Before he could answer, her hands were on the glove. She had small, delicate hands with long fingers he could easily imagine curling around his shaft. Every drop of blood in his body took a rapid dive to his cock at the thought.
He watched as she struggled to pull off the glove, amused when he realized her task would be much easier on her if her attention was on what she was doing. Instead, her gaze had landed on his bare chest. Heat swirled in her eyes. Her lips puckered, morphing the unease in her expression to one of sheer arousal.
Blaze flexed the muscle in his pec and her gaze leapt to his, her cheeks turning a sweet, girly shade of pink. She quickly dropped her gaze again, pulled off the glove, and handed it to him.
“Thanks.” Blaze tossed the glove to the floor, took her hand, and momentarily forgot his own name. Christ, touching the woman was as spectacular as looking at her. Her hand fit inside his like a butterfly in a cocoon. Her skin was satiny soft and warm and his cock jumped against the zipper of his slacks, wanting to feel her touch. “Blaze Vardry.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth just as her tongue peeked from between her lips. He followed the path her tongue took over her bottom lip and his already-stiffening cock turned to stone. He held onto her hand inappropriately long as he struggled to find a coherent sentence in the scrambled eggs his brain had become. He dragged the pad of his thumb over the back of her hand, drew soft circles on her satiny flesh, and watched as desire darkened her blue eyes.
“It’s good to finally meet you, Faith.”
Suspicion flickered across her face. “I take it Kalvin stopped by here on his way to his meeting?”
Blaze was pretty sure the man had, but he’d been on the phone with Tyler and hadn’t spared his buddy a glance at the time. Knowing what he did now, he wished he had. A little warning about what would be walking into the firehouse bay less than twenty minutes later might would’ve prevented him from giving her the first impression that he was a tongue-tangled dumbass.
“He should be back in a few minutes.”
She nodded and slowly pulled her hand from his, only to close her fingers around his bicep. “Is your arm okay? That punching bag looked like it hit you pretty hard.”
Her hand glided down his bicep in a tender caress that had a low groan rumbling in his throat. He doubted she meant for the touch to feel so sexual, but damn if it didn’t make him want to gently lay her down, strip her naked, and work his aching cock into her sodden pussy one slow inch at a time.
“It’s fine. My stupidity for not payin’ attention.”
“And for boxing without someone holding the bag?” The corner of her lips twitched as she glanced at the punching bag. “Aren’t you supposed to have a spotter or something?”
Blaze shook his head. “Naw. Some people use them to keep the bag from swingin’ while they’re punchin’, but I rarely do.”
She nodded slowly and the smile toying with her lips turned teasing. “However, if you’d had one this time, the bag wouldn’t have been able to retaliate on you.”
Blaze chuckled. “There is that.” He let his gaze fall down her slender frame. Gorgeous body or not, it was obvious she hadn’t been eating enough. She hadn’t been sleeping enough either if the dark lines and puffiness under her remarkable eyes were any indication. “You ever box?”
“Me?” she squeaked. “No.”
Blaze pulled off his other glove as he moved to a nearby locker, snagged a pair of women’s boxing gloves from the shelf inside, and tossed them to her, impressed when she caught them in midair without dropping the bag in her hand. “Give it a try.”
She glanced down at the gloves, made a considering face, and lifted a shoulder. “Why not?” She dropped her purse and the bookstore bag where she stood, tucked one glove under her right arm, and slid the other glove onto her left hand. She used her right to untuck the glove from her arm and then frowned as her gaze lifted to his. “I seem to have run into a puzzle.”
Blaze grinned. “That’s the tricky part. Here,” he said as he returned to her. “I’ll do it for you.”
“These gloves are pink. Kalvin said he isn’t gay, so I’m assuming they aren’t his.”
Blaze snorted. “No, they’re Mindy’s, though he’s teased her enough about them that she’s threatened to buy him a pair just like them for Christmas. You asked Kalvin if he’s gay?”
“The question became relevant to the conversation. Who is Mindy?”
What the hell kind of conversation had they been having to make her wonder if Kalvin was gay? “She’s one of our female firefighters. She works on what we call the B shift.” Blaze finished securing the glove to her wrist, stepped back, and gestured toward the punching bag. “Show me what you’ve got, darlin’.”
She planted her gloved hands on her hips and gave him a haughty look. “You think you’re about to get a good laugh out of this, don’t you?”
Blaze pretended to consider that for a moment. “Seems to me like you owe me one seein’ as how you already got your chance to laugh at me.”
“All’s fair in surprises and new acquaintanceships, I suppose.”
Blaze lifted a brow. “That’s not the expression I’ve always heard, sweet thing.”
She waved that away with a gloved hand. “Yeah, well, what you’ve always heard doesn’t fit this particular situation. Now, go hold the bag so it doesn’t get pissed when I punch it and try to knock me out like it did you. Please,” she added in what sounded like an afterthought.
Blaze shook his head. “No can do, darlin’. Somebody’s gotta be on this side with you, showin’ you how to stand and swing so you don’t injure that sexy body of yours.” Truth be told, he really just wanted to touch more of her than her hand. She might be a slender thing, with eyes that could darken with arousal or fill with fear in a blink, but he had a feeling she could hold her own against a punching bag or whatever else life swung at her.
If that’s true, then what or who is she runnin’ from?
Since he didn’t yet have the answer to that question and it was far too soon to ask, he stepped behind her and curled his fingers around her sultry hips. He heard her quick intake of breath as he used his hold on her to turn her sideways, adjacent to the punching bag, and pressed the front of his body against her back. “Spread your legs, darlin’.”
Her head turned slowly and the look she gave him had laughter rumbling deep in his chest. “You’re moving awfully fast, don’t you think?”
Not as fast as he wanted. If he had his way, he’d have her naked in his bed between him and Kalvin by lunchtime tomorrow. Since it wasn’t even close to sunset, he figured he had a few good hours to work his charm and make that possible.
Blaze held her gaze, letting her see his attraction in his expression, and pushed a foot between hers. “Your feet should be shoulder-width apart. Your knees should be slightly bent. Good. Now distribute your weight evenly.” He leaned over her shoulder, catching a whiff of berries as his nose grazed the silky hair falling like a curtain over the side of her face.
He paused for a heartbeat to gather his senses before going on. “Keep your elbows down and your hands up. Like this.” He let his actions mirror his words as he slid his hands up flesh as soft and tantalizing as her hands and guided her arms into position. “Now, raise your back heel off the floor, rotate your sexy hips, and punch.”
* * * *
Delilah took a deep breath, which didn’t help much in her efforts to gather her wits. Holy hormones, the man was potent! Every synapse in her brain had short-circuited when he’d walked up behind her and pressed the solid front of his body to her back. He wanted her. She’d gotten glimpses of his attraction when they were talking and had felt it in the way he’d drawn lazy circles on her hand when he’d held onto it far too long. She’d gotten clear confirmation when she’d made the comment about him moving fast and had turned her head. The heat that had been in his chocolate-brown eyes had nearly burned her soul.
He smelled of musk and man with a faint
trace of sweat. The warmth radiating from his body seeped through the thin material of her clothing and into her skin, spreading through her system and stroking every needy cell in her body.
When that warmth disappeared as he released her and took a step back, she nearly whimpered. Instead, she steadied herself, took another deep breath, and swung. Her arm vibrated as the glove connected with the punching bag, but the bag barely moved.
“Not bad,” Blaze drawled, a hint of approval lacing his tone.
Delilah rocked back on her heel, redistributed her weight, and repeated the move, putting a bit more force behind her second jab than she had the first. The vibration intensified and the bag moved a fraction of an inch more. She kept going, gradually increasing the power behind each punch. It was easier than she’d expected. More fun, too, she realized as she centered herself, danced back, and started alternating her punches. She doubted she was boxing like a pro, but each time her glove connected with the bag, she felt a small ounce of the anger she’d been harboring since her life had gone to shit leave her. Who knew boxing could be such a great stress reliever?
“Do I wanna ask whose face you’re picturin’ on that bag, darlin’?”
Delilah froze as a sudden wave of apprehension washed through her. She took a half-step back and wiped her forearm over her forehead, surprised when it came away with a light sheen of sweat. It astonished her that she wanted to tell him. Not that she had really been picturing anyone’s face when she’d lost herself in the moment. If she knew who had been doing the horrible things to her, she would rather bash his face in with her bare fist in person than to imagine it on a punching bag. Still, it would be so comforting to talk to someone besides Ashley about the bastard seemingly intent on ruining her life.
Though instinctively, she felt that she could trust him, self-preservation won. She shrugged and shot him a glance over her shoulder. “No one in particular.” She focused her attention back on the punching bag as she settled back into position. “I can see why you do this, though. I bet it is great therapy.”
“It can be,” he agreed.
Feeling more centered than she had in months, she pulled her arm back, channeled all her strength, and punched the bag with everything she had. It went sailing and she realized too late she was standing too close to avoid the recoil. An undignified shriek escaped her lips as she spun on her heel and ran straight into a laughing Blaze. The hard wall of his body knocked half the wind out of her. The starkly sexual expression on his handsome face when he looked down at her stole the rest.
The faint lines bracketing his mouth and eyes faded right along with his smile as he stared into her eyes. His arms had wound around her when she smacked into him, probably more out of reflex than thought, but she doubted it was reflex that had one of his hands splaying on the small of her back and gliding up her spine as his other hand slipped down to cup her ass.
Her hands were on his biceps, tingling inside the boxing gloves for permission to roam over his deeply tanned flesh. She wanted to dance her fingertips over his broad shoulder, cup his nape in her palm, and toy with the light blondish-brown waves of his hair. Moist little tugs of arousal stirred in her pussy, making her acutely aware of every place their bodies touched.
He stood a good five inches taller than her, putting their bodies in an alignment that tormented her senses and sent her head racing with ecstasy. Her breasts pressed against the hard planes of his abdomen, her nipples beading to sharpened points. The thick, stiff wedge of his cock lovingly encased in his uniform pants rested against her belly. She fought the urge to grind her body against it as wetness pooled between her pussy lips.
“Am I still movin’ too fast?” His voice had dropped to a hot, husky decibel and his expression was heavy with lust.
Delilah gulped and opened her mouth to answer, though she didn’t have a clue what she was about to say. The hoarse, rusty voice she instantly recognized saved her the trouble.
“I see the two of you have met.”
She gasped and jumped out of Blaze’s arms so fast she stumbled backward several steps before regaining her balance. Her cheeks flamed as she met Kalvin’s gaze. A slow, amused smile unfolded on his too-kissable lips. She stared at him, as baffled by his reaction at finding her in Blaze’s arms as she was by her own at being caught. Christ, what had gotten into her? She’d bolted away from Blaze as if Kalvin had just discovered her cheating on him with his best friend. And how ludicrous was that? She’d had an impromptu lunch with Kalvin, talked to him for all of twenty minutes at best, and now she was thinking of him like a boyfriend?
Girl, you’ve really got to get your head together.
“I’m glad you decided to stop by.” Kalvin started toward her, not stopping until he was close enough to touch, though he kept his hands to himself.
Delilah found herself wishing he would touch her. She wanted him to pull her into his arms and hold her as tightly as Blaze had been doing mere seconds ago. She didn’t understand it and couldn’t manage to get her thoughts together enough to figure it out. She’d never felt this sudden, intense, magnetic attraction to a man, let alone two of them.
“The meeting ran a little late, but I’m glad you and Blaze got time to get acquainted.”
She danced her gaze over his face, amazed when she didn’t see a hint of jealousy in his features. The attraction she’d noted back at the café remained, though, and something else was swirling deep in his stormy gray eyes, something suspiciously akin to happiness.
She swallowed and licked her suddenly dry lips, watching as his gaze dropped to follow the path of her tongue. Sparks ignited a firestorm of desire in his eyes that jumped straight to her and spread a fiery path through her body that ended at her pussy. “He was teaching me how to box.”
Kalvin shot a glance at Blaze, who hadn’t moved from where she’d left him standing a few feet away and to the side of her and Kalvin. “Is she any good?”
Blaze nodded once. “She’s got potential. One hell of a swing on her, too.” Laughter flickered in his eyes. “That last punch she threw before she ran to me for protection was pretty powerful.”
Delilah planted her gloved fists on her hips and glared at Blaze. “I didn’t run to you for protection.”
The corners of his lips twitched even as the flames returned to his eyes. “Oh, well, if you wanted me to put my arms around you, all you had to do was say so, sweet thing.”
Delilah closed her eyes, bowed her head, and shook it. “Why do I already feel like I’m not going to win this one?”
Kalvin chuckled. “Winning with Blaze takes a skill developed over time. Believe me, I’ve known the man for years and I still lose half the time.”
“How long have the two of you been friends?” Delilah asked, lifting her head to look at both of them in turn.
“Since our days at the fire academy,” Blaze answered. “We met, clicked, and he’s been attached to my hip ever since.”
“I think the whole hip attachment thing was mutual,” Kalvin told her.
Delilah thought about Ashley. They’d instantly clicked when they’d met and had been practically attached at the hip since, too, until now. For the first time since leaving Chicago, a wave of homesickness washed through her. She missed Ashley, missed the city and the other friends she’d made over her half a lifetime of living there. She knew she’d go back someday soon. She’d have to. Still, nothing had felt the same there after Delilah’s Designs and her home had been burnt to the ground.
She pushed all those miserable thoughts aside and looked at Blaze. “So that’s why you were getting your ass kicked by a punching bag when I showed up.” She bit back a smile at the faint tinge of pink that cut through Blaze’s tanned face. Oh, that was just too cute. No way could she resist rubbing that in some more. “You didn’t have Kalvin here to protect you. If I’d been standing any closer, the bag would’ve knocked you into my arms.”
“She distracted me,” Blaze told Kalvin when the man shot him a bemused look. Hi
s voice held a comical edge of defensiveness.
“I wouldn’t have caught you off guard if you hadn’t been arguing with the bag and demanding to know why it wouldn’t listen.”
“I wasn’t talkin’ to the bag.” He pointed a playful finger at her and walked closer. “And you got a good laugh out of it, so why are you complainin’?”
Delilah giggled. “Yes, I did.” She held out her hands to Kalvin. “Will you help me out of these things, please?”
“Are you sure you don’t want to throw a few more punches?” he asked, even as he started to remove the glove from her right hand. “You don’t have to stop just because I came in.”
She dropped her right arm to her side as he pulled off her left glove and rolled her shoulder, feeling the slight strain on her muscles. “No, I’m good.” She paused, considered whether or not she should pry, and decided to go with it. “What kind of meeting did you have?”
“It was more of a chitchat with Chief Nichols, Sheriff Cabelly, and Kenneth Winters than a meeting.” Kalvin raised his voice an octave as he walked to the locker and shoved the boxing gloves inside. “I took some investigative classes on the mainland, but never finished it out to get my certification. It’s something we’ve been talking about since I took this job on the island. We haven’t found the need for an arson investigator here, but the Winters are the type of people who want to make sure all the basis are covered for the protection of the tourist and islanders.”
Delilah’s stomach turned. What were the odds that the first man she met on an island she’d come to hoping it would be a safe haven would turn out to be both a firefighter and a prospective arson investigator?
It could be a good thing.
Could it? She’d sat at the counter inside the Karma Café long after Kalvin had left, considering his invitation to the firehouse. Arianrhod’s ‘hunch’ had made her equally apprehensive and intrigued. What would it hurt for her to follow up on a bit of obvious, mutual attraction while she was on the island? Of course, at that time she hadn’t yet met Blaze. Now that she had, she found herself thinking it would be even more fun to follow up on that obvious, mutual attraction with Kalvin and Blaze. The men obviously accepted the way of the island and were giving her the impression they played with a woman more together than they did apart.
Safe and Burning with Ecstasy [The Heroes of Silver Island 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 4
