Page 33 of Built of Flames
That was easy enough to fix. Mitch stood and shucked his jeans, boots, and boxer-briefs in record time.
She sat up and reached with greedy hands, but Mitch chuckled and shook his head as he kept out of reach. “You touch that and we’re done before we’re even started. How about you save that for round two?”
“Then let’s get started on round one.”
He grinned. “Challenge accepted.” Mitch reached down and grabbed a condom out of his wallet.
Isabella grinned. “Just one?”
Holy hell, this woman was going to kill him. “I wasn’t looking to be presumptuous.”
She scooted back on the bed and opened her nightstand drawer, and pulled out a box of condoms. “I bought these the other day when I ran into town.”
“Nice. A good firefighter is prepared for all emergencies.”
“And this counts as an emergency. I need you, Mitch.”
Mitch felt his heart stutter and then trip over itself. “I need you too, Izzy. Bella. Isabella. Which name do you prefer?”
She laughed and shook her head. “We’re having this conversation now?”
“I can multi-task.” He knelt on the bed at her feet, then used her legs to tug her down from the headboard.
Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he ran his hands up and down her legs, getting closer to the top with each pass. His fingers tickled the curls at the apex of her thighs. “Isabella?”
He brought his hands down and back up. This time, he let his fingers coast along her seam. She gasped softly and her gaze blazed at him. “Izzy?”
Then he knelt down and replaced his fingers with his tongue. “Or Bella?”
He dipped his tongue inside and she fell back to the bed. “Mitch.”
“That wasn’t one of the options, sweetheart.”
A laugh choked out of her. The laugh turned into a moan when he dipped his tongue inside.
Home Fires Burning
Bella pressed Send on the report as Aisling knocked on the door and walked into the cabin.
“The materials are being delivered this morning. I can start this afternoon if you want.”
It took Bella a few moments to pull her mind off the arson report she’d just sent to a small town in Pennsylvania. “My fire lab? You can start?”
She jumped up and pulled Aisling into a dance around the room.
Aisling laughed as they completed the polka. “I can start. It’s going to take a couple of days, though. I’d like to cover most of this room in tarps and use it as my work area. That’ll make it go faster, but you won’t be able to work here for a few days. That okay?”
Bella nodded. “Absolutely. Anything you need, Oh Mighty Carpenter.”
Aisling tilted her head and grinned. “You seem chipper this morning. And loose. Relaxed but giddy. Hmm. I wonder what you and Mitch were doing behind that closed door for all of those hours yesterday and last night.”
Bella laughed. She’d never had friends like Aisling or Tansy before. Even though her skin was on fire, she did another spin and then a bow. “We were doing exactly what you’re thinking we were doing. And it was fabulous.”
“I bet it was. There have been a ton of sparks flying between you since he arrived. You’re okay, though, seeing as he was one of the people you were trying to avoid in Kelsor that day?”
Bella nodded. “So much has changed. I hadn’t been brave enough to go back or contact them myself, but I’ve been wanting to reconnect for a while now.” Almost since the moment she’d left.
“He appears to be a great guy. I’m glad you’ve reconnected.”