by Karen Anders
“I have to, O’Neill, so you’ll stop letting me win.”
“I don’t…” She tickled him in the ribs and he jumped back.
“Yes, you do, you sweet liar.”
When she sat down, she crossed her legs and his eyes riveted to her well-defined calves in the short skirt she wore. The skirt hugged every curve of her sexy body. Even the routine SDFD T-shirt she wore looked sexy on her. He couldn’t help wondering what she was wearing under her clothes.
“I’ll get us more beer and some pretzels,” he said as he headed for the bar. Tim Mahoney manned the bar, a fellow Irishman who had come from Ireland and opened up this establishment.
A soccer game played on the television above the bar. The walls decorated with Irish trappings.
Sean held up his fingers to indicate two beers and Tim filled two glasses and slid them over the bar into Sean’s waiting hands. He grabbed a bowl of pretzels and headed back to the table.
When he got there, Lana sat talking with two squad members from the station, Pete Meadows and Ron Sharp. Pete was a womanizer and Ron was a natural born charmer. They had both mentioned to him how hot Lana was. A possessive feeling that was new to him served to increase his pace. He put down the beers and pretzels. He, Ron and Pete exchanged greetings.
Sean spent the rest of the evening vying for Lana’s attention and playing a tug of war with Pete over buying her beers. A couple of times she gave him a sharp look as if to say, “What is wrong with you?” But he was in agony watching Lana flirt with Pete and Ron. Finally, as other people they knew filtered back to their table, Sean had had enough and rose.
“Lana, I’ll walk you out.”
She was busy greeting a cop friend of Sienna’s, Rosa Santana. “I’m not ready to leave yet,” she said, frowning. She looked at her watch. “It’s still early.”
At that moment, the band started to play and Pete rose, “Lana would you like to dance?”
“She’s dancing with me,” Sean said and put his hand on her wrist.
“I thought you were leaving, O’Neill,” Pete said, taking her other wrist.
“Could you both stop.” She shook off their hands. “I don’t feel like dancing right now,” Lana said testily, giving Sean a narrowed-eyed look that could melt steel.
For the rest of the evening he fumed, but acted like his easygoing self. He didn’t want his friends and squad members to catch onto the fact that his and Lana’s relationship had changed.
But it hadn’t really. They were still friends, right? Sex was the only thing that had really changed in their relationship. When Lana finally got up to go, Sean said he was leaving, too.
They got into their separate cars and she waved to him as she pulled out of the parking lot. He beeped his horn and headed in the other direction toward his apartment. But the more he thought about Pete and Ron, the more he wanted to define his sexual relationship with Lana.
He turned his car around and headed for Lana’s house. When he got to Lana’s bungalow, she was just getting out of her car.
Before he could even get out of the car, Lana said through his open window, “If you’ve come to apologize, I’m not in the mood. That was very subtle, Sean. I don’t particularly like to be used in a tug of war.”
Sean sat there and watched her quick steps up the walk and cursed to himself.
With more force then necessary, he opened the door and slammed it closed. He marched up to her house while she was still fumbling with the lock.
He said through clenched teeth, “I didn’t like the way Pete was looking at you.”
“What do you have to say about it? We’re friends.” She tried harder to get the door open, not even glancing at him.
“As a friend, I’m giving you advice. He’s a womanizer.”
“Don’t you think I know that? I’m not stupid.”
She jiggled the lock, the nervous trembling of her hands making the simple turning of a key into a major chore. When he suddenly leaned into her to help her with the door, the shock of sensation that coursed through him left him weak and shaking.
“Will you stop it,” she cried loudly, as he tried to help her with the door. She turned around and he wobbled into her. The door unexpectedly opened and since he was leaning so heavily against her, she completely lost her balance and the both of them went sprawling onto the hardwood floor.
She gasped as he landed on top of her. She pushed ineffectually at him as she spat out, “Get off me, you idiot. You’re crushing me.” She wheezed, unable to keep the laughter out of her voice.
He’d never had a fight with Lana before, mostly because he was so laid back. Add sex to the mix and this is what happened. He was jealous. His father always told him to just apologize to a woman. No matter whether you thought you were right or not. Lana was too important to him to fight with her.
Sean braced his arms on either side of her head and lifted himself off, so that she could finally inhale. He looked at her, her eyes shining. Warm amusement sent a wry smile to his lips and he was chuckling, and then laughing.
Between bursts he forced out, “I’m sorry. I’ve been a complete jerk,” he continued more calmly.
They both burst out laughing again, and Lana choked out, “Yes, you were. Whatever possessed you to one up him like that all night? I’ve never seen you like that, Sean.”
The laughter faded from his face and he smiled at her, a lazy contented smile. He shifted and the door slammed.
“Seems like you bring out the best and the worst in me,” he said as he lifted his hand and gently touched her mouth. “Such beautiful lips.” Sean suppressed a groan of desire.
He tensed, coiled like a spring. His whole being centered on the soft skin of her mouth beneath his caressing fingers.
A primeval passion was slowly building between them, erupting and completely eclipsing all other thoughts and emotions.
He knew then that their relationship wouldn’t ever go back to what it had been. No more simple dinners and platonic camping trips. No more friendly late-night conversations that lasted into the morning. Instead he’d want to be in her bed until morning.
He closed his eyes against the yearning. Damn, how he needed her, how he craved her, wanting to make her part of him. The memory of the feel of her wet body pressing against his in the shower filled his mind. He lowered his head, seeking and finding her sweet mouth. At the touch of Lana’s tongue against his, Sean groaned deeply, his fingers tightening in the tangled chestnut hair as he hungrily took the kiss she so feverishly offered him. “You taste so good. You feel so good. I want you so damn much, I’m going out of my mind.”
“Shut up and kiss me. I want your mouth. I want you. How I want you.”
Her words consumed him with desire. He ached to drive into her moist, enchanting flesh that so tortured and yet aroused him beyond thought. An elemental force gripped him. Her fevered squirming was a fiery torture, her compliance, a carnal stimulus. Her response dissolved that thin facade of humanity and roused the elemental urge to conquer her. He pushed himself away from her, kneeling over her, his hands going to the hem of the cotton shirt. He stripped it from her body and she moaned softly.
He couldn’t even make the transition from the floor to the bedroom or stop his frantic movements to remove her clothing, longing to feel her naked flesh against him. He got rid of their clothing, fully covering her lithe body with his. He could feel the heat of her all along his hot skin, feel hard points of her sensitive nipples against the smooth expanse of his chest, feel her erratic breathing and her hammering heart.
His mouth left hers and his thumb brushed over her mouth. His open palm cupped her face, the soft caress of his fingertips running down her neck, over her breasts, tantalizing the soft nipples into stiff rosy peaks.
With a low growl of satisfaction, his mouth closed over first one then the other, his teeth grazing the hardened peaks with an acute ache that drew an intense moan of frustrated desire from deep in his chest.
He had never fe
lt such intense desire. She arched her back in response to the delicious sensation of his moist tongue swirling around and licking the tips of her breasts.
With the heel of his hand, he pressed against her sensitive skin, stoking the fires that burned within her to a white-hot heat. Feeling the wetness of her desire against his skin, he pushed rhythmically upward again and again. His breath caught with each sugared moan, and her hips arched sensuously against his hand, pushing herself against him wantonly.
Sean’s tenuous restraint fractured and broke, the fears becoming meaningless to him as if it were nothing but nonsensical gibberish. His mouth moved down to the soft flesh of her stomach, kissing her and brushing his lips along her soft skin, seeking her inviting wetness.
His hands gripped the waistband of the panties she wore and he slowly removed them as his mouth trailed along the exposed skin. The only barrier left between them.
He spread her slender thighs, his head dipping down to the warm honeyed mound and with his tongue he found the very center of her desire. He stroked upward, breathing in the hot tang of her arousal. Lana thrashed and twisted beneath him, moaning in heightened ecstasy, gasping as she came apart in his arms.
He surged up the length of her body and his words were heartfelt and simple. “I was jealous and I’m sorry.”
She cupped his face between her hands and kissed his mouth.
He rooted around in his jeans and used the protection he found there. With a low growl of satisfaction, his own ravenous needs would no longer be denied. Without missing a beat, he buried the painful, burning shaft of his desire full-length into her moist sheath.
He jerked in wondered sensual amazement, moaning uncontrollably as the ache spread inside him and he thrust harder into her.
She eagerly accepted his deep thrusts into her body. She writhed beneath him as he lost himself in the red haze of wild desire, eager to reach that exquisite peak of pleasure she had just enjoyed. Her hands reached up, gripping the shiny mass of his hair, dragging his head down to her waiting lips. Her legs locked around his lean driving hips, her body meeting and joining with the rhythmic movements of his. He filled her, fully meeting each drive with a provocative thrust of her hips. His mind went blank as he felt the tiny warning tremors heralding the powerful attainment of his fulfillment.
Sean was lost in a sea of pent-up burning desire. He thrust into her mindlessly. The feel of her lips sent detonations of pleasure exploding along his heightened nerve endings. He ravaged her mouth, biting her lips, sliding his tongue along her moist sensitive flesh. This wasn’t a figment of his fevered imagination; her beautiful face was inches from his, flushed with desire, her shining hair spread over the hardwood floor like liquid sable.
He wanted to continue to do this all night, moving steadily and slowly inside her, but she slid her fingers through his hair at his nape, clutching them tightly and tugging and lifting her hips, whispering, “Sean, please.”
The exquisite sweetness of his name on her lips and the tantalizing movement of her body responding to his tore a profound groan from him. He drove into her, thrusting again and again, plunging his tongue into her welcoming mouth and, at that moment, she jerked against him with deep rhythmic spasms. Spasms that forced a wrenching groan out of her. Sean moaned softly as he stopped thrusting in response to wave after wave of intense pleasure that tore through him. He convulsed in wild ecstasy and they exploded together into mutual rapture.
He collapsed against her, his skin hot and moist, his breathing labored. He moved to his side to keep from crushing her. Taking her with him, he curled his arm around her back, his fingers buried in her hair. He pulled her up with him quickly.
With a gentle tug of her hand, she led him through the darkened house to her bedroom. She pulled him down onto the softness of the mattress, holding him close to her. He felt light as air, as light as a feather. His hand drifted lazily down her body and up again to tangle in her hair.
He felt her kiss his neck and brush her lips along his collar bone before she whispered against his ear, sending shivers of delight playing over his skin, “Apology accepted.”
He tightened his hold on her and sighed in relief, allowing the delicious feel of her to lull him into sleep.
4
SEAN WOKE TO THE SOUND of the shower, momentarily confused. He opened his eyes, his gaze roving around the room. The rosebud border he’d helped to install a month ago made his brow knit. He sat bolt upright in bed. Her bed. He’d spent the night in Lana’s bed.
He rubbed his hand over his face and into his hair. This shouldn’t be so strange. After all he was very close to her, nonetheless pretending this whole thing didn’t unnerve him wouldn’t help.
Was she as confused as he was?
Probably not. Women always seemed to know in what direction they wanted to go. At least Lana always seemed confident and in control of most situations. He really liked that about her.
The water went off. He swung his feet to the floor. He slipped out of her room and gathered up the clothes he’d left in the foyer. Quickly he dressed and went into her kitchen. The least he could do was cook her some breakfast.
He started the coffee. It looked like she’d been shopping yesterday. She had more in the fridge than he did. He took out eggs and bacon and put six strips of bacon in a pan. He cracked the eggs and automatically made them sunny side up. They both liked them the same way. He knew that because he’d cooked for her numerous times at the station house.
He thought about how easygoing it had always been with Lana from the moment a woman had invaded the all man station. They’d had some hard-core firefighters who believed that women didn’t belong, but Lana soon won them over with her open personality and her awesome abilities.
When he looked up from putting bread in the toaster she was standing in the doorway.
“Smells good.”
He froze like an idiot when he saw her. He’d never seen Lana through the eyes of a man who’d just emerged from her bed.
She stood there looking at him, eyes wide and dark, lips moist and slightly parted. She wasn’t doing a damn thing and still she managed to exude sexuality. Her hair was in its usual tamed state, shiny brown and damp from her shower. She wore a temptation red T-shirt, veed at the neckline to expose her creamy throat and just a hint of cleavage that made Sean’s fingers itch to trace her skin. Faded and snug jeans tapered to low-slung Western cut booties. A tooled leather belt snugged her waist.
She dropped her eyes, looking unsure of herself, vulnerable. The desire to gather her in his arms and protect her hit Sean so hard that it damn near knocked the wind out of him. He turned away and cleared his throat, pushing the lever on the toaster to drop the toast down.
Lana wouldn’t appreciate the fact that he wanted to protect her. But he couldn’t help it.
He realized he hadn’t spoken to her. It was probably the reason she was so nervous. He said, “It’s almost ready.”
“Good. I’m starved.”
She came over and went to the fridge. As she passed, he could smell the scent of raspberries in her freshly washed hair, the delicious fragrance of her warm body. She took margarine out of the fridge and closed the door. Opening the drawer near her hip, she pulled out a knife and bumped it closed with a flick of her hip.
He dropped the spatula on the floor.
Lana stilled, her eyes going to the utensil lying on the floor, and then up to his face.
Sean rubbed the back of his neck and met her eyes, his heart beating hard in his chest.
“The eggs are burning,” Lana said softly.
Swiftly Sean pulled the pan from the flame. Sheepishly he picked up the spatula and put it in the sink.
“You don’t have to stay or make me breakfast. You don’t have to feel guilty, Sean.”
He heard the irritation in her voice and turned to face her. Drawing in a deep breath, he said, “I know that. I just don’t know how to handle…”
“Me?” She shot him a disgruntled l
ook.
“This thing between us.”
“Lust?”
“It’s more than that and you know it. I’m a clear-cut guy. Women usually fall into two categories. Friends or lovers. I don’t mix the two and I find it extremely irritating that I’ve found both in you.”
Lana shrugged and sat down at her little round table. He liked everything about her kitchen, the homey feel and the soft feminine lace curtains on the window overlooking the beautiful view of her English garden. The choice of sunny yellow on the walls with the rich wood of the floor was a comforting combination. He just felt so much at…well…at home.
That feeling and his emotions for Lana were all twisted up inside him.
“We have chemistry and we gave in to our needs. Are you saying that you can’t get past that?” she asked quietly.
Sean had that same ugly sensation that their relationship was changing too much for him to keep up with it. He just plain didn’t know how to respond to her.
“No. The sex was great. You’re great. I just don’t want to lose our friendship.” It sounded lame even to his ears, but her eyes softened as he finished.
“We won’t.”
“It’s already changed.” His voice was very quiet, very serious.
“Relationships change, Sean. You either move with them or leave them behind.”
Feeling the emotional weight of that statement, Sean moved across the floor. Damned if he would lose Lana as a friend. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up from her chair, closing in on her as if his sheer presence could make her change her mind. “Leaving our relationship behind isn’t an option.”
When she smiled, his heart turned over in his chest. She was such a beautiful woman.
“Good,” she whispered softly.
He sighed. “Is that all you can say?”
She cupped his face. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t want to lose our friendship either. Can’t we just agree that we’re friends and leave it at that?”
“Friends who sleep together,” he clarified.
“What’s wrong with that?”
