She nods. “I know. I guess…well. I’ll just figure it out.”

Lifting her hand, I kiss the tip of her fingers. “I have a better idea. We can figure it out together.” After she smiles I kiss her gently, easing her back against the couch. “And right now, while I’m still all riled up, I would really love some dessert, sweet girl.” From my raised eyebrows and the way I’m already breathing a bit heavier, she knows precisely what I mean.

Emma is already nodding, slipping her fingers into the back of my hair as she pulls me close. Just before our lips meet, I whisper, “It’s the badass firefighter shirt, right? I’ve heard chicks dig these.”

She laughs, reaching down to smack my ass. I was already getting pretty hard but having my sexy girl becoming more handsy with me…whoa.

This time she’s much faster as we slip her clothes off. Then her hand grips the base of my shirt. “I want to see you,” she whispers. “All of you.”

When my shirt hits the floor, Emma’s mouth drops open. Her delicate hands skim across my chest, down my abs, along my biceps. She explores every dip, every hard line, as if she’s tracing me for a sculpture.

Most of the guys in the VFFT work out hard. We have a private website where we track our workouts and encourageeach other. It helps to keep our training a fun game. It’s also a reminder that our strength is what keeps each other as safe as possible.

But right now I think every single weight I lifted was to earn the look in Emma’s eyes as she gazes at me. That spark. That wild light that has been drawing us together from the second we met.

My lips crash to hers. Every desperate moan of hers urges me on as I caress every inch of her silky, soft skin. Her pale curves are a work of art, spread across my couch like an offering.

One of my hands slips between her thighs, the other caressing her full round breasts as I balance precariously with one knee and shoulder against the back of the couch. Her nipple is tight and peaked as I flick my thumb across it. Her inner pussy lips are already wet as I slowly drag my fingertips along her delicate skin.

“Tell me you need me.” My statement comes out of nowhere.

“I need you.”

The deep rumble of satisfaction through my gut answers every question I’ve ever had about what I want in a woman. Emma is it. My everything. Now I have to be everything for her.

Our tongues tangle, our breath blending for several moments before I force myself to pull away. Kissing a slow path downward, I worship her lush breasts until she’s quivering with lust and her lower belly trembles. Kissing lower, I spread her legs wide, draping one leg over the back of the couch as I kneel forward.

This time I don’t start slowly. Digging in, I immediately feast on her soft, wet flesh, licking and sucking at her clit as she cries out. The feeling of her fingers tightening in my hair makes my cock throb with need. What will it feel like to thrust into her?

Emma makes me feel hotter than the blaze I was fighting just hours earlier. I downplayed how bad it was so I wouldn’t worryher. I’m never going to stress out my sweet darling. Only give her as much comfort and pleasure as possible.

Her soft, gray-blue eyes lock onto mine as her mouth falls open. My thick finger slips inside again as I drag my tongue back and forth across her clit. Just as she begins to pant, her back arching, her fingernails pricking my scalp, I hum as loud as I can.

A shaky scream bounces off the ceiling as her entire body convulses, her strong thighs squeezing me as I lick faster, harder, drawing out her climax until she collapses, boneless.

“Wow,” she barely breathes, as I lap up her sweet juices. “That was…”

“The perfect dessert? Yes, it was. Thank you, gorgeous.”

She grins sweetly. As she catches her breath, I sit on the couch, pulling her close beside me. After a long, deep kiss, she cups my face, staring right into my eyes.

“What is it, Sparky?”

She smiles, her nose crinkling up like a cute little bunny’s. “You haven’t shown me your bedroom yet. How do I know if it’s as homey as the rest of the house?”

Talk about adding fuel to the fire.

11

EMMA

Inever once thought of myself as the kind of girl who would simply suggest we go to the bedroom. Yet here I am, holding Crow’s hand as he leads me to the back of the house.

There’s no doubt in my mind that I want him. That part is crystal clear. Every time I let my focus drift from how the two of us are touching, though, a slew of intrusive thoughts tries to sneak in and take over.

Like how I know for a fact my uncle is going to lose it when he sees me hanging out with “one of those tattooed biker freaks” that he always complains about. How my sisters will have a field day going on at length about how Crow isn’t “marriage material” because he has neither a high paying job nor a fancy degree.

Although, I have to say, his house is pretty fantastic. And he was trulygreatwith all the kids this afternoon. My sisters were looking for men who were good on paper. Maybe I need a man who’s good on…skin.