Diana (13 page)

His hands pushed aside the sweatshirt she wore and tangled in the thin straps of her tank top. He bent down, gently biting her collarbone then her shoulder.

"You get on my nerves, Detective.” He nibbled harder.

"What are we doing?” she whispered, out of breath.

"Don't talk. I don't want to fight.” He continued to explore her skin with his mouth.

His hand was flat against her ribcage, on her left side, while his right hand pulled the tank top down the rest of the way, revealing her breast.

Diana inhaled a sharp breath at the realization she wasn't wearing any bra. In the heat of anger, she abruptly exited her apartment without giving it a thought.

"Damn, Pellino.” Luke growled before he took the mound of flesh into his mouth.

She gripped his shoulders tighter. He bent down onto his knees, lifting the shirt and sweatshirt over her head, exposing her bare chest for better access. She let out a moan of pleasure. Her knees felt weak as she laid her head against his shoulder. She kissed the skin, absorbed the excitement her body experienced at his every touch. She wanted him. She didn't care about the consequences.

Luke trailed kisses along her ribcage to the waist of her pants. His fingers separated the elastic from her flesh, and made their way between her thighs.

Diana tensed up a moment, with the realization that the opportunity to run, stop his next move, was moving further from her grasp.

"You feel so good. I wanted to kiss you, touch you like this since we first met,” he whispered, as he continued to seduce her.

She felt every sensation, absorbed every erotic touch, to the point where she wanted to scream out his name. Her legs felt wobbly and weak and, as if sensing it, Luke took control.

A second later, he scooped her up into his arms. He kissed her lips, smiled, then headed toward the doorway that led into his home. He slammed the door closed with his foot, and headed upstairs to his bedroom with graceful ease.

He ducked under the low eves, and she watched his suave maneuvering, absorbed the fact Luke Fontella, Fire Marshal, Mr. Attitude, was whisking her away to his bedroom.

She found herself imagining being rescued by Luke in his full firefighting gear. The thought brought moistness between her legs.

"You're blushing.” It was as if he could sense her body's instant response to his.

She swallowed hard, while he used his shoulder to push open the bedroom door.

Luke gently set Diana's feet down on the floor. She covered her breasts with her arms, suddenly feeling shy.

He stood in front of her, holding her gaze with his own. His feet were spread inches apart, revealing the large bulge in the crotch of his jeans.

A shiver ran up her spine. A fear of weakness, and giving into this man's alluring aura, had her mind spinning. She thought about how much more confident she was with her side arm on her hip, her badge, her handcuffs, all signs of authority, control, and power. None of it was on her now. Just her flesh, her soul, and no shields or barriers for protection.

He cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her face up toward his. His other hand separated her arms from their locked positions.

He kissed her lips softly before he spoke.

"For a mouthy thing, you sure got awfully quiet."

She released a shaky breath. “I don't know about this."

His lips cut off any attempt of resistance. He kissed her deeply, while he pushed the remaining material from her body.

"Look at me, Pellino. Don't think about anything. Just look at me."

She stared into his eyes, the oceans of her dreams, the islands of Hawaii. A peacefulness, a contentedness, filled her to her core.

He trailed his fingertips along her arms, gently, seductively, while Diana stepped out of her pants. She reached for the zipper on Luke's jeans.

An instant later, they were fully naked, their lips engaged, their hands pulling at each other to embrace tighter.

She wanted him and he wanted her.

He lifted her by her hips as he kissed her deep. They fell to the bed in an embrace. Luke's body was hefty and wide, and he covered her entire frame as he straddled her hips.

"I've dreamt about having you in my bed.” He kissed her cheek, her chin, then her neck.

"I've thought about how angry you make me."

Luke grabbed her hands. Their fingers entwined as he kissed her neck harder, sucking at the skin. He whispered against her ear, “I thought about that too, and about what I would do to you once I had you, like this, at my whim and command.” He sucked harder, longer. She was certain it would leave a mark.

As independent and feministic as she could be, Diana would welcome Luke's love mark. An indication her lover ravished her completely.

The thought was insane. She was always such a feminist, battling for equality, for the chance to be graded on performance, on experience, yet here she was, willing, without fight, offering her neck up for branding, against all the rules in Feminist 101.

Luke reached for the drawer by the bedside table. He grabbed a condom.

Diana's heart raced with anticipation. She would do this. She would let a man she hardly knew make love to her, get to know her so intimately. A man who angered her and turned her on like a light switch. She had to work with him professionally. But, at the moment, she didn't care.

He shifted his weight against her hips. She welcomed his next move willingly, and their bodies united. His lips drew in deep breaths against her neck. They sighed deeply, at the sensations they felt.

The race was on, an attempt to destroy any last barriers of defense against one another. With each plunge of desire and claim, their connection deepened to the point of no return.

She was lost in him, lost in his embrace, plunging into a pool of complete intoxication.

Diana opened her eyes. Her body felt numb. She was sore, but embraced the satisfied feeling. She'd had a few lovers in her life, never thinking about the phrase ‘Size doesn't matter.’ At least, she didn't before tonight. She felt the giddiness inside her, the satisfaction and contentedness. The phrase was a complete lie.

Smiling, she knew she had physical proof lying pressed up against her backside.

Luke's muscular arm lay across her ribcage, and the palm of his hand cupped her right breast.

She hadn't pegged him as the possessive type, but clearly, he was. Or he was worried she would attempt escape.

All her nerve, her strength in fighting the reality of the consequences to their love-making, were now long gone. It was just she, alone, with the choice she made.

Diana glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It read 1:00 a.m. She needed to head home, needed to minimize what just occurred, and maintain any bit of professionalism and independence that she could.

She slowly started to move out of Luke's grasp. He shifted his body and pulled her back tighter against his chest.

She attempted the move two more times and, with each attempt, Luke's grasp increased. She could hardly take in a full breath when she heard his deep voice.

"You're a stubborn thing. If I keep pulling you tighter, what do you think I'm trying to say?"

She felt each syllable, each raspy word in the warm breath against her shoulder.

"Speaking would get you faster results."

He kissed her shoulder. “Stay here. Don't leave."

Diana maneuvered her body so she could face Luke. She touched his chin, gently rubbed her hand across the new whiskers that formed on his cheeks. He pulled her closer. His body was lower down than hers, causing his eyes to be level with her neck.

"Listen, you were incredible."

"Is this where you tell me we made a mistake, and you leave me here, alone and used?"

She smirked, then kissed his cheek. “Somehow, Fontella, I don't think you feel used."

"I will if you leave me. We're not exactly finished."

"What do you mean?"

"You came here all confrontational, wearing no bra, full of authority and attitude."

Diana felt her cheeks burning. The ‘no bra’ scenario wasn't planned.

"Listen, my intentions were not to—"

"Seduce me? Turn me on? Lead me to wherever it is you have the desire to go?"

"Don't get all intense on me, Fontella. You're a big boy. You know all about consequences."

He caressed her hair, pulling her body lower, down under the sheets.

"You're not free to leave. There's a punishment for the crime of breaking and entering."

"I didn't break in. I just entered."

"Then I'll consider cutting the punishment in half."

"You have no authority. You're not in law enforcement. Now, if I started a fire that couldn't be put out, that would be your forte."

Luke pulled the sheets away from their bodies, looking down between them.

Diana followed his line of sight.

"That's one hell of a fire you started, doll. Take it from me and my professional experience, it's gonna take all night to put it out.” Luke abruptly rolled over on top of her.

Her laughter, in response to his tactics, filled the air.

Luke maneuvered his hips just right, kissing Diana as she locked her legs into position. Their gazes met as their bodies united.

It was 4:30 a.m. and Diana couldn't sleep. The original thoughts of the arrogant Luke Fontella no longer ruled her mind. Instead, every inch of his perfect body, his love making rituals, and his ability to make her stay at his home all night now ruled her mind.

For the hundredth time, she questioned why she allowed her anger to rule her actions? Then she reminded herself that if she hadn't, she and Luke wouldn't have shared such intimacy as they just had.

They discussed the case and their findings, their actions, and their opinions.

Along with questioning his professionalism, and his rush to judgment, came questions about her professionalism, and the procedures she took at the crime scene.

She was tired and annoyed when she got out of bed, got dressed, and headed to the precinct. It was 5:30 a.m. when she arrived.

Diana went over the pictures from the crime scene. She understood the intensity and extreme dangers firefighters faced, from the time they got the call to a fire until the fire was extinguished.

She never questioned whether Brian's company followed procedure, because when she and Jerry arrived Luke was there, and the chief officer on the scene was there as well.

He had a log filled with names of everyone who entered the apartment and appeared to follow protocol to the ‘T.'

She scanned through the pictures again, this time recalling how Luke had accused Brian and his company of contaminating the crime scene. She looked closely at the scene, noting the numerous boot marks embedded in the charred ash-gray powder and the many remains of other objects.

Luke had a point, but he could have handled it better. Besides, Brian was his friend, and nearly half the department knew Luke. Diana found out from her brother Vinny that Luke was an exceptional firefighter with a great reputation.

Their conversation was cut short, but she wanted to ask Vinny why Luke didn't fight fires anymore and took a job with the arson unit? It just didn't make sense to her.

Diana waited until 7:30 a.m., then called her friend at the lab.

She headed to the lab around 8:00 a.m., after receiving a call from Jerry that he would be late. She heard a woman giggling in the background, giving her partner a hard time. She told him she would only cover for him for an hour, after that he was on his own.

Diana arrived at the lab and was shocked to find Luke Fontella there. He and Jake Monroe were laughing, until they caught sight of her. She attempted to act professional, despite the fact her body wanted to feel his touch.

"It's my favorite detective.” Jake reached out to shake her hand and moved rather close to her.

She held her position, then stepped to the side to give herself more room. Her gaze locked with Luke's. He looked annoyed.

"Do you know Fire Marshal Luke Fontella?” Jake asked.

"We've met, thanks. So what do ya got?” She tried her hardest to maintain her tough-cop attitude she was known for.

Jake sat back down at the computer and typed. “I analyzed some samples from the crime scene and, after removing your traditional substances like ash, fiber particles, and so forth, I uncovered the gray substance that interested you, Detective."

"What is it?” both Diana and Luke asked. They exchanged glances, and looked back at the screen.

Jake rambled off some technical mumbo jumbo, then leaned back in his chair.

"In English if you don't mind Jake,” she said.

"A flare."

"A flare? What do you mean a flare?” Diana said.

"You know, those things you lit when you were a patrol officer and there was a car accident or a tree blocking the road? An emergency flare."

Diana looked at Luke. He appeared to be in deep thought.

"What's wrong, Fontella?"

Their gazes locked once more. He was silent a moment.

"Come on, you two, you know what flares I am talking about. Safety flares, emergency flares, police flares..."

"Firefighter flares,” Luke completed Jake's sentence, still maintaining eye contact with Diana.

The realization of what went through Luke's mind hit her hard. She tried to maintain some composure. Did he think that a firefighter could be responsible for the deaths of Lee and Barbara? Did he think it was someone they know? Immediately, Brian came to mind.

"No way, Fontella. No freaking way."

He eyed her with an expression that warned her to remain calm.

"What? What are you thinking?” Jake asked.

"It's a need to know basis, and you don't need to know,” Luke said.

He moved onto some of the other material found at the scene, but nothing seemed as important to Diana as the flare, and the fact a firefighter could be their suspect.

When they were done, Diana headed to the parking lot. Luke was close behind.

"Pellino. Detective Pellino!” he yelled.