TONY: Slow Burn (Raging Fire Book 1)

by Kallypso Masters

  “You know how you thought having enough money for one dive boat would be the ultimate win?”

  “Yeah, and from the tallies in my head from the bachelor auction, I’d say that and much more is within reach, all thanks to you.”

  She waved away his praise. “I just brought the donors together. They did all the work.”

  “You’re being too modest. I know who made this happen. And if the room wasn’t filled with our family members, I’d kiss you again.”

  She smiled. “I’ll take a raincheck. My place. Tonight. I hope you planned to spend the night. I don’t want you making that long drive home late at night.” With the closing of Independence Pass earlier this week, another hour had been added to his already long drive. As much as she loved the mountains, they made it difficult for the two of them to be together most of the year. Actually, both Aspen and Aspen Corners were far from the interstate.

  “I’d love to stay. Sorry I haven’t been able to spend much time with you since Turks and Caicos, but—”

  Carm held up a hand, palm facing him. “Stop already. You’ve been getting this dive team together. And to be honest, I’ve been working on this event and doing a few final adventure treks before the ski season starts. Anyway, based on the prices I found online for dive-team equipment—”

  His eyes opened wider. “You researched how much things would cost?”

  She shrugged. “I’m thorough and wanted to know how much we’d need to get started.”

  “I like how you say we.”

  “Well, you have me thinking of getting my dive-instructor certification too so I can help you with the training.”

  “How’d I get so lucky to have you in my life?”

  “Your sister fell in love with my brother.”

  Would their paths have crossed if only fate had been involved? Since they’d had enough trouble getting their paths to cross as it was, she doubted that. She owed Marc, even if he didn’t know it yet.

  “Anyway, I’d say you can easily consider buying two boats, or a bigger one than you had planned for.”

  “Seriously?” She extended the tally sheet to him for the total on both auctions. “Holy shit! Woman, this is enough to consider having a water-rescue squad and a sonar boat, not just a dive team with a small motorboat.”

  Carmella beamed with pride over how well this had gone over. Tony stood and came around the table. She wasn’t sure if he was going to hug her or what when he pulled her up from her seat. “I promise to do this right later on.” He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. “Thank you, Carmella. Now, may I have the last dance of the evening before I take you back to your place for some seriously long-overdue lovemaking?”

  A slow grin spread across her face. “I can’t tell you how much I’d like that.”

  “Which one?”

  “Both. But first, let’s dance.”

  Tony led her to the dance floor and held her close against his hard body. Dancing was included as part of her winning him in the auction tonight, so she didn’t worry about what their families might think.

  “You know the first thing I want to do when we get to your condo?”

  “No, what?” she asked.

  “I’m going to slowly pull down the zipper of your dress until I expose that sexy back of yours. Then I’ll place a trail of kisses between the nape of your neck and the curve of your cute little ass.”

  Carm went weak in the knees imagining that. “Then what?” she asked in a breathy whisper.

  “I’ll stand up again and slip one sleeve off your shoulder and kiss you there and up the column of that sexy neck that I’ve been missing for so long.”

  “Mmm. Sounds wonderful. It’s one of my erogenous zones.”

  “I remember.” His wicked grin made her wet for him.

  “Then I’ll slowly slide the dress down to about your elbows, exposing those beautiful breasts while trapping your arms in the sleeves so you won’t deter me from the delightful torture I intend to inflict upon your nipples.”

  She glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot of Tony’s carnal description. Relieved that he had steered them away from the other couples on the dance floor, she let herself relax and enjoy the fantasy. God, she’d missed this man and his seductive ways when he wasn’t with her. But tonight, he was all hers.

  Time for her to join in. “Because you’ve trapped my arms, when you finally release my tortured nipples, I guess I’ll have to bend down in front of you and pull down the zipper of your pants with my teeth and lips.” Tony’s eyes smoldered. “I’ll bet your cock is growing hard just thinking about that.”

  “Oh, dolcezza, I’m always hard for you, even when you’re two hours away.”

  Knowing that he thought about her during those times too made her ecstatic. “I don’t know about you, T.G., but I think we need to call it a night here and move on to the rest of my date.”

  “Thought you’d never ask.” When the music came to an end, he led her off the dance floor.

  “I just need to make this final announcement,” she said, picking up the tally sheet, “then we can ditch this place.”

  “Do you mind if I thank them too? My deputy chief got called back to Aspen Corners before the dancing, but he asked me to represent the department concerning the dive-team plans.”

  She hadn’t wanted to put Tony on the spot, but this made her happy. “Not at all. I’ll call you up.”

  He took her arm. “Give me a few minutes. I don’t think it would do for me to show up on stage with a hard-on.” She started to glance down, but he cupped her chin. “Trust me. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Carm wished she could take care of it for him but waited until he returned to the ballroom before making her way to the stage to join Sandro, who had returned as well to make the final announcements.

  “I see you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck with Tony.” Carm met Sandro’s teasing gaze but decided not to say anything that might incriminate her. She wasn’t ready to reveal anything until she was assured she and Tony were headed toward the future together that she envisioned.

  “If you don’t mind, I’m going to call it a night after this announcement and whatever Tony wants to say.”

  “Good for you. I think things are winding down anyway. You did a fabulous job, Sis.”

  “Thanks for doing your part too.”

  Carm made the announcement about the funds donated that night to a rousing round of applause and cheers. “And now I’d like to bring Tony Giardano up to say a few words about how the money will be used.”

  Tony made his way up the steps onto the stage and stood beside her. “Thank you, Carmella, for putting this together. To say I was blown away when I found out this event was going to benefit the dive team in my county would be an understatement.” He turned to the audience. “And thank you all for your generosity.”

  Carmella stepped aside to stand next to Sandro. Tony took a deep breath, becoming a bit sober. “This past June, the Aspen Corners Fire Department had a swift-water call involving a young mother and her toddler daughter who had been swept into the flooded river. Because we didn’t have a water-rescue squad, among other reasons, we weren’t able to pull them to safety in time and both were lost to flood waters.”

  Several in the audience reacted. For Carm, this was the first time she’d heard him admit there were other factors than his own actions or abilities that had contributed to the deaths of the victims. Maybe he was ready to stop shouldering the blame for something beyond his control.

  Tony cleared his throat before continuing. “My dream for the past several months has been to put together a dive team, knowing my county wouldn’t be able to fund a full water-rescue operation. While I didn’t say it out loud, though, my ultimate goal was to have a full-service water-rescue squad. And thanks to your generosity tonight and Carmella’s hard work, I can go back to my deputy fire chief on Thursday and let them know he can tell the fire chief we can now afford a bigger boat.” The
reference to the famous line from Jaws broke the tension. “Maybe two.”

  “Not having to wait in the middle of a crisis for another county to send a team to us will make it possible for us to save more lives and handle situations on our own that we haven’t been able to do before. I’m eternally grateful to all of you and invite you to come and visit Aspen Corners anytime. I’d love to give you a tour of the station and, eventually, the equipment and personnel your donations helped to fund. Thank you.”

  To a rousing round of applause, Tony left the stage and joined Carm again. Apparently, talking about the tragedy from June hadn’t put a damper on their evening, thank goodness. Tony seemed to be riding high, his resolve strong about doing something to keep water-related tragedies from happening again.

  Half an hour later, after Tony received lots of well wishes from attendees and family, they told their family members good night. Sandro assured her he had things under control there.

  Tony and Carm walked into her condo shortly after midnight, and he pulled her into his arms. Pressing her against the wall, he made her fully aware of his erection. He brushed the loose tendrils of hair away from her face and released the pins that held it up. As he stared into her eyes, her breathing hitched. Carmella shook her hair loose and let it spill over her shoulders. When Tony wrapped a hunk of hair from her nape around his fist and pulled backward, she grew instantly wet.

  “I’ve been wanting to do this all night, Carmella.” He leaned in and placed his lips on hers, gently for a moment then with more intensity. She returned his kiss until he took her lower lip between his teeth and tugged, igniting the flames that had been smoldering all night.

  So hot.

  When the kiss ended minutes later, they remained a breath apart.

  “I think someone said something about removing my dress inch by inch,” she suggested.

  “Sorry. I got distracted.” He released her hair and inched the zipper down the back of her dress, removing it from her shoulders and letting it pool at her feet before picking her up and carrying her to the bedroom.

  An hour later, after making love, they lay cuddled in each other’s arms. She’d exploded twice during their lovemaking. Tony pulled her closer to him as if not wanting to let go even in sleep.

  “You need to get some sleep, Tony.” Her fingers idly played with his nipple.

  “Then I’d suggest you stop touching me, dolcezza.”

  She laughed and withdrew her hand. “I guess I’ll retreat to my side of the bed.”

  When she tried to pull away, he held on tighter. “No. I like having you right here.”

  Her head lying on his chest, he idly stroked her hair. Sleep would take away from the precious few hours they had left together. She wished he didn’t have to head back to Aspen Corners, but knew Sunday dinners at his Mama’s were a command performance. Besides, he had a lot of work to do switching from a dive-team to planning for a water-rescue squad. After all, that’s what tonight had been all about.

  Carm closed her eyes, focused on his breathing, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

  Carm’s eyes shot open, momentarily disoriented. What had awoken her?

  “Grab on!” Tony lay on his side with his back facing her, his arm extended off the bed, and screamed at someone she couldn’t see. She wanted to reach out and reassure him that everything was okay but dared not touch him. Suddenly, he turned onto his back and stared at the ceiling with unseeing eyes. The light from the parking lot illuminated his face, damp with sweat. He must be in the throes of the nightmare.

  Carm turned on her bedside lamp to better assess the situation, hoping the change in light might bring him out of the darkness within his mind. The clock read 4:38.

  Poor Tony.

  At least he didn’t have to get up and go to work in a couple of hours. Remembering his worry about unconsciously harming her during one of his nightmares, she slipped out of bed and put on her nightie before grabbing a blanket and preparing to spend the remainder of the night in a chair if need be. She would keep an eye on him until he woke up and make sure he didn’t hurt himself.

  His eyes closed again, and she watched the horror play out on his face. Maybe she could reach him with her voice. “Tony, it’s Carmella. You’re at my place. You’re safe, Tony. It’s Carm. I’m here, Tony.” She continued a litany of short, direct statements, but nothing seemed to pull him out of the depths of his nightmare. He didn’t call out, but the furrows in his brows spoke of reliving something horrendous.

  How often did he have these nightmares at his apartment? She hated to think of him suffering through them and waking up alone, even though she wasn’t being much help right now. If this was the first he’d experienced in a while, had tonight’s gala and talking about the bad call triggered him? He’d mentioned back on Turks and Caicos that his therapist told him about techniques to help keep the nightmares at bay. She didn’t remember him doing any of those exercises before they went to sleep.

  His forehead wrinkled as if in pain, but she knew he experienced an emotional ache far more intense than any physical one. What could she do to help? Suddenly, Tony extended his arm into the air.

  “Grab my hand!”

  She was tempted to do as he demanded, but from what she’d been told that could make matters worse. His arms and legs flailed as if he was trying to regain his equilibrium. Her heart broke for him. The urge to wake him grew stronger, but she remembered what she’d been taught.

  Make sure he can’t harm himself or others, then wait it out.

  The military family liaison’s words came back to her automatically.

  Tony’s body became rigid, then completely still. He breathed heavily, lying on his back. She waited for him to open his eyes or to otherwise acknowledge that it was over, but he returned to a seemingly peaceful sleep. Then without warning he bolted upright.

  “No! No! No!” He stared sightlessly into the semidarkness of the room.

  “Tony, you’re safe. You’re at Carmella’s place. It’s just a bad dream.”

  He wrinkled his brow then slowly shifted his focus to where she sat.

  “Carmella?” He glanced at where she’d been sleeping, then back at her. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  “No. I just wanted to give you some space until the nightmare passed.”

  He still seemed confused. “Get back in here with me. You must be cold.” He patted the bed. “I’m okay now. Promise.”

  Carmella stood and returned to bed, slipping under the blanket and comforter. Despite his body being clammy with sweat, she wrapped an arm over his torso and curled against his side. Her heart ached not being able to hold him during the worst of the fight with his demons. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Tony.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I’m just glad I didn’t hurt you.”

  “You’re the only one hurting. I’m fine.”

  “You’re sure I didn’t hit you or anything?”

  “Stop worrying about me, Tony.” She rubbed his arm, happy to be able to touch him at last. “We can sleep in tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Tony wrapped his arm around her.

  “Sorry I disturbed your sleep, principessa.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I don’t have anything pressing on the calendar today.”

  “You deserve the day off after last night.”

  She laughed. “I’m saving up my vacation days for another trip to the Caribbean with my hot, sexy dive partner.”

  “That had better be me, dolcezza.”

  “I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather dive with.”

  Long after Tony’s breathing had become rhythmic again, sleep eluded her. Finally, she began to yawn. Just before she drifted off to sleep, Tony whispered, “Love you, Carmella.”

  Her breath caught as she waited for him to say something more—as if that wasn’t monumental enough—but his shallow breathing told her he wasn’t awake. Was such a declaration coming from deep within his su
bconscious any indication that he meant what he said?

  “Love you too, Tony,” she whispered back.

  While assertive in many things, she wanted him to express his love for her first, and she definitely wanted him to be conscious when he said it. Carmella also wanted Tony in her life for more than infrequent dates and diving vacations. She stroked his chest, not really wanting to wake him but waiting to see if he might say something more. But he remained deeply asleep.

  After another twenty minutes or so, she gave up and nestled next to him until she dozed off herself.

  Carm awoke to an empty bed and the smell of bacon frying. At least Tony hadn’t run off again without a word. Despite the nightmare, he’d stayed.

  Ignoring the cold and wearing only her skimpy nightgown in the hope of enticing Tony into having a quickie before he left for Aspen Corners, she got out of bed and made her way toward the aroma of food.

  “Good morning, dolcezza.” Tony stood dressed in a T-shirt and jeans at the range in the kitchen, scrambling eggs. He seemed none the worse for wear despite the nightmare. The smell of fresh coffee overpowered the bacon.

  Carm poured herself a mug. “I thought you were just going to grab something on the way home.”

  “And leave the woman who paid good money for me without a decent breakfast? Not a chance. I do have to be at Mama’s by 1 p.m. for our weekly family dinner.”

  Carm set down the mug after a sip and came up behind him to wrap her arms around his waist. She placed kisses on his neck above his T-shirt collar. He hadn’t shaved because he wasn’t on duty today. “I thought my bonus was the hot sex after the gala ended.”

  “I promise you more of that can and will be arranged. I aim to please my girl.”

  “No complaints here.” Growing more serious, she drew a deep breath. “How are you doing after…the nightmare.” She had not intended to bring it up, but acknowledging what happened seemed important.

  He stopped stirring and remained silent a moment. “Having you beside me made it one of the best nights of sleep I’ve had since Provo, despite the bad dream.” Tony moved the sauté pan to a side burner and turned to face her. He brushed the hair back from her face. “Thank you for last night, Carmella.”