Slow Burn (Into The Fire Book 2)

by J. H. Croix

  The air around us hummed to life. I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent of her. When I opened them, I found her chocolate brown gaze waiting for me. I could practically see questions spinning in her mind. I knew from the rapid flutter of her pulse in her neck and the flush on her cheeks that she wanted me. I sensed if we spoke, she’d start asking questions and I couldn’t answer anything right now. I just needed…her.

  I dipped my head and dropped kisses along her neck. I felt the goose bumps rise on her skin and felt a rush of satisfaction. I didn’t want to be alone in my wild, thrumming need. A distant warning bell clanged in my mind, but I ignored it. I was many things, but getting lost in desire in any way other than light and casual wasn’t something I did. Ever. But I didn’t want to think about it. I just wanted to lose myself in Maisie and this thing between us.

  A beeping sound intruded. I lifted my head to feel Maisie stepping back. In reflex, I followed her. I couldn’t stop touching her. Not now.

  She spun around and turned off the oven timer. Conveniently, she bent over and opened the oven to check on whatever she had in there. I ran my hands along the curves of her hips and couldn’t resist cupping her bottom and sliding a hand between her thighs. I grinned when I heard a little moan escape from her. I dragged my fingers over the cotton there—it was damp. Just knowing she was wet made my cock so fucking hard, it ached.

  “Turn the oven off,” I said, my voice low and rough.

  I drew my fingers in another pass over her pussy. She arched reflexively into my touch and glanced over her shoulder.

  Damn. She had no artifice to her whatsoever, and she was the sexiest fucking woman I’d ever known. Hands down. Her bottom lip was snagged in her teeth. With a loose curl dangling over her cheek, she looked rumpled and wild, and I wanted her so badly, I ground my cock against her.

  “When did you get so bossy?”

  “Since I haven’t seen you for two weeks too long. The five minutes at the station don’t count. Turn the oven off,” I repeated.

  A grin curled the corner of her mouth before she turned away and reached up to turn the oven off. She straightened and closed it. All the while, I stayed flush against her, my cock throbbing with need. Once she turned in my arms, I slid a hand into her hair again and fit my mouth over hers. I poured two weeks of lust and longing into her mouth. She didn’t hold back, not even an inch. Our kiss went wild inside of a second with our tongues tangling, our breath mingling and madness building inside of me.

  I needed more. Now. I broke free and stared at her.

  “Bedroom,” I choked out.

  She started to draw back and turn.

  “Nope. Not close enough,” I said as I caught her hand and tugged her back to me.

  She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes disbelieving.

  “I can’t exactly get to the bedroom without, well, walking there,” she explained.

  “Sure you can.”

  I lifted her against me, grinning when her legs reflexively curled around my hips.

  “You’re carrying me? Wouldn’t a piggy back ride be easier?” she asked, her tone droll.

  I shrugged. “Maybe so, but this is how we’re doing this. Tell me where to go.”

  She giggled, and my heart clenched.

  Maisie didn’t giggle often. She was too tense, and thinking about that made my heart ache a little. I wasn’t used to worrying the way I did about Maisie. I suddenly wanted to know why she was so prickly and guarded and to tell her she didn’t need to be that way. I wanted to take care of her and never see that slightly worried look that was so often present in her eyes.

  She looked over her shoulder and pointed to the stairs that led upstairs. With her held close against me, I managed to make my way up the stairs. It was a damn miracle I didn’t stumble on the way up once her lips got naughty with my neck. I wasn’t accustomed to being on the receiving end of this kind of attention. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I was plenty accustomed to blatant flirting and seduction, yet now that I’d had a taste of Maisie, I’d discovered something new. There was nothing practiced or measured about her. It never felt as if anything was calculated to manufacture a response. Everything was so real and raw, it caught at my heart and fed into my own need like nothing before.

  I cleared the top step with lust drumming through my body so hard and fast, I had to pause and drag my tongue along her neck. The taste of her wiped my mind clean of anything else.

  “Bedroom,” I murmured against her neck.

  She lifted her head. I glanced around, taking in where we were. The balcony ran along the wall upstairs with a railing to the other side, overlooking the two stories of windows in the living room. The sun was at the end of its slow slide down the horizon, leaving a watercolor sky in its wake. She nudged me with her elbow.

  “Here,” she said softly, her voice husky.

  I glanced to my other side to see the door where she was pointing. I turned and shouldered through it, adjusting her in my arms. Carrying her was a kind of heaven I hadn’t imagined. She was a bundle of curves, and I loved having her held tight against me, the heat of her core rubbing against my cock. I didn’t think much about the whole tough, strong guy thing, but damn it felt good to have her close in my arms, as if I could somehow protect her from anything.

  We were in that in-between time of dusk where the light was wispy. The last rays of the sun fell through a window to one side of her bedroom, casting a soft glimmer in the silvery light. I glanced around, taking in the space. She had a low bed built into the wall with bookshelves on either side and pillows piled high. I faced a conundrum. I didn’t want to let her go. At all. But I wanted her bare naked with me buried inside of her. To get from this point to that one, I would have no choice but to let her go.

  I eased her down, reluctant to step back. She instantly distracted me by reaching for my belt. Before I knew it, she was shoving my jeans down around my hips and curling her palm around my cock. We were standing at the foot of her bed, and she settled her hips on the edge and glanced up.

  I meant to say something. Hell if I know what. She promptly robbed me of the ability to speak when her tongue darted out and licked the drop of pre-cum off the head of my cock.

  I groaned. God help me. I wasn’t used to being at anyone’s mercy, but with her wide brown eyes flicking up at me through her lashes and her tongue exploring every inch of my cock, my knees nearly buckled. I threaded my hands in her hair as she proceeded to drive me mad. Her tongue was far naughtier than I ever could have imagined. She dragged it in slow strokes up and down my shaft, teased the head of my cock with swirls and kisses, and finally, finally, closed her lips around my shaft.

  Oh my fucking God. I was about out of my mind with need once the warm suction of her mouth started working on me. I was so close to release. Hell, it had been two full weeks since I’d had any. It was fair to say when you were a hotshot firefighter spending long days fighting fires, sex was far from your mind. There were also zero opportunities. I hadn’t even jacked off in two weeks. So with her mouth driving me to the edge and need coiling so tightly inside of me, I almost let go.

  When she drew back and glanced up at me, I caught the end of a frayed thread of control and stepped back. It was a damn miracle with her lips swollen and damp from her thorough attentions to my cock. She started to reach for me again, but I took another step back, snagging my shirt behind my head and throwing it to the floor. I needed to feel every inch of her against me.

  I tugged her up, roughly yanking her t-shirt over her head and groaning at the sight of her full breasts barely contained inside a black silk bra. Fuck me. Her penchant for black silk was the icing on the best cake I’d ever had. She shimmied out of her leggings, while I kicked my boots and jeans off.

  I was beyond frantic and just needed to get as close as physically possible to her as quickly as possible.

  Hot lust whipped at me, driving me. Nothing was measured, nothing was calculated.

  In seconds, we were tangled up
on her bed, her skin soft against me. I couldn’t even remember if she’d taken her bra and panties off, or I had. All I knew was the sense of relief I felt when I stroked between her thighs and found her hot and slick.

  I mapped her body with my lips and hands. Trailing kisses up her neck, savoring the tang of her skin, I murmured, “Missed you…”

  My words just slipped out. I felt them echo somewhere in my heart. Maisie went still, and I could feel the rapid beat of her pulse under my lips. I lifted my head to find her eyes wide open.

  I might not have been thinking when I spoke, but I meant it so fiercely, I didn’t intend to back off. I admit it made me a little uncomfortable. I wasn’t accustomed to any of the feelings Maisie elicited, but they were there, and I wasn’t a coward.

  My heart pounded, swift and hard, against my ribs. She stared at me in the weighted quiet.

  “You missed me?” she asked in a husky whisper.

  For a beat, I hesitated and wanted to shy away. Yet, I didn’t.

  “Yeah. I did. It was a long two weeks.”

  I waited, wondering if I’d spoken too soon. Maisie was skittish and prickly, a bit like a porcupine.

  I watched the rich chocolate brown of her eyes flicker, the color shifting subtly like clouds drifting through the sky.

  I could feel her tighten inside. She sucked in a breath of air, letting it out in a rough sigh. “I missed you too,” she said, her words tinged with resignation.

  I took it as a win and brushed her tangled curls away from her face. With need drumming inside of me, I shifted atop her. Her knees fell open, and her palm slid up my spine. My cock was nestled in her folds, so slick and wet, I almost sank inside of her right then. Reality nudged me in the nick of time. I didn’t have a condom.

  I started to draw back, but she curled her legs around my hips and held me in place.

  “I hate to tell you this, but I don’t have a condom. Usually I do, but I’ve been out for two weeks and…”

  “Forget it. I’m on the pill.”

  I slid up on an elbow and looked at her. Thoughts spun through my mind. I couldn’t even recall the last time I’d had sex without a condom. You didn’t get to be a hotshot firefighter without a mindset of preparation. Unexpected pregnancy didn’t fall under preparation. Whatever she saw in my gaze, hers shifted from hazy and passionate to uncertain.

  “I probably shouldn’t have assumed… I just…”

  I shook my head. “Stop. You just surprised me. That’s all.”

  I knew what I wanted. Desperately. But she had to be sure.

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded quickly. “Uh huh. I’ve been on the pill forever.”

  I didn’t hesitate and shifted my hips back, sinking inside of her in one swift surge.

  Her channel was tight and slick around me. It felt so fucking good, I almost came right then and there. I laced my fingers into hers and stretched her arms up, dusting kisses over her face and down along her neck as I struggled to latch onto my control.

  She wasn’t having that and starting rocking her hips against me, little breathy moans and pants coming from her. That did it. My control snapped, and I slid my hips back, sinking to the hilt again. Everything blurred into nothing but sensation. The feel of her breasts pressed against me, her nipples tight little beads, her skin damp against mine, her hips rising to meet every stroke of mine, her channel pulsing around my cock—so tight, hot and wet.

  Heat twisted in my spine, tension bundling tighter and tighter until she arched into me, crying out my name. My release barreled through me so hard, my head spun as I spent myself inside of her.

  I tried to shift my weight to her side, but she tightened her legs around me.

  “Don’t move,” she murmured, her lips against my neck.

  “I don’t want to crush you,” I said with a small laugh.

  I eased carefully to her side, but stayed buried deep inside of her. Relief rolled through me. It wasn’t simply the pure relief of finally finding a release valve for my pent up need. It was the relief of finally being tangled up skin to skin with Maisie again.

  Chapter 19

  Maisie

  “911, what’s your emergency?” I asked, scanning my computer screen as the system scouted for the caller’s location.

  Whether someone was calling from a cell phone or landline, the computer system instantly scanned to pinpoint the location. Before the person answered my question, the system told me they were calling from a cell phone and were located close to the main highway leading into Willow Brook because their signal pinged off of a cell tower beside the highway.

  “Um, we had a car accident when we swerved to keep from hitting a moose,” a woman said, her voice shaky.

  I tapped the button that would alert the crew on duty, which happened to be Beck’s crew. About the only time I wasn’t thinking about him, more accurately obsessing about him, was when I was taking calls. Then, my attention narrowed like a laser to the person on the line.

  “Okay, we have a crew on the way. Can you tell me your name?”

  “Jerri, it’s Jerri.”

  “Okay, Jerri. I’m Maisie. Can you confirm your location for me?”

  “We’re on the highway outside of Willow Brook.”

  “Is anyone hurt?”

  “Um, I think so, but I can’t tell. When my husband swerved to avoid the moose, our camper hit a telephone pole and we rolled into a ditch. I’m smashed in the corner of the passenger side, and I can’t see very well.”

  Jerri’s voice was shaky, and I could feel her fear and worry vibrating through the phone line.

  I heard the siren of the ambulance and two police vehicles racing out of the station garage and knew they were only minutes away. I kept Jerri on the line until I confirmed the emergency crew was on the scene. I heard Beck’s voice calling to someone in the background and experienced a sense of confidence. He would make sure everyone was okay.

  I clicked off the call and finished entering everything necessary in the system, moving onto a data project Chief Masters had asked me to handle. My mind spun to Beck. I was utterly positive everyone would be fine solely because he was there. It was ridiculous how much confidence I had in him. The full crew from the firefighters to the police to the EMT’s would be responsible for handling everything. If anything, Beck’s crew might have less to do in this kind of emergency. They’d help deal with getting everyone safely out of the camper and manage whatever needed to be done to get the camper upright and off the road. The EMT’s would do the heavy lifting as far as taking care of anyone injured.

  But it was Beck, so he was the hero in my mind. I’d gone from hot fantasies about him to even hotter reality with him. I’d also gone from being close to hating him because he teased me so much to mentally swooning over him.

  You’re gaga over him now. It’s so bad it’s embarrassing.

  So what? Since when did I decide I couldn’t have any fun?

  Since you had enough sense to know no man sticks around. You know the deal. Take care of yourself because no one else will.

  That little voice trying to argue the last point stayed quiet after that. For as long as I could remember, I’d been almost solely in charge of taking care of myself. What happened in the three short years of my life before my mother died might have been different, but I certainly didn’t remember.

  My clear recollections, as early as when I was in kindergarten, all involved me picking up the slack for my father. I went to my first day of kindergarten without a lunch box. I’d never been to kindergarten, so my small child’s mind had no idea I’d needed one. That night, I’d pleaded with my father to take me to the store and get one. He’d eventually sent me off with his girlfriend of the moment. I didn’t even remember her name, but she’d seemed as befuddled by the task as he had. She’d taken me to the grocery store, which didn’t have many choices, where I’d selected a bright blue plastic lunch box that went on to remain my lunch box all the way through fourth grade. Heav
y duty plastic was amazing stuff. Thank goodness because it wasn’t likely my father would’ve thought ahead to get me another lunch box.

  It wasn’t that I hadn’t dated at all, although I wasn’t even sure that’s what I’d say I was doing with Beck. I’d had a sort of boyfriend in high school and then a few more sort of boyfriends in college. Nothing really clicked. I was always too serious. I’d never quite figured out the carefree, fun attitude. Anyway, my point was I’d liked guys before but I’d never, ever started thinking about them in terms of how safe they made me feel. Beck had morphed into this hazy hero in my mind. He could take care of anyone and everyone. Including me.

  I didn’t need anyone to take care of me though. I was in charge of me and always would be. It was risky and silly to count on anyone else. Yet, here I was, somehow thinking I could relax and count on Beck to be there for me.

  I was in the middle of shaking my head firmly back and forth—in response to my own stupid internal dialogue—when Amelia pushed through the door to the station.

  Amelia was gorgeous. She was tall, as tall as most men. Leggy, with generous curves and amber hair and eyes, it didn’t surprise me in the least that Cade was so ridiculously in love with her. I didn’t know their entire story, but they were one of those meant-to-be couples, or so I’d heard, after they’d been hot and heavy in high school and college. Rumor had it they had a messy break up, and Cade left town. When he came back, I occasionally wondered if he might burst into flames when she was around. Smoldering was apt when it came to the way he looked at her.

  She stopped and angled her head to the side, her gaze quizzical. “That bad to see me?”

  “Oh no. I wasn’t shaking my head at you, just, uh, something else,” I said, rather lamely.

  I wasn’t about to share I’d been obsessing over Beck and how ridiculous I felt about him.

  Amelia smiled and came to lean her elbows on the counter surrounding me. “So, you’ll be there tonight?” she asked.

  She must’ve caught the confusion on my face.

  “Our girls’ card night,” she clarified.