The Fire (Hurricane Book 4)

by R. J. Prescott

  “Please,” she begged, her hands clawing at the sheets in desperation as she climbed that invisible wall of ecstasy.

  “Not yet,” I teased. I wasn’t ready for it to end. Sweat rolled off me as I tried to hold off my own orgasm. The feel of her, clamped hot and tight around my finger was its own kind of torture. Like her thoughts mirrored my own, she said it.

  “Will it feel this good when you’re inside me?”

  I couldn’t reply. Couldn’t get my brain to formulate whole sentences. Instead, I imagined my cock was buried deep inside her as I gave in and licked her core, lapping and devouring the best pussy I’d ever tasted, the last pussy I’d ever taste again. When she exploded around me, I went over the edge too. Her own ecstasy triggering the hottest, most intense orgasm I’d ever had.

  Rolling over, boneless and completely spent, I rested my head on the inside of her thigh.

  “Wow. Just…wow,” she said.

  “Can you hear em’ baby?”

  “What?”

  “Motherfuckin’ angels singin’,” I replied. I couldn’t see her smile, but I could feel it. Using reserves of energy I didn’t know I had, I turned over and crawled my way up the bed until we lay side by side. Slipping my arm under her head like a pillow, she rolled into my body, throwing her thigh over mine as she cuddled into me.

  “This is the best bit,” she murmured.

  “If this is the best bit, I wasn’t doin’ it right,” I scoffed.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I know, baby. I’m just messing with you.”

  “I would have given it to you, you know?” she said, after a few moments of silence.

  “What?”

  “My virginity. I was so pious and principled. So sure in the vow I’d made to keep my virtue until I was married. But the truth is that I would’ve given my body to you without a moment’s hesitation,” she said.

  “Do you regret it?” I asked, not sure I could live with the answer if it was yes.

  “No. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced,” she replied, and I let out a breath I hadn’t even realised I’d been holding.

  “Me too.”

  “Really?”

  “Don’t sound so surprised,” I said. “Everything is better when it’s with you. And I don’t want you thinking that I take what we did lightly. Letting down your walls like that was a big deal, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to take advantage of the situation. If that was even half as amazing for you as it was for me, there’s no reason we can’t be close without crossing the line.”

  “But that’s the thing!” she protested, “I wasn’t just close to crossing it. I was ready to pole vault over right over the bloody line and straight onto your willy.”

  I fucking lost it. Laughing so hard, tears were literally running down by cheeks.

  “Babe, you can’t say shit like that. I’m not ready to hear you swear and say ‘willy’ in the same sentence. And seriously, has anyone said willy since they were six or seven?”

  “What am I supposed to call it?” she asked, a little grumpy at me for making fun of her.

  “Dick, cock, knob, wang, penis, pole, bone ranger, disco stick, one-eyed trouser snake, Moby dick, fire hose, wand of love, Vlad the Impaler or Big Tom are all acceptable alternatives.”

  “Big Tom?” She looked up at me as she smirked and my heart kicked against my ribs as I thought about how fuckin’ lucky I was. To have her naked in my arms as she teased me made every minute I’d spent it that hospital bed tryin’ to figure out how to make her mine, all worth it.

  “You don’t think it’s big?”

  “Compared to what exactly? I don’t exactly have much experience when it comes to gauging the scale of male genitalia.”

  “Fuck, don’t say that word. It’s making me hard again.”

  “What, genitalia? And everything makes you hard.”

  “Only when it comes to you, baby,” I said. Slipping my arm out from under her, I nibbled a little at her neck, before kissing my way back down her body. I wasn’t lying about her making my cock stand to attention again. I guessed that’s what happened when he heard his name being called.

  “Evie, you’re mine now. Mine to love, mine to protect and mine to take care of. That means it’s okay to let go, and enjoy yourself when we’re together. Leave it to me to make sure we don’t go too far. Nights like this are a gift I ain’t takin’ for granted. I know if we had sex it would be out of this world, but a little bit of you would regret it later, and I ain’t having that feelin’ anywhere near our first time together. I don’t want you to ever regret a minute of our time together, okay? Just love me, Evie, and I’ll take care of everything else.”

  “I love you, Tommy,” she replied, but anything else she was going to say was lost, as I drew her hard, pebbled nipple into my hot, wet mouth and sucked. Hearing those words from her lips did something to me. Ramping up my already insatiable hunger and making me desperate for what she alone could give me.

  “Shit, I forgot the other thing,” I said, leaning over the side of my bed to grab something from the side table. “That’s your fault for distracting me with your hot body.”

  “Uh, sorry?” she muttered, then shivered as I dropped the shiny metal key into her hand, and resumed my task of seducing her with my tongue.

  “What’s this?”

  “Key to the apartment,” I replied, between licks and kisses.

  “Are you asking me to move in with you?” she squeaked, sitting up and reaching for the comforter to cover herself.

  “Why did you do that?” I asked, grumpily, having been denied the unfettered access to her tits that I’d been enjoying.

  “Because you were distracting me with your hot body,” she replied, using my own words against me.

  Rolling my eyes, I settled for nuzzling my face into her neck as I copped a feel under the covers.

  “And no, I’m not asking you to move in. The key is just so you can store all your stuff at mine, where you actually have your own wardrobe, as opposed to the suitcase you’re living out of at your brother’s. And so you can come and stay the night whenever you want.”

  “How is that different from moving in together?”

  “Moving in together only officially happens when you change your home address on your library card,” I explained.

  “You’re crazy, you know that?” Her laugh, was music to my fuckin’ soul.

  “But you love me anyway, right?” I asked, stopping to look her in the eyes.

  “More than books,” she replied, without hesitation.

  “Fuck, you say the sexiest things.” Ripping the comforter away, I buried my face between her legs and neither of us said anything after that, for a very long time.

  Chapter Twenty

  EVELYN

  “Seriously? How did you do that?”

  “You literally just reach your arm up as high as you can. Use your other hand to steady yourself. Walk around the pole. Then wrap your leg around it, pull yourself forward, and spin.” Emily’s gorgeous friend Nikki had joined us for our second pole dancing class. Em, Marie and I had all learned the move last week, but we looked like the clumsy awkward beginners we were when doing it. Nikki on the other hand, had seen the move once during the instructor’s recap and had immediately nailed it, as well as any professional pole dancer.

  “Are you sure you’ve never done this before?” I asked, suspiciously. She was sexy, confident and effortlessly chic in a way I would never be. The sort of girl who could fall out of bed after a heavy night of drinking, and with a quick swipe of lipstick would instantly be Instagram ready. I couldn’t bring myself to be jealous though, because she was just so damn nice.

  “Nope. I’ve probably swung round a lamppost or two. Maybe even a pole in a nightclub, but if I have I was clearly too pissed to remember, so it doesn’t count,” she replied.

  “Then again, you have watched We’re the Millers quite a few times,” Em pointed out, as though that expl
ained everything.

  “That’s true. Maybe I’m just a natural at channelling my inner Jennifer Aniston,” Nikki replied and Marie nodded in agreement.

  “I have absolutely no idea what you guys are talking about,” I admitted.

  “You’ve never seen We’re the Millers?” Marie asked.

  “No. I’ve never even heard of it,” I replied. “But then I’m not really a huge movie buff.”

  “We’re sorting that shit out right now. You want to learn how to swing on a pole, you have to see it. True Lies as well while we’re at it,” Nikki said.

  “I don’t remember any pole dancing in True Lies,” Em commented.

  “I think she’s talking about the bit where she takes her clothes off and dances round the bedpost,” Marie pointed out helpfully.

  “It’s not so much about the stripping or the pole dancing. You could probably watch Striptease or some shit movie like that for your basic moves. But that’s all sleaze. Jamie Lee Curtis and Jennifer Aniston are bad arse and sexy personified. You nail how to channel a bit of that, and your fella won’t care how professional you are on the pole. He’ll be on his knees in front of it. A girl can sell anything if she does it with the right attitude,” Nikki explained.

  “Speaking of bringing a guy to his knees, you know who Ev’s dating right?” Marie asked, grinning.

  “Who?” Nikki asked.

  “I almost want to make you guess, but you’d never get it. Our girl Ev here is only dating Tommy Riordon, and it’s mutually exclusive,” Marie explained, as though this was some salacious bit of juicy gossip.

  “You’re fucking kidding me?” Nikki said, her mouth hanging open in shock as she stared at me in disbelief.

  “Am I really that hideous you can’t picture a guy like Tommy being interested in me?” I asked, unable to keep the hurt from my voice.

  “Evelyn, you’re a fucking goddess. I’m just trying to figure out how a hound dog like Tommy got you to give him the time of day,” she replied. I opened my mouth, then shut it, as I floundered for the right words. On the one hand I was grateful for the compliment, but on the other, I wanted to jump to Tommy’s defence. Eventually, I settled on both.

  “I’m sorry I misunderstood, and thank you for the compliment, but Tommy isn’t like that anymore,” I said, primly. I was more than a little nervous as I waited for her reaction. From what Em had told me, Nikki had known Tommy for years, and I doubted that she’d take too kindly to me contradicting her. But Tommy would never stand there and let someone insult me, and I wasn’t about to let that happen to him.

  “Is she for real?” Nikki asked Em, roaring with laughter. It wasn’t quite the response I’d been expecting.

  “She is, and she’s exactly what he needs. Honestly, you should see them together. They’re so cute!” Em replied. I frowned, not exactly sure I was thrilled at being called cute. Thankfully, the instructor walked clapped to get our attention. He talked us through the moves we were going to be learning that evening, when Em’s phone starting ringing.

  “It’s Tommy’s mum calling,” she whispered. “I don’t know what she wants, but I’ll call her back after class.” She silenced her phone, then went to slip it into her gym bag when it rang again.

  “She’ll just keep calling if I don’t take it. Let me know what I miss,” she said, and went outside to take the call. A few minutes later, she ran back through the door, her face white as a sheet. Seeing that something was clearly wrong, the instructor stopped the music.

  “I’m sorry. Family emergency,” Em mumbled to the instructor as she grabbed her bag.

  “We need to go. NOW.” She looked at me as she said it and my stomach dropped. Granted I didn’t know Em as well as the other girls, but she seemed really rattled, and given the last person she spoke to was Tommy’s mam, it was clear something was really wrong. I followed the girls’ lead, grabbed my bag and followed them out the door.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” I asked, as we raced down the stairway.

  “Let’s just get to the car,” Em replied, and my dread turned to fear. I wanted to argue with her. To force her to tell me what was going on, but I didn’t. Because Tommy was on shift, and if the bad news was about him, I wasn’t sure I could live with the answer.

  “How quickly can you get us to Trinity Gardens Nik?” Em asked Nikki as we all climbed into Nikki’s car.

  “I have no idea where you’re talking about Em. Look, what’s going on?” Nikki asked. We all looked towards Emily, waiting for an answer, but she was frantically tapping away at her phone.

  “Just drive Nik. As quickly as you can. Take Silverton Way all the way up to Barking Road and I’ll direct you from there. I don’t give a shit how many speed limits you have to break, just get us there as fast as possible.” Nikki started the engine and reversed out of the space.

  “I’m driving Em. Now tell us what’s going on.”

  “I’m so sorry Ev,” Em replied, twisting in her seat to face me. “There’s been a big fire at the flats in Trinity Gardens. Part of the roof collapsed when they were still in there. Most of the firefighters made it out but Tommy is trapped. They’re working on a plan to get him out, but he’s asking to speak to you.”

  “Why would they let him do that?” I asked her, as I tried to figure out what she wasn’t telling me. “Wait. They don’t think they can get him out in time, do they?” The sympathetic smile she gave me told me all I needed to know.

  “His oxygen is running out. That’s why they’re letting him talk to you. The only contact number control had for next of kin was his mum. She’s on her way, but it’s you he’s asking for and she doesn’t have your mobile number so she called me.”

  “We’re going to the fire?” I asked, my voice breaking along with my heart.

  “The officer who rang Mary said it was the only way to speak to him.”

  “Jesus,” Marie said. The car lurched forward as Nikki stepped on the accelerator.

  “Don’t worry Ev. We’ll get there on time,” Nikki reassured me. I was so focused on what she’d said that I didn’t reply. On time. On time for what? On time to speak to him before he ran out of air? On time to say goodbye? All of a sudden, I was the one fighting for oxygen and I couldn’t breathe. I knew exactly how he would be feeling, because I’d been there. Alone in the dark, as thick black smoke invaded your lungs and robbed you of life. Tommy had pulled me back from the brink and saved my life in more ways than one. He’d not only saved my life, he’d shown me what it was to truly live it. And now I was going to lose him, and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.

  “Shit, she’s having a panic attack,” Marie said.

  “Should we pull over?” Em replied. Their voices blended into noise. For the longest time I was oblivious to everything but the booming beat of my own heart, until finally I could hear Em’s gentle, reassuring voice.

  “That’s it. Deep breaths, in and out.” Marie was hugging me, gripping me tightly in her arms with a strength that belied her size, as Nikki raced through the streets of London as fast as the traffic would allow.

  “I’m okay,” I whispered, my voice more than a little croaky as I realised there were tears running down my cheeks. Wiping them away unsteadily, I tried again.

  “Honestly, I’m okay. I can do this,” I repeated, with more confidence. And I meant what I said. No matter what happened, I could fall apart later. But Tommy needed me. Maybe I couldn’t rescue him from the fire in the way that he’d saved me, but I could make sure that he wasn’t alone.

  Somewhere along the journey, Marie had rummaged around in my gym bag and pulled out a hoodie and leggings to put on. Shock had numbed me to the cold, but I put them on when she told me to, blindly following her instructions.

  “We’re here,” Nikki said, screeching to a stop and pulling up the brake. I can only imagine how many lights she’d run and laws she’d broken to get us there that quickly, but I’d always be grateful.

  “I’m sorry ladies, you can’t be any
where near here. We’re evacuating the area. You need to move your car now.” The firefighter approached us the minute we stepped out of the car, but I ignored him.

  “Captain Harrison, the chief on scene sent for us. This is Tommy Riordon’s girlfriend,” Em explained hurriedly.

  “Shit,” the firefighter replied, looking at me with such pity in his eyes I could’ve wept all over again.

  “She can come with me, but you need to get that car moved,” he warned Em.

  “Go with her Em. Marie and I will move the car and we’ll find somewhere safe where they’ll let us wait for you,” Nikki said. I didn’t wait to hear Em’s reply. The firefighter had me by the arm and we were off running. When we turned a corner, I could’ve dropped to my knees in horror at the devastating sight before me. The tower block in front of us was completely engulfed in flames. It was a scene straight from hell, and the man I loved was trapped inside of it.

  “Are you Evelyn?” a firefighter with a white helmet asked me. His voice was stern and commanding, pulling me out of my stupor.

  “Yes,” I replied, but my voice was lost in the noise. The fire engines, the sirens, the shouting, the blaze of the fire. It was all so deafening and I’d never been so terrified. Not even when my own life had been in danger.

  “Tommy ran out of air more than ten minutes ago. He was in the stairwell on his way down when part of the roof collapsed and took out the stairs. We’re working on a way to get him out, but I can’t risk sending more men in until I can stabilise that roof. He’s out of oxygen, but the battery in his set should be good for at least an hour so he’ll be able to hear you and he can talk if he puts the set to his mouth. If he goes quiet, don’t assume the worst. He might not be able to talk if there’s a lot of smoke, but he will be able to hear you. It’s against protocol but I will let you talk to him if you stay calm. I’m sorry, I know it’s difficult, but if you start breaking down, or getting upset, I’m going to have to pull the plug. I need to keep him calm for as long as possible, okay?” He was brusque and plain spoken, but protecting Tommy was his priority and I couldn’t fault him for that. I nodded my agreement, and he handed me a radio.