McKenzie, Cooper - Daria's Heroes [Men Out of Uniform 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (2 page)

Chapter 2

When the pale fog of shock lifted, Daria found herself standing in her favorite spot in New Bern. Union Point Park’s east-facing railing overlooked the Neuse River a few yards north of where it and the Trent joined forces before flowing toward the Atlantic Ocean.

A look across the river proved that more than a few minutes had passed since she had walked away from the fire at Mrs. Stone’s house. Only an occasional car crossed the Neuse River Bridge, but other than night, Daria had no idea what time it was and did not care. Nothing mattered except that Mrs. Stone was dead and she was now homeless, jobless, and alone.

When her stomach rumbled, she chuffed and wished she had brought her messenger bag with her. There was a cracker pack and candy bar she had planned to eat before her class then forgot about. She had skipped dinner so she could get in a few more minutes of studying, and now she would be paying for it until she returned to her car. However, she was not sure she wanted to leave this safe place for the reality that waited for her just four blocks away. Hopefully the police would not have it towed before she got back to it.

She jumped in surprise when a deep, sexy voice to her left asked, “Does this mean you’re ready to go home?”

Taking a deep breath in case she needed to scream for help, Daria turned her head and looked at the man. She prepared to beat the crap out of him, though all at once she could not recall any of the self-defense moves she had learned over the past eight years.

Though clouds had moved in to obscure the sky, she recognized the movie star profile against the lights from the hotel behind him.

Roman Foster.

The most overprotective of all of her foster brothers. The first one she called whenever Mrs. Stone had to be hospitalized. The only one who knew the truth of why she had been taken from her mother and placed into foster care in the first place. The one she called at two o’clock in the morning when her boyfriend had taken her to Jacksonville then dumped her and disappeared. He had left her with an enormous bar tab and no way to get the forty miles home.

Roman was the man to whom she had given half her heart when she had first met him eight years earlier at the age of sixteen. The man she used as a standard to measure the worth of every other man she ever thought about dating. The man she never had a chance of winning because his heart belonged to another.

“Where’s Gage?”

Gage Mulligan held the other half of her heart and all of Roman’s. The two men were like mismatched bookends that went together perfectly. The fact that they had been partners and lovers for more than ten years was something Daria had accepted, though she wished things could be different. Roman and Gage were so close that if one started a sentence, the other could finish it. She thought there might be something more between the men by the way Gage took care of Roman, but never questioned the men about it.

She wished she could find someone to dedicate himself to her the way they were to each other.

“Gage is dealing with your car. He’ll meet us at the house. Now, I ask again, are you ready to go home?”

“There’s nothing to go home to,” Daria said as her breathing hitched.

At her first sob, Roman pulled her into his chest. She did not fight as he wrapped long, strong arms around her back. With his heat and strength surrounding her, Daria felt not quite so alone.

Sure, Roman and Gage, as well as Mrs. Stone’s other so-called kids who had grown up and gone on to build wonderful, productive lives, would surround her with love and caring. Then, after the funeral, they would return to their lives and Daria would be on her own. What was she going to do then?

When hot tears dripped on her, she realized she was not the only one mourning the elderly woman who had done so much good for so many. Wanting to comfort Roman as he was comforting her, Daria wrapped her arms around his back and held on tight.

They held each other, providing both comfort and strength. If only Gage was here, Daria thought as she snuggled even deeper into Roman’s embrace.

When Daria’s tears stopped, she lifted her head from his chest and looked up into his sorrow-filled eyes. He held her gaze as he slowly tilted his head closer. One hand slid up her back and cupped the back of her neck, holding her head in place.

His lips brushed hers once before settling in for an extended stay. Her sensible public persona was appalled that he was cheating on Gage while the rest of her jumped up and down screaming, “Yippee!”

Giving over to the need to kiss him that had haunted her since the first moment she had met him, Daria parted her lips when he touched the tip of his tongue to them. When he just brushed it back and forth across her lower lip again, she grew impatient so she reached out her tongue in invitation. She leaned tighter against him and shifted her belly against the long, thick bulge pressing against the front of his jeans.

He was hard for her? What the hell is going on?

Her breathing stopped when his tongue suddenly plunged deep and took control of the kiss. They immediately went from a brotherly hello kiss to one that said, “I want to fuck you here and now.” Daria willingly followed his lead, giving him whatever he wanted as he thoroughly and leisurely explored her mouth. Taking a deep breath, she smelled the dark tang of sex along with laundry soap and citrusy, woodsy cologne.

Her hands slid down his back to the waistband of his jeans. His belt kept her from slipping her hands under the fabric so she settled for sliding farther south and palming his ass cheeks over the fabric. His ass felt tight and muscular as she pressed her hands into the flesh. She wondered if it looked as good as it felt. Her pussy overflowed with her need to be closer to this man.

She sucked a breath when a large, hard hand shifted between them to palm her breast, massaging it gently before the fingers drew together to tweak her beaded nipple.

When he finally broke the kiss, they were both panting. She stared up at him, shocked at what had just happened. She swallowed hard as she stepped back, not able to think of a single thing to say in defense of her actions. But then again, he started it, so maybe he should be explaining to her.

Roman released her reluctantly but did not let her get too far away. Without a word, he wrapped one arm around her back and turned them toward his humongous white truck. As he lifted her into the passenger’s seat, Daria looked from him to his truck and could not help but ask the question that had haunted her since he had bought his latest ride.

“Do you drive this big-ass truck to compensate for something?”

She blanched when he stared at her with one raised eyebrow as if questioning her sanity. He was not alone. She was beginning to wonder what in the hell had gotten into her to kiss him as she had.

“It doesn’t compensate for a thing. It matches my big-ass ego,” he said just before he closed the door.

His comeback was so quick and so serious it took Daria a moment before she began to giggle. By the time Roman climbed in and started the truck, her emotions had flipped, and she once again lost control, only this time with giggling.

He looked at her and smiled as he put the truck in gear and drove out of the park. “Something funny?”

Daria shook her head, afraid to comment on their kiss. “Not really, I just can’t seem stop.” She began hiccupping and gasping for air as the peals of out-of-control laughter continued until she passed out.

* * * *

Gage swore as he climbed into Daria’s little red car. Thankfully, he had arrived before the police called in a tow truck to impound Daria’s car. Now he just had to find a place to park where the car would be safe until morning while he went and talked to the fire crew still on the scene. While Roman dealt with their woman, he would deal with this.

Pushing the seat all the way back, Gage found his knees were still nearly in his armpits. There was no way he could drive this thing across town, no matter how much he loved its owner. Driving extra carefully, he pulled in and parked at the public access lot a block and a half down the street. Taking a pen from his pocket and paper from the notebook on the passenger’s seat, he wrote a note and stuck it on the dash so it would remain safe and secure until morning. Tomorrow he would bring her so she could drive it home herself.

When he tried to climb out of the tiny car, Gage wondered if he was going to have to call 911 for help. Taking a deep breath, he forced his foot to twist in a not-quite-natural direction and jerked his left leg free. Then it was a matter of wiggling the rest of him out.

“We’re getting her a bigger car ASAP,” he muttered to the two seagulls watching him.

He pulled her messenger bag from the passenger side. After setting the locks, he made sure he had the keys for the little car in his pocket before he closed the door. Then, holding the bag against his body so it would not jiggle around too much, he jogged back to where one lone fire truck remained parked in front of where Mrs. Stone’s house used to stand.

He was not surprised to see Roman’s white truck pulling up and parking just beyond the far barricade down the street. Roman walked toward him, looking so serious Gage’s heart began to pound. Even through the evening shadows, he saw his other half had been crying.

Though he wanted to hold his lover and comfort him, he kept his distance. Master would not appreciate any public display of affection, especially in front of their coworkers. After ten years of being partners on the job and off, the men and women they worked with still were not exactly sure what their sexual status was, and that was how Roman liked it.

Gage would not care if they shouted it from the bell tower of city hall.

“Where’s Daria?” he asked once they were close enough to speak without waking the neighbors. “Wasn’t she at the park?”

“She’s in the truck. She got herself into such a state she hyperventilated and passed out,” Roman said as the two men marched in step toward the man in charge.

Though the fire appeared to be out, firefighters continued hosing down the burn site, making sure there was nothing that could kick up and start burning again later. Gage saw they were concentrating on the back corner of the house where Mrs. Stone’s bedroom had been located.

An ambulance waited in the driveway to take the body away once they found it. Gage blinked fast to keep his tears from falling. Though he was tempted to cry like a baby, he needed to be strong for Daria and for Roman. He would grieve later.

“Hey, Kelso,” Roman said.

“Roman, Gage.” The captain glanced at them then returned to staring at the burnt remains of the house they had all grown up in. After a shudder passed through his body, he turned and hugged Roman. “Thank the good Lord Daria wasn’t home when this happened. Otherwise we’d be pulling her body out as well.”

“What the hell happened?” Gage asked when Kelso released Roman and turned to him for another hug.

“Randy thinks it was electrical, but he won’t know for sure until he can get in there tomorrow to look around,” Kelso said, referring to the department’s fire investigator.

“If you need to talk to her, Daria will be staying with us,” Gage said.

He turned so he looked out toward Roman’s truck and not at the remains of the house. Though he would mourn his saving angel eventually, for now he would stay in control. His Master and the woman they had fallen in love with needed him to stay strong.

Roman and Kelso talked for a few more minutes, consoling each other as much as it was possible for two alpha males to. Gage listened but remained silent as he began a mental list of all that would need to be done in the next few days.

As he watched, the passenger’s door to Roman’s truck opened. Turning, he looked at Roman. “She’s awake.”

At that same moment, the radio clipped to Kelso’s shoulder squawked. “We found her.”

Knowing the procedure, Gage watched as Kelso gave the ambulance crew the signal to move into action. Then the three men headed down the sidewalk toward Roman’s truck. They moved fast without running and reached the truck before Daria could close the truck door.