“…And that’s why I’m more than happy to be the new acting chief of Ladder 128. I have all the faith in the world in my crew and their ability to handle any situations like this that might arise in the future. My men are some of the best in the city and serving as their commander promises to be one of the greatest honors of my life.”

I sat curled up next to Ethan on the couch in his apartment, watching the replay of the press conference from earlier in the day. I knew that I shouldn’t have been surprised that a man like him would be able to handle the press so well, but I still couldn’t get over just how calm and confident and…in charge he was as he addressed the reporters.

And, of course, there I was in the frame, my face still red from the blush that exploded across my face when the doors opened while Ethan and I were kissing.

“Now,” said Ethan, “the crew and I have a great deal of work to do, so I’m going to have to cut this…surprise press conference short. Thank you all.”

The reporters burst into questions as Ethan stepped away from the microphones, leading me by my hand down the hospital hallway. The two of us disappeared around the corner.

“Those were some words by Acting Chief Ethan Stokes of Ladder 128, the station responsible for the heroics last night,” said the male reporter.

The female reporter sitting next to him had a strange look on her face, as though she were a little taken aback by something. Finally, she shook her head and spoke.

“And the city surely owes a debt of gratitude toward Chief Stokes,” she said. “I’m sure we’d all agree that if even half the public servants in this town were as good-looking, um, uh, that is to say, heroic as him, we’d all be in safe hands.”

The male reporter gave her a quizzical look.

“We’ll…be back after the break,” he said.

Then commercials.

“Look at you!” I said, slapping Ethan on the chest, barely able to contain my laughter. “You’ve got a new addition to the Ethan Stokes fan club! Maybe she can be the treasurer or something.”

Ethan chuckled.

“I think I’ll leave the fan club up to the kids.”

“Oh, that’s no fun,” I said. “I mean, if she joins, the priorities of the club might change. You know, the kids will want to climb down the fire pole, and she’s going to want to, um, I guess, climb a different kind of pole.”

Ethan laughed.

“You’re sick,” he said.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m just thinking what with your newfound fame that I might need to start worrying about fighting these girls off.”

A warm smile formed on Ethan’s face.

“You’re not going to need to worry about anything like that,” he said. Then he kissed me softly.

“Now,” I said, looking away in thought. “If you’ll remember, you and I were in the middle of something before those reporters so rudely crashed the party.”

“Now that you mention it,” said Ethan, “I think you’re right. We were in the middle of going over some very important matters.”

I placed my hand on his leg and moved it up slowly along the cool denim of his jeans, coming to a stop on the bulge of his crotch. “Though things got a little crazy after that,” I said. “I think you might need to…refresh me about the details of the conversation.”

“I’d be happy to,” said Ethan.

I didn’t need to hear another word.

Ethan kissed me again and I fell deeply into it as soon as his lips touched mine. My eyes closed, I fumbled for the remote, clicking it at the TV when my hand fell on top of it, the chatter muting instantly.

I leaned back, and Ethan moved on top of me as we kissed harder and deeper. He tasted so goddamn good that I couldn’t believe it. Each kiss had the same intensity and heat as our first, and the physical connection we shared was so real and intense it was almost a little bit frightening.

But it’s good to be scared every now and then.

Ethan’s hands moved along the curves of my hips as we kissed, slipping under my blouse and onto the cool, flat skin of my stomach. I focused on the feeling of his hands, that coarse, rough feeling that reminded me that I was being held by a real man, a man who’d proven time and time again what he was willing to risk to keep me safe, to make me his.

His fingers inched upward, moving to the bottom border of my bra. He slid them around and to the clasp, undoing it quickly and easily. I helped him out by unfastening the buttons of my blouse, goose bumps breaking out across my skin as I pulled the shirt off. Ethan finished with my bra, slipping the red straps around my slim shoulders, my breasts spreading flat as I lay underneath him.

Ethan then repeated the process on my slacks, undoing the button and pulling them down my legs. I took off my socks with my toes and by the time we were both done, I was underneath him in nothing but a pair of dark red panties.

I closed my eyes in anticipation of what he was going to do next, but nothing happened. After a moment, I opened my eyes just a bit to see just what Ethan was doing.

He was on top of me, looking down at my body with an expression that was both hungry and…something else.

“There something wrong, Mr. Stokes?” I asked, a sly smile on my lips.

“Just…having a hard time with how goddamn beautiful you are,” he said.

A warmth spread through my body at his words. I didn’t know what to say. Then, I realized just what that strange expression was on his face—it was arousal, sure, but it was also…love. And I knew this because I felt the exact same way.

“And that’s ‘Chief Stokes,’” he said, a playful smile on his gorgeous, impossibly handsome face.

“My apologies, sir,” I said.

Ethan then lowered his head over my breasts, his tongue moving past his lips and onto my pink nipples. The sensation of his tongue against the sensitive skin was like the sweetest rush of coolness over me imaginable. My nipples became hard instantly as he licked me, his hand squeezing my breasts as he did.

And as he licked and sucked my breasts, my pussy grew wet and hot. I needed him inside me right at that moment, but I knew Ethan well enough to know that he was the sort of man to take his time, to draw things out in the most sensual way imaginable.

Besides, I still had to get him out of his clothes.

I reached down and grabbed the bottom hem of his Ladder 128 shirt and pulled it up. He took his mouth away from my breasts for just long enough to let me pull up the shirt. When I finally had it over his head, I took a long look at the gorgeous physique I’d just exposed. His pecs were like bricks, his stomach toned and taut, his hip muscles forming that impossibly sexy belt shape I’d only before seen on statues of Roman gods at the museum.

He was like nothing else, both inside and out.

I needed him naked more than anything I could imagine. We kissed more, and as we did, I worked on the button of his jeans, undoing all that nonsense and getting him quickly down to the basics. He kicked off his heavy black boots as we kissed, and soon he was stripped down to his coal-black boxer-briefs, the fabric so tight on his gigantic package and enormous leg muscles that it almost looked painted-on.

He lowered his body as we kissed, his cock rubbing against my clit through my panties, the sensation sending pulses of hot electricity through my body. I needed more, more, and I couldn’t wait any longer.

Ethan must’ve been able to read my yearning, because his next move was to take his lips from mine and move his kiss down my body. He kissed along my jaw, then down along the subtle slope of my neck, then along my collarbone.

More tingles broke out through my body, and I shifted my hips from side to side in anticipation, feeling my pussy getting wetter and wetter. Ethan took another pass at my breasts, taking one nipple into his mouth and then the other. After this, his kiss traveled along my stomach, my chest rising and falling with each charged breath. Then he was down to my hips, his lips warm against my skin.

Finally, he was right where I wanted him. He slipped his hands under the waistband of my panties and pulled them off slowly, the backs of his fingers dragging against the ripe flesh of my curvy thighs. He positioned himself over the trimmed tuft of my pubic hair, lowering himself so slowly that the anticipation was almost too much to bear.

I couldn’t take it anymore. I placed my hands on the glossy hair on the back of his head and guided him down lower and lower. He flashed me a smile, knowing that his teasing had paid off. Seconds later his mouth was on my wet, wet lips, his kiss now more intense than I’d thought possible. He kissed around my pussy, licking and sucking my lips just as he had my nipples.

When he’d had his fun, Ethan placed his fingertips on my now-soaking lips and spread them open. His tongue touched my clit and right away it was an intensity that I couldn’t believe.

“Ah, ah!” I screamed out, my hips shifting to the side as I struggled to contain myself.

“That’s a good ‘ah,’ I hope,” said Ethan, his voice as smooth and rich as butter.

“Very…very good,” I moaned. “Just don’t stop—please don’t stop.”

He knew the time for teasing was long over. Ethan lowered his eyes and turned his attention back to my pussy. Quick darts of his tongue onto my clit was his opening move, each flick of his tongue-tip on me like a whipcrack of pleasure. I took in breath after breath, running my hands over my full breasts as my chest rose and fell again and again.

Already I could sense the stirring of an orgasm. Ethan slipped a pair of fingers into me, my cunt so wet at this point he was able to enter me like liquid. He curled his fingers inside of me, forming a “come-hither” gesture that hit my G-spot in a way so precise I could swear he was able to read my mind. As he fingered me, he licked me in a different manner, dragging the flat surface of his tongue over my clit, the sensation so powerful my eyes went wide in disbelief.

He’d found his rhythm, his fingers working me on the inside as his tongue paid special attention to my clit on the out. I moaned and thrashed as he ate me, and before too long the orgasm that was only moments before on the horizon was now the only thing I could think about. Finally, it exploded like a volcanic eruption, titanic blasts of hot pleasure wracking my body and making me feel ways I didn’t even know were possible.

Soon, the orgasm ebbed and my breathing slowed. But this didn’t mean my hunger had been satisfied. Plus, I still had Ethan’s cock to take care of.

Ethan rose from below, his mouth glistening with my wetness. With a sensual, playful expression on his face, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as though he’d just finished feasting on a banquet of rich meats and exotic fruits.

“I need you in me now, baby,” I moaned, unable to hold it back any longer. “Please, don’t make me wait.”

“I couldn’t if I had to,” he said, his voice a hungry growl.

Ethan positioned himself over me, his cock now so erect it looked about ready to rip through his boxer-briefs. He reached down and peeled off the last shred of clothing between us, his thick, dripping cock dropping out and pointing down at my belly. My passions took hold, and my hand shot down and grabbed onto his cock, the warm thickness the perfect texture.

I played with him for a time, stroking his cock and taking in the round stiffness of his shaft and the subtle curves of his head. My finger moved over his tip, the end of him sticky and warm. I tugged on him gently, leading him down to my pussy, which by this point was totally inflamed. Ethan lowered his hips, and I rubbed my clit for a few moments with his head, strange noises of pleasure that almost sounded like sobs coming from my mouth.

Ethan was ready to take charge. He gently moved my hand away, replacing it with his own. Next, he positioned his head just at the opening to my cunt, his cock so close to filling me that I could hardly stand it. I wrapped my legs around his hips, pulling his body close and tight.

Then, with a smooth gliding motion, Ethan entered me. My eyes winced shut as he split me in half, and I could feel every inch of him pass through my lips. It only took a few heavenly seconds for him to bury himself completely inside of me, and once he did, I clamped my hands down onto his round, solid ass and held him in place, letting myself savor being filled full by him.

I writhed and twisted under him, guiding him with my body to get to it, to pound me like I wanted. And he didn’t need much help in understanding this. Ethan planted his palms down on both sides of my head, his ropy, thick muscles going taut as he supported his weight with them. His thrusts were slow at first, deep plunges where he withdrew himself nearly completely and then rocked his hips and packed me full of him. Already I could feel the stirrings of another orgasm, this one hinting that it would make the first feel like nothing in comparison.

Ethan soon began bucking hard, his thrusts shallow and quick, each penetration pushing me closer and closer to coming. It took all the effort I had to open my eyes wide enough to look at him as he worked. His face was tight with a rictus of pleasure, and as I looked down with him on top of me I could see every muscle tense and flex. And down below, his wrist-thick cock entered me again and again.

“Come for me, baby,” I moaned, moving my hands along his narrow hips. “I want to feel it…please.”

My words compelled Ethan to fuck me harder, now penetrating me at an almost frantic pace.

“Please, please,” I said, wanting to feel that hot explosion of his cock erupting inside of me more than anything else.

This, apparently, did the job.

Ethan wasn’t able to hold back any longer. With a hard, primal grunt, he came. Ethan shoved himself into me as deep as he could, and I got what I wanted. His cock burst in me, and as I closed my eyes I could sense each pulse of his cock as he shot his load into me.

And this was just what I’d needed to have my own orgasm. I let out a girlish shriek as the second orgasm tore through my body. My hands grabbed hard onto Ethan’s ass, pressing down on his tense glutes as I held him in place. Our orgasms synched up, the pleasure like something from another realm.

Soon, his thrusting slowed, and our orgasms faded. We held fast like this for a time, both of us taking breath after breath as we tried to regain our senses. After a few moments, Ethan collapsed onto me, his body hard and sweaty. Then he rolled to the side, placing his hand on my glistening belly.

“No woman’s ever made me feel the way you have,” he said, his tone gruff and manly. “It’s almost unreal.”

I couldn’t help but smile.

“I love you, Chloe,” he said, our bodies intertwined.

“I love you, too,” I said. “More than I can even believe.”

And that was all that needed to be said. Our feelings were clear and real. We had each other, and that was all that mattered. Ethan held me tight, and with my head resting on his chest, I fell into the sweetest sleep of my life.