Emerging Temptation: A BWWM Romance Limited Edition Collection

by Peyton Banks

  “Okay, see you in the morning,” Grandma replied.

  I finished my glass of water and went up to my room, grabbing the hand towel that I used for drying my face and walked into the bathroom. I started washing my face with my favorite cleansing oil, trying to compose my mind into less stressful thoughts before I went to bed. I failed and shut off the water, disgusted with myself. I patted my face dry and reached for my bottle of argan oil but just as I got the bottle open; I heard something.

  At first, I didn’t even know what it was I heard, but it put the hairs on the back of my neck up before it even filtered through my brain. Years of training and experience rose, and I set the bottle down as quietly as possible, creeping out of the bathroom and towards the living room silently.

  Grandma shouted at the same time that I heard a loud crashing, glass shattering noise. Instead of padding out, I ran the last few feet into the living room with so much adrenaline coursing through me I forgot all about my injured leg.

  My brain went into autopilot when saw some man in dirty ripped clothes lunging for Grandma.

  “Get down,” I shouted at him in the tone I’d used countless times as a police officer.

  Instead, the man grabbed Grandma with one hand and the other brandished a knife he erratically jabbed in the air, using it to keep me away.

  I did a quick assessment of the situation and despite her life and death situation, Grandma was calm. Smart Grandma. I didn’t need her making any sudden movements because from the glossy haze of the man’s eyes and his twitchy body; he was high on something and would hurt her.

  “Put the knife down and let her go,” I ordered, moving within striking distance.

  I scanned the living room and didn’t see that the intruder had anything to cart valuables away. If he’d intended on doing that, he would have likely gone for a less conspicuous entry. Either he was the worst burglar of all time, or he was the prowler that Sheriff Baker and I had been tracking. But he wasn’t there to steal from us.

  The man glared at me from behind grandma. He wasn’t even using his weapon as a threat against Grandma.

  “If you’re looking for prescription drugs,” I said calmly, “We don’t have any.”

  His voice croaked. “What the fuck are you talking about?” His grip slipped away from Grandma’s body.

  “Move Grandma,” I barked while I attacked, striking him hard in the knees. Grandma dashed to the left and safety. The intruder instinctively put his arms out defensively as he fell, bracing for floor impact, he released the knife and it clattered to the floor.

  Kicking his weapon out of reach, I check Grandma over quickly. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine, baby,” Grandma said as we watched the man unsteadily scramble to his feet. “Get the bastard.”

  I leaped forward to grab him and yelped in pain when the muscles in my leg rebelled against my sudden movement. I cursed under my breath as the guy made as a mad dash through the house, into the kitchen. There was a door in the kitchen, that led out into the backyard and I wondered how long he’d spent casing Grandma’s place, thinking about his contingencies.

  Pushing the pain in my leg away, I chased the prowler through the house and into the kitchen, intent on getting him down.

  I made it into the kitchen just as the asshole turned on the gas at the stove, full blast and produced some kind of tiny bulb of liquid from a pocket on his dark cargo pants. He threw it at the stove and the fire jumped out from the combination of lit gas and accelerant and whatever else he’d included.

  “You son of a bitch,” I growled, going for him anyway. The fire was a problem, but I would take care of that in a second. First, I was taking down the asshole who threatened Grandma.

  I went on autopilot. Running towards him like a freight train, I banged him into the kitchen wall before letting loose a flurry of kicks and punches that I’d learned from my many practice sessions with an ex-MMA fighter I’d worked out with in New York. The intruder wasn’t much of a fighter because he didn’t react offensively by attacking me, instead he grunted and begged for his life. But I wasn’t having any of that shit, he broke into my house and I had the right to defend myself. I grabbed him, knocking his head against the wall several times before his eyes rolled to the back of his head. I side stepped when his body fell to the floor unconscious.

  The heat of the fire was raging out of control. “Fuck.” The kitchen was on fire and it was not something that I could control on my own. I had to get out. I stared at the unconscious man. I wouldn’t be able to handle it if I let him burn to death, especially without facing justice for his crimes. Opening the door in the kitchen that led out into the backyard, I came back to the intruder, yanking him across the floor by the leg. The muscles in my leg was protesting from the strain but I finally made it out into the yard with the asshole intruder.

  Hearing a sound of feet behind me, I turned to see Grandma and her neighbor Mr. Seibert heading towards me.

  I smiled with relief that she’d made it out safely but I’d know that she would.

  “I called 911,” Grandma said to me.

  “Who the hell is that?” Mr. Seibert asked gesturing to the unconscious man on the grass.

  “I’m guessing the guy who’s been terrorizing the town,” I said, finally letting the enormity of the situation catch up to me.

  “Good job,” Mr. Seibert said, nodding his approval.

  I was half-dressed and my leg was killing me, but I leaned against my SUV, proud of myself. I’d subdued and apprehended a serial burglar and murderer.

  The fire truck roared up to the house and Lukas was the first man off of it. He glanced around and spotted me as the rest of the men on the crew got to work on setting up the hose to put the blaze out.

  His stormed over to me, fully geared up. “You’re okay?” he asked, reaching up to cup my cheek.

  I nodded. “Yes. But my leg is killing me.” I said. “Don’t worry about me. Go see if you can’t salvage some of Grandma’s kitchen, will you?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Lukas replied with a smile. He hurried off to the house with the rest of the firefighters.

  The police arrived hot on the heels of the fire truck, and Sheriff Baker nearly leaped out of his car, hurrying to where I stood with Grandma and Mr. Seibert, with the prowler tied up on the ground nearby. “Whoa!” The Sheriff said, taking in the man bound on the grass.

  “Based on how he acted,” I said. “I think we have our man, Sheriff.”

  “What makes you so sure?” Sheriff Baker asked.

  I kicked the prowler’s foot and pointed out a key feature on the sole of one shoe—nails, hammered in, that created the same mark that we’d seen at all the crime scenes.

  “If nothing else,” I said, once the Sheriff had taken that fact in, “he’s definitely guilty of attempted murder, arson and breaking and entering for tonight.” One of the Sheriff’s deputies came up and Baker filled the man in.

  “Good catch, Powell,” Sheriff Baker said. “It sounds like you handled yourself in a credit to your training.”

  “She sure as hell did,” Grandma agreed.

  “You know, Sheriff Baker,” I said, looking over as the firefighters began to come out of Grandma’s house. There hadn’t been enough time for the fire to spread to the rest of the house. “I’ve given it a lot of thought and I believe I’d like to accept your offer to transfer here.”

  “I’d love to have you,” Baker said. “And after the news gets a load of this, I can safely say that the town would ride me out on a rail if I didn’t insist on you bringing your skills here.”

  “Why thank you,” I replied with a grin. Given everything that I’d just been through, all the things that had been swirling in my brain had crystallized. I was ready for a new start and this town was exactly what I needed. Whether things worked out with Lukas, I could have a future in Wampanoag and it would do me more good handling the small-town crimes than it had working the high-stress, fast-paced world of the NYPD.

&nbs
p; I broke out laughing when Lukas came out of the house with Grandma’s favorite bundt pan in his hands—she’d gotten it from her mother when she was barely out of her teens. He handed it to Grandma before tossing his helmet aside, pulling me over to the side, and grabbing me around the waist.

  “You mean the world to me Kendra,” Lukas said, staring into my eyes. “I can’t lose you.”

  Reaching up, I cupped his cheek. “Well, it’s a good thing that I promised the Sheriff I would stay.”

  Lukas looked at me in disbelief for a few moments and then grinned. “Really?” he asked.

  I nodded. “Yes,” I told him. “My job in New York was great but as a wise woman,” My gaze flicked over to Grandma who gave me a thumb-up, “pointed out, why would I want to walk away from a new beginning, just to go back to a past I know that I don’t want anymore?”

  “Sounds like a very intelligent woman,” he murmured while running his hands across my back.

  “Very,” I answered.

  “So, you and me?” He asked nibbling my bottom lip.

  “Definitely a go firefighter,” I answered before swiping my tongue over his lips. “You’re my man and I’m not letting you go without a fight.”

  “About time woman,” he answered before his, hand slid to my jaw, and his head tilted before his lips settled across my mouth. My breath caught. His tongue slid between my teeth. The kiss was long and deep—the stamp of his possession and I loved it.

  15

  Kendra

  Two years later…

  Lukas and me stepped out of the country club, onto the lawn to the sounds of loud cheering and clapping. Lukas squeezed my hand, prompting me I look up at him, “Are you okay?” He asked. I knew that he’s worried about my reaction to the noise, because I was still in treatment for PTSD since I resigned from the NYPD and joined the Sheriff’s department in Wampanoag.

  “I’m fine,” I assured him as we made our way to the crowd of people gathered for our benefit. I had to admit that while I might never be the person I was before my ‘incident’, I was a person who my NYPD detective self would have envied.

  “You two look so great together,” Grandma’s friend Mabel said, beaming at us.

  “Thank you,” we both said in unison.

  I could smell delicious food in the air, there was plenty of wine being poured and if I didn’t know better, I’d almost think we were back in time at Grandma’s birthday party. But we weren’t, this was our party.

  “Congratulations,” Sheriff Baker said, coming up to us and shaking Lukas’s hand.

  Lukas grinned. “I know…I’m a lucky man.”

  “Yes,” I chided. “And don’t you forget it.”

  Lukas and I weaved through the crowd, accepting the congratulations, well wishes, and jokes from what seemed like half the town. Everyone asked to see the ring, and I was pleased to show it off. Lukas had retrieved his mother’s sapphire engagement ring, a family heirloom, back when the fire had happened. Lukas had worked with a local jeweler to customize my engagement ring, so, along with the sapphires were diamonds from my mother’s ring, and a ruby from Grandma’s engagement ring. I couldn’t think of a better way to honor the women who had brought Lukas and me together.

  Lukas and me finally got to the buffet table, making sure that the kids who’d come from the joint Sheriff’s Department and Fire Department youth program didn’t sneak a drink of alcohol. I kept smiling until I was sure my cheeks would split. Damn. I’m so happy. I was going to marry a man that I adored just as much as he loved me.

  I heard the telltale opening notes of ‘our’ song, and Lukas didn’t have to say a word. We moved onto the makeshift dance floor right away, as one, and danced the way we had at our prom, the way we had at Grandma’s birthday. My leg twinged a bit, but not enough to make me want to stop.

  “You know that we will need something flashier for our first dance as man and wife,” Lukas told me.

  “We have plenty of time to work on that,” I replied. “We’re not getting married for six months.”

  “That’s not a lot of time for a six feet four German white boy with no rhythm,” Lukas pointed out.

  “You have plenty of rhythm,” I countered. “Where it counts, in the bedroom,” I finished with a saucy smile.

  “Ain’t that the truth,” he said before giving me a soft lingering kiss before pulling away.

  We left the floor when the song changed and got something to drink. The party wore on and I took a break from being on my feet, sitting with Grandma and chatting with her friends while some firefighters took Lukas off for a round of vodka shots.

  Something exploded, I didn’t know what it was, but the noise sent the surge of adrenaline through my body and I got to my feet. Fireworks didn’t bother me as much; I could tell the difference but sudden noises still caught me off guard from time to time. I felt the familiar, dreadful sensation of a flashback but before I could even look for him, Lukas was at my side, holding my hand tight.

  “Let’s slip away,” Lukas suggested.

  Somehow, we got away from the party and into the country club. Lukas steered me towards a closet.

  “Uh what are you doing?” I asked.

  “Trust me,” he stated while getting the door open and me through it. He held me tightly in the dark, stroking my hair until my body relaxed and I started to come back to myself.

  “I’m getting better at this,” I whispered. Lukas’s body shifted against mine.

  “Give yourself more credit Kendra. You’re getting amazing at this.”

  Wrapping my arms around his waist, I breathed in his clean, comforting scent.

  “You know,” I started, “I’ve never had sex in a closet.”

  Lukas laughed. “Do you really want me to get you off in this closet?”

  “I’m just saying…I’m willing, if you’re game,” I told him.

  Lukas tilted my face up and despite the lack of light, his lips found mine right away. I melted into his kiss and I knew that he would try his level best to give me a quick orgasm.

  “Make sure you keep quiet,” Lukas said, pulling down onto the floor.

  Straddling his waist, I grinned down at him. “I’m not making any promises,” I told him. “It’s too hard to keep quiet when you’re hitting my kitty just right,” I joked.

  Lukas growled, rolling over and pinning me under his body. “Well, if that’s a crime then arrest me right now Deputy Sheriff Powell.”

  “Behave kinky Lukas. Behave…”

  Thank you for reading HEART OF FIRE!

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  About the Author

  USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR SEDONA VENEZ lives in New York City with her hot ex-military hubby—hooah—and their fur babies. She loves writing sizzling, sexy intricate stories about strong but broken characters who push limits, overcome their fears and risk it all for love.

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  Fiery Secrets

  Blurb

  All her adult life, Karmena Todd has focused on something far more important than men: cultivating her career as a firefighter. Being a woman, she’s had to be twice as good, twice as strong, and work three times harder than the males in her chosen field. Now, she’s finally gotten a job at a fire station in her hometown and can move back to Pittsburgh to take care of her ailing uncle. No distractions. Just work and family. Well, that was the plan, anyway. Until Adryen Spence. A gorgeous, long-haired, bearded, leather jacket-wearing man on a Harley equals one hell of a distraction.

  * * *

  But not all distractions are good for you. Sometimes they might even be a threat to your very life.

  * * *

  Adryen has a secret. And there are some secrets that even fire can’t burn away—but not for lack of trying.

  1
r />   Karmena

  I’m a firm believer in the old adage, ‘if you want something done right, you should do it yourself.’ However, there were just…certain things a woman couldn’t do for herself. And in this case, I wouldn’t even if I could.

  I arched my back, moving my pelvis closer to Anthony’s face in the process. Maybe if I got closer he would do his job better.

  I moaned softly, but not out of pleasure. More like impatience.

  “A little more to the left, baby,” I purred seductively. Someone needed to call up the Academy and tell them to give me an Oscar, because I didn’t sound anywhere near as irritated as I felt.

  Anthony’s tongue shifted left—like, way left—missing my clit by leaps and bounds. My lips parted and I started to give him further instruction on how to properly eat a woman out, but then I stopped. If he wanted to lick clumsily along my labia for the next five minutes, I was going to pretend to love it. I needed him to feel confident when we climbed into bed. Hopefully, I would get off at some point tonight—hopefully.

  “You taste so good, baby,” he said, voice coming out muffled and sending vibrations against my pussy. “Just like strawberries.”

  I rolled my eyes dramatically, glad he couldn’t see my face. Why couldn’t men come up with something more original? How about: you taste like you maintain a well-balanced diet, which consists of plenty of probiotics, nuts, and water.

  Another minute dragged by and I came—to the realization that I was going to have to fake my orgasm, so that we could get to the actual sex. I was preparing to moan like a porn star, when suddenly the standard iPhone ringtone filled the room.