Fire Princess

by Rachel Blake

  "You're shitting me!" Sierra shoved Autumn back, shock clear on her face.

  "Not at all."

  "What happened?"

  "It was so awkward! I avoided them all day," Autumn mumbled from behind her hands, her face flaming.

  Sierra tried to hide her laugh for all of two seconds before it erupted from her chest. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh, but it is perfect."

  "No! Perfect does not belong anywhere near that sentence."

  "You will know what I mean soon enough." She hesitated for a second before changing the subject. "I know this is selfish of me, but are you still willing to distract him tonight while I go on my date? If you don't want to hang out with him after the scene at the firehouse, I completely understand. I will just go behind his back and tell my mom he's in town. She will keep him busy."

  "As entertaining as that sounds, don't. I will hang out with him. How much more embarrassed can I be? Just promise me my ass will be safe."

  "Promise. As for mine, on the other hand, I cannot say the same."

  "You could just tell him you are too old for spankings, especially the non-sexy kind from your brother."

  "Yes, because that went over so well the last time," Sierra retorted, releasing a long sigh. "No, as much as I hate to admit it, I need him and the weird dynamic we have. At least until I find a man willing to take over."

  "I am very glad to hear you say that," Leland rumbled from behind the duo, making them both squeal in surprise.

  "Geez! Do you make it a habit to sneak up on people like that?" Autumn scolded as she clutched at her chest.

  "It is the only way I find out what is going on in my favorite and littlest sister's life," he teased as he slung his arm around the little sister in question.

  Sierra rolled her eyes. "I am the only sister you have, and before you start the lecture about putting family first, you called me twelve hours ago from what I thought was your car, but apparently, you were at your new job. There is no way you could actually believe that is enough time for me to change my plans for tonight."

  "I'm your big brother! You should drop everything and keep me company for the night."

  "You're my only brother, and if you were just here for a couple of days, I would do just that, but didn't you hear, you're moving home?"

  Leland reared back and covered his ears when she screamed the last part. "Sounds like I arrived here just in the nick of time. It seems to me that Dad has let you get away with far too much."

  Sierra ignored his comment. "Now, don't worry about finding something to do while I am on my date because Autumn has agreed to keep you company while I'm gone."

  Leland peered from his sister to Autumn and then back again as if contemplating whether it was a reasonable trade-off. "Okay. Who knows? Maybe we will find her missing tiara."

  Chapter 3

  Autumn studied the clock again for the hundredth time that night. The stupid thing must have stopped working. It said she still had fifteen minutes until he was due to arrive, but there she stood in her favorite pair of jeans, the ones that made her butt look its best, and a fitted tee shirt, waiting for him at the door like a puppy who had been left at home all day.

  When she had told him that she would like to avoid the gossip that going to a restaurant in town would create, he thankfully agreed to hang out at his sister's house and order a pizza. When she told him she would be there at seven, his attitude became anything but agreeable.

  "My mama would have a fit if she knew I allowed you to drive yourself," he said as his sister shook her head slowly as if she knew exactly how this conversation would go.

  "Allowed? I am perfectly capable of driving myself a few blocks. Hell, I will probably just walk it." The groan from Sierra let Autumn know she had said the completely wrong thing.

  "You will not drive, and you absolutely will not walk in the dark. You will allow me to pick you up like the proper gentleman my mother painstakingly taught me to be."

  "But it really isn't—" Autumn got cut short by the growl that vibrated from deep within Leland's chest. With a huff, she agreed. "Fine! Bossy Doms, anyway." The last mumbled part of her reply got her an eyebrow lift from Leland and a snort of laughter from Sierra.

  At the sound of the doorbell, Autumn jumped. She quickly checked her purse for her debit card one last time before reaching for the door, but that was all the farther she got. When her hand touched the knob, she froze as her sneaky best friend's plan hit her right in the forehead. Sierra had set her up. The brat was trying to set Autumn up with her brother.

  "Unless you plan on talking to me through the door all night, you may have to open it. Turn the knob, princess," Leland teased from the other side of the door.

  Wrenching the door open, she shot the man a dirty look. "You know, it is unkind to mock people. Especially the individual who volunteered to keep you company for the evening despite your tendency to be an ass."

  "Watch the language, princess. I do not take kindly to being sworn at, and those words falling from your mouth are anything but attractive." Autumn felt the blush spread across her face as Leland offered her his arm as if he had not just scolded her for her potty-mouth. "Now, my dear, I believe we have a date with a pepperoni and mushroom pizza and a movie of your choosing."

  Autumn couldn't contain her full belly laugh when a blood-curdling scream echoed through the house. "Holy shit!" Leland roared as a particularly gory scene came to an end and the credits started rolling. She continued to laugh as Leland glared at her accusingly. "I thought you said you had never seen this movie before!"

  "I never said that. I have seen it so many times that your sister refuses to watch it with me anymore. She says I suck all the fun out of it when I don't jump at the scary parts."

  "Or it could be because she is a scaredy-cat and despises scary movies."

  "No, she loves them. She watches them with me all the time."

  "And then I'm on the phone with her all night telling her that vampires or ax murderers or sadistic cults are not going to invade her bedroom in the night." Leland laughed as he stood from his chair. "How about a stroll?"

  "I thought I wasn't allowed to walk outside at night," Autumn sassed from the couch.

  "You are prohibited from walking at night without me. Now, get your shoes on, brat."

  As soon as they stepped out into the dark, the cool night air wrapped itself around them, and the smell of fall tickled her nostrils. Leland turned his face to the sky, and Autumn could do nothing to stop the slightly teasing tone in her voice. "Lee, you aren't going to see any stars from here; the lights are too bright."

  He smiled at her, looping his arm around her waist and propelling her forward. "I like the way that nickname sounds when you say it."

  "Your sister will be disappointed." Autumn laughed as she wiggled away from his grasp before allowing herself to become accustomed to it. "She had hoped that my calling you Lee would annoy you like it does when she says it."

  "No, because you didn't repeat it like a broken record for six months. I kid you not! She was seven and the only thing she said for months was Lee. My parents thought something was wrong with her until the day they took her to the doctor and she called him a fucking nut job before running out of the office. That is why I don't like it when my brat of a sister calls me Lee." He allowed Autumn her laugh at his expense, then he changed the subject. "I can't wait to step out onto the deck at night and be able to see the stars twinkling in the sky. Hell, that's part of the reason I bought the house I did."

  "Your house is in the country?" At his nod, she continued. "Where? I have been searching for a house outside city limits for months and haven't found anything other than run-down, old farmhouses where even the field mice aren't interested in living."

  "I found out a few months ago that the station I worked out of in Kansas City was closing. They offered me a transfer to another station in the city, but before I accepted the new position, the chief informed me of the opening here. I couldn't pass up the op
portunity to be closer to my family, so I applied and got the job last month. I bought a house and some property from a friend of mine, and here I am."

  "Sierra is really excited you are going to be close. For reasons I have yet to figure out, she misses you when you're gone."

  "I would like to know how, in all the times I have been home for a visit, I have not met you before now? She talks about you all the time, so I would have thought we would have met."

  "She doesn't like to share." Autumn snickered.

  "Oh, I know."

  "Now, back to this house. If you tell me you have no neighbors, you may end up with a roommate."

  Leland chuckled. "The couple I bought the property from lives across the street, and they are the only neighbors I have. Other than that, the closest neighbor is a mile away. I've known them forever. They are good people, so I think I can handle having them so close."

  "I envy you."

  "Well, if you ever need to get out of town and away from the noisy neighbors, you are more than welcome to come out."

  Just as Autumn opened her mouth to reply, she stepped on a rock and rolled the same ankle she had hurt that morning.

  "Are you all right?"

  "Yeah," Autumn replied smoothly as a sharp pain shot up her calf. "I want to thank you for the invitation, but I must also warn you, you may end up regretting the offer."

  "I doubt there will ever be a point in my life where I regret inviting you to my house."

  "If I didn't know any better, Leland Boisy, I would think you were hitting on me."

  "That's because I am hitting on you." Her steps faltered. "Easy, pet. We don't need any accidents."

  "I. Did. Did you just admit you were hitting on me?"

  "I did," he readily confessed as he easily stared into her eyes.

  Autumn gaped at the man. "How can you do that so easily?"

  "Do what?"

  "Be so open and honest without any thought of what may happen if I don't react well to it?"

  "I am a firm believer in communication. In the lifestyle, openness and honesty are vital, or someone could get hurt."

  "What exactly is your lifestyle? I mean, I know you're a Dom, but when you picture your relationship, what do you see?" Autumn felt the hope curl in her belly.

  "I am a Dominant, but what I want in a relationship is still unknown to me. I do know that I want a woman who will respect and obey me in more than just the bedroom, but I don't want a slave. I want to know that when we are with our friends who are also in the lifestyle, and I tell her to suck my cock, she will do it."

  Autumn tripped. Luckily, Leland was quick enough to catch her by the back of her pants just before she hit the sidewalk with her face. "Thanks."

  The next word out of his mouth was little more than a growl, "Careful."

  Why couldn't she convince herself to look the man in the eye? She could make eye contact just fine a few seconds ago.

  "You're avoiding my eyes, princess. Is this going to become a habit? You avoiding me when we start talking about our sexual preferences?"

  "Probably." Realizing what he had said, she looked up at him. "You plan on talking about our sexual preferences on a regular basis?"

  "I do, pet." That was the second time he had called her by that name, and this time, she could do nothing to prevent the hitch in her breath as the pet name rolled off his tongue. "Don't act surprised. You know the whole reason my sister 'went out' tonight was so she would have an excuse to push us together."

  "I take it she has set you up like this before?"

  "Way too many times to count, but with you, it's different."

  "How?" A bout of pain engulfed her ankle as she asked the question, causing her question to come out sounding a little strangled.

  "You're her best friend. She isn't going to set you up for failure."

  "She has set you up for failure multiple times, and you're her brother."

  "This time is different. She has a vested interest in both of us. She didn't care about any of the other women she set me up with, but you. You are the sister she never had." Leland clutched his chest. "As much as it pains me to say this, she loves you as much as she does me." Autumn had to laugh at his dramatics. "Are you laughing at me, sub?"

  "Only if you want me to, Sir." She barely got the words out before she bent at the waist and dissolved into another fit of laughter.

  He scowled at her for about half a second until an enormous, breathtaking smile took over his handsome mug. "So how often do you go to the club?"

  "The club? I go to a club once or twice a month. I have gone to many BDSM clubs."

  Leland gripped her arm and turned her to face him, all traces of his previous smile gone. "Tell me you that once you discovered OYK, that is the only club you've gone to since."

  "That would be a lie," Autumn stated as she pulled herself from his grasp. She started to limp away, cursing her inability to walk normally and leaving Leland no choice but to follow.

  "Promise me you will stay away from them. I don't frequent clubs often, but I know none of the others around here have the security and safety that OYK does."

  "I don't know if I can do that, either," Autumn replied honestly. "I agree, the other places lack many safety measures when compared to OYK, but the membership fees are too expensive for me, and I refuse to stop exploring BDSM altogether. I made a promise to myself to explore this to my fullest extent, and that is a promise I intend to keep."

  "While you are dating me, you will not go to any club without me, and the only one we will go to together is OYK."

  "While we are dating?" She knew the expression on her face dared him to repeat his statement, but it quickly became apparent he was not going to do so. "I don't remember you ever asking me out."

  "That was me asking."

  Autumn eyed the cocky man. "We really need to start working on your technique, big boy. That was the worst way anyone has ever asked me out in my entire life. It even beats out the time in fifth grade when I got a note passed to me asking me to circle yes or no."

  Leland chuckled for the briefest second before he stopped and grasped Autumn's hand in his own. "Let's see where this one ranks."

  Her retort was unable to slip past her lips because before she knew what was happening, Leland had captured her mouth in a searing kiss that quickly turned rough. He nipped at her lips. She boldly bit back, but when she tried to pull away, he had none of it and clasped the back of her head. His firm hold quickly turned her into a compliant captive, giving him exactly what he wanted. He grazed his teeth along her lip again, much gentler this time, and she allowed herself to become lost in the kiss. When her knees buckled, he wrapped his arms around her and placed his hands on the curves of her ass, lifting her to her toes and pressing her body against his.

  Autumn would have sworn she heard a growled, "Mine," rumble from deep within Leland's chest, but before she could question it, pain had flared in her ankle as a result of the changed position, and she winced.

  She knew she didn't imagine the unhappy grumble that rattled within his chest as he placed her on her feet once more. She did her best to hide the flinch, but he saw it. He stepped back and eyed her up and down with worry etched on his face. "Did I hurt you?" Autumn's stomach dropped to her toes as her eyes fell to his chest. "Eyes here."

  Autumn inhaled unsteadily and raised her eyes to meet his. "No, you did nothing to hurt me. I twisted my ankle on the call I ran this morning."

  "Why didn't you tell me you were having trouble with your ankle before we left the house? We didn't have to take a walk."

  "My ankle felt fine."

  His eyes narrowed the slightest bit. "Then why are you wincing every time I move you? Wait, you got hurt on a call? Tell me you reported it to Chief."

  Autumn sighed. "He knows. In fact, he escorted me to the ER."

  "Probably to be sure you did as you were told." Autumn rolled her eyes. "First rule, my sub does not roll her eyes at me unless she wants to feel my displeasure at
her blatant disrespect upon her ass."

  Her eyes skirted away from his eyes once more. "I haven't agreed yet."

  "I know. Now, give me your eyes again, thank you, and then tell me what the doctor told you."

  "The doctor said I would be fine." When he quirked his brow, she continued. "But I should rest it for the next day or so."

  "What is your middle name?"

  The jump in subject confused her a bit. "Rose. Why?"

  "Autumn Rose Johnson, you need to do as the doctor tells you!"

  Autumn groaned and rolled her eyes again. The chief had given her another version of the same lecture only hours before.

  "Oh, little subbie, you are so lucky you have yet to agree to be mine." As soon as he finished talking, he bent at the waist and put his shoulder into her stomach. Lifting her into the air, he turned back in the direction they came.

  A squeal of surprise escaped from between Autumn's lips as her world went topsy-turvy when he unceremoniously tossed her over his shoulder. Her fists bounced off his back as she yelled at him, "Put me down! Put me down, right now, you jackass. I am perfectly capable of walking." In response to her demand and word choice, a hand bounced off her ass, leaving behind only the slightest sting, but the surprise silenced her.

  "You may think you are capable of walking, but you are obviously incapable of doing as you are directed. Tell me, do you disobey everyone or just your doctor?"

  "I don't have anyone to answer to, so I have no need to do as I'm told."

  His voice softened drastically. "I am hoping that will change after tonight, princess."

  The rest of the walk was silent except for Autumn's occasional grunts when his steps forced a bit of air from her lungs. The rhythmic motion of his gait was surprisingly relaxing and allowed her mind to wander. He had asked her out. He may have gone about it in the wrong way, but he had done so nonetheless. He had asked her, even knowing she was relatively new to the lifestyle.