What Happens In Vegas...

My hips thrust toward her lips of their volition. My heart beat madly. I curled my fingers tighter in her long, thick curls. It was damned tempting to let her finish the job, to fill up her lovely mouth and throat with my seed, but that wasn’t the point of our being in this garage.

I used my hold on her hair to tug her mouth free of my cock. “Enough!”

Passion and trust glazed her smoky eyes as they met mine. Earning her unconditional trust was one half of the reason she was in the position she was in, but not the whole reason. I had to see the rest of that reason through, so I pushed her head back down again, unable to meet her eyes without driving into her pussy immediately. “Don’t look at me unless I tell you to.”

This time she gave in to my order without comment. I rewarded her gladly. Moving back behind her, I placed a hand at her belly to brace her, and bent her forward, so that her ass was raised high in the air and her face hovering centimeters from the carpet slide.

I brought my fingers back to her ankles, started the slow, sensual upward journey once more. This time when I reached her junction, I didn’t move back down to her ankles. This time I bent my head, gripped one thigh and demanded, “Fuck my tongue, Carinna! I want to feel your tight asshole contracting around it. I want you to love it as much as you love feeling my tongue eating at your pussy.”

As much as you love me.

Before I could give voice to the dangerous thought, I licked up and around her puckered hole and then shoved my tongue just inside. Her asshole opened and closed around me, waiting, wanting. She whimpered as if to ask for more. I pushed my tongue farther inside. She reared back without hesitation, gliding the length of my tongue, slowly at first and then faster and faster as her lubrication grew. Like everything else I’d done so far, tonguing her asshole was clearly a major turn-on for Carinna. Her breathing came in fits and starts and her abdominal muscles tensed beneath my hand, a foreshadowing of her impending orgasm.

Too bad for her it wasn’t time to come. Not just yet.

I pulled my tongue from her ass and sank it into her pussy, licking at her rich cream with slow strokes meant to keep her on the edge. Strokes that had me on the edge, as well.

Realizing how likely it was I would come before she either gave in and begged for relief or let her emotions free, I layered my words with conceit. “I love the taste of your pussy so much, I could go on eating you for days. And you’d let me, Carinna, because I’m a master with my tongue.”

She heaved out a huge sigh. “What you are is an arrogant bastard and if you don’t stick your cock in me soon, I promise I’ll never forgive you. Fuck me already, Jack. Please!”

I stilled my licking with a massive sigh of my own. Thank God. Finally words. Finally begging.

Grabbing her around the waist, I lifted her off the carpet, hauled her back over to the coupe and reclined her once more on the hood, sunny-side up.

“You wouldn’t want me any other way,” I vowed and finally gave her what she’d been wanting for so long now.

What we’d both been wanting for too damned long, I knew with the first push of my cock inside her dripping sex. All it took was that one shove to have her pussy muscles clamping down around me. To have her crying out, “Holy Jesus, Jack! I love it when you’re a bastard. Love it!”

And all it took was hearing her confession to have orgasm seizing me hard, making me come in the throes of carnal sensation so acute my vision swam and I nearly gave in to my own words of love. Only not just about her attitude, but the whole entire packaged deal.

Chapter Five

Jack

Carinna hadn’t confessed to loving me as I’d hoped by pushing her to the edge last night, but she had used the L word several times. For that reason, I wasn’t surprised when she rolled from my arms to the side of the bed and started soundlessly across my room.

I rose up on an elbow, enjoying the erotic sway of her ass and the memory of the appealing red left behind from my spankings, before asking, “Sneaking out?”

She stiffened on a gasp. Then went soft again to toss over her shoulder, “Going to the bathroom.”

Maybe she had been. Maybe she hadn’t. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to lie around and find out. The tournament play started early today and, since my and Carinna’s future was riding on it, I wasn’t about to show up late.

I was pulling on my pants when she came out of the bathroom, wearing the T-shirt I’d had on last night. I’d never seen Carinna in my clothes. It was endearing in a way that had me wanting to shout my love for her even more than I had wanted to do so last night, after granting us both the right to come.

Thank God for the stricken look on her face or I would have probably done so and ruined any chance I had with her.

She frowned as I pulled on a shirt. “What are you doing?”

“Getting dressed. I have to be somewhere by nine, and it’s already half past eight.”

“Oh. I should check in on my grandma, anyway. Make sure we’re still on for bingo tomorrow.”

From her deflated tone, she really had been on her way to take a leak when I’d woken up. Probably had planned to crawl back into bed and make good on last night’s threat, by turning those handcuffs and God only knew what else on me.

Damn, how I wanted to let that happen. Tomorrow, if I was lucky. And many, many days after that, if I was even luckier.

I went to my dresser and pulled out a pair of socks. “I’m planning on taking the guys lunch at the firehouse today. Just pizza, but there’ll be plenty to go around. You should stop by. I know they’d love to see you.” I crossed to the bed and sat on the end of it. “Vernelli keeps asking when I’m going to bring the hot chick with the big tits back around,” I added jokingly.

“He’s cute. Any idea what kind of hose he’s packing?”

I was thankful to be looking down, tugging on a sock. If I hadn’t been, Carinna would have seen the rage on my face.

Had my attempts at surfacing her emotions last night been completely lost on her? Or how the fuck could she still be thinking about screwing some other guy, and seconds after she’d been thinking about screwing me, no less?

“I don’t make it a point to check out other men’s hoses,” I said as calmly as possible. “Besides, he’s half your age.”

She snorted out a laugh and whacked me on the shoulder. “Thanks for the compliment, dickhead. Always nice to know when my tits and ass have sagged so much I could pass for a fifty-year-old.”

I shouldn’t have touched her when I was about to head out the door, but the idea she might be serious about wanting Vernelli had me anxious to stake a claim. This time, one that went beyond the emotional. One that was right there out in the open for all to see and recognize Carinna as mine.

I slid my hands up her sides as I stood, dragging the T-shirt along for the ride, until her breasts were bared and her pussy peeking out from its curly brown hiding place.

The age crack was pure irony. Her ass and breasts were both as tight as could be and her skin flawless. That latter made me feel a little guilty over what I was about to do. Assuring myself the mark wouldn’t be permanent, I pushed aside her hair to expose her neck to my mouth. I brushed my mustache across her skin until I heard her laugh, and then I sucked her skin into my mouth and applied enough pressure to bruise.

I stuck my finger in her mouth with her sharp inhale, moments later replacing it with my tongue. Morning breath didn’t appear to be an ailment that plagued Carinna. She tasted as hot and heavenly as ever.

By the time I was done kissing her, my hands had found their way to her breasts, pinching and fondling the nipples, and my cock was so hard I could only hope it would be flaccid by the time I reached the tournament casino.

“So, what do you say?” I asked, wondering if I should rescind my offer, knowing Vernelli would be at the station. The hickey already surfacing on her neck eased my tension enough to continue. “Lunch at eleven-thirty?”

She looked uncertain for just a moment, but then gave me an amused smile. “Better make it twelve. I’m gonna need at least an extra half hour to fix this aging disaster of a body.”

Carinna

I’d considered covering the hickey on my neck—silk scarves were fashionable enough these days. In the end, I’d chosen not to cover it, since I didn’t want Jack to think it bothered me.

It did bother me because I knew he’d done it on purpose. It concerned me a hell of a lot more to think what he’d been after last night, with his little dominance show, was more than my admission over how much I loved it when he acted like a bastard. Despite his referring to me as a piece of ass, his behavior resurfaced my concern he had feelings for me that went beyond friendship and, by pushing me to the emotional edge, he’d hoped I would own up to feeling the same way about him.

My concern—both over how he felt about me and that for a while there last night I’d considered once again that there was a very real chance I could feel the same for him—was great enough to have me tossing the cabbie a twenty and jumping out of the taxi the moment it reached the firehouse to run inside in search of Vernelli.

Landen Vernelli was younger than me, but only by two years. While he was good-looking in a cute blond sort of way, he was no Jack. But then, no man would be Jack but Jack himself. I had to accept that and move on.

Vernelli was the perfect guy to move on with. Jack couldn’t possibly hang on to romantic feelings for me when he heard about my sexual exploits with another guy on a regular basis. And Vernelli would talk—of that I had no doubt.

My heart squeezed painfully when I spotted Vernelli alone in the apparatus bay just off from the truck garage. It was a pain I could easily guess was guilt.

Fuck, I hated hurting Jack. But it just wasn’t avoidable.

Having planned this before I left my apartment, I’d worn my Liege uniform. If Jack asked, I planned to use the excuse I had to work at two and figured that lunch might last till then. The reality was the uniform made me look and feel like a piece of meat and I was counting on Vernelli not being able to resist so much temptation.

I took a few seconds to plump up my breasts so they risked the confines of the tank top even more than usual—the miniskirt was already as sinfully short as it could go—then I sashayed my way toward Vernelli, a naughty smile in place.

He spun around fast when I slapped his ass through his tan canvas shorts. His blue eyes warmed with sensual invitation and a grin slid into place as he gave my barely clothed body a lingering once-over that didn’t do a damned thing for me.

His eyes met mine. “Hey, beautiful. Where’ve you been all my life?”

Accepting my hormones would kick in when the time was right, or at least once Vernelli was pumping away inside me, I flattened my hands on his chest and practically purred, “Waiting for you to come along and sweep me off my feet.”

“I’m here.”

I wet my lips tauntingly. “Then start sweeping.”

“You got it.”

With more finesse than I would’ve thought he possessed, he bent and lifted me into his arms. For a moment, I considered he might think this was all a joke. Then I noted the very real hard-on pressing against my hip.

“Where to? My bunk, or do you wanna see what it’s like to go crazy on the top of a fire truck?”

“Definitely the truck.” I’d never screwed that high up in the air. Once we got started, the possibility—slim though it was—of getting a little too wild and rolling off the truck would have to appeal to my kink factor and get my pussy wet.

With an eager grin, Vernelli exited the apparatus bay and started for the trucks.

“Put her down!”

Jack’s growl echoed through the firehouse so loudly, I jumped in Vernelli’s arms.

Vernelli didn’t seem as fazed. He kept walking, tossing over his shoulder as he went, “She seems to like it where she’s at just fine.”

Jack appeared past Vernelli’s shoulder in an instant, his forehead creased with small lines and his face red with fury. He grabbed hold of the sleeve of Vernelli’s T-shirt, whipping him around so fast I let out a screech and clung to his neck for dear life.

Jack fixed him with the death glare he’d perfected as a twelve-year-old, thanks to my help. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t something to be so proud of. “I said, put her the fuck down!”

Vernelli looked to me for answers. As much as I thought this had been the right approach to convincing Jack I didn’t want a place in his heart beyond friendship, seeing the very real threat in his eyes, I started to second-guess myself.

I nodded at Vernelli. “Better put me down.”

He set me down. Spreading his hands out in front of him, he eyed Jack regretfully. “Sorry, man, I didn’t realize you had a claim on her.”

Where I didn’t want Vernelli getting his ass kicked, I didn’t have any qualms about personally taking on Jack. “He doesn’t. We’re friends.” I moved into Jack’s personal space, got right up into his face the way I knew he hated, unless it was for sexual reasons. “Got that, Jack? Just friends.”

Nostrils flaring, Jack sent Vernelli another hard glare. He looked back at me, his blue-green eyes iced over, and then stalked across the garage to the end of the row of fire trucks.

I should have left him alone to work out whatever the hell it was in his head that said he had a right to try to put a claim on me. Only, I couldn’t. Because up until last night, when he’d temporarily made me believe he didn’t have intimate feelings for me, I’d seen this coming all along. If there was a chance of our friendship continuing after this, I had to set things straight immediately.

I followed Jack’s path to the last fire truck in the row. He leaned back against its side, cursing a blue streak in between hauling in deep breaths.

I cocked out my hip and landed into him. “What the fuck is your deal?”

He glared at me, speaking none too gently. “I don’t like seeing you get taken advantage of.”

“That’s what you said two days ago. I thought you were full of shit that time, too. News flash, Jack. Vernelli’s not half my age and he wasn’t taking advantage of me. I wanted to fuck him.”

He smirked and pushed away from the fire truck, took a menacing step toward me. “Now, who’s full of shit? You want to fuck me. Not Vernelli. Not Ryan. Not any other goddamned man or a set of men. Only me.”

I gasped at his arrogance. I liked my men cocky but, Christ, he was seriously pushing it. “I don’t want to fuck only you, you arrogant bastard. If I wanted to be with just one man, I’d be engaged to Hank.”

He laughed uproariously. “Liar. Even if you weren’t scared shitless of relationships, you would never have agreed to marry Hank. He was wrong for you in every way possible.”

And what? Jack was right for me in every way possible?

Even if I wanted to ask the question, which I didn’t, I wouldn’t have had a chance to get it out. He covered the few feet between us in an instant, then spun me around and pushed me face forward toward the fire truck.

As it had when he’d pushed me against the car hood last night, the breath whooshed out of me. Only this time I had farther to go and the landing was that much harder because of it. My hands hit first, bracing for impact, so I didn’t do a complete face-plant. Then I made the mistake of taking the time to steady myself. It was all the time Jack needed to get his hands back on me and show me exactly how kind he’d been in his handling of me last night.

One hand coiled around my forearm, fingers biting into my flesh, while the other moved beneath my skirt. The warmth of his fingers brushed my rear end, and then he was yanking aside my panties, exposing my ass to the kiss of the air.

My eyes widened with the hiss of his zipper. Fear and—Christ, there was obviously something wrong with my head—uncontainable excitement coiled in my belly as the plump head of his hard cock pushed against my crack. He jammed two fingers inside my pussy, which had been ridiculously and shamelessly wet from the moment I’d witnessed his possessive rage. He fingered me just long enough to get his fingers coated in my juices and then shoved them in my asshole. I sighed with the forceful entry. Sighed louder as he started pumping.

Once.

Twice.

He pulled free and shoved inside again. Only this time not with his fingers. His cock filled me in a violent thrust.

Tears spilled from my eyes as pleasure pain so exquisite I could barely breathe rippled through my body. I curled my fingers tight, gripping on to the truck’s side rails as he pounded into my ass like some feral beast.

“Jesus Christ, Jack!” It was all I could say. It was all too much. Too forceful. Too raw. Too damned good.

Past the rage of a blossoming orgasm that promised to be one of the best of my life, I became conscious of voices. Men talking. Men laughing. Every guy in the firehouse was probably watching Jack take me in the ass.

Like the dirty girl I was, I’d never been more excited in my life. Or shouted so loudly, as my pussy contracted with spasms and I came in time with Jack’s cum spilling into my ass.

He pulled out of me seconds later, spinning me instantly in his arms. Regret over his behavior filled his eyes and I had no doubt the same would come out of his mouth if I gave him the opportunity. I wasn’t about to do that. I didn’t want apologies from Jack. The naughty part of me wanted a repeat of the violent coupling. Fortunately, the girl that knew when to walk was back to calling the shots.

I pushed my palms against Jack’s chest and sent him stumbling backward a few steps. Without another look his way, I started for the front door, settling my drenched panties back into place and managing to strum my still aroused clit in the process. I wasn’t quite able to stop the moan that slipped from between my lips, so I simply went with it.

I gave the dozen or so guys—thankfully Ryan wasn’t among them, though I knew he’d hear all about it soon enough, along with every other person on the crew not present—who stood ogling and more than likely sporting some major wood, my dirtiest smile. “So, what do you say, boys? Was it as good for you as it was for me?”

Leaving them to stare and grin and give childishly inane wolf whistles, I walked through the firehouse door in search of the nearest cab and then a bottle or two of Bombay Sapphire, hold the vermouth.

Jack

As days from hell went, this one topped the charts.

I’d thought my possessive explosion over Carinna and subsequently taking her in the ass in front of the bulk of my coworkers had been bad enough. But that had been only the beginning. Shortly after arriving home from the tournament play that night, I’d gotten an emergency backup call.

I watched in abject horror as the members of the Ladder 19 crew still inside the blazing chemical plant raced out as it exploded for what had to be the eighth time since we’d made the bad call of going inside. A sick sense of foreboding had been with me since the first explosion, when I, along with several other members of the crew, had been lucky enough to get out. That foreboding threatened to overtake me as I counted heads through the billow of wind-caught black smoke turning the early-evening sky dark as night.

I came up one short and my stomach went queasy.

Ryan.

No, I couldn’t make that assumption. Dressed in the heavy, yellow protective fire gear the way they were, it was nearly impossible to distinguish one person from the next.

I yanked off my helmet and face mask. Others followed suit. Ryan’s face came into view and, though I hadn’t realized I’d held it, my breath came whizzing out.

It sucked back in on a painful note when I realized who was missing. “Where the fuck’s Axe?”

A few guys shook their heads, their faces revealing a mix of loathing and unshed tears, but no one offered words.

Finally, Ryan approached, sorrow filling his eyes. He laid a hand on my arm, speaking quietly. “He didn’t make it out, Jack. The roof gave away when he was on the middle of it.”

Bile rose up in the back of my throat. I gulped it down and drew in a hard breath.

Didn’t. Make. It. Out.

They were the words every firefighter feared and the ones no one would voice. Until the time came when you had no other choice. Even now, only Ryan had been able to get them out.

I shook my head, not wanting to accept that possibility, refusing to believe it. The undeniable grief in my brother’s eyes told me it was a stark reality.

My throat burned in a way smoke inhalation could never replicate.

Jesus, Axe. Tony Lorent to his family.

His family.

He had a wife. Kids. He was fucking thirty-two years old.

My tears came fast and hard. I swiped at them with the back of my hand, wiping soot into my eyes that had them stinging like a bitch.

“Goddammit!”

I loved these guys, they were my family, but that didn’t change the facts. I had to get the hell out of this job. My father had been a fireman, as had his father and so on. My father had been killed in the line of duty when I was four and Ryan one. I wouldn’t let that happen to my kids. And I would have kids. With Carinna.

Maybe I hadn’t been successful in surfacing her emotions last night, but what happened at the firehouse today, how she’d been able to find pleasure in a moment that should have been humiliating for her, proved how thoroughly we were involved. It proved, despite everything she did and said, she loved me.

One more day in the poker tournament and I could put this life behind me. Unlike every other facet of the day, my luck in the tournament had been better, brought me back up to fifth place. All it would take was a few good hands to come out the winner, or at least close to it. I would get those hands and get the fuck off of a fire truck.

Right now I had to get to Carinna. Had to lose myself in her kiss, feel the welcoming warmth of her sweet body. And she would welcome me inside, of that I held no doubt.

Because she was mine. Even if she wasn’t ready to admit it.

Carinna

With the jiggle of a key in my apartment door lock, I looked up from the couch, where I sat watching a Bermuda Triangle special on the Discovery Channel. Jack stormed in seconds later. The acrid smell of smoke clung to him and his face and clothes were dusted with soot. Some women might have been turned off by his appearance. I was hotter than the blaze he’d clearly just put out.

I’d forgone the gin and gone to work at two as scheduled. I’d spent the afternoon being bitchy to my customers and pissed at Jack, nearly as pissed at myself. I’d planned to ream his ass the next time I saw him. Catching the glint of raw need in his eyes, I knew I wouldn’t do it. Couldn’t do it.

When he opened his arms to me and silently begged with his eyes, all I could do was stand from the couch and go to him. Yelling, accusations, my need to move on—they could all wait. Right now it was clearly physical warmth he needed.

I pushed my hands beneath his dirty white undershirt and attacked his mouth with my kiss. He buried his hands in my hair and kissed me back with a hunger I felt from the rock-hard points of my nipples all the way to my toes.