Inextinguishable Love: Firefighter and Interracial Romance

by Kathleen Bunker

  Antoni talked about his family, about Italy and the places he’d been. He talked about himself and what he liked and didn’t like. All of it flowed right over Sasha’s head as his hands massaged her flesh. Calves, outer thighs, inner thighs; he rubbed and caressed and squeezed sweetly as his voice created background music.

  When he couldn’t go any higher Antoni gathered her up, and Sasha felt like a limp noodle. She hadn’t felt so relaxed in years. No one had paid attention to her body like this before, not even herself. It made her skin tingle from the numbness that crept up on her. Wrapped haphazardly in a towel, she wondered if she made the right decision by being so stubborn. Then again this could just be a one-time thing meant to lure her in, her rationality told her.

  Being set front first on her bed, she couldn’t find it in her to care.

  Sitting lightly on Sasha’s thighs, Antoni started working on her back with growing affection blossoming in his chest. When she was taken care of she was actually quite docile, and he liked that about her. He enjoyed her fire and her rain. Most males knew their mate was perfect for them, but he felt it more than he thought he would. Her dark skin was beautiful between his fingers, soft and smooth under his palms. His thoughts couldn’t trail any lower or he’d be in trouble.

  “Y- yeah...” A soft moan left Sasha’s mouth as Antoni moved to her lower back, and she pushed herself up a bit. Even her groggy mind registered the turning point. Leaning over her, he mouthed her skin even while his hands continued their magic, leaving only long enough to brush her hair to the side.

  “Yeah? Do you like it there?” Mumbling, Antoni nibbled her shoulder and a shiver slid down Sasha’s spine. It was like a dirty secret shared only between them. Forcing one eye open, she glanced up dazedly before he pressed all of his chest to her back.

  “Oh-h-” Grinding against her ass, Antoni flicked his tongue over Sasha’s ear and drew out another moan. She wasn’t a virgin by any stretch of the imagination, but still she had no idea what to expect. It was kind of exciting to be faced with the unknown.

  Slowly Antoni rolled her onto her back, and Sasha let out a sigh as he nestled between her thighs. His kiss was soft, coaxing her into a passionate and slow meeting of lips. A small smile curved her mouth at the sudden idea of how her parents would react if they saw her right now. They would disown her, do anything they could to ruin her life. Hell, they’d probably even try to go after her job.

  “What’s so funny, mio piccolo tesoro?” Letting out a huff, Sasha arched her back slightly as Antoni’s lips hovered just above her own.

  “My parents...” There was a second huff that didn’t come from her, and she lazily reached up to pull his face back down. Leisurely they kissed, gently grinding together. He didn’t fondle her, but his hard member between her thighs was enough to heat her blood. The faintest of tightness was overtaking her belly, and her arm fell above her head when she couldn’t hold it up anymore.

  Gasping at the hot, silky flesh that slid between her folds, Sasha opened her legs a bit more before Antoni moved away from her mouth. With care he thrust his hips and pulled back until the tip of his cock was positioned at her entrance. Kissing her jaw and cheek, he tensed against her before thrusting once again. His groan mingled with her moan, mixing together in a moment of muted heat. She could feel every ridge and seam, ever vein. He was the perfect length for her, hips touching but no pressure.

  “Ah-h-h...” Exiting her, Antoni ground his teeth together as Sasha’s channel sucked him in. She was hot around him, wet and tight and made perfectly for his cock. Beneath him she arched and writhed weakly, her face contorted in pleasure. Lips apart, she might’ve been in more bliss than he was. Picking up his pace, he clenched the bedspread between his fingers as sweat began to accumulate on his back and shoulders.

  Antoni went slow and steady, and Sasha was drowning in the feeling of what was more than sex. He was making love to her, caressing her from the outside in. The coils in her abdomen began to tighten as he soothed her walls sweetly. Coaxing them into a fit of spasms, his length slid in and out of her in a beautiful dance made just for her. Again and again they came together, hips touching only to be pulled apart once more.

  “Sasha...” When the time finally came, Sasha imploded, but instead of fire and lava there were flowers. Antoni weighed down on her, panting heavily in her ear as she did the same. She couldn’t move with his body pressed against hers, and she didn’t want to. There was nothing now; nothing but him and her and the darkness that crept up on the edges of her consciousness. Snuggling into his chest, she felt him softening inside her but paid in no mind.

  Maybe when she woke up they could do it again when she wasn’t so tired from his massage.

  “Good night, mio piccolo tesoro.” Taking Sasha against his side, Antoni was already feeling the struggle of what was to come. He was going to spend as much time as he possibly could here before she woke up, and then he would leave. A man of his word, his mother had described him once. Holding his mate, he frowned as he inhaled her scent, her femininity mixed with his sweat and the staling smell of sex. Slowly he began to shift, being careful not to wake her. Dark brown fur the same color as her skin sprouted all over him, and it didn’t take long for his four legged form to take hold. Throwing his massive paw over her midsection, he nudged and tugged as gently as he could manage. It helped that she rolled into him, burying her face and tangling her fingers in his fur as her knees pulled up.

  Waking up the next morning, Sasha groggily rolled over expecting to hit the body that had been beside her. All she felt was warmth slowly seeping from the sheets, though. Cracking open her eyes, she frowned lightly and lifted her head to look around. Instantly the sensation of having a drunken one night stand speared her chest, and she let her head down with a huff. Staring at the ceiling, her palms came up to rub her eyes before she let out a heavy sigh.

  Antoni really hadn’t been kidding when he said he would leave before she woke up. Unsure of how to feel about it, Sasha pulled her comforter over her face and took a breath. It didn’t smell like laundry detergent anymore. Instead, the lingering scent of sex and sweat wrapped around the inside of her nostrils and a groan escaped her.

  It took a long while for Sasha to get out of her bed and when she did her legs were like jelly. Shuffling somberly to the bathroom, her last experience flashed vividly in her mind’s eye. A frown overtook her face, and she shook her head furiously to be rid of the visions. She couldn’t think about that now.

  “Hey Sasha, I know it’s pretty short notice but the camp coordinators want all of the counselors to come in on Thursday for orientation. You’re going to be here from then on, so make sure you pack accordingly. See you in a few days!”

  Groaning into her cell phone, Sasha hit the ‘end’ button with what seemed like a permanent frown on her face. It was already Tuesday, and ‘short notice’ was an understatement. Leaning on the back of her chair, she let her head fall back and contemplated the mess that was her life right now. Being a teacher wasn’t a full time job that went year in and year out. That was the only reason she was doing this camp thing. If she had a choice she wouldn’t be, though.

  She hated camps; all of the bugs and the smells and the general outdoors-ie-ness wasn’t her cup of tea. It paid well, and she had to constantly remind herself of that.

  Antoni had left his number in her phone before leaving, and Sasha stared at it for a moment. Everything he’d said, everything he’d told her, came rushing back. Even knowing so much about him, he was still a stranger. She didn’t even know what he did for a living, but somehow knew all of this other seemingly more important information about him. Hovering over the call button, her thumb wavered before she took the plunge.

  Who was she kidding anyway? Sasha didn’t date for many reasons and Antoni had basically snatched away all of her doubts about it. He wasn’t a slum runner or a wannabe gangster like she’d seen so many times before. It was glaringly obvious he was the exact opposite, in fact. Not only
was he a successful man that clearly had his life together, but if she wanted to get technical he was more than just a man.

  “Hello?” Antoni’s voice rang through the speaker and Sasha didn’t offer a response immediately. Taking a breath, she lifted her head to stare at the table with furrowed eyebrows.

  “I have to work at an overnight camp for the summer.” Blurting out the tidbit of information, Sasha held her lungs still as some faint noise crackled over the line. When Antoni did speak up she could practically hear his smirk, and it didn’t make her feel any better about her indecision.

  “Oh yeah? You didn’t strike me as an overnight camp kind of woman, you know.” Across town Antoni leaned on the railing of the deck with a smile on his face. Sasha had called him earlier than he expected. It made pure male pride spear his chest because he must’ve done something right. He couldn’t resist teasing her a little, and she huffed into the receiver before replying with a grumble.

  “I’m not. But anyway... I guess what I’m trying to say is...that...”

  “You want me to wait for you.” Antoni felt a full blown smirk grow on his face when Sasha didn’t respond, choosing instead to keep her mouth shut. She didn’t deny or accept his statement, but he knew he was right. Turning to stare at the back yard, he switched his cell phone from one ear to the other.

  “I can do that, mio piccolo tesoro. If you want you can tell me which camp you’re going to and I can sneak into your cabin t-”

  “No! No, don’t do that. You just stay right here, you got it?”

  Rolling his eyes, Antoni wondered how Sasha could already be ordering him around. He didn’t object, though; he wasn’t really serious in the first place.

  “Fine. When do you leave?” Pushing herself from her chair, Sasha’s frown fought a losing battle with her smile as she wandered to the refrigerator. There wasn’t any awkwardness to their conversation, and Antoni hadn’t turned into a stuck up prick that pretended he didn’t know her. It was a step up, at least.

  “Thursday morning. Early.” Sasha held the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she rifled for something to eat. Her kitchen was almost empty, her refrigerator bare of everything but a half dozen eggs and half a loaf of bread. There wasn’t even any milk. If she bought more food, she’d just end up throwing it away, though.

  “So do you want me to come back? I help you get acquainted with your wild side.” Mercilessly flirting with her, Antoni’s offer made Sasha giggle, which wasn’t something she did often.

  “I think I need all the help I can get.”

  Maybe Antoni wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

  THE END

  Another bonus story is on the next page.

  Bonus Story 42 of 44

  Werebear in the Woods

  When Karen had started dating Brad, she had ignored every warning sign. Money going missing from her purse, his knack for conveniently forgetting to bring his wallet when it was his time to pay, and the list of places they couldn’t go to because he had ‘history’. The man had been a walking time bomb, and she had continued to walk blindly beside him. Well, she was certainly paying the price now. With a good job disappearing behind her and her cozy apartment now empty, all her worldly possessions were packed up into her newly acquired rusty excuse for a car.

  The road ahead had been undulating with a film of water that was continually leaking from her eyes. She wasn’t crying; she would not cry but her eyes were definitely taking their time to adjust to her new situation. Ever grateful to her parents for setting up a temporary home and job for her, she wiped a hand across her eyes and prepared to turn off into what looked like an impregnable forest.

  The road became a bumpy track; the way the trees crowded over her was unsettling. She thought she might recognize the place; she knew she had visited it before but that was when she was young and she had no real memory of the trip. The sun disappeared behind a canopy of evergreens and patches of frost adorned the flatter parts of the road. She knew she didn’t have a choice but if she had, second thoughts would have been creeping in halfway up the track that seemed to go on forever.

  Just as she was wondering if she should consider reversing back all that way, the trees thinned and the road smoothed. Up ahead was the cabin, bathed in winter sunlight from the west with frost on the east. It was really pretty and had a view of the forest that would be fantastic from the wide veranda that wrapped around the sunny sides of the building.

  She got out of the car and stretched; it had been a long drive and she had only made one stop. What she needed was a cup of coffee and maybe to sit on the porch swing and watch the sun as it dipped below the tree-line. As soon as she stepped onto the porch she realized that it wasn’t going to happen like that. The swing was dangling at an angle that no normal person could comfortably sit on and when she pushed it, the squeak was loud enough to scatter birds from tree tops all around.

  “You’re number one on my list,” she said and marveled at how her voice was absorbed into the open space around her.

  The next problem appeared when she realized that the electricity was off; after spending forty minutes trying to find a switch to turn it on she approached the large wood burner. The email she’d received from her uncle said that the wood was kept in an open shed out by the back door and there were oil lamps dotted around the cabin, most of which she’d been assured were full. Of course, he’d also told her that the electricity would be switched on so who knew what she would find.

  She brought her boxes of food into the grubby kitchen which also boasted a wood stove and was glad that she’d packed several bars of chocolate and crackers because she had no idea how to start a fire. City girls used switches and everything was instant. Sure, her gran had cooked on a wood stove but Karen had never taken any notice. She was going to starve, which might help her shift the pounds she’d added after falling into a pit of misery when Brad had disappeared, taking her life along with him.

  When she dumped her suitcase on the bed in the larger of the two bedrooms, a cloud of dust bounced off the bed and made her sneeze three times. She checked the smaller bedroom and found it in a worse state than the first. That was when the tears began to flow like a river to the sea. She flopped onto the battered sofa and cried until the light outside became dangerously low.

  “Pull yourself together, woman,” she said out loud wondering if it was okay to talk to yourself if no one else knew. “Make a plan.”

  She figured lighting would have to be the first priority and then heating. The place was cold and it was getting icier the lower the sun dipped. There was a handful of logs by the stove but she might need more and she did not want to go outside when it got dark. It took her just a few minutes of fumbling until she had safely lit the oil lamp. She felt pretty pleased with herself but when she looked out of the window she saw no sign of the sun and everything was steeped in shadow.

  When she’d managed to light a few lamps she stepped out of the back door and into a dark shadowy dusk that reminded her of almost every horror movie that she’d seen. When she heard the distant howl from what sounded suspiciously like a wolf she froze. She knew that wolves were a slight possibility but it hadn’t actually crossed her mind that she could be getting close to their territory. She did not want to live with wolves; hell, she wasn’t even good with dogs and they had thousands of years of domesticity behind them.

  She could see the wood shed and the lamp she carried cast a glow towards it but it didn’t brighten the void within. No, it just made it look like a hungry mouth ready and waiting to eat her whole. Karen was really beginning to regret her choices, all of them. The still air was misting in front of her as she breathed and she knew it would only get colder but taking those first steps towards the wood shed was going to take a while.

  Eventually, she managed to fill a large bucket with wood and found that, apart from the spooky cobwebs, the shed was actually pretty harmless. Of course, there were tools that could be seen in any good horror movie but she wa
s pretty sure that the axe blade had been used to chop the wood she was now carrying back to the house. Her arms were full, and the lamp was swinging causing shadows to elongate and then shrink rapidly. She tried to ignore the dark space at her back as she hurried to the back door. She wasn’t halfway across the yard when she heard something behind her and froze.

  *****

  Karen kept running, even when the whoosh of air almost knocked her flying. She didn’t drop her load, she just crashed into the house and locked the door. The wood had spilled from the bucket and the lamp had gone out, leaving the room in near-darkness. She peered out of the glass in the door and struggled to see anything; she heard a scuffle, and she knew something big was moving around outside.

  Sitting in the dark on the kitchen floor because she was too scared to move, she went through all the possibilities: raccoon, mountain lion, wolf, bear, yeti, serial killer. None of them put her mind at ease and she quickly scrambled to the front door to check that it was locked. She moved from window to window checking the darkness for signs of movement and then pulling the curtains closed. The night was still and quiet.

  The temperature had dropped and she hadn’t even taken off her coat since her arrival. She needed to make a fire, and she really wanted the comfort it would bring her. She remembered how warm and toasty she would feel at her gran’s house with the flames flickering in the fire box. Human beings had once depended on flames and she might be a modern woman but she was more than capable of starting the fire.

  When she opened the stove, she screamed because the biggest, hairiest spider swung out on his sooty web and flashed before her face, along with her life, because this had to be a life or death situation. She flapped, and ran, and screamed.