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Yet Izel, my redhead.

My?

Where the fuck did that thought come from.

She can’t be mine. I’ve known her less than twenty-four fucking hours. Sure, she touched me, and sure she interrupted me, and I didn’t end up choking the life from her. But that doesn’t mean she’s mine. She was just locked inside a fucking cage for heaven’s sake.

And yet she hadn’t been freaking out. Why?

I was a stranger, a large mammoth, or ogre as she called me. One who wears tactical gear and a mask that covers my entire face but my eyes. Yet she wasn’t afraid of me. She actually appeared to be quite comfortable.

I shouldn’t have touched her. I’m craving her, I’m craving the feeling of her skin against mine.

Glancing down, I realize I’ve been sitting here for twenty minutes. I should leave, drive home. I’ve been on the road for a few weeks now. I should go home. I need to. I really do.

Fuck it.

Yanking my door open, my legs eat up the distance to the station before I even have a plan on what I’m going to say to her. “I can’t stay away from you.”Because I see that going over well, especially since I’ve been nothing but quiet and like a damn statue towards her.

Only I don’t see Izel standing near the attendant post or sitting down in any of the open seating areas. My body nearly catches on fire, as if I’m not trained to figure out where people disappear to.

Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes.She couldn’t have gotten far.

Bathroom.

The only logical place she would be is the bathroom. I would have seen her come out. Or I would have seen if someone was trying to kidnap her.It would be her luck.

Spotting the women's bathroom, I don’t care if anyone sees me enter. Only the moment I near the door, I hear her voice.

“Let me go.”She yells.

Ripping the door open, I don’t think as I grab the man who’s grabbing at her shirt. Yanking the back of his hair, I smash his head into the wall. His body goes limp, yet I knock his head into the wall once more with such force you can hear his skull break.

Dropping his body, I stand over whoever he is. My breathing comes in ragged, my eyes burning with rage. Something's clearly wrong with me.

“Well, that was eventful,” Izel mutters behind me.

Shit.

How did I not think about the fact she was standing there when I decided to just smash this poor fucker’s skull into the wall at the bus station? I was too blinded by the fact he was grabbing at her to even think about my actions. Which is another first, because I’m always clear headed.

“Where are you going?” I ask, my eyes moving from the lifeless guy to her.

“What?”

“Where did you buy a ticket to?” I step towards her. She’s like a magnet, and I have no control over myself.

“Oh, uh, well. Why?” Cocking her head to the side, she tries to act as if she doesn’t want to tell me. But I can see the relief she feels knowing that I’m here, and I’m not sure what to do with that.

“Let’s go,” I tell her, holding the women's bathroom door open.

“What about…” Her head spins to look back at the dead guy.

“Should probably get out of here before people ask questions.” I don’t tell her that even if they did, I wouldn’t be arrested. Neither would she, but she doesn’t need to know that.

Marching back to the truck, I open the passenger door for her. Only Izel stands a few feet away from me, arms crossed.

“What are you doing?”