I placed my hands on the wheel and rested my head between them. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I wasn’t far from home. I didn’t even need to drive. But here I was, alone on the deserted streets, with an engine that wouldn’t turn.

The perfect end to the perfect day.

You have got to be kidding me. So much for reclaiming control over my life.

I lifted my head and pounded my fist on the steering wheel.

“God damn it,” I cried.

I immediately felt bad for taking the Lord’s name in vain.

I leaned back against the headrest and thought about what I was going to do. I could just walk the few blocks back to my house and end this mess of a day right now, or I could walk around the corner, drop Hunter’s keys, and be done with this whole mess forever.

I tried the engine again with no luck and pounded my fist on the steering wheel one more time like it would magically spring the vehicle into action. It did not.

Okay, Kelly. Just keep your head up and get this done.

I reached for the door handle when I heard a vehicle approaching slowly from behind.

Whoever you are, keep going. Please, just keep going. I can’t do this anymore. No more today.

But the vehicle didn’t keep going past. It stopped and I heard a voice call out to me from its driver’s seat.

“Looks like you’re having a little car trouble there, sweetheart. Anything I can do to make your life a little better tonight?”

I could have looked out to see who it was, but I already knew. When he spoke, his voice echoed through me. I felt the electricity. I felt my stomach jump. I felt scared.

It was Hunter, once again, staring down at me, ready to save me, ready to
take
me.

And I prayed he would.

Chapter 24

Hunter

W
HY DID YOU JUST STOP?
Why the fuck did you just stop?

I didn’t realize it was Kelly until I pulled up slowly beside her car, but man, there she was looking just as fucking sexy and pure as that morning at the diner. Her hair was tied back and she was out of her waitress’s uniform and into a tight blue tank top and shorts that barely covered her up. Sitting above her in the truck, I could see just how well everything clung to her body. Her tits pushed together under her shirt, her smooth legs pressed closed like she was trying to convince herself she didn’t want me between them. There wasn’t much left to the imagination and I was fucking losing my mind. The booze usually got me fired up, but this was something else.

I wanted her again.

I fucking
needed
her again. Just like earlier, but it was worse now. This time I knew what her pussy tasted and felt like. I knew how beautiful she looked when she came on my rock hard cock. I could feel myself rising at the memory of fucking her and I started to white knuckle the steering wheel of the truck.

Jesus Christ.

Kelly just stared straight ahead.

“Hey. Sweetheart. You all right?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. You can go.”

She kept looking dead in front of her, barely acknowledging I was there.

“Yeah? Fine, hey? That why you’re sitting here so late, all alone, in a car that’s not fucking moving?”

She leaned her head back against the driver’s seat of her car and shut her eyes, not saying a goddamn word. She was breathing heavy and I couldn’t help but watch her perfect breasts moving up and down. My cock kept growing and moving down my pant leg.

“So you’re just going to sit there? I’ve got a tow truck and you’ve got a busted car and you’re just going to sit there and not say a goddamn word?”

She just sat in the seat with her eyes closed, doing her best to pretend I wasn’t there.

Fucking open your eyes, darling. I’m not going anywhere. No matter how much I fucking want to, I’m going to sit right here until you show me those eyes.

“Kelly, fuck. I’m just trying to,” I started but never finished the sentence.

“Trying to what?” she shouted.

Up to then, I had barely heard her speak, let alone shout. Except for when I filled her tight pussy with my cock, that is. Then I heard those lungs open up.

“The diner, this afternoon, right now, just
what
are you trying to do, Hunter?”

She stared up at me and I could see tears were welling up in her gorgeous green eyes. She was pissed, but the type of pissed that wanted me to open up that door, spread her legs, and make her scream again.

Be careful what you wish for, darling.

“You dropped your keys today. After we,” she stopped and sighed. “You dropped your keys at my place.”

She threw my car keys through the window of the truck and they fell between the two front seats. She couldn’t bring herself to meet my stare.

Well. That was a lot fucking easier than breaking and entering.
Thanks, sweetheart.

“Yeah, I was going to drop by tomorrow and pick those up. I had a few other things to take care of tonight. Figured you’d be busy too.”

“Ha,” she cried. “Yeah, you wouldn’t want to have to have an actual conversation. Wouldn’t want to have to explain why you,” she started to trail off. “Just go, Hunter. You got what you needed. Now you can just go.”

She could barely choke the words out and that was just fine with me.

That’s exactly fucking right, sweetheart. I don’t want to talk to you. I never fucking did.

I wanted to rip you in two, and I want to do it again, but you’re a fucking headache. You saw who I am. You know what I do. You don’t want this and I don’t fucking need the hassle. Fuck this.

“Yeah, you know what, darling? You’re right. I got what I needed here and I’m fucking gone. Thanks for the keys. Enjoy your night sitting in a busted wreck of a car and give my best to that old bitty running the diner. Would’ve liked a chance to have
a beer
with her too. You know, apologize for tearing up the joint. Light up her life a bit.”

I was fucking drunk and about to go off. I was either going to break her fucking windshield with my fist or bend her over the hood and make her scream so loud the whole county would wake up.

Get the fuck out of here, Hunter. Get the fuck out of here now.

“Fuck it, Kelly. I’m gone. Next time a couple of punks try to feel you up, I won’t fucking be around. Don’t worry that pretty little head, sweetheart.”

Why was I so fucking mad?

I slammed the truck into drive and peeled off down the street.

God damn it, Hunter. This is why you don’t fuck the good girl. No matter how fucking gorgeous she is. No matter how tight that pussy is. No matter how much you both want it.

I looked in my rear-view mirror as I drove away from her, and saw her head sink between her hands and drop on the steering wheel. Her shoulders were shaking. She was crying.