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3
Buck threw off his covers in frustration.
He had spent the night tossing and turning since he left Karma’s cabin and came back to his place. Usually, nightmares from his last mission in the Marines plagued him, but tonight it was dreams of kissing Karma’s lush body all over that made him restless. Every time he closed his eyes instead of the sight of body parts of his brothers-in-arms scattered across the dirt road playing on repeat behind his eyelids, he saw images of Karma’s full, round graceful curves, uncovered. He woke up with a raging hardon.
That was enough of a surprise, that was something he thought he got over once he finished puberty.
Most nights he managed to get at least five hours asleep. Tonight, five hours seemed like a luxury. He climbed out of bed with a regretful sigh. Might as well get to work on Karma’s car.
He wandered into his kitchen after dressing to fix himself a cup of coffee. He absently rubbed his chest over his heart. Normally that organ beat a slow, steady rhythm, day in and day out. Nothing had affected it since he came back. That was, until his encounter with Karma. He smiled in his coffee as he remembered watching her bodacious ass bending over to reach inside of her car and how that seemed to kick that dusty organ into beating erratically.
Speeding up, slowing down.
Creating its own rhythm.
Thumping hard and loud, just having a party the whole time he was in Karma’s presence.
The stupid thing invited the rest of his body along. Who told his cock to just wake up and get hard as granite around her? Or his nose to inhale her luscious scent of coconut and lime.
He didn’t even like coconut or lime.
Stupid nose.
And his ears. Every time she spoke they just perked up, straining to hear her dulcet tones.
No. His body was taking over, and he did not like it. He had refused to be one of those returning marines who took his anger out on the world. Instead, he chose calm, a simple daily life, mostly away from people. Nothing phased him, and he liked it that way, so then, why did a stranded woman send his heart racing? His body aching for something he so desperately wanted to avoid?
He enjoyed being safe from being part of the world. He created his own little world. It consisted of his brother, Blaze, and the people of One-stop. He interacted with one person outside of One-stop. One person who he called a friend.
Safe from feeling.
Safe from losing any more people.
Life just passed him by. Leaving him alone.
He rinsed out his cup and headed out to the garage. Might as well get his day started.
Buck usual escape failed him. By the time the sun made it over the mountains, he had been buried under the hood of the Oldsmobile Aurora, hard at work. Usually he could lose himself in the problem, fixing the cars. But his mind kept wandering, filled with unfamiliar thoughts. Thoughts of an intriguing woman. He could kick his brother Blaze’s ass for not realizing that Karma’s car broke down.
For leaving her to spend several hours on the road. Alone in the dark.
Rationally he knew it wasn’t Blaze’s fault, but an irrational part of his brain seemed to be flexing its strength, attempting to take over. He’d been hard at work at their bar, Blazing Buck. It wasn’t until after the bar closed that Blaze got a chance to review the tapes.
Of course, as soon as he realized that Karma broke down in No Man’s Land, he contacted Buck and Buck set out to find her.
It had been so long since he had laughed, but going out to get her, knocking on her window… He grinned at the memory of Karma screaming when he startled her awake. It was just as amusing when she hopped out of her car, baseball bat in hand, exclaiming that she didn’t want to be probed by aliens. It took everything within him not to laugh at her wild-eyed crazy expression.
As always, when approaching a lone woman in the dark, he had been cautious. He attempted to make himself look non-threatening. Not an easy thing to do when he towered over six-two. Even though he was out, he still looked like a marine, curtesy of his profession and working out to keep the memories at bay. Unfortunately, that meant he just couldn’t pull off innocent. Scary as fuck, yes. Innocent, hell no.
He was sure that if he attempted to do her any harm, she would have taken him out with that baseball bat.
“Oh my God is that a smile I see on your face?” The incredulous sound of his brother’s voice came out of no-where.
He glanced up, locking eyes on his brother.
His brother tended to stomp around like a wounded wildebeest. That he was able to approach Buck without him being aware of it showed how distracted he was. Damn. He hadn’t spent more than a couple of hours in her presence.
“Are we in an alternative universe?”
