Controlled Burn (Scarred Hearts) (18 page)

She wiggled and touched, writhed and begged. Logan took his time though, carrying her as high as she’d carried him before moving in and sucking away her body’s release. Before taking her to the center of her orgasm and then bringing her back down.

There hadn’t been a lot of women in his life, but none could ever hope to compare to Delancey. Delancey alone controlled his heart and gave him a reason to enjoy his life.

Chapter Nineteen

“You’ve seen so much darkness. You deserve some light…” Delancey reached into the bag and pulled out a firework. “Even if it’s only a sparkler’s worth.”

“You’re nice,” Logan had said with a quiet sadness that broke her heart. “And I appreciate your help.”

She knew she was dreaming, remembering the night outside the firehouse where they’d almost kissed. The moment had been charged and hot, but she couldn’t wake up. She had to see if it ended differently. “But.”

“But…” Logan licked his lips as his gaze rested on the unlit sparkler. “But,” he said, “you should forget about me.”

She handed him the sparkler, closing her fingers over his. Fire sparked along her skin, tightening and heating it. Snaps and pops penetrated the air, color exploded. The heat in his dark eyes drew her closer until breathing became a challenge in the thin air surrounding them.

“You’re not as forgettable as you may want to be,” she whispered.

“Delancey!” Logan slapped her face, the sting across her cheek matching the heat of the moment. “Wake up.”

“What?” She jolted up.

The sound of fire eating and snapping at the wood surrounding them set her into action. The room was clogged with smoke, but a quick glance around told her most of the fire was still outside. Or at least not in the room.

“Shit!” She leapt out of bed and moved with Logan. Her heart slammed and fear invaded her brain. Then her training kicked in.

She needed to get him out before he was burned again or did any damage to his mostly healed wounds or before he inhaled too much smoke. She needed to put the flames out, find a fire extinguisher, something. She needed to call 9-1-1.

“The hall and living room are still clear,” Logan said. Already dressed, he handed her clothes. “I’ve called 9-1-1, but we need to get out of here.”

Flames curled around the wall of his office and stretched along the wall of the hall as they moved together. He took the majority of her weight for the sake of her ankle. The place wasn’t going to last long. “How are you already dressed?”

“I couldn’t sleep so I got up to work. I heard a crash in the kitchen, something breaking. When I went to see what it was, there was another sound in the office.”

In the living room that opened to the kitchen, she saw that the fire was spreading very quickly and was already eating its way into the living room.

Logan grabbed a photo album. She grabbed her keys and phone and his wallet off the table by the door and moved to the porch.

“Did you see anything other than flames?” If she had her gear with her she’d go in and try to fight it. Standing by and watching his house burn wasn’t in her nature, but with her and Logan outside and safe and with the wail of sirens growing nearer, she found it marginally easier.

“Beer bottles filled with something with a cloth sticking out the end. The flames covered the kitchen in an instant. I came to get you instead of worrying about the office.”

“This was Jiao-long.”

“Yeah. I saw him outside the bedroom window when I was going in to get you.” Logan wrapped an arm around her, taking her weight so she was off her ankle. “He had to have recognized me in the restaurant and figured I knew something.”

The fire trucks pulled up to the curb. The men from the other crew jumped out and sprang into action. Delancey nodded toward the Jeep where she and Logan would be well out of the way. And where they could both sit down if they wanted.

“Did you find the file?” she asked as they walked to the Jeep.

“No, but after this it shouldn’t matter.” All that mattered was that they were safe, that he hadn’t lost her.

In varied stages of undress given the late hour, neighbors began coming out of their homes as the chaos in Logan’s yard woke them up. The captain on duty approached her and Logan. “Winston?”

“Captain Jones.” She greeted the man who’d refused to have her on his crew, saying a woman on the crew would serve as too big a distraction. Since Chief Kroeger had given her the shot, Jones had been professional when they crossed paths, but never welcoming.

Professional was how he spoke to her now. “Is there anyone else inside?”

Logan shook his head. “No.”

“You’ll want to call Schneider,” Delancey said. “Tell him there’s been an arson at Logan Mathis’s home. He should bring Detectives Holley and Parish, because now we have a witness.”

“Logan Mathis.” The captain narrowed his eyes a moment before nodding. “You have a way of attracting fire.”

“Yes, because they’re so much fun for me.”

“Sorry.” Jones winced. “That came out wrong.”

Logan shrugged and directed his attention to his burning home.

Jones sighed and looked back at Delancey. For a moment he appeared to struggle, but then he shook it off and showed a side she’d never thought to see. “There’s extra gear in the truck if you want to suit up.”

Logan tensed beneath her, but kept his eyes locked on the house that was losing the battle to the flames. She badly wanted to suit up and help put the fire out. To save whatever she could of his home. If it was her crew responding, she’d be right with them because she knew their rhythm.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m going to sit this one out.”

“You sure?”

It was probably as close to an apology as she’d get from Jones, and she appreciated it for what it was. “Your men have a rhythm. I don’t want to mess that up.”

She pointed to the ankle she wasn’t putting weight on. “Besides, I had a little mishap at yesterday’s fire that has me momentarily sidelined.”

The biggest reason that kept her from accepting his offer, though, had nothing to do with the other crew or her ankle. It had everything to do with not wanting to leave Logan while he faced more destruction. It had to do with wanting the man she loved to know she wasn’t addicted to fire and that she could choose him before all else.

When the captain had walked away and they were alone again, Logan tightened his grip on her. “You wanted to accept his offer.”

“I’m a firefighter. Of course I did.” She looked up to see that his gaze was still fixed on his house. “More than I want to be fighting that blaze, I want to stay with you. Hell, even if I were on duty tonight and my crew was in there, I’d still want to be here with you.”

“That’s a dangerous admission to make.” Logan kissed her head and sighed. “It almost makes me want to ask you to change jobs again.”

“And I’d almost consider it for you.” Which did make his hold on her dangerous.

“I don’t like how I felt when you were asleep in there and flames were spreading.”

“I can imagine.” It was probably as bad as she’d felt when he woke her up and then hearing him talk about seeing the kitchen ignite. Fear was irrational and debilitating, but when the fear was because a loved one was in danger it became a living, breathing creature capable of complete annihilation. “I didn’t like being in there with you.”

“This is probably the worst time possible for this.” Logan sounded far off, and his gaze had yet to leave his house.

Fear and heartbreak tangled in Delancey’s heart. Tears filled her eyes, because she knew he was about to tell her they were through. He didn’t like her job. She wouldn’t change it. He couldn’t live with it. They were done.

Sick to her stomach, she eased away. She wanted to say something, anything, to make it easier for him. To let him know she didn’t blame him. Her job made a mockery of a man’s inherent need to be a protector.

Logan was no different. If anything, the struggle would be worse for him because of Ashley.

“I knew from the beginning you were a dangerous woman.” He went on. “I knew I shouldn’t allow myself to care for you, because everyone I love dies.”

She swallowed, unable to speak and barely able to listen.

“Kicker is, I fell in love with you anyway.”

Cruelty was hearing him admit his feelings and knowing what came next. She looked straight ahead as tears coursed down her cheeks.

“I don’t know how I’m going to handle knowing you’re in danger when you’re at work,” he went on, “but I realized something else when I was running down the hall to get you.”

He shifted against her, turning her and forcing her face up to his. Wiping the tears from her cheeks, he kissed her. “I need you. Whether it’s a day, a year, or fifty years, I need to know you’re going to be with me when you’re not at the station.”

Her soul brightened. They were surrounded by destruction and loss that mirrored so much of what motivated his fear, but instead of breaking up with her he was declaring his desire to be with her for however long they were given. She’d never felt lighter. “Are you sure?”

“More sure than I’ve ever been about anything.”

He pulled her against him and kissed her until she was crying and breathless with the love she felt.

When he pulled away, he wiped more of her tears off her cheeks. “I was also sure you weren’t a crier.”

“I’m not normally.” She wiped some of her own tears away, because they just kept coming. “You bring it out in me I guess.”

He grinned. “I promise not to make a habit of making you cry if you promise to stay as safe as possible when you’re working.”

“It’s a deal.”

“And we’ll face whatever comes up together. Be it facing Jiao-long in court when that day comes, or your family.”

“Both sound equally ominous,” she said with a smile of her own.

Life had knocked Logan around, showing him more darkness than any person should know. He’d earned the right to be a cranky, hard-shell of a man who wanted nothing to do with people.

The man she’d thought him to be at first, though, was not the man he was. Despite the darkness surrounding him, his soul was filled with light. And it was so much more than a sparkler’s worth.

“I hate how we met and I hate the misery of the last few months. You make everything better though.” He kissed her temple and whispered, “I love you, Delancey.”

“I love you, Logan.”

Forged in flames of anger, they’d discovered a life worth fighting for. A shared life, free of judgment.

“So,” she said when they settled back against the Jeep to watch the firemen fight the fire. “Does this mean you’ll be moving into my place?”

He rubbed his chin against her hair. “Is this your way of getting more lessons in beating Andy at pool?”

“You didn’t think it had anything to do with spending time with you, did you?”

He laughed. “Of course not.”

“Glad to hear it.” She rested her head against his heart and listened to the steady beat. How she’d found a man who matched her moods and humor as well as Logan was a mystery, but it was one she loved and would appreciate every day.

Jiao-long brought them together with fire. He’d hoped to end them the same way, but had only succeeded in ending his own freedom. It would be ended soon, because he had been identified, he would be caught and he would face sentencing in court.

The bright light of hope shined through the smoke, whispy white, ghostly gray, and bleakly black that rolled into the air.

About the Author

Heart-stopping puppy chases, childhood melodrama and the aborted hangings of innocent toys are all in a day’s work for Nikki Duncan. This athletic equestrian turned reluctant homemaker turned daring author is drawn to the siren song of a fresh storyline.

Nikki plots murder and mayhem over breakfast, scandalous exposés at lunch and the sensual turn of phrase after dinner. Nevertheless, it is the pleasurable excitement and anticipation of unraveling her character’s motivation that drives her to write long past the witching hour.

The only anxiety and apprehension haunting this author comes from pondering the mysterious outcome of her latest twist.

Nikki loves to hear from her readers. She can be found at all the predictable online places.

Twitter:
@NDuncanWriter

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Website:
www.nikkiduncan.com

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