Smoldering Heart_Fleming Brothers [Book 1]

by Jennifer Vester

  He chuckled and kissed me right below my earlobe. Then his mouth took a southward route, peppering me with small kisses. When he got to my shoulder he pulled the fabric back and started sucking and licking.

  His cock pressed against my ass several times before I felt his hand moving around to the front of my pants. It pressed against my center then I felt is fingers searching for my buttons.

  “Is this what you wanted, sweetheart? You riding my dick while I’m behind you. My fingers massaging that little clit of yours.”

  My knees nearly buckled. I was starting to like his dirty talk.

  “I had dreams about that,” I whispered.

  He paused for a second. “You did?”

  “Yes, after we met.”

  “Woman, you’re killing me. The things I’m going to do to you.”

  He started kissing me again on the side of my neck, and his fingers ran over the fabric near my clit.

  I let out a hiss and he stopped.

  “Baby, you’re sore.”

  “No—”

  “Maddie! Are you in here?” I heard Rachel yell from the living room.

  “Shit,” I said, at the same time Owen growled.

  “I think you should move in with me, babe. As soon as possible.”

  His hands were suddenly gone and the heat of his body against my back had disappeared.

  “Maddie?” Rachel yelled again.

  I turned around and found Owen leaning innocently up against the wall on the opposite side of the kitchen. His arms were crossed over his chest and he had an enigmatic look on his face.

  Not a complete look of innocence. No, that wouldn’t explain the half smile that he had. The look he had was a mix of amusement and frustration. But those green eyes of his bored through mine in a completely serious and determined way.

  Had he just asked me to move in with him?

  Rachel came around the corner and yelped when she saw Owen.

  “Oh geez! You scared me,” she said, then looked at me. “Uhm, sorry. Did I interrupt something?”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “Yes,” Owen responded.

  Rachel looked between us.

  “Maybe I should go. I just wanted to see if you were feeling better, but it looks like you’re doing okay. Patrick said you got a call and I wanted to ask you about it. Shop is locked up. I’m just going to stop talking and leave now.”

  “Wait, Rachel,” Owen said.

  I looked at him, somewhat surprised.

  He gave me a quick glance. “Listen, I have a house here now. I bought my grandparent’s old place and I need some help with it.”

  “You what?” Rachel said in a deadpan voice.

  She glanced over at me, then back at him.

  Owen scratched his chin absently. “Yeah, so it’s pretty much a throwback to the nineteen sixties and there’s peeling wallpaper.”

  I frowned at Owen. Where was he going with this?

  “So, I was hoping I could get some help with all that. I need to do some renovations but no clue on paint or whatever that shit is up at the top of the walls near the ceiling.”

  “Crown molding?” Rachel asked, her face lighting up. “Oh, you want to keep that. You can do some fantastic accents in white against some darker colored walls. It’s gorgeous. Did you say wallpaper? I can show you how to get that off. There’s this thing you can buy at the hardware store—oh! Scratch that, there’s actually some professional guys that can remove it.”

  Rachel rattled on for several minutes filling Owen in on everything from paint to colors and appliances. She missed her calling as an interior decorator, because the longer I listened, the more I wanted a house exactly like she was describing.

  “How many bedrooms?” she asked.

  “Four. Do you think you can write all that stuff down? Because I’m not going to remember half of it.”

  Rachel eyed him for a minute then glanced at me.

  “Well, if you don’t mind. I could help get it all together. I mean it sounds like fun to fix it all up.”

  I smiled at her and remembered why I absolutely adored my sister. When she got into a project she would do exactly what she promised to do. Rather than strapping herself to trees and organizing protests, this would be the perfect project for her.

  “You’re hired, Ms. Crawford,” Owen said with a smile on his face.

  Both Rachel and I gave Owen a shocked look.

  “What?” I asked.

  Owen looked at me and shrugged. “Your dad said she was good with this stuff. Why not hire her?”

  “Wait, wait, wait. Did you say hire? You mean like pay me? You don’t have to do that.”

  Owen stopped leaning on the wall and dug a cell phone out of his back pocket. He studied the screen for a moment, typed something in, then turned back to Rachel.

  “When you want quality work, you pay for quality work. You should have some funds hit your account in a few minutes and you do what you need to do. I don’t mind the firemen or whatever helping out with their businesses at all. Keep it local.”

  Rachel’s mouth hung open. So did mine for a moment until Owen walked toward me, grabbed my waist and kissed me squarely on the mouth in front of my sister.

  He stared at me for a minute, while digging around in his pockets again.

  “You did actually interrupt something, though. I was going to give this to your smokin’ hot sister about an hour ago but we were busy.”

  I glared at him.

  “Talking about the house and my move. I was going to have someone wrap this shit up all fancy. Because you know if it was me I would probably put it in a paper sack and hand it to you. Whatever. Anyway, it matches your ring.”

  He grabbed my hand and dropped something into my palm.

  I looked down and saw a silver charm bracelet with a small flower charm hanging off of it.

  Owen slid it around my wrist and latched it.

  I held it up and saw the letter R for Rachel, another letter for my dad. The last charm was an O. I didn’t have to guess at that one.

  It was for Owen. Or orgasm. The look he was giving me said he wanted it to mean the latter.

  Chapter Fourteen

  ~Owen~

  I was good. More than good. Other than being sexually frustrated as hell, I was really fucking good.

  I heard my phone ding.

  Brock: So did you give her the tracker?

  Owen: No man. When was I supposed to do that? Before or after sex? Kind of a mood killer.

  Brock: If you’re serious she needs a tracker.

  Owen: I get it. When you said they pulled surveillance off her I thought about just telling her to take the shot but then...you know.

  Brock: Get her on the damn tracker so I can monitor her location. You won’t need them then.

  Owen: Got it, boss.

  Brock: And don’t fucking call me boss.

  Owen: Okay, boss.

  Brock: Just because you’re doing some work for me remotely doesn’t mean I’m your boss. Speaking of which, when will you have your computer set up?

  I rolled my eyes.

  He'd offered to hire me to do some contract work in research. Most of it would be background checks, and occasional help with security programs. Nothing too exciting, which was part of the problem.

  I looked over at my computer room. My computer was sitting on a barren desk. It was the first room that I asked Rachel to finish. Mainly because I knew Brock would be on my ass about two days after my move to help him with all the weird surveillance stuff he did.

  We had talked about it. At the time it seemed like a good swap in jobs. Now, though, I was beginning to wonder if I had shown a little too much interest too quickly.

  “Boring,” I said to myself.

  Owen: The house is in shambles, jackass. When I can get it set up I will.

  Brock: Fine. Give her the shot in the meantime.

  I texted Noah.

  Owen: I’m going to kill your brother.


  Several minutes went by as I watched Maddie and her sister walk in and out of the room. They were talking about the third and fourth room that needed to be decorated.

  Within the space of two weeks those two had been busy. As well as half the contractors in Nolan Creek. Mostly firemen, the odd local business, and a few other random people.

  My plumbing had been looked at first. Nothing major. It was just old and needed some care. Two days and done.

  Then the floors came next. The guys that Rachel had hired hadn’t gutted the house completely. Which was the nightmare I was envisioning when I first saw them. They had patched, fixed, stained and sealed them. Which I had to admit looked fucking awesome.

  My phone dinged.

  Noah: I told you he was going to be on your ass. I have some work for you if you want it. Two paranoid execs, they fly in next month. Bodyguard duty?

  Ugh. Not my thing either.

  Owen: No. You coming?

  Noah: Yeah.

  What I hadn’t told either one of them, was that I already had a different career plan in mind. One that would keep me right here in Nolan Creek.

  “Owen?” Madison called my name.

  I looked up from the couch I was lounging on and scanned up her body.

  Fuck me.

  I had the same thought when she walked in earlier, and I had thought it several times over the last two hours.

  With all the work on the house, we hadn’t spent much time together. I kept swinging by her shop like clockwork, and she kept trying to pretend she hadn’t heard me ask her to move in.

  She was wearing a black skirt and frilly little white top today. It showed off way too much leg, arm and everything else.

  I wanted to mark it all with my name. My only consolation was that she wore my ring and charm bracelet daily. She was also constantly having to cover the love bites on her neck that I kept giving her. We hadn’t had time for sex. But I made damn sure I kissed her and marked that beautiful pale skin of hers frequently.

  Mine.

  I wondered if she'd figured out yet that she was decorating her future home.

  “Yeah, sweetheart?”

  She was looking at four cards in her hand and frowning.

  “Are you sure you want a pale blue in the small room?”

  I smirked. “I’m sure.”

  The nursery. She didn’t know that yet either. I needed to get her in bed again and keep her there for the next week to make sure my swimmers reached their target.

  The sound of loud thumps on my roof snapped me out of daydreaming. It was fucking annoying, but the end result was going to be worth it.

  New roof. New house. Hopefully a new, sexy, pregnant wife.

  Rachel walked up behind Maddie and looked between the four cards she was holding.

  “That one,” she pointed toward the card in Maddie’s left hand. “Bluebonnet. It looks nicer and the light in the room will make it pop. What do you think?”

  Maddie nodded and smiled. “Yeah, I like that one best. It’s not too dark is it?”

  They started chatting again about colors and themes. Fuck if I knew the difference between blue and bluebonnet. I just wanted blue. Blue for a boy.

  I eyed Maddie’s flat belly and let out a frustrated sigh.

  Standing up, I kissed Maddie on her temple before retreating to my office room.

  “I’ll leave you to it.”

  Maddie nodded absentmindedly. “I think it’s a great color.”

  “Whatever you want, babe. Make it happen.”

  Rachel flashed a smile at me beside her sister. She'd really been focused on this house project and as I got to know her, she didn’t seem as flighty as my first impressions. She just seemed like a kid that needed to prove herself.

  I could understand the struggle. Her sister was successful at her shop, well known and respected. Both of my brothers were the same way.

  It was hard to live in the shadow of a successful person sometimes, let alone two. I loved them, but it was difficult to make your mark in the world when people thought that mark should be equal to their successes.

  I could do a lot of the same things they did. I could sit behind a desk and crunch numbers. Computer programs never bothered me either. But I wasn’t built for that. I needed something else in my life. Excitement, yes. But mostly a sense that I was helping other people. Not just managing a small piece of a large corporation, and helping people get paid.

  Sitting down in my chair, I turned the computer on and waited for it to boot up. I had some work to do today that had a time limit.

  The internet linked, and I logged into the online study program I had been working through.

  I was looking through the coursework when there was a knock on my door.

  By the time I looked up Rachel had already walked in and come around my desk. She had what looked like a book lined with lace on it.

  My eyes slid from the lace monstrosity up to her. She spotted the contents on my computer screen and stopped dead in her tracks.

  “Holy shit,” she said. Her mouth was half open with a stunned look on her face.

  I glanced back at my screen quickly and back at her.

  “Uhm, listen.”

  “Have you told Maddie? She’s going to fucking flip.”

  I turned off my monitor quickly and stood up. “Rachel, don’t say a word. I haven’t had a chance to tell her.”

  She slammed the book she was carrying down on the desk and several lace ribbons went flying to the floor. One was pink and the other one was…more pink. I shied away from them, hoping she didn’t plan to leave them there.

  “She's going to flip, Owen!”

  “Lower your voice, Rachel,” I growled, looking toward the door.

  “She’s upstairs talking to the painters! When are you going to tell her you’re doing coursework in fire prevention? I know what the hell that is. It’s the supplemental courses you can take for firefighting.”

  I grimaced and walked around her to take a look in the living room. No Maddie. Yet.

  “Rach, I started taking these last month. I called your dad and talked to him about it. He suggested going through an online version because of the crap I was dealing with back in Texas. He knows and thought it would be a good fit. I just haven’t gotten around to telling your sister.”

  “Haven’t gotten—are you nuts?!” she hissed.

  I gave her a wild look. “Apparently I am. I love your sister, and I want to be here with her and your family. I can’t do that without something to do or I’ll drive her insane. Shit, I’ll drive myself insane if I’m not there already.”

  She pointed her finger at me. “That’s not the reason you should be joining the fire department or even thinking about it.”

  Cutting her off I said, “It’s not. I want to do this. I want to help, and it seems like a good fit for me. I don’t even know how to explain it, and I’m not going to get all romantic about it. Fuck that. It looks like harder work than I thought, frankly, but it’s also challenging. I’ve been going through the coursework and I’m nearly done.”

  Rachel rubbed her temples like she was getting a headache.

  After a moment she responded. “Well, boy genius, that’s great. I’m glad you’re breezing through what other people take a very long time studying. You’ll probably pass the test and get hired.”

  I shrugged. “Well, maybe. I mean nothing is guaranteed—”

  “Shut up, Owen.”

  I glared at her.

  Her eyes flashed at mine. “Jason died on duty.”

  “What the fuck?”

  “Oh, Dad forgot to mention that? Smoke inhalation. He got trapped behind a roof that collapsed and his mask was damaged. They pulled him out, but he died at the hospital. Firefighting is a commitment and it’s one that the families have to deal with when something goes wrong.”

  I sat back down in my chair and ran a hand down my face.

  “I didn’t know.”

  “Look, do what you want but d
on’t hang my sister’s heart on some whim of yours to help people. You might as well have stayed back in Texas chasing bad guys.”

  I gave her a serious look. “That wasn’t an option. I want a future with your sister. Marriage, babies, the whole fucking thing. She’s here. Not in Texas. And this isn’t a whim.”

  “Okay, then you tell her. Let her make the choice and don’t screw it up. If you honestly want to be a firefighter, you’ll do it regardless of what her answer is when you tell her.”

  That brought me up short. Was I planning on becoming a firefighter because it was a calling? Or was it because I wanted Maddie’s approval?

  “That’s fair,” I growled.

  She gave me a tight smile.

  I gestured toward the folder still on my desk. “What’s all this?”

  She gave me a smile that would have lesser men quaking in their boots. Half devil, half insane.

  “Well, I was going to talk to you about this, anyway. But now that you’ve provided a really good reason to agree to it, I’m more than happy to share.”

  My eyebrow arched. Jesus, this was going to be painful, I could feel it.

  She opened the binder and my lips peeled back in a grimace.

  There were more lace things stuffed into the binding. She flipped through the pages and I saw nothing but pink and different shades of more pink. She stopped on a page in the middle and pointed.

  “This is the planner I made for Maddie’s wedding. I thought you might be leaning toward that, so I came to talk to you about it.”

  I flinched. “Oh, fuck no. No, and hell no to pink.”

  She tapped her fingers on the page. “Oh, dear future brother. You don’t seem to understand. You want the package, and you don’t want that career choice of yours slipping out before you pop the question and/or tell her about it.”

  I blinked up at her. Rachel was the devil. A short, miniature, pretty little devil, but I swore I saw horns for a moment on her head.

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  She gave me another smile and blinked her eyes like she was selling cookies.