All Consuming

by Burton, Jaci

  Or maybe this was all some fantasy concocted by her sex-soaked brain, and it all just felt like she was on another level with him in this moment because he’d wrung everything out of her.

  But then he pushed her onto her back and made eye contact with her as he moved within her. And the way he looked at her, his eyes so clear, the emotion so present, she was sure it wasn’t a fantasy, and she was certain what she felt was way more than sex.

  He grasped her hand as he began to drive harder, and she lost all sense of reality. All she could think about was reaching the climax. And when it hit, she didn’t close her eyes or bury her face in his shoulder. She kept focus on his face, letting him see what he’d done to her, letting him see how she felt in the moment. And when he came, he looked at her and she could swear he’d bared everything to her right then.

  It was a heart-hitting power she’d never experienced before, something she felt deep in her soul.

  It had been magical.

  Kal collapsed on top of her and rolled over, pulling her next to him. He caressed her hair, stroked her back and kissed her face for the longest time. It was as if he had felt the same kind of power that she had felt in their lovemaking.

  Or, maybe, just maybe, she had made it all up in her head and it had meant nothing at all, that it had just been sex. All she knew was she wanted to stay like this—with him—for as long as they could. And since Kal didn’t seem to be in any hurry to disengage, she was content.

  But finally, he got up and went into the bathroom to dispose of the condom. When he came back, he stood at the side of the bed.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m sweaty.”

  She smiled. “Me, too.”

  “Shower?” He held out his hand.

  She took his hand, and he helped her out of the bed. “Sounds like a great idea.”

  She followed him into the bathroom and waited while the shower warmed up. Kal looked over at her and gave her his usual sexy half smile.

  Everything was back to normal, as if what she’d thought was some momentous thing hadn’t happened.

  She supposed it had been just sex. Maybe what she’d thought was an extraordinary moment hadn’t been anything at all.

  Which was probably a good thing, because this wasn’t the right time in her life to fall in love anyway.

  After she’d had that long talk with herself tonight about using logic and not emotion, after one excellent night of sex, she’d allowed emotion to enter the picture.

  Just how dumb are you, Hannah?

  Pretty dumb, obviously. Time to right the ship again and let logic take over.

  She was in this for fun. Not love. Fun. And only fun. She was going to keep reminding herself of that until it sank in.

  “You coming in or are you going to hang out in the bathroom all night being sweaty?” Kal asked.

  She took a deep breath and answered. “I’m coming in.”

  But she was going in with her logic armor firmly covering her heart.

  She stepped into the shower with him.

  CHAPTER 19

  KAL CAME OUT OF THE BATHROOM AND STARED DOWN AT the hot, sexy woman asleep in his bed.

  It took some convincing, but he’d gotten Hannah to agree to spend the night with him last night.

  She’d been tired, and frankly so had he. Since they were both off work today, it made sense for her to spend the night. She’d talked to her mom, who said she could take Oliver to school this morning, and Hannah would pick him up after.

  Which meant they could spend at least part of the day together.

  He tossed on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, then went downstairs to grab a cup of coffee. Jackson and Becks were already dressed and down there.

  “Where are you two headed today?” he asked.

  “We’re going out to breakfast, then running some errands,” Jackson said. “And we’ll hit the grocery store since it’s our week.”

  “Okay.”

  “I have a list a mile long,” Becks said. “And there’s a couple of wedding things I want to look at.”

  Kal noted the way Jackson smiled over at Becks.

  “Sure, babe,” Jackson said.

  Becks looked happy. Kal liked seeing her happy. And in love with his brother.

  She slung her backpack over her shoulder. “We’ll probably see you tonight, Kal. Say goodbye to Hannah for us.”

  He grabbed his coffee and leaned against the counter. “Will do. Have a good day.”

  He knew that Becks and Jackson were aware that Hannah spent the night. Nothing happened around this house that everyone else didn’t know about. Which got him to thinking about Jackson and Becks getting married.

  It had been different for Rafe and Carmen. They’d gotten a house of their own. They could have their married-people privacy without having a third wheel underfoot. Maybe it was time he moved out so Jackson and Becks could have their space. Hannah had alluded to it, and now that he’d had some time to think about it, it was starting to make sense.

  “Hey, you left me.”

  He looked up to see Hannah leaning against the railing. She was wearing one of his firefighter T-shirts that hung all the way past her thighs. Her hair was messy from sleep, and she was the hottest woman he’d ever laid eyes on. The way she smiled down at him stirred both physical and emotional things inside of him that were way too deep to think about on a Monday morning.

  “I needed coffee and didn’t want to wake you.”

  “I’m awake now. And I definitely need coffee. Should I get dressed first?”

  He shook his head. “Jackson and Becks left for the day.”

  She came downstairs and got on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. “Mmm. You taste like coffee. Where’s mine?”

  “Coming up.” He brewed her a fresh cup and handed it to her. “Cream is in the fridge, sugar on the island.”

  “Thanks.” She went to the refrigerator and poured a small amount of cream in hers, put the cream back and stood facing the fridge while she took her first couple of sips.

  “I thought we might—”

  She held out her hand, palm facing toward him to silence him, then took another couple of sips before she headed over and climbed onto one of the chairs at the island. “You always this cheery and talkative in the morning?” she half grumbled.

  “It’s not like you don’t know me.” Kal grinned at her.

  “I knew you at school. That’s not first thing in the morning.”

  “Ohhkay, and you’re not a morning person. Obviously.”

  “I’m a delightful person—after I’ve had a cup of coffee.”

  “Duly noted.” He went quiet and climbed onto the chair next to hers, trying not to notice how his shirt had ridden up on her, showing off her amazing legs. Instead, he grabbed his phone and checked the news and weather for the day, giving Hannah the space she needed. He noticed she drained her cup and went to the Keurig to make another.

  After taking a few more sips, she asked, “Where did Jackson and Becks go off to?”

  “Breakfast. Then to run errands and do stuff for the day. They weren’t too specific. I think some wedding planning things were part of the day.”

  “That could be fun. For Becks.”

  “I dunno. I think Jackson is really into all the wedding planning.”

  “Really? I’m surprised. He doesn’t strike me as the type to want to get involved.”

  “He loves all things Becks, and he wants to marry her. So if she’s excited about wedding planning, he will be, too.”

  “Aww. That’s sweet. How about you?”

  “The wedding? I’ll be there for both of them.”

  “No, not theirs. Your own someday. Will you be as excited about it?”

  He shrugged. “Depends on the woman I marry, I imagine.”

  She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean if I’m heart and soul, head over heels in love, and she’s the be-all and end-all of my existence? Then yeah. I’ll be into it.�
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  She laughed. “What other woman would you marry, Kal? Some chick you met when you swiped right on Tinder?”

  “Hey. It could happen. People who met on Tinder have gotten married.”

  “Really? You know this for a fact?”

  “Well, no. But I’m sure it’s happened. It has to have happened.”

  “Not a single person I know of has ever met a decent match on a dating app. Most men are only looking for a hookup.”

  “Not true. I’ve met women on dating apps. And went out with them.”

  “And subsequently had sex with them, right?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “I thought so. And since you’re not currently in the process of marrying any of them, I rest my case.”

  He rolled his eyes. “You can’t damn an entire dating app based on my history. I was out for fun. And, for your information, so were the women I dated.”

  “And you know this to be true, how?”

  “I put in my profile I wanted fun, not forever.”

  She gave him a scathing look. “Aren’t you just the most charming asshole? So you set the women up at the beginning not to fall in love with you. Or else, right?”

  “Hey, I was being honest. I wasn’t in a place to be in a relationship at the time I was on those dating apps. I figured being up-front and clear with anyone I met was the right thing to do. Tell me that’s a bad thing.”

  Now Hannah was the one who went silent.

  He reached out to grasp her hand, but she pulled it away.

  “Hannah.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Talk to me, Hannah. Tell me what you’re thinking right now.”

  She took in a breath and let it out, then swiveled her chair around to face him. “What about now? How are you feeling about dating now?”

  “You mean with you?”

  She nodded, and he read the uncertainty on her face. Did she really think he was comparing her—them—to what he’d been doing four or five years ago?

  Then again, she hadn’t been in his life then. She’d known nothing about what his life was like in his early to mid-twenties. Or anything after they’d broken up when they were eighteen until now. Ten years was a long gap.

  “After I . . . got over you, I partied my ass off in college. I met a lot of girls. But I also studied my ass off, too. My parents wanted each of us to get a degree, even though it’s not required to apply to be a firefighter. So while I had a lot of opportunities back then, I didn’t take as many as you might think. I mostly hung out with my friends.

  “After college, I applied to the Fire Academy. Once I got in, I put everything I had into making it through that first probationary year. Not only to prove myself worthy as a firefighter, but to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid to disgrace the Donovan name. So while I dated, I didn’t want to get serious about anyone—not when I couldn’t put a hundred percent of my focus on a woman. It wouldn’t have been fair to them when all of my efforts were going into becoming a firefighter.”

  Hannah was listening with interest. Not judgement. So he continued.

  “It wasn’t until the past couple of years that I’d say I’ve done any long-term dating. My first and only serious relationship was with you, Hannah. And if that makes me an asshole for being honest with the women I went out with, then I guess I’m an asshole.” He shrugged.

  She reached out and swept her palm against his cheek. “You’re not an asshole. And I’m sorry I said that. I guess I just had some different experiences with guys on those dating apps.”

  “I’m not surprised. A lot of guys on those sites are assholes. I just don’t happen to be one of them.”

  “I’m sorry. Again. Sometimes I react instead of thinking things through. It’s my worst fault. Forgive me?”

  He took her hand, flipped it over and kissed her palm. “Forgiven.”

  “You know, I always had it in my mind that you were sleeping your way through the entire state after I left.”

  He laughed. “No. That’s not how it went down. For a long time I kind of just . . . wallowed.”

  She tilted her head to the side. “Wallowed?”

  “I missed you, Hannah. I took our breakup pretty hard.”

  “You broke up with me, remember?”

  “Yeah. And I felt shitty about it. But staying together wouldn’t have worked, and we both knew it. Doesn’t mean leaving you was easy.”

  She gave him a sympathetic look. “It wasn’t easy for me, either. And then I rebounded with Landon. He was supposed to be my escape, my ticket to freedom, and well, we know how that ended up.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Not your fault. My choices were my own, and I’ve had to live with the consequences of them. I’ve also left them in the past.”

  “Not me, though.”

  She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I was part of your past. But you haven’t left me there. The exceptional part of your past.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, okay, sure. Most of my past has been left behind. Except for you.”

  “Good enough. Hey, how about we go out for breakfast?”

  “That sounds good. I need to make a stop at home to change first, if you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  He went upstairs to put other clothes on, then they drove to her place. He was surprised it only took her ten minutes. She came out of her room wearing jeans, a white button-down shirt and white tennis shoes, her hair pulled up into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. She’d scrubbed her face, and she looked fresh and unmade-up, with only gloss on her lips.

  “You remind me of high school,” he said.

  She flipped her head to the side. “What?”

  “No makeup, tennis shoes, your hair pulled back. You look exactly the same as you did when we were in high school. Fresh and beautiful.”

  She stepped forward and smoothed her hands over his chest. “That might be the nicest compliment any man has ever given me.” She raised up and kissed him.

  Her kiss was a soft caress across his lips. He let her lead, and when she wanted more, he opened, her tongue slipping inside. When she grabbed hold of his tongue and sucked, his cock went instantly hard. The kiss was hot and passionate and demanding. He grabbed her butt and drew her against him so he could rub his aching erection against the softness of her body.

  She moaned, then pushed at him and stepped away, taking his hand and leading him into the living room.

  “Sit on the sofa,” she said.

  He wasn’t about to argue with her, especially if that meant they could get more comfortable and make out some more.

  “Undo your pants.”

  He blinked. Okay, more than making out. He was down for that. He undid his pants.

  “Drop them to your ankles.”

  Now it was getting even better. He shrugged out of his pants and boxer briefs and slid them down. He expected Hannah to get naked, but instead, she got on her knees in front of him, spreading his legs apart so she could crawl between them.

  His balls quivered at the sight of her sliding her fingers over his thighs, lifting his shirt and smoothing her hands over his skin.

  “Babe,” he whispered, but that was all he could manage because she took his cock in her hand and began to stroke his length. He kind of forgot to breathe because all he could do was watch the way her hand slid up and down on his shaft, her thumb rolling over the crest, teasing so softly he thought he might die from it.

  And then she leaned over, tilted her head to look up at him and smiled in the most wickedly sexy way, right before she took him in her mouth. His cock disappeared inch by inch into her warm, wet mouth, her tongue swirling over his flesh as she took him to heaven with torturous licks and sucks. He tensed up and grabbed hold of the couch cushions to keep from blowing his load right then and there.

  He breathed heavily, lifted up to feed more of his cock into her mouth and leaned forward to grab hold of her hair—one, to
keep it off her face, and two, because he had to be able to see the beauty of her mouth moving, to see what he was feeling.

  It was good. So damn good. And he was about to lose it, because she had taken him all the way in, and he was going to come.

  “Hannah, I’m gonna come.”

  She kept working him, though, reaching under to massage his balls with one hand and using the other to stroke the base of his cock. And there was nothing he could do to stop the explosion now, because he was there, his body jerking in hot spasms as he came with a groan and a hard shudder.

  He fell back against the sofa and lay there, utterly useless and completely satisfied. Hannah kissed his thigh, climbing up his body to press a kiss to his neck and then his mouth.

  She licked her lips and smiled at him. “Be right back.”

  He nodded, only vaguely aware of reality at the moment. His pants were still around his ankles, and he wasn’t even sure what time it was, or what day it was. His brain had gone into a fog.

  Eventually, he managed his bearings and got up, got dressed and went into the guest bathroom to clean up a little. When he came out, Hannah was in the kitchen going through her purse. He went over to her and turned her to face him.

  He planted a long, deep kiss on her lips, then said, “Thank you for that.”

  “Oh, it was my pleasure.”

  “Definitely mine, too. Are you sure I can’t return the favor before we go?”

  She patted his arm. “I’d love that, but maybe later, because my stomach is telling me I’m hungry.”

  He couldn’t argue with that, so they got in his truck and headed a few miles down the road to a restaurant. Hannah ordered a mushroom and spinach frittata, and Kal decided he wanted the standard bacon and eggs, along with pancakes.

  When the food arrived, Hannah snagged a bite of his pancake.

  She shrugged. “I needed something sweet.”