Where There's Smoke (11 page)

“Are you okay?” He rocked them both, back and forth, until the motion took the edge off her terror. His smell and closeness helped more than she could say.

“I think so.” She nuzzled her face into his neck so he wouldn’t see the tears she couldn’t stop. “Because of you.”

“Thank God.” His fingers buried in her hair, holding her tight against him. He rained kisses over her head, neck and the side of her face. “What the fuck happened?”

“I don’t know.” She tried to explain. “Someone locked the door to the basement. Laura Gittleson went home earlier. I was searching for the petition.”

“Who the fuck did this to you?” Logan had rarely resorted to anger.

Before she could reassure him, a familiar man approached. The fireman who’d carried her across Ben’s yard stood to their side, arms crossed over his chest. “We have to stop meeting like this. If you want my number, all you have to do is ask. I’d be glad to share.”

Logan growled. “I don’t think so, buddy. Don’t you have a fucking fire to fight?”

“So it’s like that is it? I see, I see.” The fireman laughed, his palms held outward as he retreated a few steps.

“Could you do me a favor?” she asked.

Logan stiffened until she clarified. “Please grab that box of files by the window before it gets soaked, or catches on fire or everything blows away.”

“You got it.” He’d jogged over, claimed the records and delivered them to her before she could help Logan come down from his adrenaline high. “Glad to see you’re mostly unharmed again. See ya. Duty calls.”

Kyana raised a hand when her new friend paired up with another fireman then dashed into the burning building.

“What the hell did he mean by that?” Logan glared at her.

“He was just teasing, Logan. You know, it’s not every day I tell a man I love him.
I
wasn’t kidding. And it wasn’t something I blurted just because I thought I wasn’t going to make it.”

“Yeah.” He swallowed hard. “Same goes. But I was talking about the ‘
mostly
unharmed’ part. Where are you hurt?”

She peered down at herself, taking stock of the various aches and pains the glow in her heart had masked.

At the same time, Logan ran his hands over her. He paused when he touched her shoulder. She squeaked at the stabbing pain that raced down her arm. When he pulled his hand away, it was red. “Shit. You’re bleeding. A lot.”

He separated their torsos long enough to strip his shirt off. She was glad for the visual anesthetic when he wrapped the cotton around her. Tight. As more and more people joined the crowd, drawn to the black smoke rising—thick and dark—into the evening sky, Logan waved his hand and shouted.

None other than Daryl Thick answered his call.

“You!” Logan glared. “What are you doing here?”

“I passed Myrtle Jansen coming back from the post office. She told me there was a fire. So I came to see if I could help.” He lifted a small plastic kit. “I’m trained in first aid from the Army, you know?”

“Fine.” Logan didn’t make her wait for someone else’s assistance. He wanted to get the hell out of there before the news crew showed up and questions started. “Could you take a look at Ky’s arm? She must have sliced it on the window. Sorry baby, I didn’t realize when I pulled you out…”

“There wasn’t time, Logan.” She kissed his frown until it melted away. “You rescued me. If you hadn’t shown up—”

They both shuddered.

“I saved myself too,” he murmured despite Daryl’s presence. “You’re everything to me.”

They shared another kiss. This one slower and gentler than the last. Kyana nestled deeper into his arms.

“Okay, kids. Enough canoodling until I get her patched up.” Daryl flipped open the lid of his case, snapped on a glove and unwound Logan’s ruined shirt. “Damn, you might need a couple stitches. You want to go to the hospital, or should I sew you up here?”

Kyana peered at Logan. “I’d rather stay with you. Do you mind? Will it gross you out?”

“Hardly.” He laid his forehead on hers. “I’m not going anywhere, Ky. Not now. Not ever.”

“Me either.” She beamed up at him.

Daryl’s quick administration of local anesthetic and his deft handiwork didn’t seem so awful. Especially with Logan to distract her. Before she knew it, the tough stuff was over, reports were logged, the arson investigators took their information for later and they were heading home.

Together.

Chapter Six

Kyana nibbled the corner of her lip as she stared into her glass. She swirled the remnants of her dessert wine around the bottom of the vessel, entranced by the pattern as she thought back to earlier in the night.

She’d been sitting at Rose’s dining room table, the box of files spread out before her, when Ben came into the room. He’d whistled then said, “You look great, girly. Extra girly. You’re gonna give my kid a heart attack. Now enough of this nonsense. Go out and have a good time tonight.”

He’d waved his hands at the documents she tried to show him, uncaring that she’d finally found the petition. How could he brush off the only clue they might have to the fires?

“I know I’m probably not supposed to talk about the johns at any dinner table, and especially one as fancy as this—” Logan returned from the bathroom, sliding into their corner booth on the same side as her. “But damn. There were a lot of high-quality materials in there. Marble everywhere, a fancy vessel sink and I think the faucet and hardware were even gold-plated. You might want to check it out. Maybe someday I’ll get Nowak Construction to the level where I get jobs like those.”

“I know you will.” She took his hand and smiled at his enthusiasm, but he was getting to know her pretty damn well. Better than the couple guys she’d dated for close to a year.

“What’s wrong, Ky? Am I fucking this up?” His brows drew together. “I’m sure I used the wrong fork, but I didn’t think you’d care. That rack of lamb was the best thing I’ve ever eaten. Well, until dessert anyway. My stomach is full enough to bust. At least it’ll go happy.”

She couldn’t resist leaning over to kiss the last dot of chocolate from the corner of his lips. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to spoil your fun. It’s nothing you did. I guess I’m just having a hard time pretending like everything is fine when someone tried to kill Ben. And me. I just don’t understand what’s going on. And…”

“Yeah?” He stroked her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. “Don’t stop now. I’m listening.”

“I didn’t want to ruin our dinner, so I didn’t tell you that I found the petition this afternoon.”

“You did?” He sat up straighter. “That’s great. What’d it tell you? Who was on it?”

“That’s the thing.” She slumped against his side when he slung his arm around her shoulder. The comfort he infused her with was welcome. “It was pointless. All of that was for nothing. The names were mostly the new people to the neighborhood. You know about the Gittlesons, and a bunch of the other couples that commute to the city. Myrtle Jansen and Daryl Thick and a couple of the crankier residents. Still, nothing that surprised me.”

“Were you hoping the bad guy’s name would be written in invisible ink on the paper like in a movie?” He knew just what to say to cheer her up.

She laughed, then socked him in the side. “Shut up.”

“Ugh. That’s not a good idea. I’m already trying to digest faster if I’m going to have my dessert.”

“Logan-kun, you already ate yours plus half of mine.” She grinned. Watching him scarf the confection had lightened her heart.

“That’s not the kind of treat I’m talking about.” He leaned in close and nibbled the lobe of her ear before whispering, “We have the house to ourselves tonight. Ben’s staying at game night.”

“What?” She whipped around to look at him so fast they almost bumped noses. “He is?”

Logan nodded. “Yup. Myrtle said she’d take care of him. Hell, she seemed pretty excited about it. Maybe he’ll get lucky too.”

Kyana’s hand shot up as a waiter neared their table. “Check please.”

Logan’s laughter, and the squeeze of his fingers on her thigh, had her forgetting all about her worries. With him, she was safe. And she’d let things she couldn’t control any more than gravity keep her from enjoying herself for too long.

Logan reminded himself for the five thousandth time that he wanted to take things slow. And yet he found himself making out with Ky in his truck in the driveway like they were still adolescents. He’d hauled her across the bench seat and pressed her to his side as they drove. The instant he’d parked, they’d fused together as completely as his fingers had the time he’d gotten epoxy on them as an apprentice. Only this was a hell of a lot more enjoyable.

He searched for any long-lost scrap of propriety he might have in his genetic makeup. Nothing meant more to him than ensuring their first time was special. This was the girl of his dreams. The woman of his future…if his luck held. And he wanted to do this right.

With a groan, he retracted his tongue from her mouth, which tasted pleasantly of the wine they’d shared. She didn’t make it any easier on him when she chased him with licks and kisses of her own.

The dazed stare she leveled at him had him sure he was making the right decision. They had to take this party inside before they ended up half-dressed, mashed against the steering wheel. The last thing they needed was the neighborhood watch bearing down on them when someone’s elbow tooted the truck’s horn by accident.

“I know where there’s a nice comfy bed inside. No rotten old boards or the cab of my truck tonight. Fancy sheets and puffy pillows all the way.” He held his hand out to her when he stepped down. She allowed him to lift her and set her beside him. The pleated skirt of her filmy layered dress floated into place around her knees. “Only the best for someone as amazing as you. I wish I could have taken you to a swanky hotel or someplace crazy like Paris.”

“Been there, done that. I like where I am right now better. As long as we’re together, that’s where I want to be.” She raised their joined hands to her lips and kissed his knuckles. “Though the thought of getting horizontal somewhere soft and warm sounds pretty fine right about now.”

She shrieked when he scooped her into his arms and loped up the hill. He let them in through the back door off the deck then took the stairs two at a time. “That I can do.”

They laughed as he spun her around a few times before depositing her on their bed. He couldn’t do more than stare when she rose onto her knees. Gazing into his eyes, she hoisted her hem a little bit at a time. Along the way she revealed classic black, lace-top thigh highs held in place by some strappy contraption he couldn’t wait to reverse engineer.

An expanse of pale, creamy skin stretched over her belly to the matching bra that cupped her to perfection. And before he could share how absolutely gorgeous he thought she was, she’d abandoned her dress and crawled toward him, her onyx hair cascading off her shoulders onto the bed beside her as she stalked closer.

Powerful, graceful and alluring, she stole his capacity to do anything but react on a basic level.

When she neared, he tipped up her face with two fingers under her chin.

Her smile brightened his world.

“I can’t believe that just a few weeks ago, I thought I’d lost everything. And now I have all I’ve ever dreamed of. Family, home, the start of a business, passion and…you.”

“They say things happen for a reason, Logan-kun.”

“You’re my reason.” He didn’t need to say more.

She nodded, her eyes shimmering. “Same goes. And you know what else they say?”

“What’s that?” Trying to stop her from unbuttoning his slacks or drawing down the zipper would have been ridiculous.

“Where there’s smoke…there’s fire.” She hiked his dress shirt up and nipped the ridge that led from his hip bone, arrowing toward his cock.

The silk of his tie unraveled in a hurry. He couldn’t risk her destroying his restraint with the clever fingers that dropped his pants, shoved his briefs to his ankles and cupped his balls in the blink of an eye.

“Damn.” He choked when she weighed his sac in her palm.

“That’s what I’m saying.” She ran the tip of one finger along his entire length. “You seem even bigger tonight, now that I can really see you.”

“That fancy petting you’re doing certainly isn’t making it any smaller.” He grunted when she squeezed. “Unless you do it too much. Enough of that.”

She gasped when he kicked his feet free of the tangle of fabric pooled around them, then whipped his tie off and twined it around her wrists before she realized what he intended. “Logan?”

The note of uncertainty in her cry had him pausing. “Do you like to be bound, Ky?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried it.” She flushed, every inch of her turning a pretty salmon color. “I haven’t felt comfortable enough to ask guys to experiment.”

“That should have been clue number one they were all wrong for you.” He nuzzled her jaw, taking the sting out of his rebuke. “But you’ve thought about it?”

“Yes.” She closed her eyes. “A lot. Giving up control isn’t easy for me.”

“I know.” He kissed her eyelids, cheeks and lips gently. “Thank you for trusting me. You’re one of the only people who ever believed in me. All the way. I won’t let you down.”