New Recruit (8 page)

Jagger’s not hooking up with his coworker. He’s battling flames.

The idea sent her heart racing with worry. It wasn’t anywhere near the adrenaline rush she loved, and it left her feeling a little sick and dizzy. She drifted back to the sofa and flipped to the city’s news channel.

As she watched highlights of the latest ball game, she tugged her leggings on. Really, why had she let him into her apartment? She had to stop seeing him, but now that he knew where she lived, that might be difficult. His questions and absorbed looks were red flags that she needed to run.

But now what? She’d have to move to keep him from finding her. She needed to grow a pair and tell him outright that they weren’t right for each other.

Even as she thought this, part of her protested. She liked Jagger—a lot. And she couldn’t deny that his possessive moments fed that part in her that Dominic had shattered so completely.

When Jagger had gone alpha on the delivery kid, pushing her aside and blocking her from the guy’s view with his big body, a thrill had gone straight through her.

The sports highlights turned to a break-in at the library and some books being vandalized. And finally a special news bulletin.

A red banner flashed at the bottom with the city block affected by the fire. Her mind wandered the city grid, but she’d never been to that section of town. When the East Street water tanker flashed onscreen followed by a shot of the flames, she plastered a hand to her thumping heart.

God, Jagger was really there. Anything could happen to him.

Her breaths came faster. They’d only been together twice. She hardly knew him. But all those days between when she’d thought about him nonstop had added to the level of intimacy she felt.

And she didn’t want anything to happen to him.

Unable to hold still, she bounced her foot. Then got up and paced as the reporter shared all they knew about this fire.

Believed to be arson.

Hanna’s chest burned. If he was injured—or worse—from some sick person’s crime, she’d never forgive herself for not saying goodbye. So immature of her, and she wouldn’t let that happen again.

For a brief moment her mind screamed that she shouldn’t be seeing him again, but she tamped down the voice and watched as two crew members holding the hose ran into the burning building.

Another banner flashed at the bottom of the screen: Car fire reported two blocks away from this blaze.

Hanna wrung her hands and bounced both heels. East Street would be stretched thin with two fires in the same vicinity. That meant Jagger wouldn’t have the support needed to stay safe.

She got up and paced five times before another banner flashed onscreen.

Her jaw dropped. A porch set on fire two blocks in the other direction. This couldn’t be coincidence—someone was setting these fires. She heard sirens in the distance and wondered just where Jagger was. She stared at the TV, hoping for a glimpse of the man who’d just left her apartment. She needed to know he was safe so she could apologize for being an immature bitch to him later.

»»•««

“An insurance building blackened to ruins, a BMW burnt to ash, a porch set on fire, and two garbage cans burning. Hell of an hour and a half.” Jagger shook his head as he peeled off his equipment.

Sweat ran off his body, and as the cooler air struck his throat, he dragged in a lungful of clean air. Two lockers down Gabriel looked to be in a daze, which was odd because normally he was on a high after a run. Nobody had been injured, and they’d cleared all but the building fire relatively quickly.

The man didn’t speak as he dropped his outer pants and then the jeans he wore beneath. A fresh red hickey was livid on his hip, just below his tighty-whiteys.

So that’s why the dazed expression.
Jagger sank to the bench with a hidden smile. Good to know he hadn’t been the only man interrupted by the fire.

While in the thick of battle, Hanna hadn’t been a glimmer in his mind. He felt a little guilty about that, but there wasn’t room for error in this line of work. He was focused one-hundred-and-twenty percent and as a result, people were safe.

He scrubbed his hands over his face and then removed his boots. Some of the guys were in the chief’s office, debriefing. So many fires were surely arson, and the chief had spent long hours digging through ash to find clues. When he’d returned to the firehouse, he’d had been grim-faced.

“A shitty end to the day. The auction seemed like a week ago,” someone said.

“Hard to believe it was only a few hours ago. I wonder how many hook-ups will result from this auction.” Laughter followed.

Jagger shot a glance at Gabriel. His friend’s throat worked, and his face mottled red. Jagger connected the clues. Gabriel had been auctioned to that bartender friend of Hanna’s, he wore a brand new love bite on his hip, and he was blushing at the mention of the auction.

Hanna. The need to get to her was suddenly stronger than his desire for a cold shower. Jagger shed the rest of his clothes and grabbed his towel folded in the top of his locker. Then he gave himself a quick rub-down before pulling on fresh clothes.

“In a hurry, Jagger?” Gunnar McCauley asked as he walked by with a towel slung around his hips.

“Yeah.” An involuntary grin spread over his face.

“Going after that little morsel you dragged from the auction? I wouldn’t mind going home to that.”

He didn’t want anybody getting any ideas about Hanna. She was his and his alone. “Not your goddamn business.” Between his words and the roughness in his voice, Jagger sounded ready for a fight. Gunnar wasn’t easily riled, though. He flipped Jagger the bird and walked away to the sound of laughter from some other guys.

What the hell had come over him? He knew Gunnar was just ribbing him, yet he’d felt his muscles tighten with the need to attack.

It took Jagger five full minutes to get his head screwed on straight. By then Gabriel and the others were gone, and he was alone in the locker room. He glanced at the clock high on the cracked plaster wall. If he showed up at Hanna’s door at this time of night, would she let him in? He didn’t like the idea of knocking and scaring her from a slumber, but he liked the thought of sleeping alone even less.

Mind made up, he grabbed what he needed from his locker and headed out of the firehouse. The few guys left on the night shift were starting to slump on the sagging couches in the common room. They threw half-hearted waves as he walked through, but Jagger just walked by. He had one thought in his mind, and she had eyes the color of melted chocolate and curves the perfect ripeness to fill his hands.

In the street, he looked around. At this time of night, the city was quiet. Well, as quiet as a city can be. But there were no taxis, which meant he was getting to Hanna’s place by foot. He set off, his long strides eating up the blocks between them.

As he walked, he clenched his fingers into fists and relaxed them over and over, trying to dispel some of his nervousness. Funny how in the heat of a fire with the threat of a ceiling collapse, he’d kept his cool. Now that he was minutes away from Hanna, his nerves kicked in.

He didn’t want to fuck this up, and that thought scared the hell out of him more than a wall of fire.

With each step that carried him to her, more happiness flooded his veins. He relived their moments together, and by the time he reached her building, he was aching for her. He stabbed the buzzer as if it was singlehandedly trying to keep them apart. When nobody answered, a dozen scenarios ran through his mind.

She was asleep, her beautiful features relaxed as rest rejuvenated her.

Or something was wrong up there. He craned his neck to stare at the building face. No smoke trickled from the windows.

That meant she was ignoring his call.

He leaned into the buzzer again and again until her sweet, groggy voice transmitted over the speaker system. “Yes?”

His heart stammered and remorse filled him. She’d been asleep. His pitched his voice low, tenderness weaving into his tone. “It’s me, beautiful.”

A long heartbeat passed where she didn’t respond and he was left to believe he’d be standing out here all night. Dropping his forehead against the cool wall, he pressed the intercom again. “Hanna, please. I’ve had a terrible night, and I want to be with you.”

As he spoke the words, he realized how true they were. While in the thick of the fire calls, he’d gone into robot mode, doing what he needed to do. But now that he was out and able to think and feel, he just wanted her in his arms.

The door unlocked, and he filled his lungs to bursting as he yanked open the door and took the flights of stairs as fast as he could despite the fatigue singing in his muscles. She met him at the door wearing a pale blue robe that made her golden skin glow. Her hair, loose around her shoulders, was rumpled and sexy as hell.

He plunged his fingers into it and walked her backward, claiming her mouth at the same time. She tasted of sleep and a trace of the toothpaste she’d probably used before bed. As soon as his lips brushed hers, she clutched him with a desperation that sent prickles down his spine. Need exploded.

He kicked he door closed and reached behind himself to lock it. Then he looked into her eyes and found them burning with lust.

He jerked her into his arms and stomped to her bedroom, never releasing her lips. Small coos escaped her throat, and he reveled in the silky flip of her tongue and the silkier slip of her robe against her bare flesh beneath. His cock ached more with every step he took.

By the time he got her onto the bed, still smelling faintly of their previous lovemaking, he was as hard as steel. She palmed his cock through his jeans, and he groaned.

Without breaking the kiss, he eased a hand under her robe. He stopped dead as his fingers met slick, wet flesh. Tearing his mouth away, he growled, “What were you dreaming about, naughty little slut?”

She arched at his words, her eyes fluttering shut. He probed her slippery folds, drawing more juices from her. He strummed her straining clit with his thumb, and a low cry left her. Watching her face, he sank two fingers into her tight entry. Deeper, deeper until the tips hit the spongy spot he knew would send her flying.

“Spread your legs for me, beautiful. I need to see my fingers sinking into your wet pussy.”

“Jagger,” she panted, parting her thighs.

The blue silk of her robe against his veined hand branded his memory, and he’d never let it go as long as he lived. He pushed high into her pussy. Cream slicked his fingers.

As he withdrew with a slowness meant to drive her mad, he rubbed his throbbing cock against her hip. “I need inside you. Come for me so I can sink my cock deep into you.”

Responding to his words, her pussy clenched around his fingers. Gripping them tight. He took her mouth again, drinking from her sweet lips while fucking her juicy pussy. He slowly rubbed her clit in time to his finger thrusts, and her robe fell open to reveal a patch of smooth skin and a landing strip of pubic hair pointing to where his fingers disappeared.

She tensed, her face heart-wrenching in its beauty as she concentrated on something deep within.

A shudder ran through her body into his hand, rocketing up to his shoulder. He groaned. She cried out. Then she was pulsating around his hand, releasing all over his fingers.

“That’s it, beautiful. Come for me. Then I’ll slide into you and make you come again.” His whispered words against her throat pulled another quiver from her. He fucked her more slowly, holding her gaze. Then he eased his fingers out and stuck them in his mouth, sucking her juices from each digit.

“God, Jagger. I need you.” Her admission was breathy, as if she were trying to stop herself from admitting it.

His lips twisted up at one corner as he climbed off the bed and stripped down to the buff. With his cock bobbing against his abs, he located a condom in her drawer, which he’d become very familiar with in the past twenty-four hours. He knew everything she kept in there—a small vibrator and a few spare batteries, a tube of lotion, some hair clips, and a battered paperback that looked to have been read a hundred times.

Sheathed in rubber, he parted her thighs as he pulled her pussy flush against his swollen cock. Sliding in easily, they shared a guttural groan.

As he burrowed into her, he claimed her mouth. Tight heat clamped around him. He lifted her ass to get deeper. Rolling his hips, holding her intense gaze. With every stroke he felt some of the tension he hadn’t known was inside him flowing away.

Skittering her hands over his shoulders and spine, she moved with him. Her cries grew louder and more intense until she shook in his arms.

He stared into her face, his own burning need stealing his control. He fucked her hard, the sound of their bodies and her screams filling the air. When the first waves struck him, he gathered her close and lost himself to her.

Hanna clung to the side of the rock wall, her damp fingers digging into the plastic hold. A rivulet of sweat slid into the corner of her eye, and she blinked at the sting. When she’d come here to climb, she’d hoped the rush of being thirty feet in the air would erase the past two days she’d spent with Jagger.

But no, she found herself thinking about him with every damn move she made. Using her calf muscle, she lifted herself another two inches to reach for the next hold.

I shouldn’t have shown him where I live.
Since then he’d become a permanent fixture in her apartment. Sure, as well as being an amazing lover, he’d brought her breakfast in bed. He was neat in the bathroom and didn’t seem to leave his clothes and shoes lying around for her to trip over.

But the point was, she didn’t want a man in her life. If he came over once in a while to fuck her into oblivion, that was fine. But… Who was she kidding? There was no but. Fact was, she liked rolling over and seeing his bearded jaw against her sheets.

And seeing him walk through her apartment was a real-life porno. The man didn’t walk—he strutted. His bigness swallowed her space, which might be annoying if he didn’t have anything but looks to fall back on. Why did he have to be smart and witty too? They’d had an entire conversation about her current nonprofit work project, and he’d actually offered a few ideas that might work for that case.