HERO (The Complete Series)

by Bella Love-Wins

  “Yes. My parents have held it at this house for over 30 years, and I never could bring myself to break that tradition. Oh, I’m not sure if you remember. I invited your friends George and Richard. They confirmed they would attend as well.”

  “That’s great,” I answered. Thanks for inviting them. At least I’ll have a few people I know on the guest list.”

  “Anything for you, sweet thing,” he teased. “And Sara’s coming in from LA, so you’ll get to meet my sister.”

  “That’s great,” I replied. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

  “I told her about you, so she can’t wait either.”

  “Really? What did you tell her?” I smiled, curious to hear what siblings share with each other about their relationships. I was an only child, so I had no idea how that dynamic would be.

  “Only that you’re the local DJ who happened to save a young boy’s life and win my heart, all in thirty second or less.” he said with a smirk.

  I didn’t know what to say in reply. I smiled and leaned over, placing my head on his shoulder.

  “Oh and that you can cook and lift baby calves over your shoulders,” he teased.

  “Aww, great Matt,” I answered, laughing.

  “She’s seen you on TV,” he added. “The bombing made national news, and there are clips of you all through the media’s coverage. Remember, you’re famous now.”

  “Weren’t you the one who said it’ll blow over?”

  “Yes. But that was before I got a pipe bomb shrapnel wound in my shoulder,” he said.

  “I never asked you. How is it feeling?” I leaned over to look at his right shoulder. The bandage he first wore over it wasn’t on anymore. There was just a red welt that ran a few inches over the ridge of his shoulder blade. I kissed it gently.

  “It feels fine,” he answered. “And even better with those soft lips of yours kissing it. I told you, it was minor. Now, come here.”

  He pulled me on top of him, and wrapped both arms tightly around me. I looked down at his gorgeous face and admired every inch of it before leaning down to kiss his cheek. I gently nuzzled my face across his, feeling his prickly morning stubble against my face. Breathing in his faded cologne made me feel the heat of my arousal begin to rise up. There was an insatiable need in me to have that physical closeness between us. He also felt the effect of my being on top of him, because his growing erection pressed hard against my leg.

  “Kate, I want you so bad,” his low and raspy voice uttered in my ear. “I have to have you whenever you’re this close to me.”

  Our lips connected for a wild and passionate kiss, searching to invade each other’s mouths in the way we would soon get closer in other places. He held my back and effortlessly rolled us both over so he was on top. Holding himself up with one arm, we resumed our savage kiss. His hand reached under my negligee, squeezing the top of my thigh and then slipping his fingers over my already throbbing clit. My mound complied with his fingers, tilting my hips, motioning so I could feel more of him enter my channel. I spread my legs wide, engrossed in the heated moment, wanting our bodies to melt into each other and be one.

  “Oh God, Matt, I need you to fuck me now,” I said, barely pulling out of his kiss, in that distant, sensual voice that was becoming more familiar lately. “I need you.”

  “You’re so wet, Kate,” he moaned deeply. “So hot and ready for me. I’ll take good care of your pussy, baby.” Without releasing his thumb’s erotic attack on my clit, he slid two fingers between my lips and deep into my channel. They teased and tortured me, tantalizing my g-spot, making me more desperate to have his massive cock inside.

  My hips rocked in a rhythm to match his pillaging fingers, knowing that my climax wasn’t far away. As felt my climax rise up, Matt met it with a wild thrust of his thick fingers deep inside. I said his name in a loud squeal as my orgasm reached its other-worldly heights, leaving my entire body quivering wildly.

  “I love feeling you come, Kate,” I barely heard him say the words. I was worlds away, still reeling from his taunting raid on my pussy. He raised himself and pulled his boxers and t-shirt off with speed and prowess. I held onto his waist with both hands, not able to speak yet, but wanting to finally feel him fill me up with his giant snake.

  He lowered himself onto me, lifting my legs up high and wide, and positioning himself to be ready.

  “Tell me how much you want me, Kate” he said in his deep voice.

  “I want so you badly, Matt,” I moaned. “Please fuck me, baby.”

  “Tell me how bad.”

  “Really bad, Matt. I need you now.”

  “Tell me you love my cock,” he demanded.

  “God, I love your big, hard cock inside me, baby. Fuck my pussy and come inside me, please Matt.” I whimpered, pleading for him to take me.

  “Now tell me you love me,” he said in a gentler tone.

  “I really love you Matt,” I heard myself say, surprised, but relieved it finally came out.

  “And I love you, Kate. Desperately,” he whispered. He paused for a brief moment and smiled down at me, like he knew what I was thinking. “Now be quiet and let me take what’s mine.”

  He parted my legs wide and positioned the head of his enormous erection at my drenched opening. He slammed his cock deep into me in one powerful, yet delightful shove. The force of it re-ignited my arousal, and shot wicked bolts of pleasure all through my body. I was intoxicated. He continued his stimulating assault on my channel, taking me to an exciting, mind-altering place, where I needed more and more physical contact.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his chest to me so I could feel his intense body heat on my aching nipples. His tempo progressed into a wild but measured beat, unleashing an intense heat inside me. All that was present was raw, flaming need. He picked up his pace, lowering his lips to my neck for a kiss, which turned into a soft nibble. He thrust harder, and my channel began to shudder in reaction to his manhood, combined with the satisfying sensation of his lips against my neck.

  As my climax returned, the waves of ecstasy spiraled into a complete loss of all control over my body. It created an erotic chain reaction that sent Matt into his own orgasmic plain. We both let out wild, indistinguishable noises that melted together as we came at the same time. It was a beautiful sound. I felt his hot burst flooding inside my channel before he completely collapsed beside me. I looked over at him, admiring the calm look on his face as he lay with his eyes closed. I nestled my head on his arm and closed my eyes too, exhausted and satiated.

  “Wow,” he said softly after some time passed.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You’re beautiful.”

  “So are you,” I answered. We both then slowly dozed off.

  * * *

  We woke up much later that morning to the smell of Yolanda’s breakfast wafting into the room. I was famished, so we showered quickly in our own rooms and met downstairs to eat. Yolanda had left music playing from a small radio in the corner. Only Christmas songs came on, one after the other. It reminded me that Christmas would soon be here.

  Matt spoke up, between mouthfuls of toast. “Do you like the Christmas season?”

  “Yes, I guess so, I said softly. “I used to love it when I was younger. Less so after my grandmother passed.”

  “I think I know what you mean,” he answered. “It’s a hard time of the year when you’ve lost someone you love. The last few Christmases have been tough, but it’s the time I have the most vivid memories of how happy we all were.” He drifted off and turned toward the window. He looked so sad.

  “I know. This year will be a little different, though, won’t it?” I wanted to cheer him up. I raised my hand to stroke the side of his face. “Maybe we can make some new Christmas memories.”

  He looked over at me, nodded and smiled softly. There was a sad tenderness in his eyes, and I knew he was still thinking about his parents. We finished our plates quietly.

  * * *

  After b
reakfast, Matt went to the main guest house. He needed to meet with his security team leads about their plans for the charity ball. He mentioned that he had reduced the size of the guest list substantially, on their recommendation. They wanted to finalize the numbers, add more security staff, and conduct background checks to clear the valet and serving staff they would bring in for the party.

  I was going to ask about what he raised the night before, but it didn’t seem as pressing anymore. I was curious, but still riding high on the fact that I had told him I loved him. For me, it was a mile-high hurdle I had overcome. It’s not that I had had a reason to say it to anyone before. Not even Chad Bridges. That cheating, wolf-in-hero’s-clothing, son-of –a-bitch. It was the fact that I had never said the words for such a long time, that I didn’t think I could love anyone. Whatever it was that he needed to confess to me, I could wait a few hours. I decided to head back to my room and phone George to check in. He answered on the first ring.

  “Kate! How are you doing, honey?” George shouted, excited to hear from me.

  “Doing great, George. How’s Richard?”

  “He’s good. You know, the usual,” he answered. “We phoned you a couple times yesterday to make sure everything was ok. Matt has you locked up tighter than Fort Knox.”

  “Yeah, well, you know the drill,” I said. “So how are you managing with the radio show? Matt mentioned you’re at the affiliate?”

  “Yes,” he started. “We’re all over here temporarily while they finish their investigation and repair the building. That sick fucker who planted the bomb didn’t do as much damage as he had intended. With the holidays, the place should be ready in about five weeks.”

  “Well that’s good at least, right?” I said, feeling guilty for putting so many people through so much. They wanted me dead, and didn’t care about getting rid of a few more people along the way.

  “Yeah, it’s fine. In fact it’s better than fine. The affiliate is really up on online radio tech shit. Get this. They have those virtual broadcasting devices we saw at the last Commstech trade show. You know what that means?”

  “Nope,” I said, confused because I genuinely had no clue what he was talking about. “What?”

  “It means we can have our radio staff do their DJ work remotely. You know? Like from home or wherever they have wifi or internet access. Not everyone. Like, I’d never give Tiger P. a chance to work from home. We’d have dead air for the 20 minutes he’s rolling up joints every fucking shift. But some of you can work from home. It’s a sweet piece of technology, w-.”

  I cut him off, eager to see if I had actually heard him right. “George, are you telling me I can work from home? Please say yes! I need to keep working. I miss it so much.”

  “Well, how about yes, on one condition?”

  “Anything! What condition?” I asked, practically bouncing in my armchair.

  “You’d need to be online 30 minutes before start time. And you’ll have to be on you’re A game. No getting distracted, no daydreaming. Deal?”

  “Absolutely! Thanks George. I could kiss you right now!” I screeched. “So when do I start?”

  “Well you’ll need to get trained on the back end system. I can probably arrange all that in a few days. OK I gotta run. Will keep you posted. Glad you’re doing well, honey. Bye for now.”

  I was elated. I had wondered whether anything could get back to normal, with all that had happened. Being able to work on radio wasn’t just something I did for the income alone. It was my passion. This was the best news I had received in a long time. Almost as good as Matt telling me how he felt. I couldn’t wait to let Matt know.

  Chapter 9

  “I think it’s awesome,” Matt said as he heard my news. He sat down on the bed in my room. “You deserve to do whatever you love doing.”

  “I’m so excited!” I was giddy with delight. I ran up to him and peppered his face with kisses. “George said I might be able to right away!”

  “Great,” he answered. “Because I was not going to let you go back, not until the cops catch whoever’s been trying to hurt you.”

  “Did they have any new information? I really thought they’d at least have made some progress by now, especially from the hotel.”

  “They found some partial prints at the hotel, but not enough to ID the guy. Their labs are analyzing the blood he left on the vase. Not to worry. They’ll catch them.”

  My mind was distracted. I had already started thinking about getting back on the show. “I can be on for the Christmas Eve show!”

  “Nice,” he said with encouragement. “We love listening to you on the radio.”

  “Really? Who do you mean by we?” I asked.

  “The guys at the fire station,” he answered. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about last night.”

  My glee wound down a few notches as his words sank in. “What?”

  “Okay, you love me, right?” he started.

  “Yes, I do, Matt,” I answered. “Just tell me.”

  “Okay. So I never really made the connection between Kate Rock the radio personality and Kate Samuel, well, you. Not until that day at the radio station.”

  “No big deal,” I answered. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Well, let me finish,” he said. “The guys would listen to you all the time. And my best bud said that he dated you before. I didn’t believe him because he runs off at the mouth all the time about who he’s been with. And he’s got a trail of women always after him, so I just thought there was no way he w-“

  “Matt. You’re rambling,” I stopped him, as he seemed nervous about getting to the point. “What are you talking about?”

  “First, you have to know I am nothing like him,” he avoided answering. “We met at fire college and have been best buds since then. When we graduated, we ended up at the same department.”

  “Matt!” I stood up and shouted to get his attention. “Who are you talking about?”

  “Chad Bridges,” he said.

  I looked at him, stunned. “You’re friends with Chad Bridges?”

  “Yes,” he answered. “I didn’t know the two of you went out together until the other day.”

  “You know Chad Bridges?” I was sick to my stomach. I didn’t know if it was because he was friends with Chad or the fact they may have talked about me. Or that Matt might have known me from back then and just neglected to mention it. Or worse, that he knew what Chad did to me. With my best friend. I sat down, trying to take it all in.

  “Listen to what I’m saying Kate,” he said more slowly. “It wasn’t until after the bombing that he told me you guys dated.”

  “Chad Bridges is a son-of-a-bitch,” I said, the anger and pain rising up inside me. “We were seeing each other and he cheated on me with my best friend. In my own apartment, Matt. Did he tell you that too, Matt?”

  “Kate, don’t be mad,” he pleaded. “It’s not a big deal. Chad has a problem when it comes to relationships. Besides, they’re not even together anymore.”

  “You know about my best friend!” I was seething.

  “Will you please calm down, Kate,” he begged. He stood up from the bed and began pacing. “See? I knew I shouldn’t have brought this up. I just wanted to be honest with you. Completely honest. Look at what happened when I didn’t tell you about the nightmare Sara and I have had with Joy. Why are you this upset about Chad? Do you have feelings for him?”

  I tried to calm myself down. Clearly my outburst was giving Matt the wrong impression.

  “I don’t give a flying fuck about Chad anymore, Matt,” I answered, shifting uncomfortably in the chair. “What he did still hurts for one main reason: I lost my best friend because of that jerk. I can’t believe you’d be friends with that guy.”

  Matt walked over to me and kneeled in front of the chair I was sitting in. He took my hands into his. “That guy has saved my hide more times than I can mention. He has my back every time we respond to a call. Yes, he’s
screwed up when it comes to women. I wouldn’t let him near any woman who I have an ounce of respect for. And I’m very sorry that he hurt you.”

  “Why did you want to tell me about him anyway?” I pouted, knowing he was right, but still so angry.

  “Because the entire department will be here for the ball,” he answered. “Well, at least the ones off shift that night. Including Chad. He’s been a fixture at these since I joined the service. I didn’t want you to be surprised.”

  “Well that’s just great,” I answered. I was calmer, but still wound up. “Wow. I didn’t see this coming,”

  “Well now I won’t feel so bad next time you unleash your bash the firefighter routine on the radio.”

  “What firefighter routine?”

  “You know, that we’re all tough-as-nails, beer-guzzling, womanizing, stomp-our-knees, alpha hero dogs.”

  What he said sounded so familiar. I felt I had heard it before. And then I remembered. I said that on air during a radio show months ago. “Wait! You really did listen to my show!”

  “Bingo,” he said with sarcasm. “You upset a whole lot of us at the station when you went off on those mini rants. I have to admit, though, it was hilarious when you faded in Britney Spears’ Womanizer after every rant. Had the whole station house cracking up. But back then, I didn’t realize that it was because of Chad’s, well, you know. I didn’t make the connection.”

  “I probably came off as a real B, didn’t I?” I mustered, with a slight hint of remorse.

  “Something like that,” he answered, gently tilting my face towards his so I could look him in the eye. “But I won’t hold it against you, especially if you won’t hold Chad against me. We’re completely different people. He just happens to be my best bud.”

  “Deal,” I answered. “Just don’t expect me to be a gracious hostess to that man.” I didn’t want to say his name. “And I’m definitely not coming out on any double dates with him.” I felt the anger rising up again.

  “Come over here,” he said in a husky voice. He stood up and pulled me up from the chair and into his arms. “Who’s your man now?”