Playing With Fire (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Reina Torres

  And when they pulled up to the curb in front of Roman's house, Finley left the engine running, but she turned out the headlights. Tucked into the passenger seat of her tiny little car, he didn't show any signs of wanting to leave. As the music played from the seemingly ancient speakers, they sat in silence together, their minds working overtime while their voices remained silent. Neither one of them knew who began it first, but someone looked across the cozy interior of the car. And then quickly away as the other person in the car turned toward them.

  The radio station, something that had once been Top 40 hits, was now an 'Oldies' station, playing the same songs they'd learned all the wrong lyrics to when they were teenagers. The same songs that had fueled all kinds of romantic dreams when they'd been in high school were now making them shift nervously in their seats, their shallow breaths frosting the windows.

  “Roman-”

  “I was thinking-”

  They both stopped short, laughter the only punctuation to their oddly timed outbursts.

  “You go first,” Finley prompted.

  Roman shrugged. “You're in the driver’s seat.”

  She slid him a sideways glance and gave him a hesitant smile. “I bet you don't say that to a lot of women.”

  Pressing his lips together he shook his head. “No, this is a unique experience.”

  “Unique, good or bad.”

  Roman reached over and covered her hand on the gear shift with his own. “Anytime with you is good, Fin.” She opened her mouth to say something, but he kept going. “Except maybe next time you can drive my car. My knees might not work when I climb out of here.”

  It was true. Looking over at the dash on the passenger side, she saw his knees bent tightly against the aging leather.

  “If we were in your car,” she chuckled, "I'll let you drive. I don't think I can handle the size.”

  The car went silent for a moment as Finley’s mouth dropped open.

  “I didn't mean-”

  He squeezed her hand gently on the gearshift. “Fin-”

  Someone knocked on the passenger side window and Roman grasped the handle and wound it down.

  “Why, Captain Brady, how nice to see you this fine evening.” Roman’s grimace only made Jonah’s smile broaden against his healthy tan.

  “Hello, Jonah.”

  Tapping the badge pinned to his uniform, the lawman gave them both a curious look. “That's ‘Sheriff Baudouin.’”

  “So this is an ‘official’ visit?” Roman’s tone spoke volumes.

  Leaning his forearms on the open window ledge, Jonah squatted down outside the sunflower yellow VW Rabbit. “Just doing my duty. Checking to see what might be happening in here to fog up the windows like they were.”

  Finley turned toward her window and saw a slight haze of a fog along the outside of the glass. “We were just talking.”

  Jonah nodded, a slow and steady bob that said he didn't believe a word of it. “So I stopped in to remind you good upstanding folks that any ‘activity’ done on a public street, where it may be witnessed by curious neighbors, could land your butts in jail, or,” he leaned in closer, his voice lowered to an ominous whisper, “on Nora’s YouTube Wall of Shame.”

  “Well, you don't have to worry about us, Officer Baudouin. If we were going to do anything so lewd and lascivious,” Roman reassured him, “we'd do it in private. So you can skulk somewhere else.”

  Nodding his head in satisfaction, Jonah straightened and tapped his hand on the open window ledge. “Good to know. Goodnight, folks.” He walked off with a jaunty whistle.

  Roman looked over at Finley, expecting a blush on her cheeks. She surprised him again, as she had done so many times since she'd come home. The look in her eyes was full of… curiosity.

  “How late is your babysitter staying?”

  Roman didn't quite trust his voice to remain even and calm when her lips were slightly parted and the rise and fall of her chest was mesmerizing him. He looked at his watch and gave her his answer. “Ten.”

  “Okay.” She turned the key and pulled the car away from the curb.

  #

  The overlook wasn't one you'd find on a map and it wasn't one that was even marked by signs. In fact, it wasn't really an overlook after all, just a space between some trees along the guardrail. They'd found it back in high school when Roman had taken her on a drive to find some scenic shots of the area. The trees had grown over the years, but Finley managed to fit her little Rabbit in between the low hanging branches.

  “That's a tight squeeze,” she murmured to herself as the car’s engine cooled, popping with sounds that only an old model like hers could get away with without needing to call AAA. “Then again, if we’d come in your old truck like we used to-”

  “We wouldn't fit without a chainsaw.” Roman felt the warmth of his memories crawling over his skin, bringing a smile to his lips as he looked out over the shadows of the valley. “Can't see much at this time of night. Why-” the driver’s door opened and Finley stepped out into the cool evening air with Roman just a heartbeat behind, making his way around the car to stand next to her near the guardrail.

  “Did you ever go parking with a girl?” Her question came out of nowhere, taking him aback.

  “In high school?” He knew his voice was tight, slightly strained with both the chill of the night air and Finley’s warmth.

  “Then. Since then.” She turned to face him and he felt the press of her hip against his. “I was just curious.”

  So was he. This conversation was doing wonders for his blood flow below his belt. “No, I never parked with a girl, in high school or since.”

  He could see the next question in her eyes but doubted that she'd ask it. So he had to offer the information.

  “You want to know why?”

  She shrugged, but didn't say a word.

  He settled his hands on her hips and pulled her against him until he knew by the hooded look in her eyes that she felt the spark of desire arc through both of them. “I wanted to be with you.”

  When she finally spoke, her breathless voice stole his as well. “Me?”

  “Yes, you.” He couldn't help the soft chuckle of sound that escaped his lips. “You were my friend, my best friend, but I wanted to be more.”

  She started to pull back, but he slid his hands up under the hem of her tunic, glad that she wore the loose fitting garment instead of a blouse tucked into her waistband. His palms laid flat on the curve of her lower back, kept her close enough to see her eyes.

  “I had dreams about you in the back of my old truck.”

  Even with the sparse light from the moon, he could see her work around the ideas he'd put in her head.

  “Maybe in a few days,” he leaned forward and placed a kiss along the column of her neck, “when Brooke is available to watch Matt again,” another kiss just under her jaw, “we can come out here again and-”

  “Roman.”

  He paused, his mouth almost pressed against her skin.

  Finley slipped her hand between them, and curled her fingers into her pocket, withdrawing a small foil packet held loosely between her fingers. “We don't want to waste this, do we?”

  #

  She felt him stiffen against her, and it wasn’t just the hard ridge in his jeans; it was every single inch of him and she smiled. She’d turned the tables on him, taken his impromptu admission to heart.

  “Finley, this isn’t the place-’

  “It’s the perfect place,” she argued back, taking a quick look around, “there’s no one out here, and even if they were, the trees are so overgrown no one could possibly see us.”

  She worked her hand over his length. His open-mouthed groan muffled her soft satisfied laugh.

  “You can’t do this to me, Fin.”

  “To you? I’m hoping to do it ‘with’ you.” Her next pass along his length brought his zipper down with it and he leaned into her touch.

  It was addicting, she decided, having this power over a
man as strong as Roman. And as she released the button on the waistband of his jeans she heard him swear under his breath.

  “I’m sorry,” she asked him in a sweet and playful tone, “I didn’t hear that. What did you say?”

  “Dammit, Finley,” his voice ground out between his teeth as he drew in one breath after another, “don’t tease me. There’s no way we’re going to fit in your car.”

  “Well,” she flattened her palm over his stomach and slid it down under the waistband of his briefs, “you fit on the drive up here.”

  He turned them, bracing his hands on the top of her car on either side of her body. The shift in their positions added enough friction to make him hiss. “That stick shift is going to make one of us very uncomfortable.”

  “You have to think creatively,” she leaned closer, pressing her lips against his chest, and wondered if that was really the speed of his heart or her own. “Or you could put yourself in my hands.”

  She felt him swell against her palm and licked her lips. “Then again, looks like you already have.”

  Reaching out with her free hand she tugged open the passenger door. A moment later she was busy fiddling with the seat. Behind her, Roman leaned heavily against the car his jaw tightly clenched.

  “Finley?”

  She heard the impatient edge in his voice and couldn’t help but smile hoping he couldn’t see. “Just a minute.”

  “Hurry up.”

  The snap in his tone made her laugh outright. “If you want to hurry so much, you could get rid of those jeans.” She heard the rustle of fabric and turned a moment later to find Roman gloriously naked in the moonlight. She pulled her lower lip into her mouth, enjoying the sharp brush of her teeth against the soft flesh. “Wow.”

  His shoulders rose and fell as she looked at him, from head to toe and back again, with a long curious pause in the middle.

  “Why did you take off the shirt?” Mentally she kicked herself. One didn’t question a panty-melting man about why he took his clothes off. One just enjoyed the view and said, “thank you.”

  Oh my god. “Did I really say that out loud?”

  His broad grin was answer enough. But then he opened his mouth and made her go weak in the knees. “It’s going to get hot in your car, Finley.” He gestured at her with a gleam in his eyes. “I think you might want to get rid of all of that.”

  She reached for her waistband and pulled it down over her hips, her panties caught up in the motion ended up tangled at her feet. The long hip-length tunic she wore kept her covered in shadow.

  “That’s not fair,” he growled the words and moved closer, his hands reaching for the hem. “I think it’s only fair that I get to see all of you too.”

  She wanted to cross her arms over her chest and back away, but that would be silly given the number of times they’d been together over the last few weeks. Once you’ve had a man naked in your kitchen, your legs wrapped around his waist as you tumble half the spice rack into your sink, it’s silly to hide yourself from him when you’re alone and in the dark.

  Roman reached over and slid his fingers under the hem, brushing the back of his hand against her stomach. “Need some help?”

  She shook her head. “Get in the backseat and I’ll take it off.”

  It took only a second or two for him to climb into the backseat of her car, tucked into the corner with one leg bent and the other leg stretched out the door. Against the aged upholstery, Roman sprawled like a mythological god. And when he held out a hand, crooking his finger to draw her closer, she grabbed the hem of her azure tunic and pulled it off, the beaded neckline brushing over her face, another layer of sensation prickling along her skin.

  Ducking into the car, she ended up straddling his leg, the heat of his thigh between hers set her skin aflame.

  Roman's hands slid up her arms and then switched paths and cupped her breasts, his thumbs lightly brushing over her nipples. She managed an unintelligible sound as her hips ground against him, pressing her breasts into his hands.

  She lifted the wrapper to her teeth and tore off an edge before she let the foil fall to the floor. She pressed her free hand against the window as she rolled the condom over him. She kept her eyes on his, watching the emotions that flickered over his face and the fine sheen of sweat that coated his skin.

  She gave him a heated look, her tongue sweeping over her bottom lip as she dropped her gaze to look at him. “Scoot lower.” She knew her tone was just short of being an order, but a moment later he was half-sprawled beneath her with his hands on her hips.

  Finley placed one hand on the ceiling and the other on the back window as she rose up on her knees and slowly lowered herself over him.

  Maybe it was the angle or maybe it was just the man, but he filled her up as his hips rose up to meet her, and she groaned out a few choice words that had Roman shaking with laughter. The sensations were delicious and as a breath sighed from her lips, Finley lifted her head to look at him through a few strands of her hair. “I thought,” she groaned as she rocked her hips against him, “you said we wouldn’t fit.”

  Chapter Eleven

  A few days later, Finley put the car in park out in front of Roman's house and sat in the driver's seat for a moment. She turned to look at the house and knew that Roman wasn't home yet, the house felt… empty. She rolled down her window and leaned on the door, watching the street for some sign of his car. She'd agreed to have dinner with him. And Matt.

  She knew that had been coming for some time.

  But she also knew that she couldn’t do it.

  She would wait until they came home, and she’d apologize and leave. She could at least be that brave. She owed Roman that much.

  A car pulled around the corner and Finley looked up. Trey was behind the wheel. Swinging her door open, she stepped out. Matt tumbled out of the back door as soon as Trey managed to unbuckle the booster seat, but Finley wasn’t prepared for the sudden thud of his little body against her leg. “We can’t have dinner yet,” he mumbled against her leg. “We have to wait.”

  Trey moved up the walkway and unlocked the door so Finley could walk Matt inside. The little boy dragged Finley down onto the couch and started telling her the whole story. Shopping for groceries, the call from Adam, and then, “the fire engine pulled up outside of Pickers and my dad jumped on!”

  Catching Finley’s look of surprise, Trey explained. “We were shopping too, and I told Roman we’d bring him home.”

  “But Sara-”

  Trey nodded. “I have to go back. We only had the one booster seat-”

  “Go ahead,” she told him, knowing full well what she was saying, “go on. I’ll stay here with Matt.”

  Looking from Finley to the little boy squeezing her hand for reassurance, he nodded and got up. “Sara and I will bring dinner by.”

  Finley nodded, but she didn’t see him leave the house, her gaze was focused on the little boy strangling the blood and feeling out of her hand. “So, does this happen a lot?”

  #

  Adam grabbed Roman’s arm and shook his head. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Snapping together the harness of his SCBA, Roman gave his old friend a big smile. “Going in.”

  “You’ve already done the walk-around. Let me handle this.”

  Adjusting the straps, Roman gave Adam a smile. “You’ve never been inside this building.” He looked at the precarious pile of timbers and odds and ends of wood. “Finley and I walked through this with Mr. Berger years ago, but it looks like he’s added on since then. You can't go in there without a basic knowledge of the layout,” he laughed, grim determination in his eyes, “I’m not going to tell Harper I sent you in blind.”

  “Let me go, Cap!” Will stepped up with a big smile on his face. “I got this.”

  “You’ve got Matt to think about,” Adam argued.

  Roman leaned in close. “You don’t think I know that?” He shook his head. “And I’ve got Finley, whether she wants me or not.
But this is the job, Adam.” He looked at the assembled group and gave them their assignments.

  #

  Finley thanked Sara for the pizza, apparently Matt’s favorite, and watched the family drive away down the street before she went back inside, holding the box out. “You hungry?”

  Matt stared at the tablet on his lap, his finger drawing lazy circles on the screen. “Nope.”

  She set the pizza down and sat beside him, close enough to touch but not quite able to. “Me neither.”

  He nodded. “But you’re going to stay, right?”

  The soft frisson of anxiety in his voice kept her rooted to the spot as she reassured him. “I’m staying until your dad comes home.”

  Matt reached out and took her hand and continued to play with his tablet.

  #

  Adam bent over the radio and shouted into the handset. “No! I need another truck! The whole damn thing collapsed, and I've got a pile of burning lumber and a man somewhere underneath it!”

  He looked over and watched as Daugherty hefted a beam off of the edge of the pile and went in for another. Beside him, Seth leaned in and nearly disappeared in the hole they'd opened up.

  Clipping the handset back onto his harness, he approached the rubble of the house that had literally gone down in a shower of wood and flames and mentally kept track of the time as he dove into the mess beside his men. They'd extinguished the flames near the entrance and were hoping they didn't need to go much further. A piercing electronic burst of sound told him they were very wrong.

  “Shit!”

  Adam heard Daugherty's voice.

  “Keep digging,” he ordered.

  A second alarm blared out in short agitated bursts. Two men down.