All Fired Up (Green Valley Heroes #7)

Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

MADELINE

I ’m floating on a cloud named Hunter. The things the man can do with his tongue...Holy Christ. And the way I’d lost control there at the end, my hips pumping with a mind all their own into his face, a loud cry escaping my lips. If it had been anyone besides him, I’d be embarrassed beyond belief.

But Hunter’s my boyfriend now. The thought still feels fuzzy, like it’s not real. Like we’re playacting something for tonight.

But there’s also no one I’ve trusted more. Somewhere along the way, he became my closest confidant, the person I feel most myself with.

He stands and shucks his pants and boxer briefs, leaving him fully nude. I shamelessly gawk since it was much darker the last time we were like this. His cock is long and thick, and I totally get now why he was considered such a sex god in high school. If he’s hung like that and it’s been this good so far...what will it be like when he’s finally inside me?

“Are you on birth control?” he asks, breaking my train of thought.

“Um, no. But I can get on it.”

“Whatever you feel comfortable with,” he says, rounding the bed and opening one of his nightstand drawers. “We’ll use condoms for now.”

Ripping open the foil package, he rolls one on, and I pick up the discarded wrapper.

“These look awfully familiar.”

A sheepish smile crosses his face. “I may have spent a small fortune on that prank.”

Serves him right. “It was pretty good,” I admit. “Also ridiculous.”

He kneels on the bed, then positions me so my head is on the pillow. “You didn’t save them by chance, did you?”

I nod. No sense in throwing away perfectly good condoms, even if I had no plans for them.

He grins wickedly. “Because you wanted to use them with me.”

I laugh, loving that we can be both hot and heavy, and playful and teasing together simultaneously. “You know full well I didn’t.”

He leans over me, nuzzling my neck. “Glad I changed your mind, then. I’m sure we could put them to good use now.”

“Oh, definitely.”

His hands run over me, leaving pleasurable shivers in their wake. “You ready for me? Or do you need another minute?”

“I’m ready.”

He covers me with his big body, a satisfying weight that ignites desire within me again. His hand snakes between us and he enters me with two fingers, working me up for a few moments before he replaces them with his cock. He lifts my thigh, opening me further to him, and fills me slowly.

My fingers grip his broad shoulders as I blow out a breath. The pressure is more than I was expecting. “Holy shit.”

He immediately stops. “Is it too much?”

“Just give me a minute.”

He kisses me, my body relaxing by degrees, and he brings a hand to my breast, thumbing my nipple.

I moan, my hips shifting, and he slips further inside.

“I know what you need,” he says, pulling out of me.

I’m about to ask him where he thinks he’s going when he pulls me to a sitting position, then shifts me atop him, so he’s sitting against the headboard with me straddling him. He props me up further so my breasts are face level with him, and my breathing picks up in anticipation. His cock slides along my seam, his hands on my waist, but he doesn’t enter me yet.

He leans forward, capturing a nipple in his mouth, and I arch my back instinctively, loving the delicious zing of pleasure that races through me.

“You go wild every time I touch you here,” he murmurs against my breast, then nips at me.

Oh God, I like that.

I murmur some kind of unintelligible agreement, wanting him to do it again, and he does, knowing what I want. He sucks me gently, teasing me with that talented tongue, and when it gets to be too much, he feeds the length of his cock into my pussy, now slippery with fresh arousal.

Rising up and down, my movements are slow at first as he still kisses my breasts, but when he moves his lips to my neck, I pick up the pace. His hands grip my waist, guiding me in the rhythm as he drives into me from below, our breaths growing harsher over the long minutes.

“Christ, I’ve never seen anything as sexy as your tits bouncing in my face while you ride me.”

I look down at him, at the slack-jawed lust on his face, and a wave of desire rushes over me. I can’t believe I turn him on that much. That being with me is the hottest experience he’s had.

Because he loves me.

Wait, no. He never said that. He said he really likes me. There’s a difference.

Do I wish he’d said the other L-word? Maybe. Because the truth is, I’m falling for him. Hard. Especially after his confessions. It’s as if I’ve finally been given permission to feel all these emotions I’ve kept buried deep. My desire for him. The way I’ve come to admire the person he is, rather than who I first thought he was. The way he cares for me, listens to me. He’d said earlier he wants to show me I matter. He actually remembered I said that at the bar about what attracts me to a guy.

My rhythm falters, overwhelmed momentarily with the feelings rushing inside of me, and he nips at the shell of my ear, shifting me in his lap.

“Want to try another position?” he asks, his voice all dark promise.

I nod and let him position me on my elbows and knees, ass tilted toward him.

“Fuck, you are so sexy.” His warm palms skim over my ass, startling me when he gives a light slap.

Okay, definitely exploring that another time. It felt a little too good.

He slides his cock inside me from behind, the sensation so much fuller from this angle. A moan escapes me, and I brace my knees so I don’t slip as he draws in and out, faster and faster, working up to a punishing rhythm that has me breathless.

The stirrings of a second orgasm swirl low in my core, surprising me. I’ve never come twice in such a short period, even when I’m by myself.

Then again, I’ve never been with Hunter.

“I love you from this angle,” he says. “Your ass is goddamn perfect.”

My heart skips a beat before I process the rest of his sentence.

“That day in your bedroom,” he continues, “with the workout video, I couldn’t stop looking at it.”

I knew he had been checking me out. “So, I wasn’t crazy accusing you?”

He chuckles, his hands squeezing the globes of my ass as he pumps into me. “No, you weren’t. I was the one crazy wanting you when I knew you couldn’t stand me.”

“And look at us now.”

He slows down his rhythm as he leans over, his chest to my back, and brings my head to the side to kiss me.

“I’m so grateful you took a chance on me,” he murmurs. “That things worked out the way they did. Because I couldn’t imagine my life without you now.”

My chest glows with warmth. All those weeks ago, I’d never have guessed he’d say such sweet things. That he’d make me ache with want, not just physically, but emotionally, too.

He pulls out and flips me on my back, entering me smoothly once more. “I want to see you when you come again.”

I’d tell him he’s too cocky for his own good assuming he’ll make me come again, but he’s right.

“I’m close, too,” he says. “You turn me on so much. I can’t wait to come inside you. Do you know how many times I’ve thought of this exact moment?”

“You have?”

He nods, bending down to caress his lips along my neck. “You’ve been the star of my fantasies for a while now.”

My body thrums with excitement at his confession. “You have for me, too,” I admit.

He leans back to look at me, his gaze alight with curiosity and lust. “Please tell me you’ve touched yourself while thinking of me.”

I nod, trying not to be shy, but it’s hard when you’re divulging one of your most personal secrets.

“What’d you imagine?”

If I wasn’t so far gone already, there’s no way I would tell him this. But in this moment, turned on as I am, the words slip out.

“The way your tongue would feel on my pussy. How good it would be.”

“Yeah?” he croaks out, his movements becoming more frantic.

Oh my God, am I seriously turning him on?

“And the way you would fill me up with your cock.”

“I fill you up good, don’t I?”

I nod. “And I just had another fantasy.”

“Tell me,” he says, his voice brooking no argument.

I inhale shakily. “I want you to slap my ass again.”

“Oh, fuck,” he calls out, his hips going jerky. “Oh God, Madeline, I’m coming.”

The sight of him in the throes of passion sets me off, too, and I groan as the wave washes over me, taking me under.

I love the way he keeps us tightly joined until the end, his grip like iron on me, like he never wants us to be apart. Or maybe it’s only me feeling that way. That I want to be with him always. It’s as if being with him altered my DNA somehow, like he’s a part of me.

And I never want to let him go.

When our breaths are steady again, he pulls out and leaves to clean up in the bathroom, but he’s back soon, rearranging us on the bed so we’re under the covers, my body half-draped over his. He runs a hand over me, almost absent-mindedly, like he needs to keep me close.

“You’ll stay the night?”

I’m not completely sure if it’s a question or command, but I nod, anyway.

“I’m the luckiest bastard in the world.” He turns his head to kiss my forehead. “I somehow landed the most amazing girl I’ve ever met.”

A flush of pleasure spreads over me. “Hunter...”

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t like compliments.”

“What?”

“You get all flustered every time I give you one.”

“I do?”

“Uh-huh. But you better get used to them. Because I want my girl to know how much I’m thinking about her.”

His girl. I love the sound of that.

“Hey, the last time I complimented you, you got a little flustered yourself, mister.”

“When was that?”

“At the ice cream shop. I told you how much I appreciated you being my trainer and how glad I am we’ve gotten closer.”

He squeezes my hip. “Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that.”

I run my hand over the light dusting of hair on his chest, the way I’d wanted to that day we got caught in the rain and he stripped his shirt off. There’s something that’s been on my mind since the library. “You said earlier you don’t deserve me. Why would you think that?”

He shifts, his hand on my hip, tightening and releasing. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Hunter . . .”

He chuckles lightly. “Can’t just get up and walk away from the conversation, huh?”

With both of us naked in his bed? Uh, no.

“Part of being with someone is answering to them. Even if we don’t always want to.”

“I know.” Still, it takes him a bit to say anything more. “You’re the kind of girl who doesn’t need anyone.”

Okay, I wasn’t expecting that. “I don’t understand.”

He sighs and brushes the hair back from my face, tucking it behind my ear. “You’re so smart. So capable. You run circles around everyone else.”

I wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t. “And that makes you feel bad?”

I told him before I’m not dumbing myself down so he can feel better about himself.

“No. It’s one of the things I like about you most. Especially because you don’t play the damsel in distress. But it’s like...what do you need a schlub like me for, you know? If I hadn’t been here to help you with training, you would have figured it out on your own. You even said yourself you don’t need me as much as I need you.”

“I didn’t mean?—"

“I know you didn’t. But it’s the truth. And there’s so much more, too. You’re beautiful and caring. You have this wicked sense of humor you hardly let anyone else see. You’re so committed to your ideals and you know who you are. I wish I was more like that.”

I don’t know what to say, unaware he even saw me like that, but I shake my head. “I think you don’t see yourself clearly. And you’ve said before there’s no keeping score. We’re a team. Not just with the firefighting stuff, but now with everything else, too.”

I look at him, past the handsome exterior to the soft underbelly he doesn’t show anyone else. He hid behind bravado and sarcastic quips for so long, but underneath it all is a man who needs more reassurance than he lets on.

“I usually go under the radar,” I say in a soft voice. “But with you...You see me. And that means everything. You said earlier you want to show me that I matter to you, and you do. Those things I told you at Genie’s, about what attracts me to someone...You fit the bill on all of it. When you’re not driving me completely crazy, you make me laugh. You’re always doing things for me, without any kind of expectation in return, which I appreciate so much. You push me out of my comfort zone, which I need, and after you stopped purposely trying to piss me off, you know when to stop.”

He chuckles, some of the tension in him receding, which I’m grateful for.

“I don’t want you to ever feel like you don’t deserve me,” I continue, “because you do. Life may have dealt you a shitty hand with some things, but you’ve turned it around. You’ve worked hard to own a beautiful home that you’ve made into a haven for yourself. You’re doing so much volunteering your time and effort for your community with this firefighting thing. You have a girlfriend who feels so lucky to have you in her life. There are so many things I admire about you.” I think back to that day at the fire station when we’d had to tell Chief McClure why we were in the training program. Hunter had said he wanted to feel good about himself for a change, as if he didn’t before. And that he didn’t want to be like his father. “You’re a good person. You’re worthy.”

He’s silent, other than something that suspiciously sounds like a sniff, but I don’t comment on it. Hunter’s not the vulnerable type, and I don’t want to embarrass him.

He finds my hand and brings it to his mouth to kiss my palm, then twines our fingers together. “I wasn’t expecting that, either,” he finally says, his voice a bit watery.

“But you believe me?”

“I think that’s going to take some time,” he admits. “Not because I think you’re lying. But because of how I’ve always seen myself.”

“Well, if you need me to make a list of all the wonderful things about you, just let me know. Oh, I have one more.”

“Yeah?”

“Mm-hmm. You’re sort of good looking, I guess.”

He laughs, freer sounding now.

“If you squint really hard,” I add, glad he laughs harder at that.

He brings me in close and kisses me, long and slow. “Who knew my main selling point would be on the bottom of your list?” he murmurs.

“Well, not the bottom. Maybe the middle.”

He gives me another quick kiss before leaning back. “To be honest, I’m glad it’s not at the top. That I have some other redeeming qualities.”

“Of course you do.”

A banging on the front door has us both startling.

“Expecting late night visitors?” I ask.

His face darkens. “No. Stay here, okay?”

He gets out of bed and slips on his boxer briefs and jeans before leaving. I pull the sheets over my nude body, then get dressed, just in case. I search on the floor around the bed, only finding my underwear and jeans, then remember my shirt and bra are by the front door still.

Crap.