by Becky McGraw
"There's a condom in my wallet," he told her then pushed up to his feet to go get it out of the wet jeans he'd taken off near the water.
He heard her sigh behind him, as he searched around for his jeans, and Ethan smiled. For someone who had resisted him so long, she sure was in a hurry now. He counted himself damned lucky she had changed her mind at all, though. Knowing her stubborn streak, he realized that wasn't a common thing, and kind of wondered what had prompted it now. At least now he understood why she had resisted him. Some asshole city boy had hurt her, and she thought he was going to do the same.
It took a minute, but he found the dark jeans laying half in the water at the edge of the bank and lifted them out. After untangling his underwear, and shoving the legs back through, he patted the wet denim until he found the bulge of his wallet in the pocket.
He had been so quick taking them off to swim after her when she dove in, he was surprised the wallet was even still in his pocket. God, only knew where the boots he'd tossed over his shoulder were.
"You making balloon animals over there with that condom?" she asked with an agitated snort. Her voice echoed over the lake and Ethan flinched. She was definitely a country girl, her volume control was set to blast, so she could yell across pastures.
With a laugh, he shoved his wallet back in his jeans and carefully picked his way back across the marshy ground to the blanket. Roxanne was propped up on her elbows, glaring at him when he got there. The moonlight made her long blonde hair glisten, and her skin glow. She looked like a beautiful, angry wood sprite waiting there for him.
He wondered what her beautiful naked body would look like bathed in the glow of the early morning sun. Ethan might just find out tomorrow morning, because he'd found three condoms in his wallet, not just one.
Dropping his jeans near the blanket, he threw the condoms down on the corner, then knelt at the edge telling her with a wide grin, "Put on your seatbelt, cowgirl...I'm about to rock your world."
"Words," she told him disbelievingly, but licked her full lips.
"Is that a challenge?" he asked, sitting back on his heels. He held her eyes as he grabbed one of the packets and ripped it open.
Rocky scrambled up on her knees then crawled over to him and snatched the latex ring from his fingers. When her cool fingers closed around him, he sucked in a sharp breath.
She stroked him and met his eyes. "You always this chatty? And slow?"
"Slow is good sometimes...real good," he informed with a shiver. He looked forward to showing her how good it could be, several times, before the sun came up.
"You like slow, huh?" she asked with mischief sparkling in her eyes.
"Yeah, sometimes," he told her, wondering why she hadn't put the condom on him yet. He was about to take it back and do the job himself, when she shoved his shoulder and he fell sideways onto the blanket, then she pinned his legs.
"What the hell?" he hooted and leaned up on his elbows to look at her.
Her mouth spread into a slow smile as she tossed the condom to the side. "I still owe you for that stunt you pulled in the spa the other day...teasing me like that wasn't fair."
"You wanted to look, I just gave you something to look at...and a man has to do something when a woman won't give him the time of day."
"Well, payback is hell, sugar," she said. "Let's see if I can make you moan like you were moaning that day."
Ethan swallowed hard and wanted to moan at her words alone.
That was until she pushed up to her knees and crawled up his body. Pressing him into the blanket, she took his hands and held them up by his ears then leaned in to kiss him, fleeting kisses she wouldn't let him deepen when he tried. Her mouth slid from his then she placed kisses across his face, then licked a spot behind his ear, before stopping to place an open mouthed kiss on his neck.
Ethan moaned then bucked against her, wanting to touch her, to kiss her. "That's it," she praised, her hot breath whispering over his throat. She released his hands and he tried to grab for her, but she pushed his arms back down.
"Stay," she said as if she would to a horse. Ethan huffed out a frustrated breath, but complied.
Placing a rope of hot kisses across the bottom of his throat, she stopped to suck a time or two and Ethan wanted to vault off the blanket and grab her, but he didn't. To stop himself, he put his hands under his head to lift it up so he could watch her downward progress to his chest.
His whole body was on fire, and she was pouring gasoline on the flames when she met his eyes as she ran her tongue in a long swath from the bottom of his pec over his nipple up to his shoulder. Cool air brushed over the wet trail she left behind on his body, ramping up the flames.
Her voice vibrated on his skin as she told him, "Your tattoos drive me wild."
Who would have thought his biceps were an erogenous zone? She kissed then licked a circle around his arm and it was the sexiest thing anyone had ever done to him. Ethan moaned and leaned up to watch her, straining to keep his hands behind his head.
She moved back to his pec and circled his nipple with her rough tongue then nipped it with her teeth and Ethan sucked in a sharp breath and stifled a growl.
This woman was taking slow to another level, and she was driving him crazy.
His body was buzzing like he was holding a hot electric wire. In a zigzag path, she worked her way down his abdomen, her hair tickling as she moved. He tensed his muscles there, then moaned when her tongue circled his navel.
"Good God, Roxanne," he whispered weakly, then groaned when she put an open mouth kiss at his hipbone, before kissing across his waist to the other side and repeating the process. Ethan was hard, and ready to be inside of her, but he was too wrapped up in trying to anticipate what she would do next to stop her.
She scooted down a little then met his eyes. Grabbing his calves, she spread them apart then moved between his legs, and told him nervously, "I haven't ever done this before, so just tell me if something doesn't feel good."
Ethan's heart shot up into his throat and stuck there as her hot breath brushed over his dick and he went as hard as he'd ever been in his life. "You don't have to do that, sweetheart," he told her in a choked voice.
She looked up at him. "You don't like it?" she asked with insecurity in her gray eyes.
"Hell yes, I like it, but I don't want you doing something you're uncomfortable with."
"I want to," she murmured with a soft smile, before she bent over him and kissed the tip of his cock then her tongue darted out to lick him.
Ethan growled and his hands shot out to grasp her head.
She looked at him with concern. "Did I hurt you?"
He huffed a couple of breaths then released his grip on her head. "No," he choked out then laid back on the blanket and closed his eyes. How he was going to survive this without exploding, Ethan didn't know.
She took him in her hand and stroked him, licking around the head of his cock. His fists tangled in the blanket and he ground his teeth to endure the sensual torture. Her hand moved lower on his shaft, then her hot mouth closed over him.
Ethan threw back his head and moaned, "Oh, God...so good," as waves of sexual energy rushed through his veins to drug his brain.
Her hand moved lower to cup him and her lips slid down over him, before she started an excruciatingly slow rhythm, her tongue sliding up and down the underside of his cock as she moved.
Involuntarily, his hips moved with her mouth and incredible tension built inside of him. Right on the edge of a mind blowing orgasm, Ethan sat up and grabbed the sides of her head.
Her swollen lips slid off of him, and she licked them then looked up at him in confusion. He pulled her to him and she whimpered when he slammed his mouth over hers, grinding his mouth into hers, drawing out every ounce of the magic that was left there.
Without breaking the kiss, she straddled his thighs, lifted so he fitted perfectly with her opening, then eased down slowly taking the tip of his cock inside her body. A shiver moved thro
ugh her, then she rotated her hips, almost sending him to heaven. His fingers dug into her hips, and he pushed her away.
"Condom," he said in a hoarse whisper, then patted the blanket beside him to find it to quickly sheath himself.
Roughly, he shoved her onto the blanket then slid his arm under her leg, lifting it to his hip, before he plunged into her. Incredible heat and warmth surrounded him, and he closed his eyes to savor it.
"So good, baby..." he ground out then looked down at her. In the light from the full moon, he could see excitement on her face, but discomfort too.
"Are you okay?" he asked, starting to pull back, but her leg tensed around him, holding him there.
"I'm fine," she told him with a half smile then lifted her hips to encourage him. "Love me, Ethan," she invited in a shy whisper.
It would be all to easy to love this woman, he thought, as he pushed forward and set a slow steady rhythm watching her face to make sure he wasn't hurting her. He hoped he never hurt her, but he was afraid that was going to happen.
If he could get the Captain's job in Henrietta, Ethan wasn't going to be in Amarillo. Guilt tried to cut through the sexual haze surrounding him, but he pushed it aside. Getting that job wasn't a given, and he was into living in the here and now after his accident, sucking the marrow out of each and every day he was alive.
Making love to Roxanne Baker was definitely marrow sucking.
Shoving all other thoughts to the back of his mind, Ethan focused only on bringing her to another release and finding his own. When her body vibrated under him, her inner muscles clutched him tightly, and he tumbled right behind her into the most apocalyptic orgasm he'd ever had in his life.
Before the sun came up the next morning, he had made love to her twice more, each time more frantic, because he knew it could be their last, maybe forever.
Sunlight in his eyes woke him, and he looked down and found her snuggled up to him, her head resting on his chest, her arm draped across his waist. Her face was covered by a mass of tangled blonde hair, so he couldn't tell if she was awake or not.
Ethan kissed the top of her head and a warm sensation spread inside his chest. She stirred and grumbled, then shot up, her arm brushing across her face to move her hair. "Oh, God, what time is it," she groaned.
"The rooster has crowed. Heard him a few minutes ago," he lied with a laugh.
"Lord, I've got to go feed, the other hands will be up soon and ready to head out."
He squeezed her to him, then said, "Good morning to you too, Sunshine. Last night was...incredible," he told her and kissed her forehead.
Rocky looked at him and her eyebrows creased, before a wide smile spread over her face like the sun coming up over the trees. "It was world rocking, wasn't it?"
"Damn, straight," he growled then pulled her to him for a hot good morning kiss.
"Mmm..." she murmured but tapped his shoulder then pushed up to her knees. "As much as I'd love to stay here for another round, we have to go," she told him, her voice gravelly from sleep. "Come on."
Ethan shaded his eyes from the sun, and put a hand over his stomach when it rumbled. He heard her rustling around packing stuff up. With a deep breath and a sigh, he lifted his arm then sat up with a grunt.
Every muscle in his body ached, pleasantly. He even welcomed the back ache. If what led to his discomfort was like that every time, he would gladly suffer through it.
"Can you help me up, baby?" he asked when he couldn't seem to get his legs under him. He tried again, then grunted and fell back on the blanket.
His legs were weak as a newborn colt, and that's exactly what he felt like. Maybe sleeping on the cold hard ground all night hadn't been such a good idea. The next time they made love, he wanted it to be in a bed.
Ethan leaned over and grabbed his jeans and underwear at the edge of the blanket, shook them out then carefully slid them on and buttoned them.
"Yeah, just a sec," she told him from over by the lake.
Ethan glanced at Rocky and saw she was stepping into her shorts, and watched them slide up her long legs longingly. She sat down on a rock to put on her tennis shoes and tie them, then looked up at him. "You having trouble getting up this morning, old man?"
Her sexy teasing grin grabbed him by the balls and made him want to throw her back on that blanket and love her until the moon came up again. Getting up she sashayed over to the blanket then dropped his dirty boots and shirt onto the blanket, before holding her hand out to help him up.
With a snort, he told her, "I never have trouble getting up when you're around, sweetheart," then hid a grimace behind a tight smile when another spasm hit him in the center of his back as he grabbed her hand to get up.
What the hell was going on with his back, he wondered.
Ethan was afraid maybe he had taken his progress for granted by coming out here, by making love to her so enthusiastically, then sleeping on the cold bank of a lake afterward.
Stupid, he chastised himself fighting hard to maintain his balance.
He'd go see Tara when he got back to the house for a massage, then maybe soak in the whirlpool and take a day off from working out.
Roxanne bent over and grabbed the tackle box, cooler and rods. His fishing rod was probably lost forever to the lake. Hopefully the huge catfish had broken the line.
"I'm excited," she told him as she stood. With a grin, she explained, "Wes is coming out today to check on Chancey. I'm going to tell him how good you're doing, and that you really want to join the team. I'll ask him again, tell him you're ready now. I'll let you know what he says."
Guilt flooded Ethan, because if he got the Captain's job in Henrietta, he wouldn't be joining that search team. Her efforts to convince Wes to let him join would be wasted, because if he was offered the chance to return to firefighting, there was no question he was going to take it.
Twice now, Wes had turned her down when she asked him about Ethan joining the team, because Ethan's mobility had been as iffy as his horseback riding skills when she asked. Her asking Wes again now, telling him Ethan was excited about joining and ready for it, was putting herself on the line with her friend.
But Ethan wanted to keep the option of joining the search team open, in case he didn't get the Captain's job, even though he knew if he was accepted on the team then left, Rocky would look like an idiot.
Maybe he could buy some time to prevent that, if he could convince her to wait to talk to Wes for another week or so.
"Um, why don't you wait on that for a little while. I probably need a few more lessons," he improvised, hoping she would agree with him.
"The orientation class is next week, Ethan. Unless I get him to agree to put you on the team now, you won't make it, and the class is mandatory," she told him with a frustrated breath.
And unless Ethan told her what his reason for waiting was, she wasn't going to let it go. So, even though he knew he was being a chickenshit coward, Ethan screwed his face into what he hoped was a smile and said, "Thanks."
"You're welcome. Now let me go put this stuff in the truck, and I'll come back to help you," she told him then jogged up the slight incline toward the truck.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
"Dad, I want to apply for the Captain's job," Ethan told his father, the current Henrietta Fire Chief, holding his gaze steadily. "I think I could do a good job...I know I could."
After his doctor's appointment in town, Terri had dropped him off at the fire station to say hello to the guys, while she went to meet a friend from the hospital for lunch. A mix of emotions flitted over his father's weathered face, surprise first, then pride, but that was followed quickly by concern. Nothing less than Ethan expected.
"Son, I couldn't think of anyone better to replace me, but the accident was a deal changer all the way around," he told Ethan then leaned back in his chair and tented his fingers, propping his elbows on the arms of the chair.
"I'm getting better every day, working hard in the gym. By the time you retire, I promise
I'll be back to capacity."
"Ethan, can you run a mile?"
"Not yet, sir," he replied, but added confidently, "I'm walking two miles a day on the treadmill, though. It won't be long, befo--"
"Can you climb a ladder?"
"Not yet, but my leg strength is a lot better. I'll start working the ladder next week." Since his visit to the doctor, he didn't know how he would pull that off, but he was going to try like hell to get there.
"Can you lift a hundred pounds, son?"
Ethan huffed out a relieved breath then replied with an arrogant snort, "Yeah, I can do that."
"And carry that weight a hundred yards?"
There was no way in hell he could pull that one off, and his dad knew it. Ethan didn't know if he'd ever be able to do that again. There were able-bodied firefighters he'd be leading who could do that, so it shouldn't be a problem for him as Captain.
"No, sir," he answered with a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach.
"Son, do you realize even though I'm old and not in the shape I used to be in, I have to meet agility standards every year to continue to be Chief?"
Blood rushed to Ethan's face and he stuttered. "Um, no I didn't realize that."
"They give me a lot of rope timewise to do the tests, and cut me some slack, but you're a young man, they are not going to give you that latitude. They'll expect you to be as physically fit as the other young guys."
"I can get there, dad," he pleaded then begged, "Just give me a little more time. Delay your retirement for a few months."
Not getting at least a chance at this job would be just about the worst blow he could imagine. He had gotten his hopes up, built up the possibilities in his mind...and he'd worked his ass off to get back on his feet.
"There's something else you need to know..." his dad said then his eyes darted away to the door then back to him.
"What?" Ethan asked needing just one more reason he couldn't be a fireman again to send him over the edge.
"Something is going on around here."