Kissing Fire (30 page)

He stiffened and growled, “Absolutely not.”

“Why not? Yours are pierced.” I looked at him and
watched his entire demeanor harden as something darkened his
visage.

“It was done to me Avery. It wasn’t a choice.”

“Oh,” I sucked in my breath. That was one more tick
off the list he hadn’t yet shared. I smothered him in my arms. “I’m
sorry. I didn’t know or I would never have suggested it.”

“I know.”

I cupped his face and said to him, “Preston, that’s
part of your past. It’s just a painful memory, honey. Look at me.
I’m here and we’re in this together. But I’m not going to lie to
you. I really adore your pierced nipples. They are a big turn on
for me.”

He looked at me and his gaze began to darken with a
different kind of heat. “I know.” Then his lips were on mine again
as his tongue found its way into my mouth, instantly setting me on
fire for him again.

Preston always surprised me and this time was no
exception. Soon, I found myself on my hands and knees, sitting over
Preston’s face. His tongue was doing all sort of magical things to
me as his fingers joined in the game too. They moved in a rhythm
that sent me tumbling over the edge and Avery-kitty was meowing
like crazy. Before I had time to think, Preston had moved behind me
and wrapped his arm around my waist.

“You might want to hold on to the headboard for this
Avery.”

“Oh yeah?” I moaned.

“Oh yeah,” he said with smugness.

He spread my legs further with his, as he knelt
between them and then I felt his hand on me from the front. He
filled me with himself, while rubbing me to a rhythm, and I felt
him deep within me as he thrust in and out. He was right. I needed
that damn headboard because I would’ve jettisoned right off the bed
if I hadn’t been holding on. I came with a vengeance, crying out
and contracting around him incessantly, until I collapsed on the
pillows, with him still inside of me. He rolled me on my side and
spooned behind me, kissing my neck and cheek, chuckling at me.

“I tried to warn you,” he said and I elbowed
him.

I crawled on top of him and kissed him. Dragging my
thumb across his bottom lip, our eyes met and held each others.
“You know how much I love you, right?”

“Yeah, I do. And I hope you feel that love
returned.”

“Oh, I do. Preston, there’s something I want us to
do, or at least try again. And if you hate it, we can stop. But I
want to please you and I also think you need to bury your
past.”

“Is this going where I think it’s going?”

“Probably. We can try and if you find it too
uncomfortable, we can stop.”

“Avery...”

“I would do it with love. And I’m not talking about
right now. Later at some other point.”

“Okay. For you I’ll try anything. But I can’t
promise much.”

“Just trying is a step in the right direction.” I
nuzzled my face into his neck, knowing just how much he was giving
me. We held each other silently for a few minutes and then I asked,
“What about a tattoo?”

“Huh?”

“Well, since you won’t let me get my nipples
pierced, what about a tattoo?”

He laughed. “You’re relentless. The nipples are out
because I don’t want anyone seeing your nipples except me.”

“But what if I had a woman do it? And I could start
with just one nipple.”

“Avery, it’s so painful. I don’t want you to do
that. And...” he just stopped and looked at me with this really
strange look on his face.

“What?”

He shook his head and said, “Nothing.”

“Oh no you don’t. That’s one of those withholding
information from Avery things I don’t like.”

“No, it’s not that at all. Really.”

“Preston,” I warned.

“Shit. Okay, what if someday you want children and
you have pierced nipples?”

That struck me as hilarious and I broke out in fits
of giggles.

“You think that’s funny?” he asked.

“Yes,” I squeaked out. “I mean, I would just take
out the rings or bars or whatever. It’s not a big deal Preston.” I
kept on laughing. He finally started laughing too.

“Okay, you scored on that one.”

“Oh my God. You’re like a Puritan or something.”

“I am not! I just don’t want you in pain. That’s
all.”

My heart thumped a little and I kissed him. “You’re
sweet Preston.”

“Avery,” he said against my lips, “if you get a
tattoo, those hurt like hell too.”

“I’m tough Preston,” I told him. “Can I ask you
something?”

“Sure.”

“If your piercings were done to you, why do you keep
them?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know anymore. At first it was
sort of my badge of courage. Then I did it as a protest to what I
had been through. And now, they’ve just sort of been there for so
long, I’ve gotten used to them. But I must confess, seeing how much
they turn you on, there’s no way I’ll ever get rid of them
now.”

Our kisses took over and well, it seemed like we
couldn’t help ourselves. Things got way out of control and this
time he took my hands and pulled me up until I was straddling his
mouth again. “Honey, you might want to hold on again,” he said as
he told me to ride him. Good heavens, the man was relentless. He
had me making all sorts of noises and finally I shouted his name a
few dozen times. About that time, I felt him slide me back a bit
and then he was inside of me and there I was, making all those
noises again. He sat up and held me tight against him as he
caressed me deep inside and I felt myself fall right off that edge
of ecstasy as he quickly followed me, calling my name.

Soon after that, the phone rang. Embarrassingly
enough, it was the hotel management. Apparently, our neighbors had
complained about all the noises coming from our room and we were
asked to keep it down. My face flamed, but Preston only
laughed.

“Come on Avery, let’s take a shower,” he said,
reaching for my hand.

“Oh dear. I know what this means.”

Showers with Preston were never about just getting
clean. Our neighbors were not going to be happy at all.

“Perhaps we should go to your place after this.”

“My neighbor won’t like it either. He complained
about Melissa and I being too loud. Of course, Melissa does have a
loud voice.”

Preston gave me that look. “What was Melissa
doing?”

“Talking. She’s a bit boisterous.”

“Right. I saw her skiing one day and I had to stop
and stare as she flew down the slope. She was screaming. I think
everyone stopped and stared.”

“I know. She was a sight, wasn’t she?”

“She certainly was.”

We laughed.

I added, “One thing I love about her though is that
she’s comfortable in her own skin. And Griffin and Marley, her ski
instructors, were drooling over her.”

“Hmm. Well, she must have that certain charm.”

Preston had gotten the shower going
and we got in, but ended up getting sidetracked, as I knew we
would. By the time we got out, another hour had passed and the
message light was flashing on the phone. It was the management
again asking us to change rooms.

We never made it to the slopes that day. Preston
checked out of the Grand Ski Lodge and into my super sized studio
apartment. We shopped for some food to cook for dinner and stayed
in the rest of the night. I did my best to keep Avery-kitty at her
quietest. It must’ve worked because my neighbor never knocked on my
door.

Chapter 28

Preston

We were out for our day of skiing that we never got
to yesterday. Avery had the day off so we were spending it on the
slopes. She promised to show me the back of the mountain and to try
to teach me some of her special moves. I doubt I’d catch on, but I
really just wanted to watch her up close anyway.

“So I was thinking we could start out at Game Creek
Bowl, and then move further back, depending on how you do,” Avery
said.

“What, you don’t think I can handle the big
stuff?”

“I didn’t say that. I just want to gauge your skill
level first.”

“Fair point,” I conceded.

Avery warned that it would be crowded, being
Christmas week and all. I didn’t care. As long as I was with her,
I’d be happy.

We made it to our destination and she put me through
some initial blue runs. She seemed to be pleased with my skiing
ability so she took me on a few black runs. The mountain had gotten
increasingly crowded as the morning passed. We did a few runs and
had just hopped on a lift when Avery decided we would head to the
back, to hopefully find an area that had fewer skiers.

As we rode the lift, I suddenly felt a searing pain
on my right shoulder. My body stiffened in shock as much as in
pain, for I was positive I had just been shot.

“What’s wrong?” Avery immediately felt my
reaction.

“Nothing,” I grimaced.

“Okay, didn’t we just have a conversation yesterday
about not lying?”

“Yeah, we did. I want you to do something for me.
Lean your head on my shoulder and act very nonchalant.”

“Okay, but what’s going on?”

“Just do it and I’ll explain.”

“I’m here. Now what’s up?”

“I’ve been shot in my right shoulder. We need to get
out of here because whoever did this is behind us.”

“Holy fuck Preston!”

She went to turn around but I grabbed her, stopping
her in time.

“Honey, don’t do that. I don’t want to give them any
idea that we know they’re back there. I also don’t want them to
know they hit me. Right now, they may only think they got my
jacket.”

“Okay.”

Her breathing had picked up and I could almost feel
her heart beating. She was having a major adrenaline surge.

“Listen to me Avery. We need a plan. Now you know
this mountain better than they do. Can you think of any way to get
us to safety?”

She was quiet for a minute and then she grinned.
“Hell yeah. We’re gonna ski the Minturn Mile.”

“Explain.”

“When we get off this lift, we need to haul ass on
Lost Boy. It’s a green run, Preston, and very easy. But we need to
hit it as hard as we can. It’ll take us to the gate where we can
access the out of bounds ski area. That will lead us directly to a
section called the Minturn Mile, but it’s really more like three.
It’s an out of bounds run that goes all the way into the town of
Minturn. It’s kind of rough in spots, but you can do it. There are
only a couple of dicey areas you’ll need to worry about. If we can
get there fast, they won’t know where we went. We can be in Minturn
in ten minutes and then get to someplace safe.”

“Okay, let’s do it.”

“What about your shoulder?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”

“What do you mean you’re fine? You’ve been
shot!”

“Avery, I’m okay. Let’s just get out of here and
we’ll worry about this later. Okay?”

“Okay. Follow me then. I’ll be in front when a
change in direction is necessary. I’ll let you lead the other
times. I can bring up the rear and move around so they can’t see
either of us clearly.”

“No way will you be bringing up the rear. That’s
entirely too dangerous. I’ll be in back.”

“Huh uh. I’m a better skier than you and I can stick
to the tree line. That way, I’ll be harder to hit and you’ll have a
bigger lead. I can zigzag and they will have a tougher time with me
in back.”

“I don’t know, Avery.”

“Shut up and listen to me on this Preston. I know
what I’m talking about here.”

“But what if...”

“Stop thinking about the ‘what ifs.’ One more thing
Preston. Whatever you do, don’t fall.”

“Right.”

I didn’t like the idea of her being in the back,
vulnerable to whoever was shooting at me, but she did have a valid
point. We got off the lift and she took off like a slingshot. I
followed her as best I could, but the girl had speed for a middle
name. She zoomed to this opening in the boundary and went right
through it. I followed her, not bothering to look behind me. When
we got off the beaten path, the snow became rough and much more
difficult to ski on. From watching Avery though, you would’ve
thought she was on the most pristine groomed slope. She looked like
a professional.

I followed her as close as I could, but she skimmed
the trees and that made me a bit nervous. She dropped back a bit,
letting me pass her, and then I didn’t have any idea of what she
did behind me. My mission was to get out of there as fast as I
could, so my focus was on my skis because a fall could cost one of
us our life.

Every now and again, she would shoot in front of me,
turning direction and I’d follow. We came to one section that
resembled a gully as it followed a creek and then we actually had
to cross it. Eventually we ended up in the little town of Minturn
and had about a half mile hike to get to the local saloon.

“You really did great back there Preston,” Avery
said.

“Thanks, but let’s get out of here. I need to call
Pete because we can’t go back to your apartment. It’s too
dangerous.”

“Right. I know a guy at the saloon and I think he
can give us a ride back to the village.”

“Well, let me make that call while we walk.”

So I called Pete and he told us to go directly to
Slopeside Condominiums, Unit 2A, in East Vail.

We headed to the local saloon and sure enough, we
walked in and Avery headed straight for the bartender, who hugged
her. I felt a huge stab of jealousy shoot through me as I stood
back and watched. Turning to me, she introduced us. The bartender’s
name was Duke, and he called for Mary, one of the other employees
to fill in while he walked us out back to his car. We loaded up and
he drove us to the East Vail condo.

I slipped him fifty bucks for driving us and we
shook hands as I got out of the car. We knocked on the door, and a
man I hadn’t met opened it and let us in. I gave him our names and
he led us inside. Avery headed to the nearest couch, dropped down
and unzipped her jacket. The dark stain that was spreading across
her white shirt made me stumble.