Into the Flames

by Multi-Author

  The only thing Duncan didn’t know was if the guy expected Hilda to be in the room at the time, or if he’d just hoped the fire would find its legs before she realized what was happening and trap her upstairs.

  One thing he knew for sure, whoever it was had disconnected the fire safety measures Adam Standish had put into place. Duncan checked the Fire Inspector’s report from the month before and the alarms had been working fine then.

  There was no question in his mind. The fire at Standish’s on Main had been arson.

  Duncan dropped Hilda’s phone off with the geeks at the lab and then, finally, turned his truck toward home.

  An hour later, Duncan opened the door to his house and stepped back, ushering Hilda in before him. Panic swirled in his gut as he waited for her reaction and then he was embarrassed that her opinion of his home meant so much. He’d been watching her closely since he pulled into the long, gravel driveway, past the pond with its two resident ducks, and parked alongside the house set high on a hill overlooking the trees and water.

  She’d taken it all in with a neutral expression that worried him.

  Now, as she stepped past him and into the rustic, cozy interior of his home, she stopped, staring around her with a small frown.

  Finally he couldn’t stand it anymore. “What do you think?”

  Hilda chewed her bottom lip and turned to him, her eyes sparking with emotion. “It’s perfect.”

  Duncan pulled air into his lungs and grinned, relieved beyond rationality. “I’m glad you like it. I bought it as a fixer upper and I’ve been rehabbing it myself.” She glanced past the black leather furniture to the pile of tarps and painting supplies in the corner. “Sorry for the mess. It’s a work in progress.”

  “Don’t apologize.” She finally smiled. “It suits you. I always pictured you building your own house. You probably don’t remember but you told me you were going to…when we were kids.”

  “I do remember.” What he didn’t tell her was that he remembered pretty much every minute of the time they’d spent together. “I’ve always liked working with my hands.”

  She moved into the kitchen, which was separated from the living room area by a granite topped counter. She ran the tips of her fingers over the polished granite. “You haven’t told me what happened…after you and your mother left.”

  Duncan shook his head. “We drove for a while, staying in hotels until we found a spot where Mom wanted to live.”

  “Where did you end up?”

  “Texas.” He laughed, shaking his head. “You would have loved it there. All those cowboy hats and boots.”

  She smiled too. “Let me guess, yours was white?”

  “How’d you know?” It felt good to laugh with her again. Duncan had really missed that dimple in her cheek. “Anyway, I lived with her until I graduated and then came back here for college. I always wanted to go to IU.”

  Hilda moved over to the farm sink and ran her touch over its heavy, rounded edge. “I went to Notre Dame.” She said the words almost apologetically.

  “I’ll try not to hold that against you.”

  Her head came up, surprise filling her eyes, and then she shook her head, smiling.

  “I worked on a construction crew every summer to pay for school. It was a great experience and…” he swept a hand around the house, “it’s come in handy.”

  She leaned against the counter and scanned a look over the cedar plank walls and stone fireplace. A muffled bark brought her gaze snapping toward the door at the end of the hall.

  “Oh, yeah, that’s Duffy. He’ll need to go out.” Duncan threw her a look. “I hope you haven’t developed a fear of dogs over the years?”

  Her eyes sparked with pleasure and something else that made his breath stutter in his lungs. Crap! He’d forgotten about the dog she lost back then. “No. I still love them.”

  But she didn’t have one. A therapist would probably make something of that. “He’s really…” Duncan reached for the doorknob, hesitating while he searched for the right word. “Exuberant?”

  He pulled open the door and a sleek, black form bounced through, ears and jowls flapping as the enormous dog bounced happily at his feet.

  Hilda gasped and Duffy’s head snapped around, brown eyes finding her. If dogs could smile, Duncan was pretty sure his dog smiled when he spotted Hilda. Duffy hesitated only a heartbeat before pounding happily in her direction, tongue lolling.

  Duncan felt a moment of panic as her eyes grew wide. “Duffy!” The massive canine skidded to a stop at her feet and lifted onto his hind feet, placing his enormous paws on her shoulders and swiping a large, wet pink tongue over her face.

  Duncan hurried toward her, ready to drag the dog away and try to calm her down, but stopped in his tracks when the most incredible thing happened. It was a sound he’d thought he’d never hear again. A beautiful sound. Like angels in the celestial choir.

  A giggle. Then another, more breathless giggle as Duncan kissed her nose, muscular tail snapping loudly against the cabinets. Until she was overcome with laughter and helpless against the soggy kisses that came her way with alarming enthusiasm.

  Duncan did step in then, to remove the Great Dane from her shoulders and give her time to catch her breath. “I think he likes you.”

  Hilda scrubbed a hand over her face, gasping for breath as she tried to gain control over her giggling fit. “Exuberant? You own a dog the size of a small car and the word you come up with is exuberant?”

  Duncan shrugged. “It seemed right at the time.”

  Having given everyone in the house a proper greeting, Duffy pounded toward the front door and stopped, barking and bouncing as Duncan came over to let him out. He bounded outside without looking back.

  Hilda turned around and watched him lope away through the window over the sink. “He’s gorgeous, Duncan.”

  “Thanks. Clichéd as it might be, he really is my best friend.”

  She watched the dog a moment longer and turned back. “Where’d you get him?”

  “I rescued him as a puppy. He was severely malnourished and terrified of people.” Duncan shook his head. “It would have broken your heart.”

  A shadow moved across her face. Duncan cursed himself for a fool. “Why don’t we sit outside on the deck so I can keep an eye on him? If I don’t he’ll find a box turtle and take it for a ride around the yard.”

  He was relieved to see the shadow slip away. “A box turtle?”

  Duncan pulled a pitcher of lemonade from the refrigerator and poured two glasses, handing her one. “Yeah, he hunts for them in the woods and then comes bounding out with them in his big mouth. He doesn’t hurt them…technically…but I’m sure they don’t like bouncing all over the yard in a big, wet mouth.”

  She laughed. “Poor things.”

  He opened the back door for her and she stepped outside. “They’re actually kind of cool. They have these neat designs on their shells. I’ll try to find one to show you.”

  Duffy had been snuffling in the grass until he heard their voices, then he snatched at the ground and, ears and jowls flapping happily, bounded toward them with something in his mouth.

  Hilda grinned. “Something tells me I might get to see a box turtle much sooner than we thought.”

  Chapter Eleven

  They had dinner sitting on his deck, under the stars. Burgers and fresh corn on the cob cooked perfectly on the grill. Even Duffy got a burger. But he had to sit and give Duncan his enormous paw first.

  Hilda’s cheeks hurt from laughing at the dog’s antics and from stories Duncan told her about raising him. As the sky filled with an incredible number of stars, Duffy sat next to her chair and laid his heavy head on her knees. Hilda petted the silky head, totally smitten.

  “Would you like more wine?” She looked up at Duncan and shook her head. “I’m fine. Thanks.”

  He settled the bottle of cabernet back onto the table and sat down in the chair next to h
er. In the distance the fountain bubbled happily in the center of the pond. All the critters had settled down for the night—even, presumably, the traumatized turtle Duncan had pulled from the carefree Great Dane’s mouth. The bull frogs down by the pond kept them company, their strange, belching tunes causing Duffy no end of confusion in the otherwise silent night. High above their heads, framed by the gently waving limbs of mature trees, bats dipped and fluttered in the night sky.

  It was a perfect night.

  Hilda rested her head on the back of her chair and sighed, feeling comfortable and safe for the first time in days.

  “Why are you smiling?”

  She didn’t lift her head as she turned to Duncan. “Was I? I hadn’t even noticed.”

  Duncan leaned forward, dropping his elbows onto his knees. “You look happy.” He reached out, skimming a finger along her jawline. “And so damn beautiful.”

  Just like that, her pulse spiked and the drowsy feeling she’d been nurturing disappeared. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment. Other parts of her body heated too. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

  He didn’t smile as she expected. His sexy green gaze was unfathomable in the starlight, but she recognized all too well the taut lines of his gorgeous face. He was contemplating something important. “I hated leaving, you know.”

  The words, spoken so softly she wondered if he realized he’d said them, caused her breathing to tighten.

  “I know. I saw it in your face that day.”

  Duncan’s gaze slipped away as he leaned back, turning toward the pond below. “My mom was miserable. I was miserable.”

  “My dad was too. And so was I,” she agreed.

  He expelled a harsh breath. “Such a pity. It was nice to see her happy for a while.”

  “Sometimes things just happen, Duncan.”

  His lips twisted with disgust. “Things didn’t just happen, Hilda. Your brother—”

  “Josh was just a kid,” she interrupted him, suddenly unwilling to listen to the bitter accusations she knew were coming. I know he’d take it back if he could.”

  Duncan snorted derisively. “I can’t believe you mean that.”

  “Actually, I do. In fact he invited us over for dinner tomorrow night. He wants to make amends.”

  Duncan threw her a disbelieving look. “I hope you told him there was no way in hell?”

  She flushed, suddenly unable to hold his gaze.

  “I can’t just pretend none of it happened, bedbug. He hurt you, he hurt all of us.”

  She chewed her lip, unwilling to defend a brother she’d never understood. But she realized in that moment, if she really wanted to have a relationship with Duncan she had to give it a try. And she really did want that relationship. She always had. “He’s an ass, Duncan. I won’t deny that. But he could be right. I could have been responsible…”

  “You weren’t.” Duncan’s tone brooked no argument. He stood up and walked over to the railing, staring into the darkness.

  “Either way, he was just a kid. I think it’s time to put that all behind us. Won’t you give him another chance? For me?”

  He frowned. “I’m not sure I can forgive your brother, bedbug. Even for you.”

  “You’ll think about it?”

  Sighing, Duncan nodded. “Yes. But that’s as far as I can go right now.”

  “Thank you.” She stood too and picked up their dishes. “I’m just going to put these in the dishwasher and go to bed. It’s been a long day.”

  Duncan didn’t turn around. He didn’t respond. With a heavy heart for having ruined a wonderful night, Hilda headed into the kitchen. She settled the plates and silverware into the sink and started rinsing them, dropping them into the dishwasher beneath the counter. The door opened and closed and Duffy ran over to lick the back of her knees.

  She laughed. “Hi, Duffy.”

  Heat enveloped her and something nuzzled the back of her neck. She sucked in a breath. “Duffy, you’re kind of up in my grill right now.”

  Hard, gentle hands slipped over her hips and along her sides. A sexy, deep voice whispered in her ear. “Duffy isn’t allowed to nuzzle my girlfriends. It was one of our first rules when he came to live with me.”

  She stilled, her heart pounding hopefully. “Girlfriend?”

  Duncan took the plate out of her hand and twisted the faucet off, turning her around to face him. He leaned into her, pressing her against the cabinets as he kissed his way along the side of her neck. “You’ve been my girlfriend since you were ten and I was twelve. I just wasn’t smart enough to recognize it then.” He looked into her eyes, his green gaze dark with intensity. “I’m smart enough now, Hilda.”

  She expelled a soft breath, feeling the tension seeping from her body. Reaching up, she slipped her hand over his jaw, her thumb pressing the sexy indentation on his chin. “I recognized it when I was ten. I thought you’d never get there with me.”

  His smile was lazy, crooked, and made her sexual core tighten with raging lust. “So it is true. Girls are smarter than boys.” He slipped his fingers into the loops at the waist of her shorts and pulled her close, pressing a tantalizing length of hard flesh against her belly. She wrapped herself around him with a soft moan and tilted her head back to accept his kiss.

  Heat flared in the places where they touched. Awareness painted her senses, turning her muscles soft and tightening in a sizzling coil in her lower belly.

  Hilda slipped her hands over his arms, reveling in the hard play of muscle and the soft brush of hair against her palms. Duncan felt every bit as good as he had always looked…even better than she’d imagined. And his kiss… Hilda sighed against his lips, allowing sheer pleasure to rule the moment as he wrapped himself more tightly around her.

  When he lifted his head a moment later she made a small sound of disappointment. But he didn’t move away, didn’t release any part of her body and, as he covered her face with whisper soft kisses that seemed filled with love, Hilda realized he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

  “Make love to me, Duncan.”

  He stilled, his muscles under her roving touch turning to steel. His chest seemed to stop its rise and fall.

  She held her breath as panic swirled painfully through her chest. Would he step away…shake his head and tell her it wasn’t worth the risk? Despair made her cheeks heat. Just the thought of his rejection after all the years of hope…

  “Are you sure, honey?”

  Spoken in a husky whisper against her face, the question dripped with an emotion Hilda couldn’t name. It almost sounded like fear. Was it possible the idea of finally culminating their relationship scared him as much as it terrified her?

  Whatever the emotion behind the question, Duncan was leaving it up to her to seal their fate. Putting aside the moment in Sissy’s apartment, when they’d let a heated moment take them down a path they might or might not have been ready for…Hilda knew what they were about to do was a life-changing event. For her at least. It was the culmination of over a decade of impossible hopes…the realization of a lifetime of treasured dreams. Taking a deep breath, Hilda fixed her gaze unflinchingly on his, and took the plunge. “Yes. I’ve always been sure, Duncan. I’ve just been waiting for you to meet me in the middle.” She tilted her head, watching the play of emotions on his impossibly handsome face. “Will you meet me there, Duncan?”

  Expecting to see doubt flare in his eyes, Hilda gasped in surprise as he reached down and wrapped his big hands around her thighs, lifting her off her feet. He smiled suddenly, all the worry sliding from his face like water down a drain. “I’ll do better than that, bedbug. I’ll meet you three quarters of the way.”

  Pleasure bubbled up in the center of her chest. Hilda lowered her head and rested it against his. “You always were bad at math as I recall.”

  His laughter caressed her skin like warm silk. “I get the simple stuff, honey. One plus one is two. It’s just the fractions that escape me.�
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  She rested her hands on either side of his face. His chin was bristly with the day’s growth of dark beard and it tickled her palms. Hilda lowered her lips to claim his. Her message was simple, straightforward, the time for talk was done. It was time for action. And she didn’t intend to let the time get away from them.

  Her fingers tugging buttons open on his shirt, Hilda gave in to the temptation to nibble his sexy upper lip and was rewarded by his soft groan of pleasure. He reached for the hem of her tank and she reluctantly released his shirt to raise her arms over her head.

  He made a sound of surprised pleasure when he saw that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Lowering his dark head, Duncan captured a perky, burgundy colored nipple between his lips and Hilda’s world exploded in sensation, narrowed down to the exquisite feeling of his hot mouth on her tender flesh. She allowed her head to drop back and her eyes to close, focusing only on that delicious awareness.

  Without warning, Duncan whipped around and carried her to the living room, laying her on the long, leather couch. He tugged on the button of her shorts, dragging them over her hips and flinging them into the room behind him. He pulled her sideways, so that her feet rested on the floor, and dropped to his knees before her. “I need to taste you first,” he growled out. “I want your sweet flavor on my lips and tongue.”

  Holding herself upright on her hands, Hilda watched as he kissed his way over the tender flesh of her inner thighs. She shivered with expectation as his big fingers found the thin satin of her panties, sliding beneath the edge to touch hot, wet flesh.

  She moaned, barely able to stay upright when he lowered his head and licked a trail along the crease where her thigh met her mons. The sensation he left behind was tantalizing, wonderful, and sheer torture.

  She reached out and put her hand on his dark head, urging him to find the tiny nub that pulsed almost painfully at her sexual core.

  Instead, Duncan ran his hot tongue along the other crease and Hilda shivered under the pleasure-pain his ministrations caused. Need throbbed from her engorged clit, tightening her belly in a spiral of lust. Her nipples stung and hardened and her skin heated as pleasure flowed in an ever-widening arc through her overcharged system.