by Brynn Hale
I tear my mouth from hers. “Fuck…” My control is non-existent with this amazing and sure woman.
She slows the friction. I dig my hands into her hair as she kisses the way down my body.
Her lips slide along my skin, sensitizing every inch. And without warning, her mouth engulfs my cock, slipping inches deep into her throat. My tortured grunts echo the room as I rock my hips without thought. I love what she does to me.
She continues, showing me she can take all eight inches deep. She can handle all of me. And it makes my body rocket into the sky.
Her mouth sucks while her hand jacks the lower half of the hard flesh.
“Gem, about thirty seconds and I’ll be over…” I tangle my hands in her hair.
She crawls up my body. “I’m dripping for you.” She reaches back and rubs my cock from her hot pussy to her clit. “Oh, God…” She does it again and her body quakes.
“Ready, babe?”
“Only if you are…”
“I’ve been ready for you my whole life, Gemma Thornton.”
She lowers onto my cock, impaling herself and slowly uniting us into one. Rocking her body, introducing my cock into her pussy, inch by inch. I meet her with small thrusts.
My hands cup those round globes and I roll her nipples in my fingers.
“Oh, Bax…”
I can feel her wet, firm clit rubbing between us on every thrust.
“I want to feel you come hard, Gem. Come for me babe.”
She pushes to her fingertips on my chest and pauses. I take the moment to sit up and I claim her mouth. Our chests press together, and I can feel her body flutter along my cock.
“Bax…I…I…”
I move my lips to her ear. “Gemma, I love you so fucking much.” I fill in the blanks for her.
“How’d you know?”
“Because there’s no other woman in the world I’d run ten flights of stairs for, without a fire or emergency being involved.”
She laughs. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that.”
I shake my head. “Don’t be. It told me that I was part of the family. And that I’d do anything for you, including making you come so hard you scream my name.” I thrust deep and hard.
She presses her head into the crook of my neck as her body rocks faster with me.
I grunt, holding out for her and when she screams out my name, I drive faster. Her body pulls me in deeper and pulses around my cock. I plant deep inside of her and release everything I have into her body.
Our chests rise and fall quickly in unison.
“Gemma?”
“Yeah…”
“Stay with me…”
“Forever, Bax.”
Chapter Six
Gemma
It’s been two weeks since I met Baxter. We’ve kept our relationship quiet, but I think that some of the company knows. The two weeks have been really quiet around the station. Too quiet. It’s never good to be too busy in this line of work, but it’s worse when you get complacent and comfortable with no calls because the next call will always feel that much bigger and harsher.
Keegan and his wife, Bryar, bring their beautiful new baby into the station in the evening. The sunset dipping as I rock him back and forth and he coos up at me.
“We almost named him Baxter,” Bryar says to Bax and he smiles.
Keegan wraps his arms around his wife from behind. “But he’s definitely a Brayden.”
“He’s adorable.” I snuggle in close, getting all the baby smells I can.
I look up at Bax. His eyes are soft and he’s taking it all in. I know what he’s thinking because I’m thinking it too. This is something I want. I want to hold a piece of both of us in my arms.
And yet, the Universe has other plans than me getting my ovaries kicked into high gear. The alarms sound. I hand Brayden back and Keegan covers his son’s ears as they walk from the bay and we all suit up in our bunker gear and are out of the station in less than three minutes.
Riley’s com comes on. “Warehouse fire. Five trapped on the first floor.”
My heart pounds as I look across the back at Bax. It’s hard knowing the person you want most in life puts themselves in constant danger. Whether it be toxic fumes, unstable environments, or exploding surroundings, there’s always something to be fearful of and some might think us crazy for ignoring the fears.
But it’s what we have to do.
I say the firefighter’s prayer: When I am called to duty, God wherever flames may rage, give me strength to save a life, whatever be its age…
When I finish boot tips tap on top of mine.
He feels it, too.
Maybe Velma’s right. This is too hard.
When it’s just one person, that person can downplay the danger. When it’s both of you, you know what can and does happen. What might happen. What will someday happen.
Someday one of you will be in true physical danger. And he’s already faced that day, he doesn’t deserve a second one.
No one does.
We arrive and the place is engulfed in flames.
“Do we have a ten on where they’re at?” I grab the rotary saw. Riley grabs the JOL—jaws of life.
“Northwest corner. Their phone line went dead two minutes ago.”
Shit.
A guy runs up to us. “Please, hurry, I know where they are and I know that building. I can help.” I throw him some protective gear and he slips it on. We take off on a jog as the other firefighters run lines for water. Another company arrives and puts up a ladder to get a bird’s-eye view.
Constantly things are exploding inside the building and my nerves pop with every sound.
I don’t look back. Whatever Bax is doing is what he needs to do. This is what we need to do.
Lieutenant Boscoe follows on our heels after he directs the others.
Riley strikes up her machine and I do the same.
They’ve popped out a small vent in the wall and hands are waving from it, calling out for help.
“Move back!”
We try to pick a place where we think will work, directed by the worker, and hope for the best. There are lots of possibilities for injury. There could be electrical lines inside. There could be water lines. There could be fire. There could be chemicals. And the sparks that the machine gives off could ignite fumes and liquids.
I place the rotating blade to the wall and it screams through the metal. It always feels like it’s taking too long, but it’s the best option we have. I pull back out and I hear screaming inside, my heart clenches.
“What?” Boscoe calls into his radio as it crackles in my ear something about missing firefighter.
He pulls Riley away as I go back to the metal.
I continue and after two vertical cuts I can see into the building a little. People are on the other side, still alive. I make a horizontal cut, hoping the twenty-inches will be wide enough for all of them to file out. Riley starts pulling back one side as I finish the final cut. I get my hands in there and pull, the metal crumpling to the ground like a slice of cheese, acting like a ramp.
The first of four come out.
“Where’s Mike?” the guy who was with us asks one of the workers.
“He decided to try going through to the front. We told him not to.”
I set the machine on the ground and turn on my self-contained breathing apparatus. It has at least 30 minutes of air. I check my PASS—personal alert safety system.
“I’m going in.”
Riley’s face pales. “Bax and Kelton went in a side and he hasn’t been heard from since. They just got Kelton out, but…”
My whole body feels like paper—light and like it could float away into the heavens.
I nod. “I’ll be back.” I can’t think about Bax. I have a civilian to think about right now. He’s not trained. Bax is trained. I believe in him.
I slip through into the dark interior, dropping and crawling along. The smoke creates a thick grey fog. It’s almost impossib
le to see anything more than two inches in front of my face. I move slowly, shuffling my arms and legs. A loud crash on the other side of the building shakes the ground.
“Mike?!”
I hear grunting coming from close by.
“Help…me.” it’s faint, but it’s near. I search the area and I run into something soft, a pantleg.
I slip my hands under his armpits and pull him backward in the direction of the pulsing light from the engines coming through the opening in the wall. He didn’t get too far before the smoke incapacitated him. His hands reach to mine and I know he’ll be okay.
I get to the door and Boscoe helps me carry the gentleman to the ambulance.
“Any sign of Baxter?” I ask.
“No. And his PASS stopped working.” Obviously Boscoe doesn’t know our connection or maybe he does and he’s just giving the harsh facts as he knows them.
And man, are they harsh. I steady my emotions.
Without his personal locater, it’s almost impossible to find him in that smokey fog.
“How’s the suppression going?” I ask about taking out the fire.
“It’s almost out but there are a lot of chemicals in there that are dangerous. I can’t risk sending anyone in.”
I gasp for air in my mask.
Boscoe’s face tightens. “Thornton, what’s wrong?”
“I have to go in, Lieutenant.”
“You can’t.”
“I have to.”
“You’ll be off the force before you’re back out.”
“I don’t care. I love him.”
Boscoe’s head tips. “Gemma…”
“I know! I know we’re not supposed to fall in love with each other! But we did! Now is not the time.”
He holds up a finger to take a call from the Chief.
I head off. Riley shakes her head at me but turns her back.
In seconds, I’m through the hole I cut. I know my way for the first twenty-five feet. The building’s clearing a little.
“Bax!” I call out, knowing that he can’t hear if he’s more than five feet from me.
The smoke rolls in plumes and billows around me and I try to keep my wits and remember how I got here.
“Bax!”
“Gem…” I hear the faint call, or I want to hear it. Either way it keeps me going. I jump when something explodes toward the front from the heat. Probably an aerosol can. Other substances hiss into the air.
“Bax?” I swallow the lump in my throat. “Baxter Mills, fucking answer me!”
I hear moaning and then I run into a piece of metal.
A shelving unit has toppled. Probably the sound from earlier.
“Gem…” I hear his voice.
He’s under the shelves. I start pulling items away frantically.
More cans and items explode around us. The heat sinking through my protective suit. Something is bound to explode and ignite the chemical laden air soon.
I get to the actual shelves and they’re massive. Some homemade creation that’s mostly steel—heavy as fuck.
I lift and he tries to move, but a buckle is caught. I reach down and flick the buckle off, releasing his breathing equipment.
Shit.
His helmet rises and I see the fear in his eyes. That blue turns a swirling gray. “Just leave.”
“No. Not without you.”
“Gem…it’s okay.”
A burst of flames cuts through the building above our heads, the gasses that have risen enflame in the heat.
“Shit!” I pull on the shelves again. “I’m not leaving you.”
He tries to move again. “My leg’s broken. Just fucking go. I can’t watch you die.”
I bend my knees and lift the structure further. “Fucking move, you stubborn ass!”
He drags his body forward with grunts and pain-stricken moans. “I’m out…I’m out.”
I reach down and his equipment crashes behind him as he rises, the airline tear hissing.
We have to get out. I pull my line from my mask to share.
“Bax, take a breath.”
His legs shuffle, the one broken, severely. “Gemma. Please, we both won’t make it.”
“Move those fucking legs.”
He shakes his head. “I can’t. I’m sorry. You have to—”
And in the blink of an eye, I shove my shoulder into his stomach and wrap him across my shoulders. He grunts.
“What the hell do you…” but his voice trails off and I know that he’s out. I have only seconds to get him out and to fresh air and help.
I shuffle back the way I came, trying to remember every step, every item on the ground that I bumped into. Soon I feel like I’m lost. Everything is hazed and seems the same. But I keep moving and I see a flashing red light in the distance.
Boscoe is beaming a signal flare light through the opening to get my attention.
I don’t have air now, so I’m struggling, but I make it to the opening and slowly lower Bax from my shoulder, but his ragdoll body crashes backward into Boscoe’s waiting arms.
He shakes his head. “You are relieved of duty, Miss Thornton. The Chief is waiting to take you back to the station.”
And my dreams come crashing down, along with the ceiling inside of the building.
It all comes crashing down.
Chapter Seven
Baxter
I pinch my eyes closed and then flick them open. Bright lights. Quiet. But there’s a soft blanket wrapped around me. The sounds of machines beeping and clicking get my attention.
I’m alive. Because of her.
But is she okay?
I look around and my eyes land on a person sleeping in the corner.
I clear my throat. “Boscoe…Boscoe!”
He opens one eye and the other, untwining his arms from his chest. “Hey…Mills. Good to hear your voice.”
“Where’s Gemma?”
He stands up and stretches his long lanky body before stepping to the railing on my right side. “She’s been reprimanded for not following orders and…” He leans over the railing. “She’s been transferred to Lake City.”
That’s a suburb of Boston south of Passion Point.
I don’t know what to say.
“And what’s my punishment?” I ask.
He sighs. “She took it all, so you get nothing.”
“That’s not fucking fair. I went in and got trapped, not her. She saved me.”
“Life isn’t fair, we both know this plainly. Just when you think you’re going to be okay, shit goes south. Be thankful.”
I try to sit up, but pain shoots through my leg. “How long have I been out?”
“Three days. They had you sedated for the first two because of surgery to fix your leg.”
I look down and it’s caged. “How many fractures?”
“Four.”
Shit.
“Will I walk?”
He pushes off the raised bar. “You’ll have to talk to the doc.”
“Has Gemma been here?”
He shakes his head. “The Captain asked her not to, but I think she stopped in while I was at lunch.” He runs a hand through his hair. “A TV station caught the whole thing. He’s trying to keep the department out of the news.”
“Fucking great.”
“I have contacts there and they’ve assured me that they won’t run the footage.”
I blow out a long breath. “My phone?”
“Broken in the call.”
“Figures.”
Ten days later I’m released from the hospital. I had internal injuries, too that Boscoe knew nothing about. My kidneys decided to take a vacation for a couple of days, and it was touch and go if I’d need dialysis, but I did everything they said to do and they turned course.
And now I’m back on leave for another twelve weeks.
Boscoe, his wife Jess, Kelton and his girlfriend Reese, and Keegan and Bryar start a rotation to take care of me and I couldn’t feel less capable if I tried.
Reese sends food from her restaurant on a daily basis and if I don’t get up and moving soon, I’m going to have an extra few pounds.
The doorbell rings with the next food order.
“It’s open,” I call out from a recliner that another coworker brought over. Apparently, his girlfriend decided it didn’t go with their décor and I need it more than he does. It does do a good job of keeping my leg propped up.
The door opens slowly and green eyes drag me to the woman walking through. I sit up and quickly remember that I can cross the room to her. I’m trapped.
“Gemma… hey…it’s good to see you.”
“Hey, Mills.”
And that’s when I know it. She’s calling me by my firefighter name. Detachment coats the two words.
She holds up a bag. “Brought you some food. BFD.”
Big fucking deal?
Then my brain catches up. Breakfast for dinner.
A peace offering to ease the pain.
“Thanks. I’m not hungry right now. Can we talk?”
“Yeah, let me put this away.”
While she’s in the kitchen, I rub my hands down my face. How can I fix this? How can I make it better? This woman is mean to be mine.
She sits on the couch. “How are you?”
“Better. Less pain, less meds, more sleep and more clarity.”
“You painting?” she smiles as she looks at what’s on the end table next to me.
I chuckle. “It’s a joke, but yeah, I am.” I hold up the watercolor by numbers book that’s for a child. The picture of a kitten half painted. “Boscoe brought it over when he saw the painting equipment in the kitchen, thinking it was funny, but it’s actually doing the job. My brain feels like it’s enough for now, until I can get back to my easels and acrylics later.”
“That’s good.”
“Gemma, I’m so sorry about what happen—”
“It’s for the best. We both knew it was bound to end. It’s not easy being involved with someone who isn’t a firefighter, but another company member, it’s twice as hard.”
“I still love you.” I reach for her and she reaches out.
She squeezes my hand. “I know. But it was too hard to see you in that bed. It was too hard to see you broken and I’m afraid the next time they won’t be able to put you back together. And then I wouldn’t be whole again, too.”
