by Erin Wright
Time slowed down as Jaxson watched him come, debating his choices. He wanted so badly to swing a nice upper-hook and take the drunk man down. It would be so satisfying…Just one punch. That’s all he wanted. It would be self-defense, right? Every jury in the land would see it that way.
And then the faces of his boys flashed through his mind. He couldn’t take the chance. He couldn’t lose them.
And so at the last moment, he stepped to the side and James plowed into the filing cabinet behind him in a spot-on linebacker tackle, which managed to knock him out and send a cloud of dust up into the air at the same time.
He dropped like a rock to the floor as Jaxson coughed and waved a hand in front of his face, trying to clear the air. He really needed to clean that filing cabinet, if only for the health of his lungs.
He stared down at the passed-out man at his feet for a moment, and then picked up the phone in his office, calling city dispatch.
“Sawyer City Dispatch,” came a crisp female voice.
“Hey, it’s Chief Anderson over here at the fire department,” he said. “Can you send an officer over? I have an ex-volunteer who needs to be escorted from the building.”
“Oh. Sure.” The surprise was clear in her voice, but she didn’t ask any further questions. “Officer Knittle is in the area. I’ll radio him now.”
Jaxson hung up, staring down at James as he waited for Officer Knittle’s arrival. He knew what he was doing. He knew that calling the police over meant that this would go onto James’ record. If Jaxson was going to be a nice guy, he’d carry the man out to his SUV, throw him in the backseat, and drive him home.
Jaxson was not going to be a nice guy, though. He’d been a nice guy since he’d moved to Long Valley, and what did that get him? A passed-out, drunk, ex-volunteer who had done his level best to take out the one and only filing cabinet in Jaxson’s office.
No, he was going to let James suffer the consequences. After putting the city of Sawyer and its citizens at risk just because his pride was hurt and he wouldn’t enjoy the retirement he thought he was owed, yeah, James deserved a little suffering.
That and the headache he was going to wake up with would be plenty of punishment, Jaxson figured.
Officer Knittle stepped through the man door and came over to Jaxson’s office, whistling when he saw the prone figure on the ground. “What happened?” the cop asked, circling James and staring down at him.
“James has been causing some severe problems within the fire department. I called him over here tonight to let him go, and…he didn’t take it well. Charged me. I stepped to the side and he rammed into the filing cabinet, taking a pretty hard blow to the head. Knocked him out cold.”
Knittle looked at the cabinet and let out another low whistle. “Damn. You can even see where he hit it.” Jaxson peered closer. Yup, there was a dent all right. He hadn’t even noticed with everything else happening.
“Shit. No wonder he’s still out for the count,” Jaxson said, wonder in his voice. “Maybe you should take him down to the hospital instead of over to the jail; have him checked out. He might’ve given himself a concussion.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Officer Knittle asked quietly. “If I take him in, I have to file a report on this. I imagine he was none too happy with you getting hired, but he has been a dedicated firefighter for years in the valley.”
“He was staging a revolt among the men,” Jaxson responded, looking Knittle straight in the eye. “Told everyone not to carry their radios with them so that when a fire happened, I’d be the only one to respond. He thought this would make me look bad, maybe prove I wasn’t capable of being the head of the fire department. If a fire really had broken out, though, he could’ve put someone’s life at risk. I don’t care what kind of vendetta you’re carrying around; letting other people die to prove your point ain’t right.”
Knittle’s eyes grew big. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry to hear it. I always thought he was a good guy beneath all the gruff. I wouldn’t have thought…well anyway, grab his hands and I’ll grab his feet. We’ll carry him out to the car and I’ll drive him over to the hospital, then book him after that. You willing to press charges?”
“I am. I think it’s the only way to get through to some of these men that they may not be happy to see me, but they can’t pull this kind of shit.”
Knittle nodded. “Yup. Someone’s gotta stand up to them. Are you gonna fire Robert, too?”
“I am. I have to. Even though I’m sure he didn’t start any of this, he did go along with it.”
Knittle nodded again. “I always did wonder where Robert stored his backbone when he left for work in the morning,” he said casually as they hefted James’ dead weight up and through the office door, Jaxson walking backwards, craning his neck to look over his shoulder so he didn’t do something truly dumbass, like run into a wall or something.
After they got James into the backseat, snoring softly, apparently taking the deepest, most restful nap of his life, Jaxson looked at Knittle over the top of the squad car. “Thanks for your help. ‘Ppreciate it.”
Knittle jerked his head. “Hope your talk with Robert goes better.”
Jaxson grimaced. “I’m sure it will.” Which it would. Robert didn’t have it in him to cause problems without James around, but all the same, it just wasn’t going to be any fun. In fact, he was pretty sure that this job had a serious case of non-fun.
He walked back into the office and began turning everything off for the night – the buzzing overhead fluorescent lights, the ancient computer, the tired printer – and then locked the door behind him. He should go home, drink a beer, watch some TV, and pretend today never happened.
He stopped just as he began to climb into his SUV, one foot inside, the other still on the ground, his breath coming out in puffs of white.
No, no, as a matter of fact, he wasn’t going to go home. He had a friend with benefits, and he’d never actually taken her up on the benefits part.
It was time to rectify that situation.
Chapter 19
Sugar
Sugar snuggled down beneath the covers, the weight of Hamlet causing the whole bed – including her – to shift to the left. She sighed. She could argue with Hamlet about where he slept, or just try to go to sleep. Considering she’d argued with him before and lost every time, she should just lose gracefully again tonight. Hamlet was a real sweetie, but he was damn sure of where he wanted to sleep, and it was not on the floor.
He shifted, causing the whole bed to shake and Sugar found herself snuggled up against his furry body, whether or not she’d wanted to be there. Happy to have her company, Hamlet lapped her face with his tongue and then settled back down. She stared up at the ceiling into the darkness, willing her mind to let her go to sleep.
Waking up at 4:30 in the morning was not natural to Sugar, and neither was going to bed at 9:00. Her biological clock dictated that she be a night owl, which meant that despite having worked at the bakery for coming up on three years, she still felt like she was being tortured every time her alarm clock went off. Getting up at 4:30 in the morning just wasn’t natural, and she didn’t care who thought otherwise, or told her that she’d eventually get used to it. Her body never would. Thank heavens she worked at a bakery that sold coffee. Gage let her drink as much as she wanted for free. It was pretty much the only perk that came with working at the shop, but Sugar was grateful for it anyway.
Just as her body began to relax into the mattress – and into Hamlet’s warm side – she heard a knock on the door. She bolted upright, staring into the darkness. Who was knocking on her door at this time of night? Everyone knew she worked at the bakery, and not to come by her house after eight.
She pulled on her robe and then headed to the front door, Hamlet padding sleepily beside her. If it was Dick, coming over to argue with her again about her “poor life choices” that she’d been making lately – the one where she decided to divorce him, in particular –
she’d be real tempted to sic Hamlet on him.
Which in Hamlet’s case, just meant licking every inch of skin he could reach, but since Dick was severely allergic to dog hair, she figured that was revenge enough under the circumstances.
She pulled the door open. “What do–oh!” she said, staring at Jaxson. Instantly, her hands began tightening the robe around her body further. She patted at her hair. She probably looked like she had a rat’s nest on top of her head. “What are you doing here?” she asked, surprised. “I have to get up in the—”
And then he was through the door and closing it behind him, and kissing her.
His movements were frantic as he pressed his lips to hers and explored. She felt overwhelmed, but in a good way that was completely foreign. She waited for the urge to panic and shove him away to wash over her, but it never came.
She let him guide her backward into the apartment. She let go of the death grip on her robe, instead wrapping her arms around him both as a response to her growing eagerness, and the need for his stability.
In a strange moment of clarity, she heard Hamlet’s toenails clicking against the tile of the kitchen floor as he let out a little whine. Instinctually, she recognized the sound as his disappointed whine. Apparently, Hamlet was ready for bed and not happy about this interruption. She tried to feel guilty about keeping him from his sleep, but then Jaxson was kissing her, setting her body on fire, and she forgot all about it.
Jaxson finally stopped walking her backward and instead shifted his hands so that one arm encircled her around the waist, pulling her even closer to him, while his other hand held the side of her face.
Although she normally wore a nightgown to bed, tonight she’d just been wearing a pair of panties when she’d crawled in to sleep, and then, of course, the robe she’d pulled on when he’d knocked on the door. His hand snaked through the opening of her robe, pushing it off her shoulders and chest as he pulled her tightly to him. Her cheek warmed, the sensation perfectly outlining the shape of his hand on her face.
Sugar sank deeply into the moment. It pained her to admit how much she’d missed these feelings. Realistically, it hadn’t been that long since she’d last felt the touch of a man, but this…this was completely different.
With Dick, it’d always been about him and the fact that she was the woman most readily available – the most convenient to help him take care of his physical needs – but she was never more than that. Never special. She’d often wondered if he cheated on her, but if he had, she’d never heard about it, and she would’ve only been grateful that his attentions were turned elsewhere.
Tonight, Jaxson sought her out. She was the woman he wanted. Sugar admitted, if only to herself, that there was something amazing about being the subject of his desire. Being special and wanted by a wonderful man was what she’d longed for her entire life, and tonight – if only tonight – it was true.
She melted into the feeling.
His thumb caressed her cheek as they continued to kiss. His lips massaged hers, adding pressure, enticing her to open her mouth. It didn’t take too much convincing for her to let him in. His tongue was warm and soft, but forceful at the same time. She felt herself getting swept up by the intensity, and only wanting more.
With painful perfection, Jaxson held the kiss long enough that Sugar was feeling lightheaded when he finally released her.
“Hello,” she managed to breathe out.
“Hi,” he said quickly, before catching her mouth with another shorter but equally as intense kiss.
“You must’ve had a pretty good day,” she said when they broke apart, smiling up at him, her neck craning way back to get a good view.
His whiskey brown eyes were blazing with need, and the sight made her catch her breath.
“Actually the opposite,” he growled. “I needed something good to happen today, and when I realized that, all I could think of was you.”
“Oh,” was Sugar’s breathy response, and then he was shoving her robe the rest of the way off her body, letting it pool around her feet. She was relieved to shed the frumpy flannel robe that was both supremely comfortable and supremely unflattering, but then suddenly felt self-conscious at being exposed.
She could never really reconcile her petite form with her comparatively large bust, to the point where she could see herself as attractive. In her mind, she’d always considered her body to be a collection of incongruous parts that by themselves were each attractive, but in concert, were somehow mismatched.
She chanced a glance at Jaxson, the panic starting to build inside of her. What if he didn’t like what he was seeing?
“Oh my God,” Jaxson said in a hushed tone. “You are stunning.”
“Really?” she blurted out, unable to contain her surprise.
“Yes,” he managed to say, his breath coming in halting gasps.
She felt his hand slide from her cheek, down her neck and over her shoulder, finally coming to rest on her breast. He lifted the weight of it as the pad of his thumb brushed lightly over her nipple. Her flesh was already hard from the cooler air of the apartment. The roughness of his calloused thumb caused short tantalizing jolts of electricity to course through her body.
She pressed her body tighter to his, finally enjoying the difference in her size compared to that of a man. This was no longer a feeling of intimidation or shame at being weak. Jaxson’s size, his height and strength, radiated security through her. She reveled in the new contrast as she let him support her.
With stunning speed, he dropped his hand from her breast and encircled her body. He lifted her slight form into the air so they were eye to eye. Her legs instinctually wrapped around him, just above his hips, her arms tightening around his neck, drawing their lips together for another long kiss.
Then suddenly, he was leaning forward, startling Sugar with the sensation of falling in slow-motion. She clung tightly to him until she finally felt the soft touch of the blankets on her bare back. She relaxed her arms just a bit but her lips, ever eager, kept reaching for his. She sunk into the mattress as Jaxson pulled away, her legs untangling themselves from around his body and draping over the end of the bed instead.
Her heart raced as she watched him unbutton the dark blue shirt of his uniform. He tugged his arms free and then, like a magician, his hands blurred as he pulled his white undershirt over his head in a movement so fast, she didn’t consciously register the action. He stood there for a moment, towering over her, his body such a contrast to hers – hard where she was soft. Large where she was small.
She was surprised when she didn’t panic at their size differences. Instead of worrying about how he was going to use his strength to hurt her, she could only focus on how he’d use it to bring heaven down to earth. She hadn’t expected to have that reaction – she actually hadn’t been sure what reaction she’d have, really – and let out a tiny sigh of relief that her body and mind were all in agreement on this one: Jaxson was perfect.
Speaking of perfection…his chest. She couldn’t help drooling over the strong, square plates of muscle that stood guard over a contingent of smaller tightly packed muscles. His entire body rose and fell with his intense breathing under her watchful gaze.
He dug a hand into the pocket of his pants, retrieving a condom that he put on the edge of the bed for easy access.
Her body began to tingle in earnest as his hands worked the buckle of his belt. In no time, his Wranglers were falling to the floor and she began to see the outline of him through the tightly stretched fabric of his dark red underwear. With as much speed and dexterity as he had used to tug his shirt over his head, he removed the jockey shorts.
There was no mistaking how he was feeling in that moment. She only had a second to take in the sight as he ripped open the small square package and rolled the condom over his length, before he was leaning over her.
A tickle of fear formed in the back of her mind, the first inkling of it since he’d shown up that night, but it wasn’t a fear tha
t he’d hurt her, at least not intentionally. In the brief moments that she’d had to examine Jaxson, she realized that he was much bigger than Dick.
His dick was bigger than Dick’s dick?
She made a mental note to chuckle about the unintentional joke later. For now, she was torn between enjoying this experience and admonishing herself for the constant comparisons. She couldn’t keep contrasting every moment, every movement, every part of Dick against Jaxson. It wasn’t fair, even if Jaxson did keep coming out on top…
She wrestled her mind into submission and gave herself over to the moment. To him.
His perfectly delectable chest pressed against her. She felt like he might start her on fire, his skin was so warm. His lips found hers once again as he settled his weight on her. Instead of being scary, it was reassuring.
This was so erotic, too. She’d never been desired like this before. It felt wonderful to be viewed with such want and need, and even more amazingly, feel that way towards him. She’d known that Jaxson was sexy, but not like this. She’d known that fact with her mind, not her soul.
Not like she knew it now.
He pulled back from the kiss and her skin cooled, raising goosebumps across her entire body. He slipped his fingers under the waistband of her panties. She brought her legs up, resting her heels on the footboard of the bed, as he pulled the fabric towards him. She lifted her hips, letting the soft satin slide free.
He wound the tiny collection of purple satin and elastic over her thighs, past her knees and feet, which she lifted into the air with perfect timing. Neither of them concerned themselves with where he flung it.
