Safe From the Fire (11 page)

Unwilling
to face another can of tuna or a loaf of bread – Matt easily admitted that he
couldn’t cook worth a damn – he washed off the grime amassed from spending the
day working on the house and headed out to find a steak and a beer.

As
he started across the crowded parking lot, a familiar little sedan pulled into
a spot right at the edge.

Grace
.

He
didn’t realize he’d changed direction until he was halfway to her car.  She
spotted him as she was getting out and froze like a deer in the headlights,
keeping the car door between them.  She looked like herself tonight in a flirty
black lace skirt that left her legs bare over
hot
lace-up boots.  Under
her leather jacket he spotted a tank top that cupped her delicate curves.  Matt
wanted to drool.

“Hi,”
Grace managed.

“I
didn’t know you were going to be here,” said Matt.

“I’m
meeting Fiona and Evie for a drink.”

“I
just came to get a bite to eat.  Where’s Adam?”

“Fixing
the upstairs bathroom faucet which was, and I quote, ‘a disgrace to faucets
everywhere,’” she said lightly, “I left him to it.  So.”

Awkwardness
hung in the air between them and, not for the first time, Matt wished he’d been
given the gift of charm.  Colin had it in spades, but the only time Matt
managed to express himself the way he wanted to was in his fantasies, with
Grace pliant and willing beneath him.  There, he was a god.  Here, he was back
in high school debate, struggling with a desperate case of stage fright.

“About
last night – our date, I mean – ” began Grace.

“Don’t
say it was a mistake.”  The words tumbled out in a rush, and Matt started
again, “Look, I’ve had some time to think about it today, and I want you to
give me another chance.”

He
almost laughed at the shock on her face.

“Why?”
she blurted out.

Matt
took a step closer, the door still between them.

“You
want what you want, and I’m okay with that.”

“Matt,
I don’t want you to be something you’re not...” she trailed off helplessly.

“The
things you want…some of them I don’t think I can do.”

“I
know.”

“But
some of them…what if I said I wanted to try?”  Matt couldn’t help the
uncertainty in his voice, and hoped she also heard the eagerness, but she only
frowned.

“That’s
not a good idea.  I couldn’t do that to you.”

“It’s
give and take, Grace.  You get what you want, and I get what I want.”

“What
do you want?”

Matt
grinned, seeing the heat spark in her eyes, though she still looked wary.

“I
want to date you, Grace.  Hearts and flowers and walks by the bay.  Intimate
dinners for two.”

“That’s
– ” She shook her head.

“Scary?” 
Matt offered.

Grace
nodded.

“So
we’ll be a little scared together,” he said gently, reaching up to trace her
jaw with his fingers, loving how her breath hitched with excitement at his
touch.

“What
are you scared of?” she asked.

Matt
shook his head – this wasn’t the time for that conversation.  This was the time
to prove to Grace that he could fulfill her fantasies, even just a few of
them. 

“Let
me try, Grace.”

GRACE
MEANT TO SAY no.  She really did, but instead she found herself nodding dumbly
while demented frogs did handsprings in her stomach.

Heat
flared in Matt’s eyes and Grace felt an answering throb low in her abdomen. 
Her mouth went dry as he closed the gap between them, moving her out and then shutting
the car door.  With only the briefest hesitation, he gently turned her to face
the car and crowded her against it, pressing her front against the cold metal
and glass, caging her with big arms.

The
parking lot was filled with cars, and faint music drifted from inside the
building, but otherwise, they were alone.

“Let
me,” he breathed. 

She
let him.  Let him press his body against hers, feeling his strength and heat
along every inch of her back, and his swelling erection solid against her ass. 
Let his warm fingers brush her hair away so he could place soft, open-mouthed
kisses against her neck, and then gently nip her earlobe so that she jerked. 

“I
haven’t had a lot – well,
any
practice at this, so you’ll have to tell
me if I do something you don’t like.”

His
breath was hot in her ear, making her shudder.

The
man didn’t need practice,
Grace thought, knees weak,
He’s a fucking
prodigy.

“Give
me your panties, Grace.”

Her
brain had barely processed the question, delivered in a seductively rough
growl, before he gave her a little room and she was fumbling to do as he
asked.  Matt waited patiently as, trembling, she tugged the wisp of fabric down
her thighs and pressed it into his hand.

Her
pussy clenched hard when she saw him hold the damp scrap up to his nose before
slipping it into his pocket, and every thought in her head scattered as he slid
those big hands under her skirt to cup the cheeks of her ass.  Slightly rough,
his touch sent tingles up her spine and down to her clit as he kneaded and
shaped the curves of her flesh.

“Sweet
little ass,” he said, reverently.

Matt
rubbed said ass against the heavy bulge in his jeans, and Grace felt her juices
slide along her folds.

“Should
I take you right here?” Matt murmured roughly in her ear, “In the parking lot
out in the open?”

“We
shouldn’t,” she breathed, though she was
aching
for him, dazed that he
could have this effect on her with just a touch and a little light teasing.

“But
if I wanted to, you would, right?  All I’d have to do is unzip and slide my
cock into you, just like this, and that hot little pussy would welcome me in,
milking my dick until I explode for you.  Would you like that?”

Grace
nodded, so turned on her legs were shaking.

Matt
slid a hand over her hip to find her bare folds, two fingers tracing her cleft
before slipping between her slick labia to fill her channel in a decadent,
erotic plunge, all the way to the palm.

She
cried out and he tsked.

“You
have to be quiet, sweetheart, or we’re going to have an audience.  I’ll have to
stop.  God, the way your pussy grips my fingers.  Tight and wet and smooth as
silk.  I think it likes me.”

Grace
whimpered, biting her lip to hold back a moan as his thick fingers set a steady
rhythm, stroking her most sensitive flesh.  Her position against the car door
didn’t allow her to do anything but grind her ass against his hips as he
fingered her, his other hand sliding up to explore the curve of her waist and
then her breasts.  Not for the first time, Grace wished she were bigger, but
Matt seemed to approve, sliding his big, warm hand under tank top and bra to
cup her and gently toy with a nipple in counterpoint to his thrusts until her
eyes rolled back in her head.

I’m
going to come so fucking hard.  In the parking lot in front of Clark’s.  Shit.

“I’m
not going to fuck you right now, Grace,” Matt said, kissing her jaw.

Grace
moaned a protest despite his instructions, and he chuckled.

“Because
when I slide into this hot slit, I want you bare and spread wide so I can see
every inch of creamy skin and wet pussy, and so you can scream out your
pleasure and show me exactly how much you like being filled with my cock.  Now,
come for me.”

His
teeth sank into the delicate muscle between neck and shoulder in a gentle bite,
and it was all over as Grace erupted into his hand, the world tilting on its axis
as she came, and came, and came.

Wow.

MATT
HELD GRACE CLOSE on the dance floor, swaying to the music, caught between
elation and terror.  The dozens of eyes that followed them with speculation
were unnerving, too.

Tough
shit,
thought Matt,
They were just going to have to get used to it.  And so was
he.

Because
after feeling Grace come apart in his arms, Matt felt like he could take on the
world.  He’d been so nervous, but the moment he turned her to face the car
door, something clicked.

It
was a fantasy.
And
Matt had had plenty of experience with fantasies.  Tapping into one of them for
a script was easy, and playing it out, well, he may have a painful case of blue
balls for the rest of the night, but he’d rocked Grace Mallow’s kinky little
world, and that was totally worth it.

After
she came back to herself, Grace slumped against him, turning her face
trustingly toward him for a slow, deep kiss that somehow made the whole erotic episode
in the parking lot that much more intimate.  He finally let her go, letting her
set her clothing to rights, though he wouldn’t give her panties back.  At least
not right away.  He still had the others – ripped beyond repair. 

Mildly
dirty old man,
he admonished himself, but in light of some of the things she wanted him to do
to her, a couple of pairs of panties were tame in comparison.

Grace
hesitated slightly when Matt took her hand and led her inside the restaurant –
a normal couple out for dinner – and the raised eyebrows pissed him off.  She
relaxed a little when Fiona waved her over, having scored a table near the
dance floor with Evie and Colin.  His heart clenched as he saw them go out of
their way to set her at ease.

No
one talked about fires, though Evie checked her phone every five minutes like
clockwork.

After
the much-longed-for steak, Matt coaxed a reluctant Grace out onto the dance
floor, reveling in the chance to hold her close in public.  He tried to lose
himself in the music and the incredible feel of Grace’s body pressed tightly to
his, but he couldn’t stop worrying.  Grace had it in her head that being linked
romantically to her was going to ruin his life, which was nonsense.  She was
also worried that he wouldn’t be able to give her what she needed, and vice
versa.  That wasn’t nonsense, but Matt wasn’t going down without a fight.

“Kiss
me,” he murmured, and she looked up, startled, and then around at the crowd. 

Colin
and Evie were dancing nearby, oblivious, and Fiona was chatting up a cute
waiter, but the rest of the patrons – the locals, at least – kept one eye on
them, with the exception of a group of rowdy young fishermen by the bar,
already three sheets to the wind.

Matt
didn’t repeat the request, just raised an eyebrow, trying to calm the flutter
in his stomach as she worried her lower lip.  Grace finally slid her hands up
to his shoulders, raising herself on tiptoe to reach his mouth.  He tilted down
just enough to allow her to accomplish it, and was rewarded with her lush lips
against his.

“Open,”
he demanded quietly, and she did, clutching Matt’s shoulders as his tongue
swept inside for a leisurely taste, “I love your mouth, sweetheart.  I can’t
wait to feel these sweet lips on my cock.”

Matt
had never spoken to a woman like this, and he was tense, braced for a slap in
the face, but it never came.  Grace just sagged against him, letting him hold
her up and kiss her any way he wanted to until they were both breathless.  But
the doubts lingered.

“Is
– is this okay?  I don’t really know…I don’t want you to feel…” Matt cringed,
knowing he was ruining it, but Grace only chuckled.

“If
you go too far, believe me I’ll let you know, probably with a high heel jabbed
into a very sensitive area.” 

Matt
lost a few functioning brain cells as he felt her arch slightly, pressing her
soft stomach into his throbbing cock.  He wanted to balance Grace’s harder
sexual urges with romance, but he had to remind himself that no matter how
exciting it might be, their first time shouldn’t be hard and fast up against a
restaurant bathroom wall with half the town just beyond the door.  He edged
back with a rueful smile.

“I’ll
keep that in mind.”

The
song ended and another started up, but Grace was already moving toward the bar.

“Want
anything?”

“A
cold shower?”

Grace
laughed, and Matt tortured himself watching her shapely ass as she sashayed
away.  He rejoined Evie and Colin at the table, just as Evie got up, checking
her phone.

“I’m
going to call in, make sure everything’s okay.”

Colin
rolled his eyes and Evie shot him a withering glare before disappearing
outside.

“There
must be something wrong with me,” said Colin, “but when she looks at me like
that, I just want to drop to my knees and beg.”

He
leveled a knowing look on Matt.

“I
don’t want to make a big deal out of it, but it’s good to see you with Grace. 
It’s about time,” Colin said quietly, “for both of you.”