Beautiful Burn Page 4

  "I know. It was such a good shiver, too."

  Chapter 5

  He held her hair as she retched into the toilet. "My palm is itching."

  "You should probably get that checked out."

  "That would have been much funnier if it hadn't just echoed off the toilet bowl you currently have your head in." A moan was her only response. "God, you are so lucky you're sick."

  "Need to find relief for that itchy palm?"

  "My palm will have to wait to meet your ass until morning." She scowled at him as she rested her head on the toilet seat. "Don't look at me like that. I would never punish while you are ill."

  "Sick equals free rein. Got it."

  He laughed. "No, it means I save it for when you are better. That way, I know you will remember it."

  "And not puke all over you." She sighed. "I'm only twenty-four hours into this thing, and I've already messed up."

  "You're human; it was bound to happen at some point." He leaned closer to her. "But if you roll your eyes at me like that again, bellissima, I may forget how sick you are."

  He watched as her face softened. "What did you call me?"

  "Bellissima, it's Italian for beautiful. It suits you. Do you like it?" The only response he got was a lazy smile that tugged on the corners of her mouth. "Good. Now, my next question is very important. We just started this relationship, and I didn't tell you that you had a drink limit, so you have a choice to make. If I leave tonight, I will not spank you, but if I stay, your ass will feel my hand in the morning. You choose how you want to proceed." In a second, the compliant look on her face was gone and the spitfire he had grown to know and appreciate was back. She'll make me earn her submission every time.

  "You may not have noticed, but every girl in that station, on our shift or otherwise, has been volleying for a chance for you to notice her. Me, I have always stood quietly in the back. I'm done with that. I did it for way too long." Swallowing hard, she continued. "At his funeral, I promised Kevin I wouldn't waste my gift of life in the back of the crowd. It's time I start fulfilling that promise." She snorted. "Until this last shift, I was clueless that you had any interest in me. I thought you found me atrocious, truthfully."

  His eyes narrowed as he pinched her thigh right where the skirt of her dress ended. With a growl, he brought his lips to her ear. "The only reason you are not wearing my handprint on your thigh is because I didn't want you to start puking again. You are never to talk about my girl that way again. Do you understand me, bellissima?" At her nod, he leaned back, so she could see his face once more, and smiled. "Consider that your one and only warning."

  "And here I am with my head in the toilet on this momentous occasion."

  Jensen chuckled. "You weren't lying when you said your filters don't work when you drink. Am I going to have to worry about you every time you go out with the girls?"

  "I'm going to say no, but you'll worry anyway. You Doms are always looking for more reasons to beat our asses."

  "Spank. Never beat. And I have my ways of making sure you remember our rules even when you don't particularly want to." He rubbed his hand soothingly up and down her back. "Are you ready for me to get you into bed yet?"

  Her pout nearly had him laughing. "You're going to make me sleep there all by myself, aren't you?"

  "No, that is all up to you, but if you choose to have me stay, sleeping is all we will be doing tonight. Either way, I will stay with you until I'm sure you aren't going to vomit all over yourself. Now, let's go before any more of your hair falls into the toilet."

  She gasped when he scooped her into his arms. "Why the long sleeves all the time?"

  "Not all the time. Which room?"

  "The door at the end of the hall. That's all I've ever seen you in."

  "That's because that's what I wear to work, and besides last night and now, we have not seen each other anywhere but work." He sat her on the bed and looked down at her, waiting for what he knew was coming.

  "You weren't at work tonight, and it's March; it's practically boiling outside."

  He rolled his eyes. "Forty degrees is not boiling, especially when you're used to being in bunker gear and fight fires for a living. Now, we get you into bed. I'll get you some clean clothes."

  "I can sleep in these."

  He shook his head as she slightly swayed, taking a second to make sure she wasn't going to fall off the bed, before he turned to the dresser. "What do you wear to bed?"

  "A tee. Bottom drawer," Gwen said through a yawn.

  "That's all you wear?" He groaned as he grabbed a shirt. "This image is going to cause me many hard, sleepless nights to come."

  He turned back to the bed expecting a smart, drunken come back, but all he got was silence from the woman now sprawled across the foot of the bed. "Shit."

  Her auburn hair was feathered across the quilt, her mouth agape. He tried hard not to let his eyes stray from her face, but her skirt had ridden up her thighs and the newly exposed creamy flesh called to him. He crudely adjusted his cock within the confines of his jeans. With a deep breath, he went to work carefully removing her boots and socks before taking a seat on the bed. He glanced up the length of her body, and her eyes cracked open.

  "I can do the rest."

  He laughed. "Were you faking, Gwendolyn?"

  "I puked in front of a really hot guy. That tends to sober a girl up real quick."

  "It also makes you flush a hundred shades of red."

  She sat up and grabbed the tee from his hands. In a second, her dress was over her head and she was covered in only a black, lace pair of boy shorts and a nude colored bra. "Here I thought girls made sure to match their underwear with their bra."

  She snorted as she pulled the shirt over her head, not allowing him to get a better look. "Lies! All lies."

  "Was that a tattoo?"

  She shrugged. "You don't get to see that yet."

  "Okay, do you have any matching bras and panties?"

  "Of course, I do, but I don't ever match them, too much work. Unless I am planning on getting laid."

  "Good to know. So, why torture an innocent man?" At her puzzled expression, he continued. "Your dress rode up on your thighs." She absently twirled her hair between her fingers, her eyes still closed. He grasped her hand and gently pulled it from her hair. "Oh, no. You don't get to go shy on me now. You were an open book before, and I want to keep reading. Look at me. Thank you. Answer the question."

  "Temptation is a beautiful thing."

  "Tempting me will get you way more than you want."

  She lay back on her elbows. "More than I want? I have been crushing on you for a long time. Shit. I have been daydreaming about you since I started at the station, boss man."

  "Mr. boss man to you." She smiled. "You need to do that more often."

  "Daydream about you?"

  "No, smart ass, smile."

  "I smile all the time."

  "Yeah, but they're usually directed at someone else."

  "No, you just aren't paying attention."

  He pointed to the head of the bed. "Lie down before I change my mind and paddle that ass now."

  She crawled to where he was directing her and flopped on to her back. "Stay with me?"

  "I would like nothing more." By the time he shucked his jeans, lay in the bed and pulled the crumpled covers up from the foot of the bed, she was already snoring on her side, her ass pointing toward him. With an arm slung over her waist, he easily pulled her into him, her butt cradled in his groin. Exactly where she belonged.

  A sudden, violent jerk ran through Gwen's body and forced Jensen from his sleep. If the movement had not woken him, the cry of pain that tore through the dark room would have. She was in pain, whether it was physical or emotional, he wasn't sure, but the glow from the street lamp outside her window left no doubt that her face was twisted and contorted with anguish.

  "I'm sorry." The words were strangled; if he had not been paying such close attention to her, he may have missed
them.

  "Gwen, I'm here. You're safe. You're safe, bellissima." When she curled into him and rested her head on his shoulder, he let out a breath he had not been aware he was holding.

  As he lay there, staring at the ceiling, questions ran through his mind. Was it just your run of the mill nightmare? Do they happen often? Was he making them worse?

  With each question, he realized something. He needed to know more about this woman and he was excited to learn.

  The alarm pulled him from his sleep. He reached to the nightstand and quickly silenced it. When the weight on his shoulder moved, he smiled and looked down at the wild mass of auburn curls sprayed across his grey shirt. He longed to feel it spread across his bare chest, to feel her breath warm his skin. He had every intention of waking her up; after all, she had her first spanking coming. But when he opened his eyes again, it was because her phone was blaring on the other side of the bed.

  "Shit!" His arm was freed as she sat straight up in bed. "Shit." She grabbed her head and swayed a little bit, the hangover no doubt taking hold of her as a result of the sudden movement.

  "Do you think your boss will let you call in hungover?"

  She turned to him, managing to look as if she had forgotten he was there. "Umm, I don't know, will you?"

  "Not a chance. Consider this your punishment for your excessive drinking."

  "Going soft on me already?"

  "No, I just decided that I would rather hold you this morning than spank you." He pulled her to him, taking her lips in a fierce kiss. When he pulled away, he rolled her slightly and landed a hard swat to her lace-covered ass. "Get in the shower, Gwen, before I start something we don't have the time to finish. I have to go home and get changed for work." He kissed her again. "I'll see you at the station." He smacked her ass again as he stood from the bed. He called her name as she rolled out of bed, his jeans half way up his thighs. "If you're late, I will drag your ass to the supply closet as soon as the morning meeting is over." As she ran to the bathroom, he chuckled, not sure if the threat was going to guarantee she was on time or late.

  Chapter 6

  "Have they gone through your laptop yet?"

  Gwen looked up from her computer, a bit alarmed. "They're going to do that?"

  "You connect to the station's network, don't you?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Then they are going to want to see it in order to rule out any outside devices."

  Panic started to set in as her coworker walked away. This was her baby. She had never let anyone on to her computer, ever, and she didn't plan on starting any time soon. "Jensen!" She snagged his arm as he walked by. "They are going to go through my computer?"

  The look on her face must have been more telling then she had intended. Instead of simply answering her question, he squatted in front of her, taking her hands in his. "They have to go through every computer that has connected to the network in the last six months, bellissima."

  "But…" She swallowed hard. "This is.… I… my computer isn't clean. I mean, it's clean, but not clean."

  The second the smirk spread across his face, she wanted to take the words back. "What sort of naughty thigs do you have on here? Anything I should know about?"

  "No!"

  "Your response was too quick for it to be the truth."

  "Sir!" All conversation came to a halt as the alarm in the officer's voice registered throughout the room. "Sir, you need to see this!"

  The other man had only gotten a few steps when the television clicked on and a grainy picture appeared. As the picture cleared, a silhouette of a man walked into the shot and took a seat on the previously unnoticed chair.

  "How are you doing that?" Jensen asked as he looked between the television and the computer the officer sat in front of, both displaying the same thing.

  "I'm not. I was tracking the user and I hit a worm, sir."

  "A worm?"

  Before it could be explained further, a computerized voice came through the speakers, "Detectives, it seems you were able to find the trail of bread crumbs I left for you." There wasn't a doubt in Gwen's mind that the man on the screen currently had a smug look on his darkened face. "Congratulations, you have made contact with 'the Hill City arsonist'." Every officer in the room jumped into action, some holding up phones and recording the video, others rushing to computers. "As I am sure the fine men of the Hill City Fire Department have already told you, they have nothing to do with the stalking of Sierra Boisy. Nor do I. However, the women of the department are the kings in my game and, as such, are to be protected at all costs. After all, if something happens to the kings, the game—our game—is over. I will not get into it any further than that, can't make your jobs too easy, now can I? But know this, gentlemen, protect those women. There is something much darker than me out there, and it is coming after them. Please heed my warnings, men. We can't leave the girls unprotected. I do not wish for this to get messy, and this mysterious, delinquent pawn is doing just that. The next play is yours. Check." With his final words, the screen went black.

  A kiss was laid on the crown of her head as Jensen was summoned into his office and the whole room erupted in activity. This was the closest anyone had ever been to the arsonist, and no one was willing to let him get too far.

  "Let's get out of this zoo before we are pulled in and never heard from again." Autumn grasped her hand, hauled her to her feet, dragging both her and Kennly down the hall.

  "You mind telling me where we are going?"

  "Narnia." She swung the door to the supply closet open and began pushing her way through the discarded items. "Leland decided that he was sick of me complaining about the scratchy couch back here, so he brought his from the basement. It's still a crap couch, but at least I can sit on it after." She paused and shot a quick look at Kennly. "At least I can sit on it."

  "If you wanted the fact that you get your ass spanked on the regular, even at work, kept a secret, you shouldn't have shared so much with us at the bar last night."

  Gwen paused at the line of bunker coats. "Are we doing the right thing?"

  "What do you mean?" Autumn pushed the coats to the side and walked into the open space.

  "I mean, there is an arsonist threatening us, our people, and the whole damn city and we are running away to, what, hide?"

  "Who said anything about hiding?" Autumn flung herself down on the couch. "We're brainstorming."

  Gwen sat on the other corner of the couch as Kennly pulled up a folding hair. "Nice. Maybe I will dig my other recliner out of storage."

  "So there can be an audience to my demise? I don't think so."

  "Something tells me you won't be the only one escorted to the supply closet in the future."

  "Yeah?" All eyes landed on Gwen.

  "Did you get down and dirty after our girls' night?" Kennly sat on the edge of her chair looking as if she was ready to take notes.

  "Gossiping? What happened to the big brainstorm session you just justified our escape with?"

  Both women shrugged. "We need to know all the dirty details first."

  "Well, he drove me home and then held my hair while I prayed to the porcelain gods. I guess that counts as dirty details."

  "You puked?"

  "I think I got a little bit on him." Kennly threw her head back, a laugh escaping, as Autumn covered her face in an attempt to contain her snort. "It isn't funny. I had every intention of fucking him into a coma, but instead, I spent the night with my head in the toilet. Then he tucked me into bed like a perfect gentleman."

  "That's it?"

  "He cuddled me all night, but yeah, that was it."

  "So, you guys aren't a thing?" questioned Autumn.

  "No, we're most definitely a thing. There was never a question of that after our date, and if there was, the threat to my ass if I was late to work this morning cleared it all up."

  "Ah, my little Gwenny is growing up."

  Gwen tossed a discarded glove at Autumn's head. "Can we get back to the matter at h
and, please? I know you have a plan in that head of yours, or we wouldn't be here."

  "I do." She looked around the room like she expected someone to pop out as she started talking.

  "Your boss is busy. You're safe for now."

  "Until he finds out you intend to interfere in a police investigation." Gwen sat back on the couch and crossed her arms over her chest.

  "Not interfering. Just helping."

  Kennly grunted. "How, exactly, are we going to do that?"

  "I have an old boyfriend. He's a fucking computer mastermind. He can literally do anything with the right equipment."

  "Will he help us?"

  Gwen watched as the woman next to her shrugged "I think so. He is always looking for a way to show off his talents."

  "But? There has to be a but in there somewhere."

  She took a deep breath before she continued. "He just got out of prison."

  "What!" Gwen and Kennly both stared open mouthed at Autumn.

  "It was only a year and not for anything bad. He was just caught hacking into a few databases he wasn't supposed to be in. Don't scuff at me, Gwendolyn. We can't just sit here and let this arsonist do God knows what until the nitwits the police have working for them decide to pull their heads out of their asses and admit that they are in way over their heads."

  "She has a point."

  "You're new, Kennly, so I will let you in on a well-known fact among the women in our group. You don't go along with Autumn's harebrained ideas unless you're willing to pay the price."

  "But she has a good point. The guys out there are idiots. They had no idea that video was there. It was an accident they found it, and you know it."

  "Or the arsonist decided he was sick of waiting and led them to it."

  "Either way, we can't just sit here twiddling our thumbs. We have to do something."

  "Yeah, tell the guys about this ex of yours and have them go through the right channels to get his help."

  Autumn stood and started pacing the room. "The right channels will take too long. The longer this guy is out there, the braver he is going to get."