Page 39 of Where There's Smoke…
With each step I took, my heart beat faster, and at one point, I thought it might give out on me. But I took a deep breath and continued my trek. By the time I made it to the fire station entrance, my head was spinning, and I was second-guessing everything. I decided to go in before I chickened out.
“Well, if it isn’t Cheonsa the daredevil,” I hear as soon as I enter. I shyly wave at Jed as he stands behind the desk with crossed arms. “Glad to see you’re alive and not dead.”
“Dude, leave her alone,” I hear someone else say. I look to the side and see Emerson shaking his head. He comes over and pulls me in for a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay, Angel. How can we help you today?”
“I, uh, I brought sandwiches from Kiwi’s,” I say, holding up the bag. I set it on the counter, and Jed smiles before thanking me and digging in. I turn to Emerson, suddenly nervous. “I don’t plan on staying long, but I wanted to see Phoenix...”
“You know you’re always welcome to come see your boo,” he smiles sweetly, motioning for me to follow him. I nod and quickly trailed behind him through the double doors that led to the garage. “Ayo, Phee. You have a visitor.”
I peek from behind him just in time to see her come from around the front of the truck, slinging an old rag over her shoulder. My breath hitches as I take in her appearance. Her locs were tied up in a bun on the top of her head, and as the last remnants of daylight seeped through the window, it hit her complexion just right.
My eyes traveled down her body, and I had to close my mouth to stop it from watering as I stared at her toned muscles peeking out from her black tank. It was paired with black sweatpants with the Tucker Fire Station logo on the left side. All I wanted to do was run my hands along her body as she fucked me all night long.
Yeah, it’s been a while...
“Angel, what are you doing here?” She asks as I slowly walk over to her. Hearing her call me by my real name and not the nickname I’d grown to love had me pouting. “You okay? You should be resting at home.”
“Ugh, I’m tired of resting at home,” I admit, shaking my head as my eyes narrowed. Her face softens, and she pulls me into her arms. I let out a contented sigh. “I needed this.”
“Oh, uh, we’ll leave y’all to it then,” I hear Emerson say, and he tells Kentrell to let us have some time. “We’re heading out, but I’ll lock up the front so no one will walk in on y’all.”
Phoenix acknowledges them with a nod, but her eyes are still trained on me. Once they’re gone, she pulls back to look at me fully. I can’t read her mind, but I can feel her worry in the way her eyes examine me. I can pinpoint the exact moment she realizes I’m okay by the slowing down of her breathing and the sigh that falls from her lips. She kisses me tenderly before smiling down at me.
“You missed me that much, Sweets?” She asks softly, and I nod frantically. “Even though you just saw me two days ago.”
“It doesn’t matter if I saw you two hours ago, I’m still going to miss you. Don’t you know that being away from you was so fucking painful,” I admit as I tightened my hold on her. “I knew you were busy, but why didn’t you tell me that so many fires were happening? I had to hear from Maddox.” I pause, pulling away to look up at her. “Are you being safe? Are you following protocol? Did you get hurt? Are you...”
She cut me off by kissing me tenderly, and I can feel myself relax. After she pulls away, she takes my hand and guides me out of the garage and down the hall to what I assume is her office. She opens the door for me, and I step in, looking around at the decent-sized space. A desk with neatly stacked papers was on one side of the room, and a couch was on the other. The rest of the furniture consisted of two chairs, a few filled bookshelves, and a small mini fridge.
My eyes drifted to the wall, and I took in all of the plaques and framed news articles. She had all kinds of awards and recognitions, and it made me feel proud to know that my baby had accomplished all of this. She was really a natural-born firefighter. My anxiety eased up a bit more.
“Baby, I’m sorry,” she says, pulling me back to the present. My head snaps over to her as she takes one of my hands in hers. She guides me over to the couch where we sit, hip to hip. “I didn’t want you to worry about me, but I promise I’m being safe. Especially because I’m doing more desk duty than anything.” She holds up her wrist. “Can’t really fight fires when I’m fractured, you know?”
“Okay, but...”
“I know that you’re not gonna stop worrying,” she cuts me off. I could see her eyes start to gloss over, and I did my best to blink back tears. “But this is my job, baby. When I’m fully healed and ready to go back out into the field, I need you to trust me that I will be safe. I promise to follow all of the steps like I should’ve back then. I promise that I’ll come home to you every time.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” I say, taking her right hand in mine. “I love you with all of my heart, Phoenix, and the last thing I want is to lose you. However, I trust you. I trust that you’ll always do the right thing. I know I complicated things in the fire, and I apologize.”
“Sweets, please stop apologizing,” she chuckles. “It was a traumatizing experience, but we’re still here, right?”
“Yes. Yes, we are,” I nod, cupping her face. “All that matters is that we’re alive and doing well. I mean, yeah you’re injured, and my asthma is doing the fucking most, but we’re still here. That’s all that matters…even if I do have to carry an inhaler around again for a while and you can only work half speed.”
“Oh, trust,” she smirks, leaning closer to me. “This fractured wrist don’t stop shit.” She kisses me before pulling away to take in my appearance. “Fuck, I missed you so much.”
“When are your coworkers coming back?” I ask, my body heating up as she lightly rubs my thigh. I bit my bottom lip softly to stop a moan from escaping, but she seemed to get what I was asking, and her smile widened.
“They went to get dinner, so it’ll be about another hour,” she answers, never taking her eyes off me or her hand off my thigh. I was wearing a skirt as usual, so her hands against my skin sent tingles down my spine. “Why? You have something to ask me?”
“No, I have something to give you,” I say as I stand from the couch.
I quickly walk over to the door and lock it. When I turn around, I see that she has draped her free arm over the back of the couch and gotten a bit more comfortable. Her eyes were on me, and I felt my heart skip a beat.
“What’s up, Sweets?” She asks as I make it back over to her. I don’t reply, but I drop to my knees before her. Her body reacts to me, and her legs spread. “What you tryna do, mamas?”
“I just want to taste you,” I whisper, my fingers tracing the band of her sweats. Need is written all over her face, and I felt like I had so much power right now. Making her feel good was something I always craved. “Can I taste you, baby?”
“Of course,” she replied, her voice suddenly raspy, dripping with desire. “You can do whatever you want to me, Sweets. You know this.”
