Wicked Burn (Free Falling Book 1) Page 7

  “Tell me what you want,” he uttered.

  “You...deep...me...now!”

  He complied, and a hiss of pleasure escaped her as he filled her with a single thrust.

  “Arms up,” he said.

  She bit the inside of her lip to keep from screaming aloud as his hand pinned both of her wrists high above her head. In and out—deep, even strokes. Sedeo slid an arm in front of her waist and teased her clit. Wave after wave of pleasure washed over her. His mouth nibbled along her collarbone as he continued to torture her.

  “That’s it, baby. Come on my cock.” He powered deep up into her, and she clamped her teeth together to keep the noise contained. Even her flesh felt like it was on fire. Her internal muscles clamped down around him, and she undulated her hips, trying to bring more and more of his length inside her.

  Sedeo clenched his teeth to keep from erupting in Yasmine’s responsive body. Her pussy had clamped around him like a velvet vice, and he never wanted to leave. Back and forth, he stroked inside her, stretching her, filling her. He could feel her legs beginning to shake with the force of her multiple orgasms, but he didn’t allow her to relax, instead kept her stretched and on her tip-toes.

  He trailed his tongue along the bare skin of her shoulder as he continued to pump his cock in and out of her. Her pants, mewls, and whimpers drove him on. His balls began to tighten, and so he slowed down, not willing to let this end so soon. But being buried deep inside her was always like the first time, and it threatened to eliminate his control.

  Her juices covered him as he rotated the hard nub of her clit. Each revolution of his fingers brought another shudder from the woman he was buried within.

  “Sedeo...I need...want...need...”

  Her frustrated voice hit him, and he grinned as he increased the speed of his thrusts. “Not yet,” he purred in her ear.

  “Now!” she said on a harsh whisper.

  His eyes nearly rolled in the back of his head as he felt her weight sink heavier upon his cock. Her legs wrapped back around his. “Shit,” he groaned.

  “Now!” she demanded again.

  With a quick bite to the side of her neck, he laved the sting with his tongue as he thrust faster and harder up into her.

  “Ahhhhh!” she wailed as her pussy convulsed around him.

  Her rippling muscles evoked his response, and soon his cock exploded within her. “Fuck!” he muttered, as his entire body shuddered. His ejaculation continued on and on, until he believed he was completely drained. His legs shook and could barely hold him up.

  Sedeo pulled out of her carefully and lifted her back into his arms. He carried her to bed. After tossing the condom in the trash, he crawled into bed with her and gathered her against him.

  This is perfect. For the life of me, I couldn’t have asked for a better end of a day. I have Shelby, and Yasmine Van Cort is here in my arms.

  “You’re kinda quiet. You okay?” she questioned.

  “Perfect,” he responded, brushing his lips across her smooth forehead and closing his eyes.

  Eyes which flew open the second her warm hand encircled his cock.

  “Not too tired, are you, old man?”

  Rolling her so they were face to face, he drove his hips forward so his erection slid across her palm. “Never,” he vowed, seconds before his mouth covered hers.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  The noise woke him. Sedeo sat up in the bed and watched as the room was bathed in low light. Yasmine reached for the pager on her bedside table. He allowed his eyes to take in the way the blanket barely covered her breasts, giving him the chance to see her nipples.

  “Shit,” she muttered before throwing back the covering and climbing out of bed.

  “Yasmine?” he asked.

  There was no answer as she headed for her chest of drawers and began to pull on clothes.

  Frowning, Sedeo got up as well and tugged on a pair of boxers. “Will you talk to me?” He moved to her and grabbed her arm, turning her toward him. One look at her face, and his heart sank like a rock. It was composed, and there was a somberness on it which frightened him. “Yasmine?”

  “I have to go,” she announced as she tugged on a loose shirt.

  “What’s going on? I thought this was your night off.”

  She sat down on a chair and began tying her tennis shoes. “It was. Not anymore.”

  “What happened?” he asked, even though he had an idea.

  “They need more bodies to help with this fire. I’m sorry. I don’t have time to sit here and explain this to you. I need to go.” She jumped to her feet and headed up toward the door as she shoved her hair back into a ponytail and secured it with a scrunchie.

  “You’re going to a fire, and you don’t have time to discuss this?”

  She spun toward him, frustration evident on her face. “No, because the time I spend here, I’m not helping out my fellow firemen.”

  The memory of the night they met filled him. The smell of the charred building, the heat from the flames, and more. “No,” he blurted.

  Yasmine paused in her action of reaching for the bag at her feet. “No?”

  “I don’t want you to go. This is too dangerous. You could die out there.”

  “I’m not discussing this now, Sedeo.” She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. “Goodbye.”

  Anger swarmed him as she began to open the door. With a low growl, he slammed it shut. “No. You can’t do this.”

  “Damn you, this is my job.”

  “Then quit,” he bit off.

  Annoyance flashed across her face. With a big sigh, she shoved his hand off the door and glared at him. “Listen to me, because I’m only saying this once. I. Am. Not. Quitting. My. Job. Not now. Not ever.”

  “What are we supposed to do if something happens to you? What do I tell Shelby if you have an accident? If you go, I can’t promise we’ll be here when you come back.”

  Pain flared in her gaze. She opened the door and looked back at him. “No matter how I feel about you and Shelby, it doesn’t give you the right to tell me what I can do with my life. I love my job, and I’m going to help fight a fire.” She jogged down the steps. When she opened the door of her truck, she added, “If you leave before I get back, make sure the house is locked so Rufus doesn’t get out.”

  She was gone before he blinked.

  “Damn it!” he slammed the door shut. That hadn’t gone as planned at all. What just happened? Shoving a hand through his hair, Sedeo moved back to the bedroom. Why wouldn’t she quit her job? The more he thought about it, the madder he got.

  Sedeo walked to the television and turned it on, flipping through news channels, seeing if he could find out about this fire which required more people to fight it. His heart stuttered a bit when he found a news station shooting a huge warehouse fire. He longed to look away, but he wasn’t sure he could. Even as the announcer droned on about the out-of-control flames, another fire truck pulled up.

  He watched as people dismounted from it, and renewed anger flowed through him as the camera focused on a fully attired woman who carried her helmet. It was Yasmine. She stood in conference with three other firefighters before donning the remainder of her gear and heading off at a jog toward the building.

  Sedeo shut it off. I can’t take this. What am I going to do? I can’t handle her doing this job. In that second, he longed for another face-to-face with her. There were things he needed to say to her. The most important was, was it right to let Shelby fall even more for her and then one night there’d be a phone call, and Yasmine would leave and never come home? Could his innocent little girl handle another loss? Could he?

  7

  Yasmine pulled into her driveway and shut off her truck. Weariness weighed on her. The fire had blazed for hours. Absently, she looked at the reddish orange hue of the setting sun backlighting her house. The thoughts she had pushed away as she fought the fire filled her. Sedeo had made his position clear. It was him or her job. She slammed h
er fist against the steering wheel of her truck. From the look of her house, no one was there.

  “Damn you, Sedeo Parker.” Her voice echoed in the cab.

  Sighing, Yasmine got out of the truck and made her way up the path. Each step seemed to take so much effort. Reaching her door, she put her key in the lock and opened it. Making her way down the hall, she frowned as she saw light coming from her guestroom. Hope blossomed, and her hand shook as she pushed against the partially open door. The sight of Shelby and Sedeo asleep in the bed made her smile.

  She walked closer, trying to be quiet. Standing next to Sedeo, Yasmine studied his face. Although she wouldn’t admit it out loud, she was glad he had stayed.

  Maybe he understands what my job means to me. She reached out to touch him, but hesitated, not wanting to wake him.

  Yasmine withdrew her hand, backing away and moving to Shelby’s side to tuck her in. Her heart wrenched as Shelby whimpered in her sleep, then rolled over. In a second, Sedeo reached out and patted her tenderly on the back, giving reassurance. Yasmine looked at him and saw he was still asleep.

  Even in his sleep, he is so good with her. Yasmine smiled gently and turned, leaving the room.

  She walked down the hall to her own room. Bypassing the bed, she headed to the bathroom, stripped down and got into the shower. Setting the water to hot, she stepped under the spray. The first pulse of heat eased some of the tension and weariness. She lathered up, then rinsed off. After toweling off, she donned her night shirt and climbed into bed.

  We’ll have to talk about what happened. She yawned and turned on her side.

  It wasn’t a conversation she was looking forward to. Sedeo hadn’t said a word before about not wanting her to fight fires. She loved her job and took it seriously. No matter how much he’d gotten under her skin, no way was she going to choose between him and her job.

  “At least he stayed, so we can talk it out.” She smiled, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.

  The sounds of laughter woke her. Yasmine blinked and listened. A smile curled her lips at the sound of Shelby’s laughter. A masculine voice spoke, but she was unable to make out what it said. She swung her legs off the side of the bed. Standing, she stretched. With a glance at the clock, she noted it was after eight. She had only slept a little more than two hours, yet she felt rested. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she exited her bedroom and went down the hall. She stood by the wall in the living room and watched Shelby as she played. Not seeing Sedeo, she started to take a step into the room when a sound from the kitchen made her turn. With one more glance at the still-playing Shelby, she walked toward the kitchen.

  Stopping in the doorway, she watched Sedeo take the kettle off the stove and prepare his cup of French Vanilla tea. If they were together, they usually sat and had a cup while discussing the day. She’d looked forward to it before tonight. Yasmine crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe.

  “Making one for me?” she asked.

  Sedeo glanced up, startled. He studied her silently, then reached for another cup from the cupboard. “I wasn’t sure if you would wake in time to join me.” His tone was cautious. His shoulders were stiff and his movements slow and deliberate.

  Yasmine frowned. She bit her lip, then sat at the table by the window overlooking the ocean.

  Sedeo finished making the tea, then brought the cups to the table. He placed hers in front of her and his on the table a seat away. When he turned to get the tray she’d loaded with sweeteners, she glanced at the empty seat between them. He usually sat right next to her as they talked and drank tea. She closed her eyes and breathed out.

  “Yasmine, are you okay?”

  Her eyes flew open, and she met his concerned gaze. There was something in his eyes she couldn’t define. She studied him. Sedeo returned her scrutiny. Yasmine looked away and focused on her tea. Desperate to do something with her hands, she stirred some sweetener into her tea, then picked up her cup and raised it to her mouth. The taste of French Vanilla filled her mouth. Finally, she looked at Sedeo again.

  He was sipping his own beverage, his attention on her. He put down his cup. “Were there any casualties?”

  Yasmine blinked. She hadn’t been expecting the question. “No. Thankfully. It was only property loss.”

  Sedeo nodded, then cleared his throat. “We need to talk.”

  “I know. At least you stayed, and we can talk this out.” Yasmine smiled.

  “I didn’t stay to work it out, Yasmine.” Sedeo shook his head.

  “Then why did you stay?” An uneasy feeling filled her stomach.

  “I stayed to tell you a few things.” Sedeo paused, then cleared his throat again. “First, I wanted to apologize for last night. I shouldn’t have told you to not go do your job. Shouldn’t have hit you with my not being able to deal with what you do out of the blue. It was a lousy thing to do.”

  She nodded. “Yes, it was, bu—”

  “Yas, let me get out what I have to say,” he interrupted.

  Her uneasy feeling increased. “Go ahead.”

  He looked down and ran his finger around the rim of his cup as he spoke. “The timing was lousy, but I should have told you before.” He paused, then raised his gaze to hers.

  Yasmine gasped. She now recognized the look in his eyes. Regret, fear, and pain. She’d seen it so often in her job.

  “I don’t know if I can accept what you do. Every time I knew you were going to work, I would get this nasty ball in the pit of my belly.”

  Like I have now.

  Out loud, she cried, “Why didn’t you say something before?”

  “I was trying to convince myself I could handle it. Last night made me realize I can’t. This is something I have to deal with.” He lowered his eyes, then raised them to look at her. “Deal with alone.”

  A knot clogged her throat. Yasmine looked away out the window. The bright moon cast the ocean in an eerie glow.

  How can it be so beautiful and calm when my life is falling apart? A warm hand touched hers. Yasmine jerked away. “Don’t,” she said hoarsely.

  “Yasmine.”

  “You’ve said all you need to, Sedeo. You want to go and deal. Then go.” She kept her gaze away from his. There was no way she was going to break down in front of him. His chair scraped against the floor as he stood. He stood close to her. She could feel his heat. His scent filled her senses.

  “I haven’t said everything I need to,” Sedeo said softly.

  “What else is there to say?” She kept her voice steady and cool.

  “I love you, Yasmine.” His declaration rang in her ears.

  “Why are you telling me this now?” Yasmine swung her head toward him and stood, her chair crashing behind her.

  “No matter what happens, I wanted you to know.” Sedeo smiled regretfully.

  “Thanks so much, Mister Parker, for sharing with me. It makes me feel so much better.” She didn’t even try to keep the sarcasm from her voice. She crossed her arms across her breasts, holding herself. The sadness on his face made her throat ache.

  “I never meant to hurt you, Yasmine,” he stated quietly.

  “I know, Sedeo. I know,” she replied, now suddenly fatigued beyond reason.

  She knew he hadn’t meant to rip her apart one word at a time. She wanted to rail at him and destroy him in return, but she couldn’t. Despite it all, she knew he was a fair and good man. The look of uncertainty and sorrow on his face hit her like a punch to the gut.

  How is it possible he is the one hurting me, and I want to comfort him? She quashed the feeling and smiled gently. “It’s all right, Sedeo. Take Shel…” She cleared her throat, then continued. “Take Shelby and go home.”

  He studied her. Yasmine kept her face blank and steady.

  “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to deal with your job, Yasmine. I can’t promise I’ll come back, but I do love you.” Sedeo smiled softly.

  A shaft of pain cut off her breath. She nodded abruptly.


  Sedeo sighed and started to reach for her. He stopped before he touched her, then turned and left the room.

  Yasmine stumbled back against the table. She heard his murmur to Shelby, but wasn't sure what he said. The sound of running feet made her straighten and put on a smile. Shelby ran into the room and straight for her. She bent and caught her, lifting her up.

  “Yas, we’re going home. But I’ll see ya soon, okay?” Shelby said.

  Yasmine swallowed the lump in her throat, then spoke, “Bye, Miss Shelby.” She hugged the little girl she wasn’t sure she would ever see again tight. A sensation of being watched filled her. She glanced beyond Shelby’s shoulder at Sedeo.

  He looked solemn.

  “Come on, sweetie. I’ll walk you to the door.” She walked across the room with her.

  Sedeo stepped back out of the way.

  She continued down the hall and to the front door. Silently, Sedeo opened the door and took Shelby from her. Yasmine fought with herself not to hold onto her. She let her go. Sedeo’s hand brushed hers, and she stiffened, jerking away. Sedeo caught her hand with his. Yasmine looked up at him. His whiskey gaze glittered with tears. He opened his mouth to speak.

  “Don’t,” she said.

  He squeezed her hand and let her go. He raised Shelby higher, turned, and left.

  Yasmine closed the door behind him. Gripping the knob, she rested her forehead against the door. “I love you, too,” she whispered to the empty room.

  She raised her head, then pounded her fist against the door. A harsh sound came from her. She dropped to her knees, and tears burned her eyes. Turning, she slid down the door, then pulled her legs up and curled her arms around them, resting her cheek against her upraised knees. The wetness of her tears drenched her skin. A brush of fur startled her. She looked up. Rufus whined and licked her. Yasmine let out a ragged sound. Pulling him close, she lay down and curled around him as the tears flowed. Rufus nuzzled her and kept guard as she mourned.