Gracie was a woman he could spend the rest of his life with and never find out all her secrets. She was as much a hero to those kids as he was to someone he dragged from a burning building.
And somehow, over the two years he'd lived next door to her, she'd become his. He hadn't even realized it until now.
But Gracie didn't want long-term. She'd made that clear the other morning. The deer in the headlights look she'd given him when he asked when she'd be home had said it all. For some reason, long-term scared the hell out of her.
He'd been honest with her when he said he wasn't done with her. Now, how the hell did he convince her that she'd never be done with him?
He closed his eyes and dropped his head forward. Slowly. Very, very slowly. So he didn't scare her off. He'd take as long as he needed, even if it meant the rest of his life.
With a new resolve, Steve turned away from the mirror, opened his fly and clutched his cock in his fist. First, he had to make sure he didn't physically harm her. And he couldn't promise anything with a raging hard-on. She pushed him to his limits. Since that afternoon last August, all she had to do was glance in his direction and he got hard. He'd thought that after one hot night with her, she'd be out of his system.
A harsh laugh tore from his throat. After one night of her begging for more, all he wanted was to give it to her. Again and again and again until they both died of exhaustion.
He pumped his cock and pictured her as she'd been the other night. On hands and knees, looking over her shoulder at him, her eyes narrowed with lust and frustration because of his teasing.
His balls tightened and his cum moved to the base of his dick. Remembering how she impaled herself on him, and how she'd begged for more, he moved his hand faster. Harder.
His seed shot out of him and with a groan, he leaned against the wall for support. “Sonofabitch,” he said on a deep breath. How'd he ever let himself get in so deep?
* * * *
Gracie licked her finger and ran it over her clit. The aches in her body were slowly, too slowly, fading into a background noise she could almost ignore. But the memories remained and those were what she wanted to block.
And Steve had abandoned her.
She couldn't blame him, though, she thought as she rubbed the fingers of her other hand over her nipple, willing it to tighten. She'd sounded so needy. So pathetic.
Gracie Terrence had never asked a man for anything. Hadn't asked anyone for anything since the day her father died, leaving her an orphan and at the mercy of a system that didn't have time or care for a scared, lonely teenager.
She gritted her teeth and pushed the thoughts aside. She wasn't that girl anymore. Thirteen years had passed since then. She'd gone to college, become a teacher, and done everything she could to help kids who needed her.
"Damn it,” she said in frustration as a tear slipped from her eye. She pulled her hand away from her pussy and rolled to her side. She hurt. All over. But most of all she hurt deep inside because she'd done the one thing she swore she'd never do. She'd gone and let herself fall in love with a hero.
Confusion swamped her and she shivered, too exhausted to even cover her naked body with the quilt.
Now more than ever she knew that life was too short. She'd had her own brush with death. Steve took a chance of being killed every time he responded to a fire. Just like her father, Steve would rush to someone else's rescue and damn himself to dying too young. She didn't want to live through the agony of losing him like that. Losing anyone like that. She couldn't let herself love someone who she couldn't count on coming home at the end of the workday.
Thank God Steve didn't want a relationship.
She could keep her love secret; never let him know how she felt. Eventually he'd move on, which would hurt, sure. But she wouldn't be much worse off than she'd been before. The spinster schoolmarm who made sure all her free time was taken up with her students, homework to grade, and helping Carol with tutoring. No free time meant having no time to think. She hated thinking too much.
At least she finally knew what it felt like to be in love. Even if she'd chased him away with her weakness, he'd been here for her when she truly needed someone strong. She'd never be able to thank him enough.
* * * *
Steve walked into the bedroom to see Gracie curled up in a little ball in the center of the bed. Naked. She'd shed the baggy sweat suit he'd given her to wear for comfort's sake.
Even though he'd just jacked off in the bathroom, his dick stirred within his jeans.
"Fuck,” he whispered. No control where she was concerned.
She craned her neck and peered at him over her shoulder. “I thought you left."
"I said I'd be right back.” He moved to the bed. “What's the matter?"
Her eyes were red-rimmed, as if she were fighting back tears.
"You're hurting. I'll get you a pill.” He reached for the bottle of painkillers on the nightstand.
"No. I don't want a pill."
He set the bottle down and moved behind her, carefully wrapped his arm around her waist, one of the few areas of her body that wasn't bruised. “What do you need, then, babe?"
She let out a slow breath and turned her face away from him. “I want to feel you inside me again."
He groaned but forced his hips to remain motionless. He wanted nothing more than to thrust against her pretty, firm ass. “I'll just hurt you."
She laid her hand over his and pushed it down her belly until her downy thatch tickled his fingers. “I trust you."
But he didn't trust himself. Not with her.
She reached behind her, between them, and ran her small hand over the ridge beneath his jeans. His cock jumped to life. “I still turn you on,” she said, wonder in her voice. “Even black and blue all over, you get hard looking at me."
He gritted his teeth and dipped his finger into her hot slit. “Some of them are turning a disgusting shade of yellow."
A gusty little laugh escaped her lips. The sound was sweet and warm. He wanted to capture it and keep it.
As his middle finger slid over her clit, she let out a sigh and straightened her legs. “You have magic hands,” she murmured. “So big and strong.” She squeezed him through his jeans. “You also have the biggest dick I've ever seen in real life."
Laughter ripped through him, and he buried his face in her satiny hair. “Thank you."
She leaned back against him and moved her leg so he could reach her better. “No. Thank you."
He rubbed her clit until he felt her silky juices flow over his fingers. Bringing his fingers to his mouth, he licked her sweetness from them. “There's nothing tastier than a hot woman."
She moaned and squeezed his shaft again.
He'd planned to satisfy her orally, to keep his dick to himself tonight, but he needed her tight heat around him. Surrounding him. Milking the cum from his balls. How could he do that without hurting her? He studied her face a moment before asking, “Are you sure about this, babe?"
She brought her other hand to her breast and teased her nipple into a tight little bud. “Oh yeah. I'm sure."
He leaned over her, carefully, and captured her mouth with his. When she ran her tongue over his lips and moaned, taking pleasure from her own taste, he knew he had to have her.
Laying his hand over her beautiful breast, he kneaded the firm roundness of it, feeling the hard peak under his palm. He drank the moan from her lips and sucked her tongue into his mouth.
Her fingers fumbled at his waist then tugged his fly open. His cock jumped free of its restraints when she shoved her hand into his briefs and gripped him hard. Trailing wet kisses over her jaw, down her throat, he sucked her skin lightly. She shivered and slowly pumped him until he thought he'd burst.
Dipping his head he captured her nipple between his lips and suckled her, rolling his tongue around the dark bud. Her body rose off the bed slightly and she gripped his head with her free hand and shoved his face against her. “Please,” she be
gged.
"Shh, sweetheart,” he whispered. “We'll get there. Just relax."
She mewled like a kitten. God, he loved that sound. Needy. Filled with frustration and wild lust.
He trailed light kisses over the bruise between her breasts left by the seatbelt. If he could take her pain from her, he would in a heartbeat. Just seeing her battered and in pain nearly killed him. Renewing his efforts to be gentle with her, he slowly kissed his way down her belly, dipping his tongue into her cute little bellybutton and nipping the soft flesh of her abdomen.
Her stomach muscles tightened and the sound that came out of her was dark. Sexy as hell.
Watching her face for any sign of discomfort, he moved down the bed, kissing the bruise on her right hip, her left thigh. Her legs shifted restlessly against him, and he knew what she wanted. What they both wanted.
He spread her pussy lips and dipped his tongue into her hot slit. With another moan, she bucked against him. “Shh, babe. You have to relax, or I'll be forced to stop."
"No. Don't stop.” She laid her hand over his head, urging him to continue. “Don't ever stop."
Triumph zinged through him. “Never,” he promised.
Carefully moving her legs apart, he kissed her damp curls, and then stroked his tongue into her heat. She was so wet, so ready to take him. His cock ached for her. To claim her. Possess her.
When he cautiously slid two fingers into her pussy, she thrust against his hand. She circled her nipples with her own fingers, a sight that nearly made him come.
Still watching her, he slowly stroked his tongue over her clit. Her entire body shook. Again he dipped into her hot core and pressed his fingers deep, seeking that secret spot that would shatter her.
Her breaths came in pants. Her legs shifted further apart. Her hot juices flowed over his hand, his tongue. “Gracie,” he groaned and thrust his cock against the bed.
A little cry tore from her and her muscles began to tighten around his fingers. He sucked her clit as he'd sucked her nipple—harder, scraping his teeth over the ultra-sensitive tip.
"Steve!"
"Yes, baby.” His balls puckered and his cock strained for its own release, but he held back. He wanted to feel her, hear her climax. For once in his life he didn't want to be a selfish prick and take and take and take.
He knew his fingers had found their target when her ass rose off the bed and she let out a long keening cry. He drank her steamy release, reveling in the knowledge that he'd done this to her. For her. That he'd made her lose control completely.
Even after her body settled back on the bed, her arms relaxed at her sides, he soothed her with his tongue. Her auburn curls were soft and damp, a beautiful triangle over an even more perfect pussy.
Smiling, he watched her tremble in the aftermath of her climax and decided he could watch her—love her—forever.
No, he thought. Forever wouldn't be long enough with Gracie.
Chapter Eight
Gracie came slowly awake with Steve's rock-hard cock inside her. His arms wrapped around her in a cocoon of safety, his chest offering a solid wall of warmth against her back. The sensations of being completely surrounded by him were thrilling, yet oddly soothing, comforting.
His hips pressed against her ass over and over as he slowly moved against her. His hands didn't grope, but tenderly massaged her breasts. Her head rested against his shoulder and she could feel the flex and play of his bicep muscles against her cheek.
A quiet sigh slipped from her as she imagined herself on a sailboat in the open ocean. The rocking of his body against her like the slow rolling of waves. His tongue lapped at her shoulder, meandering up her neck to that sensitive spot beneath her ear.
"Good morning, Gracie dear,” he whispered, his hot breath tickling her ear, making goose bumps pop out on her arms.
"Mmmm,” was all she could manage.
His deep, soft chuckle rumbled against her back, sending a wave of tingles through her languid limbs.
"Your skin is so soft, so warm.” He licked her again, and she couldn't hold back a pleasured moan.
One hand left her breast to coast down her arm, then back up. His fingertips tickled her slightly as he dragged them down the side of her breast, over her ribs, the dip of her waist, the swell of her hip. She shivered, the pleasure inside her mounting. A slow burn. Something new and wonderful.
"I can't get enough of you."
She pressed her ass against him, taking all of him inside her. “Nothing,” she said on a little gasp as his fingers skimmed her pussy lips, “has ever felt so ... perfect."
His cock jumped inside her, touching her so deep, deeper than anything ever had. And still he rocked. Steady. Slowly.
He fingered her fur, but didn't delve deeper.
It didn't matter.
Like low burning embers, an orgasm began to build deep inside her. Her stomach muscles tensed. She fought to keep her breathing even.
"Let it happen, Gracie dear. Let it happen."
His whisper wafted over her like an ocean breeze as she floated on a warm sea carrying the fragrance of musky sex and hot male flesh.
"I can feel you,” he said in that same husky whisper. “I know you're close. Your body tells me so. You get hotter inside. Wetter. And so tight it makes me want to shout."
And still he continued with the steady rhythm of his slow draw and press.
"Steve,” she moaned.
"Ahhh, yes,” he said in a rough whisper. “I feel it. Your muscles squeeze my cock so hard."
Inside Gracie, lightening bolts flared. From the tips of her toes to her fingers, she tingled. Her face heated. “Steve,” she said again, her voice soft. Begging.
And then he dipped his finger into her pussy and just barely touched her clit.
The world exploded in a kaleidoscope of light and color behind her eyelids.
"Yes, Gracie love. Yes."
Even as his slow rhythm never changed, she felt his cock lengthen, harden, then pulse inside her, sending another crashing wave of heat and explosions through her veins.
* * * *
"It's time for me to get going. I've missed a day of work already,” Steve said as he rolled away and sat up on the side of the bed. If he didn't let go of her and get his ass moving now, he feared he never would. “And since you're feeling better—"
"I know."
"I need to get back. I'm on shift for the next three days."
He turned to see her nod. Her back was still to him.
"That means I stay at the stationhouse."
"I know. You've had this same routine since you moved here.” She sounded surly and impatient. “Do you think I'd expect that to change just because we're fucking?"
Her words had the power of a kick to the balls. He'd never “made love” to a woman before, but he thought he'd done a pretty damned good job this morning, thank you very much.
She carefully pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the bed, groaning a bit as she arched her back to stretch the muscles.
Her response wasn't exactly what he'd hoped to hear. Not that he'd want her begging him to stay home with her; he couldn't do that, but...
He must be losing it.
"Yeah, well,” he said, standing up to head for the bathroom. “You going to be all right here by yourself?"
"Just peachy."
Steve shook his head. What the hell was with her? One second she was soft and hot in his arms, the next she sounded as if she wanted him to get his ugly mug out of her house.
"Come take a shower with me?” he asked, hoping for some sign. A smile. Anything. “I still have an hour before I have to be at work."
She shook her head. “You go ahead. I need to get something to eat.” Her voice sounded funny.
He rounded the bed and knelt in front of her. “Babe, what's—"
Gritting her teeth she practically growled at him. “Go."
He touched her thigh, but she shoved his hand away.
"Dammit. I said I'm fine."<
br />
But she wasn't. Tears glistened in her eyes.
Oh, God. Had he hurt her? “I'm sorry,” he whispered.
One shiny tear slipped from her beautiful green eyes, and she gave his shoulder a hard shove. “I said, go!"
"I never meant to hurt you, babe. I swear."
She grabbed up her pillow and buried her face in it. Harsh sobs shook her shoulders. He reached out his hand to touch her, but stopped himself just a scant inch from her cool white skin.
He shoved himself to his feet and stalked off to the bathroom.
God damned worthless piece of dog shit is what you are, Steve Sheldon. Less than dog shit. He threw open the shower curtain and turned on the water. A parasite on dog shit.
* * * *
Gracie gave in and did something she never let herself do. She buried her face in her pillow and cried her heart out.
How could he be so cold? How could he do what he'd just done to her body and then announce it was over? He had to go to work. That was it.
Angry with herself and her weakness—why couldn't she be as blasé about this whole tryst as he obviously was?—she slammed the pillow down on the bed and growled. She never wanted long-term with Steve. Never. Damned if he'd see any more tears from her. Damned if she'd let him know he'd just torn her heart out.
Slowly levering herself up, she realized she was well underway to a full recovery. The swelling in her ankle was down, but it was still a bit tender. Her wrist was better, thank God, and the rest of the bruised muscles just ... ached a bit. She wouldn't be running marathons anytime soon, but she'd be back up to speed in a few more days.
She went to the closet and pulled out her big, ugly green terrycloth robe and slipped into it, tying the belt tight. Then she headed to the kitchen for a bite to eat so she could take some aspirin and not puke.
Steve was coming out of the bathroom, one of her fluffy pink towels draped around his hips. She looked away, afraid he'd see her feelings for him. She hadn't meant to fall in love. She didn't want to be in love with him. Not him of all people. A lieutenant with the fire department. A hero.
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