Page 39 of Saved By the Firefighter

She gasps, then melts into me. Her lips part, tongue sliding against mine. I groan at the taste of her, familiar and intoxicating, as desire ignites through my veins.

Her arms wind around my neck, her body pressing against mine, and I'm lost to the sensation of her—something uniquely Ellie that's addictive as hell. My hands roam over the curves of her body, remembering every inch. Ellie arches into my touch with a soft moan and all I want is to be buried deep inside her.

My hands slide down to her ass and hoist her up. Her legs lock around my waist, and I carry her to my bedroom. The door slams shut behind us with a thud that echoes my racing heart. Clothes become casualties in our path to the bed—fabric tearing away from skin in frantic movements. Ellie tumbles onto the bed, gazing up at me with eyes dark with longing. Covering her naked body with mine, my tongue finds a nipple. I take my time pleasuring each mound and try to get my fill.

She lifts her hips, my cock brushing her opening. "Jake..." She moans, and it's the best damn sound I've ever heard. "I need you."

My cock twitches; she has no fucking idea what those words do to me. But I need her hot and bothered. I need her squirming and close to the edge.

Dropping to my knees, I part her legs, revealing her to me in all her glory. My mouth finds her center, and it's like coming home. The taste of her is intoxicating, a blend of sweetness and arousal that I savor with every flick and suck.

My fingers grip her thighs, thumbs circling the tender skin as I work her over with my tongue, committed to drawing out every shiver, every whimper. Ellie cries out, her hands fisting in my hair. I groan against her, lowering one hand to grasp myself because the need is too strong. This woman turns me on too much and always makes me lose my sanity.

Her moans grow frantic, hips rolling against my mouth. I slide two fingers inside, crooking them just so. I lap at her juices, grinning like a fool. When I feel her teetering on the edge, I crawl up her body, positioning myself at her entrance. With no more hesitation, I thrust inside her welcoming heat in one smooth stroke.

"Jake!" Ellie screams, nails biting into my back.

We move together in a rhythm, her pussy clenching around me so damn perfectly I nearly lose it right then and there.

"Ellie," I grunt, thrusting harder, rougher, driven by the sheer force of what's been building inside me. With every plunge, I claim her mouth, our kisses a mirror of our bodies—desperate and consuming.

Her back arches and then I can feel her shatter, her orgasm triggering my own. I bury myself to the hilt, spilling deep inside her in three strong spurts. She continues to move her hips, milking my cock for everything I have left.

I kiss her, desperate for us to stay like this for the rest of my days. But I eventually pull out, bundling her into my arms, her head resting on my chest. The afterglow wraps around us like a cocoon, and for a moment, I let myself believe in this—us—whatever it is we're doing here.

The cotton sheets cling to our skin, warm and slightly damp from the heat we've generated between us. My chest is a mess of emotions, each one wrestling for dominance over the other. Love, lust, guilt—they're all there, but it's the afterglow that softens their edges, blurring them into something almost like peace.

I’m so relaxed and content that the truth tumbles out for the first time. “This scares the hell out of me.”

Ellie touches my scruffy cheek but doesn’t yet speak, giving me time to gather my thoughts.

“Caring for someone again,” I continue, almost feeling like I’m having an out of body experience. “Risking losing you, or Charlotte getting hurt." I swallow against the lump in my throat. "Sarah's death broke me. I don't know if I can survive that kind of pain again."

“What…What happened to her?” Ellie asks softly. “If you’re comfortable telling me. If not, I understand.”

I take a deep breath, fighting my mind not to slip back to the day and to simply give Ellie the facts. “She was driving home from work and it was storming. I don’t know what happened—an animal, the tires slipping on the road. But she ended up swerving off the road and crashing the car. I was one of the first to arrive on the scene, but she…” I clear my throat. “I couldn’t save her. And I should’ve picked her up from work. I knew it was storming. I should’ve driven there to pick her up.” I wipe a tear away and try to angle my head away, but Ellie gently turns my head to look at her.

“You didn’t know. It’s not your fault, and you did everything you could to save her.”

I shake my head. “I’ve tried to tell myself that, but it always feels like a lie.”

Ellie snuggles in, holding me close and I release a soft breath. Just her presence settles me.

“I used to see Sarah everywhere,” I say. “In Charlotte's smile, in the empty side of the bed, in the quiet moments when I forget she's gone. I’ll always see her in Charlotte, but everywhere else…I’m starting to see you. And the thought of replacing her—" My throat constricts around the words, "—it feels like I'd be betraying her memory."

"Jake," she says, her hand now pressing over my heart. "Loving someone new isn't betrayal. It doesn't mean you loved Sarah any less. It just means your heart's big enough to love more than once. There’s room enough for both of us. And I would never try to replace her. She’s part of you and I wouldn’t ever want you to hide that."

Her reassurance should feel like a balm, but instead, it's an ache. "And what if it doesn't work? What if I screw this up and Charlotte gets hurt again? What if Marcus shuts both of us out of his life?" The fears spill out before I can stop them, raw and unfiltered.

"Then we'll handle it together," Ellie says firmly. "One step at a time."

My walls, the ones I've spent years fortifying, crumble a little at her conviction. Is there a chance at real happiness, if I can set aside my ghosts and broken pieces to make room for Ellie? I let myself imagine it, a future where the shadows are chased away by her relentless optimism.

As I’m letting everything percolate and work its way through me, Ellie gets fidgety. She keeps biting her lips and making timid eye contact. "Um, Jake, I need to tell you something—"

A sharp knock rattles the front door. The sound slices through the serenity of the room, and Ellie's sentence cuts off abruptly.

I’m not sure who it is, but I better check. I press a quick, hard kiss to Ellie’s forehead before untangling myself from her embrace. Throwing on some pants, I pad barefoot across the cool hardwood floor of the hallway.

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