Controlled Burn (7 page)

“Thanks.” He dredged up a smile. “You’re right. I needed this.” He uncapped the bottle and tipped his head back, draining the liquid in a few quick gulps.

“You did good work tonight, Boone.”

“They’ll have to rebuild the barn, and the two acres closest to the house will be pretty ugly for a long time.”

“But everyone is safe,” she reminded him. “Including the horses.”

“There is that.”

He raked his gaze over the area, watching each of the squad members doing their cleanup, preparing to load the trucks. Curtis would assign two men to monitor the scene for a couple of hours yet, just in case. Tomorrow, the real cleanup would start. Everyone seemed to be on top of their assignments. Except….

The back of his neck itched like it did when something was off kilter. As he focused on the person who had tickled his suspicions, the itch intensified. Should he say something now? Wait until they were all back at the station house? But, then, the man he suspected made a move, bumping up his suspicion.

“I gotta go,” he told Montana. “I’d kiss you, but I’m covered with dirt and soot.”

She chuckled. “No kidding.” Then she sobered. “You did good work here tonight, Boone. I know the Hannitys are grateful.”

Curtis and the other man were walking toward the quint. He had to move right now.

“Sorry.” He managed a smile. “I’ll call you later.”

Then he was striding to where Curtis was talking with Evan Hunter. The kid was favoring his right arm, had been ever since he’d showed up tonight. Even his over-the-top enthusiasm hadn’t been able to mask the flashes of pain.

“Boone.” Curtis turned toward him. “I was telling the kid here what a great job he did tonight. He’s turned into a first-rate firefighter. I’d sure love to find the money to put him on the squad full-time. He’s turning into a real star.”

Evan grinned at him. “I told Chief Curtis I’m glad to be of help any way I can. You know, to serve. That’s what this is all about, right? The Hannitys couldn’t thank me enough.”

“I’ll bet.” Boone’s voice was laced with sarcasm. “What do you suppose they’d say if they knew you had even more to do with the fire than they think?”

Curtis frowned. “Boone? What’s going on here?”

“I-I don’t know what you mean,” Evan stammered. “I’m happy to be able to help put out the fires. That’s all. That’s why I signed on.”

“Yeah?” Boone grabbed the kid by the arm he was favoring.

Hunter winced and tried to pull away.

“Take off your turnout coat, Evan. Do it now.”

Evan’s face set in a hostile expression. “I don’t have to do anything you tell me.”

“Is there a reason you don’t want to take it off?” he persisted.

“Boone,” the chief said again.

“Make him take it off, chief.”

Ray Curtis sighed. “Take the coat off, Hunter, so he’ll quit being a pain in the ass.”

When Evan still resisted, Ray blew out an impatient breath, grabbed one sleeve of the coat, and yanked it off. Evan immediately cradled his right arm with the other hand and tried to back away, but Boone grabbed him and pushed up the right sleeve.

“Jesus,” Ray swore.

He and Boone stared at the ugly burn covering part of the arm from wrist to elbow.

“You want to tell me how you got that?” the chief asked.

Evan looked from one to the other, panic washing over his face. From the corner of his eyes, Boone saw others on the squad, both regulars and volunteers, drawn to the little confrontation, watching silently.

Evan began to back away but ran into a solid wall of two firefighters standing behind him.

“Yeah, Evan,” one of them said. “How
did
you get that burn?”

He took in the hostile group watching him, eyeing each person. It was obvious to everyone there he had nowhere to run.

“Well?” Curtis prompted.

Evan Hunter lowered his head and stared at his feet.

“We weren’t getting any callouts,” he complained. “I joined the squad to save things, to be a hero and put out fires. I wanted the chief to see what a great job I could do. B-but we weren’t getting any fires.”

“So you decided to create your own,” someone said.

Hunter nodded.

“You destroyed a lot of property,” Boone told him, working hard to bite back his anger. “How does that make you a hero?”

“No one got hurt, and I got to show off my skills,” the kid whined. “I thought I could create a controlled burn, but it kept getting away from me.”

“Those are damn hard to handle.” Curtis’s anger edged his words. “It takes experience to handle one of those. Real experience.” He raked his hand over his short hair. “Jesus, kid. What the fuck?”

Boone didn’t know what to say after that. This was Ray Curtis’s problem to deal with. He’d have a whole lot of explaining to do to people like the Hannitys, still in a huddle, watching them. Montana and Darlene had come down from the porch and stood not far from the Hannitys, also keeping a curious eye on the scene.

“All right,” Curtis said at last. “Let’s get our equipment packed up and head back to the station. Evan, you come with me. We’ll get your arm fixed up. Then we need to have a serious talk with the sheriff.”

Boone almost felt sorry for Hunter as the chief marched him back to the SUV. Almost, but not quite.

“Quite a night, cowboy.” Montana had walked over to where he was standing. “I’d say, when you get home, it might be nice if someone was waiting for you with a drink. What do you think?”

Boone’s mouth stretched in the first real smile since the callout.

“I’d say I know a firefighter who’d be mighty damn grateful for that.” He fished in his pocket for his keys, pulled one off the ring, and handed it to her.

“All right, then. See you later.” She paused. “Maybe I’ll be a bad girl, and you’ll have to spank me again.”

His cock immediately swelled to painful proportions. He couldn’t wait to get home.

*****

Montana thought for sure she’d be exhausted. An evening of exhausting sex then the hours at the Hannitys serving coffee and bottled water and offering moral support. But somehow she was more energized than ever.

Watching Boone work had been amazing. It was easy to imagine him on a horse. But the sight of him in his turnout gear, manhandling the heavy hose, calling orders to his team, well, she hadn’t realized what a turn-on it could be. There were a lot of facets to Boone Crider, and it startled her that she wanted to stay around to see all of them.

She’d had a lot of opportunity to chat with Darlene Royal tonight, too, in between providing liquids for the firefighters. The more they’d talked, the more excited Montana became at the idea of buying the Sunrise Diner. And the more she recognized her first instinct had been right.

She finally had to admit to herself she was a small-town girl at heart. A
Texas
small-town girl. She’d had to run away to learn that about herself. As fake as Los Angeles was, this place was real. It was honest. And it was where she belonged. She could use all her hospitality experience to build up the business even more. Maybe introduce some new things. Become a real part of the community.

Before she’d headed for her car, she and Darlene had shaken hands on the deal. Darlene promised to get the paperwork going right away.

Now, fresh from a shower, she lay on the rumpled sheets of Boone’s huge bed and relived every moment of the earlier part of the evening. Her body hummed with anticipation as she listened for his return, replaying in her mind everything they’d done together. Closing her eyes, she let her legs open slightly and slipped a hand down to cover her mound. She was wet already, her body awash in sexual expectation. She could still feel the tingling on her ass where he’d spanked her, still shocked she’d enjoyed it and wondered darkly what else he might have in mind.

She let her mind wander, thinking of all the things she’d read about, all the things she’d heard. One finger stole into the wet slit between her labia and found her clit, rubbing it lightly. Her inner walls vibrated in response, need a hot fist in her womb. She imagined Boone touching her, his long fingers sliding into her, his mouth on her nipple, his—

“I think you’re having too much fun without me.”

Montana’s eyes flew open, and she stared, shocked, at Boone standing beside the bed. She’d been so lost in sensation, she hadn’t even heard him come in.

“Oh!” She blinked at him through a haze of desire.

“If you give me a few minutes to shower off the debris and odor of the night, I think I can help you right along there.” He bent down and took one nipple into his mouth, exactly as she’d imagined, and bit down on it just enough to send fingers of erotic pain stabbing through her. She moaned in response. Boone’s rough chuckle vibrated against her breast.

“Oh, yeah. That’s what I like to come home to.”

Her hand stilled. “How did it go at the firehouse?”

He shrugged. “About like I expected. Ray talked to Evan for a long time then called the sheriff. They were still at it when I left.”

“What will happen to him?”

“That’s up to the sheriff, but he did commit crimes and caused thousands of dollars’ worth of damage. But I trust Ray and the sheriff to see he gets his head screwed on straight. And I’m done talking about them.” He placed her hand back on her mound. “Keep doing what you were doing, darlin’. Keep that controlled burn going.” He stood up. “I’ll be right back.”

Montana closed her eyes again and stroked herself slowly, only enough to keep her riding the edge of need but not enough to bring herself to orgasm. Oh, no, that was Boone’s job, and she was happy to give it to him.

Vaguely, she heard the sound of the shower pounding against the tile in the bathroom. Then the sound disappeared. A few more minutes and she heard the sound of a drawer opening and closing. Then, finally, Boone was there again. The scent of his cologne teased at her nostrils, and she drew in a deep breath.

“Smells better than smoke, right?”

“Mmm. But you smelled good that first night, too, smoke and all.” She stilled her finger and opened her eyes. Boone was right beside her, holding something in his hand. Scarves. Scarves? She flicked a glance at them then back up at him.

“You said you were up for a little more adventure?” The question was right there in his eyes. Did she mean it?

“I trust you, Boone.”

The questioning stare was replaced by one more incendiary than the blaze they’d been fighting tonight.

“All right, then.” He climbed onto the bed, straddling her. “Wrists first.”

He wound a scarf around both wrists, tugged them over her head, and tied off the scarf to one of the spindles in the headboard. Bending low over her, he kissed her, licked her lips with the tip of his tongue, and gently placed the scarf over her eyes. When he had it secured at the back of her head, he took her mouth again, this time with a kiss that was hot and voracious and demanding. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, licking every surface, dancing with her own small tongue, sucking it lightly, and grazing the tip with his teeth. Everything he did, every sensation, was magnified because she couldn’t see, couldn’t touch. Only feel and take in the sounds and the scents.

“That’s it,” he coaxed. “Feel my hands on you.” He caressed her shoulders, her collarbone, and down over her breasts. “If I had you on your stomach, I’d give that sweet ass of yours another slap or two, but we’ll wait for another time for that. We will have other times, Montana. Lots of them. Right?”

“Oh, yes,” she breathed.

His busy fingers tweaked and pinched her nipples. Hard. The pain was like a sizzling needle to her hard tips, but the heat was welcome, not unpleasant.

“I have plans for us,” he went on, his voice gravelly with lust. “And not just in bed. Can we make plans together, darlin’?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” She twisted her body beneath him, trying to urge him down to her pussy where her walls pulsed with hungry need. “Yes, we can.”

He slid one hand between her thighs, finding her wet heat, sliding two fingers into her cunt. She wanted to reach for him, to tunnel her fingers into the thick silk of his hair, to scrape her nails down his back. But her wrists were tightly secured to the headboard, and the very helplessness of it had her burning even more. Made her hungrier. More voracious.

Montana had never really experienced adventurous sex. Lord knew Richard had saved all of his kink for his side pieces. He’d thrown it in her face often enough, while calling her frigid and the ice queen. Telling her it was all her fault. The truth was, after the first few years of marriage, she’d become so turned off by his egotistical attitude, she had trouble conjuring up any physical response to him. She still kicked herself mentally every day for staying as long as she had.

But, with Boone, she wanted to taste everything. Feel more. She wet her lips with her tongue, still feeling the imprint of his mouth on them. When he spread her thighs, bending her legs at the knees and exposing her to him, lust raced through her so strong she nearly came from anticipation alone. He opened her labia like the petals of a flower and stroked his tongue through her slit. That was all it took, just that simple touch, for her to explode.

He worked her with his tongue and fingers until the tremors subsided, every sensation magnified because she couldn’t see. Couldn’t touch him.

“Now we get down to serious business,” he murmured, giving her clit a light nip.

Montana had no idea how much time passed as he gave every inch of her body intimate attention with his tongue and his hands. He rubbed the crease between the globes of her buttocks, pushed just the tip of a finger into that tight-puckered opening, licked her pussy, and eased his fingers inside her. He played with her breasts, sucking and biting the nipples until she was ready to scream with need.

“I want to touch you,” she gasped in desperation.

“Next time.” The words were a guttural sound in the air.

And then he went back to work on her again, bringing her to the edge, backing off, teasing, tasting, driving her up so high then backing off. By the time she heard the crinkle of foil and the snap of latex, she was perched so precariously on the edge of explosion she had no doubt one more touch of any kind would ignite her.