Taking Fire Read online

  They reached the cabin. Trace held the door open and they walked into the warmth before shutting out the cold.

  After he helped her slide off her jacket and he shrugged out of his own, he built up the fire. They stood in front of the flames, warming themselves while Dallas lay on the rug near the fireplace, too.

  “Ben has a couple decks of cards with the rest of the games.” He glanced at her. “Do you like poker?”

  “The CoS used to play all the time.” She flashed him a grin. “I can hold my own.”

  She had the cutest grin. He liked it when she let go and acted carefree.

  “I propose a challenge.” He’d always had a streak of mischief in him. “And winner takes all.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Trace sat with Christie at the kitchen table once he’d pulled out a deck of cards and a rack of poker chips.

  Dallas lay on the rug in front of the fireplace. He’d seemed to be on the tired side after the day of chasing rabbits and squirrels during the hike, running up and down the trail ahead of Trace and Christie, and playing Frisbee with them in the late afternoon.

  Trace hadn’t chased any squirrels or done any running during the hike, but he’d still wanted to take a nap when they’d returned to the cabin. Now he just cared about spending time with Christie—forget the nap.

  She looked so cute as she folded her hands on the tabletop. “What are the stakes?”

  He set aside the two joker cards. “Whoever loses a hand has to tell an embarrassing story.” He started shuffling the deck. “From junior high or high school.”

  She made a funny face. “There are too many to name and I’d prefer to leave them dormant somewhere in the back of my brain.”

  He chuckled. “I think I’m going to enjoy this.”

  She leaned forward, a determined expression on her face. “I’m not going to lose.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “And what’s this ‘winner takes all’?”

  He flashed her a grin. “Whoever wins gets to choose what the other has to do. Clean or cook…anything.” He didn’t plan on making her work. He just wanted to tease her.

  She straightened in her seat. “I am so going to beat you.”

  He almost laughed. She was so damned cute. “We’ll play Texas Hold’em.”

  “No fair.” She had a mock indignant expression. “You’re from Texas.”

  This time he did laugh. “Afraid you’re going to lose?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Deal.”

  He started out by dealing each of them two cards face down. Christie peeked at hers and her expression didn’t change.

  The hand progressed and they each bid. He tried not to show his amusement at how determined she appeared.

  He called and she put down her cards. She grinned with satisfaction as she presented two aces and two tens. “Two pair.”

  “Not bad.” He laid out his own cards. “But sorry, little lady.” He exaggerated his Texas drawl. “Three of a kind beats your two pair.” He spread his three jacks on the table along with a four and five.

  She groaned. “Damn.”

  He gathered the poker chips they’d bet, and stacked them. “’Fess up.”

  She blew out a sigh. “Back in junior high school, Belle said something funny just as I took a drink of soda. Whatever she said made me laugh so hard I choked. Soda came out of my nose. I kept coughing and laughing and choking all at once.” Christie grimaced. “The embarrassing part came after I noticed the guy I had a major crush on happened to be standing next to us. I coughed and sputtered and sprayed orange soda on his white shirt.”

  Trace laughed. “That qualifies.”

  “Talk about mortified.” She groaned. “Every time he saw me after that, he’d grin and I knew he’d always think of me with soda coming out my nose.”

  Trace had to hold back more laughter.

  She put her hands on the table. “It’s going to be your turn, just you watch.”

  This time his straight lost to her flush. She looked at him with triumph. “Go.”

  “My step uncle was a real scumbag, like I mentioned earlier.” Trace rubbed his chin. “He’d leave porn magazines around, probably to upset my aunt. During my freshman year in high school, I had to hurry to catch the school bus and I grabbed my homework off the coffee table. I didn’t realize I’d picked up one of his magazines.”

  He could laugh about it now, but it had been embarrassing then. “In my science class, I sat with a lot of pretty girls in the chairs around me. I took my homework out of my bag and the damned porno mag went flying. Not only did the girls see it, but also Mrs. Schmitz, our teacher. She snatched it up and shook it at me. I’ve never seen anyone turn lobster-red before. She ordered me to take the magazine straight to the principal’s office.”

  Christie smirked. “Bet the guys thought you were some kind of hero.”

  Trace had to grin. “They did, but those pretty girls and the teacher were not amused.”

  During the next hand, his two pair beat Christie’s single pair.

  She flopped back in her chair. “Once, in high school, I walked into the cafeteria and stumbled sideways over my own two feet. I bumped into a bunch of chairs stacked vertically against each other. My foot caught on the first one and when it slid down, so did the rest of the chairs. They made a horrible crashing sound as they hit and they slid across the polished floor. Everyone in the cafeteria started laughing. I don’t think my face has ever been so hot.”

  Christie lost the next hand, too, and told about the time her skirt had fallen down to her ankles at the bus stop just as the school bus had approached. “I think just about everyone on the bus saw, not to mention the kids at our stop.” She groaned. “My white cotton panties with little pink flowers on them were on display as I hurried to pull my skirt up. I never lived that one down.”

  Trace lost the next hand. “I’d have to say my graduation qualifies as my most embarrassing moment during my high school years. I just wanted to get across the stage, shake the principal’s hand, and be done with it. I hated being in front of an audience.” Trace chuckled even as he remembered the embarrassment. “I got my diploma, shook the principal’s hand, and started to head toward the stairs. I tripped over the microphone cord and fell against the principal, knocking him to the stage. At the same time, my diploma flew out of my hand, into the audience, and hit a cute cheerleader right on her forehead.”

  Christie couldn’t breathe from giggling so hard by the time he’d finished his story. She finally caught her breath. “That’s a good one.”

  He laughed, her giggles making her even more adorable than ever. And he became even more determined to win the game.

  They went back and forth with stories and winning and losing hands. It had grown dark outside by the time the game finally ended. Christie surprised him at how well she played the game. She beat his ass and good.

  “Ha!” Her look of triumph made him glad she’d won. She gathered all the chips in a sweep of her arms. “Now I get to do whatever I want with you.”

  He raised an eyebrow as she put her finger on her chin, obviously considering any number of options. But then she got up from her chair and moved toward him.

  She made a circle motion with her finger. “Turn your chair so you’re facing me.”

  He obeyed. “What are you up to, little girl?”

  She moved toward him and before he knew it, she straddled his lap, her mouth on his. She paused long enough to say, “All I want is you. And I want you naked.”

  Hell if he could argue with that.

  A sense of power swept through Christie. And that power reinforced how much she desired to be with Trace.

  She didn’t know where the confidence came from—maybe her newfound independence over the past several months.

  Butterflies darted around Christie’s belly as she pushed Trace’s overshirt down his shoulders. Her arm twinged but not enough to bother her.

  No fear, no hesitation. This was right. He was right.
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br />   He broke the kiss to shrug out of the shirt, leaving him in his T-shirt. He wore a shoulder holster, his weapon still in it. She leaned in to kiss him again.

  “Hold that thought.” He moved, grasping her by the waist, and bringing her with him so they were both standing. He unfastened the holster and set it with the cards and chips on the table. He removed his belt, which included his phone, and set it all beside the weapon. Then he toed off his boots and pulled off his socks.

  As soon as he’d removed those things, she insisted on freeing his T-shirt from his jeans and dragging it up his muscular chest until he helped her pull it over his head. Pleasure ran through her as she skimmed her hands over his body, up to his shoulders. She wanted to explore, to touch, to kiss his well-defined body.

  His masculine scent filled her lungs, his body heat warming her through. She didn’t need the fireplace when she had this man’s body next to hers.

  He brought his mouth down hard on hers again as he grasped her T-shirt and carefully slid it up and over her breasts. He threw it aside and cupped her lace-covered breasts. Her heavy and full breasts ached for his touch, for his mouth.

  “I’ve imagined being with you a thousand times.” His heavy breathing showed his struggle for control. “And every time I thought of taking you slow and easy like you deserve.”

  “Next time.” She reached behind her and unfastened her bra, ignoring the twinge in her arm. “Right now, I just want you more than I’ve wanted anything in my life.”

  She flung her bra somewhere—she had no idea where. She could have thrown it across the room and into the fireplace and she wouldn’t have cared. She pressed her breasts against his chest, loving the feel of her nipples rubbing against the hard muscle.

  He grasped her hair in his hand and gently tugged back, exposing her neck. He groaned as he dragged his lips down to the hollow of her throat. She sighed and gasped with every kiss, every touch of his lips and hands, every brush of his body. He cupped one breast and rubbed his thumb over the nipple as he brought his mouth down on her other hard nub.

  The heat of his mouth enveloped her and he sucked. She moaned from the pleasure and gripped his biceps as he flicked his tongue over her nipple, teasing it. Each swipe of his tongue sent shivers of delight through her and when he applied gentle suction to each taut bud, the shivers magnified.

  She kicked off her shoes as he grasped the button on her jeans and unfastened it. He pushed the jeans over her hips, and she shimmied out of them. He gripped the sides of her red panties and pushed them down. Thank goodness she had packed sexy undergarments. Her panties reached her ankles and she stepped out of the clothing. He kneeled and tugged off each of her socks before throwing the whole pile aside.

  She reached for the button of his jeans and it slipped through the hole and parted. Then she grasped his zipper and tugged down. She glanced up at his face and saw him watching her with fierce hunger in his eyes.

  The zipper stuck a little and she pulled until it went all the way down. He pushed his jeans down his hips until they hit the floor and she caught her breath. The act revealed the bulge behind his boxer briefs. For a moment, the intimidation of his clear desire for her made the butterflies inside stir like crazy.

  Her hesitation must have shown, because Trace rested his hand on her shoulder and said, “If you don’t want to do this, or maybe you’re not ready—”

  She cut him off with, “I’m beyond ready. I want you.” She shoved his boxer briefs to his hips and got to her knees as she pushed them all the way down.

  His cock sprang out and, as he stepped out of his jeans and underwear, she couldn’t help herself. The intimidation and hesitation turned into desire to have him inside her mouth as well as her core. She wrapped her hand around his thickness. He hissed in a breath, his body strung tight, as she ran her thumb over the top of his cock, spreading the pre-cum over the large head.

  Trace was so incredibly hard in her hand, but the soft skin over all that rigidness was silky to her touch. She had never liked going down on Salvatore, but he’d always made her.

  This was different. She wanted to taste Trace. Would he feel pleasure? Being with Trace seemed to erase every bad memory of her ex, as if he’d never existed and those things had never happened. At least for now.

  She darted out her tongue and licked the head of his cock. He groaned and tilted her head back and she met his gaze. By the intense pleasure in his eyes, she knew he wanted her to continue. He smoothed her hair away from her face as she started to slide his cock inside her mouth. She grew wet as she kept her gaze focused on his, unable to look away.

  “God, that’s good,” he said as his cock entered the heat of her mouth.

  He groaned again as she experimented with the way she licked and sucked him while she moved her hand up and down the lower part of his cock. She’d never wanted to give the kind of pleasure she did at this very moment.

  A sense of being inadequate made her hesitate, but she pushed the feeling aside. His expression told her he more than enjoyed the pleasure she gave him. It made her feel somehow powerful, that she could possibly make him lose control. His jaw tightened, his expression strained. She reached for his balls with her free hand and caressed them while she sucked his cock.

  Making him so aroused caused her to ache and grow wetter between her thighs. The brush of his fingers alone on her sensitive skin could cause her pleasure beyond anything she’d ever experienced.

  “Amazing. You’re so damned amazing.” He sounded out of breath as he took her by the shoulders while taking care not to hurt her wounded arm. “Come here, baby.”

  She let his cock slip from her mouth and released him as he brought her to her feet. He lowered his head and gave her a long, slow, lingering kiss. She leaned in to him, her naked body against his. She loved the feel of skin to skin and his cock pressed against her.

  He stroked her, his callused palms rough but his hands gentle as they moved over her soft flesh. She explored his body with her fingertips, loving the feel of his solid masculinity, his defined muscles and the hardness of his biceps. She traced a path down his abs, nearing his cock.

  His kiss grew more intense with every touch and he slid his fingers into the wetness between her thighs. She gasped into his mouth as he stroked her clit and sent shockwaves through her. The calluses on his fingers made her flesh even more sensitive.

  He raised his head as he moved his fingers into her core. “You’re so wet,” he said before he brought his mouth to hers again. He pumped in and out of her as he kissed her.

  His fingers stroked her, reached places that had never been touched. She made a soft humming sound that came from deep inside her, turning into a moan. He trailed his free hand up her shoulders and her neck then slipped his fingers into her hair.

  With another soft moan, she broke the kiss. “I want you inside me, Trace. Please.”

  “I have plans for you.” He drew his fingers out of her core and slid them into his mouth. Her knees weakened as he sucked off her juices. “Damn, you taste good.”

  He picked her up by her waist, catching her off guard. She wrapped her legs around his hips and held on, her arms around his neck. He carried her around the table to a darker side of the room, farther away from the nearby lantern they’d lit.

  He laid her on the bed where she drank him in and reveled in the fierceness of his gaze.

  While they’d been playing poker, he’d stoked the fire. The firelight flickered, casting shadows across his face. The way he looked at her—as if she might be the only woman in the world who existed, something she’d never experienced. A feeling of being desired and cherished all at the same time. This didn’t feel like a man simply lusting after her.

  He wanted more from her than sex. She didn’t think he could fake the expression in his eyes that made her feel like he wanted something more from her. No, from what she’d gotten to know about the man, he could never be fake.

  “Don’t move.” He trailed his fingers over her
cheek in a gentle movement that left her skin tingling. “I’ll be right back.”

  For a moment, she wondered why he’d left and what he was searching for. He found his jeans, picked them up, then fished something out of a pocket. In the lantern light, she saw a wallet in his hand and watched him remove something from it. A condom, no doubt.

  He returned, climbed onto the bed and positioned himself over her, bracing his hands to either side of her.

  For one brief flash, she thought of the last time she’d had a man over her and of what he had done to her. But she shoved every unwelcome thought from her mind. The moment could not be any more special. This was Trace.

  He tossed a condom package to the side on the bed, lowered his head and kissed her again. She loved his mouth, the way he nipped at her lower lip, and the way his tongue slipped into her mouth and touched hers. She followed his lead, kissing him the way he kissed her.

  “You’re so beautiful.” He ran his knuckles along her cheek. “Are you sure you’re ready? This isn’t about sex.”

  She wasn’t so sure about what he meant, but she wanted him. “Most definitely, yes, Trace.”

  He studied her, an intense expression on his features. He seemed like he wanted to say something else.

  Instead, he shifted and she wondered if he planned to put on the condom now and slide inside her. But then he eased down her and moved his head between her thighs. Her eyes widened. Was he going to lick her there? She’d heard of it—

  He flicked his tongue against her clit and she nearly came off the bed. A bolt of electricity had shot through her.

  Oh, my God.

  Her legs trembled as he licked her folds and something wound so tightly inside her she didn’t think she’d survive it much longer. She gripped the bed covering. Something had to give and she knew her sanity might be it. She found herself losing her mind even as the pleasure caused her to soar.