The Fire Inside (5 page)

“Shit,” he said unexpectedly. “I don’t have
condoms.”

“I got some out of the bathroom and put them
on the dresser next to the door.”

Making quick work of retrieving the box, he
dumped the protection on the bed and resumed his disrobing; it
amused her. The actions looked practiced, but she bet they weren’t.
He wasn’t a player. She knew that instinctively. When he was fully
naked, he cocked his head. “And no, I’m not embarrassed this time,
either. You’re an alluring woman, Teresa, when you want to be. And
I’m very much looking forward to this.” He rolled on a rubber as
she watched.

“So am I, John.”

His knee pressed into the bed and, bracing
his arms on either side of the pillow, he covered her body with
his.

“Ahhh,” he said hoarsely.

“Mmm,” she moaned.

Locking his gaze with hers, he asked, “How
shall we do this?”

Her smile came easily. “Surprise me.”

o0o

Jack lost himself in the sensations of this
woman’s body, one he did not know but had all night to discover. He
started at her jaw and kissed his way down to her waist. Then over
to her navel and back up the other side. He cherished the goose
bumps when they rose on her skin. Stopping at her breasts, he took
both in his hands and kneaded them.

“You’re so gentle, yet so strong. I noticed
it when you touched me before.”

“Well, right about now, I’m exercising
Herculean control over myself.” Leaning in, he whispered, “It’s
been a while.”

“For me, too.”

He smiled against her skin. “Then, let’s make
it good, Teresa.”

“I agree, John whoever you are.”

His mouth found hers and he brushed his lips
back and forth, back and forth, until he probed them with his
tongue. She opened willingly, and he explored her. She tasted so
sweet. So sensual. So womanly. His mind began to cloud as the kiss
got very wild, very fast.

o0o

“There?” he asked, his body outlined by the
small lamp in the corner.

“Oh, God, yes. Right there.”

He pushed harder. Stopped. Pushed some
more.

“John, please.”

“No, no, not yet. It feels too good.”

“What are you doing with your hand?”

“Can’t you feel it?”

“Hell, I can now. I’m going to…”

But she lost control of her speech. Lost
control of everything.

o0o

He woke to the heavy feel of someone behind
him, her arm sliding to his chest. She tangled their legs, her cast
scratched him, then she kissed his shoulder. Jack hadn’t slept with
anyone in a long time and had forgotten the tender excitement of
being awakened for sex. His hand went to hers. He picked one up and
brushed her knuckles with his lips.

“So sweet, Teresa. So very sweet.”

“Teresa is sweet. Certainly not Tess.”

“Good thing I’m with the right woman.”

She stilled for a moment and he wondered,
too, at the intent of his words.

Then she began again, her hand roaming over
his chest, tickling his belly, and inching down to his groin.

“Arrgh…” His moan was long, lusty
and…frustrated. “You’re missing your mark, woman.”

“No, I’m not. I’m doing just what I want to
do.”

She teased him until he grabbed her wrist.
“Do something now, or I’m flipping over and….”

Her hand closed around his erection. When she
began to massage him, pleasure flooded his whole body.

o0o

“Here, take these.”

She lay with the sheet halfway up her body,
her breasts showing, feeling totally unselfconscious. “I don’t need
pain medicine. You’re my elixir.”

“You cried out when I bumped your ankle—the
last time, when you were on top.”

Sitting up, she took the medicine and water
and downed them. He set the glass on the table, then climbed in
next to her. “Turn over on your side. I want to hold you while we
sleep some more.”

“Sounds wonderful.”

“I’ll fix you breakfast in the morning.”

She smiled. “I’m addicted to coffee.”

“Whatever you want.”

Tess steeped herself in his body as it
aligned with hers. He buried his face in her neck, and soon her
breathing evened out.

o0o

Jack heard the buzz, and it awoke him
immediately. Old instincts from raising kids died hard. Drawing
away from Teresa, he slid out of bed and picked up his pants. When
he retrieved the phone, he exited the bedroom, closing the door
behind him.

He heard, “Dad, it’s Seth.”

“Seth. Is something wrong?”

“Yeah, or I wouldn’t have called you in the
middle of the night. It’s Sara. She, um, Dad, she got
arrested.”

“What?” The kid was a straight-A student and
good girl. But she had a side to her that worried him.

“You’re gonna find out anyway.” The twins
rarely tattled on each other, so this must be serious. “She got
caught smoking pot. Listen, I know you’re close by in Rockland.
State College is only an hour from there. Can you come down here?”
Jack recognized the edges of panic in Seth’s voice. Despite their
different sexes, his twin children were so close it was almost
spooky.

“I’ll be right there, but first tell me if
she’s hurt. Or you are.”

“No, nobody’s hurt. We’re at the police
station.”

When Jack disconnected, he inhaled and let it
out slowly. The breathing made his nerves settle. He had to
concentrate on getting to the small town where the kids both went
to college. Hell, they’d just gone back from winter break. Quietly,
he snuck into the room and saw Tess hadn’t moved. She was sleeping
soundly. No way would he wake her up.

He dressed in the bathroom, took a minute to
throw water on his face, and another to scribble on a pad by her
bed:
I’ve been
called away on an emergency. I had a
wonderful time.

How inadequate those words were. But he
didn’t have the clarity of mind to create any flowery prose. His
baby girl was in trouble and he had to get to her.

Six weeks later

Tess stared at Dr. Tim Leone and bit her lip
so she wouldn’t cry. “You’re sure?”

“We are.” The doc’s face was somber, fitting
his message. “The latest X-rays reveal the second injury made your
ankle a lot weaker. I believe loss of strength and stamina in your
leg won’t allow you to work actively on the line again.”

“So I caused this?” Tess could barely
tolerate the thought.

Leone, who was a great guy, touched her arm.
“I wouldn’t jump to that conclusion. You know how uncertain I was
before the accident with the ropes. I told you that your ankle
might never heal properly. Or enough. Actually, Tess, I was pretty
sure of that, but I didn’t want to jump the gun.”

Chief Lincoln straightened. “This isn’t the
end of your career, Tess. You’re a perfect role model for women in
the department. You can teach. Or work in PR, recruiting female
firefighters. There are a lot jobs you can do here.”

She stared at him blindly. The words wouldn’t
register. She couldn’t picture her life without actual
firefighting: the camaraderie among people who faced death
together, the rush of adrenaline as they entered a burning
building, and okay, saving people’s lives. After Joey died, she’d
withdrawn, and though she had friends, she didn’t have deep
commitments. Except to Sabina and her family. Her career was her
life.

“I’m so sorry, Tess.” The chief again. “Is
there anything we can do on our end?”

“I… The recruit class just finished. Can I
have some time off? To decide what to do? I have furlough
coming.”

“Take what you need.”

Tess managed to get out of the doctor’s
office, out of the Academy and into her car. Once seated, her
breath hitched and then she couldn’t take in enough air. She’d had
panic attacks before, when her brother died, when she first broke
her ankle, so she gripped the steering wheel and forced herself to
take deep breaths.

When her phone rang, she tried to ignore it,
but remembered Aunt Sabina was due to call this morning. With a
shaky hand, she pulled out the phone, confirmed the caller and
clicked on.

“So, how is my niece this lovely
morning?”

“Not good, Aunt Sabby. Not good.”

o0o

“Morning, Daddy.” Sara kissed his cheek,
grabbed coffee and stood by the counter, dressed in girly pink
pajama bottoms and a white T-shirt.

Jack smiled at his daughter. He was still
pissed as hell at her for the pot incident, but God, she was in his
heart. “Hello, young lady.” Arching a brow, he nodded for her to
sit. The twins had come home for three days and gotten in too late
last night to talk. “Daddy, is it? I’m not letting you off that
easily. We have a lot to discuss.”

“I wish we could just have a good time this
weekend.” The girl knew how to pout. Sometimes it drove him and
Seth crazy.

“We will, after. Did you think about what
happened in February? And my comments on it?”

Sara donned what he’d come to call her
Elizabeth Look.
“I only smoke pot once in a while. Everybody
does. I thought about what you said.” Here she raised her chin.
“
I
still think it’s no big deal.”

“To me it is. And you got caught. Don’t
downplay that.”

“In a stupid attempt by the police to appease
the town council. They had to let us off because the search and
seizure was illegal. Nothing’s on my record.”

“This time.”

Silence. So, okay, Jack knew kids smoked pot.
Hell, he had when he was younger. But it was frightening when your
children were breaking the law.

“Last word on this. I promise. If you do
something illegal again, and it gets on your record, you won’t be
accepted into Cornell for grad school.”

She mumbled, “No one would get in if they
kept all pot smokers out.”

Knowing when to stop with his little rebel,
Jack let the griping go. They had a quiet breakfast, and Seth came
ambling in when they finished. “Coffee, I need coffee.”

Sara got up, poured him a cupful and kissed
him on the cheek. “There you go zombie-man. You’re addicted to
caffeine.”

I’m addicted to caffeine,
Tess had
said weeks ago
.
An image hit him of what might have happened
when he and Tess awoke that morning if he hadn’t had to run out, or
even after that, if he’d called her. He hadn’t, for a very good
reason.

The morning after he’d been with Tess, Jack
had brought Sara home. While she took a nap, he’d gone into the
office to check his messages, intending to call Tess and tell her
why he’d left so suddenly. That he planned to return to Rockland in
two days to finish out his time in the class. That they could be
together again. Before he left her house, he’d gotten her number
off her cell phone. He’d just punched in a few digits when Mitch
knocked on the open door. Jack never finished the call…

Mitch had come through the doorway, so Jack
disconnected. “You’re back early. I saw you on my way in for a
battalion chiefs’ meeting.”

“It’s a long story.”

“Anything serious?”

“Yeah, we can talk about it later.”

“Anytime.” He cocked his head. “Was Lincoln
helpful up there?”

“Uh-huh. Thanks for paving the way for me.”
He was anxious to make his call. “Do you need anything from
me?”

“No, I just stopped to say hi.” He started to
leave but turned back around. “There is one thing. Did you meet my
cousin at the Academy?”

“Your cousin?”

“Yeah, remember when I said I had family in
the Rockland Fire Department and asked if you wanted to connect
with them?”


“You didn’t say your cousin taught at the
Academy.”

“No?”

“In any case, I wanted to be anonymous to
everybody except the chief.”

“I know. But you’re done now.”

Jack wasn’t, but he didn’t correct Mitch.

“So, did you meet Tess?”

Stunned, Jack stared at Mitch.

Mitch stepped farther into the room. “Jack,
are you okay? You just went white.”

“I’m okay. I, um, Tess?”

“Righetti.”

“
She’s
your cousin?” He barely got the
words out.

“Uh-huh. My mother’s sister’s daughter. But
she’s like another sibling. Her parents died, so she and her
younger brother came to live with us for six years.” He snorted.
“She was fourteen then but gained three older brothers who still
watch out for her.”

Jack swallowed hard. “W-watch out for
her?”

“Yeah. Monitor boyfriends. Set them straight.
Make sure nobody takes advantage of her. What we did with Jenn and
Connie.”

Holy hell!

“So, did you meet Tess?”

“Yes, I did.” And more. Much more. He’d done
things with Mitch’s cousin that would make his friend’s toes
curl.

“What’d you think? She’s a spitfire.”

“I agree. But, if I can be frank, I also
thought she was too rigid with the recruits.”

He hadn’t expected the light to go out in
Mitch’s face.

“Mitch?”

“Her brother was killed in a skiing accident.
He was being reckless and went off course. He hit his head hard and
never woke up.” Mitch sighed. “We were all devastated, but Tess was
inconsolable. In some ways, she never got over it.”

Oh dear God in heaven! “I’m so sorry to hear
that.”

“At the time, Tess told us her parents had
coddled Joey too much. The only boy in an Italian family. I happen
to agree with her. He was ten when we got him, but he already had
that sense of entitlement. We tried to straighten him out, but
nothing worked. It got worse when Tess took over raising him and
Joey badgered her into moving back to Rockland. When that
recklessness caused his death, she was leveled.”

Jack wanted to weep for her. He remembered
asking her,
Would you like to talk about that? Maybe there’s a
root cause for your rigidity
. He’d been on the money.