McKenzie, Cooper - Taming Blaze [Club Esoteria 8] (Siren Publishing Classic) (11 page)

She swallowed hard and then whispered, “You wouldn’t really, would you?”

He smirked and raised one eyebrow in answer as if daring her to try him. She blinked and looked away again. Knowing he had won this round, Andy pushed to his feet then helped Blaze to sit up. Jackson had left a bottle of water, so he twisted the top off and helped her drink that as well.

In the next moment, the paramedics arrived with a gurney and took over. He remained by her side until they loaded her into the ambulance. After they closed the back doors, he grabbed the driver and told him to pass along that Blaze was his girlfriend and they were to take extra special care of her. The man nodded as he climbed into the driver’s seat. Once the ambulance was gone, Andy tried to push his worried Dom side down so he could get back to work.

* * * *

It was late evening when Blaze finally listened to the nurse giggle girlishly as she finished filling Andy in on what the doctor had just told her. Deep breathing exercises, plenty of fluids, a hot shower, and resting over the weekend were the recommendations.

Blaze had agreed with the regimen because she knew if she did not, the doctor would demand she stay at least overnight, and that was the last thing she wanted or needed. She needed to find Melinda that help she would need to relocate to a new apartment, not to be bored out of her mind while she sat at home watching television. Though about twelve hours of sleep did sound enticing.

“Here, he wants to talk to you,” the nurse said, handing her the phone before walking out of the room.

“Yeeeeeees?” she said, putting as much sarcasm in her voice as she could muster.

“Feeling better, are we?” Andy said, the tone of power missing in his voice, replaced by concern.

“I’m fine. How are you?”

He ignored her attempt to turn things around on him. “Since you’re feeling so fine, you won’t mind swinging by the station on your way home.”

“I have to get some dinner and fetch my car, and then I’ll see if I’m up to a visit,” she snarked as the brazen, overly independent side of her personality burst out of the cage that normally contained it when she was with Andy.

“Jackson’s fiancée, Sinclair, is in the waiting room. She will give you a ride to your car. I’ll expect you here in the next half hour.” Andy’s tone powered up to full Dom strength.

At his tone, the wild and willful part of her being drained out of her toes. Blaze drew in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before blowing it out on a sigh. “I’ll try, Sir.”

“Don’t try. Do,” he ordered before cutting the connection.

She clicked her phone off before making a face at it.

“Don’t try. Do,” she mimicked in her snarkiest voice.

She gathered up her briefcase that someone had brought to her and then stuffed the paperwork, medications, and other paraphernalia the doctor and nurse had left with her into it.

She frowned as a sudden out-of-the-blue resentment swept through her. Her chest felt tight, and her stomach burned as the two sides of her personality fought for dominance. Her submissive side wanted to run and hide to him. Her strong, independent side wanted to find him and slap him for being so bossy after not talking to her for almost two days.

Her mind urged her to run away as far and fast as she could get. Her clit, tits, and heart, on the other hand, demanded she go straight to the station, demand Master Z hold her for an hour or two, and have him tell her that he cared more about her than just as another citizen he was sworn to protect.

As she made her way out of the treatment area and back to the waiting room, her two sides continued contradicting each other. By the time she found Sinclair, she was tired and dizzy and just wanted to go home and sleep.

* * * *

Andy hit the
End
button and returned his phone to his belt with a shake of his head. He wanted to say to hell with working the rest of his shift and go take care of Blaze. Unfortunately, they were already a man short, so there was no way he could leave. He would just have to wait for her to come to him.

He just hoped he could control the urge making him want to drag her into the nearest closet as soon as he saw her.

Chapter 11

Blaze jerked to consciousness and froze as her body shifted from deep sleep to a hyperawareness that something was wrong. Had she overslept? Was someone at the door? What had woken her in a state of racing heartbeat and near panic?

The phone was not ringing.

Her alarm clock radio was not playing.

She smelled smoke, but that was just residual from yesterday’s near-death experience.

After retrieving her car, she was so wiped out that instead of going to see Andy, she hit her favorite drive-through for a cheeseburger and ate it on the short drive home. Once there she took a quick shower and pulled on her oldest, softest, comfort-me T-shirt before crawling into bed.

Opening her eyes, she stared at the clock on the bedside table. Seven-eighteen. She had no idea what time she fell asleep, except that it was late. Since she had barely slept Wednesday or Thursday night, and with the excitement of yesterday’s fire, no wonder she was still groggy and wanting to return to dreamland.

But what had woken her?

Straining her ears, she tried to hear something, but all she heard was the heater running and the refrigerator humming in the kitchen. Telling herself that she was being silly and something in her now-forgotten dream must have prompted her frantic waking, she rolled to her side, snuggled deeper under the fluffy comforter, and closed her eyes, hoping to drift off for another hour or so before waking naturally.

She was completely relaxed when the covers behind her shift. She turned her head and tried to open her eyes as the mattress moved, as if someone had climbed into bed with her. But her eyes refused to open.

When hands that were cold even through her T-shirt touched her, she pushed at them, but the uncoordinated movements proved of no effort in keeping the intruder from rolling her over.

“Shhh, kitten, it’s me.”

Andy’s voice washed over her, calming the panic that was building in her chest. She relaxed and allowed him to rearrange her so that her head was on his chest and one arm draped over his middle.

“Andy?” she asked. She wanted to ask what he was doing in her bed and in her house but found it too much work to form the words.

“Yes, little one, it’s Andy,” he said, his arms holding her securely against his body. “You didn’t come by the house last night.”

“But how?”

“I’m a firefighter. I have all kinds of tricks up my sleeve. Now go back to sleep. You’re still recuperating.”

“Mmmm,” she sighed, snuggling deeper into his side. “’Kay.”

She thought she heard him whisper, “I love you, kitten,” and then brush a kiss over the top of her head, but could not be sure. One more deep breath that filled her lungs with Andy’s clean, masculine scent, and she relaxed into sleep again.

* * * *

Andy could not help but smile as Blaze sighed and snuggled closer. The part of him that was entranced by this tiny fireball had wound tighter and tighter when she had not shown up at the station the night before. Finally, he broke down and did a GPS search on her cell phone. When he found she was at home, he relaxed enough to sleep, but then they had been called out twice during the night, finally returning to the station in time for him to clean up and grab a cup of coffee before leaving.

After brushing another kiss over kitten’s hair, he took a deep breath and released it on an extended sigh as he drowsed and considered what her punishment would be. Not only would she receive a spanking that would turn the pale ivory skin of her ass bright pink for not obeying his command to come to the station when she left the hospital, he also had to come up with something that would keep her from getting in trouble as she had the previous afternoon.

But he would take care of all that tonight. Then, once the punishment was dealt with, he would follow up with giving her the other present he had picked up at the toy store on Tuesday. His smile and his cock grew at the thought of seeing his little blonde kitten wearing the red-and-black leather collar.

With that vision in his head, Andy closed his eyes and followed Blaze to dreamland.

* * * *

When Blaze woke next, she found something big and warm wrapped around her. She woke slowly, feeling comforted and secure instead of panicked as she had earlier. Twisting her head, she saw out of the corner of her eye that the big, warm something was Andy, who was still asleep.

Or so he appeared, until his hand slid down the front of her body to where the hem of her T-shirt laid on her upper thighs. The hand turned and slid between her thighs then worked its way back up until it cupped her mons.

“Good morning,” he murmured in her ear when she squirmed.

“How did you get in here?” she asked as he began to massage the flesh between her legs with a slow, easy gripping motion.

“Magic,” he replied before scooting back and lifting up to rest on his other elbow. “Why didn’t you come to the station last night?”

Blaze rolled to her back and looked up at him and felt her heart melt under the brown eyes that studied her so seriously and intently. All at once, the only thing she wanted was to beg him to love her just a little. But could she? They’d only known one another a week, and not under the most common or usual of circumstances.

Taking a breath, she turned her head to avoid his all-seeing gaze and nuzzled her nose along his chest. “I’m sorry. I was wiped out. All I wanted was some food, a shower, and my bed. I would not have been good for any sex games.”

She squeaked a gasp when the hand covering her pussy delivered a sharp swat right over her clit. “Oww, why’d you do that?”

When she tried to roll away, he lifted his hand from her pussy to the valley between her breasts and easily held her in place. Then he leaned over until they were nose to nose.

“I am your Master, little kitten. I know you don’t realize it yet, but to me that means more than being in charge of scenes at the club. That means I care about you. All of you, not just whether or not we can get each other off. When I have to carry your unconscious body out of a building but cannot go with you to the hospital”—he paused and trembled before taking a deep breath—“then I will worry until I see you and can confirm for myself that you are, indeed, all right. That is why I wanted you to come to the station last night.”

Blaze blinked and went still and silent under his suddenly fierce, dark gaze. Seeing the concern and love in his eyes, she fell the rest of the way into the volcano of love she had been hovering over since he had given her the orgasm on the bar the week before.

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry. I was tired and dirty and feeling about as sexy as an old shoe. I didn’t want you to see me that way,” she whispered as tears of remorse filled her eyes.

When the first one rolled out of the corner of her eye and back into her hair, his expression softened, and his hand slid across her body to cup her breast.

“How are you feeling now?” he asked as his fingers played with the soft flesh of her breast without going anywhere near her nipple.

“Horny,” she admitted softly, arching her back to press her breast more firmly into his touch.

“No aftereffects from yesterday?”

Instead of giving her what he needed, he pulled his hand away and pushed the covers down to her knees.

Blaze had to think about that for a moment before answering. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Good. Then get up on your hands and knees, ass facing me,” he ordered as he rolled from the bed.

She watched him as she rolled over and assumed the position he dictated. When she saw him pick up another, bigger butt plug and small tube of lube, she made a soft whimpering sound as her pussy gushed in anticipation. For a woman who was not experienced with the kind of gentle playing Master Z preferred, she was quickly becoming excited by just the thought that he would fill both her ass and pussy again.

She watched as he spread a liberal amount of lube on the plug before turning to the bed.

“Head and shoulders on the bed. Arms over your head, and eyes closed,” he ordered, rubbing one finger down the crease between her ass cheeks.

Turning her head, she dropped her shoulders to the bed and stretched her arms out as he commanded. When his finger pressed against her pucker, smearing the residual lube around before pressing for entrance, she took a breath and focused on relaxing everything below her waist.