Rescue Breathing (36 page)

"We're in back!" I hear her call from the
enclosed porch.

We walk to the back, Sophie in tow.
My folks are sitting together
and enjoying the cool, clean air, drinking coffee, and reading the
paper. My mother gets up and, with arms out, goes directly for
Owen. She nearly throws herself at him, and I wince.

"Geez, Mom. Nice to see you too!"

My father comes over to me and gives me a
hug and a peck on the top of my head. "How
's my Livvy Lou?" he says
affectionately.

I snuggle into his chest, watching as my
mother assaults Owen.
Owen just takes it in stride, telling her how young she
looks and how she couldn't possibly be the mother of a woman my
age. Jesus, he's laying it on thick, and she's eating it up. I
can't help but give a lighthearted laugh.

"I'm good, Daddy." I lead him over to
Owen, saving Owen from my mother. Mom, Dad, this is Owen Maxwell.
Owen, these are my folks, Bob and Lily Burke."

"Owen shakes my father's hand
respectfully. They exchange pleasantries, and my mother directs us
back to the porch, offering us coffee. We accept, and I mention to
Owen that maybe we should go put our bags down before we get
comfortable. He agrees.

"Liv, you two can take your old room,
sweetheart, since Simon will be here shortly and they'll take his
room. We've put that queen bed in there so you should be
comfortable."

Owen grabs our bags and heads upstairs as
I direct him to my room. When we walk in, I take a deep breath. My
room is much as I left it when I moved out to go to school, with
the exception of the bed she mentioned that was moved in to make it
more compatible for the visits of the family my mother has been
hoping I'd have. Unlike some parents who don't want their kids
sleeping in the same bed if not married, my mother hopes it will
get us married.

I move to the windows and look out.
The view is spectacular, as our
house abuts the woods. The colors of the trees are phenomenal. As I
enjoy the view I start to wonder what's taking Owen so long with
the bags. Suddenly I hear the door click shut, and soon after I
feel Owen behind me, his arms wrapping around my waist and his chin
perching on top of my head.

"It
's a beautiful view, isn't it?" I say.

"Mmm, yes you are," he coos suggestively,
grinding his evident erection into my backside.

I chuckle.
"You are insatiable, Mr. Maxwell. What? This
morning's escapades in the shower weren't enough for
you?"

His teeth graze my earlobe as he whispers,
"Look, right now I'm just a teenage boy who is super horny and
alone in a room with a super-hot chick whose parents are downstairs
and preoccupied." He slips his hands around to the front of my
jeans and unbuttons the top button. He leans forward as he unzips
my jeans, murmuring in my ear, "Let me make you feel good. Quickly.
Quietly. It'll be enough for me. I love getting you
off."

My breathing hitches. Jesus, how could I
say no to that? Plus, if it's just me, that would be quick and
quiet, right?

"Mmmhmmm," I moan back as his fingers slip
into my panties and search downward. His right hand slides into my
panties, stroking me.
"Owen," I sigh.

"Shhhh, baby. Just enjoy it," he
encourages. His finger slips inside me as the other rubs
deliciously on my clit. "Fuuuck," he says in a growl. "You're so
wet, baby. I fucking love that. You're always ready for me. You
have no idea what it does to me to know I turn you on like that,"
he whispers against my neck as he licks and sucks his way to my
shoulder.

"It would be so easy for me to do this,"
he says as he pushes my jeans and panties down to my knees with one
hand and then swiftly unbuttons the fly on his jeans, pulling his
length out. Within seconds, he is deep inside me, and I gasp, my
hand flying to my mouth to stifle my scream.

"Owen, shit
,” I say, in a muffled groan.

"I'll be quick. Promise. I just couldn't
miss this opportunity," he grunts as he slowly slides in and out of
me from behind in long delicious strokes. I am building instantly,
clutching at him greedily as he places both hands on my hips,
stroking into me. "Jesus, you feel so good Olivia. So soft and warm
and tight. The perfect fit."

His words are destroying any sanity I have,
and I just listen to him as he whispers into my ear.

"You're so beautiful. Just so fucking
beautiful. And…shit… You feel so good." He rasps the words out and
then places his forehead against my shoulder, bending his knees,
concentrating on stroking into me as gutteral moans come from his
throat. The sound alone is intoxicating, and he brings his hand to
my front again, drawing small circles over my clit with just enough
pressure to get me very close. "You ready to come? Because I'm
ready to make you come," he groans.

"Yes," I breathe out, pushing against his
hand.

He presses his intrepid finger against me
while stroking deep into me, and I fall apart, biting my finger to
avoid screaming as I come.
He joins me, burying his face in my shoulder and using it
to stifle his own moans. We are both panting and breathless as we
lean against the windowsill.

"Well, that was unexpected," I pant as he
pulls from me slowly.

"Yeah, I guess it was," he agrees, “but it
was fucking hot.”

He hugs me to him and gives me a squeeze.
Then we move into my en suite bathroom to clean me up. He kisses me
sweetly, and we head back downstairs, grinning from ear to ear, for
coffee with my parents.

C
HAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Owen

I
really
needed to relieve some pent-up stress from meeting Olivia's
family this weekend, so I'm thankful that Olivia was so willing and
ready for me just now. I'm doing my best to act cool and calm about
this weekend trip, but truth be told, I'm pretty anxious about
meeting everyone. After just having come hard with a little naughty
sex with Olivia in her childhood room, I'
m feeling
much
more relaxed and ready to face the barrage of questions
sure to come my way.

I'm pretty sure I'
ve won over Olivia
's mom with how she's constantly fawning
over me, but the real challenge lies in winning over the other men
in Olivia's life—her dad and her brother.

As we sit out on the back porch getting
acquainted, Lily pours me a cup of coffee and offers me a slice of
homemade banana bread.
I
take both with a smile and look toward Bob, who keeps eyeballing me
suspiciously. I suddenly wonder if I have “I just fucked your
daughter” written across my forehead and feel my cheeks flush a
little. I really wish I had a little Bailey's to go with this
coffee.

“
So.” Bob breaks the silence as Olivia and
I sit in the porch swing opposite her parents. “My girl tells us
that you're a firefighter in the city. Rescue Company, is that
right? That must be dangerous.”

Was that a question or…

Bob's use of “my girl” is not lost on me.
I know Olivia and her father are close; she's a bit of a daddy's
girl, and they have a special connection. He's telling me his
position in her life, but I'
m confident I
'm
on my way to taking the lead.

“
Yes, sir, it is, but I have a highly
trained team surrounding me each day that makes sure we all get
back to the firehouse safely,” I reply.

Olivia snuggles up to me on the
two
-seater swing,
looping her arm under mine, and smiles up at me. Lily looks at us
sitting together with a huge grin. She has an expectant look on her
face that's making me a little uncomfortable, and I fidget in my
seat a bit.

“
Any close calls, Owen? What happened on
your last shift?” Bob asks, machine-gunning me
questions.

That
's the funny thing about being a fireman—everyone always
wants to know about the risky calls. The dangerous calls you almost
don't make it back from. The gruesome stories. I'm used to the
morbid curiosity. They don't want to hear about the mundane calls
like a cat stuck in a tree (and yes, that really does happen) or
the alarms where a hotel is evacuated because a guest burned some
popcorn in the microwave.

“
Too many close calls to list, sir,” I
reply stiffly.

Olivia pulls me tight.
I know she doesn't like hearing about my
being in a dangerous situation any more than I like telling the
stories.

“
On my last shift, we were called to a car
accident where the driver had to be extricated from the car. My
buddy, Tanner, and I had to use the Jaws of Life and cut the roof
off the car to get the guy out. We put a C collar on him—or a
cervical collar,” I clarify, “and we got him out of there. Right
away, we smelled alcohol on the guy. He was pretty messed up—a
broken femur, deep lacerations to his face… He wasn't pretty.
Thankfully, it was a solo accident and he didn't harm anyone
else.”

“
Oh dear,” Lily says, gripping her neck
with a grimace. “You must see horrible things, Owen.”

I sigh heavily. “
Yes, Mrs. Burke, I do.
”

“
Owen, please call me Lily. We're not so
formal around here.” Lily smiles, and I can easily see where Olivia
gets her warmth.

Bob continues his line of questioning
about my job and how long I've been with the company. He has a lot
of questions about how one comes to be on a Rescue Company, and I
swear I see a look of respect cross his face when I go into detail
about the selection process and how only the elite firemen in the
city are interviewed and selected. Score one for Owen.

“
Guys!? We're here!” a male voice calls
from inside the house.

Olivia quickly gets up from the porch
swing, smiling.
“Simon!”
she squeals excitedly.

I watch as Olivia walks into the house,
followed by her parents and their dog, Sophie.
A chill of anxiety runs down my spine as I
brace myself for the introduction to Olivia's brother and his
fiancée. I take a deep breath, man up, and follow the Burkes into
the house.

“
Olivia! You made it.” Simon calls out,
giving his sister a bear hug. Simon is about six foot, with brown
hair and the same blue eyes as Olivia. I can definitely tell that
they're siblings. Olivia moves on to greet Reese, Simon's fiancée,
embracing her in a hug. She's a beautiful woman with coal-black
hair, pale, porcelain skin, and amber eyes. I stand back and
observe as Bob and Lily greet their family, and I easily see that
there is a lot of love in this house.

“
Who's black Range Rover is that out front,
Liv?” Simon asks, smiling as he shrugs off his coat. “Did you get a
pay raise or something? Because that thing is exp—”

“
That would belong to Owen,” Olivia says,
cutting off her brother. She comes to my side, wrapping an arm
around my waist and placing a hand on my chest. “
Owen, I
'd like to introduce you to my older brother, Simon, and
his fiancée, Reese.”

Simon looks from me to Olivia and back
again, somewhat surprised. “
Owen!
Finally,”
he says excitedly. “I've been looking forward to meeting
you.”

“
Likewise. Thank you,” I say as I shake
Simon's and Reese's hands. “I know how important Olivia's family is
to her, so I'm glad I could meet everyone.” Olivia gives me a side
hug and rubs her hand over my chest.

“
I'm going to get the rest of our stuff out
of our car and then we can sit down and talk,” Simon says to me as
he leans over and gives Reese a kiss on the top of her
head.

“
Let me help you,” I offer as I take
Olivia's hand that's on my chest and kiss her knuckles. I catch
Reese giving Olivia a wink with an “okay” sign as I follow Simon
outside and feel somewhat relieved that I've secured an A+ rating
with the women in the house.

“
Good drive up this morning?” Simon asks as
he pops open his trunk.

“
Yeah. We beat the traffic so we made it in
about an hour.”

“
I'm glad you were able to make it this
weekend,” Simon says. “Olivia has told me good things about you. I
know she's told you about her last relationship, so you can
understand when you get the fifth degree from my Dad. We're all
very protective of her.
I don
't want you
to take any offense to that.”

I grab a suitcase out of Simon's trunk.
“I'm protective of her too, so I get the reason for all the
questions. I'm expecting them, but I want you to know that I'm very
serious about Olivia and will do anything and everything to make
sure she's happy and safe.”

Simon looks me up and down and smiles. “I
believe you,” he says simply as he turns to close the car trunk.
“
Just
don
't fuck it up.” He
turns to look at me and gives me a wink.

“
We'll get started with lunch,” Olivia's
mom calls out as Simon and I walk into the house. “You boys go into
the family room and talk while we ladies get things ready. I'll
call you when it's time to eat. Then, we can all head to the Fall
Festival together.”