Burning for the Fireman (2 page)

It took me a minute to realize what she was saying and when
I did, shock didn’t begin to describe the emotion racing through me.

“I’m very sorry to hear that,” I told her quietly.

Her face flushed as I stared at her and I decided to let her
off the hook for now. She was tense and uneasy all of a sudden and I wanted her
to relax with me again.

Changing the subject, I asked her about her favorite music
and movies, and we discussed all the normal things people chatted about on
first dates. It had been years since I’d sat and actually talked to a woman.
Suddenly the old first-date routines didn’t seem so boring.

She was funny, spouting out short, sarcastic quips whenever
the conversation got awkward. Allie was as cynical as I was about relationships
and their worth. But we had both reacted to the breakups and heartache
differently.

I had done almost the exact opposite of what she’d done. My
aversion to relationships caused me to have sex only with women who already
knew the score, to keep things light and easy so they didn’t expect anything
when the night was over.

I found myself telling Allie things I hadn’t spoken of for
years and some things I’d never talked about. I told her about losing my older
brother in a fire my first year on the job and about the woman who had broken
my heart in college by sleeping with my roommate.

I discovered Allie wasn’t close to her parents and had moved
out here after she found her sister in bed with her fiancé. I offered to kick
his ass and she assured me she would give me his address, making me laugh.

As I watched her finish her meal, I knew she was the kind of
woman who would expect more. Unless I could convince her otherwise…but I wasn’t
entirely sure I wanted to do that.

I liked that she actually ate her food. She seemed to enjoy
it too, if her soft moan when the first bite of creamy white sauce and pasta
hit her tongue was anything to go by. We’d both just finished eating and I was
still half hard from the sound.

“Want to go for a walk?” I asked after I had taken care of
the bill and she had finished her wine.

“I’d like that,” she replied.

I held out my hand to help her to her feet. I felt the same
quick jolt of lust as we touched. Placing my hand low on her back, I led her
from the restaurant. I felt her suck in a breath as I trailed my palm over the
top of her ass.

I dropped my hand and grabbed her fingers as we started to
walk.

“So, I remembered where I knew you from,” I said conversationally.

“Really? I thought last night that I had seen you before,”
she told me, stopping and looking up at my face, her brow wrinkled as if she
were still trying to place me in her memories.

“Last weekend at Eclipse?” I asked, curious as to what her
reaction would be.

She looked shocked for a second, her eyes widening and her
lips parting. I had the sudden urge to really shock her and kiss her until she
was breathless. But I held back.

She turned and sat down on one of the benches that lined the
wide sidewalk. I took a seat next to her, propping my arm up to brush against
her shoulders. I saw her shiver; she wasn’t completely unaffected by me.

“Is that why you asked me out? Because you saw me there?”
she asked.

I debated my answer but honesty won out. “It’s one of the
reasons, yes. But not the only reason.”

I trailed a finger along her arm and her gaze caught mine.

“I should probably tell you, that was the first time I’ve
been to a place like that.”

“I expected as much,” I answered with a chuckle. She had no
idea how much she had stood out at Eclipse. She had taken everything in with
wide eyes. It was one of the things that made her so irresistible to me.

She chuckled as well and the sound of it ran over me. I had
it bad for this woman.

“I went with a friend who goes there frequently. She was
hoping the excitement of being in that kind of an environment would make me
change my mind about sex,” she confided quietly.

“Did it?” I couldn’t help asking.

“I admit it was…different,” she finally said. I wasn’t
satisfied with the answer.

“Allie?” I waited until she looked at me before I continued.
“I’ve already promised that everything you say is between us. Tell me the
truth. What did you think?”

She sighed, a habit I was coming to realize she did when she
didn’t want to answer. “Why do you want to know?”

It was my turn to sigh. I didn’t want to tip my hand and
tell her too soon what I wanted and scare her off but she might just walk away
now if I didn’t say something.

But her gaze lowered to my mouth, for just a few seconds,
and when she looked back up I saw the lust there. Allie was hiding a passionate
nature behind her cool reserve. Some asshole had hurt her, maybe more than one,
and I suddenly wanted to track them all down and give them the ass kicking of their
lives.

Protecting people was normal for me but this felt different,
raw and primal. I wanted to right the wrongs that had been done to her and the
desire hit me hard and settled deep.

Her lips parted and her sweet breath whooshed out against my
face. I watched her carefully as I leaned in. She smelled amazing and I took a
deep breath to draw her in, enjoying the sensation of her filling my senses. I
brushed her lips gently, once and then twice, before applying a little more
pressure.

She swayed closer and I hooked my arm loosely around her
back. Her lips were so soft and I didn’t resist the urge to trace them with my
tongue. She let out a little moan in the back of her throat and my cock jumped
to life.

I backed off for a second, taking in her short breaths and
the pounding of her heart, revealed by the pulse beating in her neck. Her eyes
opened slowly and her pupils dilated. I couldn’t stop myself from leaning in
and taking her lips again.

Desire for her hit me hard and I found myself struggling to
keep it under control, something I had never done. Her hot, wet tongue suddenly
stroked mine and I lost all train of thought, our surroundings faded and we may
have been the only two people in the world in that moment.

As I sank into the kiss, our tongues tangled in a slow,
passionate dance, perfectly timed, as if we had been doing this for years
together. A low moan escaped from me as voices reached us from others walking
our way.

I was suddenly jerked back into reality and Allie’s eyes
popped open. She looked a bit shell-shocked and visions of her spread out on my
bed, limp and satisfied, stretched across my mind.

She wanted me. Whether she was willing to admit it or not.

“Allie?” I uttered, after clearing my throat.

“Yes,” she answered breathlessly.

“I want you,” I blurted out.

She immediately started distancing herself from me on the
bench. I grabbed her hands to stop her.

“Just hear me out, will you? And then if you still never
want to see me again, I’ll try to accept it and leave you alone.”

I waited for her to nod before I went on.

“It’s unacceptable that you’ve never had an orgasm with a
man. For you to share your beautiful body and be left hanging is the worst kind
of selfishness.”

She widened her eyes and I knew she was a bit surprised at
my straightforwardness.

“I don’t know why but it matters to me. You matter to me. If
you would risk it just once more, with me, I promise not to let you down. Give
me tonight.”

She stared at me for long moments before asking, “Are you
just saying these things to get into my panties?”

I laughed and then caught her gaze. “I absolutely am. But
it’s also all true. You are beautiful, sexy and I want to get my fingers in
your hair, I want to feel it brush on me as I thrust in and out of you. I want
to feel you come all over me, on my face, my fingers, my cock.” I whispered
close to her ear.

She groaned and stood suddenly. “I don’t know why I’m even
considering this, Ryker,” she told me as she ran her hands through her hair,
something I recognized as a nervous gesture.

“You’re considering it because deep down, you know I won’t
let you down.” I gave her a few minutes to think about it. I could have stood
and pulled her into my arms, kissing her until she couldn’t remember her name
let alone what her doubts had been, but I didn’t want her to wake up and regret
being with me. I wanted it to be her choice. She wouldn’t make the decision
lightly and she wasn’t the type to do something like this often, which only
made me want her more.

“What happens in the morning?” she asked after several long
seconds.

“Everything, nothing. Let’s see what happens,” I told her
but I already knew how this would play out. We would have our night together, I
would restore her faith in men and we would go our separate ways.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she stood staring at me
intently. “All right, Ryker. I’ll give you tonight.”

I felt the tension in my shoulders relax and I let out a
breath of relief. Standing, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her, quick and
deep. When I pulled back, her eyes had gone hazy with desire.

“Your place or mine?” I asked.

She chuckled. “I’ve never been asked that before.”

I pulled her tightly against my side and led her in the
direction of my car.

“I have a feeling tonight is going to be a night of firsts,
for both of us. Let’s go to my place.” The words had me pausing in midstride.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, fine,” I said as I started walking again, leading her
to the truck. Shaking off the idea that we should go to her apartment, I opened
the passenger door and helped her in, getting a great view of her perfect ass
as she climbed up.

It wasn’t a big deal to take her to my place, was it? Just
because I hadn’t had a woman there before didn’t mean anything. I didn’t want
to be in an apartment with neighbors on the other side of the wall while we
were having sex. Sometimes I could get noisy. Taking her to my house on the
outskirts of town was the only logical choice.

I strode around to the driver’s side, jumped in and cranked
the engine to life. The sound matched what I was feeling and I had a hard time
not speeding on the way home.

We didn’t waste any time getting to the front door. She had
sent me a few shy smiles under her lashes, something I found incredibly sexy
every time she did it.

Handing her my key, I busied myself behind her, sweeping her
hair to the side and nuzzling her neck.

Allie’s hands betrayed her nerves as she tried to insert the
key in the door lock. Placing my hand over hers, I held her steady and slid in
the key. I never thought something like opening a door could make me hot, but
it did…with her, it did.

Her gaze caught mine and I could see she was thinking the
same thing I was, about other things sliding in as smooth and perfectly. I
followed her in and closed the door behind us, relocking it.

Her gaze darted around the room, landing everywhere but on
me, and I realized I couldn’t rush her. Well, I could but I didn’t want to. I
wanted to keep my promise and if I took her to bed now, there would be no
guarantees.

“Do you want something to drink? I have wine and some beer
in the fridge. Or maybe something stronger?” I wasn’t much of a drinker but it
would give me time to ease her into it, even if my body was telling me to throw
her over my shoulder and pin her to the nearest bed.

“Whatever you’re having is fine,” she replied quietly.

“All right,” I said as I caught her arm and spun her around
and against my chest, all in one quick move.

She sucked in a breath the second before I covered her mouth
with mine. I wasn’t gentle this time, diving right in and demanding instant
access past her lips. She moaned low and I went deeper, dueling with her
tongue. I nipped her lips playfully before releasing her. But she didn’t move
away; her hands stayed clutching my shirtfront and she looked up at me dazedly.

I grinned at her and she smiled back, making strange
feelings take hold in my chest.

“Have a seat,” I told her, giving her a nudge toward the
couch before heading into the kitchen.

I returned with two glass of red wine to find Allie had
kicked her shoes off and tucked her legs under her on the sofa. Her dress rode
high on her thighs and I stared, almost spilling the wine as I sat next to her.

“So, I wondered if you would be willing to answer some
questions for me?” she began.

“What kind of questions?” I wondered warily.

“About Eclipse?” she asked quietly.

Ah, I should have guessed. “Sure, ask away,” I told her and
took a sip of wine.

I had to admit I was crazy curious what she would ask me.
The people who played at Eclipse were diverse and some liked to put on a show.

“There was a lot going on and I wondered what you are into?”

“I should have guessed that would be your question,” I told
her while trying to figure out how honest to be with her. But I had already
crossed the line of no return. “The big thing about Eclipse that appeals to me
is the lack of complications and I like to be in control. Eclipse offers me a
place where I know I’ll find like-minded women. But basically it boils down to
control.”

I watched her face carefully as she thought over what I
said. “So you’re not into vanilla sex?” she asked with an uneasy tone.

“I didn’t say that.”

I took the wineglass from her hand and set both hers and
mine on the low table in front of the couch. Cupping her face, I tugged her
close until she almost fell into my lap. She braced her arms against my chest
and stared up at me.

“I want you any way you’re willing to let me have you,
Allie. Nothing else but you and what you want matters to me tonight.” It was
the truth.