Kissing Fire

by A. M. Hargrove

  “Oh, damn! Forgive me Avery. I can be totally insensitive about these things. Yes, let’s find a place to take a break and have a bite to eat.”

  “Why do you say you’re insensitive?”

  “Because I’m just used to going for hours, sometimes days, without stopping to eat.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Days?”

  I didn’t want to linger on that so I grabbed her hand again and steered her to an outcropping of rocks that looked like an excellent place to stop for lunch.

  “Let’s sit here. This is perfect.”

  I took off the pack where all the food was. I’d also thrown in some bottles of Gatorade, so I pulled those out and handed her one. She unscrewed the cap and guzzled one down. There was something about the way she drank that was over the top sexy. My mouth hung open as I stared at her.

  “What?”

  I shook my head and said, “You look terribly sexy when you drink like that.”

  “Really? I always thought I looked like a man. At least that’s what my mom would tell me. ‘Avery, stop drinking like that. It’s not very lady like.’ I would get that all the time from her. But sometimes when you’re really thirsty, you just can’t help it.”

  “Oh Avery, do me a huge favor, will you?”

  “Sure, what is it?”

  “Don’t ever stop drinking like that.”

  She laughed, really hard. I loved it when she laughed like that. I started laughing along with her.

  “Preston, my mom surely would not approve.”

  “Honey, I don’t give a damn about your mother’s approval.”

  We sat and ate our lunch. It was the perfect amount of food. The snow capped mountains in the distance were the perfect backdrop to our little picnic. I’d put in a couple of chocolate chip cookies for dessert, so I pulled them out and handed her one. She bit into it and some crumbs tumbled onto her chin. She let out a little giggle, but I grabbed her hand, preventing her from wiping them away. Instead, I bent my head and nibbled them off with my lips.

  When I lifted my head, she had a heated look in her eyes. Her not blue not green eyes had morphed into a deep passion blue as she slid the bottom right half of her lip between her teeth. After I could no longer hold myself back, I tugged her against me and kissed her. I meant for it to be a brief kiss, but it wasn’t. There would never again be any more brief kisses with Avery. She had consumed me...every last tiny bit of me. And it was getting worse by the minute.

  “Avery, Avery, Avery. What am I going to do with you?”

  “That depends Preston.”

  “On what.”

  “On you and what you’re willing to do.”

  Just like that, she laid it out on the table. I looked at her for a minute and then I spoke.

  “I want it all with you Avery. But not yet. I can’t, until it’s the absolute perfect thing to do. I won’t hurt you in any way. Not if I can help it. Does that make sense?”

  “I guess so. But don’t I have a say in this?”

  “Always. But where you and I and this are concerned, I already know what you want and that you’re willing already. And I think, or at least I hope you know I want you more than words can even say. But when we do go there, I truly want it to be perfect.”

  She smiled at me then. “It’s all good Preston.”

  “Everything about you is so damn good.” I kissed her hand. “You’re the first girl I’ve ever...” I let my voice trail off because I had suddenly become a bit embarrassed over what I had been about to tell her.

  She wasn’t about to let me drop it though. “I’m the first girl you’ve ever what?”

  My eyes couldn’t connect with hers at first. They were all over the place until they finally settled home. Her not blue not green eyes always seemed to comfort me. “You’re the first girl I want it to be right with. I never cared about it much at all with the others. Oh, I wasn’t a jackass if that’s what you’re thinking. But with you, I’m more concerned about your heart...your feelings...than I’ve ever thought possible. I don’t want it to be just about the sex. I’m probably sounding like a total moron or something.”

  She threw her arms around me and hugged me close to her. “That’s really the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you Preston.”

  To get a reaction like that from her every day would be my goal for the rest of my life.

  Wait! What the hell was I talking about. The rest of my life?

  I cupped her face with my hand and kissed her again. “How about we head back to the house. I would like to teach you how to fire a weapon this afternoon.”

  “Okay,” she smiled at me.

  ********

  I had an indoor range in the basement, for the winter months, but since it was summer, I’d set up a target on the property outside. I had random stumps of various heights and I had tin cans and water filled plastic jugs that I set on them. I also had sixteen by twelve inch panels of tin used for roofing that I’d painted targets on that were attached to stakes and I stuck them into the ground. These are things I normally used so I wanted her to try her hand at them. I’d let her stand closer so she could get the hang of it.

  There was a whole arsenal here at the cabin for her to try, but I wanted her to use a large caliber hand gun, so I handed her a 45 Glock auto.

  “This is a lot heavier than I thought it would be,” she remarked.

  “Avery, have you ever fired a gun?”

  “Yeah, a 22 rifle when I was young.”

  “Good. This will handle a lot differently. I explained to her how to hold it with both hands and how the recoil would feel. I also taught her how to sight in the gun. After she fired off a few shots, I explained how to adjust her sights. She ended up having a fairly good lesson. Her favorite was hitting the plastic jugs filled with water with the high caliber rifle I had. Those suckers would literally explode and she would get to laughing so hard, we would both be cracking up.

  “Oh my gosh. I didn’t realize how much fun target shooting would be.”

  “I know, right? One thing though Avery. If you ever have to use this weapon on another human being that is threatening you, you had better be prepared for the consequences.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that if you end up having to kill someone, can you live with that?”

  She didn’t even hesitate before responding. “Preston, if someone were trying to kill you or Justin or Caroline, I wouldn’t think twice about killing them to protect my family. I may be shaken up afterwards, but I would rather live with that, than a dead family member.”

  “I understand, but I had to ask you that. One other thing. If you pull this weapon on someone who is threatening you, shoot to kill. Don’t shoot that person in the leg or something. They’ll come back and kill you for sure. Do you understand?”

  “I do.”

  “There’s something else you need to know since we’re talking about safety. This house has a panic room. Do you know what that is?”

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  “I’m gonna show it to you now, but I wanna get all this cleaned up so it looks like we were never out here. Can you give me a hand?”

  “Sure.”

  “I need all the bullet casings picked up, okay? They look like these.” I held one up for her to see.

  “On it.”

  After about thirty minutes, we had everything cleaned up and put away. I took her to the lower level of the house where there was another hidden trap door underneath the carpeting. We went down a flight of steps where they ended at a steel door that had a keypad entry. I entered the code and the door slid open. Inside was a laptop, an encrypted cell phone, nonperishable food items and a refrigerator filled with drinks. The room also contained flashlights and some other nonessential items. There was another door at the opposite end of the room that looked like the one we had just come through.

  “Where does that go?” she asked.

  “It’s the tunnel that will get you out of h
ere. The computer links to a satellite that can connect you to Pete or anyone else that’s safe and the phone is encrypted so it’s safe too. The tunnel runs for about a mile and comes out away from the property where there is a motorcycle waiting to carry us away. So the drill is if anyone hits this place, get down here ASAP...with or without me. Do you understand?”

  “Yeah, but Preston, do you think that’s possible?”

  “I never rule anything out.”

  “What if they do hit us and I make it down here and you don’t? I don’t know how to drive a motorcycle.”

  “You call Pete and have him get someone out here ASAP. Understand? They’ll have a very difficult time getting through both of those doors and by the time they do, you’ll be long gone. There are guns and supplies in here so if necessary, you can hide and live off the land for a few days until Pete can locate you. Just make sure you take that phone and call him.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t have Pete’s number.”

  “Avery, are you trying to be a smart ass?”

  “No! I really don’t have his number.”

  “Um, Avery.”

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s programmed in the phone.”

  “Oh, right. Thanks Preston.”

  “You’re welcome honey.”

  “Um Preston?”

  “Yes?”

  “This really makes me nervous. Scared is more like it.”

  I pulled her into my arms and held her. “Don’t be. I’m just taking extra measures to be careful.”

  “Yeah, I can see that,” she said dryly.

  Chapter 15

  Avery

  The hot shower was beating down on me as I poured over the events of the day. A huge smile spread across my face.

  Hmm, awesome hike with beautiful views of Preston’s butt. I was a sick woman. Here I was, in the middle of the wilderness (well, okay, it was seriously luxurious wilderness, but still...) with some evil Mexican drug lords trying to kill us and all I could think about was Preston’s ass! What the hell Avery!

  Then, we shared an unbelievably hot kiss...I mean a toe curling, tummy tightening kiss. Next, sweet honey Preston tells me he won’t have sex with me (will someone pinch me?) until things are right emotionally (pinch me again, please) and he’s never felt that way about a girl before. Attention: did everyone out there hear that? Okay, just in case you didn’t, Preston said he would not have sex with Avery until things are right emotionally because he doesn’t want it to be just about the sex! Helllloo Preston!

  On to shooting the guns part...and don’t hold this against me but...Oh My God, that was just about the funnest thing ever. Who knew? I mean really. Who knew guns were that much fun? No wonder everyone wanted one. Those exploding water jugs were a blast to hit.

  Okay, now we’re getting to the “scare the crap outta Avery” part. PANIC ROOM! Wait. I need to amend that. PANIC TUNNEL! What the hell? Wait. I have to make another amendment. Who the hell has a panic tunnel? This is serious shit. Okay, I really knew it was serious before, but Preston has just elevated it to a whole other level. If I were wearing boots, shaking in them I would certainly be. Scared shitless Avery is. Wait, how come I’m suddenly speaking in Yoda talk?

  C-R-A-P! I couldn’t breathe. That feeling hit me again, like the one I had on the airplane. Only this time I was in the shower and I had shampoo in my eyes.

  Feeling around with my hands, I knew one thing for certain. Soap or no soap, I had to get the hell out of there. The door, I had to find the door. It finally gave way and I heard it bang on the wall. Still trying to make myself breathe, I stumbled out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Now the shampoo was in my eyes full force and burning like hell. Pushing the suds away with the palms of my hands, I knew I was crying too, but I needed some damn air. Where was all the air? I had fallen to my knees and I really needed Preston, but I didn’t know where he was. And damn it, I couldn’t see shit either.

  I made it out of my room, across the hall and feeling around the door, my hand landed on the handle. Thank God, I thought as I turned it and pushed my way into the room. Everything was turning to gray, but he was in there and must’ve heard me because he was next to me, talking to me, asking me what was wrong. Even though I couldn’t speak to tell him, I guess he figured it out, because he left but was only gone for a few moments before he returned and put something over my mouth and began talking me through the breathing thing. My skin was tingling everywhere, like pins and needles and my eyes were on fire from that stupid shampoo. Finally, finally the air seemed to be getting into my silly lungs. My arms reached out on their own volition and held onto his, my hands gripping him quite hard.

  “It’s okay Avery. You’re fine. You had an anxiety attack honey. You’re all good now.”

  He pulled the bag off my face when my breathing had eased at last. The pins and needles were subsiding too, but that damn soap in my eyes hurt like hell. “Preston, my eyes are on fire from the shampoo.”

  “Put your arms around my neck.”

  When I did, he lifted me up. I marveled at his brute strength for I was no light weight. He had picked me up off of the floor too. This man was truly the strongest man in the universe. How proud I was of him.

  He walked me into his shower, which was running and stood me under the flow of water, as he closed the door behind him. The water rinsed the shampoo off of my head and face and I finally got blessed relief from the burning in my eyes. When I turned around, Preston stood there staring at me in all of his naked beauty. It seemed as though we were both hypnotized by each other. I hadn’t even noticed he’d been naked while I was in the agony of my anxiety attack.

  I couldn’t speak for that brief moment in time. I simply wanted to look at him, he was that perfect.

  I swallowed as I stared at him, simply drinking in the view. “Preston, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as...as sexy as you are.” I moved closer to him for I wanted to--no, big correction there--I needed to touch him.

  I opened the palm of my hand and placed it over his heart. I felt it collide with my hand, almost as if it knew my hand was coming to meet it. I know that sounds corny but it was true. We looked at each other and his mouth was on mine before any other thought came to it. My back was crushed against the marble wall as Preston bent his head into my neck and kissed all the places that took my breath away. Not once, not twice, but over and over until I was moaning and crying out for him.

  His mouth did things to my breasts I had only imagined before and he kissed me in places I never knew gave me such pleasure.

  Then he knelt in front of me and lifted my leg, placing it over his shoulder.

  “Avery, you’re so exquisite. May I touch you here?”

  “Yes,” I moaned. I could barely think, but when he asked me if he could touch me, I was expecting his fingers and not his tongue. When his mouth settled onto me, my breath was lost once again, as it caught in my throat.

  My fingers sank into the muscles of his shoulders as his tongue swirled around and around on that tiny bundle of nerves, sucking and licking. When he slid his fingers into me, it was all I could do not to collapse on to the floor, as the sensations began to build. Heat poured through my veins, intensifying as my body burst into flames of pleasure. His tongue and fingers continued to work in rhythm until I orgasmed around his hand and mouth, crying out his name.

  When my spasms finally ceased, he stood up sliding his body along mine, and held me in his arms, kissing my neck, my cheeks and then my mouth.

  “I want to feel you inside of me Preston,” I said against his lips.

  “Not yet sweetheart. I shouldn’t have done what I just did, but I couldn’t stop myself. Seeing you all wet and naked with soap running down your body did something to me that I can’t explain.” His hand was on the top of my head as his thumb massaged a circle on my forehead while he spoke to me and his eyes were all softened and sexy.

  I knew he was conflicted over what happened and I didn’t want him to be so I p
ut my lips on his again and I said, “Preston, I’ve never felt so wonderful in my whole life. You don’t know what you did to me. You made me feel so good...it was amazing. Please don’t feel like you’ve done something wrong because it couldn’t have been any more right in my book.”

  He pushed his body against me and I could feel every contour of him. “Avery, I wish it were that easy. I want to make you feel more than just good. I know orgasms are great. I mean have you ever had a bad one? It’s more than that though. When I’m with you, I want for it to be more than just an orgasm or two. I want to give you something beyond that. I wanted us to wait until we were at that point where it actually means something and not just great sex. Am I even making sense here?”

  “Yeah, you are.” I had to ask myself if he was for real.

  “Am I out of date a little?”

  “No, I think you’re being kind and considerate. Can I ask you something?”

  “Yeah.”

  All this time the water was running all over us. I reached over and turned it off. He smiled and opened the door and then handed me a towel.

  “Does this mean you want to wait until we’re in love?”

  He stopped what he was doing and turned and looked at me. His eyes were so awesome as their golden depths latched onto mine. Was it possible for someone’s eyes to reach into your heart and touch it, because I was pretty darn sure his just had? Oh hell, everything about this man was awesome. He could hop around like a silly rabbit on one foot and I’d say, “Oh, look at Preston, isn’t he just the coolest?” I seemed to be in a constant state of arousal around the man already.

  “Yes, Avery, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  My heart skipped a thousand beats. Before Preston, no one had ever thought enough of me to say something like that. Before I could even stop myself, I heard the words gush from my mouth, “Do you think you could ever love me Preston?”

  “No, Avery, I don’t.”

  My heart crashed to the floor. Why had I even asked him that? How stupid was that of me?