Ladder 54: Five Firefighter Romances

by Maren Smith

  The other woman snapped with an eerily familiar voice, “Don’t trust my sister’s hormones. She’s just trying to get you in bed and steal my money.”

  Declan frowned as he turned her slightly in his arms and saw another Lee. Looking up, he saw the first Lee, still cross-armed, wearing a nasty scowl a few feet away. “Sisters,” he drawled. “You guys aren’t just sisters, you’re twins.”

  “Brilliant,” muttered the woman in his embrace with more than a hint of bitchy sarcasm. “Your fire boy is just brilliant.”

  “Shut up, you stupid bitch,” sputtered her sister as she tried to take another threatening step toward them. “I… You…”

  “I’m not going to tell either of you to calm down again,” he grumbled, a thousand warning bells blaring in his head. “We aren’t going to just sit in the mud, either. Get your asses up there and get cleaned up. Then we’ll sort out whatever the hell is going on around here—”

  “I’ll tell you what’s going on,” shrieked Lee Number Two with a twisting attempt to escape his ironclad grasp. “We had a deal, and she backed—”

  Declan didn’t wait for his prisoner to finish her sentence. Taking the last ten yards toward the lake in a few strides, he waded in to his knees and unceremoniously dropped her flailing body into the frigid water. He was pleased to see her head was covered before she came up sputtering, her fighting instinct finally subdued. She planted an icy glare toward both of them before storming up the wooden steps, her dirty, wet t-shirt stuck to her body.

  The Lee on the embankment took that moment to laugh. It wasn’t a kind, supportive, or even a teasing laugh, but rather a prickling, nasty, bitchy response that increased his annoyance. A quick glance at his own mud-covered t-shirt combined with the sound of water squishing through his ruined sneakers. He glared at the woman sitting on the hillside. “You’re next.”

  Her shock was to be expected. “I… you don’t mean…”

  “Get your ass over here and get in the water. If I have to do it, you’re staying in even longer than she did.” Her mouth hung open and her eyes grew wide, but she never turned her back to him as she slunk to his side to stand in the water. She stared almost plaintively for a moment before he added with a twitch to his jaw, “I’m waiting.”

  Defiance replaced disbelief, and she huffed before ducking under the cold water. He held his hand on her head for an extra second to rinse off some of the mud before she burst through the surface with a shocked gasp. He crossed his arms and gave her a glare that should have melted her frozen body. “Fuck, that’s cold,” she mumbled. Her response did nothing to ease his temper.

  “Strip,” he demanded. “Your sister’s in the camper. You can go back into the house where one of you left a suitcase and get cleaned up, but there’s no way in hell you’re going to track muddy clothes in there.”

  “You… you don’t really expect me to go up there naked, do you?” she squeaked incredulously.

  He didn’t bother to answer and crossed his arms. “One…”

  She lost her shirt and jeans quickly, but it took an extra glare to make her abandon the soaking wet lace panties. Her nipples stood at chilled, rigid peaks, and she simultaneously tried to cross her arms over her breasts and pussy, running to the staircase with her bottom protruding like some sort of target… unless it was the one he’d already spanked on the hillside? No, that was definitely the one in the camper.

  It took him a half an hour to clean up in the outdoor shower and change into warm, dry clothes from the backpack still sitting on his bike, but the reality was clear. He’d been played. Obviously, both women were involved in the weekend, which explained an awful lot about his mixed emotions over the last two days. Clearly, he was attracted to one of them, but he had no idea which one.

  He was angry enough to visualize two identical asses spread over one of the spanking benches in the dungeon, and the comforting thought actually lowered his blood pressure and his temper. If he were smart, he’d paddle their backsides, tell both women off and send them home in their monstrously large camper, blackballing them from ever showing their faces at the cabin again.

  But as the weekend replayed in his mind, the twins’ personalities slowly separated. The sassy big mouth remained as annoying as hell, but the sensitive submissive refused to leave his thoughts. Her warm, cuddly body and gentle chatter were equal in memory to her over-stimulated, writhing body. He didn’t want to dismiss her. He wanted to spank a few saucy bottoms and get on with his weekend.

  The only pair of shoes he’d brought were a cold, wet mess, and he slipped on a dry pair of white athletic socks just as both girls met him on the back porch. He had to give them credit for having the nerve to talk to him in person and not drive away in a panic, but their identical wet hair, matching blue sweaters, and tight designer jeans gave no hint of their separate identities. He still physically couldn’t tell them apart.

  “Really? You two have the guts to come here dressed the same? Again? What do you take me for, some sort of an idiot?”

  “I… I’m sorry, Declan. It’s all we had left that was clean.” Her tone was uneven, and tiny tears appeared at the corner of her eyes. The other one, however, looked equally as contrite, and he still struggled to separate their identical physical presence into the two distinct personalities he could explain on paper.

  He opened the back door and motioned them inside. “Let’s go. It’s a lot warmer in here.” Without speaking, they sat at opposite ends of the kitchen table. Hoping it would help, he turned on every light in the room, but he couldn’t even come close to telling them apart. He sighed heavily. “Okay, I can see why you did it. It was expensive, and you were hoping to get a little more for your money.”

  Two identical sets of eyes fell to the floor, and he snapped his fingers. “Look at me, both of you. Which one of you came up with this idea anyway?”

  Two identical sets of fingers pointed at each other, igniting an immediate battle. “This was your idea, Claudia. Don’t even freaking start with me,” one of them responded with an angry snarl.

  “My idea? You found the damn flyer! Dammit, you like people to believe you’re so innocent in everything. You’re just a—”

  Raising his voice, he cut them off. “Just…” They stopped immediately, and he rubbed his hand through his dark hair, forcing a smile and a calmer tone. “…Just, stop. Let’s start simpler. Who drank the chardonnay in front of the fireplace?” The girls glared each other, but both remained quiet as though they were afraid to ignite another argument. “Okay…” he continued, “…then who bit me on the hillside?” Nothing. “Who laughed when I fell in the mud?” Again… silence. Oh, the hell with it. “Who did I have sex with?”

  “You’ve already had sex with him?” shrieked an incredulous twin. “You’ve got to be kidding me! Why the hell didn’t you tell me? All I did was get spanked. And it fucking hurt…”

  “Oh, thank God,” mumbled the other sister as Declan grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to his side. Rummaging around a drawer in the kitchen, he found a black magic marker and wrote a ‘1’ on her forearm. Without waiting for an answer, he took the other twin’s arm and wrote a ‘2.’

  Proud of how he’d handled it, he nodded his approval, but ‘2’ spoke dryly. “Really? This is the best you can do?”

  “Leave him alone, Claudia. This is our fault, not his. I’m just glad you didn’t sleep with him.” Separating them physically as well as emotionally had softened him. Pleased to have identified her, he pulled her a little closer with a small grin. “I… I like you, Declan.” She spoke just above a whisper. “I really like you, and if you’d had sex with her, I’d be really pissed.”

  “You’d be pissed?” he muttered. “I think maybe I get to be first on the pissed list. So, you’re number one.”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” said Claudia.

  “Actually I was born first, you little shit,” she hissed in return.

  “Just stop, both of you. I feel like an idiot. I should h
ave figured this out when this one came back without any of the training and boundaries you and I’d worked out. But who the hell would ever have thought you guys were twins. And that you would do this.”

  “You set me up!” Claudia shrieked, jumping to her feet. “I knew you’d negotiated with him, and you didn’t say a damn word. I got spanked… hard… because of you.”

  Her sister dismissed her with a dramatic wave of her hands. “We are twins, for God’s sake. Not clones. I’m not responsible for your brattiness. Besides, I liked him, and I didn’t want you anywhere near his bed. I knew your big mouth would defeat you.”

  “And I like you too,” he groaned. “Whatever the hell your name is. Can you just behave yourself while we sort this out?”

  “Claire. My name is Claire Siracusa. And that is my younger sister, Claudia.”

  Declan paled. “Siracusa? From Missoula? My God, you guys are Tim Siracusa’s little sisters, aren’t you?”

  Claire froze, but Claudia mumbled, “Uh, yeah. Tim is the oldest, then Rob, Alex, Greg, and us.”

  “How do you know Tim, Declan?” asked Claire, outwardly cringing.

  Declan rubbed his forehead in a futile attempt to defeat the headache forming between his eyes. “He was my college roommate. He was the one who introduced me to the Crystal Cabin Club.”

  “Tim’s a dominant?” Claudia’s voice broke slightly. “I thought just Greg and Alex played around.”

  “Oh, no,” said Declan. “I’ve met all of your brothers out here. And, I can’t believe I’m saying this, I’ve been to your house and had dinner with your whole family, more than once. You guys were there too, but you were like nine or ten. You had black braids, and I couldn’t tell you apart then either.”

  Claire groaned, but Claudia mumbled, “That’s really kind of disturbing when you think about it.”

  “That’s it.” Declan slammed his hands on the kitchen counter. “Both of you, in a corner. I’m going to need some time to process all of this.”

  Claire immediately ran to a corner of the massive room, but Claudia stared him down. “If you think I’m going to do what you say, you are seriously mista—”

  He took a step toward her. “Do not tempt me right now, young lady. You do not want to see how that scene ends.”

  She tossed her head slightly, backing into her assigned corner. “Okay. Fine then. I’ll do it. But only because I want to. I’m not letting you boss me around ever again. You’re nothing but a freaking bully—”

  “He is not, you asshole,” Claire screamed from the relative safety of her corner. “And if you don’t stop being such a jerk, I’ll… I’ll… pull every hair out of your ugly head.”

  “That’s the stupidest thing in the world for a twin to say—” started Claudia.

  Declan cleared his throat until both girls were looking at him. With careful movement, he unbuckled his belt and slipped it through the loops. Folded in half, the belt hung by his side while he glared into the identical, wide eyes. “The next person who says a word is going to take this. Right here. Right now. And clothing is not an option.”

  Claudia turned toward the corner, running her forefinger and thumb across her lip and throwing away her imaginary key, but Claire buried her face in her arms and started to cry.

  Chapter Eleven

  He gave them forty minutes to stew on their own thoughts. Frozen fries and a few pounds of hamburger kept him busy while the two girls wiggled uncomfortably in their corners. “Sit and eat, and if I hear a word out of either one of you, there won’t be any more warnings,” he grumbled, laying his belt on the table. Both girls ate their cheeseburgers in silence, but there was a tiny power struggle over the ketchup before Declan took it away with a glare. Neither one of them had the guts to ask him for it.

  When it was apparent neither one of them could finish their meal, he said, “Claire, go to the theater room and wait for me. I’m going to take care of Claudia first.” His heart softened a little when her eyes filled with tears, but despite the twin’s physical similarities, this would have be handled with individuality. The poor little thing fled, and he moved to the couch, Claudia glaring at him with daggers. “What?” he asked in disbelief. “You’re mad at me?”

  “You made her cry, you brute. All she did was care about you.”

  “Claudia, you both lied to me. You physically fought with each other. You morally cheated Walt, Sophie, and the whole Crystal Cabin community, and you set all three of us up for serious conflict in a game that places honest communication above everything else. I’m thinking there was even some fraud committed this weekend. Get over here. Take your punishment and go back to Missoula tonight. I promise I’ll take good care of Claire.”

  “Over there?” she asked warily. “What punishment do you think you’re giving over… there?”

  “I’m going to spank your bottom, so you don’t do something this stupid again. At the next event, you can come back, and I’ll find another dom to work with you. You obviously wanted a BDSM experience, and I want you to have a fair chance at the real thing. Now, come here.”

  Claudia took three steps backwards and ran into the kitchen door. “I… I’m not getting anywhere near you. You’re scary as shit…”

  “That’s kind of the point,” he sighed. “That’s what you signed up for, isn’t it? I mean, was all of this just another weekend date to you, or is this something you really want to try? You deserve this spanking, but I’m not going to chase you. Decide.”

  “I…” Her dilemma was apparent, and she looked in the direction Claire had gone. “I… I don’t think I can do this.”

  Declan picked up his soft leather belt and patted his lap ominously. “I don’t see how you can not do this.”

  * * *

  There was no way Claire could stay in the theater room by herself. Peeking through the doorway, the unhappy sounds of Claudia’s spanking filtered down the hallway, but she was lost in her own self-righteous grinning when she realized the noise had stopped. She slammed the door shut but was pretty sure she’d been caught when he bellowed, “Claudia’s going back to Missoula tonight. Come and say goodbye to her.”

  She couldn’t meet his eye when she walked past him in the hallway. He cleared his throat until she was forced to look up. “When I said wait in that room, young lady, what do you think my expectations were?”

  “I… uh…” She rambled a little before she decided to beg. “I’m sorry, Declan. I just had to listen. She… she’s my sister…” The poorly veiled support sounded particularly lame to someone who really just wanted to see her twin get her ass smacked. A tiny bit of guilt crept into her thoughts as her own punishment loomed a little closer.

  Normally stoic Claudia was already standing at the back door with red, swollen eyes and a heavy frown, a mirror image to her own unhappiness, and a tiny tug of pure sympathy crept into Claire’s heart. Trusting Declan, she knew her sister’s pain had to be emotional as much as physical.

  “Now,” said Declan sternly. “What do you two have to say to each other? Life’s too short to stay mad at somebody you care about.”

  “I’m sorry…” they both blurted out at the same time they embraced.

  Despite the annoying, bossy attitude, she’d never managed to stay mad at her sister for too long. “Don’t cry, Claudia. I had as much to do with this as you did. It wasn’t all your fault.”

  “Don’t worry about me, honey,” she said with a small smile. “Declan’s going to arrange for me to come back and work with a different dom.” Claudia pointed her thumb in his direction and lowered her voice to a whisper. “This one is all yours, and he’s a good one. Hang onto him… just don’t tell him I said that.” She shot Declan a grim look. “Treat her well, you big oaf, or I’ll be back with my claws out.”

  “Bye, sis,” he said with a grin. “But let me know if you ever need another emotional adjustment. I’ve got some nice paddles downstairs that were made just for my grip.”

  Claudia turned her back to him bef
ore she flipped him off over her shoulder, rubbing her bottom with the other hand. “Have fun, but keep some secrets around here, for God’s sake.”

  She walked out the door toward the camper as Declan grabbed Claire’s arm to look at her forearm. “Just checking,” he mumbled, tracing his finger over the magic marker. “And remind me to find the scariest dom I can manage for her when the time comes.”

  Claire’s eyes were wide waiting for his next move. She had faith in his decisions, but the punishment would be much worse for her. She’d understood the rules. She’d negotiated with him and given her role freely. She…

  “Do you want to watch a movie tonight?” he asked casually as he moved some dishes toward the sink.

  Her growing anxiety crashed into a wall of confusion. “Huh?”

  “Oh, don’t worry about the extra night. It’s a little late to get started for my place now, but I already texted Walt to tell him we were staying longer. We can pick up my vehicle tomorrow before we head out to the fishing cottage.”

  “Aren’t you mad at me?” she asked incredulously.

  “I was mad at somebody, but I spanked a deserving bottom. The slate is clear, so let’s move on. Grab those glasses off the table, would you?”

  It couldn’t be that easy. Guilt continued to swirl in her stomach as she walked slowly to the table, and her brow creased. “That’s not right, and you know it. I had just as much to do with all of this as Claudia did. We aren’t one person.”

  He lifted his chin slightly and spoke sternly. “And you will never, ever again pretend to be a single person, Claire. Do you promise?”

  “I’m so very sorry, Declan,” she whispered without meeting his gaze. “I… I wanted to tell you the truth from the beginning, but I didn’t know how to get out of the whole mess. I figured my only option was to convince Claudia to go home while we went to your fishing lodge… then introduce you two later.”