He blew out a frustrated breath. “Would you stop anyway? Because I asked you to?”
“Why should I?”
Where was the cute, sweet teacher in the fuzzy sweater? This was no girl. He’d encountered a full on woman who took orders from no one, no matter whether it was for her own good or not. “I’m coming up.”
“No.”
“No?” By now a few curious neighbors had emerged both on her level and the one below. He was more worried about those on the third floor adding weight to the walkway. “Yes.” Taking the steps two at a time, he tried not to shake them before he arrived at the top and sprinted lightly for her unit. With a shriek, she darted inside.
He caught the door as it closed behind her and shoved it open.
“Go away,” she called from somewhere inside. As his eyes adjusted from the bright sunlight outside, he took in the small but neat living room and kitchenette. The ugly red-and-green striped scarf lay on the floor. Prowling down a short hallway, he found her in front of the bathroom sink, yanking wire tubes out of her hair and cursing in a way that shocked him.
“Language like that and they let you around the children?”
She looked at him in the mirror, her eyes brimming with tears. “I don’t curse around the children. I also don’t spend my days in the classroom tearing my hair out in chunks so I have less to curse about.” Freeing another, she whimpered. “Ouch.”
Her distress hit him deep in his core. She reached for the door to shut him out, but he laid his hand over hers and stilled it. “Let me help you.”
“What? You don’t know anything about ladies’ curlers and how to get them out of my damned hair.”
“If you promise not to cuss while I do it, I will get those awful things out of your pretty hair and make sure I leave most of it still attached to you. Deal?”
“You don’t like women who use bad language?” she replied in a defiant tone but allowed him to lead her into the bedroom and push her to sit on the edge of the bed.
“I don’t like the sound of it from anyone.” Sizing up the puzzle of the curlers, he picked the one that looked easiest, least tangled, and began to work it out of her silky locks. “Why would you use these things in your hair?”
“To look pretty for you,” she muttered, her gaze on the floor. “It’s what women do.”
He managed to free the first roller and tossed it on the night table then started on the second. “You do look pretty. You look damned pretty.”
She glanced up. “I thought you didn’t like to hear bad language.”
“I was making a point.” He grinned at her and held up a second curler. “Look. I think we’re on a roll…get it?”
Tina groaned. “If you weren’t saving me from baldness, I’d ask you to leave.” She lifted one of the curlers and looked at the red hairs caught in it. “Why are you here anyway? I was supposed to have a professional take these out this afternoon before our date. It was for six o’clock right? This evening? Not for breakfast this morning?”
Setting the next roller aside, proud it had no hairs tangled in it, he paused. “No, our date is for dinner, but I’d be happy to take you to the diner for some eggs and bacon now. I was kind of planning on going anyway. Hungry?”
“A little,” she admitted. “But I can’t ask you to buy me two meals in one day. That’s taking advantage.”
Mac finished with the rollers on top of her head and sat beside her on the mattress to work on the ones at the sides and back. “No, I can afford to buy you eggs and toast. Hotcakes, if you like. Although I’m starting to think we’ll be here all day just getting you out of these cages.”
She sniffled. “This is humiliating. I probably should cancel dinner because I don’t think I can face you again after you’ve seen me at my worst. I wanted to look so nice for tonight. I even bought an outfit.”
He gave up on the last few rollers for the moment and tipped her chin up. Two big tears spilled from her emerald-green eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Without makeup, her face was softer but more expressive. Her lower lip trembled, and he ran his thumb over it. “If this is your worst, sweet girl, it’s better than most people’s best.” When a grin quirked the corner of her mouth, he kissed it. Then the tip of her nose, her cheeks, her forehead, and returned to her lips.
He kept it soft, at first, but when her arms came up to circle his neck, Mac pulled her onto his lap and deepened the contract. She was a warm bundle of sweet-scented woman, and her nearness went to his head. He buried his hands in her hair, kissing her while working the last couple of rollers free because they seemed so uncomfortable and he hated to leave a job undone. When she was out of bondage, he held her close and enjoyed stroking the silky locks while exploring the inside of her mouth. She parted her lips to welcome him in, and he accepted the gift, licking softly at her tongue until she responded and touched his with hers. It was a slow dance, building passion, unlike any other experience he’d had.
She might have a sailor’s vocabulary, but she kissed like an angel and clung to him like she never wanted to let him go. He felt the same. Using his hold on her hair to angle her head, he deepened the kiss, wanting more from her, wanting to show her how much he desired her. But, at the same time wanting to show her his respect, something the hard length between his legs understood nothing about.
If he let himself loose, he’d fling her back on the bed and have his way with her. They were on the bed. On her bed. Alone.
What had he been thinking to do this? What had she? If you’d asked him before now he’d have said she was a complete innocent, but what kind of innocent let a man into her bedroom before they had even a single date?
He didn’t care whether she was a virgin, but her passion, sweet though it was, did not indicate a woman who feared what might happen. Continuing to kiss her, he let one hand slide down the nape of her neck and over her shoulder to her breast. She shivered but did not pull away.
He should pull away Whether or not she’d had experience in the bedroom, he didn’t want to treat her as anything less than the treasure she was.
Tina moaned when his palm covered her breast. Even through her blouse and bra, the heat singed her and awakened things deep inside. She could hear her mother’s warning in the back of her mind, the threats of what a man could take from a woman. He’d never marry her if she gave up her innocence. Or he’d treat her badly if he did marry her. But she didn’t want a wedding ring. She wanted him to touch her, to show her what she’d been missing in holding out all this time. While her friends went all the way, she’d sent boys home at the door with a kiss, usually on the cheek. How long did she have to be the ice princess?
And they were engaged. Sort of.
She silenced her mother’s voice in her head and kissed Mac with everything she had. When he slid his lips down her jaw to the side of her neck, she welcomed the heat, the tenderness in his touch. When he opened the top button on her sleeveless blouse, she let him. And when his kisses trailed into the valley between her breasts, she burst into flame.
Mac stood, holding her in his arms, and turned to lay her on the white chenille bedspread. It was all like a dream, everything fuzzy and glowy and intriguing. She looked up at him and saw a man who could awaken her passions with a kiss, who saved lives for a living and had time to come visit with her students and encourage them to safety, who spent an hour pulling rollers out of her hair because she was sad.
She saw the man she wanted for her first experience. Brave, tender, strong, kind… Everything in her background said to wait, to save herself for marriage but she was tired of the double standard. No one asked men to wait. If she gave herself to this man today, and it made her less, then she just didn’t want any part of the sexual revolution.
He unbuttoned his own shirt, another uniform like the one he’d worn to her school and untucked it from his pants. Underneath, he wore a sleeveless T-shirt that outlined his muscular chest, flat stomach, and narrow waist. She made sure to keep her eyes above the bel
t line for the moment, lest she lose her nerve. Somehow, she’d always imagined this moment as being in the dark.
Trying to appear more sophisticated than she was, Tina worked the rest of the buttons on her blouse. She bit her lip so hard she tasted the coppery tang of blood, but she refused to let her fears or society’s rules stop her from taking action. Just this one time. Sitting up, holding his gaze, she slipped her arms from the blouse and fought not to cross her arms over her breasts. He’s see them soon enough. Tina reached behind her and unfastened her bra then drew the straps off her shoulders one by one. The more she moved, the less frightened she was, the more emboldened. Mac winked at her before he tugged his own T-shirt over his head to reveal his torso in all its glory. She’d been to the beach a lot of times and seen a lot of men without a shirt on, but Mac MacKay put every one of them to shame.
“Tina, this is fun, and I’m so hot for you that if you tell me to stop, I will probably implode where I stand, but to avoid my making a fool of myself…is this heading where I think it’s heading?”
Was it? He offered her, even at this moment, the chance to say no. But why would she? She’d done relationships the “right” way, moving slowly, and never got even this far. Never had a man in her bedroom.
But then she’d never wanted to, much. And now she wanted to. Very much. Since the bulge in his pants and the sparkle in his eye indicated he felt the same, this chick was going to go all the way.
Still, a little trepidation made her voice shake when she said, “All the way, fireman. All the way.”
His chuckle was like nothing she’d ever heard, deep and rich and core-tightening. It pushed her past the last of the wariness. Scooting off the edge of the bed, Tina approached him and took hold of his belt. His smile encouraged her as she opened the buckle and slid the leather free. He was such a big man, so powerful, and he stood in place while she opened the button on his pants and slid the zipper down. She felt so powerful. In control of her own destiny.
When she went to grasp his waistband, however, he covered her hands. “I’ll do it from here, pretty girl. I’m afraid if you even brush against me, it’s all over before it even begins.”
She wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but she didn’t want anything to be over so she backed off. “If I take my blue jeans off…? Will that be a good thing?”
“Yeah,” Mac drawled, dropping his trousers and, kicking off his shoes, stepping out of the pants. “A very good thing.”
When she’d imagined her first time, she’d pictured a romantic wedding night, maybe even a racy night at a nice hotel with a sexy fiancé. She had the fiancé part down, more or less, but glaring daylight through her bedroom window would not allow her to hide a single reaction. What if she was shocked? What if she burst into nervous laughter? What if he didn’t like her body?
“You okay?” he asked, fingers in the waistband of his undershorts.
“Yes, I’m fine.” Just so out of her element. She smiled but he must have seen something in it because he drew her back to him and held her, resting his chin on the top of her head. His erection was a rigid bump against her tummy but his hands stroked up and down her back in broad sweeps. When she lifted her face toward him, he kissed her again, with every bit of the sexiness, but something more, something so warm and touching it blew her mind and turned her into putty in his hands. While she was distracted by his mouth, he’d somehow taken off his undershorts and helped her off with hers.
He scooped her up in his arms and laid her on the bed then joined her, tugging off his socks before closing the distance between them. Mac lay on his side, propped up on one elbow, tracing the outline of her naked body with his forefinger. She was transfixed, every bit of her focused on where he touched and where he might touch next. Closing her eyes for a moment, Tina could almost see a trail of sparks in her mind’s eye to accompany the charge she felt.
“Open your eyes,” Mac said, stroking her cheek. “They really are the most extraordinary green. A true emerald. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the color in anyone else.” She looked up into his face, noticing the slight stubble on his cheeks. Rather than messy and rough like many men looked when they needed to shave, it just enhanced his virility.
Tina reached for the short coarse hairs and ran her fingertips over them. He grabbed her hand and nipped at it, sucking one finger into his mouth and tickling it with his tongue. She couldn’t breathe for a moment, overwhelmed. And it was only her finger…. Releasing it, he turned his attention to her neck, sucking gently at the crook and sending shivers racing up and down her spine. He lifted one of her breasts in his palm and considered it, flicking the nipple with his thumb. It tightened immediately and sent a shock of excitement straight to the middle of her. She didn’t even know what to do with it, but she wanted more. Hands planted on either side of her, she arched her back, offering her breasts for him to do with as he would. Everything he’d done so far had been incredible.
Mac bent toward the breast he held and, extending his tongue, gave it a long lick. The damp skin prickled in the cool morning air, and the nipple tightened further. Mac sucked it into his mouth and played with it, sucking and licking, nibbling lightly. Her head spun.
“You taste so sweet,” he murmured, moving to the other breast and giving it the same treatment. “Sweet as candy. While he sucked on her breast, he laid his palm flat on her stomach and pressed. “I’ll be inside here in a minute, but first I want to taste more of you.”
Good heavens. What did he mean? More of her? As he laid a trail of kisses down her belly, her heart thudded so loud she was sure he must hear it. When he got near her mound, he shifted to lie between her legs, resting one on each of his incredibly muscular shoulders. He reached into that secret place of folds and stroked her there.
“I’m going to kiss you…here,” he said, pressing one to the top of her mound. “And here.” A little lower. “And here.” The place he kissed next felt oh so good. Incredible in fact. While he ran the flat of his tongue over that same place, she jerked involuntarily. “Shh…” he soothed. “Do you like that?”
“I-I like it,” she said. “But I didn’t know you could do that. Is that okay?”
He petted her there, where he’d had his mouth. “It’s more than okay. It’s something that can make a woman feel very good. Nobody has ever done that for you before?”
“No,” she gasped. “Nobody until you.”
“And that’s the way I like it,” he said, bending close to her again. “Only me here, for you.” This time, he closed his mouth over the spot and sucked. Tina writhed under his touch. Besides the warm mouth kissing and nibbling her lady parts, she could feel one of his fingers working its way into her. Would her hymen stop him? She didn’t know nearly enough about her own body. What was where, and what was normal and natural? If it felt this amazing, it couldn’t be bad, right? He inserted his finger and pulled it out a few times before adding another and using them together, speeding both the finger banging and the licking, sucking, nibbling, nipping until she could do no more than thrash under him, in the grips of a pleasure she’d never even imagined.
As she lay panting, he climbed up to lie over her and gave her a smile. “And that is how it’s done. I hope you were pleased?”
“I’ve heard rumors of girls doing this to guys but never the other way. Either my friends are holding out on sharing the information or they are missing out on something incredible.”
He chuckled. “Could be either way. There are a lot of fellows who are all about the getting and not much about the giving. Usually applies to Christmas presents as well.”
Tina laughed, but after a moment, aware of his erection lying against her inner thigh, she asked, “Do you want me to, that is, I can do the same thing for you, if you like?” Not that she’d have a clue how to do it, but she’d figure it out. She was all about fairness. “And thank you.”
“I’d say the pleasure was all mine, but I think it was both of ours.” Mac kissed her deeply and smil
ed at her again. “And thank you for offering, but I’d rather do something else if you’re ready?”
Ready? Maybe not. Willing? Excited? Yes. All those things. “Do you have a ummm…?”
“A rubber. Yes. I got it out of my pocket a little earlier.” Kneeling up, took a circlet and unrolled the rubber over his very impressive dick. Not that she had the experience to compare it to others, but it stood straight and long and thick, with a pulsing vein wrapping down the side, and she couldn’t imagine a guy could hope for more.
Gritting her teeth, she waited for the pain her friends all told about. The searing ripping in half of the first time a man impaled a woman on his sword. As one of her more dramatic friends, who probably read a little too much, called it. Rather than just plunging inside, though, he kissed her again and stroked between her legs with a gentle touch. It felt good, and she allowed him to push her legs wider apart and take both her hands in one of his much larger ones.
“I’m kind of big, so tell me if I hurt you. I want to be inside you.” He held her close, and the rounded heard of his sheathed dick pressed against her opening. Here it came. The pain. She squeezed her eyes tightly closed, but he whispered, “No, don’t close your beautiful eyes. I want to see them while I make love to you.”
She obeyed, holding his gaze while between her legs a whole other party went on. She expected him to come up against some sort of firm barrier, to hear a tearing sound even, but he slid inside a bit at a time, inch after inch, Then, finally, as she was about to take a deep breath of relief, it happened. Not in the dramatic way her friends described, but a sharp pinch of pain that had her bowing her back for a moment before settling back into the mattress again when he paused.
His face was almost comical in his shock. “Tina, is this the first time you’ve done this?”
She nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t ask.” She shrugged. “I’ve never been that kind of girl.” Tina was starting to think she might have a secret slutty side, and she actually was pretty fine with that. Hopefully, she’d still feel that way tomorrow. Mac seemed so upset. “I’m sorry to disappoint you. I know you thought I was an experienced woman rather than just a garden variety spinster.”
Dallas Fire & Rescue: MacKay's Fire (Kindle Worlds Novella) (MacKay Destiny Book 2) Page 4
