Montana Fire (28 page)

“So you studied fires in order to find this man?” That was smart. Proactive. Control-taking.
She could learn something from him. Hell, perhaps that was why he wanted her to know
how to load and shoot a gun. She had to admit, shooting the rifle had empowered her.

“Yes, but even then I wasn’t all that successful. I wanted to know more. I needed
to think like an arsonist. That was when I went back to school and studied fire science.
I could only go part time, though. Took me years to get my degree.” He topped the
heating bread with cheese and ham. “In the end, I spent a fourth of my life tracking
down this man. I would find clues to his location and pass the information onto Dan.
Even though I wasn’t a cop anymore, I went on a lot of the investigations. Eventually,
things fell our way, and we got him.”

“That must have been an incredible relief.”

“It was, but when it all over, I had a big void in my life.” Max placed the top on
the sandwich, lifted the bread with a spatula, and flipped it over. “I’m slowly returning
to life, and I have you to thank.”

“Really?” Jamie turned her back to him as heat raced up her face. She managed to remove
the can top, then poured the soup into the saucepan.

She carried to pot over to the stove and turned on the burner. Max slid the sandwiches
onto a plate. Once he dumped the pan in the sink, he returned to the stove and changed
the setting of her pot from medium to low.

He clasped her shoulders. “I don’t know why you’re surprised. Don’t you feel more
alive since we’ve met?”

She looked up at him. “More alive? Try just alive. Before the fire and the break-in,
I was dead inside, going to and from work, helping others. I liked what I did, but
there was no real joy in my life.”

Max slid his hands down her arms to her waist, walked her backward to the counter,
and lifted her on top. They were eye-to-eye. “And now?”

Chapter Twenty-Three

B
efore Jamie had the chance to tell Max what a difference he’d made in her life, he
stepped between her legs and kissed her. Now that all the rage and fear had been exposed—and
they seemed to be dealing with it together—they could start fresh. His fingers slid
under her shirt, and he brushed his thumbs across her nipples. Damn bra.

Max broke the kiss. “I promised myself that I would stay away from you so I could
make sure you were always safe, but I have no control when I’m around you. I want
you naked. Then I’m going to fuck you hard and often.”

Maybe it was from the release of tension, but she giggled. Actually giggled. That
was something she hadn’t done in years. His words gave her strength.

“Okay, but only if I can suck on your cock first.” She wouldn’t compare having made
love with Max to anyone else, but suffice it to say she’d only given a blow job a
few times. You-know-who didn’t like them. Being able to lick and suck on Max would
be such a high. This time she hoped she didn’t get sidetracked.

Instead of him responding to her comment, he yanked her shirt over her head. “Nice.”

She had packed some of her nicer bras and panties, and was glad she’d worn a pretty
set this morning. Not wanting him to change his mind, she opened the waistband on
his jeans and tore down the zipper. Damn. He’d worn briefs again. Oh, well.

“How about we both take off our shoes,” she suggested. That would make the disrobing
process move faster.

He tugged off her footwear, before removing his own boots, and kicked them aside.
Jamie tried to lift his shirt over his head, just as he was unzipping her jeans. It
became almost comical.

“Let me slip off the counter,” she said.

Max set her down as if she weighed nothing. “It’ll go faster if I do this myself.”
In one quick move, his shirt disappeared. His pants and briefs were next. “I need
you too badly.”

If Jamie hadn’t been so mesmerized, she would have finished taking off her jeans,
too. Only after Max reached behind her and unhooked her bra did she realize she’d
been staring. She wet her lips in anticipation of what was to come.

He tossed her bra on the counter. “Condoms. Damn. Remind me to get more next time
we’re at Hank’s.”

“How embarrassing. He’ll know what we’re doing.”

Max laughed and fished another one from the pocket of his jeans. He tossed it on the
counter. “I think Hank already assumes we are doing just that.” Max lowered his gaze
and leaned closer. “You said you wanted to do something first?” He dragged a thumb
over her nipple, and her thoughts scattered.

“Yes.”

Jamie bent over, and when she cupped his heavy sac, he groaned like she’d hoped he
would.
Yes
. The man wasn’t immune at all. Being short suddenly had an advantage. She studied
his length trying to decide how to proceed.

“You’ve got ten seconds or I’m taking over.”

She looked up at him. The seriousness in his expression compelled her to lower her
head and draw his upright cock into her mouth. She sucked hard. Max combed his fingers
through her hair and pressed on her scalp. Dragging her mouth down his length, she
twirled her tongue around his hard shaft.

“Fuck, but that feels so good.” Max’s free hand cupped her breast and twisted the
nipple between his fingers, sending delightful pulses down the sides of her body.
The man could turn her inside out with a touch.

She rolled his balls while she grabbed his cock with her other hand. Between drawing
him in and running her tongue along his pulsating vein, her movements turned more
frantic. Suddenly, Max drew her upright and pulled her close. His lips descended on
hers like a starving man. When his dick pressed against her open jeans, her pussy
dampened, and a deep yearning bubbled inside her. She needed him. Wanted him. Desired
him, but she didn’t have the strength to break the kiss. Their tongues explored, tasted,
and probed with desperation. She clamped her fingers onto his corded shoulders and
drew him near, wanting to melt right into him.

Max pulled back, his eyelids half closed. He fumbled with the foil package. As soon
as he extracted the rubber from its case, he peeled it down over his cock. Why couldn’t
she remember to ask if she could do the honors? It was Max’s fault for distracting
her.

He tugged off her jeans taking her panties with it, and then lifted her onto the counter.
Drawing open her legs, he bent over. His fingers dug into her thighs as he swiped
his rough tongue across her slit. His lick caused spasms of electricity to ignite
her already burning body. Her breath caught and her mind swirled. This was where she
needed to be.

“I love how you taste.” Max dipped his tongue into her opening and rubbed her clit
with the pad of his thumb. She nearly lifted off the counter.

She grabbed his hair and yanked hard, unsure whether she could control herself for
much longer. “I need you.”

Max straightened, slid her to the floor, and turned her around. He grabbed her hips,
and with a quick pull, Jamie’s body was parallel to the ground, her arms outstretched.

“I want to savor every part of you.” He placed his cock at her wet entrance and plucked
her nipples. “What you do to me, girl.”

He pinched the tips again, sending ripples of electric pulses straight between her
thighs. Then he impaled her.

“Dear God in heaven.” Her cry came out strangled. Without thinking, she clamped down
hard on his cock.

“Jamie. Don’t. I can’t hold off much longer.”

She couldn’t either. She pressed her hips back against him, and Max drove into her
hard and fast, setting her body on fire. She didn’t need an expert to tell her the
cause of the blaze. It was all Max Gruden.

Jamie dropped her head and let him transport her to heaven. Between him lavishing
his attention on her nipples and turning on every nerve ending in her body, Jamie
let herself go. She floated and soared, blocking out her fears. She was in a different
world. With her eyes shut, pinpricks of light burst in her vision.

“I’m close, honey. Hold on.”

She wanted to go over the edge with him. Grabbing onto the counter with all her might,
she arched her back and gave into her desires. Passion, pleasure, and lust filled
her. When he slipped a hand between her legs and pressed on her clit, her tiny button
lit her up. Her climax swooped in and took over her mind.

Max pressed his chest against her back and wiggled her little pearl again. Each time
he shifted his weight, his muscles rippled, causing more fireworks to go off inside
her. Max grunted a second before his cock expanded and stretched her wide. He detonated
his hot cum into the condom.

“Jamie, Jamie.” He lowered his lips onto her neck and nibbled. For the next few minutes,
as he held her tight, her world shrunk. She was at peace.

Max finally slipped his cock out and stepped over to the sink. Water ran behind her.
“Let’s clean you up.”

Her legs were like rubber, and she had to lean against the counter for support. “We
forgot to eat.”

“I don’t know about you, but I just had my feast.”

Jamie laughed. Where had he been her whole life?

*     *     *

By the time they dressed, reheated the grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, and ate,
it was late afternoon. “I need to call Sasha. I’m worried about her.” Jamie pulled
out her burner phone. “Shit.”

Max stilled. “What is it?”

“I don’t have her home number.” She snapped her fingers. “No wait, I do. Sasha wrote
it down for me on a scrap of paper in case I needed a ride home from the bar the other
night. It may still be in my purse.” Jamie rushed to the bedroom and brought her bag
back to the kitchen table. She stuck her hand in the morass, but failed to find it.
“Stupid mess.”

Frustrated, she dumped everything out onto the tabletop and separated the contents.
In the middle of the pile was the piece of paper she was looking for. “Here it is.”

Max picked up a yellow movie toy. “What is this?”

“You don’t recognize this little fellow?”

“’Fraid not.”

“It’s a rubber minion from the movie Despicable Me. I found it in my coat pocket right
after I treated Katie Danvers. I figured she slipped it in there after I told her
mom that part of Katie’s problem might be that she put too much unclean stuff in her
mouth. She’s six and the cutest thing. I put it in my purse, so that when she came
back for her next treatment, I could return it to her.”

Max’s brows pinched. “Do you always wear your coat when you treat your patients?”

Jamie’s mind spun. “No. Never. The free clinic has good heat. Maybe I’d forgotten
to take if off, though that had never happened before.”

“But you remember taking it out of your coat pocket and putting this in your purse?”

What was she missing? “I do, but at the time, I didn’t think about how it got there.
The only child I’d treated that day was Katie, so I assumed she must have given it
to me.”

Max tugged on it and it separated. “It’s not a toy. It’s a flash drive.”

Her heart sank as her mind spun. A flash drive? Oh, shit. “You don’t think Jonathan—I
mean Vic—slipped it in my pocket, do you?” She recreated the last time she’d seen
him. “Oh, my God.”

Max placed a hand on her shoulder. “What is it?”

“The day of the robbery, I’d brought food for both Vic and Larry. Only Larry hadn’t
shown up yet. I was bending over to put the bags on the ground, when a gust of wind
pushed me forward. As I tried to regain my balance, Vic reached up to steady me. I
remember thinking how strong his grip was.”

“Could he have slipped this in your pocket then?”

She couldn’t be certain. “It’s possible.”

“The only way the terrorists would know you had this was if they saw Vic put it there.”

She replayed that moment. “Right before the gust of wind made me stubble, Vic looked
off to the side. He’d just told me a rather funny knock-knock joke, but his smile
completely disappeared for a moment. Do you think he saw someone he suspected was
a terrorist? Is that why he gave it to me? Shit. He had to have known they’d come
after me.”