“Hale...”
“I bet you could.” His grin is pure sin.
“Can you even breathe down there?”
He laughs against my skin. “Hell of a way to go.”
The playful side of him—teasing, in control but reveling in my pleasure—fascinates me. This isn't the stoic captain. This is Hale unfiltered, and I want more.
I tangle my fingers in his dark hair, tugging gently to pull him up. He moans—deep, surprised—and his eyes go hazy.
Note to self: He likes that.
“I’ve never known a man to enjoy that so much.”
“You’ve known pathetic men, then.”
“Yeah,” I admit on a breathy laugh. “Pretty much.”
He nips my thigh playfully. “Want me to stop?”
“No. I want a turn.” My voice drops. “I want to taste you.”
He freezes, lips still on my skin. Then, in a blur, he bites my thigh sharper, rights my thong, and leans back in his chair—pants tented obscenely with his erection, thick and straining.
My mouth waters. I slide off the desk, sinking toward my knees, hands reaching for his belt.
But then—the alarms blare. Loud, insistent, the big-call tone that rattles the walls.
Hale curses a blue streak. I stand, legs wobbly.
“I can be quick?” I offer, half-joking, reaching for him again.
“Yes, I'm sure you can, little temptress,” he mutters, dodging me with tortured eyes. The station erupts outside—boots thundering, engines rumbling.
He suits up fast, fireproof pants over his sweatpants hiding the evidence, but that raw hunger in his glance promises everything.
“I’m not done with you.”
Then he's gone, door slamming behind him.
Chapter sixteen
Chapter Sixteen: Noah
“It’s go time, boys!” I holler as I climb up into the engine.
“Excuse me?” snap Clara and Sandy in unison.
“Boysandstrong, capable women!” I correct myself.
Satisfied with the amendment, Clara flicks on the sirens, confirms there aren’t any crew members dangling precariously off the side of the truck, and sails out of the bay.
There’s a residential fire deep in Chinatown that would normally not be our response area, but it’s already started spreading to the building next door, so Station 47 has been summoned for backup.
Which means it’s finally time for me to put my latest idea into action.
I haven’t run it by Lila yet, but that’s only because we didn’t really get a chance to continue our meeting earlier. Fuck knows what her and Hale got up to once Evan and I scurried out of there.
