I took a deep breath to strengthen my nerves. I could kill a man, so this was easy. Or at least, it should be. Why the hell was I having so much trouble with this? Was Cillian and Aspen being away affecting me that much? It was crazy.
I walked toward the fire crew—which included one woman—smiling when Dr. O’Halloran noticed me.
The doc returned the gesture and pointed at me. “This is....”
I realized I hadn’t given him my name. “Shaughnessy. Rowen Shaughnessy. I’m the patient’s boyfriend.” The word came out so easily, but I didn’t have time to think about it. I focused on the man at the front of the five firefighters, obviously the one in charge. “As ye can expect, Fallon’s a wee bit frightened. He thinks he’s gonna lose his cock.”
The head fireman nodded, and I took him in. He was broad shouldered and tall, with a white Henley clinging to his muscles. His short brown hair was a mess, as if maybe he’d had a helmet on at some point today, and his smile quirked to the right, making it appear more like a smirk. He had deep grooves in his cheeks and a short, pointy nose. Green eyes might’ve won as his best feature. I supposed he would be the type of bloke who would either keep Fallon’s attention or make the entire situation more embarrassing for him. Either way, this firefighter looked like the type in calendars.
“Every man’s biggest fear.” The firefighter chuckled and his voice was deeper than I’d imagined. His thick Brooklyn accent was the most New York thing I’d ever heard. “You don’t have to worry. We’ve done this before.”
“Ye have?” I cocked my head.
The firefighter behind him, a woman built nearly as big as him, laughed. If I’d been attracted to women, she would be it because I already couldn’t keep my eyes off her. Her beauty was off the charts, with very similar facial features to her boss. The same kind of cheek dips and smile had me wondering whether they were siblings. Her brown hair was short and brushed off her forehead and she had lighter eyes. “It’s not the first time a man’s stuck his junk where he shouldn’t.” She winked. “Don’t you worry. We don’t just fight fires.”
“That’s good to know because I need his cock intact, too.” I was beginning to sound more like Fallon now, and I winced, though it got the firefighters laughing. “I’ll let him know ye’re here.”
I left them at the desk and rushed back toward Fallon’s room, slipping through the blue curtain behind the door. Fallon and Vail were still embracing on the bed, and Vail sat up as soon as he saw me. Fallon was half asleep, but his eyes snapped open, too.
“They’re here,” I whispered quietly, walking around to the right side of the bed so I was closer to Fallon. I ran my hand over his forehead comfortingly. “Ye’re gonna be okay. They’ve done this before. Heard it right from their own lips, all right?”
“I guess.” Fallon’s voice wobbled, and I couldn’t help it, I leaned down and laid my lips against his in a gentle, reassuring kiss. He moaned into my mouth, and the tenseness in his body relaxed somewhat. I cupped his cheek and caressed my thumb over his jaw, and when I finally broke away, he fluttered his long lashes at me.
“We’re here and we’re not leaving, aye?”
He caught his bottom lip between his teeth. “Aye.”
I chuckled lightly at him mimicking my Irish accent. “I’m gonna go talk to them again and see what their plan is.”
“We should call Aspen,” Vail whispered. “He’ll want to know.”
“Do you gotta tell him?” Fallon pouted. “Cillian will never let me live down the humiliation. And if you tell Aspen, he’ll hear.”
“Ye will. Vail’s right. Aspen will want to know. Call him and talk. That might calm yer nerves. Aspen’s good at reassuring ye.” I felt like I’d failed.
As if reading my thoughts, Fallon tilted his chin, clearly begging for more love. “That kiss was fucking awesome. We should do it more often.”
I laughed and patted him on the head, awkwardness making me straighten. The inner devout voice was quiet for now, but it wouldn’t be long before I began to question my sins. The sooner I got to Father Shay, the better.
I left them there as Vail brought out his phone and went to sit on the chair, rather than stay on the bed. I headed back to the firefighters. They were talking with the doctor, and now, one of them had a diamond saw clutched in his hands. It reminded me of something the contractor had used to cut drywall when they redid our formal dining room at the house.
“The thing we want to do is keep him safe,” the head firefighter said.
Dr. O’Halloran nodded. “Well, what do you suggest, Brick?”
Brick, as the doc had called him, crossed his massive arms. I couldn’t compare without Cillian here, but I thought he had to be bigger. No wonder he was called Brick. “You got a screen? We can put one up around his waist so he can’t see. We don’t want him moving.” He gestured for the firefighters at his back to follow him, and they started to head toward Fallon’s bed. “This might require a bolt cutter, and I haven’t met a guy yet who wants to see that coming for his dick.”
I followed urgently. “How will ye do this?” I threw my arm across the door to the room. “I trust ye, but I need to know. He’s under me protection and I won’t let anything happen to him.”
Brick studied me, the easy smile leaving his face as he gave me a long once-over, as though assessing whether I was a threat that would stop him from doing his job. “Like I said, buddy, we’ve done this before. We’ll take it slow. The saw’s not that big, all right? We go in, put up a screen to stop him from seeing what we’re doing, wriggle a couple of tongue depressors between his junk and the ring—if possible—and weslowlycut it off. There will be a ton of lube squirted on him to keep us from chafing his skin. I know we already said it, but he’s really not the first guy to get something stuck on his dick. They shouldn’t even be selling those solid rings, if you ask me.”
I hesitated, then sighed and dropped my arm.
He gave me a long look before throwing a glance over his shoulder. “Bay, you want to do this?”
The woman nodded. “I got this, bro.”
Ah, so theyweresiblings. It made sense. She took the saw from the other man, which was a hand tool about half the length of my forearm, then walked through the door and past the curtain. Brick and the rest went in behind her and so did I.
