From The Inferno (Firemen Do It Better Book 3)

by Leah Sharelle

  All the love I once had for the game came rushing back. The reason I started playing in the first place I could see on the face of each girl as they listened to my instructions, laughing when they missed the ball or hit it too far and off the court. No one yelled at them, cursed them out, or belittled them.

  I had more fun playing today than I had in the last few years at major tournaments, and it also gave me a new appreciation for my playing.

  “Are you concentrating on your punishment, baby.”

  Slap.

  Chase brought me back with a slap that landed on my pussy, not my butt.

  “Oh, God, honey. I’m here. Yes, I’m here.” I groaned low in my throat, close to coming. Who knew I would love spanking so much.

  Chase’s hand left my hip and travelled up the middle of my back. I was naked and leaning over the arm on his couch, and no doubt, my butt was ruby red with the six spankings Chase had lavished on me since we got back to his house and he ordered me in a sexy growl to get naked and show him my arse.

  Of course, I stripped in record time, then bent over the couch and discovered nirvana at the hand of my expert lover. I was so happy Chase was finally giving me the side of him he thought he had to keep under control from me.

  “Fuck, I love your body. It fucking drives me wild with hunger, and I can’t fight anymore.”

  Whimpering, I arched my back against his hand. “Don’t fight it, Chase. Take me, make me irrevocably yours forever,” I begged, crying out when his fist wrapped around my ponytail from today. It wasn’t a cry of pain but more a cry of surrender, of longing deep within me I never knew I possessed.

  “I’m at my limit, legs. I love making sweet, slow love to you. Fucking. Love. It. Don’t doubt that is me, too,” Chase said, and I believed him. His love for me was in every touch of his hands, every kiss from his lips. I didn’t doubt it, never would. But showing his love for me by spanking me or grabbing my hair was equally thrilling.

  “But fuck, baby, seeing you like this, your slender back arched up, your tits swaying seductively, and this perfect peach-shaped arse all dark pink with my handprint, I want nothing more than to slam my cock into you and hit that deep part of your pussy that will make us a baby.” As he spoke, his hands ran down the sides of my ribs and caught my breasts in each hand, and the tight groping he gave them shot desire straight to my core. My pussy was already wet, and he had yet to touch it other than the few light taps he gave it.

  “Please, Chase, I can’t take much more,” I pleaded as I wept into the pillow, praying that the pleasure and the pain would end.

  “Neither can I, baby. Neither can I.” Chase grunted. He removed one hand from my hair, and I felt him grab his cock and hold it at my entrance. Without a word, he slammed it into my throbbing pussy with one solid thrust, the brutal thrust pushing me over the arm of the couch further into the cushion. It wasn’t the most comfortable of positions, and my breasts weren’t happy, but the sheer blissful force of his hard cock hitting the deepest part of me overshadowed the discomfort.

  “Fuck!” Chase roared. “Fucking beautiful.”

  I didn’t get time to adjust to his cock before his hips retreated and slammed back in, over and over, as he pounded into me. His fingers gripped painfully at one hip while his other hand pulled my head back with just enough force that it bordered on pain but didn’t cross over and take away my pleasure.

  My feet came off the floor and dangled in mid-air as my body was shoved further up the couch with each thrust. As a freight train of liquid heat sped down my spine, I tried to chase away the impending orgasm desperately so I could keep feeling his hips crashing into mine.

  “Come, legs. Fucking come, please,” Chase yelled, his voice not sounding like his. The feral grunts and growls coming from him made me even wetter, and yet I still refused to go over the edge he had me dangling from.

  “No. Not yet. Not yet,” I screamed, tightening my inner muscles around his pounding shaft, doing my best to hold him in or stop him. I didn’t know which one.

  “Jesus, Jamie, I am going to come. You’ve gotta come with me, baby. Please, come with me.”

  A thumb suddenly pressed against my clit, pressing so hard on the sensitive nub that I had no choice but to detonate. Wave after wave of rapturous ecstasy thundered from inside me, and bright lights exploded behind my eyelids. I was barely aware of the violent roar Chase let out, but I did feel the explosion of his release coat my walls, filling me up.

  I knew I was protected from pregnancy, but damn, if I didn’t want his seed to create a baby with me at that very moment.

  The only sounds in the room were our panting breaths and the occasional creak of the joints in my legs and feet as they got their feeling back.

  A large, warm body covered my back, and his sweat mingled with mine.

  “Thank you, baby. Thank you for giving me that part of you and for letting me give you that part of me.” Arms came around me and pulled me up against his chest. “I love you.”

  “Hmm, I love you, too, honey.”

  22

  “Hey, little bug. I’m sorry I haven’t been here to talk to you for a few days,” I said, sitting down near the flower beds where I buried my daughter’s ashes. When I first built this memorial to Prue, I intended it to be a reminder of my lost life. Over the years, it became a place to go for comfort and solace from a hard shift or when I was feeling all hope of being happy again was lost to me.

  I told her about my day, the animals, and her horse. And recently, about Jamie.

  “You and Jamie would have been best friends, bug. I have told her all about you. She said that with me as your dad, you would be a great kid.” I plucked a few blades of grass from the ground. It always surprised me how well things grew in this area, the grass was greener, and the flowers’ blooms were more vibrant. I put it down to Prue. She’d always made the sun shine brighter or made my stress and my shittiest of days melt away with just one cheeky grin or sassy comment.

  “Jamie is a tennis player. Did I tell you that? A real famous one, too. She even went to the Olympics and played for Australia. That’s cool, hey, bug.”

  “I love her, Prue. I love her something fierce. She fills that void you left behind, not replacing you because that is never going to happen. But she gives me another reason to love, to want to move forward without you.”

  Dropping my head to my chest, I took three deep breathes.

  “I got one problem though, bug. See, Jamie is better than a waitress in a café. Yesterday, I saw her talent, the extraordinary gift she has. I can’t ask her to give that up for me. Now that things in Sydney have been settled, Jamie is free to go back and pick up where she left off.”

  “I can’t go with her, bug. I can’t leave you, sweet girl. Where you are is where I am staying. So, you can see the pickle your old man is in.”

  The beeper on my belt went off, and the obnoxious noise pissed me off. Ripping it from the clip, I glared at the message.

  “Well, bug, it looks like I need to go to work early today.” Frustrated at the interruption, I silenced the device and put it back. “Do your old dad a favour and give me a little help. Push me in the right direction, bug. Love you, sweet girl. Always.”

  Getting to my feet, I blew a kiss to the brightly coloured flowers. Talking to Prue usually eased my moods. Today, however, nothing helped chase away the panic that festered inside me. I wasn’t kidding when I told Prue how talented Jamie was. She shone when she was showing those girls the finer points of tennis. I watched her from a distance as she laughed and giggled with the teens. I heard the passion she had for the game when she explained the techniques of serving, and her enthusiasm for life was awe-inspiring.

  “What kind of arsehole am I to ask her to stay here with me and give up the life of travel and success?” I asked myself aloud.

  “Because you are in love with her, and she is in love with you,” I answered myself, glad that I hadn’t yet reached the edge of town and no one could see me. Talki
ng to yourself was the first sign of madness, and answering your own questions was a case for insanity.

  Early this morning instantly came to mind. Jamie and I were getting dressed for the day after spending the early dawn making slow love. Our eyes never left one another’s as she rode me to a spectacular climax, our hands laced over my heart as we whispered our love. It was the most profound lovemaking of my life, a moment I marked and would always replay in the future whenever I was having a bad day.

  It wasn’t until we were getting dressed that the joyous feeling evaporated slightly.

  “Baby, you have bruises all over your hips and bottom,” I grumbled, ashamed that I was the one to put them there. A red bottom from a spanking in the heat of desire was one thing, but she had deep purple fingerprints dotting her perfect skin.

  Jamie just walked to the mirror and admired them with a bright smile, her pretty face turning crimson as she pulled her lip between her teeth.

  “I love them, so get that look of shame off your face, fireman,” she sassed at me, pinching the nickname from Shiloh.

  “I was rough, too rough,” I insisted, regret in my voice.

  “You were perfect, and I loved every minute of it. These marks are the marks of out-of-control passion. The passion that you have for me. Never apologise for loving me that much, Chase. In fact, I am thinking about getting someone to tattoo over them so I will have a forever reminder of the night my man showed me sexual bliss.”

  I remembered my comment about no man ever putting his hands on my woman, and how I took her to the bathroom, undressed her, and how, in the shower, I made her promise not to mark her skin.

  That was my job.

  Turning onto Carngham Road, I was surprised to see the whole street blocked by police and emergency service vehicles, the lights flashing on the ambulances and fire trucks.

  “What the fuck is going on now?”

  Steering my Trans Am through the gaps in the vehicles, I got as close to the station as I was allowed. Throwing the car into neutral and pulling on the handbrake, I jumped out and jogged to the nearest police officer.

  “Hey, man. I’m Qualified Firefighter Brennan. What the hell is going on?”

  The young officer looked at me with wide eyes. I didn’t recognise him so he must have been a recent transfer.

  “You’re Chase? Detective Johnston has been trying to get you on the phone.”

  Shit. I forgot that I turned it to silent last night. My beeper was always on if the station called me to a job. Sometimes, you just needed to shut out the world and make love to your girlfriend.

  “Where is Jason?” I asked him as I continued moving toward the station.

  “In front. Up near the fire trucks,” the officer shouted at my retreating back.

  “You get that prick here, or I am going to start shooting,” I heard an angry voice shouting very loudly as I made my way through the crowd of onlookers and law enforcement.

  “Hey, Hoove. What’s going on?” I asked when I caught sight of the big man.

  “Jesus. Fuck, Chase. Get your arse up there now. Fucking Masters has lost his shit. He has Lake and Jamie outside of the café held at gunpoint.”

  Frantic, I pushed past his bulking frame and tore through the barricade of officers blocking the scene from the rubbernecker’s and the news cameras.

  Spotting Jason, I quickly made my way to him.

  “Jay, I’m here.”

  “Fuck, Axe. Why haven’t you answered your phone? Never mind. I can kick your arse for that later.” Jason clicked his fingers impatiently at the officer beside him and snatched the bulletproof vest from him.

  “Here, get this on and get over there. Find out what that fuckwit wants. He only wants to talk to you,” Jason said grimly, holding out the vest to me.

  Surveying the scene, I saw the two women standing huddled together, both of them wearing looks of terror on their faces as they followed the jittery movements of Phillip Masters Jnr, who was currently waving the gun around like a fucking loon. Then I saw Carson standing fifty metres from the café, his face white with horror. Lake being pregnant and having a gun pointed at her must be playing havoc with his heart.

  My own heart was thundering, seeing the love of my life in the same situation as Lake. It didn’t escape my notice that Jamie was standing protectively in front of Lake, shielding her pregnant friend and boss.

  Silly, beautiful, and brave.

  Fury boiled my blood. How fucking dare Phillip pull a stupid stunt. Well, if he wanted me, he was going to get me.

  Ignoring the vest and Jason’s protests, I walked purposefully to the middle of the road where Masters was.

  “Dickhead, what the fuck are you pulling?” I shouted angrily. It was a risky move to go in so aggressively, but it was the only thing I could think of to get his attention on me and off the women.

  Masters did exactly what I’d hoped he would. He whipped his body around when he heard me, so the gun was now pointing at me.

  “Well, thank you for making an appearance Firefighter Brennan. You really do think you are a hero around here, don’t you?” Masters spat at me. I barely recognised the normally suave businessman. His expensive suit was rumpled, and his perfect hair wasn’t so perfect.

  “That’s Qualified Firefighter Brennan to you, Mayor,” I drawled, using more than a bit of sarcasm on his title.

  “You have no idea what I do for this town, the hard work and hours I put in keeping us growing. And all you have to do is swagger in, using uncouth language, and everyone thinks you are a superstar. Well, I am sick of it. You had that filthy motorcycle gang look into me, and now everything is ruined. You haven’t a clue the lengths I went to for extra funding for the department. The steps I have taken to clean up this town, all in an attempt to bring a bit a class to the poorer parts of town.”

  I heard the words, but I couldn’t for the life of me understand what the wanker was trying to tell me. Glancing at Jamie, I gave her a quick look that I hoped told her I loved her, then returned my attention to Masters and the gun. My concern for Jamie couldn’t overshadow the big picture here. The first thing I needed to do was get him disarmed so I could kick the shit out of him.

  “Masters, I don’t care about any of that. You aren’t making any sense. All you are doing is assuring the people of this town that you aren’t quite right in the head.” Behind me, I heard some of the onlookers snickering. Masters might be our mayor, but his votes were bought by his father, not earned.

  “And that is why I hate you so much,” he screamed rabidly, walking closer to me and totally forgetting about the women.

  Carson used that moment to sneak along the shop front and grab the girls. When he pulled them into the café, and I heard the lock snap into place, I allowed myself to relax a notch. Jamie was safe and alive, thank fuck.

  “Masters—”

  “No! You can shut up. For ten years, I have endured people looking at you with sympathy and looking at my aunty with distaste. I have done everything for people to stop looking at me as the cousin of a suspected murderer, and all I get is disrespect.”

  “Your cousin was a murderer. There is nothing suspected about it. He killed my baby and her mother because he couldn’t get off his arse and help with the bills. Instead, he killed them because of jealousy, so I strongly suggest you never mention that to me ever again. I have broken your nose twice before, and I don’t have a problem going for a hat-trick.”

  I inched my way closer to him, not quite finished insulting him just yet. With Jamie out of danger, I had nothing to lose.

  “You have done shit for this town and everything to help yourself. You built a monstrosity of a house on a site that was meant for a convalescent home. You spend council and rate-payers’ money on overseas jaunts that you try to convince us is for the good of all of us. You are only the mayor because of your dad and grandfather, two men who do have respect. You ain’t done shit,” I told him with brutal honesty. I was about done with this cunt. If he didn’t
put the gun down soon, I was going to storm over there and shove it down his throat then yank it out of his arse.

  Phillip took a few menacing steps toward me. We were now only ten metres from one another.

  “That shows how much you know. Without me starting those fires and getting rid of those ugly buildings, you idiot firefighters wouldn’t be getting the extra funding from the government. Without me doing that, you would have to have stupid fundraisers to get money for equipment. Without me—”

  Masters next words were cut off because he was suddenly knocked off his feet by a massive surge of water. Whipping my head around, I saw Hoove pointing a hose at the mayor, who had just admitted in front of a hundred witnesses—many of whom were law enforcement—that he was behind the arson that plagued us and took the life of one of ours.

  If I were in a laughing mood, I would be pissing myself watching the idiot flailing around on the road, trying to right himself, only to be knocked back on his arse as Hoove kept the hose pointed at him with enough pressure to take the paint off a car.

  His cries of pain fell on deaf ears. I knew the pressure of the water would be rubbing his skin raw, but I couldn’t find it in myself to give a fuck.

  He murdered Knox. There was no other way to see it. He killed the recruit and held a gun at my girlfriend. I was going to make sure he rotted the rest of his life in prison.

  “Fuck me, Axe. Way to poke the angry, crazy gun-wielding bear. Next time I need a negotiator, I won’t bother calling you,” Jason said, coming up to me, his hands on his hips as he stood watching Masters and not doing much to ask Hoove to shut off the water.

  “You got this now.” I could see through the café window that Carson was having a devil of a time stopping Jamie from coming to me.

  “I am the fucking police, Axe. Why don’t you go find a pole and climb it.”

  “Go fuck yourself, Johnston. Fuck, man, you need to get laid. Your bedside manner really is appalling.”

  “So you keep telling me. Better tell Hoove to turn off the water, or we will need to bring in the crime scene squad to pick up bits of his flesh,” Jason said in a bored tone. Neither of us really gave a fuck.