Light Up The Night (Firehouse Three Book 2)

by Regina Cole

  Among other things. The horny devil on his shoulder grinned gleefully.

  And on that note, why wait?

  “Hey,” he said, cupping the back of her neck and turning her his way. “Since we’re stuck inside for a while…”

  “Yeah?” Her eyes twinkled slightly, the endearing light in them heating his blood.

  God, the smallest sign of encouragement from her and he was harder than concrete.

  Instead of answering with words, he let his lips do the talking.

  Pressing them against her wide, smiling mouth, he groaned slightly. God, she was kissing him back so eagerly now. The hesitation she’d exhibited early on in their encounters seemed to be a distant memory.

  He couldn’t get enough of her.

  She wound her arms around his neck, and he didn’t need any more encouragement than that. Deepening the kiss, he let his tongue plumb the dark, wet recesses of her hot mouth. Her fingertips dug into his shoulders as his hands began questing down her sides. He lifted the hem of her T-shirt, breaking their kiss just long enough to toss the offending garment aside. His greedy gaze took her in for just a moment.

  Sitting there on the couch, nothing but her shorts and lacy peach bra on, her cheeks bright spots of color and her eyes sparkling with passion.

  Nobody had ever captivated him more.

  “You’re so goddamn beautiful.”

  He whipped his own shirt over his head and dived at her again. Laughing, she brought him down atop her on the couch.

  When he pressed his erection into the sweet heat at the juncture of her legs, her laughter faded into moans of desire.

  “You want this?” He punctuated the question with a grinding swivel of his hips.

  “You know I do,” she said, raking her nails down the bare skin of his back, leaving goosebumps in their wake.

  In just another moment, they were both naked. Drake loved being with her like this, skin-to-skin, breath and limbs tangling in a surging expression of passion.

  He’d loved every one of their moments together, but he was going to make this special.

  “Let me make love to you, baby girl,” he whispered against the warm softness of her earlobe, catching the sweet, tender flesh gently between his teeth.

  She shivered in response. “You are.”

  “Not what I meant,” he said in between kisses down her collarbone, and then her sternum. Lingering briefly at each nipple, he laved them with his tongue, suckling for just a moment until they were glistening and diamond-tipped.

  “Drake,” Everly said, her fingers tangling in his hair and her hips lifting slightly as his tongue trailed down her belly. He left no doubt where he was heading when his hands delved underneath her legs to cup her ass, his shoulders spreading her thighs wide.

  “Oh God,” she whispered as he settled himself between her thighs.

  Her knees were wide apart, the beautiful lips of her slightly parted, revealing the glistening pink inner flesh inside. She was so wet, and getting wetter the longer he looked at her.

  He didn’t move for long moments. He wanted her to know that he was looking, that he found her beautiful down there. He wanted her to feel his breath blowing across her slit, feel his hands lifting her toward him, feel the magnitude of this moment.

  This was the first time they’d done this, but it sure as hell wouldn’t be the last.

  “May I taste you?”

  He looked up at her face as he asked the question. Her eyes were open wide, the whites of them looking extra-bright in the gray light of the rainy day that spilled through the windows.

  “Are you sure you want to?”

  He leaned forward, burying his face in her inner thigh, licking and biting the flesh just outside her core. She shuddered, crying out, gripping the couch cushions as her hips bucked in response.

  “Does that feel like I’m sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes, you believe I’m sure, or yes, I can taste you?”

  He wanted her to want this as badly as he did. His cock was nearly vibrating from the hot, surging blood in his veins, but he wouldn’t move a damn muscle until she expressly asked him to.

  It was non-negotiable for him.

  “Yes, you can taste me.”

  He didn’t need a fucking Evite.

  Blue Bell wished they made something this sweet and delicious.

  Everly’s cry of surprise and passion would go down in his history as one of his single favorite sounds ever. He licked her from top to bottom and back again, parting her with his hands and exploring every bit of her swollen, quivering core. Tangling her fingers in his hair, she cried out again as his lips sealed over her clit.

  The little nub was rigid and hot, and he carefully laved it with his tongue. Listening to her body, he found a rhythm that she liked. Swirl with the tongue, then lick, lick, and suck. Repeat until she tried to rip his hair out by the roots, and then intensify.

  When her cries hit a pitch and stayed there, and her hips worked furiously against his mouth, he moved a hand below his chin. Breaching her with two fingers, he timed his insertion to the lift of her hips.

  She exploded, her screams echoing off the vaulted pine ceiling.

  When she collapsed, boneless, against the couch cushions, he rose on his arms. Keenly aware of her eyes on him, he slowly, deliberately, licked his lips and smiled.

  She raised her arms to him, begging him without words to come to her.

  He was only too happy to oblige.

  Rolling on the condom was a split-second job, and he was soon nestled right back into his second home—between her thighs.

  “Please,” she said, her hips shifting against him. “I want you inside me.”

  “Everly,” he said, and then he was inside her and as good as lost.

  His hips pounded against her, unconsciously echoing the rhythm he’d found with his tongue on her clit. Her core gripped him, her inner walls slick and hot and squeezing the life into him. This, with her, was all he’d ever need.

  With her ankles locked behind him, and her beautiful breasts bouncing with the rhythm, he wasn’t going to last long.

  “Come for me,” she whispered, but the command might as well have been shouted.

  It was that effective.

  The tingle in his lower back and balls intensified to a near-painful level, and his cock got so hard his vision blurred. With one last, deep, thrust, and a hoarse groan, he poured himself deep into her.

  God, he loved this woman.

  Long moments later, when they’d finally managed to catch their breaths, Drake pressed a sweet kiss to her lips and they each pulled their clothes on. They didn’t need to say anything, and the silence was as sweet as the loving had been.

  Drake wondered if it would always be this way. This comfortable, this right, this perfect. He hoped so. Everly was more than he ever could have wished for, so ideal for him in every way.

  “Look,” she said, turning that beautiful smile his way. The expression made his breath catch in his throat. She had no idea how incredible she was, how deeply she made him feel. But he was going to tell her, and very, very soon. “The rain has stopped. We can go take that walk after all.”

  “Looks like it’s just in time for the sunset, too.” Drake got to his feet and pulled Everly up beside him. “I’ll grab the leashes.”

  As he walked through the living room, its simple, country furnishings offset by beautiful, golden, knotty pine paneling, he took several deep breaths.

  This shouldn’t be that hard. Everly might have taken a few days to warm up to the idea of being together, but ever since that night he’d brought Gossamer home, they had been nearly inseparable. She had leaned on him when those mysterious accusations had appeared, and he’d been glad to be a listening ear. Not to mention wanting to track down whoever had written them and go medieval on their asses.

  When he was on shift, they texted each other at every opportunity. And when he was off? They stayed at his place or hers, all their dog
s scrambling for space at the foot of the bed, and settling for couch time when they realized there wasn’t room for them when the human were rolling around.

  As his hand closed on the bundle of leashes he’d come for, he shook his head. Everly had bought a toothbrush specifically for his apartment. He’d left a couple of pairs of shorts at her place. Her hairbrush was on his bathroom counter. His razor perched on the shelf in her medicine cabinet. He’d bought her favorite kind of coffee. She’d started wearing an apple-scented body mist because he’d said it was his favorite. And now, here they were, on a long weekend trip away together. They’d only been here since yesterday, and already they’d had sex in about half the rooms in the big vacation home.

  In a million tiny ways, they’d declared themselves over and over.

  So why was it so hard for him to just come out and say, “I love you, Everly”?

  “Drake? Did you find them?”

  “Yeah,” he said, shaking off his reverie and walking back to the patio doors where she was waiting with all three pooches. It was probably that movie that was making him so damn mushy. He was secure enough in his masculinity to admit he liked a good rom-com, but he needed to stop analyzing this and just do something about it.

  He knew what he felt, and he didn’t want to hide it from her any longer. Everly was what he wanted out of life. She’d made him happier than anyone had a right to be. And she deserved to know exactly how much she meant to him.

  As he rounded the corner, she smiled as she caught sight of him. When she looked at him like that, he felt like Superman. Ready to take the world on, come what may.

  Together they leashed up the pups, and then Everly pulled open the door.

  Drake closed his eyes and breathed deep. The rain had cooled the air, the scent of damp earth a heavy tang in his nostrils. Clouds still hung low, but they’d cleared off in the west, and the daylight was burning orange as the sun sank lower in the sky.

  “We can follow the waterfront,” Everly said, looping Arrow’s leash around her free wrist. Jacques’s was already secured in her other hand. “The sunset is always gorgeous over the water.”

  “Sounds good to us,” Drake said as he adjusted Gossamer’s harness. She gave a snort of excitement as she waddled over to Everly.

  Once the house was locked, the two humans and three dogs ambled the short distance from the stone patio to the water’s edge. There was a narrow strip of beach, the calm lake waters lapping gently at the dark sand.

  Gossamer and Jacques sniffed at everything they could. Arrow, seemingly above it all, walked calmly by Everly’s side. Drake laced his fingers through Everly’s, and they walked in silence for a few minutes.

  The sun sank lower, and Drake watched as the fiery orange fingers reached toward them in the reflection on the water. It was really beautiful here. He knew it had taken a lot for Everly to invite him and he was so grateful he’d taken Abby’s advice.

  He’d stayed right there with her. Not pushing her, just being near her. Being open to her. And that had made all the difference. They’d found a common ground that neither of them had expected. He hadn’t thought he’d fall this hard, this soon. But he had. And now he wanted to let her know.

  “Everly,” he said, pulling gently on her hand so she’d turn to face him. She did, eyebrows lifted in question. “I need to tell you something.”

  Her eyes went wide as if she knew this was something big, and was uncertain about it. Her fingers trembled slightly in his grip, and he tightened it to steady her.

  “Relax,” he said, stepping closer to her. “It’s nothing bad.”

  “Okay,” she said, tilting her chin upward to look him in the eye. “You just looked so serious for a minute there.”

  “Sorry,” he said, smiling ruefully. He would be lying if he’d said he wasn’t nervous. He was. This mattered. She mattered. And telling her how he felt could backfire.

  She could run. She might feel pressured into making this something that she wasn’t ready for. But he would be there, and he would wait for her in the deep end. And eventually, she’d realize that there was nothing to be afraid of. And everything to dive in for.

  He took a deep breath. This was it.

  “I—”

  Before he could get the words out, a shrill ringtone began an insistent klaxon from his right hip pocket.

  Shit. It was the firehouse. The one call he couldn’t let dump to voicemail.

  “Sorry,” he said as he jerked the cell free of his pocket and swiped the answer button. “This is Drake.”

  “Hammerfell, we need you. It’s all hands on deck. Explosion downtown, multiple buildings on fire. We’re closing in on three hours on site and it’s still not contained.” The chief’s voice was grave as a crypt. “When can you get here?”

  “I’m out of town, but I can be back within two hours.”

  “Do it.”

  The call ended, and Drake’s stomach twisted.

  Everly’s hand, still held in his left one, had gone cold. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m sorry, but they need me.” Adrenaline was already pumping through his veins, his body readying to do what it had to do. “There’s been an explosion downtown and they can’t get the fires under control. They’re calling everyone in. I’ll have to take Gossamer by—”

  “She can stay with me,” Everly said, dropping his grip and reaching for the leash. “Go.”

  “I hate to leave you this way,” he said, cupping her cheek and stepping close. God. The fear in her eyes was killing him. But he had to go. He had no choice.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said, her voice strangled as she turned away from him. “Go. They need you.”

  “I’ll text you when I can,” he said, and headed toward his truck at a dead run. Thankfully, he wasn’t leaving her without a vehicle. She’d had to come down early to do some things around the house for her parents, so he’d met her at the house when his last—thankfully uneventful—shift was over.

  As he cranked the engine, he caught sight of her just past the trees. She was standing by the water’s edge, her head in her hands. Jacques was on his hind paws, scratching at her leg.

  Damn it, this was not how this weekend was supposed to go.

  His heart was lead in his chest as he stepped on the accelerator and drove in the one direction he didn’t want to be going.

  Away from her.

  Everly was pretty damn proud of herself for not crying. It was a very close thing, though. Every time she thought about Drake charging headfirst into the aftermath of an explosion, flames surging all around him, her throat closed up and her eyes stung. But she swallowed the fear, shook her head, and straightened her spine.

  She wished things were different. That he was an accountant, or a retail store manager, or even a busboy. Something safe. But he wasn’t. He was a firefighter, and his career would always be deadly.

  Could she really handle this?

  She’d thought he’d been about to say something important. Something like, “I love you.” And she’d been ready. She knew her heart now, and it was set on Drake.

  But he’d left her arms and run straight into danger.

  “We’ll be okay,” Everly said to Jacques, who was still pawing at her leg. Of any dog she’d ever had, the little poodle was the most sensitive to her moods. Even Jo-Jo, as awesome as she was, hadn’t been as in-tune to her emotional state. Every crying jag she’d had for the last four years had been right beside that curly-haired little dog, and now she bent down to scratch his ears. “I’m sorry for getting upset. Everything will be fine.”

  There was a decisive “hmmmph” from Gossamer, who clearly thought Everly was lying. Arrow was silent on the matter, as usual.

  “Come on, guys. Let’s at least finish our walk.”

  Everly and the dogs took their time down by the waterfront, long past when the fiery red sun sank past the horizon, and the sky had faded from orange to pink to lavender to navy. As they headed back toward the house, Everly look
ed up at the faint white stars.

  She’d wanted to share this place with him, since it was one of her favorite spots in the whole world. But was it wise to give so much of herself to a man who ran headfirst into danger? Could her heart handle this long-term?

  It already felt too late. She didn’t know what to do. Hang in there for the long run, or cut her losses and try her best to get over him?

  Her feelings were hopelessly tangled, and she had no idea which string to pluck to even begin to unravel them.

  Her cell chimed softly in her pocket, and she reached for it. Just at that moment, a hissing sound startled her and she jerked her gaze upward.

  A cat was standing on the boat slip, its hackles raised as Arrow’s head whipped around to find it.

  “No, Arrow,” Everly cried, tightening her grip on the leash as the greyhound lunged for the cat. She dug her heels into the sandy bank as Arrow began barking like mad.

  If it had been just Arrow—even though the greyhound weighed a solid eighty-five pounds—she’d have been fine. Even with Jacques barking and jerking at his lead too, Everly could have managed. But when Gossamer decided to throw herself into the let’s-get-the-cat brigade, the tipping point was reached and Everly found herself on the losing side of the battle. Her commands were ignored as the dogs went on the chase.

  Arms straining, feet skidding on the loose sand and small stones of the beach, Everly held onto all three leashes as tightly as she could. The cat took off toward the end of the dock, and the dogs followed, dragging Everly into the shallows. A sudden lunge by Arrow sent Everly face-first into the water.

  Gasping, coughing, Everly struggled to her feet and jerked the leashes back. “Leave it,” she commanded, the demand in her voice was backed by some serious pissed-off. With the cat out of sight now, Arrow and Jacques remembered that they had manners and meekly turned to face her. Gossamer was still straining at the end of the leash, bug eyes alight with excitement as her pudgy body trembled.

  Everly wrangled the dogs back into the house, using the mudroom at the side of the house instead of the patio entrance she and Drake had come out of earlier. The small shower in the room, usually used for rinsing off after swimming in the lake, doubled as an excellent dog washing station, and Everly made use of it to clean the dogs from their adventure.