Page 13 of Her Fire Master (Master Me #5)

B laze

The team is out at the grocery store together, shopping for our shared meals when we get a call, which sucks. We leave our carts while Rocket promises the manager we’ll be back and we jump in the truck.

The fire is another abandoned building.

“It’s the same kid,” Lia says with absolute conviction as she pulls up and lines up the truck with the hydrant.

“What makes you think it’s a kid?”

She shrugs, already slipping out the door. “I just do,” she shouts as she jogs to the back of the truck.

I get on with my job of assessing the situation and giving orders, and I don’t have time to think of it again until I hear a shout and see Lia take off running—without a hose.

And then I see what she’s running after. Or who , I should say. It’s a kid—you can tell by the slender limbs, although he’s as tall as she is.

The teen, who’d been hiding around the corner of the building across the alley, sprints away.

Lia follows in hot pursuit.

Sonofabitch.

I run, too, because the only thought in my brain is the kid might have a weapon and she’s going to get herself killed. Fear grips my throat.

Lia runs hard and fast, but the kid had quite a head start. He rounds the bend long before she does. I catch her before she rounds another bend.

“Get your ass back to the fire!” I snarl down the block. She’s headed in that direction, but if she’s still chasing the perp, I’m going to wring her neck.

Residents come out of their apartments and lean out of windows to gawk at the fire, and someone shouts something rude, mimicking me.

Lia nods and heads back toward the fire, so I retrace my steps down the alleyway, which is faster. Too much precious time has been wasted now.

Thank God the crew already has the hoses going and the flames out.

When we get back to the truck, Lia gets on the radio and tells dispatch to send the police.

I’m pissed as hell. I crowd her against the fire truck and pound my fist against it.

“What in the fuck did you think you were doing?” I don’t give her a chance to answer.

I’m just warming up here—they do call me Blaze for a reason, and she’s about to get the full brunt of her captain’s temper.

“You are not here to chase criminals—you are here to put out fires. When you abandon your crew, there are consequences to everyone. Someone could’ve been killed today because you decided to make up your own rules.

” I bang the fire truck again. I sense the rest of the crew behind me, but nothing’s going to stop my tirade now.

“The fire was under con?—”

“It’s not up to you to make that call! I’m the fucking captain. I give the orders around here. If you don’t like that, find another job. I need crew members I can trust to do what they’re trained to do.” Another fist to the truck. “Now are you willing to be a part of this team or aren’t you?”

Too late, I realize Lia’s eyes shine with tears. My tongue-lashing went way too far. I haven’t had a female on the team before—didn’t think to dial it back. I also didn’t check my personal feelings for her. My anger boiled up over my fear for her safety, nothing else.

“Take a step back, Captain,” Scott says in a low, calming voice and I realize, with horror, how threatening I must seem to Lia. I’m twice her size and while I’m not touching her, I have her backed against the truck. She doesn’t look scared, though. Just angry and humiliated.

Fuck.

“I am,” Lia mutters, lips trembling.

Now I’m pissed at myself for being the king asshole. I punch the truck again and walk away without another word.

The cops show up and I head over to brief them, even though it’s really Lia’s show.

“Don’t worry about him,” I hear James tell Lia. I guess if he’s the first to console her, I really went too far. “He blows his stack sometimes, but everything’s fine once he cools off.”

I give my report as succinctly as possible, then call, “Burke!” to summon Lia.

She doesn’t look at me when she walks over and I leave to give her space.

When she’s done, I order, “Everybody in.”

I don’t ride shotgun because I imagine I’m the last guy Lia wants to be sitting next to right now. I’ll have to figure out how to fix this, and fast.

Lia

I avoid Blaze the rest of the day. It isn’t hard—he gives me wide berth.

It’s not that I’m mad at him—maybe I am, a little.

I’m just scraped raw emotionally, and I can’t look at the guy who put me there.

I leave as soon as my shift is over and head home, my stomach still in knots over what went down.

He was right, of course. Running after the kid was rash and definitely not what I was supposed to be doing.

Still, given a re-do, I’d probably do it all over again.

I can’t shake the feeling that the kid needs help.

Maybe I’m just projecting my own self onto him, but I remember what it was like to start fires—to crave the destruction they cause.

I don’t know why it’s such a release, but it is.

And I’m fairly certain all three of these arson fires were set by that one kid. He needs help. Because if someone gets hurt, he’s going to have to live with that for the rest of his life.

I change into a t-shirt and leggings and make myself a snack.

When I’m done, I sit at my little two-person table with a book of matches in my hand.

It’s a new book—every match intact, lined up in two perfect rows.

Just the sight of them releases endorphins.

I fold one down, debating whether I’m actually going to tear it off.

Whether I’ll disobey Blaze and light it.

A knock sounds at my door. Probably my neighbor—it has to be a fellow resident, since no one buzzed to get in the main door. I open the door and then immediately swing it shut.

Blaze.

He thrusts his boot in the door to stop it from closing. “Hang on—just wait. I came to apologize.”

I can’t quite meet his gaze, although I feel its intensity. Instead, I stare at the hollow of his throat, at the stray chest hairs creeping above his collar.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you in front of everyone. I was an asshole. I didn’t mean to humiliate you.”

I don’t move. I still don’t meet his gaze, nor do I let him open the door any further.

“Let me in.” There’s no entreaty to his voice, only quiet command.

For some reason, I respond to this show of authority and drop back from the door.

He sweeps in, catching me up around the waist and walking me a few steps backward until I hit the wall. I push against his chest, but he catches my wrist and pins it to the wall beside my head. His mouth attacks mine in a searing kiss.

“Everything okay in there?”

Crap. Now it’s my neighbor. Blaze came in so fast he didn’t bother to close the door.

“Shut the door,” he barks now, not looking away from me.

“Lia? Are you all right?” My middle-aged neighbor is a nice enough guy—a computer geek who takes care of his elderly mom. But now is not the moment for a visit.

“Yes, please shut the door,” I answer.

Blaze rewards me with another brutal kiss.

His thigh pushes between my legs, but when he comes up for air, he wants to talk.

“You scared the shit out of me, Lia.” He leans against his forearms on the wall, framing my head.

“I thought you were going to get shot or worse. And then I just blew a gasket.”

“I noticed,” I mutter.

“I’m sorry I yelled.”

It’s way more of an apology than I expected, mainly because everything he said to me was true.

I don’t know what to say, so I simply lift my lips for another kiss.

He delivers, softer this time, although not gentle by any means.

He slides a hand up my shirt and palms my breast while his tongue sweeps between my lips.

I kiss him back, lifting one leg to wrap around him, offering no resistance as he helps pull it higher.

He shoves my bra cup down and thumbs across my taut nipple at the same time he bites my lower lip. “You ever been fucked up against a wall before?” He pulls my shirt off over my head.

“Uh uh.” I unbuckle his belt.

“You’re going to get it now.” He whips his own t-shirt off and throws it on the floor beside mine. “Lifting that leg up around my waist. You’re just begging to be fucked right here, aren’t you, little dragon?”

I get his zipper down, but he catches both my wrists and lifts them up. “Interlace your hands and put them on top of your head.”

I steal a glance at the harsh lines of his face as I slowly obey.

“That’s right. Like you’re under arrest. Now hold them there. You move, you’ll be punished. Understand?”

I nod, my pussy clenching at the word punished.

“Good girl.” He yanks my leggings down and off my legs. I wasn’t wearing panties with them, so I’m standing in nothing but my tangled bra now. He taps my inner thighs. “Spread your legs.” When I do, he squats down and licks into me, feasting on my juices.

I manage to keep my hands on my head for about ten seconds, but when he starts flicking my clit with his tongue, I forget all about the order. My hands drop to tear at his hair, pull his face into my pussy.

To my disappointment, he stands up, tsking.

Smack.

He slaps between my legs, spanking my pussy.

“What did I tell you to do with your hands, Sparks?” I scramble to put them back on my head, but he shakes his.

“Too late for that. Now you’re getting spanked.

I’ll start here.” He slaps between my legs again.

It stings and I shift my hips, craving release.

He leans his forehead against mine and slaps me repeatedly between the legs. “You’re going to get spanked hard, little girl.”

“No,” I whimper even though I love every second of it. I’m grateful for this reset—glad he’s here, making me forget our quarrel.

“Turn around.” Not giving me time to obey his order, he completes the action himself, spinning me around and pressing my hands against the wall. He pulls my hips so I’m forced to take a step back with both my feet. “Ass out, arch that back.”

He slaps my ass.