Kiss of Fire (St. James Family) (2 page)

He continued to hold her. Minutes passed like hours. The pain coursed through her body, flaring up like the heat from the car. Her eyelids drooped. Her arms slacked, dropping to the ground. The dance studio seemed so far away. All that seemed to exist was the warmth of the man beside her, the cold ground beneath her, and the pain. Toni was close to unconsciousness. Her neck gave way and her head tilted back. She blinked. She could swear she saw stars in the night sky. She hadn’t seen stars since she moved to the city. She lifted an arm to point. She wanted the man to see the stars as well. Then, a bright light blossomed in the sky. She felt the ground shake beneath her. As the black engulfed her, she caught a quick glimpse of the man’s face, lit by the unearthly light.

He was beautiful.

Chapter 2

Two Years Later, present day

Toni sat up in her bed. Well, it was no longer her bed, really. It was the guest bed in Nat and Christophe's house, located in the room that
used
to be her room when she
used
to live with her sister. But she still thought of the big, charming room with hardwood floors and the lovely bay window as hers. It was still painted a lively marigold yellow, the color Toni had insisted on despite Nat's misgivings.

Although she now had her own place, she still spent many nights in her sister's guest room, especially since her sister and brother-in-law were often traveling. They were currently in Paris, as a matter of fact. If the big townhouse was sitting empty, why not take advantage? The accommodations were way more luxurious than the shitty-but-expensive mid-century rental she shared with a roommate in the West 70's. Ever since her already rich sister had married billionaire Christophe Van der Kind, Toni had become spoiled by association.

And they did spoil her. Christophe especially. Whatever she wanted, he would find a way to get it to her. Thousands of dollars in new dance gear? No problem. New living room furniture? Delivered. Vacation to the D.R. with five of her closest friends? Tickets booked. New car to drive around the city if she so chose? Sitting in a private garage, waiting for her. If she was happy, Nat was happy. And therefore, Christophe was happy. It was a domino-effect of happiness. Her sister and her husband were blissfully happy, in fact, and Toni loved to watch them together. Annata had never been so relaxed, at least, not as long as Toni could remember. She'd been fighting in the corporate world for so long, it'd been like pulling teeth to get her to let her hair down. She'd been uptight. She'd been unemotional, sarcastic, cynical, and icy. In fact, she'd been a real bitch sometimes. Until she'd fallen head over heels for Christophe Van der Kind.

Well, truth be told, Annata would never be the soft and cuddly type. She was still a hard-ass. But that was just Nat. She loved hard and she fought hard. Being difficult was ingrained in her personality. Christophe had simply softened her edges. He'd put a smile on her face, and a laugh in her eyes. He understood what made Nat tick and he loved her no matter what. And for that, Toni would be eternally grateful. Her big sister deserved all the happiness in the world, as far as she was concerned.

Good sex on the regular hadn't hurt her sister's mood either, Toni thought with a smile. It was obvious Christophe knew how to throw down. Normally tight-lipped Nat had confirmed her suspicions one night after a few too many glasses of white wine. Christophe Van der Kind was no slouch in the humping department. Toni could definitely see it. The man was sexy and carried himself with supreme confidence. A man like that was hard to find. She knew from experience.

Damn
.

She wasn't a jealous person, but she did envy her sister there. The last time she'd gotten laid was months ago, and it hadn't been anywhere near great. Pretty forgettable, actually. It was almost enough to swear off sex forever. But, like any red-blooded woman, she had needs. She craved toe-curling, eye-ball crossing, teeth-clenching, life-changing sex with all of her being.
Yes, ma'am
. It had been a long time coming indeed.

Toni'd only ever met one man who hinted at that kind of mind-altering sexuality. A man who smelled of smoke and sweat and spicy aftershave. A man with black hair and green eyes and a light Irish lilt. A man who touched her and set sparks off in her body. But he was long gone. In fact, if he hadn't saved her life, she might've wished she'd never met him at all. Then he wouldn't linger on the edge of her memory, torturing her at night until she touched herself to relieve the pressure.

Stretching her arms slowly to the ceiling, Toni closed her eyes and let her muscles talk to her. She felt a throbbing pain in her back and her ankle was bothering her, as always. She slid out of bed and crept down the hallway toward Annata and Christophe's bedroom.  She felt like an intruder as she opened the closed door. Their big bed was made, and the room was spotlessly clean. Christophe's suits hung in his closet, color-coded. Nat's jewelry glittered on the vanity. Nat's perfume and Christophe's cologne mingled together in the room, creating the distinctive scent that was
them
.

Toni felt affection for them well up in her. She didn't like to invade their privacy by going into their bedroom. But she couldn't resist. The shower in their master bathroom was the most amazing thing on the earth. Multiple, massaging shower heads kneaded her tight muscles like dough and the skylight above streamed in the bright morning light. The water was wonderfully hot, the steam rising up to caress her. The feeling was pure luxury. Pure heaven. When Toni finally bought her own place, the only thing she was going to ask from Christophe was for him to replicate the shower for her. That was it.

Of course, after such an eventful morning, Toni was late to rehearsal. She should have known it was going to happen. There was no such thing as a quick shower at Nat and Christophe's. She regretted nothing. She had to take her pleasures where she could get them. The 1 train lurched to a stop at Columbus Circle and Toni was out the doors as soon as they opened.  She checked the time on her phone as she squeezed through a group of commuters crowding the train platform.

Very late.

Shit.

She'd refused to take a cab from her sister's brownstone on the Upper West Side, despite having left thirty minutes later than she should have. A cab would have gotten her to rehearsal in about ten minutes. But she still couldn't bring herself to hail one. Her wounds from the terrible car crash years before had healed, but she still felt a rising sense of panic at the thought of taking a cab. It was ridiculous, really, but it was what it was.

Her life had been going nonstop since she was released from the hospital a little over two years ago.  She'd gone through rehabilitation for a five long months before she could dance at full-strength again. She'd been working more than ever since then, trying hard to make up for lost time. She still skipped meals and lost hours of sleep in her quest to be the best dancer. But her career had rebounded in such a way that she could hardly believe she'd had a potentially career-destroying injury. She'd finally landed a role outside of the chorus―the Lilac Fairy had a significant solo in
Sleeping Beauty.
She was on her way to being named a principal, slowly but surely.

Toni pushed her way through the turnstiles and hauled ass up the stairs, taking two at a time. Her stomach grumbled angrily, and she checked her phone again. Yup. Still late. She sighed. She'd skipped breakfast again that morning. She reached around for her bag and rooted through, looking for stray cash. She found a twenty and felt like she'd won the lottery. Grinning, she exited the subway station at Columbus Circle, and dodged through the crowds of tourists who flocked to Central Park.

“I can take you where you want to go, pretty lady!” An African pedi-cab driver called out to her as she passed. His white smile flashed against his black skin. She tossed him a smile over her shoulder and continued on her way. She laughed to herself, her ego stroked a little. She may want a date, but she didn’t have time, even for sexy, fit, pedi-cab drivers with great smiles. She shook it off, continuing on her way, weaving her way through the throngs of tourists that crowded around a group of break-dancers doing their thing. Despite being late, it was a beautiful spring day in the city and she couldn’t help being in a good mood.

The trees along the avenue had begun to bloom and blossom. A Belgian waffle food truck was parked on the cross street. The scent of coffee wafted from the coffee shop on the corner. She took a deep breath.The heavenly smells caused her stomach to rumble again painfully. The thought of buying something disgusting from the vending machine in the company hallway – well, that just made her not want to eat at all. And she was already late. With a sigh, she ducked into a corner bodega.

“Hello, ma’am.” The man behind the counter said out in a sing-song voice as the doorbell signaled her entrance. “It is a wonderful morning, is it not?”

“
It is,” Toni murmured as side-stepped the junk food and surveyed the fresh fruit at the front of the store. She decided on some carrot sticks, hummus, and a bag of plump green grapes. Then, on second thought, she grabbed two granola bars and dropped them on the counter with the rest of her choices. “Do you have any hard-boiled eggs?” Toni asked, deciding she needed protein, also. The clerk tore his eyes away from the little wall-hung TV and shuffled over to the deli counter.

“
How many?”

“
Just one, please.” Toni dug around in her bag for the money. Her eyes drifted to the newspaper rack and her attention caught on a headline: “FIVE FIREFIGHTERS INJURED BATTLING BLAZE”. Inexplicably, her heart sped up in her chest. Her breath caught in her throat. And just like that, she was transported back, like no time had passed at all. The memory unfolded before her and suddenly she was shaking and sweaty, convinced she was still in the burning car. A flash of green eyes, a warm touch on her cheek. A pang of terror. It was all so real. Where was he?

Two Years Ago

Where was she? Her eyes darted around, taking in the room. A hospital room, she realized. A bone-wracking shiver ran through her. She was cold. She was tired of being cold. She just wanted to go home. She scowled and tried to sit up but couldn’t. Her muscles seemed to have turned to mush. There was a tube sticking out of her arm, and there was a tube snaking around her face, hissing as it seeped oxygen. Her clothes had been replaced with a thin white gown. An annoying beeping machine monitored her heart-rate.

Suddenly, she remembered her audition. Crap. What time was it? She needed to get sleep. Her audition was at 8:00 a.m. Thoughts rushed through her mind. She could just go straight from the hospital to the studio. She would worry about sleep later. She would wear her extra clothes that she kept in her locker. Everything would be fine. She would ace the audition no matter what. No matter what.

Toni tried to sit up again. Where was the little button for the nurse? All hospital rooms had those, right? Not just the ones on TV? She tried to move a little too sharply and her body cried out in pain. A pain that almost took her breath away. She stilled, waiting for the aftershocks to subside. That was when she noticed her ankle was in a cast. The sounds of the room deadened to a dull roar in her ears as sheer terror gripped her.

Her ankle was broken.

Her first thought was for her dancing career, which could be over before it even really started. After all the work she'd done for years and years. After all the sacrificing and pushing her body to the limit, it could all be over, just like that. A cold drop of sweat ran between her shoulder-blades as she stared down at her foot, willing away the awfulness of her situation. But it was useless.

Eventually, she forced herself to relax back on the bed. She crossed her hands over her nervous stomach and waited. Waited for the doctor to come and give her the bad news. Waited to go home and begin her long recovery. How long would she have to be off her feet? How long before she could dance again? The answerless questions kept coming. Toni's eyes swam with tears. Nat was in Hong Kong and she had no other family in the city. No one to comfort her and tell her everything was going to be okay, even though she knew it wouldn't be. She felt cold dread resting upon her chest. Her heart pounded in her ears. She could barely breathe. Something hard was in her throat. Her hands grasped the sheets. She was choking!

Just as she thought she was surely dying, a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. A man was standing in the door, his shoulders almost as wide as the frame. She opened her mouth, but only a hoarse croak escaped her lips. The man moved toward her. He quickly poured a cup of water from the pitcher on a tray next to her bed and brought the straw to her mouth. She sipped greedily. The cool water was heaven.

"There, lovely." He set the cup back on the tray. "Don't worry yourself."

She brought a shaking hand to her eyes and wiped the tears away. She knew that voice. She blinked. He was here. Standing at her bedside. The man who saved her. He wasn't as tall as she thought he'd be. His face was streaked with dark soot. He had a bandage on his right arm and dried blood on his neck. But he was as beautiful as she remembered. He had a strong jaw that bristled with the hint of a beard. His crooked nose'd been broken once, she could tell. Maybe as a child? There was a smattering of freckles across the imperfect bridge of his nose. His black hair was closely shaved on the sides, and a bit longer on top. She wondered what it smelled like?