The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories (325 page)

His hand trailed down her dress and up her thigh; he slowly pulled her panties to the side. His fingers stroked her and her back arched, pushing herself against him. She drew a shuddering breath at his touch.

Her eyes opened slowly to gaze up at him. Jax’s eyes were filled with need as his fingers slid slowly in and out. Karma wanted to beg him to replace his fingers with his cock. She could tell by the look of pain and desire on his face that would not be happening. It was taking all of his self-control. His hair was plastered to his face and it only added to his sexiness. She probably looked like a drowned rat, but Jax was looking at her like she was the sexiest woman in the world.

With a low growl Jax kissed her hungrily. With a stark possessiveness he slid his tongue deeply in her mouth. Her desire escalated rapidly.

A clap of thunder startled them both, and they jumped apart with a laugh.

“God, you make me crazy,” he muttered as his thumb caressed her jaw line.

“The feeling is mutual.” Karma’s body sagged against his.

Jax grabbed her hand and ran her back to the front porch.

“I have to work tomorrow,” Jax said, pressing his wet body to hers. She could feel his heartbeat, and it was racing as fast as hers.

“Twenty-four hours, right?” Karma was surprised how the thought of not seeing him for twenty-four hours made her sad.

“Yeah, unfortunately.”

Karma forced a smile. “I have to go to school and I have an appointment with my shrink. So I guess the timing is good.”

Jax ran his hand down the sides of her arms. “You do know your mom is the one messed up, not you, right?”

“I think she messed me up too,” Karma said quietly. “But I’ll be all right.”

Jax looked down at her, and she could see the concern in his blue eyes.

“I’m fine, Jax. That was nothing.”

“If that was nothing then I really hate that woman,” Jax said through gritted teeth.

“Can’t pick your parents.”

“I guess not,” Jax said. He looked like he wanted to say more but he stopped himself. “I’ll see you on Sunday. Get inside before you catch a cold.”

“Okay. I can’t wait to see you again.” Karma stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick peck on the lips before running back in the house. Her birthday had turned out sort of wonderful after all. Even after the horrid scene from her mom. She moved the blinds and watched him drive away until his taillights were out of sight.

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J
ax woke up thinking about Karma. Seemed like she dominated all his thoughts these days. His desire for the girl was clearly evident from the way his sheet tented. He wondered what she was doing right now. Did she sleep in or wake up early? Was she a coffee or tea drinker? Did she sleep in pajamas or in the nude? Just the thought of her naked body underneath the sheets was too much to handle. Jax pushed the sheets off him and stumbled into the bathroom. His body throbbed with an aching need. Without bothering to turn on the light or look in the mirror he reached in and turned the shower on cold. Two weeks and four days, he muttered to himself. Each day he spent with her made it harder to walk away. Who the hell was he trying to fool? He wasn’t going anywhere unless she pushed him out of her life. And he wasn’t going to allow that to happen, not without a fight. He knew a good thing when he saw it, and he wasn’t about to screw this up.

The cold water was a welcome shock to his body. He couldn’t go into work all distracted. He scrubbed his body clean, and once he was under control, he turned the water to lukewarm. Of course, the cascade of the water reminded him of kissing Karma in the rain. The way the white dress clung to her skin leaving very little to his imagination. He closed his eyes, remembering the feeling of her erect nipples pressed against his chest. How his fingers moved against her beautiful ass, slowly gathering the hem of her dress. Even with hair plastered to her face, she was breathtaking. He couldn’t get the look of awe on her face out of his mind after they’d broken the kiss. She’d been just as blown away as he’d been. Jax had kissed a lot of girls in his time, but nothing had been as erotic as the kiss in the rain. He knew it’d be a memory ingrained in his brain for the rest of his life.

His cock twitched, and Jax laughed; so much for being under control. Damn, he couldn’t wait to sink into her. Just the thought of having her legs wrapped around his waist and her firm breasts pressed against his... As if his hand had a mind of its own Jax wrapped his palm and fingers around his cock, stroking up and down, wishing it was Karma’s small hand or her pouty full lips wrapped around him. He had to get a release for the sexual tension. He closed his eyes and imagined Karma naked on her knees looking up at him with those innocent wide eyes, giving him a mischievous smile, running her tongue along her full lips before grabbing the bottom of his cock tightly and sliding her lips over him moving her hand and mouth in perfect rhythm. He could almost feel her body against his skin. Jax gasped, pumping his hand faster. It was as if her warm tongue wrapped around him, easing him in and out of her warm mouth until he was about to explode. He could clearly picture his hand wrapped around her hair guiding her head up and down his thick shaft. Jax threw back his head and shuddered as he came, thinking about spilling his seed in her beautiful little mouth.
Damn.

After a couple of minutes his heart settled back in his chest and his breathing returned to normal.

Not a bad way to start the morning, he thought with a grin. Of course, it would have been much better to wake up with Karma naked in his arms. He shook his head to banish the vision. If he kept this up, he’d never make it to work on time. Jax rinsed off again and grabbed the towel off the hook. He whistled happily as he dried off.

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O
n his way out the door, Jax debated with himself and then sent Karma a quick text. There was no sense in playing hard to get. They were on a timeline. One that he hoped to push forward indefinitely.
Hope your day goes well.

A couple of minutes later his phone chimed. He wondered if he’d woken her.
Yours too. Be safe.

He jumped in his truck and headed to work. A full twenty-four hours without his Karma fix. He could do it. No problem. Yeah right, he already missed her quirky personality and beautiful smile, not to mention her kissable lips. Jax groaned to himself; he was in way over his head.

Jax shook his head and tried to concentrate on the road.

A little while later he pulled into the fire station. He looked at the clock on the dashboard; he had five minutes to spare. The guys were waiting to be relieved, and no one liked to have to stay late on a twenty-four-hour shift.

“’Bout time,” Amy yelled out.

“Yeah, yeah. I still got five minutes,” Jax shot back with a half grin.

Amy was tiny, but tough as nails. She could outrun most of the guys, and could bench press her own body weight, not a small feat for a female. She was the only female on the team, so she had a lot of pressure to work harder than the rest of the guys. And she was a mother of three, so he could understand her need to leave ASAP.

“Slow night?” Jax asked.

She shrugged. “The usual, only got called out once, and it was for an accident. Drunk driver.”

“Well, get out of here. Sorry to make you wait around.”

She slung her bag over her shoulder and headed out to the parking lot, yelling over her shoulder, “Coffee and doughnuts are waiting inside.”

Jax was hungry. He usually tried to eat before he left for work, but he’d been running late. He even forgot to grab a protein shake. Guess it would be doughnuts and an extra-long workout today.

He went into the main office and clocked in. Cpt. Clark looked up from behind the desk. He was watching the news on TV.

“Morning.” Jax nodded.

Captain Clark grunted in response. He was slow to wake in the morning.

Jax watched TV for a few minutes then made his way out to the open bay area. The other guys were all sitting around drinking coffee and shooting the shit. Everyone thought being a fireman was a glamorous job, but truth be told it was a lot of sitting around doing nothing, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. When they got called out it meant something bad had happened. Even though a lot of time was wasted, it was part of the job.

Jax poured himself another cup of coffee and grabbed a glazed doughnut. Just as he took his first bite the alarm went off.
Shit.

They all dropped what they were doing and raced to get into their gear. Every alarm had to be treated as a life-or-death situation even though more often than not it was nothing major.

The captain came running out. “Real deal, guys. A house is ablaze on Washington and Fourth.”

That put a little pep in their step.

Harrison jumped behind the wheel, and the rest climbed into the truck.

Jax’s heart hammered against his chest. He lived for this shit—the adrenaline rush.

They went screaming down the highway and made it there within seven minutes. The smell of smoke assaulted his nostrils, and they could see the angry flames well before they reached the house.

Jax stared at the red and yellow flames shooting out the windows, devouring the house, before he pulled down his mask. Grady and Adam went to work on the hose. Neighbors were standing outside watching the house in flames. Pieces of soot floated through the air. He could hear the hisses, crackles, and pops, as the violent whoosh of flames tore away at the building. They had to act quickly before it spread to the other homes.

“Someone’s in there!” a woman yelled on the verge of hysteria.

“What?” Jax’s heart thudded in his ears, and panic raced through his veins. He tried to slow his breathing without much success.

“We saw someone in the window!” an elderly woman said, her face pale, and a shaking hand covered her mouth.

Jax yelled to the others that there were people still inside. Grady came forward holding the hose. He yelled back to Adam, who turned on the water pressure.

Jax, Ryan, and Charlie ran forward. Jax was in the lead. Thoughts of his father being trapped in the fire flooded his mind and spurred him on. They had to get whoever was in there out. And they had to work fast. Before it was too late.

Using his ax Jax busted through the door.

Captain Clark yelled through a bullhorn that help was on the way. Stay low to the ground.

They pushed through and immediately walked into a wall of heat and smoke.

Jax yelled but in the roar of the fire, he doubted anyone could hear. “I’ll check upstairs, you guys do a sweep of the downstairs.” He used hand signals at the same time.

They nodded and took off into the smoke.

Jax took the stairs two at a time, not even aware of the heavy equipment on his back. He checked the first room he came to. A child’s room. The bed was unmade, and empty. He checked the closets and raced down the hall to the next room. Also empty. He yelled that he was there. The flames were growing stronger and it was hard to see through his mask.

Finally, he heard someone screaming. A woman? “Please. Help us!”

“Where are you?” Jax yelled, searching the next room and also finding it empty. Fuck!

“Bathroom,” the woman choked out, sobbing. “Please help my son. He’s not breathing. I can’t open the door, the handle is too hot.”

Jax saw a closed door at the end of the hall and slammed into it with his body. He was afraid if he used the ax, he would hurt someone on the other side.

The door gave a little but not all the way, so with all his might he drove his shoulders into the door again, and it flew open. Sitting in the bathtub was a woman with a boy on her lap. He was pale and not moving.
Jesus.

“
We have to get out of here now!” Jax yelled and picked up the boy in his arms.

The woman scrambled out of the tub.

“Grab a towel and put it over your face, you’re going to have to crawl. The smoke is too thick.”

She nodded and grabbed a towel, her eyes wide with grief and fear.

Jax draped a towel over the unmoving boy. He hoped it wasn’t too late.

Ryan and Charlie came bounding up the stairs. “Empty downstairs.”

Jax came down the hall. And Ryan and Charlie cursed under their breaths.

“Anyone else?” Ryan yelled.

The woman shook her head no, crawling on her hands and knees. Her hair was singed, and her face was black with soot.

“Wrap the towel around your head,” Ryan demanded.

The woman complied, and Ryan threw her over his shoulder.

They raced down the stairs just as the roof crashed down. The house was going up like a box of matches. They had maybe a minute or two to get out. The front door was wide open and Jax ran out with the boy in his arms. A medic ran up and grabbed the boy from him.

“He’s not breathing!” Jax yelled.

The medic nodded, and another ran up with a gurney. They laid the boy down, and Jax stood motionless as they gave the boy CPR. The house crackled behind him, but his focus was on the boy. After what felt like a lifetime the boy coughed and Jax’s heart soared.

The woman cried hysterically on her knees. Jax watched as one of the paramedics pulled her up, talking soothingly to her. The mother pulled away and threw her arms around the gurney.

The boy’s eyes blinked and closed shut again, but he was breathing. They rushed him into the ambulance and the mom jumped in with them.

Hours later Jax was back at the firehouse with his head in his hands.
What a fucking day.

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H
ow much longer is this damn class going to last? Karma checked the clock for what had to be the hundredth time. Professor Hughes droned on in his monotone raspy voice. She caught herself nodding off a few times when her mind wasn’t on Jax. Hell, even when she dozed she probably dreamed about him.

“Ms. Points, would you mind repeating what I just said?” Hughes asked, his narrow little eyes staring straight at her. Karma had no idea what the hell he’d been talking about. She stared at the tufts of gray hair above his ears, his hawkish nose, and his shinny dome head, trying to think of something that sounded somewhat intelligent. But she had nothing. Her mind was on Jax—as usual.