That Hot Night: A Firefighter Romance

by Sullivan, Piper

  I was transfixed by the look in his eyes, half worship and half hunger. Unable to look away I could only tease him, pushing my knees out and then in again. Toying with him. “You sure you’re not too tired?”

  His blue gaze darkened and his jaws clenched hard with desire. “Why don’t you tell me when you’re too tired to continue.” Rafe’s words came out low and deep as he worked quickly, gaze never leaving mine, to remove every piece of clothing that covered his incredible physique. Then he was there, between my legs, one hand slipped into my panties and stroked me until soft moans escaped, one after the other.

  I arched into him with a small smile and gripped his forearm. “Rafe. Yes, Rafe.” His fingers moved in an intoxicating motion that had me squeezing my eyes closed and moving to get as close as I could to his touch. “Rafe,” I moaned again when his thumb slid over my clit.

  “I’m right here, Janey.” There was amusement in his voice but it was dark and strained, like he was as turned on as I was, a thought that sent me into a frenzy.

  One hand wrapped around his wrist and my hips undulated against him, showing him exactly what my body needed him to do. “Yes! Oh yes!”

  He smiled up at me and it was sexy and sleepy and lazy, as he leaned over and placed small butterfly kisses on my stomach. Up my abdomen and across my ribcage until every inch of my torso had been thoroughly loved by him. He growled as he came closer, blowing a soft gust of breath on my already hard tipped nipples.

  “Rafe,” I called out in warning.

  “I gotcha Janey. Let go.” Two long fingers pumped into me as his thumb rubbed circles into my clit that was better than any battery operated device. Without a doubt. Miles better, in fact. “Janey,” he growled and wrapped those beautiful lips around my nipple, tugging with just enough teeth to bring forth what I hoped would be my first orgasm of the night.

  That was all it took to turn my world upside down. The feel of his tongue on my nipples, combined with the scrape of his teeth against such sensitive skin, brought my orgasm barreling to the surface in one powerful wave after another. “Rafe! Yes! Rafe!” The words dripping from my mouth were meaningless, nothing words that only served to get rid of excess orgasmic energy. “Wow,” I panted when his fingers and mouth slowed, allowing the tiny aftershocks of my orgasm to slow until they stopped. “Seriously, wow.”

  His deep chuckle cut through the silence of the bedroom, save for our harsh sawing breaths, sending vibrations through me that only prolonged my pleasure. “I’m good with ‘seriously wow,’ you know, in case you were wondering.” The masculine pride shining in his eyes was cocky as hell but well deserved.

  “Yeah well, so am I.” At his look, a short laugh escaped and I ran a hand through his hair and pulled him close. Kissed him hard.

  Rafe kissed me back like I was his whole world and it was really hard not to read anything into that, so I closed my eyes tight and melted into him. Melted into his kiss. It went on for so long I lost track of what time it was, what day it was and I gave myself over to the pleasure of his mouth.

  The pleasure of his body surging into mine, hot and hard. Deep. The way he filled me up, so thick and so completely, stole my breath. I clung to his shoulders, gripped him and held on as he lifted his body off mine so he could look down at me, blue eyes searing into me in a look so intimate even I would have sworn this was more than sex.

  More than anything.

  Just…more.

  “Rafe,” I moaned and sighed, wrapping my legs around his waist and moved my hips against his. It was hard and fast, it was visceral. The only sound in the room our harsh breaths and slick skin smacking together in a carnal symphony I knew I would replay over and over again. “Yes, Rafe.”

  The corners of his mouth curved up as his lips spread into a dark, satisfied smile that made my toes curl. “Janey.” My name came out on a low growl a second before his mouth crashed down on mine once again. This time the kiss was hard and fast, frenetic, a frenzy of lips and teeth and tongues. It was a tidal wave that pulled me under and the only thing keeping me afloat was Rafe. His strong arms and deep strokes the only tether to the real world.

  Otherwise I was floating, on a cloud or a wave, I didn’t know and didn’t care. The only thing I cared about was the pleasure surging into my body, the man pressing himself into me. It was fantastic. It was glorious.

  It was mind bending.

  And one final stroke sent me right into the eye of the storm and it tore me apart, spectacularly, and slowly put me back together again. “Oh, yes! Rafe!” My body tensed from head to toe, frozen in an extended moment even as Rafe slid deeper and deeper, in slow drugging strokes that yanked me out of my amber moment and dropped me back in the middle of the most amazing orgasm of my life. “Hell!”

  Rafe was too far gone for that to even pull a smile out of him. His gorgeous face was twisted in carnal agony, jaws clenched and eyes squeezed tight. He was magnificent and when his body froze, each muscle so tense he looked like one of those old statues of gorgeous Romans. “Janey…fuck!” He collapsed on top of me, his lips grazing the sensitive crook of my neck as both of our bodies convulsed with leftover pleasure.

  I had never in my whole life, ever felt so satisfied. So relaxed.

  So happy.

  Rafe pushed up and looked down at me with a smug grin on his face. “How about we take the next round in the shower?”

  Next round? Yeah, I was totally screwed. But I couldn’t say that to Rafe. I couldn’t let on that suddenly this was feeling a hell of a lot more than casual. So I said the only thing I could. “Race ya!”

  Rafe

  “Are you one of those guys with a feeding fetish?” Janey pulled open the door and looked up at me, brows arched in skepticism, a look that was quickly becoming one of my favorites. When I didn’t answer fast enough, she folded her arms over her chest and twisted her face into a crooked grin. “Well, are you?”

  “Not usually,” I told her with a grin. “But I do get a kick out of watching you eat.” Most of the women I dated didn’t bother with a meal, instead they pushed a few lettuce leaves around the plate until it was time to get naked. “If you don’t want it,” I said and held the bag of delicious aromas out of her reach.

  “I didn’t say that,” she said and reached out for the bag. “What’s in the bag?”

  “Invite me in and maybe I’ll tell you.” My face split into a grin and Janey’s own beaming smile appeared too bright as the Texas sun. “You know you want to.”

  “So sure of that, are you?” Her tone was full on sarcasm but the smile was playful and flirtatious.

  “I am.” I took a step forward, teasing and testing her. “Am I wrong?”

  Janey notched her chin up at me, defiance turning her green eyes jade. “You’re lucky you brought me food. Get in here.” She stepped back and shooed me in and for the first time in weeks, Janey didn’t peek outside to see if anyone was watching.

  Progress, I suppose.

  “What are you up to?” I should have called before dropping by but there was always the risk that Janey would pretend to be busy. Or uninterested.

  “I was about to get ready for a hot date, so we should hurry up and eat.” She burst out laughing when I turned and gave her a look that said I wasn’t amused. “I was watching Netflix and trying to figure out what I wanted for dinner. So, thanks…wait, what did you bring?”

  “Funny,” I told her and set the takeout bags on the kitchen counter.

  Janey hip checked me out of the way and dug into the bags herself, moaning with the kind of delight that had my cock standing up to take notice, as she pulled the containers from the bag. “Burgers! Okay you can stay.” She beamed a satisfied smile at me and I leaned over, capturing her lips in a kiss that went on far longer than it should over a burger.

  But I wasn’t complaining. “Gee, thanks.”

  She laughed again, a sound I was quickly becoming addicted to because she was so unrestrained when she laughed. So free. So happy. So beautiful. “
Oh come on, does your ego really need another stroke?”

  “Not my ego.”

  She snorted a laugh that was adorable as hell and bumped me with her hip again. “One track mind,” she mumbled and shook her head. “Are you staying for dinner?”

  Hell yeah I was staying. I nodded and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “And dessert too.”

  Janey tried hard to suppress the shiver but it was no use, I saw the goosebumps pebble her skin and the way her nipples beaded under that lightweight green t-shirt. “Okay lover boy, settle down. First we eat and then we’ll talk about…dessert.”

  “Sounds good to me.” I flashed a grin and turned towards her cabinets, guessing correctly on the plates. Eventually I found everything else and turned to put it all on the counter. “What?”

  “If I go sit down, will you serve me too?”

  “If that’s what you want.” I had no problem serving her, especially in those yoga pants she favored when she was at home. “Want me to do it naked, like your own personal Hooters?”

  Heat flared in her eyes and I took a step forward, smiling darkly when she took a wary step back. “No.”

  “Liar,” I shot back with a wicked grin.

  Janey grinned. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

  “That’s okay. We both know the truth anyway.” Damn it was so much fun doing these verbal gymnastics with her, almost as fun as the actual gymnastics. And that was a damn scary thought, one I hadn’t had about a woman I was sleeping with in a long, long time.

  The growl she let out was annoyed but still sexy so I focused on that. “Drink?”

  “Got any beer?”

  She rolled her eyes with an affectionate smile. “Two beers coming right up.”

  “Trying to get me drunk?”

  She snorted a laugh. “Like I need to. I’ll just take these to the living room.”

  “You don’t want to talk while we eat?” Usually I’d be in favor of enjoying the peace and quiet but Janey didn’t nag and she didn’t complain. She was fun and straightforward, there was no guessing with her. Except for how she felt about me.

  “Uh, sure. I guess. What do you want to talk about?”

  I remembered what Reese said about not pushing too hard so I decided to pace myself. “How was your week?”

  She frowned. “You saw me a couple of days ago Rafe. Why are you being weird?”

  “Am I? And here I thought it was just a man asking a beautiful woman about her week.”

  “My week was fine. Busy since the Hometown Heroes is done and I’m trying to put together the photos for my new series. Inspired by the heroes of Tulip. How was yours?”

  I shrugged and brought the burgers to the table, returning for the chili cheese fries and onion rings. “Busy as always. Just got a bunch of new rookies to train, which ought to be fun.”

  “By train you mean torture?”

  I gave a fake affronted look with one hand over my heart. “Torture? I am the Fire Chief and I would never ever-,”

  “All right, all right. Settle down, Montgomery. I didn’t mean to offend your delicate sensibilities.” Her lips twitched in a smirk as she dropped down in one of the cushion covered chairs around a square kitchen table. “So you broke in some rookies?”

  “Yep.”

  “Cool. What else?”

  “Kicked Jase’s ass at basketball and taste tested a few of Reese’s new recipes.”

  Her eyes grew wide and I took the seat across from her, waiting for the inevitable interrogation into the nature of my relationship with Reese. All women had them, even the platonic friends in Tulip but especially the women who tried to figure out why I didn’t want more from them. With them. “Really? What is she working on or is it a secret?”

  The surprise must have shown on my face because she burst out laughing and slid the plate of fries closer to her burger. “It’s not a secret but she’d kill me if you go in there and bring it up when she’s not ready to share it with the world yet.”

  Her smile softened and she did that head tilt thing women sometimes did when they thought a guy was being cute or adorable, or a bunch of other decidedly un-masculine adjectives. “I love your friendship with Reese. It’s so cute.”

  “Cute?” The question came out on a growl that made her dark brows disappear into her hairline. “We’re adults and friends, it’s not cute. It just is.”

  “Yeah,” she conceded and picked up a fry. “But she’s your best friend and you’re a guy who doesn’t really get close with women in a non-naked kind of way. It adds a layer of mystique that is very appealing.”

  Hmph, that was news to me. I smiled and leaned forward to steal one of the fries. “Good to know.”

  “As if you don’t already,” she said with a playful roll of her eyes.

  I nodded because I knew what she was getting at, not because I agreed. “There is something I don’t know.” She froze because Janey was a smart woman and she knew this question was coming. “How in the hell are you still a virgin?”

  “I’m not,” she shot back quickly and smacked both hands over her face to hide the pink blush that rose just as quickly. “Remember?”

  “As if I could forget.” I hadn’t been with a virgin since high school but I didn’t remember them being like Janey, sexy and fun. Playful and adventurous. Eager. “So?”

  She shrugged. “It’s not like I was hanging on to it for Mr. Right or anything like that. Obviously. But it never felt right so I just held off. That night in Santa Fe it felt right, so I did.”

  I believed that, but not completely and I ignored the implications of her obviously and the accompanying eyeroll. “So it could have been anybody?”

  The glare she sent me was cold enough to chill my own burger so I took a big bite to avoid saying anything that would piss her off before I got an answer. A real answer. “No Rafe, it couldn’t have been anyone but I wasn’t planning on it being you either.” She sighed and stared at the table for so long I thought maybe the conversation was over. “That dress I wore was so…not me, you know?”

  I shook my head. “It looked pretty damn you to me,” I growled back.

  She flashed an embarrassed smile and shook her head. “Thanks. But it wasn’t me and I felt uncomfortable that night. But you came and talked to me and it was familiar but not. We talked and had fun, flirted too. It was like a second or third date instead of those awkward first ones and,” she rolled her wrist to indicate that I knew the rest but she had to know.

  I wouldn’t let her get off so easily. “And?”

  “And you were gorgeous like you are, and flirty and sweet and giving off, vibes, I guess. It all worked and by the time we made it to your room, I knew. Was it terrible?”

  “Fuck no. It was a surprise and I would’ve gone slower, taken my time if I had known.”

  Janey let out a laugh and buried her face in her hands. “You don’t get any complaints from me.” Her voice was muffled but I could still hear the amusement in her voice. “Are we done with this?”

  “One more question. Do you regret it?”

  “No.” The answer came quick and sure. “I enjoyed that night and all the nights since, Rafe.”

  Her softly spoke words brought a smile to my face. “That’s damn good to hear, Janey.”

  “Fishing for compliments?”

  I shook my head. “You’re a hard woman to figure out Janey.”

  She frowned. “No I’m not.”

  “I figured you chose me because you thought there was no chance you’d fall for me.” It was a damning admission but who knew when I’d get the opportunity for this kind of conversation again?

  Janey snorted out a laugh that wasn’t all that amused. “Nope.”

  “Because you knew I wouldn’t want more?” The dark pink tint on her cheeks told me I’d hit the mark and I leaned in with a crooked smile. “Tell me Janey, how does it feel to be dead wrong?”

  Her shocked look was almost as satisfying as an orgasm.

  Almost.<
br />
  Janey

  Dead wrong? What the hell did that even mean? When I asked Rafe to clarify he just flashed that stupid sexy grin and kissed me until I stopped asking questions, at least to him. When my mind and my body was full of Rafe, it was easy to forget about the real world. It was easy to forget that none of this but the orgasms were real. It was easy to believe the look in his eyes, the way he held me. The way he made love to me.

  But once the orgasms faded and the body convulsions subsided, my mind swirled with his words. I was dead wrong about Rafe wanting more. Did that mean he did want more, and if so, did that mean he wanted it with me?

  “Yeah right,” I snorted into my margarita at a corner booth inside the Black Thumb. Drinking alone wasn’t really something I did on a regular basis, or ever, but sitting at home hadn’t provided any answers. And there were no margaritas at home. So I sat at the booth with an oversized strawberry margarita, worth all the griping Buddy had done about making it, still overthinking.

  Rafe didn’t want more and if he did, it would probably be with one of the sophisticated beauties the matchmakers had lined up for him. At least that’s what I’d been telling myself for the last few days because anything else was just unthinkable.

  But I kept coming back to his motives. Rafe wasn’t a bad guy, his work on the Hometown Heroes calendar and the Tulip FD proved it, and Reese would never be friends with someone who was purposely cruel. Which meant I was missing something.

  “Oh look, she’s already got a table for us.” Mikki’s thick accent was about the only thing that could have pulled me from my endless loop of thoughts, and when I looked up at her rubbing her round belly, I smiled.

  “Did we have plans tonight?” My gaze went from Mikki’s pregnant form in a pretty blue dress with white flowers on it, to Bo dressed in jeans and a flowing tunic that softened the scowl she wore most days.