“Okay.” He kissed the top of my forehead. “But I should probably move my truck.”
“I have spot 205 in the back if you want to park there.” I gave him the key to my apartment so he could get back in without buzzing up then raced to my room to ensure it wasn’t a mess.
The buzz of lust battled with my tiredness when Blaze slipped into bed beside me. I only had a double mattress, so we had to squeeze together. As I cuddled into him, resting my head on his chest, he ran his fingers along the side of my face. That was when I slipped into dreamland, never more content in my life.
Chapter Fourteen
Blaze
“I’ll text you later.” I leaned down and pressed my lips to Ladon’s before I left.
He smiled up at me with his eyes barely open and his mussed hair splayed around him on the pillow. “Thank you for staying the weekend with us.”
“I enjoyed every moment of it.” Having to share a double bed with Ladon, even though I had a queen-sized bed at home, did nothing to deter me or my dragon from wanting to spend as much time as possible with the omega and his son. And the next time we had days off together, I hoped they would stay with me at my place. It meant I needed to buy a bunch of things to entertain a five-year-old, but first, I had to get home to shower and grab a change of clothes before heading into work.
I couldn’t resist another quick kiss before leaving the bedroom and the apartment. When I moved to Saramto, I never expected to have anything more than a fling with any omega I met. It seemed to be the way of the big city from all the shows and movies I’d watched. Plus, my heart was still healing after Dennis had broken it so badly. Ladon came as a complete surprise, and I was already falling hard for him. On top of that, his son seemed to like me, too.
By the time I arrived at work, I was determined to ask Ladon to move in with me and had a list of all the things I would need to get for Kirin. Maybe it seemed a bit soon, but everything about him felt so right. I wanted to come home to him, yearned to spoil him on my days off, and to become the family I always expected to have already.
I was lost in my thoughts as I walked into the station until I passed Captain Lee’s office.
“Gillinois, in here,” he called.
I pivoted on my feet and headed inside the small room. Most of the time the captain had to talk to any of us, he did so in the kitchen or the main bay. It was strange meeting with him in his office. “Good morning, sir. What can I do for you?” I hoped I wasn’t going to be disciplined for shifting into my dragon form during my last rotation. There had been plenty of hours after that rescue had happened for him to do so. And I believed it was warranted for that situation, the one stipulation to being allowed to shift on the job.
Lee grabbed a stack of papers and straightened them on his desk. “It seems I have some bad news.”
My stomach clenched, dreading what he had to say. I was getting reprimanded. Though I had no idea what my punishment would be.
“Not just for you but for the whole station.”
Bile lurched up my esophagus.Not again.Because of my actions, the entire station was going to be punished. I had to stop that. “Sir, it was completely my idea to shift for that rescue. No one had anything to do with that. They didn’t even have time to stop me.”
Captain Lee shook his head. “It has nothing to do with that. Well, not directly, anyway. And you’re not being punished. But it does have to do with the sinkhole.”
My relief was short-lived since he had said at the beginning of the conversation that he had bad news.
The captain folded his hands together, tenting his pointer fingers. “This station needs to be closed while the city fixes the structure of the old underground roadway beneath this area. There’s a danger of more collapses and they’re closing the roads around here. Several businesses are being shut down, too.”
I wiped my hand across my mouth, the news completely unexpected. “What does that mean for us? For me?”
“The firefighters with the most seniority will be transferred to the nearby stations to make up for their increased territory.” He took the top paper and handed it to me. “The rest of you have a choice to take positions in some of these nearby towns that have vacancies. I think Franks is heading to Merryville since he has family there.”
Taking the sheet of paper, I glanced over the options. I knew nothing about any of the towns listed. Plus, I didn’t want to leave, not with things starting to go well with Ladon. This development changed everything between us. “I don’t know what to do. I never expected this.”
“I know.” Captain Lee leaned back in his chair. “I don’t like that I’m going to force a fire chief into early retirement to be promoted to his job, but all these decisions were made without my input. When you get a chance today, look up these places and see which one seems the most appealing. Hopefully that will help you. In the meantime, we must move all the trucks and equipment to the other stations or to the City Works building for storage.”
“Okay.” I stood, the weight of the sudden change heavy on my shoulders. I didn’t want to move again, and I hated the idea of putting my career ahead of my fated mate. The reassignment was supposedly only temporary but having been involved with the mayor’s son in Hawthorn, I knew city projects moved much slower than what was originally planned and hoped for.
***
“Blaze, what are you doing here?” Ladon asked. “I thought you were going to call.”
I pushed off the wall outside ST Kids Care Center and braced myself to catch Kirin as he raced toward me. “I know.” I pulled the boy up into my arms and moved him to my hip so I could talkto his father. “But I wanted to talk to you in person. It’s kind of a big deal.”
Ladon paused with his key in the door of the lock. “If you’re going to break up with me, just do it and get it over with. I don’t have time to drag out a doomed relationship. It’s not fair to me or Kirin.”
“No.” I shook my head and wrinkled my nose at Kirin as he tried to tickle my neck. I had no idea why Ladon would think I wanted to break up with him. “That’s not it at all. But it does involve us.”
