“We’ve got to get to them,” I tell Gunner.
“We’re trying, but all our equipment keeps freezing because of the storm system coming down from Canada.”
He’s right, it’s fucking cold out here, temps are negative twenty, and getting colder. The last I heard, this was the coldest it’s been here in ninety years, and while we’re prepared for most things, I don’t think we could ever prepare for this.
“The wind is picking up, and it’s going to start pushing water over the bridge,” I worry, as I help to get the adults into the back of ambulances.
This bridge takes on water, on a good day, but tonight, since the barricade has been punctured if the wind gets to be too much, it’s going to push even more water through the hole, making what should be simple procedures difficult.
“They’re bringing out the jaws of life again, hoping they get it cut through before it gets worse,” Gunner returns back from where he just spoke with our Captain. “They want us both over there to give some more manpower.”
My heart can’t take this shit. I can hear both children, begging for help. One is a girl, one’s a boy.
“Don’t worry, we’re doing the best we can, we’ll get you out of there before you know it,” I tell the girl.
I can see her through the maze of bodies trying to help, and the metal stuck all around her.
“I’m bleeding,” she answers, and I swear to God I could rip this door apart with my bare hands right now.
“Just stay calm.”
Which is so far from where I am. The water we were worried about? It’s coming over the bridge, freezing on us and the road. We’re slipping, sliding, doing the best we can to stay upright. Freezing rain and snow are coming down too, solidifying on the metal of the car, and hampering all our efforts.
“If we don’t hurry, this is going to be a rescue mission,” someone in the back says.
Even though the little girl doesn’t understand what that means, I don’t want her to hear those words. “How’s your brother?” I ask her.
We haven’t heard from him in a while, and I’m starting to get nervous about him. “He’s asleep, he stopped moving a while ago. I wish I could go to sleep.”
“Don’t! We need you awake for when we get you out.”
“When?” She questions.
The sad fact is I don’t have the answers, and even if I did, it’s probably not going to be the one I was hoping for. “Soon, real soon.”
“Hang on,” Gunner warns.
We’re hit with a mighty wave as it comes crashing over the barrier, taking the last chunk of that section with it. Now we’re in a race not only against time but against nature. Usually, I’m not the type of person who doesn’t think positively, but I just don’t see how this will be a race we’re going to win.
“We have one more shot at this,” I hear the person manning the jaws of life. “If I can’t get it this time, I don’t know what else to do, and I’m afraid she won’t make it much longer.”
Throwing up a prayer to God, I hope this time we make a difference.
It’s often in this line of work that I see both the best and worst in people, sometimes even in myself. Tonight, as I sit here on the ice-covered street, the water still coming up over the sides, I’m seeing the worst in myself. We couldn’t save these two kids. In reality, they never had a chance.
Five minutes ago, we got into the car. Even if we had gotten in early, both of them were seriously hurt. Both bled out, and there was nothing we could do about it. Their parents are still alive, but they will be facing charges since they were driving under the influence.
The injustice of this all fucks with my head, makes me wonder why. Why do people take the purest of the pure and taint them with their bad decisions? What did these kids ever do? They were born, and the parents couldn’t handle the fact they had other mouths to feed, other people to take care of.
“You okay?” Gunner sits beside me.
His eyes are red, I know mine are too. There’s a time in all of our lives when we can’t control the emotions, and we just have to let them out.
“No, not even a little,” I admit. “The look on her face…”
“I know,” he wipes at his nose. “That’s going to haunt me for the rest of my days. I don’t know how I’m going to sleep tonight and not see her face in my dreams.”
I wonder the same thing about myself. I need desperately to hug Syd, but I can’t go to her like this, she can’t realize life is so precious, she’s as innocent as those children.
We load up, heading back to the firehouse with silence. Our stupid discussion earlier completely forgotten. We’re all lost in our own thoughts, trying to make sense out of the cruelties of the world. The sad truth is, sometimes there isn’t any sense to be made.
When it’s time for shift change, I hoist my bag over my shoulder, ambling to my truck. It’s been in the parking lot long enough that I’ll need to clean it and start it up before I can leave.
“Wanna go for a beer?” Gunner appears by my side.
“It’s three in the morning, and we just came from a scene having to do with alcohol, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I remind him.
“Just don’t wanna be alone tonight.”
I know how he feels. I know exactly where I’m going as soon as I get this truck cleaned off and on the road.
“I suggest you call one of your girls and spend some time with her. Take out your frustration and sorrow, give yourself a chance to recover. Then if you want to drink some beer, drink some beer, but bro, don’t let that be the first thing you do. Shit like that? Leads to problems neither one of us want.”
“You’re right,” he runs a hand over his tired face. “Old habit die hard.”
“They do, but after a night like tonight. Going for a beer should be the last thing on our minds. Are you going to be okay?”
“I will,” he hugs me tight. “How about you?”
“I know where I’m going, and I know where I’ll stay until I’m ready to face what went down here tonight. I’m good, and you will be too.”
He nods, silent, before digging his hands in his pockets and walking to his SUV. Ten minutes later my truck is cleaned off, and I’m going to the one person I know will be able to make me forget.
Fifteen
Emma
The knock on my door is muffled and low, from where I lay in my bedroom, I almost don’t hear it. As I sit up straight, I hear it better now, it’s not muffled and low, it’s sharp and to the point. The knock of someone who has news to give. Immediately my anxiety kicks up when I look at the clock on my bedside table. No one comes to my apartment at four am in the morning. At least not anyone with good news. My first thought is something has happened to Ash, but who would know to contact me? Then my thoughts run to my parents or Sabrina.
“Coming!” I yell as I get out of bed.
I don’t even bother slipping my feet into socks to ward off the cold permeating from the hardwood floor beneath me. Don’t think to grab a sweatshirt or my robe to put on over the tank top I sleep in no matter how cold it is outside. The only warm thing covering my body right now is the sleep pants I wear religiously. I’m shivering, but it’s not from the cold, it’s from the fear. What is this person going to say to me? How will what they’re going to say potentially break my heart? How will it affect my day to day life? I’m not stupid. Any news this time of night or morning will be devastating.
Quickly, I peek out the privacy window beside my door. My heart pounds heavy in my chest as I see Ash standing there, his height and brooding stare casting a shadow from the overhead porch light. With shaking hands, I unlatch the lock and open the door. For a brief moment, all we do is stare at one another. His eyes are so vacant, it scares the shit out of me.
“Are you okay?” I ask when I can no longer wait on him to make the first move.
Cold air comes in with him, making it well-known that I’m not wearing anything under this tank top. Crossing my arms
over my chest, I get a good look at him. The face that’s typically either smiling or showing no emotion at all is wrecked. Scrunched up in a way I’ve never seen a grown man’s face contort.
“Oh my God, is Sydney okay?”
I try once again to get Ash to talk to me, to let me behind this wall he’s built to hold in his emotions. He turns from me, obviously having trouble with being so vulnerable in front of another person. He puts his hands on his waist and bends, taking in huge gulps of air.
I’m scared to death now since he won’t talk. I don’t know what’s happening and I Have to find a way to get through to him. “I’m not Sydney, you don’t have to hide the bad from me. You don’t have to bottle up everything and not let me be your partner in dealing with it. I promise you, I can handle whatever this is, but you’ve got to tell me. Is it Sydney?”
“No,” he pushes the word out like it’s disgusting. “It was two other little kids whose parents didn’t bother to keep them in their five-point harnesses like they should have. It was a recovery, not a rescue. We had to use the jaws to cut them out, and I could hear the little girl crying, Em. I could hear her, I was trying like hell to get to her. Fighting with everything I have, but the weather is shit tonight. Ice everywhere, and they were on the bridge.”
My stomach drops. The wind is whipping out there. It’s been sleeting, snowing, raining, since early afternoon. They’ve warned everyone to stay off the roads. I’m sick thinking of him doing his best while battling the elements.
“Water kept coming up and over, freezing on contact because it’s a fucking bridge,” he wipes at his eyes. “Anyway, she was crying, begging for us to help her, and I couldn’t get there fast enough. The machines didn’t want to work, it was just so cold,” he clears his throat. “She died cold, Em. She died alone, hurt, and cold.”
I can’t take it anymore, can’t take the way he’s wrapped his arms around his body, almost like he’s willing himself straight to keep from falling. That’s just about enough to break me. I fold him into my arms, holding him tight, not even caring how frost-bitten he is. I need this kiss like I need coffee in the morning, like chocolate to cure a bad day. I want it, and I’m taking it. No more being the Em who sits back and watches life go on around her. I’ve never been a decision maker, but I make one now. I’ll not wait another moment to feel his lips against mine, because moments aren’t guaranteed. It’s been proven to him tonight.
Grasping his sweatshirt in between my fingers, I pull his body to me until we’re a breath apart. Our skin isn’t touching, but I can feel his gasp fanning against my lips. They’re dry and for some reason I know I don’t want the first kiss to be anything other than spectacular. Sliding my tongue along my bottom lip, I feel the groan in his chest, can witness the dilation of his eyes as he watches the path it takes.
“I’m a mess,” he whispers when I’m a heartbeat away.
“Then let me help you figure out how to deal with being a mess. I’m an expert.”
He smiles, and the purity of it makes me ache. This time when I tilt my head, our lips meet in a hungry collision of need and possession. Our tongues entwine, our arms fight against one another to get as close as we can. Mine shake as I try to get his jacket off, screaming slightly when his cold hands go under my tank top, sliding up my stomach and ending up cupping my breasts.
“Sorry,” he pulls back, breathing heavily. “Forgot how cold I am.”
My nipples are hard buds against the palms of his hands. “Don’t be sorry, just warm me up,” I fuse our lips together again, and when I finally get the jacket off, I make a noise of triumph in my throat.
We’re a flurry of clothing, little laughs, and hard grunts as we divest each other of everything we’re wearing. I don’t know how we end up against my hallway wall, but we do.
“God you’re gorgeous,” he looks me up and down, the early morning sun making me look like the goddess I’ve never been, but I’ll take it at this moment.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” I reach down, gripping the cock standing so proudly against his stomach.
He hisses deep in his throat, as I move my hand down, then back up again, feeling wetness at the tip. “It’s been a long time since I did this with someone else,” he groans. “I hope I don’t embarrass myself.”
I grin, not able to help asking my next question. “How long ago since you did it with yourself?”
His laugh is tortured as I make another stroke, this time squeezing a bit harder.
“Not long, and I thought about you the entire time.”
“Did you?” As far as I know, no one has ever thought about me to get themselves off, this is a boost for my ego.
“I did, and I came harder than I have in a long time. I’m hoping the real you blows my load even more than the fantasy you I created in my head.”
It’s then that a change takes place, he crowds me against the wall, plumping up my breast in one hand, sliding his other down my stomach. When his finger touches my core, his lips circle my nipple.
It’s been a while for me too, the feelings he evokes are strong, almost palpable in the room. One of my hands goes to his head, threading my fingers through his hair, the other travels down to where his hand rests between my pussy. Together we use our hands to stroke me as I undulate against him.
“God, that feels good,” I manage to push something between my dry throat.
“You’re wet as fuck,” his voice is guttural, sparking goosebumps all over my body.
“Only for you,” I admit as I push myself closer to him, urging his finger to go deeper.
“You’re so ready,” he takes my nipple into his mouth again, this time clamping down as he brushes my clit.
“I am,” I agree, I need him inside me, I ache for him to be inside me. This slow burn the two of us have been participating in is about to get the best of me. “Please fuck me.”
“My little Em has a dirty mouth on her,” he withdraws his fingers from my pussy, bringing them up to my mouth. “Do you want a taste?”
Instinctively I open my mouth for him, allowing him to press his fingers against my lips, push past them, and such my taste onto my tongue. He grunts in approval.
“Need to fuck you,” his breath is hot against my skin, and his cock where it’s trapped between our bodies has left a trail against my stomach. I’m hot for him, ready for him to make me his.
His hands move to my ass, cupping the cheeks tightly before he lifts me. Circling my legs around his waist, I hold on tight as he takes me back to my bedroom. “First door?” he questions.
“Yeah,” I go to work on his neck, leaving love bites and evidence of this night behind. I want anyone who sees him to know he’s mine. To realize he made Emma, who’s usually the quiet one, lose her damn mind with passion.
“I don’t know if I can take it slow,” his voice is strained as he puts me on the bed.
My feet don’t touch the ground, but I don’t care, as he layers his body over top of mine. He grabs his cock in his hand, teasing my clit.
“I don’t want you to take it slow, I want you to do what you feel,” I can’t touch him enough, as my hands run up his stomach to his chest, feeling all the smooth skin, running over all the ink.
“Need a condom,” he breathes deeply. “I have one this time.”
Thank God for that, because I think I’d let him go bareback tonight if he didn’t have one. Within seconds he’s covered himself.
“If you don’t want this Em, now is the time to tell me.”
“No, I want this. I want to be the one you run to when you need to sort out your emotions.”
“I’m not using you,” his voice is strained. “I swear to God, I’m not using you, I just need to feel alive. With so much death, I need to feel alive.”
“I know,” I grab hold of his cheeks. “I know.”
With our gazes locked he pushes into me, both of us groaning as he slides home. Our pace is frantic both of us working towards a goal. His mouth is all over my n
eck, chest, and anywhere he can get it. My fingernails dig into any part of him I can touch. This is a mating of two people who know they’re meant to be together.
“Please don’t stop,” I’m panting, needing it harder, faster.
The bed squeaks, the headboard hitting the wall as he pushes into me, and with his head thrown back, I hear him grunt his pleasure. “Fuck I love you,” the words come out before he can pull them back in.
We stare at each other again, him not stopping thrusting into me, even though I feel the warmth of his release through the condom. “I love you,” he says again. “Waited forever to feel something for someone again, and fuck if it isn’t you.”
His thumb goes to my clit as he thrusts harder. “Love you too,” I answer and with that my body flies higher than it’s ever flown before.
Sixteen
Ash
To say life has been great since the night Emma and I spent together is somewhat of an understatement. She, Syd, and I have been spending at least a few nights together a week. In respect to Syd, she doesn’t spend the night unless I’m kid free.
“Get that silly grin off your damn mug,” Gunner gives me shit, and he and I stand at the stove in the firehouse.
One thing we do here is share kitchen duties. Whether that be cooking, cleaning, or doing dishes, all of us are expected to do our parts to keep the place in good working order.
“Can’t help it,” I glance over at him with a shrug. “I’m happy. Can’t tell you the last time I felt this way.”
If I'm honest, I haven’t ever felt this way. Of course, I’ll always love Courtney, she’s the mother of my child. She was the first woman to wear my ring, and take my last night. When we got married, I truly thought she would be the last, but now I’ve been blessed to have someone else who I can see taking up a space similar to that one in my heart.
Inflame: Midnight Cove #1 Page 9
