by Pandora Pine
I didn’t like the sound of that at all. “So, all of those earlier fires could have been a test run of sorts?”
“I think so. He was testing out different ways to start fires, how long it took things to burn. How long it took for the Gloucester Fire Department to respond. I have a feeling once you start digging into the research, you’ll be the one to find these patterns.” Kennedy wore a guarded look on his face.
“What is it? What aren’t you telling me?”
An unexpected smile burst over his face. “I like you, kid. While I appreciate the promotion and extra responsibilities Ozzy is giving you, like I said earlier, this could also put you in the line of fire. No pun intended.”
I had a feeling this was as close to an admission of his feelings for me as Kennedy was going to get right now. I could live with that. “I appreciate your concern. No one has ever cared about me the way that you do.”
“I might not be very good at talking about my feelings, but don’t mistake that for me not having any for you. Now that we’ve sort of worked things out between us, I’m anxious to see where things go.”
So was I. “I’ll drink to that.” With a clink of our bottles of beer, the conversation was over. What I wanted most right now, was to dig into this ribeye.
27
Kennedy
“Spend the night with me,” Gunnar whispered from behind me. I was drying the dishes he’d just washed. His arms wrapped around my middle and I felt his face rest against my back.
“What did you want to do if I say yes?” I slipped the plates into the cupboard before turning to face him. There were a few things I could think of to help pass the time.
“Oh, you know, I thought maybe we could play Scrabble.” Gunnar poked me in the ribs before he started tugging my shirt up.
“Scrabble? You mean the game where you make words with wooden tiles?” I was going to play with wood, alright, but there wouldn’t be a board game involved.
“Uh, huh.” Gunnar managed to yank my shirt over my head. “You’ve already got a Triple Word Score waiting for me.”
“I do?” I loved playing innocent like this.
“Right here.” He cupped my package, giving it a gentle squeeze. Before I knew what was happening, he was unzipping my cargo shorts and pulling them down past my erection.
I’d gone commando tonight because I hadn’t done any laundry. Can’t say I regretted that move one bit when his thick lips enveloped me. His tongue toyed with my slit before he started sucking my head like a pacifier. “Slow down. Slow down. You’re gonna make me come.”
Gunnar smiled around his mouthful and took me deeper into his throat. He gagged as I hit the back of his throat. With tears leaking from his eyes, he lashed his tongue against my dick bringing me closer and closer to the edge.
If Gunnar didn’t seem to mind going fast and furious, neither did I. My hands landed in his soft coppery hair, with my fingers digging in against his scalp. It was my turn now. Hitching my hips backward, I pulled myself back and nearly out of his mouth. Gunnar whimpered in response. I wasn’t going anywhere. “You ready for me?”
His eyes widened. He moaned this time and nodded his head.
That was good enough for me. Digging my fingers a little more tightly against his head, I set a punishing pace, making sure my dick hit the back of his throat every third or fourth stroke. Gunnar’s eyes stayed wide, glittering with unshed tears from my dick gagging him. His own hands clutched at my ass to help him keep his balance and stay upright instead of impaling himself on my cock.
Gunnar’s sexy moans vibrating against my dick were bringing me closer and closer to exploding in his mouth. Drool escaped from the corners of his lips, making him look all the more sexy.
With my lower back tingling, I knew this was it. Feeling my come rise, I shouted out for Gunnar, whose green eyes had darkened to almost black. He wanted this as badly as I did. My dick twitched in his mouth before it started to spurt. Gunnar’s eyes rolled shut. His throat worked overtime trying to keep up with my load. I slipped my cock out of his mouth and let the last few week spurts splash against his cheek and lips. Seeing him wear my mark like that was almost enough to get me ready for round two. I had absolutely no doubt there would be a round two.
With a blissed out look on his face, Gunnar fell backward landing on his ass. He carefully wiped the dregs of my release from his face, sticking his fingers in his mouth and moaning obscenely as he licked himself clean.
“Jesus, kid.” I stumbled into the closest chair, still trying to catch my breath.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Gunnar yanked off his shirt, sliding a hand down his abs and over the sparse fur covering his abs. Within seconds, he was only wearing a pair of red briefs, and sporting a rather impressive bulge. “You know you want this.” He palmed his package wearing a look that said he wanted to eat me whole.
He was right, I did want that, but I wasn’t going to tell him just yet. I was curious to see what his next move would be. I didn’t have long to wait.
Gunnar walked toward me and the chair I was sitting in. He slid into my lap, running his fingers over my shoulders and chest. “You’re so fucking hot.” He was nuzzling my neck while at the same time tweaking my nipples. My dick twitched and made a valiant effort to come back to life. It was going to take much more than this boy teasing me before I would be ready to go again.
To my surprise, Gunnar pushed off my lap and rearranged himself so that instead of sitting across my legs, he was now straddling me. This was more like it. I slid my legs open wider hoping for a little bit of friction.
After giving my collarbone a bit of a bite, Gunnar started rubbing his dick against mine. He was hard and hot against me. Like a gymnast, Gunnar went from sitting over my legs to standing between them. It was a move I never saw coming which put his dick against the side of my face. I could smell the musk of him and needed him in my mouth. Now.
“You like that, don’t you? You’re all rough and tough at work and sometimes you treat me like you’re the boss, but secretly you like it when I take charge. When I put my dick in your face. When I make you suck it.”
“Is that what you’re doing? Making me suck your dick?” I mouthed over his erection, wetting the fabric with my tongue. It clung to him in all the right places. I wanted that hot meat in my mouth, but I was more curious to see what Gunnar was going to do next.
He rubbed his balls against my chin, before using his thumbs to slide his briefs down and over his cock. It sprang free and bumped against my nose and cheek before settling back against his stomach. That little move made my dick sit straight up.
Taking himself in hand, Gunnar rubbed his cock against my lips. Everything inside me wanted to slide my tongue between my lips for a taste of him or even better, open wide so he could stuff himself down my throat. He hadn’t asked for any of those things, so I wasn’t offering. If he wanted to be in charge, he was going to have to be in charge.
“Open up. Take a taste.” Gunnar’s eyes were glazed over, and I hadn’t even touched him yet. I knew he was still riding high on sucking me off.
I wriggled my tongue against his slit. His skin was hot and dewy. Flicking kitten-like licks against his heated flesh, I felt him shiver against me.
“Now,” Gunnar mumbled. “Take my cock.”
“Yes, sir,” I grinned up at him before obeying. I sucked him right down to the root, not giving him a chance to adjust or catch his breath.
Gunnar’s hands grabbed the back of my head, holding me steady. Shoving his cock as deep into my mouth as he could, he stood still for a moment, letting me adjust to having him bumping the back of my throat. I gagged twice, the second time not nearly as bad as the first. I took shallow breaths through my nose. I could feel his dick get that little bit harder on my tongue. I knew how much this was exciting him.
There was one more thing that was guaranteed to push him over the edge. I brushed a dry finger against his hole. Gunnar stiffened against me, sending his d
ick that much further down my throat. He cried out, with his head tipping back, his eyes lifted toward the ceiling. I did it again and was rewarded with Gunnar’s dick twitching and filling my mouth with his sweet cream.
Gunnar didn’t call out my name or a sting of unintelligible curses, he stared down at me, his emerald eyes boring into my own sapphires. It wasn’t until the last weak trickle dripped down my throat that he withdrew.
“Kennedy,” he whispered.
I scooped him up in my arms, resting my head against his. I’d never had such explosive sex with anyone else in my life. Was that because Gunnar was nearly a decade younger than me? Or was it because I was falling in love with him?
28
Gunnar
It had been a boring night at the firehouse. Ozzy gave me shit about Kennedy leaving his cookout early to spend the night with me. I didn’t tell him what happened. I didn’t need to, if the knowing look on his face was anything to go on.
I washed all of the trucks, worked on inventory with Hal Rossi, and helped Ozzy with dinner. The captain had truly outdone himself this time. He’d slow roasted short ribs with pan-fried fingerling potatoes. I’d made the garden salad and helped cut the potatoes. My stomach had been grumbling for the last hour.
When it was finally time to eat, I started with the salad. I grabbed the tongs and set some in my bowl before handing it to Ozzy. I watched the short ribs pass around the table, helping myself to cornbread and potatoes in the meantime. Hal Rossi was passing me the tray when the worst thing possible happened. The fire alarm rang. “Motherfucker!” I muttered under my breath. I heard Ozzy chuckle behind me.
I slid down the fire pole, but it gave me no joy, at least not like it had when Ozzy had shown me how to use it last week for this exact situation. To be honest, I was too amped up to feel any kind of joy at all.
With as much speed as I had, I got into my turnout gear and boarded the engine. This would be the first fire I’d been on shift to assist with. As we drove to the site, I went over Ozzy’s instructions in my head. Watch the crowd. Take pictures if I could. Be vigilant.
“It’s another single-family residence.” Ozzy’s voice came over my headset. “Could be The Scorcher.” The way he said the arsonist’s name was “Scor-cha.” It would have been hilarious to point out how he pronounced one R but not the other if we weren’t speeding toward the scene of another fire.
As we drove with lights and sirens blaring, I couldn’t help but think of Kennedy and how proud he was of me for getting this promotion. As happy for me as he’d been, he’d also warned me to be careful. The arsonist had an agenda and was likely to be more violent if someone tried to interfere with his plans before they’d been carried out to his satisfaction.
From where I was sitting, I spied an orange glow up ahead. I wasn’t much for religion, but I whispered a prayer that the family who lived in the house had gotten out safely.
The house was fully engulfed when the fire engine pulled up. I stayed put, giving Ozzy and his team the time and space they needed to get their equipment out.
Ozzy hurried over to a huddled man and his wife. He spoke to them for a few seconds before waving me over.
“These are the homeowners,” Ozzy shouted over the roar of the fire. “Everyone is out of the house. Find out what you can about how the fire started and if they saw anyone suspicious hanging around the neighborhood before it started.” He didn’t wait for my response, hurrying off to join his team.
“I’m Gunnar. What happened here tonight?” I pulled out my battered notebook, prepared to take notes.
“Jacob Metzger and this is my wife, Heidi. We were sleeping. The baby woke us up screaming.”
It wasn’t until Jacob mentioned a baby that I noticed the bundle in his wife’s arms.
“She doesn’t usually cry like that. Hope has always been a good baby, so I knew there was something wrong,” Heidi swiped at the tears rolling down her face.
“You said the baby woke you up, not the smoke detector?” Come to think of it, as we stood here, I didn’t hear one wailing.
“We only moved in a few months ago. What with the new baby, we didn’t have the time…” Jacob trailed off. A guilty look replaced the terrified one in his eyes. He was realizing a couple of batteries could have been the difference between life and death.
“Did you see anyone in the neighborhood prior to the fire starting. You know, someone who didn’t belong out here?”
The couple looked at each other and shrugged. “We had dinner, fed Hope, gave her a bath, and put her to bed. By the time she was down for the night, Heidi and I zoned out in front of the television. I can’t even tell you what we watched.
Just as Ozzy suspected, a crowd had begun to form around us. I finished jotting down the notes from my conversation with the Metzgers. Before I approached the small group of people, I scanned the crowd. There were three men and four women. All dressed in robes or pajamas, with the exception of one man with a very familiar face. Standing at the back of the crowd was Dillon McMasters. What the hell was he doing here? Was he The Scorcher?
Butterflies rioted in my stomach. I wasn’t quite sure how to approach him. It wasn’t like I could say, “Fancy meeting you here.” Taking a deep breath, I walked over to Dillon. “I didn’t know you were staying in this neighborhood.” It was the best I could do on short notice.
“I’m not staying here,” he sneered. “I heard about the fire on the scanner and wanted to see if Ozzy and his crew were as inept at this fire as they’d been at the one that killed my family.” Dillon was shouting now. Everyone gathered around was staring at him in horror.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jacob Metzger approaching. Christ, this was all I needed, a fight breaking out at the scene of a fire.
“What’s this all about?” Jacob shouted. “Who are you?”
All I was supposed to do was watch the crowd and take pictures, not referee a fight. “This isn’t the time or the place, Mr. McMasters,” I said quietly, hoping he’d take the hint.
“Oh? When is the time and place? My wife is dead! My girls are dead! When exactly are people going to listen to me?”
“I’m so sorry about what happened to your family, Dillon.” I couldn’t help noticing the reddish glow the fire was casting over his grief-stricken face.
A large crash sent a rush of sparks soaring into the night sky. It would have been gorgeous if it hadn’t been caused by a house on fire. For one very disturbing moment, I could understand the beauty in the flames.
The seriousness of the situation crashed into me, in the form of the crowd backing up. The house was fully engulfed now. From where I was standing, I could see Chasten up on the ladder spraying water on the roof.
Someone knocked into me from behind, sending my body crashing into Dillon.
“You dirty son of a bitch!” he roared, swinging a fist in my direction.
I tried to back up, but another shove from the crowd propelled me toward Dillon. His fist smashed into my face and I could have sworn I heard my nose crack. I hit the ground flat on my ass, biting my tongue from the jolt.
I stood up carefully. Everything seemed to be in good working order, other than the pain in my nose. Christ, I hoped it wasn’t broken. Dillon was charging at me again, shouting something I couldn’t make out. The last thing I wanted to do was get into a street brawl with a widower, but I couldn’t just stand here and let the man hit me like that again.
“Baby killer!” Dillon shouted, swinging his fist for the second time.
“That’s enough, Mr. McMasters!” Kennedy grabbed the man’s fist and swung him away from me.
Where the hell had Kennedy come from? One minute, Dillon was punching me in the face, and the next, Kennedy was swooping in like a knight on a white horse. As he dragged the screaming man away, I noticed the blue and white lights from his unmarked SUV. He must have heard the call for Firehouse Three come over the radio and had come to the scene. I assumed he was here to make sure nothing happened
to me. For once, I was glad to have him hover over me like a daddy grizzly bear.
“What the hell is going on here?” Ozzy shouted from behind me.
Christ, here we go. It wasn’t bad enough I’d been punched in the face and Kennedy had to rescue me like a kitten up a tree, now I needed to explain all of this to my boss. “Dillon McMasters showed up. He started shouting about us being baby killers and then he hit me.”
Ozzy grabbed my chin, swinging it back and forth like he was a doctor assessing my condition. “You’ll wake up with two black eyes. Have Rossi look at that nose to make sure it isn’t broken.” He dropped my chin and headed over to Kennedy who was casually leaning against the side of the SUV.
Could this night possibly get any worse?
I looked toward the house and saw the fire was out. Chasten was climbing down from the ladder. To my left were the Metzgers and their little girl. They were holding each other while the other firefighters searched for any remaining hot spots.
“Come with me.” Hal Rossi grabbed my elbow from behind. “Rumor has it you caught one off the nose.”
“Something like that,” I muttered, following him back toward the ambulance. Shit! I hadn’t even gotten any pictures of the crowd. “Dillon McMasters hit me.”
“McMasters? Wasn’t that man from the fire where…” Hal’s eyes widened. “Jesus, do you think he set this fire?”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Maybe his own family had been the target all along. He could have set the other fires as a way of throwing investigators off his trail.
I needed to talk to Ozzy. After Hal had a look at my nose.
29
Kennedy
I didn’t know who I was angrier at, Ozzy for giving Gunnar this ridiculous assignment or at the kid for taking it.
