by Hope Ford
She starts to pull away, but I only let her have a little room. I can’t let go of her, not yet.
“Are you supposed to be at work?” she whispers against my chest.
“Fuck.” I loosen my hold on her. “Yes, Captain Benson is going to kill me. I have to go.”
She nods her head and drops her hands to her sides.
“When I call you tomorrow, will you please answer the phone?” I plead with her.
She just shakes her head, sadness filling her face. “There’s no reason to. I’m sorry, but I just can’t, not after everything.”
I want to argue with her, but I know now’s not the time. “I’m not giving up, Heather,” I tell her right before I kiss her forehead and let her go.
I stride over to my truck and drive away without looking back. I know if I look at her, I’m not going to be able to leave.
7
Heather
I’ve never been so confused in all my life. I want to believe him. I wish what he’s trying to tell me is true, but I saw it. I saw them together and there’s no reason that Jamie would lie. I can’t stand out here all night though. I walk toward my apartment and as soon as I get to the door, Jamie’s standing there.
“Hey, was that his truck I saw out there?” she asks me.
I simply nod my head, unlock my apartment door and walk in. Jamie follows right behind me. “You know you’re a cop. You can make him leave you alone.”
I shrug. “I know.”
She just rolls her eyes. “Forget about him. Go out with me tonight. I have a bottle of Tequila.” She pulls a pint out of her purse. I know I should probably talk to her about how much she’s been drinking lately, but I can’t do it tonight. Tonight was already too much.
I start to tell her about my night, but she’s not really interested. When I don’t give in, she leaves to go out and I make her promise not to drink and drive and to call me if she ends up needing a ride home.
It’s only a few hours later, after I’ve showered and changed into my pajamas, that I get the call. “Hey, your friend gave me your number. She’s had a little too much to drink.”
I’m already grabbing my purse, running out the door before I remember that I at least have to put on my sandals.
I no sooner get to the bar and a man is walking Jamie out, kicking and screaming. He tosses her to me. “Here you go. She’s your problem now. She’s lucky I’m not calling the cops for the damage she did.”
Jamie starts laughing. “Oh yeah, she is the cops.”
I thank the man and grab Jamie, pulling her to my car. The whole way to the house, I know I sound like her mother, but I’m telling her about what could have happened to her if some guy had taken advantage of her and how stupid it is to go out drinking by yourself. I don’t stop until we’re pulled back into the lot at our apartments.
“You’re such a party pooper,” she says as I help her from the car.
I’m walking with her, almost carrying her. Surely she didn’t drink that whole pint, did she? “Yeah, I’m the party pooper.”
“You are. I still can’t believe that he didn’t want to sleep with me because he wants you. I mean, look at you,” she says hatefully.
I lean her up beside her apartment door and pull back from her, not caring if she falls to the floor at this point. “Wait. Baker? Are you talking about Baker?”
“Who’s Baker?” she asks as she peeks at me through her heavy eyelids.
I use my keys with her extra house key on it to open her door. “Baker. The one that brought you home the other night. The one you said you made out with.”
She throws her head back in a laugh and it bounces off the brick wall. I’m sure that’s going to hurt tomorrow, but it doesn’t seem to faze her right now. “Him. He wouldn’t give me the time of day. He said he had a girlfriend.”
I pick her up then and shove her through her open door and lead her to the couch. I don’t even tell her bye. I leave, closing her apartment and running back to my car.
How could I have been so stupid? Why didn’t I believe him? I pull into the fire station. The doors are up, but the trucks are gone. I walk in, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Baker is here. The place seems deserted so I turn back around to go to my car. Maybe I can check dispatch and see where they’re at. There are benefits to being a cop.
“Hey, can I help you?” I turn at the voice that calls to me from inside the station.
“I’m looking for Baker.”
He nods his head. “They’re at a call. Fifth and Main.”
I start jogging to my car, hollering thank you to him as I go.
Baker
I can’t get my mind off Heather. I know I should and I need to, but all I keep thinking about is having her in my arms.
We turn the corner in the fire truck and the house is ablaze. Instantly, I get focused, knowing that there are lives in danger.
We all work together. Most of us have been doing this together for years and we have it down to a science. A family runs up to us, telling us that there’s a little boy still inside.
They tell us where his bedroom is and Zach and I take off to get him.
There’s something that can be said for running into a burning building. In the past, I’ve done it without question. I knew I was needed to save a life, even if that meant losing my own. This time it’s different. I’m still going to go in to save a life, and I know there’s always a possibility that I might lose my own. But now, I’m thinking about Heather. She gives me something to come out for. She makes me want to survive. I need more time with her. I have to.
The walls feel like they’re caving in on us, but we keep moving, Zach and I working together. We keep calling out “Bryson,” the little boy’s name, hoping he’ll come to us, but in most instances like this, we find them hiding under their beds. When we get to what we think is his room, we use our lights to shine around, looking for him.
I lay down on the floor and sure enough, he’s under his bed. He struggles against me, but I pull him out, trying to calm him with my words. I explain to him that he needs the mask to breathe and I’m going to take him to his mommy. The little boy wraps his arms around me and Zach and I start walking back the way we came.
Right before we get to the living room, it feels like the whole house shakes and a part of the ceiling comes crashing in.
8
Heather
I watch the house engulfed in flames with my hands held up to my face. He’s in there. He’s in that house and I can’t imagine that he’s going to make it out. The whole place is in flames.
I hear it first. A loud sound, like thunder, and a kaboom and then we all watch as a part of the roof falls in. As soon as it happens, we see people jumping out the big bay windows, rolling on the ground.
I start to go after them, but I’m being held back. I watch, not taking my eyes off the bundled figures lying on the ground. They are swarmed by other firefighters that are dragging them to the clear, away from the house.
When Baker takes off his helmet, and I see him moving, I finally release the breath that I didn’t know I was holding.
He has a kid wrapped around his neck and a woman almost tackles him getting to the boy. He releases him, ruffling the boy’s hair.
Tears are pouring down my face and my whole body is trembling. I get it now, what he was feeling earlier, telling me he just wanted to hold me. I get it, because that’s exactly what I want to do to.
I see my friend, a fellow police officer. I ask him, beg him to let me go. He looks down at my pajamas with a smirk, but lets me by. I run then, run and don’t stop. Before I get to him, Baker sees me. He does a doubletake, but figures out it’s me.
He starts walking my way, and I should be embarrassed. I know this isn’t the right time or place for this, but I don’t care. I dive into his arms, my arms going around his waist and I hold on for dear life.
He’s leaning his cheek against the top of my head. “Heather, I’m okay. I promise I’m okay.”
I pull back from him, still crying. “I should have believed you. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. Can you forgive me?”
He smiles at me, and he must have taken his gloves off because he’s cupping my face in between his soot-covered hands. “Yes, yes, yes.”
I lean up on my tiptoes and kiss him, putting everything I have into that kiss. This whole week was wasted because I trusted Jamie. Because I didn’t believe that he really wanted me. Because I thought he was a liar. I open my mouth and his tongue thrusts in. My breasts are smashed against his hard chest and even though he’s holding me tight, I can’t get close enough to him.
“Baker, let’s go, you’ve got to get checked out,” I hear someone call and I pull away from him, trying to open his jacket and look for any injuries.
“Oh my God, I didn’t even think, are you hurt?” I ask him, running my hand across his chest, his shoulders and his arms.
He groans and I jerk my hands away, afraid that I hurt him.
“No, honey, but your hands on me are what I’ve been praying for.” His voice is gruff, filled with emotion.
I smile at him and he leans down to kiss me again, but I stop him. “I should probably let you get back to work.”
Baker
I look over at my boss and my team. Everyone is still fighting the fire and I know I need to get checked out and get back to work. But I don’t want to let her go.
I grab on to her hand, holding her, lacing our fingers together. “I get off at midnight.”
She nods her head. “Okay. Will you call me, just let me know you’re all right?”
I don’t answer her. I just got her back and I don’t want to let her go. “Will you do me a favor?”
She nods her head, smiling at me. “Anything.”
“Will you go to my house? Wait for me there? I need you there, at my house, in my bed,” I plead with her.
She starts to shake her head and I try to reassure her. “No, it’s not like that. Nothing’s going to happen. I just want you close, that’s all. Please?”
She smiles. “I was just going to say, you sure you want me there without you? I could snoop through your things.”
She may feel like she’s warning me, but I’m not worried. “I have nothing to hide. Please, I may be a little later. You can have my bed, I just want you there.”
When she finally agrees, I give her my address and tell her where the hidden key is. I kiss her one more time and it could have been longer if I didn’t get another warning from my captain.
I watch her walk away before turning back to the fire. It’s a hellacious fire, but nothing is going to stop me from going home to her tonight.
9
Baker
It’s way past midnight, almost three o’clock in the morning before I finally make it home. As soon as we got to the station, I showered and clocked out, racing home.
When I see her car in the driveway, an excitement goes through me. I had wondered if she chickened out if maybe she went home instead. The fact she’s inside, in my home has my heart rate picking up.
I tiptoe through the house. She left a lamp on in the living room for me. I take off my boots and start walking through the house, stopping at my bedroom doorway.
She’s in my bed. I creep over to side and look down at her. The moonlight spilling in through the window shows me that she’s fast asleep. I can’t help it; I squat next to her, reaching out for her, stroking the back of my hand across her cheek.
I do it so softly, I think there’s no way she’ll wake up, but she does. She springs up and the sheet falls from her body, showing me her naked breasts.
“Baker! You’re home,” she says groggily, holding her arms open for me.
I pull her into my arms and my hands stroke across the soft skin of her back. Emotion clogs my voice. “I’m home.”
She pulls back and pulls the sheet up. “Oh God, this isn’t what I had planned. I was going to surprise you, but I must have fallen asleep. This is so embarrassing.”
She’s moving to the opposite side of the bed, trying to crawl under the sheets to get away from me. But I follow after her, holding her down. My hands are holding hers above her head, pressed into the mattress.
In our struggle, the sheet falls away and her bare breasts are right there underneath me. I want to touch her, I want to taste her, I want it all. But right now, I can’t stop looking at her.
She smiles up at me. “What? What is it, Baker?”
“You’re so beautiful,” I tell her without hesitation.
She shakes her head. “Whatever, I’m sure you’ve seen—”
But I stop her, putting my lips on hers to silence her. I kiss her lightly, not wanting to deepen the kiss just yet. I pull away from her. “You’re right. I have seen other women, but I can’t imagine any of them right now. All I can see is you, right now and forever. That’s it, you’re all I want. Just you.”
There’s hope in her eyes, but she’s not giving in to it. “You can’t mean that…”
I shrug my shoulders. “I do mean it. And if you give me a chance, I’ll prove it to you.”
I don’t wait for her to respond. I know I’m going to have to earn it, but I know I will. Right now, I have her and there’s no way I’m going to screw this up.
I release my hold on her hands and her arms come up around my neck. “All right, Baker. You got me here. What are you going to do with me?”
The way she asks me she knows exactly what I want to do with her. I sit on the bed next to her and start pulling the sheet down slowly. Her skin is pale compared to the dark sheets on the bed. I keep pulling, wondering, hoping that I’m going to see it all. When I expose her bare hips and the apex of her thighs, I can’t take my eyes off her.
Heather
As he slides the sheet down my body, it’s like a slow sweet kiss across my body. I still can’t believe I’m doing this, that I got undressed, waiting on him to get home, but the way he’s looking at me made me happy I did.
“Baker? You okay?” I rub my thighs together in anticipation. He’s leaning over me, staring at me.
He licks his lips. “I’m good,” he mumbles before he leans down and takes the hard peak of my nipple into his mouth. His mouth works magic on me and his hand cups my other breast, kneading me, making me feel good.
A moan escapes me and his hand starts to travel again. He strokes across my belly, down my thighs, and my legs part for him making room, begging for him to touch me there. But he doesn’t. He slides his hand back up my body while his mouth is sucking on my breast. I feel everywhere he’s touching me and it’s not enough. I need more. I need all of him.
My hands tangle in his hair, pulling him off my breast and turning his face to look at me. “Please, I need you. I need you now,” I beg.
His lips crack into a smile from ear to ear. He kisses my chest, my shoulder, my neck. I feel his hot breath against my cheek. “Are you sure? We can wait. I didn’t ask you here for this.” I freeze under him, but he continues. “I want you, and this is everything, but I want you to trust me, Heather. I want you to believe in us.”
Nodding my head, I say, “Yes, Baker, I do, I do. Please?” I’m delirious in his arms as he touches me. I’m tugging his shirt off and he pulls away long enough to remove the rest of his clothes. When he turns around, he’s thick and hard, making my mouth water. I reach for him, but he moves around me until he’s lying on top of me. The hard, hot pressure of his body on mine has me opening my legs and fitting them around his hips.
His hand slides between us and his fingers explore the hot swollen folds of my most private parts. “You’re so wet for me,” he pants.
I push my hips off the bed, into his hand. “Yes.”
He centers himself against my hot core and plunges his finger in and out of me, my hips rocking, meeting him with every thrust.
It isn’t long before I’m at the edge. “Now, Baker. I need you now.”
His cock is there as if he was waiting for my approva
l, and he slides into me inch by inch. Holding my breath, I slide my hands up his abdomen, up his chest and circle them around his neck. “Please, give it all to me.”
He thrusts his hips, pushing full force inside me, and I take him all. When he’s fully seated, he’s looking at me, but I assure him I’m okay. He starts pulsing into me steadily, the friction inside of me building slowly. Our hips meet as we slowly rock into each other, and the fervor builds until my hips start jerking erratically. When I’m close, I tell him so and he grabs on to my breasts, tweaking my nipples, and I’m overcome with all the sensations. It’s too much… too fast. The orgasm builds and builds and when I feel like I can’t take any more, like every muscle in my body is pulled tight, I tumble off the edge and it’s the greatest feeling I’ve ever felt. He pummels into me, not stopping until I’m pulsating around him and I’m clamped down so hard on him that he’s screaming my name, screaming his release.
Epilogue
Heather
Two Years Later
Baker picks up AJ, our fourteen-month-old, and throws him over his shoulder. AJ’s laughing as Baker runs across the field at the park, his little body bouncing up and down on his father’s shoulder. I usually jump in about now, run and play with them, but today I’m feeling nostalgic.
It was two years ago that I took a chance on Baker. He was a player. I knew it, but he did his best to prove to me otherwise. He promised me that all he wanted was me. And he promised me he’d be faithful. He’s gone out of his way to prove it to me every day. They stop their giggling and look over at me. Baker whispers something to our son and then he leaves him to play with his trucks with one of his friends. I watch as my stud fireman walks over to me and sometimes it hits me, just like now, I can’t believe he’s mine.
