I could feel the heat of Ward’s gaze on me as I walked ahead of him. Threading my way through the tables, I barely registered the hum of voices around us. The bar was crowded, yet we might as well have been alone in a room. I turned into the hallway at the back, not waiting to see if he was behind me. My body knew he was with certainty. The air around us snapped with the force of the attraction between us. Any hopes I had that this yearning, burning fire between us would have dissipated had been dashed the moment he walked into the station the other day.

Ward Taylor had somehow managed to become even more attractive than the last time I’d seen him. I didn’t know if that was a factual observation, but that was sure as hell how my body felt. Black curls, always slightly tousled, and those silver gray eyes, like the sky on a stormy summer day. One look from him, and it seared through me. His body was honed to perfection. I’d thought myself immune to men like him. As a hotshot firefighter, I spent my days with men in their physical prime. Yet, not a single man affected me the way Ward did.

Ward carried himself with an edge of danger, quiet strength, and simmering power under the surface. Back when I trained with him, he kept his distance from all of us. Oh, he was a good teammate, but there was a part of him he kept under wraps. I sensed something or someone had hurt him, yet I’d never scratched beneath the surface to understand more.

Despite trying damn hard to erase it from my memory, I’d never forgotten the night we’d had together. It was so far and above any other sexual experience I’d ever had, I couldn’t imagine anything coming close. Three days with him around the station, passing by each other like flint to stone again and again—each pass striking another spark into the fire that just wouldn’t die.

I’d been obsessing about how to handle the fact he was about to become my boss, while I was nearly melting at his feet every time we were anywhere near each other. A respite was on the horizon because Ward was leaving for a month since his mother was sick. Cade and Levi were going to help out until Ward could return. That was what they’d been doing all along since Al’s retirement.

As it was, we had one cranky as hell crewmember who was flat pissed he hadn’t gotten the job of superintendent. The rest of us on the crew had been relieved. Chad was an asshole. As far as I was concerned, Al should’ve fired him, but he hadn’t. Ward was going to inherit that problem, although I felt like he was better suited to deal with it than our last superintendent.

Ward took no bullshit. It was all business at all times out in the field, and that was what we needed. Sad as I was to learn his mother was in hospice, even though Ward barely showed any emotion over it, it gave me some breathing room to figure out what the hell to do.

Yet right now, tonight, I was doing the craziest thing I could imagine. The moment Ward walked over and looked at me, I was a goner. I wanted him so fiercely. I was flat crazy for giving into it, but my need for him was rushing through me with such force, I couldn’t ignore it. I was busy telling myself we could do this and then move on.

I knew little of Ward’s personal life. He had a few friends when we were in training together. He was quiet and bordered on brooding. Unlike some of the other guys who liked to party and have a good time, he laid low. He certainly didn’t do romance. In fact, our epic one-night stand had started with him pointing out it was perfect because we would never see each other again.

I couldn’t even contemplate what he thought tonight might mean. As I walked down the hallway, which felt like forever, I could already feel the slick moisture soaking my panties. Just thinking about the memory of him sinking into me, every hard, thick inch of him, was enough to make me wild.

Ward knew how to use his hands, his lips, and his tongue so well, he’d left me boneless. He’d acquainted himself with every inch of my body, including my now dripping wet pussy, before fucking me until I forgot where I ended and he began.

Maybe one more round with him would burn my need to ashes.

As I passed by the restroom, I paused, turning to see him behind me. He ambled, his long stride eating up the distance between us with little effort.

“I’m going to use the restroom really quick, okay?”

His eyes burned through the distance between us as he nodded. He stopped in the hallway as I stepped inside, leaning against the door to catch my breath.

I didn’t need to go to the bathroom, but I needed a moment to get a grip. I stared at myself in the mirror. My hair was a bit wild tonight, and my cheeks were flushed. I had a full body flush just from Ward’s presence. Taking a deep breath, I splashed cool water on my face and washed my hands, my body nearly humming in anticipation with every passing moment.

When I stepped out, Ward was leaning against the wall across from the door, one hand hooked in his pocket and the other hanging loose at his side. He wore faded black jeans, battered leather black boots, and a navy T-shirt that outlined his sculpted chest and broad shoulders. My mouth went dry and my pulse took off, skittering wildly.

My breath came in shallow pants and my sex clenched as I stared at him. Perhaps two feet separated us. From across the hallway, he reached out and hooked his finger in my belt loop, pulling me flush against his body inside of a quick breath.

I liked to think of myself as a woman in control of her life, of her destiny, of her body and her mind. Most of the time, I was.

Except when it came to Ward. All of my defenses burned to nothing in the searing heat of his presence.

When my body bumped against his, I almost moaned aloud. I hadn’t forgotten how good he felt—all hard strength, coiled energy and power. Even his face was strong with a square jaw, sculpted cheekbones, the dark slash of his brows over those silver gray eyes, and a nose that looked as if it had been broken once, giving him a roguish charm.

Ward wasn’t much for smiling, which made it dangerous when he did. Like now. His lips curled at one corner with his eyes locked to mine.

My breath caught and my belly clenched.

He didn’t say a word. One hand slid around to cup my bottom and pull me tight against him, the hard ridge of his arousal pressing into my belly and sending a gush of moisture into my panties. I didn’t know if it was actually possible to orgasm simply from standing beside someone, but if anyone could make that happen, Ward could.

He lifted his other hand, brushing a loose curl off my cheek and tucking it behind my ear. Goose bumps ran in a shiver down my side.

I could barely breathe, my body pulsing with anticipation. In a flash, he claimed my mouth with his. He kissed as boldly as I remembered, his hand palming my ass as he rocked his arousal into me, hard and insistent at the apex of my thighs.

Kissing him was like getting caught inside of a flame. His hand tangled roughly in my hair as he devoured my mouth. Deep sweeps of his tongue, drawing back to nip at my bottom lip. Inside of a matter of seconds, I was so caught up in our kiss, I completely forgot where we were, nudged out of my madness only when I heard the door to the hallway open from the parking lot.

My panties were drenched and my breath came in rough gasps. I broke free and stumbled away from him. My gaze swung wildly to the back doorway to see a cluster of people I didn’t recognize entering. Thank God. The chances it could be someone I knew were high. I’d been born and raised in Willow Brook and knew most everyone local. But it was early spring, and the tourists were already crowding into town.

The group filed down the hallway between Ward and I. His eyes never left mine, my gaze drawn back to his like a magnet. The force of his gaze was so powerful, it felt as if he were actually touching me. After the customers made their way past us, their footsteps echoing on the hardwood floor and the sounds from the bar filtering into the hallway, he reached across the space between us again, catching my hand and reeling me close.

My brain tried to fire off a thought. But it was as if all of the signals were crossed, haywire in the heat of the desire between us. Flush against him again, my nipples tight, need pounding inside of me, and my breath barely under control, I couldn’t manage a word.

“Let’s go,” he said, his gruff voice sending a prickle down my spine.

I nodded wordlessly. He turned, my hand held tight in his. I suddenly remembered what it felt like to be held by him—beyond the pounding need, there was more. This man, so handsome, so sexy he was dangerous, somehow made me feel safe. Though there was a distance to him, a wall I didn’t know how to scale, I felt safer with him than I’d ever felt with anyone in my life.