by Lisa Kessler
He glanced over his shoulder to Erica. “Call 9-1-1.”
“I’m on it.”
“Come out where I can see you! I’ve had enough of your chickenshit games!” he shouted. He knew the guy was around here somewhere, watching the fire. “You got a problem with me? Let’s settle it.”
“She’s mine!” a male voice called from the shadows at the back of the lot.
“It’s over,” Reed said, keeping a wide berth as he walked around the truck. “Erica doesn’t want to see you again.”
“She doesn’t get a choice,” her ex growled.
“You’re wrong. Women always have a choice.” Reed tried to keep him talking. The fire crew would be here any minute, and they’d block the only exit.
Her ex didn’t answer, but one of the tires blew with a deafening boom. The fire was hungry, moving toward the back of the truck, toward the fuel tank.
Reed ran toward Erica, his heart in his throat. He took her down, covering her with his body as the truck exploded, the wave of heat so hot, he was pretty sure his shirt was ruined, but hopefully his back wouldn’t blister.
Once the temperature dropped, he lifted his head. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “May have bruised my ass when we hit the ground, but I’m okay.”
“Good.” He glanced back at his burning truck. “Can’t say the same for my wheels.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice cracking.
He shook his head. “None of this is your fault. I have insurance. The truck can be replaced.”
The local district fire chief headed their way as the firefighters pulled the lines out and started dousing the fire. Reed helped Erica up. His back was hot and sore, but they were alive.
The chief crossed his arms. “Are either of you hurt?”
“We’re all right.” Reed watched them put out the flames, exposing what was left of his truck. “The guy who set the fire was still here when we found it.”
“This pyro has eyes on you two.”
“Seems to.” Reed looked at Erica. “Stay here. I’m going to see if our guy is still around.”
“What if he is?” She raised a brow. “How are you going to protect yourself?”
Reed glanced at the chief. “Got an extra ax?”
Almost on cue, a white sedan with a light on the roof came screeching into the lot, its searchlight scanning the property line.
“Never mind.” Reed jogged over. Nate was behind the wheel. Reed leaned in the window. “He was still here when we came out. We had a shouting match.”
“The Order or Erica’s ex?” Nate asked without taking his focus off the moving spotlight.
“I couldn’t see him, but I’m guessing it was her ex,” he said. “The Order had guns, not torches. Plus, he seemed really pissed when I told him Erica doesn’t want to see him anymore.”
Nate stopped the searchlight on a canister in the back of the lot. “Looks like he ran off and left something behind.”
A gas can.
Nate got out of the car and went to the trunk. He came back with a fingerprint kit. “Maybe we can get more evidence on this guy. Confirm what was going on and all.”
But Reed was finished with collecting evidence. He wanted to kick this guy’s ass.
Trinity pulled into the lot, and Erica got in the passenger seat. Reed opened the back door and climbed in behind her.
“Thanks for picking us up,” Erica said to her roommate.
Trin stared at the skeleton of Reed’s truck. “Holy shit.”
Erica nodded. “Yeah.”
“Jack did this?”
Erica sighed. “It was definitely his voice yelling back at Reed.”
Trin peered at Reed in the rearview mirror. “Sorry about your truck.”
“Me too.” He chuffed.
Trinity took them back to the apartment, and as soon as they got there, Erica headed for the kitchen to put on some tea. Trin followed her inside. “Reed said he’s calling his captain on the base to let him know what happened. He’ll be right in.”
Erica filled the kettle and glanced at her roommate. “How are you holding up?”
Trin shrugged. “I actually feel a little better getting that off my chest. Secrets suck.”
“It might give us a leg up in the long run, having you know Belkin on a personal level.” Erica turned on the burner and leaned against the counter.
“I know he didn’t have a great relationship with his father. He used to complain to me that his father was never satisfied. Ted would never be good enough for him.” Trin took three mugs from the cupboard. “But he was almost as angry with himself as with his dad, because despite how bad his dad treated him, Ted couldn’t stop trying to win his father’s approval. It was a destructive cycle.”
“And now he’ll never get closure.”
Trin nodded. “Yeah, and he probably blames Callie for that.”
“I don’t know if he was the guy at the car wash. He was wearing that Kronos mask.”
“Part of me still can’t believe he’s in the Order.” A sad smile curved her lips. “He didn’t want his father’s life. Being a business major was never his choice. He loved musical theater. That was where we met.”
Erica’s eyes widened. “Ted Belkin? No way.”
“Way.” Trin put a tea bag in each cup. “He had a part in Guys and Dolls, and I was the practice accompanist. He never told his father he was on the stage.” Her expression went distant as she stroked the handle of one of the mugs.
Erica’s lips parted in surprise. “You really liked him.”
“Yeah.” She blinked and met Erica’s eyes. “Scary, right?”
“Obviously he wasn’t all bad.”
“Not until he realized what my weird dreams meant. He knew before I did.” She shook her head as the kettle whistled. “He probably couldn’t wait to get home and tell his father. I wonder if he finally got some praise from his dad out of it.”
Erica poured the boiling water into the mugs, shaking her head. “Well, Belkin, Sr. moved the main offices to Crystal City, so he must’ve believed him.”
“Lucky us.” Trin sighed.
“You didn’t know you were a muse, and you confided in someone you cared about. That’s nothing to feel guilty about.”
Trin stirred some sugar into her tea. “Nia would still be alive if the person I cared about hadn’t come to Crystal City and waited to see what women I was hanging out with.”
Reed came in then and leaned against the opening to the kitchen. Even though the conversation was far from sexy, his dark eyes met Erica’s and heat pooled low in her belly.
“Don’t mean to interrupt,” he said, “but I’m going to need a ride to the station in the morning, if one of you wouldn’t mind?”
Erica smiled. “I’ll be your taxi.”
“Thanks.” His gaze moved to Trinity. “Hunter’s going to keep an eye on Erica while I’m there, but you two might not want to stay in the same place. Too easy for Jack to get to Erica, and he’ll go right through you if that’s what it takes.”
“You’re saying he’ll set our apartment on fire?” Trin lifted her mug to sip her tea.
“He already set a club on fire with a couple hundred people inside. An apartment isn’t a big stretch.”
Erica handed him a mug of tea. “What are you suggesting?”
“Trinity should stay at Callie’s tonight. Without Erica there, I doubt he’ll bother her. And Erica will come home with me.”
Trin set her mug down. “I’ll go pack a bag.”
She walked out, and Erica crossed the kitchen and slid her arms around Reed’s waist. He ran a hand down the back of her hair. “It’s going to kill me to leave you while I’m working. Knowing he’s out there looking for you,” he shook his head, “it worries me.”
“You’ll catch him. I’ll be all right.”
He kissed her forehead. “You better be.”
She peered up at him. “I guess I should pack. It’ll be nice to have
a toothbrush and a change of clothes at your place.”
“Until we get him, my place is your place.”
After hearing about his past, she couldn’t imagine he was eager to have her living at his place, even temporarily, but she didn’t say anything. What other choice did she have? She couldn’t afford a long-term hotel room while still paying rent. She and Trinity were far from rock-star rich.
“Once you’re back at the station, what then? Jack knows where your apartment building is. He’ll come looking for me.”
“Nate said he’ll have a black-and-white watching the building. They have Jack’s picture and have orders to bring him in for questioning about the arsons. Callie told me Lia offered to keep you company, too. Since Jack’s never seen the two of you together, she should be safe.”
“Lia’s fun. We could have a good time holed up in your apartment.” She raised a brow. “You sure you’re okay with this?”
“As okay as I can be. Knowing you won’t be alone and that a police car will be guarding the building makes me feel better.”
“I like making you feel better…” She wet her lips, eating up the rush of desire in his eyes.
Erica forced herself away from him and packed her overnight bag. When she came back out, Reed was texting someone.
He shifted his attention to her and smiled. “Ready?”
“Yeah. I guess we’re taking my car.”
“I was thinking maybe you and Trinity could swap cars. Just in case Jack is watching my building. Best he doesn’t see your car there.”
“Good idea.” She paused. “So maybe I could have that tour when I take you to the station tomorrow?”
“You really want one?”
She laughed. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t.”
Color flushed his cheeks. Her sexy firefighter was blushing. Hers.
She mulled over the revelation, and instead of dread, she was filled with…hope. Maybe Reed was right. Maybe Jack’s descent into obsession wasn’t all her fault.
Ted handed the man in the black hoodie an envelope full of hundred-dollar bills. “Tell me what they know about the arson fires.”
The guy pocketed the money. “The police have prints, but the perp is living off the grid. No credit cards, no cell phone to ping, and he’s careful around security cameras.”
“I don’t care about that.” Ted shook his head. “Tell me how he’s starting the fires.”
“Molotov cocktail usually, but today he used gasoline.”
“Good.” He pointed to where the guy stashed his pay. “There’s more where that came from if you get any new information.”
“Will do.” The man in the hoodie scanned the shadows and then disappeared into them.
Ted started his car.
When the muses were all inside the theater to work with the carpenter, he and Bryce would pay them a visit. A couple of Molotov cocktails and chains on the exit doors—easy. Not only would he give the Order a victory, but the arsonist would take the fall.
And as far as Mikolas Leandros was concerned, it would all be a tragic accident.
All Ted had to do now was wait for his moment. And keep the firefighter who guarded the Muse of Erotic Poetry busy until it was too late.
Reed carried Erica’s bag into his bedroom. “Want a drink or anything?”
She passed by and opened her bag. “Ice water would be great.”
“You got it.” He went out to the tiny kitchen and grabbed a glass. But when he came back to the bedroom, she was gone. “Erica?”
“Be out in a sec,” she called from the bathroom. “Get comfortable. And by comfortable, I mean naked.”
He chuckled, tugging his shirt over his head. He took off his shoes, and by the time his pants followed, the bathroom door opened.
And there was Erica in his spare turnout jacket and nothing else.
Holy shit. He’d never gotten a raging hard-on so quickly.
Her long red hair spilled down the back like liquid fire, and seeing McIntosh across her chest sparked something primal inside him. She was his.
She came into the room, her full lips parting as she got closer. His jacket was just long enough to cover her ass, but the front was open, teasing him with the view of her chest and her belly button, and with each step, he caught a glimpse of the stripe of dark curls at the juncture of her thighs.
She stopped a few feet from him. “Hope this isn’t some kind of firefighter sacrilege. I saw it in your closet.”
Reed shook his head. “It’s my spare.” He closed the distance between them, running his fingers up her chest as he looked into her eyes. “You are so damned sexy.”
She came even closer, his erection pressing against her abdomen. “I was going to say the same thing about you.”
Bending to claim her lips, he slid his hand under the edge of the jacket to cup the weight of her breast in his hand and tease her nipple with his thumb. She moaned into the kiss, and he ached to be buried inside her.
He broke the kiss. “Condom.”
She shook her head and whispered, “Your coat’s not the only thing I’m wearing.”
He raised a brow, sliding his other hand around to squeeze her ass under the jacket.
Erica giggled, her lips brushing his earlobe. “I brought my diaphragm.”
“Works for me.” He claimed her mouth, walking her back toward the bed.
He sat on the edge and pushed her legs apart so his knees were in between. He opened the jacket and took her nipple into his mouth. She gasped his name, her back arching into him, offering herself. His other hand slid between her open legs, teasing her sex.
He would never get enough of her.
“I want you inside me,” she moaned.
He grabbed her waist and turned her around, pulling her down onto his lap. He sank all the way into the heat of her body and growled her name. Without a condom between them, he could feel every move, every inch of their bodies becoming one. He’d swear she was made for him.
He reached his arm around to find her sweet spot, circling and rubbing until she was trembling. His other hand cupped her breast. Across from them, he watched their reflection in the full-length mirror on the bathroom door. So fucking sexy, he almost lost it.
Her curves did him in, her breasts bouncing as she rode him faster. He pinched her nipple, watching the way she arched her back. And suddenly she opened her eyes, her gaze locked on his in the mirror.
“Don’t stop, Reed,” her voice dropping to a husky whisper as she slid her hand down to caress his balls, her nails teasing his sensitive skin. She wet her lips. “Come with me.”
Her inner muscles clenched tight, milking him until he erupted deep inside her.
“Yes,” he groaned against her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
He tugged the jacket down her shoulders and as soon as she pulled her arms free, he tossed it on the floor, enjoying her warm back against his bare chest. “That was… Shit, I don’t have words for what that was.”
She smiled, still watching him in the mirror. “I want to kiss you, but I’d have to turn around, and I like having you inside me.”
His lips trailed along her shoulder, his eyes on her reflection. “You’re so beautiful, Erica.”
“Except for the scar…”
“It’s part of what makes you strong.” He shook his head. “He tried to break you, and you’re far from broken.”
She stood up and turned around. He moved back to the center of the bed and opened his arms. She sank into them, her legs tangling with his as she rested her head over his heart. He ran his hand up her back. He would never get tired of this. Never.
“I want to say something,” she whispered, “but it’s going to sound stupid.”
He chuckled. “We’re naked and exhausted. We can handle a little stupid.”
She smiled. “I liked seeing your name on my chest.”
“So did I.” His heart was pounding, as he closed his eyes, breathing in the scent of her hair. “I’ve been
married before, but I’ve never felt like this.”
She kissed his chest. “I feel it, too.”
He wasn’t sure how long he lay in the dark holding her before she fell asleep. Neither of them said another word, but his heart already knew. He loved her.
CHAPTER 13
Erica parked in a visitor spot and followed Reed into the station. The night before had been a new level of passion, swamping her senses and leaving her emotionally off-balance. She hadn’t said those three little words, but she didn’t have to. She realized now that she’d never understood what they meant before, not really.
She had awoken that morning to Reed warming her neck with kisses, and they’d made love again as the sun came up.
Love. Damn that word scared her. What if Reed changed, slowly poisoned by the muse inside her?
Reed walked her through the office first. “So this is the paperwork station,” he said, pulling her from her thoughts. He poked his head into the open door. “Hey, Captain.” He caught Erica’s hand, sending a charge up her arm as he pulled her inside. “Erica, this is Captain Mitchell.”
Erica smiled. “Nice to meet you.”
The captain eyed her, then Reed. “This your new lady?”
Erica’s pulse raced. They hadn’t discussed their relationship, let alone what to tell the others. Telling him Reed was her Guardian wasn’t going to fly, though.
While her head spun with what to say, Reed didn’t miss a beat. “Yeah. Just wanted to show my girlfriend the station.” As if he could sense her panic, his thumb caressed her knuckles and he squeezed her hand. “Are we slow this morning?”
The captain nodded. “So far. But we’ve got some prevention inspections to make around three.”
“All right.”
The captain glanced at Erica, his lips hinting at a smile. “McIntosh is one of the good ones.”
Erica chuckled with a nod. “Yes, he is.”
“Good to know I’m appreciated.” Reed grinned and winked at Erica as he guided her farther down the hall.
When they reached a dorm area she counted five beds. Then he checked around the room and pulled her into his arms, his voice meant only for her. “Sorry about that. I didn’t think about people asking about us.” His lopsided smile warmed her heart. “Are you okay with me telling the guys you’re my girlfriend?”