First and Last (32 page)

“What are you hoping for?” she asks as the server sets our food in front of us. It smells so good my mouth waters.

I shrug. “It’d be nice to have a boy, but I don’t care as long as it’s healthy.”

“Me too.”

“When do you go to the doctor?” I slice into a piece of my steak and shove it in my mouth.

“Wednesday.”

My face pulls down in a frown. “I don’t think I’ll be able to get off to go with you. You know how the summer goes. It was like pulling teeth to get tonight off.”

“It’s okay. I’ve got your mom here, so I don’t have to worry about Aubrey.”

I nod with a small smile, but I know it doesn’t reach my eyes. My mom’s presence is appreciated, but I can’t stop the feelings of guilt and disappointment from creeping its way in. It should be me there with her, hearing the news from the doctor that she’s pregnant. I’ll miss the smile and glow on Mia’s face and have to hear everything secondhand. I love my job, but hate the sacrifices it forces me and my family to make.

We enjoy the rest of our meal with easy conversation as I try my best to return to my good mood. It’s so good to get out with her, and I don’t want to let anything ruin it. I love Aubrey to death, but it’s more work than anything when we take her somewhere. She’s a ticking time bomb waiting to go off in restaurants, and we usually ask for our check as soon as our food is brought out because we never know when we’ll have to leave. Nothing’s worse than being
those
parents who let their kid scream throughout dinner.

This is relaxing and refreshing, but it also lets us reconnect. We are the foundation to our whole family. If we fall apart, everything crumbles around us. As long as we stay strong and bonded, so will our family.

“Is this where you thought your life would end up?” I ask her once our plates are cleared.

She looks up as she contemplates my question. “Did I think I’d be living in Oregon? No. Did I think I’d be with you? Absolutely.”

My head tilts to the side. “Even after my fuck up you still saw us together?” We’ve talked about our time apart and how miserable we were. I knew she said she missed me, but I never knew she thought we’d find our way back to each other eventually.

She laughs. “Yes, even after that. What’s that saying? The heart wants what it wants?” She looks at her glass while her finger runs around the rim. Shrugging, she says, “We’re PB&J. You can’t have one without the other, right?”

I stare at her in admiration. She is the most forgiving, loving, fucking beautiful woman in the universe, and somehow she’s mine. “You ready to go?” I ask.

She nods with a smile.

I park us off this bluff I found one day driving to work. When we’re not fighting fires, we try to prevent them by setting controlled burns to get rid of the brush and things that would spread fires quickly if one occurred. We were cutting things back in the valley below when I looked up and found this place. Determined to see if I could get to it somehow, I drove around for forty minutes until I found the path that led me to it. Sitting here in the quiet with my wife, not a soul in site, the effort was worth it.

“Is this the part where I act shy and play hard to get?” She bats her eyelashes at me, making me laugh.

“Babe, I’ve already had it, but you can play with my dick and get me hard any day.”

She swats my chest. “You’re such a perv.”

“Yeah, but you love this perv.”

“Don’t ask me why, but I do.”

Leaning over the center console, I give her a kiss as my hand grazes her jawline and runs up to the base of her neck. It doesn’t take long for me to deepen the kiss as my tongue slips into her mouth. She always tastes the same. A hint of cherry mixed with a flavor that’s just her. I swear every time I kiss her is like the first time. There’s a spark, a burst of energy where I want her so fucking bad. She strips me bare where I’m that awkward, sixteen-year-old kid again who didn’t know what the hell he was doing when we started dating.

A groan vibrates in the back of my throat when she runs her nails over my chest. Even over my shirt it makes my body vibrate with need, ready for what’s next. “I need more, Mia. I need to taste you.”

“That might be kinda hard in here.” She looks around not seeing the endless possibilities.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Pulling back, I open my door and get out, giving her a wink when I’m met with her confused face before I close my door. I open the back door of my truck and climb in. All I gotta say is thank God for the extended cab on my Dodge Ram because I have plenty of space in here.

“Sit up here and face me,” I instruct once I close the door again. The center arm rest is so wide it’s practically a third seat. She’ll fit there no problem. Sitting on my knees behind it, I wait for her to get in position. I grab her legs and help her get them between the two seats, facing me. “You won’t be needing these.” I reach up under her dress and pull off her panties.

“I can’t lean back,” she says, looking for somewhere to prop herself.

“Here, scoot toward me.” I sit on my ass and fold my legs before draping her legs over my back. Holding her ass in my hands, now I can bring my dessert up to me. “Lean back.” She does, resting on her elbows.

I dive in, not wanting to waste another second where she’s not on my tongue. I lick her in one, wide, flat stroke from bottom to top. Her breath hitches at the initial contact. Pointing my tongue, I flutter over her clit until she throws her head back on a long moan.

“Yes, right there,” she pants out, her legs tightening around my head.

I could draw this out and slow down, delaying her gratification, but there’s a reason car-sex is more of a sprint, and not a marathon. Sucking on her bud sends her over the edge. She writhes, squirming in the limited space we have. When I’m sure I’ve lapped up every drop, I slide her legs off the back of my shoulders, move back an inch, and undo my pants.

Not needing any instruction, she ducks as she climbs off the console and straddles my lap. Slowly, she sinks down on me, and I have to concentrate to keep my eyes open and on her. She feels so damn good as my dick is sheathed in her warm, wet core inch by inch. When she’s completely seated on me, I grip her hips and help her set a steady rhythm.

“Fuck, you feel good, babe.” We’re both panting, chasing the same finish line. The air feels muggy as our breaths fog up the windows, but we don’t stop. We can’t.

I feel her tighten around my dick as her orgasm spasms through her. Her forehead rests on my shoulder, no longer having the strength to move anymore, but I’m close behind her. Lifting her up two more times, I follow over the edge with her. Trembling with each jerk of my release, I hold Mia close as my arms wrap around her slim body and hold her to me. Our sweat-slicked foreheads rest against each other, and I swear I can feel her heart beating in sync with mine.

“I love you,” she says sleepily, thoroughly exhausted. I’m not gonna lie, it makes me smug as shit knowing she can’t move because of me.

“I love you too, babe.” I push the hair off her face and hold her to me as I continue to grow soft inside her.

“What about you?” Her words may be spoken softly, but they cut through the thick silence around us.

“What do you mean?”

“Is this where you thought you’d be?”

“Absolutely,” I answer quickly.

“What about in another five years? Where do you see yourself?”

I give it some thought. I think about the growing baby inside my wife’s body, the beautiful child we’re raising at home, and the love and life we share as we get older. “I’m not sure where we’ll be in five years, but as long as I have you and our kids, I don’t care. I need you more than my lungs need air, more than fire needs oxygen to burn. I can’t survive without you. You’re the blood in my veins and the beat of my heart. I live for you.”

Her head lifts off my shoulder and she looks at me, tears filling her eyes. “What’s wrong?” I ask as I wipe a tear away.

She shakes it off. “Nothing. Just these stupid pregnancy hormones.” Her head tilts up as she wipes the smudges off her face.

“Uh oh.” My eyes widen in horror. “We’re not going to see the hangry monster yet, are we? Is there any way you can hold that one back for a while longer? I think it traumatized me last time.”

“Oh, shut up. It wasn’t that bad.” She swats my chest and rises up slowly, letting me fall out of her.

“Really? Do you not remember the ice cream incident? Or as I refer to it, Dooms Day?”

“Seriously, Blake. You’re exaggerating.” She rolls her eyes before reaching for her panties and sliding them back on.

“Why would I need to exaggerate? The truth is just as scary. I forgot to bring home ice cream after being at work for eighteen hours and you yelled at me for being inconsiderate. And I remember saying, ‘Sorry, honey, I had a long day at work.’ Do you remember what your response was?” I turn my ear toward her waiting to hear her answer.

“I grew an arm inside my body today. What did you do?” she deadpans with not a stitch of inflection in her voice.

“It was a little more theatrical than that, but yes, that’s exactly what you said. So forgive me if I’m not looking forward to watching my wife become possessed by the creature that is driven by food.”

She tries to hold a serious face, but cracks and grins at me. “Fair enough, Mr. Collins. I’ll try to hold back the hangry monster.”

“Good.” I give her a peck on the tip of her nose, button up my pants, hop out of the truck, and get back in the front while she climbs through the middle. “Let’s go home. I’m ready for round two.”

“Hope you can deliver on that promise,” she teases.

“When have I not?”

July 2013

T
he alarm sounds and we know this is go time. I’m actually surprised this is our first call being that it’s so late in the season. We run to the lockers and get our gear as fast as we can like we’ve practiced many times before. My adrenaline is pumping as I run through a mental checklist that’s been engrained in my brain for these situations.

It takes no time before we’re up in the air, ready to go to battle with the beast. The pilot gets the coordinates from the crew that spotted the small flame. We do our first pass and I can see it from the window. Nestled in the tall trees is a speck of gray. From up here, it’d be easy to overlook, but I know down below is a different story. On the ground it’s wreaking havoc, devouring anything in its path.

“Alright guys, the drop zone is going to be tight,” the pilot informs us. I’m already a little on edge since this is the first call of the season. Add to that a difficult landing, and I’m sweating. But this is what I’ve been training for and we’ve done tight landings before. It’s the element of surprise—the unknown—that makes me nervous. And with this job, it’s always there.

Grabbing the mask on my helmet, I readjust it, getting ready to exit the plane. I’m the last of four guys to go, so by the time I land, the rest of my team will already be on the ground.

When I get the go ahead, I jump out and brace for the parachute to open. The wind rushes past me causing a world of noise and chaos. As soon as the chute opens, it’s nothing but silence. A gust of wind blows, and I don’t pull on the toggles in enough time to counteract the movement. I get carried to the far left of the target location. I try banking and coming back around to it, but I don’t think I have enough time. I’m too low and the ground is approaching too fast.

“Shit,” I say as I pull on the toggles hard, but as I reach the tops of the trees, I know I’m out of time. The front of my body brushes against a tree that lines the drop zone, hitting every limb along the way. “Fuck,” I grit out as I hit another limb that hangs out. I grunt and groan the whole way, landing on the ground with a thud before I collapse on my side like I’m supposed to.

“You alright, Blake?” Sam asks.

“Yeah, just had my nuts busted on a few limbs up there.” Thank God for the mask on my helmet or I probably would’ve lost an eye. I get off the ground gingerly, pissed that I’m in the landing zone, but managed to land in a fucking tree at the same time.

“Zach said it was gonna be tight,” he reminds me with a small chuckle.

“I know.” I grab my parachute and wind it up to stuff back in my pack so we can get ready to go. After our supplies boxes are dropped by way of parachute, we load up our gear on our backs, and make the trek to the fire.