Page 5 of Burning Desire

“He made me miserable!”

“You made both of you miserable!” I shout, finally saying what I have been holding back for years. “You made everyone around you miserable!” My anger pushes through. Grabbing a plate from the table, I hurl it at the wall beside her head. Mychest is heaving with my unfettered rage that this woman, my only sister, thinks she can walk around doing whatever the hell she wants and never taking the blame for her actions.

She stares at me like she suddenly realizes I’m dangerous and not just her little sister. Taking a deep breath, I try to explain what we all know is true. “You changed and we all saw it. You became someone none of us knew anymore. And the sad part is none of us knew why. We still don’t.”

Aurora glares at me, thinking I will go easy on her because she is my sister, but I won’t back down. She is such a pampered little snot that she doesn’t see her own faults. First my parents, then Draven, and now poor, stupid Derick.

“You need to leave,” Darla says stepping up next to me.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” My sister turns her venomous gaze on the poor unsuspecting young woman.

“I’m Harmony’s friend and I think you’ve upset her enough,” Darla replies calmly.

“How dare you…”

“Get out!” I yell, cutting Aurora off. “Or I will call the deputy to forcibly remove you from my building.”

“I’m your sister.”

“Yes. But you’re being a bitch and disrupting my business. Get. Out.” I glare at her as I enunciate the last two words.

“You are going to regret this,” Aurora threatens, and I know she means it. She will find some way to get me back for choosing myself over her. “Mark my words.”

Chapter Three

First Date Drama

Draven

I wasn’t planning on looking for Harmony in town and I sure as shit was trying to convince myself not to ask her out when I saw her again. But just like everything else in my life, the moment I make plans the universe throws a spanner in the works.

Not that I’m complaining. I’m a divorced thirty-two-year-old who hasn’t had sex in over two years, and Harmony is certainly not hard on the eyes. She is the total opposite of Aurora. All curves, hips, and a luscious ass.

Now, here I am standing in my bathroom, wrapped in nothing but a dark green towel, trying to convince myself that I can be friends with Harmony without trying to get closer to her. I don’t know what the hell came over me when I kissed her in the bakery. I mean, it was an innocent kiss on the cheek but the moment I did it I knew I wanted to kiss her again. And again. And not just on her cheek.

Hearing that she had wanted to ask me out to dinner made me feel like a sixteen-year-old again. Giddy with the anticipation of taking out a pretty girl. At least this time I don’t have to borrow my dad’s old beat-up Camaro.

I shake myself out of the thoughts on my mind and look at myself in the mirror.

“It’s just dinner, you schmuck.”

But the erection tenting my towel seems to say otherwise. I know I won’t be able to behave like the gentleman my mother raised if I don’t take the problem in hand before our date. I let the towel drop to the floor and wrap my hand around my cock, stroking from root to tip. My eyes fall closed and a vision ofHarmony pops into my mind. The shirt she was wearing earlier gaped open when she leaned over the counter, giving me a glimpse of the red lace bra she was wearing beneath.

I imagine her lying on my bed in red underwear, her tan skin shimmering in the lamplight. My hand strokes faster over my length and before I can even imagine her naked or moaning my name, my cum explodes from me.

“Dinner my ass,” I murmur to myself as I clean the mess before going to my closet to grab some clothes. This woman has me twisted in knots and we haven’t even really kissed yet.

I settle on my dark wash jeans, a black Henley, and my black boots. This is the version of me that Harmony knows, and I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not for her. This Draven is enough.

Grabbing my keys, I lock up the little bungalow-style house I bought before moving back. Jumping in my truck, I leisurely drive over to Cake My Life, knowing I am ten minutes early. It’s a force of habit, something I picked up in my early days as a probate.

An upbeat country song plays through the speakers, and I bob my head to the tune as I drive through our sleepy little town.

It takes me a moment to understand what I am looking at when I see black smoke in the general direction of the bakery, and my years of training instantly kick in. There is a fire somewhere downtown. Grabbing my cell, I call the firehouse.

“Kidds Beach Fire Department. How may I direct your call?” a woman answers within the first few rings.

“Arlene, it’s Draven,” I try to keep my voice calm as I speak to the night shift operator. She needs to be able to hear me clearly. “There’s a fire downtown.”

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