Frontier Inferno (6 page)

“Define hanky-panky.” Once his lips touched hers, all bets were off. He lifted her, and with her legs wrapped his waist, plunged his hard cock into her, filling her until she never wanted to feel empty again. He fucked her hard, driving in again and again until she screamed his name and his orgasm flooded inside her.

He lowered her to her feet and they resumed their ordinary shower activities. Then her heart sank; they hadn’t used a condom. That couldn’t happen again. She had enough problems without an unplanned pregnancy compounding them.

Chris warmed his hands by the trio’s fireplace. Of course, nobody would believe they’d had a breakdown. Hell, Andie and the guys could see his house, with the truck parked in front of it, from their upstairs window. If he’d had lights on in the bedroom, they would have been able to observe…everything. But his buddies wouldn’t say or do anything to hurt him. And Billy wanted to spend time with Heather every day. Perhaps that’d been a big part of why he’d held back. His son didn’t need to lose anyone else he loved. He liked her a lot already and, without good reason to believe they had a future together, he couldn’t allow Billy to get too attached.

The little boy had flung himself at her first, when they arrived late for dinner. At least he’d already eaten, while the other grownups had waited for them. Andie took good care of him when Chris had to travel for work; he didn’t know what he’d do without her.

“Andie says I can have my dessert while you guys eat so I can hang with you, but then I have to go right to bed because it’s getting late.” He sucked in a breath and raced on, “Where were you guys when the truck broke down because it was right outside the house when I looked.” The kid was getting too smart for his own good.

Chris asked, “What’s for dessert? Maybe I can just skip dinner and go right to it.” Distraction. A parent’s best tool.

“Cake! Chocolate cake with berry filling.” Always the berries. Billy marched to the table and held out a chair. “You sit here, Heather. Between me and Dad.”

She slipped into the seat and smiled at him. Her eyes held a soft warmth. “Thanks, Billy. There’s no place I’d rather be.” As everyone else sat down, Andie brought a platter of artistically arranged vegetables to the table and stood by her own chair. “Well?”

Rex and Paul stared at her, but Paul laughed and hopped up. He kissed her cheek and pulled her chair out. “M’lady.”

She wrinkled her nose at him as she settled into her place. “It’s about time someone around here remembered their manners. Thank you, Billy, for being a gentleman.”

They dug in to the delicate veggies. Where she’d gotten them so early in the year, Chris had no idea, but Castle Lodge had their sources. Sweet baby carrots, small, whole zucchinis, fingerling potatoes in a range of Easter egg hues, slender green beans…and she passed a stainless steel dish of aioli to dip them in.

He hesitated. The delicious, homemade garlic mayonnaise might be a problem with what he planned later on, but when Heather took a big scoop, he grinned and indulged. Roast chicken and popovers also held pride of place and he had a hard time remembering to save room for the cake Billy so enthusiastically enjoyed.

With all the eating, conversation lagged, but once the edge was off their hunger, the group spoke of casual things, friendly things, and Chris basked in the warmth of fire, friendship, and affection. He hesitated to call it love, not so soon.

A man with responsibilities, especially one who’d already been burned, had to guard his heart.

But he’d never spent a better evening, one filled with more warmth and friendship, than that one. It was easy to imagine such times going on into the future.

“Dad, is it okay?” Billy tugged at his sleeve, impatience in his frown.

“Is what okay?” He glanced around the table for a clue, but got no help.

“Daydreaming at dinner?” Paul smirked at him. “He’s got it bad.”

Rex chuckled. “She’s right here, dude. Enough time for that after you kiss her good-bye tomorrow.”

As his cheeks heated and he parted his lips to protest, Billy piped up, “Dad always kisses me good-bye. Are you going to kiss Heather, too, Dad? Can I stay with Heather when you’re gone? Some of the time, I mean.” He pulled on Chris’s arm again. “Is that okay?”

Was what okay? His head spun, and everyone at the table watched to see what he’d say. Having no idea what question he might be answering, he took a shot. “It’s up to Andie. She’s in charge when I’m away.”

Billy fist pumped. “Yes! We are going to have the best time ever!”

Oh shit…what had he agreed to?

Andie laughed. “You can spend some time with Heather and me at the Lodge, Billy. But you have school and you have to sleep here.”

Chris really needed to focus. Billy’s attachment grew quickly. But was it a bad thing? His heart told him no. Billy had a remarkable sense about people. He could pick out a good egg from a bad one every time, the flip side of his conniving mother’s ability to find weaknesses and exploit them. If Chris had shared his son’s gift, he’d never have gone within a hundred miles of Diana. Of course then he wouldn’t have Billy.

As Paul used the last baby carrot to scrape the dish clean of aioli, Andie headed for the kitchen. “Let’s have dessert by the fire. Shall we?”

Heather jumped to her feet and stacked plates. “Let me help.”

“No, let the cleanup wait. We’ll bring the cake and coffee.”

The men stood and stretched. Paul added logs to the blaze and Rex lounged on the big, deep sofa. Chris paused, watching the two women bustle around the kitchen. Although they’d known each other about a week, the two moved together as if they’d been friends or co-workers for a lifetime. Kind of how he felt about Heather, too.

She’d left her hair down after their shower, and the light caught on its soft strands, highlighting the gold in the darker brown and an auburn streak he hadn’t noticed before. Her laugh warmed him to his toes. He’d never met a woman who was a more natural fit in his world. Could she be the one he’d waited for? The right one this time?

Could he trust his heart…his son’s heart to her?

She caught his gaze and his soul lit on fire. “Chris…look at Billy.” Tearing his gaze away from her, he looked behind him. “Poor guy’s had a long day.”

He’d fallen asleep, his head on the table, a smear of frosting in his hair. It was well past his bedtime, but they’d all been having such a nice evening, Chris hadn’t wanted to send him away. If he were honest, he’d admit he hadn’t wanted to remove a single piece from the jigsaw puzzle of happiness they’d all been a part of.

Still, a little guilt twinged deep in his soul. Billy always came first and nothing should change that. Chris scooped him up. “Come on, buddy, let’s go upstairs.”

“Just a second.” Heather appeared at his side with a damp paper towel. “I want to get the frosting off so it doesn’t turn to concrete overnight.” She held the sticky lock up, wiped it clean and smoothed it back down. Dropped a kiss on his cheek. “’Night, Billy.”

Chris’s heart ached at her simple kindness and, shifting his son into one arm, he pressed his own kiss to her lips. “I’ll be back in a minute, after I get him settled.” And, after dessert—because it would be rude to pass on one of his hostess’s specialties—they’d make tracks for his home. And his bed. Where he could make long, slow love to the woman who’d invaded his life and made him wish for things he’d forgotten he could dream of. He’d give her words and actions to remember while he was away.

When he was halfway up the stairs, a flash of lightning lit the cabin and after one, two, three seconds, thunder rumbled. No rain splattered the window at the top landing. How long before one of the electrical storms lit a fire that would send him and his fellow smokejumpers into the thick of things? Their training exercises might be cut short.

Heather loaded a tray with stoneware plates of cake and topped each with a spoonful of whipped cream. She headed toward the fireplace, followed by Andie with the coffee things. He’d kissed her. Right in front of everyone, and somehow that was worse than her hosts being pretty sure they’d spent the afternoon in bed.

The intimacy of that moment together shared with their friends made it more…official. Andie and the guys would assume they were a couple. And she didn’t hate the idea.

In fact, she wished they were right.

They set the trays on the oval table in front of the couch and, in a moment, Chris rejoined them. Andie settled between her two guys with a hand on Rex’s thigh and Paul’s arm around her. Heather had never been in the presence of a trio like them before, but their easy banter, comfortable touches, and the sparks she’d witnessed when Paul took a plate of dessert from Rex demonstrated a relationship she could only dream of.

She huddled in the corner of the sofa, an observer of the rest. The cold fish of a fiancé whom she’d fled, the acrimony before her parents divorced, none of it prepared her for what she saw tonight. Or for the way she gravitated like a flower toward the sun of Chris’s warmth. He tugged her closer and offered her a bit of cake from his fork.

“So sweet,” he murmured against her mouth. “How long do you think we have to stay before I can get you in my bed again?”

“We’re right here!” Paul protested, but the others laughed. “I mean…we can hear you. If you don’t like the company…or the cake?”

Heather jerked away, but Chris drew her head to his shoulder, his arm tight around her. “The cake is great.”

“And the company?”

“You know Andie is one of my favorite people. And Rex…always a great host.”

“Gee, thanks. But who has your back when the flames are highest?”

Flames
. In the morning, Chris, and Paul, too, of course, would be heading out to fight fires. But not like most firefighters; first they had to jump out of an airplane. Terrifying. One more reason not to be there when he returned. She swallowed her mixed emotions and remained silent.

Andie winked. “Lay off, Paul. I remember a time when you would have skipped my cake to get to my body.”

He grinned at her. “Never. I always wanted both. But sometimes, it’s better to have your cake and eat it too…in bed.”

She rumpled his hair, then stood. “I’ll wrap your cake to go. Billy’s settled. Paul and Chris have to head out early. Don’t waste your last few hours together on chitchat.”

“Right,” Paul said. “And the sooner you two leave, the sooner
we
can have our own personal good-bye.”

Chris dragged Heather to her feet and they waited by the door while Andie tucked cake in foil and stuffed it in a canvas bag. Heather tapped her toe, anxious to get him alone. It would be the last time.

Tears blurred her vision when Andie hugged her and whispered, “Don’t worry, they will come back to us. They have great training and always watch out for one another. They weren’t kidding about that.”

She nodded, her heart breaking. He’d come home, but she wouldn’t be there. How much longer before her mother tracked her down and forced her to marry Reggie? She wasn’t even sure how they’d ended up engaged, but if she didn’t marry him next Saturday, her mother would make her life hell forever. She had to either flee or return.

Because a
Castillo
, as her mother was fond of saying, had responsibilities.

Swallowing the wave of sadness threatening to drown her, Heather followed Chris out of the cabin and down the path. As they reached the tree line, she took one last look at the warm yellow light glowing from the windows, the sight of Andie and her men, their arms casually hooked around one another’s waists. She’d never have another night like that.

Never in her life.

But, she waved and returned to the path, to Chris waiting for her. She’d make the night last. For a lifetime. No, she wouldn’t go back and marry Reggie VanHorner. She refused to consider his cold, fishy kisses or his clammy hands on her body after the searing heat of Chris’s touch. But to ask him to uproot Billy from his happy, secure life and move on with her? Unthinkable. And staying in Castle was out, too, what with her distant relatives in residence. They hadn’t realized who she was, yet. But once Human Resources put the paperwork through—the paperwork she’d managed to “forget” to fill out so far, they’d realize she didn’t exist under whatever made-up last name she used.

They’d want to know her real identity. She shuddered to think of her mother’s wrath descending on the kind people of Castle and her father’s disappointment in her disregard for their family name.

“Heather?” Chris held out a hand and she clasped it, twining their fingers together. Precious time dwindled.

The gingerbread log cabin appeared far less ludicrous when one knew what it held—a man whose character renewed her faith in life and love and who, along with his son, had ruined her for anyone else. Heather snuggled under the covers and inhaled the scent of Chris’s bedding. Woodsy aftershave, a hint of musk, enticingly male.

His kisses held all the desperation of their impending parting, although he thought it would only be for a week or two. He kept saying, “When I get back, we will…” and she didn’t answer, but didn’t deny it. The Castillos would send her home to fulfill her responsibilities. No matter how kind, the Cuban-Americans were a proud family. Even if she hadn’t spent much time with her father’s branch of the clan, she remembered that much. Despair made Heather grasp Chris around the neck tighter.

“Sweetheart, I need to breathe.”

She sniffled and loosened her grip. “I’m sorry. I’m so glad to be here with you. It’s like a dream.”

His palms roamed her breasts, his fingers pinching, tweaking and sending flames straight to her pussy. “It is, isn’t it? I never thought I’d have to come all the way to America to find the right woman.”

Damn. And he was the right man, wasn’t he? Under any other circumstances.

She rocked against his condom-wrapped cock. “You have to leave in a few hours. You gonna do something with that?”