Four Firemen For Christmas: A Reverse Harem, Pregnancy Romance, page 4
God I was a mess for this woman. It made no sense, but I gave absolutely zero fucks. I was too old to care, except that at forty I was too old for her.
She blinked and her lips opened in an O as she took me in.
We’d just left a fire, so I knew I smelled like smoke and had soot lines across my face.
“I feel like I should be asking you that.” She pulled a hand free of mine and brushed her fingertips over my cheek.
The touch electrified me. I wished she’d put that hand somewhere about three feet south. My dick jumped at the idea.
“I’m fine.” I brushed off her concern and focused on being whatever Emma needed. “Why are you sitting out here like you lost your best friend?” Shit. She better not have literally just lost her best friend.
Her face crumpled and she melted into my arms in great, heaving sobs.
Fuck. I’m screwed. I wrapped my arms around her and rocked her side to side. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You can tell me.”
Sobs wracked her body. “It’s stupid.” She sniffled and tried to pull away.
“Nope. You’re okay. Stay right here and tell me what’s wrong. Anything that makes you cry like that is not nothing.” My hands slid up and down her back. I tried not to enjoy it but that would’ve been like asking a fire not to burn while pumping it full of oxygen.
Derek and the rest of the guys stayed on the truck. I’d worried that Derek would interfere with my moment, but he’s young and still terrified of a woman’s tears.
That’s one good thing about my age. I’ve been around long enough that tears stopped scaring me.
Emma mumbled into my jacket. “I lost my job and then I almost died.” Her sobs intensified.
“What can I do to help?” I used my knuckle to tip her face upward.
Her lips quivered and tears rolled down her cheeks.
I thumbed them away. “You can tell me.”
She attempted a smile, but it fell in an instant. “Unless you have a job and a place for me to live handy, there’s nothing you can do.”
“Let’s see what we can do.” I scooped her into my arms and turned toward the fire truck.
Derek and Henry watched me with rapt attention. Alex pretended like he didn’t care, but his nostrils flared in a tell-tale way that I’d learned meant he wanted to ask me something. He was young but not stupid. If anything, he thought too damned much.
Snow flurried in the air, sending a rush of cold down the back of my neck. I carried Emma onto the truck and settled her in my lap. She curled into me like a cat, her arms around my neck and her breasts against my chest.
The rest of the crew dropped into their positions in the jump seats. Henry's jaw worked but his quiet attention stayed on Emma.
I smoothed a hand over her ribs and felt her sudden inhale, followed by the rush of her breath over my neck.
“Take us back to the fire station,” I ordered Wells.
Alex shifted his feet and leaned toward me. “It’s not safe to have her on here.”
I wasn’t about to give Emma up, and my glare quieted Alex before he said anything else. “It’s fine. I won’t let anything happen to her.”
Henry leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. He watched me and Emma, his gaze roving over her. It paused a few times over her delicious curves, and I caught him discreetly adjusting his cock beneath his suit.
A smirk pulled my lips into a wide grin. Emma wiggled in my lap and for the first time I was grateful for the thick firefighter suit that kept her from feeling my erection pressed into her ass.
Once we pulled into the bay, I stood and carried Emma off the truck.
She lifted her head and looked around, her eyes widening. Her tears dried up somewhere around Seventh Street, but she hadn’t offered to let go of my neck.
“I was here earlier.” She laughed and looked at Henry over her shoulder. “I brought you cookies. Oh, Samuel, you should put me down.”
“Not yet.” I wiggled my eyebrows and she blushed. “I’m enjoying this too much to let you go.”
Henry kept pace beside us and motioned for me to take her to his office. He snatched up a container from the table as we passed and waved it at Emma. “Still got them.”
“Seriously?” She grinned at Henry and her problems seemed to evaporate.
Henry nodded and slapped a hand onto my shoulder. “Put her down.”
I wished I could tell him to fuck off, but he’s the captain and I’m the lieutenant. I’m supposed to follow his orders. And I do. When we’re on duty, I do everything he says because he’s the best firefighter I know except for myself. But that didn’t mean I had to let go of Emma immediately. I waited until we were in Henry’s office to lower Emma’s feet to the ground.
She shoved a hand into her pocket and pulled out a bright yellow paper. “Who can I talk to about a job?”
“What job?” I asked.
Henry took the paper from her and tossed it onto his desk. “The administrative assistant job I posted on the board last week.”
“You’re hired.” I grabbed the paper and tore it in half. “When can you start?”
“Really?” Emma squealed and jumped up and down.
“Hold it.” Henry raised a hand to stop her, although he seemed reluctant to make those gorgeous tits stop bouncing. “I can’t hire someone right off the street. You have to be qualified. This job is rigorous and requires several skills that I don’t have time to teach.”
Emma’s lips turned down, her joyful demeanor fading. She nodded her understanding and smoothed both hands down her thighs. “Alright then. Would you like me to fill out an application, or can we jump straight to the interview?”
“Didn’t you hear me?” Henry yanked off his fire jacket and ran a hand over his stubbled jaw. “You need qualifications.”
“Yep. Heard you.” Emma planted her hands on the desk and lifted an arched brow in challenge. Her pink lips puckered. “I worked the last year as an administrative assistant at a small doctor’s office. Before that, I worked several hours a week in medical records at the hospital. I’ve worked in filing, data entry, and office administration. I can type, answer calls, triage, and field less important tasks with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back.”
Henry’s breath hitched, and I watched his right hand clench and release. It took me a second to realize what had triggered the sudden flex. The captain didn’t usually share any private details about his life, but I’d worked a few things out.
Emma’s mention of being tied had the man hot and bothered. Well, he’d have to get in line behind me and Derek.
It was an interesting thought. I’d never done anything like that, but I wasn’t opposed as long as the woman was willing.
Henry planted both palms on the desk and leaned toward Emma. She matched his posture, putting them nose to nose.
Tension filled Henry’s small office space. The open blinds on the door gave everyone outside a perfect view of what was happening, but their voices were too low to carry. I considered closing the blinds but there was no reason.
It wasn’t like Henry was going to fuck her right here in the office. Especially not with me around. If anyone was getting into Emma’s panties today, it was going to be me. “Henry,” I started.
He held up a hand in my direction and the implication was clear.
This was not my area, and I was supposed to shut the fuck up. My jaw hardened and I gritted my teeth to keep from dragging Emma back.
She never looked away from Henry. She didn’t know it, but he took that look as a challenge to his authority. That was going to go over like a fucking lead balloon.
“Why did you leave your last job?” Henry asked.
Emma blinked. “They were downsizing. Which turned into them shutting down the entire office. They told me yesterday, which was why I was in the coffee shop when it caught fire.”
“Why didn’t you get out of the coffee shop? Did you want to die?” Henry’s voice was quiet and tightly controlled. He leaned closer to Emma across the desk. “Why did my guys have to rescue you?”
“That’s enough. Emma, you don’t have to answer that.” I grabbed Henry’s shoulder and tried to pull him back. I was stronger than him, but he was a man on a mission.
“I was busy looking for another job. I had my earbuds up so loud I didn’t hear the fire alarm. I need a job so I can help my grandma pay rent. Christmas is in three weeks. I don’t want her struggling.” Emma tipped her head to the side without breaking eye contact. “I’m not suicidal, and my mental health is excellent. It was a case of wrong place, wrong time.” She licked her lips and raised one shoulder. “Or right place, right time depending on how you look at it.”
I watched their stare-down with rabid fascination. No one treated Henry this way, but he was letting her get away with it.
Not just get away with it, he was enjoying it. This was shaping up to be an interesting day.
Emma waited for Henry to break the silence. I didn’t know if he would since he might consider it submitting to her.
Henry never backed down. He always had to come out on top and be the one giving orders.
“Oh, come on Henry.” I shoved his shoulder to break his concentration. “Stop being a hard ass and give her the job.”
Emma pulled in a shuddering breath when I hopped onto the desk between them. Papers flew in every direction. Henry would make me regret it later, but I enjoyed being the one throwing him off his game right now.
His fingers gripped the edge of the desk, and his gaze heated as it took Emma in one last time before he turned away and blinked. A frown caused creases in his cheeks, and I followed his line of sight to the office door and the space beyond the blinds.
Derek and Alex stood outside the office. Both were pretending to clean up the fire truck, but the only progress they’d made was to stand there with rags in their hands.
They startled when Henry snapped his fingers and pointed, then got to work scrubbing the truck.
I grinned at Derek when he risked a glance back into the office a second later. He flipped me the bird and I reciprocated.
Derek was a cocky upstart who thought he needed to run headlong into every burning building. He’d learn, and it was up to me to teach him. I enjoyed putting him in his place every now and then.
“So, do I get the job?” Emma dropped her hands into her pockets and looked from Henry to me and back to Henry.
Having her here every day would be a blessing and a curse. I silently cursed Henry for taking so long to think it over. If I interfered again, he’d say no on principle.
Emma waited just as quietly. She seemed sure of herself, but every now and then, her gaze flicked over to me like she needed reassurance. I remembered what she’d said when I asked what was wrong. She’d mentioned not having a place to live.
I opened my mouth to ask her about that when Henry stalked around the desk toward Emma.
She tipped her head back to meet his gaze.
He stopped with less than a foot separating them. “You’ll be working with me every day. Right here in this office. Think you can handle that?”
6
HENRY
This was a mistake.
I stacked and restacked the same sheaf of papers and tapped them into obedience on the edge of my desk. The clock high on the wall across from me ticked down the time.
It was after eight-thirty and Emma hadn’t arrived yet. I’d told her to be here at eight sharp. Her lack of punctuality annoyed the hell out of me.
How was I going to work with her when she couldn’t even get here when I said?
I stood and closed the blinds on my door. Samuel, Alex, and Derek worked out in the exercise room to pass the time and keep in shape. Most days, I joined them. Not today.
Today I’d be training Emma on how to be my assistant. I’d let Samuel convince me to hire her yesterday. His attraction to her was a detriment.
Hell, my attraction to her could get me fired. I’d never work as a firefighter again, much less gain a supervisor rank, if I crossed that line.
The door banged open and Emma rushed in. Her purse slipped down her arm and her coat was buttoned up wrong. Curls hung around her face in a wild disarray. When I combined that with her gasping breaths, I assumed she’d been running.
A spurt of sympathy rushed in. I squashed it with a fierce hand and scowled. “You’re late.”
“I’m so sorry.” She turned and closed the door behind her, then darted around my desk.
I’d carved out a small space for a desk in the corner furthest away from me. I needed her out of reach.
Her purse thudded to the floor and fell over, spilling the contents toward me. Why did women carry so much with them? I’d never understood it. Makeup, tissues, a glasses case, and stuff I couldn’t begin to understand covered the floor.
“Shit,” Emma cursed then looked over at me. Her cheeks flushed and she dropped to her knees. With quick, darting movements, she swept everything into a pile. “I’m really sorry, Henry. I underestimated how long it would take me to get here from Grandma’s house.”
“You live with your grandmother?” I couldn’t look away from her. Her position on her knees was one of my favorites, and it sent a surge of heat through my entire body. “Oh, that’s right. You said you needed the job to help her with the rent.”
“It’s temporary.” A tube of lipstick rolled away from her grasping reach and disappeared under the edge of my desk. She crawled over the floor on her hands and knees and stuck her hand under the desk. With her face smushed against the desk and her ass in the air, it was all I could do to keep my seat. I’d never been more grateful for the wooden sides that made up the walls of the desk and forced her to bend like that.
She was a fucking angel sent to torment me. I adjusted my thickening cock and watched her ass wiggle back and forth as she searched for the lipstick. Her hand brushed over my foot, then grasped my ankle before she continued patting around on the floor.
“You don’t see it, do you?” She sat back and pushed her hair back from her face. “My lipstick,” she clarified when I lifted an eyebrow.
I rolled my chair back and peeked beneath the desk. It took some maneuvering to block my erection from her while I looked for the slim tube. She sat at eye level with my crotch and didn’t seem inclined to move. It would be so easy to unzip my fly and tell her to take me into her mouth.
She was my employee. Fuck if I’d cross that line. I didn’t even know if she wanted anything to do with me. This woman already had Derek and Samuel salivating over her. My tastes were… questionable in most circles.
A woman as delicious as Emma would never be interested in the kind of kink that got me off.
I snatched up the tube of lipstick and held it out to her while scooting my ass back under the desk. For a split second, I imagined her beneath the desk sucking my cock.
“My grandma has this new boyfriend, you see.” Emma pushed to her feet, flashing me a glimpse of her pink panties beneath her flowy skirt. It was the kind of skirt that bunched up perfectly in my hands and would frame her ass in excellent detail.
Blood rushed through my ears and into my groin. The sudden surge forced me to pinch my leg to keep a groan at bay.
“They were up most of the night, which kept me up most of the night.” She chuckled and blushed at the same time.
While I didn’t want to hear her story, I couldn’t escape the sound of her voice. It flowed in a sweet melody, the cadence rich and smooth. I wondered what it would sound like lifted in ecstasy as she came. I was strong enough to resist her. I told myself that over and over again while watching her lips move.
“I never thought Grandma would love anyone else after Gramps. And maybe she doesn’t love Neil, but she’s happy.” She shrugged and scooped her purse into her arms. “You do not want to know how happy Neil makes her. Not that Grandma shouldn’t have fun.” She shuddered. “But there are some things I’d rather not hear, and Grandma having sex is one of them. I do not want to stay there and have to listen to that every night.”
Fuck an angel and call me the devil. I wanted her even more now. “And that’s why you were late?” Now that she’d started talking, I didn’t want her to stop. Her honeyed tone gave me a chance to sink into a delicious daydream.
Emma would be the perfect star to my show. I’d never fucked anyone in my office before. I imagined standing and walking to the door. Flipping the lock.
She’d look up at me with those chocolate eyes wide and innocent. I’d pull her to her feet and strip her naked with such slowness that she’d be dripping wet. I’d make her wait while I drove her to the point of frenzied pleasure. By the time I touched her pussy, she’d melt around me. I’d take my time with her, take things slow so I didn’t scare her.
A woman like Emma deserved that. I knew how to tease until she’d climax so hard, she wouldn’t be able to stand.
My annoyance at her lack of punctuality turned into something else. Her stories about her grandma charmed me.
I imagined her laying there in bed, unable to sleep, and wishing for me to climb on top of her.
Maybe she dreamed of Derek or Samuel instead. She’d been enamored with Samuel yesterday, and Derek the day before. Had she laid there and fingered herself? Did she have a dildo? I imagined her pleasuring herself all alone, and it drove me wild with the need to give her a true release.
“If I hear Grandma say Neil’s name one more time, I might pull my hair out.” Emma grinned and crossed her arms on the desk. She leaned forward and her tits rested on her forearms.
God, I wanted to bury my face between them. My attraction to her was insane. I read her application last night and found out I was twenty years older than her. As far as firsts went, Emma was ticking off a lot of boxes.
What would someone her age think of getting tied up in bed and pleasured until they couldn’t remember their name? If she’d seen that one movie, she might know what to expect, but it wasn’t exactly a question brought up at work. It wasn’t the kind of question you asked for a long, long time.
