Ring of Fire (26 page)

Nate chuckled to himself. What a problem to have. His lover was angry because he wasn’t amorous enough to suit her tastes. That he seemed afraid if he touched her she’d break. He sighed. Hell most men he knew would give their left nut to be in his position—and with Erin? Damn. On one level Nate understood but, hell, why couldn’t she give him a break? Christ, for twenty-four hours she’d been held captive by a certified madman and threatened to be gang raped by a band of racist powder monkeys. Nate was having enough trouble merely sleeping, much less making love, especially the way she craved.

Erin’s ferocious expression signified an ultimatum was on the way. Knowing that he wanted her as much as she wanted him, Nate decided to sit back and enjoy the show.

“This is it, Nate. Either you stop treating me like I’m made out of glass or I’m going to tie you to this bed and fuck you until you are blind.”

Nate whistled. “Damn, sugar. Get right to the point or what? Is that a promise?”

Erin didn’t laugh. “It’s a threat
and
a promise.”

Nate huffed a small laugh. “Okay, honey, I hear you. You want me—the whole man.” He added with an implied threat of his own, “You want
everything
I’ve got, sugar?”

She glared at him.

“Nate, I want everything you’ve got
and
, Nate, I want
more
!”

She marched closer to the bed and folded her arms across her chest.

“I want everything you’ve ever thought about doing to me.
And
I want you to do it
now
. Do you hear me?”

She stomped over to the bedside and picked up the alarm clock.

“Just so you know that I’m serious, I’m setting the alarm. If you’re done in less than twelve hours you’re not the man I thought you were!”

Nate laughed out loud. Her face was flushed, angry. That and her outrageous threats were enough to shake him out of his funk. And hell, spike his interest in her ‘proposition.’

“Erin, Erin, Erin. Always challenging me aren’t you? If you’re not running away from me and daring me to catch you and throw you on the floor and fuck your brains out, you’re telling me you’re going to do the same thing to me. Damn, woman!”

Erin didn’t smile.

“Yes, I am. In fact—I’m going to up the ante. “

She paraded over to closet and disappeared inside.

Hearing her rustling through clothes and boxes, Nate shook his head and grinned.

He couldn’t hide his amusement.

“Need help, spitfire?”

Her muffled retort came from inside the closet.

“No, I can handle this perfectly well without any help from my timid lover.”

Nate threw back his head and roared, but he couldn’t hide his surprise when she emerged carrying what Nate euphemistically called their ‘toy box.’

Erin trotted over to the side of the bed, removed the lid, and unceremoniously dumped the contents of box on the end of the bed.

Her eyes widened at the collection.

There was everything. From blindfolds, restraints, various sized plugs, tubes of lube and gels, to a seemingly endless variety of vibrating objects.

Erin frowned and pursed her lips. “Goodness, I don’t think I’ve seen a lot of these.” She added, “Hmm, I don’t even know what some of them are.”

She picked up a butterfly looking thing with an attached remote and looked at it from different angles.

“Good grief. Where do you put this? Damn, Nate, I haven’t seen half of the things you have stored in here. Most of them have wrappers on them.”

Nate suppressed the urge to laugh out loud.

“Maybe I was waiting to surprise you, sugar. It isn’t easy keeping up with a demanding little spitfire like you. A man needs supplies—and secrets.”

Erin squared her shoulders and met his amused gaze.

“Okay, Nate. You’re on. The challenge begins.”

Peering at the sheet covering his naked body that was beginning to tent in critical places, her mouth quirked up at the corner.

“Thank goodness. I’m beginning to see signs of interest. Maybe you’re getting over your reluctance to love me the way I want to be loved!”

Nate sat up straight in bed and grimaced.

“Damn, woman. I know I said it before but you really
are something
.”

Erin sniffed. “Yes. Yes I am.”

She picked up a feathery wand with short leather tails. She glanced up with a questioning frown then seemed to get an inkling of what he might do with that.

When he winked at her, she tossed her head and tipped up her chin.

“I guess the only question now is who gets to choose
first
. And who decides what goes where.”

Nate roared at her sassy assertion.

“Okay spitfire, you asked for it. But let’s get one thing straight.”

He got up on his hands and knees and began crawling toward her.

“In addition to ‘the who’, ‘the what’, and ‘the where’, you forgot the most important question—’when’. As for all those questions—
who
will do
what
,
where
and
when?
The answer is: ‘the guy you challenged to a twelve hour orgy’.”

When she tried to scoot back, he shook his head and reached for her hand.

“Uh, uh. Too late, sugar. You don’t throw a hungry tiger raw meat and assume he won’t attack it.”

Nate selected a blindfold from the pile of erotic toys and wrapped it around his hand with a wicked grin.

“Probably best you don’t see what’s coming next.”

Erin squealed when he picked her up and tossed her onto her stomach. He leaned over her and whispered in her ear.

“Hope this gorgeous body of yours is as tough as you are because you’re in for a loooong night of lovin’, Erin.”

~~~

The next morning Erin snuggled up against Nate’s chest. Every muscle in her body—including some she hadn’t known she’d had—was aching in a most intimate way. She rested her head against him and gave a contented sigh.

“I love you, Nate.”

“Erin, we need to talk.”

Erin sat up and frowned at him.

“What’s wrong, Nate?”

“I want us to get married, Erin. Now.”

Erin took a deep breath and reached out to stroke the crease on his cheek.

“You’re scared, Nate.”

His eyes widened in surprise, but then he nodded.

“You’re right. I am. I’m scared of what our lives are like, Erin. How easily they can change. How… dangerous they are.”

Nate straightened up against the headboard and turned to face her.

“That’s not why I want to marry you. I
am
scared. But I want to marry you because I love you, Erin. I want to be your husband. I want you to be my wife. I want you to have my babies—our babies. Erin. I want to get married. Now.”

He hesitated for a moment.

“There’s only one problem.”

Erin smiled. “I know. You promised your cousin Luke if either of you were foolish enough to get married you’d be each other’s best man. That’s right, isn’t it?”

She poked at his chest when he didn’t respond.

“Okay. Fine. We’ll find out when Luke’s next leave is, and that’s it. That will be the day we get married!”

~~~

Nate watched Erin finish packing a picnic lunch. She’d been thrilled when he suggested that they spend the day on their boat planning their wedding.

Hearing the knock on door, he opened it to see Connor and the Chief standing in the doorway.

Nate sucked in a painful breath. He’d seen looks like that before. He’d had that expression on
his
face when he’d gone to meet with families of fallen comrades.

With a harsh groan, Nate shut his eyes refusing to accept what the pain on their faces likely meant.

The Chief stepped inside and reached for his hand.

“No, Nate. No, Son. It’s not what you think. Luke’s not… not dead, man.”

Nate glanced at his cousin. Tears were streaming down Connor’s face.

“Those ain’t tears of happiness, are they, Connor?”

Connor shook his head. “Let’s just say they’re mixed.”

The Chief broke in, his gravelly voice tight with concern.

“Luke’s been wounded, Son. He’s hurt bad. He’s still unconscious. He’s in a hospital in Germany.”

He hesitated then added, “The doctors are giving him about a 60/40 chance.”

Nate’s throat hurt. “To live?”

The Chief shook his head and sighed. “No. Actually they’ve indicated there’s a three to one chance he’ll die.”

Nate ran his hands distractedly through his hair. He turned to see Erin standing beside him, her face pale, concerned. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.

Speaking to the Chief and Connor, he said, “Well, I guess that says where I’m going.”

The Chief nodded. “Yes, Son. We’ve already got your tickets.”

Connor answered his unspoken question. “Marcus and Mama D. insisted that the two of us need to go. Mama’s convinced that you’re the only person who will make sure that Luke comes home alive.”

Nate turned to Erin but she spoke before he could.

“Mama D is right, Nate. You would never leave him there. Never come back without him—alive. I know that and you know that.”

A tiny smile crossed her face. “Besides you’ve got another reason to get Luke back here pronto!”

She hugged him and gave him a little push.

“Go now, Nate. You and Connor go and get Luke. Bring your best man home, Nate. I’ll make the rest of the plans.”

Erin hugged him and reached up to kiss his cheek. Gazing into his eyes, she was firm, confident.

“We’re going to have us a wedding, Nate. The most glorious one ever!”

Nate held her tight and smiled at her through his tears.

“Yeah, Spitfire, That’s exactly what we are going to have.”

Afterword

Thank you for reading
Ring of Fire
, the final book in the
All Fired Up Sizzling Romantic Suspense Series
. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much I enjoyed writing it. The collection includes
Playing With Fire, Trial By Fire, Fire and Ice
and
You Light My Fire,
a short story conclusion to the series.

Those of you who read and love my books know I don’t shy away from challenging issues. In
Ring of Fire
my hateful villains are meth producers
and
also White Supremacists, a toxic mix if there ever was one. I’m grateful that there are real life cops and other first responders who take on the ugly issues of our society and make our lives better and safer. Likewise the women like Erin who overcome the odds are my heroines. Hats off to the good guys and gals! We owe them our thanks and our gratitude. My books are a tribute to them!

If you enjoyed
Ring of Fire,
do me a huge favor. Go back to
www.Amazon.com
, and please leave an honest review. Authors live and die by their reviews. The few extra seconds it takes really helps us authors out. Thank you!

For the Grand Finale

In the lives of

Erin, Nate, Connor, Sam, Annika and the Chief

Watch for

You Light My Fire

The short story finale in the series will be

FREE in the

All Fired Up Sizzling Romantic Suspense

COLLECTION

Coming July 2013

Other Works by Taylor Lee

Playing With Fire

Book 1 in the
All Fired Up Series

The #1 Hot New Release in Romantic Suspense AND Hard Boiled Mysteries

Praise for
Playing with Fire
…

“A bad-assed cop who flaunts every regulation falls for the beautiful rookie firefighter only to discover she is his #1 suspect in a double murder.”

~KDR

“A rookie firefighter escapes an abusive past only to find herself accused of setting the fire that kills her husband and his mistress. A heroine that will tug at your heartstrings and a hero that is as outrageous as he is irresistible.”

~RomanceReads

“Cops AND Firefighters? An alpha–male lovers delight. A SEXY kick-ass hero and a beautiful, vulnerable woman in a life and death face-off can’t resist their voracious appetite for each other. This is one SIZZLING romantic suspense!”

~Erotica Rocs

To purchase
Playing With Fire
, simply click
here
.

~~~

Trial by Fire

Book 2 in the
All Fired Up Series