by Jaci Burton
PRAISE FOR JACI BURTON AND HER NOVELS
“Jaci Burton’s stories are full of heat and heart.”
—#1 New York Times bestselling author Maya Banks
“A wild ride.”
—#1 New York Times bestselling author Lora Leigh
“Jaci Burton delivers.”
—New York Times bestselling author Cherry Adair
“One to pick up and savor.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Jaci Burton’s books are always sexy, romantic and charming! A hot hero, a lovable heroine and an adorable dog—prepare to fall in love with Jaci Burton’s amazing new small-town romance series.”
—New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis
“A heartwarming second-chance-at-love contemporary romance enhanced by engaging characters and Jaci Burton’s signature dry wit.”
—USA Today
“Captures everything I love about a small-town romance.”
—Fresh Fiction
“Delivered on everything I was hoping for and more.”
—Under the Covers Book Blog
“A sweet, hot small-town romance.”
—Dear Author
“Fun and sexy.”
—Fiction Vixen
“The perfect combination of heat and romance.”
—Heroes and Heartbreakers
“Plenty of romance; sexy men; hot, steamy loving; and humor.”
—Smexy Books
“An extraordinary novel—a definite home run!”
—Joyfully Reviewed
“Lively and funny . . . intense and loving.”
—The Road to Romance
“An invitation to every woman’s wildest fantasies.”
—Romance Junkies
“Burton is a master at sexual tension!”
—RT Book Reviews
Titles by Jaci Burton
Brotherhood by Fire Series
HOT TO THE TOUCH
IGNITE ON CONTACT
ALL CONSUMING
Boots and Bouquets Series
THE MATCHMAKER’S MISTLETOE MISSION
(an eNovella)
THE BEST MAN PLAN
Hope Series
HOPE SMOLDERS
(an eNovella)
HOPE FLAMES
HOPE IGNITES
HOPE BURNS
LOVE AFTER ALL
MAKE ME STAY
DON’T LET GO
LOVE ME AGAIN
ONE PERFECT KISS
Play-by-Play Series
THE PERFECT PLAY
CHANGING THE GAME
TAKING A SHOT
PLAYING TO WIN
THROWN BY A CURVE
ONE SWEET RIDE
HOLIDAY GAMES
(an eNovella)
MELTING THE ICE
STRADDLING THE LINE
HOLIDAY ON ICE
(an eNovella)
QUARTERBACK DRAW
ALL WOUND UP
HOT HOLIDAY NIGHTS
(an eNovella)
UNEXPECTED RUSH
RULES OF CONTACT
THE FINAL SCORE
SHOT ON GOLD
Wild Riders Series
RIDING WILD
RIDING TEMPTATION
RIDING ON INSTINCT
RIDING THE NIGHT
Stand-Alone Novels
WILD, WICKED, & WANTON
BOUND, BRANDED, & BRAZEN
Anthologies
UNLACED
(with Jasmine Haynes, Joey W. Hill, and Denise Rossetti)
EXCLUSIVE
(with Eden Bradley and Lisa Renee Jones)
LACED WITH DESIRE
(with Jasmine Haynes, Joey W. Hill, and Denise Rossetti)
NAUTI AND WILD
(with Lora Leigh)
NAUTIER AND WILDER
(with Lora Leigh)
HOT SUMMER NIGHTS
(with Carly Phillips, Erin McCarthy, and Jessica Clare)
MISTLETOE GAMES
(Holiday Games, Holiday on Ice, and Hot Holiday Nights in one volume)
eNovellas
THE TIES THAT BIND
NO STRINGS ATTACHED
WILD NIGHTS
A JOVE BOOK
Published by Berkley
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
penguinrandomhouse.com
Copyright © 2021 by Jaci Burton, Inc.
Penguin Random House supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Burton, Jaci, author.
Title: All consuming / Jaci Burton.
Description: First edition. | New York: Jove, 2021. | Series: Brotherhood by fire; vol 3
Identifiers: LCCN 2020033604 (print) | LCCN 2020033605 (ebook) | ISBN 9780440001393 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780440001423 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Love stories.
Classification: LCC PS3602.U776 A78 2021 (print) |
LCC PS3602.U776 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020033604
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020033605
First Edition: March 2021
Cover photo by Claudio Marinesco
Cover design by Sarah Oberrender
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
pid_prh_5.6.1_c0_r0
For my husband, who puts up with my moods, brings me food and makes me pie. You’re a true romance hero. I love you.
Contents
Cover
Praise for Jaci Burton and Her Novels
Titles by Jaci Burton
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Epilogue
About the Author
CHAPTER 1
Even with sweat pouring down his face and muscles straining until they hurt, Kal Donovan was deliriously happy to be doing his job as he made his way through the rope rescue skills activity. He was adept, sure with his hands, balanced twenty feet above the beams in the Technical Rescue Team training room as if he’d been made for this.
Because he had and he knew it. He didn’t falter once as he snaked his way down the rope, using his hands to carefully maneuver toward the rescue dummy dangling precariously off the platform below him. Kal was secured by his harness, his teammates above him holding on to his rope and making sure he was safe. In a real-life scenario, this would be a lot scarier. Instead of swinging twenty feet off the ground, it could potentially be twenty stories or more. He made every connection, then rescued the dangling dummy and brought it to safety, his muscles screaming in pain. He was drenched in sweat, but he’d gotten the job done.
And when he finished, everyone on the team applauded. Well, almost everyone. He felt the eyes of a couple of his team members glaring at him in judgement, as if what he’d done wasn’t good enough. Even though his lieutenant nodded in satisfaction, there were still a couple of members on his team who felt he didn’t belong.
Sure, it had only been four months since he joined the TRT, but in that time he’d more than proved himself, both in training and on calls. He had no idea what the issue was with Phil Beckwith and Dean Starling.
He pulled off his gloves and returned them to his bag, the feel of their eyes still burning on his back.
“Good job, Donovan.”
He straightened and smiled at Micah Brown. “Thanks.”
Meg Garcia joined Micah, leaning an arm on his shoulder. “You’ll never be as good as me, of course. I’m the best here. But still, you’re not too bad.”
Micah shoved her off. “What’re you talking about? I’m better than you’ll ever be, Garcia.”
“Wanna put those words to action? I’ll rope climb you for bragging rights.”
“You’re on.”
And they were, climbing the rope side by side, using only their hands and arms to bring them up. Kal had to admire the effort it took to do it without gloves. That had to hurt like hell.
Meg won by a hand. She slid down to the applause of the squad, including Starling and Beckwith.
Micah and Meg shook hands.
“You’re pretty good for a—”
Meg pointed a finger at Micah. “If you say ‘for a girl,’ you’re gonna lose your balls.”
“I was gonna say . . . uh . . . for a . . . uh . . .”
“Better quit while you’re already behind, Brown,” Lieutenant Anderson said. “Clean up in here. Irish said lunch is ready.”
“Yes, sir,” Micah said, the first to make his exit from Meg.
“Good thing he’s a fast runner,” Andy Redmond said.
“Yeah, he needed to run,” Meg said, then turned to Kal. “And what about you?”
He held out his hands. “I’m no match for you. I already know that.”
She grinned. “Smart answer. Let’s clean this up. I’m hungry.”
They put the training room back in order, then everyone hustled into the kitchen.
Kal loved this station. The TRT shared space with Station 38 since it was a large fire station, with plenty of room for all of TRT’s gear and vehicles. Though they often went on calls with all of Ft. Lauderdale’s fire stations, depending on who needed their expertise. And sometimes they went out on their own.
Station 38 was out on a call, which meant the TRT could spread out at the large table.
Irish Smith had made amazing Cubano sandwiches for lunch. The smell of the pork cooking had been driving Kal crazy all morning, so when Irish handed him one, his mouth watered. Gooey cheese hung out the sides of the sandwich.
“Irish, you missed your calling,” Kal said. “You should have been a chef.”
“Nah,” the big, burly firefighter said. “Cooking is just for fun. Firefighting is the real job.”
“Amen to that,” Starling said. “A real firefighter knows that firefighting is the blood, sweat and tears of what we do.”
Starling made sure to give Kal a direct look when he said it. And Beckwith, right behind him, offered up a smirk.
Whatever. Kal had given up trying to figure out why those guys had it out for him. He knew it wasn’t the color of his skin, because Starling was black like him. So it had to be something else.
He made his way to the table and took a seat, diving into his sandwich, enjoying the flavor of the pork, ham and all the spices.
“Heard you did good on the ropes, Kal,” Irish said, coming to sit down across from them.
“Thanks,” Kal said.
“Yeah?” Phil Beckwith asked. “Who told you that? He ain’t that good.”
Irish pinned Beckwith with a hard stare. “Yeah? Who died and made you the judge of this team?”
The one thing Kal had learned straight off was never to argue with Irish Smith. He was mean as fuck when crossed.
Beckwith didn’t answer, just shoved his sandwich in his mouth, which was a smart move.
Kal had just finished the last bite of his lunch when the alarm sounded for the TRT.
They climbed into their turnout gear and headed to their trucks.
“Two tractor trailers collided on I-95,” their lieutenant relayed to them. “One on fire on the overpass, one dangling over the overpass, the driver trapped inside. Station 17 is on scene working the fire. We need to rescue the driver and secure the trailer before it falls.”
Kal closed his eyes and got a mental picture of what the scene looked like, what they’d need to do once they got there.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long to get to the area, which looked like a disaster. At least it was still daylight, which meant it would be easier to assess the situation. Lieutenant Anderson met with the lieutenant of Station 17 to get a sitrep.
Kal studied the scene. They could rappel down and get to the cab of the truck. Wouldn’t be easy, but it was doable.
“All right, everyone,” the lieutenant said, grabbing their attention. “Brown, Donovan, Starling, I want you all harnessed up to rescue that driver. Be ready to go as soon as the rig is shored up.”
They all nodded.
“The rest of you get rigging in place to shore up that semi right now. We’ve got two heavy-duty wreckers on the way to pull that semi up, but I want that driver out of there in case something goes wrong. Ladder 24 is arriving on scene below to provide assistance.”
Kal had gotten into his harness, grabbed his ropes and was ready to anchor and rappel down with his team. They met at the guardrail, and once the rest of the team secured the load and the rig, they started to rappel. Regardless of what Starling thought about him, they worked together to make their way down to the semi cab.
They tossed their ropes over the side of the concrete, Beckwith and Redmond providing anchor support.
Since Micah Brown was the senior firefighter of the three of them, he was lead on this.
“Swing around, Donovan, and make your way to the door.”
“You got it,” Kal said, inching his way across the cab, trying to do it as lightly as possible so the cab wouldn’t sway. Fortunately, there was no wind today, which helped.
He peeked his head inside the door.
“You okay?” he asked the driver.
“Scared shitless. Get me out of here.”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
The guy shook his head. “I’m fine. I just want out.”
“Try to stay calm. Don’t move. We’ll get you out soon. What’s your name?”
“Larry.”
“All right, Larry. I’m Kal. Keep your seat belt on and stay still. I’m going to open the door. You’ll feel like you’re falling, but I’m not gonna let that happen.
”
Larry looked out the window. “Okay.”
Starling had made his way next to Kal, and looked over at him.
“Turn around so I can get the harness,” Starling said.
Kal pivoted, and Starling unhooked the harness from his belt.
“Hey, buddy,” Starling said. “My name’s Dean, and when Kal here opens the door, I’m gonna grab hold of you and slip this harness on you. Then I’ll hook it to my harness, and we’ll head out of here.”
Larry nodded. “Yeah, sounds great.”
Micah hovered just to the side, helping to provide rope support.
“You ready, Larry?” Kal asked.
“No, but let’s do it.”
“Okay, Larry,” Kal said, keeping his voice calm and even so the guy wouldn’t freak out. “You hang tight to the steering wheel, and don’t lean toward the open door. We’ll handle the rest.”
Kal looked at Starling, who nodded. Kal opened the door, and Starling slipped inside, grabbing hold of the driver. Kal made his way around to support both Starling and Larry, and before long they had secured the driver with the harness and unhooked his seat belt. Then it was a matter of getting him to Station 27’s ladder team, which was already in place. Kal, Starling and Micah all followed the ladder team down.
Once Larry was securely on the ground, the two wreckers could start the job of pulling the semi off the side of the overpass.
Lieutenant Davenport of Ladder 27 came over to them. “Good save today, guys.”
“Thanks,” Kal said.
Micah followed the lieutenant over to make sure Larry was okay. Kal turned to Starling.
“We did good today.”
“You were lax on the rope. And you didn’t back me up fast enough once I reached the driver. If I wasn’t as fast as I am, both he and I could have fallen. Next time, step it up.”
Starling walked away, and Kal just stared after him.
What the fuck? Kal knew he’d done that job clean and perfect. So what the hell was Starling’s problem?
He shook his head and went over to talk to the ladder team, because there was no point in having a conversation with someone who completely disagreed with you.
