by Peyton Banks
I called the Sheriff, letting him know that I was on my way in then said goodbye to Sherry and Jessica.
11
Lukas
As soon as Kendra told me she would work with the Sheriff, I occupied myself as much as possible.
Being on call just meant hanging around, playing video games, eating at mealtimes with the rest of the crew—not that different from being on watch in the Army, when it was a low alert status. But I got to work doing side jobs, waiting to hear from Kendra. Not that I didn’t think she could handle it but I wanted to be ready to get to her if there was an issue.
While I worked, I thought about the past week, how fast things had gone between Kendra and me. Some of it was definitely because we’d known each other so well as kids. But there was something about how quickly we’d gone from coffee to practically being a couple that set off alarm bells in my head. I grew up watching the dynamic between mom, and the man that I called my sperm donor. The way he’d treated her like shit, being verbally abusive, controlling her, making her life a living hell. As I cleaned a pair of spare boots to get them ready for the next muster, I wondered how his verbal abuse started.
My cell rang as I put my boots away and I almost dropped it trying to pick it up fast. It was Kendra. “Hey, how are you?” I probed as soon as the line connected.
Kendra’s breath hitched. My chest tightened with worry.
“I need help,” she whispered. “I’m not in danger, but…”
“What happened?”
Kendra sighed. “Towards the end of my meeting with the Sheriff, a bunch of men did drills with their weapons. I could hold it together to finish up with Baker, but I’m not sure I’m good to drive.”
I had got my keys before Kendra even finished her sentence. “I’ll be right there. The Sheriff’s office is only two blocks away.” I couldn’t stay on the phone with her and ride my bike, so I ended the call, walking out of the building, and straight for my cycle. Nobody was likely to miss me for the ten-fifteen minutes it would take to check on Kendra and bring her back. I doubted there would be two fires at once in that time.
When I arrived, Kendra was in a corner of the parking lot, in her SUV still shivering. Right away I knew there would not be a good way to get her to ride with me on my bike—she was too shaky and out of it. I took her keys from her, pulling her into my arms, and holding onto her tightly. On instinct, I rubbed her back, kissed the top of her head, feeling her curly hair against my face.
I held her for a few minutes until she stopped trembling so hard. Pulling back, I asked, “I will drive you to the station, okay?”
Kendra frowned. “You’re just going to leave the bike here?”
I shrugged. “It’s not that far. I can get someone to drop me off on the way home or something. Worst-case scenario, I can walk it at the end of shift.”
Kendra still looked doubtful. “I don’t want to put you out, maybe…”
I put my finger on her lips, stopping her from saying another word. “Kendra. Get in the passenger side and let me take you to the station to chill for a bit.” I stared into her beautiful hazel eyes until she nodded her agreement.
Hurrying over to the passengers’ side, I helped Kendra inside before climbing into the driver’s seat, turning on the vehicle and taking off toward the firehouse. A few blocks later, we arrived, and I led Kendra away from where the rest of the guys were having a Fortnight tournament in the rec area.
I hugged her again. “Do you want something to eat? Drink?”
Kendra shook her head, taking a few deep breaths. “I think the worst part of it is over. It was just…” Her eyes darted away then back to me, “hearing the noise. And then it was being so fucking pissed at myself at still losing my shit so easily.”
“Kendra. Take it easy on yourself. It takes time to get through these kinds of things. And you can’t keep trying to be the person you were before it happened—otherwise you’re just going to keep getting pissed at yourself.” I kissed her lightly on the lips and smiled.
“I know.” Kendra said, her face starting to look a little less tense. “Thank you for being there.”
“Whatever you need from me, I’ll be there for you baby,” I replied huskily, and I meant it. Whenever she needed me, regardless of whether she stayed in town, I’d be there for her.
She laced her fingers around my neck. “You know, I seem to recall a promise that you made. Something about if I stayed in town and if I had flashbacks.”
I laughed. I could tell she was joking—but, I couldn’t deny that just having her in my arms, feeling her body against mine and seeing her feeling better had stirred something primal in me.
“There are beds in the on-call room,” I pointed out, letting my hands drop to her waist, and giving her a careful squeeze. “And the guys are loud enough on Fortnight that we could make all kinds of noise and nobody would even notice.”
Kendra laughed and gave me a playful shove against my shoulder. “You just want everyone to know for sure you’re sleeping with me.”
“Well, that would be a plus,” I joked. “You’re the hottest woman in town.” Plus, I was a territorial bastard. I’d seen the looks Kendra got from most of the men at the firehouse and in town. I wanted to stake my claim on the most beautiful, smartest, toughest woman in town.
Kendra rolled her eyes. “You are a perv.”
I cupped her ass. “Only with you.”
The alarm went off, and I released my hold on her butt and pinned her to my side.
“Fire! 2254 West Elmbrook!” The Chief shouted over the PA. The men on duty rushed past to get geared up and, on the truck, and I just held onto Kendra, worried that the emergency might trigger her again. Instead, she just wrapped her arm around my waist. Once the flurry of a bunch of men rushing out subsided, she looked up into my face and said, “Wow! That was interesting.”
“More than half the crew left,” I pointed out. “We could just go lay down and cuddle for a bit.”
“You really want me in bed, huh?” Kendra asked, giving me that playful, defiant look that only made me hornier.
I reached down and cupped her ass. “Desperately.”
Clutching her hand, I led her back through the station to the on-call rooms. By the time I got the door closed and locked behind us, I was more than ready to pin Kendra against it and kiss her harder, letting my hands move over her tight, curvy body. I tugged her t-shirt free of her jeans and touched the impossibly soft, hot skin underneath.
“You better not get too loud,” Kendra murmured, as I cupped her full breasts in my hands through her bra.
“Me? Better worry about yourself,” I countered, before kissing her again. We stayed like that for a few minutes, kissing and stroking each other until I couldn’t take it anymore. I pulled Kendra away from the door and started stripping her down, hauling her shirt over her head and tossing it aside. I buried my face against her chest, nuzzling her breasts and reaching around to her back to unhook her bra. She got to work on my jeans, getting the fly open and starting to tug them down before my shirt was even off.
Lifting her up, I carried her over to one of the bottom bunks, gently dropping and pinning her to the bed. It took seconds for me to get her naked then I stripped.
“You’re in a hurry,” Kendra said, breathless and with that tone in her voice that told me it definitely turned her on.
“Another call could come in at any minute,” I pointed out. “And I promised to get you off.” Kendra laughed, and I worked my way down from her lips to her chest, bringing each of her dark nipples up to my mouth to suck and lick. She moaned. I’d learned fast just what got Kendra hot. I worked the hard-little nubs with my mouth for what felt like ages, even as my cock grew harder. Reaching between her legs, I felt how wet she was and worked my way down from her chest to her stomach, breathing in the tantalizing scent of her skin and pussy.
I buried my face against her pussy, licking and sucking. Sliding my tongue up and down along her folds, tasting her
as thoroughly as possible. I worked my tongue up to her clit knowing just what she liked. I sucked the little bead of nerves between my lips gently, swirling the tip of my tongue around it in wide circles to get her used to the sensation and then zeroing in on it.
Kendra’s hips bucked, and I pinned them down, careful to avoid doing anything that would hurt her injured leg. I worked Kendra hot and heavy, teasing her just enough to get her more turned on, feeling the changes in her as she got closer and closer to getting off. She moaned, and then I looked up when I heard a more unusual sound and saw that she was covering her mouth with one of her hands—the other tangled in my hair—to keep from being too loud. I almost broke away laughing, but I hadn’t been lying when I’d said a call could come in at any moment. Time was absolutely of the essence.
I decided not to tease her too hard, to do what I knew would get Kendra off instead of waiting my turn. I sucked on her womanhood harder, flicking my tongue against the little bead between my lips and Kendra’s hand tightened in my hair, almost pulling at it from the scalp. I moaned against her skin, working her as hard as I could, feeling the tension in her hitting the high point. I knew the second she came, her fluids starting to gush on my tongue as her legs tightened around me, as her whole body shook for just a few seconds in-between moments of tensing up. Kendra moaned long and low and even her hand didn’t muffle the noise—at least not to me.
I kept her coming for as long as I could stand and then pulled back, not even giving her a chance to come down from the climax. I got a condom out of one drawer in a table next to the bunk, sheathed my cock then covered her body with mine again. “Next time,” I told her, breathless between kisses. “Next time, I’m making you ride me.”
“With my leg? That’d last all of a minute,” Kendra told me.
I laughed. “Excuses.” I didn’t have any patience to make it last—my balls were aching and besides, I wasn’t about to answer a call with my dick hard. I pounded into Kendra’s pussy hard and fast, kissing her neck and then up to her lips as I pulled out and slammed back in again. I set a pace that was just short of brutal, hauling Kendra’s legs up at the knees and wrapping them around my waist to get a better angle. She felt as good, tight, hot, and built just for me. Her muscles flexed around me, tightening in little post-orgasmic spasms and that just fueled me to go faster, to take her harder. Kendra had no complaints, pushing her hips up to meet me, kissing me hungrily as we moved sensually together.
It didn’t take me long to feel my balls starting to tighten, to feel that ache in my groin hitting the point where there was only one way to get rid of it. I held onto Kendra and I could and pounded into her a few more times, moaning out as the tension broke. I came hard, going only a little while longer and I realized that Kendra had gotten her second climax while I was on my first, that she was gripping me with all her strength as we both finished.
“God, I needed that,” I said, kissing her lightly on the lips.
“Who you telling, damn, that was better than a Xanax,” Kendra told me.
I laughed, rolling off of her just long enough to dispose of the used condom in the bin. Whoever tossed the bio-waste out would have questions, but I could guarantee that he wouldn’t ask anyone about why there was a used condom in among the bloody bandages and gauze from treating different work-related wounds. I climbed back onto the bed at her side, pulling her close, and loving the feeling of her body against mine.
“I kind of doubt doctors could prescribe orgasms,” I pointed out.
Kendra grinned at me, looking so beautiful, so sweet in the crook of my arm. “They used to, actually,” she said. “And I guess that PTSD would count as ‘hysteria’ so you getting me off is just good medicine.”
I laughed and cupped one of her breasts in my hand, enjoying the heavy, warm feeling of it. Before I could get up the energy to go for round two, though, the alarm blared again, and I was on my feet, out of the bed and pulling on my clothes in an instant. Kendra got up almost as quickly, pulling on her clothes.
“Do you want to hang out here?” I asked her, as the Chief announced the fire location. It wasn’t too far away. “I probably won’t be over two hours, tops.”
“No. I’ve got to head home,” Kendra said. “Grandma doesn’t know about me helping the Sheriff, and she’s expecting me for dinner.”
“I’ll text you once I’m done,” I promised, kissing her again once we were both fully dressed.
“And tomorrow we have the photo shoot,” Kendra said. “Maybe we can compare sex in an SUV to the on-call beds.”
I chuckled and unlocked the door before anyone could come looking for me. “I’d be down with that experiment,” I said before kissing her hard and fast.
“I bet you would,” she chirped before we parted ways, with Kendra headed out to the parking lot to get in her SUV and me heading for the second truck where we stowed the gear to take care of the fire.
12
Kendra
Grandma set my plate down in front of me, before taking her spot at the table. Dinner was one of her classics—Salisbury steak with roasted potatoes, carrots, and green beans. It brought me back to being a teenager, living with her, telling her all about my day at school, back when my problems were much smaller.
Grandma gave me a knowing look before forking a piece of carrot. “So, you’ve been busy for someone who’s supposed to be resting.”
I grinned, because she was right. “Are you sure you don’t just resent that I haven’t weeded the garden beds yet?” I asked, cutting into my meat. I had many Salisbury steaks in my life, from school cafeteria versions to a dinner on Brook avenue that claimed to make it the best in the city—but none of them were as good as Grandma’s.
“That’s part of it,” Grandma confessed. “But I’m also worried about you. You’re supposed to be recuperating, not rushing off every day to do something else.”
I took a bite of food, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing. “Well, I finished the photo shoot the other day and tomorrow I’ll have the proofs printed for the Chief. That’s one project done.” I’d been back in town for two weeks and it was almost as if I’d never left. Somehow—probably mostly because of Grandma and her friends talking me up—everyone knew everything about me and I was anxious just at the thought of going back to the constant rush of the city. But I could feel it pulling me, reaching for me like a comfortable pair of sweatpants.
“And you’re working with the Sheriff,” Grandma observed. “How do you feel about that?” She grabbed her glass of water, sipping.
I picked at a carrot, suddenly not feeling so hungry. “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “He wants me to join the force officially, especially since the press is heating on the serial break-ins.”
“Are you ready to handle that pressure?” Grandma asked, taking a bite of potato.
* * *
“That kind of thing doesn’t bother me,” I stated. “But there’s another issue.” I bit my bottom lip, twirling my fork.
“Lukas?” Grandma asked.
“Partly him,” I sighed. “But mostly, they want me back down in the city. Serge has called twice to ask when I think I’ll be ready for the evals.”
“Are you surprised?” She arched a brow. “You’ve got to be one of the best people he has.”
I laughed. “You’d think so, based on how he’s working me,” I told her. “And obviously, my record was good.”
“Good?” Grandma snorted. “I’ve looked at your record on that devil machine they call a personal computing device. Your record is better than almost everyone else from your precinct.”
“So, you’ve been checking up on me that hard?” I asked. If Grandma had gotten the computer out and used it, she must have been interested.
“Well, you never tell me anything and I needed to keep everyone up to date on my beautiful granddaughter’s career,” Grandma said. “If I didn’t, Mabel might have all the good stories—what with that great-nephew of hers running some fancy club in LA.”
“My record is good,” I uttered, absently spearing two green beans on my fork. “But I’m not sure I want to go back to New York. I’m not even sure I want to be a cop anymore.” I hadn’t told Grandma about the bigger issue. Because of my leg, they’d keep me on desk duty as long as it took to heal—that would be no problem. But the psych issue of my PTSD was a whole other clusterfuck.
“And you’re working through the whole PTSD thing,” Grandma countered.
I looked up, surprised. “You know?”
Grandma shrugged. “Your grandfather was in a war. He never said much about it, but he had friends who would get drunk and get—I don’t know—twitchy. Any little thing might set them off. They used to call it ‘shell shock’.”
“But Granddaddy didn’t have it?”
Grandma shrugged again. “He might have, he might not have. I’m just saying, I can see when someone is working through something—especially when that someone is the girl I helped raise.”
She was right. Grandma knew me well. “Lukas’s been helping me with it,” I stated. “In different ways. He knows some guys with PTSD.”
“I understand that he’s done a lot of work along those lines, though probably not as intensely as he has with you,” Grandma said, smiling a little.
“It’s just…” I began.
“It’s just you reconnecting with a boy you might have had something with, if things had gone differently,” Grandma said, interrupting me. “And now because you’re afraid it’s got some potential, you want to run.”
“No, I don’t want to run,” I protested. At least I didn’t think so.
“Kendra. You’re afraid,” Grandma said with sharp eyes. “Terrified of not getting better. Scared of what it would be like if you changed because of getting injured. And you’re petrified that it means you’re too broken for Lukas. But, listen here baby girl, Lukas’s cut his teeth on issues harder than this.”