Page 23 of Burn for You

Marlee grabbed my wrists and pulled my arms around her. I tucked my face in her neck, surrounding myself with her body heat, her scent, those sweet little noises she made when I buried my cock deep.

When I felt her walls flutter, I pressed my mouth to her neck in a searing kiss. Then I circled her clit with enough pressure to make Marlee arch against me.

“Yes, yes, yes,” she babbled, rising up on tiptoe.

I snapped my hips into her, over and over, as her orgasm rose. Marlee gave a needy whine, clawing at my forearms. I clutched her body tighter, gritting my teeth to hold out a little longer.

“That’s it, sweetheart,” I rasped. “You’re so close.”

I pulled out and thrust back in with one hard stroke. Marlee shattered, fingernails leaving red welts on my arms. I kept circling her clit, sending one wave of pleasure after another washing over her. She squeezed my cock so tight that I exploded a second later, pulsing inside her.

The only sound in the room was our harsh breathing. Marlee relaxed, boneless in my embrace. I kissed her cheek and smoothed my tongue over the red mark on her neck from my teeth.

“If the police don’t catch this arsonist,” Marlee said. “I might have to stay here a while.”

I smiled, skimming my palms up her torso to cup her breasts.

“In that case, I hope the arsonist never shows his face again.”

Reluctantly, I pulled out, hissing at the loss of contact when my cock slipped free. Tossing the condom in the trash, I hoisted Marlee into my arms, carrying her to bed.

Chapter 8

Marlee

It wasn’t easy to convince Seth to let me out of bed. If he had his way, he would keep me there all day and all night, with one orgasm after another. My legs still felt wobbly from his attention. I lost count after coming so hard that I saw stars and forgot my own name.

I scoured Seth’s closet for a spare set of clothes that would fit me. Since he was several inches taller than me, I had to roll up the cuff of his sweatpants, but his t-shirt was roomy after getting stretched out by his broad shoulders.

“Are you sure that you want to do this?” Seth asked.

He parked his car at the curb, one arm propped on the steering wheel as he turned to look at me.

“I can’t avoid it forever,” I countered, twisting my fingers together.

Through the windshield, I surveyed the damage of my house. I didn’t even really get a chance to think about it as a home. Sheriff Beck had called and given the all-clear after the police were done collecting evidence.

Now I faced the monumental task of picking up the pieces of my life.

“You could change your mind,” Seth offered. “Go back to bed. I’ll order takeout that will knock your socks off.”

I breathed a laugh and cast a sideways glance at him.

“I’m sure it would somehow knock the rest of my clothes off, too.”

He grinned with a shameless shrug. My gaze followed Seth as he climbed out of his car and circled around to the passenger side, opening my door for me. Despite my resolve to keep this relationship casual, I was sliding down the slippery slope of my feelings. I found myself looking to him for security and comfort amid this nightmare I’d been living through over the past few days.

It should have scared me—opening my heart to him, letting down my guard. Instead, I felt strangely calm. And I was relieved that he’d agreed to help me pick through the ruins of my home, salvaging my life. It wouldn’t be an easy process, but at least I had the knowledge that I wasn’t doing it alone.

“Where do you want to start?” Seth asked, gesturing at the blackened remains of my house. “Living room? Bedroom? Kitchen?”

“My office,” I said. “I’d like to see if any paperwork survived. Then we can move to the bedroom. Maybe I’ll get lucky and my closet wasn’t damaged too badly.”

After Seth retrieved a few empty cardboard boxes from the back of his car, we picked a path through the house to my office. Wet ashes coated the floor in a layer of sludge. Glancing in the kitchen as I passed, I saw my dirty dishes in the sink and the cereal box I’d left on the counter, now blackened with soot. I bit the inside of my cheek with frustration at how quickly my life had turned upside down.

I left San Francisco to get away from my cheating ex and the memories I saw of him everywhere I went. I’d barely begun to build my life here in Romeo. It wasn’t fair that it went up in smoke after only a few weeks.

When we reached my office, it looked like the blaze had been minimal here. Many of the papers on my desk were singed, though still intact. Seth set the cardboard boxes on the floor and I started loading them up with anything I wanted to salvage.

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