Page 102 of Fire Fight

I hauled her over my shoulder before she’d fully finished speaking, carrying her down the hall, though I took a quick detour into the guest room where she’d been sleeping.

“What’re you doing?” she asked, her voice floating up from somewhere around my ass. God, I was fucking feral for this woman. The fact that she was letting me manhandle her like this? I was a fucking goner.

I didn’t answer her, simply rifled through the drawer of the nightstand until I found what I was looking for, then continued to my room, slamming the door shut behind me before I dumped her in the center of my mattress.

Aspen lifted onto her elbows, those cinnamon eyes darkening as she watched me twirl her vibrator over my fingers.

Girls like her always had a vibrator. Likely because no man had ever fucked her good enough to make the toy obsolete.

That was, of course, because she’d never been withme.

“You wanna play, Aspen?”

“I’d rather have the real thing.”

I chuckled darkly. “All in good time, pretty girl.” I palmed myself through my sweats. “You’ll get this all day long. In fact,by the time I’m through with you, you’ll be begging me to stop.”

“Promises, promises.”

“You know I’ll make good on them.”

Aspen rose and crawled to the edge of the bed, then sat back on her feet, toying with the hem of her shirt. Finally making a decision, she gripped it and pulled it over her head.

Leaving her topless and looking like every fucking fantasy I’d ever had come to life.

Her body was gorgeous. Pert little tits with dusky rose-colored nipples. Trim waist and a flat abdomen shadowed by muscle. Thick, delicious thighs that strained against her silky pajama bottoms.

“Goddamn,” I breathed. “You are…stunning.”

She grinned shyly, and as she shifted slightly to hide her left side, suddenly it occurred to me why.

Her burns.

“Don’t hide from me,” I said softly, moving closer and lifting one of her hands from her lap before placing it on my forearm.

Aspen gasped as her fingers traced the skin that was marred beneath my tattoos—the reason I’d started getting them in the first place.

“What happened?”

“I’ve got all kinds of these. Hazard of my job. But this one was my first, and it’s the worst. It was the first major blaze I’d worked after finally moving up from candidate to full-fledged firefighter. There was a woman trapped in a room, and I thought I could get to her. Went in way too cocky. Half the ceiling ended up collapsing on me.”

“And the woman?”

I shook my head. “She didn’t make it, and I spent a few weeks in the hospital and another four rehabbing until I could go back to work.”

Moving to her side, I reached out and trailed my touch over the fresh pink skin spanning her left side.

“The point I’m trying to make here is your scars don’t determine your worth.” I met her gaze. “In fact, I think you’re even more beautiful because of what you’ve endured.”

“Little phoenix,” she whispered.

Grinning, I nodded. “Exactly. So don’t hide from me. Let me explore all of you.”

“Okay.”

I relaxed, grateful she felt so at ease with me to give in so quickly.

“Now where should we start?”