Into the Fire (9 page)

She briefly considered stopping the
car and booting him out, but in the end, she decided to see who
this mysterious “someone” was. If nothing else, it would teach her
a lesson for future reference, even if it broke her heart all over
again. She’d allowed Nate to get too close again.
Dammit.

They pulled into Mickey’s, a local law
enforcement and firefighter hangout. Inside, they found a secluded
circular booth in the back of the bar, after ordering two drafts on
their way.

Charly got settled and then swung to
face Nate. “All right, spill. Who’s meeting us?”

He reached into her lap and caged her
fisted hands. “He’ll be here in a few minutes. But, I need to tell
you something first.” His thumb rubbed her knuckles
comfortingly.

He? Charly’s brain screamed at her.
Then it wasn’t another woman, and Nate sure as shit wasn’t gay or
even bi.

“
What the hell, Nate. Just
spit it out.”

“
Jesus, I don’t want to tell
you this,” he said with strain bracketing his scrumptious mouth. “I
found out who spread the rumors.”

Charly sat up a bit
straighter. He was all worked up about the rumors? When she’d
thought it was Nate, she’d been pissed, even devastated. But, some
third party idiot spreading gossip? She
was 
so
 not worried about that. She’d made her peace over the
past few days, though now she was a little curious.

“
That’s it? I haven’t lost a
wink of sleep over it since I figured out it wasn’t you.” Oh shit,
she’d given too much of herself away again; she just told him how
important he was to her, then and now. While she might have
reconciled their relationship in her mind, it wasn’t something
she’d planned to let slip so soon.

A slow smile curled his lips and
seemed to pull at something deep within her. Damn.

“
So you don’t mind if I
pound his face into pulp, and then take you back to my place?” His
eyebrow raised in question.

She gulped. “I’ll watch for the
face-pounding part and get back to you on the second, all
right?”

His smile turned into a wicked grin.
“Sure, Charly. You can call the shots. You always have.” His tone
held no censure, only amusement and genuine affection.

“
Damn straight,” she
replied, and realized he was right. He’d always let her lead until
she was comfortable, and then the control was all his. The thought
was heady.

“
Speak of the devil,” Nate
said, waving to the man who’d entered the bar wearing running
shorts and a LFD tee.

“
CC?” Charly asked, confused
as all get out. He wasn’t exactly high on her list of people to be
around, ever, but now his open antagonism over the last eight years
made sense, sort of. What baffled her was how the man could
possibly know about her and Nate. No way in hell would Nate have
confided in him; they were as opposite as two men could possibly
be.

The veteran settled into their booth,
after grabbing a beer of his own, so that Charly was sandwiched
between the two big men. “Looking for a little threesome action,
kiddies?” he said with a wink and leer.

“
Hardly,” Charly replied;
sudden anger swept through her. No, she wasn’t pissed about what CC
had said about her over the course of the years--well, maybe a
little bit--but that he’d entered this discussion with such a
coarse suggestion. Oh, she’d touch him all right but not in the way
that he was thinking.

As Nate’s face turned raging purple in
response to CC’s innuendo, she slid her hand under the table.
Before Nate could say a word in reply, she grabbed CC by the balls
and began squeezing.

“
What the fuck!” His voice
was strangled.

“
Nate,
here, wanted to beat you senseless, but I think this is a much more
fitting punishment.” She twisted her hand and watched in interest
as beads of sweat began to pop out on his Cro-Magnon forehead. “I
never knew being a
ball-buster--that 
is
 what
you call me, right?--could be so much fun.”

She hazarded a glance at Nate, who was
holding his stomach to contain his laughter. His face had gone from
livid purple to over-the-top, cherry-faced amusement.

“
A little birdie told Nate
that you were the ugly bastard who spread the word about my sexual
proclivities. I want to know how in the hell you came by your
so-called information.” She gripped harder, and CC groaned and
began to hunch over, as if it would take the pressure off his
balls. Why he hadn’t forcibly removed her hands was a mystery to
her, but she wasn’t going to argue her good fortune.

“
Some chick,” he grunted. “I
fucked her right after you were assigned to our ‘house. Never saw
her again. Don’t even remember her name.”

Charly leaned against the back of the
booth and considered his words, even as she kept the pressure up.
She knew why CC had voiced the story: he’d hated seeing a woman in
the ‘house worse than any of the other men. But, how could this
woman have known?

Could it have been someone she’d
confided in? No, Emma was the only person she’d ever told about
Nate, and Charly trusted her implicitly. It had to be someone else,
but how? And, did it even matter?

She released her hold on CC’s balls
and picked up her beer. “Thank you, CC. You can go now.”

He lurched away from her as if she’d
taken a cattle prod to his ass and then stumbled out of the booth.
He hunched over with one hand protecting the family jewels. “I’ll
get you for this, you little cunt. You don’t fuck with me and get
away with it.”

“
But she will, CC,” Nate
said, his voice sharp enough to cut steel. “Because if you breathe
one word of this encounter, your ass is grass.”

CC straightened marginally. “Fuck you,
Andrews. You don’t know your ass from a hole in the
ground.”

Nate nodded in agreement. “Maybe not,
but Chief Ryan sure does, and he was the one who clued me in. You
say one fucking word and you’re done. You’ll never get a
recommendation to another ‘house.”

“
That’s blackmail,” CC
snarled.

“
Yeah, how’s it feel,
asshole?” Charly snapped in response. “You’ve tried to run me out
for the last eight years. Now, we’re even. No one has to know this
ever happened but the three of us. I hear one word about it,
though, and I’m going to tell everyone how I had you by the
balls.”

“
Bitch,” CC said, but
befuddlement had replaced the anger in his tone.

“
Bastard,” she replied
companionably. “We’re done ... or not. Your call. I actually
believe you don’t remember her name. Hell, she probably never even
gave it to you.”

CC limped away without another
word.

Nate’s big hand covered her knee and
squeezed. She pulled her attention away from the wounded
firefighter.

Nate’s grin was so huge it almost
split his face. “Jesus, Charly, you’re amazing.” He leaned over and
gave her a big kiss.

Charly was too happy to even care who
saw.

Chapter Eight

No one at Mickey’s had seemed to have
any interest in their altercation with CC, so they finished their
beers quietly and left the bar. Twilight had begun to fall as they
walked to the car, and Charly knew they’d spend all night playing
the games that had titillated them so ... but only if she wanted it
to happen.

As she settled into the driver’s seat,
the adrenaline, which hummed through her blood ever since CC had
settled in next to her, focused into a sharp, edgy need. She turned
to Nate, who had already buckled himself in and, closing the space
between them in a heartbeat, laid a kiss on him that rocked both of
their worlds.

He responded as she’d known he would,
his mouth voracious, tongue seeking hers hungrily. His hands found
her breasts and tweaked her nipples in time to the thrust of his
tongue, which sent shards of pure pleasure through her body and lit
her nerve endings on fire.

He palmed her breasts, inciting a
whole, body-shuddering caress, and then cupped her shoulders and
pushed her an inch away. His breathing felt choppy against her
lips. “My place, now.” When she hesitated, he growled, “I mean it,
Charly.”

Her nipples pebbled even further at
the order as her pussy creamed. Taking one last swipe of his lips
with her tongue, she slid back behind the wheel. Her heart thumped
unsteadily. “You’ll have to give me directions,” she said with a
breathy voice.

He did, his voice strong, demanding.
Just the tenor of his baritone, knowing he’d be issuing other
commands before the night was out, made her even wetter.

She drove quickly, edging over the
speed limit with each turn until they pulled into a tract home much
like her own. Except, the houses here were older, situated on at
least half an acre, so the neighbors were far enough away to mind
their own business. The thought was titillating and terrifying at
the same time.

She sat there, just staring, for a
long moment, wondering if she was really ready to go through with
this. Nate sat beside her, not saying a word, letting her make the
decision for herself. Because they both knew, once she entered the
front door, he’d be in control, and the sex would be diametrically
opposed to what they’d done on her kitchen table.

“
One condition,” she said,
unwilling to budge.

“
Name it,” he said, turning
to her.

“
The cell phone stays on and
within hearing distance.”

He reached out to cup her face with a
big, strong, callused hand. The caress sent shivers of anticipation
through her. “That was a given, Charly. No matter what we do, be it
business or pleasure, I’ll never make you compromise what you’ve
worked so hard for.”

His words made her hotter than all of
their previous touches. Well, almost all of them... He respected
her, and her mind rejoiced as she unbelted and slid into the
rapidly cooling night air.

Nate came up behind her. She could
feel his body heat as he ushered her to the front door, unlocked it
and swept her in. Walking to the refrigerator, he pulled out two
bottles of water, giving her time to look around. The room was
comfortably decorated, with mementos of his overseas assignments
scattered about.

“
How long have you lived
here?”

“
Since I rolled into town a
few weeks ago.” He handed her a bottle of water and gestured for
her to sit. She chose a butter-soft leather chair, unscrewed the
bottle and took a long swig. Then she waited for him to
speak.

He appeared nervous for a moment but
that expression was washed away by what she could only call
deviltry. “Before we start, you need to know I haven’t done this
with anyone since I left.”

Her mouth must have dropped open in
shock, because he laughed. “Yeah. I guess it was something special
to us. I didn’t want you thinking this is something I run around
and do on a regular basis.”

“
I don’t know what to say,
Nate. I guess we’re well matched in that at least, because I
haven’t trusted anyone enough for it either.”

He winced in response to her words,
even though she hadn’t meant for it to be a cruel remark about his
abandonment. However, it was true, and she wouldn’t retract it. The
fact she was here tonight, that she’d committed to this, apparently
didn’t take away the sting, even if he had been scared of her ...
of them.

“
I’m glad,” he finally
said.

He rose to his feet and held out a
hand. She grasped it and stood, her mind going a bit foggy as he
tugged her toward what could only be his bedroom.

It was a plain old room, and she blew
out a low breath. While he’d said he hadn’t done this with anyone
else, somewhere deep in her psyche she’d expected a pommel horse or
stockade set up. But, no, instead there was a king-size bed with a
beautiful carved head-and-footboard, a comfortable reading chair
and matching nightstands. Curtains and blinds covered the windows,
and the only light came from a bedside lamp draped in something
that muted the glow, making the room seem warm and romantic. He’d
so obviously prepared this tableau in hopes she’d change her mind
and give their more explosive lovemaking a second
chance.

He settled into the chair, arms
crossed against his chest.

“
Strip.” The command was
there in his voice now, brooking no argument. “And make it slow. I
want to see every inch of you revealed.” He settled into the
armchair and waited.

Swallowing, Charly unclipped her cell
and Beretta and placed them on the dresser. She started at the top
button of her blouse, slipping it free, but then paused to run her
finger over the soft skin at the base of her throat. Her breath
caught at the intensity in Nate’s eyes, emboldening her. Continuing
down the row of buttons, she let the pads of her fingers trail over
each inch of exposed skin until she stood before him, heart
rabbiting, blouse hanging open to reveal her no-nonsense spandex
sports bra.

God, she wished she’d thought her
dressing choices through more clearly this morning. Today was the
day for a lacy push-up number with a matching thong, like the ones
Emma had gifted her with after destroying her granny panty
collection. But Nate didn’t seem to mind, if his choppy breath and
tented slacks were any indication.