Hometown Hope: A Small Town Romance Anthology

by Zoe York

  With my legs curled around his hips, he paused, his dark green gaze locking with mine. My heart pounded wildly and my breath came in shallow gusts as I stared back at him, caught in the web of his gaze.

  “Just so we’re clear…” He arched his hips subtly into mine. Pleasure spiked through me, and I gasped. “It’s you I want. Only you. Always you.”

  Despite being nearly lost in the thrum of desire and need, my heart felt so full I could burst. I couldn’t do anything other than nod with my throat too tight for words. With his fierce gaze on me, he adjusted his angle and sank inside me in one swift surge. His forehead fell to mine on a ragged breath, and he held still for a beat. I could feel his heart pounding against my skin. After a moment, he began to move, slow, deep strokes into me. I was so wet, his motion was one endless slide and pull inside my channel. So close to release already, I tried to hold back. The pressure built and built, pleasure starting to ripple through me.

  I curled my legs tightly around his hips and bit my lip.

  “Don’t,” he murmured, his low voice a caress.

  “Don’t what?” I managed to gasp.

  “Hold back.”

  With a subtle adjustment, he drew back and sank in to the hilt. I let go, my release uncoiling in a snap and hitting me so hard, I cried out sharply. He was right there with me on the next stroke. He went taut as a bow and let out a rough growl, his head falling into the curve of my neck as he shuddered and spent himself inside of me.

  I thanked the stars I had a wall behind me and Cade holding me up because otherwise I’d have melted into a puddle. We remained like that for several long moments, our breath heaving. As my pulse slowed, I ran a hand through his damp, rumpled curls and traced along his neck to his shoulder, following the tidy square outline of the gauze over his stitches.

  He lifted his head, catching my eyes. “You can only ask once an hour if I’m okay,” he said, a sly grin curling the corner of his mouth.

  I giggled. “I can manage that.” I reached up to trace his brows, sobering as I looked at him. “I love you, and I went a little crazy missing you.”

  “Ditto.” He paused, his throat working with a swallow and his gaze direct to my heart. “I know it’s been a long time apart. Just focus on what matters—us. Don’t let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise.”

  At that, he dipped his head and caught my lips in a quick, fierce kiss before tightening his grip on me and spinning away from the wall. “I think we need another shower.”

  Not much later, we were lounging on the bed with takeout pizza between us. I looked over at him propped on the pillows, his ridiculously muscled chest gleaming in the soft light, and thought maybe I could figure out how to love him as fiercely as I did and not lose my mind.

  Epilogue

  Amelia

  I looked to the sky, dusky blue and dotted with clouds, and watched a helicopter descend to the helipad behind Willow Brook’s Fire & Rescue station. The rotating wind created by its blades sent dust spinning in a circle across the open lot around the landing pad. The helicopter rocked on its landing, but settled quickly. It was a midsummer’s late evening in Willow Brook. Cade had been gone a full two weeks up north at a wildfire. I was chomping to race across the lot to tackle him, but I knew I had to hang back until the pilot and the rest of the passengers disembarked.

  A gust of wind blew my hair wild. I brushed it back to see Cade climbing off the helicopter. My heart started banging in my chest, and I forgot to hold back. Dashing across the lot, I collided with him just as he was turning and slinging his gear bag over his shoulder. Amidst six firefighters from his crew and the pilot, he stumbled when I flung my arms around him.

  He caught me fast against him, his laugh muffled in my hair.

  “Amelia, how many times do we need to remind you you’re not supposed to charge out here until it’s clear?” the pilot asked.

  I stepped back just enough to lift my head and looked over at Fred. Fred had been the pilot injured in the crash last year. He was still flying and had now added several routes for the Willow Brook hotshot crews to his rotation. He winked at me and then sobered. “Technically, I have to tell you that, so I’ll just keep at it. Maybe someday you’ll listen.”

  Cade’s hand slipped down my back in a heated pass and gave my bottom a squeeze. “No she won’t. She’s more stubborn than me,” he said with a chuckle.

  I looked to Cade, colliding with his green gaze, and heat slid through my veins. Two weeks apart, and all I had to do was get near him and my body went wild. It was safe to say our chemistry wasn’t wearing out yet. Fire season in Alaska, which stretched from spring to fall, meant he was gone every few weeks. The absences that had initially amped up my worry didn’t anymore. They only made me a lust-addled wild woman when he returned.

  My breath caught, and I almost forgot where we were. Until a balled up towel landed on Cade’s head.

  “What the hell?” he muttered as he yanked it off and glanced around.

  Beck was approaching from the station and flashed a grin. “Just keeping the PDA to a minimum. How’d it go out there?” he asked, clapping Cade on the shoulder when he reached them and retrieved the towel he’d thrown at Cade.

  Cade kept his arm tight around my waist as we walked into the station. I didn’t pay a bit of attention to the conversation around us, while Cade updated Beck and the other guys. I soaked up the feel of his warmth and strength for a few minutes until I decided enough was enough.

  “Okay, guys. Cade’s done for now,” I announced, curling my hand into his and tugging him away.

  Beck arched a brow. “Sure you don’t want him to shower first?”

  I glanced over, scanning his chiseled features and rumpled brown curls. Truth be told, he was obviously in dire need of a shower. Dirt streaked his arms, soot streaked his face, and he’d likely slept in what he was wearing at the moment. Impatient though I was to have him all to myself, I reluctantly released his hand. “Fine. Maybe you’d like a shower first?” I asked, canting my eyes up to Cade.

  He threw one of his devastating grins at me—my belly clenched and heat rolled through me—before nodding. “Might be nice. Give me five.”

  At that, he lifted my hand and dropped a kiss in the center of my palm before sauntering behind the rest of the crew into the back rooms at the station. I pushed through the door into the front and plunked down in a chair by Maisie’s desk.

  Maisie finished up a call and glanced my way. Her wide brown eyes were so similar to her grandmother’s eyes I sometimes felt a pang from missing Carol’s presence here.

  “Waiting for Cade?” Maisie asked, managing sort of a smile.

  “Yeah. Figured it was fair to let him shower first. It’s not like he can’t as soon as we get home, but it’s been days, so…” I let my words trail off with a shrug.

  What I was thinking wasn’t polite to say in good company. Even with Lucy, I probably wouldn’t say what I was thinking, which was I couldn’t wait to get Cade naked and all to myself. I certainly didn’t know Maisie the way I knew Lucy, so I wasn’t about to say a thing.

  Maisie’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she nodded. “Yeah, they practically run to the locker room for showers when they get back. They didn’t have a stopover in Fairbanks this time either, so…”

  “They’re filthy,” I finished for her with a grin.

  At that moment, the door from the back swung open and Beck strolled through. Beck managed the local crew for Willow Brook, which occasionally rotated out to the fires in need of hotshot teams, but they were back up rather than primary like Cade’s team. Maisie’s cheeks went from pink to cherry red, and she ducked her gaze down, suddenly busy typing something. I watched with interest.

  Beck nodded in my direction and leaned his elbow on the counter. “You have a chance to submit those orders?” he asked Maisie.

  Maisie’s hair, pulled back in a slapdash ponytail with wild curls escaping willy-nilly, bounced when she nodded, but she didn’t say a word
, still typing away. Beck reached across the counter and snagged one of her curls, pulling it out and letting it bounce back.

  By this point, I was fascinated. Beck took his duties as a ladies man seriously. He was ever cool and definitely didn’t tease like this. He didn’t need to, what with his black curls, flashing green eyes and body honed from steel. I might only get that crazy zing when Cade was around, but I wasn’t blind.

  Maisie whipped her head up just as Cade shouldered through the door. Whatever she meant to say, she bit her lip and stopped, her cheeks flaming and her eyes snapping at Beck. Cade barely glanced their way. “See you tomorrow, Maisie,” he said.

  At her nod, Beck spoke. “Meet us later at Wildlands?”

  Cade glanced my way as I stood, sending my belly twirling with flutters, before looking back to Beck. “Nope. See you tomorrow,” he replied with a wink as he strode to me, caught my hand in his and kept walking. Beck’s laughter faded behind us as the door swung shut.

  On the drive home with Cade’s hand a hot brand resting on my thigh, I asked, “So what’s with Beck teasing Maisie?”

  “Ah. Saw that, did ya? Yeah, he’s got a thing for her and doesn’t even know it yet.”

  I whipped my eyes off the road to him. “Beck has a thing for Maisie?”

  Cade chuckled. “Uh huh.”

  I forgot what I was going to say next when he slid his hand between my thighs. “Pull over,” he said, his gravelly voice sending a hot shiver over my skin.

  Fireweed blew in the breeze, an undulating wave of fuchsia flanking the highway. The sun was setting behind us, its light glinting in the rear view mirror amidst the streaks of red and gold flung across the sky. Denali stood in the distance, immense and regal. I knew precisely where he meant for me to pull over. A narrow dirt road just ahead that wove through the trees toward a lake hidden in the woods. This stretch of highway in Willow Brook was mostly empty of any homes with the tract of forest part of a dedicated land preservation area. We’d visited almost all of our old haunts in the year since we’d reconciled, yet we hadn’t come down here. This used to be a place we made out, way back when we needed somewhere to go.

  With heat sliding through my veins and all of my attention narrowed to Cade, I turned into the road, almost hidden amongst the tall grass and fireweed. Within seconds, we were hidden in the canopy of spruce boughs. I could barely think straight with him choosing now to tease me to madness by unbuttoning my jeans and sliding his hand inside. I managed to yank the car into a tiny parking area beside the lake and spun to kiss him.

  In a tangle of limbs and kisses, we managed to get my jeans off and his shoved out of the way. Straddling him, I sank down, savoring the delicious stretch of his cock inside of me. I took him to the hilt and stilled when he said my name.

  He trailed the backs of his fingers down my cheek. “I missed you,” he said gruffly.

  Emotion welled, and I had to catch my breath before I could speak. “Me too.”

  “I have an idea.” His finger traced my lips, and I drew it in my mouth for a beat before he tugged it free, trailing a damp path down my neck and along my collarbone.

  “What?” I choked out.

  Because really, if I couldn’t move soon, I might explode.

  “Let’s get married soon.”

  My heart flew skyward. “You mean it?”

  “I don’t know why we haven’t yet. I was thinking about it while I was away. I figure if I miss you so damn much, I’d better make it official. I was kinda thinking there was no point in the whole wedding planning, but if you wanted…”

  I held his face in my hands and peppered his cheeks and lips with kisses. “No wedding. It’s not my thing. I hate planning and everything that goes with it—it’s just silly. Let’s just go to the courthouse and be done with it. We can have a big party after.”

  “Perfect,” he murmured against my lips.

  He leaned back for a beat, his eyes saying far more than words ever could. On the heels of a breath, he gripped my hips and lifted me, only to bring me sliding back down roughly.

  Two weeks without him with my body at the very end of its restraint, my climax was upon me almost instantly. My head bumped the ceiling of the car. Held fast against him, I barely noticed.

  Cade

  I sat at the counter in the kitchen, staring out into the field outside. This land I’d once upon a time imagined would be mine with Amelia. That was another time, but the land was ours, the home was ours, she was mine, and I was hers. Her back was to me as she set the timer on the oven. After I couldn’t wait to be inside of her and had to make do with a quickie on a back road, my eyes traveled over the flare of her hips and lush curve of her bottom. Her amber hair was damp from a shower, and her feet were bare. I was bone tired, but happy as hell.

  The life of a hotshot firefighter wasn’t glamorous. It was damn hard work and dangerous to boot. I’d become accustomed to it long before I’d moved back to Willow Brook. I hadn’t realized how fucking lonely I’d been in between stints out fighting fires. Coming home to Amelia felt so good and so right, thinking about life without her was bleak. That’s what had gotten me thinking about marrying her finally. It wasn’t that I’d doubted we’d be together, just that I hadn’t thought much about making it official. The relief I’d felt when she didn’t even hesitate was so profound, it reminded me how far we’d come in making our way back to each other.

  I slid off the stool and circled the counter to wrap my arms around her. I felt her momentary jump, but she instantly relaxed against me and rested her head back on my shoulder, rolling to catch my eyes. “Yes?”

  “Nothing. Just this.” I dipped my head and caught her lips in a kiss.

  * * *

  ***

  Thank you for reading Burn For Me - I hope you loved Amelia & Cade’s story!

  * * *

  For more smoking hot firefighter romance, Maisie & Beck’s story is up next in Slow Burn. Beck is a flirt of the worst sort, and he drives Maisie absolutely crazy - in all the right ways. “A sensational, humorous, maddening, too hot to handle journey.” Don’t miss Beck’s story!

  Part X

  Marred: Kyle and Violet

  by Tess Thompson

  About This Book

  A playboy with a painful past finds help he never expected to need, in the most unlikely of places, in this standalone, opposites-attract romance from USA Today bestseller Tess Thompson.

  * * *

  Real estate developer Kyle Hicks only has time for three things: his latest project, his very best friends, and his next no-strings-attached tryst. Struggling single mother Violet Ellis is just as busy. Between her son, her failing business, and her historical preservation work, there’s never any time to catch her breath.

  * * *

  While Kyle’s bringing progress to Cliffside Bay, Violet’s fighting to protect the small town’s increasingly rare charm. But for once they’ll find themselves on the very same team when a brand new project that neither of them anticipated arrives.

  * * *

  As this unlikely pair quickly learns, working together will require trust and respect. And there just might be something else simmering under the surface of their once-acrimonious relationship -- something special that both of these former rivals are willing to fight for.

  For Violet Estrin.

  Best friend, second mother to my children,

  and future roommate in the old lady home.

  I hope they have wine.

  Chapter 1

  Kyle

  * * *

  KYLE HICKS HADN’T had an episode for two years. Until now. He stood under the shower with the water as hot as he could stand it and scoured his body with a rough kitchen sponge. Steam as thick as morning fog obscured his vision. His skin stung. He would not stop. Not until the stench was gone.

  The child outside of the food bank with the ravenous eyes. That’s what did it. The memories like a riptide snatched him from the present and swallowed him whole. Sucked hi
m into the vortex of memory. He couldn’t fight them off. They just kept coming.

  Pig. Pig stinks.

  The taunts and jeers of his childhood rose around him, ghostlike in the steam.

  Please, just leave me alone.

  Recollections of fists and steel-toed boots blotted out the past twelve years with an invading darkness like black ink spilled on his expensive stationary. The memories devoured his accomplishments. They crushed his friendships. The stunning properties he’d created tumbled under their weight.

  He crossed over to that other time when he was a scrawny, hungry, shell of a boy. The bullying and poverty and shame. The stench of it all.

  The children called him Pig.

  The telephone rang from the other room. A lifeline to the present.

  I am Kyle Hicks. I helped build this resort. I’m a partial owner. I am no longer afraid. No one can hurt me.

  He tore out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Steam followed him as he stumbled to the phone. “This is Kyle Hicks.” His voice was normal. I am the boss.

  “Yes, sir, Mr. Hicks. This is Robert from the front desk. There’s a lady in the lobby asking for you.”

  “Does this lady have a name?”

  “No, sir. I mean, yes, I’m sure she does, but she wouldn’t give it to me. She has a baby with her. She says it’s your baby.”

  “My baby?”

  “That’s what she said.”

  “I’m sorry? Could you repeat that one more time?”

  “Yes, sir. She said you’re the father of the baby. She wants you to come downstairs, so she can give it to you.”