Kiss and Burn (3 page)

“You,” Carmen pointed to the man she considered to be her
brother-in-law then at Eli--the bane of her existence. “Why is he here?”

Maikao held up his hands. “I was kidnapped!”
Her eyes narrowed on him and his shoulders slumped as he sighed,
“Addie is
different
while planning
wedding stuff and because I like
my
scrotum and all of its functions, I came out with the asshole.”

“I’m sitting
right
here.”

She flicked her eyes towards the man in question. “Wow. I can’t
even begin to tell you how many fucks I do not give.”

Maikao burst into
laughter and pointed in her direction. “This woman is the reason I’m marrying
Addison!”

Eli’s lip curled. “Your marriage is supposed to be built on the
sanctity of love and commitment, you complete dick.”

Waving a hand, the other man replied, nodding his head at her,
“Yeah that too but, Carmen was like finding out that you ordered and paid for
an eight piece nugget but ended up with twelve.”

It was hard not to smile when Maikao was around, being that he was
just so damn lovable. “You want me to make you a papaya cheesecake to take home,
don’t you?”

He widened his
gaze. “It would keep your friend from turning my groin attachments into beef
jerky but, if you don’t
want
to see any nieces or nephews running
around…”

Carmen snorted. Given
Addison seemed to enjoy her almost-husband’s
groin attachments,
she highly doubted Addison would do anything to
them. She loved the insane male who came with said groin attachments also but
the planning of a location wedding hadn’t exactly been easy. Sadly, Maikao had
been the recipient of her occasional outbursts of bridal rage.

The
pair had been engaged all of one month of the five years they’d known one
another.
Starting off as friends first it took quite
a bit for either to admit how they felt about the other. With gentle
prodding—that was all
but
gentle—Addison
and Maikao finally managed to get their heads from up their asses and make it
happen.
It
being the lovely story Addison told Carmen; the first time
they slept together he’d banged her in an elevator.

Now
that
was romance.

Carmen couldn’t exactly judge though. She felt Eli’s eyes on her
and chose to ignore it. The one thing she
wouldn’t
give him any more of,
was her attention.

“I’ll go put in the order for that cheesecake.”

Maikao looked up from the book in his hands. “Ah, and Addie asked
me to ask you to call her so she could ask you about details concerning our
engagement party.”

“Is that
really
what she said?” Carmen questioned.

He winced. “I can’t repeat what she said. Those type of words
should never be spoken to a lady.”

Chuckling, she turned to walk away when one large tanned, scarred
hand gently gripped her forearm, before the owner of that hand said, “I need to
talk to you.”

She looked down at that hand then to Eli. “You’re touching me.
Stop touching me.”

“Car—”

“You’re speaking. Stop speaking.”

“I just want—”

Understanding that he apparently didn’t get the message, Carmen
twisted her hand so that she was out of his grasp but now had him in hers
before curving his wrist at an odd angle and bending it up behind his back. “No
means no, Eli. Learn the meaning of self-preservation and hold your digits
close because the next time they come into contact with me without my express
permission I will break them off, fillet them and serve them up with a garlic
aioli and rosemary potatoes.”

Releasing him, Carmen stepped back, calmly straightening her
blouse and slacks then walked away. The only thing that could be heard was the
sound of her heels clicking on the natural stone floors of her restaurant’s
deck. At least until Maikao burst out with, “See? Twelve nuggets instead of
eight!”

“Exactly how much longer are we going to keep up
this
particular charade?”

Carmen didn’t move, didn’t even blink at the softly asked
question. Her gaze never left her best friend as she went from gift to gift,
the excitement on her gorgeous face palpable. If there was one thing Addison
enjoyed, it was presents. With today marked as a celebration of her happiness
with Maikao, she was raking it in along with plenty of attention. The male
standing next to her who’d been trying to corner her all night? Not so much.

Taking a slow sip from the punch filled cup in her hand, she cut
her eyes to the left of her, where he stood...breathing her air. Carmen took
issue with him breathing her air. “Go away.” It had been at least a week since
their little encounter
just outside
on the deck and she was looking to continue her peaceful, anti-Eli existence.

Heavy lidded, his sparkling, amber irises stared back at her as he
opened his mouth to say one thing, “No.”

Her jaw clenched.

“You want me to go away?” he asked stepping directly into her line
of sight. “Then use your big girl words and talk to me.”

“I’m using my big girl words now,” Carmen ground out. “And I’m
telling you that in a second I’m going to find a spoon and pretend like I’m
trying to get a double scoop of ice cream from your facial tissue.”

Sinfully full lips tilted at the right side, the dimple resting in
his cheek peeking out and stark, white teeth flashed at her. “You want me
sooo
bad.”

“What I
want
is for you
to leave me here, pondering the meaning of life and going over my grocery list
mentally, like I was doing moments ago.”

Eli Aaronson made her
uneasy.
He’d been doing that for the
longest period of time and it
burned
her.
Everything about the fireman got under her skin. From the deeply tanned, olive
tones of his complexion, to the wideness of his shoulders and definition in his
biceps when he did the simplest act, like stuff his hands into his pockets. Eli
was made the way a man should be; sturdy, strong... appealing. His cropped,
cherrywood curls made him appear boyish while the neatly groomed goatee around
his mouth and perpetual five o’clock shadow contradicted it.

At just an inch under six and a half feet, Eli wasn’t small by any
means and she knew for a fact that having been in a field of work where he was
regularly called on to save lives, he wouldn’t ever let himself be anything
aside from top physical shape.

Sexy, frustrating mother fu—

“You’re fidgeting,” Eli sang
lowly in her ear.

She immediately halted any
movement. “It’s warm and I’m tired.”

“You could always take up
resting on my lap,” he suggested softly. “I’d be more than glad to have you.”

“Your presence bothers me.”

“You or your va—”

Before he could finish Addison was in front of him, brows winged.

Eli coughed then
choked out, “
Values?”

Addison’s eyes
narrowed. “You’re harassing her. Why are you harassing her?”

“I wasn’t—”

“You keep your
filthy mouth to yourself, Elijah,” she demanded. “And anything else of yours
that you may want to share.”

“Oh Addie,” he
placed a hand against his chest, “you have it all wrong. We were simply having
a conversation about—”

“Don’t care,”
Addison cut in. “I don’t want to know and I don’t care. Whatever you’re doing,
stop it. Why? Because if you don’t stop it you’ll learn that I mean it when I
say that I could make sure your departure from this life looks like an
accident.”
With that said, she walked
away.

Poking out his
bottom lip, Eli turned his amber eyes Carmen’s way. “Wedding preparation has
made Addie
mean.”

She blinked up at
him. “And everyday life makes you an ass.” Shrugging, Carmen patted his
shoulder in passing. “We all have our faults.” She wove through the crowd of
people in her restaurant all there to commemorate a special time in her
friends’ lives. Before she entered the kitchen, Carmen managed to catch sight
of Maikao swinging a giggling Addison around while her mother threatened that
if he dropped her child, he would be seeing another fire far too soon.

Placing her down, Addison’s fiancé whispered something in her ear
that was enough to make her eyes go as wide as saucers before she closed her
mouth and quietly moved away from him. From the twinkle in Maikao’s gaze as he
trailed his soon-to-be-wife’s movements through the room, Carmen knew that
whatever he’d said was more than a little inappropriate. Something in her ached,
watching the interaction between the two. Something in her craved that.

Pushing through the doors of the kitchen, Carmen found solace in
the one place she’d always been able to hide when needed.
Mi Aliento
had been born almost ten years prior through blood,
sweat, whining and tears. Her traditionally Latin restaurant was the one
accomplishment that Carmen held above all others.

Called after the nickname her mother had given her at a young age—
my breath—
her establishment had been
inspired purely by Angelina Sanchez; the woman who’d made Carmen’s success
possible.

Angelina had come from a devoutly Catholic family so when she got
pregnant at sixteen, her parents hadn’t considered termination an option.
Instead, to save the family from suffering an illegitimate child, the Sanchezs
chose to send Angelina off to a “school” that would allow her to quietly have a
baby and give her over to a well to do family. Carmen’s mother hadn’t only
refused but, she fled the night before she was to get on a plane and be flown halfway
across the world.

With no help, Angelina got a bus ticket from California and ended
up in Santa Fe. After a lot of begging and a little determination to provide
the best life that she could for her child, she took a job anywhere that she
could get one. Years passed, with Carmen and Angelina falling into a routine
that wasn’t easy but manageable. Then one day their lives changed. It was the
day twelve year old Carmen met Addison.

Somehow the two started talking about their home lives and before
they knew it, had noticed the similarities. Their friendship transitioned into
one for their mothers that was beneficial and helpful to all four. Twenty odd
years down the line and Carmen was grateful for everything it took to get them
here.

There was just one thing she wished she could stop. At the sound
of the kitchen doors swinging open, she said, “No, Ma. Nothing’s changed
between Eli and I and it never will.”

Angelina had been on her ass for months now about her and Eli. It
was getting tiring. She’d seen her mother watching them several times today.

“So Miss Angie isn’t the
only
one who wants things to
change.”

She stiffened, turned
around and sighed.

***

He didn’t like that look. It was a look that said she was
exasperated. And when Carmen became exasperated it usually meant she wanted you
to stop breathing her air. Eli didn’t know what it was but she always seemed to
take issue with people breathing her air. He chose to ignore that look as he
walked further into the kitchen where she stood, leaning against the granite
topped island, dark eyes watching his every move. She’d pushed the golden brown
locks of layered bob back from her make-up free face with a head band. It made
her look younger…
innocent.
Tense
lines formed around her full lips, her flawless skin—bronzed by the New Mexican
sun, flushed.

The strapless sundress she wore gave him a glimpse of bare, tanned
flesh, the peach color setting off the ruddy undertones of her complexion. The
closer he got, the more the pulse in her throat bounced beneath her skin. He
knew what that pulse felt like under his tongue. Now he needed to discover the
rest.

“What, exactly, is it that you want from me, Eli?” she questioned,
her head tilting ever so slightly to the left.

“Loaded question,”
he replied. “But I’ll give you the
second
answer that came to mind.” Walking until the tips of his boots almost
touched the tips of her sandals, he stopped and queried, “The wedding?”

Curling lashes lifted and fell again. “What about it?”

Eli pinned her with
a stare, one brow rising. “You’re
exploring?”

Her shoulders rolled. “Maybe.”

His eyes narrowed. “There is no
maybe.
I
know.”

“And this concerns you how…?”

“I’ve spent exactly ninety-four days, four hours and six minutes
attempting to get you to agree to just
breakfast—”

“Which would’ve been served in
your
bed,” she interjected.

“—and yet, you dean
me unworthy of such an honor but you’ll go trolling for possible serial killers?”

Her brows arched
upwards. “You seem awfully interested in what
my
plans are. Tired of doing the one man band every Saturday
night?”

He gripped her around the waist and sat her on the countertop.
“This bullshit ends now. I’m nipping it in the bud. The
exploring
you’re supposed be to doing—”

“Is going to be
incredible and I can’t wait,” she snarled.

“Not. Gonna. Happen,”
he snarled back.

“Oh fuck you! I’m very much single.”

“Which has been duly noted by
me,
the man who’s actually managed to notice that you have a
head
attached to your tits! They’re
extraordinary
tits but I still see the
rest of you!”

Her eyes rolled to
the ceiling. “So you’re annoyed because someone else may notice said
extraordinary tits and want to spend a week with them?”

“No,” he growled. “I’m annoyed because you’re searching for what’s
right in front of your
face.
What is
it about
me
that seems so
unattractive to you that you can’t sit and share a meal?”

She sighed. “The fact that you honestly believe you have a right
to question who I do and don’t date. Eli, we kissed. A. Kiss. You grabbed a
handful of ass, I briefly considered allowing you to discover what color my
nipples were but aside from that,
nothing
happened.
You wanna fume about me laughing over margaritas and a blended
Italian-Argentine menu? Okay. But you’re not going to dictate my social life.”

Oh she had this all wrong.
All
wrong. It wasn’t just
a kiss.
It was a spark. Something that
had put a gnawing hunger in his gut the likes of which he’d never known. He needed
that hunger
sated.
The burning had to
stop and the only satisfaction he’d find, rested between the thighs of the
woman who was currently examining him as if he were the contents of a petri
dish. Carmen was by no means the typical beauty and typical methods wouldn’t
work here. Her intelligence and her spirit and her humor made her sexier than
her physical attributes already did. She wouldn’t respond the pretty words or
bouquets of flowers. Oh no, those words would get his tongue ripped out and
minced whilst she attempted to shove a flower stem up his urethra, leaving him
to piss petals for the rest of his life.

She only responded to
one
thing.
Actions.
And as a man who was in
constant motion during his day to day life, he was all too happy to oblige her
desire for more than verbal nuances and the occasional compliment on her
beauty. So when he gripped her face between his hands and kissed her hard on
the mouth, hard enough that their teeth clinked together, before he swept his
tongue inside and sucked the very air from her lungs—
that
was action
number one.

The second? Pulling her towards the edge of that counter, pushing
her thighs apart and running his middle finger down panties that were
distinctly wet to the touch. Moving back with a harsh inhale, he stared into
her lust dazed face and said, “At some point you’re going to beg me to tear
these off with my teeth and I will. Then I’m going to fuck you and you’ll love
it. Keep running, Carmen. The harder you fight, the sweeter it’ll be when you
surrender.”

Executing a military turn, Eli marched out, shoulders back, head
held high. He even chose to ignore the knife that impaled the wall to his
right, just mere inches from his head.