Up in Flames [The Heroes of Silver Springs 10] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (9 page)

“But then he would’ve cut off his escape route.”

“Or he would’ve been forced out the front garage door in plain sight of anyone passing by. He might have expected that oil drum out there to blow, but he knew it wouldn’t happen until he got out.”

“All that still doesn’t answer the puzzle about how he got inside in the first place,” Max reminded her. He could practically see the wheels turning in her beautiful head. Intense concentration etched itself on her ivory face. She’d managed to get a black smudge down the side of her nose and another just below her right temple. Even dirty, clad in bunker gear, and wearing a chip on her shoulder she’d thankfully started to ignore for at least the last few minutes, the woman was still quite possibly the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.

Wrinkles carved the flesh on the bridge of her nose and between her brows as she turned slowly, her gaze scanning, and her mind reeling. “The obvious answer is the back door off the office.”

Max lifted a brow. “What was that lecture you gave me a few minutes ago about obvious answers?”

“You didn’t let me finish,” she said tightly, holding up a finger. “It isn’t so obvious when you take into account there are no signs of forced entry on that door. It was open from the inside. I checked the garage door before I entered the building. No sign of forced entry there either.”

Max threw his head back, his mind working as he attempted to piece it together. He let his eyes close as he tried to picture it, and came up with only one possible conclusion. “The guy had a key?”

“The evidence so far would lead you to believe that, wouldn’t it?” She got a faraway look in her eyes as she pointed toward the back door in the office, barely visible from where they stood in the middle of the customer area. “He comes in that door, douses the office, waiting room, and customer service desk heavily with the accelerant. He lets it trail to the glass door.” She started walking, tracing the movements she spoke of with her own feet. “He opens it, spreads the accelerant around the frame, and then continues it into the garage.”

Max followed her back into the garage, watching her, listening, and admiring her mind.

“Maybe he stops then to open the garage door.” Her gaze sliced to the control box on the wall for the garage doors. “Maybe the fumes are too much, even for him, or maybe he just knows he’s going to want that oxygen to feed the fire when he lights it. Given the hour of the morning, anyone passing by wouldn’t have thought it suspicious seeing as how automotive shops usually open so early. He continues to pour the accelerant, creating the path, and the start.” She kept walking, moving now to the workbench beneath the window. “He climbs up, makes sure the window is unlocked, and probably opens it in preparation of his escape.”

Max watched her, wondering if she even realized she was still tracing the movements she talked about, completely to the point of climbing onto the workbench.

She stood on top of the bench, her head angling slowly from side to side as she studied the window. “He’s not a big guy, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to fit through this window.” She said it so softly he figured she was talking more to herself than him. “He gets back down,” she continued as she turned, careful not to disturb anything still lying on the bench, and moved to the edge.

Max hustled toward her, his arms going up more out of reflex than thought, to catch her waist and help her down.

Her hands closed around his biceps, but her gaze stayed on the point of origin of the fire. “He starts the fire. He’s in awe over the beauty of it as it springs to life. He stands there, watching it for as long as he dares, then climbs out the window and runs.”

Max waited a beat to make sure she was finished before he spoke. “Sounds to me like you’ve got your opinion, Investigator.”

Her gaze snapped to his, the dreaminess in her eyes clearing and surprise rapidly taking over. She attempted to cover it with a flash of temper. “What I have, firefighter, is an opinion based on half facts and half conjecture.”

Max bit back a grin. “And that’s too close to a theory for you.”

“You’re damn right it is.” She tried to pull away, but with his hands still locked on her waist and the workbench behind her, she didn’t get very far. “Are you going to let go?”

Max pretended to think about that. “Naw, not yet. I like you this way, having you in my arms pinned to the workbench…It reminds me a lot of last night.” He knew the instant the words left his mouth that he shouldn’t have brought up last night and wished he could take it back.

“I don’t need anything to remind me of last night.” Her hands moved to the front of his shoulders, and she pushed.

Max didn’t budge. “Would that be because the memory is still so fresh in your mind?”

Her light-blue eyes darkened with temper. “I don’t want the memory. I want you to let me go.”

He almost did it. Last night, he had let her go without her even telling him to. The sheer look of horror, shock, and plea in her eyes had been enough. The horror was back in her eyes now, as was the plea, but the latter sure looked more like she was begging him to do the exact opposite of what her lips were telling him to do.

Last night, she was drunk. Today, she’s not.

“No, you don’t.” He dared to make the suggestion, to keep holding onto her, and to pray he was right. “I think what you’re really wanting is for me to kiss you again.”

* * * *

Regina gave Max’s shoulders another push and didn’t feel them move an inch. The man’s strength was far beyond hers, and he wasn’t letting go. Knowing she shouldn’t, silently cursing herself even as she did it, she stopped fighting and simply stared up at him.

He sensed her surrender, probably felt it, too. She could see that in the glint of victory that flashed in his eyes.

“Am I right, Gina?” His voice had dropped to a husky whisper that promised all sorts of fun and pleasure if only she would say yes. “Do you want me to kiss you again?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Her mind screamed no, knowing she’d lose it if he kissed her again. Her body was yelling something entirely different. His hands on her waist felt as though they held the power to control every crazed molecule of her system. Heat spread through her, zinging off every erogenous zone in her body, and settling in her core. Her pussy creamed, the heat turning to a sizzling flame that spread from her pussy to her breasts to her ass.

Damn it, yes, she wanted him to kiss her again. She needed to taste him, to be consumed by him.

You need it as much as you need another freaking hole in your head.

That single sane thought came too late for action. She saw the intent take over his eyes and watched as his face dipped closer. The bill of his helmet bumped into hers and knocked both off their heads. She didn’t have time to stop his lips from connecting with hers. Once they did, the instant his tongue swept into her mouth, the last dregs of her sanity got washed away in a river of lust and stupendous sensations.

She tasted the salty-sweet tang of sweat on his lips as he angled his head and immediately took the kiss deeper. Last night, she had controlled the pace. Today, it was his turn to dominate. He drove his tongue into her mouth, taking possession of hers in a way that stole the oxygen from her lungs. His hands slid to her back and traveled down to cover her ass. He didn’t yank her against him, but stepped forward instead, pressing his body to hers firmly enough she felt every glorious inch of him even through the thickness of both their turnouts.

Surrendering, unable to stop herself, Regina wrapped her arms around his neck, cupped his nape, and fell even more deeply under his power. She felt him shift his weight, felt his body inch down hers, then gasped into his mouth as he pushed a knee between her legs and lifted his thigh to her pussy.

Her hips began an instinctive grind as old as womankind. The rough fabric of her slacks and bunker pants over them contrasted with the softness of cotton in her panty lining and abraded her pussy lips with each gyration, a fantastical mix of roughness and pleasure that had pressure building in her womb.

His hands moved from her ass, dipped beneath her turnout coat, and glided up her back. The heat of his palms seeped into her flesh even through the material of her shirt, the sensation only adding to the cacophony of needs that were quickly ratcheting her steadily toward an orgasm.

Max wrenched his mouth from hers, but he didn’t back away. He nipped her bottom lip, licked away the sting, and then traced the outline of her jaw with the tip of his tongue.

Mindless, her body completely out of her control, Regina’s hips bucked, her pussy gyrating faster on his thigh. He lifted his leg higher, applied more pressure, and dragged his tongue across her cheek to her ear.

“Come for me, Gina. Let me feel you come apart in my arms.”

Somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind she knew she had to put an end to this. She needed to push him away. If she gathered all her strength, called upon the defense training she’d been getting every week since high school, she didn’t doubt for an instant that the element of surprise she’d have in her favor would be enough to take him down.

She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t stop it. Her limbs felt weak, her head swam in a sexually induced fog of Max’s creation, and her system continued on the direct course he’d set with only one thing in mind.

His mouth returned to hers, his tongue diving deep as his hands dropped back to cup her ass again. His fingers gripped the cheeks of her ass, urging her hips to move faster. Claws of sheer pleasure raked the sensitive walls of her channel.

Regina experienced her first back draft as the flaming orgasm exploded out of her, seemed to meet with a rush of oxygen, and shimmered back through her core. As her body convulsed from the wondrous rapture of it, she heard Max softly growl and realized he’d pulled away to stare down at her.

“That was fucking amazing.”

Regina slammed her eyes shut, silently damning herself as she struggled not to cry.

* * * *

“I heard you had an interesting morning.”

Dean Wolcott looked up from the incident report he’d been preparing at his desk, all thoughts of the morning fires disintegrating at the sight of his lovely wife. He pushed away from his desk and got to his feet, a wide smile unfolding on his lips as she moved her mile-long, shapely legs toward him.

“An eventful one, that’s for sure.” He snaked his arms around her, felt her marvelously rounded belly push against his, and leaned in for a kiss. “B-shift walked in the door to take over rotation and got the call that Mr. G’s Automotive was on fire. The men got that one out and started packing the trucks when we got toned for a dumpster fire at the golden arches. An employee went out of a smoke and, for reasons apparently unbeknownst even to said employee, tossed the still-lit cigarette into the nearby dumpster.”

Veronica winced. “Sounds like he must’ve fessed up to it, huh?”

“Oh, yeah. Though I doubt his confession is going to do much in the way of saving his job. The manager on duty was pretty ticked.”

Veronica barked a laugh. “I bet. Guess it’s a good thing Dean Jr. and I didn’t decide to stop by for a couple of sausage biscuits this morning.”

“Or Veronica Jr. We still don’t know,” Dean reminded her. They had decided they didn’t want to until the baby was born. She wanted a boy. He wanted a girl. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Either way, whichever gender their baby decided to be, he knew they would shower it with love. He narrowed his eyes. “You did eat, though?”

Veronica sighed, but a smile lit her face and eyes. “Yes, Daddy, we ate.” She stepped out of his embrace, turned, and leaned against the edge of his desk.

Even after nearly four years of marital bliss, Dean still felt the absence of her warmth when he wasn’t touching her. “I take it you left Judy in charge of the store for a while?”

“She knows Romantic Illusions as well as I do. She’s worked for me since I opened the place. I think she can handle it for a few hours without me.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that. So what brings you and Junior by the firehouse today?”

Veronica drew her bottom lip between her teeth, and Dean’s cock jumped. She only chewed her bottom lip when she was deep in thought or trying desperately not to come. With the way her hormones had been shooting off the charts thanks to the pregnancy, he figured, right now, it could go either way.

“An idea,” she finally answered.

Dean felt his cock sigh in frustration. “Care to share it with me?”

“Well, yeah. That’s why I’m here. Except…” Her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth again.

“Except?” Dean prompted when she didn’t go on.

“I’m going to need your help. The girls”—she lifted a hand and ticked names off on her fingers—“Rayne, Bailey, and Terri, for starters, are planning to hold a baby shower for me. For us,” she corrected, dropping the hand to her rounded belly. “We’re not supposed to know about it, but I caught onto the plan when I was at Rayne’s last night.”

Dean settled back down in his chair, turning it and leaning back so he faced her. “I expected them to do something like that. Are you saying you don’t want a baby shower?”

“No, we do. Of course, we do!” Dean loved the way she tended to use the plural form when she talked about herself, always including their baby in the mix. “It’s just, well, we think they’re intending for it to be a girl thing.”

Dean bit back a grin. “And if Junior there is a boy, he’s not going to be too keen on spending several hours hanging with sappy, gushy females?”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “If this young one is anything like his father during his younger years, I’m sure he wouldn’t have a problem with it at all.”

“God,” Dean groaned. “Let’s hope he’s nothing like I was when I was younger.” Approaching forty now, it was hard for Dean to believe he’d been such a player and the town’s bad boy when he was a teen. He’d changed all that, though. He’d set his sights on becoming a firefighter, worked his way up the ladder as a well-respected member of the SSFD, and had eventually made captain.