Burning Up: Firefighter Contemporary Romance Series Box Set

by K. C. Crowne

  Not that he ever had to worry about money. We both knew his family had more than enough that he could do whatever he wanted without worry. Even hire a maid. But Justin never flaunted his family’s money and lived within his means. Which was admirable. Didn’t help the envy much, though.

  I grabbed a throw pillow and straightened the couch - the same throw pillow I used when I fell asleep there several nights before.

  “Don’t want the food getting cold,” he said with a grin.

  Justin plopped down on the couch, putting the bags on the coffee table. I had a dining room table, a small one, located in the kitchen, and normally I would only eat there, but I found it hard to argue with him again. I was tired of sitting in uncomfortable chairs all day; the couch seemed cozier. So I sat down beside him.

  He handed me a cheeseburger, fries and my favorite - a chocolate milkshake.

  “Thank you, Justin,” I said, my stomach growling as I opened the wrapper on my burger. “You have no idea how badly I needed this.”

  “No problem,” he said, digging his food out from the bag as well. “I figured you were working hard and forgot to eat, and I never need an excuse to eat Gary’s.”

  Sitting there with him, with our food in our laps, felt right. I couldn’t explain it, but all the stress about planning the wedding and dealing with work melted away as I took my first sip from my milkshake.

  “So where do we start?” Justin asked.

  He was looking at me, the planner, to have it all figured out. No surprise there. Normally, I would have had it done too, but I’d not had the time. There wasn’t enough time for anything these days.

  My stress levels skyrocketed all over again.

  We had less than a week, and I was nowhere near ready.

  Justin sensed my change in mood and scooted closer to me. “Hey, hey, it’s alright.”

  “No, it’s not,” I said, putting my burger down on the table, untouched. “We have less than a week and so much to do. I don’t even know where to begin.”

  “You know these things don’t need to be perfect, right?” he said.

  “Everything has to be perfect, Justin,” I scoffed. “It’s their wedding.”

  “No, it’s their bachelor and bachelorette party. It’s supposed to be fun and silly. Mistakes are okay, we can laugh at them and make a fool out of ourselves and it’ll only make the whole thing more memorable.”

  He sounded so sure of himself, but in the back of my mind, all I could think about was how disappointed Melody would be if things didn’t go as planned. She was a pregnant woman; her emotions were already running wild.

  “Just let things go, and we’ll go with the flow of the evening,” Justin said.

  “I can’t let things go,” I said softly.

  “What was that?”

  “Nothing,” I said, feeling more exhausted than before. I fell backward into the soft cushion of my overstuffed couch, closing my eyes. I rubbed at my temples and said, “We need a list of questions. A scoring system. A script….”

  “We only need some of that,” Justin said. “We can download questions off the internet, scoring should be simple - one point per correct answer. And as far as a script? We can improv.”

  I opened my eyes to glare at him. “I don’t do improv.”

  “There’s a first time for everything, Hannah,” Justin said, smirking at me.

  On one hand, I wanted to smack that smirk right off his handsome face. On the other, I wanted to fall into his arms and forget about all of this. I felt so good after we hooked up the last time, so relaxed. I’d give almost anything to feel that way again.

  I let my eyes wander, imagining what he might look like completely naked.

  Pull yourself together, Hannah, I mentally scolded myself. You’ve got a lot to do.

  Justin pulled out his phone and tapped on the screen before turning to me with a satisfied smile. “See? Trivia questions downloaded to the cloud.”

  “Are they good?” I asked him.

  He scrolled through them with a shrug. “They look good to me,” he said. “We can pick and choose the ones we want to ask.”

  “Fine,” I muttered, “Let’s do that.”

  Truth be told, I didn’t want to do that at all. What I wanted to do was sitting beside me on the couch.

  Justin read a few questions, and we went over them together. Justin would read them and try to get me to answer them - some of them I knew, others I didn’t. I had to admit that he’d picked some good ones and relaxed a little.

  “How many questions do you think we’ll need to prepare?” I asked, staring at the clock. My eyes were getting heavy. It was closing in on 9 pm, not even that late, but I was exhausted.

  “How about we do ten rounds of ten questions each, plus a bonus question for any tiebreakers?” Justin suggested. “That’s how it’s usually done at the bar.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I muttered. I rubbed my eyes. It sounded like a lot of questions to prepare.

  “You look tired. Sure you’re up for this t tonight?” Justin remarked.

  I stopped rubbing my eyes and stared at him. “I’m not sure I have much of a choice,” I said. “We’re running out of time.”

  Justin shrugged again. “I can pick the questions myself,” he offered. “ And print them out for you to read off during the party. It’s not like you’ll have to memorize everything.”

  He was offering to take control of the game. Most people would be thankful for that. I was not most people.

  “No, I can’t just walk in and read off cards,” I snapped. “I need to prepare.”

  “I can send you the questions a couple nights before,” he tried again.

  Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I glared at him. “Why do you want to push me out of this, Justin?”

  “I’m not, Hannah. You’re just tired, and I know you work a lot,” he said. “I’m just trying to help.”

  I studied him for a long while. “Are you sure that’s it? Or is it that you’re trying to avoid me after what happened the other night?”

  “Why would I be avoiding you?” he scoffed. “You’re the one who kicked me to the curb, not the other way around.”

  “I just did it before you could do it to me first,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I’m no fool.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked, head cocked to the side as he waited for an answer. Rage filled his eyes.

  “I mean, everyone knows your reputation, Justin. I grew up with you, remember? I know exactly who you are and how you view women. You see us as disposable.”

  “Seriously?” Justin said, shaking his head. “Unbelievable.”

  “What? You’re going to deny that you love ‘em and leave ‘em?” I asked scathingly.

  He bit his lip as he continued shaking his head. “No, but that’s in the past. Do you honestly think I’d do that to you, of all people?”

  His question took me by surprise. It had never occurred to me that I was any different than anyone else to him. I was just another conquest, or so I thought.

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “It means, you’re my best friend’s sister, someone I’ve grown up with, and I wouldn’t treat you like that,” he said.

  “Then what did you expect to happen after you fucked me, huh?” I stammered. “We both know you’re not the relationship type of guy.”

  Hurt washed across his face, and I felt terrible. Nothing I’d said had been a lie, though - he’d said it time and time again, he wasn’t interested in settling down. After he and Deidre broke up, he was done with relationships. He had no intention of getting involved with someone again.

  “I don’t know what I expected to happen,” he said, his voice soft. His eyes fell to his lap, where his hands remained folded. He didn’t look at me for the longest time, but when he raised his eyes and met my gaze, there was an intensity I had never seen before. “I don’t know if I’m ready for a relationship, or what I want, but I do know that you’re way more importa
nt to me than just another fling. I care about you, Hannah. I always have.”

  A knot formed in my throat. All these years, he’d teased me and picked on me. I had no idea that he actually cared. Recently, he’d started to show it, just a bit, however, making me believe him.

  “So you weren’t just going to toss me aside after you were done with me?” I asked, my voice cracking.

  Justin scooted closer to me until our legs were touching. He reached out to me, taking my face into his hands. Tears welled in my eyes, tears I hadn’t expected to shed for him.

  He cared about me. Why did those words mean so much to me?

  Because I cared for him too.

  Our lips met, and we were kissing before I even knew what was happening.

  The room was spinning, and I was dizzy, but Justin held my face in his hands. He steadied me. He nudged me backward until I was laying flat with his strong body above me. He held himself up with his muscular forearms, kissing and pressing his lower half into me.

  I could feel his hands move down my body, cupping my breasts for a moment before moving lower. He sat up and unzipped my pants, sliding them down my hips and taking my panties with them.

  He dove down between my thighs, nibbling and kissing my flesh as he worked his way up. His eyes stared up at me intently.

  The need was gnawing at me from the inside. No one had ever made me feel as good as he did, and my body craved him in ways I didn’t know was possible.

  I shuddered from anticipation, pleading with him, “Please, Justin, please...”

  My cries were cut off when his hands parted my lips and his tongue connected with my clit. Every nerve ending in my body was on fire, and that one touch was enough to cause my toes to curl.

  His tongue circled my clit as he teased my opening with his fingers. Gently, he slid one finger inside me, then another. He stretched me open with a third, reaching into the depths of me as he licked my clit.

  The pleasure was intense. I stared down at him, watching as he worked his magic. My hands were tangled in his hair, pulling him into me as I writhed under him on the couch.

  “Yes, yes,” I cried out, my back arching upward to be closer to him.

  His fingers moved in and out, and I wished it was his cock. I needed him inside me more than anything else in that moment.

  Justin grabbed my hips with his free hand, holding me down as my quivering thighs made it hard to stay still.

  I was close, so very close. “Justin, I’m going to--”

  I didn’t even finish the sentence before my body convulsed wildly. Justin never stopped pleasing me with his tongue and fingers, extending my orgasm for as long as humanly possible. He didn’t stop until I relaxed into the couch, my body limp. My clit was extra-sensitive, and I gasped as he gave it one last kiss. The sensation was almost too much for me.

  Justin’s face was covered in my juices, and my insides turned to jelly as he licked his lips clean, savoring the taste of me. He hovered over me again, staring deep into my eyes.

  “Please, Justin, I need you,” I whimpered.

  Even after one orgasm, I still needed more of him.

  “What do you need?” he asked, a teasing glint in his eye and his familiar smirk plastered on his lips.

  “I need you,” I said, arching my back upward, hoping to close the distance between our bodies.

  He was still clothed, and it was so unfair. I could feel his erection pressing against me through his jeans.

  He smiled down at me before sitting upright. He stood, leaving me flat on the couch, looking up at him like a sad little puppy dog. My body ached for him, and I felt like I might explode if I didn’t get more of him.

  “What are you--?” I started to ask, but Justin lowered himself beside the couch and lifted me into his arms. He carried me as if I weighed nothing at all. He walked down the hallway, toward my bedroom.

  “I’m taking you to bed,” he said. “Clearly, you need it.”

  I was no longer tired; I was horny as hell. I tried to argue, but Justin placed a fingertip to my lips as he carried me into my bedroom. He placed me on my bed. He gently removed the rest of my clothing, as if putting me to bed for real. When he was finished, he stood over me, looking down upon my naked body.

  “God, you’re so beautiful,” he murmured.

  “Join me,” I pleaded, reaching out to him.

  “Just one sec,” he said with a grin. He removed his belt, dropping it to the floor with a thud. But instead of going for his pants, he slipped his shirt off first, lifting it up over his head.

  His chest glistened, and I groaned at the gorgeous sight before me.

  He was ripped - all tight muscles and curves. A perfect six pack abs that most men would kill for. His skin was sunkissed, but not from the actual sun. He’d always had a tan complexion, as if God himself decided to create the absolute perfect male underwear model.

  Not that Justin would ever do anything like that. He was a man’s man - someone who had to work with his hands. Who favored hard, physical labor over standing around and looking pretty all day.

  But damn, he was hot, and he sure as hell knew it too.

  Justin was clearly enjoying the striptease as much as I was. His hands moved down his body, highlighting those washboard abs, before coming to his pants. He unbuttoned them, then unzipped them slowly, creating unbelievable tension in my body.

  I writhed on the bed, begging him with his body to hurry, but enjoying the show too damn much to actually encourage it.

  He slid his pants and boxers down his hips, freeing his cock. For the first time, I got to see it in all its glory - rock hard and dripping with precum.

  “Please,” I whimpered, motioning for him to lay on top of me.

  “Please what?” he asked. He stroked his cock, making me watch as his hand moved up and down that glorious shaft. God, he was so big and thick, it was hard to believe that fit inside me. No wonder he felt so good.

  “Please fuck me,” I whispered. I was almost afraid he hadn’t heard me, but his reaction said otherwise.

  Justin climbed onto the bed, crawling toward me. He moved up the length of my body before coming face-to-face with me. Our lips met again, and I could still taste myself on him as our tongues danced in each other’s mouths.

  I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he pressed his cock against my opening. Justin always did like to tease me. The tip of his cock barely parted me as he kissed me long and deep.

  “Fuck me, please,” I pleaded, my nails digging into his back as I lifted myself upward. “Please, Justin, I need you.”

  “I’ve waited so long to hear those words,” he growled, thrusting into me at last.

  I cried out as he stretched me open, spreading me wide with his cock. My eyes fluttered as pleasure washed over me.

  His face scrunched in pleasure as he froze, buried inside of me. It’s like he needed a moment to get used to this feeling.

  He began rocking his hips, entering me over and over again. Each thrust felt more desperate than the last. His hands roamed my body, stopping to caress my nipples. His mouth moved from my lips to my neck. He nibbled my ear, and I could hear his breathing, intense and heavy and hot against my flesh.

  We found the perfect rhythm and savored it for a while. I knew Justin was close, but I wasn’t ready for it to end. Not yet.

  Neither was he, apparently, since he grabbed my hips and rolled us both over until he was on his back. I was now on top.

  I rode his body hard and fast, my clit rubbing against his pelvis. I rocked back and forth, grinding against him and bobbing up and down. My tits bounced with every movement, and Justin watched them and my face with a look of unbridled lust.

  His fingers dug into my hips, helping us find that perfect rhythm again.

  His cock was hitting me deep in just the right spot, over and over again. The pleasure was mounting inside me. I stared down into Justin’s face, watching as his jaw clenched. He was trying so hard not to cum, I could tell.


  But I wanted us to cum together.

  I clenched my pussy around his shaft, tightening it up as I moved down, releasing as I raised myself.

  “Fuck, yes,” he growled as I milked his delicious cock. “I’m going to come.”

  “Come, baby,” I groaned, my own orgasm approaching. “Come inside me.”

  “Come with me,” he demanded, pulling me down hard against him.

  His cock filled my pussy completely, and that sensation coupled with the look of bliss on his face sent me over the top.

  My legs clenched around him, and my entire body shuddered as I came, screaming his name over and over again. “Justin, Justin… Oh God…”

  Justin let out an animalistic growl as he came inside of me, filling me with his seed. Together, our bodies writhed and rocked, as we came together. I fell forward, our lips touching at the end of our climaxes. Our foreheads touched as we started to breathe normally again.

  The exhaustion kicked in. It hit me hard, my eyes struggling to stay open. Justin helped roll me over on my side and positioned me so that my head was resting against his bare chest. The last thing I remembered before falling into a deep, peaceful slumber was the sound of his heart thumping in his chest.

  Justin

  What the hell is that?

  There was a ringing sound, like a doorbell. It wasn’t familiar to me, however, and I sat up in a daze. It took me a second to realize I wasn’t at my apartment. I was at Hannah’s. And we were both completely naked in her bed.

  Hannah jumped from the bed, a panicked look on her face. Her hair was wild and unruly, her makeup smeared. “Oh no!” she shrieked. “No, no, no.”

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, remaining in the comfort of her bed.

  “It’s Melody and the girls. I forgot we were supposed to pick up the bridesmaid dresses today,” she said, tearing through the blankets looking for something, probably her clothes.