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Walking into Fire

By: knitedreams



This story is the sequel to Taming Fire. To those of you who wanted me to continue on with Taming Fire: I'm sorry but it was completed in my mind and there was no way I could expound on it. To solve this problem, I interwove a little of Tessa's story in with Jessie's. There still might be a few errors in this story, but at least it wasn't as rushed as Taming Fire. Please enjoy and remember to vote and comment! 

--~~--

They pointed at him and called him monster. Danny Baker was just like any other twelve-year-old boy. He was gangly, unsteady on his feet as if unused to the body he was given, and he had the mysterious attributes of a metal spring, elastic and durable. There was only one physical trait, not of his body's doing, that earned him the name of monster by his fellow eighth grade peers.

He had burn scars on the left side of his face and body. His unruly dark, brown hair covered up the minimal scaring on the back of his skull. Yet the left eyebrow on his face was missing, the beginnings of ravaged, puckered skin replaced it going from his forehead down to his temple, spreading out across his cheek continuing down his neck, and disappearing into the collar of his shirt which hinted at more damage underneath his clothing. It was all courtesy of an unfortunate accident that happened when he was eight, an accident that took the life of his father. 

It was a sad fact he was use to the name-calling, the looks of horror and revulsion. Danny continued eating his lunch at the back of the gym; it had been his preferred secluded lunch area since he arrived at the school. He had several such spots, but this one had a great view of the forest beyond the fence that marked the perimeter of the school grounds. Unfortunately, it was now compromised.

The leader his taunters must have seen the general direction of his escape, grabbed his buddies, and followed Danny to the spot just to call him monster repeatedly like a skipping record. He was saddened at the thought of never eating lunch at the picturesque spot in the future.

There was a commotion among the jeers. It grabbed Danny's wandering mind, dragging him firmly back to reality. He saw a girl, short even for her age, pushing her way through the crowd to the leader of the group. A bow was perched on her springy, strawberry blond curls. Her pretty green dress sparkled like emeralds. The shirt, distended by many frilly petty coats, swished as she walked. The buckled black shoes, with the lacey cuffed white socks, clipped violently on the pavement as she walked. She looked like an enraged porcelain doll.

She finally made it to the front of the crowd, to the leader who didn't notice her standing right behind him, hands on her hips, and a daggered glare coming from her beautiful green eyes. The boy continued his taunting, until the girl's hand clamped onto his shoulder and turned him around. 

"Robby McDonovan, you're a heartless boy! Stop calling him a monster! I don't ever want to hear you call him a monster again!" Her voice was raised in anger; agitation enforced the steel behind every word she spoke. It had a stunning effect on Danny.

"You can't tell me what to do, Jess. My dad says the man's the boss in a relationship. So you have to do what I say, and I say either join in or back off!" The boy put his fists on his hips, and stood straighter in a bid to try and intimidate the girl. 

Jess balled her fists, her glare turned to pure loathing. The boy stayed smug, sure that his dad was right and she had to capitulate to his wishes. She turned away from him, to his friends that stood well away from them.

"Leave!" The yell reverberated off the wall of the building making her voice sound like it belonged to a giant. The children turned tail and ran for their lives. Danny thought it odd that they should be afraid of her.

Jess whipped around, her fist in the air. It connected with the boy's nose and he went flying. He landed on his butt, his hands cradling his offended nose. Blood streamed down his face to stain his t-shirt.

With haughty disdain, she straitened the lose strand of hair that fell in her face and fussed with her dress. "I don't want to see you anymore. I don't like bullies and boys who think they're better than girls." She stepped over the shocked boy heading straight toward Danny.

Danny couldn't stop staring at the oddity, the porcelain doll that could punch like a boy. With both hands, she flattened her dress in the back and sat down next to him. She sat so close to him that her dress spilled over into his lap like froth spilling over the confines of the lip of a cup. He went to scoot over, to give her and her dress the space they seemed to need, but she latched onto his arm with a gentle yet firm grip.

She gave him a welcoming smile. "I'm Jess. What's your name?" 

He took the time to scrutinize her to see if she was defending him and introducing herself out of pity. Only honesty and a hunger to meet the new kid sparkled within her eyes. Warmth from her touch spread from his arm and headed immediately to his heart. It was different from the type of warmth he felt from his mom whenever she hugged him. This was just as special as that, maybe more. 

"I'm Danny. You didn't need to defend me like that. My mom always told me that if you ignored them, they would get bored and go away." His voice was scratchy from a day of disuse, causing him to clear his throat. 

She looked at him as if he just popped out of nowhere. "Your mom's probably right, but I got rid of them faster and I made sure they're not going to bother you again." Without warning, she leaned in and started to trace the burn scar on his cheek with a finger.

Danny stiffened. No one, other than his mother, had ever touched his scars. The fact that he could FEEL her touch astonished him most. Ever since he was burned he hadn't feel much of anything on the left side of his body, but now he could acutely feel the lightness of her touch. He didn't know what to make of it.

"There you are!" 

He tried to jerk away at the sound of the voice, their solitude intruded upon, but she only followed him. Jess didn't turn to look at the girl in the softball uniform, black hair in a ponytail, and blue eyes shinning with curiosity strolling toward them. She seemed to be fascinated by the different patterns his scars made.

"What do you need, Tess?" Her murmur puffed feather light onto his scars and he felt it. Everything that came from her, he felt. What did it mean?

The intruder sat on the other side of Danny, setting the burden of her baseball bag down at her feet. "I ran into your ex-boyfriend. He is your ex, right? You hit him and all."

Jess stopped touching him and turned her attention onto her friend. He missed the contact, yet was distracted by the fact that the stranger was sitting just as close to him as Jess was.

"Yeah, you were right. He's a jerk. I'll tell you what he said to me later," she made a face in remembrance. "This is Danny." She nodded her head in his direction.

Tess's eyebrows rose as she took in Danny. "You're cute. I can see why Jess dumped the retard. What did he do for the bloody nose?"

Jess shrugged her shoulders. "Called Danny a monster."

"Aaaaaahhhhh..." Tess replied as if the secrets of the universe were just told to her. "Jealousy to the point of name-calling. How childish can you get?"

Danny couldn't help feeling confused. Was Tess making fun of him or could she honestly not see the scars that marred his face? "He was calling me monster because of my scars."

Tess eyed him critically, Jess just flashed him a "you're dense" look. Then Tess nodded as if she agreed with Jess's unspoken comment.

"No. He called you monster 'cause you're cute. Oh! Before I forget, Mrs. Kinkade said to report to the principal's office. The jealous jerk went running to her after you flattened his nose. That's another detention and you know what your mom said about getting another one of THOSE." Tess started chewing on her nails as Jess sighed in resignation.

"I'll take the heat. At least it won't be detention for something pointless like missing a homework assignment." She got up and turned to leave.

Danny stood up in a hurry. "I'll go with you. I'll explain that you were defending me. Maybe he won't give you a detention."

"Cool." Said Tess. "If you get off the hook, how about going out to the diamond? We're going up against the Warriors today. You guys can cheer me on."

--~~--

Present day...

"Hey, Ted! Your wife's looking for you. Something about getting your butt home or you can scrounge for food for the next month." Tessa walked into the firehouse, hands in her pants pockets and her limp noticeable yet not detracting from her formidable height. Her jet-black hair was up in an interesting knot on the top of her head. She was dressed in her favorite t-shirt and jeans. Her blue eyes were only for her boyfriend. 

Four men were sitting around a card table playing poker. Three of them were wearing the dark blue uniform of the firehouse while the other was wearing regular clothes. She walked up to her boyfriend of three years, Duncan, put her arm around him, and curiously looked at his cards. 

While concentrating on his cards, she idly ran her hands through his slightly shaggy burgundy hair, wishing his intense amber gaze was resting upon her person and not perusing the cards in his hands. His tall, built frame was precariously perched on the folding chair.

Ted, in his regular clothes, puffed on his cigar as he decided what cards he wanted to discard. "As far as she's concerned I'm working on the fire truck engine."

"You could have pulled the wool over her eyes using that lie, but Debbie, your daughter, took my cell phone to tattle on you."

"Shit!" Ted used a colorful array of curse words as he smacked down his cards and stood up. "I hope it's not too late to bribe her into keeping her mouth shut."

"You might want to bribe your other daughter too. Jessie's dropping her off soon." 

More curse words issued forth from the irate father. Tessa sighed her pleasure knowing that she was the cause of his displeasure. It was her idea that Debbie called her mother to tattle on her father. She never did like Ted and strove to make his life as painful as possible.

"That wasn't nice." Duncan had put down his cards and looked up at her.

She just smiled her pleasure at the thought of Ted trying to cook his own food for a month. If her Aunt wasn't in control of the bank account, he could have lived off of fast food. Life was good.

Excited talking intruded upon her thoughts. That would be Jessie and Frankie, Debbie's sister.

As soon as Jessie came into view of the card table, she threw her hands wide, throwing a winning smile for her unknowing audience. "Applause, applause... How can anyone not show their appreciation for such beauty?"

She posed, twisting in every direction to show off her clothes, her body. Her sleek black slacks hugged her curves, the tank top she wore under the black cropped blazer showed off the gold belly chain with the fire truck charm hanging near her belly button. The bouncy strawberry blond curls lovingly caressed her face and proceeded to cascade down to the middle of her back. Her baby blue eyes sparkled with the knowledge that she was beautiful despite her short stature and slightly plump build. 

Standing to her right, posing the same way was Frankie. She looked like a Jessie miniature. Tessa's eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets, Frankie's hair was dyed to match Jessie's. 

"You dyed her hair?! Are you trying to get me in trouble with my Aunt?"

Jessie waved away her friend's disgruntled aura. "I talked to her. She approved of it. When have I ever gotten you into trouble?" In a limp-wristed move, she placed the tips of the fingers of her right hand over her heart.

Tessa glared at her flamboyant friend and growled her annoyance. Just as she took a deep breath to list off the many times Jessie had gotten her in trouble, that well manicured right hand lifted in a halting gesture.

"Don't answer that. It was rhetorical. I must away to the lady's room!" She swept to the back of the firehouse the same way she entered into it, with a lot of style and flash.

Everyone watched her go except Tessa. She was so use to her friend's ways that they didn't catch her attention. Instead, she amused herself by watching the expressions on the faces of other people regarding the antics of her friend.

She speculatively viewed each person until her eyes lit upon Matthew Danvers. Everyone in the station called him "Mattie" because of his "pretty face." He wasn't young, he was actually thirty years of age, but his inability to grow a proper beard made him appear vastly younger.

From the eager, lustful look on his face he must have been the man that held Jessie's sexual interests for the week. Tessa pitied the man. Jessie normally had two types of men that chased after her: men who treated sex with the same abandon as she did, and men who had relationship on the mind. One had to give Jessie props. She did warn the men of her intentions right off. They were temporary back scratches. As soon as her particular itch as well scratched, she dumped the poor idiot and sought out another man to captivate her attention for a week. 

If a man didn't except Jessie's terms, she walked away from them. So why would a man seeking a relationship from her agree to such terms? Because they had it in their heads that they would be the one to make her change her mind. They always walked away with a broken heart. Mattie would soon join their woeful ranks.

A call from the front of the station brought Tessa out of her reverie. Duncan grunted an inattentive "back here" before he set down two cards. Tessa turned to the newcomer, a smile of welcome gracing her face, and then it froze there. Her whole body tensed at the sight of the man working his way back to the card table.

Duncan, feeling her tension, set his cards face down on the table again and looked up at her. He noticed her unnatural paleness, looking as transparent as a ghost. In concern, he got up from his chair and put a hand on her shoulder as he looked across the way to the newcomer who also looked frozen in place.

He didn't look like Tessa's type, and Duncan would know being her boyfriend for all of three years and her close friend for the two before that. The man was taller than the average man, maybe a few inches shorter than Duncan. He was stockier, no doubt obsessively lifted weights to make up for the inches he lacked. His hair was cut close to his head; even from a distance Duncan could make out the faint outline of scaring underneath. The man's brown eyes never blinked, they were permanently fixed on Tessa. He wasn't all that different from ordinary, if it hadn't been for the missing eyebrow and burn scars along his face and throat, no one would have noticed him if they passed him on the street.

It was the newcomer who managed to regain his composure first. "Hi, Tess. How have you been?" The pleasantry was mumbled, given the impression that he knew he would run into her, but had planned to put it off as long as he was able. Her appearance at the firehouse was entirely unexpected.

When she remained quiet and unmovable, Duncan squeezed her shoulder in comfort. "Do you know him?"

Tessa took a deep breath. "Yeah, I do." Then to the newcomer, "Hi, Danny. I've been well, I'm sorry that I won't be able to say the same for you."

An audible gasp could be heard near the rear of the station. Jessie always did have good timing. Everyone saw that Danny seemed to be having trouble breathing; his eyes were glued to one person and were reluctant to leave the sight. All eyes turned to Jessie, she seemed to be carved of marble.

Tessa clutched Duncan's hand on her shoulder. She felt like she should do something, but had no idea what. Unfortunately, a witty joke wouldn't be appropriate. All that was left was to watch and see what happened. She just hoped that the thick tension wouldn't kill her.

Jessie started forward, hesitant at first, but then with determination. The glow that normally suffused her being had dimmed like clouds covering the sun. Her eyes were out of focus, as if she were drawn unwillingly into the past. She stopped a few feet away from Danny. Her right hand lifting up, one finger distended to touch the scars on his cheek yet not quite reaching. 

Then something changed. A stone was thrown into the calm pool that was her senses, ripples breaking out over her body. Her hand drew back, and then returned with a vengeance in the form of a fist that connected with his eye.

Caught off guard, Danny stumbled back and lost his balance, landing with a dull thud on the concrete floor. He looked up at Jessie stunned as she straightened her hair and cloths. Her megawatt smile restored to her, she turned to Mattie and fluttered her fingers at him. Then left the firehouse, stepping over Danny in the process.

--~~--

"Welcome back, Danny. Here are some frozen peas for your eyes." Tessa placed the generic brand plastic bag on his eye until he took over holding it. 

He sighed heavily. "I expected worse."

She sat next to him on the couch, a soda in her hand. After Jessie punched him, the fire alarm sounded. Everyone rushed around Danny's prone figure to gear up and leave. Duncan suggested that she tend to their new fireman. It turned out that Danny had transferred from another state and wasn't to start work for a few days. 

She managed to pick the man up off the floor just as Ted angrily strolled into the evacuating building with Deb slung over his shoulder. He shoved her cell phone at her, and then packed Frankie under his arm like a sack of potatoes. She could hear Frankie's shrill protests that he was wrinkling her clothes over the ruckus of the station. 

They waited until all the fire trucks had cleared before she drove Danny back to her apartment. It was a quiet ride. Tessa honestly didn't know what to say to him. Now that she had time to gather her thoughts, questions floated to the surface of her racing mind.

"I think the reason you're not in the hospital is because you surprised her. Like you surprised me. Why did you come back?" She opened the can of soda and started sipping from it wishing she had some Jack Daniels to go with it.

"I came back for her." He said quietly under his breath, but she still heard him.

She put her soda down on the coffee table. Where did Duncan keep his secret stash of alcohol in her apartment? "It would be smart for you to shove yourself into the hole you crawled out of. She doesn't want to have anything to do with you." She pointedly looked at his blackened eyes covered in frozen peas, "Obviously."

"That's too damn bad." Danny gritted out between his teeth. He threw the frozen peas down onto the coffee table narrowly missing the soda. "I made a mistake ten years ago and I intend to fix it."

"You mean the mistake of dumping her on her ass just to make it with a cheerleader? That clichéd mistake?" Sarcasm dripped from every word she spoke. It was obvious that she still considered him scum. 

He got up and started to pace in front of her. "I was young and I let the attention go straight to my head. For obvious reasons, I wasn't use to people wanting to befriend me."

Tessa barely kept herself from kicking the coffee table. The thought of what happened ten years ago still pissed her off. "Half of them only liked you because Jessie would have beat the crap out of them if they didn't show you some respect. The other half just wanted you to do their homework. Our cheerleaders weren't exactly known for their scholarly minds."

Danny looked at her askance. "She goes by Jessie these days?"

She stomped her foot in impatience, immediately regretting the action because it caused her bum knee pain and it was childish. "Yeah, she is. I know go by Tessa, and you probably go by another version of your name too. It's called growing up. Focus!"


Walking into Fire Ch. 02



On the seventh night of Danny's week with Jessie, he found himself between a rock and a hard place when it came to his lover. He wanted to marry her, but couldn't broach the topic until the next day. Furthermore, he had no idea what would happen after their week together. He wondered if she would still talk to him and give him a chance to at least bring up a provisional boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. Danny needed to talk to someone who could help him sort things out. 

Tessa had dropped Duncan off at the firehouse for the night shift, and Danny intercepted her before she left to ask her to go somewhere they could talk. His favorite bar seemed like the ideal location; there was little chance that Jessie would walk in, because she disliked the place. 

The bar was quiet and mostly empty. Perfect for a friendly chat. He moodily contemplated the amber depths of the beer he was cradling between his hands. Tessa sat beside him, patiently waiting for him to say or do something.

At last he broke his brooding silence. "Seven days are up tonight. I know she cares for me, at least, but won't budge on commitment." 

She sipped delicately at her virgin strawberry daiquiri, knowing that he was talking about Jessie. He was in a bad state of affairs: a lovesick man chasing after a commitment-phobic woman. Granted, he was the reason that the woman had a strong bias against getting hitched, but it was still tough to witness.

Her mind momentarily drifted to her own relationship. Was it healthy to still be boyfriend and girlfriend after three years and still live apart? Was moving in together the next step they should take, or should Duncan have proposed to her a while ago? Should she be the one to propose? Tessa mentally shrugged. It didn't really matter as long as they were comfortable. All that loss of freedom would have felt too constricting to them. Although she was satisfied with that logic, a seed of doubt still nagged at her.

Danny interrupted her reverie. "I want to fulfill her every sexual fantasy for the rest of her life," he complained, "and she only wants me for seven days. What's a guy supposed to do?" 

He chugged what was left of his beer and slammed down the empty glass. The bartender, a buff man with thick arms and an unamused look on his face grunted his displeasure. "Another one?"

Danny glared at the man. "Of course another one. Keep them coming, I'm drowning my sorrows here!"

Tessa gave the bartender an apologetic smile and shrugged helplessly, making a mental note to give the man a really good tip. She turned to Danny, who was glowering at his new beer. "You say you love her and you're frustrated that she won't budge on the commitment. I think you're being ridiculous and impatient."

He turned his wrath-filled eyes on her. "I thought you were my friend. Aren't you supposed to help me -- a little insider information and all that? You've known her forever." 

She snorted into her daiquiri. "I did say I would help, but I didn't say that I would spell it out for you. A man who truly loves someone would know every detail about that person and remember most of everything she ever gave you or said to you. It seems you have no clue what's on her mind or how she thinks. You could probably give me intimate physical details about her that I would never want to know."

A flash of lust filled his deep brown eyes as he recalled every intimacy he'd shared with Jessie the last six nights. "Right down to the mole that's wedged..."

"I said I didn't want to know!" she interrupted with a disgusted shout that broke up more than a few conversations around them. In a quieter tone she continued, "Do you remember anything that's not physical?"

His confused expression made her sigh in irritation. If they couldn't see it with their eyes, men were oblivious to it. She came to terms with the fact that she was going to have to spell out certain things to help him in his quest to capture her friend in the ultimate commitment. 

"What is her personality like? What things does she like?"

Danny thought for a while, taking a distracted swig of his beer. "She's definitely acting differently than she did back in high school."

Tessa nodded slowly and gestured encouragingly for him to continue. Instead, he smiled at her as if he had just won the Nobel Prize in female psychology. The man was either buzzed and his brain numb or he actually thought that his short sentence was an insightful observation for an infatuated gentleman.

"Different in what way?" she asked.

His brow wrinkled as a thought occurred to him. "She never used to be so...so man-crazy. She was pretty hostile to every guy that showed an interest in her. After we met, the only guy she let near her was me, because she knew I didn't view her as a challenge. I always thought it was because that jerk who called me a monster in eighth grade also hurt her with that 'my daddy said women have to do what men say' crap."

She patted his back, letting him know that he was doing well. "Progress, my good man. Now lets analyze and explore."

"You mean I'm not done?" His incredulous tone spoke of his disbelief that women could be so complex.

"No, you're not done. You were on the right track, but your last sentence was off. You have to understand the root of the problem before you can tackle anything." 

An idea came to her. "I thought there was to be no talk of commitment, no persuasion towards that direction during the seven days. Isn't that what you agreed to?"

Danny sighed and downed half his drink. "Yep. That's what I agreed to."

"You broke the 'no talking about commitment' deal and she didn't throw you out? Every lover that's talked about, hinted to, or even flat out asked about commitment she's immediately thrown out. The 'C' word and any word related to it seem to make her ill." Tessa tried to reason it out in her head. Maybe anything commitment related coming from Danny was the only thing to cure Jessie's commitment-phobia?

"I haven't said a word about the big 'C.' It's just been sex." He paused and sighed again. "Let me rephrase...sex on her part, lovemaking on mine."

"What the hell are we doing here? Why the hell are you moaning over your beer about if you haven't even tried to talk to her about forgiving you and giving you another chance at a relationship yet?" She was obviously at a loss as to why Danny was lamenting now instead of the next day when his sexual week with Jessie would be up and she would inevitably refuse his relationship request.  

"I've been pouring my heart out every time I make love to her. You know, communication using my body," he said, brushing aside her incredulous questioning. 

That statement was too reminiscent of the first thing Jessie told her about men during Tessa's own seduction of Duncan: Men aren't big on words; they're big on actions. "I think your body lingo goes over her head," she said. "When a woman's in the middle of having sex, she isn't going to know that a certain way you squeeze her boob means you love her and want to marry her. If she's thinking while you're sexing her up, you're doing something wrong. Am I right?" 

Danny looked at her mutely.

Tessa tried again. "If you're thinking of something other than the feeling of her wrapped around you, that's a bad thing. Right?"

He grudgingly nodded agreement. It might not be true for all men, but it was certainly true for him.

"Trust me, women aren't all that different from men in some aspects. If you love her and you want to marry her, you have to tell her in plain words." Tessa took a sip of her daiquiri, satisfied that she had proved at least one point.

Danny finished off his beer. "Alright, I'll tell her."

"No."

Confused, he looked at her. "No?"

College should teach this stuff. "She's still going to refuse you. You have to get the upper hand. When you eventually tell her, and she refuses you, you'll be ready to combat the reason behind her refusal."

"It sounds like I'm going into battle, not proposing marriage." He signaled the bartender for another beer. 

"If you're not ready to fight for the one you love, then you don't really love her...or something like that. Lets go back to finding her reason for refusing you and then map out your game plan." Tessa signaled the bartender for her own refill and they got to work.

--~~-- 

Jessie walked into the firehouse more than a little irritated. Danny hadn't shown up at her house at the agreed time. It was already seven, and she was very horny and impatient to use his body. At least, that's what she told herself; she was actually desperate to be in his arms, to pretend he still treasured her, was still in love with her.

Duncan was in the firehouse kitchen, his tall frame taking up every available space the small kitchen had to offer. He was humming an upbeat tune as he made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He was preoccupied, though, and didn't hear Jessie come in.

"Where is he?!" Her question was like a gunshot echoing off the walls.

Duncan gave a start and barely caught the butter knife as it tried to escape to the floor. He looked guilty at being caught in a vulnerable position, his cheeks beginning to flush.

"Jessie, what brings you here?" 

"Danny hasn't shown up at my house and he's not answering his cell phone," she snapped. She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot in agitation.

"I haven't seen him since he ran out of here after his shift. He was acting a little strange." 

Duncan resumed making his sandwich as Jessie plopped down on one of the chairs near the open kitchen door, out of Duncan's direct sight. She put her head in her hands. "This is our last night together," she said. "Is he tired of me already?"

Duncan's head peeked around the door. "You're starting to sound a little 'attached' there. You sure he's just another one of your one-week flings?"

"I can care for my flings if I want to. It's not like we're going to break off all communication when it's done with," she said. At least she didn't think they would stop talking to each other, but once the words were out of her mouth, doubt started to creep in. 

They had never talked about anything that would happen after the week was over. She knew he wanted something more when they started, but she didn't trust him after the way he had torn out her heart ten years earlier. There was no denying that she still wanted him, though; the chemistry between them was still at least as strong as it was in high school. 

She regretted going against her better judgment in proposing their fling. She knew that her old feelings would be rekindled and she would have a hard time letting go of him -- the only man she ever loved and the only man who still had power over her. It was a good thing he didn't know that, she thought to herself. 

After ten years, she knew well how to hide her feelings, although she had shed a few tears for Danny in front of Tessa once, before Tessa's horrible accident that left her with a permanent limp. She still thought that the injury was purely her responsibility. If Tessa hadn't been so worried about her, she wouldn't have slid badly into home plate. 

At the hospital waiting room that day, Jessie had decided to keep her feelings to herself from then on so that no one else would get hurt because of her. She knew it was an irrational thought, but she didn't want to take any chances with Tessa. Her friend was all she had left in the world. 

Jessie's parents had died in a plane crash when she was young. Her grandparents gladly took her in and cared for her until their untimely deaths. A year after graduating high school, her grandfather died of a heart attack and, shortly after, her grandmother died of a broken heart. 

In a way, Jessie lived her life through Tessa. Tessa embodied the way her life should have been: blissfully happy with the man she loved. That was the reason Jessie was so adamant that Tessa and Duncan get together. She knew Duncan was a good guy, right for her friend and wouldn't mistreat her in any way. Being a connoisseur of men had its advantages, especially in reading the personalities of the opposite sex.

Jessie could spend her life watching Tessa be happily in love and be content with her personal situation. That was the plan, until recently when Danny walked back into her life. Now she was doubting her happiness. Would she be content to watch her friend eventually get married, possibly have kids, and have the happily-ever-after ending Jessie had wanted for herself so long ago? The answer was a definite and resounding "no."

Unfortunately, she would have to live with the path she had laid out for herself. There was no way she would risk her heart again. She would have to settle for the week of blissful satiation and belonging she felt with Danny and the fleeting ghosts of those same feelings with other men after Danny was long gone. 

Her cell phone rang, intruding into her thoughts. She answered absentmindedly, her mind unable to let go of the fact that Danny would be gone after that night.

"Where are you?" The irritated voice gritted out. It was Tessa, Jessie knew, but the ruckus in the background was confusing.

"I'm at the firehouse looking for Danny. Duncan's with me."

"Danny's with me, and we're at your house. I'll trade you one drunken sexual fantasy for my stable, sober boyfriend." There was a mighty grunt on the other end and a groan of pain. "It's your own fault! You're heavy and this is not easy one-handed!" 


"What?" Jessie knew that Tessa had not been talking to her and wanted to know what was going on.

"He hit his head on the arm of your couch -- the wooden part. Come home and take care of your drunken slobbering mess." The click on the other end was definite. Tessa was obviously not in the mood to be disobeyed.

Jessie's head slightly turned towards Duncan, taking in the sly smile and amusement in his eyes. "Was that my wayward girlfriend?"

"Yes. Apparently she had to be the designated driver for my very drunken lover." She got up from the chair and made her way out of the firehouse.

Duncan's chuckle and final comment, "Life is never boring in this place," trailed behind her.

--~~--

A crash reverberated from the other side of the door. Jessie's hand was suspended above the doorknob as unintelligible yelling and more crashing sounds ensued. This was surreal, she thought. Her past lovers had never gotten drunk during their week with her. That usually happened after the week was over, and their binge drinking would end with a badly sung love song on her front lawn accompanied by uncontrollable crying. The police might even have a cell set aside especially for her ex-lovers to sleep off their drunken stupors.

She wasn't sure that she should go in, but it was too late. The curtain behind her living room window was jerked aside, and a very haggard and pissed-off Tessa spotted her. The door was jerked open, a hand shot out to snatch her elbow, and Jessie was dragged into her own house faster than a speeding bullet.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to drag a two-hundred-plus-pound prick from the bar to your house, let alone keeping him from driving to the firehouse to look for you?" Tessa demanded. Her hair was in wild disarray and her right cheek showing the beginnings of a fine bruise. Jessie was impressed that Tessa had been able to keep the prick in check in the half hour it had taken to drive from the station to her house.

She didn't have a clue about what to say to her longtime friend. "I owe you one," she offered tentatively, to see if it would calm her raging comrade.

Tessa jabbed a finger to within centimeters of her nose, a half-crazed look and a twitch flirting about her unnaturally bright blue eyes. "You owe me money -- his bar tab to be exact! I'll collect after this whole mess is over. I'm retreating while I'm still in one piece. The last thing I need is my leg amputated because you two can't sort things out by yourselves." Shoving Jessie aside, she yanked open the door and stormed out as best as her badly throbbing knee would let her. 

Jessie stared dumfounded at the destruction in her living room. Hastily, she closed the door. The neighbors didn't need painstakingly detailed information on what it looked like after the commotion. The incident might make the gossip section in the town's morning newspaper. It had happened before.

A low, drown-out groan came from behind her abused couch, which was in a sorry state, askew and with cushions thrown haphazardly in all corners of the room. The hand of what appeared to be a drowning man clutched at the top of the couch and hoisted its attached body up from the depths of the hardwood floor.

As Danny's features came into view, Jessie saw that he was clutching the back of his head with his other hand. 

"I have a bump on my head...I think," he groaned as he poked at it and winced as pain shot through his skull. "Definitely a bump." He looked over at Jessie, as if she had been there throughout his ordeal. "Who clonked me?" he demanded

She sighed at the sight of him, a simple sigh of resignation. Exactly what she was resigned to, she hadn't a clue. Moving away from the front door, she went over to help Danny up.

"I expect Tessa thought it necessary to use drastic measures to keep you from leaving," she said, helping him navigate through the mess to the recliner. He plopped down in it like a rag doll, wiggled a bit to get comfortable and closed his eyes.

"Why would I leave?" He mumbled indignantly, clueless as to why Tessa would come up with such a silly notion.

Jessie leaned down and shook his shoulder. He jerked awake, surprised eyes swiveling around the room to rest on her face. She leaned met him eye for eye, hers squinting in suspicion. "Why are you drunk?"

Danny fell back as if wanting to go back to sleep, but he stayed awake, just barely. 

"Jess," he said, "I'm an idiot."

"I..." She was about to say that all men were, but he broke in. 

"You made me forget, don't you see? I was normal with you, it all went to my head." Danny was getting distraught; his words were slightly slurred, but clear enough. His eyes darted from side to side, searching his brain for the right words to convey his thoughts. Jessie squatted down, placing a gentle hand on his. 

"I was so stupid! I couldn't see what I had until it was too late. Barb used my inexperience against me. She said that it wasn't healthy to stick with one girlfriend. Men needed to play the field," he said. "She hinted that I would lose all the friends that I had gained –- I'd never had so many before –- because they would think that I was hiding scared behind you." He wasn't in the present; he was firmly entrenched in the past. The words poured out of him as if he were a sinner confessing his deepest, darkest secrets.

"Never forgotten." He mumbled. "I've never forgotten your face when I broke it off with you. I never paid attention, I didn't know how deep your feelings ran." Danny snorted at what he realized was his own understatement. "Hurting you was the last thing I wanted to do. The minute the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them. It felt wrong breaking things off with you...like cutting off an arm. I wanted to take the words back, but couldn't. I've never forgotten the look on your face. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's always haunted me."

He looked directly into her eyes. "Nothing happened with Barb. Her kisses were horrible -- they were wrong. I walked away from her because I couldn't stand her touching me. I had planned on trying to make amends with you. There was no way you were going to take me back, but I needed some connection with you. My mother received her orders from the Air Force before I could do anything."

The more the memories poured out of him, the more sober he became. The truth wouldn't stop flowing from him and he wasn't sure that he wanted to stop it. Tears were streaming down Jessie's face unchecked. The last six days he had doubted that she felt anything other than lust for him, but her tears gave him hope. Maybe she would forgive him. She might give him a second chance, a tentative relationship at first, but once proven that he could be trusted, it might just turn into a strong partnership. Love for him might find it's way into her heart someday.




Walking into Fire Ch. 02



All those dreams he pushed aside. He had to finish telling her about the past. 

"My life was hell after that," he said. "You made me forget all about my scars." He frowned as he remembered his vulnerability when people pointedly stared at him. "The looks, the disgusted glances, I received from those college students made me feel more vulnerable then they used too when I was a boy. There were women when I was in college. I was desperate for some type of acceptance so any woman who came sniffing around for her own devious reasons would do. They needed help with their classes or wanted to make a boyfriend jealous. I played the roles they gave me well, and they gave me their bodies in payment. There was always a hope that one would be different, would be like you. They all touched my scars, but I didn't feel their touch. I always use to feel yours. I still do."

She kissed him then. His speech was at an end, and she didn't want to hear what he had to say after. Her heart had pounded hard throughout his ramblings. Emotional weight was making its beat horribly irregular –-unimaginable sadness, a small amount of hurt, reluctant hope, and another feeling she didn't even want to acknowledge. 

Whatever else they wanted to say, they said with kisses and caresses. Jessie took Danny's hand and helped him up. He was steadier on his feet now that the alcohol had had a chance to move through his system. She led him to her bedroom, closing the door behind them. 

He took over from there, kissing her again and paying special attention to the tone of the kiss. It was gentle, sweet, with a hint of unbridled passion underneath. The perfect kiss to convey the love he still had for her. She accepted it without knowing the full implications of doing so. This was simply their last night together, a night that they would make special before they put an end to their sexual escapades. 

Jessie was sorry that it had to end, but no matter what Danny said, she wouldn't trust her heart to any man again. Not even him. He had broken something in her when he ended it ten years ago. She had had a hard time putting herself together afterwards. There was no way she could chance being broken a second time by him. 

With those sorrowful thoughts running through her mind, she became desperate. Boldly, she thrust her tongue in his mouth, trying to memorize everything she could –- the way he tasted, the way the ridges on the roof of his mouth felt when she ran her tongue along them, the way he dueled with her tongue, and the way his eyes widened every time she sucked his tongue into her mouth. 

Most importantly, she wanted to imprint the feel of his scars into her hands, so that every time she saw them in her mind's eye, her hand would curl in on itself as if it were actually feeling them. As their mouths were otherwise occupied, Jessie's right hand came up to lightly touch the scars on Danny's cheek. She paid special attention to every crevice, every smooth surface broken apart by rough skin, and every place the scar ended and his unblemished skin began. 

When her hand met the soft weave of his cotton t-shirt, she became frustrated and impatient. Danny could feel her turbulent emotions from her kiss. She wanted them both naked, and she wanted nothing more than to explore his body. He disengaged from the erotic kiss of wills and started to take off his clothes. To tease her, he took off his pants first, toeing off his shoes in the process. 

Jessie glared at him, knowing what his game was. Two could play at it. She started to touch herself in intimate places, her clothes the only impediment to her suggestive stroking. Her nipples started to poke through the layers of her blouse and bra, aching to be sucked into his hot mouth, throbbing because they were being denied. Wetness pooled down below, soaking through her underwear, making Jessie glad that she was wearing a skirt instead of pants. 

Her left hand rested on her knee just below her skirt, it was splayed suggestively. She did not move it until she was sure that she had full eye contact with him. Ever so slowly she brought her hand up her leg. Her skirt rose like a curtain at a theater. 

Danny's breathing quickened, sounding ragged and harsh in the quiet room. She was driving him insane with her leisurely strip show. Her panties, pink and lacy in their sinful glory, peeked out at him. He could see the dark stain on the crotch and smiled with the knowledge that she was as turned on as he was. 

Jessie snagged the top of her panties and brought them down, slightly faster than she had raised her skirt. She tossed the scrap of lace at him; he deftly caught it and discarded it somewhere over his shoulder. He came at her then with determination written all over his face. Playtime was over for both of them. He was beyond aroused and needed to bury some part of himself in her –- fingers, tongue, or cock. It didn't matter just as long as he was plunging into her sopping wet, secret place.

With a subtle push from him, she went falling backward onto the bed. At this point she was as pliable as a doll, his doll to do with as he pleased. She did not care just as long as he sated his lust on her. Some distant part of her, a part hidden within a shadowy corner of her heart -- a part she believed long dead -- whispered, "Forever."

He quickly discarded his t-shirt and boxers, leaving him bare in her voracious gaze. His hands seized her knees, spreading them to make room for his body. Like a predator, he traveled up her length till he came against the barrier of the only clothes she had left. Danny quickly unbuttoned her blouse and found that her bra was conveniently equipped with a front closure. He undid that as well.

She rose a little in an effort to take her blouse and bra off, but he stopped her. There was something sensual in the way she lay there, an angel about to be ravaged by a demon. Her breasts were plush mounds begging for his attention. Lightly, he teased around an areola and playfully flicked the nipple.

Jessie arched off the bed. While his ministrations were pure heaven, they were not what she craved. He was giving her other breast the same tender treatment when her hands latched onto his head, bringing him up so he could look her in the eyes.

"I need you in me." Her voice was low and intense, portraying all the pent-up need ready to explode within her.

Danny was not ready to capitulate yet. An evil smile crossed his sensuous lips as he pried her hands from his face and held them down beside her head, efficiently imprisoning her. "Really, Jess? What exactly do you want in you? My talented fingers?"

His right hand traveled down her body, frolicked in the blond thatch of hair that shielded her sex, and finally found its mark. He traced a finger up and down her slick wet folds, enjoying the fact that he was the one who caused such a powerful reaction. His penis jerked, demanding to be engulfed in her titillating sex. He plunged two fingers into her wet opening. Her hips lifted off the bed; hungry for the contact he allowed them to have. 

He withdrew his fingers and brought them up to show her. "So wet, love. Is all this for me?" His words were a goad. He wanted to hear her say she needed him, that only he could assuage her burning need and no one else.

Despite the fact that over half his body was holding her down to the bed, she managed to angle her head up to take the wet fingers into her mouth. She made sure to suck all her juices off and settled completely on the bed again. Jessie looked at him through eyes that had turned a deep, dark blue. Her eyelids were at a seductive half-mast.

Danny's nostrils flared at the sight. He gave up his control and reached over to her nightstand where she kept her immense stash of condoms. She took the packet away from him, the first time since they started their seven-day escapade that she wanted to put a condom on him for herself. 

As soon as she finished, he rammed into her with the force of his feelings. He stayed in to the hilt, trying to bask in her heat. The condom impeded his ability to enjoy her silken glory and it frustrated him. He was not just another one of her casual flings; he was the man that swore to marry her.

Danny framed her face and waited till she focused on him. "Are you on birth control?" The question was urgent and pleading at the same time. 

It took her a few seconds to realize that he had asked a question. She blinked in confusion before she answered. "Yes I am."

He smirked. One quick kiss and he disengaged from her. She whimpered her dismay before she realized what he was up to. He rolled the condom off, freeing his massive erection. There would be nothing between them that night, nor any other night in the future.

His cock found its mark with unerring accuracy. They both gasped at the feeling. Something changed between them, it was as if they were sharing one body, could feel each other's heartbeat. 

With deliberate slowness, he slid out until just the tip was still inside her. He propped her legs on his shoulders and pumped back into her. She cried out in pleasure. The new angle of her pelvis had his penis massaging her g-spot as he strove to find a rhythm. 

The feelings coursing through Danny had him spellbound. He felt the warm welcoming haven of her vagina as his bare cock slid in and out of her. The experience was indescribable in its intensity. 

He kept a steady pace, basking in the euphoria that was his Jess. Emotions built up within him along with his impending orgasm. He felt his penis expand within her, while her pussy quivered in preparation to explode. 

Danny looked down at Jess to see how close to the edge she was, only to discover tears coursing down her temples into her hair. She was staring straight at him with –- dare he hope? -– a mixture of awe and love in her eyes. Her right hand reached up, hooked around the nape of his neck, and brought him down for a kiss. The hand drifted down the scars on his neck, continuing down the damaged path to its end at his hip. He shuddered under the power of the profound caress. 

Only Jess could touch him like that. Only Jess would be able to sate all his needs -– not just the physical ones. Only Jess held his heart in her hands. He shouted his release, pouring into her with stream after steam of semen. Nothing was between them. She screamed with the intensity of her orgasm, her vagina spasming around his cock. As he descended into her warm embrace, the only thought in his mind was that one day his semen would find it's way into her unprotected womb and impregnate her. 

With the heady scent of their lovemaking lulling him into a peaceful slumber, visions of Jessie holding a little girl with spiral strawberry blond curls and brown eyes followed him into sleep. 

--~~--

A few hours later, Jessie woke with a start. Her heart was racing a mile a minute as she sat up in her bed, Danny's arms slid from around her and dropped limply to the bed. She looked at his handsome face, boyish in slumberous repose. 

Jessie never had sex without a condom. It was true that she had the protection of birth control, but she was not about to chance getting pregnant. She did not care that there was a .01 percent chance of it happening; she never settled for anything less than one-hundred-percent effectiveness. 

When Danny tore the condom off, she had not balked. She wanted his naked dick in her with a hunger she had never felt before. Just the thought of his semen defying the odds against impregnating her sent a thrill through her and brought a whole new level to their lovemaking. 

Running a hand through her tousled hair, she sighed in resignation. 

What they shared was not sex -- it was lovemaking. For a week she had been deluding herself by calling the mind-blowing physical act "sex." Jessie needed to get away from Danny for a while. She needed to think things through, to re-evaluate what she felt and what she wanted. 

She was loath to wake him up and make him leave her house. With a light kiss to his relaxed brow, she left the bed and threw on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. On silent feet, she left the bedroom and then the house.

--~~--

You didn't really think I'd leave you hanging did you? Just to let everyone know, I'm working on Chapter three, the final chapter for the story, right now. Hopefully it'll be up in two to three weeks. Should I continue the series? I've been seriously considering it especially when Mattie, the hopeful firefighter Jessie threw out of her house, is crying out for a story of his own. As always, votes and comments are very welcome and much appreciated!



Walking into Fire Ch. 03



The hour was late when Jessie had left Danny sleeping in her bed and started to drive around town. She needed someplace to think through the whole complicated situation between her and Danny. Intuition told her that she was holding all the cards. She knew whatever she ultimately decided Danny would bow to her wishes.

Without realizing it, she found herself in front of Tessa's apartment complex. The absence of her friend's car meant she was staying at Duncan's house and possibly wouldn't be home until late the next day. 

Jessie rooted around the crowded, small cove of her glove compartment for Tessa's apartment key. They were practically like sisters and Tessa thought it only natural that they have keys to each other's homes. Jessie stopped digging as a thought struck her. If Tessa and Duncan got married, would Jessie have the key to their house? It was a disturbing thought since they didn't believe in closed doors between each other.

It took a few more minutes before Jessie was able to pull out the key to Tessa's apartment. She made her way to the building, hoping that some soul searching and a good sleep without the distraction of Danny's body would help her sort out the problem she found herself in.

--~~--

The curtains were yanked aside; a shaft of sunlight came in to torment Tessa's closed eyes. She scrunched up her nose in annoyance. As she turned over to face the wall parallel the windows, her sleepy mind grumbled that sunlight was God's way of torturing those who worshiped the unbelievable bliss of sleep.

Tessa was drifting off into the abyss of dream world when the covers were wrenched from her partially naked body. The shock of cold rudely jarred her into complete wakefulness. 

"What the hell!" Her yell reverberated within the room. She squinted around, trying to orient herself to the sudden brightness. Her bleary gaze halted upon a hulking figure that was grinning like a loon and holding up the blankets that had cocooned her in heavenly warmth only moments ago.

The figure dropped the blankets onto the floor. "Rise and shine, beautiful. Let's have breakfast," said Duncan. 

Tessa fell back onto the bed; the pillows seemed to welcome her back. Duncan had always been a morning person despite his graveyard shifts at the firehouse. The morning sun always managed to energize him and give him the glow normal people could only find with a good dose of caffeine.

"No breakfast, just sleep," she mumbled as she rolled over onto her stomach.

His light touch on her calf was comforting. She felt his hand trail up to the back of her knee. Tessa sighed her contentment. She thought if luck were on her side, he would chuck his clothes and get into bed with her. Blankets were not needed when his unbelievably sexy body covered her.

"Sweetheart, your knee's about the size of a watermelon. What did you do to it?" Duncan asked concern laced his voice.

The note of worry he expressed brought her to full alert. She turned back over and looked down at her knee with clear eyes. The sight of her bloated knee had her cursing like a sailor. After the rigors of last night (e.g., wrestling Danny into submission), she forgot to put her knee on ice as soon as she entered Duncan's house.

Duncan sat down on the bed to better examine her knee. He moved her injured leg around carefully to gouge the extent of the swelling. As he bent the knee, he looked to her face for her reaction. By the time he was done, he had a vague amateur diagnosis and an idea how to treat it. If the swelling didn't go down by the next day, he resolved to take her to the emergency room.

His good intentions were momentarily forgotten as his attention finally took in the full scope of his nearly naked girlfriend in his bed. Tessa was wearing sensible blue cotton panties and nothing else. Her breasts were rosy with the same blush of sleep that tinged her cheeks.

He took in the softness of her skin through the pads of his fingers, which were busy cautiously massaging her swollen knee. With one hand, he started to unbutton his uniform shirt. 

Tessa wasn't paying attention as she said, "I was in a small fight with Danny. After that absurdity, I have resolved to stay on the sidelines of Jessie and Danny's silent yet epic battle of wills."

Duncan's hands stilled at the hem of his undershirt. His expression was cautious as if he wasn't going to react until he had all the facts. "You were in an actual fight with Danny?" he asked haltingly.

"Yeah. Right after I dragged his sorry drunk ass into her house. I don't think my knee would be this huge if that's all I did, but then he heard me talk with Jessie on the phone. That's when all the," Tessa halted and pulled a sarcastic face before she went on, "fun really began."

A low growl emitted from Duncan displaying his impatience. "Did he hit you?"

She was confused by his lethal demeanor, but answered his question. "No. I hit him."

It was obvious to Tessa that he was confused by her statement and went on to explain; "He grabbed his car keys from my hand determined to drive to the firehouse so he could tell her something. I tried to grab them back, but he had to be one of those infernal men who's taller than I am." 

At Duncan's disgruntled glare, she grinned sheepishly. He was one of those infernal men. She continued before he could say anything. "Danny didn't hit me or anything. He was just holding me off and trying to get past me to the door. We had a scuffle -- I think we wrecked Jessie's living room. I grabbed that hideous sculpture on her coffee table and hit him over the head with it. He went down like a sack of potatoes."

Tessa smiled remembering the satisfaction she had felt at seeing the lug go down. She looked back down at her gruesomely swollen knee and grimaced at the ending result of her nightly ordeal.

Duncan rose from the bed to finish undressing. He talked as he stripped. "So let me get this straight. You practically carried an inebriated Danny into Jessie's house. Then hit him over the head to keep him from leaving."

"Right," she confirmed distractedly. She wondered why Duncan was undressing if they were going to breakfast. Not that she complained. He had a fantastic body and every time she saw him naked, her own body reacted.

She had an idea what he might have in mind, but she wanted to hear him admit it. "I thought you wanted to have breakfast. Tired already?" One of her eyebrows rose as he toed off his shoes and took off his pants.

"Nope. Horny."

Pouting, Tessa rubbed her oversized knee. "What about my knee?"

Duncan got on the bed and started to crawl towards her. He smiled as he growled; "I'll take care of that and your stomach after you take care of me."

He knelt on the bed between her legs, helping her sit up. She looked at his protruding manhood with another raised brow. A teasing smile flitted across her face.

She ran an index finger along the underside of his hardness. "Do you want something?" she purred.

He put his hand in her hair and angled her head so she would meet his eyes. "You know what I want. Open that pretty mouth of yours."

Tessa felt an inkling of apprehension. He'd never been...forceful before, she thought to herself. Dutifully opening her mouth, she shrugged off his odd behavior as impatience. Her tongue circled around the tip of his erection, savoring the drop of pre-come beading from the little slit. His hand tightened in her hair.

"No teasing," he snarled. Pulling her face further towards his erection, he traced the seam of her suddenly closed lips with his hardness. "I want you to suck it. Take it all, as much as you can until I come or tell you to stop."

A thrill of excitement raced up her spine along with a healthy dose of fear. She knew that Duncan would never harm her, but he was doing something different. He was shocking her, pushing her slightly outside of her comfort zone and she didn't know what to make of it. She decided to play along, trusting that he'd stop if she asked.

Her mouth took him in all the way, till he hit the back of her throat. Three years of practice helped her to relax her throat muscles and control her gag reflex. Her tongue danced along the bottom of his cock while she applied suction. 

His groan was music to her ears. Thinking that she knew the game he played, she smiled at the thought of pleasing her suddenly domineering man. She pulled back until the mushroom tip was the only part left in her mouth. 

His hand massaged her hair indicating that he knew what was coming next. In one swift move, she took his whole length into her mouth, the head of his penis welcomed by the confines of her throat. She set a pace that was languorous, maddening to Duncan.

After three years of teaching her the way he liked to be sucked off, she had become an expert, surpassing even his expectations. The building force within his dick -- in so short a time -- was testament to her diligence in practicing and her creativity in making every experience mind-blowing.

He was possessed of the need to spill inside her welcoming warmth. His eyes noticed that one hand was missing from her ministrations. Her left hand was busy massaging his balls, but the right hand was busy ministering to her own needs. 

Duncan's eyes narrowed to mere slits at the sight of her fingers plunging vigorously in and out of her wet sheath. His cock jerked in her mouth with want. He shoved her to her back in an abrupt manner and yanked her hand away from her pussy. Her fingers were dripping with her juices; he could smell the alluring, musky sent of her.

"Did I give you permission to pleasure yourself?" he asked. The question was quiet, dangerous.

Tessa shook her head "no" to answer his question and her eyes widened at the sudden change in him. Duncan was wild with his domineering nature. The amber depths of his eyes burned with a fire she had never seen before. His burgundy hair shined with the brilliance of the morning sun. In that one brief moment, she imagined he was the untamable fire, scorching her with his white-hot heat.

The fear was back reinforcing the strength of her arousal. His game was obvious, but what confused her, and made her fear him, was her ignorance as to why he was playing it. She secretly thrilled at his domineering attitude. There was never a man who could domineer her successfully because she was tall and just as strong -- if not stronger -- as most men. It was a heady sensation to be controlled.

He licked the fingers of the hand he held. His tongue made sure to lave up every drop of her essence before he placed both hands above her head. He communicated with his eyes the severity of the punishment he'd give her if she didn't leave them there.

Those intoxicating amber eyes locked onto the lust-filled blue depths of her eyes; he brought his mouth close to hers, close enough to brush her lips as he said, "I'm giving the orders this morning. You have no say in the matter. Every order that I give you, you obey. You will do everything that I ask of you."

She reluctantly nodded her head in assent. The very thought of the word "obey" chafed at her very nature, but their love play was pretend. That was the only reason she went along with Duncan's command.

He knelt back, sitting on the heels of his feet. Then he grabbed Tessa's thighs and pulled her up his kneeling legs until his hard member touched the very core of her. She whimpered in dismay and tried to impale herself on him regardless of her unique position.

Duncan laid his hand on her pelvis, halting her wiggling movements. She looked at him again. The right side of his lips quirked up in a half smile; he had her where he wanted her. He teased her weeping slit by rubbing the head of his penis up and down the puffy, wet folds. 

"Do you need me?" he asked. "Do you want me to fuck you?"

Tessa squirmed around in desperation. "Yes!" she screamed the word. "Ram it in me, now, please!"

His teasing stopped and he pushed his length into her until just the tip was inside her. "You want this, then you'll have to agree to dress like a woman at least once a week," he gasped out, his control was slowly slipping away.

Her movements stilled, eyes opened wide. "What?" she asked.

"I want you to wear women's clothes at least once a week -- blouse, skirt. The underwear is optional. If you decide to wear them, they should be sexy. I want you to start today. When you walk into the firehouse to visit me tonight, I expect you to be dressed in that fashion."

He waited for her answer, taking the head of his cock out of her aching warmth to tease her folds again. It was a desire of his to see her as a woman again. She had only dressed like a sexy temptress once for him. That time she risked their close friendship in exchange for a relationship.

"Tell me!" his voice was impatient, he could barely hold onto his control. "Say you'll do it or we stop."

The thought of him stopping at such a crucial moment spurred her words, "I'll do it! Anything! Just get inside me!"

With one powerful thrust, he was seated inside her. They both groaned their pleasure. The position they were in created a unique feeling. She felt tight around him, like a vise. It also allowed him to rub up against that special spot inside her as he moved.

"God, yes!" she panted. "Yes, yes, yes!"

Each one of his thrusts she punctuated with an exclamation of pleasure. Her cries were music to his ears. Usually she was quiet and intense in their lovemaking, but she was loud and unrestrained now.

She jerked him closer to her, hugging him with such strength. With a primal cry, she went over the edge. He went over with her with a shout of his own, collapsing on top of her when his arms gave out. Her pussy spasmed around him, milking every drop of semen he had to offer. 

Tessa kept her hold on him. She didn't want to lose the feel of his weight on top of her nor did she want him to withdraw just yet. He might have been the dominant figure taking the lead of their pleasure, but she discovered that she could bring him to his knees with her uninhibited reaction.

--~~--

Danny woke up in Jessie's bed. He knew she wasn't in the house. Somehow he had expected she would leave the bed before he woke. Their fling was officially over; he understood she had some thinking to do. It was a good sign that she didn't kick him out of her bed and house first thing in the morning. The meaning was clear to him. 

Jessie left to think over the situation, which meant he had a slim chance that she would give him another opportunity to prove himself. He wasn't an immature teenager anymore. Even when he was a teenager, he still understood what he lost when he broke things off with her. 

He looked around her bedroom and smiled at her décor. It was an incredibly elegant room just as she was an elegant woman, although it wasn't flashy like her. 

His wandering gaze settled on the dresser with the old jewelry box on it. Danny rose from the bed and went toward it to get a better look. He remember that jewelry box, her grandfather had given it to her for her sixteenth birthday.

Sometimes she had put jewelry in it -- pieces that meant something to her. She had also put other things in there -- notes from him or Tessa that were especially meaningful to her, mementos from special days spent with the people she held dear to her. 

Jessie never kept any secrets from him back then. She always let him look inside to see what new additions she had put in there. It had always humbled him the blind trust she gave him. He sighed at the thought of her past openness with him, the openness he had destroyed over a stupid cheerleader. 

He felt guilty going through her old jewelry box now, but he felt the need to see what she held dear. Whatever trinkets were in there now would give him insight into her heart. The delicate rusted hinges of the box groaned as he lifted the lid. 

Danny's hand stilled when he saw the shinny gold fire truck charm he had given her on their first year anniversary being boyfriend and girlfriend. It was placed on top of all the other items in the box, which meant she often took the fire truck out to either look at it or wear it. He picked up the long chain it was attached to and allowed it to dangle eye level in front of his face.

She still kept it after all this time. He thought she had thrown it away along with the other objects that held his memory. That's why he'd asked Tessa if she still had those things that Jessie threw out. He had planned to go through it all to find the gold fire truck once he had won her back. 

Now he didn't have to worry, because it was the one memory Jessie kept. He vividly remembered the night he had given it to her. They were a few months into their senior year of high school; both were still reeling over the fact that they were eighteen.

He could have slept with her after her birthday, which proclaimed her of legal age, but he decided that their first time together should be special. Their first anniversary had been the perfect time to broach the subject. It also had been the perfect time to tell her about his scars. 

Jessie had asked him about his scars only once, but he'd refused to talk about it -- was unsure if he would ever feel free to talk about it. She never asked again, but he knew that she still wanted to know. The story was to be her anniversary present, along with the gold fire truck charm.

Danny told her about the fire some kids had started in the alley behind their house. How it spread to his house. His father had collapsed in a burning room trying to save his mother. When he realized that his father wasn't safe with his mother, he ran back into the burning building. His father was lying face down on the floor unmoving, a wooden beam pinning him down.

He tried to pull his father out from under the beam; the fire closed in on them. When the flames were close enough to touch his left side, a fireman came barging into the room and pulled him out of the building. They weren't able to save his father.

He remembered the way Jessie cried after his story. In stilting words, she had told him that she liked his scars even more because they were a testament to his courage. Her eloquent words had made him blush. Danny had presented the charm to her saying that he wanted her to wear it. If she wore it all the time, it would help to remind him why he wanted to be a firefighter. He wanted to have the ability to save people, especially those he loved.

Danny abruptly came back to the present. Those past sentiments were cheapened when he broke up with her. His fist closed over the fire truck charm. He might have screwed up, but he wouldn't this time. Danny smiled to himself. The presence of the charm told him that she still had feelings for him, and that fact cemented his hope for the future.

--~~--

Jessie woke from a restless sleep. Her fears regarding Danny made her dreams erratic; some were nightmarish. She looked at the digital clock on the coffee table and was surprised to see it was noon. 

The grogginess of her body made it seem like her sleep only lasted a few hours. She had let herself into Tessa's apartment around three in the morning. Unsure if her best friend would return sooner than expected, she claimed the couch as her own. 

It had taken an hour to get to sleep. All factors of her and Danny's complicated relationship kept plaguing her mind, making her toss and turn on her lumpy temporary bed until she almost tumbled off.

Sleep was not the answer to her problems. Attempting to figure the mess out on her own was definitely not working. She needed a friend. One who would listen to her inner turmoil and to help her make sense of it all. 

Jessie looked around the living room, a smile blooming. Tessa wanted nothing to do with her until after everything was settled. She wasn't about to get her wish because Jessie couldn't muddle her way through without her. 




Walking into Fire Ch. 03



Lying back down on the couch, Jessie thought about where Tessa might be around noon on a Monday. The answer came after a few seconds, the fact it required thought to even remember Tessa's schedule was testament to Jessie's state of mind.

--~~--

Tessa scowled down at her huge knee as she remembered the events after the wonderful sex her and Duncan shared. He had prepared breakfast for both of them. Then he decreed she was to go nowhere because of her knee. Tessa harrumphed at the very idea of canceling a softball practice session. 

Duncan wasn't happy when she refused to call the assistant coach and the parents of the players. To prevent her from leaving, he took the keys to her car off the peg next to the front door of the house and walked into the bedroom without glancing backward. He knew those were the only set of keys to her house and car because Tessa kept forgetting to keep spares at Duncan's house. 

She smiled smugly as she bounced Danny's car keys in her hand. Duncan had forgotten she drove Danny's vehicle home after dropping him off at Jessie's. She quietly snuck out of the house when she was sure Duncan was passed out on the bed.

Tessa made a mental note to pick up her car from the bar parking lot where she left it last night as she looked out over the softball diamond spread out before her. From her perch on the bleachers, she saw the groups of girls littering the diamond and the grassy field beyond. Some were running laps around the bases and others were playing catch. The activity looked like a well-oiled machine to her, just the way she liked it.

After her accident, she had been saddened that her dreams were broken because of a busted knee. At the age of five, her father had placed a mitt and ball in her hands, instilling dreams of pro-ball into her young mind. It was a dream that hadn't had a chance to be realized. 

She was lost in the dark when the doctors told her she wouldn't play ball ever again. Tessa wandered around for a few years after graduating high school trying to figure out what she would do with her life now that she had no goal. Her parents and Jessie had been worried about her when all she did was lay day after day staring at the TV screen and eating tons of junk food. What did it matter when her dreams were scattered?

It was Jessie who snapped her out of her stupor. She had dragged Tessa away from her indented spot on the couch, away from her TV, and away from the mounds of junk food. Jessie took her to a junior high softball game and forced her to watch the whole thing. 

Tessa had been angry at Jessie's high handedness, not to mention her insensitive nature. Didn't Jessie know it had hurt Tessa to watch the softball game?

Then, after being there an hour, Tessa started to pay attention. She started to notice the lack of communication within the team; players were not in the positions that maximized their strengths. The home team looked like a bunch of bumbling idiots. Tessa's anger shifted to the lethargic coach napping in the dugout. 

She had discovered a new goal in life. If she couldn't play, then she would coach. She would pass on her knowledge and experiences to those who could use them. 

With the help of her parents, she went to college to get a teaching certificate in History and procured a teaching job with the junior high school. It hadn't taken a lot of effort to wrestle the coaching job from the previous coach since she, obviously, had more experience.

Tessa didn't have any regrets about it, was actually thankful to Jessie for helping her find a new mission in life. She found her job as teacher and coach fulfilling. While there was still a little sadness that she had been unable to achieve her ultimate dream, there was some satisfaction in hoping one day one of her players would go all the way.

The sound of an engine caught Tessa's attention. She turned slightly -- wincing at the ping of pain in her knee -- to see who had driven up. A growl emitted from her throat at the sight of Jessie exiting the car. She whipped around, spine tensing in anger. While Jessie was her best friend, she was still mad from last night.

"Hey there, Tessa!" Jessie greeted with false cheer.

Tessa narrowed her eyes at her. "Is your mess all straightened out?" she asked. Suspicion made her voice sharp, disgruntled.

"Actually, I came here to talk to you about it," said Jessie reluctantly.

"No way! I told you not to come near me unless things were settled. Look at my knee!" She pointed to the inflated appendage. 

Jessie looked at it in horror. "It's huge! Why didn't you ice it up last night?"

"That is not the point. The point is I wouldn't have the need for ice if it weren't for this whole thing." Tessa pointedly turned back to the diamond, silently dismissing her friend.

Edging closer to where Tessa sat on the bleachers, Jessie tried again in a pleading tone, "I need to ask you for advice, maybe bounce some ideas off you. The sooner I get your help, the faster this'll be done."

"My help with what?" Tessa said incredulously. She thought her friend couldn't possibly be this clueless.

Jessie's eyes went round and turned glassy. She jutted her lip out and pouted, "I need to figure out what to do with Danny."

Slowly rising, making sure her good leg took most of her weight. Tessa cautiously turned to Jessie. "Marry the man."

"What?"

Sighing, Tessa tried again, "I said marry the man. That's all the advice I'm giving you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to the high school. They have a game today." She blew the whistle signaling the end of practice and walked away.

Jessie stared at her friend's retreating back. Then she marched off in pursuit. It had to be more complicated than that, she thought. There was no way she could up and marry the man. Not after what Danny did to her. She'd invested all her feelings in him in the past just so he could casually brush her off for a cheerleader. Surely, that had to factor into the situation.

Tessa was already driving out of the parking lot in Danny's car, which Jessie took the time to notice. As she got into her own car, she was determined to have Tessa listen to her doubts, her wants, and then help her decide what to do. It's just not as simple as marrying him.

--~~--

Danny completed washing the dishes from his lonely dinner. Jessie was taking her sweet time. It wasn't that she didn't know what she wanted, he knew. She was simply going to be stubborn about it. 

It would be like her to keep him waiting for as long as she could before she told him what she wanted. He wondered for the millionth time if she was going to call things off. Then he put his hand in his pocket and felt the reassuring charm within the palm of his hand.

He was starting to get antsy waiting in her house. Danny was an action type of guy; he wasn't one to stop and wait. To clear the restlessness out of his system, he decided to go for a little walk around the neighborhood. He threw the towel onto the kitchen counter and went for the front door.

Before he went out the door, he made sure to grab one of the spare keys she kept on a stand next to the door. As soon as fresh air hit his face, he calmed. Taking a few deep breaths relaxed his tense shoulders, stilled his racing thoughts and made things seem clearer. 

He started walking down the sidewalk in a random direction; the houses in the neighborhood all had pristine lawns complete with lawn decorations. Danny was surprised that they didn't have little white picket fences to go with the disguise of perfection. 

Jessie's neighbors were notorious for spreading rumors about her "immoral behavior." Delving into the sordid lives of others was a way for the inhabitants of the neighborhood to escape their own reality. 

One night, while Jessie and Danny were taking a rest from their sexual escapades, he asked her about the unnatural curiosity of her neighbors. He found it odd they didn't mind their own business in a time where people didn't want to get caught up in the drama of others.

She had yawned tiredly and told him -- in neighborhoods such as hers -- they gossiped about others to keep speculation off of their own lives. Jessie told him the husband in the house to the left of hers was cheating on his wife. The wife knew, but the only reason they stayed together was for the children.

The couple in the house to the right were swingers and into BDSM. She said she heard a rumor that they had converted their basement into a dungeon loaded with naughty sex toys. Jessie didn't have a clue if it was true or not. There was no problem in their lifestyle even if it was true, but the people of the neighborhood wouldn't see it that way. 

Unfortunately, for Jessie's neighbors, it was a small community. Nothing that happened in their lives could be kept a secret no matter how hard they tried. When Jessie moved into the house next to theirs, they saw her as a convenient escape goat. 

Some of the rumors they told were true. Jessie never made it a secret that she loved having sex and was a little adventurous in bed. Other rumors were false, her neighbors made her out to be shameless and risqué, which was worse in the eyes of the neighborhood than being just a sexual free spirit.

Danny knew they targeted Jessie not only for the juicy tales she produced, which were easy to blow out of proportion. They also targeted her because she was a single woman living alone. Danny shook his head and thought that was the way of society. He knew what it was like to be singled out because he was different. 

A whiff of smoke caught his notice. He looked around to see where it could be coming from. Years of training had his inner alarm ringing. There was a fire somewhere, not one that could be easily doused with a bucket of water or a small fire extinguisher. 

Dark gray smoke, nearly black in color, billowed up above the rooftops to his right. Danny started running towards the smoke. He cut across yards and leapt over obstacles that were in his way.

He saw the crowd surrounding the burning building before reaching his goal. Everyone stood staring in helpless wonder at the orange flames that burst out of the left side of the two-story home. 

Danny stopped short and asked the closest person, "Did anyone call 9-1-1?"

The man stared at Danny as if he were an alien that had appeared before him in a beam of light. Mutely, he shook his head "no" and went back to staring at the horrible wonder of the enflamed building.

Danny grabbed a fist full of the man's t-shirt and glared at him. "Call 9-1-1," he yelled before he released the man and got closer to the building.

A scream issued forth from the confines of the house. Everyone watching took a step back in shock. Danny looked at the building, determination gleaming in his eyes. It was going to be a while before the fire truck would get there, and the fire was spreading rapidly. 

He took a handkerchief out of his back pants pocket, took a few deep breaths, covered his face with the handkerchief, and ran into the open front door of the building.

--~~--

I lied, there's going to be one more chapter. Sorry for that, but I have no control over the characters! I've decided that Mattie will have his own story after I finish this. Thanks to all those who helped me decide. I would like to give a special thanks to sexylaila438 for her help in editing. Please remember that I love comments, compliments, and votes!



Walking into Fire Ch. 04



Tessa opened the closet door looking for the blouse and skirt she wanted to wear for Duncan that night. The closet was sparse, nearly bare of all clothes. She didn't have many clothes to start with but the bulk of what she did have was now residing in Duncan's closet. Tessa lifted a rueful brow. It wasn't just the contents of her closet at Duncan's house. 

Most of the things in her bathroom were items she usually took when she traveled since her regular toiletries were in Duncan's bathroom. There was nothing worth mentioning in her fridge. She suspected that what food she did have in there turned to penicillin a while ago. Her cupboards were also bare.

Why didn't she move in with Duncan, she wondered. It wouldn't be very hard. The only things left to move were furniture, electronic equipment, some dishes, and a few odds and ends she hadn't taken over there already.

"Are you listening to me?" Jessie impatiently asked from her perch on Tessa's bed.

"No," replied Tessa. She scratched her chin and started thinking about the pros and cons of moving in with her boyfriend, drowning out her friend's incessant chatter. 

Jessie had followed her from the Junior High softball diamond, to the high school game where Tessa had stood in as coach for one of her sick friends, and finally back to her apartment. The whole time Jessie chatted away about her feelings, thoughts, and questions concerning Danny. Tessa stopped listening when Jessie started to become redundant. The woman went round and round, circling over the main problem, yet not landing on it. 

"What do you think?" Jessie's question brought Tessa back from her musings again. 

It was the fiftieth time she asked that question. Tessa had long since reverted to shrugging half way through the high school game when the answer "marry the man" didn't work. It started to make Tessa think the question was rhetorical, but she decided to throw out a different answer this time. Simply because she was sick and tired of listening to Jessie's constant jabbering about a situation that was ridiculously basic. It was Jessie's stubbornness that made it difficult. 

Taking a deep, fortifying breath she turned to her friend and said, "Jessie, you're afraid to say yes even though you desperately want too. He hurt you badly in the past and you don't want to revisit that pain again if he decides to up and dump you again." Tessa sat beside Jessie on the bed and continued, "If you set aside that sense of betrayal you feel, you'll see that you still love him - have loved him all along. Why else would you still be wearing the fire truck charm he gave you? If you don't fight for love, then it's not worth it. I told Danny the same thing."

Jessie turned wide eyes to her asking, "You talked to Danny about me?"

"Of course I did! He asked me for advice. There aren't many men willing to do that. I think it shows determination. It shows that he means forever this time." Tessa gave her friend a companionable nudge with her shoulder.

Laying back on the bed, Jessie stared at the ceiling and said, "There's nothing I can do but to give him a second chance. I don't want to let him go and there's no reason to keep fighting with myself...other than stubbornness." 

Tessa let out a snort of laughter. "Stubbornness is your middle name. I'm not surprised you're trying to fight your feelings for Danny. It's annoying having to listen to the two of you."

Jessie looked around the bedroom for a clock and found none. "What time is it?" she asked.

Lifting her arm, Tessa read her wristwatch. "Looks like half past five."

"I think Danny's waited long enough. Time to tell him the good news!" Jessie hopped up and started for the front door.

"Good for you! Have fun with all the sex!" Tessa yelled after here.

When she heard the door close, Tessa dubiously eyed the blouse and skirt hanging in her closet. The last time she wore women's clothes Jessie was there to help. Since she's currently taking care of her own problems Tessa was on her own. 

She thought it was a good thing that Duncan made no mention of make-up and shoes in his demand. Jessie supplied the make-up last time because Tessa didn't even own a tube of lipstick. As for shoes...

Tessa looked down at her bad knee. The swelling had gone down considerably. Instead of a watermelon, her knee looked rounded like a softball was lodged between her calf and thigh. She could bend it at a ninety-degree angle, but not all the way back. Even after all the progress she wouldn't be able to walk around in high heels for another day. Duncan would have to live with her flats. 

--~~--

He wasn't there. Jessie came back to her house expecting Danny to be impatiently waiting for her. Instead, she came back to emptiness and a clean kitchen. 

Anxious to tell him her decision, she left her house and had gone to the firehouse looking for him only to find everyone out on a call. Even though it was his day off, he could have gone out with the unit when the fire alarm went off. Ted was lurking around the back of the brick building. Jessie suspected he was hiding from his wife and kids again. 

She cornered him and asked if he'd seen Danny. He had not. Jessie sighed her dismay. She thought to go over to his place and see if he was waiting for her there. 

When her hand hit the doorknob to the front door, she realized she had no clue where he lived. She doubted that he lived in his old house since it had been sold to a family five months after his family moved.

Jessie used to go by his empty house constantly like an obsessive stalker with nothing but the subject's remains to stalk. She stopped her late-night reminiscent drive-bys the day the house was sold. Her forehead hit the wood of the front door with a loud "thud." 

She damned herself and her insistence on having their liaisons at her house. It was her need for control -- albeit a false sense of control - which demanded everything sex related was done in an environment that she could manage. If she had misread any of the men she propositioned, they could have easily overtaken her even in her own home. Jessie admitted that she wasn't as muscular as Tessa, nor did she have her friend's formidable height. 

It was daunting acknowledging a brutal truth about herself. The drama queen persona she had adopted the day Tessa was injured was nothing but a ruse, a mask to fool the people around her. She had been doing it for so long that she even started to believe it herself. Until now. 

Jessie realized she was still the dreamy teen Danny had left behind. She had held onto that charm in the desperate hope that he would come back to her. It was a symbol that others might take of her body, but they would never claim her heart and her soul because Danny owned those.

She lifted her head and glimpsed her reflection in the pane of glass that was part of the door. There were tears running down her face. Her crying didn't surprise her. 

Only Danny could make her cry. She had been a tough little girl, an even tougher teenager, and a cold hearted, warm bodied drama queen that never cried. The night he told her the story of his scars she cried for the little boy who couldn't save his father, the night he dumped her she cried buckets of tears for a week, and then again last night when he had confessed to her. 

A shake of her head cleared her wandering thoughts. Her main objective was to talk to Danny. She was going to have to go back to her own house until he either called or decided to show up. The most she could do was call his cell phone and leave a message.

She made him wait for her. It was fair that he mad her wait too.

--~~--

After Jessie left, Tessa checked her cell phone to see if she had any messages. Duncan's number showed on the caller ID along with the voicemail icon. With her best friend pestering her, she had forgotten the circumstances with which she left him that morning. At least he hadn't hunted her down to bring her back home. Although, according to the message, he had seriously thought about it.

Even though he didn't take such drastic action, he warned her he would tie her to the bed next time if her knee was worse or did not look better. She thought about his threat and came to the conclusion she only liked the idea if her knee wasn't involved. 

The message went on to add that he picked up her car with Ted's help and, he was helping Ted work on his classic truck restoration project in return. Duncan also made sure to remind her of the promise she made.

Tessa snorted at the reminder. As if she would forget when he had made his demand so eloquently. She shivered with the images of his harsh face as he mastered her body and bent her tomboyish nature to his will. There was a secret hope that he would do it again in the future.

Through the three years of their relationship, Tessa had expected their sex life to grow predictable, the pleasure dim over time. It never happened. Their physical relationship held a certain amount of spontaneity. Sometimes, without reason or provocation, they would pounce on each other like horny rabbits. Occasionally, he would talk dirty to her and encouraged her to do the same. Then there were the intense moments when they expressed their love. She savored those, held them close to her heart.

He said he loved her every night before he left for the firehouse, even on his days off. Tessa used her body to say the words. She did say them every once in a while, but thought they sounded droll, fake even. They didn't seem to convey the depth and scope of her love for him. Duncan was able to say the words in a way that made them sound poetic. His deep, rich voice caressed every syllable just like he caressed every inch of her body. Considering this, Tessa felt she did it better by showing him.

It was certainly hypocritical of her, especially in light of what she told Danny about a man's habit of physically expressing love. Men would know if women loved them by a certain touch. Right? If they didn't, they still assumed women loved them. They didn't crave to hear the words like women did. 

She shrugged negligently and pushed the thoughts aside throwing the cell phone on the bed. Tessa looked at herself in the full-length mirror, twisting and turning to scrutinize her outfit. She had taken her time in getting ready to see Duncan, even going shopping for lipstick of her own. To her, the outfit wasn't right without a bit of make-up. 

She put a little on her lips, making sure to carefully color inside the lines. Pressing her lips together a few times, she stepped back from the mirror and took in the full scope of her outfit again. She nodded to herself in satisfaction thinking she looked perfect.

Her cell phone went off startling her. She looked around guiltily acting as if someone bore witness to her traitorous girlie demeanor. The phone continued ringing, echoing around the room. Tessa walked over to pick it up. 

"Hello?" she asked.

"Tessa?" asked Duncan's urgent voice. "Is Jessie there with you?"

Bewildered, Tessa replied, "No, she's at her house with Danny."

"Not with Danny, honey," Duncan gave an impatient sigh over the phone. "You have to hunt her down and tell her Danny's in the hospital. I just got the call from Jackson. He said they found Danny unconscious in a burning building a few blocks from Jessie's house. He managed to save a woman and child before passing out. We don't know how bad he is."

Tessa fought through her shock. "I'll find her and we'll meet you at...Mercy Hospital?"

"Right." There was a click on the other line and a dial tone. 

Finding Jessie was easy since she was still at home. She had picked up the phone thinking Danny was calling. There was a pang in Tessa's heart the way her friend answered the phone. It hurt to be the one to tell her friend the bad news.

The conversation was very brief. Jessie stayed quiet while Tessa told her the limited information. After Tessa said which hospital he was at, the phone went dead on the other end. Jessie had hung up. Tessa wasted no time getting into her own car. 

--~~--

The Emergency Room wasn't bustling expected. Instead, there was a tense atmosphere as grimy firemen clustered around a group of chairs closest to the ER door. Tessa walked towards them when she spotted Duncan. 

He was the only clean one among the horde. A doctor walked out the ER doors and went straight towards the group. All the firemen crowded around the doctor to hear the news about their downed comrade. Tessa stood outside the group, unable to gain access to the wall of backs she faced. 

She could barely make out the doctor's low voice as he told the group the critical news. There was a collective sigh from them before they disbursed. The bulk of the group headed towards the exit doors shaking their heads and making low comments leaving Duncan and Mattie behind.

Duncan was busy asking the doctor questions while Tessa stood next to Mattie. She looked at him surprised that he stuck around. He looked like he was in a trance.

"Danny saved a woman by busting out a window on the ground floor," he mumbled. "After he helped the woman climb out the window, he went back in for the kid." Mattie ran a hand through his dirty hair. "When we got there, Jack and I followed the screams around to the side of the house. We saw the kid standing at the window crying. Jack managed to get the kid out. I looked back inside to see Danny passed out on the floor."

Confusion marred his handsome face, his left cheek, forehead, and nose smudged in soot. "Everything happened so fast, it's all a blur. We got to him before the roof caved. He wasn't breathing when we brought him out. I used CPR on him, but his breathing was very shallow. By then, the ambulance arrived to take him."

Mattie turned and left, leaving Tessa in stunned silence. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest. If Danny died, Jessie would be inconsolable.

Duncan finished questioning the doctor. She walked up to him as he turned looking as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. Tessa took it as a good sign.

He wrapped his arms around her and gently rocked. They were silent for a time, both lost in their own thoughts. 

Then Duncan said, "Danny will be fine. The doctor ran a few tests and they're waiting for the results. He doesn't think Danny has any lasting damage. As soon as they're sure, they're going to release him."

Tessa leaned back to look at him. "That's very good news. Jessie will be relieved."

Jessie seemed to burst through the sliding doors of the Emergency Room. Duncan and Tessa jumped apart feeling unreasonably guilty. Jessie was still wearing sweats, her hair wild and out of control as she walked straight to Tessa with single-minded determination. 

"How is he? Any word?" Jessie asked the questions so fast they all sounded like one word.

Tessa put her hands on Jessie's shoulders in an effort to instill some sense of calmness into her. "The doctor came out and told us he's fine. They're running tests to make sure there's no permanent damage. We're hoping they'll let him go soon. The doctor did say that his lungs were most likely fine and the tests were precautionary only."

Jessie sank down onto the chair Tessa had been standing in front of. She took a few calming breaths having spent most of the drive to the hospital with a mixture of suspended breath and very shallow breathing. Her first big intake of breath made her head light. With the next several deep breaths, everything returned to normal - her breathing, the beating of her heart, and her chaotic thoughts.

Putting her face in her hands she asked, "What was he doing in a burning building with no equipment?" 

Tessa sat down in the chair next to her and guided her friend's head to her shoulder. Jessie looked tired from all the worrying. Tessa knew well what it was like to love a fireman. 

She sighed and stroked Jessie's unkempt hair before saying, "He saw the fire was spreading fast. No one called emergency until he got there and he knew the fire truck would never be in time to save the woman he heard screaming in the house. He risked his own life to save a woman and child, Jessie."

"Is this how you feel everyday? All the dread, horror, and fear mixed into one big knot in the pit of your stomach?" she asked weakly.

"No," Tessa replied, "not everyday. Sometimes at night, when I know he's on duty, I wake in a cold sweat. Then there are times I fear something bad will happen to him. There are also times when I fear he'll do what Danny did and just run into a building with no equipment to save someone." She could feel her eyes fill with tears, but she went on.

"I knew what I was getting into when I finally decided to be with him. There are a few times when I wish that he wasn't a firefighter, and I hate that he has to risk his own life for others. But I stop that line of thinking and remind myself that's who he is and I love him all the more because of it." Tears started to fall down her face. "It takes more courage than a fireman's to love them because of all the waiting and the not knowing, but it's worth it in the end."

She felt a hand squeeze her shoulder in comfort. When Tessa looked up to see Duncan's caring eyes gazing down at her, she gave him a watery smile. 

Jessie wiped the tears from her eyes and hugged Tessa, "At least I won't go through those times alone," she said.

"You're not going to let this incident color your decision?" Tessa asked surprised.

Her friend burst into a mixture of laughter and hiccups. "I've made up my mind and no foolish action, no fire will take him away from me now. He had his chance to run for the hills, but chose not to."

Tessa laughed too, wiping tears as she said, "Heaven help him." 

Duncan's hand left her shoulder, which caught her attention. She turned her head slightly to see what had taken him from her side. A bright smile spread across her face when she saw a nurse wheeled Danny out of the ER. Jessie was busy composing herself to notice. Tessa jabbed her side with an elbow, making her scowl in displeasure.

"Looks like they coughed him up," Tessa said pleasantly.

Jessie turned to look. Danny was haggard, slightly singed in places, a cough occasionally escaped his mouth, and he had a cocky grin on his soot covered face. She thought him handsome despite it all, perhaps because of the life-threatening event he had lived through. 

In very Jessie-like fashion, she stood up and moved towards him. Her hips swayed, making her baggy sweats seem sexy. She had a seductive look in her eyes, a look that had captured the wits of many men. Danny wasn't fooled for a second. He knew she was angry with him, and the display was her way of trying to catch him off guard so she could hit him. She'd done it too many times for him not to recognize it.

Duncan left him, preferring to be far from the inevitable explosion. When Jessie was in front of the wheelchair; Danny, Tessa, and Duncan held their breaths in suspense. 

The explosion never came, the hitting never started. Instead, they heard uncontrollable sniffling. Danny had his eyes shut, bracing for an onslaught that never came. He cracked an eye open to look up at her. Relaxing immediately at the sight of Jessie's tears, he tried to reach up and touch some part of her in reassuring comfort.

A wail escaped her lips as she collapsed to her knees, laying her head in his lap, and wrapping her arms around his middle. She couldn't say anything through her upset crying, though she did try. Nurses, doctors, patients, and visitors in the ER all seemed to stop and stare at the spectacle. Danny didn't mind. It was better than having her pummel him.

Duncan put an arm around Tessa's shoulders, guiding her to the exit of the ER. She resisted him a little, the need to be there for her best friend compelling her to stay. Finally giving up when Duncan proved insistent.




Walking into Fire Ch. 04



It was hard for Jessie to regain control of herself, but she managed to calm the wailing moans to silent sniffles once again. She couldn't make herself let Danny go, couldn't make herself put even the slightest space between them.

"I think we should go home now, Jessie." His soft words seeped through her desperate obsession to hold onto him and never let go. 

She became aware of their surroundings and the fact people were staring at them. Reluctantly, she retracted her arms and stood up. She used the sleeve of her sweatshirt to whip her eyes as Danny rose from the wheelchair.

He coughed a little before taking her other arm, which was not covered in tears and snot, and escorted her out of the ER. They went home in silence. Danny thanking his lucky stars that he didn't meet his maker, Jessie impatient to get home so she could tell him how much she loved him.

--~~--

Tessa was tired when Duncan lead her into the house. She trudged to the bedroom, lying back on the big bed with a tired sigh. Her day had started early, she mused, and hadn't seemed to stop until now. Her gaze strayed to Duncan who was casually leaning in the doorway. 

She turned to look at the clock on the nightstand and her eyes curiously returned to Duncan. "Shouldn't you be scrambling into your uniform and running out the door to work?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I took off tonight."

She managed to rouse her scattered thoughts to think on his words. A question came to mind, "If you took off, why did you demand I dress up tonight?"

Duncan's eyebrows rose, indicating a reluctance to confess. He straightened from the doorway and put his hand in his pants pocket.

It was the first time Tessa took notice of his attire. He was clothed in a light blue dress shirt with cuffs rolled back to his elbows, a pair of black dress pants that bore wrinkles from excessive movement, a purple tie hung limply around a loosened collar, and black dress shoes scuffed in places from too much pacing.

As he moved towards her, he brought out a small, velvet box from his pocket. The picture he presented transfixed Tessa. Her brow wrinkled in thought. She should know what this all meant, but her brain didn't feel like cooperating. 

Duncan eased down onto his knees in front of her, helping her sit up on the bed. They were eyelevel with each other when he spoke, "Tessa, I love everything about you. I would have been content to remain friends until we became old and gray if you hadn't had the guts to change my way of thinking. You changed my life the day you walked into the firehouse all dolled up and sexy. All the days after, you taught me that I couldn't screw up a relationship if I really cared about the person, you taught me that I could love."

He sighed as he gathered his thoughts. "This morning my fear was shinning through. Ever since you insisted on a commitment," he kissed her cheek showing his gratitude for her boldness, "you didn't dress like that since. I thought it was a sign that you were getting tired of me. A year after we had been together, I bought this," he opened the box to show her it's contents.

Tessa gasped when she saw the ring. A lone sapphire in a platinum setting winked up at her. It wasn't gaudy or elaborate. It was simple with a quiet elegance. She loved it because she couldn't have chosen a more perfect ring herself.

Duncan took out the ring and set the box aside. "I waited for you to dress like a woman again, a sign that you were not getting tired of me," he stopped for second noting how silly his worries sounded when voiced. He knew he was botching everything up. Proposing wasn't as easy as he thought it would be.

Swallowing his pride he got on with it. "I'm sorry it took me so long. Will you marry me, Tessa?"

"Oh...Duncan..." she thought desperately for a word grander than an ordinary "yes," but the dulling disappointment in Duncan's eyes had her shouting, "YES!"

She took a breath as he slipped the ring on the appropriate finger and leaned his forehead intimately against hers. Trying again she said, "Yes, Duncan, I'll marry you. Although I was wondering if I should have been the one to propose."

He reared back. "No way, Tessa," he said vehemently. "You worked on my truck, you fixed the garbage disposal, but you were not going to be the one to propose."

She laughed at the stern look on his face. "It's a good thing I thought better of it and left it up to you, then." She grew serious. "I'm sorry that I don't act like a woman," a grin split her lips, "except in bed. I'll see what I can do about dressing all girlie once a year."

"Twice a week," Duncan countered.

"Twice a year."

"Once a week."

Tessa growled in exasperation. "Once a month, or I don't do it at all."

"Fine," he relented, "but if you decide to dress up more than once a month, I wouldn't complain."

She flashed a rueful look down at the black skirt she wore. "I don't see the appeal. It's uncomfortable and that breeze...it's unnatural!"

"I don't know," Duncan critically eyed the skirt. "There are some useful aspects to you wearing a skirt."

Tessa snorted. "Like what?"

His hand touched her calf as he pretended to consider the possibilities. "Well," his hand massaged its way to her thigh. He could feel her muscles relax. "When we're out in public, it could conceal all sorts of interesting things."

"Really?" she questioned, her breath becoming shallow with anticipation.

"Yes," he confirmed, his fingers skimming the crotch of her lacy panties. Duncan growled in his throat. "You're wet," he breathed.

She gave a little cry as he tweaked her barely covered nub. "I'm always wet around you," she panted.

"Three years and you still have this reaction around me?" he mumbled the question as he concentrated on the feel of her special lubrication seeping through her panties. He played with her folds through the covering, her hips shifting anxiously.

With a leisurely move, he pulled at the crotch of her underwear, making the delicate scrap rip. His finger entered her. She moaned her appreciation, as he marveled at her slick warmth. The feel of her juices coating his finger made his hardened cock jump in his pants. He wanted to tear off his pants and ride her hard until they couldn't walk, but he had had his sexual way with her that morning. The night was hers alone.

Duncan's free hand reached up and undid a few buttons of her blouse until he revealed her bra. He pulled down one cup of the demi-bra to reveal a pert nipple. Just as he rolled her nipple between his thumb and finger, he inserted two fingers into her liquid heat. 

Tessa was mindless, wallowing in the languid pleasure. His light twists and pinches to her one bare nipple sent sparks of pleasure racing down to her pussy. The dual stimulation made her womb clench in expectation. Without warning, both his hands were gone from her body.

Her heavy lids jolted open to see what he was doing. "Are you going to come inside?" she purred the question.

"Not right now," he answered as he grabbed her ass with both hands and pulled her to the edge of the bed, giving his head easy access to her enthralling taste. 

Duncan took in the sight of her. She was leaning back on her elbows, her blouse partially undone, and her skirt hiked up ending mere inches from the tops of her thighs. He could see the moist pussy quivering for release; hungry for anything he might give it.

Entranced, he pushed her skirt to her waist and lowered his head to her waiting cunt. He could hear Tessa gasp when the tip of his tongue lightly touch her nub. Her hips lifted and he used his left arm to anchor her to the bed.

Tessa's arms gave out from under her causing her head to hit the mattress. She whimpered as his tongue did an exploration of her pussy lips, every so often going back to tease her clit. Her hands undid the rest of her blouse; she yanked down the other half of her bra to play with her own breasts. She cried out when Duncan's tongue plunged into her.

It wasn't enough for her; she needed something more substantial to satisfy her. "I need you inside me," she whispered.

"No," the vibration from his voice reverberated through her body.

He started to suck on her pussy lips as the fingers of his right hand invaded her core again. Her hips jolted with the stimulation. All thoughts emptied out of her head when his mouth sucked and nipped at her straining clit.

She was so close to the edge all he needed to do was another nip, lick, or suck on her nub to send her over. Duncan did better than that. He latched onto her clit and hummed. Tessa exploded with a kaleidoscope of intense feelings. She felt the vibrations in every part of her sensitive body. 

Duncan rode out her orgasm, licking up the juices from her spending. He was looking forward to spending his future with his vivacious tomboy. 

--~~--

Danny watched the water go down the drain. He had finished taking a bath, something that Jessie had insisted on drawing him. After a heated argument, which ended with him doubled over in a coughing fit, she resolutely walked into the bathroom and started running the water. He had no more fight left in him after that. 

As he got out, he admitted to himself she was right in making him take a bath. The soak did wonders to make him feel better. No wonder women spent hours laying in the tub. He never understood the reasoning before now. He felt rejuvenated, as if the energy lost in the fire was restored to him.

His eyes were drawn to the closed bathroom door. It was oddly quiet on the other side. Normally Jessie had something on, stillness of any kind drove her nuts. She seemed changed since he came out of the Emergency Room. 

He expected her to rail at him the whole way home, giving him grief for walking into a burning building unprotected. A deep sigh escaped him. Their budding relationship was fragile. She hadn't even told him her answer, but he knew the events of the day were a deal-breaker. Jessie wasn't the type of woman to sit around and worry about her man. Danny knew she liked knowing he would be safe at all times. 

On the other hand, Danny wasn't the type to stand around and watch a building burn with people inside. He had the ability to save lives; he was going to use the ability when needed.

Danny sat heavily on the lid of the toilet. He stared at the blue and white-checkered floor, trying to come to the realization that he was going to have to say good-bye to Jessie. There was a sharp, stabbing pain in the vicinity of his heart. She had been the only woman for him. Because of his job, his life, he was forced to choose between what he loved to do and the woman he loved. Unfortunately, it was no contest; he chose his job. If he wasn't a fireman, he would be incomplete, unhappy. Jessie deserved more than an empty shell of a man with no purpose. Stealing himself for heartbreak -- his and hers -- he took the towel that hung limply from his fingers and wrapped it around his middle. With shaky resolve, he opened the door not ready to face Jessie, but not having a choice in the matter.

He found her sprawled out on her bed staring at the ceiling. There didn't seem to be any life in her. It was as if she crawled into herself and refused to come out. He sat next to her on the bed and put his hand on her thigh, needing the contact. She didn't acknowledge, cringe away, or slap at his touch. He found her lack of reaction disconcerting. 

"Jessie, I think we need to have a talk," his voice was grim, carrying the weight of his decision.

Her head shifted to look at his back. She was still in shock over the thought that she had almost lost him without confessing her love. Jessie found the thought sobering. She saw her behavior as being childish and wasteful of the time they had with each other. Scared and uncertain indeed, she chided herself for the lies. What she had wanted to do was make him squirm while waiting for her. The games men and women played seemed trivial now, a waste of perfectly good time.

Danny continued on mistaking her silence for acceptance, "I guess of what happened, you've decided against a relationship between us. N...not that I blame you or anything!" He turned to see her staring at him, an unfathomable look in her unpredictable blue eyes. 

Resolutely, he went on while facing her, "If you're going to give me an ultimatum - quite your job or no relationship - it's not going to fly with me. A firefighter is who I am. I can't just leave a job I've dreamed about for all my life. I wouldn't be me anymore if I did that." His eyes begged her for understanding while her gaze remained steadfast. "I would be empty inside if I wasn't a firefighter and you wouldn't want to be with someone who wasn't complete. It would be like living with a zombie...or so I imagine."

Danny watched as hurt bled into her eyes. It was deep seated and painful as if he had taken a knife and mercilessly plunged it into her heart. He expected that reaction and understood the pain. His own heart felt like it was being ripped out of his ribcage. Maybe it had been a mistake to choose his job over her. A realization struck him, one that paralyzed his body.

It was true Danny wouldn't be complete without his job, but he wouldn't be complete without Jessie either. He needed both of them. 

Her softly spoken words cut into his momentary epiphany. "Did you honestly think I would make you choose between me and your job? What kind of woman do you take me for? Do I seem so heartless to you?"

"Not heartless," he replied quickly. There was more he wanted to say, but his reasoning -- foolish now that he thought about it -- seemed inadequate in the face of her questions. He wondered if he had misjudged her.

Quick as a whip, her hurt turned into anger. "I can't believe you would think that of me," she growled. "How long have I known you? When we were kids, how many times did I sit by your side listening to all the reasons why you wanted to be a firefighter? Wasn't it me you confessed your most important reason to? Didn't you tell me how your father died in a fire before you took my virginity?"

With each question her voice rose in direct proportion to her growing anger. She was on her knees, looking straight into his eyes. 

In the face of her loyalty and understanding, he found himself speechless for an entirely different reason. His heart pounded heavily in his chest while his desires came crashing down upon him. He had been obsessed with Jessie all these years because she was the only one who could touch his scars. Her rage reminded him of all the other reasons why he loved her.

He kissed her unable to help himself. Jessie was his because she could touch his scars. She was his because of her insurmountable kindness. She was his because of her wildly passionate nature. Most importantly, she was his because she was the only person on earth who understood him.

Her body was rigid when he started kissing her. She desperately wanted to push him away and continue screaming at him. His lack of trust was like a slap in the face. The old Jessie would have given into those needs, but the new Jessie understood life was too short for anger and misunderstandings. She would talk to him about his idiotic assumption later. 

Sighing her resignation, she sunk into him. The combined scent of his masculinity and the feminine bath salts she had slipped into his bath sent an erotic shiver through her body. She felt a primitive satisfaction in the exotic aroma as if she had placed her mark on him. 

Jessie's hands ran over his muscular chest, feeling the contours of his pecks. They trailed down to his abs and she felt a giddy delight when they twitched at her touch. 

Danny gripped her sweatshirt in his hands and yanked the offending material up and over her head, tossing it in a random direction. He did the same to her sweat pants. After discarding the unJessie-like clothing, he sat back from her and took in the sight of her underwear. They were plain with no lace, no frills. The only purpose her cotton panties and bra had served was for her comfort alone, not to entice a man. She never looked more beautiful to him.

He kissed her again with passion riding him hard. His body moved into hers, trying to persuade her into lying down so he could ravish her, but she had other plans. With more force, she pushed him down on his back and climbed on top. 

She closed her eyes savoring the exquisite contact of his hard shaft nestled against her sensitive feminine place. Her hips gently moved back and forth, rubbing their sexes together. Jessie's breath was shallow and fast as the bulging veins in his shaft bumped up against her cloth-covered clit.

She was driving him crazy with her movements. Danny could feel her juices soak through her panties to coat his throbbing hard-on. He managed to rise into a sitting position and reached around to unclasp her bra. She didn't stop him, mindless in her own delight

Her breasts were delicate round porcelain globes topped with perfect nipples, which were reaching towards his mouth. Jessie whimpered when his mouth made contact. Her hands delved into his hair as he started to suck and nip at her left breast. He moved to do the same to her right breast. Her nails clawed down his back leaving temporary red welts in their wake. He growled feeling her mark him.

"Lay down, Danny. I need you," she panted.

He obliged her, barely. Danny was struggling with the urge to throw her down and pound into her with the force of two weeks worth of frustration. The only thing keeping him from doing it was the look in Jessie's eyes. Underneath all the lust and the passion were a familiar, deep-seated love and the need for her to express that love.

She climbed off him long enough to remove her soaked underwear, and then she was back positioning the head of his erection to the center of her heat. A moan escaped them both as she slowly slid down his impressive length. 

His hands grasped her hips, helping her set a steady pace. He pressed his head back into the softness of the bed in an effort to resist the urge to pump into her. A feminine chuckle broke through the chaos of passion and need. He looked at her as she rose up and down, her breasts bouncing rhythmically. Her eyes were heavy-lidded with a spark of awareness. Jessie leaned over -- never losing the rhythm. 

"Stop holding back. Use me the way you want to," she whispered in his ear. 

Danny let go of the struggle. With a burst of strength, he rolled them over until she was on the bottom. He gritted his teeth and started to pound roughly into her. His mind was lost in a red haze. 

Jessie was a little surprised by his savageness. She closed her eyes and welcomed the brutal treatment. It only served to excite her more, heighten her senses into noticing all the little things she never noticed before. She heard their ragged breathing and the slapping of their flesh. She felt the slight pain that mingled with the pleasure, enhancing the force of her mounting orgasm. 

With one final thrust, Danny buried himself to the hilt with a shout and splashed his seed within her. His orgasm triggered hers. She cried out his name as the walls of her vagina started to massage every last drop from him.

He dropped on top of her, uncaring if he was squashing her. Burying his nose in her neck, he closed his eyes and savored her smell. He heard her sniffle and immediately moved off her.

Tears were leaking out of her closed eyes and she started to shake with silent sobs. Danny was stunned. He never saw her cry, not even when he broke up with her in high school. Now he was witnessing her cry for the second time in one night.

A wail erupted from her as she threw herself into his arms. He cradled her close feeling the wetness of her tears fall onto his chest.

She hiccuped and an intelligible sound came out of her mouth. For a moment, it seemed like she was trying to compose herself before she said, "I love you, Danny, and I accept who you are. But I would be lying to you if I didn't tell you that I was scared when I heard you were in the hospital."




Walking into Fire Ch. 04



Jessie raised her head to look into Danny's eyes. "It stopped my heart thinking that you would die without me telling you that I loved you. I've been an idiot not trusting you right away. I should've just put the old hurt aside and let you have another chance. You were almost lost to me because of my stupid pride."

Danny didn't know what to say to her, but it warmed his heart hearing what she had to say. He smiled at her, trying to convey all the love in his heart with that one gesture. She hiccuped again before he kissed her softly on her lips.

--~~--

The next day, a small celebration erupted within the firehouse. Men raised their glass bottles of root beer - unable to have alcohol on duty - to Duncan in toast of his engagement. He was being slapped on the back, his hair ruffled, as his coworkers joked about being tied to one woman. Ted desperately tried to get him to change his mind stating that the women in the family were insane. Duncan just smiled at him and said he wouldn't have it any other way.

Mattie stood off to the side with his bottle of root beer, a sad smile on his face. He was happy for Duncan, but couldn't help the feeling of loneliness that overcame him. When Jessie had shown interest in him, he had hoped she would be the one he would marry. She vaguely reminded him of someone.

He sighed to himself and went outside. Leaning against the firehouse building, Mattie gazed at the stars in the night sky. Past memories flooded his mind. They only made his heart hurt more.

The door opened and Duncan stepped outside. Mattie glanced at him and looked back at the stars. 

"Thinking about the one that got away?" Duncan asked.

"No," Mattie said, "thinking about the one that was never mine."

Duncan leaned against the wall next to him and stared up at the night sky. "I'm sorry, man," Duncan sighed. "Tessa said that Jessie and Danny were meant to be. You had an impossible task when she only had a marriage phobia. There's no way you could fight against history."

Mattie kicked at a pebble by his shoe. "I couldn't fight against the marriage phobia either. I was stupid to think I could."

"How so?"

He sighed, "I'm bad with words. Truth is I got myself kicked out of her house by basically calling her a slut." He looked at Duncan expecting the shocked look.

"Ouch, man!"

"Yeah, I know." Mattie shook his head at his own stupidity. 

Duncan resumed looking at the night sky. "You made it up to her, though," he said.

"I almost didn't."

"What?"

Mattie leveled a sober look at Duncan. "I was still pissed when I pulled Danny out of that fire. For a split second, when I noticed he wasn't breathing, I considered not administering CPR." The confession shamed him, but he had to tell someone. 

"But you did, and you saved his life." Duncan squeezed his shoulder. "You're human. Don't blame yourself for that split second or you'll end up hating yourself for the rest of your life." He went back into the firehouse leaving Mattie to ponder his word.

--~~--

This story is finally done. Sorry it took so long, but...you know. I know there were errors and I hope you don't hold me against them. I was in such a hurry to get the story submitted that I self edited instead of sending it to my editor. Remember that I love it when you vote and comment! 



Walking into Fire



He shook his head to clear it. "I knew that they were using me. It's just that I didn't want to believe it at the time, and, when I figured it all out, it was too late to do anything about Jess. If it's any conciliation, I was going to try and make it all right with her before I had to leave. I was going to see if we could still be friends."

Tessa punched his arm, showing more restraint than Jessie since her punch barely stung. "It's a good thing your mom received her orders to move before you did that lame-brain move. She was IN LOVE with you. When you broke off your relationship for all-boob-no-brain Barb, you ripped out her heart. Wanting to be 'just friends' would have been like mincing the poor organ into a liquefied mess." Her hands rubbed at her eyes, trying to scrub away everything she had witnessed. "She changed after you left." 

Defeated, Danny sat down on the couch again. "I think I was more blind than I thought. I didn't know that she loved me. Why don't you tell me everything starting with me dumping her? I need to know."

She sat down next to him, close as if ten years hadn't passed. They were just two friends having a conversation. "Jessie hasn't been one to tell me everything. Despite our friendship, she keeps a lot to herself. So my take on her feelings are mostly speculation. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that she did love you. Let it slip over a crying spell on my shoulder once."

He nodded his understanding. Regret was a living thing within him, and remorse was looking to move in.

Pain entered Tessa's eyes as she dredged up old memories she would prefer to keep locked away. "That year was bad on both of us, but, even after all I went through, I think Jessie took everything worse than I did. She seemed to shut down for a few days after you told her that you wanted to break up. On the third day, she began to change. She got into more fistfights, mostly with cheerleaders and football players. I think it's because she blamed them for taking you away from her. Then she started to have fling after fling with different men. She was a little reckless with her transgressions until another girl of her acquaintance at her college tested positive for HIV. Then she calmed down enough to be careful with who she slept with."

She paused to rub her knee. "The day before my accident, the day after you left, I went to her house to see how she was taking it and noticed the trash at the curb ready for pick up. Something was sticking out that grabbed my attention, so I lifted the lid of one of the trash cans and found all the stuff you gave her and reminded her of you. She must have cleared out her whole room. It took a few trips to get it all in my car...you know...one day she might want it back. She was despondent the day of my accident, standing in the bleachers staring off into space."

A heavy sigh penetrated the air. An agitated movement had Tessa reaching for her soda to take a sip. "My mind should have been completely on the game, or I should have told coach a lame lie on why I shouldn't have played that day. As I was running bases, I noticed that she wasn't in the stands anymore. That brief laps in attention put me in a hot box." A rueful grin appeared on her face. "I got out of it, but I slid wrong into home plate. My knee bent at an odd angle. Jessie was with me on the way to the hospital. She waited throughout the surgery, practically lived at the hospital the whole time I was there."

Danny was horrified. He wondered why she limped, figuring it was just a sprain. Tessa's physique was still that of a softball player, that's why he never thought she might not be playing anymore. "God, Tess, I'm sorry. I know how much you wanted to go all the way in softball. US Olympics, right?"

"Yeah, I was going into the Olympics and then I was going to convince a major league baseball team to recruit me. I was going to change major league baseball as we know it, but it wasn't meant to be." She gave him a faked sunny smile. "Don't think the world's ready for co-ed major league baseball."

He had to laugh at that. "I honestly think that if anyone could have done it, it would have been you. You were THAT talented." A gust of air rushed out of his lungs, more guilt assailed him. "So what happened after you got out?"

"Not much to tell after that. She finished her metamorphosis and became the flashy drama queen you saw today. Although, she was more subdued than I'd seen her in a long time when she spotted you today. So that's not a good example. I'm sure you'll see as time goes."

He took the soda from her and finished it off. "You still have the stuff she threw out?"

"Yeah, it's in a few boxes in my mom's storage shed."

Danny rose from the couch to leave. "Guess I gotta face the music." He lightly touched his bruised eye. "Where's she living?" 

"Ummmmm.... I don't think that's such a good idea." The breath in Tessa's lungs stilled, lord knows what Danny would do if he discovered Mattie at Jessie's. Knowing how fast Jessie goes they're probably tearing up the sheets of her bed by now.

--~~--

Jessie couldn't believe it. Mattie was giving her a counter ultimatum. No sex until he gets a commitment out of her? That's just not going to happen, it doesn't matter that she was going through a dry spell. She wasn't so desperate that she was going to be...monogamous. The word nearly made her wretch. 

"Sorry, Mattie, I don't negotiate. We either do it my way or no way at all." Jessie lounged on her couch as Mattie glared at her from his standing position.

"Are you just going to be a tramp for the rest of your life? Are you going to sleep with every man that comes around, breaking the hearts of most of them?" He was dubious at the thought. Not really understanding why a woman would want to do something like that.

Jessie looked like she was going to go into a rage. She got off the couch and stomped towards him. He brought up his arms, prepared to deflect any blow that might come his way. Instead, she latched onto one arm and started to drag him towards the front door.

"Tramp? I'm more careful picking out a lover than most 'studs.' Are you saying it's okay for men to bed hop, but women aren't allowed? I don't do double standards, I don't do labeling of any kind, and I certainly don't do commitments! Bachelor for life, baby." She shoved him out the door. "See you around the firehouse," she yelled as she slammed the door in his face.

Jessie plopped down on her couch, putting her right arm over her eyes. It took her two weeks to decide on Mattie after three months of "just not feeling like it." Now she was going to go a few weeks more without a man. Another two weeks of fingers and toys.

Then a desperate thought came to her. What if she hunted down Danny and gave him the same ultimatum that she gives all her men? She had to admit, the plan did have merit. Even when they lost their virginity together at the mutual age of eighteen in high school, he wasn't a half bad lover. What would it be like after having ten years of experience blow his belt?

Her underwear was soaked in record time. Just the process of replacing a teenaged Danny with a full grown, experienced Danny was making her womb contract in want. She needed her toys; her fingers weren't going to cut it. Her mind was going through which particular toy would best simulate the actual size of Danny when there was a nock on her door. 

She cursed under her breath. Mattie better pray that she was in control of herself because she was sorely tempted to rape him. That was how badly she needed a man at that instant.

Flinging open the door, she was about to tell Mattie to run for his life until she spotted Danny on her doorstep, and her horny state heightened to unbearable levels. He looked just as delicious as he did earlier in the day even with the black eye. She had problems thinking, and the itching in the palm of her hand to touch the scar on his cheek was getting on her nerves.

"We need to talk." His voice had deepened since last she heard it. It only served to make things worse. With the state she was in, she doubted that she would be able to walk. Hell, as soon as she closed the door in his face, she was probably going to drop to the floor and make do with her fingers.

"We have absolutely nothing to say. Just stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours. If you need a convenient fuck buddy, I'm not interested, but Barb's two blocks down second house to your left." All said without taking a breath. She tried to close the door, but one of his big strong hands stopped her.

"I don't want Barb, I never really wanted her. I want you. Now let me in so we can talk or I'm just going to have to force my way in." His eyes were hard, unwavering. 

She knew she was in trouble. He was determined to get in to have his say and she was desperate to satisfy her baser needs. She took a second to compose herself, to get enough control over her body to at least walk to the couch and sit down. Hopefully, what he had to say wouldn't take long, even though she had thought about having a fling with him earlier she new that it would be a terrible mistake. Danny was the only man she loved and one reckless roll in the bed would rekindle those feelings. 

Opening the door wider, she motioned him in. As soon as he crossed the threshold, she closed the door and went over to the couch. After she was situated, she turned to find him locking her front door. That didn't bode well for her.

"Make it quick, I have plans for the evening." She put on a mask of false bravado, hoping he didn't see through it.

Danny sat on the edge of her recliner to the left, both elbows on his knees. "You don't have any plans for the evening. I saw the man walk away from your house looking very disgruntled. From what I've been hearing, men usually walk away from here with a smile on their face. I take it he didn't want to play by your rules."

Jessie scoffed. "Just another man trying to control me. He thought that I would be so horny I would agree to his own terms. I rule my sexuality, my sexuality doesn't rule me."

A sly smile spread across his face. "That's not the way I remember it. In fact, there was this one time when you were so horny that you pulled me into a broom closet at school and ravaged me till I could barely walk."

"After ten years, you don't think I could gain a little control?" Sure she was able to gain a little control, but that was all. At that second her control was about to burst. He had to leave.

"You were expecting to fuck that man tonight. I bet you're revved up and ready to go. Are you having some problems, Jess? Anything I can help you with?"

"If you're going to taunt me, then you can leave. I'll help myself." She was about to get up to go into her bedroom where she would be safe, but he stopped her.

"I bet helping yourself isn't as fun as playing with someone else. Why not let me help you?" His breath blew into her ear as he talked, and a violent tremor wracked her body.

Her hand started to itch again with the memory of the way his scars felt on her skin. His rough left side rubbing up against her soft, pliant body. Their lovemaking might have been novas at best, but it was still the most sensual experience she had ever had. She was in desperate need now, and he was offering to help her. 

Jessie looked into his eyes. "You've got to agree to my terms if you want me." He would never do it. Danny will just laugh in her face and walk out the door, walk out of her life forever.

He was staring right through her into her soul. What did he see? "State your terms so I can consider them and make any counter offer I see fit."

She released herself from his grasp. Sensing that she had a way out of the mess she inadvertently found herself in. "No counter offer. Just my terms, take them or leave them." Without waiting for a reply, she went on. "One week of evenings, that means seven days. If you can't make an evening, then you forfeit it. At the end of the week, we part ways as lovers. During our time together you don't try and gain a commitment out of me; you don't try to latch onto me hoping that I'll capitulate. This week is for sexual gratification only. No emotions, no dating, no strings what so ever. Do you agree?" 

It was obvious that he was amused at her little speech, his next words confirmed it. "You want this contract signed and notarized?"

Jessie wasn't fazed by his attempted humor. "Usually, a kiss to seal the deal will do."

"Fine." He swooped in and kissed her. It was a kiss to coax her memories, always eager, always needy. The kiss was the same yet different. She could sense the same qualities as in high school, but more refined, more finesse.

She broke the kiss. Her living room was not where she wanted it to happen. It was bad enough that her neighbors gossiped about her dealings with the opposite sex, she refused to give them a show.

Danny followed her into her bedroom, both stripping their clothes off as they went. He had to look around after closing her bedroom door. The bedroom was a picture in decadence. The walls were painted in a royal blue color, tastefully decorated in Asian paintings of bamboo, rolling green hills, and dragons. The furniture was done in rich cherry wood. A dresser stood next to the door to the living room, a vanity littered with bottles and sporting an ornate mirror took up the wall to the left right next to the door to the bathroom, and her beautifully carved queen sized bed was laid out in front of him. The bed was obviously the centerpiece of the room with dragons carved into the headboard, bed sheets of purple satin adorned it. He couldn't wait to lay her on it, to spread her hair across the pillows.

Jessie was in her lingerie, standing next to the bed with an air of impatience about her. "Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to touch me?"

His eyes devoured her undressed state, hands twitching to take off her bra and underwear, but there was something he wanted to do first. Something he had been aching for ten years to feel again and thought that he might never wallow in the bliss of it again.

"I'm not going to touch you." Taking advantage of her shock, he crossed to her, picked up her right hand, and placed it on the burn scars on his cheek. He sighed in contentment; he could still feel her touch on his scars. It was a feet that no other woman could match...only Jess. "Touch me, Jess. Anywhere you want; do anything you want with me, just as long as you touch my scars."

Her heart thumped dangerously in her chest. Feelings were intruding on an interlude that she was determined to keep strictly emotionless, but she lost her composure at his heartfelt plea. It was their mutual downfall, her touching his scars. She felt joy in the contact of the rough terrain of his burn scars, the hills and valleys of the intricate pattern etched into his body since he was a little kid.

Her hand traveled from his face, down the left side of his body, following the path of long ago destruction. She had always felt that she was healing his hurts with her touch. Making him feel the cool and calming waves of acceptance instead of the burning, hatred of horror.

With her other hand, both traveled to his back as she stepped closer to him, bringing her whole body into the intimate caress. Her tongue touched the damaged skin around the nipple, playing around the areola, introducing a little suction. She sighed in contentment when his arms came around her, squeezing her as if he would never let her go.

Jessie knew she was a goner. No longer was she the sophisticated choosy lover of present; she was the inexperienced eighteen-year-old being introduced to her first expressions of love. She mourned the connection they had back then and was determined to relive it for the week that they had. One week of bliss. Would she be able to walk away afterwards?

Her mouth worked it's way up to his, giving a passionate kiss with such feeling that it rocked Donny. He hadn't made the agreement lightly, instantly finding the loopholes in her wording. With his intimate knowledge of her, he knew that he would win her with the aid of her body. She always wanted him, was always hungry for him. He took the chance that she still would be just like he was; still hungry for her touch on his burn scars. His heart rejoiced in his proven theory.

He felt her hands circle around to his hips, hooking his boxer shorts in her thumbs and drawing them down, trailing kissing in her dissent. She was learning the contours of his body, he knew. Mapping out a body that had changed with age using tongue and teeth and mouth. 

She took his member all the way in, applying everything she had learned in ten years. Using her tongue, she played with the veins in his cock making sure none were left untouched. Her head bobbed on him, trying to gently coax the fluids out of him with the help of massaging his balls using her left hand. 

With effort, Danny brought her back to her feet. "For our reunion, I would like to come in you, not in your mouth." He whispered the words in her ear making sure she not only heard every word, but felt them as well. Kissing her again, he undid the hooks of her lacy bra, dropping it unheeded to the floor. His hands kneaded the fullness of her breasts, noting their ripeness. Last time his hands had contact with them, they were practically nonexistent. His hands went down her rib cage, to her hips, dragging her thong panties along with them. He took note of the new curves, lush valleys, plump, welcoming thighs.

Danny could easily smell her desire and was instantly intoxicated. He was about to lose control of himself, throwing her on the bed, and taking her like a wild beast. The urge to taste her sweetness stopped him. Her body had changed since he had last partaken of her delights. Had her taste changed as well?

His tongue snaked out to lightly touch her hidden nub. Jess gasped her response, her hands going to his hair and clutching. He traced between her folds in one long lick, taking the time to memorize her new taste: tangy with a bit of salt like some exotic alcoholic drink. He urged her legs apart and dipped his tongue in as far as it would go, mimicking the sexual act. Her hips picked up the rhythm, enthusiastically meeting his thrusting tongue until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Please, Danny. Stop teasing me, I need you!" Her gasping words went straight toward his dick, making it thicken and lengthen more than he thought possible. 

He rooted around for his pants with one hand, while still relishing her flavor. Once he found the condom he kept in his wallet, and had his penis sheathed in the latex, he picked her up to lay her on the bed.

She looked like the goddess he always thought her to be, with her hair spread out, a stark contrast against the sheets, like rays of the sun bursting through the lazy purple morning haze. Her slightly tanned skin looked almost golden in the weak light of the lamp on her nightstand. 

In her desperation to have him, Jessie was practically pulling him down on top of her. He finally obliged them both, suspending himself above her, and plunging himself into her. She could swear that he touched her womb in that one great thrust. Was he ever this big in high school? 

They shuddered with the welcome invasion, her body greeting his. He started out slow, savoring her luxuriant vagina squeezing him. Jessie, not to be a passive participant, lifted her hips in time with his thrusts. 

"Faster, harder." She panted. He obliged her, speeding up and ramming her as much as he dared. As soon as he felt her contract, getting ready to explode, he stopped.

Jessie groaned her displeasure. Danny just laughed. "You didn't think it was going to be that easy?"

Her hand slipped below to grasp his balls. He stopped her before she did anything too provocative. 




Walking into Fire



"Why?" Jessie blinked at the word that had just escaped her mouth. Was she whining? 

He chuckled at her tone. "Trust me, love. You'll like this." He positioned her as if she were a bendable doll, enticing her to get up on all fours. 

"We've never done it like this before." She wasn't sure she wanted it in this position. Jessie use to insist on seeing his face, touching his scars to heighten both their pleasure. 

Danny thrust into her and all thoughts and disappointments vanished. She thought he was deep before, now she swore that he was touching her heart. This position made her feel more, allowed him to hit her g-spot every time he pistoned into her.

"Do you know what's best about doing it this way?" She could feel his breath between her shoulder blades as he kissed her there. Unable to string two words together, let alone remember she spoke English, she shook her head "no."

His hands reached under her to play with her nipples, lightly pinching and rolling the buds between his fingers. "I get to play with these while I'm fucking you." One of his hands went to play with her distended clit. "I also get to play with this."

Jessie cried out with all the sensations. Other men had done this to her in the past, but never had it been this intense. Never had it been Danny playing with her like his personal toy, and she loved every second of it. He always knew how to make her mindless with need.

"Do you want to come, Jessie?" 

She was close, so close. All the intense feelings were centering in the center of her stomach, the pleasurable tingling verging on the point of pain. "Please." She screamed. Her arms, unable to hold her anymore collapsed. 

"Now, Jess." He pinched her sensitive nub sending her over the edge to nothingness. It was like little fireworks going off in every part of her body, leaving her limp and spent. Her body would have been uselessly slumped on the bed if it hadn't been for him holding her up, still thrusting, and lengthening the force of her orgasm in pursuit of his own.

Then it was upon him. The cords in his neck distended in a silent roar, eyes tightly shut. It felt as if he were endlessly pouring himself into her, trying to become a part of her. It was the single most gratifying feeling he had ever experienced in his entire sexual career. It was also the most disappointing.

Disappointing because there was a condom between them, because there was no love. He collapsed on top of her, using his last bit of strength to turn them both on their sides. His body spooned her's. Danny marveled at how perfectly their bodies fit together. He held her tightly to him, nearly squeezing the life out of her and silently pleading for her to forgive him, to love him again.

--~~-- 

Awareness was slow to take hold. Her body felt well used and well satisfied. A sly smile graced her face remembering the night of marathon sex. Good thing she kept a well-stocked nightstand full of condoms because they were trying to make up for lost time, keeping in mind they only had seven days to last them for the rest of their lives. 

She stretched to release the kinks in her muscles and found them sore. It was a soreness that she was more than happy to live with. If they kept up as they had last night, she might end up with a limp like Tessa. Her hand went in search of her prince with the scars, wanting a good morning kiss, maybe a little pick-me-up to start the day. 

Unfortunately, all her hand found were cold sheets. Jessie jerked into a sitting position looking around the room. His boxers were gone, and she would bet the rest of his clothes were gone from the living room too. She sighed her displeasure. In the agreement, she should have stipulated evenings AND mornings. 

A thought occurred to her. She bit her lip in anxiety as she got out of bed. Had he spotted it? She hadn't expected him to appear on her doorstep last night, and she had left it out where he could have easily seen it. It was something she rarely took off, but she was glade she forgot to put it back on after her shower that evening. If he had spotted it on her, he would have known her little secret.

On silent feet, like a thief, she padded to her dresser. Looking next to her plain jewelry box, dirtied with age and constant use, was her belly chain with the fire truck charm, unmoved, just as she'd left it.