Giving Off Sparks Read online

  Rob lay perfectly still, watching her through lowered lids as she moved into the hallway and opened up a cupboard. The gray light of predawn made her shape easy to see as she tiptoed toward him, carrying what looked to be a blanket. Rob remained immobile, his heart swelling as she lay the blanket gently over his bare chest, her movements tentative as though she was trying her best not to wake him.

  He couldn’t stand this anymore. That one small gesture of kindness was too telling, and it was killing him. Rob reached out and gripped Sierra’s wrist, making her gasp. “Sierra,” he said, her name scraping the lining of his throat.

  Her eyes widened on his. There was fear in their hazel depths, but fear of what, Rob wasn’t sure. “This isn’t because I care about you.” Her whisper held a desperate quality that tugged at his heart.

  “I know,” Rob said, although he didn’t believe her at all, not the girl with the blanket. She didn’t want to care about him, but she did on some visceral level, the way he did about her.

  “I won’t ever care about you, Robert McConnell. And you can’t care about me either.”

  “Okay.” Rob slipped a hand into her hair, her silky soft straight hair. It felt like water running over his fingers. Unlike water, he could wrap it around his hand, hold it in his grip and use that grip to draw her toward him. He brought her face close, held her wide, wary gaze and told her the lie she wanted to hear. “I don’t care about you at all, Sierra Lawson. Not even a little bit.”

  Her expelled breath brushed over his face, and in the next instant, her lips were on his. She whimpered with relief as she kissed him, opening her lips in an offer Rob couldn’t refuse. He sent his tongue into her hot mouth to explore, finding secret caverns that made her moan and shudder against him. She shifted in an effort to get closer and her sharp little nipples brushed Rob’s chest. It was his turn to shudder then, and he tightened his grip in her hair.

  He wasn’t letting her go now, couldn’t entertain the thought of it. He swiveled on the couch to create enough room to pull Sierra onto it with him. She came to him willingly, a pliant creature who clung to him and poured so much passion into the kiss that it took Rob’s breath away. The erection that had plagued him most of the night became a burning rod of need in his pants. He was pretty sure the stitching was going to give.

  “Sierra,” he said because he liked the sound of her name. He fucking loved the sound of it, loved even more the sound of the desperate little moan she emitted when he reached for her breast and stroked it through the silken fabric of her pajama top. Her nipple hardened further, distending into a sharp tip that had to be causing her pain.

  Rob knew just how to sooth that pain for her. He released her mouth, heard her gasping for breath as he trailed kisses down her throat, over her collarbone and down. She dug her fingernails into his back as his breath fanned over her breast. He cupped the soft flesh, massaging it through her top, avoiding direct contact with the tortured peak until Sierra arched her back, asking him for what he had always intended to give her. He opened his lips on her and drew her taut flesh into his mouth. He sucked on her nipple through the silk, wetting the fine fabric and forcing a cry of pure primal pleasure from her throat.

  “Oh my God. Rob…Rob.”

  The way she rasped his name caused a jolt of lightning to strike his groin. His cock was a pained thing, a thing as needy and desperate as the flesh he pleasured with his lips and tongue. But Rob knew somehow he was going to have to put Sierra first. This wasn’t just some random sexual act for her, no matter what she said. There was a something frantic beneath the fiery surface of her physical passion, something she didn’t want him to see but that he sensed despite her pretenses. He needed to alleviate that before he even thought about himself.

  Every instinct told him any chance he had with Sierra depended upon it.

  When Rob released her nipple, Sierra thought she might die from the loss. That was a ridiculous reaction to have, especially from someone who knew the gravity of death all too well. But when Rob stopped kissing her breast, buried his face in her neck and breathed like he was trying to get a hold of himself—like he was trying to stop himself devouring her—Sierra thought, I’ll die if this ends.

  She had other thoughts too, thoughts like, Get up, get out, run for your life! And, “What in the world do you think you’re doing? Have you gone mad? But they weren’t strong enough to make her move. She clung to Rob—this man she hardly knew—as though he were her lifeline, breathed in the air that smelled like plain soap and manly pheromones, and hoped to God he didn’t have the sense to stop this.

  Eventually, he lifted his head and looked at her. She’d seen earlier that his eyes were brown, a soft chocolate brown that made her want to dive into them. In the dim light of approaching dawn, they looked black. Even so, she could see the intent in them. “Sierra, honey, I’m going to make you come now.”

  Oh, God, yes. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Sierra thought she spoken aloud but realized she’d done nothing but gape silently at Rob when he smiled and instructed, “Nod if you understand me.”

  Sierra nodded like a bobble-head doll. “Hmm. Uh-huh.”

  Still smiling, Rob trailed a hand over her frame, from her shoulder to the outside of her breast, into the indent of her waist and up over her hips. “So soft,” he murmured. He slid his hand downward, toward the juncture of her thighs. When he encountered her damp silk of her pajama bottoms, the smile slipped from his face. “God, you’re wet.”

  She was, almost embarrassingly so. Her body had never been quite so generous with its natural lubrication before. A hulking six-foot-four-inch muscle-packed firefighter with the face of a Hollywood star could apparently do that to a girl.

  Rob cupped her sex through the pants and gave it a slow massage. Sierra let out a moan and dropped her face into the curve of Rob’s shoulder. If she wasn’t looking at him, perhaps it would be easier to withstand how wantonly she was about to behave. She lifted her thigh and placed it atop his, opening herself to a more thorough exploration.

  Rob didn’t turn down her invitation. He slipped his hand into the wide leg of the silk shorts and found her aching center, found the cream that had gathered there and spilled out to coat her lips and her inner thighs. He swirled a finger through it slowly, as though he were enjoying even that simple act, the knowledge of her arousal. Then he gathered the cream and brought it to her clit.

  His first light touch made Sierra buck as though jolted with electricity. It had been so long since anyone had touched her, and lately she’d hardly even bothered to touch herself. The sensations felt entirely new as Rob continued a light, swirling motion over her quaking flesh. She curved her spine, thrusting her hips forward. Encouraged, Rob moved his finger back to her sodden entrance and delved inside.

  “You’re tight, honey.” Her inner walls clutched at Rob’s finger as he thrust it in and out of her body. When he added a second finger to the first, he asked, “Does that hurt?”

  Still hiding her face in his neck, Sierra shook her head. The stretch of her muscles was foreign, but good. So good. She couldn’t help imagining Rob’s cock replacing his fingers. More wetness spilled from her core to coat Rob’s hand.

  He muttered a curse and dipped his head to seek out her lips. His were soft yet demanding as they parted hers, his tongue sweetly sensual as it plundered her mouth. Sierra moaned, both from the erotic thrill of the kiss and because Rob once again touched her clit. This time, he used his thumb to circle her hardened nub while he continued to thrust into her narrow channel with two fingers.

  Sierra was beside herself with need, trapped in it. The beginnings of orgasm came with swift brutality. She cried out as the ecstasy took her in its vise-like grip, her words lost in Rob’s mouth. She shuddered violently as the climax filled her with pure sexual adrenaline.

  Rob drew out of the kiss, letting her breathe. His own breaths were as erratic as hers and his expression was marked with an astonishment she was sure showed on her own face as wel
l. “That was amazing.”

  Sierra’s face heated. “I guess I was quick.”

  “That’s okay. Has it been a while for you?”

  Sierra’s blush intensified, but she nodded her answer. There hadn’t been anyone since Eddie died, and before that, there’d only ever been Eddie. “About eighteen months.”

  “Good.”

  “Good?” Sierra frowned. “Is that some chauvinist thing?”

  “Maybe.” Rob smiled, unrepentant. “All I know is I’m glad I’m your first in a while. I’m glad you picked me.”

  “I didn’t pick you. You came bursting through my door. And this doesn’t mean anything.”

  “Oh, I know.” His carefully sober expression seemed to mock her.

  “It doesn’t.”

  He had the audacity to smile before he dipped his head to plant a quick kiss on her lips. “Whatever you say, Sierra. Having you orgasm in my arms didn’t mean anything, and it won’t mean a thing when I make you come again.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. “When you what?”

  To make his point, Rob wiggled the fingers that were still buried deep inside her. “I’m going to make you feel even better this time.”

  Sierra tried to tell him that it wasn’t possible to make her feel better than he just had, or to comment on his presumptuousness. But Rob did some smooth twirly thing with his fingers that made her gasp instead.

  He watched her as she started to melt, and Sierra had to close her eyes because the look on his face frightened her. It was almost like adoration, and she was afraid if she let him see into her eyes she’d somehow reflect it back. It’s hormones. Eighteen months’ worth of hormones running riot in your body because the guy is hot.

  It was the most logical explanation, but logic didn’t prevent her from turning to a giant mass of pliant putty at Rob’s next words. “Here’s what’s going to happen, Sierra,” he began. “You’re going to lie back and keep still while I take off these cute little pants. Then I’m going to spread your legs and you’re going to make sure they stay open nice and wide for me while I worship your hot little pussy with my mouth. I’m going to kiss you, and lick you, and finger fuck you until you come again. A year and half is a long time, honey. I’m going to help you catch up.”

  “Oh,” Sierra said, unable to come up with anything more articulate.

  Rob shifted so he was above her, then he rested his weight on his knees. Grasping the waistband of her pajama bottoms, he slowly peeled them down her legs. He didn’t take his eyes off the treats he’d revealed as he tossed the pants aside. He parted her thighs and gazed at her neatly trimmed triangle of dark curls, at her drenched and swollen flesh. Sierra kept her legs open—both because he’d told her she should and because she hadn’t the strength to move. Her heart hammered as Rob looked at her, that same adoring expression on his face as before.

  Those damn hormones, Sierra cursed inwardly as her chest grew tight. Her heart rate notched even higher as Rob shifted down the couch and lowered his face to her. She could feel the heat of his breath on her dampened pussy. “God, I can’t wait to taste you,” he said. And then he did.

  Sierra’s hips lifted off the couch at the first long, slow swipe of Rob’s tongue. It was so wet and hot, so softly capable as it swirled over her flesh. He licked the juices from her lips, from her still-quivering clit, making her writhe on the couch in response. Then he cupped her buttocks in his hands and tilted her so he could tunnel into her core with his tongue.

  It was a slower climb this time, but the ascent was just as inevitable. Rob did exactly as he’d promised to do—he worshipped her pussy with his mouth, worshipped it with such thoroughness it didn’t seem he ever wanted to stop. He rubbed her clit with his fingers while he darted his tongue in and out of her, then he alternated positions, burrowing his fingers into her deep and hard while he pulled her clit between his lips and sucked.

  Sierra luxuriated in it, in the utter joy of receiving Rob’s gift, until she was a squirming, gibbering mess. Abruptly, she reached for him, grabbed a handful of his hair and held him to her as she lifted her hips and came, a release more complete and enveloping than the first. She felt like she was drowning in the ecstasy of it.

  Her body was still racked by hot trembles as she opened her eyes once more to find that the gray light of predawn had given way to sunrise. The entire room was bathed in a utopian pink-gold light. Even Rob’s head was gilded where it rested on her inner thigh.

  Maybe he’s not real, and this has all been a hallucination. Sierra held on to the thought, unsure if she wanted it to be true or not. Then Rob stretched out beside her, his very real body providing very real warmth. He found the blanket she’d brought out to him in her moment of guilt and pulled it over both of them. Then he tucked her into his body and whispered in her ear, “Sleep now, honey.”

  Sierra felt his lips tenderly brushing over her temple as she did just that.

  Chapter 4

  “I let a strange man go down on me.”

  On the other end of the phone line, Sierra’s oldest friend, Tina Morecroft, coughed violently. “Jeez, warn a person before you say something like that,” she said when she’d sufficiently calmed down. “Next time I’ll wait to take big mouthful of my latte.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t know how to segue into an announcement like that.”

  “No, there’s no segue for that.” After a lengthy pause, Tina prompted. “You’re going to leave me hanging now? At least tell me where you met his guy, and give your sex-starved friend directions.”

  “Right, you’re sex-starved. Try going a year and a half and see how you fare when a gorgeous shirtless fireman bursts into your house to save your life and then kisses you.”

  “Then kisses you everywhere, eh? Man, why can’t my life need saving?” The joviality left Tina’s voice as she asked, “What happened? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. There was a small fire in the house.” Sierra went through an abridged version of the previous night’s events. Her whole body heated when she explained in very brief detail that seriously disappointed Tina how her trip to the couch with the blanket had ended.

  “So I assume he’s gone now?” Tina asked when Sierra had finished.

  “He had to work so left this morning. He asked if I needed help with the door. I mumbled something about insurance and pretended I was too sleepy to open my eyes.”

  “Oh, Sierra.” Tina laughed. “You really are out of practice at this, aren’t you?”

  “I’ve never had any practice. Eddie and I knew each other for over a year before we went to bed together. What are you supposed to say to a man who gives you two amazing orgasms about an hour after you meet? I’m embarrassed. Especially since I didn’t…well, return the favor.”

  “I’ll tell you what, you say ‘Mr. Gorgeous Fireman, you were incredible. Thanks for the unbelievable orgasms. Come over for dinner tonight and I’ll return the favor’. Easy.”

  “Not so easy. I can’t have him over for dinner. I’m not dating a fireman.”

  “You realize you’re letting down womankind by even saying that.”

  “I mean it, Tina. Firefighting is a dangerous job, and I don’t date men with dangerous jobs anymore. You should have seen him last night, bursting in here without any thought to his own safety. If he runs into situations like that all the time, he’s going to get himself killed.”

  Sierra’s voice cracked on the last word. An image of Rob McConnell bursting into a burning building, of flames engulfing him, ran through her mind and made her throat close over.

  Tina’s voice turned gentle. “I’m not suggesting you marry the guy, Sierra. But you need to move on from what happened with Eddie. You can’t let that define every decision you make. Eddie wouldn’t want you to avoid all the good things in life because you’re afraid.”

  Sierra let out a sardonic chuckle. “Are you saying Eddie would approve of me doing the nasty with another man?”

  “Eddie was a guy. I’m sure he’d b
e appalled that you didn’t at least give your ardent rescuer a blowjob.”

  This time Sierra laughed outright, the action releasing a lot of the tension she’d been holding inside. Tina could always make her see the funny side of any situation. The idea of Eddie’s ghost giving her dating advice was so ridiculous as to be hilarious. Especially as she had no intention of dating Rob McConnell. Her next boyfriend, whoever he was, would not have a risky profession.

  But just because she didn’t want Rob to be her boyfriend, didn’t mean she couldn’t see him again. Tina was right, she needed to move on—which Sierra knew was code for she needed to have sex. She needed to go to bed with someone besides Eddie, and Rob was the first man to make her want sex since Eddie had died.

  And man, did he make her want it. The memory of being spread open on the couch, moaning with pleasure as Rob ate her pussy was enough to make her hot and wet again. She could have a fling, couldn’t she? She was twenty-five and had never had one, had never indulged in meaningless sex like most other women her age had. Perhaps an affair with Rob was exactly what she needed.

  What about all that stuff about love at first sight, Sierra? What about the way he looked at you like you were the most precious thing in the world? Was that meaningless?

  Sierra shook the thoughts out of her head. The situation last night had been extraordinary, what with the fire and then the emotion of seeing Jason again, of being reminded of what she’d lost. She’d been off-balance and so had Rob. They’d both agreed love at first sight didn’t exist, so what they’d felt had to have been lust. Lust at first sight was an entirely logical proposition.

  With a perfectly simple solution.