Heart of the Hunter

by Chance Carter

  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.

  “Hunter. Enough,” I shouted, surprising myself at how calm I was for someone seeing what I was seeing. My voice came out clearer and more confident than I felt. Even more surprising though, was that he listened.

  Chapter 5

  Hunter

  I JUST STOOD THERE, chest heaving, fists clenched, ready to rain down on the bloody, barely conscious body that used to be a man. If you could have called it that to begin with. I could feel my heart racing and felt alive for the first time in what felt like an eternity. I had needed this feeling again. It had been way too fucking long. As I looked around at the mayhem and destruction I had just caused, I felt a sense of relief pass over me. It was like I’d just orgasmed inside some chick I’d been dying to fuck since high school, like I left my mark and claimed this place as my own. I let out a sigh and breathed deeply, taking in all the fury I had unleashed. I wish it could have lasted forever, but it didn’t. Reality hit and I suddenly was very aware of where I was and what I’d done.

  As soon as I heard the whimpering from Grace, Dennis struggling to his feet, and saw Kelly just standing there staring at me, a look of shock on her face, I knew playtime was over. My head was running a mile a minute trying to figure out a way to make this go away. But there was no making it go away. Not with the mess I had made of these two chumps in this sleepy diner in the middle of nowhere.

  What the fuck had I just done?

  What the fuck did I just do?

  Damn it, Hunter. You’re supposed to be laying low, asshole, and you just tore apart some dumb fucks in front of everyone. Good fucking luck, pal. What the fuck did you just do and what are you going to do now?

  I lost control and exposed myself. I felt like I was an animal at the zoo with families gathered around waiting to see which carcass I would devour next. So I just stood there, waiting. Waiting for one of them to make the wrong move and then I would really show them who I was. Show them who they had been working with all week or serving that morning.

  Go ahead, motherfuckers. I’m begging you. Just one wrong move.

  As I gritted my teeth and waited to finish what I’d started, two soft hands reached out and placed their palms on my rising and falling chest, as if sensing what I was about to do.

  “Thank you, Hunter, thank you,” Kelly said, looking me in the eye. “No one ever stood up for me like that.”

  I was dumbstruck. She leaned into me and lay her head against my panting chest, and began to cry softly.

  Thank you?

  What the fuck?

  I slowly came back into the moment and remembered what had started all of this. The shoulder bump, the sick feeling in my stomach standing in front of the auto shop, the indescribable pull to go back to the diner, the twisted fuck’s hand going up Kelly’s skirt. I could feel the same white hot rage begin to boil inside of me and clenched my fist tight as I looked down at the limp body I was still holding, but then I saw Kelly’s head resting against me and was brought back again.

  Enough for today, kid.

  Keep it together
.

  “Thank you, thank you,” Kelly kept repeating as she lay her head on me.

  I would have held her, but I was afraid if I pulled her close she would feel what I had growing down the right leg of my pants. Between the beating I just put down and having her small, soft body so close, I could practically taste her tears. My cock sprung up like a call to fucking duty. I could smell her hair underneath my nose and feel her tits pressed against my stomach. I needed to fuck her or leave that town forever, but I couldn’t do either. I had done enough damage for one morning. If I fucked up, none of these people would be safe.

  Thank God I’d stopped short of killing these two pricks.

  Why did I stop?

  I couldn’t think straight, which was unlike me in these situations. Blood and chipped teeth were like home to me.

  Get your shit together, pal. Get this broad off you and figure this shit out.

  “You ok, sweetheart?” I asked Kelly. “I was just walking back to see if I left my wallet here and then,” I swept my hand in front of the scene of destruction all around us.

  “I’m okay,” she said, “thanks to you.”

  Thanks to me? Yeah, fucking thanks to me. I couldn’t be trusted to lay low even when my life depended on it.

  I cleared my throat.

  “Yeah, like I was saying, I was just walking back to see if I left my wallet and I saw that puke reaching for you and I, I, I just lost it.”

  “You stopped them,” she said, gazing up at me with those same green, doe eyes I’d been mesmerized by earlier.

  Now they were filled with tears. Goddamn, she was beautiful. I wanted to take her right then and there, throw her against the wall, and fuck her so she could feel what an animal I was, not just see what I could do, but feel it inside her. My cock was aching more by the second and I wanted to pull her close so she could feel it grow against her body.

  “Stopped them? Stopped them?” Dennis said. “I’ll say. Is that one even breathing? Who in the hell are you, Hunter?”

  He slowly pulled his doughy body off the ground. Goodbye, hard on. Nothing like watching that man struggle to kill a good fuck me moment.

  “Fuck, Dennis, I’m sorry, pal. I just saw the guy with his hand where it shouldn’t be and I lost it. I did some boxing back in Boston and sometimes I forget my strength.”

  Pretty fucking smooth, kid. Maybe not as dumb as you thought.

  “Well, I’ve seen boxing and I’ve surely never seen that. You’re damn right you lost it, boy. You okay, Kelly? Grace? Grace, dear, where are you? Are you okay?”

  “I, I, I,” Grace stammered, as she made her way through the human rubble I had scattered across her diner floor. “I just, I don’t, what in the world happened? I was downstairs for two minutes and I come back to all hell breaking loose.”

  “I know, Grace,” I said, “fuck, I’m sorry.”

  “Language, young man. You’ve turned my diner into some sort of war zone and I won’t have you cursing in my face on top of it,” she said. “I’m calling the sheriff. What the devil happened here? Are they dead? What did you do?”

  Control yourself, Hunter.

  That’s what I told myself as I watched Grace call the sheriff. This could be it. This could be the thing that ran me out of town, or worse, brought my problems from home down on me. I could feel my chest tensing again, and Kelly placed her palms harder against me. It was almost like she could read my mind.

  “Grace, it’s okay,” she said. “Those men were trying to, to do something, they grabbed me, Grace. Grabbed me and touched me, and I don’t know what else would have happened if Hunter hadn’t come back and stopped them. Call the sheriff, but not on Hunter. He’s not the bad guy, he’s the good guy.”

  Well, that’s a fucking first. I had been called every name in the book, but good guy sure as shit wasn’t one of them.

  Just go with this, Hunter, I told myself. Be the good guy.

  “I’m so sorry, Grace. Call the sheriff and we’ll get this mess sorted out. Dennis, I don’t think I’ll be back into the shop today. I’m sorry, pal.”

  “No need to apologize to me, boy. Apparently, you did a good thing here. The sheriff might not feel the same, but I’ll do my best to stand up for you. Kelly, I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. And Hunter, I’m just sorry I couldn’t have helped you out. There’s no room for dirtbags like these in Stone Peak. No room at all.”

  Helped me out? You’re a shit mechanic, Dennis, and a worse fucking liar. You couldn’t have kept that fat ass of yours on the ground harder if you tried.

  I kept my mouth shut.

  Dennis took Grace’s arm and led her to the phone to call the sheriff. I was in deep shit here, but I didn’t know how much. I was ready for whatever storm was coming with the law. It wouldn’t be the first time I had police troubles, and it wouldn’t be the last. Besides, I had bigger troubles.

  My biggest problem stood right in front of me, with curves in all the right places and a pair of green eyes that were staring up at me like I was all she needed in the world.

  What the fuck had I just gotten myself into?

  Chapter 6

  Hunter

  I SAT ON THE WINDOW ledge outside the diner and lit up a cigarette. Goddamn, it tasted good. Few things are more relaxing than a cigarette after you eat, fuck, or beat down two of the most deserving pieces of shit that ever disgraced you with their presence. Something about the combination of the nicotine rush and feeling of burning smoke in your throat and lungs is a perfect companion to satisfying a primal desire. I exhaled and watched the smoke hang in the air, briefly removing everything else from my line of vision. It was a good couple of seconds.

  The sheriff had finished with his questions and ordered me to stay put while he went to answer the radio in his car. I had to laugh at him. His round, sunburnt face beading with sweat, his mail-order-cop shades, his false sense of power over me. He was a walking joke that he wasn’t in on. As he turned to walk away, all I could think about was ripping his gun out of the holster and pistol whipping his sweaty ass to a pulp with it.

  Ordered me?

  I chose to laugh on the inside and silently nod my head on the outside. I don’t think the townspeople would take as kindly to a stomping on their lawman as they did to two aging frat boys.

  “Well, son, it’s your lucky goddamn day,” the sheriff said as he walked back toward me. “There’s been word out on the radio all day for those two clowns you damn near beat to death. Apparently, they have a habit of taking liberties with young women and left a poor little thing drugged and battered in a motel room not far from here. The make of the vehicle and description of the perps matches the ride and looks of these fellas. Well, at least what they would have looked like an hour ago.”

  He continued to ramble on about whatever makes his type feel important, but my eyes couldn’t help but follow the stretcher wheeling by with my morning’s work on it. I wanted to flick my burning cigarette onto the sheet and watch the motherfuckers go up in flames. Finish what I started.

  I had to laugh to myself. I looked at the man I’d destroyed.

  I don’t know how you got out of this, buddy, but you should be thanking whatever God you talk to.

  The sheriff droned on. “Now, we don’t condone violence in this town, son, and you better goddamn know I won’t stand for it. You may have done a good thing this morning, but I’m not entirely sure it wasn’t just a fluke. I’ll be watching you, and you better prove to me you’re worthy of my town.”

  It took all my strength not to rip off the index finger he was pointing in my fucking face.

  His town?

  Sorry, buddy. Since I walked through the limits, you have no idea how fucking far this place is from your town. It’s mine now. I own it and everything in it, and you should be thanking your lucky fucking stars I let you keep breathing its air.

  I nodded my head as if I understood and agreed with his bullshit.

  “Now, Kelly. I’m so sorry, dear. I know this has been
a horrible morning for you, but could you come to the car with me so I can get your statement on what happened here? Won’t take but a minute and you can be on your way.”

  “Of course, Sheriff. I want to help however I can.”

  Kelly was calm, like she somehow hadn’t just seen a wolf slaughter a herd of sheep. Piece of shit sheep maybe, who didn’t know how to keep their hands to themselves, but it was a slaughter none the less.

  Damn, she looked good walking away. The way her skirt lowered and raised with every sway of her hips, showing just a hint of what was beneath, before covering it back up too soon. There wasn’t much left to the imagination, the way her curves filled everything out, but my mind was running wild and I couldn’t control it. I couldn’t picture anything other than hiking that skirt up around her waist and watching her beautiful ass bounce as she rode my cock. The beating I put on those sons of bitches had done nothing to release whatever tension I had building inside of me. There was one release I needed and with her around there was only one way to get it. I had to get my mind straight. Maybe I’d get drunk after this. A boozed up head was better than whatever this chick was doing to me. I couldn’t afford to take any risks messing around with this girl, no matter how hard she made me. I had already shown enough of myself for one day, and I wasn’t about to draw anyone else any closer to me. Even if it meant passing on the fuck of my life. The fuck of her life, for that matter. As she squinted in the sun, all I could imagine was her forcing her eyes closed in pure orgasmic ecstasy while I plunged my cock deeper than she had ever felt before.

  Goddamn it, Hunter. Get your shit together. Five more minutes and you’re drowning yourself in that bottle of JD sitting by your bed. Forget about pussy for once in your life.

  I would either pass out or drink my dick useless. That was the only way I’d be able to get her out of my mind. Between the way I was aching, and just knowing myself, it was going to have to be the first. With my Irish blood and the way Kelly moved her tight little package around, no amount of whiskey was going to stop what I wanted to happen.