Nursing the Flame, page 12
“Please.”
Every muscle in her body tightened as he brought her to the edge of release, adding another finger to push her over the cliff.
Her mind went white and her body shook. She didn’t care if she got splinters as her nails dug into the wooden headboard.
“Reggie,” she screamed, pressing down against him through her release. “Oh god.”
“Yes,” he muttered against her, before doing a long lick over her again. “Just like that, angel.”
When her orgasm subsided, everything in her went weak and liquid.
Even though it was hard to form a cohesive thought, she managed to be conscious of his injured leg as she moved off him. She settled in a boneless heap beside him.
He reached down and caught her hand, lacing his fingers through hers.
“You okay?”
At his raspy question, she smiled. “I’m so good right now.”
But was he? She sat up slightly and let her gaze drift down his body.
No, he certainly wasn’t good.
“Reggie,” she said softly, staring at his erection straining against his boxers. “It sure looks like I created an uncomfortable situation for you again.”
He sighed, his thumb brushing her inner palm. “I lost control, even though I knew it would happen. Ignore it. It’ll go down.”
“Or,” she trailed her hand down his chest until she brushed the band of his boxers. “You could stop being stubborn, and I could go down.”
His breath caught. “You don’t have to do that, Amber.”
The husky way he said her name lifted goose bumps on her arm.
“But I want to. If you’re comfortable with that, I’d like to return the favor.” She licked her lips and grazed her fingertip over his hard flesh. “I won’t go anywhere near your leg. My focus is all on this guy.”
His eyes closed as the air hissed past his lips.
“Are you worried about the orgasm part?”
He gave a small nod. “A little. You know how sometimes you get those awful charley horses when you climax? I’d probably pass out from the pain if that happened.”
She nodded, sympathy pricking. “Yeah. I get it. I won’t push you to do anything you’re not ready for—”
“But hell, I’ll risk it.” He released her hand to thrust his fingers into her hair, stroking her scalp. “I actually did some research, and I read the testosterone from orgasms can help your bones heal faster.”
She laughed. “What? Is that really true?”
“Who knows, but I’m taking it as the word of god.” His voice dropped. “Do anything you want, angel.”
“Well, then.” She curled her fingers into the waistband of his boxers, and in one swift tug, freed him.
He sprang out, so long and hard, her eyes widened slightly. Wow, he really was impressive.
The fingers in her hair tightened and guided her head down to him.
Needing no further encouragement, she parted her lips and took him with her mouth.
The guttural sound he made was everything.
Wanting only to help him find the same kind of pleasure, she licked and teased, bringing him slowly toward that peak.
She loved how he felt in her mouth. Both so hard, and yet so silky.
Using the movement of his hips, and his low groans, to guide her in what he liked, she brought him deeper into her mouth and established a slow rhythm.
“Amber,” he groaned several minutes later, tightening his fingers in his hair.
She knew it was probably a warning, but ignored it. She wanted to make this as easy for him as possible. Give him the ultimate pleasure like he’d given her.
She stayed with him as his body started to tense. Then his hips lifted and he cried out, pushing himself deeper as he came. She stayed with him. Taking all of him.
Only when his body was weak beneath her did she lift her mouth from him and meet his gaze. “How’s your leg? No charley horse?”
A loopy smile covered his face, and he scrubbed his palm over his shaved head.
“Forgot I had legs for a minute there.”
“Good. And I’ll take that as a compliment.” She smiled and moved up to curl against his side again.
“You’re amazing. In so many ways.”
He draped an arm around her, stroking his fingers over the spot between her shoulder blades in a way that felt both protective and tender.
For so long, she’d fantasized about him. About this. And now it was all happening.
Still spent from her own orgasm, sleep started to creep back in. It was still early, and neither of them had anything going on this morning.
His touch slowed, and she thought he might be getting close to falling asleep.
“What are we doing?”
So maybe not asleep, but overanalyzing things? The somberness of his question sank in.
“We’re having fun?” she suggested cautiously.
“Yeah, we are.” He hesitated. “But just to be clear, we should probably keep this as a short-term thing. While I’m out on leave.”
What?
It was hard to say this early if she was looking for something serious, but she couldn’t deny her heart clenched a bit at the thought of this just being “a short-term thing,” as he’d put it.
One thing was clear—getting intimate with Reggie hadn’t dulled her crush on him. If anything, it was adding fuel to the fire.
But maybe he didn’t feel the same.
Not one for tormenting herself, she didn’t dance around it. “Is that what you want? Just to keep it casual and short-term?”
He waited a moment to answer. “I’ve always cared about you as a friend. Probably too damn much. And now there won’t be a day where I don’t want to kiss every inch of your body.”
Her heart buoyed a bit. “I’m not seeing the problem here.”
“The problem is we work together, and I’m also a higher rank than you. It’s going to look really bad if anyone figures out we’re sleeping together. The guys are going to talk.”
She sighed, letting it really sink in. How hard she’d worked to get where she was. To prove she was just as good as one of the guys—and wanted to be treated like one.
And how it would look if everyone found out she was sleeping with the lieutenant?
Unease swelled in her belly. “Yeah. I guess I didn’t really dwell on that part.”
“Also, on the off chance we ended up in a serious relationship, one of us would have to transfer to a new station.”
She froze and her stomach dropped, just trying to imagine that happening. “I don’t want that. You guys are everything to me. You’re my family.”
“I know, angel. And I’d never let that happen to you.”
Her throat tightened. “And you’ve been there for over a decade—you’re closer to these guys than I am. I can’t let that happen to you either.”
“So we have to be careful, because the reality of it sucks.” He shrugged. “I’m sure people have hooked up discreetly at the station over the years—we’re human. But it’s kept hidden for a reason. And if they end up serious or want to get married, one of them always gets relocated.”
“So, this has happened before?”
“Yeah. At least twice in my seventeen years.”
She hesitated. “Okay. So we just have fun for a few months, keep this between us, and then let it go? Hope no one catches feelings or anything?”
Even as she said it, she knew she already had one foot in that big feelings pond. But if it was walk away now or keep having this level of fun with Reggie for a few months, she’d risk her heart.
“Yeah, I think that’s probably the safe plan.”
He didn’t sound super convinced either.
The unspoken words lingered between them—that they’d opened Pandora’s box and it might be pretty hard to put the lid back on.
Neither of them said anything further, and Reggie resumed tracing his fingers on her back. After a bit, he stopped and his chest rose and fell evenly.
He’d fallen back asleep.
Just the knowledge had her eyes feeling heavy and her lashes fluttering down.
With her cheek against his chest and that spark of worry in her heart, she dozed off again.
Chapter Fourteen
“I know you must be getting bored, so I brought you something to keep you busy.”
Reggie glanced up in irritation, just as his mom set a tray on his lap. “What’s this?”
“Cookies that need decorating.”
He glanced down at the six sugar cookies in various animal shapes. Next to them were various colored piping bags and a scriber needle.
“I see that. Why exactly are you giving them to me?”
“Jenny Carlson—you remember Jenny from high school?—placed an order for three dozen zoo animal cookies for her son’s second birthday party.” His mom set her hands on her hips and shrugged. “I figure you might like to help.”
He blinked. “I haven’t done this in years.”
“You should be able to do it in your sleep, seeing as you worked in the bakery all through high school. It’s like riding a bike.”
“Mama—”
“I only gave you six to start.” She ignored his protest and made her way back to the kitchen. “We’ll see how you do. If you’ve lost the skill, I’ll take over. I made extras just in case.”
He scowled, but picked up a piping bag. “I’m keeping busy, you know. My physical therapist is seeing to that.”
It’d been almost two months since the accident. When he’d started working with the physical therapist, it’d been smaller exercises to keep up his range of motion since they were non-weight-bearing.
And last week—after what had felt like forever, but was pretty much on par for what he’d been told—he’d finally moved on to 25 percent weight-bearing. It was a whole new world. Stretching and strengthening his muscles. Didn’t have to hold his foot in the air the entire time while walking with crutches.
It also hurt a hell of a lot more than he would’ve expected.
And through it all, there was still the bone-deep fear that he might not recover fully to go back to work. He was already one of the older guys going out on calls, and coming back from this kind of injury was daunting.
He’d started to consider what would happen if he couldn’t go back to firefighting. He’d be able to retire early from the work-related injury, but then what? He’d need to do something with his life still.
But what?
And then there was the thought that if he couldn’t go back to working at the station, things would be easier with Amber. They wouldn’t have to hide things. Wouldn’t have to worry about it all getting too serious. There would just be the ease of knowing they could let this relationship go wherever it was destined to.
But it looked like he was recovering, which meant the stakes were still high.
“So I take it Amber is at work right now?” His mom hollered from the kitchen, over the sound of cookie sheets being placed in the oven. “I sent her the funniest meme about being a woman firefighter the other day. I sent it to you too, right?”
“No, you didn’t send me it.” He frowned, then shrugged it off. “And, yes, she’s at work until morning.”
His mom reappeared and sat down on the couch across from him. “Is she coming over after she gets off work?”
He could feel his ears warming under her scrutiny, but kept his head down and his focus on the lion’s mane he was currently piping in. “I’m guessing she will. Despite me telling her to not worry about my butt and go keep living her life. She seems determined to come help me.”
“I think she likes you.” There was a knowing note in his mom’s voice that he tried to ignore.
“We’re friends, Mama,” he warned.
His mom didn’t know the most of it. That it went beyond friendship now, and every time Amber came over, he ended up with his mouth between her legs. And the other way around.
The last month and a half had been amazing. When his family hadn’t been around to help, Amber had been. He’d rarely been alone.
And she gave him stimulation in ways no one else could. Like the other morning and the sensual way she’d woken him up with her mouth on him.
Then how he’d dragged her back up the bed until she’d gripped the headboard and lowered herself to his face.
The back of his neck warmed further and he prayed his mom was oblivious to what was going on inside his head.
Just focus on decorating the lion’s eyes and not the memory of how Amber tastes on your tongue.
They hadn’t taken it further than the oral sex stage, though. She refused until he’d healed further. Was too nervous about hurting him.
He loved what they were doing but couldn’t deny he now spent his nights dreaming of what it would feel like to be balls deep inside her.
It was reminiscent of being a teenager again where there were boundaries they didn’t want to cross.
Soon, though. God, he hoped soon he’d be able to fully take her the way he wanted to. A “home run,” as they used to call it.
He finished removing the air bubbles in the icing with the scriber needle and then stared down in amazement at the painted lion cookie.
“Not bad.” His mom seconded his silent opinion from over on the couch. “Told you, you’d still have the skills.”
He grunted and grabbed the bag of gray frosting to go to work on the elephant next.
There was something so hypnotic and relaxing about meticulously decorating cookies with shiny royal icing.
In a weird way, he’d missed this. And the joy he knew it would bring to the family and the birthday boy when they saw the cookies.
“You should invite her to Thanksgiving.”
“Invite who?” He didn’t glance up from where he was outlining the elephant’s body before starting the swirls to fill it in.
“Amber. You know she doesn’t really have family around. If she doesn’t have plans, invite her.”
He frowned. Even his mom knew about Amber’s lack of family life. “We’ve still got some time, but I’ll bring it up.”
“We have just under two weeks, Reginald.”
He blinked and glanced up from his work. “That soon?”
“That soon. Time flies.”
Yeah, it sure seemed to have. His brain still figured it was October. But then, Halloween had passed recently.
Not that he could forget with the way Amber had showed up in a slutty little nurse costume that had made him instantly hard.
Damn, they’d had fun that night.
“Yeah, I’ll invite her,” he promised. “She might be working, though.”
“No problem. If she’s scheduled, we’ll wait to have Thanksgiving until the next day she’s off.”
He about dropped his piping bag. He glanced up and pushed his glasses back up his nose.
“You’d delay Thanksgiving dinner to make sure Amber can come?”
His mom held his gaze, her eyes narrowing. “I like this girl, Reginald. Whether you decide to get serious about her or not, I already consider her family.”
Damn. His mom had basically adopted Amber.
“I’m going to go check on that second batch of cookies.” His mom disappeared into the kitchen again.
Reggie glanced back down at the remaining cookies to ice and shook his head.
He should’ve seen it coming. On multiple occasions, they’d all had dinner here when their “shifts” had overlapped. He knew his family had been texting with her now and then, but had figured it was just about him and his leg. Not sharing memes and bonding.
Even his dad came over after work sometimes and seemed excited to talk to Amber.
Maybe it was because Reggie was in his mid-thirties and still not married. They were probably eager for him to find a woman. Any woman. And Amber was hard not to love.
That thought ran through his head, and he envisioned her smile and her laugh. The way she slept close to him at night.
His throat went tight.
Shit. He could not, as she put it, catch feelings. It was way too complicated.
This had to just stay at a fun distraction level.
He reached for a cookie shaped like a monkey and grabbed the brown piping again.
Loving Amber was a risk he wasn’t sure he could afford to take.
*
“How’s Reg doing?”
Amber glanced over at Chad, who was driving the rig, as they responded to a basic life support call.
“He’s good. Should be moving up to 50 percent weight-bearing any day now.”
It had taken a while before she’d gotten used to not having Reggie around all the time.
And she still wasn’t quite used to it.
“Fifty percent already? That’s amazing. Damn, I can’t believe he’s already weight-bearing. Still feels like that fire just happened.”
Her throat went tight at the thought of the fire. The memory of watching Reggie fall through the floor. How absolutely terrified she’d been that she’d lost him.
She closed her eyes and willed the image away.
“Sorry.” Chad’s voice dropped. “Shitty memory, and I shouldn’t have brought it up. Scared the hell out of me too.”
They arrived at the home and went inside, assessing the situation and the patient who was experiencing severe calf pain.
Blake and the other paramedic on duty had pulled up in the ambulance shortly after and were ready to transport the elderly man to the hospital to rule out a blood clot.
Fifteen minutes later, she was back in the rig with Chad, staring out into the darkness of the night. Their shift would be over soon. Then she’d head straight to Reggie’s and pass out for six hours or so.
Sleep most of the day away to catch up on being awake the twenty-four hours before.
The catnaps they managed to catch on shift weren’t much, and the routine could get a little brutal. It didn’t bother her much, but some of the older guys seemed to struggle with it the longer they worked there.
In addition to the risks, the job was hard on the body, so it really was a career that most retired early from.
