Ignite: Book 2 (The Heat Series 1)

by MJ Masucci

  I’m just finishing unloading my truck. I should be there in about twenty minutes.

  For Ava, that twenty minutes seemed like a lifetime. The lumberyard was a half mile away, and she wanted to run it but didn’t want to get sweaty. It was still hot and humid out even at this hour. She paced the room while avoiding Rachel’s steely looks of annoyance. Eventually, Rachel shooed her out of the room, and she went to sit on the front porch of the inn.

  The sidewalk was busy with tourists. This was prime vacation season, and there was plenty to do in Saratoga during the summer. She only waited a few minutes before Xander waved to her from his old pickup truck. He pulled into the parking lot of the inn, and she went to meet him there just as he was getting out of his truck.

  She wanted to hug him, but he declined.

  “I’m sorry, Ava. I’m dirty from loading and unloading all those supplies. Would you mind if we went to my apartment so I can shower? Then we can go anywhere you like. We could go to a restaurant if you haven’t already eaten?”

  “We can go to your apartment. I already had dinner with Rachel about two hours ago. Since that woman got pregnant, she seems to eat all the time.”

  “Rachel is pregnant? How far along is she? She didn’t look pregnant to me when I saw her.”

  “She’s barely two months, so she is not going to show. Soon enough she will be showing.”

  Xander wanted to ask her how she felt about Rachel being pregnant but he let it go. It would be a conversation for another time. He climbed into the truck and had to tell her to belt herself. It bothered him that after the accident she still didn’t use her seatbelt. Xander drove through the streets of Saratoga towards his apartment. Ava knew the way as he turned down each street since she had been there earlier that day. She hoped that he hadn’t noticed that she had been there.

  They were both silent as they made the short drive from the inn to his place. She watched the muscles ripple in his arms as he turned the wheel to go into the drive. Her stomach started to knot as he pulled into the garage below his apartment. She started to get out of the truck, and he was right there at her door when she stepped down. He let her walk up the stairs first. Then he reached around her and unlocked his door. Even sweaty and dirty he smelled wonderful.

  “Have a seat on the couch while I shower. I won’t be long. If you want something to drink, help yourself. I have water, Gatorade, soda.”

  I know.

  She watched him go down the hall to the bathroom. Five minutes later he came out of the bathroom in a towel sitting low around his waist. She looked at him hungrily.

  Holy Hell, he is more cut than he was when we were together.

  His six pack had become a twelve pack. Every muscle finely cut and chiseled out of his stomach. His arms were lean and cut. Ava ogled his backside through the towel as he went back down the hall into his bedroom. She noticed that he had not shut the door. She didn’t know if that was an invitation or he was just absentminded. She decided he was absentminded. Probably not used to having people in his apartment.

  He came out of his bedroom dressed in a tank top and shorts. His long almost blonde hair brushed back off his face. She still wasn’t used to his unkempt beard and hoped if they were together again he would at least trim it. He sat down next to her, and she inhaled deeply. She wanted to familiarize herself with his scent again. She reached up and stroked his beard.

  “Do you like it?”

  “Not really. It hides most of your face.”

  “Rachel called it a rat’s nest and said I should trim it.”

  “I couldn’t disagree with her. I would rather you barefaced. I liked the stubble but not this,” she said as she stroked his beard.

  He rose from the couch and went down to the bathroom. She heard him opening cabinets, and after a few minutes, she went down the hall to see what he was doing. She pushed open the bathroom door, and he was in front of the mirror, shirtless, with a scissor in hand, cutting off his beard.

  “Xander, what are you doing? You didn’t have to do that.”

  “It’s not my identity. It’s time to get it gone. Rachel is right. It’s okay for the winter, but during the summer it’s not comfortable. If you don’t like it, then it’s gone.”

  She leaned against the door while he cut the hair down close to his skin and then slathered his face with shaving cream. She watched as he used a razor to remove the last of the hair. Then he washed his face. When he came up from the sink, his face was clean shaven, and it was the old Xander that she knew. He still had his long hair, but his handsome face was now revealed.

  He turned to her moving his face from side to side so she could see from all angles. That was when she noticed the thin scar from his lower left jawline up to just before the top of his ear. It was noticeable in the bright light of the bathroom. She ran her fingers over it.

  “Where did you get this? Did you have an accident at the lumberyard?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck.

  “It’s from the accident.”

  Ava placed her hand over her mouth and sharply inhaled. Xander didn’t wait for her to ask. He volunteered.

  “I woke up still strapped into my seat. I felt wetness on my cheek, and when I reached up, this whole flap of skin was hanging off my face. I think it happened when the roof caved in. There was a jagged piece of metal sticking just above me.”

  Ava started to cry. Xander took her in his arms.

  “It’s over. It’s so long ago, and it’s far less than what happened to you. Please don’t cry.”

  She clung to him. He pushed her away from him to wipe her tears with a tissue.

  “Come on, let’s sit on the couch.” He took her by the hand and led her there. She sat down, and he hugged her against him. When she felt better, she reached up to touch his hairless face.

  “I love you, Xander. I never stopped loving you.”

  “I love you, too. I was so stupid to do what I did. I destroyed us.”

  “It’s in the past, but we need to talk about it in order to leave it there.” Xander agreed, and they talked for two hours. He told her about what had happened during the accident. She told him she remembered some of it, but he needed to fill in the blanks. They talked about the dates that their loved ones tried to set them up on and they declined. Finally, Xander got to the notebooks and the sketch pad. He reached over the couch and brought the stack up to the coffee table.

  “Every one of these has an entry for each day I was without you. Some of it is my own, and other entries are literary pieces I found. Poems, sonnets, and excerpts from love letters.” He handed the top notebook to her. He opened it to the page that the holder was in and pointed to today’s date. She read the entry already knowing what it said.

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “You don’t need to say anything. I just wanted you to know.”

  He took the notebook from her and replaced it on the pile. Then reached for the sketch pad on the coffee table. He flipped a few pages and handed the pad to her. It was open to the one of her at graduation. She ran her finger over the charcoal drawing.

  “I didn’t know you could draw,” she admitted as she paged through the pad.

  “I used to draw a lot until college and then got out of the habit. When I came up here, I needed something to keep me busy besides writing in those notebooks. I didn’t want a television so with my first paycheck I bought some charcoal and this sketch pad. All the drawings of you are from memory.”

  She put the pad down, and they continued to discuss the things that went on during their separation, how they kept a connection with each other. She stroked his arm. He held her hand. He touched her face. She smoothed his hair.

  The room was filled with sexual tension that needed to be released. She was the one that made the first move. She ran her thumb over his bottom lip. He took her thumb in his mouth and gently bit down on it, running his tongue over the soft pad. He released her thumb and kissed her lips, barely brushing against t
hem. She wanted more, and she got up on her knees to press against his lips harder and more insistent. His tongue speared its way into her hot mouth. Immediately her core started to flood with warmth. He pulled her onto his lap, and she straddled him stroking his growing erection. He moved his mouth to her neck. Murmuring as he did.

  “I love this neck. So delicate. I’ve dreamed of sucking on it.”

  It was exactly what he did. He ran his lips over her neck, and she bit into his shoulder. He sucked at the junction between her shoulder and neck. When he had removed his mouth, he had marked her. He wanted more, much more, and so did she. He cupped her breasts but was dissatisfied not being able to feel them naked against his hands. He reached up her shirt, and he fumbled with the clasp of her bra.

  “Out of practice,” he mumbled.

  Instead, Ava reached behind her and unclasped the bra. He pulled off her shirt and then flung off her bra, revealing her chest so he could cup her full breasts. She arched into him, wanting to fill his hands with her ivory flesh. He thumbed her nipples. His hands were no longer the soft hands of a white collar worker. They were rough against her soft skin, but it felt so damn good. She would take Xander any way she could get him.

  She stroked his length feeling how hard he was under his shorts. The heat of him seeping through to her hand.

  “Xander, please,” she breathlessly pleaded.

  He knew what she wanted, and he craved it. He had dreamed about this moment when he would have her again. He picked her up and carried her into his bed. He unbuttoned, unzipped and removed her jeans seemingly in one movement. All that remained were her panties. Xander almost came looking at her sexy panties. Burgundy lace bikinis that matched her bra. He wanted to tear them off her with his teeth.

  Instead, he gripped the sides and slid them down her legs while trailing his finger down her skin that was now available to him. He tossed the lace to the floor. He removed his tank top and his shorts, throwing them toward the pile of clothes. Tidiness no longer counted.

  They were both naked. He turned on the light on his bedside table. He needed to see her body. He had just been going on memories when he pleasured himself. It was always her in his mind when he did it. Her body had become more athletic shaped since they were last together. Her stomach had more definition as did her arms and legs.

  He climbed on the bed and knelt between her legs. He gave her a wicked grin and bent down to kiss her stomach. His tongue worked a trail down to her mound where he planted kisses from hip bone to hip bone. Further down, he kissed her inner thighs while kneading her soft flesh.

  Ava spread her legs wide, moaning at his touch. He dipped his tongue into her folds, tasting her sweet juices. She was wet, and he lapped at her. He wanted more, and he pushed her legs so that her knees were bent. She was wide open, and her soft pink flesh was revealed to him. He slid his tongue into her opening, and she moaned loudly as he fucked her with it. She clenched the sheets in her fists as he worked her clit with his tongue. She screamed so loudly when she came that he was afraid she woke everyone in Janelle’s house.

  He lay upon her braced on his arms, kissing and sucking on her nipples. She was breathing heavy as he waited for her to calm. When she had caught her breath, he rolled off her onto his back. She looked at him. His erection was standing straight up, and she wrapped her hand around him and stroked.

  “Careful, sweetheart,” he said as she vigorously stroked.

  “I want you inside me.”

  He moved, but she pushed him onto his back. He watched as she slipped her leg over his stomach and got on her haunches. She positioned his cock at her soaked opening and sank onto him. He had forgotten how tight she was until she enveloped him. She began to move her hips. He cupped her breasts.

  “Take your hair down,” he whispered.

  She reached up to release her ponytail, allowing her hair to fall around her face. It was longer than he remembered and hung down to the middle of her back. She leaned over him and her necklace with the ring floated above him. He grasped it in his palm and closed his hand around it. She reached out and placed her hand over the ring on his chest. Then he released her ring and placed his hands on her hips.

  He directed the rhythm of their movement together. She ground the base of his cock against her clit until she climaxed again. Her scream was less than before but still loud enough. He held out as long as he could until he exploded. She kept moving until he was totally spent and then collapsed on his chest. They lay joined even after he softened and slipped out of her. She had her head on his chest listening to his heart. He played with her long auburn hair winding it around his hand.

  Several minutes later he rolled her, so they were both lying facing one another. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand gazing into her green eyes.

  “Do you want me to take you back to the inn? It’s late.”

  She kissed his chin.

  “Can I stay with you tonight?”

  The prospect made his dick twitch. He wanted her again and as many times as they could stand before they were exhausted.

  “I was hoping you would say that.”

  He pulled the sheet over them and turned onto his back. She put her head on his chest. They feel asleep briefly but later made love several times more through the night before they were sore and sated.

  The next morning, Ava was awakened by Xander as he got out of bed. She sleepily looked at the clock on the bedside table. The glowing red numbers said 5:15 AM.

  “Do you have to go to work today?” She sounded disappointed.

  “No, actually today is my day off. I was going for a run.”

  She laughed.

  “Are you kidding? How could you possibly have energy after last night? Please come back to bed.”

  He sat down naked next to her and kissed her forehead.

  “One night together and we are already getting lazy?” He chuckled.

  “Hey, the last time we were together I was so out of a workout routine I didn’t know what it was anymore. I stopped working out regularly, eating properly or sleeping normally.”

  Xander looked at her seriously.

  “Ava, do you still have nightmares?”

  She chewed her lip.

  “Not really. Not about what happened at Cameron. After the accident, they seemed to stop. But occasionally I have one about the accident as if it was happening all over again.”

  “What about the anxiety attacks? Do you still have those?”

  “That’s another strange thing. I don’t. They seemed to stop around the time of the accident, too. You would think with all I had to deal with that they would have gotten worse, but no. I haven’t had one in four years.”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “I was just curious.”

  “Please don’t go running today. I want you to stay with me.”

  “You can stay here. We have the whole day together. Didn’t you say that Rachel was going to Montreal and would be back tomorrow?”

  She turned on her side away from him.

  “What is it? Talk to me.”

  She turned to look at him.

  “It’s just now that I have found you I want to spend as much time with you as possible. I have to leave tomorrow, and we will be apart until you come back to the city. Are you coming back or… what is this with us?”

  He put his hand on her chin.

  “You’re everything to me; this is serious. I have every intention of coming back to the city. I have things I need to do to get my life together. I want to be the best man I can for you. I want to be able to support you financially, and I won’t be able to do that until I go back to being an attorney.”

  “I have plenty of money, Xander. You don’t need to do something you don’t want to do. Why did you quit?”

  “I felt like I was being fake. I was working a position where I needed to be honest, and have integrity, yet I was acting nothing like that. I couldn’t do it anymore. But that was then. I miss the law and want to go
back. I don’t want your money, no matter how much you have. It’s your money, not our money.”

  “You know I would support you any way I can. Where are you going to stay when you come back?”

  “I’ll stay with my parents until I can find an apartment. I’m sure my mom would love that. I won’t be able to stay there for too long because my father will drive me nuts.”

  “You could stay with me?”

  “I appreciate the offer, but I need to do this on my own. We have the rest of our lives to live together, and I want to do this right. I want to properly court you and take you on dates.”

  Ava threw her head back and laughed at him until tears leaked from her eyes. She had trouble catching her breath she was laughing so hard. He looked at her bewildered.

  “Why are you laughing at me?”

  “You want to court me and go out on dates? We are way past that, mister, especially after last night. I don’t care about those things. All I care about is that we are back together. In another few months, I hope to pass my bar exam, and we can be attorneys working side by side.”

  “Does the firm still have the non-fraternization policy?”

  “They do, but it’s become a bit lax around the office. David Townsend came back but then retired after his wife had her second round of breast cancer. She passed away last year.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. She was a nice lady.”

  “I’m sure I can get an office on the eighteenth floor again. I still work for Victoria, who is getting married soon. Can you believe she found someone to put up with her mood swings? She still has her moments, but we get along pretty well now.”

  Xander rose from the bed and opened his dresser drawer.

  “Are you still going for a run?”

  “I kind of have to. I have nothing much to eat in the house, and I’m starving. I was going to get a few things at the store. It’s a couple of miles away, and I can run it. Do you still eat bagels?”

  “I don’t really. I have been clean eating for about eight months. No refined sugars, no white flour, only organic vegetables, and fruits; bacon is a no-no.”