A Blaze To Bear (Fire Bear Shifters Book 1) (5 page)

Charlotte’s heart warmed at his words. She knew a romance between the crew chief and a crew member would be frowned upon, but after Ian flat out admitted his interest in her, she wanted him even more. His strong chest rose and fell in somewhat ragged breaths next to her, and she knew he was trying to keep his desires under control. Against her better judgment, she decided to see what would happen if she held his hand. She slid her hand slowly across the space between them and laced her fingers with his. She heard him make a sharp intake of breath as their skin touched, and she knew he must have felt the same electric spark she did. He stiffened for a moment, but then relaxed and started stroking the inside of her palm with his index finger.

“You’re not making things easier,” he said softly.

Charlotte didn’t say anything. She just closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of his finger stroking her hand. She relished the little warm ripples of delight that his touch sent coursing through her body. Every part of her felt alive with anticipation, and she felt a moisture growing in between her legs as her desire for him grew.

Ian turned his head to look at her, and when she met his gaze, his eyes were a beautiful swirling, blue-green sea. He looked at her lips and licked his own, then looked back up at her eyes.

“I’ve been such a jerk to you,” he said, his voice full of remorse. “You didn’t deserve to deal with all of that. You’re a good firefighter, and a good person. I love the way you go out of your way to help and teach the crew. I’m so sorry for the way I’ve acted.”

Charlotte gave Ian a small smile. “It’s okay,” she said. “I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, and I know you guys don’t like strangers. But I’m not a stranger anymore. I’m a friend, now. One you can trust.”

“
Just
a friend?” Ian asked, his voice turning husky. “Or is there a chance for more?”

Charlotte looked over at his swirling eyes and felt her heart racing even faster. His chiseled face was outlined sharply by the moonlight, and she saw his large bicep muscle twitch with anticipation. She saw a hunger in his eyes. The hunger of a man who was looking at the object of his passions with a deep desire. She had seen this look before, from the few boyfriends she’d had in college. But she’d never seen it quite this intense. Ian’s fierce gaze had almost an animal-like quality to it.

Animal
. Was he an animal? She desperately wanted him to open up to her. Really open up. She thought about straight up asking him whether he believed in shifters, but she didn’t want to force the issue. If shifters did exist, and he was one of them, she wanted him to trust her enough to tell her on his own.

She looked into his churning eyes, and her stomach tightened with desire at the sight of his handsome face. She realized his question was still hanging in the air, but she wasn’t sure how to answer it. Was there a chance for more? Could they have a relationship, despite the fact that he was her crew chief? She knew Boise would frown on the idea, but, then again, they didn’t have to know.

“I don’t know, Ian,” Charlotte said slowly, her voice as full of emotion and pent up desire as his had been. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

Her protest was weak, and she knew it. The passion flooding her body was washing away any rational reasoning skills. He seemed to realize this, or to be suffering from the same lack of level-headedness himself, because he turned his body toward hers on the picnic table. He tentatively, slowly moved his lips toward hers. He gave her plenty of time to pull back if this wasn’t what she wanted, and her mind screamed at her to turn her head away. But her heart pounded with the excitement of the moment, and the closer his handsome face came to her, the more she was overcome with an uncontrollable yearning. She wanted this. She wanted him. It didn’t make sense, but, then, what in life ever did?

She had been through so much in the last few years. And she had given so much of herself to protect others. She deserved this—this one moment of pure, guilty pleasure. It only had to be one kiss. They didn’t have to do anything more, and no one ever had to know. Charlotte kept her face pointed in Ian’s direction, and parted her lips slightly as he came within an inch of her face.

When their lips met, Charlotte felt herself overcome with heat. It felt like the warmth of his body was all being transferred to her, as his mouth covered hers and he closed his eyes with a soft groan. He pushed his tongue into her mouth and let it dance with her tongue. The magnetic feeling that seemed to draw Charlotte to Ian grew stronger, and she couldn’t pull herself away. Not that she really wanted to, anyways. She closed her eyes and let herself be lost in the beauty of his kiss.

He reached over and put one hand on her cheek as he kissed her. Both breathless, their bodies pressed against each other as their tongues pressed together in their mouths. Charlotte pushed away the insistent little voice in her head telling her that this was a bad idea. She knew they could get caught, and that the higher ups would be none too pleased to see the two of them making out on a picnic table outside the base hangar. But she was losing herself in the moment too much to care about little details like that. All she could think about was how warm Ian’s mouth felt on hers, and how strong his muscular body felt as he pushed harder against her. She ran her hands down his bare back and relished the feeling of his skin against her palm. She could feel his erection pressing against her, and she felt herself growing slick and wet in response to his excitement.

When he pulled back for a moment to catch his breath, he looked deep into her eyes, as though he was searching for something.

“What is it?” she asked, panting and breathless from their intense round of kissing.

“I don’t know, exactly. I’m completely head over heels for you. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone before. But…” he said, his voice trailing off.

“But what?” Charlotte asked.

“But, this feels dangerous. You know getting frisky with a crew member is frowned upon. Especially when one of those crew members is the chief. I feel like we’re playing with fire here. No pun intended.”

“Don’t be scared. I’m a good firefighter,” Charlotte said, grinning over at him.

Ian chuckled, and then looked at her with a serious expression. “I’m not sure how serious you are about me, Charlotte, but I already feel like I’ve passed the point of no return with you. I know we just met, and this is the first time we’ve kissed. But my heart feels bonded to you already. If I keep going, I’m not going to be able to stop. And I’m not sure if that’s what you want.”

“Bonded,” Charlotte repeated. “That’s an interesting way to put it. But that’s kind of how I feel with you, too. When I’m near you, I feel so drawn to you. Almost like a huge magnet is pulling me in. I don’t want you to stop, Ian. I want all of you.”

Ian closed his eyes briefly as she spoke, as if the emotion of the moment was too much for him to take in. Charlotte wasn’t sure how to interpret everything she was feeling right now, but she could feel the butterflies in her stomach fluttering wildly at every touch from Ian, and that was good enough for her. She would follow her butterflies. For once in her life, she would listen to her heart instead of her head.

Without giving herself time to think and rationalize, she leaned over and put her lips over Ian’s again. He moaned as her tongue slipped into his mouth, and she could feel his dick stiff and rock hard underneath his sweatpants. Despite the chill in the air, his body was warm and inviting.

“Charlotte, I’m not kidding. I’m not going to be able to stop.”

“So don’t.”

In the next instant, she heard a guttural growl coming from Ian as he pushed her back onto the tabletop. He lifted her feet off the bench and guided her body sideways so that she was laying fully on the tabletop, head to toe. Then, with churning eyes, he reached for the hem of her t-shirt and pulled it up over her head. He tossed the shirt aside and moved his mouth to where her nipples stood erect atop her full, round breasts. He used his tongue to gently brush across the nipples, slowly at first, teasing and tantalizing Charlotte. She groaned and closed her eyes as he closed his mouth over her nipples and sucked her whole nipple and part of her breast into his mouth, treating first the right side and then the left to the soft, wet warmth of his mouth. Then he intensified the feeling by nibbling on each nipple with his teeth. He was gentle at first, and gradually put more and more pressure into each bite, stopping just short of the point where it would have been truly painful. The result was an impossibly pleasurable agony. Little shockwaves of ecstasy ran through every fiber of Charlotte’s being, and her entrance was growing so wet that she could feel her panties soaking through to her pajama pants.

Ian slowly trailed his tongue down to the waistband of her pants, then pulled them off along with her underwear, leaving her naked and exposed on top of the picnic table. She should have worried about one of the other guys walking out and seeing her like this, but all she could think about at the moment was how good Ian’s tongue felt on her body. He traced a small wet line down to where the entrance to her insides was throbbing with pleasure. He found her clitoris, and wiggled his tongue back and forth against it in a rhythmic motion, while she grabbed the sides of the picnic table and held on tightly. She no longer felt cold, as the heat of his touch blazed through her like so many of the fires she had fought.

Just when she thought she couldn’t possibly take any more pressure, he moved his tongue so it went deep inside of her. He swirled it around, hitting every possible nerve ending and intensifying the tingling in Charlotte’s body to nearly unbearable levels. She only made it a few moments before crying out his name as the first wave of orgasm crashed over her. She gripped the sides of the table tighter and thrashed her head back and forth as each new, delightful spasm passed through her, clenching her insides up into a ball of pleasure.

As the waves subsided and she finally began to catch her breath, she looked up to see Ian grinning, his eyes churning brighter than ever. The way his eyes glowed and his muscles rippled made him look surreal. He can’t be human, Charlotte thought. No human is this amazing. But she hadn’t even seen the most amazing part of him yet. As he smiled down at her, he stood on one of the benches and slowly pushed off his sweatpants, revealing the largest, most erect dick Charlotte had ever seen. It stuck straight out from his body like a beacon, and Charlotte moaned as she imagined it inside of her.

Ian slowly moved back onto the tabletop, straddling her and looking deep into her eyes.

“Are you sure about this? Really sure?” he asked, his voice heavy and breathless.

Charlotte could only nod, and Ian smiled tenderly at her as he slowly started lowering himself toward her.

“Good,” he said. “Because I’m pretty sure I’d go crazy right now if I had to go back into that bunkhouse without a chance to slip my dick into that amazingly soft, warm pussy of yours.”

And with that, he slid into her. He filled her completely, pushing against her insides and sending pleasure waves through her anew. The picnic table creaked and groaned under their weight as he thrust back and forth, hitting pressure points inside of her that she hadn’t even known existed until this moment. She had thought the way he used his tongue on her had been amazing, but the way he used his dick was another level entirely. She closed her eyes tightly, and held onto the sides of the table once again. With every thrust of his body against hers, the table creaked and she groaned. The pressure and heat inside of her mounted and grew with each moment that passed, until she couldn’t take it anymore and another flood of pleasure washed over her as her second orgasm started. She cried out his name once more as she felt herself clenching over and over around his huge dick. He found his pleasure soon after her, moaning in delight as he stiffened suddenly and shot a warm stream of passion into her.

They lay side by side together for several moments as the pulses of pleasure slowly subsided. Charlotte looked over at him and saw him grinning from ear to ear.

“Damn, girl. You’re amazing,” he said.

Charlotte laughed. “Still want to get rid of me?” she teased.

“Hell, no! You’re not going anywhere,” he said reaching over to pull her closer against him. The quick movement made the table shake and creak violently, and then, with a sudden snap, it collapsed beneath them. A huge crack down the middle left them plummeting to the grassy ground with splintered wood all around them. For a moment they looked at each other, startled, and then Ian burst out laughing.

“How are we going to explain this to the rest of the crew?” he asked. As he tried to sit up and help her, he winced. “Ow, I think I’ve got a splinter in my ass.”

Charlotte started laughing at him. “Oh come on, man up. It’s just a tiny piece of wood.”

“It’s not funny. It’s really sharp!”

“Here, turn around,” Charlotte said, squinting in the moonlight at the spot where Ian was holding his rear and grimacing. She saw a large splinter sticking out and deftly pinched it between her fingernails, then pulled at it quickly.

“There!” she said triumphantly. “All better.”

Ian grunted in thanks, and rubbed the spot where the splinter had just been. “At least the table waited to break until after we were done with our, um, activities,” he said.

He stood up and started searching for their clothes, slipping into his sweatpants and handing Charlotte her pajamas. She winked at him.