Page 14 of Sequoia Flames (Black Timber Peak Hotshots #6)

FOURTEEN

LASSITER

Huffing out a breath, I drag my tired ass back into HQ and flop into a chair, exhausted.

I thought this would be an easy one. It didn’t seem that bad. Even with the rain that we got, we ended up with some lightning strikes that caused little flare-ups.

I felt like I was chasing my tail part of the time and the other part I was struggling to focus even when I was digging fire lines and struggling to beat down the brush fires. I joined the guys that first day and we fought hard until that rain finally hit. That was a damn god-send.

I scrub at my dirty face and close my gritty eyes, grimacing.

A good part of my problem was the distraction of the damn tears in Verity’s dark blue eyes.

The memory of her pretty curves spread out underneath me was enough to keep me so wound up that I couldn’t look around me without seeing her every damn way I turned.

I was a damn idiot and Aspen almost took my head off until I managed to get my fucking head on straight and focus on my work so that I could get back to her as quickly as possible.

She’s the thing that distracted me but she’s also the thing that made me focus on getting back to her. It’s a strange dichotomy what that woman does to me.

Aspen comes and sits down beside me, his own face just as dirty as mine. “Well, how long you gonna sit here before you go head out to find her?”

Coughing, I glare at him. “You know damn well we’ve got to have a meeting.”

He shakes his head and smirks. “Not tonight. It’s late and Rusty said to head home and get some rest. We’ll meet again tomorrow.”

I stand up and rip my dirty shirt off, heading for the locker rooms. “Why didn’t you fucking say that first, asshole?”

He grins. “I wanted to see how long you would sit here glaring at everybody until you finally realized that they’re all heading for the door.”

“You’re an ass,” I grit from between my teeth, grabbing my keys out of my pocket and heading for my car.

“See you later, Romeo!”

“I’m gonna pound you into dust.”

“Love you too,” he smirks.

Grumbling under my breath, I sit in my SUV and then stare off into space. “I don’t even know where she’s at, dammit!” I slam my fist into the steering wheel and then there’s a tap at my glass and I spin around, my eyes widening, sure that I’m seeing things. I must be more tired than I thought.

Because there’s no way in hell that I can really be seeing an angel standing there smiling at me. But then she taps at the glass again and my stupid ass finally pushes the door open and grabs her before she can move too far away.

“Oh fucking hell, Firefly. I’ve fucking missed you so bad.”

Her watery chuckle sounds like angels singing. “I fucking missed you too, Lassiter. I wasn’t sure that I should come here but Treaty said she was meeting Jude up here and she offered me a ride…”

“I’m so happy to see you. You should always come find me. I’ll always come back for you but I love that you came to find me.”

She pulls back and bites that full pink lower lip and my dick jerks in my pants. “I wasn’t sure that you would still want to see me. I mean… we said a lot of things up there but there was so much going on and it could have been just the excitement talking…”

Shaking my head, I grin at her and slowly lower her feet back down to the ground and then I lean down until my lips are so close to hers that I can feel her soft little puffs of breath on my skin.

Electricity zaps at me like fire. My eyes search hers.

Her smooth brow is furrowed and she’s watching me so warily that I want to shake her just a little.

“Baby, I was coming for you. There’s no way I could stay away from you for one more night.

I know it’s fast. I know it’s scary as hell.

But I know something else too. I know that you’re it for me.

I fell in love as soon as you started taking my head off and telling me how bad I was at my job.

” I grin at her as she flushes and laughs, her dark blue eyes sparkling.

“I mean, how could I not fall in love with you?”

She ducks her head into my shirt and I can’t stop touching her long, soft hair, breathing in the sweet honeysuckle and peach scent of her. She finally lifts her head and her eyes are full of emotion.

Lust.

Love.

And need.

A ball of hunger blasts through my body and my breath stutters out of me wildly.

“Do you want me to stay or go? Because I cancelled my plane ticket and I’ll gladly stay here if you really want me.”

A grin tugs at my lips and grows wider and wider until it feels like the happiness that is billowing out of me can’t be contained. “I want you. I will always want you. If you need to go somewhere than I’ll follow you. I don’t care where. It doesn’t matter as long as I have you.”

“I want to stay here. I want to finish up my master’s program. I want to find that damn plant and write my paper and then I want to stay up here and see where this goes.”

“It’s going all the way. One of these days I’m gonna marry you and have a houseful of babies. That’s how far I want to go with you.”

Her smile grows until it takes over her face and she shines like a diamond in the sun. “I’m with you.” Her smile fades and she sighs, leaning into me. “I love you, Lassiter. I didn’t think it was possible but it is. It so is.”

My lips claim hers and this time I kiss her like she’s the most important thing in the world. My mouth fuses with hers and I drink in every little breath, every moan, every single lap of her tongue on mine sets off fireworks that threaten to blow my whole soul apart until I’m fused with her soul.

She grins. “How about you take me home and show me just how much you love me?”

“I would love nothing more.”

I throw her over my shoulder, slapping her ass and grinning as I toss her curvy little body into my front seat.

I reach across and buckle her in, our eyes meeting, drawn together like magnets.

Her lips draw my gaze and when she licks them I can’t walk away without tasting them one more time.

Her sweet as berry taste washes across my tongue and I pull myself away, groaning.

“Soon,” I whisper and shut the door, scrambling around the front of the vehicle.

“Lassiter, where are you going?” Jude hollers at me and I look over to see Treaty standing there with him. She grins and waves at Verity and Jude cocks his head, his long, dark hair sliding across his broad shoulders.

Ignoring him, I hop into my car and hit the gas. I need to get home. Now.

Verity smiles at me and her dark blue eyes are lit up like fireworks on a hot Fourth of July night. “Take me home, Lassiter.”

“Hell yeah!”