March Heat: A Firefighter Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 15

  This moment was summertime at its finest; the only thing missing was a--

  “Beer?” Duke offered me one of the silver beer cans.

  I took the can and wiped away the glassy beads of condensation so that I could read the label: Montauk Summer Ale.

  “Cheers,” I grinned, clinking the aluminum against Duke’s can.

  “So all joking aside,” Duke tilted his head towards me, “How did I talk you into coming to the Hamptons with me?”

  “I think there were some financial favors involved,” I reminded him with a grin.

  When Duke had first proposed taking a trip to the Hamptons to attend some ritzy charity gala, the idea had sounded just about as enticing as getting seven consecutive root canals while sitting in the front row at a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. But the prospect of Duke covering my first month’s rent in exchange for my companionship had made the pain seem a bit more worthwhile.

  Besides, I hadn’t been on a vacation in ages. I had never been to the Hamptons, either. I had always assumed that it was just a playground for rich Manhattanites, but maybe I’d feel differently once I saw it for myself. Either way, I couldn’t complain with a free trip to the beach.

  Initially money and the lure of a free vacation had been reason enough for me to accept Duke’s proposition. I hadn’t anticipated then that the biggest lure of all would actually be Duke himself.

  I had arrived in Hartford wearing an armor made out of solid ice. I didn’t think anybody could get to me, but Duke had persisted.

  He had fought ice with fire. Bit by bit, he had melted away my defences… piece by piece, he had penetrated me.

  He had confided in me and made me feel safe; he had reminded me of what it felt like to trust someone. But he hadn’t stopped there. He had gone deeper...

  I had been fighting off the feelings that I had for him. The kiss made it even harder, but after that night we spent together… well, there’s was no fighting it now.

  Duke had given me a taste of things that I had never felt before, and even though it scared the shit out of me… I didn’t want it to stop.

  “This place is perfect,” I told Duke honestly. “I’m glad you talked me into it.”

  “I’m glad I did, too,” he grinned. Then he stepped behind me and slowly wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling me close.

  For a second my body was stiff as I waited for him to haul me off to the bedroom or squeeze my ass, but he didn’t; he just held me. I let out my breath and relaxed, melting against his chest.

  “So I’m really meeting your parents tomorrow?” I asked.

  “They’ll be at the gala, yes,” Duke confirmed. “They’re benefactors for the event.”

  “They must be pretty generous then.”

  “That’s what they want you to think,” Duke shrugged. “But it’s really just about keeping up appearances and getting a hefty tax write-off at the end of the year.”

  “That’s a pretty cynical way to look at it.”

  “It’s the truth. People like my parents love hosting fundraisers and galas, but they don’t actually give a shit about helping people. They were horrified when I told them I wanted to be a fireman.”

  “Really?”

  “Oh yeah. I told them that I wanted to make a difference and do something that mattered, and you know what they said?”

  “What?”

  “They said that if I wanted to do something that mattered, I should have just written out a big fat check to the fire department.”

  “Wow,” I blinked, staring out at the ocean. Then another thought crossed my mind: “What are they going to think about me?”

  I felt Duke sigh from behind me.

  “They’ll think you’re beautiful,” he said. “And they’ll probably wonder how much money I had to pay you to be my date.”

  I jabbed my elbow into his stomach and he laughed.

  “How are you going to introduce me?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” he said, sliding his arms tighter around my waist. “‘Crazy chick I met at the bar’ has a nice ring to it--”

  I jabbed him in the stomach again, and he held onto me even tighter.

  “But I kinda like the sound of ‘girlfriend,’ too…”

  I sucked in a breath and felt my body go stiff again. His arms loosened, giving me space, and I wondered why that one little word had made me feel like I was falling all over again…

  “I guess we’ll go with ‘crazy chick I met at the bar’ then,” Duke said.

  “You can introduce me as whatever you want,” I told him. I pulled his arms around me again, and even though I couldn’t see his face behind me, I could feel him smiling.

  “In that case, I might need to get a little more creative…” he joked.

  His hands slipped down the front of my hips, then he tugged at the denim cutoffs that I was wearing.

  My hips drove backwards against him, and I felt my skin start to tingle. I hadn’t stopped dreaming about having his hands on me again since that night, and now his fingers were just inches away from my throbbing mound.

  “Be careful with the shorts,” I teased, “I need them to stay fresh for the gala tomorrow.”

  “You’re wearing these to the gala?” he slipped his fingers through the belt loops and this time he tugged up, wedging the denim against my slit. I gripped onto the balcony railing in front of me and sucked in a sharp breath.

  “Is there a problem with that?” I asked.

  “Fine by me,” he grunted softly, burrowing his face in my loose curls. “Just know that I’ll be thinking all sorts of creepy and perverted thoughts every time I look at you.”

  “What kind of thoughts?” I pressed my ass against him, and I could something stiff bulging against his jeans.

  “If I told you, you’d probably never talk to me again…”

  “Try me,” I swallowed. Then, after taking a sip of Summer Ale for courage, I added: “Or better yet… show me.”

  His hand plunged down the front of the shorts and under the band of my cotton thong. After waiting so long to feel him on my sex, I was shocked by the weight of his fingers forging their path through the denim.

  Spread my legs and apart and melted further back against him, keeping my grip on the balcony railing.

  Part of me was well aware that we were outside on a hotel balcony, standing just a few stories above the beach. Anyone could walk by… anyone could see us. But that was just a part of me; the rest of me didn’t give a shit who saw.

  My panties were soaked, and I could feel his fingers slipping around in my juices as he explored me. When he found my clit, I arched my back and moaned.

  “Is that what you want?” he asked me.

  I sucked my bottom lip between my teeth and leaned forward. His hand slipped out of my shorts, and then I reached back and ran my palm along the front of his jeans, caressing the stiff outline that his hard cock made in the denim.

  “Are you sure you’re ready for that?” he grunted, his hot breath swirling around my ear.

  “You don’t think I can handle it?” I turned around slowly, so that my back was to the sea. Then I reached between us and undid the buttons on his jeans. I could feel the pressure of his cock fighting the denim, desperate to be free. I slipped my hand inside his jeans and teased him again, squeezing his trapped shaft.

  He grunted as his hips bucked forward, and his hands gripped the balcony railing behind me.

  “We should go inside,” he said, but neither of us moved. I shook my head slowly and grinned, then I dug my hand into the front of his pants and caressed all ten inches of him. His lips turned up as he exhaled through his mouth.

  “Well aren’t you turning into quite the little deviant,” he tisked. “And I had you pegged as a such a good girl…”

  “That’s the funny thing about first impressions,” I murmured. “I had you pegged as the kind of guy who takes what he wants.”

  “I take what’s mine,” Duke hissed. “
There’s a difference…

  “So what are you waiting for?” I blinked up at him defiantly. “I’m all yours.”

  He frowned, towering over me, and his fingers hooked into the waistband of my shorts and he tugged me towards him.

  The fire burning in his eyes was so intense that I thought we both might combust. But instead, he bent down and pressed his lips against mine. His kiss was hard and soft all at once, and his breath filled me with fire.

  Then he broke away from the kiss and jerked my shorts and panties down in one swipe. Before I could object, he hoisted me up and rested my ass on the balcony railing. The cool metal stung as it dug into my bare skin, and my hands gripped around the bar.

  I couldn’t stop myself from glancing down, and when I did I felt my stomach spin at the sheer drop straight down to the beach below us. If I made one wrong move -- if I leaned just an inch too far back -- I could go plummeting down to the sand. I gulped and glanced at Duke.

  “I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he promised me. “Do you trust me?” His eyes smouldered and I felt his warmth spread into me.

  He kept one arm gripped tight around my waist as his hand slipped to front of his pants and liberated his fat cock. He gripped the base of his shaft and tugged absently, and I felt my pussy clench as I watched him touch himself.

  Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a foil condom wrapper.

  Since one of his hands was still occupied holding me steady, I took the condom and tore open the wrapper. Then he pressed his hips forward so I could unroll the rubber around his throbbing member.

  I felt the heat sizzling through his silky soft dick, and if I wasn’t perched precariously on the edge of a balcony, I would have been tempted to steal a taste…

  But my mouth would have to wait; there was another hole that needed him more, and judging by the fiery lust burning in his eyes, he needed me just as bad…

  He pressed himself close to me, wedging my legs further apart and testing my balance on the railing. I teetered backwards but he held me steady.

  “Duke…” I breathed, feeling how close he was to being inside of me. He pressed his lips against mine as his fingers teased my slit.

  “You’re so wet,” he whispered between kisses. His fingers pressed into my opening, then he spread his fingers apart to test how wide my walls could stretch. “It’s gonna be a tight squeeze…”

  “I can handle it,” I told him.

  He kept kissing me as his fingers slipped out of my hole, then moved up to my clit. He prodded me slowly, and each time his finger made contact with my swollen knot it sent a hot tremor through my body.

  I was on the edge again; I was on the brink of ecstacy, and Duke Williams was the only man on earth who could deliver me. I knew he could bring me to orgasm right then and there, with one flick of his fingertip.

  But I also knew that I didn’t want to come yet. My walls were spasming, and I was desperate to feel him fill my void. I wanted his cock to make me come.

  He pressed his hips between my thighs and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He gripped his shaft and guided it towards me, and I felt swirls of heat twist inside me in anticipation.

  “Take a deep breath,” he told me. For a second, I was confused, but when I felt his head pierce into me, I understood.

  His width felt like it was splitting me in two as he slowly pressed himself into me. My walls stretched around him, accommodating his massive shaft. I sucked in a breath as I felt the twist of pain and pleasure all at once. When Duke saw my face wrinkle, he immediately froze.

  “Don’t stop,” I grunted. I was so close to bliss…

  He started inching deeper inside of me, and I moaned as my breath fluttered from my lips. I felt lightheaded, and when I remembered the sheer drop behind me, I felt my head start to spin.

  His slid out, then lowered his hips and thrust back into me, this time hitting my walls at a slightly different angle.

  I dug my fingertips into his shoulders and gasped, and then I felt my body start to fall…

  At first, I thought I really was falling, because I lost all sense of what was around me. I saw flashes of white dancing around me, and I felt my body erupt with climax as my insides stretched and folded together like sheets of hot taffy.

  The only way I knew for certain that I wasn’t falling, was the firmness of Duke’s chest pressed against me, and the sheer force of his cock plunging in and out of me…

  “Oh fuck, Beck, you feel too good…” he grunted into my neck, sinking his lips into my flesh. I felt his hips jut forward and his cock sputter inside of me as he came, and afterwards he pushed himself all the way inside of me and stayed there as he wrapped his arms around me and held me close.

  We watched the rest of the sunset just like that: his swollen cock still inside of me, sending spasms through my insides as we both recovered.

  After the sky went dark and the air turned cool, he lifted me off the railing and carried me into our hotel room.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE | DUKE

  I checked my reflection in the full-length mirror that was affixed to the wall of our hotel room. Back in the day, the Maison Verte Gala would have warranted a trip to Bergdorf’s for a new outfit. In lieu of such luxuries, I’d have to make do with last year’s off-white Balmain chinos and a khaki linen blazer layered over a gauzy white t-shirt.

  As I inspected my outfit in the mirror, I tried to determine which crime was worse: sporting last season’s Balmain, or wearing a t-shirt that I had bought on the clearance rack a JCrew.

  Both, I decided. My mother will probably take one look at me and disown me on the spot...

  I straightened my jacket and ran a hand through my brown hair. The purple bruise surrounding my eye had faded, but it was still visible.

  I had planned on dabbing on some concealer to hide it, but Beck was staunchly against that idea.

  “Let your parents see what kind of man you,” she had told me.

  “The kind who gets into fights at dive bars?”

  “No. The kind who sticks up for people.”

  In Beck’s eyes, my black eye was a badge of honor. I knew my parents probably wouldn’t see it that way, but knowing that Beck felt proud of me was reason enough to leave the bruise uncovered.

  I glanced at the watch on my wrist.

  Shit.

  “Hey Beck?” I tapped my knuckles gently on the bathroom door. “The car is going to be here any minute--”

  The bathroom door swung open, and I found myself standing face to face with some radiant blonde creature.

  “Beck?” I stammered in disbelief, because I barely recognized the woman hovering in the bathroom doorway.

  “Fuck off,” she rolled her eyes. “I don’t look that different.”

  “I’ve never seen you in a dress before,” I nodded at the gauzy white linen sundress that she was wearing.

  “Well don’t get used to it,” she twisted her lips up into a smile and, despite the makeup, she looked like Beck again.

  “You’re stunning,” I told her. “You’re the most beautiful girl at the ball.”

  “We haven’t even gotten there yet…”

  “We don’t need to,” I shrugged. “There’s no way anybody could compare to you.”

  I could see her cheeks flush pink through her makeup, and then she beamed up at me and said:

  “You clean up pretty well yourself, Williams.”

  ***

  This year’s Maison Verte Gala was hosted at the beachfront mansion of some filthy rich reality TV housewife. The party was set up on a football field-sized patch of spikey green AstroTurf, which had been rolled out like a carpet to cover the slightly less-photogenic natural grass that grew in her backyard.

  White tents had been set up to offer shade from the summer sun, and waiters were bustling around with silver trays of champagne and hors d'oeuvres.

  There was a pool in the center of the grass patch, but the g
listening turquoise water was strictly off limits to everyone besides the models that had been paid to lounge by the poolside and dangle their legs in the water.

  Behind the pool, there was a band set up playing off-brand renditions of shitty Top 40s hits.

  As Beck and I made our way around the grounds, I couldn’t help but imagine seeing the scene through her eyes. Everything looked fake and plastic: the fake grass, the fake people, the fake conversations...

  I thought that bringing Beck here meant showing her a part of my world. Now I wondered how I had ever been a part of this world at all.

  We had just ducked into one of the tents to grab a drink, when I felt a pair of hands drum against my back.

  “Duke Williams!” I spun around and saw Hayden Henry in a seersucker suit accented with a pink bowtie.

  “I thought I recognized that ass of yours!” Hayden laughed, slapping my shoulder. “Holy shit, what happened to your eye?!”

  He didn’t wait for an answer. He kept on rambling: “I haven’t seen you in forever! How long has it been now?”

  “Nearly a year,” I told him. I could have reminded him that he had been the one who had promptly lost interest in our friendship once my parents disinherited me, but I bit my tongue.

  “Who the hell is this?” he asked, pointing at Beck.

  “That’s--”

  “Olivia Beck,” she smiled graciously, offering Hayden her hand to shake.

  “Olivia, this is Hayden Henry,” I explained. “He’s a… old friend of mine.” That was one way of putting it…

  “So Olivia,” Hayden asked, draping his arm around her shoulder. I saw Beck stiffen immediately. “Are you here are on your own?”

  “Umm--” she frowned, confused.

  I quickly wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her to my side, forcing Hayden’s arm to fall away.

  “She’s with me,” I told him curtly.

  “You brought a date?” Hayden scoffed in disbelief. “That’s a first. I remember the last time you and I came to one of these things, you ended up getting some model to--”

  “Hayden!” I snapped, cutting off the story abruptly.