Simmering Heat

by Leora Gonzales

  With her black skirt still up and caught around her waist, Jasmine’s stockings were in plain view. The pale silk held up by a simple white garter belt fastened to their lacy toppers. While Leo knelt in front of her, Jasmine ran her fingers through his hair once again. The silk locks made her jealous for half a second before she was distracted by the dimple from his smile as he took in the view.

  “What’s that smile for?” Jasmine couldn’t help but grin back as Leo turned his smile toward her.

  “Silk stockings, white garters, and pink flamingos?” he asked, his breath heating the silk and lace in front of his face.

  Pink Flamingos?

  Oh, dear lord, if he was seeing pink flamingos that could only mean one thing. Jasmine wasn’t actually wearing a pair of panties. She was instead wearing a pair of bikini bottoms.

  Why? Because of all the days that she falls into instalust with a man from her past and is about to knock the cobwebs off her coochie, it also happens to be the day that she ran out of clean underwear and had to delve into her swimsuit drawer for an alternative.

  The complete hilariousness of the situation caused her to snort trying not to laugh. Covering her face with her hands, she felt her face flame at not only what he was seeing, but also at the weird noises she made trying not to laugh.

  “It’s okay, Jazz,” Leo said gently. As his hands caressed her, he continued, “Don’t be upset.”

  Oh my God, he thought she was crying and was trying to comfort her.

  Now unable to hold back her laughter, Jasmine dropped her hands and gripped his shoulders. Steadying herself, she bent down and looked at the pink flamingos in question.

  “I’m not upset, I promise.” Jasmine wheezed, her giggles abating somewhat. “It just figures, ya know?”

  At his look of confusion, she went on, “I haven’t been in a situation where anyone has seen my underwear in only God knows how long. It’s just my luck that the day I should have a sexy encounter is the day that I resorted to bikini bottoms because I need to do laundry.”

  “This is a swimsuit?” Running the tip of his finger under the elastic at the top, he pulled it away from her body before letting it snap back. At her tiny jump, Leo grinned. “I guess it is thicker than normal panties, isn’t it?”

  “I guess so—” At the teasing look in Leo’s eyes, Jasmine snapped her mouth shut.

  “I wonder how much you can feel through this fabric. Since it’s thicker maybe we should experiment a bit. You know…for science.” Leaning forward, he ran the tip of his nose down the slight depression of her cleft. Letting her eyes drift shut, Jasmine gasped when she felt a nip against her lower lips.

  “Keep your eyes on me.” The command caused a tingle to work up her spine. Every delectable inch of this man was deadly. His dimple, his eyes, his beard and even his voice were all sexy, and together the combination was enough to fill her spank bank for years to come, if needed.

  Jasmine felt goosebumps spread across the exposed skin of her legs, rubbing her thighs together she heard the rustle of the lace tops of her stockings. The sound drew Leo’s attention as well as he reached for the snaps to release them. His lips skimmed the delicate stitching where it encased her rounded legs. Legs that were a little more rounded than most, but it didn’t look like it mattered to the man in front of her.

  “These are so fucking sexy. I didn’t think women wore these anymore.” Leo groaned against her bare skin, starting to roll the silk down.

  “I hate pantyhose,” Jasmine whispered. The fact that she could still have a conversation amazed her.

  “I do too, now. I do too.” Leo kept his eyes trained on hers as his tongue came out to sneak a lick at the bend of her leg where it connected to her hip.

  Widening her stance, Jasmine presented Leo with a larger area to nuzzle. Hoping that he would take her up on her offer, she wasn’t disappointed when she felt sucking kisses placed around the sensitive area.

  Why was he taking so long undressing her? Didn’t he know she was about to melt into a puddle right there in the middle of the bedroom floor?

  As if reading her mind, Leo made quick work of the opposite stocking. Once her legs were uncovered completely, Leo sat back and stared at the apex of her thighs. His concentration on that part of her body made her squirm in anticipation

  Leo looked like he was about to eat her alive…in a good way.

  That was when an obnoxious ringing noise intruded on her carnal thoughts.

  “Shit!” Leo gripped her hips hard and dropped his head back. His face pained as he stared up at the ceiling as if expecting divine intervention from whatever was making that noise.

  “Is that?” Jasmine asked softly, scared to voice her question louder, as if that would stop the ringing.

  Leo groaned loudly in frustration. The noise tapered off to an angry growl. “It’s my goddamn work phone.” Reaching into his back pocket he pulled it out with one hand while keeping her still with his other. Hitting the icon to answer, he bit out a sharp, “Yeah?” before answering with another short, “Okay.”

  Tossing the phone on the bed, Leo stood up quickly. The movement knocking Jasmine back on her butt to bounce on the soft but firm mattress. “Oh!” she squeaked before watching as he adjusted the long bar of his cock that was visible through his dress pants.

  “I’ve gotta get to the station—” Leo started at the same time that Jasmine spoke, “I guess I’ll just—”

  Reaching forward with one large hand, Leo tilted her head back so she would look him in the eye. “This is not how I wanted tonight to end but I can’t help it right now. Do me a favor and stay right here for me, okay?”

  “You want me to stay the night here in your house alone?”

  “Sweetheart, you look perfect right where you’re at. The only thing I would change would be the clothes you’re wearing but I don’t have time for that right now.” Leo moved quickly to the other side of the room. Yanking a drawer open he pulled out a T-shirt and tossed it to Jasmine, the soft cotton hitting her in the chest. “Put this on for me, okay? I’ll calm down a little if I know you are here waiting for me wearing my shirt.”

  Jasmine looked at the T-shirt in her lap, her mind trying to analyze the request and why it seemed important to him. “Okay, I guess I can stay here if that’s what you want.”

  Before she could blink, Leo was back in front of her swooping in for a quick kiss. “Get comfortable, I don’t know how long this call will take. Feel free to roam around the house and make yourself at home.”

  Jasmine watched as he slipped on the shoes she hadn’t seen him slip off in the first place. As he was walking out the bedroom door, he shouted without turning around, “And don’t forget to wear my shirt to sleep in.”

  Jasmine smiled and raised her voice so he could hear her when she yelled, “Okay.”

  “And nothing else!” Leo’s final words warmed her insides. Her body was still having an issue with figuring out that the sex train had left the station thanks to a call from the fire department. When her brain caught up with the words she was thinking, a flash of worry shot through her.

  Standing up quickly, Jasmine moved to the front of the house that she had barely gotten a glimpse of before sucking face with Leo when they arrived. The space was clearly a bachelor pad, but still homey enough that Jasmine could tell his mom had helped him decorate. Sitting on the leather couch, she picked up the remote from the oversized ottoman in front of her and hit the power button. She crossed her fingers hoping that he didn’t have a complicated system so she could find the news channel quickly. Raising her fists in a victory pump when the TV and cable box powered on with that one button, Jasmine turned to the local nightly broadcast.

  For some reason the thought of seeing the fire that Leo was heading to scared the crap out of her, but she was also unable to not find the channel that was covering it. The feeling was similar to wh
en she watched a scary movie with her hands in front of her face, only peeking through her fingers to see what was happening.

  Breaking news tonight as local firefighters are called in to fight a warehouse fire on the north side of town. Early reports of flames seen from the back of the building have now been verified by law enforcement, and we have a crew on the way to bring you live reports from the scene of the fire.

  Jesus. Why did the reporter sound so damn chipper talking about a fire? What kind of monster said those words with a smile?

  If this is what Winter felt whenever Will headed off to call, no wonder she was so high strung. Unable to imagine what it would be like to be engaged or married to firefighter, Jasmine leaned forward with her eyes focused on the large screen mounted on the wall. Chewing her nails, she tried to understand how Winter managed to survive this type of thing all the time. Hell, if she were in her place Jasmine would be a nervous wreck anytime the phone rang. Thinking of all of the possibilities of what could happen during a call made her stomach roll.

  Jasmine was able to feel a small semblance of control when she realized that what was happening between her and Leo was nothing more than a simple hookup. Hookups were supposed to be relaxed and easy so that’s what she needed to keep reminding herself. Other than childhood friends, they weren’t emotionally invested in one another. They weren’t dating or planning on anything more than tonight. They were just expending some sexual energy, giving into the chemistry that had been surrounding them since high school. It wasn’t anything serious.

  It couldn’t be anything serious.

  Right?

  Chapter 7

  Two hours later and Jasmine was still frozen in place on Leo’s couch, her entire body full of tension from worrying. With her phone on the table in front of her, she checked her signal again making sure that if someone called that it would ring.

  She didn’t know why she was stressing about missing a call. It wasn’t as if she had even thought to give Leo her number. Winter might have his number since he was close with Will, but the idea of calling Winter made her cringe a bit. That was a whole can of worms that she didn’t really want to open over the phone while the guys were out fighting fires and possibly saving lives. It wasn’t that she was hiding Leo from her best friend. It was just that there would need to be quite a bit of explaining, and since Jasmine wasn’t really sure what was happening herself…well, it was just easier to wait until they had beer and time to go over all of it. Keeping with that line of thought though meant that Jasmine had no idea how to find out if Leo was okay on the job tonight. Jasmine thought for a moment before deciding to text Winter to see if she had an update on the fire.

  Are you up?

  Jasmine had barely sat the phone back down on her lap before it vibrated with an incoming text message.

  Yeah, everything ok?

  Jasmine thought for a second how she should answer, while clicking her tongue against her teeth. The light sounded loud in the quiet house. Winter had no idea that Jasmine had left with Leo from the engagement party. With Jasmine’s decision to text Winter, she basically opened the can of worms she had been trying to save for a later date.

  Yeah. I’m at Leo’s place. We were hooking up when he got the call about the fire. I’m worried now.

  Jasmine turned the volume down on the TV, as if silencing the commercials would help her nerves right now.

  Really? That’s not something I would have expected to hear. Jack texted a bit ago from the station. Guys are alright but going to be gone all night. Fire doesn’t want to die so don’t plan on Leo getting home any earlier than the morning. Welcome to my life.

  Morning? Holy shit, it was only eleven. Were the guys going to be able to stay alert to fight this fire until morning? That little tidbit gave Jasmine something completely new to worry about.

  Thanks for the info. I’m a wreck. How do you do this?

  Jasmine was waiting for Winter to reply when her phone vibrated with an incoming call. When Winter’s name and goofy picture flashed on the screen, she didn’t hesitate to hit ‘answer’.

  “How the hell do you deal with this every time his phone rings?” Jasmine asked, her voice sounding as weary as she felt.

  “I just do. I guess it helps that he was a firefighter when we met so I knew what I was getting into. It doesn’t make it easy, but I deal with it the best I can.” Winter crunched on something as she spoke.

  “Are you eating popcorn?”

  “Ummm…yeah, I guess you could say that is one way I deal with the calls from the station too. I make sure that I have the cupboard stocked at all times so I can stress eat.”

  “That sounds healthy,” Jasmine pointed out dryly. “Wait, are you at home? What happened to your suite at the hotel?”

  “Meh, I didn’t want to stay in the suite if Will wasn’t going to be there to help dirty it up,” Winter answered as she crunched some more.

  “Seriously though, didn’t you just say that you couldn’t gain any weight if you wanted to get the dress you had your heart set on?”

  “Hey! I’ve been dealing with situations just like tonight for months. Months! I’m trying to grow my nails out for the wedding so I’ve turned to salty snacks to keep me from chewing them off. That dress will fit if I have to get Aunt Peggy to sew my ass into it!”

  Jasmine shot an understanding glance at the half-empty bowl of M&Ms, which had been completely full on the side table when she had taken residence on the couch a couple of hours earlier.

  “Why can’t we be the type of people who work out when we’re stressed?” Jasmine asked while reaching for another handful.

  “I don’t think those people actually exist,” Winter argued. “I think that is an urban legend started by exercise companies to get people to buy their work out products. Whenever I exercise, all I end up doing is being sweaty, tired and sore.”

  “Maybe it’s the exhaustion that’s supposed to be replacing the stress,” Jasmine offered, letting the colorful candy shells melt in her mouth.

  “Meh, I’m still calling shenanigans.” Winter crunched some more letting an easy silence come over the call.

  “So,” Jasmine said after a minute or two of quiet.

  “You and Leo?” Winter said, obviously curious at how that had happened.

  “Yeah, me and Leo.” Jasmine sighed pushing the candy dish as far away from her as she could without getting up. “I didn’t realize that the best man was a boy I grew up with.”

  “Wait, what now? Do I need more popcorn for this?”

  Jasmine grinned feeling more relaxed the longer she spoke to her best friend. “You might. Leo, or Leonard as I knew him before, is the son of our old housekeeper. We were kind of raised together…kind of.”

  “I’m so confused right now. I thought your parents’ housekeeper was Crystal and a lesbian.”

  “Janet was our housekeeper while I was little until I went off to college. That’s who Leo’s mom is. Crystal didn’t start until about five years ago and, yes, she is a lesbian.” Jasmine laughed silently at the memory of Crystal asking if Winter was single the first time she had attended dinner at the Kingsford house.

  “I thought so. It seemed weird that she always wants to help me put my napkin on my lap when your parents have those fancy dinners. So, you hadn’t seen him since high school? Did you guys date? How did you react when you saw him tonight? I always thought he was dreamy…not as hot as Will, but still hot as fuck. What exactly happened tonight? How big is he?”

  “Yes, no, I almost swallowed my tongue, and I know Will looks like Captain America but I think Leo is just a tiny bit hotter. We kissed and he saw my flamingo bikini bottoms and then the call came. I’m not telling you that until you spill the beans on Will.” Jasmine ticked off answers in a rapid-fire response.

  “Will is totally hotter than Leo, but I will agree to disagree on that one and y
our flamingo what?” Winter snorted a laugh already knowing what was coming, considering that she had been Jasmine’s roommate for so long.

  “Laundry day is tomorrow so you know what that means.” Jasmine reached for the bowl of candy again before she could stop herself. “At least I was wearing these and not my period panties.”

  Winter let loose a loud and obnoxious laugh from her end of the call. The sound forced Jasmine to move the phone away from her ear and roll her eyes at her friend laughing at her.

  “You’re supposed to be my best friend, bitch,” Jasmine pointed out while chomping on the candy in her mouth.

  “Oh God, can you imagine his face if you had been wearing the granny panties?” Winter chortled. “Will won’t even touch mine in the drawer we share if he sees them.”

  “Dudes are pussies.”

  “They really are.”

  At those words, the two of them started laughing again.

  “I feel a little better now,” Jasmine admitted.

  “Good, so tell me about Leo growing up. Did he pull your pigtails? Put frogs in your bed? Wait, was he your first?”

  “No, he didn’t do any of that. It’s actually kind of sad really.”

  “Why?” Winter questioned between crunches.

  “He ignored me. Like as in I didn’t exist to him. I would say hi; he would pretend I wasn’t there. Imagine hot Leo as a hot teenager and you can imagine how much that broke my little pimple-faced heart.”

  “That is sad…but at least adult Jazz has the attention of the grown up hot Leo.”

  “Meh, but just my luck though that a fire call comes through, right? I mean, yeah, I guess I feel better knowing that he was all set to see what was beneath my flamingos but teen Jasmine cried some real tears over Leo back then.”

  “That does suck.”

  Jasmine sighed. “You know what?”