Heaven Sent (9 page)

Her dearest friend knew her well. “I don’t know.
Probably.”
The thought of him with another woman killed her, made her want to writhe in
physical agony. “No.”

“Then you have some thinking to do. I’ll let myself out.
And Mia, no television.”

* * * *

Darkness fell early in the evening. Mia sipped a cup of hot cocoa while
waiting. Time had never moved slower than waiting for Dire to show. Maybe she
needed a psychologist or some heavier meds of a different type. Who worried
about a man they recently met, and without an exact definition of the relationship
they were heading in. She grasped his shirt in one hand, wanting to bury her
face in his scent.
Madness.
She’d fallen head over
heels into insanity. Tired of pacing and watching out the blinds for a glimpse
of his truck, she sat down and flipped the television on. True to her word, she
kept away from the news channels. Comedic family shows played on every channel.
Not in the mood for comedy, she turned the television off and picked up a
historical romance she’d found at a swap and shop months ago, but hadn’t had
the time to read. She slipped the robe off and donned his shirt, wanting to
feel closer to him in his absence. Using the discarded robe as blanket, she
curled up on the couch and disappeared into the pages of her new book.

Lost in the world of thievery, abduction and handsome as sin highlanders,
she’d toned out the world until a loud banging on the door scared her out of
her wits. She dog-eared the page and tossed off the robe. The incessant
pounding grew louder. “What.” She swung the door open ready to rip the balls
out of the person who’d made her put down the fantastic book and probably
dented her door. “Dire.”

“I rang the bell seven times.” Did he growl at her? And why did she find
the sound arousing.
Wait…I’m mad at him.
She crossed her arms over her breasts and glared at him.

“I’m sorry for scaring you.”

Mia saw red. She clocked him with her open palm across his face, spun on
her heel and stormed back into her house.

“Mia.
Stop.”

“Go to hell.” She launched her body forward into a sprint up the stairs
away from him. Pounding footsteps fell behind her as she heard him chase.
Halfway up the stairs, a band of steel wound across her middle, halting her
momentum. She kicked back and found her legs trapped by muscles as hard as tree
trunks.

“Why are you mad?”

God he smelled good.
Even angry with him, his energy singed her. Struggling to break his hold
got her nowhere. His breath tickled her neck. His rock hard chest cradled her
back.

“You didn’t text or call.”

Dire cussed under his breath. “Because I thought you’d be asleep like we
discussed,” he snapped at her and spun her to face him.

She saw the angry welt on his face and dropped her gaze. Dire didn’t
deserve her abuse. Ashamed of her actions, she couldn’t look him in the face.

“You should’ve anyhow.”

“I’m okay.” She frowned refusing to give into the two words she’d wanted
to hear for hours.

“The team is okay too. Mia. I like to look who I’m talking to in the
face.”

“Why are you doing this to me?” She pushed against him to get away and
stumbled on the stairs when he let go of her. “Take this back and get out. I
can’t do this.” Tears threatened to spill as she tore off his shirt and threw
it at him. The T-shirt hit him in the face and fell to the floor. “I wanted to
tell you that we should be friends but I can’t now because I’m in too deep.”
His stunned expression, the way he held his body rigid while raking a gaze over
her body caused her to shiver in reaction and start for her bedroom. “I said to
leave,” she repeated when he made no move to.

“Calm down.” Instead of leaving, he followed her.

“Fuck you.”

“That’s mature.” He caught up to her, spun her around, and fisted a hand
in her hair keeping her from running further. “Look at me Mia.” Her choice was
to squeeze her eyes shut or to do as he bid.

“You had better be glad I’m not tender headed.” She glared at him,
uncomfortable with the close proximity of his body so close to hers and her
runaway emotions.

“I’m not hurt and you’re okay. Nothing bad happened.” He pressed her
against the edge of her bed and dropped an arm to her lower back. Mia almost
died when his lips feathered over her skin of her throat. Soft at first, until
he worked a path up her neck, swept a finger along her jaw line and nipped to
her lips.

Dormant need blazed to life. Mia turned aggressor, wrapping her legs
around his waist and planting her lips over his mouth. Tongues tangled. Moaning
into his mouth, she found the hem of his shirt and thrust her hands up his
chest. Dire helped her take the T-shirt off.
God, he is so sexy.
To think she’d been totally naked in front of
him this whole time left her feeling inhibited.

“Don’t get shy on me now. You looked damn sexy wearing my name.” He bit
into the curve of her neck while palming the globes of her ass. His sparse
chest hair abraded her sensitive nipples. Wetness drenched her thighs as he
laid her down. Dire paused assaulting her mouth to grab a condom out of his
pocket. She watched enthralled as he unbuttoned his jeans and shrugged out of
them to cover his heavy cock.

Oh shit.

“Trust me Mia. This is like riding a bike.” Dire shifted her legs over
his shoulders and silenced her worry with a slow lick over her core. She came
for the first time in a long time at the slightest provocation. He chuckled
against her quivering muscles and eased his tongue into her slit. She rocked
her hips toward him feeling the wondrous climb begin again. He kept her on the
verge, nipping on her clit and stretching her sex with his tongue, then his
finger, setting a mind spinning pace. “Dire.” She needed more, craved him. Her
lover crawled over her body, ran his palms over the inner seams of her thighs
and parted her sex for him. A hint of a smile spread across his face.

“Your sparkly fireman hat is fucking sexy.”

“Thank you.” A heady moan departed her lips as Dire teased her folds with
the tip of his erection. He slid in an inch, and then out again. Impatience set
in. Mia dug her heel into his flank to spur him into action. He gifted her with
a cocky grin and not the result she wanted.

“Why are you playing with me?”

“Because we have all the time in the world.”
Dire bent over her body to capture her nipple in his mouth. “You have a
beautiful body.” He delivered the same attention to her other, sparking an
unquenchable thirst to have all of him. Work worn fingers trailed over every
inch of her body, while his mouth pleasured her, finding erogenous areas she
never knew existed. Mia pushed her fingers into his sides, urging him for more.
“Now.
Please.” Perhaps the plea in her voice was his
undoing. Dire pressed into her. Sinking, stretching her to the brim. She
rotated her pelvis to fully seat him and sighed in relief when he began to move
within her.

“Damn baby, you’re so tight. I don’t want to hurt you, Mia.” He braced
his hands on the sides of her head, to cradle her face in his hands as he
rocked slow and deep into her body. Mia wanted to speak but speech fled as
sensations flowed through her. Dire moved with aching tenderness, plunging her
into an endless abyss of white hot pleasure. Her body opened for him and
clenched on his withdrawal. A heavy emptiness encased her with his absence, but
then thick fingers added to the girth of his rock hard cock, his thumb
strumming her clit. Mia closed her eyes and let the sensations roll over her.
Her nipples tightened to peaks brushing against his chest. Under her palm the
muscles of his ass clenched. Dire lazily plunged into her. She wanted faster,
harder and opened her eyes to tell him so. However, he captured her mouth and
plunged in before she could muster the nerve to break his tenderness.

She breathed into his mouth and wound her arms around his neck. “I need
more.”

“I can’t fuck you hard now, Mia. You’ll be the death of me and I’ll hurt
you more than you are right now. Let me love you, baby. We’ll get wild and
crazy another night. Not tonight.”

Mia wanted to scream in frustration. She wasn’t an invalid and she’d
slept for hours upon hours and taken the stupid medication. Then the twinkle in
his eye caught her attention. Dire rolled them, his body staying fully seated
inside her. She smiled with relief. “Not tonight.”

He was giving her control. Allowing her to take the lead in a way she
could halt if her body couldn’t handle it. Mia ran her hands up his chiseled
chest and rode him. Her body fell into a smooth rhythm. She would slam down and
he would rock up taking her higher. Dire wrapped his hands around her hips and
ground her against his pelvis, pleasure arched with the friction he provided.
Her clit throbbed and her pussy clenched around him.

Mia cried out when he thrust into her from his position, the loud popping
of his hips bumping into her pelvis rattled her to the bone. She came hard,
digging her fingernails into his shoulders to keep from being dislodged. When
the tremors subsided and aftershocks remained Dire flipped them. Taking the
reins once more, he thrust in and out of her and with a guttural growl came,
the warmth of his seed flooded the reservoir.

“Mia,” he murmured her name and pulled out of her. She watched him shuck
the used condom with one hand and tie off the end.

“I have a basket on my side.” Dire pressed a kiss to her lips as he
leaned over her to the edge and dropped the rubber in the trash.

“Beautiful woman.
You tried my restraint to the max.”

“I was feeling better and wanted to be treated like a woman not someone
on the injured list.” As Dire rolled back onto the bed, Mia cuddled up in his
arms.

“We can play harder soon.” He played with tendrils of her hair. His
fingers brushed into her scalp causing sleepiness to course through her. Her
body relaxed immeasurably.

“Good.” She yawned and slid her leg in between his.

“So, every time you get mad do I get to have my shirt thrown at me and a
glimpse of your gorgeous body? If so, please tell me all your pet peeves so I
can look and have my fill.”

“Only when you make me irrational.
I don’t know what
possessed me to strip off the shirt and toss it at you. Or hit you. I’m sorry
about that.”

“I know you are. My face is strong enough to handle a little abuse, just
don’t make a habit of it. You might not like the results.”

“Oh, what’s the punishment?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know what happens to bad girls who get slap happy?”
He intertwined their fingers and kissed each of her fingertips.

“I thought you would’ve turned and went home after I did that. And now
here we are.”

Dire pulled her discarded coverlet over them. His body heat gave her the
extra warmth and comfort she needed. Baring herself for him was the third
scariest moment of her life. The first walking down the aisle to Connor, the
second giving birth, him third.

“You know us
firemen,
we take a lick and keep on
ticking.” The fingers massaging her scalp intensified. Mia placed her hand over
his to halt him. “Stop making me sleepy.”

He stilled for a moment and ran his hand up and down her back.
“Why have you remained single and for how long?”

“I didn’t have the heart or courage to date for the longest time. One
year passed, and then two. I concentrated on raising Ash and being content as a
mother. Between her and my job, I never made time or the effort to put myself
out on the market. The Cheer Moms set me up on a few trial dates, coffee dates
really that tanked. It’s been four years since he passed. I don’t think I
remember how to date. It’s changed so much from when I was in college.”

“Four years of celibacy is a long time. What were your plans when Ashland
moved away to college?”

“I’ve been celibate five and a half years. Connor was on extended deploy
when he had a massive coronary.”
Dire’s
hand stilled.
“I don’t know. I didn’t plan that far ahead. I’m not really a cat person and I
don’t have the heart to discipline a dog. That leaves me alone.”

“Not anymore. Are you sore or in pain?” He was so sweet to worry.

Mia crawled up his body and kissed his lips. “I’m perfectly sore in all
the right places. You were right, riding you was like remembering how to riding
a bike.”

Dire’s
beautiful eyes darkened. Mia shivered,
hoping he’d decide to go a second round with her. All of the sudden she felt
the desire to make up for lost time, with him and only him.

“No.” He shut her down cold and began to soothe her scalp again with
knowing hands.

Mia moved to shake him off.

Dire chuckled and trapped her body with his and the blanket cocooning
her.

“Rat fink jerk.”
The sandman stole the rest of her
tirade as sleep claimed her.