Bad Boy's Touch (Firemen in Love Book 3) (9 page)

I loathed the condescending way he spoke to me, as if he was the all-knowing parent and I, no better than a foolish child.

The more things I found to hate about him, though, the more convinced I was that I'd dated him for the wrong reasons.

And what did that say about me? Why was I so easily swayed by men? First Victor, with his charm and sweet promises. Now there was Brett, whose arms I fell into with the barest of resistance when I ought to know better.

I was in no position to be thinking of dating now, not with my head full of jumbled, confused thoughts.

But maybe my sister was right. Maybe some rough, dirty sex with a near-stranger was just what I needed to sort myself out.

The kind of sex I truly craved, but that I was too embarrassed to ask for.

If Brett put the moves on me again, what would the harm be in saying yes? He wasn't looking to settle down either. All he wanted was a bit of fun.

Perfect.

I couldn't make it too easy on him, though. Maybe I'd play hard to get just a little bit longer...

Harvey yelled to me from the other room, interrupting my naughty thoughts.

“Hey, Mad. Got some calls coming in just now. Bunch of noise complaints around McElroy Road.” He slurped his coffee and gave me puppy-dog eyes. “You wanna go check it out for me, huh?”

I didn't feel like working right now. What I did feel like was getting laid – pure sex for passion's sake alone, not that horrible, sterile in-and-out Victor subjected me to.

I needed a real man to give me that pleasure.

I needed Brett.

“Well? I'll owe you big time,” Harvey went on. “There's a game on, you see, and I can't miss it. I got a hundred bucks riding on this one.”

“Oh, all right.” I grabbed my coat. “You're buying breakfast tomorrow.”

He laughed and kicked back at his desk. “Hash browns and an Egg McMuffin with sausage. Got it.”

I headed off to McElroy Road, for the first time in forever, unable to think of anything but my lust-fueled thoughts.

Chapter 7 - Brett

The sweet smell of gasoline always got my blood pumping and heart pounding.

It was also probably giving me brain damage, but whatever.

“Yo, Brett!” Axel waved as his bike came to a stop beside mine. “You're racing tonight? Haven't seen you ride in weeks.”

I finished topping off my Kawasaki with fuel. It had been a while since I last rode her, and I'd almost forgotten how much I missed it.

The wind in my face, the hard leather seat beneath me, that feeling of pure speed, of being one with the road.

“Yeah, man, I'm down for a race or two.” I patted the old girl. “I would've been going a few rounds at the club instead, but it looks like that's not an option right now.”

Axel took a drag on his cigarette, then tossed the smoking butt on the ground by the pump. Even now, when I was off work, the firefighter in me sprung into action.

I stomped on it, made sure it was totally out, and threw it safely into the trash can. Axel laughed at me.

“Funny. You've got no problems partaking in select illegal activities, but you can't stand folks littering.”

“It's not about littering. You realize how much gas is spilled here? You trying to cause an explosion?”

He scratched his head. “Huh. Guess I never thought about it like that.”

Damn. People like him were the reason I had a job.

Though compared to our arsonist pal, this was nothing. I'd take people setting fires out of ignorance and stupidity over that any day.

I surveyed the competition. Six other riders loitered in the parking lot; I only knew three of them, and they'd never beaten me yet. Axel was good, but he lacked the killer instinct that had won me so many races before.

It was that same instinct that carried me through a fight. The same one, too, that kept me alert and alive in a burning, crumbling building.

Too bad it couldn't help me to win the woman of my dreams. At least, not yet.

A few more guys pulled up. One of them had a girl on the back of his bike. I'd slept with her a few months back and couldn't remember her name.

Her man was busy joking around with his buddies. She noticed me, smiled and winked.

It was a total come-on. Normally, I would have taken her up on that offer.

Tonight, the only woman I wanted – needed – was Madison.

“Here we go, guys. Who wants a cold one before hitting the streets?”

A dude came out of the gas station holding a couple of cases of beer. He and his friends enthusiastically guzzled every last can. They offered me one, but I didn't bite.

It made me nervous. Cops already had their eyes on us; no sense giving them yet another reason to throw us in jail for the night.

Inside the building, the lone employee kept giving us funny looks. He was on the phone and staring at us – well, glaring was more like it. I was astute enough to know we'd worn out our welcome.

Another trio of bikers rolled into the parking lot, their rides roaring loud enough to wake the dead. I knew them, and unlike the rest of us racers, these men didn't know the meaning of fighting fair.

“Heard you were about to kick off a race,” shouted Diego, their so-called boss. “How come nobody invited us? This is our turf, after all.”

“Yeah. You wanna race here, you gotta get our permission first.”

“All right, fine.” Axel sighed. “If you want in, throw twenty bucks in the pot.”

Diego sneered. “I don't think so. Here's what's gonna happen: me and my boys are going to beat the piss out of you, then we're gonna take whatever pocket change you losers scraped together. How's that sound?”

“But you got to contribute to the pot to race –”

“The pigs!”

Sure enough, a cop car drove over the hill in our direction. I hoped they'd go past without issue, but knew better. With all of our bikes, we were like a flashing neon sign for police attention.

The car slowed, then turned into the parking lot. A couple of guys panicked and drove away.

“Great,” I muttered. “Why do the cops always show up and ruin the fun?”

The cruiser door opened, and out stepped Madison.

My heart hammered; I was so excited to see her face again – but scared, too. She already thought of me as a troublemaker. This wasn't gonna help that impression very much.

“Excuse me,” she shouted over the noise of the bikes. “We've received several noise complaints. Let me remind you that you're to keep your volume at a reasonable level after...”

She finally noticed me standing there, not trying to hide the fact that I was checking her out. Her eyes bugged out of her head. I waved.

“Hey, Madison. I was kinda hoping you'd show up.”

The racers whispered, gossiping about me as I approached her. I didn't have to hear their words to know what was up. We weren't supposed to trust cops.

I had to prove to them she wasn't like the others.

She was so stunned that she let me wrap her in a loose hug. When I pulled back, there was a hint of confusion on her face. Something more, too.

Desire.

She wanted me. Wanted more of the pleasure I promised earlier. She couldn't hide it from me.

“Silver,” she growled. “Why am I not surprised? First, I find you knocking men out behind a seedy bar. Now this.”

“Look, it's nothing serious. Just a quick race on the town outskirts, that's all.”

“What? You're going to
race?
”

Evidently, the idea had never occurred to her. Whoops, me and my mouth again.

“Well, yes, but at a reasonable speed.” I tried to cover my tracks while the guys glared at me. “I mean, would you rather I spend my evening punching guys in the face?”

At least I made her laugh.

“I would rather you settle down and act like an adult instead of a delinquent criminal.”

The riders were getting antsy. I put an arm around Madison and led her away from them, behind a grove of trees where we could talk without being seen.

“You know I'm an aggressive guy. I gotta let that steam out somehow.” I brushed her soft cheek with my rough fingers. “I wouldn't be here right now if you'd just agreed to that date with me.”

“You're blaming me for your poor choices in life? And there was never any date, by the way. There was only one thing you wanted out of me.”

“Who knows? Maybe more than one if things go well.”

Some of the guys called for me to hurry up. I had to make her settle down somehow. Had to show her we weren't doing any harm.

“You're so tense,” I murmured, rubbing her shoulders. “Whenever I see you, I can tell you're on the verge of exploding.”

“Yes, because I have to worry about what dumb thing you'll do next.”

Even so, she relaxed a little at my touch. A good sign. I was close, so very close, to making this woman mine.

“They say sex is a great stress reliever.” I pressed against her tight body from behind. “I've been thinking about you all day, y'know.”

“You have?”

“Yeah. About all the naughty things I'll do to you.” Her ear lobe called to me. I nibbled it, showing her how good I could be with my mouth. “Just say the word, and it's yours.”

She trembled and closed her eyes. “I... I'm on duty, damn it.”

“No one has to know. I can keep a secret.”

Back in the parking lot, someone gunned their bike's engine.

“Hey, you coming or what, man? We're gonna start without you.”

Axel scoffed. “It'd be a lot easier to win, at least. Guy's a demon on that ride of his.”

Madison wasn't pleased to hear that. She folded her arms and tried to pretend she was annoyed with me.

“Coming,” I yelled back. Then I had an idea. “And you're coming with me.”

“With you?”

“Yeah. You can sit behind me. Ever rode a motorcycle before?”

“Yes, on patrol a few times, but – hey, wait! You can't be serious,” she cried. “First of all, I came here to stop you from making so much noise. I'm supposed to be working.”

I grinned. “You
are
working. You think I'm gonna cause trouble, right? Well, what better way to keep an eye on me than by coming along for a ride?”

She trailed behind me as I strode back to my bike, howling about how she could give me ten different tickets for this if she wanted to.

“Racing is speeding,” she howled over the bike's roar. “You're disturbing the peace after midnight on a weekday. And where is your helmet? You expect me to get on that thing and not wear one?”

“I'm that good. You just have to trust me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Trusting people hasn't gotten me very far in life, sorry to say.”

Axel checked Madison out nervously. He had a right to be freaked out; guy had a mile-long rap sheet and probably several warrants for his arrest.

“What's the deal with
her?
”

She scowled. “Excuse me, but I'm standing right here. You can direct your questions to me.”

I swatted her ass to distract her from Axel's running mouth. She shrieked at me, but there was a definite twinkle in her eye.

She liked this, didn't she? Of course, she'd never admit it. I knew the minute I met her she'd be a freak in the bedroom.

Just the way I liked it, lucky for her.

“How
dare
you! I'm an officer of the law, not a piece of meat!”

I snickered. “Axel, Madison is a friend of mine... sort of. She's gonna be my racing partner.”

“No I'm not,” she protested weakly.

“But dude, she's a cop.”

I gestured for the idiot to shut up and go back to his bike, which he finally did. Then I pulled Madison onto the seat behind me.

“Just hang on to me tight and you'll be fine.”

“I
won't
be fine. I'll go flying off your stupid bike and crack my skull on the road.” She reached for her handcuffs. “I don't have to go along with your games, you know. I could take you in right now.”

I put my hand over hers and shot her a smoldering stare. “Thought I told you to save those for the bedroom, hmm?”

That knocked her speechless. I revved the engine. She let out a quiet cry and threw her arms around me.

Finally, she was letting me get nice and close to her. Too bad we weren't both naked, though. Not yet, but we would be soon.

Because one way or another, I'd made up my mind.

I was gonna fuck her good and hard tonight.

“Yo, what are you doing?” Diego was not happy. “She's a pig, dude.”

“It's cool. I know her.” I stared him down. “We gonna have a problem?”

There were few people Diego shied away from. I was one of them. He wandered back to his own bike, muttering and cursing to himself.

“Don't worry about assholes like him,” I told her. “They talk big but can't back it up.”