Flames of Love

by Melissa Foster

  “Don’t move.” It was a command, but damn it, he meant it. He retrieved the boots and set her feet into them. He ran his eyes down her body, and in his boots she was sexier than hell, and he felt himself get harder.

  She grinned.

  “I didn’t think it was possible, but you just got ten times sexier.” He pressed her to the door with his body as he kissed her hard, hungrily taking her every breath as his hands found her hips again. He loved her hips. Hell, he loved every part of her body down to her fucking toes. He fought the urge to drive into her right there. Instead he looked into her eyes as he used his feet to spread her legs. She sucked in a breath as he gave her another heated command. “Don’t move.” He pressed his hands to her chest just above her breasts, feeling her heart beating just as fast as his. Then he dragged his hands down her body, pressing her to the door and keeping his eyes locked on hers. His fingers splayed as they dragged along the lace of her bra, feeling her hard nipples beneath and amping up the urge to fill her with his heat. He felt her heartbeat through her breasts, and then his hands were on her ribs, which rose and fell with each heavy, intoxicating breath. She sucked in another breath, and he trapped her mouth with his again, loving, licking, tasting her tongue, the sides of her teeth, the roof of her mouth. He couldn’t get enough of her. When his hands found her hips, he clenched them tight, as he’d learned she loved. She tried to arch against him, and he held her to the door, her legs spread, held apart by his bare feet. He licked her lower lip, and she whimpered against his tongue.

  “Don’t move,” he said again. Hearing the gruffness in his own voice only spurred him on as he kissed his way down the center of her body, then licked around her beautiful belly button before plunging his tongue into it. She cried out, an indiscernible stream of pleasure. He lowered his mouth to her inner thigh and ran his tongue up the length of it, stopping short of her thong; then he moved to the other side, feeling her legs contract and her hips tremble in his grasp.

  “Cash, please.”

  He ran his tongue along the edge of her thong, just beside her sex, then sucked the sensitive skin, bringing her up on her toes again, her hands fisting on his shoulders.

  “Oh God…not…fair.”

  He used his teeth to drag her panties to the side, revealing her swollen, moist sex. He stroked her with his tongue.

  “Jesus,” she cried.

  She buried her hands in his hair and whimpered as he licked her again.

  “You’re so sweet,” he said as he brought his hands to the front of her thong and fisted them around the fabric. “How much do you like these panties?”

  She looked down at him, panting, confusion written all over her flushed face. In the next breath, he ripped them apart, right down the middle, and they fell to the floor. Siena breathed heavily as he licked her again, harder, and used his tongue to tease the sensitive nub, which brought her up on her toes again. He released one hip, holding her firmly against the door with the other, while he slipped his fingers inside her and drove her up and over the crest of a climax that shuddered through her entire body. With his fingers still inside her, he rose to his full height, his feet still holding her legs apart. He grabbed one wrist and held it over her head.

  “Other hand,” he panted. “Up.”

  She lifted her hand to his and he wrapped his hand around both of hers. Then he pressed his chest to her and took her in another urgent kiss as he teased her down below. She arched into his hand, moaning into his mouth. He drew back.

  “Too much?” He searched her eyes, and she shook her head, her lips slightly parted, her breasts heaving.

  “More,” she whispered.

  “Holy hell, I love you.” He kissed her again, moving his fingers in and out of her faster, pressing his hard cock against her hips. Within seconds he felt her body tighten around his fingers, and she gasped another breath, stealing air from his lungs. She pressed her hips into his as she went up, up, up, then came down from the peak, her body still pulsing with tiny aftershocks, her heart hammering against his.

  “More.” She narrowed her eyes. A challenge.

  He arched a brow as he stepped from his turnout pants. He threw her over his shoulder in a fireman hold, and in a handful of determined steps, they were in the bedroom, where he set her on the bed. She laughed and got up on her hand and knees, her hair cascading over her shoulder and down her back. Her eyes were at half-mast, filled with lust and sinful seduction. Cash hesitated, unsure of what she really wanted. The position was so open to him.

  “Come on, big boy,” she said.

  He let his heart lead him to the bed behind her, her beautiful ass spread wide for him, her sex ready, waiting. He moved to flip her over, and she looked over her shoulder and shook her head. Holy fuck. He brought his hand to her center and could barely breathe with her looking back at him so seductively. Dirty thoughts ran though his mind, but he loved her too much to do anything that might hurt her. He brought the tip of his hard length to her center and she moved back, taking him in, then moved slowly and purposefully forward and back.

  “Touch me,” she whispered.

  He brought one hand to her breast, the other to her center as she leaned back in his lap and he stroked her, groped her, and thrust into her moist heat, driving harder as the sensations grew. Flames gripped his thighs as his muscles tightened with each thrust. He lowered his teeth to her shoulder and grazed her skin as he sucked a moan right from her lungs.

  “Oh, Cash, more. I want more of you.”

  A rush of carnal heat sent him up on his knees and her back down to her hands and knees as he thrust harder. She clenched the sheets in her hands as her inner muscles tightened. Cash’s muscles corded as he gripped her hips and pulled her back against each of his thrusts.

  She cried out and he stopped.

  “Am I hurting you?”

  “No, no. No. Don’t stop.”

  Jesus Christ. Just as her sex tightened around him and she cried out his name, he felt his balls tighten. He drove into her again, and with the next pump of his hips, he filled her with his love, thrust after powerful thrust drawing the come right out of him. Breathing hard as she rode the crest of her release and then came down from the peak, he lowered his cheek to her back, feeling her heartbeat through her ribs. He placed soft kisses along her shoulders. He shuddered as he lowered them to the mattress, their bodies still joined together as one.

  He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek. “You okay?”

  “Mmm. Better than.”

  “Was I too rough?” It would kill him if he’d hurt her.

  “No. You were perfect.” She turned to face him. “Was I too slutty?”

  She bit her lower lip in the way that stole his heart. He kissed her forehead. “No, babe. When you’re driven by love, nothing’s slutty.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  LATER THAT AFTERNOON, Cash and Siena were cuddling on the couch watching the end of Million Dollar Baby when Siena’s phone rang. She stood from the couch and looked around the room. “Do you know where my purse ended up?”

  “Babe, I barely remember closing the door behind you.” Cash got up and followed the sounds to Siena’s bag on the floor by the door and found her purse beneath it. He handed her the phone and carried her bag into the bedroom.

  “Hi, Mom.”

  “Hi, honey. How are you doing?”

  “Fine, why?”

  “I saw more pictures of you and Gunner…”

  “Yeah, that should be the last of them.” Jewel had said a few dates. She had no idea why she said that to her mother except that it was wishful thinking.

  “Oh, good. Are you still seeing Cash? Has he seen these?”

  She walked into the bedroom and found Cash putting her clothes into a drawer. She mouthed, Thank you. “Yes, I’m still seeing Cash, but I haven’t even seen them yet.”

  Cash wrinkled his brow.

  She held up a finger and walked back toward the living room. She knew she was just delay
ing the inevitable.

  “Well, you look like you are having a very romantic dinner in one, and in another you look like you’re the perfect couple leaving the restaurant. There are others, but nothing too remarkable.”

  “Great, Mom. I’ll take a look.” She sighed as she lowered herself to the couch. They’d had such a nice day together, making love, eating lunch, and cuddling while they watched a movie. She hated to ruin the evening, but there was no putting off Jewel’s mention of a few dates.

  “Siena, are you sure you’re all right?”

  “Yes, and I’m sure you know about Jack and the others ganging up on me last night.” She blew out a breath and collapsed back on the couch.

  “I’m sure it felt that way. They just worry about you.”

  “Well, I worry about me, too, so I guess we all have that in common.”

  “Oh. Um. Well…”

  “Don’t worry, Mom. I’m fine.” She leaned forward and asked quietly into the phone, “Has Dad seen the pictures?”

  “Your father doesn’t read those magazines.”

  “Good. Okay. Thanks, Mom. I’m at Cash’s, so I have to run. Love you, Mom. Thanks for calling.”

  “Love you, too, Siena. And, honey?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I would never tell you how to live your life, but just be true to yourself, okay?”

  Siena’s chest tightened. “Yeah. Okay, Mom.”

  After she ended the call, she pulled up her big girl panties and went to talk to Cash. He was in the bathroom putting her toiletries under the sink.

  “I hope you don’t mind. I thought we might as well get organized.”

  She leaned against the doorframe thinking about how lucky she was. “You cleared space for me in here and in your bedroom?”

  “I cleared space for you in my life.” He patted her hip as he walked out to the living room. “There are things I need to know about you.”

  She followed him. “And things we need to talk about.”

  Siena sat back down on the couch, and Cash sat on the coffee table in front of her, his hands on her knees.

  “Me first. I realized that I don’t know a few important things about you. Like, your favorite flavor of coffee and your go-to snacks. Your favorite body lotion, which I think I just found out. Any special soaps you like to use? Breakfast foods?” He ran his hands up her legs, leaned forward and kissed her lips.

  She touched his cheek. “French vanilla. Carrots and blueberries. Um…soaps? Gosh, Dove cucumber is my secret favorite, but the makeup artists like me to use this other expensive stuff. Breakfast foods? Fruits, I guess. A croissant when I feel like being bad and maybe egg whites when I’m starved. What’s yours?”

  “Black coffee and granola. I’m a guy, so lotions and soaps? Not really my thing.”

  “I love that you thought to ask these things.”

  “I have lots more questions, but I already know that you prefer salad to meat, silk to cotton.” He moved in closer, and she felt a tug down low. “Cuddling after making love. And if I kiss you right here…” He lightly touched the spot just below her earlobe with his rough hand, and Siena held her breath. “It makes your whole body shiver.”

  “Every…thing you do makes my whole body shiver.” She had the urge to pull him to her and make out like teenagers. It would be so easy to get lost in him instead of facing the Gunner situation, but she wasn’t a coward, and she loved Cash too much to keep him in the dark.

  He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, sweet Siena, I could say the same about you.”

  “Cash.”

  “That sounded too serious. Why do I have a feeling this has nothing to do with our favorite anything?”

  “Because it doesn’t. I met with Jewel again, and—”

  He sat back and held up his hands. “Wait. Before we go down this road, if this has to do with Gunner, let me just say this one thing.” He reached under the newspaper on the end table beside the couch and threw three daily gossip newspapers on Siena’s lap. “Today’s pics.”

  Shit. “You’ve seen them? I haven’t even seen them.”

  He shrugged. “I picked them up on the way home. Better to be prepared.” He placed his hand on hers. “It’s okay, babe. I saw them, and they didn’t change a thing. But I have to tell you, I’m glad we’re done with this shit. I’m a pretty secure guy, but these…” He tapped the magazines. “These were tough. The one when you’re leaving the restaurant especially.” He whistled. “The look on your face...That’s an ego slap for sure. But after I got home and stewed over it for fifteen minutes or so and I started to clear out the place and make room for your stuff, I got over it.”

  She looked down at the magazines.

  “Page two.” Cash flipped the page, revealing the photo of Gunner and Siena leaving the restaurant. She looked like a woman in love, with dreamy eyes as Gunner whispered in her ear.

  “He said, Try to look like I’m all you can think about, so I thought of you.” She ran her finger over the image of her face. “It worked, don’t you think?”

  “That explains it.” He moved to the couch and draped his arm around her shoulder. “So, tell me what Jewel had to say.”

  She leaned against him, feeling his strength, and as he pulled her to him, she felt his love. “She said Track Sports is flirting with me. Thinking of giving me a five-year contract.”

  “That’s good, right? Wasn’t that the whole idea?”

  “Yes, it’s like a dream come true, but she also implied that I would need to continue seeing Gunner.” She reached for his hand, and Cash slid his hand from beneath hers and rubbed his forearm. “Cash?”

  He leaned his elbows on his thighs and rubbed his hands together. He didn’t answer her, and he kept his eyes trained on his hands. Siena placed her hand on his back and felt him flinch beneath her touch.

  “Cash? Talk to me.”

  He turned his head and met her gaze. An icy chill ran down her spine.

  “Are you considering this?”

  “No. Yes. I don’t know.” She pulled at the ends of her hair. “It’s confusing. They’re talking about a five-year contract and a boatload of money.”

  He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. She watched his biceps twitch and the pulse point in his neck throb. “And?”

  “And? I’m trying to figure out what to do. I mean, you know I love you. Gunner knows I love you.”

  Cash closed his eyes for a second, then he planted his elbows on his thighs again and sighed. “I thought we talked about this.”

  “We did, but it’s sort of changed. I mean, I told Gunner about you, and he’s not just an asshole. He was better this time. Nicer.”

  “Better this time? Siena, I’m not following.”

  “Jewel said they’re talking about a really lucrative contract.”

  “So this is about money?”

  She heard anger creeping into his voice, saw his jaw clench, and then felt the pit of her stomach sink as she realized that, yes, part of this was about the money. “We’re talking about me being the face of Track Sports. That’s huge.”

  “Do you need the money?” He was dead serious.

  “No, but—”

  “Is this the contract you always dreamed of? The one that will bring your career to another level?”

  “Not really, but it offers security.”

  “It offers the demeaning of our relationship. I don’t know what you earn, and I don’t want to know, but what’s our relationship worth to you?”

  Siena could barely breathe, much less think.

  “What are they offering? Half a mil?”

  She shook her head. “There’s no offer yet, but they’re talking twenty times that.”

  Cash lowered his forehead to his hands with a groan. “Shit. That’s more money than I’d see in ten lifetimes.”

  He faced Siena and placed his hand on her cheek. She covered his hand with hers and watched as his eyes filled with sadness.r />
  “Baby, I love you.”

  She felt his hand shaking. “I love you, too.”

  He lowered his eyes. “But I can’t stand between you and an opportunity like this.”

  “Thank you, but I haven’t even decided what to do. I just wanted to talk to you about it.”

  He dropped his eyes. “Siena, I love you too much to be the guy in the background.”

  “What are you saying?” She grabbed his arm and clung to it.

  He shook his head.

  “Cash?” Tears welled in her eyes, and her breath came in hindered spurts. “Cash…you’re not…” Silence hung between them, sliced only by the sound of their heavy breathing.

  “I said I would never get involved in your career, and I won’t ask you to make a choice. Christ, how could you make a choice?” He put his hand on her thigh. “You have the opportunity of a lifetime in the palm of your hands. And for what? A few dates with some guy? Hell, it sounds insanely innocuous.”

  Siena laughed through her tears. “Yeah. It does.”

  “Except I’m a jealous bastard. I’ve kept it pretty well under wraps, but when we promised exclusivity, it meant something to me.”

  “It meant something to me, too. It means something to me.” Siena grabbed his hand and brought it to her chest. “Cash, please. I love you. I didn’t agree, really…” Except I sort of did. Oh no, no, no!

  “The fact that you even considered it means the opportunity is pretty important to you. And hell, Siena, it should be.”

  “Cash, I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to lose us.”

  “Yeah? Well, neither do I.” Cash pushed himself from the couch and paced the living room.

  Siena was on his heels. “Then why are we torturing each other? It’s not like I’ve even been offered a contract. I just wanted to talk to you about it in case Jewel got an offer.”

  Cash stopped pacing. “Come on, Siena. You wanted to talk to me to see if I’d agree to your continuing to see Gunner.”

  “Jewel was talking about all that money and security for if I ever had children.” She didn’t mean to raise her voice, but she couldn’t control it. “And I started thinking, you know? What if we got married and you got injured in a fire? And what if we had kids, and I wanted to be with them? What then?” She began pacing. “I thought…I thought…It might mean more security.” She plopped down on the couch and covered her face with her hands. “Damn it, Cash. I don’t know what I thought, but it has nothing to do with me wanting to be with goddamn Gunner.”