Page 61 of The Night Belongs To Fireman

Then he shifted from that long, slow spearing to a steady in-and-out penetration that had her eyes crossing. She couldn’t hold back her primal groan. He pulled out, his thigh muscles clenching, then thrust in again. Remembering the way she’d noticed his butt, and how she’d pictured it during sex, her face heated. She lost herself in the smooth flex, the hot clench, the thrust and rock and grind. Losing all control over her limbs, she surged against him, wanting more, harder, again. And then all she could think about was how incredible he felt inside her, the heat of his body against hers, the sweat on his straining face, the pulses of light flashing in her vision, the electric surge racing toward her, crashing onto her, breaking her into a million particles of shimmering ecstasy.

Buried inside Rachel’s sweet, trembling body, Fred wondered if he’d blown a blood vessel. He’d never come so hard in his life.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” He peeled a stray lock of tumbling dark hair off her cheek. “Please tell me I didn’t. I kind of lost it for a second there.” He’d been completely consumed by his need to have her, and now tenderness clawed at his insides. His duty was to protect this girl, not harm her.

“You didn’t notice the cries for help?” she asked dryly. “No, you didn’t hurt me. What about me? I think I might have punched you again.” Lifting a hand to his face, she traced the outline of his nose. “Yup. It’s a little red.”

“I didn’t notice. I was a little busy getting the top of my head blown off.” He started to pull out of her body, but she stopped him.

“I don’t want you to leave me yet,” she said softly. Her violet eyes darkened, and her inky lashes fell over them. “We could sleep here, just like this. Never have to be alone.”

Her melancholy tone made him uneasy. Rachel was full of fascinating opposites—tentative but wild, a little innocent but electrically responsive. And always, underneath, the suggestion of loneliness.

“You’re not going to be alone. I live here remember? I’m your twenty-four-hour-a-day shadow.”

“Right.” Her lips, inflamed from his kisses, lifted at the corners. Then her eyes flew open. “Right!” She struggled to sit up, while he gripped his cock with one hand to keep it from getting too jostled in the process. He slipped from the hot clasp of her body into the cooler air. “Oh no! Is this going to make everything more awkward?”

“Everything?”

“Well …” She slid her tongue across her swollen lower lip. “You being my bodyguard and us having …”

“Sex,” he prompted.

“Yes. Sex.” Her cheeks flamed fuchsia. “Really, really good sex.”

“I thought so. I’m glad you agree.” Actually, it made him feel like Superman.

“We can’t tell my father.”

He didn’t bother to point out that his parents weren’t usually his first phone call after sex. Obviously she was experiencing a freak-out and he’d just have to roll with it. “Agreed.”

“Not because he wouldn’t approve. Not that. But I don’t want him to think you can’t do your job just as well as before we had sex.”

The mention of Kessler put an end to his post-coital buzz. He stood up to track down his pants. “Rachel, are you sure you really need a bodyguard? I haven’t seen one thing out of the ordinary since I’ve been here.” A thought had begun to form; maybe he could stop being her bodyguard and they could date, like normal people.

She scrambled to her knees on the cushions of the couch. Its dark rust shade set off the pearly paleness of her skin and the ruby-red points of her nipples, making her look positively erotic. “Are you quitting? Because if you are, you’d better tell me right this second.”

“Quitting? How’d you get from ‘Do you need a bodyguard?’ to ‘I’m quitting’? I committed to this job, and I’m not bailing on it. But your dad’s testimony’s coming up soon and we haven’t seen one sign of anything suspicious. I just want to know that I’m doing something important. Something that matters.”

“It matters to me.” She curled her legs under her and clasped her hands together on her thighs. He wished he could take a picture of her, just like this, tumbled and flushed and honest. “What other bodyguard would ever take me out and play bumper cars with me? Or get in a bar brawl?”

He winced. “Definitely not a professional one.”

“I’m serious. I want you to stay. But I really don’t want things to be awkward between us. We need to have a serious discussion.”

“Okay. Let’s do it.” Since their discussion needed some lightening up, he pulled on his boxers. A gift from Lizzie, they had little red fire hydrants scattered all over them.

Her eyes drifted to them, and he saw her try to control a smile. He went to the couch and sat next to her. He crossed one leg over the other, so she couldn’t possibly miss the fire engines.

“Serious discussion time.”

“Um …” she bit her lip. “I suppose we could not have sex again.”

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