Page 17 of Tara's Warriors

“Figure of speech,” Jaz muttered. “I’ll be glad when they update your dang implants with slang.”

“It will take years,” Xentix said in a patient voice to his wife. “You have so many languages that change so often, it is hard to keep up.”

With a flick of her wrist, Jaz summoned a 3Dviewing table, showing a map of the small town where Tara lived. “Okay, here’s what I think you should do…”

Chapter 6

Tara

Eyeing the big clock over the ancient jukebox in the corner, Tara let out a sigh of relief. The end of her shift was finally in sight. Even though she only handled the breakfast crowd that morning, she was exhausted. The night before, she’d slept like complete crap. Foggy dreams woke her over and over again, leaving her with a sense of extreme loss and sorrow. She’d tossed and turned until four am, when she had to get up and head out to work. Living down the road from her Aunt Jean’s farm had its benefits, and she’d dropped a still sleepy Jillian off with her aunt before heading to the restaurant.

After doing a quick walkthrough of the dining room, she sat down at the nearly empty counter and started on some orders that needed to be submitted while her staff got ready for the lunch crowd.

The brass bells over the door jangled, so she glanced up out of habit, then sucked in a quick breath through her nose at the sight of the two men making their way toward her.

Staring at her.

Making her heart try to beat out of her chest as exhilaration and…lifeseemed to fill her.

Both men were tall and thick, with barrel chests, narrow waists, and powerful thighs beneath their faded jeans. They each moved with a supremely confident swagger that sent little flutters of feminine appreciation through her. The man on the right was what she thought of as rugged sexy, with his trimmed black and silver peppered beard, tanned skin, and deep laugh lines around his dark eyes. His hair was thick and wavy, a rich brown color frosted with silvery white at his temples. A soft looking deep green shirt strained to contain his thick biceps. Her nipples tightened into hard little points as she imagined what it would be like to be held in such strong arms.

The big men moved into a single file line to get past some chairs, and her gaze focused on the man in front. Just as immense as his partner, he looked like he could chew up and spit out a tank. There was something intimidating in his predatory gait and in the way he gazed at her like he was entranced. Long, black hair hung in thick chunks of silver braided back from his sharp bone structure. A tight black t-shirt exposed his biceps and, as one of her servers liked to say, his biceps were pure arm porn. Like his friend, he had facial hair, but his was more like a 5 o’clock shadow than a full-on beard. When her gaze met his, a little shiver danced across her flesh and an indescribable click happened somewhere inside her body as she came further to life.

The world seemed to brighten, everything taking on a crystal-clear aspect, when the men stopped before her.

For three long beats of her heart, she stared at them, unable to cope with their overwhelming presence.

“Pardon me, are you Tara?” the man with the long salt and pepper braid asked. He spoke in a deep, thrilling voice, heavy with a thick, but somehow familiar, accent she couldn’t identify.

Her own voice came out in an undignified squeak as she stood from her barstool. “Yes? I mean, yes, I’m Tara. How can I help you?”

She was tall—five-eleven—but these guys had to be at least a foot taller. It left her feeling positively dainty in their presence.

The man with the braid lowered his voice as he gave her a practiced bow. “My name is Karwin, and I am here to apologize on behalf of my son. He told me about his actions yesterday, and he deeply regrets causing you any embarrassment or unease.”

“Your son?” Her mind didn’t want to focus on anything besides how hot these two guys were, but she managed to make the connection as he looked up at her with those bluer than a tropical ocean eyes. “Oh, yourson! No wonder you look familiar. It’s okay, no big deal. I get asked out on dates all the time.”

She startled as she swore both men growled so deep and low, she felt it more than heard it.

“Still, he should not have put you in such a position, and he is sorry.”

“Really—” She gave them her practiced smile. “It’s no big deal. He wasn’t rude or anything.”

“You are very generous,” Karwin said. As he smiled down at her, the lines around his eyes deepened. “And incredibly beautiful. I can see why my son attempted to woo you.”

“Woo me?” She couldn’t help but giggle.

“Court you?” The rugged man gave her a small bow. “Forgive us, we are not familiar with your countries customs and our grasp of your language is not the best. My name is Phiniar, but my friends call me Phin.”

“No worries.” She allowed herself to steal quick sneak peeks of their truly rock solid bodies. “Where you from?”

“Poland,” Phin said quickly. “We are part of an exchange program with the United States, working in the United States Army.”

She smiled at them both. “So you’re soldiers?”

“Warriors,” Karwin responded. As his shoulders went back, his aura of intimidation strengthened, and turned her on.

Something about a man in uniform, even if he wasn’t wearing it, always did it for her.

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