Trapped Page 5

  She touched his face, loving that bristly morning beard against her fingers. If they stopped now she thought she might have to jump off a cliff in frustration.

  “I want this, too. I want you.” Heat filled her face even as she admitted, “I’ve got condoms. I dumped everything in there when I was evacuating.”

  His nostrils flared a little, the hunger in his eyes intensifying. “Thank God.”

  He kissed her again. Despite the break the passion returned, now even hotter and more intense than before. She dug her fingers into his bicep as he brushed his thumb over her nipple. She gasped into his mouth as the sharp prickle of arousal led straight from her breast to the aching spot between her legs. She arched into his touch, and he cupped her breast, concentrating on her nipple until she thought she’d lose her mind. He drew up the nightshirt and as his palm coasted over her stomach, he groaned and deepened the kiss. With stroke after stroke he took her mouth. His fingers brushed over her panties, barely touching her mound. She gasped again, moaning at the fantastic feeling.

  He cupped her bare breast and broke away from her lips. Before she could drag him into a new kiss, his mouth sealed over her nipple. She moaned at the incredible, mind-blowing sensation as he suckled gently and teased with his tongue. Then he switched to the opposite breast, licking and suckling while he tugged gently on the other nipple. Hungry desire demanded she do more. She reached down and found his hard cock beneath the soft material of his trunks. She rubbed and he hissed in a breath.

  “Jesus,” he breathed against her breast.

  Everything primal in her went ballistic. She longed to explore each inch of his hard, powerful body, to have him naked against her. She wanted to know what it felt like to have him buried inside her, to feel him moving and thrusting until the ceiling blew off.

  He released her long enough to sit up and discard his trunks. Her mouth almost watered at the sight of his thick, naked erection. She’d imagined what he might look like naked, but reality was beyond incredible. She sat up and drew the nightshirt over her head and squirmed out of her panties.

  They paused, and the blatant male appreciation in his eyes told Arlie he wanted her in no uncertain terms. Modesty and self-consciousness, which had lingered at the edges, disappeared.

  As they tangled their limbs together, he slipped his fingers between her legs and touched her wet heat. She closed her eyes and arched, all concentration centered now on the ecstasy of having his fingers gently tease her. Once more his mouth tasted her nipple. As he eased two fingers slowly into her she moaned and rocked against the feeling of him caressing her inner walls.

  He was relentless as he played her nipples. She clenched around his fingers as arousal rose higher by the second. Only when she was twisting against him, panting for release, did he move his fingers, stroking and stroking again. He removed his fingers from inside her and caressed her clit. Pleasure spiked as she whimpered with need. He stroked her clit again and again until she couldn’t stop groaning, practically begging him. Every muscle pulled tight as she headed to the peak. Orgasm slammed her as she screamed against his mouth. The climax went through her in massive waves until it slowly, so slowly, ebbed. Quaking, she broke from his kiss to catch her breath.

  He smiled down at her. “Damn, that was beautiful.”

  Gratification made her smile back at him. She wriggled out of his arms and rummaged in her suitcase for the condoms. She handed one to him. He tore it open and, sitting on the edge of the bed, suited up. Even watching him spread the protection down his long length renewed the fire still burning within her. She still wanted him, still needed the ultimate pleasure of knowing this brave man in the most intimate sense. She lay back on the bed once more, and they snuggled into each other’s arms.

  He teased her again with sweet touches and gentle caresses until she wrapped her fingers around his cock.

  “Now,” she whispered.

  “Mmm.” His sound of approval came from deep in his throat.

  He moved between her legs, keeping his weight off of her as he eased his erection between her wet folds. She sucked in a breath at the sensation and closed her eyes. Slowly, inexorably he buried himself inside her. His thick intrusion didn’t hurt. No, the fullness inside her was so hot, so delicious she wanted to move. She arched her hips and he groaned. Her muscles squeezed around his hot length. In flash of coherence she tried to recall if she’d ever felt this with another man.

  No. Never.

  He moved. Just a slow withdrawal that brushed against every aroused nerve inside her. He thrust deep and the incredible sensations magnified. Again he moved, keeping his thrusts teasing, tormenting with a slow and steady pulse. His erection rubbed against a spot inside her that set off a riot of sensation so breath-stealing she cried out.

  “Okay?” he asked, his voice choked.

  “Oh, God. Yes.”

  Okay was too mild a word to describe the sensation.

  When he hit that special spot again all bets were off. She didn’t restrain her pleasure, didn’t care if she moaned and gasped so loudly the entire hotel heard her. Breathless ecstasy hovered out of reach but grew stronger with every movement of their bodies against each other. She clung to his shoulders, and the powerful ripple of his muscles beneath her fingers heightened her arousal to a fever pitch.

  Higher. Higher. Coiling until she couldn’t breathe. The tension couldn’t last much longer.

  It broke.

  Her body clenched and released, throbbing around him as hot waves of incredible pleasure rippled through her center and a cry of ecstasy left her throat.

  *

  Hank about lost it. As her body tightened and released over his cock, as she took her pleasure, he almost let go. The male animal in him roared as he watched her come apart in bliss.

  He almost gave into the shattering need to come. But no. He wanted to see that excitement, that heady pleasure bloom in her eyes again. He drove into her, his thrusts harder and desperate. His muscles were shaking as she clutched at him, her fingernails biting into his shoulders for a second as she moaned.

  “Hank,” she whispered. “That feels so good.”

  He looked into those gorgeous eyes and saw something he’d never seen before in another woman’s gaze. The message was mysterious and indescribable but he wrapped himself in the powerful affection and hunger it built within. He wanted to see that expression on her face again and again. For days. For months. For years he wished to be the man that gave her this feeling.

  As he closed his eyes, he pumped into her repeatedly, gauging by her cries that she was nearing another orgasm. He quickened his movements, using his body to give her the greatest pleasure possible. He was shaking, trembling on the brink, yet determined she’d come around him again. With a cry she twined her legs around his waist and thrust up against him, struggling, wanting—

  “That’s it,” he said softly. “Come on. Take it.”

  She gasped, held still. He thrust harder. Faster.

  She trembled as she cried out, a high, breathy, undeniable sound of pure pleasure ripping from her throat.

  He let go, pounding until a soul-stealing climax slammed into his groin. With one last thrust he poured into her. Scalding pleasure shook his body from head to toe. He gasped for breath, trembling in her arms as he sank to the side and gathered her into his arms.

  They lay that way for a long time and caught their breaths. Finally he stood and disposed of the condom. When he came back to bed, he drew her into his arms again and they fell asleep.

  When he woke later the sun peeked under the curtain. She sat on the edge of the bed looking at her phone. She’d put her sleep shirt back on but he lay there naked as ever and the way she looked at him made him want her all over.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Hey. What time is it?”

  “Only six a.m.” She smiled. “Good news. The rain is still coming down in Chimney Rock and drowning the fire.”

  He sighed, the relief making him even mo
re relaxed and happy. “Excellent.”

  When she didn’t say anything, he considered calling a hotshot friend of his on the front line to get an update. Instead he stared at the beautiful woman in front of him and marveled at everything that had happened in just a short amount of time.

  A gut-wrenching thought came to him and almost choked him. “Hey, about earlier…I…”

  Her expression sank. “I know.” She put her cell phone down on the bedside table and scooted back onto the bed. She propped on her elbow next to him. “I realize this is crazy. I don’t jump in bed with strangers. But you…”

  Hope expanded in his chest. “Me?”

  “You’re not like any other man I’ve met.”

  He smiled. “That’s good. You aren’t like any other woman I’ve met.”

  Lame, you jackass. She looks worried. Just tell her what you’re thinking. Spit it out.

  Unless he was reading her wrong and what she wanted to say was ‘Thanks for the good time but I’m not ready to make this thing go any further’.

  He slipped his arms around her. He cuddled her, loving how warm and soft she felt. She laid her head on his chest and sighed. He tangled his fingers in her hair and played with a few strands.

  “Arlie, what we did…I wasn’t just trying to get some.” He winced at his word choice. Shit, he needed to get a vocabulary. He’d spent too much time around mostly men lately, having bullshit conversations that required a lot less tact. “I want to see you again. The time we’ve spent together means something to me.” He choked a few more words out, wanting to make sure she understood. “You’re an amazing, special woman.”

  She sighed. “God, I’m glad you said that.” She edged out of his arms just enough she could look down on him. “I thought maybe you didn’t feel the same way. That you would get out of this bed and say it was all a mistake.”

  “Hell no. I’m sorry we had to meet the way we did, but now that we’re here…” He let himself drift off.

  “Now that we’re here it almost seems worth it.”

  “Yeah.”

  She smiled, and he basked in the way it made him feel. Something told him this was the start of something incredible. He drew her into a kiss and they didn’t talk for a long, long time.

  Epilogue

  Chimney Rock

  June, One Year Later

  Arlie looked out the large picture window of the house she shared with Hank. At this time of year she found herself staring out that window more often than she should, a compulsive habit she labored to break. She could say it was to drink in the beauty of the semi-arid desert, but she knew better. Sometimes she expected to see smoke, she expected to smell it when she went outside. She expected to see flames. She understood it would take a while and some work to squash the demons that haunted her this time of year. But she’d get there. No doubt of that. Sharing life with Hank certainly helped.

  The high ridges of the mountain were pretty, and a recent early monsoon rain had pounded the area that afternoon. The burn scar tracing the area where fire had torched trees a year ago would cause flooding, and there would be homeowners suffering for that. But as Hank had said a year ago, Mother Nature did what she wanted. Rain was a real blessing, and she’d take those blessings any time she could get them.

  Hank’s car came into the driveway, and she smiled as the garage door came open and he pulled his SUV inside. She glanced down at the twinkling cushion-cut morganite engagement ring on her finger and smiled. God, she couldn’t wait to become his wife.

  Hank came in from the utility room, looking like a college preppie in his red polo shirt and khaki pants.

  “Hey, baby,” he said, a huge smile on his face. “You’re out of work early.”

  “Boss gave us an hour off at the end of the day.” She grinned and went into his arms.

  His arms enveloped her, and they fell into a deep, intimate kiss. He peeled away from her just far enough to say, “You were looking out the window when I drove up.”

  She sighed and tightened her arms around his neck. “I know. I was remembering what the mountains looked like this time last year.”

  He kissed her nose. “No pun intended, but I think that image is burned into your memory.”

  “Before the fire? Or during.”

  “During.”

  She frowned, worried. “Do you have any regrets you can’t fight fire anymore?”

  “Ah, but I am fighting it. I’m teaching a whole new batch of firefighters what they need to know.”

  She kissed his chin and smoothed her hands over his chest. “You’re right. I hadn’t thought of it like that.”

  He buried his face in her neck and peppered her skin with little kisses. She shivered in delight.

  “You know what I was thinking earlier today?” she asked.

  “What?” His question was gentle as he continued, kissing his way to her collarbone.

  “That the fire last year was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

  He drew back, his expression a little surprised. “Oh yeah? How is that?”

  “If it hadn’t been for the fire what do you think are the chances I would have met you?”

  “Not very good.” He nuzzled her neck. “What do you say we start the honeymoon early?” he whispered against her skin.

  “Oh, yeah.”

  This minute, this day was precious. They’d acknowledged it and learned that the day they found themselves trapped at the gas station. They’d never forget it. Next week they’d marry and continue their life, one built and forged by fire.

  The End

  Publisher’s Note

  Please help this author’s career by posting an honest review wherever you purchased this book.

  About Denise A. Agnew

  Denise A. Agnew is the author of over 65 novels. Denise has written paranormal, romantic comedy, contemporary, fantasy, historical, erotic romance, and romantic suspense. Archaeology and archery have crept into her work, and travels through England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have added to a lifetime of story ideas. She lives with her husband and a Mini Schnauzer. Denise is also a paranormal investigator, Reiki Master and Certified Creativity Coach. Visit Denise’s websites at www.deniseagnew.com and www.creativepencoaching.com.