Five Alarm Alphas

by Leah Braemel, Lexxie Couper, Delilah Devlin, Marie Harte, Desiree Holt, Lissa Matthews, Cari Quinn, Shelli Stevens

  She had no idea how long they lay there, neither of them with the strength to move. Finally, Boone managed to lift her, so he could ease himself from the clasp of her body.

  “Be right back,” he said, rolling her gently onto her back.

  Montana stretched out with her head cradled on the pillow, trying to slow her heartbeat. If this was a dream, she didn’t want to wake up. She smiled at Boone when he came back into the bedroom, a satisfied smile on his face.

  “Feeling pretty proud of yourself, aren’t you?” she teased.

  “Uh-huh. If you’re lucky, we might even get to do it again. With some more variations.”

  Before she could comment, the small two-way radio on his nightstand crackled out a message.

  “All volunteers in Winslow report to the station immediately and get your turnout gear. The Hannity barn is lit up. We’re filling the tankers now. Get moving.”

  They stared at each other. The Hannitys lived at the edge of town. Their place stood on about ten acres, and Montana remembered they used to have a couple of horses.

  “Do they still—?”

  “Yeah.” Every vestige of sensuality, of desire disappeared from Boone’s face, replaced by anger and concern. “I have to go,” he told her, already pulling on his clothes.

  “I’m going to get hold of Darlene.” Montana hastily threw on her own clothes. “I remember from when I worked there in high school, they monitor the calls and bring coffee and water to you guys.”

  “I don’t want you anywhere near it,” he snapped. “You could get hurt.”

  “Boone, if I’m going to live here, and I’m buying the diner, I’ll be doing this whenever it’s needed. I can take care of myself, and I’m smart enough not to go where there’s danger. Deal with it.”

  He grabbed her by the arms and gave her a kiss so hard it bruised her lips.

  “Take care of my woman.”

  Then he was out the door, headed to his truck.

  *****

  The arsonist had stayed around long enough to make sure the fire caught. It bothered him about the horses, but he figured the Hannitys would see it from their windows and get the animals out in time. He actually thought about throwing a rock at one of their windows, but what if they saw him? Getting caught would be…would be….

  He swallowed. Hard.

  He’d set enough of these fires he could estimate how long until the building was engulfed. He’d monitor the situation. If the fire department didn’t respond soon enough, he’d think of something. After all, the response was the whole purpose, right?

  He ran low away from the barn, using the scrub here and there for cover until he reached the scattering of trees. Then he stopped, watching for a long moment. He’d managed to get to the rear of the barn without being seen and pried up one of the loose boards. He’d used his usual newspaper base to start the blaze, fanned it to get it going, and now it was licking steadily up the back wall and spreading to the sides.

  As he watched, he cradled one arm against his chest and gritted his teeth. Tonight, he’d been a little careless. The sleeve of his shirt had caught fire and burned the side of his arm. Badly. He needed to put something on it, but he didn’t know if he’d have time. At least he had another shirt to change into, for which he was more than thankful. He’d have to suck up the pain until everything was over and he could take care of his wound. He had a bottle of aspirin in his locker. He could toss a few of those down.

  Finally satisfied the fire was moving nicely but slowly enough there was still time for help, he raced to the side of the road where he’d left his car, jumped into it, and pulled away.

  He needed to get into town. This was going to be a busy night for him.

  *****

  The tanker was loaded and ready to go when Boone pulled into the fire station parking lot. There was no city hydrant close to the Hannitys, as they were on county property, but he knew they had a creek. Like many others outside town or city limits, a dry hydrant had been installed at the creek behind their place, consisting of a pressurized pipe installed in a pond or creek. In rural areas where regular hydrants were absent, they were critical to fighting fires. They allowed the firefighters to refill the tanker without waiting for water to be delivered. Delay could be a killer. Sometimes the waiting gave a fire too long to feed.

  He hoped the Hannitys had gotten their couple of horses to safety. The acreage to the side and the back of the house was all pasture, scrub, and trees, instantly flammable if the fire reached it. And that could be a disaster of epic proportions.

  The firehouse was a hive of activity.

  “Good,” Ray Curtis greeted him. “You got the call. You ride with Jason on the quint. Take Higgins and Rolfe with you. The others, including the kid, can ride with Mendez. I’ll follow in my SUV.”

  ”The kid” was Evan Hunter, a new addition to the volunteer squad. He worked at the feed store but had thrown himself into training and pestered Ray on a regular basis to consider him when a regular spot opened up. No fire was too fierce for him to fight, no peril too great for him to face. Ray worried all the time the kid would one day put himself in danger he couldn’t get out of.

  He pulled on his turnout gear and shoved his feet into his boots, climbing into the cab of the quint, the truck designed to serve multiple purposes with ladders, hose pullers, and whatever else they needed. They pulled out into the street with the alarm chime screaming in the building behind them.

  They could see the flames from two blocks away, orange and red fingers reaching greedily toward the sky. By the time they turned into the driveway, the barn was almost fully engulfed. He was glad to see the Hannitys had moved their vehicles so there was enough room for both trucks to pull in.

  “It’s spreading to the closest pasture,” Ray Curtis called out as he jumped down from the other truck. “Everyone get your ass in gear.”

  In seconds, they were all in motion, the hoses turned on and pointing toward the barn, the powerful spray attacking the flames. The roof collapsed just as they were focusing the water spray on it. Now they had to concentrate on drenching what was left. They worked like a smooth machine, a well-oiled team, refilling the tanker from the dry hydrant, soaking down all the acreage closest to the barn. To Boone it seemed as if they fought the fire for hours, but it turned out to be slightly more than an hour. He could hardly believe it when he stopped for a moment and checked his watch.

  “We need to keep soaking it.” Ray had come to stand next to him as the team refilled the tanker yet again from the dry hydrant. “We haven’t had much rain, so everything is dry as tinder. If it consumes the Hannitys’ fields, we could have a wildfire on our hands.”

  “No shit.” Boone sucked in a deep breath, the acrid air burning his lungs. “If I ever catch the asshole doing this—”

  “You’ll have to get in line. I think everyone—paid and volunteer—wants a piece of this guy.” He stared at the two men dragging a hose. “The Hunter kid never stops, does he? He gives a new meaning to the term eager beaver.”

  Boone frowned. “Yeah. Maybe a little too eager.”

  “What exactly do you mean, Boone?”

  “Later. Let’s get this done first.”

  Ray pointed to the front porch. “The Sunrise Diner’s set up the usual bottled water, coffee, and pastry. Be sure to keep yourself hydrated.”

  When Boone glanced at the front of the house, he saw Montana busy tending one of the tables. She smiled and waved at him. A feeling hotter than the fire sizzled its way through his body. God, this woman just did it to him. How had this happened in such a short period of time? It was a hell of a lot more than the off-the-charts sex, too. For the first time, he felt an emotional connection with a woman, and he didn’t want to let it go. He hoped to hell she felt the same way.

  Then he shook himself. He was here to do a job, and he always prided himself on being totally focused. Part of the team continued to work on the barn, making sure there were no embers to unexpectedly flare t
o life later. Jogging to the back of the house, he joined two other firefighters still soaking the acreage closest to the building.

  The sun was coming up by the time the chief was satisfied the blaze was contained and would not spread to the rest of the acreage and beyond. The Hannitys had watched the entire thing, huddled in a group with their friends. Tear tracks still stained their faces, and anguish cut lines in their skin.

  But they were alive. The house was safe. And the horses, contained in a trailer on the shoulder of the road, were also safe. Boone finally yanked off his helmet and gloves and ran a hand over his soot-streaked face.

  “I’d say you could use this.” A soft voice cut into his consciousness, and Montana handed him a bottle of water.

  “Thanks.” He dredged up a smile. “You’re right. I needed this.” He uncapped the bottle and tipped his head back, draining the liquid in a few quick gulps.

  “You did good work tonight, Boone.”

  “They’ll have to rebuild the barn, and the two acres closest to the house will be pretty ugly for a long time.”

  “But everyone is safe,” she reminded him. “Including the horses.”

  “Definitely something to be thankful for.”

  He raked his gaze over the area, watching each of the squad members doing their cleanup, preparing to load the trucks. Curtis would assign two men to monitor the scene for a couple of hours yet, just in case. Tomorrow, the real cleanup would start. Everyone seemed to be on top of their assignments. Except….

  The back of his neck itched like it did when something was off kilter. As he focused on the person who had tickled his suspicions, the itch intensified. Should he say something now? Wait until they were all back at the station house? But, then, the man he suspected made a move, bumping up his suspicion.

  “I gotta go,” he told Montana. “I’d kiss you, but I’m covered with dirt and soot.”

  She chuckled. “No kidding.” Then she sobered. “You did good work here tonight, Boone. I know the Hannitys are grateful.”

  Curtis and the other man were walking toward the quint. He had to move right now.

  “Sorry.” He managed a smile. “I’ll call you later.”

  Then he was striding to where Curtis was talking with Evan Hunter. The kid was favoring his right arm, had been ever since he’d showed up tonight. Even his over-the-top enthusiasm hadn’t been able to mask the flashes of pain.

  “Boone.” Curtis turned toward him. “I was telling the kid here what a great job he did tonight. He’s turned into a first-rate firefighter. I’d sure love to find the money to put him on the squad full-time. He’s turning into a real star.”

  Evan grinned at him. “I told Chief Curtis I’m glad to be of help any way I can. You know, to serve. That’s what this is all about, right? The Hannitys couldn’t thank me enough.”

  “I’ll bet.” Boone’s voice was laced with sarcasm. “What do you suppose they’d say if they knew you had even more to do with the fire than they think?”

  Curtis frowned. “Boone? What’s going on here?”

  “I-I don’t know what you mean,” Evan stammered. “I’m happy to be able to help put out the fires. Really. It’s the reason I signed on.”

  “Yeah?” Boone grabbed the kid by the arm he was favoring.

  Hunter winced and tried to pull away.

  “Take off your turnout coat, Evan. Do it now.”

  Evan’s face set in a hostile expression. “I don’t have to do anything you tell me.”

  “Is there a reason you don’t want to take it off?” he persisted.

  “Boone,” the chief said again.

  “Make him take it off, chief.”

  Ray Curtis sighed. “Take the coat off, Hunter, so he’ll quit being a pain in the ass.”

  When Evan still resisted, Ray blew out an impatient breath, grabbed one sleeve of the coat, and yanked it off. Evan immediately cradled his right arm with the other hand and tried to back away, but Boone grabbed him and pushed up the right sleeve.

  “Jesus,” Ray swore.

  He and Boone stared at the ugly burn covering part of the arm from wrist to elbow.

  “You want to tell me how you got that?” the chief asked.

  Evan looked from one to the other, panic washing over his face. From the corner of his eyes, Boone saw others on the squad, both regulars and volunteers, drawn to the little confrontation, watching silently.

  Evan began to back away but ran into a solid wall of two firefighters standing behind him.

  “Yeah, Evan,” one of them said. “How did you burn your arm?”

  He took in the hostile group watching him, eyeing each person. It was obvious to everyone there he had nowhere to run.

  “Well?” Curtis prompted.

  Evan Hunter lowered his head and stared at his feet.

  “We weren’t getting any callouts,” he complained. “I joined the squad to save things, to be a hero and put out fires. I wanted the chief to see what a great job I could do. B-but we weren’t getting any fires.”

  “So you decided to create your own,” someone said.

  Hunter nodded.

  “You destroyed a lot of property,” Boone told him, working hard to bite back his anger. “How does such a thing make you a hero?”

  “No one got hurt, and I got to show off my skills,” the kid whined. “I thought I could create a controlled burn, but it kept getting away from me.”

  “Those are damn hard to handle.” Curtis’s anger edged his words. “It takes experience to handle one of those. Real experience.” He raked his hand over his short hair. “Jesus, kid. What the fuck?”

  Boone had nothing left to say, nothing he could add to the conversation. This was Ray Curtis’s problem to deal with. He’d have a whole lot of explaining to do to people like the Hannitys, still in a huddle, watching them. Montana and Darlene had come down from the porch and stood not far from the Hannitys, also keeping a curious eye on the scene.

  “All right,” Curtis said at last. “Let’s get our equipment packed up and head back to the station. Evan, you come with me. We’ll get your arm fixed up. Then we need to have a serious talk with the sheriff.”

  Boone almost felt sorry for Hunter as the chief marched him back to the SUV. Almost, but not quite.

  “Quite a night, cowboy.” Montana had walked over to where he was standing. “I’d say, when you get home, it might be nice if someone was waiting for you with a drink. What do you think?”

  Boone’s mouth stretched in the first real smile since the callout.

  “I’d say I know a firefighter who’d be mighty damn grateful for that.” He fished in his pocket for his keys, pulled one off the ring, and handed it to her.

  “All right, then. See you later.” She paused. “Maybe I’ll be a bad girl, and you’ll have to spank me again.”

  His cock immediately swelled to painful proportions. He couldn’t wait to get home.

  *****

  Montana thought for sure she’d be exhausted. An evening of exhausting sex then the hours at the Hannitys serving coffee and bottled water and offering moral support. But somehow she was more energized than ever.

  Watching Boone work had been amazing. It was easy to imagine him on a horse. But the sight of him in his turnout gear, manhandling the heavy hose, calling orders to his team, well, she hadn’t realized what a turn-on it could be. There were a lot of facets to Boone Crider. She was startled to realize she wanted to stay around to see all of them.

  She’d had a lot of opportunity to chat with Darlene Royal tonight, too, in between providing liquids for the firefighters. The more they’d talked, the more excited Montana became at the idea of buying the Sunrise Diner. And the more she recognized her first instinct had been right.

  She finally had to admit to herself she was a small-town girl at heart. A Texas small-town girl. She’d had to run away to learn who she really was. As fake as Los Angeles was, this place was real. It was honest. And it was where she belonged. She could use all he
r hospitality experience to build up the business even more. Maybe introduce some new things. Become a real part of the community.

  Before she’d headed for her car, she and Darlene had shaken hands on the deal. Darlene promised to get the paperwork going right away.

  Now, fresh from a shower, she lay on the rumpled sheets of Boone’s huge bed and relived every moment of the earlier part of the evening. Her body hummed with anticipation as she listened for his return, replaying in her mind everything they’d done together. Closing her eyes, she let her legs open slightly and slipped a hand down to cover her mound. She was wet already, her body awash in sexual expectation. She could still feel the tingling on her ass where he’d spanked her, still shocked she’d enjoyed it and wondered darkly what else he might have in mind.

  She let her mind wander, thinking of all the things she’d read about, all the things she’d heard. One finger stole into the wet slit between her labia and found her clit, rubbing it lightly. Her inner walls vibrated in response, need a hot fist in her womb. She imagined Boone touching her, his long fingers sliding into her, his mouth on her nipple, his—

  “I think you’re having too much fun without me.”

  Montana’s eyes flew open, and she stared, shocked, at Boone standing beside the bed. She’d been so lost in sensation, she hadn’t even heard him come in.

  “Oh!” She blinked at him through a haze of desire.

  “If you give me a few minutes to shower off the debris and odor of the night, I think I can help you right along there.” He bent down and took one nipple into his mouth, exactly as she’d imagined, and bit down on it just enough to send fingers of erotic pain stabbing through her. She moaned in response. Boone’s rough chuckle vibrated against her breast.

  “Oh, yeah.That’s what I like to come home to.”

  Her hand stilled. “How did it go at the firehouse?”

  He shrugged. “About like I expected. Ray talked to Evan for a long time then called the sheriff. They were still at it when I left.”

  “What will happen to him?”

  “The sheriff will have to decide, but he did commit crimes and caused thousands of dollars’ worth of damage. But I trust Ray and the sheriff to see he gets his head screwed on straight. And I’m done talking about them.” He placed her hand back on her mound. “Keep doing what you were doing, darlin’. Keep the controlled burn going.” He stood up. “I’ll be right back.”