Down in Flames (Wildfire Hearts Book 5)

by Savannah Kade

  His hands found her hair and tilted her face up to his.

  It was too much, the stark need in his gaze. The feel of him in her, moving, taking her higher, as he saw exactly who she was.

  Arching up, she kissed him, and moved faster. She felt the heady rush of pushing him closer to the edge as she felt the electric surge of her own orgasm getting so close. He moved harder and faster and she met him at each push. Until at last she felt the dam burst and she cried out as wave after wave hit her.

  With a deep, needful breath, he stared at her again as he came, but she closed her eyes against the new lies she was telling him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Ronan came slowly awake to the feel of soft heat in his arms. He almost jolted as the sense of Tierney pressed warm and naked against him revived a stunning string of memories.

  Had they even spoken? Had she kissed him first? Or had he made the first move?

  He remembered but still couldn't quite tell.

  She shuffled a little in her sleep and his senses blazed to life. The covers were pulled up to their shoulders so he navigated by touch, cupping a warm heavy breast, tracing the indentation of her waist and following the soft skin of her hip. She moaned and rolled closer.

  If he hadn't woken up at full attention, he would be now.

  In an effort to slow himself down, he slid his hand across her stomach and pulled her back close. She had to feel what she was doing to him. Her head tilted. Had she meant to turn to face him, or had she turned just so he could whisper to her?

  "Tierney ..." He wanted her. He needed this. His hips rolled of their own accord and her responding movement caused enough friction to say yes.

  He wanted to say that he didn't know where this had come from, that it had sprung up on him ... But he hadn't been drunk last night. He'd been sober enough to drive and sober enough to want her of his own true volition. She hadn't been drunk either. Her eyes weren't clear, but the three shots had been long gone before they arrived here and she took out whatever frustrations she'd had on that poor bouquet. Had he only been trying to calm her?

  Whatever bullshit he tried to sell himself, he recognized as bullshit.

  He wanted her. Plain and simple.

  She impressed the hell out of him and there was something about being wanted by a woman who'd faked a new identity at sixteen and only gotten more badass over the years. He'd wondered about her lack of ambition, why she hadn't gone any further than the family bar. He told himself she was the only remaining daughter and she was staying close to home. He told himself she just didn't want anything bigger in life and that all the talk of med school had only been talk.

  But now that he knew her secrets he understood. There was nothing about her that was only talk.

  Her leg moved up and over his and he felt the groan rising from somewhere in his core at her clear invitation. His hand wandered, down her thigh and back up. To her breast, where she arched her back, pressing into his touch, and molding her ass into his hips.

  He breathed like he'd climbed a mountain. Maybe he had. His hand slipped down, finally touching her in the way she'd asked for, eliciting a cry and a startled undulation up her whole body as he found exactly the right spot. He nibbled at her ear, riding the waves with her as he played her like a finely tuned instrument. His own need built with each stroke of her body against his. Each time he touched her, she rubbed against him and he was rock hard and far too ready before he'd planned.

  "Tierney," he whispered again, and then moved in closer. He touched her harder and wondered if she heard him when he breathed the name "Emily" into her skin. She was both and neither and something in between as she came apart with just his touch.

  With one hand wrapped around her, he leaned back, reaching for another condom. He almost fumbled it in his haste. He needed this, now.

  So when she rubbed back against him one more time, he moved his hips. But she eluded him, rolling up onto her knees and inviting him up behind her. His brain short circuited as he scrambled to his own knees and plunged in. His fingers clenched her hips, holding her to him as he moved recklessly, driven only by a wild need he'd not really known he could possess.

  She bucked back against him, her own pleasure not yet finished. His thoughts fried as he moved with her and against her, as the white hot sensation built until he came with a roar that burst out of him without permission, with no holds barred.

  For long minutes he rocked against her, coming in waves before eventually landing back on earth.

  When he finally pulled away and rolled to his side, he reached out to touch her.

  He didn't quite know what switch had flipped last night but he was glad. Tierney was safer here with him. He knew that had been an excuse to keep her close. He simply wanted her here.

  His eyes rolled up to the ceiling. How would he tell Mom and Dad Doyle? Would they be happy for him or think he was a monster?

  But he could figure that out later. His chest was full with the strange and heavy joy that came with finding the right woman, with having her want to be with him, too. Reaching out, he pulled her back close to him again but was startled by the heaviness of her.

  "Tierney?" He moved forward. If she couldn't come back to him ...

  She rolled forward, too. Onto her knees, where she scooted away and toward the edge of the bed.

  "Tee? Come back?"

  She was walking away, looking over her shoulder. "I need to go home."

  What?

  "I'll take you home. Just come back for a minute." He wasn't whining, but the heat that had filled him started to falter. "Tee?"

  "I need to go home." It wasn't mean, just firm. She was out the door before he could even get his brain to function.

  Standing, he felt the welcome tug of muscles long unused. He hadn't been celibate since Siorse had died, but ... close.

  The carpet was soft and familiar beneath his feet as he stopped in the doorway and saw her there, stepping into yesterday's lacy panties that in no way matched the bra that had to still be on his kitchen floor. "Tee?"

  "I need you to drive me home. I don't want to call a ride at eight a.m. on a Sunday wearing yesterday's clothes."

  "Of course not!" He would drive her. But he stood there, naked, until she gave him a nod that told him to go put his own clothing on.

  He was dressed and heading out to his car, the garage door rising and letting in sharp winds that had thankfully stayed away last night. Her hair picked up, auburn curls dancing around her head as she shuffled herself into the passenger side of his car. As he slid into the seat and started the engine, he turned toward her. "Tierney?"

  She shook her head at him.

  What did that mean? Did it just mean she hadn't had her coffee yet or was she completely denying that last night had happened?

  "Are you okay?" He had to know that much at least.

  "Yes." It was an odd answer, too formal.

  Ronan put his hands on the steering wheel to steady them and resigned himself to not knowing what was in her head for a while. He made it partway down the block before she started talking.

  "Last night was—"

  "Amazing." He interrupted her on purpose. As if he could stop her from feeling what she felt or saying what she wanted to say.

  "Yes, it was."

  He breathed out a sigh of relief and took a right hand turn onto the main road. He was opening his mouth to tell her ... what? He didn't know if he could define how he felt, but he had to let her know he didn't want to forget about it. She beat him to it.

  "Last night was wonderful. I always thought—"

  He waited but she didn't finish.

  Eventually she said something else. "Last night has to stay last night."

  "What does that mean?" He'd almost hit the brakes and sent the tires squealing. This was not a conversation he wanted to have on the road, but he kept his eyes on traffic, no matter how slim it was. Hadn't he just learned that lesson the hard way?

  "It means we can't be
together, and that you and I really need to be physically far apart for a while—"

  "Tierney, no. You have a stalker after you."

  "Yes, I do!" Why she was so mad about a fact like that, he didn't know. "Ronan! You don't believe me how dangerous this man is."

  "He's—"

  "A murderer!"

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  He'd almost slammed the brakes at the last thing Tierney had said, but this made it even harder to hold onto his focus.

  That she was calling Elliot Vander clef a murderer was news. Ronan clarified, "He threatened to murder you?"

  Tierney shook her head. She was looking out the window, but he could tell she was irritated at him. Not that he knew why. Her jaw clenched. "It was more than that."

  "What, Tierney? What did he do?" She'd told him a lot about Vander clef, but Ronan would have remembered if there was murder in the listings.

  "One of the guys I dated ... I can't prove it, but I found a few things."

  "I don't understand. How is that murder?"

  She sucked in a breath. "I went on one date with this guy and that night, after he dropped me off, he got mugged. Stabbed. He died from his injuries in the hospital."

  "It could be a coincidence."

  "It's not a coincidence, Ronan!" Her words were sharp, her anger aimed right at him. "And this is exactly the problem!"

  He wanted to make her not angry at him. Why was she mad at him? He wanted to yell, What, exactly, is the problem? Because it seemed to him that her stalker was the problem, not Ronan trying to help. But he didn't have to ask.

  "The problem is that you don't believe me. You think you're some superhero-firefighter-god who can handle anything that comes at you! But you can't!"

  "Ouch." The word fell out. The hit was more than damaging to his ego. It was bad enough that she thought he was so arrogant. He knew better than most that people weren't as immortal as they liked to believe. But it also hurt that she clearly thought he couldn't take on this Elliot Vander clef dude. He almost said, "No offense, Tee. But I think I can handle a little posh fancy boy like that." Nevermind that Vander clef was over six feet tall. At least Ronan was, too.

  None of what he wanted to say mattered. Tierney's anger was rolling off her in waves. "You don't believe me. You think I'm overreacting, but you weren't there."

  The last part at least was true. He had no doubts that whatever Vander clef had done, he’d frightened her. Ronan didn't think she was overselling that. Taking a deep breath, he tried to navigate the choppy waters of her anger. "I don't think you're overreacting." It wasn't really a lie. "But I do think your perspective might be different. You were sixteen the last time you were around him. He must have seemed larger than life."

  She let out an ugly sigh. Still angry? "Yes. I was only sixteen, but I still remember his words. I remember how he came in and threatened my parents—"

  "I don't hold up to threats—"

  "Yes, you do, Ronan!" She yelled it at him, her anger bouncing around the small car and hitting him from all sides. "Yes, you do! You will when he's threatening your parents and your brothers. Or he's threatening your fire station. When he tells you that your family will die and you know he’s willing to kill them, there's nothing you can do but give in and you know it."

  Ronan frowned, thinking through those possibilities. His parents would be okay. His dad was a tough old bird and his mother was too stubborn to let anyone take advantage of her. His brothers were also firefighters and he had faith that they could take care of themselves. So as much as Tierney might be threatened by those things, he wasn't. He didn't even have a child that Vander clef could use against him anymore. The one thing that might begin to sway him was if this asshole got his hands on Tierney.

  He made the last turn onto her street.

  Her arms were crossed, and she shook her head, still angry at him. “Just drop me off."

  Whatever Vander clef might be, he was just a man. Did she not understand that the firefighters had been trained to go in and defuse domestic violence situations? Maybe now wasn't the time to say that, but damn, if not now, was she going to walk away from him? Could she really pretend that last night had never happened?

  He had to consciously slow his speed. Kids lived on this street. People might be leaving for church despite the Crawl last night. They passed the first few houses as she started to talk again. At least she was talking.

  "I don't know if he saw us last night, or if he saw us leaving together, but the more I think about it, us being there as a date was a bad call. It's waving a red flag at a psychopathic bull."

  Even so, Ronan thought, she was safer with him than without him. "Tee?"

  He was pulling up closer to her home, the whole time keeping his eyes in front of him, hoping that he could think of something to say to make her change her mind. There was an odd shadow across the front doorstep and he tried to focus, but she was still talking.

  "Look Ronan, I know that you don't think that I'm right about this, but it doesn't matter what you think."

  This time, his head swiveled to look at her. The daggers she was slinging today were incredibly sharp.

  "I'm asking you to drop me off and leave me alone. It's safer for everyone."

  "What are you going to do if and when he confronts you and you're by yourself?"

  All she said was, "I've got it covered."

  Ronan didn't know what that meant. "Tierney—"

  He cut his own words short. His eyes had been scanning the road and the shadow on the front doorstep had grown larger.

  "Don't argue with me about this."

  "Tee?" He tried again to cut her off as he slowly turned toward her driveway, not liking what he was seeing.

  The shadow was orange and unmoving. One small paw stuck up into the air.

  "Look Ronan, you don't get to make my decisions for me. I'm sorry that I led you on last night, but—"

  "Led me on?" His attention torn between Tierney lighting into him and his growing concern about what he was seeing.

  Pulling into the driveway, he leaned a little forward, hoping he was blocking her view. Maybe he was doing it on purpose. "I don't think you led me on. I don't think that's really a thing. I just knew what I wanted and I acted on it."

  "That's good. I don't regret it," she said, and what had to be coming next wasn't good. He could feel it in the air. "I just—"

  He cut her off again and held his hand out as if to hold her into the seat. "Tee!"

  His hand laid flat against her chest where he could feel the heat of her and the subtle pulse of her heartbeat beneath his palm. He shouldn't have touched her that way. He shouldn't have made last night's memories flare. "Tee, stay in the car."

  "What?"

  But he couldn't answer. He couldn’t handle both things coming at the same time. So he pulled the handle, opened the door, and unfolded his legs out the side. He was heading up the walk, his heart pounding and a knot forming in the center of his chest as he saw for certain the orange cat gutted and draped across the front doorstep as if waiting for Tierney to come out and step on it.

  The car door popped behind him as Tierney absolutely did not follow his instructions. Why had he even expected her to?

  Turning around, he said, "Tee, don't look!"

  But the expression of horror that crossed her face told him he was already too late.

  She gulped hard, swallowing down whatever painful emotions were assaulting her at the sight. Tierney whispered, "Mr. Kittens!" Then she sucked in a breath as if to cry. "What will I tell Sean?"

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Tierney stood on her own front walk staring down at the lifeless body. She fought the overwhelming urge to vomit and cry. It was a struggle just to breathe. She should never have fed the cat. Just being near her had put the sweet creature in danger. She wanted to fall to her knees and sob, but the neighbors were likely watching.

  They might not have noticed the dead rats before, but this? Her thoughts pinged from the mun
dane—how would she clean this up?—to the painful—she hoped the cat hadn't suffered.

  But the suffering was the point with Elliot. He was sweet and charming until he decided that he liked it better when he was hurting you. Tierney tried to focus on the present. She would kill Elliot for this.

  Just like the rats, Mr. Kittens entrails had been pulled out and draped over the steps. Only Mr. Kittens was much larger, and it was much more personal of a hit. She wanted to yell at Ronan that someone who does this to an animal—any animal, let alone a beloved pet—is someone none of us wants to be dealing with! But it wasn't worth her breath. Ronan thought he was better than Elliot and that he'd easily best the man if it came down to it. So Tierney consoled herself by hoping she might be able to narrow Elliot's focus to herself. She had nothing left to lose.

  Well, she had a lot to lose, but she knew that when her back was against the wall she would have to accept that everything else was already lost. She would fight like it.

  She couldn't say any of that, though. The words wouldn't form. A knot, cold and heavy clogged her throat.

  "Please don't look," Ronan begged her, as if she could turn away. As if that would be enough to scrub the horrible image from her mind. "I need to go check around the house."

  He stepped up onto the porch, reaching for the front knob and clearly finding it locked. "Please," he said, taking her hand and leading her back to the car.

  She let him move her. There was nothing she could do for Mr. Kittens now. As Ronan walked around the side of the house, Tierney watched him disappear through the gate and head to the back. There was probably a window smashed out somewhere, maybe a lock picked. Hell, knowing Elliot, he already had a key to her home, and maybe he'd simply gone in the front door like he lived there. He would love that.

  But, as she leaned back against the car, the metal still warm from the drive over, she realized her mistake. The kittens! Where were the kittens?

  She yelled out that she was going inside, just as Ronan called out to her, "I don't see any sign of entry back here."