She snorted. “Yeah, if that.”
The bottom, buttery curve of the moon began to slide over the horizon, and even fewer lights glowed in the valley, but it wasn’t too cold, really. He shifted a little, out of habit, to ease his back. He’d been so active earlier and rocks did not make for the most comfortable chair. “Sorry. I don’t like to sit too long without moving, or my back will stiffen up, although so far it feels pretty good.”
“You shouldn’t have carried me to the truck.”
“Didn’t you like it? I thought I was making a grand gesture.”
“Not grand if it hurt you. It was a work injury, you said?”
He tipped her chin up and kissed her softly. One thing led to another, and the kiss deepened and went on so long, when he looked up, the moon was halfway into the horizon. “Sorry, too tempting. What were we talking about?”
She blinked at him, her eyes large and moist. “Umm…” She shook her head. “Lucky you aren’t on fire sites around here. You are so distracting.” Her lips formed an O. “That was insanely insensitive. Of course I wish you were fighting fires here. Or in Texas. Or anywhere. I mean, if that’s what you want to do. I—”
He held his palm over her mouth for a moment then smiled at her. “It’s okay. I wish I was, too. And that’s what we were talking about. Yes, it was a work-related injury. I was on a roof in Dallas, when an explosion tore through it. I flung myself away before I fell to the warehouse floor three stories below, but I wrenched my back in the process.”
Something flickered across her face, but the shadows made it hard to read. “Is the damage permanent?”
“They don’t know. It’s been over a year, and there’s not a thing showing up on the MRI or any other scan anymore, but it hurts if I lift over, say, fifty pounds, and the doctors don’t want me to do anything that might renew the injury so they won’t release me to train or take the test to return to action.”
“So if you are released, you’re back to Texas?”
“I suppose. But if I can’t even get in training, how can I find out what I’m capable of? I haven’t lifted over fifty pounds in a year.”
She rested a palm on his cheek and looked into his eyes. “I beg to differ.”
A slow grin lifted the corners of his lips. “With one exception, but that was in the interest of romance. If you can’t carry off a fair maiden, what’s life worth?”
“How does it feel now?”
He leaned forward and back then stood and stretched. “Fine.”
“Maybe it is fine?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes it hurts. Like when I’ve been driving for a long time or do housework.”
“Recently?”
He tried to think. “I don’t…no, not too recently. I’m not big on chores.” Hope he’d tamped down came bubbling up. “Maybe you healed me.”
“Sexual healing? Really? Maybe you just hadn’t tried anything in a while and it finished getting better. Can you get in to see your doctor when you drop off the truck? I assume he’s in Dallas?”
“Well the main guy is, but I’ve been seeing a guy in Portland since I took the job with Andy. But if I could manage to lift a heavy weight tonight—”
“Hey!”
“You know what I mean. You are a bit over fifty pounds I assume?”
“Okay,” she said, appearing mollified. “A little.”
He dragged her onto his lap, ignoring her squeals of protest, and covered her face with kisses. “Maybe I can go back to work after all. You’re the best!”
Dante nibbled on Kat’s earlobe and pressed little kisses down her throat, sending chills to her fingertips. She shivered, but not because of the temperature, when he unbuttoned her blouse and buried his face in her cleavage. Her nipples were peaked, and she wasn’t the only one reacting. Under her bottom, the rigid length of his cock throbbed, ready for action again. Kat started to stand, but he lifted her and arranged her straddling him, facing away.
“You’re pushing it,” she said, sliding forward. “You don’t want to ruin everything you’ve worked for in one crazy move.”
“I won’t,” he murmured, jerking her to him then reaching around to unbutton her slacks. “Lift up so I can get these off you.” When she settled down again, her pants around her knees—she’d tucked her panties and bra under the sleeping bag before heading outside when she woke, trying not to make too much noise—she found herself seated on his long, stiff cock.
“Wait, we can’t do this here.”
He locked an arm around her waist. “We’re on a planet far off, remember? Jupiter’s moon?”
She pried at his wrist. “The atmosphere on Jupiter is mostly helium and hydrogen. We couldn’t breathe there.”
Pressing his lips to her ear, he bit down enough to make her squeak. “Then maybe it’s much farther away than Jupiter. Another galaxy. Where we can breathe.” He rocked his hips, and his cock slid back and forth in her already soaked folds. “But we’re all alone. There’s nobody else but us. We have to start our own society, populate a new world. Maybe we’re the only humans left.”
Aren’t you wearing a…?” She tried to see between her legs, but the shadows hid it.
“Sshh. Of course. Don’t mess with the fantasy. Don’t you want to save humankind with me? Keep us from extinction?” His hot breath on her skin combined with the friction against her labia threatened to send her flying already.
“Humankind. Yes.” Kat’s star-loving heart fell into the game. They were alone on a planet far far away. “Do you think anyone survived on Earth. After our ship took off?”
“Maybe. Probably not. I think it’s just us.”
She rose on the balls of her feet and took hold of his sheathed length, pretending it was not for a moment. “Then let’s repopulate. We don’t want to get lonely out here.” She let her weight take her down onto his cock, welcoming the stretch into her already slightly sore pussy, bit by bit until she sat on his lap again. If she ever had met a man she’d be willing to save humankind with, it was Dante Rossi. And the method of salvation was 100 percent pleasure as he rocked his hips and helped her rise and fall, taking him into her core and melding them into one. No, she wasn’t going to get pregnant tonight, but if only she could. He’d make amazing babies if they looked anything like him.
A single star stood out to the north, and he pointed to it. “I think that’s Earth.”
“Home.” A single tear slid down her cheek, the fantasy of the moment more real than anything in her life.
He clasped her fingers in his and placed them on her pussy. “Touch yourself, sweetheart. I want to feel it.”
Her cheeks flushed, but nobody could see, even Dante could only feel. Scooping some of the fluid she leaked in response to the amazing fucking, she rubbed it on her clit with two fingers, circling slowly like she did when alone at home, then, as the rush of orgasm tightened things deep inside, faster and faster. “Oh, Dante, I’m coming, now!”
His hips jerked faster and faster, and she grabbed the arm he had around her waist and held on for dear life as he thrust harder and harder inside her, driving deep and, finally, the rush of hot fluid in the condom sent her again.
“Dante!” she wailed while the Earth tilted and the moon slid away at last leaving just the stars and a few lights below, before everything went black.
And then he was carrying her again, the sky lightening around them as he deposited her on the sleeping bag inside the fire truck and joined her, tugging the other half over them as soon as they were naked again. She was asleep nearly instantly, but she dreamed of their planet, a place where only they lived, with no firebugs and no worries but making love and replenishing humankind for the universe.
Chapter Five
The sun rose long before Kat and Dante in their cocoon on the floor of the fire truck at the viewpoint overlooking Cedar Valley and points beyond. The golden ball even topped the mountains to dispel the shadows and shine right in her eyes. She rolled over, grumbling, and pulled the edge of the sleeping
bag to cover her face. “It’s too early,” she moaned. “This thing should come with shades.”
He snuggled her closer, chuckling. “I’ll let Andy know. Is that all you got from this test drive?”
“I thought it was a date?” She rolled to face him, taking in the much thicker scruff on his jaw, a black shadow. “Have you ever grown a beard?” Kat rubbed her palm over the prickly hairs. She rested her cheek on his chest.
“I did, but I looked like a pirate. My mom made me shave it off.”
She lifted her head. How old were you? Ten?”
He grinned. “Eighteen. First year of college. I came home for Thanksgiving with it, and she put her foot down. Refused to let me sit at the table with the rest of the family if I didn’t shave first.”
“So you did it for turkey and gravy?”
“Dressing, actually. She makes the best dressing in Oregon or Texas, I’d swear to it.
“Hmmm. A good cause, but I have to warn you, pirate is not a turn off for me.”
“Or astronaut.” He ran his hand down her side and up again, stopping at her breast to toy with her hardening nipple. “You do have an active fantasy life.”
“I think the spaceman thing last night—this morning, I guess—was your idea, Mr. Rossi. I just went along with it.”
“Enthusiastically.”
She tossed her head and bonked it on his chin. “Ouch. Well, never do anything halfway. It’s my motto.”
“I’ve learned a lot about you in twelve or so hours.” He pinched her nipple. “Mmm, ready for me again, I see. Are you wet, too?”
“Dante!” She pushed off his chest.
“Are you?” His hand crept between her legs and stroked there. “Insatiable.” He sighed. “I guess I’ll have to satisfy you, though. Although I’m nearly worn out.” He rolled her onto her back and bent to kiss her, his dick already at her entrance, and sheathed.
“You planned this. I feel that condom.”
“Guilty.” No more words were exchanged as he plunged into her and rode them both to fulfillment. Three times in a row. She’d be walking funny this morning, but as he drove her over the edge, and she screamed his name again, she didn’t care. Some things were worth a slight limp.
This time though, they had no recovery time. Kat sat up and tried to find all her clothes. She found her phone in her jacket pocket. Still no service, but the clock worked and it was eight already. “Crap. I need to get to work. And don’t you have a truck to deliver?” She chewed her lip. “Are you rested enough to drive?”
“I’m fine,” he said. “But your grandfather is going to have my hide. Let’s stop by their house on the way down and apologize.”
Kat opened the door and hopped out, pushing her hair back with both hands and gathering it in a knot at her nape. It was long enough to stay up for a while if she twisted it just right. “It’s not Granddad you have to worry about in this case. It’s Grandma.”
“I’ll never be invited to dinner again.”
“That may be the least of your worries. Let’s get going.” As he joined her on the gravel, she strolled to the wall one more time. “The valley is so pretty from up here.”
“It’s a pretty place for sure.” He came to stand behind her and pulled her back against his chest. “Thank you for a memorable night.”
“You, too, it was…. What’s that?” To the north, a plume of smoke rose. There were others; many of the valley dwellers had wood fires or pellet stoves, but this was a straight-up column of black and sooty gray. She knew menace when she saw it.
He leaned over her shoulder. “What?”
Kat pointed. “See the smoke? It’s about ten miles north of the Cobbs’ place. That’s the house that burned yesterday.” She traced a line. “And ten miles west of the church, north of the gas station. Oh my god, it’s him. It has to be. We have to go. Does this beast have any working communications equipment yet?”
He shook his head. “No. Dallas has their own guys for that.”
“Then, come on!” She grabbed his hand. “We’ve got to get down low enough for me to use one of our phones. The Fresno Firebug is getting away.”
Luckily, Dante was smart enough not to argue with her. They ran back to the truck, hand in hand, and climbed inside. Backing up enough to turn, he headed out onto the narrow road and drove down the switchbacks at an impressive speed. When they saw a car headed up, he flipped on the sirens and lights and the vehicle pulled off onto the shoulder. “This is totally against procedure, but what the hell. They can only fire me…maybe cite me.”
“They’ll give you a medal if we get him. This man has taken life.” She fell silent, obsessively checking her phone for service. Finally, nearly to the bottom, she gasped. “Two bars.”
She called her granddad first. He could make sure local personnel were on the way faster than if she had to go through county dispatch, good though they were. “Granddad, it’s Kat. It’s an emergency.” Her grandfather would not ask endless questions and slow things down. He’d been a professional too long.
In less than a minute, she’d explained the situation, described the approximate location. “That’s still Waggoner’s area,” he said. “Dammit, that man is not up for another situation. I’ll get the call to county dispatch and call him directly, but I’m headed out there. Brigit will take me.”
“No, I don’t think—”
“Last night, you didn’t think,” he bit out. “Your grandmother was up all night pacing. She was sure you were dead. I’ll meet you there.”
“And, Granddad, tell Waggoner to stay back. There’s going to be a secondary explosion. The Firebug always does that.” Was that what happened in Dallas, when Dante was injured, too? It had to be a coincidence. Something stored in the warehouse just blew.
“Be safe, Kat. I’ll hitch a ride with Brigit.”
She hung up and dialed the county offices who contracted her services, reporting on her movements and that she was on the way to check out the smoke. Then she tried her sister. “Hey, Brij, how was dinner?”
“Dinner sucked. It was a fix-up, and we didn’t hit it off at all. So where were you all night? Grandma must have called me twenty times.”
“I’ll tell you later. Listen, I’ve been on the case for all those arson fires in the area, and I just spotted one from a viewpoint in the foothills.”
“What were you doing there?”
“More later. But I wanted to tell you to be careful, okay? Granddad is going to ask you to fly him out there, and there’s likely a secondary ignition point. Something explosive. So just don’t get too close and try to keep him back if you can.”
“Yeah, I’ll do my best. Are you headed there?”
“Me and Dante, but that’s a whole other story. See you soon.”
“Kat!”
She disconnected. At the main highway at the bottom of the hills, Dante sped up. Cars pulled over for them as they flew past, lights and sirens blazing. Did anyone wonder why a truck painted Dallas Fire and Rescue Station 58 was on its way to a local situation?
Dante was so going to lose his job. Unless they saved the day. Maybe saving humankind was a fantasy, but one life was worth almost anything. As the miles flew by, she clung to the sides of her seat and leaned forward as if it would get them there faster.
When they were far enough out in the country they were the only moving vehicle in sight, he cast her a quick glance. “Secondary ignition? Like the fire where I was injured?”
“So what blew the roof off the warehouse…was deliberate? Not just something stored in there reacting to the heat?”
“No, it was a set charge. Sound familiar?”
“It might. I’d need more details, but basically, yes. The initial fire is started with some paraffin and a long wick. But he has already preset an explosive that will go off at a specific time, usually about a half hour after the first flames.”
“So after the first responders are on site.”
“Usually. Yeah.”
“
Anyone hurt?”
“Financially, mentally…but not physically. This time.”
“How many fires has he started?” He exited one highway and turned onto another, the column of smoke their GPS. Other sirens could be heard in the distance now, but she was pretty sure they were closer. By several miles at least.
“This time? If I’m right and this one is him, it would be five that we know of. Why?”
He blew out a hard breath. “There were a number of fires with a very similar strategy in Dallas. Ending with the one I was on.”
What the hell? “Dante, you aren’t suggesting this is the work of the same guy?” But, in her heart, she knew.
“I’m only suggesting it’s a similar crime. There are a lot of details you’d want to go over before deciding that, and I’d be happy to give you the contact info for the investigators working the case.”
“Dante, this is the work of the Fresno Firebug. How could he end up in Texas?”
“The Fresno Firebug from the 1950s? Surely he’s dead by now. He’d have to be, at least, what eighty?” Their destination was just a few miles ahead, the smoke darker and the plume wider, spreading out into the sky. What if someone was trapped in that fire?
“Yeah but that doesn’t make him dead.”
“Let’s hope we can find a hydrant that works.”
Dante began flipping switches as they entered a little town that looked mostly abandoned. The old buildings were dilapidated, glass broken out of windows, doors hanging on hinges. Why set a fire out here? Especially if hurting people was your interest. Then she saw it.
A house with a fresh coat of white paint. Baskets of flowers filled the yard, the place a single point of life in a town left behind by time. A sign by the gate held the image of a hand, palm up, covered with mysterious symbols, and a crystal ball. Her phone rang. “Hello?”
Kat spoke urgently into the phone. To her grandmother, he gathered from her repeated assurances, her promises to watch out for her grandfather and sister when they arrived. Tina was a solid woman who’d had to deal with a great sorrow in her life, but, in his experience, she saved her worries for things she could do something about. This must be one of those cases.
Dallas Fire & Rescue: Wheels on Fire (Kindle Worlds Novella) (MacKay Destiny Book 4) Page 5