Burning Up: Firefighter Contemporary Romance Series Box Set

by K. C. Crowne

  He was still wearing his shirt, which was a shame. I pulled at it, and he took the hint. Rising up just enough to work at it, he pulled it off, exposing that perfectly ripped chest and abs. He thrust upward, reaching new depths with his cock.

  I whimpered, grabbing ahold of the headboard with both hands now. My nails dug into the wood, but thankfully it was hard enough to not leave a mark. There was no creaking as our bodies moved together, finding that perfect rhythm that brought us both right to the edge.

  Just as I was about to climax, Jax grabbed my hips and pulled me down, hard against him. He held me there, and for a second, I thought he'd already come. But no, instead, he smiled at me and said, “I don't want this to end too soon. I want to savor it.”

  I had no idea what he meant by that, nor did I have a chance to ask. He flipped us back over, him on top of me, but instead of plunging inside me, he kissed me deeply. Then his mouth moved lower on me. To my neck, then my chest. Little kisses and flicks of the tongue teased me and enticed me.

  Jax moved lower. Swirling his tongue around my belly button while staring up at me with his gorgeous blue eyes. They shined like diamonds now, so full of fire and lust.

  He moved lower, nibbling my inner thighs and sending shockwaves through my body.

  “Yes, yes,” I muttered, shaking as he got close to my most sensitive parts.

  He continued to tease me, licking and sucking and kissing all around my mound for what felt like an eternity. The moment he buried his tongue between my lips, however, made it all worth it. His tongue found my clit, and he circled it.

  I trembled, my lower body arching upward toward him. My hands were tangled in his hair now, pushing him into me without even realizing it.

  “Yes, yes,” I cried out again.

  He buried his tongue deeper inside of me, fucking me with it. He ate my pussy like it was his favorite meal, lapping all my juices and moaning in pleasure as he did so. He was clearly enjoying himself, but not nearly as much as I was enjoying it.

  I was close before, but this pushed me over the top. Spasming, I screamed out in pleasure as my orgasm washed over me. I cried out his name over and over again, my body consumed by the sensations coursing through me.

  Jax never let up, he continued eating me as I came, hard, around his tongue. He didn’t stop until I tugged on his hair, pulling him up from me. I was so thoroughly washed through with pleasure.

  But I still wanted more of him.

  I pulled him upward, and he lost his pants in the process, kicking them off as he climbed on top of me. Hovering above me, he stared down at me with my juices coating his lips. He licked them clean as I watched, a smile on his handsome face.

  I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him into me. He took the hint and thrust inside of me. He split me open, and the look on his face was one of pure bliss. His eyes clenched partially shut and he looked determined. Sweat dripped from his brow as he fucked me hard, burying himself inside of me over and over again, just like the night before. This time, the bed could handle it, however. He fucked me hard and fast, and I knew that no one had ever made me feel the way he did.

  He grabbed my legs, pulled them upward, and buried himself balls deep inside of me. He filled me up with a low grunt, and watching his face contort into a look of absolute pleasure sent me over the edge again. This time, we came together. Our bodies shaking violently as he filled me with his seed. Our moans blended together into one. Everyone in the apartment complex probably heard us, and I didn't care.

  Nothing else mattered but him and me.

  Jax collapsed on top of me, his heartbeat thudding loudly in my ear. His breathing was heavy. We were both out of breath, our bodies still recovering from the pleasure.

  Even still, Jax took my face in his hands and kissed me gently. In the midst of all the hard and wild sex, it seemed out of place; almost too intimate. But I couldn't pull away, even though I knew I should have.

  It was clear, then, that I was way out of my depth. I feared that I had started something that neither of us were going to be able to walk away from very easily.

  No, we were both about to get burned.

  And there was nothing I could do to stop it.

  ooo000ooo

  I woke before Jax and stared at him for a long time. He was so gorgeous when he slept. So peaceful. When he was awake, he almost always looked tense. But asleep, he was relaxed and content.

  That was it, though. It had to be. I had to go back to my penthouse and stop ignoring my responsibilities. I'd need to face Derek, tell him that it was really over. I'd need to stand up to my parents too. It was a time for change, for growth. It would be hard, but it had to be done.

  And I had to do it alone.

  Maybe one day I could find love, but for now, I needed to focus on my career. I needed to worry about the PR nightmare that would unfold in the next few weeks, once the media heard about the cancelled wedding. There was so much I had to do to save face in the press and dating someone new right off the bat would make it look like I was the one to blame for the demise of Derek any my relationship. That would not do.

  Besides, Jax needed to find someone more like him, I told myself. My life would only complicate his, and he didn't need any more stress in his life.

  He'd find himself a good girl, someone who he could live a simple life with, free from the cameras and the media.

  Still, my heart ached. We'd barely known each other, but I felt something with him that I'd never felt with Derek. He made me laugh harder than anyone. He made me smile. He made me forget about all the crap in my life and feel like I was normal, if only for a bit.

  But we both knew it wouldn't last.

  Jax's eyes opened slowly, and when he caught me staring, he covered his face up with a blanket, groaning. “Why are you staring at me?”

  I chuckled, pulling the blanket away. “Because you're nice to look at, that's why.”

  “But it's creepy,” he teased, sticking his tongue out at me playfully.

  “No, it's romantic,” I said.

  “We're not supposed to be romantic though,” he said.

  Maybe I'd imagined it, but there was a touch of pain in his voice. I felt those words like a dagger in my heart. They hurt more than they should have.

  “You're right. And besides, I need to get up and get ready for work,” I said.

  I didn't make any movement to get out of bed, however. I didn't want to leave the warm, safe nest we'd built for ourselves in the night.

  Jax reached out and stroked my cheek, pushing the hair back from my face. His eyes were locked on mine, and my heart raced. God, the way he looked at me... I’d never doubted I was an attractive woman, but Derek had never looked at me the way Jax did. Like Jax saw something no one else did in me; something even more beautiful than the moon and stars on a clear night.

  “Please come see Hamilton with me tonight,” he said, speaking fast so I couldn't interrupt him. “It's not a date, I promise. A friend gave me tickets, and he'd kill me if I didn't use them. I don't want to go alone.”

  I sighed. “Why don't you ask your friend?”

  “He has to work. Besides, I don't want to take another guy to a musical. People might start talking, you know?”

  I chuckled, shaking my head. I wanted to go, I really did. The idea of going to see my favorite musical with him, a guy that made me laugh so easily, sounded like an ideal way to spend the night. After everything I'd been through lately, it sounded very nice.

  “Please?” he begged playfully. “Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top?”

  I couldn't stop the smile on my face, and he grinned too. His face took on an almost boyish look when he was happy, and it was clear he was as happy as I was.

  His smile did me in. I told myself it would be okay, I'd make sure to disguise myself well. I could do it. Just one more night with Jax before all hell broke loose. “Fine,” I said. “I'll go.”

  He kissed me deeply, and we both fell into a case of the giggle
s. I felt like a teenager all over again, rolling around in bed, laughing and kissing.

  And I didn't want it to end.

  Madeline

  Shit. What had I done? After Jax left, I was alone in Allison's apartment contemplating ways I could get out of our date. I was also in the middle of getting dressed to head back into the office and face reality. All of it was a bit too much, and it was tempting to take another personal day. If I wasn't so keen on impressing my dad, I might have done so. But too many days off in a row would make me look lazy, and God knew, it was not the time for that.

  I looked in the mirror and spoke to myself. “You can do this, Madeline. You can face off against Derek, your father, anyone who gives you crap today. You've got this.”

  My hair was still brown, the temporary dye had barely faded at all. It didn't look terrible, but it was obviously not a professional job. It lacked highlights and lowlights, and it wasn't the most complementary color for my skin tone. Most people wouldn't have noticed or cared, but I wasn't most people. I personally didn't care, of course, but I knew others would pay attention and ask questions about it.

  I had to be prepared for anything.

  With a sigh, I pulled my hair back into a low bun. Tendrils fell around my face, softly brushing along my jaw line. My blue eyes looked so sad staring back at me. I looked wary and battle-scarred. Not too far from the truth, honestly.

  I quickly got dressed in my designer pantsuit. Simple grey with a lighter grey top. It was fitting for the day, and even the sky outside seemed to match my mood. It wasn't raining, but the clouds were heavy and preparing to open up on us. I made sure to grab an umbrella before heading downstairs.

  I turned on my phone and found twenty-two missed calls from that morning alone. It wasn't even eight am yet. Sure, I was often in the office before seven most days, but I didn’t always answer calls or emails before then, preferring to get some things done in the quiet before the rest of the staff rolled in.

  I scrolled through the messages. Several from Derek, of course. Several more from my father. And a couple from Julia. I decided to check her messages first.

  “Hey Madeline. It's me,” she laughed nervously, “Just wondering where you're at. Pierre Chevalier is here, and I'm trying to hold him off, but--”

  Shit. My heart raced as I hung up, not needing to listen to the rest of the message to understand what was happening. I had a meeting scheduled for eight that morning, one that had been on the books for a month, with a new design firm. It had taken forever to get on Pierre's schedule, and there I was about to screw everything up.

  I quickly called Julia back. She answered on the first ring.

  “Madeline! Oh God, where are you?”

  “I'm on my way,” I said. “I'm sorry. Are you able to hold things down until I get there, in about twenty minutes?”

  “Derek is currently in the meeting room with him,” Julia said.

  Fuck. I rarely swore, but this was a time for swearing. Derek was meeting with my client, the client I'd spent months romancing. Just like that, all my hard work could go down the drain, and he could get credit for it.

  “Julia, I hate to ask this, but can you do something - anything - to keep them from talking? I can't have him swooping in and stealing my client,” I said, biting my lip.

  I hailed the nearest cab, having no time to pick up my car from the valet. It wasn't worth it. I hopped into the cab and told him where to go, before getting back to Julia on.

  “Julia? Please, anything you can do--”

  “I'm on it, boss,” she said. “Just get here, quickly.”

  She hung up, and I cursed myself for the entire cab ride to the office. Of all days to decide to be late, it was one of the most important days of my career. I had secretly set all of this up, as a surprise for my father, to prove that I could woo the top names in the industry all on my own. And there I was, this close to screwing it all up.

  “This is fine,” I said, stopping the cab a few blocks from the office. The traffic was backed up, I'd get there faster by walking. I over-tipped him, simply because I didn't want to bother waiting for change or for my card to go through. I climbed from the cab and booked it toward the building. The streets were crowded with people, and I had to continually dodge tourists as I rushed toward my office.

  Please, let it not be too late, I prayed to anyone who would listen to me.

  The doorman opened the door with an odd look on his face.

  “Morning, Miss Byers,” he said.

  “Morning, Gilbert,” I said, rushing inside and off toward the elevator.

  I dug through my bag until I found my badge, holding it up the reader until the doors of the elevator opened up. Stepping in, I pressed the button and kept pressing the door button to close. My heart was racing and sweat dripped down my brow. Never again would I let my guard down and forget about what really mattered, I promised myself. Never again would I be so stupid. Just please, let me get there before it's too late.

  The elevator doors closed, but it felt like an eternity to get to the top floor of the building. Twenty floors. Each one seemed to move slower and slower. At nineteen, I was standing at the door, ready. When the doors opened on the twentieth floor, I hurried out - and ran smack dab into the one person I wanted to see least in the world.

  Derek scowled at me, rubbing at his shirt with a paper towel. “You really need to fire your assistant,” he said.

  Coffee stained the entire front of his light blue dress shirt, and it took everything in me not to crack a smile.

  “Thankfully I have my dry cleaning in the car,” he said, shaking his head in disgust.

  At one time, I thought Derek was one of the most handsome men in the world. With his almost jet-black hair and Sicilian olive complexion, he was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. He had always been incredibly attractive, and he knew it. His designer suit hugged his lean, muscular build, and that used to taunt me like crazy. I used to yearn for him every single day, until my body literally ached with a need. It made working with him hard, to say the least.

  But now, he looked like any other man to me. I noticed the gray hair at his temples, the frown lines around his mouth. He was still an attractive man, sure, but nothing like he used to be. At least not to me. Now, he was just any other man. Scratch that - he was not just any other man. I actually found him pretty disgusting to look at now, but that was more personal than physical.

  I pushed past Derek, but he grabbed my arm before I could get too far. Turning on my heels, I glared at him, ready to fight. Yanking my arm free from his grasp, I said, “Don't you dare touch me.”

  His lips pulled back into a grin. Clearly, he was enjoying the power play, but I was not. It took everything in me not to smack that grin off his smug face.

  “We need to talk later,” he said, keeping his voice low and calm. Again, he felt like he was in control here. Oh, how wrong he was.

  “There's nothing to talk about,” I said.

  “Mr. Chevalier is waiting for you. Very good catch, Madeline. And to have your assistant spill the coffee all over us both, well, I knew you were ruthless. I didn't know you were stupid.”

  He was still grinning as he loaded into the elevator. He winked at me before the doors closed.

  Dammit, Julia. One minute I was prepared to high five her for quick thinking, the next, I was ready to throttle her. Dousing my ex with coffee was a move I could get behind, but Pierre Chevalier? God, no.

  “No, no, no,” I muttered to myself as I hurried down the hallway to the meeting room. Julia was sitting at her desk, head down, when I approached. Her red hair was covering her face, as if she wanted to disappear.

  She looked up as I approached, and to my surprise, she smiled wide at me.

  “He just ran to the restroom, he'll be right back,” she said.

  I side-eyed her.

  “Did you just douse one of the top interior designers in the world with coffee?” I blurted out.

  Her eyes went wide,
and that's when I noticed she wasn't looking at me - but at who was standing behind me. I slowly turned, preparing my face for battle, when I came face-to-face with Pierre myself. I smiled brightly, reaching out my hand as if it was second nature. He took it and returned my smile. Pierre was a handsome man. Lean, with dark hair and grey eyes. Just a hint of grey at his temples that made him look more distinguished. His lips pulled back into a genuine-looking smile. Either he was nicer than I expected or very good at putting on a happy face.

  His baby powder blue shirt had a trail of coffee down the front, and I cringed, assuming it was the latter instead of the former.

  Before I could say anything, he said, “Don't blame your assistant, Madeline - I may call you Madeline, right? - it was all my fault, I swear.”

  His English was impeccable, and had it not been for the thick, French accent, you wouldn't have known he wasn't a native speaker.

  “Yes, Madeline is fine, Mr. Chevalier.”

  “Pierre, please,” he said. His smile grew wider as he peered past me at Julia.

  “Pierre, it's a pleasure to finally meet with you in person,” I said. “I apologize for the rough start to the meeting, but if you have a few moments--”

  “I'm sorry, Madeline, as much as I'd like to stay, I have a meeting with client in half an hour,” he said. “We'll have to reschedule, I'm afraid.”

  It was like a brick had fallen onto my chest. I couldn't breathe for a second, and my entire world felt like it was crashing down. I’d fucked this up. My one chance to show my father I could secure top-notch clients, the best in the industry, and I fucked it up.

  His gaze fell back on Julia again, and that's when I noticed the two of them sharing a look. A look that was much more than friendly. I cocked an eyebrow at Julia, but let it go.

  “Please have Julia get in touch with me,” he said. “I'll move things around to find a time for you, Madeline. You can count on that.”

  We shook hands again, and before he left, he said something - in French - to Julia that I couldn't understand. Her cheeks flushed pink as she stared into the older man's eyes. I felt like a third wheel at my own business meeting.