Aspen's Blaise

by Sarah Markel

  Chapter 17

  Later that evening, after the garage had been set to right and Cordy had gone home to clean up, Lorelei sat on her bed and stared at the photo that hung on the narrow wall between the door and the closet.

  The photo was a group shot of the department, each of them standing about casually as the media liaison snapped the image for the weekly newsletter. Lorelei, Chief Andrews, and Battalion Chief Gina Curtis stood in the center of the group in their crisp white shirts and black slacks, while the volunteers surrounded them in black slacks and navy blue FCFD t-shirts.

  Aspen stood between Jordy and John, one arm across each of their shoulders and a brilliant, proud smile lighting up her face. Looking at the picture now, Lorelei just couldn’t fathom why her wife would want to resign from the department. Aspen loved being a firefighter. She’d worked harder than any other probie to earn the trust of her crewmates, and pushed herself further than necessary to prove she wasn’t just some pretty face looking for glory.

  Lorelei had seen plenty of that over the course of her career; pretty young women and good-looking young men who joined the fire department simply for the praise of being a firefighter. It was never hard to figure out which of them truly wanted to help and which ones were just looking to use their status to get respect or to help them get laid. Those people were rarely committed and were typically gone before their probationary period was up.

  Aspen wasn’t like that. She’d always told Lorelei that her status as a firefighter was only important in an official capacity. If it were necessary for her to divulge that information she would do so, but otherwise, she didn’t bother with talking herself up to appear important or to receive praise and gratitude for her service.

  Lorelei was so lost in her own head that she didn’t notice Aspen walk into the room. Aspen tilted her head and studied her wife. Lorelei had obviously taken a shower; her hair was mussed and damp, and she was dressed in just her simple white jog bra and white boxer briefs. Aspen could see that Lorelei hadn’t noticed her, and she wondered at the look of sadness in her wife’s normally vibrant eyes.

  “Honey?” Aspen asked softly.

  Lorelei didn’t startle at the sound, but she did turn her head ever so slightly to meet Aspen’s eyes.

  Unsettled by the emotions playing over the redhead’s face, Aspen moved to sit beside her. “Lorelei? Honey, what’s wrong?”

  Hot tears welled in Lorelei’s eyes. She wasn’t sure if they were from anger or sadness, but she could feel both emotions warring for control. Afraid she would lose hold of herself, Lorelei fought to keep her voice even.

  “What’s this?” she asked, unable to keep her eyes on Aspen as she reached over to retrieve a sheet of paper from her nightstand. It was an official form letter, bearing the logo for the Falls City Fire Department.

  Aspen took the page and glanced at it, her color draining and her eyes widening as she realized what it was. “Where did you get this?” she asked with a slight tremor in her voice.

  Lorelei’s eyes blazed and she hopped off the bed startling Aspen with her speed. The woman moved like her ass had just been set on fire.

  “I got it from the desk in the office,” she said sharply, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Aspen dropped her gaze back to the letter and took a deep breath. She thought she’d put the letter of resignation in her backpack. “It’s not what you think, honey. I didn’t know how to tell you,” she finally admitted, “I was trying to figure it out, that’s why I haven’t submitted it, yet.”

  “You didn’t know how to tell me?” Lorelei scoffed, fisting both hands on her hips, “How hard is it to say, ‘Hey, honey, I’m done with firefighting. I’m going to resign.’? You’re a grown woman, Aspen, what were you afraid I was going to do?”

  Aspen flinched at the heat in Lorelei’s tone. “I was afraid you would be hurt or mad,” she said softly, cautiously looking up at the woman standing far enough away that she couldn’t reach out to touch her.

  “Well, good job, baby! I’m both incredibly mad and indescribably hurt!” Lorelei barked, “If you didn’t want either of those things to happen, you should have just been honest with me! But no, you couldn’t do that. I had to find out about it by accident.”

  Aspen started to say something, but Lorelei stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Aspen sat on the bed staring at the letter for several moments as she tried to assimilate what had just happened.

  She’s right, why didn’t I just talk to her about it? I got so mad at her about not talking her decisions over with me, and I go and do the same thing.

  Letting out a heavy sigh, Aspen tossed the letter on top of her dresser and went in search of her wife. She hadn’t heard the front door close, so she was certain she wouldn’t have to go far. She found Lorelei sitting on the couch in the living room, ruthlessly stabbing at the buttons on her controller as she guided the explorer through a maze of booby traps.

  “Honey…” Aspen moved close to Lorelei, careful not to block her view of the screen. The last thing she wanted to do was frustrate her more by causing her to lose a life. Aspen had no idea how long the woman had been working on that level, but if it were like any of the others she’d seen Lorelei play, she’d likely been at it for some time.

  “What?” Lorelei asked, not bothering to further acknowledge her wife’s presence.

  “Will you pause that and look at me, please? I’d like to talk to you.”

  Lorelei scoffed but made no move to pause her game. “You’ve had countless chances to talk to me about this, Aspen, but you didn’t. You didn’t say a fucking word until I confronted you about it.”

  “I know that, honey, but you haven’t given me much of a chance to explain myself.”

  Lorelei didn’t respond; she just continued playing her game as if Aspen hadn’t spoken. Aspen waited patiently, too afraid that whatever she might say would make Lorelei even more angry. When Lorelei’s explorer missed a jump and plummeted to his death, Lorelei huffed in disgust and tossed the controller onto the coffee table.

  Without a word, she brushed past Aspen and went back into their bedroom, closing the door behind her with a bang. Aspen stared at the bedroom door, unsure of what her next move should be. Should I follow her in there and try to talk this out?

  Before Aspen could make a move, the bedroom door opened and a fully dressed Lorelei made a beeline for the front door.

  “Lorelei, where are you going?” Aspen asked, her heartrate increasing at the expression of anger on her wife’s face. Aspen had never seen Lorelei look so angry before.

  Lorelei let out a mirthless chuckle. “I’m going to the bar,” she replied simply as she stepped into her tennis shoes, “I need a drink.”

  “Honey,” Aspen said pleadingly, “please don’t do that. There’s beer in the fridge, drink one of those.”

  Lorelei sneered and shook her head. “I didn’t say I needed a beer, I said I need a drink.” Without another word, the redhead yanked open the front door and disappeared onto the porch.

  Aspen’s heart broke as the front door closed with a resounding snap. She wanted to go after Lorelei, but she doubted her wife would listen and there was no way she would be able to convince her to do so if they were inside the bar.

  With tears in her eyes, Aspen simply turned out the light in the living room and made her way back to the bedroom. She climbed onto the bed and pulled out her phone, curling into her pillow as she sent Lorelei a text.

  I’m sorry. Please be careful, sweetheart. I love you.

  Knowing she wasn’t likely to get a response right away, Aspen buried her face in Lorelei’s pillow and cried.

  ***

  A few hours later, Lorelei stepped into their darkened bedroom and stared sadly at the bed. Aspen was asleep on her side with Lorelei’s pillow clutched firmly against her. Lorelei could see the faint streaking of the younger woman’s makeup and it saddened her to know that her wife had cried herself to sleep.

  Oh, As
pen, I’m so sorry, baby.

  When she’d left the house, Lorelei had fully expected Aspen to follow her. When she didn’t, Lorelei headed down to the bar to drink away her anger. Alicia had been surprised when the redhead ordered Scotch instead of her usual soda or coffee.

  Lorelei rarely came into the bar by herself, especially to drink. Typically, Lorelei only came to the bar to eat and she normally had her wife with her. As soon as she’d walked in by herself, looking like she was about to cry, Alicia knew something was up.

  “Wanna talk about it?” Alicia had asked as she set the drink in front of Lorelei.

  “Nope,” Lorelei replied, knocking back the Scotch as if it were water.

  Alicia raised her eyebrow when the redhead didn’t even flinch. When Lorelei motioned for another, Alicia shook her head and made a mental note to keep a close eye on her friend. One hour and three shots later, Lorelei finally opened up to the bartender.

  Now that she’d had a chance to cool off, and with Alicia’s unbiased advice in mind, Lorelei was ready to talk to her wife. Cautious of her mildly inebriated state, Lorelei made her way to the bed and climbed in beside Aspen.

  Lorelei settled herself behind her wife and propped herself on one elbow to look over Aspen’s shoulder and study the young woman’s beautiful features. The moonlight steaming through the lace curtains fell across Aspen’s face, bathing her in an iridescent, almost hauntingly angelic glow.

  Lorelei’s pulse began to race as her mind replayed the memory of how Aspen’s long eyelashes felt when they fluttered against the sensitive skin of her neck.

  I need to make this right with her. I should never be the reason for the tear stains on my wife’s face.

  Careful not to jolt the younger woman awake, Lorelei eased one hand across Aspen’s hip and scooted herself to spoon against the blonde’s back. Ever so gently, Lorelei pressed a feather-soft kiss behind Aspen’s ear and whispered, “I love you, sweetheart. I’m so sorry I reacted like that.”

  Lorelei closed her eyes and shifted to lie down, pressing her forehead against the back of Aspen’s head. She sighed deeply, fighting against the tears that wanted to fall.

  “I love you, too,” Aspen replied, her voice quiet as she slid her fingers between Lorelei’s and locked them together. “I understand you being hurt, but I don’t get why you got so angry at me.”

  Lorelei could hear the tears and confusion in her wife’s voice and she kicked herself for being the cause. Keeping their fingers locked, she brought her hand up to Aspen’s chin and coaxed her to look back at her.

  “I didn’t mean to wake you, honey,” she said, her voice contrite as she laid her lips gently against Aspen’s.

  Aspen shifted to lay on her back but couldn’t meet Lorelei’s eyes. “I wasn’t asleep,” she admitted thickly, “I didn’t know if you were still mad and was afraid to make it worse.”

  Lorelei released Aspen’s fingers to caress her cheek. Aspen looked so young right then, her typically bright green eyes now dulled by sadness, doubt, and to Lorelei’s chagrin, fear.

  “I shouldn’t have acted like that, Aspen,” Lorelei said as she continued to brush her fingers over her wife’s soft cheek, “I wasn’t mad at you. I was mad at myself for being so hurt.”

  “Why, though?” Aspen’s eyes narrowed curiously, “Why are you so hurt?”

  Lorelei sighed heavily and shook her head. “Because firefighting is something we do together. We both understand it and can talk about what goes on, without having to make asides to explain what something means. I love that we share something like that, babe, and finding out that you don’t want to do it anymore, well, that hurt.”

  Shifting to sit up against the headboard, Lorelei gathered Aspen into her arms and held her close. “I was mad at myself for taking your decision so personally. I’m sorry, honey. I let my emotions get the best of me and I acted like an ass.”

  “Yes, you did,” Aspen replied, tracing the line of Lorelei’s collar bone with her fingernail, “You found the resignation letter, but you obviously didn’t read it. You got so angry without letting me explain myself, and it was like I was back at my parents’ house. My mom used to lose her shit at me, no matter what kind of decisions I made. She never let me explain before she went off, either; she’d just blow up and start screaming at me.”

  Aspen shifted away to sit up and crossed her legs as she met Lorelei’s gaze. “I had to put up with that kind of treatment from my mother, Lorelei, but I won’t put up with it from my wife. If you’re going to get mad at me for something, that’s fine. But at least give me a chance to explain before you treat me like that.”

  Lorelei averted her gaze, her look contrite. “I promise,” she said reaching over to rest one hand on Aspen’s knee, “I’m listening now, honey. Will you explain it to me?”

  Aspen scooted closer and cupped Lorelei’s face, bringing their eyes together. She laid a gentle kiss on Lorelei’s lips before reaching under her pillow for the letter. Without a word, she handed the page to Lorelei. “Read it all,” she coached.

  Lorelei took the paper and started to read. Aspen watched as her wife’s eyes darted over the words and a smirk painted her lips when Lorelei went back to re-read a certain section. Aspen knew exactly what section it was and when Lorelei’s jaw dropped, Aspen nodded at the surprise in her wife’s eyes.

  “You want to go to the Wildland Academy?” Lorelei asked in disbelief. Aspen nodded.

  The Wildland Academy was a specialized firefighting school that specifically trains firefighters to battle wildfires. The training programs lasted six months to a year, and only those who truly had the wherewithal and drive to complete the program would do so.

  The Wildland Academy was definitely not a place for those simply looking for glory. At the end of the program, not only would the firefighter become a valued asset to the Forestry Department and the Bureau of Land Management, they would also receive priority consideration should they choose to apply for a coveted spot on a Hotshot crew.

  “What program?” Lorelei asked, referring to the specific training programs that were available.

  “Arson Investigation,” Aspen replied, chewing her lip nervously. Lorelei’s eyes widened; she had no idea that her young wife was interested in such a profession.

  “Babe, that’s going to take a lot more than the standard Academy run. Are you sure you want to do that?”

  Aspen fussed with an imaginary thread on the bedspread as she nodded. She knew it was going to take her some time to complete, but she was certain that this was something she wanted. Aside from the standard training schedule, the Academy also offered degree programs for those wanting to pursue an even more specialized career.

  Aspen’s goal was to get her Associate’s degree in Fire Science, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. Both would help immensely in her endeavor to become an arson investigator for the Forestry Department.

  “This is why you want to resign? You’re sure about this?” Lorelei asked for clarification. Aspen nodded yet again.

  Lorelei lunged forward and wrapped her arms around her wife, kissing her soundly. “I am so fucking proud of you, Aspen Blaise,” she said when their lips parted.

  Aspen’s smile lit up the room. “See how important it is to get all the facts before jumping to conclusions?” she teased, stroking her thumb affectionately over Lorelei’s lower lip.

  Lorelei grimaced and nodded. She felt like a fool for everything that had happened. A ghost of a smile flickered across her features and she shifted to put Aspen on her back. “I’m sorry,” she repeated, “I acted like a fool and started a fight for no reason. Can I try to make it up to you?”

  Aspen chuckled as she made a show of contemplating the request. “I guess you can try,” she drawled, her breath catching in her throat when Lorelei dragged her tongue over her the pulse in her throat.

  Lorelei grinned against Aspen’s flesh and slid her hands underneath Aspen’s shirt, stroking her thumbs over taught, sensit
ive nipples. She pulled the shirt over Aspen’s head, her libido pounding between her thighs at the sight of her wife’s unencumbered breasts, and made quick work of the woman’s shorts and panties.

  Lorelei kissed Aspen again, her lips possessive and demanding as she settled between Aspen’s thighs. When the kiss broke, Aspen panted and met her wife’s eyes with a look of absolute desire. Lorelei’s kisses were always passionate, but there was something else in the way the redhead had claimed her lips this time; something powerful and a little bit scary.

  That was definitely a new experience, she thought as Lorelei’s mouth began to blaze a path down her body. Lorelei’s teeth scraped and nipped at Aspen’s flesh, the small flashes of pain heightening the blonde’s awareness of her body. When Lorelei reached her destination, she looked up to find Aspen watching her. A wicked grin spread over her face and she extended the tip of her tongue to draw slowly through the wetness that awaited her.

  Aspen’s eyes rolled back in her head and she levered herself onto her elbows. She didn’t normally watch Lorelei perform this task, but she found it exhilarating. Seeing the look of pure bliss on Lorelei’s face as she tasted Aspen’s desire sent a thrill right through Aspen, pushing her dangerously close to the edge.

  Sensing this, Lorelei groaned in anticipation and flicked her tongue along the underside of Aspen’s clit, before closing her lips around it and sucking hard. Aspen’s knees immediately slammed closed around Lorelei’s head and she practically doubled over with the force of her orgasm.

  Lorelei slowly eased Aspen down from her climax, her hands running gently over Aspen’s hips as her tongue worked. When Aspen’s thighs finally relaxed, Lorelei lifted her head and smiled triumphantly at her wife. She’d given Aspen more than her share of orgasms during their marriage, but Lorelei couldn’t remember one ever being that intense before.