I pull open the blinds and I freeze up as my body is immediately covered with goose bumps.
“I will!” the man in the front yard says before he starts laughing as hysterically and as scarily as the Joker in those Batman movies.
And apparently he’s just as crazy as my eyes scan the front yard and I see what he’s done.
“Good night!” He waves to me before taking two steps and jumping over the flames.
He’s lit the dry grass in front of the house on fire and judging by the shape he’s done the same in the backyard. A complete circle.
We’re trapped. And we’re doomed.
CHAPTER 13
Sierra
“The yard’s on fire!” I yell.
“Nice try,” my dad yells back up the stairs.
“Dad, look outside. We’re trapped.”
I hit 911 on my phone.
“Nine one one. What’s your emergency?”
I frantically explain what’s happening. The operator tries to keep me calm but it’s not working, and she doesn’t help one bit when she says that most of the fire engines are dispatched across the state putting out the bigger blazes. It could be up to forty-five minutes to reach us.
“We’ll be dead by then!” I say. I hang up the phone and run down the stairs.
“Holy shit!” my dad says as he pulls back the blinds in the living room.
“I told you!” I say.
I bolt out the front door but the flames are too big and way too hot already.
That grass is so dry that the fire will be to our house in minutes…at most.
“Help!” I yell.
My mind goes through the probabilities of what we can do to survive.
No basement. Can’t run through these flames. Can’t go back inside.
The roof is our only option. Then try and jump to the neighbor’s house and slide down into their pool.
I’d rather break an arm than die.
“Upstairs!” I yell and I push my mom and dad in front of me up the stairs as we hurry towards the skylight…our only chance of escaping…and surviving.
CHAPTER 14
Asher
With Sierra staying at my house now there’s not a whole lot of reason to swing by Scott and Serinda’s house, but I should probably give it a look anyways.
There is a weirdo on the loose after all.
I crank the radio and laugh at the memory of Sierra throwing that party the other day. It’s something kids do when their parents are out, and now here I am doing my best to put my kid inside her.
How quickly times change.
I turn onto their street and I swear I hear yelling. What the…?
I turn down the radio and my face immediately drops when I see the flames blazing.
“Sierra’s house!” I say hitting the gas.
Five seconds later I’m pulled up at the house next door. I hear the screams again as I bolt from my car and look up and see Sierra and her family on the roof.
“Asher! Up here!”
“I got you. Put your shirts over your mouths and try and stay calm.”
The neighbors are acting crazy, some gathering to watch and the others scurrying to leave the area.
Time for a real hero and that takes a real man.
I push through the crowd of able-bodied males knocking them too their asses, which are apparently occupied by their heads at the moment. What’s wrong with people?
I grab the hose from the house next door and turn the water on all the way, giving it all it’s got, before running back towards the Smith’s house where I spray an opening into the flames…or at least start to.
I grab the phone from one of the assholes taking pictures and dial 911. I quickly tell them I’m L.A.F.D. and give them a special code only we know in order to get a truck here pronto. I know it’s a long shot, but I’m deploying all the resources I can get to save my woman. And I’m using every bit of brains and brawn I’ve got to do it.
I run to the neighbor’s house on the opposite side and grab their hose, running it back to the Smith’s and adding more water to the area I’m trying to open.
But I’m running out of time.
I take a step back and dart towards the opening, holding my breath just as I jump through the flames feeling the heat on my bare skin. Damn I sure could use my fire suit right now.
I dash up the stairs and less than thirty seconds later I’m on the roof.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“We’re going to jump to the house next door and then the pool.” she says.
“It’s too risky. You miss and you crack your head open. We go down and straight out.”
“It’s burning like crazy. Have you lost your mind?”
“Don’t argue. I’ve got two hoses on it we can make it we go now.”
I take Serinda’s hand and help her back inside, then Scott.
“Get on my back.” I tell her.
“What?”
“Do it!” I yell, but I don’t have time for this. I squat down and scoop her up with a backwards grab and pull her onto my back as she immediately wraps her legs and arms around me.
We move down the stairs and to the front door.
“Stay here!” I yell at Scott and Serinda.
“Hold on, baby!” I say and I grab her legs hard with one hand and her two hands which are clasped in front of my neck with the other.
I run faster than I ever have before and just as I near the flames I jump taking us both through.
The neighbors oh and I and all I can think about is punching them in the face for not helping.
“Watch her!” I yell at a group of men, making sure to point at them so they know who’s responsibility she is until I get back.
I go back and repeat the same process with Scott and Serinda.
They’re safe now, but there’s more work to be done.
Just then the fire engine rolls up.
“Adams! Are you okay?”
“Davis, watch the family. Donovan is here. I can sense it.”
“Leif Donovan?”
“Yeah. Williams! Follow me,” I yell out to the fastest guy in our crew while the others battle the blaze before it reaches the house as Davis watches my woman.
The last thing I’d ever want to do is leave her in the care of someone else, but I can trust Davis with anything. And more importantly this needs to end now. No more living in fear. I’m finding Donovan and I’m putting an end to this now, protecting her for good…not just for now.
We know from our training that a lot of arsonists like to watch their work, often squatting behind some bushes or low structure so they can’t be seen while they “admire” their “work.” Disgusting.
I scan for bushes with a clear view of the flames and immediately I see a set of sneakers where the bushes meet the roots just six inches above the ground.
If I can see him, he can see me.
“This way!” I yell to Williams and we swerve away from him.
I know he’ll use this opportunity to get away and I know exactly which direction he’ll choose…because there’s only one.
I run around the side of that house and just as I clear the other side I run right into him, taking him down to the ground.
I put a forearm to his throat and press hard. “How dare you try and hurt my woman!” I yell at him.
“Adams!” Williams yells. “He’s unarmed.”
“He’s got matches and a sick fucking mind. He’s always armed.”
I watch as he coughs and his face turns red.
Suddenly I’m rolling in the grass taking a blow from the side. It’s a dam cop!
“Stand down, Adams!” he says. I recognize him as the cop that came by the station when we filed the report.
“We’ve got enough on him now to put him away for more lifetimes than he could ever imagine. You’ve done enough.”
I try to wrestle my way back to my feet, but suddenly there are five cops holding me down.
I kn
ow I could still get up, but there’s one things stopping me.
My woman and my baby.
It’s hard to be a father from prison and that’s where I’d go if I choked him out right now. There’s only so much cops can turn a blind eye too, and although this would probably get written up, and tried, as a crime of passion if I ended him I’d still do time.
And according to this cop he’s going to be spending the rest of his time behind bars, so I defer to the justice system and quit fighting.
“You just made our job way easier. You’re on helluva big boy, Adams.”
“I know. Now this big boy is gonna go check on his woman, who’s carrying my own big boy.”
“You’re…gonna be a father?” Williams asks as the cops come off me.
“Damn right,” I say.
“Congratulations. I didn’t even know you were in a relationship.”
“That’s how it works when you find the one. It all falls into place quicker than you can imagine.”
And although I may not have confirmation that Sierra’s officially pregnant, or that I’m even having a son, I just know.
Call me crazy, but I know just as sure as the moment I saw her that night.
She’s the one for me and she’s the mother of my child.
Correction…children. Because once I see that first baby of ours born I know it’s going to become my addiction and there will be a lot more to come.
I’m going to make sure of it. Me and my woman and my family.
Growing bigger and bigger by the year.
“You need medical attention, Adams?” Williams asks. “EMTs should be arriving.”
“I need my woman. That’s what I need, and that’s all I need,” I say standing and making my way back to the Smith’s house.
I can’t wait to wrap Sierra up in a big hug and tell her I made sure she’s safe now.
And I’m going to shake her dad’s hand too and let him know I put away the man he put away three years ago.
But this time it’s for good.
Just like my love for his daughter…it’s forever.
CHAPTER 15
Asher
One day later
What a difference a day makes.
Sierra told me a day ago her parents refused to allow her to leave the house.
Now her entire family is living in mine…at least until they get the smell out of the house.
Luckily that should only be a few days, and even luckier was that there was absolutely no damage to their home.
Scott teased me about my loyalty to our friendship considering I chose to help his daughter escape first. But then he took me out of earshot and told me that all jokes aside, my act of saving Sierra first was exactly what they would have wanted and it showed just how much both his priorities and mine are aligned.
There’s nothing more important to him than his family, and that starts with his only child.
And I can’t wait to have that feeling for myself…one day very soon.
But first things first. Sierra is my woman and part of being my woman means she deserves for me to make an honest woman out of her.
No shotgun weddings or single mommas here.
“Everyone ready for dessert?” I ask.
“You ordered dessert too?” Serinda asks.
“I prepared that myself,” I say. Scott gives me a sideways look. He knows me and he knows I don’t cook.
Which can only mean I’m up to something.
Which I am.
“Count me in!” Serinda says. “Especially if there’s chocolate or wine involved…or port wine chocolate cake if you really want to win my heart.”
“There’s only one heart I’ve ever wanted to win, and I plan on doing that very, very soon,” I say.
I know Scott and Serinda are still a little shocked and not quite sure how to respond to learning about Sierra and I, but it’s time to put their mind at ease to show them this is real and I’m fully invested…forever.
I carefully open the refrigerator and move the cartons of milk to the side. I was using them as a wall to hide my next act.
I grab four champagne flutes and the surprise from the fridge and one other small, but very important, thing that I had hidden in a cabinet.
I walk into the dining room and place the bucket with the champagne right in the center of the table and place the flutes next to it.
“We get to celebrate being alive to live another day?” Scott asks.
“That, but I had something in addition to that. I want to celebrate me being, and feeling, alive for the very first time in my life…thanks to her,” I say turning and looking directly at Sierra.
I move over to her chair and take her hand in mine before taking a knee.
“Oh my,” Serinda says and the room grows so silent you could hear the tear that’s already forming at the corner of Sierra’s eye drop if I wasn’t there to catch it. And if there’s one thing I know for sure I’ll always be there to catch her…always.
“Beautiful, I thought my life was full of adventures, excitement, and thrills. And to the best of my knowledge it was. It was until you came along and flipped my entire world upside down. You showed me a completely new paradigm, and in the process you showed me what it’s really like to feel adventure, excitement and thrills as I’ve gotten to know you so much better over these last few days. And my only wish is to continue to get to know you even more so I can experience the true adventures, excitement, and thrills that life has to offer…together as one.”
I reach into my pocket and pull out the small black box, carefully opening it and displaying the sparkling diamond engagement ring inside.
“I want you to wear this now and forevermore so the entire world knows you’re mine…and I’m yours. I want your heart all to myself and I promise to treat it with the utmost care and respect and to love you always and give you my full heart and every single part of me in return…if you agree to be mine forever. Will you marry me?”
She closes her eyes completely and then opens them wide, the tears running down her cheeks. I reach up with one of my hands and wipe them away so I can more clearly see those beautiful eyes of hers and that smile that brings me to my knees.
She nods her head quickly and rapidly and I’m not sure if it’s just a yes or if her body is literally shaking. Either way her head is moving up and down and that’s all the opportunity I need. I slide the ring on her finger and she opens her mouth. “I love it and yes, I can’t wait to be your bride.”
I kiss her hand and stand before leaning in and giving her a big hug and a kiss right on her lips.
It’s probably strange for her parents to see, but right now I don’t care. All I care about is her…is us.
Because that’s all that matters in life.
I save people for a living, but the real savior is her. She came along and saved me, showing me the true meaning of life.
When the one you love comes along grab them tight and don’t let go.
And show them each and every day just how much you love them.
And that ring is the first step.
“You surprised me,” she says.
“You always surprise me with just how incredible you are,” I say and we kiss again.
“I’ve got a surprise too,” she says. She looks down and brings her left hand, which now proudly displays the symbol of our love, down to her stomach and place it on her belly with my hand on top.
“Yeah?” I ask.
She nods just like she did when I asked her to be mine forever.
I kiss her lips again and we stand and embrace.
I hear a thud as Scott falls from his chair passing out cold on the floor.
“And to think that I just thought you were bringing out some chocolate cake,” her mother says.
“We’re all about adventures, excitement and thrills around here,” I joke.
“I’m going to have to get use to that,” Sierra says.
“You’ll never be able to get us
ed to it because I’m going to surprise you in so many ways each and every day you’ll never know what’s coming next.”
Possessive Firefighter: An Older Man Younger Woman Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 69) Page 6