by Multi-Author
Better to get this over with so he could put it behind him. He found their number and made the call. He put it on speakerphone so Martha could hear. She deserved that much since she was the reason he was doing this.
The phone rang once. Frank grew tenser. It rang again. On the third ring it was answered. The voice was male. “Hello.”
“Hi.” Frank didn’t know what else to say.
There was a long pause. “Frank?” There was so much disbelief in his father’s voice. “Is that really you?”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, it’s me.”
Then his father did the one thing Frank had never expected. He began to cry.
“I’m sorry,” he told the man who’d raised him, the man who’d shown him how to toss a football, to hit a baseball and to be a man. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. “Maybe I shouldn’t have called.”
“Don’t hang up,” his father yelled.
Frank heard his father bellow for his mother to pick up the extension in the bedroom. Then for the first time in years, he heard his mother. “Hello.”
He swallowed hard, barely able to speak past the lump in his throat. “Hey, Mom.”
“Frank Ian Ralph Ellis, is that you?”
He winced. She only used all his names when he was in trouble. “Yeah, it’s me. I’m sorry.”
His mother was crying now, but his father had found his voice again. “Where are you? How are you?”
“I’m in Chicago. I’m good. I’m a fireman,” he added.
“That’s dangerous, isn’t it?” The concern in his mother’s voice almost gutted him. He didn’t deserve it.
“I’m careful and well-trained.” He paused and pushed forward. “And I have a thing with fire,” he reminded them.
“Why did you run?” his father asked.
Such a simple question but it hurt Frank to answer it. “I’d already injured you. I was afraid I’d do more damage if I stayed. I thought I was a monster.”
Martha reached out and took his hand. He pulled her closer, needing her beside him.
His mother gasped. “You are no such thing. You’re my son.”
“And mine,” his dad seconded. “And you didn’t hurt me. Those minor burns were nothing compared to what I went through thinking you were injured. I want to see you.”
His father’s demand made him smile. He knew Martha would tell him he’d got his stubbornness from his dad even though Harold Ellis wasn’t his birth father.
“Yeah, I’d like that.” Talking was difficult and Frank blinked back tears. “Maybe you could come to Chicago for the wedding.”
“You’re getting married?” his mother yelled. “Harold, our boy is getting married!”
“I hear him, Jenna.”
“I don’t deserve you.” The words poured from his heart. “I was so afraid of myself and of what you might think of me so I ran. I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”
“You called and that’s all that matters.” Frank could tell his father was crying again. “We can catch a plane first thing tomorrow morning.”
Frank glanced at Martha and she nodded. Not that he had any doubts. Tears steamed down her face but she was smiling. His love for her doubled at that moment and became a fierce burning in his heart and soul.
“That would be great.”
“Is she nice, Frank? The girl you’re marrying?” his mother asked.
He smiled and touched Martha’s face. “Yeah, she’s pretty special, and I know you’ll like her.” He paused. “It’s Martha.”
His mother gasped. “Our Martha?”
“Yeah. It’s a long story but I rescued her from a fire.”
“Oh, my goodness. Her parents never mentioned anything about it.” He could picture his mother frowning.
“I wanted to tell you myself.”
“We’ll be there sometime tomorrow,” his father promised.
Frank gave him the address and felt a huge weight fall from his shoulders.
“We love you,” his father told him. “No matter what. Whatever you need from us, we’re there.”
A tear rolled down Frank’s face and he brushed it away. “Thanks. That means everything to me.”
They talked for a few more minutes before signing off. He ended the call and tossed his phone onto the coffee table.
“Frank Ian Ralph Ellis.” Martha smiled at him. “You do realize what your initials spell, don’t you.”
Frank was stunned. He’s never really thought about it. As a kid, he’d done his best to forget his middle names. He’d never liked them. As an adult, he just hadn’t thought about it.
Now he began to laugh. Martha chuckled and shook her head. He dragged her into his arms. “Now that you’ve had your way, I want to have mine.”
She looped her arms around his neck. “And what do you want to do?”
“Try out the new king-size bed.” He stood and carried her into their bedroom.
Martha kissed his chin. “I’m so glad you rescued me.”
He laid her on the bed and shook his head. “No, you’ve got it wrong. You’re the one who rescued me.” He went down beside her and kissed her.
He was finally home.
The End
About the Author
NYT and USA Today Bestselling author N.J. Walters has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.
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Flashpoint
by Desiree Holt
Editing by Wizards in Publishing
Cover Art by Diana Carlisle
Randi Alexander wanted to be a firefighter more than anything. Noah Cutler feared the danger for her and their battle over it fractured their relationship. Six years later Noah is back covering a hot story, Randi is now an arson investigator and the heat between them quickly reaches flashpoint again. But the battle of wills, propelled by Noah’s fear for her safety once again threatens their love for each other.
With their stories once again colliding in a flashpoint, neither of them knows how it will end. When Randi is in danger how will Noah handle it? And can he respect her strength and dedication to her job? Will he be willing to put aside his objections, respect the work she does and admit that his love for her is stronger than ever?
~ Dedication ~
With humble and grateful thanks to my wonderful friend and very talented author, Randi Alexander, who was kind enough to lend me her name for this story.
Randi, I hope I did you proud.
Chapter One
Six years ago…
The only light in the room came from the soft amber glow of the bedside lamp. The only sound came from the couple sprawled naked on the rumpled bed sheets. A nearly empty bottle of wine sat on the nightstand, its companion glasses empty. But the couple on the bed couldn’t have cared if there was wine or not, or how good the light was, or anything else. They were totally, completely, intensely focused on each other.
“You taste absolutely delicious,” Noah Cutler murmured to the woman beneath him.
“I love when you taste me,” Randi Alexander told him in a breathless voice. “Don’t stop.”
“No intention of it.”
He slid his lips across the line of her jaw, down the column of her neck, and over one breast to capture a nipple between his teeth. Randi moaned with pleasure as a jolt of electricity shot through her body directly from her hardened tip to the moist heat of her pussy. Any place this man touched her made every single one of her nerves ignite and sizzle.
“Delicious,” he murmured as he sucked her nipple harder into his mouth.
Randi arched up into his touch, her body pressing a
gainst his. She loved the feel of his toned muscles against her, the soft scratch of the hair sprinkled on his thighs and his chest, the grasp of his fingers squeezing the breast he tormented with his mouth. Every point of contact was like the burn of an erotic torch.
Finished with the one breast, Noah shifted his mouth to the other. Randi threaded her fingers through the thick chocolate-colored silk of his hair, using the grip to hold him closer to her and firmly in place. The suction of his mouth pulled hot feelings up from deep inside her, and she lifted to him again. She pressed the heel of one foot into the back of his calf to lock herself to him, silently begging him to suck harder, to never stop.
Their bodies were already slick with sweat, the result of an earlier, frantic coupling. It seemed whenever they were together, just the two of them, her place or his, their insatiable need for each other pushed everything else to the side. That first orgasm was always a killer, so intense, taking barely minutes to achieve. Then they took their time savoring each other, tasting and touching and exploring all their favorite places. Not that she’d been with all that many men, but Noah Cutler made her feel things no one else ever had. With him it was way more than sex. There was something a lot stronger brewing between them that made every touch, every kiss, every action so much more incredible.
Just as it was now, with him moving his mouth lower on her body. He grazed his lips down between her breasts to the slight swell of her tummy, using his tongue to trace the circle of her belly button. When he reached the top of her mound and coasted his tongue over the smoothly waxed area, a shiver raced through her. Deep inside her inner walls, she could feel a shower of tiny spasms.
“Mm, good,” Noah murmured, paying careful attention to her mound, her outer lips, her drenched slit, every bit of her sex. “God, you taste like pure heaven.”
As if to prove his point, he shifted so he could part her thighs, bending her legs so her entire pussy was exposed to him. He dragged the tip of his tongue slowly from the top of her slit to the bottom and back up. The second time he did it, he paused long enough to swirl it around her swollen clit, even scraping it lightly with his teeth.
Randi whimpered with need, lifting her hips to thrust herself closer to his marauding mouth. He licked with long strokes, caressing her throbbing wet flesh, her body screaming for more.
Noah lifted his head and looked up at her, his lips curving in the smile of a devil.
“Somebody wants more.” When she nodded, he said, “And she’ll get it, but not until I’m finished having my fun here.”
The stroke of his tongue set up tremors in her internal walls. Randi closed her eyes and gave herself over to the sensations cascading through her. By now, Noah knew exactly where to touch her and how, what gave her the most pleasure, what drove her wild, and what brought her the most intense satisfaction. With his educated tongue, he lapped and licked, used his teeth on her clit then sucked it into his mouth. When he slid two fingers into her, she automatically clamped down hard on them, close to exploding.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” Noah urged, his mouth on the lips of her sex, the words vibrating against her flesh. “Come on. Come for me.”
He added a third finger, curling the tips, so each time he tugged them forward he scraped against her hot spot. When he sucked her clit into his hot mouth again and bit down gently on it…that was the trigger that set off her release. Spasms rocked her as her climax burst up from deep inside her. Her hips jerked as she rode his hand, the orgasm gripping her body and shaking her.
Tremors were still sweeping through her when Noah withdrew his hand, eliciting a groan of protest from her. But in seconds, he’d sheathed himself with a condom, lifted her legs to give himself better access, and plunged into her with one swift stroke.
“Oh god!” Every nerve inside her sparked as his thick, hard cock filled her completely.
“Look at me, Randi.” His voice was husky with passion. “Open your eyes and let me see the heat in them.”
She did as he asked, and when she looked into his eyes, she saw such emotion and need it nearly undid her. He was so large, always filling her completely and stretching her flesh to the maximum. Locking her legs around his waist, she dug her heels into the small of his back and held them tightly bonded together as he set up the thrust-and-retreat steady movement that pushed her up the erotic wall again. The spasms that had never completely abated inside her pussy grew stronger with each plunge of his cock inside her.
“Hot,” he growled. He whispered hot, sexy words to her as he continued to ride her. “God, I love fucking you. You’re the best. The best ever.”
He kept up a steady litany of erotic expressions, telling her in graphic detail every dirty thing he’d enjoy doing to her and with her as he plunged inside harder and faster. Just as he always did, he sensed exactly when she reached the crest, the precipice, ready to fall over. And took her over with him.
Everything disappeared except the intense tremors shaking both of them, the hard clenching of her inner walls around his shaft, the shuddering of their bodies as the orgasm claimed them both and shook them like a giant fist.
It seemed forever before everything subsided and her body quieted again. Her heart was beating so fast she was sure it would knock itself out of her chest, and she couldn’t seem to get enough air in her lungs. This wasn’t a new experience. Every climax with Noah was this intense, an experience that reached into every corner of her being and drained her completely.
When she could catch her breath, she eased her legs from around his hips and stretched them out on either side of him. She could feel his heart thumping against her breasts, a steady beat that was her anchor. Sliding his hands up to cup her cheeks, he pressed his mouth to hers in a long, slow kiss. She could taste herself on his lips and his tongue. He took his time with the kiss, so thorough about it she was sure it was the most intense kiss she’d ever shared. No, wait, he always kissed her that way after they had sex, as if cementing the bond between them.
Finally, with a slight look of regret on his face, he eased his body from hers and padded to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. Randi watched him walk away, enjoying the flex of muscle in his very fine ass. She was sure she’d never get tired of watching him, of absorbing the sight of every part of him. From the very beginning, she and Noah Cutler had discovered a connection that only grew more intense every time they were together.
She sighed, hoping what she had to say tonight wouldn’t permanently change things. Despite the fact he’d told her he loved a strong woman, that he admired her intelligence and other skills as well as her body, he had some pretty determined ideas she was afraid were about to be a problem. It was the only thing they’d ever really fought about, and she wasn’t going to give in.
“I don’t think I like that expression on your face,” Noah said, easing back into bed beside her and pulling her against his side.
Randi leaned into him, sliding her hand across the hard plane of his abs, hoping the contact would ease the tension gathering inside her again.
“What’s up, babe?” His fingers danced idly up and down her arm. “I can smell something brewing in your brain.” Suddenly, his fingers stilled. “Wait. You’re not still thinking of taking that job, are you?” When she didn’t answer him, he sat up, pulling her to a sitting position with him. “Randi?”
Oh god. I knew this would happen.
“You’ve known for a long time, ever since I got my EMT certification, that what I really wanted was to be a firefighter.” She studied his face, looking for some clue he would at least listen to her. “It’s what I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember.”
“And we discussed the dangers of it,” he reminded her. “We talked about getting married, Randi. About having a family. Why would you want to put yourself in the line of fire, literally, when you’re a mother? Or would be.”
Randi could feel the anger boiling up inside her. “You were plenty supportive of me when I got thi
s job as an EMT.”
“Because it doesn’t require you to walk into burning buildings,” he ground out, a muscle jumping in his cheek.
Randi forced herself to remain calm. They’d had this argument so many times, but she thought they’d already settled it. And not once, but twice.
“I will be trained to do it,” she reminded him, a sentence she was getting tired of repeating. I will take classes and have drills. Fire departments don’t let you just put on the gear and haul ass into a blaze.”
“Even if they train you,” he persisted, “the danger is always there.”
She looked at him, her temper fraying. “Is that any worse than running all over the globe covering stories in hot spots?”
“We’ve discussed that.”
His voice had that concentrated patience, indicating she was on his last nerve. Well, fine, he was getting on hers.
“No.” She shook her head. “You talked and I listened. You never heard one thing I said.”
“You didn’t hear what I said, either,” he pointed out. “I explained to you I wanted to do the hot spot stories for a wire service to build up my creds. Then I could be in a position to do freelancing, and we could live wherever we chose. That’s what I wanted all along.”
“And what was I supposed to do in the meantime?” she demanded. “Just mark time?”
“I wanted you to come with me, or did you forget that little thing. Honey, you love being an EMT.” His tone of voice had softened. “You told me so. I’ll bet New York has a crying need for people with your experience and training.”
“I don’t want to go to New York.” She was really having a hard time keeping it together. “I want to stay here, and I want to take that firefighter job. The battalion has an opening, and the chief offered it to me. To me!” She stabbed herself with her thumb. “It’s what I’ve been aiming for all this time. Besides, you’ll be gone half the time on assignment.”
“I told you I wouldn’t be traveling all the time. I’d be home between assignments. By the time we decided to have a family, I’d hardly be traveling at all.”
