by Cassie Cole
Knowing that Derek and Foxy were behind me, watching, was different. But in a good way. Or at least, it didn’t weird me out knowing I had an audience.
If it was anybody else, maybe. But in the past few weeks, Foxy and Derek had become my brothers. And brothers shared everything.
I fucked Haley like that, slowly pulling out and then crashing my cock into her pussy, for as long as I dared. I gazed longingly at her asshole, a tight puckered ring that was begging to be fucked. A tiny trail of Derek’s semen had pushed out of it, and was running down the crack of her ass. Her fingers found their way underneath herself and she was rubbing her clit in a fast circle while I had my way with her. I was going to come soon, if I wasn’t careful.
But I wasn’t done with her yet. Not after what she had offered me.
On the next stroke, I pulled back like I had been doing… and then pulled all the way out. I pressed the tip of my cock against her forbidden hole, and waited for her to tell me no.
Instead, her moans grew louder. Desperate with anticipation.
Already lubricated from her pussy and the actual lube in her ass, the tip of my cock slid inside with surprising ease. I hesitated, still waiting for her to tell me to stop, but her hand rubbed faster at her clit and she groaned loudly.
“Fuck me,” she begged. “Fuck my ass.”
I buried my cock deeper into her ass. She was tight, so tight, even with the lube. I wasn’t going to last long. Especially with the way she was moaning.
I held her down on the bed and fucked her ass until we both came together.
37
Foxy
Trace was… something else.
From a voyeuristic standpoint, Derek was the only guy I’d ever watched fuck a woman in person. He was a good-looking guy, and fit, so it made for a good show. Like watching two gorgeous Hollywood actors in a movie. Nobody wanted to watch porn with ugly people.
But Trace was a completely different kind of man. He wasn’t just fit—he was monstrous with muscle. Absolutely huge in every proportion. I’d seen him nude in the locker room before, so this wasn’t news to me. Not to mention that it was obvious even when he was wearing clothes.
Seeing him fuck Haley, though?
Holy shit.
Trace was rough with her. Rougher than Derek and I had ever ventured. He grabbed her roughly and held her down on the bed until she couldn’t move. He fucked her hard, like someone trying to smash a wall with a sledgehammer.
And Haley loved every minute of it.
I’d been with her enough now to recognize the signs. She trembled with anticipation on the bed as Trace first entered her. The moans she let out were long and quivering. She grunted wildly with each of his thrusts, and I’m pretty sure she came once just from that.
Then he fucked her in the ass, and Haley went wild with lust. Wailing with ecstasy, bucking underneath his body on the bed as he ravaged her ass. Neither of them lasted long. Not surprising if it was Trace’s first time having anal sex. I was definitely turned on like crazy the first time Haley asked me to stick it in her ass.
As Trace roared and buried his cock as deep inside her as he could, filling her ass with his seed, I shared a look with Derek.
Damn, dude, his expression said.
I know, right? I shot back.
I had been skeptical about whether bringing Trace into the fold would work out. But now I was excited to see what the future would bring.
The four of us are going to have a lot of fun.
38
Haley
Having Trace finally manhandle me was everything I ever wanted. Holding me down on the bed roughly, pinning me against the sheets until I couldn’t move. Reminding me that I was powerless beneath him. He could do whatever he wanted with me.
Surrendering to him like that freed my mind and body to simply take whatever he gave me, a recipient to his hard love.
I think I came just as hard as he did when he finally fucked my ass, too. If that was even possible. Hearing the normally-reserved team leader roar with pleasure heightened every nerve in my body as he buried his cock as deep as he could and filled me with his cream.
Afterwards, when I came out of the bathroom, Trace was waiting for me. He lifted me in the air and deposited me on the ground, where the sheets had been spread out. I sighed and allowed myself to be covered with a blanket, and a pillow to be placed under my head.
Then I was surrounded on all sides by delicious men.
“How have you guys cuddled?” Trace asked to my right. “These bunks aren’t even wide enough for two people to fit comfortably, let alone four.”
“I guess the Forestry barracks suppliers didn’t furnish the beds with gangbangs in mind,” Foxy said, resting his head on my chest to the left.
I slapped him playfully. “You make it sound so… Dirty!”
“I hate to break it to you, baby, but that was dirty.”
I giggled. “Okay, yeah. It was.”
“We’ve done this once or twice,” Derek said to Trace. He was down between my legs, resting his head back on my waist. “But we don’t cuddle too much. Usually we try to get back to our own bunks, so nobody finds out.”
“Fair enough,” Trace rumbled.
I sighed. I had not one, but three amazing men all over me. How had everything turned out so perfect?
“That was a lot of fun,” Foxy said. “Definitely better than using toys on you.”
Trace gave a start. “Toys?”
“Dude,” Foxy replied. “She hasn’t shared her box of dirty secrets with you?”
“She’s got all sorts of goodies in there,” Derek added.
“I agree with Foxy,” I said. “The real thing is much better than toys. But if you ever want to play with some, just let me know.”
Trace rumbled with laughter. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
I reached down and ran my hands through Derek’s blond hair, massaging his scalp. “Have I convinced you to stay?”
“Your ass makes a very compelling argument.” He sighed. “But I’m still endangering you all by being here.”
“Bro, we’re not bald eagles. We’re not endangered.”
“You know what I mean. You are in greater danger simply due to my presence here at Redding Base.”
I thought about my conversation with Commander Wallace outside the Sherpa. How he’d denied everything, then made a cryptic comment about karma eventually catching up to Derek. Would bringing that up help anything? Probably not.
“We understand the risk,” I said, still massaging his scalp. “But we’re not going to let anything bad happen to you.”
“And we’re definitely not going to let you bear the burden alone,” Trace cut in. “Now that I’m aware, I can help.”
“Help how?” I asked.
“I can put feelers out to the other jumpers. Gauge their reaction to Wallace’s leadership. Beyond that, I can help gather administrative evidence against Wallace. Eventually he will overextend himself and make a mistake. All we have to do is play it cool and wait for him to do it.”
“And survive long enough to gather the evidence,” Derek pointed out. “Evidence doesn’t mean much if we’re sent out to die.”
“Good thing we have some wiggle room,” Foxy said. “We won’t be sent anywhere for three more days. Plenty of time to think things over and come up with a plan.”
Foxy ended up being wrong.
We were all eating breakfast the next morning when Wallace announced a meeting in the briefing room. Everyone in the common room and mess area looked at each other like they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.
“Maybe it’s to explain our plans for when we resume work in three days,” Brinkley suggested.
“Or to review the tactics that got Callaway fired,” someone else said.
“You’re assuming there were tactics that got him fired,” Brinkley replied. “Rather than just being the scapegoat.”
Derek glanced at me as we shuffled into the briefing ro
om. “I won’t let him do it,” he whispered. “If we’re being sent out on a death mission…”
“I know,” I said. “I won’t let that happen.”
“Me neither,” Trace said emphatically.
Wallace was waiting at the podium as we took our seats. He held a grim look on his face, like he was about to give us all news we didn’t want to hear. A weight formed in my gut and grew heavier with every passing second.
“Good morning, smokejumpers,” Wallace said. “I have always considered myself to be a man of my word. Trust is the most important thing in this world, you’ll learn when you are all my age. Which is why I am loathe to go back on my word today. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I must cancel your short reprieve.”
He paused for groans, and nodded along sympathetically.
“The Shasta Wildfire has been spreading to the west faster than anyone anticipated. The hotshots out of Black Butte and Fort Jones desperately need our help.”
Here we go, I thought. Wallace was sending us all back out. Which meant we were going to be thrown right into danger. I reached for Derek’s hand and squeezed it.
As Wallace explained the spread of the fire, I glanced at Trace. His brow was furrowed in thought, and not at what Wallace was saying. He was probably thinking the same thing as me: what do we do now? Should we disobey him publicly, right now in front of everyone as soon as our assignment was revealed? That probably wouldn’t be effective without evidence against Wallace first. The other smokejumpers would just think we were cowards. It would destroy all the trust we had earned with them.
“The jump team missions are as follows, in order of descending danger,” Wallace was saying in front of the map. “Jump Team A has the toughest job here, landing in a narrow strip with very little evacuation options. Bolstering the existing fire road before it’s too late. Jump Team B…”
I ignored everything else he said while focusing on the spot marked for Jump Team A. If that was the most dangerous mission, it was obviously where we would be sent. Foxy and Trace were whispering to each other about it, while Derek simply stared straight ahead, looking defeated already.
I squeezed his hand. “Let’s wait and talk about it later.”
“There is no later,” he pointed out. “We’re departing right after the briefing.”
“Then we’ll talk while gathering gear,” I insisted. “Just don’t do anything drastic until then.”
He nodded, but I still wondered if he could keep that promise.
The briefing eventually ended. Wallace stood by the side as everyone approached the map and checked the jump teams. When it was my turn, I first looked at the most dangerous group:
JUMP TEAM A
Brinkley
Cortez
Willard
George
I blinked in surprise. Next to me, Derek outright gasped.
“It’s not us.”
Foxy shoved his way to the Jump Team B list. “We’re not in B either.”
We kept looking down the line until we finally found our names. All the way at the very end.
JUMP TEAM F
Donaldson
Fox
Hinch
Sale
It was the least dangerous mission, miles from the edge of the wildfire to the north-west and with a strong anchor point. I couldn’t believe it.
“Sir?” Trace asked Wallace when the rest of the room had cleared out. “I have a question about our mission.”
“Is there a problem?” Wallace frowned. “I thought your team would be the happiest with your assignments. The lake will make for an excellent anchor point, and you don’t have the same dangerous time limits as the others.”
“You know why we’re asking,” Derek said quietly. “What’s going on here? Why are you giving us the safe mission?”
“Considering how the previous mission went under Callaway, I believed it to be the most prudent,” Wallace replied coolly. “Your jump team suffered a near disaster earlier this week. You miraculously survived after deploying your fire shelters. If anyone deserves the least dangerous assignment today, it’s you.”
“Cut the shit,” Derek spat. “What’s the real reason?”
Wallace frowned at him. “What? You thought I was going to send you into the inferno, Sale? Why?” Suddenly his eyes widened as if he was feigning realization. “Wait a minute. You think… Oh no. Smokejumper Sale, you insult me. If you think I would give out assignments thanks to some sort of personal vendetta…”
“That’s exactly what I think!” Derek shot back. His hands were balled into fists at his side.
Wallace stood up straighter and adjusted his Forestry uniform. “Above all else, Sale, I am a Smokejumping Commander. I would never allow my personal feelings to get in the way of my job, and I certainly will not allow myself to be insulted after being here scarcely twenty-four hours. Whether you accept your mission or decline it, I do not care. But think carefully before you choose to insult me again.” His gaze swept across the team. “That goes for all of you. You are dismissed.”
We all left the briefing room confused.
39
Haley
“It’s a trap,” Derek insisted as we walked back to the barracks to change clothes. “I don’t know how, but it is.”
“He’s probably going easy on us so we let our guard down,” Foxy said. “Give us the easy missions for a while. Then bam, drop us right into the fire on a deadly mission.”
I rubbed Derek’s shoulder. “As long as it postpones our danger, I’m okay with it for now. And you should be too.”
“He also has a point,” Trace added. “Our team nearly perished last mission. Giving us an easy mission the next time is protocol straight out of the smokejumping personnel management handbook. It would look very obvious if he did anything else.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You’ve read the smokejumping personnel management handbook?”
Trace stiffened. “No. Yes. Maybe.”
“Regardless, let’s enjoy this one for what it is,” Foxy said while opening his bunk room. “We won’t get many more like this.”
I changed into my uniform, then joined the others in the gear warehouse. As I hefted my PG bag out of its cubby hole, it felt heavier than normal. I sorted through the contents just to be sure. All the normal stuff was in the there: water canteen, emergency rations, gloves, helmet, and the heavy transponder in the inside pocket.
As we gathered our work gear into the drop-crates, I decided my PG bag felt heavy because I was tired. The Pulaskis, chainsaws, and McLeod tools all felt twice as heavy as normal as we loaded them up. Based on the sluggish way the rest of Redding Base moved, I wasn’t the only one whose tank was running on empty.
We were dressed, loaded on the planes, and in the air within an hour. The roar of the engine was the only sound. Nobody chatted or shared nervous jokes like they normally did. The other smokejumpers rested their heads against the fuselage wall and closed their eyes. It was a worrying sight. Over-exhaustion led to mistakes, and mistakes led to dead smokejumpers. I felt especially bad for the other jumpers in our Sherpa, Jump Team A and Jump Team B. They’d been doing this non-stop for weeks before the rest of us arrived. If I was tired after only a few weeks, I couldn’t imagine how they felt.
Next to me, Trace was studying a map of the western section of the valley. “How’s it look?” I said, shouting so he could hear me over the engines.
He shook his head. “I wondered if Wallace was down-playing the dangers of our mission. But it’s exactly as he said. We have a strong anchor point. We’re two miles from the burning edge. And the handline we have to construct is smaller than anyone else.” He glanced up at me. “This should be a cakewalk.”
I nodded to myself and accepted it. Wallace had to go easy on us at first. The dangerous missions would come later.
We came to the Jump Team A drop point first. The lights turned on for them, the hatch was opened, and one-by-one they departed the safety of the airplane.
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Then we turned farther west so Jump Team B could hit their drop zone. Once they were out, we would turn north to reach our section, which was halfway to the Oregon border. I eyed the smoke out the window as Team B jumped. As selfish as it sounded, I was happy to not be jumping here. We had had several dangerous missions in a row. I could use a relatively easy one for my mental health.
Foxy had an expression on his face like he was thinking the same thing.
The plane turned hard to the right. Although there was fire everywhere below us and to the right, I could see a glimpse of the clear area directly to the north. In a few minutes we’d be there. Based on the cool weather, it might actually be a beautiful day to work in the forest, as paradoxical as that may sound.
The spotter up by the hatch pulled something out of his pocket, checked it, then put it away. His cell phone. Was that the second, or third time he’d checked it? Dude must have been trolling Tinder during our brief vacation.
Phone. “Shit,” I muttered.
“What?” Trace asked.
I adjusted my PG bag so I could unzip the front of my jumpsuit, then reached inside to the pocket on my Forestry uniform. The familiar weight bouncing around in there was my own cell phone. I held it up and said, “Forgot to leave it behind again.”
Trace smirked and opened his mouth to make a joke. Before he could get the words out, all hell broke loose inside the cabin.
There was a strange popping noise, then the entire plane shuddered. The engine noise changed in frequency, and lowered in volume. An alarm blared in the cockpit, cutting through all the other noise.
The spotter whirled around and shouted at the pilot. Next to him, on the wall opposite the jump hatch, smoke began drifting out of a panel.
“What the fuuuuuuck,” Foxy said.
Trace moved up the cabin, and I followed. The words from the spotter and pilot quickly came into range.