Chapter Five
Jane threw her head back and shouted as her body tightened around Ransom’s driving cock. He moved his hand from her clit to her hip. Long fingers and solid, warm palms slid up and curled around her ribs, pulling her down to him. She tilted her head, still coming, and he caught her mouth with his, tongue driving into her mouth. Arms wrapped around her, he rolled her beneath him and began thrusting hard and deep. She bent her knees, widened her thighs, giving him more room.
He went rigid in her arms, his ragged groan muffled by a kiss. Coming down on top of her, he slid his lips to her neck and nuzzled there. One hand sifted fingers through her hair while the other one supported his upper body so he didn’t squish her.
She sighed, complete and content. After they’d come together that first time, they’d dozed, but Ransom had reached for her again in the middle of the night. Then they’d cleaned up and had his stellar spaghetti Bolognese before heading back to bed again. He’d just woken her up again with his hand between her thighs and his mouth on her breast.
She had to admit, sex in the morning with Ransom was just as good as sex at night with him. “There is something to be said for dating younger guys,” she murmured, looking into eyes that held just as much satisfaction as she felt. “Stamina, for one thing.”
He stared at her a second, his cock inside her, his body hard and warm on top of her, then he burst out laughing.
The sensation of having his big body shaking on top of her while still filling her, his stubble-covered chin buried in that sweet spot between her neck and shoulder, made her shiver with renewed longing.
When he stopped laughing, he lifted his head to look at her again, eyes crinkled with lingering humor. “Glad you’re coming to terms with the age difference, sweetness.”
She flashed him a grin. “Yeah.”
His smile slowly bled away and he stroked his fingers through her hair for a few moments without speaking. Then he lowered his head and pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth. “I report for duty today,” he told her, his breath puffing warmly against her skin. “Three on, so I won’t be…available much since I’ll be sleeping at the station.”
Jane was as independent as the next woman, but she didn’t like the idea that she wouldn’t get to spend any time with him for the next seventy-two hours.
“I don’t want three days to go by without us spendin’ some time together,” Ransom went on. “We could plan on having lunch together at the station house, if your schedule permits. Or dinner, if that works out better. But if the station gets a call, the boys and I’ll have to roll out.”
She rubbed her palms down his back. “Like I said before, I’m a work-at-home web designer who rescues dogs in my spare time,” she reminded him. “My schedule is what I say it is.”
“You got deadlines, though, yeah?” At her nod, he said, “I don’t wanna put stress on you by makin’ you fit me in your life. We need to be smart about this so we can make it work.”
She loved this about him, his thoughtfulness, his regard for how his actions affected those around him. “I can take an hour off for lunch or dinner without impacting my deadlines,” she assured him.
His gaze searched hers. “You sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Then you decide. If you come for dinner we can hang out a little bit afterward, but not much.”
Warmth spread through her at his continued insistence on growing their relationship. “Whatever we can do is fine with me,” she whispered. She brought one hand around to stroke her fingers through the silky hair at his temple. “Will the guys give you a hard time about me being there?”
She didn’t want that. She would have to put up with gentle teasing and a big “I told you so” from Aunt Millie, but she knew whatever attitude was shot her way from the older woman came from a place of deep, abiding love.
Jane figured the men were close—they’d have to be, seeing as how they risked their lives together on an almost daily basis—but she didn’t know for sure. She guessed she’d find out just how strong that bond was.
“Should I come for dinner tonight?” she asked.
He nodded. “Let’s plan on that.”
“Okay. I’ll bring dessert.” She paused. “Um, can Aunt Millie come, too? I know she’d get a kick out of breaking bread with the hot firemen.”
Ransom’s grin was quick and wide. “Yeah. That’s a great idea, actually, because I think the guys will get just as big a kick out of her. She’s quite the character, that’s for sure.”
“You should know she has her sights on Deke.” Jane chewed her lower lip. “I haven’t been able to figure out if she’s serious or not.”
“That’ll be Deke’s problem,” he said and rolled off her to sit up on the edge of the bed, his back to her. “For now, I need to take a shower and get ready for my shift.” He glanced at her over his shoulder, one eyebrow quirked. “I’d invite you to join me, but I know you’ll pull some shenanigans in there, and then I’d be late.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Me? I’d pull shenanigans?” She was all for shenanigans in the shower, but he didn’t have to know that, not at this stage of the game. She got out of bed, too, and grabbed up the dress that had been lying in a now-wrinkled mess on the floor. She tried to hold onto her mock outrage but gave it up at the full-blown grin he wore. “Well,” she stated with her chin tipped up, “maybe I would.”
He laughed and circuited the bed. Drawing her into his arms, dress and all, he bent his head and gave her a quick, close-mouthed kiss. “You can have the shower when I’m done.”
She shook her head. “I’ll take a shower when I get home.”
“Okay.” He dipped his head again and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “You need to use the bathroom before I get in there?”
“I’ll use the guest bathroom if that’s okay.”
“Fine.” He drew back. “I’ll be out in a few.”
She watched him walk into the bathroom and tried to decide if she liked him better coming or going. Both views were equally fine.
An hour later Ransom had fed her, kissed her again, long and hot. When he stopped at the curb in front of her house, Millie came out on the porch. Jane groaned, thinking her aunt was going to do or say something to embarrass her, but then she saw the dog sitting at her side. “Oh, Frankie,” she muttered and looked at Ransom. “I swear, I think he thinks this is where he lives.”
He just shook his head. “Call him.”
Jane got out of the car, leaving the door open, and called, “Come on, Frankie.”
The dog trotted down the steps and raced to her, stopping in front of her to jump up, paws on her chest. She laughed and scratched behind his ears. “Get in the car, you big dope.”
He lolled a doggy grin and obediently hopped up into the car. “See you later,” she said, closing the door and watching Ransom drive away. A couple of the guys were hanging outside the station as he pulled up, and when he got out of his car, he lifted a hand in a wave before getting Frankie out of the car and going inside the station.
Jane had barely cleared the top step before Aunt Millie, a wide grin crinkling her face, said, “I don’t even have to ask how things went. You’re positively glowing, you look so happy.” She gave Jane a hug then stepped back. “Mind you, that doesn’t mean I don’t want all the details.”
Jane grimaced. “I’m not discussing my love life with my aunt. You’ll have to be satisfied with the fact that I was satisfied, three times. Well, maybe four.”
Millie clapped her hands then twined her knobby fingers together. “I knew that boy’d be good in bed.” She frowned. “What do you mean, maybe four?”
Jane blushed. “One time might have just been a really long one.” When Millie laughed, Jane cried, “Well, it’s been forever since I’ve had sex, and no one’s ever really made me, you know, not like that. I couldn’t tell if it was one long continuous one or two.”
“Oh, my darling. I can see he’s going to be so good for you.” She wrapped an arm around Jane’s waist and steered her toward the kitchen. “Now, let’s talk about me and Deke.”
Jane rolled her eyes but went obediently where she was led.
* * *
Ransom clenched his fists and glared at fellow firefighter Mark Bachelier. “Watch your mouth, bud.” He shoved Frankie into the bunk room and closed the door.
The other man held up his hands and took a step back. “Look, bro, I’m not dissin’ your new girlfriend. I just thought you should know you’re not the only one she’s dated here.” He dropped his hands. “Some women are like that, you know? It’s the uniform thing. Turns some women into freaks.”
“But you didn’t call her a freak,” Ransom reminded him. “Not that it would have made me any happier if you had.”
“I call ’em like I see ’em,” Bachelier rejoined. “Women who give it up for firefighters are badge bangers.” He shrugged. “Your girl’s a badge banger.”
Ready to beat some manners into the bastard, Ransom took a step forward.
Just then Deke came around the vehicle. “What’s goin’ on?”
Ransom ground his teeth together and moved away from Bachelier. “Nothin’.”
Deke followed him. “Sure looked like somethin’ to me.”
Ransom came to such an abrupt stop that Deke crashed into him. Ransom turned and looked at his friend. “Has Jane already dated guys here at the station?”
Deke blinked then stared at the ground. “Well…”
“She has.”
His friend looked up. “She’s been trying to get us to host an adoption for a couple of years now. Plus, her aunt sends her over with baked goods from time to time, so she’s been around.” He scratched his jaw. “One of the guys she dated isn’t here anymore—he moved to Waco about three years ago.”
“And the other one was Bachelier, wasn’t it?”
Deke sighed. “Yeah. But it was one date, buddy. Just one, and I don’t think it went well.”
Ransom narrowed his eyes. “Why would you say that?”
“Because I remember when he got back here afterward. He was a surly bastard, more than usual, and snapped the head off anyone who asked him how the date went.”
Ransom blew out a breath and scrubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “It’s all water under the bridge anyway, right? I mean, we both have pasts, Jane and I. If she had something with Bachelier, I can’t pretend like it didn’t happen.” Though it killed him to think of them together. He hadn’t expected Jane to be a virgin or even inexperienced. But for her to have been with someone he knew, with someone who he really didn’t like, was hard to take.
“Well, regardless of what he says, I don’t think they had anything beyond one disastrous date. Seriously, dude. If you were a chick, you might go out with him once because he’s a good-lookin’ guy. But once you got a load of his personality, you wouldn’t go out with him again. I think that’s what happened with Jane.”
“Maybe.” Ransom figured he’d let it go. The past was the past. He’d had his fair share of best-to-be-forgotten sexual partners. That’s how he’d look at it with Jane and Bachelier.
Best to be forgotten.