The Mechanics of The Heart (Unedited)

44

Amara

The past and present were blurring inwardly and I didnt like it.

I was being wracked with flashbacks and memories of searching hospitals and begging sleazy police officers to just check and see if they had my brother, I think I stopped breathing all together watching Bullet come out of the back of that police station.

After some convincing and stolen kisses, Bullet coaxed me into the passenger seat. Yanking my body easily over the console until I straddled his lap. My thighs pooling the little space available as he ran a finger through a coiled curl still drying, moving to palming my cheeks again pulling my gaze to his.

"I am sorry." He murmurs, firmly gripping me tightly like he needs me to believe him and I feel myself dissolve against him, the anxiety spiking my heart calms with the warmth of his hazel eyes.

"I know." I whisper, running a hand over his scruffy cheek, the beard he usually kept close shaven and clean cut was growing almost wildly now. "You need to call your sister." He nods, stealing another kiss before opening the door, his hands leaving my face to grip my thighs. The gesture innocent on his end send jolts of tingles and shivers that ran up my spine and awoke butterflies that fluttered against my rib cage.

"I will." He slides out the car, and I gasp gripping his shoulders as he pulls me with him. Standing at his full height as his large hands held my thighs, gripping tightly with my chest plastered to his. From here I can see every freckle, scar, blemish free and soft skin that adorned his chiseled face. Hunter truly was something spectacular.

I was tall, an athlete and other people would probably describe and have as a bitch. It felt so odd to be in his arms, my feet quite literally swept off the ground. There was nothing in this world that could have prepared me for the storm that was Hunter, he was unexpected and all illuding. Inevitable.

Lost in his beauty I miss his movements, grunting as I'm suddenly pinned to my car, my legs inwardly wrapping around his waist as one hand moves to grip my chin, my hands flattened against his chest as I recognize his furrowed brows and darkened eyes.

"You posted my bail, baby?" If he keep calling me baby I might go into cardiac arrest. I nod, my tongue heavy as his gaze narrows. "How much?" This time my brows furrow.

"It doesn't matter-" He pushes forward more, his nose brushing mine.

"It matters to me." He growls the words and beneath my hands his chest rumbles.

"Hunter" I sound like im whining, "Call your sister. Now." I push, remembering the frantic look on Bambi's face, the utter defeat that swallowed all the brightness in her eyes. Hunter sighed, glancing at passing traffic before moving, ducking down and I grip his shoulders as he places me in the passenger seat like precious cargo, his musk and cologne still lingering over the stink of the jail and I kiss his jaw as he clips my seat belt into place.

I hand him the brown bag of his confiscated items during his arrest and he smiles grateful before moving to shut my door softly, digging through for his phone as I leaned back into the seat. I sigh pushing past my lips as exhaustion danced in, in place of the rapid anxiety that riddled my body.

Through bleary vision I watched Hunter talk animatedly on the phone, glancing at me through the window as I him every few moments. The car was on but all I could register was my thundering heart. There was no denying my feelings for this man and I couldnt for the life of me figure out how or when we got here.

How I got here, when I left for college apart of me still felt at home, now here in Nevada, my old life felt so far away. Distant and almost an entirely other life. An unhappy, lonely life.

"What are you thinking about?" I blink turning my head lazily as he shuts the car door, exhaustion dances but the ache still lingers.

"My brother." He raises his eye brows but doesnt say more. Leaning back in his seat as hazel eyes that remind me of laying on the forest ground and looking up, hues of green and brown dancing in harmony rest on me with undivided attention. "My little brother, Agustin. One of the best photographers ive ever known." I smile, albeit sadly as I recall my brothers passion, the still shots that echoed in someone soul.

"I never liked taking pictures, never thought I was pretty enough, not like my sister Ariya. But Agustin had a way of making anything he photographed beautiful." Bullet smiles, shaking his head softly like disagrees. On what? I couldnt tell you. "But then something happened during his sophomore year, I dont know if he got sucked into the wrong crowd or tried it once at a party. But one day my little brother was begging me to take him to take pictures and the next I was searching hospitals, police stations and crack houses for him." I scoff at how adverse my life sounded to even me.

"Of course my parents being established in the public eye couldnt deal with an addict son tarnishing their brand, my sister already was a teen mom. So they shipped him off, the last time I saw my brother he told me I might as well pick up a needle too. A part of me felt like he was right, my siblings and I are all products of our environment, statistics-"

"Amara." My name comes so stern, forceful as he grips the nape of my neck pulling my gaze to him. "I hear you baby, my heart bleeds for every storm you've weathered alone. That is something I promise you wont have to do again." I gasp quietly as he tightens his hold on me, tugging me forward until our lips brush.

"But if you keep ridiculing yourself baby, im gonna put you in front of a mirror and show you just how much of a goddess like you deserves to be worshipped."