Hell, Fire & Freedom (Fighting for Freedom) (24 page)

“I’m sorry, Marie, I don’t want to move either …” I start.

“You won’t be moving,” Blaze says in a clipped tone.

Marie just nods her head before going down to her room and closing her door.
Great
!

“Blaze, this isn’t up for discussion. We need to go. It isn’t safe for us here anymore. Stop putting ideas into her head and giving her hope. There is none!” I yell, hoping that will make him understand.

“Brynn, I know I fucked up earlier with that scumbag cop, but I promise you, I won’t let anything happen to you again. I’ll give him the shirt off my back if he wants it. All that matters to me is you and Marie. I will protect you. I just need you to stay so I’m able to do that,” Blaze orders, sitting back down beside me.

“Blaze …” I say calmly, wondering how I’m ever supposed to leave this incredible man. He grabs ahold of both of my hands and pulls me onto his lap. I wrap my arms around him and tuck my head into the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent and wondering if this is the last time I’m going to be able to do so.

“I love you, Brynn,” Blaze says so quietly, I wonder if I dreamt it.

“What?”

He clears his voice and tries again, “I said, I love you, Brynn. The thought of you leaving is fucking killing me. I can’t stand to spend a night without you. I don’t know how I’m supposed to spend weeks without you. If you want to leave, give me a few days. That’s all I ask. Let me turn over my dad’s business and get things in order,” he says, and I give him a puzzled look.

“If you leave, I’m coming with you,” he clarifies.

I can’t believe the words that have just come out of his mouth. I feel my head spinning, my heart swelling, my hands sweating, and my mouth trying to come up with something—anything—to say, but I can’t. I’m loved. Someone other than Marie actually loves me, and the thought is terrifying and thrilling at the same time. Carl didn’t love me; Carl loved to possess me.

Is this what real love feels like? Heartbreak at the thought of being apart? The more I think about Blaze, the more I realize that I love him, too. He’d give up everything for us—he’s fighting to be with us, and a selfish part of me wants him to, too.

“I love you, too, Blaze,” I say softly into his neck.

“I … I …” Blaze says, struggling to find the words. “I wasn’t sure if you did. You wanted to leave me tonight, and you didn’t even want to come to my house …” Blaze says, still in shock.

“Blaze, I didn’t want to go to your house because I didn’t want to confuse Marie. She’s sixteen, and she’s never had a man in her life before. She’s never had a dad, she’s never had a grandfather, or an uncle, and she’s never even had a boyfriend. Moving in with a man, even temporarily, might make her feel uncomfortable, and I’m not sure I’m willing to put her in that situation just yet. I didn’t want to leave you either. You just don’t understand how terrified I am of Carl. He haunts me Blaze; every single day he still manages to haunt me. I feel like as soon as I’m starting to feel a little more at ease with everything, there he is again, and my whole life comes crashing down around me,” I say, tears once again forming in my eyes.

“I’m so sorry, beautiful. I wish I could take this all away. I wish I could erase every bad thing he’s ever said or done to you. I never want to make Marie uncomfortable either. She’s a really sweet kid but I think she would do fine at my place. I’ll even build her a swimming pool in the backyard, and paint her walls pink—it will be her home, too, Brynn,” Blaze says, stroking my hair.

Pool? Home? What the hell is he talking about? “What do you mean home?” I ask.

“I mean that she will feel just as comfortable as you will living there. I’ll make sure she knows that it’s a house for all of us, and that I want her to live there, too, and not just because she’s your sister,” Blaze says.

“Are you asking me to move in with you?” I ask, still shocked.

“Thought I already did, babe.”

“No, you meant just until the Carl thing was over,” I correct.

“Might have said that, but that’s not what I meant,” he says, tilting my chin so that are faces are just inches apart. “I want you in my bed. Every night.”

Well, shit. When you put it like that …

“Can we talk about this in a little while, once things have settled down, and I have a chance to talk to Marie about it all?” I ask, wondering how in the hell things started to move so fast between us. Do I really want to leave this safe home the shelter has let us use?

“Okay beautiful,” he says kindly, dropping the subject. “How about a nap?”

“I could definitely go for one of those, but let me just check on Marie first,” I say, climbing out of his hold. I use the bathroom, washing my tear streaked face, thankful I chose not to wear any mascara today.

I open Marie’s door quietly, and find her laying on her bed, earphones in, sound asleep. She’s laying in the fetal position and, for some reason, it breaks my heart. I’m sure this day has been emotionally exhausting for her, as well. I grab a blanket and cover her before turning off her light and closing her door. I walk past the living room, noticing Blaze isn’t in there, and peek in my room. He’s already shirtless and under the covers.

“Hey, Marie’s home, you’re on the couch,” I scold.

“She’s sixteen, beautiful, and we’ve been dating for a while now. I think we can take a nap together, no?” he asks.

I think about Marie sleeping, earphones in, and decide to climb into bed. It’s not like I don’t
want
him in my bed, because I do. If I hear her up and about, I’ll just come out. I slip out of my black work pants and into bed with Blaze. He pulls me into him, and I can feel him hard against my back. I try to ignore it and fall asleep, but it’s hard to ignore when your whole body is tingling in anticipation. I start counting sheep, hoping I will fall asleep eventually, but after a hundred, I give in. Blaze hasn’t moved or said a word, so I decide to test it a little. I move my butt slowly around as if trying to get comfortable.

Blaze moans behind me, and a smile spreads across my face. His hand moves up from my hips and underneath my shirt. He pulls down the cup of my bra and grabs a hold of my nipple, flicking and rolling. I moan out in pleasure, pushing my backside against his throbbing cock. He pulls my shirt over my head and unfastens my bra, throwing them both to the floor. His hand travels down and inside of my panties. He dips his finger inside of me before starting slow, torturous circles over my clit. I start to moan out, forgetting Marie is just down the hall, but Blaze clamps his hand over my mouth.

“Shh, beautiful. This okay?” he whispers. I nod my head.

He keeps his hand over my mouth, and I feel him pull off his pants and underwear and then mine. Pretty impressive with one hand. He dips two fingers inside of me this time and moves them quickly. The intensity builds, and I yell my orgasm into his hand as he sticks one finger in my mouth for me to bite down on. I swirl my tongue around it and suck hard. I feel his cock jump against my back. He reaches down and starts prodding at my core with his cock, pushing in slowly.

And that’s when I’m taken back to Oregon, laying on Carl’s bed, where he always took me from behind. He said he couldn’t stand to look at me while we had sex—that I was nothing more than a dog, and I should be fucked like one, too. Is that what Blaze is doing? Does he not want to see me? I start to panic, pull out of his grip, and roll out of bed.

“What’s going on?” Blaze asks, concerned.

“I can’t do this,” I say, breathing heavily.

“Babe, that’s fine, seriously, but what’s wrong?”

“I just can’t, please,” I beg quietly.

I hear him climb out of bed and move past me. He turns on the light.

“What happened? What did I do?” he whispers, cupping my face.

“Nothing,” I lie, looking down to the floor.

“What the fuck is that?” he growls.

“Shh, Blaze,” I scold, before noticing where his eyes are glued—my stomach. I look down, and sure enough, it’s still a mixture of greens and purples. I cringe, covering myself with my hands, and look around the floor for my shirt.

“Is that where he attacked you?” Blaze asks incredulously. “How did I not see this? How could you not tell me about this?” Blaze asks, his angry voice just above a whisper.

“Please, Blaze, just drop it. It’s from when I was home,” I say, grabbing my shirt off the floor.

“And what was going on in the bed?” he asks.

“I just don’t like having sex that way, all right?”

“Brynn, you’re going to have to give me something here,” he barks. I wince, wondering if I should just let it go, but I can’t.

“Do you think I’m ugly?” I ask, looking anywhere but his eyes.

“What are you talking about?” he asks.

“Carl would only have sex with me from behind. He said I was a dog, and I should be fucked like one, too. I didn’t care with him. It was easier to tune it all out that way, but you?” I say, feeling incredibly hurt.

“Do you know why I call you beautiful, Brynn? Because you are. You’re fucking stunning in every way possible. Those soft curves, your hair, those eyes, those lips, that pussy. I fucking love everything about you. I would never ever fuck you like a
dog
. Carl was a rapist, married or not, that man fucking raped you. That’s not what love is, Brynn,” Blaze says in a whisper.

“I was not fucking you like a dog, I was wanting to touch every inch of your skin while I made love to you. I want to take you from behind, I want to take you standing up, I want it with you on top, I want it in the shower, I want it any way that involves you, Bynn. If you’re not comfortable with something, you tell me, and I’ll stop, no questions asked. But stop it because you want to babe, and not because you’re scared of what I’m thinking. I think you’re fucking perfect, and nothing, nothing at all will ever change that,” Blaze vows.

I
know
I’m not perfect. I know every flaw and imperfection on my body. They’ve been pointed out to me a million times. Clearly he’s not blind …

He must see the doubt in my eyes because he wraps himself around me and whispers “perfect” in my ear again.

Blaze turns off the light and pulls me back into bed, wrapping his arms tightly around me. He kisses my temple, whispering “sleep, beautiful.”

And I do.

I wake up sometime later when Blaze’s phone rings again. This time I don’t feign sleep. I reach over on the floor and grab his cell phone from his jeans pocket and pass it to him. He flips it open.

“Prescott,” he says. “Yup, talk to me,” he says and then listens intently. “For fuck’s sake, do your job. Pin him to this shit! He did it! What about Flynn?” he asks, and I watch a scowl move across his face. “What the fuck did you bother calling me for then, Hambly? Hurry the fuck up,” he growls, hanging up the phone.

“What happened?” I ask, sitting up and taking the sheet with me.

“They couldn’t pin the flowers to Carl. They were booked using a prepaid disposable Visa on a public Wi-Fi network. There’s nothing that links it to him. They’re still working on it, though. They’re also still working on the search warrant for Flynn. I guess it’s not easy to get one on one of their own,” he says bitterly.

I feel my stomach twist knowing they’re both still out there. “It’s okay,” I say trying to reassure him, but it’s an absolutely miserable attempt.

“It’s not okay,” he says. “But it
is
your birthday, and I had shit planned. Clearly, we can’t do it all now, but I’m going to make do, all right?”

“Really Blaze, it’s not a big deal,” I say.

“Like hell it’s not,” he says, jumping up from the bed and getting dressed. “I’ll be back in an hour. Get dressed up—Marie, too.”

He leans over in the bed and gives me a kiss. “Pull something on quickly, though; I need you to deadbolt the door behind me.”

“Where are you going?”

“Surprise,” he says with a wink.

I quickly throw my work clothes back on, just in case Marie is awake and sees me. I follow him over to the door where he gives me a final knee-weakening kiss before walking out the door.

I walk down to Marie’s room and wake her, letting her know what Blaze just requested. She seems excited about it. I jump in the shower, surprising myself by letting the water run warm instead of scalding hot. I shower quickly and then blow dry my hair. Marie comes in and helps me put it in an up-do, bobby pinning it into place. I do my make-up, wondering what I’m supposed to wear. I don’t exactly have any dressy clothes. I was definitely too embarrassed to tell Blaze that, though. Who has two million dollars they can just fork over? Also, who has a real house in New York? Clearly, he doesn’t have problems dressing himself.

I finish up in the bathroom and walk back down to my room, pulling things out of my drawers and trying to find anything that might look somewhat dressy together. “Marie,” I holler out; she’ll know what to do. She comes in a minute later with a black box, tied with a big red ribbon bow on top.

“What’s this?”

“Blaze had me sneak it back in in my swim bag last night. He gave it to me on the drive over, and said to give it to you before your date tonight. So, here it is,” she says, handing it to me. It’s definitely been professionally wrapped, but I guess that makes sense. I can’t exactly see Blaze on the floor tying ribbon around a pretty box.

“Well, open it,” Marie says anxiously.

I undo the ribbon and open the box to find a silky red material. I hold it up in the air, and I can tell it’s a gown. I don’t even think I’ve ever been in a store that sold something so expensive and elegant. Scratch that, I’m positive I haven’t. I have a feeling I’m not going to be able to accept this gift.

“Put it on!” Marie cries excitedly.

I turn my back to her and change into the dress, wondering what in the hell he was thinking. I look down and study the deep red gown that comes down past my toes. The front dips into a deep V, coming halfway to my navel. There’s no way I’ll be able to wear a bra with this! I turn around and ask Marie for help doing the small zipper on the side.

“Oh my God! You look like a movie star, Brynn,” she says, zippering it.