Lit Fuse

by Caisey Quinn

  “Well, Chase, thanks for the table.”

  He cussed the crazy woman under his breath as they arrived at the booth where Luke and Aiden now sat with empty bottles. “Time to play some pool,” he told his friends when he handed over their beers. “Figured we’d let the ladies have the table.”

  Vivien laughed out loud. “More like he lost it in a bet. Have a nice night, fellas.”

  Her friends introduced themselves, but Chase was barely listening. He was captivated by the sound of her laughter.

  “Lost a bet, huh?” Luke stood and greeted the women as they exchanged places. “And what was this bet about exactly?”

  “Nothing,” Chase answered quickly, no longer in the mood to rehash his epic fail. It wasn’t being wrong about Kat that bugged him. Not in the least. It was the fact that Vivien Brooks no longer seemed the least bit interested in talking to him now that she’d gotten what she’d wanted.

  He hadn’t gotten what he’d wanted—not by a long shot. At the very least, he’d expected to get her number before the night was over.

  “Sure doesn’t look like nothing to me,” Luke commented. “Looks like someone yanked your chain good and hard.”

  “Leave him be,” Aiden said evenly. “Let’s play some pool and call it a night. I have to be on post early tomorrow.”

  “Enjoy your evening, ladies,” Luke offered the group, earning himself a round of smiles from all three women.

  “Have a nice night, sweetheart,” Vivien called in a singsong voice at Chase directly.

  He smirked and saluted her with his beer in hand.

  She’d gotten to him—Vivien the hustler with the mouthwatering ass—but he’d eat his glass beer bottle before he’d admit it.

  2

  “You didn’t have to get rid of them,” her friend Jen complained. “The blond one was smoking hot.”

  “You know she’s on a man ban,” Emerson reminded her. “No men until training is over. She has to focus.”

  Jen rolled her baby blue eyes. “Sex doesn’t ruin your focus, Viv. If anything, orgasms help keep your head clear.”

  Emerson laughed. “Yeah, clear and empty. As in vapid and devoid of logical thought. Viv doesn’t need any distractions.”

  “Men that look like that are the best kind of distraction. Maybe you’ve been a lesbian for too long,” Jen suggested.

  “I didn’t realize there was a time limit on my sexual preference, Jen. Care to share what it is?”

  Jen shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, but I know my own time without a penis-induced orgasm reached its limit long ago. Pretty sure our Vivien here has gone even longer than I have.”

  Vivien laughed. “Both of you can stop talking about me like I’m not sitting right here, jerks.”

  “So how’d you snag the table from Tall, Dark, and Broody?” Em asked.

  Vivien glanced over to where the ink and muscle–covered man stood lining up his next shot on a nearby pool table. No denying he was temptation on legs. All that barely contained power would probably blow a lucky woman’s mind when he unleashed the full force of it on her.

  “I bet him Kat would rather do me than him.”

  Jen laughed, but Emerson frowned. “Considering Kat’s a lesbian and you know that since she hooked up with me two nights ago, it was kind of a shady bet to make.”

  Vivien waved her hand. “It’s called covering your ass. I only make bets I can win. You know that.”

  “Yep. Playing it safe is your middle name,” Jen said in a tone that dripped with sarcasm.

  Vivien swallowed her last sip of beer, wishing she’d grabbed another. “I am safe. My job might be dangerous but I follow protocol. I wear protective gear daily. And I practice safe sex.”

  Jen practically snorted out loud. “And when was the last time you had sex, fair maiden? Because I’m pretty sure you’ve been revirginized this past year. I think the weatherman has an official term for it. What was that word he used that reminded me of your sex life? Oh yeah. Drought.”

  Vivien peeled the blue-and-silver label from her bottle, wadded it up, and threw it at Jen’s head.

  “Peeling the labels from drinks is a sign of sexual frustration,” Jen offered. “Just sayin’.”

  “Technically, abstinence is the safest sex you can practice,” Em offered.

  “And the most boring,” Jen added. “Seriously. The Chase guy? Definitely looks like he knows his way around the female anatomy.”

  The three of them watched him take his time lining up and sinking his next shot on the pool table. Vivien drank in the sight of his jeans stretching across firm thighs and a damn near perfect backside.

  He continued running the table while his friends seemed content to drink their beers and make small talk with a few women standing nearby. Something about the way Chase remained centered on his game, to the point that not even the raucous laughter of bystanders distracted him, made Vivien wonder what it would feel like to be at the center of that much singularly focused intensity.

  Heat crept up her spine and warmed her neck. It made her hot and bothered just imagining it. His eyes had been a unique shade of liquid topaz that darkened when they were narrowing in on her. Like caramel swirling in whiskey.

  And his hands. Hot damn those hands were masculine perfection. Large, powerful, just enough veins showing to be manly but not so many that she suspected steroid use. No, Chase’s muscles were all natural, hard-earned, the good old-fashioned way. This was an Army bar and she knew it. Chase and his buddies had military written all over them.

  “Viv?” Em reached over and handed her a cocktail napkin. “You got a little something there.” She wiped her chin and laughed. “Pretty sure it’s drool.”

  Vivien tossed the napkin back in Em’s direction and stuck her tongue out. Not the most mature display, but she was feeling off-kilter. “I can appreciate that he has a certain appeal. If you’re into that sort of thing.”

  Jen nodded slowly. “Yeah, that thing being muscles, model good looks, and a big, thick—”

  “Ego,” Vivien supplied for her, remembering his refusal to admit he’d lost the bet until she’d proven him 110% wrong. “He seemed like a complete stubborn ass. And I’m stubborn enough all on my own.”

  Her friends smirked but said nothing more about the sexy soldier. Which was good, because Vivien had enough trouble keeping her mind off him as it was.

  After drinking and talking about everything from work to their next girls’ trip to the beach, Em slid out of the booth. “I’m going to grab us another round of drinks and let Kat know we can give her a ride home if she needs it. Her car is a piece of crap.”

  “Uh-huh. I’m sure that’s the only reason you’re volunteering us as the local Uber this evening,” Jen teased.

  Vivien smiled absently but didn’t comment. She was still in a trance watching the ink on Chase’s arms dance as he worked his way around the pool table. A brief image of tracing that ink with her tongue appeared in her mind.

  Jen snapped her fingers in front of her face. “So Em’s getting some tonight. Want to go play pool and see if you and I can’t nab us dates for the evening?”

  “I told you. Man ban. My assignment here is already intense enough without adding unnecessary testosterone to the mix. You know that.” Vivien glanced longingly at where Chase stood chalking his cue.

  “Ugh.” Jen blew her brunette bangs up with a sigh. “All work and no play makes Vivien a dull girl. I’m going to mingle. It’s almost closing time.”

  Before she could stop her friend from ditching her, Chase’s gaze collided with hers and locked on its target. Breathing suddenly became a challenge. She bit her lower lip, imagining for just a moment what it would be like to give in, to saunter over to him and tell him to take her home, show her if he was all talk or if he could back it up.

  It had been a while, but she knew a t
hing or two about a thing or two. She knew what it would take to bring a man like that to his knees.

  Dirty talk.

  Descriptive details.

  Dark promises she could spend the entire night fulfilling.

  As if he could read her thoughts, he jerked his head toward the back of the building. Discreetly so only she noticed the subtle movement.

  Her mind shouted a warning to look away but her body had already made its decision.

  Maybe Jen was right. The man ban could begin tomorrow.

  It was one night. She was about to be completely consumed by intensive training for the next eleven weeks. She’d probably never see him again after tonight.

  What could it hurt?

  3

  “You’re off the hook, cutie,” Kat told him as he made his way past the bar.

  “Meaning?” Chase had lost focus on anything in the bar that evening except the redhead.

  Vivien.

  Her curves, her mouth, and those shining hazel eyes that flashed all of her seductive secrets at him. The moment he’d seen Vivien’s aroused perusal locked on him, he’d thrown the last game on purpose, told the guys he was dipping out early to run by the base to check some fictional paperwork, and headed for the back door.

  “Meaning I have a ride home if my car doesn’t start.”

  Chase said a silent thank-you to an entity he wasn’t sure he believed in. “You sure?”

  Kat nodded and smiled in Vivien’s blond friend’s direction. “Yeah. I’m sure.”

  He didn’t argue. “Look, here’s my number if you ever need a jump again.” He handed her one of the cards with his work and cell numbers on it. “Better yet, I’ll stop by tomorrow and drop off a pair of cables. Pretty sure I have an extra set somewhere.”

  “You’re the sweetest,” Kat told him before returning to her customers.

  Chase almost snorted out loud. The images that had been running through his head all night were the furthest thing from sweet.

  Vivien bent over the pool table. Vivien spread-eagled on the table she’d swindled from him. Vivien on her knees in front of him.

  Never in his life had he been so completely controlled by his dick. But this woman pushed all of his buttons in the exact order necessary to rewire him into a mindless fucking machine.

  He didn’t see her anywhere as he strode quickly to the back exit. He couldn’t figure out how she could’ve gone past without his noticing.

  He stepped out the back metal door the bands performing typically used to carry equipment in and out.

  “What took you so long?” The low husky voice brought a smile to his lips.

  “In a hurry, sweetheart?”

  He moved to where Vivien leaned against the building. She still held her beer. He took the mostly empty bottle from her hands, drained it in a single swallow, and tossed in into the Dumpster across the alley.

  “Can’t have you too drunk to make smart, levelheaded decisions, now can we?”

  Vivien’s eyes gleamed with awareness below the lights attached to the side of the building. “Meeting strangers in dark alleys is hardly smart and levelheaded.”

  Chase nodded. “Good point. Should I be worried? Are you planning to hurt me?”

  “Only if you ask nicely.” Vivien’s lips pursed thoughtfully. “Sometimes pain can be a good thing.”

  Chase’s dick stood at attention and saluted her straightforwardness. “Agreed.”

  He watched her chest rise and lower quickly. Despite her calm facade, she was nervous. He took her hand in his and kissed it softly. “We don’t have to be strangers. My name is Chase Ryan Fisk. I’m a—”

  “Don’t.” Vivien shook her head. “No details necessary. Let’s not make this anything more than it is.”

  Chase arched an eyebrow. “And what exactly is this? Just so we’re clear.”

  “A spur-of-the-moment fling. Just for tonight. I can’t handle anything more than that.”

  “Well then I won’t tell you that I’m a Virgo,” Chase teased.

  “Awesome. Then you don’t need to know that I’m a Gemini,” Vivien told him, stepping forward and closing the distance between them.

  Chase nodded. Figured. The twins. Opposites. She’d already run hot and cold on him all night.

  “We can go to my place,” he told her. “My roommates will be here for a while longer and—”

  Vivien ended his proposition by lifting up on her toes and crushing her mouth to his.

  Chase plunged his tongue into the warm, wet opening of her mouth and tasted sweet mint and light beer. Kissing had always been just okay as far as he was concerned. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. Didn’t think much about it. But drinking from her lips was intoxicating. He was aware of every slide of her tongue against his, and every inch of her lips seemed to electrify his senses—heightening his awareness of everywhere they touched. He didn’t have a buzz from drinking tonight but his head swam all the same. His hands gripped her full hips and he thrust his erection against her.

  “You have a car nearby?” she asked breathlessly, pulling back just a fraction of an inch from his mouth.

  Chase kissed her lips once more, craving her taste and deciding immediately he’d taste every single inch of her before the night was over. “I have a truck. Parked right down the street.”

  “Lead the way.”

  He didn’t have the patience to wait on her to navigate the dark alleyway with its broken pavement in heels, so he hoisted her up onto his back.

  “Now who’s in a hurry?” Vivien giggled and the sound turned him on even harder. He wanted to elicit every noise he could from that sinfully sweet mouth of hers.

  “Me,” he practically growled. “But don’t worry—once we’re safely in my truck, promise I’ll take my time savoring every inch of you.”

  Vivien let out a soft whimper, and he could’ve sworn he felt her pussy pulse against his back.

  “Hold on tight, sweetheart. It’s going to be a rough ride.”

  Vivien hummed a noise of satisfied approval into his ear and the vibration rumbled in his chest. “I like it rough,” she whispered.

  Chase decided to say to hell with fumbling his keys and opening the doors. He used a free hand to lower the tailgate on his truck before lowering Vivien gently onto it.

  She didn’t ask what he was doing. Didn’t point out that this was crazy and impulsive and that they were behaving like horny teenagers. She simply wrapped her arms around his neck, her luscious legs around his waist, and pulled him closer.

  Chase met her eager kiss with his own while gliding his fingertips gently up her thighs to where he suspected Heaven was located.

  “Already wet for me, pretty girl?”

  “Only one way to find out.”

  “Damn straight.” He slid two fingers beneath her panties and through her damp folds before dipping one inside. Her narrow channel tightened around his finger and he could only anticipate how amazing it would feel when she clamped down on his cock. When he added his second finger, Vivien began to move, moaning into his mouth as she rode his hand. He palmed her clit and bit her lower lip.

  The shattering of glass nearby pulled him from his lust-induced fog. Someone had come outside behind the bar.

  “We shouldn’t do this out here,” he murmured against her lips. “I need to at least get you in the truck.”

  Vivien whimpered in protest but allowed him to lift her. He clicked the unlock button on his remote and opened the back door to his truck. Thank fuck he’d spent the extra cash and gotten the extended cab.

  “Lie down,” he commanded once he’d set her on the leather seat. Much to his surprise, she complied. “So she can follow orders then.”

  “I can follow orders very, very well when I choose to,” Vivien informed him.

  “This is just to take the edge of
f. Then we’re going to my place,” he promised.

  He needed more than this from her. He needed her in his bed. His roommates could deal. Vivien Brooks was going to scream his name until the sun came up. If his bed frame survived the night, then he would consider himself a failure.

  “Spread your legs, sweetheart.” Still standing outside his truck, he leaned into the backseat and eased Vivien’s knees apart and removed her panties in one swift pull. Black lace. He fully approved. “Thank you for wearing a dress tonight, by the way.”

  “I aim to please,” she mumbled as he dipped his head between her thighs. “But I’m not all that sweet.”

  With a wicked grin, he met her lust-drunk gaze. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

  Chase took his time tasting her, collecting her flavors on the tip of his tongue before dipping it inside her. He was rewarded with the sight of her body bowing gracefully as she began climbing the upward spiral to the peak from which she’d eventually free fall.

  “Mmm, I was right,” he informed her between firm strokes of his tongue. “So very sweet.”

  She tasted sweet and savory all at once. A hint of sugary honey with the unmistakable tang of female arousal. Her body spasmed with the force of her first orgasm and his cock jerked in his pants, begging for an invite to the party.

  As if she’d read his mind, Vivien suddenly pulled him upward. “Fuck me, Chase. Here. Now. Please.”

  No need to tell him twice.

  Chase hoisted her backward so she was spread out on the seat beneath him. He pulled the door closed so the interior light placing a spotlight on them would go out. As he retrieved the condom from his wallet, Vivien sat up.

  “You okay?” If she wanted to stop now, he would and without complaint. But he hoped like hell she didn’t.

  One side of her mouth lifted and she gestured to where she’d been laying seconds ago.

  “Sit.”

  Chase moved to where she indicated, feeling like a jackass with his dick half out of his pants and an unopened condom in his hand. “Um, are we—”