by Marie Fraser
“Oh,” JJ laughed. “You’ve got it bad. You know our rules. Hell, you made them.”
“Never thought they’d come back to bite me in the ass though,” Alex said, looking around JJ to see Ava walking away, again.
“That’s always the way love works. If it’s not cuddling you it’s making you miserable.”
“This isn’t love.”
“Well, whatever it is, you better burn it out of your system, before it makes itself at home.”
“I know what I’m doing, don’t you worry.”
Somehow though, when JJ walked away Alex wasn’t sure at all he knew what he was doing. He’d never had that lead ball feeling in the gut and now that he did, he wasn’t sure which angle to play. She might take a new angle he’d never played before and it scared the hell out of him to think that she knew exactly what she was doing.
***
Ava twisted the towel over her hair and stood up, letting the towel fall and encase her freshly washed tresses. She wrapped her second towel around her body and tucked the tail under her armpit. Normally she wouldn’t be so blasé about showering outside and such, but tonight she was exhausted. So much so, that she’d forgotten her clothes in her tent.
The first high-pitched whistle came from JJ the Joker and Ava grinned and gave him a wink. Two more catcalls came in quick succession and she blew them each a saucy kiss. When she locked eyes with Alex though, he wasn’t smiling and the look in his eyes made her blood go from warm to boiling. How was it that she’d wrapped her heart up in such a complicated, hard to read, man?
“What are you doing?” he demanded not even a second after she entered her tent.
“I’m getting dressed,” she responded, not turning around. “Do you mind?”
“You know damn well I do,” he growled. “If you’re going to flaunt your assets for the entire crew to see then perhaps I was wrong about you.”
“Flaunt?” she chuckled. “You think this is flaunting?”
“I know flirting when I see it.”
“Do you?” she said, whirling around. Her eyes had gone dark and primal on him and Alex had to shut down the part of him that wanted desperately to tear her towel off and take her where she was standing. So, he let the anger and tension in, feeling them swim hot and hard through his blood.
“Don’t patronize me, Ava.”
“I’m only pointing out that you don’t know quite as much as you think.”
“I’m calling your bluff,” Alex said, stepping closer and taking off his jacket. He watched her eyes and kept the grin from his face when she didn’t comment.
“Is that how it is then?” she said, her voice controlled.
“What?”
“You decide the when and where and I’m just supposed to be happy about it?”
“That’s how it is at the moment. Although if I’m being honest, again, it isn’t exactly my way.”
“No?”
“Not if I let you pick the position.”
She laughed then, a short snort of a giggle that escaped before she could hold it in. Her smile, that genuine curve of lip, was the last thing he remembered before he pulled her close and captured her mouth against his.
It seemed his hands would tear at her towel regardless and Alex groaned when he found Ava beneath the thick cloth. Warmth permeated his skin as he felt her body surrender to his touch. He slid his hands down to the curve of her ass and enjoyed the soft sigh that escaped her lips. “I want you,” she said, her mouth trailing along his jaw and down the salty line of his neck. Then her hands were on the bottom of his shirt, sliding it up over his head.
“I’m tired of waiting,” he said, his voice harshened by the need that seemed to rage through his blood. He inhaled when her palms reached out and pressed softly against the muscles in his chest. Already turned on, Alex had run through a million scenarios of how he wanted this to play out. Finding that he preferred for it to run its own course was scary and exciting on a whole new level.
“Thank God,” Ava gushed, her mouth possessing him. Passion exploded between them as hands touched and claimed flesh. Lying down, Alex held out a hand, helping Ava down next to him. Turning, he smiled when she couldn’t hold hers back anymore. “Have I told you you’re beautiful?”
When her pretty eyes met his, he knew it was the right course, to engage her mind and her body. He kissed her then, to show her he’d meant what he said. “How could anyone let you go once they’ve found you?”
“Some people don’t know what they have until it’s gone.”
“Some people are idiots.”
She laughed then, knowing just what he meant. “I can’t argue with that.”
“Then let’s not argue,” he said. “Let’s not talk at all.”
***
Ava straddled him then, taking him in on a sigh of contentment. Her breasts were heavy in his hands, but deliciously so and he found her wet embrace did everything just right. Gripping her hips, Alex moved her slowly, first up and then down. Her soft moan was like a balm he didn’t know his soul needed. “Ava,” he whispered.
“Yeah?” she replied, her mouth running kisses down his neck and collarbone.
“You have to stop now.”
“What?” she said, sitting up. She felt Alex’s fingers dig into her hips.
“Sit still,” he breathed on a heavy exhale. “Or you’ll ruin this for us.”
“Oh,” Ava said, playfully shifting her hips.
“Ava, dammit. Sit still!
“Afraid you’ll come?” she said softly, her voice sultry and just a bit cocky.
“If you don’t stop, there’s no chance I’ll last to see you through.”
***
“I’m not asking you to,” Ava said, grinding her hips down against him. The full feeling he created inside her was a thrill she’d never had before and the change it brought in her was something she couldn’t express, not even to herself. To know a man this way, to join with him was monumental to who she was now. The only way she knew to show Alex what this meant to her, what he meant to her, was to push him over the edge she knew was too far away for her.
She ran her hands into her hair, pulling it up so that when she let go it’d cascade down her back and over her shoulders. Closing her eyes, she rocked back and forth, letting Alex fill her fully again and again. She grinned, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth on a moan of exquisite pleasure. Riding along with the pleasure was a dull ache, a sort of constant reminder that this was her first time. It wasn’t until she felt Alex’s thumb press against her tight clitoris, though, that the instance burned into her mind, a bright ball of light that exploded behind her eyes. His name tore from her lips as her body bowed to his will.
“You’re mine,” he said as he followed her over. She felt his release inside her and accepted his words with the heart of a woman who’d already given it up for love. Ava shifted from Alex’s body and quickly realized that sex was indeed a messy undertaking. “Shower’s down the hall, second door on your left.”
“Thanks,” Ava said, moving quickly away from the man who held her heart. She was soaping her hair when Alex stepped into the shower with her.
“You didn’t tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“You know what,” Alex said, his eyes dark with the fight of it. “You were a virgin.”
“And now I’m not. Isn’t that usually how it happens?”
“I could’ve taken more care, Ava.”
“And it would have ruined the whole experience,” she said, looking into his eyes.
“How exactly?”
“Because I wouldn’t have been real, at least…not as real as this was. We wanted each other and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m certainly not sad it happened this way.”
“But-“ Alex objected. He felt Ava’s fingers against his lips.
“No buts,” she said, grinning. She kissed him then, hard and brief. “And no regrets.”
Alex just stood there as she exi
ted the shower, amazed by her grace under circumstances that left him floundering. Was it really okay that they’d come together this way, especially when it’d been her first time? He went over and over it in his mind as he finished showering.
***
Ava was already dressed and walking from the shower facility when Alex caught her arm. “Going somewhere?”
“Back to work, I think. You?”
“How can you do that?”
“Go back to work?”
“No, dammit!” Alex cursed. “How can you just shrug it off as if it doesn’t matter?”
“Did I ever say it didn’t matter?”
“You act like it doesn’t.”
“So there’s a certain way I should be acting?”
Ava turned then, her eyes full of fury. “Who are you to decide how I should act? Who are you to know what I feel, what I think?” Righteous anger lanced through her as she poked Alex hard in the chest. “What’s eating at you that I can’t just enjoy what we shared?”
“I just, I didn’t think-“
“You’re damn right you didn’t, Hernandez.” Ava turned then, ready to walk away. She felt Alex’s hand on her arm before she felt her body being jerked back.
“Not all of us are done just yet,” he said roughly. Ava felt Alex’s hands grip her hips before she was launched into the air, her legs wrapping tight around his hips. “You’re driving me crazy and I can’t get you out of my head.”
“Then stop trying,” Ava chuckled. Her hair cascaded down over Alex’s face as she brought her mouth, willing, to his. She drew the kiss out, moaning just a little as her body remembered. “Stop trying to analyze this into some neat little box. It’s okay that we don’t fit into some neat category. I like that.”
“I like you,” Alex laughed.
***
Ava and Alex spent the next week with their crew of wolf shifters ensuring that the remainders of the brush fire had either burned out or been put out. Then they cleaned and sharpened the Pulaski’s, fixed the two chainsaws and packed up their gear. “Ready to go home?” Harry Dinsmore asked as he stored a chainsaw in its assigned slot.
“I don’t mind it out here so much,” Ava said with a smile. “I’m comfortable with nature, in all its forms.”
“Comfortable with Alex, at least,” Harry grinned.
“Does it bother you, H?”
“You and Alex?” he said, quirking up a thick, dark eyebrow. “Nah. I think you suit one another and not that it matters, but you both look a hell of a lot more relaxed than you did when we set out a week ago.”
“It matters,” Ava said, turning to take a Pulaski from JJ. “And I suppose you have something to say about all this?”
“If you’re asking if I have an opinion, I’ll tell you that everyone has one. It’s up to you which ones matter. Personally I think it’s great. Alex is a great guy and you’re, well you’re hot-no offense. If I had to put two crew together, I couldn’t pick any better than you and Alex.”
“Thanks,” Ava said, fighting back to tears that sprang to her eyes. She hadn’t known that the support of her colleagues would mean so much.
“A word of caution,” JJ said. “Should one or both of you decide that this doesn’t work, find a way to deal with it amicably. There’s nothing worse than trying to not take sides when it’s obvious that one party or both want you to choose their side over the other.”
“I think we can agree on that,” Alex said, coming up behind Ava and placing a hand on the small of her back. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Right, Ava?”
“Sure we can,” Ava smiled.
Chapter Five: Complexities
Six months flew by for the Lobo Crew as Christmas loomed large at the end of their tour. As far as Ava knew, most everyone was taking the next tour off. They’d worked an entire year together and that was enough for anyone to want a break from the grind of firefighting, especially wildfires.
Ticket in hand, Ava hauled her pack over her shoulder. “You off already?”
“Not yet, but I have to catch a bus in half an hour so I’m going to wait outside. The fresh air will rejuvenate me for the haul back to New York.”
“Still can’t believe you’re a city girl.”
“We come in all shapes and sizes, don’t we?”
“Takes all kinds on this job,” Harry said with a grin and a wink. “You coming back in June?”
“More than likely,” she said with a shrug. “I try not to look too far ahead, but most likely I’ll be back. Can’t live this life on no income.” Ava laughed before hitting Harry lightly in the arm.
“Save a seat for me then,” JJ said giving Ava a hug. “I’ll be back in June for sure. My girl’ll kill me if I stop making money.”
Ava found Alex waiting for her when she stepped outside. “I suppose this is goodbye, at least until June.”
“Not if you don’t mind company,” Alex said, holding up a ticket. Ava squealed.
“You’re serious?” she laughed, grabbing the ticket and reading New York on the destination.
“I want to be with you, Ava. Not just here, when we’re part of this job together. I want this life with you, to be who we are, on the job and off.”
“What are you saying, Alex?”
“I’m saying that on or off the job, I want to spend my life with you,” Alex said, dropping to one knee, “If you’ll have me, of course.”
***
Alex could admit that he hadn’t had extreme expectations of Ava jumping up and down and screaming in acceptance when he asked her to marry him, but her speechless, frozen expression, coupled with her statuesque body left him in limbo, down on one knee and wondering if he should stand up or just continue to sit there. “Ava?”
“I just…” she stuttered. “I think I’m dreaming.”
“Only if this is how you thought your fairy-tale would be.”
“How’d we get here, Hernandez?”
“I saw you in action and that’s about all it took, love. The rest was easy.”
Alex saw the hesitation in her eyes and shut the small box he’d opened. Standing, he lifted Ava’s face so she couldn’t avoid him. “I’m staying, Ava. Asking you to marry me, to be with me, isn’t a take it or leave it offer. There’s no limitation here.”
Alex watched her try to regain her composure, tears flowing onto her cheeks when she closed her eyes. Smiling softly, he kissed them away and gently touched his lips to hers. She opened to him immediately and life clicked into place when she pulled him closer, deeper. “Don’t you ever think you’re getting away that easy,” she chuckled. “I can’t wait to be Mrs. Alex Hernandez.”
“Really? Because-“
“None of that matters,” she gushed. “I’m saying, yes, to you, Alex. I’ll have you here, or there; I’ll have you anywhere.”
Alex laughed, pulling her up and spinning her around in two fast circles. As they boarded the bus to the airport, Alex turned to Ava and said, “You know I’m still in charge of the Lobo Crew, right?”
Her laugh bubbled up and out. “We aren’t even engaged ten minutes and you wanna start in on me about being in charge. We can talk about that later, when we’re pissed at one another.
“For now, give me my ring.”
Alex slid the half carat, marquise cut diamond onto her finger before he dipped his head to take her mouth. When she surrendered to him, he took them deeper, until the only two people in the world were him and her. Drawing back, he brought her newly minted ring to his lips and pressed a kiss there.
“How’d you know what to get?”
“I paid attention,” he smiled. “The only necklace I’ve ever seen you where sports a pretty blue topaz stone. Your birthday is in March and your mother died in a fire. The three blue stones are to remember her and to celebrate us. I know I would have liked her, simply because she brought you into the world.”
“My mother would have liked you simply because I’m happier when I’m around you. Not to me
ntion we understand one another in a way very few people ever will. And we both excel at our jobs, which happen to run in the same industry.”
“I love it when you talk all sophisticated.”
***
Ava handed her ticket to the agent with her free hand. Her other held tight to Alex’s and she gave a small squeeze when he cleared through the gate with her. “Let’s go home.”
“Alright,” he said, walking onto the plane with her. Their seats weren’t together, but they managed to bribe the other passenger’s to sit with one another so Alex could sit with Ava.
“Can you believe we’ve got six months off?”
“Finally,” Alex chuckled. “A year’s a long haul on the line.”
“Beats training,” she smiled. “Maybe.”
“Maybe,” Alex agreed. “Training’s not so bad, until you get to the line. It needs an overhaul.”
“Training?”
“Yeah,” he said with a nod. “There’s things that are just out of date and need to change, especially if we’re going to be as effective as possible.”
“Like what?”
“Like letting shifters take the first tours. We can run faster and see further in the smoke than your average human.”
“True,” she agreed. “But aren’t we the only shifters out there?”
“I doubt it,” Alex said. “We’re a small group. There’s got to be more than just us, I’d think.”
“Maybe,” Ava said. She wasn’t convinced that Alex was onto something real, but neither would she rule it out. “So, where do we start?”
“We start by getting the word out. If we can get others to sign a petition to change the way training is done, to change how hotshots are selected, maybe we can learn to see shifters to add to our team. I want the Lobo Crew to be the best damn hotshot team there is.”
“Then let’s do it.”
Epilogue:
It took the six months of their break and another year before Ava and Alex managed to convince the powers that be to change the way hot shots were trained and selected for duty. Alex, was of course, put in charge of amending the training to fit the rigors of what hot shots actually dealt with.
