Ian was going to have to replace the tires on his SUV soon with the number of times they squealed as he tried to get to Cam. The fire alarms were going off in the background as he strained to hear her voice screaming she was locked in.
He’d called dispatch on the way and was told there was smoke in the building—this wasn’t a false alarm.
When he pulled up to the building, he saw multiple fire trucks and men in gear running into the building, smoke coming out of the basement and first floor.
He went to run past them, flashing his badge, but a fireman pulled him aside. “She’s trapped on the third floor. She can’t get out,” he yelled.
“You can’t go in. We don’t know what’s going on.”
“I need to get her. Suite 303,” he said, trying to push his way forward.
The fireman turned and called over two men. “Third floor. Woman trapped in suite 303. Get up there.”
Both men ran into the building. He pulled back and called her. It was all he could do. His hands were tied. “Help is on the way, Cam.”
“I’m scared, Ian.”
“I know. I know. Can you see smoke up there?” It didn’t look to be anywhere past the first floor from what he could see, but the windows were tinted as the floors increased.
“No. But I can smell it. It’s like I can taste it.”
“Can you open a window in your office? The firemen are on their way.”
“No, they don’t open. I tried calling the security company, but I couldn’t get through. I tried calling Tiffany, but she didn’t answer. No one will answer my calls,” she said. He heard her sobbing as she was talking loudly in the phone over the alarms.
“I answered you. I’m here.” She screamed and his heart stopped. “What’s going on? Cam, answer me!”
“There was a crash. I heard a crash.”
“Stand back. They’re probably breaking your door down.”
“It’s the firemen. I can hear them. I’ve got to go.”
She disconnected the call on him. She’d be fine, he kept telling himself. He repeated it over and over again until he saw her walking out of the building coughing with the fireman. The smoke seemed to be nothing more than a lingering fog now, not getting worse by any means. He’d yet to see flames but heard there were some by the fireman issuing orders.
She came running toward him and he didn’t hesitate to lift her in his arms and hold her tight. Crushing her to his chest, then framing her face and looking at her.
She was soaking wet, the sprinklers having been set off in the whole building. Tears were running down her face spreading mascara like a teenager’s attempt at a horror movie. “I’ve got you,” he said. “Shhh. It’s okay. You’re going to be fine.”
He brought her to his SUV out of the way and just stood against it, holding her in his arms, rocking her and letting her cry it out, pushing the paramedics away for the moment.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been that scared before. I thought it was a drill. Then a false alarm. We get them a lot. I wasn’t even rushing to get out of the building. But then I realized I was locked in and I just panicked when I couldn’t reach Tiffany or the security company.”
“How did you get locked in? Didn’t your card work?”
“I must have left it home. I couldn’t find it or my keys when I came in this morning. I mean, what rotten luck for this to happen on a day I didn’t have them.”
“Yeah. Rotten luck,” he said.
***
Ian drove her back to her house. She was too shaken to consider driving. She’d sent a text to Tiffany to cancel all her appointments for the afternoon once she was allowed back in the building and the door secured for the night.
“I’m okay now. You can go back to work,” she said when they walked in her kitchen.
“I’ll stay just the same. I can bring you back to get your car later anyway.”
She hadn’t thought of that. Hadn’t thought of anything other than getting to safety. Wondering if she was going to burn alive. Or maybe she’d suffocate first.
What a horrible way to go. Either having her lungs fill with smoke or skin melting off. Both were unthinkable.
“Thank you. It seems all you do is save me lately.”
“Just doing my job,” he said.
“I don’t want you to do your job anymore.”
“That’s just too damn bad.” His eyes were like steel. Cold and heavy, but his touch had been anything but while he held her. While he took care of her. And now she was ready to throw it all out the window.
“I need this all to go away,” she said. “I need you to help me make it go away. Just for the afternoon. That would be enough, right?”
He looked at her and knew what she was asking. “It’s not a good idea, Cam,” his fingertips trailing down her cheek. But she didn’t want gentle and tender, but rather rough and rapid.
“I’m done with good ideas right now. Do you have a better one?”
He laughed, not a humorous sound at all. “I’ve got a lot of ideas and none of them are good when it comes to you. None of my thoughts are all that pure.”
“I know,” she said. “I see it. You see it when you look at me too. Admit it.” She wanted him to admit that he knew what she’d been feeling. That she wasn’t doing so good at hiding and that maybe he caught her at her lie.
“It doesn’t seem I need to.”
His eyes were searching hers again. She was so weak at the moment and she was hoping he’d be too. That he’d cave and give into the moment. They could deal with it after, but all she needed was the here and the now. His hand on hers. His mouth tasting her. Making her feel like Cam for the moment. Not Dr. Mason. Not Doc. He’d called her Cam right now and she was going with it.
“Push the outside world away for now,” she said, reaching up and putting her lips to his. If he pushed her away she’d be devastated, but she’d be damned if she’d let him know that.
He didn’t push her away though. Instead he bent down and slid his hand under her knees, cradling her in his arms and carrying her to the couch. Not to her room, but to the first piece of furniture that they could make work. The way she was feeling the kitchen floor would have been enough.
She wasn’t in the mood for soft and slow. Gentle and teasing.
She wanted to feel alive. She wanted it fast and hard. Bruising almost.
And she wanted to take control.
So much had been out of her control lately and this was one thing she could take command of. One thing she was going to take command of.
Ian sat down on the couch, her in his lap, but she rolled over and stood up. He lifted his eyes to her hands as she started to unbutton her shirt. “I know you’ve been looking at my breasts. I see your eyes go there. You want to know how they feel, don’t you?”
He grinned. “Not just that.”
A few more buttons and her shirt was undone, then she pulled it out of the waistband of her skirt, spreading it wide. He went to reach for her, but she stepped aside.
She didn’t slide the shirt off; she didn’t need to. It happened to be her lucky day for once. Her bra had the clasp in the front and she just easily flicked it up, parting the sides. “What do you think?”
His hands went to her knees, pushing her skirt up and over her thighs, then tugging her on his lap, spreading her legs around his hips.
His jeans were rough against her sensitive skin and just as she was ready to comment on how he never looked at what she had on under the skirt, he set his mouth to her nipple. Guess he had something else on his mind.
That was fine though because he was doing exactly what she wanted him to do. Transporting her mind and body outside of what was going on beyond these walls. Making her feel alive. Like a reckless woman.
She arched her back and started to rub up and down on him. If she thought his stare was like steel before, it was nothing compared to what was in his jeans pressing against her.
His mouth moved to the other side, tasting her, licking, nipping and sending her to another planet. This was what she had needed to relax every night for the past week, and this was what she’d been missing and craving.
“Ian,” she said. Her voice sounded hoarse and foreign to her own ears.
His mouth never left her breast, but he shifted and she felt like she was being lifted. Then she realized he was reaching into his back pocket. Something cool was dropped down between them, brushing against her leg.
A leather wallet. She opened it up and fished around as best as she could since his mouth was making it hard for her to think about the task at hand.
Once she found what she was looking for, she slid back, a popping sound like taking a bottle out of a baby’s mouth as they greedily devoured what they were starving for. She was missing it too, just like him, but there was something better to be had.
He took the condom out of her hand, unbuttoned and unzipped himself, then covered up. She barely had time to shift the silk out of the way before he lifted and dropped her right down on top of him.
It was everything she needed and more. His mouth went back to work, and she did the rest.
Rising and dropping. Grinding and rubbing. Wanting to wrap her legs around his waist, but the back of the couch was there preventing it.
One of his hands slid down and touched her, sending her higher, making her move in a way she didn’t know her body was capable of.
There were noises coming out of her mouth, foreign sounds, sexy sounds, thrilling sounds. Turning her on more, building her up.
His other hand was digging into her waist, his hips slamming into her as she rose up and down, but his mouth never moved from its target. Never detracted from what he wanted.
Then it seemed what they both were dying for—both waiting for—was handed over so easily. Making them both scream, both curse and both collapse in a heap out of breath.