A Lick of Flame

by Cathryn Fox

  She landed with a thud on top of his hard body, and when his hands slid over the small of her back to balance her, and he aligned his hips with hers, she quickly rolled to the other side before she gave in to baser instincts and did something she might regret, something so completely and utterly unprofessional that would only end up embarrassing her.

  As much as she liked the way his half-naked body felt beneath her, and as much as she’d like to act on her carnal desires, she certainly wasn’t about to seduce him. She knew he didn’t want her, and since they had to spend the next month in close proximity, the last thing she wanted to do was put a strain on their working relationship, or make things awkward between them.

  A quick glance out the small, round window to the left of the bed told her they’d finished docking. She was just about to rocket out of the bed, but when a low moan sounded deep in Sean’s throat she turned to him, wondering if she’d knocked the wind out of him with her hard fall.

  Madison pulled a face. “Sorry about that.”

  “It’s not you. You’re a lightweight.”

  She sat up, but when she caught the way he was staring at the ceiling, she drew her brows together and questioned, “What?”

  He gestured with a nod, and when she glanced upward and spotted the enormous mirror showcasing the two of them on the bed, her eyes widened and she tried not to sound rattled when she said, “Oh.”

  Sean nudged her playfully and burrowed close—too close. “What do you think that’s for?”

  Oh, she knew exactly what it was for. So did he.

  She swallowed the lump pushing into her throat and gifted herself with a moment to imagine what it would be like to make love to Sean beneath that mirror, his muscular body on top of hers, pinning her to the bed while he moved up and down, in and out—while he rocked her world.

  Stifling a groan, she lied, “I wouldn’t know.”

  She made a move to climb back over him, but Sean splayed his hands over the small of her back and held her to him. As her hard nipples pressed into his chest, a smile reached his eyes. His glance settled on her mouth, and for a split second she thought she spotted desire in his eyes. But she had to be wrong. Sean never noticed her. Not like this. And why would he begin to now, when he had a bevy of perfect, flawless babes above just waiting their turn in his capable arms.

  As heat rushed to her face, she dipped her head forward. Taking her by surprise, Sean reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. A tortured look moved over his face as he exposed her ugly scar. In an instinctive move, Madison shook her hair free and inched back. She tried to clear his body and climb to her feet, but Sean grabbed her arm and stilled her.

  “Madison.”

  “What?”

  Before he had the chance to answer, the door to the cabin flung open and a myriad of voices drifted downward. Madison let loose a relieved breath, thankful for the interruption because she’d seen the torment in his eyes when his glance moved over her scarred face, and the last thing she wanted from him was sympathy.

  Madison quickly extricated herself from his arms and jumped to her feet. Drawing a fuelling breath, she smoothed her windbreaker over her body and made a move to go, but the strange hitch in Sean’s voice stopped her.

  “If you’re not busy later, want to join me for a drink?”

  Madison’s heart clenched when she spun back around. Sean was just being nice because it was in his nature. She was sure of it. “I’m on duty.” As she pushed the lie past her lips, the muscles along Sean’s jaw tightened and a look of hurt passed over his eyes, catching her by surprise.

  Before she had time to consider it, Sean pitched his voice low and questioned, “Are you always on duty?”

  “Yes.”

  The truth was it was Friday and she’d made plans to meet her friends Allison and Haley later that night. They were heading to Harry’s for a few after-hours cocktails. But she didn’t want to tell Sean that, especially since it was one of his favorite hangouts.

  His close proximity had played havoc with her senses all day, and with the way she truly felt about him—hell, she was probably already half in love with the guy—not only did she need a reprieve from his sexy playfulness, she knew that mixing Sean and alcohol was a dangerous concoction, one that could only prove lethal.

  To her body, heart and soul.

  Chapter Two

  Sean’s cock hurt.

  It hurt so goddamn much he didn’t even know what to do with himself anymore. Taking matters into his own hands did little to ease the tension inside him, or keep his blood pressure from rising to dangerous proportions. In fact, it only made him want her that much more.

  Her, as in…Madison Kelly.

  Christ, what he’d do to feel Madison’s soft, sensuous body writhing beneath his, to kiss his way down that long sensuous neck of hers until he reached her gorgeous breasts, her flat stomach—the sweet spot between her legs. What he’d do to open her pretty pink lips with the soft blade of his tongue and lick her sex until she begged him for more.

  Oh, what he’d do to make her beg.

  Everything from the way she moved to the way she crinkled that cute little nose of hers consumed his thoughts and had him wild with the need to fuck her, to bring her to never-before-known heights of excitement. He ached to drive his aching shaft into her, to slam her sweet pussy so hard and so deep that it drove every sane thought from her head. Maybe if he rendered her senseless, then she’d forget why she hated him so much.

  Frustrated and uncomfortable from the pressure brewing deep in his groin, he shifted uneasily in his seat and rolled his tongue around a suddenly dry mouth. Reaching for his beer, he took a long pull, but the only thing that could quench his real thirst was a night with Madison. Groaning with need, he slammed the empty bottle down on the table with much more force than necessary and shot a glance around Harry’s Pool Hall.

  “Something on your mind?” his best friend Cole Landon asked.

  Instead of answering, Sean grunted under his breath and peered through the rambunctious Friday night crowd until his gaze settled on Madison. Goddammit, she’d said she was on duty and there she was laughing and having drinks with her friends. She’d clearly blown him off and he damn well didn’t like it. The truth was Sean was used to women throwing themselves at him. Most wanted the fantasy from him, treating him like he was an object. While he was happy to oblige, he knew those women didn’t want him for who he really was. They simply wanted to have sex with a firefighter, someone they considered a hero.

  Honestly, Sean would love to settle down, but he’d yet to find a woman who saw the man beneath the uniform. That thought had his mind darting to Madison. She was the only one who’d taken note of his uneasy state on the boat, and even though she was on duty and it was her job to oversee his safety, the way she’d cared for him belowdecks had proved she was a woman of depth, a woman who saw below the surface.

  He took a moment to peruse her as she worked her way around the pool table. She’d changed out of her work clothes and now wore tight jeans that showcased curvy hips and a lush ass. Then again, it didn’t matter what she wore, he even found her starched security uniform both provocative and arousing. His attention drifted to her pink T-shirt and he took in the words, Pirates of the Caribbean, emblazed across the front. The shirt not only brought out the warmth in her cheeks, but it hugged her full breasts in the most delicious ways. Ways that teased his hunger for her and had his throbbing cock rising to the occasion.

  Not that he’d ever get the chance to sate that hunger.

  Sean cursed under his breath and leaned back on his chair, unable to figure out why she refused to have drinks with him tonight, or why she always ran in the opposite direction whenever she saw him coming.

  Cole gestured for the waitress to bring two more beers then planted his elbows on the table. He arched a brow and said, “Well, well. I never thought I’d see that day.”

  Sean glared at Cole and curled his fingers, ready to knock that crooked
grin off his best friend’s face. “What the fuck are you talking about?” Sean grunted.

  Cole propped his leg onto a chair, adjusted his pants around the hard, fiberglass cast protecting his ankle, and gave a slow shake of his head before saying, “You got it bad, pal.” He let loose a low whistle and added, “You got it real bad.”

  Okay, so maybe Cole was right. Maybe he did have it bad. And maybe the fact that he had it bad for the one girl in town who wouldn’t give him a chance had him acting completely out of character.

  So what the hell was he going to do about it?

  Sean ran through his options but still couldn’t come up with a solid plan. How could he get her to notice him if she continually avoided him on a personal level? He pushed shaky fingers through his mussed hair as his good friend, Officer Carter James, dropped into the chair next to him.

  “What’s up?” Carter asked when he spotted the distressed scowl on Sean’s face.

  Grinning like the bad ass, son of a bitch he was, Cole gestured toward Madison, who was currently walking around the pool table with her two best friends, Allison Cooper—Carter’s girl—and Haley Jones, a “good girl” Cole had been crazy over since high school, but had been too chicken shit to do anything about.

  Cole tipped his bottle toward Sean. “What’s up is that our man here has finally met his match.”

  Carter followed Sean’s gaze, then shook his head, perplexed. “So what are you doing sitting here with us then? Go get her, for Christ’s sake.”

  Sean scrubbed his hands over his face. “It’s not like that with her.”

  “Want to enlighten me?” Carter asked, arching a curious brow.

  “No.”

  Cole glanced at Carter and shook his head. “Sean can have any girl in this place.” He grinned and added, “Hell, he probably already has. So why do you think he’s going after the one he can’t have?”

  Because he didn’t want just any girl, goddammit.

  He wanted one. And the fact that she didn’t want him in return had his stomach knotting, his heart pounding and his cock refusing to settle for anything less.

  But what the hell could he do about it?

  Honestly, Sean had no idea what he’d done to make her hate him. They didn’t run in the same circles and he’d never really taken notice of her before. Last year’s accident had changed everything for him, and in no time at all he found himself wanting to get to know her. When he’d visited her in the hospital and had seen the depth of her strength and the breadth of her courage during a difficult recovery, it didn’t take him long to discover she was different from any other woman he knew, and it was that difference that held his attention, and quite frankly fascinated him.

  “Maybe he likes the challenge,” Carter piped in. “You know what they say—you want what you can’t have.”

  Sean watched Cole’s glance drift to Haley. Unfettered want passed over his eyes before he quickly blinked it away and raised his bottle in salute. “Yeah, here’s to wanting what we can’t have.”

  As Carter turned his attention to Cole’s leg, and the two began talking about the recent soccer injury that cut Cole’s professional season short and brought him back to their small town for the remainder of the year, Sean turned his focus back to Madison.

  When she bent over the pool table, his mind went on an erotic journey and there was nothing he could do to tame his hard-on. Christ, he wanted her. Wanted her so badly he could barely think straight.

  As her sensuous body held his attention, awareness and frustration flared through him and he took a moment to think more about the sexy security specialist who, on a personal level, refused to give him the time of day. Hell, maybe Carter was right. Maybe he only wanted her because he couldn’t have her. Or maybe he wanted more.

  Either way, he knew he had to find out.

  Sweat collected on his brow as he continued to watch her, watch the way she moved around the crowd, unaware of his observations. What he’d long ago discovered was that beneath that tough exterior there was another side of Madison. A side she kept hidden from everyone, including herself. He’d seen that side in her earlier tonight when she was gazing out over the ocean, her gorgeous brown eyes full of warmth and longing.

  What he noticed the most was that beneath her guard, Madison was soft and sensitive, full of heat and passion and goddammit, he wanted to be the guy to peel away the layer and ignite the fire beneath the ice.

  If only she’d let him.

  As he entertained the idea, a low rumble sounded in his throat and he decided then and there it was damn well time to find out what she had against him.

  Madison walked around the pool table alone while her friends went off to refresh their drinks. Deciding it was the perfect time to confront her, he climbed to his feet, pushed through the crowd and made his way toward her.

  With her back to him, she continued to shoot balls, oblivious to his approach. Sean cut across the room, but when he stepped up to her and pulled her back against his chest, her shoulders tensed and her muscles stiffened.

  Fearing she was about to lay him out flat on the floor, he said, “Easy, Madison. It’s me.”

  As her body tightened even more, her feminine heat warmed his blood, and it took every ounce of strength he possessed not to bend her over the pool table and take her right there. There was something so unique and beguiling about Madison that he couldn’t help but wonder if fucking her would get her out of his system, or would it simply draw him in deeper?

  Instead of acting on his urges, he summoned his control, purposely put his mouth close to her ear and in a suggestive voice whispered, “So you like playing games do you, sweetheart?”

  In a slow, easy movement, Madison twisted around to face him, and the alarm on her face let him know he’d caught her off-guard. Sean’s heart nearly stopped when he took in the gorgeous sight of her dark eyes and the long brown hair that framed her beautiful face. Unable to help himself, he touched a wayward curl as it ran along the column of her neck, going lower and lower until it dipped into her cleavage. As he stroked the strands between his fingers, he pictured her on top of him, teasing his naked flesh with those long soft curls. He drew a breath to center himself and knew, without question, she was the most sensuous woman he’d ever set eyes on.

  When their glances clashed, and the control she kept so close momentarily crumbled, something flashed in her eyes, something that resembled need. She wet her lips and leaned toward him and the want he spotted on her face not only took him by surprise, it nearly drove him to his knees.

  A wave of heat arced between them and tension grew, but when pool balls cracked and the loud noise reached their ears, it shattered the intimate moment. Madison blinked and inched away, her guard back in place. As she gathered herself, the desire in her eyes disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. But it had been there long enough for Sean to see it, to know what it meant.

  “Sean,” she murmured breathlessly as she sucked in a tight breath.

  “Yeah, that’s me.”

  The heat in her voice filled him with warm and wicked sensation, and a wave of anticipation took hold. Despite the crowd, who seemed completely oblivious to their private conversation, Sean stepped in to her until their bodies were once again meshed together, until she could feel the depth of his need for her. As they stood there, staring at each other, Sean gave her a long heated look, one that spoke of passion, sex and endless sensual nights.

  He wet his lips, heat flaming through him as he pushed his cock harder against her stomach. Aching to taste the sweetness of her mouth, to feel skin on skin, he gyrated his hips, letting her know what she did to him.

  Surprise registered on her face as her glance moved over his features, a visual caress that set him on fire and had him realizing that he’d been oh-so wrong about her. So completely and utterly wrong that it had him wanting to climb to the rooftop to scream hallelujah.

  He wasn’t sure why she tried to hide the desire she felt for him, or why she alwa
ys pushed him away, but a second ago when her guard had momentarily dropped and she looked up at him with those expressive eyes of hers, it told him everything he needed to know.

  Madison wanted him every bit as much as he wanted her.

  So why the hell did she always pretend otherwise?

  Damned if he wasn’t going to find out.

  Fearing she was about to flee before he could put together a plan of action, he backed her up until she was pressed against the wall, then he braced his hands on either side of her head to prevent her from escaping. Her warm, seductive scent reached out to him and her dark eyes, alive with curiosity, smoldered as they met his. She shifted her hips, an easy grind of her pussy against his leg. The movement was slight, but he noticed it. In fact, since the accident, he noticed everything about Madison.

  Pleasure pounded through him when he felt something in her body give, soften against his. A low, barely audible sound vibrated in the back of her throat as she melted into him, her heat wrapping around his body and doing insane things to his cock.

  “So what other games do you like to play when you’re on duty?” he asked as his mind filled with delicious images of the two of them coming together, over and over again, until she called his name out in orgasmic bliss.

  She opened her mouth to answer, but when no words came, all he could think about was breaking that control she kept close, stripping her flesh bare and satisfying all the hidden wants he’d spotted in her eyes. As she continued to stare up at him, her guard once again wavering, he knew this might be the only chance he got to explore the heat between them.

  A deliciously naughty idea began to formulate in his mind, and he suddenly knew exactly what kind of game he wanted to play, exactly what it would take to peel away her layers and light the fire inside her.

  Oh yeah, he definitely planned a rooftop visit, and if he played his cards right, by the end of the night they’d both be screaming, but it certainly wasn’t going to be hallelujah…

  Chapter Three

  “Come with me,” Sean said, his voice a deep, sexy command as his blue eyes gleamed in a way that had shivers skittering through her.