Safe From the Fire (17 page)

She
liked
him, and that was why it was best that they have some fun and then
go their separate ways.  He’d realize it eventually, when the stares and
whispers got to be too much, and when he figured out that he couldn’t fight
everyone who said something cruel about her.  And when he finally rejected her
– yes, that was going to hurt, but she was tougher than she looked.

Grace
curled into her pillow, wondering what kind of girl Matt would ultimately end
up with and wishing that the thought of him with someone else didn’t sting
quite so badly.

RAFAEL
TOOK ONE LOOK at Matt’s face and grinned.

“Congratulations,
man!  You got laid!”

Matt
looked up from the map he was marking up in the mess at the fire station and
shook his head in disbelief.

“Don’t
ask me how I know.  It’s a gift.”

Rafael
clapped his friend on the shoulder and took a seat.  Unlike the rest of the
department, who looked haggard from long shifts, interrupted nights of sleep,
and frustration, Rafael was fresh and alert, and had jokingly attributed his
seemingly boundless energy to wheatgrass and tons of sex. 

“So,
how was it?”

Matt
glared at him, but Rafael just grinned.

“Come
on, man, with you going all ‘Fire Department Police Liaison’ on me, I haven’t
seen you all week.  Give me every little disgusting detail.”

“I’ve
been a little busy.”

“I
can imagine.

“Don’t.”

“Well,
I’m glad to see you got over your fears.  Grace is a lucky woman.  I can’t wait
to see you two lovebirds together, give the town busybodies something to talk
about.”

Matt
hesitated.  There was no way in hell he was going to tell Rafael about Grace’s
sexual preferences, but –

“Grace
doesn’t want a relationship.”

Rafael
raised a perfectly arched eyebrow.

“She
just wants sex.  I mean, I know some guys would kill for something like that –
no strings, no commitment, no romance, but – ”

“But
you’re not ‘some guy.’”

Matt
sighed, nodding, as Rafael leaned back in his chair, pondering the problem.

“Any
chance you could convince her to change her mind?”

“I’m
working on it.  But we had a fight, and now – ”

He
shrugged, uncomfortable, rolling his shoulders.

“Then
what are you doing here, man?”

Matt
shuffled his papers.

“Trying
to connect anybody on this list of Cal Iverson’s customers to the fire
locations.”

Rafael
rolled his eyes and reached out a hand.

“I’m
not just a pretty face, you know.  Give.  Go.  Take a few hours to convince her
she can’t live without you.  All of this will be here when you get back. 
Promise.”

Matt
hesitated, tempted, and finally pushed to his feet.  Hell, he couldn’t
concentrate anyway, not when he knew Grace was mad at him.  At the very least
he could go make things right.  Then maybe he could focus on tracking down the
arsonist.

THE
FINGERS TRACING HER cheekbone were warm and slightly rough.  And familiar. 
Grace pulled herself out of sleep, becoming aware of the dip in the bed where
he sat by her side.

“Matt?”
she murmured, dragging her eyes open.

“The
door was unlocked, Grace.  I wouldn’t have just come up here, but for a moment,
I thought – ”

His
jaw tensed and he stroked her cheek again, her eyelids, her lips.  It felt so
good, she had to open her mouth for a quick brush of her tongue against the pad
of his finger.  His breath hitched.

“The
front lock is broken.  Adam was going to fix it,” she yawned, “It’s on the
list.”

“Well,
move it higher.  Or let me do it.  I need to know you’re safe.”

His
fingers traced a path down her neck and she arched into the touch like a cat.

“Wait,
I’m still mad at you,” Grace pouted, and rolled to her back to look up at him
in reproach.

“I
know you feel like you need to do something, but if anything happened to you –
”

Matt
shook his head, looking a little desperate, and Grace felt something gooey melt
inside her, just a little.

“I’ll
be careful,” she promised.

They
considered each other for a long moment, and then finally, he nodded.

“I’m
sorry about earlier.  I went to the library to look for you, and Fiona said
you’d headed home.”

“I’m
sorry, too,” she murmured, finding it difficult to swallow as Matt traced two
fingers lightly down between her breasts to toy with the silk sash of her robe.

“I
know you don’t think we can ever be a real couple, Grace, but if we were…”

He
tugged the bow until it gave way.  Slowly, he peeled the sides of the robe
back.  Except for a pair of tiny green lace panties, she was naked underneath.

“If
we were,” he continued, “This is the part where we’d get to have phenomenal makeup
sex.”

“I’ve
heard of that,” breathed Grace, unable to contain a whimper as he dipped a
finger in her navel and then slid it down to trace her cleft through the damp
fabric.  Restlessly, she parted her thighs for him, but he only moved his
attentions to the lacy band that curved over her hip.

“But
I thought you might find makeup sex a little boring, so – ”  Matt cleared his
throat, clearly trying to get comfortable with whatever he was about to
propose.

Grace
tried not to look too eager, but this slow teasing was already killing her.

“I
thought I could try…punishing you.”

“For?”
Grace prompted, anticipation sliding through her.

But
here Matt drew a blank.

“Well,
you have a mind of your own, and even when we disagree I don’t ever want you to
think that I don’t respect your opinion, and – ”

Grace
sat up and stopped his helpless ramble with a brush of her lips.

“You
could punish me because I got myself off in the shower this morning, thinking
about your cock in my mouth,” she murmured between soft kisses.

“Okay,”
he said agreeably, nibbling her lower lip.

“Or
you could punish me because I saw you across Main Square last week while I was
walking to work and nearly stepped into traffic because I was too busy looking
at your ass to notice where I was going.”

Matt
was rolling her nipples now, with gentle tugs that Grace got more pleasure from
than she ever thought she would from such a tender caress.

“Naughty
Grace,” he murmured, kissing his way down her neck.

“Or
maybe you should just punish me for being a totally incurable cocktease,” she
concluded, sliding an appreciative hand down his body to cup the heavy bulge,
delighted when it throbbed against her hand, even through his jeans.

He
hissed, pressing up into her grip.  With her other hand, Grace leaned over to
open the nightstand drawer.

“Help
yourself,” she said.

A
WEEK AGO, MATT would have taken one look at the contents of that drawer and
been out the door like a jackrabbit on the run from a pack of wolves.  Now,
however, he just grippe the edge of the nightstand and took a deep breath,
steadying himself.

“Are
you okay?” Grace asked.

“Yeah,
just…give me a minute.”

Grace
shrugged the robe off her shoulders, and Matt’s eyes lighted on the sash.

“Stand
up and turn around,” he ordered, and caught a glimpse of the excitement in her
eyes as she scooted off the bed.

Matt
took a moment to appreciate the creamy, bare cheeks with his lips, as well as
the delicate small of her back, before he caught her hands and looped the silk
around her crossed wrists.  His stomach churned with fear and lust, and he was
glad she couldn’t see his hands shaking as he tested the bonds, making sure the
tie wouldn’t mark her gorgeous skin.  Because he needed a moment, he stood and slid
his arms around her, burying his mouth in her hair.

“You’re
doing great,” Grace whispered, and Matt chuckled at the incongruity of the
situation.  She was the one tied up, but he had never felt so fucking vulnerable. 
He caressed the smooth skin of her stomach, copping a heady feel all the way up
to her breasts, where her nipples were tight with excitement. 

She
really wants this.

“I’ll
survive,” he murmured, and lightly pinched the hard little nubs, eliciting a
delicious little moan.  Carefully, he tightened his grip, and she arched into
his hands, restlessly rubbing her thighs together, pressing her ass back
against him in a way that made him harden another inch.

“Stay,”
he ordered, and she managed a nod, whimpering as he let her go to cross over to
her closet. 

He
saw her smothering a grin when he returned with a pair of strappy black
stilettos, but he glared at her and she re-schooled her features into a more
contrite expression.  Silently, he knelt in front of her and helped her don
first one shoe, and then the other, fastening the tiny buckles.  Then he
reached into the drawer.

Grace
licked her lips at the sight of the nipple clamps and the thin gold chain that
connected them.  But Matt paused, unsure what to do.

“You
should – it works better if you suck my nipples first,” Grace said, hunger in
her voice.

Matt
obligingly knelt up and drew one pink tip into his mouth, sucking strongly so
that she cried out.  He refused to think about who else she had shared her box
of toys with over the years.

“Just
a little more, sweetheart, and you’ll be all ready for your punishment,” he
murmured, feeling foolish, but Grace’s hips jerked involuntarily, which
instantly made him feel better about this whole fantasy conversation.

Matt
slipped the clamp in place and slowly began tightening it, terrified that he’d
make it too tight despite his care, relieved when she murmured, “There,” on a
strangled note, her head falling back to reveal the lovely line of her throat. 
More confidently, Matt attached the other one and then sat back to admire her
decked-out tits, gently tugging the chain that hung between them.

She
gasped, arching.

Nice.

He
tugged the panel of her panties to one side, pleased to find the folds already
swollen and damp.

“Now,
Grace, walk for me.  Over to the closet and turn around.”

Shuddering,
she did as he demanded, and his stomach clenched as he watched her ass flex,
and the glorious lengths of her legs, and the loose ends of the sash that bound
her wrists as they teased the sweet cleft with every step in those outrageous
heels.

But
when she turned around, Matt’s breath fled his body as surely as if he’d been
punched in the solar plexus.  Bare and on display
for him
, her long
purple locks tumbling around her pale skin, arms bound behind her.  Candy pink
nipples clamped hard, the chain swinging between them, topped sweet, plump
little breasts, and she was so aroused that her swollen little clit peeked out
from flushed, bare folds.  The wicked shoes completed the heart-stopping look. 
Matt scanned her face for any trace of distress, relieved to find none, only eyes
filled with heat, though her rosebud mouth was pouting.

“You’re
still dressed.”

The
little pout disappeared when he tugged his tee shirt over his head, and he held
her gaze as he reached for the button of his jeans.  Matt grinned when her gaze
dropped, hungrily focused on his hands as they eased the zipper down.  He
lifted his hips to pull his jeans down just far enough to free his aching cock
and the heavy sac beneath, then sprawled back on the bed, knees spread wide,
casually stroking his dick as he looked at her.

Through
it, she was silent, rapt.  She seemed to have forgotten that she was nearly naked.

“Since
this is your first offense, Ms. Cocktease, I think I can let you off with a
warning as long as you can convince me that you’re really,
really
,
sorry.”  Matt injected as much sternness into his voice as he could manage
under the circumstances.

He
knew she was expecting a spanking, and he needed to get that off the table as
quickly as possible.  Just the thought of hitting her in any way nearly wilted
his erection.  Grace seemed to be up for anything, however, because she was
nodding eagerly.

“I’m
sorry, really I am.”  Her gaze was trained on his cock.

“Because
you want this?” Matt asked, stroking his shaft.

Grace
nodded, licking her lips.

“I
didn’t hear that.”  He cupped his sac, lifting it for her, and she whimpered.

“I
want you.”

“You
want cock.”

A
slight hesitation.

“Yes,”
she said, and he was surprised to hear nerves in her voice.