Beautiful Burn

by Rachel Blake

  "I'll survive." As soon as the snowballs started to fly again, he moved, ducking behind trees as he went, keeping to the shadows and staying low. "And your other advantages?" He looked at the impressive, but dwindling, pile of snowballs next to her. "Jensen?"

  "I know the terrain," he whispered into her ear from behind, causing her to startle, right before he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off her feet.

  "No! I was supposed to win!"

  "Sometimes things don't go as they are supposed to."

  "Wait! I'm wearing a dress!" she squealed as he laid her in the snow and settled on top of her.

  "Your coat is long enough; one kiss in the snow won't hurt anything." He captured the rest of her protests with his mouth. He intended for it to be a quick kiss. With the snow at her back, it had to be quick, but when she boldly wrapped her legs around his waist, all thoughts of the cold vanished.

  He gave her more of his weight as he ran a hand from where her boot ended on her calf up her leg as far as her tightly buttoned coat would allow. With hooded eyes, he watched her pull off her gloves before she shoved her cold hands under his coat and into his shirt, wrapping them around his back, wordlessly asking for more.

  He nipped at her chin sharply. When she gasped from the quick bite of pain, he dove in for another kiss, taking all she was willing to give. When she pulled away, gasping for breath, he trailed the kiss along her jaw and down her throat.

  "Jensen." The single, groaned word had him grinding his hard cock into her soft belly. The resulting moan from the woman under him had him reaching for his zipper with one hand and the buttons of her coat with the other.

  It was the sharp bark that stopped him, pulling him from his need long enough to remind him where they were. Reluctantly, he stood, bringing her with him. "Sorry, bellissima, I got carried away."

  "But."

  Her pout was adorable. "Not like this. And before any of those lies take root in your head, I want you. Far too much." He guided her hand to his bulging zipper. "But if we keep going, one of us is going to get frostbite." He led her to the deck. "Let's put George back in the house and then we can warm up with some cocoa."

  "I have some bad news." Gwen turned to him, holding the discarded mugs. "The hot chocolate isn't very hot anymore."

  Chapter 4

  "How big was it?"

  "You heard me right."

  Gwen snorted a laugh as her head fell to the table. She could feel her face heat as the wine took effect and laughter took over.

  They had been at the sports bar for a few hours and were just getting to the good stuff. She lifted her head from the table and pushed her curls from her face.

  "And you let him put it in your ass!" The girls looked at Kennly like she was dense. "What? I've never had anything in my butt."

  "It is deliciously awful, but mostly delicious. I always have my safeword, but trust me, octopus was the last thing I was thinking of." Autumn visibly shivered. "Plugs are well within the lines of my coloring book." Laughter erupted around the table. "However, I'm starting to think I should reconsider denial being within those lines."

  "You brought that on yourself."

  "Liv! You’re supposed to be on my side!"

  "I am, but everyone knows that when you are offered an orgasm, you take it." She pushed her purple tipped hair out of her face.

  Autumn snorted. "I wasn't offered one. I was ordered to beg for one."

  Gwen raked her fingers through her hair, throwing the mass of curls everywhere. "I still can't believe you refused an offered orgasm? Are you mad?"

  "No." Liv smiled at her friend. "She's just stubborn. You can wipe that fake look of shock off your face, Autumn Rose. You've forgotten how well I know you. He wanted you to beg, and you refused just for the sake of being stubborn. When I did that with Kevin, he used to make me wait even longer for the next one. The last time I failed to 'beg prettily', as he called it, he refused me pleasure for a week. I hope your Dom has more mercy than mine did."

  "I doubt it." She chewed her lip as she wiggled in her seat. "He literally wanted me on my knees begging for more. I went to my knees, but the words just wouldn't come." Gwen watched as Liv and Sierra both cringed. "Right? We were just having fun, so I am not in any real trouble, but he did take offence to his sub refusing his demand. Long story short, he bent me over the couch and put an even bigger plug in my ass and told me I was to wear it until he personally took it out."

  Gwen snorted. "Was that before or after he gave you the drink limit that you just passed." She watched as realization hit her friend between the eyes. With a smirk, she turned to the other women at the table, "Now she is trying to remember if he told her what implement he would use if she went over her limit."

  "Keep laughing, you three; it's only a matter of time before you have Doms and it's you guys thinking this exact same thing."

  "Mine didn't give me a limit tonight." All eyes swung to Sierra. "What?"

  "You're seeing someone?" Gwen caught the secret smile on Autumn's face. "You knew about this?"

  "I just knew she had met someone. I didn't know they were dating."

  "We aren't dating, at this point, but we have played together a couple of times."

  "Safely?"

  "At monitored clubs, yes." The women looked at each other for a few seconds before the cheers erupted around the table. "Okay, okay, enough. I want to hear about the surprises Gwen will be revealing to the chief when she finally jumps his bones."

  "No."

  "Yes."

  Gwen narrowed her eyes at the women across from her. "There is nothing to tell. Autumn just has an overactive imagination."

  "You know this shift has no secrets from each other. Hell, I have seen Kennly naked at the club more times than I can count. I have yet to figure out who she keeps sneaking away with. Ouch. Why is everyone kicking me?"

  "Maybe because you have a big mouth. Maybe because Kennly didn't want everyone here to know that she was into the kinky stuff."

  "Thank you, Liv, but that's not why I kicked her. Hell, I have seen everyone at the club except Gwen. That was part of the reason I was so excited to find out I was going to be on C-shift. What I don't want is everyone thinking is that who I play with is a big secret. I mean, we don't want everyone knowing yet, but it isn't a secret." She paused, allowing her eyes to shift to Sierra for a second before they fell to her lap. "That made more sense in my head."

  "Gwen's 'new' to this scene," Sierra so helpfully pointed out as she took a sip of her pink drink.

  "I'm not new; I'm rusty."

  "Rusty? What are you, the tinman?" Autumn winked as the smile grew on her face.

  "Oh, I hate those flying monkeys." Sierra visibly shivered.

  "I was thinking she was more like the scarecrow, as in needing a brain, because she would have to be crazy to put off hooking up with Jensen." Kennly's eyes rolled back in her head as she moaned her appreciation.

  "Hey, I was all for a romp in the snow. He was the one who decided he didn't want to get frostbite."

  "Oh!" Sierra bounced in her seat. "She's totally the lion. Anyone attempting to take on that bossy, hunk of a man has to be courageous."

  "No," Liv said from her seat, her eyes soft and knowing. "For this to be any good for her, she must be willing to give up her heart. Handing over her damaged one scares the crap out of her." She reached across the table and squeezed Gwen's hand. "There is no question in my mind that she is the tinman looking for a heart.

  "Fuck. Waiter, another round! This shit is getting heavy. Oh, but make mine a diet Coke."

  "Autumn!" Sierra shook her head disapprovingly. "I swear to God, the bar across the street heard you yell. Hasn't my brother put a stop to your swearing yet?"

  "He isn't here; I'm safe."

  The table erupted in laughter. "You really believe that?"

  "Of course, I do." She hesitated for a second. "Well, safe for now."

  Sierra huffed. "If you think so."

  Kennly snorte
d. "At least you're not the only one lying to yourself. Gwen, over here, still thinks we aren't going to know what treasures she is hiding from us by the end of the night."

  "There are no treasures."

  "Liar!" Autumn's fist bounced off the table.

  "Give us a little hint."

  "Yeah, please. You know we won't let up until you do."

  Gwen looked around the table; all of the girls were throwing their best pleading look in her direction. "Fine. I just have a couple of tattoos and one or two strategically placed piercings."

  "Piercings? As in more than one?"

  "Maybe." She shrugged. "Maybe I just lied, and I don't have any."

  The flat of Liv's hand hit the table hard. "All this time, I thought you were the innocent one out of all of us. You have been holding back, Gwendolyn. Spill."

  "Not a chance."

  "There are ways to make you talk." The faint crinkling at the corner of her eyes was the only outward hint that Kennly was joking.

  "I have been tortured by the best of them, but you are more than welcome to try."

  "I'm not talking torture. I'm talking interrogation. You would be surprised how much simply answering a few questions can give away. I bet I could crack you in four questions."

  "Someone was a cop in a past life."

  "Nope. My dad was an officer for thirty-two years, taught me everything I know."

  Liv snorted. "Decided to give your dad someone to look up to and become a firefighter, huh?"

  "That is exactly what he said when I told him what I was going into."

  "It doesn't matter. I am keeping this, or these, secrets for myself."

  "Please," Sierra pled, her hands folded in front of her.

  "Sorry. The surprised look on his face when you remove your clothes and the light reflects off the sparkling barbell…" Gwen's eye closed as a moan slipped from her lips. "…you only get that if they don't already know about the surprises. I know one of you will blow that for me if given the chance, so I hold my cards close to my chest."

  "I don't know if I should be mad at you for not telling us or proud of you." The look on Autumn's face mirrored that of a proud mother.

  "You guys do know that the piercing you are all so proud of could just be my belly button, right?"

  The four women looked back and forth between each other before they all spoke at the same time. "No."

  "So, who is going to tell me what he's got?" The women shrugged. "Come on! He is one of the Doms you guys party with. You must have seen it. Them? Whatever, you have to have seen it."

  "I've never seen him play. Haven't been to enough parties yet," Autumn said before she turned to the other girls.

  Sierra held up her hands. "Don't look at me! I am out of there before it gets too hot and heavy. Last thing I want to see is my brother doing his thing. Gross."

  "Liv?"

  There was no denying the guilt on Liv's face. "Yes?"

  "You've seen them! Spill," Autumn demanded as she waved down a waiter.

  "I have not."

  "Shit, I hope you don't play poker with that tell." Kennly took a pull from her beer.

  "Fine, I have seen, but I can't tell you."

  "I'll beg," Autumn offered with a smirk on her face.

  "No."

  Autumn's smiled widened as she stood from the booth. "Last chance, Liv. Spill, or I start begging."

  Liv narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't beg your man for an orgasm, but you're going to beg me in a room full of people?" Liv had barely gotten the words out before Autumn fell to her knees in the middle of the bar, her hands clasped as if she was praying. "Don't. You. Dare."

  Autumn waited, giving Liv another chance, before she started speaking loudly. "Please, Mistress Liv! Please bestow on us the vast knowledge you have gained over the years."

  "This is the reason Leland limits the number of drinks you're allowed." Gwen sank deeper into the chair.

  "I can't tell you."

  Autumn ignored the comments as well as the tittering that had started around the room and continued. "Why must you keep the secrets locked within you, Mistress Liv? All I ask is for you to share your wisdom."

  "I need a fucking safeword," Liv cursed.

  A nervous waitress tapped Autumn on the shoulder. "Miss, I am going to have to ask you to get off the floor. You're blocking the path to the exit, and it's against fire code."

  Gwen snorted. "And your Dom is a firefighter!" Laughter erupted around the table.

  Back in the booth, Autumn leaned into Liv. "Pretty please, Liv-a-luscious."

  "Look, I can't tell any of you. I wouldn't be allowed to another party, and let's face it, I need those parties."

  Everyone at the table instantly became serious. "You've been to parties since he died? Have you participated?"

  "God, no! I just… I just go to watch the people. Like we used to do."

  "Does it help?" Gwen grasped Liv's hand.

  "I think so. Being around the people he loved makes me feel closer to him, and I need that so fucking bad right now." Liv picked at her nails for a few seconds before she gave herself a little shake. "I'm sorry, but I am not willing to risk that so you guys can be in on a little secret. Come to the parties and find out for yourselves."

  "Or we can keep guessing and see what we come up with." Kennly smiled evilly. "By the end of the night, their actual secrets are going to look like child's play compared to what we come up with."

  "What has the four of you laughing so hard?" Jensen questioned as he and Leland sauntered up to the booth a couple hours later.

  "I swear to God, Jensen, if you have a Prince Albert piercing, there is going to be a line of women wanting to try it."

  "Sierra!"

  "Don't worry, brother, I didn't say I was going to be in that line." She turned to the woman beside her, her whisper not nearly as quiet as she intended for it to be, "I'm totally going to be in that line."

  "Where's Kennly?"

  "She went home a couple hours ago, and the laughter started out as wine giggles, but now it is probably a result of the tequila," Autumn shared as Jensen sat on the edge of the booth, forcing Gwen to give him room.

  "Forget the giggles; that's all these women do when they're together. I want to hear more about the pretty dark-haired woman who begged so prettily in front of a room full of people," Leland growled as he, too, took a seat on the end of the booth, forcing Autumn to move over, and sank his hand in her dark strands.

  "Who told?"

  Before Autumn could stare down the other women, Leland's fist closed in her hair and her chin was caught in his free hand. "No one told, princess. It was all the men sitting at the bar could talk about when we walked in."

  "That, and something about the bastard lucky enough to claim her."

  Gwen elbowed the man sitting next to her. "You're not helping her any."

  "I know. All I heard this fool talk about all night was how she refused to do as she was told, so I figure I'm due for some pay back."

  "Uh-oh," Gwen loudly whispered to Liv and Sierra. "Did you see that look cross his face? I can't tell if she's in trouble, or if he is turned on."

  "Both," Liv concluded as she stuck her hand into her glass in pursuit of an olive. With a smile, she popped it into her mouth as she looked around the room. "I need more beer-soaked olives."

  "No, you don't. I think you've all had plenty. Autumn?"

  "Just pop for the last few hours, but I did go one drink over my limit, Sir."

  He pulled on a lock of her hair. "Princess."

  Laying her head on the back of the booth, Gwen sighed. "He smells really good, you guys." Jensen looked down at her, and her liquor-laden brain focused solely on his lips. "If I were to kiss you right now, would you make me stop before we go too hot and heavy in the snow?"

  A big smile split his face. "How much have you had to drink?"

  She curled her lips. "Not so many that I had to break out my credit card, but then again, Autumn was buying, so it is anyone's
guess. You didn't give me a limit, right? We tried to pry your secrets out of Liv, but she wouldn't give them up."

  He laughed softly. "You're very honest when you're drunk. And, no, there was no limit, but it looks like there should have been."

  "I'm always honest. The alcohol just has my thought to mouth filter on the fritz." She rubbed his bald head. "Bald looks good on you. It makes your goatee look thicker, and the bad boy look works for you. Especially when you are in your bunker gear."

  "Right!" Autumn agreed. "I keep trying to talk Leland into bringing his gear home so we can play with it, but he says 'no'."

  "Quit pouting at me, princess. I have told you a million times, my gear is too dirty to play in."

  "But it would be so much fun!"

  "Kevin and I did it once." When both the guys turned their glares on her, Liv only shrugged. "It was when you guys got new gear. He brought home a set before you swapped them out for the old sets. It was hot as fuck. The Velcro fly scratched the shit out of his cock when I was giving him a blow job, but he didn't complain until the next morning."

  "See?" Gwen whined as she nudged Jensen. "Hot. Oh, and do one of those sexy, almost, but not quite, pornographic photo shoots in them."

  Autumn snapped her fingers. "You mean a boudoir shoot!"

  "Yes."

  "Moan like that again, and I will not be responsible for my actions."

  Gwen opened one of her eyes as a smirk played on her lips. "Promises, promises."

  "I think you may have your hands full, Key." Leland laughed as he stood and hauled his girlfriend to her feet. "Come on, you three; let's get you home. You got her, Keetes?"

  "Yeah. Come on, it's time for bed."

  "Okay, but I will get a hold of your gear one way or another." She grabbed her purse and shoved her hair out of her face for the millionth time that night. "One of these days, I'm going to take a pair of scissors to this mess."

  "You cut off that gorgeous hair, and I will beat your ass." His lips curled into a devilish grin. "I felt that shiver."