Up in Flames

by Abbi Glines

  Major loved himself. He talked about himself all the time. It drove me nuts. I had never noticed it before. I just smiled and agreed with him. Yes, his hair was getting longer. Yes, he did look good in blue. Yes, his biceps looked bigger. Blah blah blah. Ugh.

  “Do you?” he asked, and I looked up at his perfect face and felt not one damn thing.

  “Huh?” I asked, not sure what he had been saying. I could see the irritation on his face. Oops.

  “Do you want to play a round of tennis after we finish our meal?” His words sounded clipped this time. My obvious lack of interest in the conversation was getting on his nerves.

  “Not today. I think I’m going to go visit with my nephew this afternoon.” Which hadn’t originally been my plan, but I wanted to talk to my brother, and some time with Nate would make it better.

  Major almost looked relieved. He’d been trying to entertain me and was failing.

  I couldn’t focus on him or on life right now. Not with my dream replaying in my head. Was I obsessed with Gannon? Was that it? Had I gotten some strange fascination that was unhealthy?

  “Dinner tonight? Maybe order out and watch a movie at your place?”

  I wanted to say no again, but I felt guilty after all he’d done to get my attention this week. I might have been a different person, willing to be with him every moment, if that dream hadn’t reminded me why I was over him to begin with.

  “Sure. I’ll be home and ready around six. You want me to order the food?” I asked, already knowing the answer. Major liked to be taken care of. He had to be exhausted after a week of catering to me.

  “Yeah, great!” He beamed. Typical.

  It was a date. Fantastic.

  I let Rush know I was headed to his house. When I drove into their long driveway, I could see him standing on the back porch watching for me. I hadn’t called and asked if he was around to talk in a very long time . . . or possibly ever. He probably thought I had a terminal illness or I was pregnant. The concern etched on his face was obvious from one hundred feet away.

  I parked and made my way toward him. He took a few steps down and met me halfway.

  “What’s wrong?” were the first words out of his mouth.

  “I can’t just want to come see my brother and visit with my nephew?” I asked, one eyebrow arched.

  “No. I mean, sure, but you don’t ever do that anymore. You pick up Nate for play dates, but you don’t come to see me.”

  He was right. I rarely hung around with the family and just visited. Nor did I ask to talk to Rush about anything serious. I updated him on my life via text and let him fill in the blanks. He normally got it right. “Just here to visit,” I assured him. “Nate still napping?”

  Rush was studying me like he didn’t believe a word I was saying. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “With Blaire.”

  “Want to walk down to the water?” I asked. That shot both his eyebrows up.

  “Why? What is this about, Nan?” His stern tone made me smile.

  “I’m not dying, and I’m not pregnant. Can we just go talk?”

  His tension eased some, and he finally relaxed. “Sure.”

  I asked about Nate and the pregnancy. As Rush began talking about his family, I wanted to stay focused, but my mind was wandering back to Gannon. Back to the time I’d spent with him. “When you met Blaire, did you know? That she’d change everything for you?” I asked when he fell silent.

  “Yeah. Scared the shit out of me, but I knew.”

  I figured as much. He had never been the same since the night she walked into his house. As much as I had hated her at the time, I saw the way she made his eyes light up. Was this how he had felt? Like I was feeling? Wanting someone you couldn’t have?

  Major

  I wasn’t sure what I’d done wrong, but I’d messed up somehow. Nan wasn’t mentally with me. She was off somewhere else, like she’d been all day today, and I didn’t know how to bring her back. The worst part was that I knew Cope could see us where we were currently sitting. He knew I was failing.

  “Dinner was great. Thanks. I was going to pay for it, though,” I said, wondering if the fact that she’d paid for dinner was bothering her. She’d ordered it, and it had arrived before I did, so I wasn’t around to pay. It would be silly if that was her problem.

  “No, that’s fine. I’m glad you enjoyed it,” she said with a forced smile, then turned her attention back to the movie.

  It was something with guns and action. She’d chosen it for me, I was sure, and most of the time, I loved watching movies. Tonight, though, I was trying to romance Nan, and it wasn’t working. She wasn’t even trying to cuddle up to me like she used to do. I wasn’t used to this behavior.

  I cut my eyes to the hidden camera pointed at us and felt like flicking the asshole off. Watching the movie here was a bad idea. It was like Cope was judging me.

  “You enjoying the movie?” I asked, realizing it sounded stupid and pathetic to try to get her attention.

  “Yeah, sure, it’s great,” she said, without even a glance my way this time.

  It was like she was mentally counting down the minutes until I was gone. That stung like a stake through the heart. Damn, she was seriously not interested in me being around at all.

  My ego was nonexistent at this point. I couldn’t keep this up. I needed another plan. If Nan wouldn’t talk to me casually, she sure as hell wasn’t going to chat with me about her past boyfriends.

  I gave up trying to get her to soften up or at least care that I was there. Leaning back, I watched the movie, and it wasn’t bad. I enjoyed it.

  Nan fell asleep.

  After covering her up and locking the door behind me, I left the house. Tonight had been a bust. It could have been my fault for not planning things out better. I should have gone in with a game plan. Cope would have had a play-by-play. That was why he was the best. Damn him.

  Maybe I should have let him finish it. Maybe this thing with Nan wasn’t more than me just wanting to prove myself. Hell, if the woman didn’t want me, then she didn’t want me.

  If I were a lesser man, I’d take the rejection and walk. But I was Major fucking Colt, and I welcomed challenges. I owned them. I took what was thrown at me and destroyed it. I could figure Nan out. She was a woman, after all.

  Before I went and drew up a new game plan, though, I was going to find that waitress from the club today. Hannah or Tabitha, or was it Tammy? Oh, hell, who cared? I knew what she looked like. I’d figure it out.

  Nan

  The heaviness of sleep held me as I felt my body being lifted and carried.

  It was his smell. Inhaling deeply, I clung to it, turning toward what I knew was the wide strength of his chest. This was what I’d been waiting for. Sleep. He came to me then, and I needed him. Every thought centered on him.

  Sleep was my friend, my sanctuary. The only place I found happiness. There were no shallow people who called themselves my friends, no need to pretend, just us. Gannon and I. In a world that couldn’t really exist, but I wanted it to so badly.

  I wrapped a hand around his thick arm as he began lowering me onto my bed. I didn’t want him to let go. Would he vanish now? Was this all I would get tonight? It wasn’t enough. I wanted to taste his skin, feel his hard body move over mine. I wanted him to exercise total control over me and lick my body, close to pain but with a feather’s touch.

  I mumbled a plea and kept my eyes tightly closed, hoping I wouldn’t wake to find him gone.

  “Shhh, sweet baby. I’m not leaving you yet.” His dark whisper made me tremble, and I almost wept in relief.

  He was still here.

  I heard the rustle of clothing, and I wanted to see him, but I feared that would wake me. So I denied myself the beauty of his body in hopes of keeping him longer. The back of his hand stroked my bare arm and continued down to my waist. I was naked. My dreams were manipulating themselves to please me. We were closer than I’d thought.

  “Turn over.” His tone was hard an
d cold.

  Instead of scaring me, it excited me. Something that only made sense with Gannon. I trusted him, yet a part of me feared him, too. The combination was heady. It was unlike anything I’d ever tasted. My fantasy.

  I arched my back, and his palm pressed it down. “Don’t. I tell you when to move this beautiful body.” His fingertip continued to trail over my body. Each touch a caress so hot it burned my skin. “Don’t wiggle, or I’ll have to slap you.”

  As dark and twisted as that threat sounded, I was even more demented because it excited me. Just when the mix of anticipation and fear began to grow, his hand slid between my legs and cupped me with just enough pressure to cause me to cry out with relief. I ached there. His touch was all that could ease that sweet ache.

  “Lift your ass,” he said, his voice dropping into a husky whisper.

  I didn’t argue or pause; I did exactly as I was told.

  A low chuckle filled the room. “Damn, I was hoping you’d give me a reason to lay my hand to this pale skin. To see my handprint on your flesh.”

  Oh. Maybe a slap wasn’t so bad after all. It would be his mark of possession. I liked that. I wanted it.

  So I wiggled my ass and held my breath.

  The hard slap I assumed would be on my ass was on my inner thigh instead, and it stung. The second slap was on my back, and the sharp bite of pain was even more intense. I jerked away from him, and he growled before tossing me onto my back and sliding his hand back between my legs, filling me with several fingers. My eyes flew open, and the black of his pupils now hid any of his eyes’ hazel color. They were dark and dangerous, and it hadn’t woken me. He was still here, and I could watch him.

  There was evil in those black eyes, and I wanted to draw closer. His hand worked me until I cried out his name and bucked my hips closer to him.

  The slap across my face startled me and made me cry out his name at the same time. It wasn’t that it hurt, because in the moment it had been erotic. The force behind it had been enough to draw attention yet not to harm.

  “Don’t move.” He barked his order, and I nodded.

  Unsure if I wanted to be slapped again or not. No one had ever slapped my face. The action almost hurt my feelings, but it also made me wiggle again. Did that make me as twisted as he obviously was?

  “Open those pretty legs.” His demand was smooth, and my body responded before my brain could register the warm-honey sound of his words.

  “You like it when I slap you.” His voice was now as excited as it was dark.

  I nodded.

  “You’re soaking wet. Fuck, you’re a naughty girl.”

  Then, with one rock of his hips, he was inside me. Crying out his name, I held on to his shoulders. No one had ever consumed me like he did. I clawed at his back, needing him closer, fearing that I would wake up.

  Lifting both my knees, I drew him in until it hurt. His thickness and length were more than my body had experienced. The pain that came with his invasion was breathtaking, yet I wanted more. Until Gannon, I had never understood pleasure with pain.

  When he pulled out of me, I had never felt so empty in my life. I grabbed for him, and he tossed me onto my stomach again. “Ass in the air,” he growled, as his hands grabbed my hips and jerked me up before entering me again. “Fuck me, Nan. Rock that ass back on me, and fuck me,” he ordered.

  It hurt. It was much deeper, but I wanted it. So I did exactly as he told me, until the orgasm ripped through my body and I collapsed onto my stomach.

  His roar of release faded into the distance as the darkness pulled me back in.

  The sun coming through the curtains didn’t warm me. It was a cold feeling. I knew that when I opened my eyes, I would be alone in this room. My dream had been so real. I gently touched my body, feeling the tightness there from use. My mind was playing games with me. My panties were in place, and although I felt sated, I knew it was all in my head. The ache in my heart from the emptiness around me was there. Haunting me. Reminding me how alone I was. Being alone before Gannon had been easier. Before I knew what completion felt like, I had been strong.

  Nothing broke me. Not having a father who didn’t want or love me, not losing my only hero to another woman, not even watching my sister become a woman worshipped by the guy I thought I loved. I had remained strong. I had been my own rock. But now . . . I didn’t want that. I wanted something I’d never have. Curling into a ball, I tried to ease the hollowness and the depression that came with it.

  Major

  Her name was Jill. I hadn’t even been close. Rolling over in bed, I frowned and closed my eyes when I realized Jill was still here. All that blond hair was spread out on my pillows, and she wasn’t hard to look at or wake up to, other than the fact that she was not who should be in my bed. She was a distraction.

  A really damn good-looking distraction. And I liked her accent. It was really thick. She wasn’t from around here. My guess would be Mississippi or Alabama, with a twang that pronounced. When she came, she moaned in a husky tone that made my dick hard just thinking about it. I wanted that.

  Hell, what would it hurt to have one more stab at her? I was going to have to focus on a woman who couldn’t care less if I was breathing today. Might as well enjoy one who liked screaming my name in that sexy drawl of hers.

  Leaning over, I kissed her bare shoulder and inhaled her sweet scent. She wore some vanilla fragrance that reminded me of cookies, and I fucking loved cookies. Especially sugar cookies. I kissed my way down her arm until I made it to her flat stomach. I licked at her navel, and she began to stir.

  A slow smile stretched across her sleepy face, and I liked that. I needed it. My ego needed it. Sure, she wasn’t a Nan. Not many women were, but she was damn cute. I could enjoy cute and then go back after high-maintenance, sexy-as-hell Nan.

  “Morning,” I said, in a husky whisper I knew she’d like. Then I began to kiss lower, and like a good little girl, she spread her legs for me. All vanilla vanished as the smell of our sex last night lingered. That was hotter than the vanilla.

  Reaching into the nightstand, I grabbed another condom and grinned to see the other two empty packages on the floor from last night. I’d worn her out, yet she was ready for more. Pretty little slut. I hadn’t even known her name, but she was ready to fuck me last night. Her daddy should have taught her that she was worth more than that.

  But he hadn’t, and I was about to take advantage of it.

  “Ah,” she whimpered, as my tongue ran up the plump pink folds. “Yes” was her next pant as she lifted her hips.

  I wasn’t going to be able to do this for long. I needed my own release. A few more licks, and I moved up, slid the condom on, and plunged into her, closing my eyes as the tight squeeze pulled me in further. I loved sex. So fucking much. “You like that, baby?” I asked, knowing from the way she moved and moaned that she loved it.

  “Yes,” she said, opening her legs wider and moving her knees up my sides. “Fuck me harder, like you did last night.”

  Grinning, I began to pound into her as she cried out my name over and over in a chant. I liked that a fucking lot. I gave it to her while losing a bit of my own control. She’d probably be sore from this, but she’d remember me.

  Jill hadn’t been gone long when my apartment door opened and Cope walked in. He didn’t look pleased. Big shocker there. He was always pissed. About life.

  “Enjoy that?” he asked in a disgusted tone.

  Did the dude never get any pussy? What was his deal? A man needed fucking.

  “As a matter of fact, I fucking loved it. She was a wildcat. Left scratches and moaned loudly. Even screamed some.”

  Cope didn’t look amused or even like he had heard me. “You aren’t going to be able to pull this off with Nan. She’s cold toward you. Detached, even. I spoke with DeCarlo, and he’s moving you to another job. You’ve messed this one up. Pack your things, make your excuses, and be ready to leave at three today.” Then the bossy bastard turned to leave.


  “What? Wait!” I said, setting my still-empty coffee cup down.

  “Do I need to speak slower?” he asked, stopping and turning back to me. “Your face isn’t pretty enough. She needs more than pretty.”

  “I have a plan.” I lied, because I’d fucked Jill all night instead of making a plan like I was supposed to.

  “No, you don’t. I do. You leave at three.”

  I opened my mouth to argue again when his glare darkened. Although I wasn’t scared of much, that son of a bitch was fucking scary.

  “Three,” he said simply, then turned and left the apartment.

  Fuck me. I had failed at my first job. Shit. Jill had been good but not that good. I wanted to succeed and show these motherfuckers I could do it. Nan should have been the easiest thing I ever did. Yet she’d been the hardest damn female I’d ever encountered.

  If I packed up and left, then I was giving up. I was letting them prove I was a pussy. I wasn’t a damn pussy. Nan was not going to screw this up for me. Damn her stubborn, moody ass. I’d given her notes and taken her on a romantic date. Last night was my thank you? Oh, hell no.

  I had until three today. I could fix this shit. She’d love me again. Or at least she’d want me. I just needed a fucking plan. I had, oh, six hours to get one. Damn, I was screwed.

  Nan

  I had two texts from Major, but I was not in the mood this morning. Last night, I’d been so ready for him to leave that I’d fallen asleep downstairs during the movie. It was nice of him to carry me up to my room, but still. I just felt like Major was a waste of my time. He’d never be a Gannon, but the only man who could get me over Gannon was a Gannon.

  I sat in my red silk robe on the bar instead of a bar stool, with a glass of orange juice and a Greek yogurt. It was my go-to breakfast option before I went running. My body was exhausted this morning, as if I had spent the night making love—no, scratch that—having hot, wild sex with Gannon.