Love on Fire

by E. L. Todd

  Stacy was already at the restaurant, texting on her phone frantically while her iced tea sat in front of her.

  I fell into the chair across from her. “Where’s that asshole?”

  “Late.” She kept typing on the keyboard. “Very late.”

  “What’s new?”

  “He’s in court right now, but the judge doesn’t want a recess. He wants to push through.”

  “They can do that?”

  “According to Vic, they can do whatever they want.” She put the phone down and gave me her attention. “Unless he’s lying and screwing his secretary… She is pretty. Ugh, I hate her.”

  “You have nothing to worry about, Stacy.” If only she really understood how hung up my brother was.

  “For now. But when I’m fat and pregnant—”

  “It won’t make a difference.” When my brother was committed to something, he was completely in the game. He puts all his poker chips in the pile. “We were working out last week, and a pretty girl made a move. He was a total dick to her and walked away. Honestly, he’s too much of an asshole.”

  She smiled slightly.

  “Don’t worry about Vic.”

  “Well…that’s good to know. I know Vic would never do anything like that, but he’s such a sexy piece of ass, especially when he wears that suit… Oh man. It’s hard to let him out of the house without ripping all his clothes off. And when he’s trying a case and getting all red in the face.” She started to fan herself. “That man is the sexiest guy—”

  “Do you have a point to this?”

  “Sorry. My point is, I know I have a sexy husband.”

  “And you made your point very clear.” When a waitress walked by, I ordered an iced tea as well, then looked at the menu. “So, it’ll just be us? Is Charlotte coming?”

  “No, I didn’t invite her.”

  “Oh…” I hid my disappointment and looked at the salads.

  “Vic told me what you said about her.”

  I lifted my gaze, surprised Vic had betrayed my confidence like that. I knew he and Stacy were close, but I didn’t think he would share my secrets with her so easily. Now it was only a matter of time before she told Charlotte and everything would be weird.

  Stacy stared at me.

  I stared back and didn’t confirm her comment.

  “The only reason he told me is because I told him Charlotte said the same thing.”

  Within a heartbeat, all my anger was gone. The chemistry I’d felt between us the other night wasn’t just my imagination. Maybe she’d wanted me as much as I wanted her. Maybe she’d wanted to invite me to spend the night but had the good judgment not to. “Go on.”

  “There’s not much to say. I just thought since both of you felt the exact same way…it was weird to keep hiding it.”

  “Does that mean you told her how I feel?”

  “Not yet.”

  If Charlotte felt the same way, I guess I didn’t care if she knew.

  “I know Vic already talked to you and I said the exact same thing to Charlotte, but you really should stay friends.”

  “Because?”

  “You have nothing to lose, but she has everything to lose.”

  “I don’t know why you assume that. I missed her while I was gone.”

  “She missed you too. But is there any chance you’d settle down and be with her?”

  “You have to be more specific.”

  She leaned forward with her elbows on the table. “Is there any chance you’d get married and start a family? Is there any chance you’d retire from NASA and stay on the ground indefinitely?”

  It didn’t matter if I fell deeply in love with Charlotte; I wouldn’t give up my work for anything. The plans were set in motion, and I already had a huge mission coming up—one that would probably claim my life. Even if I survived it, I would probably repeat it, which meant I would never be around. “No to both of your questions.”

  Her eyes filled with disappointment. “Then leave Charlotte alone.”

  That was the last thing I wanted to do. “No one dates someone with the expectation of getting married. People date because they enjoy spending time together. They screw because the sex is good. Those memories aren’t worth having if there’s no ring at the end?”

  “Not at all.”

  “That’s what it sounds like.”

  “Anyone can be in a relationship when they have no idea where it’s going to go, but a woman like Charlotte can’t be in a relationship if she knows it’ll never go anywhere. Most women feel that way. It’s not rocket science, Neil. Is someone going to risk getting their heart broken unless there’s a chance they might get something out of it?”

  “I have tons of flings without even thinking about it.”

  “Because you never feel anything. But women feel something for you, Neil. You’re the kind of man every woman would want for a husband.”

  That was flattering.

  “Just let it be, okay?”

  “She wants me and I want her. You don’t think it’s strange not to address it?”

  She shrugged. “Kyle put his heart on the line, and she crushed him. The next day, he pretended nothing happened. They’ve gone out to lunch, ball games, and acted like everything is perfectly fine.”

  So, Kyle did make his move. “She said no?”

  She nodded. “I was hoping she would give it a chance.”

  That shouldn’t thrill me, but it did. She rejected Cameron, then she rejected Kyle. Cameron was a piece of shit, but Kyle seemed like a nice guy even though I personally didn’t like him. He was loyal to Charlotte. Plus, he was strong and good-looking. “Did she say why?”

  “Said she didn’t want to risk their friendship.”

  That made sense. She said the same thing to me.

  “And she didn’t want to sleep with him while she still had feelings for you…”

  My neck immediately felt warm while my fingertips went numb. She’d turned down a good guy because she wanted to be with me. She didn’t sleep with him because she wanted to sleep with me. I was turning down ass left and right, and apparently, she was doing the same. “And you expect me to do nothing? I think it’s pretty clear what she wants.” If she weren’t at work right now, I’d march over to her house and take her to bed right that second.

  “That’s how she feels, but who knows if that’s what she wants. She was the one who said you should just be friends, right?”

  “But we’re terrible friends. We’re much better lovers.”

  “Neil.”

  I sighed when she started to snap at me.

  “Don’t hurt my friend.”

  “I would never, Stacy.”

  “To be honest, I wish she would get with Kyle. Kyle loves her. He loved her even before Cameron fucked everything up. That’s a man who wants to give her everything she wants, who would never hurt her. But she won’t listen to me.”

  “If she doesn’t like him, she doesn’t like him.”

  “I don’t think liking him is the problem. I just think she’s too scared to lose him.”

  “She just said that she has feelings for me.”

  “But if she didn’t, I think she would give Kyle a chance.”

  It sounded like I was ruining everything for Charlotte, like I was getting in the way of her happiness. “You know I’m not a romantic guy. I’m not even sure how I feel about Charlotte. But when we’re together…there’s something there. I haven’t kept my dick in my pants this long since before puberty…and we aren’t even together. I’ve had offers from beautiful women, but I always go home alone. I want Charlotte…she wants me. You can keep telling me to leave her alone, but one of us is going to cave. If it’s not me, it’s going to be her. We need to let it happen and deal with the consequences later.”

  She sighed as she looked at me. “You’re going to leave…so she’ll have to deal with the consequences.”

  9

  Charlotte

  I sat at the kitchen table and looked at
the puzzle pieces scattered across the surface. I only had one small corner put together, but if I put in enough hours, I would finally get some traction. “Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten such a hard puzzle…”

  Torpedo lay on the hardwood floor, chewing a bone I gave him.

  I grabbed my phone and was about to text Kyle to come over when the doorbell rang.

  Torpedo dropped his bone and ran to the front door, barking like we were under attack in a warzone.

  “Torpedo, chill.” I pulled on his collar and yanked him away from the door. I moved to the front and looked through the peephole to see Neil on the other side.

  Instantly, butterflies soared in my stomach and my heart turned weak. The breath left my lungs, and I became so nervous I almost didn’t answer the door. The longer I waited, the more my nerves got to me, so I pulled the door open so I wouldn’t have time to think about how handsome he looked—even through a peephole.

  We came face-to-face, and I smiled like everything was normal. “What a nice surprise.” He was in jeans and a t-shirt, his arms getting bigger every week because he was hitting the gym so hard. My smile slowly faded when he didn’t mirror the sentiment.

  “Can we talk?”

  “Sure…”

  He invited himself inside then faced me in the entryway.

  Now I was nervous all over again.

  He stared at me for a long time, his pretty eyes shifting back and forth as they looked into mine. He kept his hands in his pockets, and the affection he showed me last time was long gone.

  I had no idea what was bothering him.

  He continued to watch me, his gaze making my skin pebble. “I’ve been home for five weeks. After three months on the moon, the first thing I usually want to do is find a beautiful woman to share my bed. But the last five weeks, I’ve been alone…because I don’t want anyone else but you.”

  Oh my god.

  “I assumed I would stop thinking about you after a few weeks during my mission. But I never stopped thinking about you. I know you said you just wanted to be friends because you didn’t want to lose me, but I don’t think this heat is ever going to die.”

  My mouth went dry because I imagined kissing those lips again. I suspected this night would end with us naked in my bed…and that was exactly how I wanted it to end. It’d been a dry three months, full of dates that never went anywhere. I compared every man to Neil Crimson…so no one ever compared.

  “Stacy told me you rejected Kyle because you still had feelings for me.”

  Now I felt like a deer in the headlights, felt stupid that he knew how I felt without my even admitting it.

  “She only told me because I told Vic I felt the same way. And I’m glad she did…because I wasn’t sure how you felt.”

  I guess I put up a good front.

  He stepped closer to me, his fingertips touching my arm then slowly sliding all the way to my cheek. His fingers migrated to my hair and pulled it from my face, getting ready to kiss me. “Is this what you want? Because if you don’t, you only have a few seconds to stop me.” He moved nearer to me, his face coming close as he prepared to kiss me.

  “I think it’s a bad idea…”

  He flinched, his fingers halting in my strands.

  “I think I’m going to get hurt. I think it’ll ruin our friendship. But I want to do it anyway.”

  His fingers slid down my cheek until his thumb brushed over my bottom lip. “I’ll be here for a while, but not forever. And when I leave, I’ll be gone for a really long time. I can’t talk about the details, so don’t ask me. But when that day comes, this is over. And it’s over for good.”

  This relationship officially had an expiration date. “How long until that day comes?”

  “Probably a year.”

  The longer we were together, the harder it would be to let him go. It was a terrible idea, to get involved with a man I couldn’t keep forever. It would end in heartbreak. It would end in tears. But I couldn’t be near this man without wanting him. I couldn’t date other men when he was the only man I actually wanted. I could give in now and pay the price later…or I could pay the price now. Either way, I lost.

  “Are you okay with that?” he whispered. He came so close to me that it didn’t seem like he cared what my answer was. He was going to have me either way, even if he had to take me.

  All I could think about was being with this man, getting lost in the comfort of that deep kiss, being so deliriously happy that all the bad things in life disappeared. I’d have to pay the hefty price later—but that was tomorrow’s problem. “Yes.”

  He barely let me finish the word before his lips were on mine. There was a long pause in our embrace, a gentle halt as we absorbed the touch of our mouths. His fingers slowly glided back into my hair so he could cradle my neck and hold me close. When his lips started to move with mine, a deep breath escaped his mouth, a hint of emotion.

  I melted at the sound of his desire. I didn’t look my best because I didn’t expect company tonight. But he kissed me like I was in a short dress, heels, and no panties. My fingers immediately moved under his shirt so I could feel his flat stomach, so I could feel the hard grooves of his strength. Knowing he hadn’t been with anyone else but me turned me on, made it seem like he belonged to me. My fingers dug into his skin at the knowledge, claiming him as my hands slowly eased his shirt off his body.

  He took it off for me, letting it fall to a random spot on the floor. His lips were on mine again, this time kissing me harder than before. His hand slid down my back then gripped my cheek in my shorts.

  I loved it when he grabbed my ass like that.

  He guided me down the hallway to my bedroom and pulled my shirt over my head when we got there. My bra was yanked off before he fell to his knees and kissed my tits everywhere. He gripped one with his large hand then sucked my nipple into his mouth. He sucked hard and squeezed my tit like it was a water balloon about to burst.

  I pushed my shorts over my ass and let them fall down my legs.

  He grabbed the back of my thong then pulled it over my cheeks, dragging it down my legs until it was in a pile on the floor. When he rose to his feet again, he unbuttoned his jeans and yanked them off quickly, too anxious to wait for my small fingers. His boxers came next, revealing an enormous cock that had made me come countless times.

  I couldn’t stop staring at it.

  I was finally going to get laid.

  Thank god. I was so horny, I was about to lose my mind.

  He guided me to the bed, putting me on my back because he wanted to take me missionary. “I haven’t been with anyone…” He didn’t pull a condom out of his pocket or dig into my nightstand. His eyes searched my gaze, asking if I was just as clear or if I had the papers to prove it.

  It’d been a long three months because none of my dates went well. I hadn’t met a guy who made me so hot that my clothes melted onto my bedroom floor. “Neither have I.”

  His deep brown eyes burned into my face with desire, his cock twitching in approval. He maneuvered farther over me, his knees separating my thighs as he started to smother me with his affection. His hard stomach rested against mine, and his arms locked behind my knees as his hips settled into place.

  I was so excited, I thought I might explode. My palms glided over his chest before I pulled him close to me, anxious to feel that cock inside me. I’d fantasized about this moment many times, late into the night with my vibrator, and my memory didn’t do reality justice. I gripped his ass and pulled him close to me.

  He pressed his fingers down on the base of his cock and guided his tip inside me. Once his thick head found my slick entrance, he thrust his hips and pushed into me hard, wanting to get inside me as quickly as possible.

  My arms hooked around his shoulders, and I moaned.

  He moaned too.

  We sank into each other, our bodies wrapping around each other as we were reunited. The sexy moans he made deep in the back of his throat were the most erotic thing I’d ever he
ard. Hearing a man feel pleasure made me feel beautiful, like there was nowhere he’d rather be than between my legs.

  He started to move right away, thrusting deep inside and continuing to moan. “Jesus.” He rested his forehead against mine and moaned once more, his cock so hard, it stretched me to maximum capacity.

  I grabbed his ass and tugged him inside me, not wanting him to stop. I could already feel the climax on the horizon, feel my toes curl because the pleasure made my nerves sizzle. My hips rocked back into him, and I took his fat cock with the same enthusiasm he gave in return. We panted and moaned, fucking hard and working up a sweat.

  His cock thickened noticeably as he prepared to come, his face tinting red and the muscles of his core tightening. He came with a loud grunt, slamming into me harder as he pushed his come deeper and deeper.

  Feeling him come inside me made me explode just seconds later. I took his come and squeezed his dick hard, my hips thrusting automatically because my body was in control now. My mind had been overrun.

  Even when he finished, he kept going, staying hard despite the load he’d just given me. His hips kept up the same rhythm, and he rolled his pelvis to rub against my clit. His pretty eyes were glued to mine, claiming me as his woman. He pressed his forehead against mine and kept going. “Your panties are going to be soaked with my come tomorrow.”

  I entered the data into the computer then moved on to the next sample.

  Neil was right. I could still feel his come dripping out of me. We didn’t go to sleep until three in the morning, and he got at least five loads inside me before we called it a night. Now I tried not to smile at work, to skip around the lab like the happiest person in the world.

  Kyle stood across from me. “Why are you so happy?” His eyes were downcast, watching his hands as he labeled test tubes and slid them into the slots where they belonged. White gloves were on his hands, and his five-o’clock shadow was thick because he’d skipped the shave for a few days.

  I told Kyle everything about my life, from my terrible dates to what Torpedo did the night before. It felt strange hiding the truth about Neil, but it felt stranger to blurt it out considering the conversation we had a week ago. Kyle wanted to be with me—and I said no. Telling him I was fucking someone else was insensitive.