CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - CASEY
Normally, I was the kind of guy who drove everywhere. I had always lived in the same small town, and if I could not get where I needed to go on foot, I drove. There was no train, no bus system. And when I started working at the fire station, I got even deeper into my love of vehicles. I polished and washed the fire engine like it was my own car, only bigger and flashier. Of course, I had grown up with a healthy appreciation for cars, anyway, since my father had always been the main mechanic in town.
When I was little, I used to sit in the mechanic’s garage at his workplace, perched up on a tall, vintage, metal bar stool next to his pristinely organized work desk. I would eat whatever delicious snack my mother had packed me for the afternoon and watch with rapt attention and amazement while my dad and his crew worked on cars. I was in awe of the way they could take a broken-down, sorry excuse for a vehicle and, within a few grueling hours, turn it back into something roadworthy and shiny again.
My dad was a perfectionist, just like me, and he never let a customer leave in a vehicle he didn’t trust for the ride home. More than once, he had nursed a totally wrecked car back to complete health, holding onto it for longer than anyone anticipated. Sometimes it pissed off his customers, as they wanted their cars back sooner. But Dad was bound and determined to ensure the safety of his customers, even if it made them mad in the process. Between his passion for road safety and my mother’s dedication to her job as a nurse, it was easy to see where I got my deep-seated sense of duty to community from. As well as my love for cars.
Which was why it felt extra strange tonight to call a cab to take me to the restaurant for my date with Luke. Sure, I had been driving myself around with my messed up leg in direct violation of my doctor’s orders for a couple days now. But tonight, I was driving into the city, and I knew it was stupid to take a risk that big. Besides, I would probably be drinking a little bit tonight at dinner and the last thing I needed was to get pulled over. Chief was lax about a lot of rules and regulations most firefighter crew chiefs would be uptight about. But one thing he had a bee in his bonnet over was drunk driving. He kept a solid zero tolerance rule about that.
And sure, I probably could have asked Luke to pick me up, but he would have had to drive all the way from the city to collect me and that would have made me feel infinitely more like a loser than just taking a cab. So now, here I was, riding in a taxi for the nearly forty-five-minute drive to the restaurant. This cab fare was going to be astronomical, but it was well worth it for an opportunity to spend some time with Luke. I was both excited and nervous as hell. It was crazy how Luke could make me feel simultaneously exhilarated and comforted. He exuded the warmth and safety of coming home, paired with the adrenaline rush of taking a bunch of caffeine pills, crushing and snorting them. Not that I had ever done that, but I imagined it would feel a little bit like how I felt tonight on my way to the restaurant.
“Hey, you know what? You look awfully familiar,” said the cab driver suddenly. I glanced up to see him squinting at me in the rearview mirror.
“I do?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
He nodded vigorously. “Yeah, yeah. I think I saw your picture in the paper. You’re the guy who saved that other guy from the awful fire at the Sentry, aren’t you?”
I smiled. “Yes. I guess you do recognize me, then. I didn’t even know there was an article about it. I hope it was flattering.”
The driver chuckled. “Oh yeah. It was. Showed your picture next to the article. You wearin’ some red uniform. You a firefighter by trade?”
I nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Damn. Didn’t know I was drivin’ a local hero around tonight. Hey, fare’s on me tonight, buddy. I’m serious,” he said. “My niece was in the audience that night. She got out safely.”
I leaned forward to protest. “Oh, no. That’s not necessary. Thank you, but I really don’t mind paying for it. This is a long drive.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “Nope, can’t change my mind. Don’t you worry about it, man. I want to help out however I can. You heading to a date tonight or somethin’?”
“Yeah, how did you know?” I asked, confused.
“Every time I take someone to this restaurant it’s a date,” he answered simply.
“Okay. Can’t argue with that logic,” I said.
“Well, I hope whoever you’re meeting up with knows how much of a hero you are. By the likes of those crutches, I’d say you deserve a good night out,” he said. The car rolled slowly to a stop at the curb in front of the French restaurant. “Anywho, we’re here.”
I tried to hand him a wad of cash but he shook his head vehemently. “I’m tellin’ you, man, keep your money. I won’t take it. Not tonight.”
I gave him a smile. It was hard for me to let him go without payment, but he was adamant about it, and I was eager to go inside and meet Luke. So, I clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Thanks, man.”
“Don’t mention it. Have a good night,” he replied as I carefully got out of the car and hobbled away.
He drove off, leaving me to walk into the restaurant with my heart racing about a mile a minute. By now, I was getting to be an expert with these crutches, and I managed to get in through the admittedly annoying revolving doors without a hitch. I stepped up to the maitre’d and before I could even say a word, his eyes lit up.
“Oh my god, you’re that guy from the Sentry fire!” he gasped, keeping his voice low despite his obvious excitement. My cheeks burned.
“Uh, yeah. I am,” I answered.
“Your date is here already, waiting for you. He’s just at that corner table over there,” he told me, smiling. “By the way, I just wanted to tell you… you’re a real stand-up guy.”
“Oh. Um, thank you,” I answered awkwardly. I made my way over to the table, where Luke was sitting with his cell phone pressed to his ear, a glowering look on his face. But as soon as he saw me, he grinned with pure delight. I sat down across from him, and he hurriedly finished up his call.
“Later. Later, Laura. Yes, this is important. I have to go. Bye,” he said quickly, rolling his eyes as he hung up. He turned to me and leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I replied, gazing into those bright green eyes for a moment.
“I missed you,” Luke said. “Work has been utter hell lately.”
“I bet. I missed you, too. I wish I could complain about work, but…” I trailed off.
He gave me a reassuring smile. “You’ll go back to work when you’re ready, Casey. Don’t worry about it. I promise not one soul on this earth could possibly fault you for sitting it out for a while. You’re a hero.”
“Yeah. So I’ve been told,” I replied, looking pointedly at the maitre’d who was still sneaking very conspicuous glances my way.
Luke laughed. “Sorry for turning you into a local celebrity. But that’s what you get for rushing into a fire to save some poor fool like me.”
“It was worth it,” I said, a little too earnestly, perhaps.
“I hope so. The doctor said your leg would be very painful,” he said sadly. “How is it? Still terrible? Do you think it’s getting better?”
I patted his hand reassuringly. “I’ll be fine. It’s already much better than it was. Before long I’ll be back to my old self. I’ve got my physical therapy to bring me back to fighting condition. Although, I have to say, seeing you tonight is the best medicine I could ask for.”
“Damn, that’s one hell of a pick-up line,” Luke laughed, putting an arm around me.
The waiter came strolling over holding a wine list. “Good evening, gentlemen. Could I interest you in a bottle of white or red? We fly all of our wines in from the south of France.”
Luke looked at me expectantly, as if I would have a preference. I panicked for a half second, because even though I considered myself a bit of a foodie, I had no frame of reference for wine. I was a beer or liquor drinker, through and through. But I didn’t want to lose face, so I cleared my throat and asked, “Two glasses of your most… robust red, please.”
The waiter looked satisfied with the answer and left to retrieve our drinks. As soon as he was out of earshot, Luke started laughing. “Robust?” he repeated, raising an eyebrow. “I had no idea you were such a sommelier.”
I grinned, my cheeks burning with embarrassment. In a lowered voice I replied, “I’m going to be honest with you, Luke, I don’t know shit about wine.”
“Fake it ‘til you make it,” he responded. “That waiter didn’t seem to notice.”
“Or maybe he’s in the wine cellar laughing his ass off,” I suggested.
“Nah, I bet he’s just pleased you took him up on his offer of wine instead of asking for some fancy, complicated drink,” he countered with a smile.
“So, earlier tonight you were telling me that the investigators suspect it was arson,” I said, changing the subject. Luke’s smile faded a little, and he nodded slowly.
“Yes. Apparently, somebody did it intentionally,” he said. “Isn’t arson kind of rare?”
I nodded. “Yeah, most of the time it’s an accidental fire. Faulty wiring or a cigarette dropped on the carpet. A bona fide arsonist doesn’t come along all too often.”
“That’s what I thought,” he sighed.
The waiter returned to give us our “robust” red wine and take our orders. Luke chose the demi Poulet, I selected the osso bucco, and we ordered a plate of mussels and a baguette to share. Dinner went smoothly, the hours ticking away like mere minutes as we chatted and flirted all night. We were so busy talking and cuddling with each other that we kept forgetting to even eat our expensive, fancy food. Not to say that the food wasn’t divine. It was. But not as divine as spending time together.
I had never known this kind of infatuation before. Sure, there had been crushes in the past. Cute bartenders. Flirty cashiers. One time I even helped put out a small fire at a gay club on the outskirts of town and was hit on pretty aggressively by a guy wearing black spandex. But nothing could hold a candle to Luke and the way he made me feel.
I even opened up to him about how I was feeling lately. “It’s just that,” I began, setting down my fork, “I feel like if I’m not at work, it’s like I cease to exist or something.”
“What do you mean?” Luke asked, concerned.
“I don’t know. I’ve given so much of my time and energy to my career that it seems like I can’t be who I am if I’m not in uniform. I can’t just be myself,” I confessed. “I know that must sound really pathetic.”
“No, not at all. Misguided, but not pathetic,” he countered. “You’re just really dedicated to your work. That’s an admirable trait. But you can’t let that be your whole identity. I mean, I got to know you outside of your job and I adore you. Not just because you’re a rugged, badass hero who runs into burning houses to save people, but because you’re a handsome, witty, kind-hearted, passionate man.”
I smiled and looked away, but Luke took my chin in his hands and turned me back to look at him. His green eyes were blazing. “I’m serious, Casey,” he said softly. “You mean a lot to the world. To me. Don’t forget that.”
I kissed his hand, my heart racing. “Thank you. And Luke… I know you’re stressed out about solving the arson mystery. But we’ll get there. I’ll help you. We are going to figure this out and make everything go back to normal.”
He kissed me, sending spirals of pleasure down through my core. I leaned into him, not wanting to let go for even a second. When we broke apart, Luke was giving me bedroom eyes. Without wasting another second, I called over the waiter, Luke paid the bill, and we were tumbling out the door in under five minutes. Luke hailed a cab and we piled into the back seat, kissing and groping each other with desperation. During the ride to his place, we very nearly ripped each other’s clothes off, but we held it together just long enough. When we reached his apartment building, Luke thrust a wad of cash at the driver and helped me out of the car. He was gentle but strong, all but carrying me into the building. He led me to the elevator, and as soon as we were inside, he pushed me against the wall and kissed me deeply, just like he had that first night we met.
The doors dinged, and he pulled me down the hallway, taking just a couple seconds to unlock and open his front door. We spilled into the apartment, still clinging to each other as he flipped on the mood lighting. He led me past the small but elegant sitting room to his bedroom, turning on a stereo to pump some soft jazzy music through the air. He cradled me back down onto the bed, careful not to hurt my leg as he set my crutches aside and sank down to the floor, kneeling between my legs.
I could scarcely remember to breathe as I gazed down at him. He met my eyes, asking a silent question. I nodded. Luke cautiously unzipped my jeans and took them off along with my boxers and shoes, paying close attention to not hurt me in the process. It tweaked my leg, but I held it together, not wanting to dispel the mood. My cock sprang free, stiff and ready. Luke wrapped his fingers around my shaft and began to stroke slowly at first, then faster. I tilted my head back and groaned as he lowered his head down, opening his mouth to pull my length between his lips. He sucked softly, teasing me. I reached down to rest my hand on the back of his head, guiding him to keep going. It felt so fucking good. I hadn’t had a mouth on my cock in a decade, not that I wanted to tell Luke that.
“Just like that,” I murmured roughly.
He hummed his approval and moved faster, bobbing up and down on my shaft while my hips twitched involuntarily, fighting the urge to lose control and fuck his mouth hard. His tongue swirled around the head of my dick while his hand expertly stroked me up and down, bringing me closer and closer to the edge. I whimpered as he moved faster and sucked harder, glancing up at me with a mischievous glint in those gorgeous eyes. But just before he could take me all the way, he pulled back and stood up, unzipping his tailored pants and stripping out of his clothes.
I watched him intently, my chest rising and falling with each heavy breath. I could hardly stand it. I wanted him close to me, touching me, always. I couldn’t resist him. I reached up for him as he all but tore my shirt off of me before bending down to kiss me. I could taste myself faintly on his lips, his tongue. He cupped my face in his hands, his thumbs running over the prickly stubble on my jaw. I pushed him back gently, and he stood up straight again, looking down at me with a question in his eyes again.
His cock was nearly at my mouth already, and I couldn’t wait any longer; I needed to taste him. I reached out to wrap my hands around the backs of his powerful thighs and hold him steady while I pulled his thick, hard length into my mouth. Luke gasped and shivered with pleasure as I sucked him in, taking him all the way down to the hilt until I was nearly gagging.
“Fuck, that’s so good,” he growled. “You’re going to make me cum if you’re not careful, Casey. And I still want to fuck that tight little ass.”
Reluctantly, I pulled back, licking my lips. Luke grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back onto the bed, carefully climbing on top to straddle me without hurting my leg. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said softly. I could tell he wanted to grab me and fuck me mercilessly, but he glanced at my bandaged leg with worry.
“Fuck me like this,” I said, and wiggled away from him to lie on my stomach. I looked back to see him grinning, eyeing my ass with desire. He took me by the hips and pulled me back so that I was nearly hanging off the bed, lifted me to push two thick pillows underneath my belly, and then strolled over to his bedside table. He slid open a drawer and took out a small bottle of lube and a condom. I watched with impatience as he rolled the condom onto his massive cock, then slicked lubricant all over the protected length. He squirted more of the lube onto my tight pucker. I gasped at how cold it was, and he chuckled.
“Don’t worry. I’m going to take good care of you. I’ll warm you up,” he said.
Luke began to circle my asshole with two fingers, playing with the sensitive ring of nerves there, making me moan and tremble. He was teasing me again, making me want him. Need him. I knew he was worried about hurting me, but I wanted to beg him to just skip the niceties and shove his cock inside me.
“Just do it. Please, Luke. I need you to fuck me,” I pleaded.
“I will,” he said. “But I want you good and ready when I do.”
I sighed as he slid two fingers inside me, shocks of pure pleasure radiating through my body. I could feel my whole frame tensing up as he fingered me, stretching me wider and wider to accommodate his huge dick. But I wanted him to split me in half. I wanted him to fuck me until it hurt. Luckily, Luke seemed to be getting as impatient as I was.
“God, I can’t wait to slide my cock into you, Casey. Your ass is so fucking tight. You’re gorgeous, you know that?” he groaned.
I didn’t know what possessed me to say it, but I blurted out, “Gorgeous? Me? Not with this damn scar on my cheek.”
Luke bent over, arching over my back to kiss me on my left cheek, right on top of the jagged scar. He whispered into my ear, “I meant what I said, Casey. You’re gorgeous. And I want you so goddamn bad.”
Without another second to waste, he slowly nudged his cock deep inside, still bent over me, his breath hot on my neck. I let out a cry of mingled pain and pleasure, closing my eyes and giving in to the throes of bliss as he fucked my ass hard and fast, just like I wanted him to. Luke pounded into me, kissing my back, my shoulders, my neck. The engorged head of his shaft speared into my prostate again and again, making me whimper and moan with overwhelming pleasure. I gripped the sheets tightly as he fucked me, holding on for dear life.
With every thrust, my own cock rubbed against the slick satin sheets, and the combination of Luke slamming into my prostate and the sheets stroking my cock brought me all the way to the brink. “Oh, fuck!” I cried out, coming all over the bed, all over my own stomach.
“Oh yes, come for me, baby,” Luke growled between gritted teeth.
I was trembling and moaning, having a nearly out of body experience while he fucked me harder and faster, losing control himself. With a few more short, passionate thrusts, he came inside me, pumping the condom full of his sticky seed while he kissed my spine and held me close. He rocked his hips a few more times, then collapsed on top of me, the two of us panting together in tandem, feeling so close and secure, like I had never felt before.
God, I was really falling for him, wasn’t I?