by Vivian Wood
“For real?”
“Yeah. Being with the new guys—or crew, I guess I should say. Shit, Horst hates it when I call her a guy. But you know, it’s better than nothing. It’s better than being stuck in an office with that doctor while he tries to piece together what the hell’s wrong with me.”
“So the new recruits are alright?” Elijah asked. “If I’m honest, I haven’t gotten to know them.”
“They’re actually pretty awesome,” Cade said. “Seeing that excitement again? How hard they work? I miss that. I remember that.”
“Hey, you saying we’re old? Jaded?”
“You, maybe. I didn’t say we,” Cade said with a wink. “But nah, honestly I’m surprised by how much I like teaching them.”
“Whatever you say, Professor Charles. My shift’s up in an hour, wanna go for a beer then?”
Cade shrugged. “Maybe. Two of the recruits are up then too, and I told them I’d go over—”
“Shit, dude, you’re not their babysitter.”
Cade laughed. “I know that. But there’s something about their dedication that’s addictive, you know? It’s renewed my own interest in the whole game. Like new growth after a fire’s made a landscape barren.”
“Whoa. That’s like, some Robert Frost shit right there.”
The two of them walked toward the firehouse from the practice area. Cade watched as the four new recruits huddled together and stared at Rodriguez’s phone.
They burst out laughing en masse, and even from a distance Cade could hear the music from a popular meme featuring a firehouse Dalmatian that had made recent rounds.
“Were we ever that green?” he asked Elijah.
“I dunno, man. They’re pretty helpless, though. I guess that innocence is kind of sweet. Hey, you remember that first month we were here? And my dad ordered—”
“—the wrong gear for the event at the fair?” Cade finished with a laugh. “Yeah, I remember.”
Elijah shook his head. “His first time ordering online instead of calling it in, and what does he do? Somehow orders his whole crew bright pink everything. Shit, I can still remember the looks we got at that event.”
“The girls loved it, though,” Cade reminded him. “Remember they kept telling us how ‘cute’ we looked? And you stole that rodeo saying—”
“Real men are tough enough to wear pink? Fuck yeah, I stole it,” Elijah said. “Think I told some girl I was trying to hook up with that we were doing it as part of breast cancer awareness, too. I thought for sure that was going to work, until she told me both she and her mom had breast cancer.”
“Oh, shit,” Cade said. “I didn’t know that. But wouldn’t that work in your favor? I mean, if she thought you were supporting breast cancer—”
“I don’t know, dude. I felt kind of bad about lying then. And then I started to think, well, what if she doesn’t have any tits, you know?”
Cade burst out laughing. “I mean … couldn’t you tell?”
“Hell, by then I didn’t want to just blatantly stare at her chest. I mean, I think she had them? But what if they were fake?”
“That’s never stopped you before.”
“True. But what can I say? I’m a purist. I like ‘em natural.”
“Hey! There you guys are.”
Cade looked up and saw Lily as she approached from the firehouse. In her work clothes, black slacks and a white blouse, she was covered in flour dust.
“The hell happened to you?” Elijah asked. “You know you’re supposed to get the cake mix inside the bowl, right?”
“Ha ha,” Lily said with an eye roll.
Cade bit his lip. How is it possible that even covered in flour, she still looks this sexy?
“I came by to see if you guys are interested in getting coffee.”
“I’m still on shift another hour,” Elijah said. He punched Cade lightly on the shoulder. “But Cade is free. He’s been relieved from babysitting duties.”
“Babysitting?” Lily asked, confused.
“Nothing,” Cade said as he glared at Elijah.
Lily made a face. “Actually, I’m—”
“Oh, come on, Lil,” Elijah said. “Why you gotta always be so unfriendly? You really miss hanging out with your big brother that much? Go on, consider Cade my stand-in.”
Cade watched as Lily’s face grew even more sour, and tried not to laugh.
“Your brother’s right, I’m not that bad,” he said.
“Shit, I gotta go,” Elijah said. “I forgot, Crane wants to meet with me about something, and if I’m even a minute late he’ll tar and feather my ass.” Elijah ran toward the firehouse and left Cade with Lily.
“How about a grown-up drink instead?” Cade asked. “I could use something a little harder than coffee.”
Lily scowled, but grabbed his arm and pulled him around the side of the building to the parking lot.
“Have you literally forgotten what happened a couple days ago?” she asked, teeth clenched. “Or is it that you think I’ve forgotten how you shut me down after we banged?”
“Jesus, Lily, calm down,” he said. “You know your brother could walk around the corner any second? And no, I haven’t forgotten. Believe me. And I’m sorry that I froze you out. Okay?”
She probed his eyes.
“It isn’t enough to just be sorry,” she said. “It’s not like this is a one-time screwup on your part. Our part.”
“I’m really sorry. I just … you know that we can’t be a thing. You know that.”
Lily sighed.
“And yet, here you are, inviting me out for ‘something harder than coffee.’ What the hell kind of message are you trying to send? You know, I didn’t come here to ask you out. I came to hang out with Elijah because he’s freaking never home anymore with these shifts he’s been working. So if you think this is some kind of ploy I’ve cooked up just to see you, you’ve got a serious ego—”
“Hey! Calm down.” Cade ran his hand through his hair and let out a frustrated growl.
“I’m sorry to make things so impossible for you,” Lily said. “It must be really hard.”
She turned to walk away, and he saw the smear of a flour handprint on her ass where she must have wiped away the dust at the bakery.
Cade couldn’t help himself. He grabbed her by the waist and whirled her around. With her pressed against his chest, he leaned down.
“You don’t have the slightest idea, Lily. You don’t know how much I crave you. It—fuck, it keeps me awake at night. You’re in the back of my mind all the goddamned time. If I could have you without Elijah freaking out, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
He watched Lily’s gaze travel to his mouth. It was clear what she wanted. What he wanted. Lily tilted her head up, an invitation he couldn’t resist.
Cade lowered his lips to hers, and the taste was familiar, intoxicating. He couldn’t get enough of her.
You can’t do this. You know one taste won’t be enough. But her mouth was sweet as honey…
“Hey. Hey! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Cade pulled away from Lily at the sound of Aiden’s voice in the distance. In sync, he turned with Lily toward the parking lot as Aiden slammed the door of his truck shut. He stormed toward them as his gear bag trailed on the pavement behind him.
“Aiden, I can—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Aiden growled as he approached.
“Aiden—” Lily started.
“Lily, I swear to God,” Aiden said. His voice shook, the rage below barely contained. “You do not want to test me right now.”
“Aiden, it was nothing—” Cade broke in.
But before he could continue, come up with some kind of excuse, pain raced through his jaw. It was so acute, so sudden, that it didn’t register as real pain but instead just paralyzing shock.
He realized Aiden had punched him, and somehow the asphalt clawed into his cheek.
“Aiden!” Lily screamed, somewhere far away.
&nb
sp; He felt fists as they battered his chest, and one solid punch into his throat that stole the breath from him. Cade tried to look up, tried to explain to Aiden, to say he was sorry, but the words wouldn’t come out.
“Aiden, stop!” he heard Lily scream.
Overhead, she eclipsed the sun that blinded him. He watched as she inserted herself between him and Aiden.
Lily, move, he wanted to say, but all he could do was try and curl into the fetal position. There was no way he’d hit Aiden back.
You deserve this. Just stay down and take it.
“Stop it!” she yelled. He could hear the tears in her voice.
“Fine,” Aiden said finally. Cade could feel the warm trickle of blood from his nose and mouth. “I’ll stop. For now. But you’re coming with me, Lily.”
Cade squinted upward as Aiden glared down at him.
“And you,” Aiden said to Cade as he leaned down. “You just wait until Elijah hears about this.”
“Aiden—” Cade choked out, but his voice was cracked.
Aiden stormed off with Lily gripped by the arm.
You’re a fucking idiot for kissing her. And in such a public space—at the fucking firehouse.
Cade craned his neck and tried to see the entrance to the firehouse. But all he could make out were the new recruits, silent and shocked as Aiden dragged Lily toward the firehouse. Their mouths were open and they took a step back as Aiden charged forward.
“Elijah!” he could hear Aiden yell. “Where the hell are you?”
16
Lily
Cade heard a flurry of knocks at his door and knew it was Lily. He picked up the ice pack he’d held to his face all morning and pressed it to his jaw.
“Are your brothers around?” he asked when he opened the door.
Lily’s eyes grew wide.
“Oh my God,” she said. “It’s bad.”
“Thanks.”
Cade knew he looked pretty rough, but seeing Lily made him feel instantly better. It didn’t hurt that she was also in a skintight racerback tank, a thin scarf, and jeans that were so worn through they were about to fall apart.
“I, um, I came to see how you were doing.”
“Well, you can see,” he said, and held out one arm to showcase his battered body.
“Can I come in?”
He sighed. “Lily, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Especially after yesterday.”
“I brought Napoleons with Chantilly cream,” she said, and held up a box. “And Tylenol.”
Cade groaned. “Fine, but just for a minute.”
He saw the look of surprise on her face as she surveyed his apartment.
“Sorry for how the place looks,” he said. “The interior designer doesn’t come until tomorrow.”
“It’s fine,” she said quickly, and put the pastry box down on the unopened box of his summer clothes he hadn’t unpacked yet.
“Lily,” he said as peeked into the box of pastries. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here.”
“Why? Do you think your couch is going to tattle on me? Oh, wait, you have exactly zero furniture.”
She leaned against the wall, cutely awkward as she tried to figure out what to do with her hands.
“I have a bed.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised? Anyway, I came to tell you that I managed to calm Aiden down. He even promised not to tell Elijah. Of course, you’d know that if you hadn’t scampered away like some dog with its tail between its legs after he’d whaled on you.”
“Yeah, like you wouldn’t have booked it to your car if you just got your ass beat.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, and rolled her eyes.
“You’re right, thank you. But how?”
“Let’s just say that everything I had on him, for our whole lives to this point, has been called up. I blew all my secrets on this one. And you’re damn lucky that Elijah was in the office with Crane and didn’t hear Aiden bellowing for him.”
“Thank you,” Cade said quietly. “You didn’t have to do that. But I’m thankful you did.”
“I did it for both of us. Aiden did say one thing that resonated with me, though.”
“What’s that?”
“He asked me if you were worth it.”
Cade rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “Yeah?”
“And I said that you were.”
Cade looked at Lily and searched her eyes for the truth. “You did?”
“Well … yeah. There’s something that keeps bringing us together, like objects in a magnetic field or something.”
“Lily—”
She silenced him by taking a step closer. Lily was so close he could feel her sweet breath as it washed across his skin.
“Don’t you want to know why? Don’t you want to see if this works? We already know that we’re explosive together in bed … or maybe saying my car would be more correct,” she said with a smile. “Don’t tell me that was just me?”
Cade looked down at her.
God, what I’d give to have her. But if it goes bad, though…
“At least we’ll know,” Lily said, as if she could read his mind. “At least I won’t be asking what if, what if, what if… we’ll know if this is—”
Cade reached up and cupped her face in his hand. Neither of them flinched as he dropped the ice pack to the ground. As he lowered his mouth to hers, he watched her eyes flutter shut.
She welcomed his tongue into her mouth and let out a moan as he squeezed her waist.
Cade lifted her up with ease. He heard her shoes drop to the hardwood floors while she clenched her legs around him.
“Show me this bed,” she whispered to him between kisses.
He started to walk with her wrapped around his waist toward the bedroom. Her smell was pure addiction, the scent of berries that poured from her hair unlike anything he’d ever known.
“Hold up,” he said.
“Cade, seriously—”
“Here,” he said, and bent down as she still clung tightly to him. “Take the pastries.”
She grabbed the box he handed her with one hand and held tight to his neck with the other. “Why?”
“You said there was whipped cream, right?”
She threw her head back and laughed as he walked them to the bedroom, but she held tight to the box. Cade tossed her onto the thick mattress on the floor. The box spilled open while she landed and she bit her lip.
“This is a mattress, not a bed,” she admonished. He reached down, unbuttoned her jeans with ease, and whipped them off.
“Same thing.”
“It’s not,” she said and giggled.
He crouched down between her legs, grasped either ankle, and began to kiss his way up her calves. Sunlight streamed through the window, and for the first time he realized he could take his time with her.
Enjoy her.
Spend however long he wanted exploring every inch of her.
Lily propped herself up on her elbows and let her head hang back as his lips made their way to her inner thighs. Cade made his way to her center and could see the wetness through the baby blue silk panties.
He pressed his hands into her thighs and opened her legs wider. As he peppered a series of kisses across the underwear, she shuddered. He could smell her scent, sweet and wanting, through the fabric.
Cade kissed and nuzzled her clit insistently through the material until she started to press herself to his mouth.
“Don’t tease me,” she finally said, and he pulled the material to the side.
She was pink, wet, and fully engorged. He flicked his tongue against her clit. Lily gasped out his name and lifted herself closer to his mouth.
His tongue dipped into her folds, lapped up the juices that flowed steadily from her middle. When he tasted her opening, he couldn’t get enough.
He buried his tongue inside her while she raked her fingers through his hair and held him close.
“I want you,�
�� she whispered. It was all she had to say.
Cade pulled her underwear off, stood on his knees and removed his own shirt. As he crouched over her, he rolled up her ribbed tank top to expose bare breasts and hard nipples.
“You knew this was coming, didn’t you?” he asked with a smile. “No bra …”
“I just hoped,” she said with a blush, but his mouth was already on those firm nipples.
He sucked as they grew harder in his mouth and he felt his own hardness rage as she mewled and called his name. He tested her opening with his finger, shocked at how wet she was.
How wet she always was for him.
As he made his way to her neck, he pulled gently at the scarf.
“What’s up with this?” he asked.
“I, um…” she said, and shyly removed the scarf. He was shocked to see the array of hickeys that lined her neck. It looked like she’d been choked.
“Jesus. Is that from me? From the car—”
“Of course it’s from you!” she said.
“Damn, I’m sorry.”
“So then make it up to me.”
He smiled and kissed her neck gently. Cade slid a finger into her and felt her muscles grasp it tight.
“I’ll make it up to you,” he said quietly as he kissed her mouth and flicked his tongue against hers. “You may have brought the dessert… but how about I serve it to you?”
She smiled up at him as he rose to his knees and pulled her up with him. Lily reached for his jeans, eager to release him, and drew in her breath as she saw him. Cade glanced down and saw precum generously coated his tip.
“I want to taste you,” she said. “Like this.”
She leaned over and took one of the pastries. Lily wiped off the cream and trailed it along Cade’s length. On all fours, she leaned down and took his cream-coated tip between her lips.
The heat of her mouth and the stickiness of the sugar gave him a jolt of pleasure like he’d never known.
“Fuck, Lily,” he said, and grasped her tiny waist between his hands.
As she worked her way along his length, as her tongue shot waves of pleasure through him, he willed himself not to come. With her short pixie cut, he had an unprecedented view.
