Page 39 of Burned By Love

They didn’t have to go far.As soon as he was inside the shop, West heard Jonathan’s voice.The only reason he didn’t rush forward was that Austin touched his shoulder.They needed to do this the right way, no matter how much West wanted to kill Sal.

“Why are you doing this?”Jonathan asked.“You don’t care about me.You never did.”

“Because you’re mine,” Sal said with a growl.“Everything would’ve been fine if you’d stayed, but you had to rebel.You had to think you could abandon me.This is what it earns you, Jonathan.You’ll regret leaving me for the rest of your life.I’ll make sure to remind you of everything you’ve lost every day for the rest of your life because you left me.”

West was done wasting time.He rushed forward, ignoring Austin when he tried to catch his arm again.The voices had been coming from the room Jonathan worked in.

West had only a few moments to look around when he burst inside.Jonathan was pressed against the wall furthest from the door.Sal was between him and West, cutting off Jonathan’s only exit.The room was warm, and Jonathan was sweating.His eyes were wide, and he was pale, and while he appeared unharmed, the damage Sal had done today was enough to push West to throw himself at him without thinking twice about it.

Sal was about to pay for everything he’d ever done to Jonathan.

* * * *

JONATHAN DIDN’T HAVEto wonder who the firefighter who threw himself at Sal was.He knew, even though he couldn’t see the man’s face because of the mask he was wearing.

He wanted to tell West to stop and warn him not to put himself in danger, but he knew better.West was wearing his uniform, which meant he was here with the rest of his team.He was here to work, but that wouldn’t matter to him when Jonathan was involved.West had promised he’d do everything to keep Jonathan safe, and Jonathan had believed him.

He was about to see whateverythingwas.

Sal must have heard something because he started to turn.West’s body hit him before he could fully face West, slamming him against the closest wall.Jonathan cried out and stepped forward, but what could he do?He would be of no help in this fight.The best thing was for him to stay out of it, but the shop was on fire, and he was afraid that he wouldn’t have time to leave.

Not that Sal would allow him to leave.Jonathan had tried after Sal had set the waiting area on fire, but Sal had dragged him to his workroom, probably to show him everything he was losing.Jonathan had always known that Sal was cruel, but this was worse than anything he could’ve imagined.Sal was taking pleasure in destroying Jonathan’s life, and he wouldn’t stop until everything had burned down.

Sal seemed dazed for a few seconds after he hit the wall, but it didn’t last long.He snapped his fist forward, knocking the helmet off West’s head.Sal laughed darkly, seemingly happy to see that West had finally arrived.The sound slithered down Jonathan’s spine and turned his stomach.

“Run!”West yelled as he looked at Jonathan.

The movement gave Sal enough time to push West away.He moved toward Jonathan, but West snagged him around the waist and pulled him back, slamming him back against the wall.

Jonathan wanted to obey West’s order.He didn’t want to stay here and watch as his life burned around him, as Sal hurt his boyfriend, as everything he’d worked so hard for vanished as if it had never existed.At the same time, he couldn’t abandon West.If there was anything Jonathan could do to help him, he wanted to do it.

He’d never felt so powerless.He had to watch West and Sal grapple with each other, throwing punches and trying to hurt the other.It was clear that West was stronger, and he was slightly bigger, but Sal was holding his own, which worried Jonathan.

“Jonathan?”

Jonathan glanced at the door to see another firefighter standing there.The man had the same mask on his face as West, so Jonathan had to squint to recognize him.“Austin?”

Austin held out a hand.“Yeah.Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

“I can’t leave West.”

West crashed into a table as Jonathan said those words.His back hit the wall, and Sal threw himself at him, clearly intending to pin him there.West rolled out of the way and managed to get behind Sal.He raised his leg and kicked Sal’s back, sending him face-first against the wall.

“He wants you to leave,” Austin insisted.“West is a dragon shifter.He can survive the fire.You can’t.”

He was right.West was fireproof, but Jonathan wasn’t.He needed to get out, but how could he abandon his boyfriend?What if Sal won?What if he somehow managed to knock out West and left him in the fire?What if he killed him and ran?Jonathan hadn’t believed that Sal was capable of killing someone, even after everything he’d done to him, but he wasn’t so sure anymore.Sal would do whatever he had to get what he wanted, including killing someone he felt stood in his way.

And right now, West was doing just that.

* * * *

WEST WASN’T PLANNINGon drawing this out.He couldn’t afford to when Jonathan was still in the room and resisting Austin’s offer to help him out.If West could, he’d tell Austin to grab Jonathan and carry him out, but he needed to keep his attention on Sal.

“How does it feel to know I had him first?”Sal asked as he grabbed a chair and held it up.“How does it feel to know that everything you’ve ever done with him, I did it first?”

Sal was trying to make West angry.He was succeeding, but West didn’t want him to know that.He didn’t want Sal to have the satisfaction, but even more so, he needed to keep his head in the game.Sal was doing this to distract him, and West wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of reacting the way he hoped for.

He didn’t care about Jonathan’s exes.He didn’t care about what Jonathan had done with them or what he hadn’t done.The only reason he’d ever thought twice about Sal was that the man was a dickhead and was stalking Jonathan.

---