Hook & Ladder 69: Eighteen Authors...One Sexy Firehouse.

by Anthology

  My lips make their way back to hers as I feel her hands touch my wet shirt. Her fingers press into my chest causing my body to shiver against her. A heated inferno soars around us as our lips dance with one another, causing a frenzy outside her apartment door. My hands reach her long hair and I grab hold, balling it into a fist. A deep growl escapes my lips as I push her against the apartment door in front of us. Her body grazes against me awakening a deep sensation within. Fuck…I want her.

  The sound of someone clearing their throat echoes behind me, causing me to pause. Lifting my head away from her, I turn to find an elderly woman staring us down. Mack sees the woman and escapes from my grips.

  She wipes her lips and apologize to the woman. “Sorry Mrs. Keebler. I was just saying goodnight.”

  The lady scoffs at us. “Hmm…seems to me like this gorilla of a man was about to attack you. Be careful young lady.”

  Mack nods, “I will.”

  The elderly woman steps into her apartment, shutting the door behind her.

  I glance at Mack and give her a smile. “Well…good night. For real this time.”

  She laughs and it sends chills down my spine. “Good night.”

  I watch as she turns toward her apartment door and steps inside. Within seconds she shuts the door and I turn toward the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator. Before I step forward, I adjust myself in my briefs, hiding my hard on.

  Within minutes, I’m back at the fire station and head toward the showers. I rush pass Speedy and Oz as I head inside and they burst out laughing.

  “Girl’s got you all worked up huh? How those balls Trace? They blue yet?!”

  Ignoring their remarks, I blast on the cold water and step inside the shower desperately trying to cool off. If that woman wouldn’t have appeared when she did; I would have taken Mack. With her I have no control and it scares the shit out of me.

  Monday could not have come fast enough. I spent all weekend thinking about Mack and my dumb ass didn’t even get her number. I’ll make sure I get it today before she leaves. I glance at the clock and decide to take a quick shower before breakfast. Fifteen minutes later, I’m showered and dressed and head downstairs to the kitchen.

  Stepping through the door, I stop dead in my tracks as I see Mack pour herself a cup of coffee.

  I clear my throat and breathe deep. “Good morning.”

  She jumps and spins to face me. “Shit you scared me.”

  I chuckle at her feebleness and walk toward her. “How was your weekend?”

  She smiles bright, licking her lips as I step closer toward her. “Lonely. How was yours?”

  My voice bellows deep as I wrap my arm around her body. “Same.”

  My finger reaches up to caress her check. “You’re so beautiful. Do you know that?”

  She gazes at me with surprise. “With you – I feel beautiful.”

  My lips brush against her pink lips and just as they touch the kitchen door opens. I let go of her quickly and take a couple steps back just as Speedy and Ash walk into the kitchen.

  Speedy teases, “Well, what do we have here? A little make out session?”

  Ash turns toward the hall and shouts, “Hey guys, Trace finally put the moves on Mack!!”

  The sound of cheer echoes through the halls as I glance at Mack who looks absolutely mortified. I place my arm around her and give her an assuring smile. “Ignore them.”

  She nods her head and winks at me just as the fire alarm sounds off. Speedy and Ash run out of the kitchen and I follow close behind. Before I exit, Mack grabs my hand, stopping me. I turn to face her and she surprises me with a deep kiss. I hold on tight as we touch and within seconds we’re apart.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  She beams. “I know.”

  I race out of the kitchen and into the garage to change into my gear. Hurrying with seconds to spare, I slip on my pants and fire jacket and slide into my steel toe boots. Stepping around the locker, I reach out for my helmet and find Mack watching as I get prepared.

  Speedy catches me staring and slaps my back, “Come on Romeo. You can spend time with her later.”

  My hand clasps my axe just a I hop onto the truck and take a quick seat. Speedy’s voice echoes through the sirens as we make our way into the busy streets.

  I glance back at the station and smirk. It’s just a matter of time before she’s in my arms again. Because once she’s there, I gotta hold on tight and never let go.

  Chapter 18

  Raccoons and Cookies by Felicia Tatum

  Getting up on that bright and early summer morning, I didn’t realize it was the last day my heart would belong to me. My life was about change in the blink of an eye. Nothing in my life would ever be the same once I laid eyes on Eva M’Kay.

  I drove along McCausland on my way to Station 69. Recently passing my exams, I was now a full-time firefighter for the St. Louis fire department. As soon as I turned eighteen, I began volunteering for the department to get my feet wet, to make sure I wanted this career. After assisting in the rescue of a young girl and her mother, I knew this was the path I was meant to be on. Fast-forward four years and here I was, one of the new members of the fire squad.

  I was technically a rookie, but I knew all the guys. I’d been hanging around the firehouse since I was a young boy, often coming along with my grandfather so I could see the trucks. My most memorable experience was when they’d let me bring my friends and sprayed them with the hose while they ran screaming through the water.

  I smiled at the memory as I waited at the red light.

  I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as my eyes surveyed the area. This light was the longest on the street and I always seemed to hit it going to work. Movement up ahead caught my eye and I leaned, straining my neck to see what was going on.

  A young lady had abandoned her car, door open and still running in the emergency lane. All I saw was her laying on the sidewalk with her head hanging down to look in a storm drain. All I could see was a shapely backside with long legs locked at the ankles and a mess of dark hair. I smiled to myself and curiosity got the best of me. I turned my blinker on to get in the right lane. Surely she could use some help.

  Desperation overcame me as I realized I had to save the sweet munchkin in the storm drain. I’d been on my way to the rescue when the young raccoon darted across the street, nearly getting hit on his way over, and fell into the drain. He’d been terrified, his little masked face turning in all directions amidst his confusion as he’d avoided cars and squealing tires. I jerked my car to the emergency lane, despite blaring horns and a few foul-mouthed drivers, and hopped out in a fury, rushing to see if the critter was ok.

  “It’s ok, baby,” I cooed. “I’ll save you.” He yapped and cried in response as sharp claws screeched along the wall. He fell back after jumping and finding nothing to hold onto.

  “Oh,” I groaned. My heart hurt to see the fear in his little burglar-looking face. I fell to the ground, upper body down in the opening and lower half on the sidewalk. Bending my knees, I used the leverage to try and lower myself down, but it wasn’t working.

  I took my phone out and dialed the rescue’s number. “Hey, I’m gonna be late. I saw a raccoon fall in a drain and I’ve gotta get it out.” I said it all as quickly as possible and hung up before the bossman could get upset with me being late.

  Again.

  Hell, I wasn’t known for being on time. In fact, the world would probably implode if I were to be on time. Bossman was a stick-in-the-mud who wasn’t an animal person at all, but he’d inherited the rescue from his grandfather and didn’t want to sell it just yet. Something about it “not looking right.”

  Like anyone cared. Jared Phillips was the only person in the whole city of St. Louis to care what Jared Phillips did. He was known for being an ass and everyone knew this except him. I so wished he’d let me buy the rescue and be on his merry way.

  Hearing the raccoon squeal, I turned quickly, dropping my very expen
sive phone in the drain alongside him.

  “Shit.”

  Once the light turned green, I switched lanes and pulled up behind the girl whose face I still hadn’t gotten a glimpse of. Emerging from my car, I pushed her door in so no one would hit it and stepped up beside the drain. “Ma’am?”

  “What?!” she screamed, her voice echoing inside the drain. “I’m busy.”

  I chuckled. “Ma’am, can I help you?”

  She whipped her head up, hair flying in all directions, and looked at me with eyes as deep and blue as the sea. “I have to save it.”

  “Save what?” I asked. God, she was hot. Her pouty lips were red and her cheeks flushed pink.

  I crouched beside her and looked down. A raccoon, not a baby, but not big enough to be full grown, was stuck at the bottom of the drain and crying as its little hands tried to grab onto the metal. “How’d he get down there?” I asked.

  “He ran across the road, a honk scared him, and he almost got hit. There wasn’t a lid on this damn thing and he fell in. Why wasn’t there a lid on it?” she asked. Her eyes were wide and scared, her voice high-pitched and full of worry. She was beautiful and obviously cared for the small animal. It was damn cute.

  “Let me get some stuff from my truck. I think we can get him out,” I reassured her. I jogged back to my vehicle, opening the back cab and pulling out a catch-and-release pole and thick gloves. I searched for a towel, but came up empty handed, so grabbed my jacket instead. I’d left it in here a few months ago during a chilly spell and was glad in the moment I hadn’t taken it inside. That raccoon would be madder than hell after we caught it and we needed something to prevent us from being torn all to hell.

  Closing the door, I carried the supplies back to where she waited, watching her as I walked. She was beautiful, and her despair over the raccoon was adorable.

  “Got it!” I yelled. “Here, hold this.” I handed her the jacket and dropped to the ground.

  I was surprised he had a pole in his truck. “Why do you have a catch-and-release on you?” I asked. I dropped to my knees and was ready to assist in any way I could.

  “We’ve been saving a lot of animals lately,” he chuckled. “I picked up an extra one for emergencies.” He looked back at me and wiggled his eyebrows.

  I eyed him as he spoke, taking note of his strong arm and chest muscles that pulled tightly in the St. Louis Fire Department t-shirt. I noticed the hint of a tattoo on his upper arm. My stomach danced as I caught his gaze, his deep, dark brown eyes making me dizzy. Longing to run my fingers through a brown mess of curls atop his head, I realized he’d been talking this whole time.

  “Lucky for me,” I smiled, praying he’d only been telling me about the damn pole. He made me feel things I didn’t want to feel. Tingles rushed through various parts of my body and I didn’t like it one damn bit. I’d recently broken up with my cheating boyfriend and had sworn off men forever. That was, until I met this hunky fireman. “So, I dropped my phone in there, too, or I’d offer it as a light to see him better.”

  He jerked his head up. “Your phone’s down there?”

  I shrugged and nodded like it wasn’t a big deal. Honestly, it wouldn’t be the first phone I’d lost in some freaky accident. “Hey, what’s the jacket for?”

  He chuckled. “You’re all over the place, huh? I’m Mason Adler.”

  “Eva M’Kay,” I said. “Nice to meet you. Henry and I thank you.”

  “Who the hell is Henry?” he asked. He looked around and back at my car to see if I had a passenger.

  “The raccoon.” I said it as if it should be obvious and he was dim for not knowing.

  “Right,” he nodded. “Ok, I don’t have any sort of cage, so once I get him, err Henry, up here, you’ll have to wrap him tightly in that jacket, but be careful, because he might try to bite you.”

  I laughed loudly and shook my head. “You don’t need to tell me.”

  Eva perplexed me. She was beautiful, even if she was a little off. I couldn’t tell if she was that worried about Henry or if this was part of her personality. She was spunky, yet flighty, and her mind seemed to wander everywhere during conversation. And I’d only been around her for about ten minutes. I was genuinely confused about her laughter this time, though. “What?”

  “I work for the rescue here in town. I can handle Henry. We just have to get him up here,” she grinned.

  “Right,” I nodded. I flattened my body on the hot concrete and lowered the pole. Henry backed away as it descended. He began hissing and spitting at it. I couldn’t help the laughter that rumbled in my stomach, and almost dropped the pole.

  “Don’t laugh at him! He’s scared,” she said sympathetically.

  “Sorry, Eva,” I chuckled. “I didn’t think I’d start my day with a hissing raccoon named Henry is all.” Glancing up at her, I winked.

  She blushed and smiled. She had a little dimple on her left cheek and I wanted to kiss it. “Well, when you put it that way.”

  Returning my attention back to Henry, I managed to follow him around with the pole until I could get it looped around his neck. He hissed louder as I tightened it enough so he wouldn’t fall and began to pull him up. He fought hard, thrashing and clawing the whole way up. Once I got him out, I held him away from me and Eva wrangled him into the jacket. She tackled him like a football player, wrapped him like a burrito, and held him like an infant.

  “Hi, Henry,” she cooed. She seriously rocked him like a baby.

  Once I was sure she was situated and the raccoon wouldn’t claw her face off, I lay back down and looked for her phone.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Trying to get your phone.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I lose phones all the time.”

  Peering up, I stared at her. “You don’t even want me to try to get it? Give me a minute.”

  It was propped against the drain and I managed to hook the end enough to drop it to the bottom. I slowly and carefully got the pole under the phone and locked it as tightly as I could. Balancing it was the hard part, so I took my time pulling it from the drain. A few times it faltered and I thought I’d lost it, but I managed to get it close enough to grab and whooped in achievement. Hopping to my feet, I handed it over to a shocked Eva. “Here you go.”

  “I can’t believe you got it out,” I muttered. “No one has ever bothered to help me before.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” he grinned. “I’m right here, might as well try to save it so you don’t lose any money.”

  I nodded, but his kindness really was new for me. Most people, especially this species, weren’t nice to me. I was blunt and random and no one wanted to deal with that. “Thank you, Mason. I really appreciate your help today. You didn’t have to, but you saved Henry and my phone.” Henry stirred in my arms and I knew I was minutes away from him trying to claw his way out. Again. I stuffed my phone in my pocket and walked around the drain. “You have any idea who to contact to get a lid on that?”

  He nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “Thanks again, Mason,” I smiled. I got in the car and put Henry in the seat beside me. He stared at me like he knew something I didn’t, so I argued with him the whole way to the rescue about how I wasn’t thinking of Mason Adler and his deep brown eyes. I wasn’t imagining his strong arms around me, or wondering what his tattoo was. I also wasn’t figuring out a way to get his jacket back to him with my number inside.

  Pulling up to the rescue, I rewrapped Henry in the jacket and caught a whiff of cologne. It smelled so good. Did Mason smell like that? We hadn’t been close enough to tell.

  A girl could dream.

  “Really, Eva?” Jared asked from the door. “You were late again.”

  I held my arms out to him. “And I have a raccoon who was saved from a drain. Since this is an animal rescue, one could say I was doing my job.”

  “Your job is here, cleaning and caring for the animals we have,” he scolded.

  I took the
raccoon to the back, where our vet waited, and Jared followed. I handed Henry over and kept the jacket. “And I’m here now. Don’t worry, I’ll stay over to make up for the…” I glanced at the clock to see how late I was, “18 minutes I missed, Jared.” I was snarky and snappy, but I didn’t care. He was on my last nerve. I put in more hours than anyone else and wasn’t paid for a lot of them, simply because I cared for the animals and wanted them to have the best care. He never did appreciate me.

  “Whatever, Eva.” He shook his head.

  “If you’re unhappy, you could fire me,” I pointed out, knowing he’d never do it. I kept this place running and everyone knew it. It would fall apart and he would fail without me.

  Grabbing the laundry basket of towels and bedding, I dropped the jacket in and headed to the washer and dryer. After loading it, I made my way to the kitchen where I got the ingredients out to make peanut butter cookies. I practically lived here, often sleeping overnight so the animals wouldn’t be alone, and had stocked the kitchen accordingly.

  I hoped Mason liked peanut butter.

  “It’s so awesome! Even better than the picture,” I told Candi about her new tattoo. She grinned in response before jumping on the couch and grabbing the remote. The shift had been longer than expected, with only a few calls, leaving us with a lot of downtime overnight. We’d played cards, video games, and slept. It was pretty awesome to get paid to do things we enjoyed, but now the shift was coming to a close and I was gathering my stuff to head out.

  “Adler!” one of the guys called from the front office. “You got company!”

  Weird. Who would be coming by to see me? My family wasn’t in the area anymore, not since my grandfather passed away three years ago, and all my friends were on the squad. Tossing the strap of my bag over my shoulder, I jogged to the front and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Eva standing there smiling at Mack, the secretary. “Eva,” I said.