All Consuming

by Burton, Jaci

  “This is great, thanks.”

  She leaned against the kitchen counter. “What would you like for breakfast?”

  “You don’t have to cook for me.”

  “And you don’t have to fix my car.”

  “Okay, then. Whatever you want to make, I’ll eat.”

  “Good enough.” She pushed off the counter and went to the fridge, pulling out eggs, sausage, milk and butter. Then she grabbed flour, and he watched while she started mix for biscuits.

  Since he wasn’t one to just sit and watch someone else cook, he put the sausage into the pan and made that while Hannah baked fresh biscuits. After the sausage was done, she crumbled up some of it to make gravy. His stomach grumbled.

  “Smells good,” he said as he finished up the eggs and she poured juice.

  “It does. Let’s eat.”

  They served up the food onto their plates and carried them to the table. Kal dug in because he was so hungry he couldn’t wait another second. He ended up eating three biscuits and most of the eggs.

  “Sorry,” he said after he finished cleaning his plate.

  “No, it’s okay. You obviously needed the food. Busy shift?”

  “Crazy busy. And we had a rough call that lasted until almost the end of shift. I was so ready for some food by the time it was over.”

  “And then I texted you.”

  “Hey, it’s not a big deal.” He wiped his mouth with the napkin and stood to help clear the table.

  But Hannah stopped him. “Absolutely not. I’ll do this.”

  “Okay. I’ll go work on your car and see if I can get it started.”

  “Thanks.”

  Once he figured out what the issue was, he ended up having to go to the auto parts shop to buy a starter. Installation took a couple of hours, but after that Hannah’s car fired up just fine. He took the car for a short drive, parked and turned it off and on again several times, and everything seemed to be working okay. Satisfied that he’d solved the problem, he went inside to wash his hands.

  Hannah was doing paperwork at the kitchen table.

  “Paying bills?” he asked as he finished drying his hands.

  She looked up at him with a grimace. “Unfortunately, yes.”

  “An evil necessity for all of us.”

  “True. How’s the car working?”

  “Like new. Or at least your starter is new.”

  “What do I owe you for the parts?”

  “Nothing.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not how this works, Kal. What do I owe you?”

  He rolled his eyes, but he understood why, so even though it cost less than twenty bucks, he dug the receipt out of his pocket. She looked at it and pulled out her wallet and paid him cash.

  “Thanks.”

  “No, thank you.”

  “When was your last oil change?”

  “About two weeks ago.”

  His lips curved. “Good for you.”

  “Hey, she’s gotta last me, so I do my best to take care of her.”

  “While I was under the hood I checked everything out, and it all looks like it’s in working order, so I think you’ll be good to go for a while.”

  “That’s a relief. Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you doing this for me.”

  “No problem. I’m gonna head out.”

  She got up and walked around to stand next to him. “I thought maybe you’d stay. We have the place to ourselves for the day.”

  The offer was tempting. Way too tempting. “I’d like to, but I didn’t sleep last night since we were on scene all night. I’m dead tired.”

  “Oh, of course,” she said. “You want to sleep and I made you work. I’m sorry.”

  He wrapped his arm around her. “What I want is you. What I need is sleep. Two different things.”

  She laughed and laid her palm on his chest. “There’ll be other opportunities for us. Go get some rest.”

  He appreciated that she understood and wasn’t making a big deal out of him leaving. He brushed his lips across hers for a kiss that was all too brief, but he knew if he went in deeper, he’d never leave. And then he’d end up even more tired. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Okay. Thanks again.”

  She walked him outside to his truck and waited while he climbed in. For a brief few seconds there he had second thoughts about leaving. But then he put his truck in gear and backed out of the driveway.

  Damn common sense. Where had that ever gotten him?

  Just into a great career with the future he wanted. Getting his head on straight and having goals for his future meant everything to him. And right now he was exhausted and knew he needed sleep more than anything. Even more than he needed Hannah.

  He yawned and turned onto the highway, headed for home. For his bed. Where he’d sleep alone.

  This time.

  CHAPTER 15

  HANNAH’S LAST APPOINTMENT OF THE DAY ENDED AT four, which meant she could get out of the salon early. Oliver had soccer practice, but he was carpooling with Jeff, and Becca offered to take the boys for tacos afterward and hold a playdate at her house. She told Hannah the boys would do homework after school, and Hannah agreed. Her mom was leaving right from work to go to dinner with her book club. A free night was a rare occurrence.

  She stopped at the grocery store and then headed home. After she put everything away, she got out her phone and texted Kal.

  What are you doing today?

  It took him about twenty minutes to reply to her text.

  Mowing the lawn. You still at work?

  She smiled and replied: Just got off. How about dinner? I’m cooking.

  He answered with: Sounds great.

  After they agreed on a time, she began prepping the lasagna she had planned to make. Once it was in the oven, she went into her bedroom to change clothes. After a long day at the hair salon, she felt like she was covered in hair and hair color, even though she knew she wasn’t. Still, she’d feel better after a shower, so she got in to wash off, then put on a sleeveless sundress and slipped into her sandals. Since it was warm and sticky outside, she didn’t even bother reapplying her makeup. If Kal wanted a woman who was all dolled up, he’d have to choose a different one. She was just too damn hot to bother. She brushed through her hair and wound it up in a bun on top of her head, pulling it off her neck.

  That was better.

  She went into the kitchen and fixed herself a glass of ice water, then sorted through today’s mail. Fortunately, it was all junk mail, so she tossed it.

  Any day where bills didn’t show up was a good mail day.

  She heard a car door open and took a peek outside to see her son climbing into Becca and Tony’s car. She smiled as she caught sight of Oliver and Jeff gesturing madly to each other in the back seat as Tony pulled down the driveway.

  Just as they left, she saw Kal’s truck pulling into the driveway. Her heart immediately started skipping.

  She walked away from the window, shaking her head. Her reaction to him was utterly ridiculous. She was like an infatuated teenager whenever he was around.

  “Get over yourself, Hannah.”

  She went to the door and opened it. He was wearing shorts and a sleeveless tank.

  “Hot?”

  He grinned. “You sure are.”

  She laughed. “Come on in.” She led him into the kitchen. “Something cold to drink? I have iced tea.”

  “That sounds really good. Mowing the lawn nearly killed me today.”

  “You poor thing.” She fixed him a glass of iced tea and handed it to him.

  He took a couple of gulps, then sighed. “That’s what I needed. Thanks. Why is it this damn hot in October?”

  She leaned against the counter and shrugged. “Because we live in Florida?”

  He grumbled and took another sip of tea. “Whatever.” He looked around. “Where’s Oliver?”

  “Soccer practice and out to dinner with Jeff.”

  “Oh.
And your mom?”

  “Book club night, so she’s gone, too.”

  “Huh. Okay. How was your day?”

  “Productive. How was your day off?”

  “I did some things. Mostly sweaty things.”

  “Oh, really? I like sweaty things.”

  He laid his glass on the counter and stalked over to her, slid his arm around her waist. “Is that right? What kinds of sweaty things?”

  She laid her palm on his chest. “Not mowing-the-lawn kinds of sweaty things. More fun stuff.”

  He pushed in against her chest. “I like fun stuff.”

  She hadn’t wanted him to leave yesterday morning, wished she could have lounged around with him all day. But he’d needed sleep, and she had things of her own to do as well. Sometimes parenthood and responsibility had to take precedence over what she wanted.

  But now? Now he was close to her, and the hungry way he looked at her told her all she needed to know. He wanted what she wanted, what they hadn’t had the time or the luxury for yesterday morning. She hadn’t had nearly enough alone time with him, and she craved his touch on her skin.

  “How long will we be alone here?” he asked.

  “Long enough.” She lifted his shirt and put her hands on his deliciously warm bare stomach, feeling his muscles clench under her hand. His mouth came down on hers, and she barely had time to take in a breath before his tongue searched for hers. The way he kissed her, the barely leashed passion in the way he grabbed the material at the back of her dress and tightened it in his fist, was the strongest aphrodisiac. She whimpered against his mouth and inched herself closer, needing to climb inside of him because she craved more of what he gave her.

  “Hot in here,” he said. “Let’s go somewhere cooler.” He lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around his hips while he carried her down the hall into her bedroom. He deposited her on the bed and climbed onto it, continuing his exploration of her mouth with his until she writhed against him, every part of her body aching with the desire to be touched.

  And oh, did he deliver. His hands roamed her body like an explorer searching for a lost treasure, and she was the prize he was looking for. His fingers slid under her dress, teasing her thighs. She parted her legs, and when he cupped her sex, everything inside of her quivered in anticipation.

  “This would be much better if we were naked.”

  He lifted his head to stare down at her. “You in a hurry?”

  “Kind of.”

  “Are Oliver and your mom coming home soon?”

  “No. But my lasagna might burn.”

  “We could wait until after dinner.”

  “Or, you could get me naked and get your cock inside of me.”

  He laughed. “So you’re saying you want a quickie instead of slow lovemaking.”

  “Exactly what I’m saying. But I still want to come.”

  “Oh, you’ll come. You’ll come first.” He bent his head toward hers and kissed her, then slipped his hand inside her panties, making her breath catch as he expertly found all the right spots to wind her up.

  He slid her underwear off, shrugged off his shorts and underwear, then stopped.

  “Oh, shit. I don’t have a condom.”

  “I do.” She motioned to her nightstand. “In the drawer.”

  He went over to the drawer and pulled a box of condoms out. “Look at you, being all prepared for sex.”

  “Because of you, dumbass. I just bought them.”

  His lips curved. “I like that.”

  After putting the condom on, he climbed back on the bed, hiked up her dress, rolled her over to face him and lifted her leg over his hip.

  “Now this is like high school,” he said.

  She laughed. “Shut up and fuck me.”

  He slid inside of her, and all conversation ended. His mouth was on hers, his tongue doing wild things to her tongue, and his hands slid over her body, teasing her breasts and grabbing her ass to hold her against him while he drove his cock into her. The way he moved never failed to bring her right to the edge. It didn’t take her long to explode into a shuddering climax, with Kal going right after her.

  She wasn’t certain she’d taken a breath the entire time. But now she did, exhaling and inhaling to bring in the oxygen she so desperately needed. Kal kissed her lightly and held on to her while he stroked her back. Even when they were teens he would always hold her after sex. It had been one of the most romantic things about him.

  She sighed, feeling that natural relaxation an orgasm gave her. “That was nice.”

  “What? Not terrific, or stupendous, or the best sex you ever had? Just nice?”

  She pushed on his chest and rolled off the bed. “It was mind-blowing. I doubt I’ll recover from the amazingness of it.”

  He grinned. “Better.”

  “I’m going to check the lasagna.”

  “I think I’ll just lie here and bask in the glory of my amazingness.”

  She shook her head as she slipped her underwear back on. “You do that.”

  She’d just finished washing her hands in the kitchen when Kal joined her. “That was a quick inventory of how amazing you are.”

  “I’m just that good.” He brushed her lips with his. “What can I do to help?”

  She scrunched her nose as she thought. “How about a salad?”

  “I can do that.”

  “Stuff’s in the fridge.”

  “Got it.”

  Kal washed his hands and then got to work making the salad, while Hannah pulled the lasagna out of the oven and placed it on the kitchen table. She set the table, then made dressing for the salad. They took their seats and she scooped out the lasagna.

  “I might have forgotten to mention that it’s eggplant lasagna.”

  He looked up at her. “I’m sure it’s great. And you can’t scare me away with your meatless meals.”

  She laughed. “I wasn’t trying to. I just make the food I like to eat. You’re either along for the ride or you’re not.”

  He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her neck, then gave her a lopsided smile. “Definitely along for the ride. Plus, I like food. And this looks good.”

  “So does your salad.” She scooped a pile of the greens onto her plate. Since she’d left him to make the salad, he’d added tomatoes, slivered carrots, mushrooms and bell peppers. It looked fabulous.

  She waited while Kal took a bite of the lasagna. People could pay lip service to eating a meatless meal, but that didn’t mean they’d actually like it. He didn’t say a word, just shoveled in three forkfuls, then looked up at her.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. I was waiting to see you grimace.”

  “It’s really good, Hannah. The eggplant is tender, and this sauce is killer. Plus, it has cheese. Anything with cheese on it is a good meal.”

  Her lips curved. “I’ll make a note of that.”

  She dug in and ate, and Kal was right. It was tasty.

  “So I was thinking,” Kal said between bites. “This weekend there’s a fall festival. They’re doing hayrides, pumpkin patch, rides and things.”

  “That sounds fun.”

  “It’s also a fundraiser for the homeless.”

  “Oh? Tell me more.”

  “They’re collecting donations for discounted entry. Like socks, hygiene products, soaps, shampoos, things like that.”

  “What a wonderful idea.”

  “I thought maybe you and Oliver would like to come with me. Jackson and Becks are gonna go, too.”

  “It sounds fun. When are you going?”

  “Sunday. I’m on shift Saturday, and I know that’s a workday for you, too.”

  “Sunday sounds perfect. We’d love to go.”

  “Great.” He sent her the kind of smile that warmed her all the way to her bare feet. Not that she wasn’t already completely heated from the inside out after that hot sex session, but this kind of warm was different. It was the way he looked at her, the way he thought to include her in hi
s life that made her feel . . .

  Special. It also sent warning bells pinging in the logical part of her brain, the part of her that told her to hit the brakes on this—hard. But she also knew how much giving back to the homeless community meant to him and to his brothers, and now wasn’t the time.

  They cleared the table, wrapped up the leftovers and put those in the fridge, then settled on the sofa to watch TV. She chose a baseball game, and they argued over balls and strikes, something they used to do when they were younger.

  “Good call,” Kal said after the ump made a call for ball four and the batter walked to first base.

  “You must need glasses, because it was right over the plate, and he should have been called out on strikes.”

  He shook his head. “I see just fine. Not my fault you’ve never known where the strike zone is.”

  She sat up straight and swiveled to face him. “Excuse me? Who pitched for the varsity softball team?”

  “Who was the catcher on varsity baseball? Trust me. I know my strike zone.”

  “So do I.”

  They glared at each other, and then she launched herself on top of him. They wrestled until she laughed so hard she was out of breath.

  “Give up?” he asked.

  “Never.”

  He flipped her over on her back and came down on top of her, smoothing her hair away from her face. “That’s what I like about you. You never give up.”

  Kal’s lips met hers, and she wrapped her leg around his as his tongue slipped inside and made her instantly hot and needy. She arched her hips to feel that sexual connection with him, and he ground against her in the most intimate of ways.

  “Mom, I’m home.”

  She shoved Kal so hard he almost fell off the sofa. Instead, he hurried to the corner of the sofa and dragged his fingers through his hair.

  Hannah stood and smiled while trying to regain her composure. Fortunately, Oliver had headed down the hall and hopefully hadn’t seen the two of them making out on the sofa.

  “Hey, kiddo. How was soccer?”

  “Good. Oh, hi, Kal.”

  “Hi, Oliver. I heard you had soccer practice. How was it?”

  “It was good.” Oliver plopped down on the sofa right next to Kal. “What are you doing here?”