by Rachel Blake
"You want me to spank her? There are so many others. I'm sure my lack of participation will go unnoticed, Sir."
"If you are uncomfortable with this, princess, no one will force you to take part. I will give her the owed smacks on your behalf."
"Like hell!" Autumn's hand clamped over her mouth as soon as the bitter, snarled words escaped her mouth and the dark, unhappy expression crossed his face. "I'm so sorry, Sir!" The hand that shot out to tangle in her hair told her just how unpleased he was.
"I don't know what gave you the impression that your attitude would be received well, but don't worry, princess, I will make sure your mouth doesn't get the better of you again." The tug on her hair forced her to her knees on the smooth, unrelenting wood of the deck in front of him, putting her face and mouth exactly where he wanted it. All in the middle of the small group of friends. "Spread your knees. Further. Good girl." The touch of the cool breeze brushing against her bare pussy forced a whimper to escape from her throat. "You decide to run your mouth in front of our guests, then I will decide to put your mouth to good use in front of guests."
"Sir," she pleaded as he worked the buttons of his fly with his free hand, never releasing her hair from his tight hold.
"Don't speak," he growled as his partially erect member sprang free of the confines of his jeans. "Unless you are saying your safe word, you have lost your privilege to speak for the rest of the night. Now, naughty pet, open your mouth and mind your teeth." The pleading expression she shot his way did her no good, and when he arched his brow, she instantly opened her mouth and allowed him to feed her his cock. His warm skin tasted salty against her tongue. "You are to suck me dry and swallow every last drop."
As she went to work, sucking and swirling her tongue, the conversation picked up where it left off as if seeing a woman on her knees pleasuring a man was nothing. With her head bobbing, Autumn watched the people around her. They all seemed to be ignoring her, but she could not shake the notion that everyone was watching her.
A sharp tug of her hair forced her to gasp around his cock before it fell from her mouth. "Your concentration should be on me and me alone. Does my cock bore you?"
"No, Sir. I-I just…"
He tucked himself back into his pants before he took a knee in front of her and spoke in a soothing tone. "You are exaggerating the number of people here, princess, and you are letting them overwhelm you." When she tried to look down, he stopped her by grasping her chin. "At most, there are fifteen people here, including us. You know and trust every one of them. Hell, you trust most of them with your life on a regular basis during any one of our calls. So please, tell me what is keeping you from submitting to me."
"I." She took a deep breath. "When I went to the clubs, the people watching me were faceless strangers, but these are my friends and colleagues. What if they use my submission against me?"
"Look at them and point out one person here who you think will judge you for your submission?" He gave her a few minutes to appraise the group of their friends. When her eyes returned to him, he smiled. "Couldn't come up with anyone, could you?"
A smile graced her lips. "No, Sir. I trust them. Thank you for giving me the time to remember that."
"You're welcome, princess. Now…" he stood "…finish what you started."
She removed his cock from his pants then grabbed his thighs and eagerly took his dick into her mouth. This time, she was able to give the rapidly growing appendage the attention she knew he sought as the voices and people of the party melted away. She swirled her tongue around the head before she glided the flat of her tongue along the bulging vein on the underside of the shaft.
He only allowed her control for a few minutes before fisting her hair and holding her in the position he wanted. "Do you like teasing me to the point of madness?" He didn't give her the opportunity to answer before he started driving into her mouth. With each thrust, he went deeper until he butted against the back of her throat, causing her to gag. "Breathe when I pull back, princess. I know you can do this, but if you panic, tap my thigh, and I will stop."
Autumn closed her eyes and focused on his back and forth movements, thankful he had taken over and set the pace. The added tug on her hair combined with the surrender of the last bit of control she had allowed her to relax and focus on what he asked of her. She hollowed her cheeks and sucked harder. The groan of pleasure that vibrated from his chest forced her core to clench, drawing her attention to the slickness that had gathered between her spread thighs.
His leg muscles bunched under her hands, indicating he was close, so she moaned around his shaft. The vibrations did as she hoped, and she felt the first burst of cum explode in her mouth.
"Swallow it!" His demand was strangled.
When he finally relaxed under her hands, he pulled free of her mouth and tucked his cock back into his pants. With a smile on his face, he crouched in front of her and wiped at the corner of her mouth with his thumb. "Open up, princess. You missed some."
Chapter 13
Who knew a woman—no, your woman—lapping a dribble of cum from your thumb could make your cock stir so enthusiastically so soon after coming?
He pulled his thumb from her mouth with a pop and stood in front of her. "You are going to kneel here for a few minutes. Don't look at me with that pout. You are crazy if you think I am going to reward you with an orgasm of you own, princess. The blowjob was supposed to be a punishment or at least make you uncomfortable while you are punished." He reached under her skirt and ran his fingers along her slit. The second he felt her warm cream against his fingers, a groan rumbled from his chest, and a smile split his face. He adjusted her skirt to expose her pussy, allowing the breeze of the night to caress her skin without interference. "You will remain here, feeling the breeze on your hot, unclothed pussy while you think about why you are kneeling here, knees spread with my seed still coating your lips."
"Yes, Sir." He kissed her forehead then strode over to stand beside Kevin, making sure to stay within her line of sight.
"I was starting to think I was never going to see this day."
"What day?"
"The day Leland Boisy doesn't want to display his sub's assets for all to see. Tell me, does she know that even though you raised her skirt, no one can see a thing because of the way you draped the fabric across her legs?"
A smirk played at the corners of his lips. "If I did it correctly, no." He sobered, looking his best friend in the eye. "She is more than just my submissive, Kev. She is my girl, my lover, my princess. She is mine."
"Shit, you're planning a forever with her."
Leland knew it was not a question, but when he turned to Autumn again, the need to answer struck him hard in the chest. "Yeah, she's my forever."
The men stood there in silence for a long time, both staring at the women they loved, before Kevin spoke. "I suspect the arsonist intentionally set the last fire for Gwen and Autumn to find."
His heart constricted in his chest. "The marshal got another letter."
"Yeah. More than likely, we will have another fire next shift. The girls have the day off."
He turned to Kevin sharply as mixed feelings of appreciation and apprehension filled his chest. "If you're forcing them to take a day off, that means you are worried about them."
"It wasn't my call; the firebug mentioned both Autumn and Gwen in the letter. The higher-ups are giving them the day off with pay."
"What did it say?" When he didn't answer fast enough, Leland turned to his friend and got dangerously quieter. "What did it say?"
"Our speculations were right. Autumn saw him step out of the alley, and while she was unable to make out his face, the light in the cab allowed him to see them. He is no longer just obsessed with your sister, Lee. He has taken an interest in Gwen and Autumn as well."
Dread settled into his gut. "Fuck! It was bad enough with Sierra, but I can't keep an eye on both of them." He started to pace in the small area. "I can probably talk her into taking one shi
ft off, but no way will she go for more than that, and that still leaves Sierra in the thick of things."
"Someone else is going to cover the next fire. The hope is that in denying him the presence of the requested women, he will become agitated and reveal himself to us. It's only one shift. She can handle missing one day of work. Then we hope like hell the next fire is the one he messes up on and, in turn, becomes his last."
Leland shook his head in agreement as the need to hold and protect forced his feet to move. He plucked her off the ground so suddenly that a tiny squeal escaped. "Sorry, princess. It's just me." With her safely wrapped in his arms, he collapsed into a chair and just held her, letting the weight of her cuddled into his chest slowly dissipate the nauseating fear inside him.
Chapter 14
The vibrating in her pocket woke Autumn with a start. She was face down on her bed, feet hanging off, her tennis shoes still on her feet. It was her required day off, and Liv had done everything she could to get her mind off work. Shopping, pedicures, manicures, more shopping, lunch at a way too expensive restaurant, and more shopping. Thank God this was a paid day off because her checking account had taken a huge hit.
"Hello?" she questioned as she rolled onto her back and wedged the phone between her shoulder and ear.
"Where are you?" Leland growled from the other end of the phone line.
"I just got home about..." She glanced over at the clock. Any remaining sleepiness was forced from her head by the slight tone of worry in his voice. "About thirty minutes ago."
"Oh, thank God."
"Why? What's wrong? It's too early for the arsonist to have started the fire already!"
"No, no, he hasn't set anything ablaze yet. There was a crash on the interstate; they sent some of the guys. Since you hadn't called to tell me you were home yet, I got worried." His tone held the slightest bit of reproach.
"I'm sorry, Sir. I was so tired from chasing every sale Liv could find that I flopped down on my bed when I got home and passed out. I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's okay, princess. You didn't break any rules, just our routine. I only had a little heart attack," he teased. "You are just never allowed to take a day off without me again."
"This one was forced on me, remember? And if I did that, you would never get a sexy surprise ever again, Sir."
A mixture of a moan and growl rumbled over the line, before Autumn heard some of the guys talking in the background. "As much as I hate to cut this conversation short just as it is getting to the good part, I have to go eat before one of my brothers steals my food right off my plate."
"I can just feel the brotherly love from here." Autumn laughed.
"That is how the brotherhood works. They will risk their life to protect me, but I am never safe from their antics, which means my food is fair game to whatever they decide, be that eating it or sabotaging it. Okay, I have to go. Have fun with Sierra tonight. I will pick you up from there when my shift is over in the morning. Zander! Step away from the sandwich, and no one gets hurt," Leland demanded right before the line went dead.
"I had to drive three hours to the campsite to give Leland clothes so he didn't have to run around naked for the rest of the weekend, not that he had any real issue with it. The rest of the guys were the ones bitching because their 'awesome' prank had backfired, and Lee was happily strutting around in all his naked glory." Sierra raised her hand in the air in an effort to show how honest she was being.
Autumn wiped a tear from her eye as she tried to catch her breath. "Why would they steal all his clothes? And more importantly, why would they keep going on this trip if they knew it would be full of practical jokes?"
"I asked the same thing while I was there. Sitting around the campfire with about two dozen grown men, half of which unknowingly had a penis or some crude saying written on their face in marker. They told me their shift had been doing it for years, and none of them planned to stop anytime soon."
"Let me guess, it is part of being brothers and it 'strengthens the bond?'"
"Exactly what they said. I am so glad women don't show their love by stealing clothes and drawing on each other's faces."
"Well, we do, but we call it doing our makeup and borrowing clothes." Autumn laughed at her own joke.
"You work that shift. Have you ever been invited?"
"Of course, I have, but I always felt being stuck in the woods with a bunch of men I have seen way too much of already would be super weird, and after that story and the stories I have heard over the years, it seems I was right."
Sierra's phone started to ring. Taking a few seconds to compose herself, she wiped the tears from her face and cleared her throat before looking at her lap and answering her phone in a solemn manner. "Hello?"
It didn't take many words from the person on the other line for Sierra to look up quickly and lock eyes with Autumn. Something was wrong.
"Yes, sir. I will meet the cameraman there." Pause. "No, I have someone to drive me. I will do my camera makeup enroute." Sierra held the phone to her ear as she took off running toward her bedroom. When she emerged five minutes later, she was in a pair of black slacks, a lightweight maroon sweater, a pair of nude colored flats, and her makeup bag was in hand. "Let's go. You're driving."
Autumn ran to the door. She knew from past reporter emergencies with Sierra that they had to move quickly. "What's going on?" Autumn questioned as she backed the car out of the driveway.
"We are going to the north part of town. There is a house on fire."
Autumn stopped in the middle of the road. "We were told to stay away from this fire."
"I know, but when my boss calls and tells me to move, I move."
"Sierra, I—"
"You can either drive me, or I can go by myself. Either way, I am going to report on this fire. My boss was the reporting party, so we have a leg up on the other news stations, and from what my boss says, the fire is moving quickly. So, either drive the car, or get out so I can."
She started driving. "There is no way in hell I am letting you do this alone."
"You know there is a good chance you will get into trouble for going to the scene, right?"
"Yeah, by both my boss and your brother." Uneasiness settled in the pit of Autumn's stomach, and it had nothing to do with the possible consequences and everything to do with gut instinct.
Chapter 15
When the tone sounded through the station, it forced Leland from his bunk and sent him racing down the hall to the fire poles. As soon as he landed on the first floor, he took off running to his gear outside the ladder truck. He shoved his feet into his boots and pulled up his bunker pants as a disembodied voice announced the details of the fire.
"We have a report of a house fire on the corner of Frank and 3rd. Reporting party says he can hear screaming and crying from inside the building. He also states he saw a person in the second-story window. Report of a house fire at Frank and 3rd. Unknown number of people inside."
The knowledge that people were trapped in the house got Leland and his brothers moving that much faster. "Let's roll, boys," Zander shouted as he climbed behind the wheel of the ladder truck, the engine roaring to life a few seconds later.
Leland pulled himself up into the truck and looked at each of his brothers. They all nodded, silently letting each other know they were ready to put their lives on the line to save the lives of any unknown individuals.
Seated across from him, Jensen did what he did before every fire. As usual, every man in the truck joined him in reciting the "Fireman's Prayer."
As the prayer ended, they pulled to a stop in front of a two-story home, and the men in the truck fell silent. They all took a second to take in the sight in front of them before they jumped into action.
As soon as Leland's booted feet landed on the pavement, a heavy SCBA unit was shoved up his arms and onto his back before the mask was placed in his hands.
"Tanks on!" Leland glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Zander turn to help
Jensen with his pack.
With all the safety checks finished and his mask sealed around his face, Leland put his helmet on his head and climbed to the top of the ladder truck then followed Jensen up to the second-story window.
Watching Leland climb into a burning building stole the breath from Autumn's lungs. She was usually so busy getting ready for possible patients that she had never actually watched him disappear into the thick, black smoke before that night.
Shaking herself, Autumn grabbed a pair of gloves from the glove compartment as she abandoned her car. She easily got through the crowd of gathered people, and when she got to the officers holding the crowd at bay, all she had to do was tell them she was a paramedic and show them her gloved hands and everyone let her by. Knowing how easy it was to get past the police tape had a lump forming in her gut.
Was that how the arsonist had gotten close enough to the scene to vandalize the rig? Was he impersonating a crewmember?
"I was about to call you in for additional help." Kevin sounded relieved when he finally noticed her. He handed her a radio and headed closer to the house, tossing his next words over his shoulder. "The radio is set to fire frequency. When they say they are bringing someone out, I want you all to be ready. The second rig is already here; you and Gwen have yours!"
It took all Autumn had to drag her eyes away from the smoke rolling out of the house in front of her. "How many do they think are in there?"
"A family of four lives here, so as far as we know, four people are trapped inside."
As soon as she finished talking, a frantic man burst through the police barricades. "Catch him!" a police officer yelled as the man headed for the front door, completely disregarding the smoke billowing out of it.
Just as the man was about to step onto the porch, Kevin plowed into him, taking him to the ground. The two rolled in the dirt for a few seconds before the cops were able to pull the troubled man off the chief.
