Blaze: A Firefighter Romance

by Lisa Lace

  I stared at our linked hands.

  "It's my fault you were down there," I said, softly.

  "No, it's not. You were a heroine. Did you see this picture Maria drew? If a kid thinks you're a hero, it must be true." There was a drawing of a man and a woman wearing superhero capes on the wall beside his bed. Maria had written our names underneath. Jori gazed at me. His green eyes looked calm and tender, but I couldn't stand to stare at him.

  "Sammy," he said. "Look at me."

  I reluctantly lifted my eyes to his.

  "I forgive you for whatever you think you need to be forgiven for. You did save me. And I know how hard it was to climb down the tree and go through the hole again. But you did it anyway."

  I looked up at him. "Do you mean it?" I asked. I wanted to forgive myself, but I felt like I needed permission.

  "Of course I do. You're my wife. I have to forgive everything you do. That's what husbands do."

  "I thought I was your wife in name only," I said, refusing to look at him again.

  "Help me sit up, Samantha," he said. I took his hands and pulled him up, then helped him move back on the double bed. "Now I need you close beside me."

  I climbed onto the bed and sat next to him, positioned so I could see his face.

  "Sam, I want you to know something."

  I sat quietly waiting, desperate to hear what he wanted me to know.

  "Ever since I saw you at Ashlyn and Nathaniel's for the holidays, I have loved you." A shy smile broke on his face when my mouth dropped open. "I worked hard to conceal it."

  "But..."

  "I didn't know at that point if we could ever be together, so I pushed my feelings down and tried to ignore them." He gave me a rueful smile. "It didn't work very well. When Nathaniel suggested you become my mail-order bride, I had to be careful to hide how eager I was."

  I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

  "I worked to hold myself back and keep myself away from you. I didn't want to use you and divorce you after a year. But you wouldn't stop, would you? I couldn't resist you."

  "Jori. I thought you didn't want me."

  He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. "I was dying inside keeping my hands off of you."

  "On the island, though..."

  "Everything was different there. I didn't want to pretend anymore. I was tired of playing a role with everyone," he said, and I could see the weariness in his eyes.

  "I knew it. I knew that was the real you." I reached out and gently touched his forehead. It seemed like he had taken quite a few punches. His face had bruises.

  "It was then, and it is now," he said, taking both my hands in his. "And it will be forever. I'll never pretend again."

  I held my breath. What was he saying?

  "I love you, Sam," he said, gazing deep into my eyes. "Will you stay married to me after our year is up? I want to be with you forever."

  I tried to blink back my tears, but I couldn't. They spilled over.

  "Sammy?" he said, wiping them away.

  "I love you, too, Jori. I swear you can trust me."

  "I know I can, Sam. I always did."

  He pulled me to him and pressed his lips to mine. Then he broke off the kiss.

  "But what happened to Harrington?" he said sharply. I couldn't believe he'd waited this long to ask.

  "They caught him." I was glad to be the one to tell him. "The evidence from your tracker was enough to start an inquest. They've charged him with several crimes and he's in prison until his trial. I don't think he's ever going to get paroled." He reached up to touch the bandage behind his ear where his tracker used to be.

  "And the kids?"

  I smiled.

  "Well, you heard from Maria. We reunited almost everyone with their parents. There was one whose mother passed away while he was in captivity. He's being put up for adoption. A bunch of Harrington's goons revealed everything they knew when they heard he was going to jail. We found several other groups of kids he was trying to get off-planet. They're all safe as well. You did it."

  "I guess I'll have to contact my superior to find out if they've released me from duty." I put my finger to his lips to silence him. I reached over to grab an envelope that had come for him that morning. I handed it to him silently.

  He looked at me. "What is it?"

  I shrugged. "Why don't you find out? We've all been waiting for you to wake up and open it," I told him.

  He tore open the letter like a child unwrapping a present at Christmas time. Then he read through it a few times until, finally, he looked up at me.

  "I'm free," he said gleefully. "I can be myself again. I'm no longer a secret agent. No more secrets. This letter thanks me for my service and wishes me well in my future endeavors."

  "Jori," I said, hugging him. "I'm so happy for you."

  "You should be happy for us," he said.

  I twisted around until I sat in his lap with his arms around me. Suddenly we were kissing like there was no tomorrow. At a certain point, I realized he was more healed than I had thought.

  "Jori," I gasped, breaking the kiss. "Aren't you still convalescing?"

  He pushed his hips up, and I felt his hardness again. "I don't think so. Why don't we find out?"

  "But…"

  "I almost died, Sam. I thought I would never get to be close to you again."

  "I'm not trying to stop you. I want you badly, Jori. But I don't wish to take advantage of a sick man. You have broken ribs."

  "I'm not sick. And I'll be careful of my bones," he said. "You'll see."

  He pushed me onto my back and followed me down. Our clothes were off in record time, and we kissed again, our hands exploring each other's bodies.

  Soon I needed more. His hands were right there, his mouth on my breasts where I needed it most. He was bringing me close.

  "Not like that. I want you inside me when I come," I said, pushing his hands away.

  "Your wish is my command," he muttered, spreading my legs with his knee. When I felt him at my entrance nudging himself inside, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the sensations. He pressed in an inch and waited for me to accommodate his thickness.

  "You're so tight," he whispered.

  I moaned as he pushed in further, spreading me.

  "I love it when you make those noises."

  He thrust a little more, and I stretched, taking all of him until he was sheathed inside me, completely filling me.

  "That feels so good," I said, and I kissed him while he remained stationary. Our bodies were tightly joined.

  Then he moved slowly and carefully, testing out how much his ribs could handle. I groaned at the feeling of him pulling out and plunging back in. How could it still be so good? Would it be this good fifty years from now? I didn't know. But each time with Jori seemed as good as or better than the previous one. I had never been made love to the way Jori made love to me.

  He found a rhythm and drove into me, taking me higher and higher. My breath was coming faster, and I felt the heat and pleasure building inside me.

  "Yes," I breathed. "Yes."

  His hand came up and twisted my nipple. That was enough to push me over the edge. I climaxed, my body wracked with spasms and filled with ecstasy.

  He pounded into me a few more times before he lost it, stiffening with a groan.

  "I love you," I whispered in his ear as he lay on me, his heavy weight pressing me into the bed. "I love you."

  Finally, he lifted his head and pulled out of me. I gasped at the sensations, my inner muscles contracting again at the stimulation.

  "Fuck me," I swore, closing my eyes and riding out the aftershocks.

  "I thought I just did," he said, lying on his back on the bed.

  I grinned at him.

  "It's called making love, husband. Get it right."

  He pushed me onto my side and rolled over too. He cuddled up close, spooning with me, our bodies connected along their entire length. "Maybe we should have another go to see if I can get it
right this time."

  His arm came around me and pulled me tightly against him.

  "Maybe we should," I said. "After you rest."

  "Okay," he said, sounding sleepy. "As long as you're with me, Sammy."

  "I'm here," I said, my heart clenching at the endearment.

  "And you're going to stay here?" he asked.

  "Always."

  Alpha’s Enslaved Bride

  A TerraMates Novel

  Chapter One

  QUINN

  Predicting the future sounds exciting until you wake up one day knowing what's going to happen. Take it from me - it's not exciting at all. Fucking visions. I wish I never had a single one.

  When the egg hit me in the head, it broke immediately. I felt the sticky yolk run down into my black hair. I knew it was official.

  I was an outcast.

  As I crouched in the street with egg dripping down the side of my face, I was determined not to cry. My breathing was ragged, and my chest heaving with effort, but I would not show weakness in front of these bastards. The men who humiliated me would never get the satisfaction of knowing that they had broken me, no matter how torn up I felt inside.

  I couldn't kneel forever. I stood up slowly, wiping the raw egg from my face. I wondered where they got the credits to afford real eggs.

  Maybe the farmer down the road was a member of their cult, too. They called themselves a church, but everyone knew what it really was, even me and my dad.

  We hadn't been in this town long. My hometown was the little community of Core Rock, a charming mining settlement. There were exactly two hundred sixteen inhabitants - actually, two hundred fifteen now that Abigail had gone away to school.

  I lived a happy childhood there. My family consisted of my father, who was also my best friend. I did well in school, and my life was perfectly normal until I was fourteen.

  That was when the visions started.

  At first, I thought I was lucid dreaming until they began to happen during the day. I managed to hide everything until I had one at school. They thought I was having a seizure. My father had me tested for epilepsy, but the tests came back negative.

  I almost wish I had been suffering from some unfortunate disease, but that wasn't my fate. As it turned out, I was a psychic and could see into the future.

  It's a rare ability on Earth, but I have learned that aliens on other planets exhibit these powers all the time. Unfortunately for me, I didn't live on these other planets. My harassment by my fellow humans began almost immediately. Earthers, in general, have not caught up to other interstellar cultures in regards to peace, harmony, understanding, and tolerance.

  At first, people started teasing me at school. It escalated quickly to bullying. I got beat up a couple times. "Why didn't you see that punch was coming, you freak!"

  I couldn't control when I had the visions, or what I saw.

  My father didn't know what to do. He went to the police, but they couldn't do anything. He tried to protect me by dropping me off and picking me up at school. Someone always found a way to get to me when there wasn't anyone else looking.

  Things became complicated when I foresaw someone's death. A kid at school was planning to commit suicide, and I knew it was going to happen. I tried to do something about it. My plans didn't work, and he died. Despite my best intentions, I drew suspicion upon myself. An investigator suspected me, and they nearly charged me with murder.

  That's when my dad and I decided to move. I started hiding my ability. I ignored the next death I saw in my visions. If I knew someone was going to be hurt, I watched movies until the early morning hours so I could fall asleep.

  If I was exhausted, sometimes I could avoid the nightmares.

  My father was distraught and tried to help me. We went to see everyone we could — doctors, healers, a shaman. Someone who claimed to be able to exorcise demons. Nothing worked. In fact, my visions became more intense and more accurate. As I got older, I wanted to change the future. I wanted to prevent bad things from occurring, especially the deaths that I saw. Every time I started, I remembered what happened in Core Rock and didn't do anything.

  Now they had found me again in our new town. I didn't know how the Sons of the Heavenly Father kept tracking us down. News agencies have linked them to murders all over Earth, but they only target a specific minority - people who are different, like me. If the eggs were the best weapons they had, they'd find they would need to do a hell of a lot more than that to scare me away.

  I pivoted on my right foot, turning in a circle. On a whim, I raised my hands like claws.

  "Stand back," one man yelled.

  I heard a few of them muttering. They all held up crossed index fingers. I heard the word 'witch' multiple times. If they wanted me to be a witch, I supposed I could play the part. I knew it was a bad idea, but something in me was so angry and so sick and tired of running away that I couldn't seem to stop myself.

  I pushed my hands away from myself, palms facing away, and I screamed. As loud as I could, like a banshee.

  I saw the crazy men's faces turn white. They stumbled backward as if they'd been knocked down by the simple act of me raising my hands. For a moment, as they ran away, I got a false sense of power. I felt like a witch. I could make the bad guys cower.

  But I was just an ordinary girl.

  I began walking as fast as I could back to the apartment I shared with my father. I knew young women should be out on their own to learn independence. But I wasn't a typical girl. My dad needed me and helped me with my visions. If I had an unexpected seizure, he was there to protect me. Since I couldn't work, he supported us. I avoided people and typically ventured out at dusk.

  Today had been such a beautiful day I couldn't stay inside any longer. I went for a walk. The men found me, pelting me with eggs and calling me rude names. I was lucky they didn't beat me up, but I was still anxious.

  "They knew that you have a gift? They said so?" my father said. His brown eyes looked calm, but I didn't need powers to know he was terrified. His hands were shaking.

  "They called me a witch, Dad. That says it all, I think."

  "We've worked so hard to escape from the Sons of the Heavenly Father. It's discouraging to know they've found us again. We may need to run."

  "They're not going to stop. We know what they do to witches. We've seen it on the news." My father shuddered, probably remembering the images of charred remains in his mind. The Sons of the Heavenly Father were on a quest to burn anyone they accused of being a witch - all in the name of their savior, of course. History was repeating itself. They thought the ends justified the means. They believed their salvation was worth murdering innocent lives. I wondered what their god thought about that.

  I felt the need to confess.

  "I might have made it worse, Dad. I'm sorry."

  He sighed, closing his eyes wearily. "What did you do, Quinn?"

  "It's possible I lifted my hands and screamed like an animal," I said, apologetically, demonstrating my pose.

  My father shook his head. "Oh, Quinn. If they didn't think you were a witch before, they'll know you are now."

  "I know," I said sadly. "I know. We have to go right away, Dad. We can't bring anything." We hadn't accumulated much. It had only been six months since we moved here. I had a feeling it wouldn't be the last time.

  I felt a sense of longing for home that was so strong it almost overpowered me for a moment. I didn't have a place to call home anymore. I could no longer go back to Core Rock. Not even for a visit. I didn't think my life wasn't in danger here, but I still felt afraid.

  Dad said we had to wait until nightfall to leave. "We'll be less conspicuous if we leave in the evening," he said. "In the meantime, you should pack and rest. We may be up all night, Quinn."

  "Okay, Dad," I said, going quietly to my room.

  This vision was clearer than any I had ever experienced before. Every detail was vivid, even the smell of the snow. Who knew snow even had a smell? Not me. We
didn't get snow where I lived on Earth.

  The air was crystal clear. My breath came out of my mouth like smoke. The cold stung my cheeks as I walked through the forest.

  Sometimes the visions I had felt like watching a movie. I was never in the movie. I was always an observer.

  Until now.

  This time, I was one of the people in the story, and I was playing myself.

  I was walking alone through the snow. I needed to get away from something. The storm drove into my face at one moment and into my back the next. Huge trees whipped back and forth in the wind. Since I had arrived on this planet, I had never seen the trees moving like this. I had seen severe winds before, but they barely moved the branches. Now enormous tree trunks were swaying back and forth and groaning. I started to feel afraid. What if one of them fell on me?

  I tripped suddenly. Not only my boot, but my entire foot was caught under a root. I hadn't seen it under the deep snow. I was stuck. I struggled, trying to free it, but it wouldn't come out. What was I going to do now?

  Without warning, I heard a crack and a big tree began to fall on top of me. I stared up in fear, holding up my arms uselessly in a futile attempt to protect me. I was saved when the trunk caught on another tree and stopped falling.

  A voice yelled my name behind me. I had never heard it before, but it seemed familiar.

  "Quinn!" I turned to look and saw a man yelling and beckoning to me. I knew he was good looking, but somehow his face remained out of focus. I couldn't see his features. "Come on!"

  He came up to me and pulled on my arm.

  "My foot's stuck. Get out of here," I said, pushing at him, feeling afraid and desperate. "We don't both have to die."

  The man smiled at me, then glanced up at the fallen trunk. It was beginning to creak. The tree could start falling again at any time.

  He took my hands in his and leaned towards me. His eyes were full of emotion. "We do both have to die. I love you. And I can't live without you."

  "What?" I said.

  "I love you," he said again. This time, he leaned in and kissed me.

  When the tree hit us, it was over so quickly I barely felt a thing.