Burn For You: Into The Fire Series

by J. H. Croix

  Holly declared that we were going to my place as soon as we got in her car. “But your place is closer,” I pointed out.

  I wasn’t ashamed to admit I was feeling greedy. I wanted her bare naked with me buried inside of her as soon as feasibly possible. She reached forward to adjust the heat, glancing over at me. “But your bed is better.”

  I laughed, a sense of unfamiliar joy clenching my heart like a fist. There were many things I had never expected to happen. Actually, getting a shot with Holly was definitely one of them. Life had gotten in the way and taken us each on our own detours.

  “My place it is, then.”

  A brief drive later, we were stomping snow off our boots and walking into my house. The drive over had been a form of sweet torture. The roads were slick so I had kept my hands to myself. Holly had taken it upon herself to tease me. Despite my protests, she had my cock rock hard and my jeans unbuttoned on the ride over, completely ignoring my point that the roads were slick.

  I got my revenge. The moment the door was closed behind us, I spun her around and caught her laugh in a kiss.

  * * *

  Everything happened fast. Our clothes were left in a tangle on the floor, marking our path across my living room and up the stairs. Her panties were the last to go, falling over the railing outside my bedroom door and landing on the kitchen island below.

  Holly was panting, gasping, and dripping wet when I sank my fingers inside of her. She stumbled and caught her balance on the railing. I’d given her no mercy, already sending her flying once with my fingers and tongue at the bottom of the stairs. I was close to losing control with pre-cum dripping down along my cock.

  When I looked down, I couldn’t resist sliding a hand over the curve of her lush bottom, curling my fist around my cock with the other. She got right with the program, bending over the railing as I dragged the head of my cock through her folds. Her juices coated me.

  “Jesus, Holly,” I murmured. “I fucking missed you.”

  Her answer was a low groan as I slid through her folds again before sinking deeply inside of her, slowly, oh-so-slowly, and I could feel every slick inch of her channel pulsing around me. She gasped when I slid back inside again as her hips pushed back into my thrust .

  “That was too fucking long to be away from you,” I murmured.

  She cried out when I filled her again. I needed more, I needed to see her. Drawing back quickly, I spun her around and lifted her in my arms, shouldering through my bedroom door. As soon as we reached my bed, I stretched out over her, sinking inside of her. Her hips rose to meet me, her legs gripping me, and her skin silky against mine.

  I held still, rising up on an elbow and brushing her hair away from her face. “I need to know something,” I murmured, my voice gruff with emotion. My heart squeezed again, thudding hard and fast in my chest. Her eyes opened, colliding with mine. “When did you know you loved me?”

  She stared at me for a moment, her breasts pressing against my chest with every ragged breath. Vulnerability flashed in her eyes. I continued, “Because I knew a long time ago. Maybe not exactly, but it was there. All the way back in high school.”

  Her eyes widened and her breath hitched. “Oh,” she said, a tear suddenly rolling down her cheek. “I didn’t know very much back then, but I wanted you and then everything got a little crazy,” she said softly.

  “I know.”

  “To answer your question, I think I probably knew last year. It scared me.”

  My throat was tight with emotion, but it was okay. Because this was Holly, this was me, and this was exactly how it was supposed to be.

  “I knew then, and I wasn’t ready to face it. You were my fantasy for too long.”

  Her eyes widened again. “Your fantasy?”

  I nodded slowly. “For years.”

  At that, I caught her lips in a kiss and finally, finally, drew back and sank inside of her again. I knew she was close, because I knew her body. After a few strokes, I reached between us, swirling my thumb over her swollen clit as I buried myself inside of her tight, slick heat.

  She cried out sharply, her head falling back into the pillows as her body trembled and her channel clamped down around me. I finally let go, my climax slamming through me as I spent myself inside of her. Collapsing against her, I eased my weight to the side. But I didn’t want to move, didn’t want to sever our joining.

  As we lay there, catching our breath, Holly laughed softly.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. I guess I’ll finally get to make good on that date you bought.”

  I burst out laughing. “Damn straight. You owe me.”

  Epilogue

  Holly

  Once again, I found myself backstage at a fundraiser in Anchorage. Once again, I was also stuffed into a skimpy nurse’s outfit. There were two major differences tonight. One: it wasn’t Halloween. Instead, it was Valentine’s Day. Two: I was only wearing this nurse’s costume after Nate begged me to.

  I smiled to myself as I adjusted the top and then rolled my eyes. Yet again, my rather generous boobs were threatening to spill out the top. I told Nate he’d only get to see me in this outfit for a few minutes and that was it.

  When Megan had asked me to do another fundraiser this year, I refused to do the Halloween one. She conveniently left out the fact that the dressing up part had nothing to do with Halloween. They auctioned off dates at all of them and made a ton of money.

  Nate and I had had a bit of an argument over the fact he was already planning to spend five thousand dollars—or more, if necessary—to win the date with me. He insisted it was for a good cause. One thing I had learned in the year since last Valentine’s Day was there were many things I hadn’t known about Nate.

  Despite the fact that I assumed I had known him well because we’d grown up together, there was a lot I didn’t. For example, I hadn’t realized how financially comfortable he was. Oh, it was nothing ridiculous, like being a billionaire. But he made damn good money as a pilot, and he was smart with investing it wisely and continuing to build his business. Just a few months ago, he rolled a bundle of money into a new wilderness lodge that was being built roughly an hour north of Willow Brook. My point was, he wasn’t worried about spending another five grand. When I pointed out that he could just make a direct donation to the hospital fund, he told me there was no way in hell he was letting someone else win a date with me.

  Recalling that argument and the crazy, hot make-up sex that followed it, I flushed as I spun away from the mirror. Strolling out of the dressing room, I realized this was the first time since Halloween a year and a half ago now that I’d worn heels. That just went to show how little I bothered with my appearance most days. I paused beside the makeshift bar set up backstage. Ethan was there, dapper in a pinstriped gray suit. Tonight, another man was manning the bar with him, no pun intended.

  “Well, hello, Holly,” Ethan said with a smile. “I don’t think you met my husband, Jack, last year. Jack”—he gestured between us—“this is Holly. Last year, she set a record donation for her date. We’re hoping she makes us just as much money this year.” He looked at me and winked. “How many shots of tequila this time?”

  “Just one,” I replied with a grin. “I need something to keep my nerve. As far as that donation, I have a guarantee.”

  “A guarantee?” Jack asked. They made a handsome pair. Ethan, with his black hair flecked with silver, and blue eyes, and Jack, with his steel silver hair and even brighter blue eyes. Both he and Ethan had a teasing glint in their gazes, the easy affection between them clear.

  “Yes. Remember my date last year?” I asked, looking to Ethan.

  “Oh yes. You were quite flustered with the whole situation afterwards. Although…” He paused, his eyes narrowing. “What?”

  “Oh no, you finish.”

  “I was just going to say it was obvious to me that you liked your date, even if you were cranky about him winning,” Ethan added with a
slow smile.

  “I did like him. In fact, he’s my husband now.”

  Ethan clapped his hands and rounded the table to pull me into a quick hug. “This is perfect! We have to use it in our advertising materials for the next one. One of our dates led to a happily-ever-after.” Ethan glanced to Jack, who simply chuckled and shrugged.

  “Unless you tell him no, you’ll be all over those ads,” Jack warned.

  I shrugged. “That’s fine. If it raises more money, I’m all for it.”

  Jack poured me a generous shot of tequila, and we chatted while I waited for Megan to fetch me to go out on stage.

  Once again, the glare from the lights kept me from being able to see much beyond the front row, but when I heard Nate’s voice calling out, a little thrill ran through me. When my turn was over, I strolled back across the stage, giving Megan a high-five as I passed by, and a thumbs-up to the next guy headed out on the stage, looking none-too-thrilled.

  Ethan escorted me back to the room to wait for my “date.” Unlike last time, I wasn’t nervous and worried about who had purchased a few hours of my time.

  Moments later, the door opened and I turned to look at Nate. He shut the door behind him and held still. I was quite convinced I’d never get tired of looking at him. His brown hair was shaggy, and his eyes dark. Even though all he wore was jeans and a T-shirt, his muscled frame was easily visible.

  “Get over here,” I ordered, my pulse thumping with the heat banked in his gaze flaring to life. He closed the short distance between us.

  “This time, you better not make me wait for my date. I want it tonight,” he said when he got right in front of me.

  He stepped closer, sliding a hand down my spine, not even bothering to waste time. He flipped my skirt up, his warm palm cupping my bottom.

  “Holly, you’re not wearing any underwear,” he murmured gruffly. His fingers teased along the curve of my ass, sliding into the cleft between my thighs.

  “Uh-uh,” I gasped.

  A hot shiver raced through me when he dipped his head, laving his tongue over the sensitive skin right behind my ear. Goose bumps prickled over the surface of my skin. When he lifted his head, his eyes darkened further. The look contained there was so intense, he took my breath away. My heart was pounding, and my belly clenching.

  He trailed his fingers through the slick, wet heat of my pussy. I had meant to tease him. Yet, I constantly forgot that he drove me insane. Right now, what I needed was him inside of me and nothing else.

  “I need you,” I whispered urgently.

  Another thing I had learned about Nate was he made sure I got what I needed, when I needed it. Although I had no one for comparison for the full act, so to speak, I’d had plenty of experience with foreplay. No one even came close to the way Nate made me feel. In a flash, he spun us around, locking the door as he backed me against it. With a bit of fumbling, we freed his cock, and he buried himself inside me. It was hot, fast, and rushed.

  Afterwards, he waited while I discarded my silly nurse costume and changed into jeans and a sweater. He caught my hand in his as we walked out. Ethan and Jack were still at the bar because the night was nowhere near over. “Where to, lovebirds?” Jack asked with a wink.

  I looked up to Nate. “Where did you want to have dinner?” I asked.

  “You promised me a burger.”

  With a laugh, I walked outside with him right beside me every step of the way. It was freezing, of course. It was February in Alaska, the deepest part of winter.

  “We never did make it here for a date last year,” Nate said, his eyes cutting sideways to catch mine.

  “No, we didn’t. I guess I owe you two dates.”

  A giddy sense of joy bubbled up inside me. There was fantasy, and then there was reality. When it came to Nate and me, reality was so much better.

  Nate

  I was standing downstairs in the kitchen, waiting for the coffee to finish and for Holly to come downstairs. Striding over to the windows, I looked outside. The landscape was covered in dazzling frost. Everything glittered under the sun’s rays. I heard footsteps and turned to look upstairs. Holly’s blonde hair was dark since it was damp from her shower, and she wore sweatpants, bulky wool socks, and a T-shirt. It just so happened one sock was gray and the other green. Of course.

  Objectively speaking, what she was wearing wasn’t sexy. But to me, Holly could literally wear a paper bag, and she’d take my breath away. As she came down the stairs, I noticed that her cheeks were flushed.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “Nothing?”

  She giggled. “Okay, maybe not nothing.”

  I pulled her close. I loved that life with Holly was like unwrapping a present, day by day. I thought I’d known everything about her. I hadn’t. The big secret of her virginity still shocked me a bit. Since last year, I’d discovered her stubbornness ran deeper than I thought. I didn’t care. Not even a little.

  She had a soft side I hadn’t seen much before. She was so brash and sassy. That was the part of her I’d known so well. It was definitely one side of her, but only one. She loved the animal shelter and visited often. We had since adopted two mutts. Our best guesses were that one of them was a husky mix and the other, a lab mix.

  “I might be late,” she finally said, tipping her head back to look at me.

  My heart gave a quick tumble. “What? Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure I’m late, but I’m not sure what that means. So, I can’t have coffee,” she said suddenly.

  “Coffee?”

  She shook her head. “My body is a vessel now, and I have to treat it perfectly.”

  Something else I had learned about Holly was she desperately wanted kids. I was all about that. Especially because it meant we got to have lots of sex. Although, with the way we were, that was a foregone conclusion.

  Many hours later, after a test confirmed that Holly was pregnant, she was snuggled up against my side on the couch with the television droning in the back around.

  My favorite thing about being with Holly? These moments. The mundane ones. The ones where it was just us existing in space and time together.

  I rolled my head to the side, breathing in the scent of her hair. “Have I mentioned that I am so fucking relieved we figured this out?”

  “Figured what out?” she asked, her eyes glinting with a smile when she looked up at me.

  “That you were meant to be mine,” I murmured, catching her lips in a kiss.

  Because it was Holly, and she had to have the last word, she drew back with a giggle. “Oh no, you were meant to be mine.”

  Thank you for reading Burn For You - I hope you loved Holly & Nate’s story!

  * * *

  Up next in the Into the Fire Series is Crash & Burn - Remy & Rachel’s story.

  * * *

  Remy is the strong, silent type—the kind of man who makes you swoon on sight. Rachel is sexy & sassy , but her life went on the skids after a disastrous relationship. Remy just might be about to sweep her off her feet. Don’t miss their story!

  * * *

  Keep reading for a sneak peek!

  * * *

  Be sure to sign up for my newsletter for the latest news, teasers & more! Click here to sign up: http://jhcroixauthor.com/subscribe/

  Excerpt: Crash & Burn

  Rachel

  “Henry!”

  My dog, the aforementioned Henry, had just bolted away from me. I picked up my jog to a flat out run, mud splashing on my face as one of my feet slammed into a puddle.

  “Dammit, Henry,” I muttered to myself.

  Ahead of me on the trail, he looked back, covered in mud with his long tail wagging back and forth. I couldn’t help but laugh. I loved my dog, but he was nuts. Black and gold with silky fur, he was full of energy and adventure.

  We were taking one of our usual runs. Now that it was the early spring, or rather mud season, as it was best known in Alaska, it was warm enough to get outs
ide more often. For a moment, I thought Henry was done with his fun, but he looked away and kept on running, appearing to think this was a game.

  “Henry!”

  At this rate, he would probably make it all the way back to the car before I caught up to him.

  That’s fine. I need more exercise anyway. My ass is big enough already.

  Coming around the corner on the trail, I let out a yelp when I almost collided with someone. My feet skidded in the mud, and I fell into an inglorious heap.

  “Ouch!” I exclaimed as my knee collided with a rock somewhere in the mud.

  Rising up slightly on my hands, I glanced down at my muddy legs and shirt. I’d fallen in the edge of a puddle and was now soaked and covered in muck. When I looked up, my gaze ran smack into Remy Martin. “Oh shit.”

  Of course I said that out loud.

  You see, Remy was sexy as hell. At the moment, he happened to be wearing a pair of running shorts that molded to his legs, which were nothing but muscle. He was nothing but muscle.

  My eyes traveled up his legs across his muscled chest. His heather gray T-shirt was damp with sweat and conveniently—as far as my eyes were concerned, that is—delineated every muscle of said sexy chest. When my gaze traveled to his face, mossy green eyes met mine, his dark blond hair mussed. Although his skin had a light sheen of sweat, he appeared barely winded.

  “Oh shit?” he asked after staring at me for a moment. “Are you mad at me for existing?” His slow southern drawl slid over me. Remy’s voice was like honey and whiskey—rich with a hint of sweet, and so damn sexy. Just hearing him speak sent heat spinning through me.