Just This Once (The Kings)

“Now, my wife doesn’t know these are out here, but there’s no harm in a bit of solitude.”

He stared down at the glowing cinnabar ember of his cigar, then chuckled. “Ah, who am I kidding? I can’t keep a thing from Marilyn.” He tapped the side of his nose. “That woman’s got a nose like a bloodhound, but she lets me think I’m getting away with it.”

I hummed in acknowledgment despite the fact I found his relationship with his wife curious. It was clear even after the years spent together, he was still wildly in love with his wife. Whether it was the long shifts away from home, media influence, or the general hero worship, it was a widely accepted misconception that firefighters were heartbreakers.

In some sick way it was probably what led me to become a firefighter in the first place. When given the choice, people will always choose someone else over me. I didn’t need to get attached only for them to decide I wasn’t worth the effort after all. The misconception that by nature I must be a philandering womanizer made it easier to keep things light.

Noncommittal.

The real joke was on me, though. In my experience the men and women on my crew were some of the most loyal humans on the planet. Joe Martin was a prime example. I’d heard him tell the story of how he met his wife and was instantly captivated. Despite the crew occasionally cracking jokes and bemoaning their spouses, Chief had never once whispered an ill word about his wife.

I couldn’t remember a single positive thing my father had uttered about my own mother.

Leech.

Thankless.

Whore.

Those were the broad strokes in which my father painted my mother—the woman who’d disappeared under the cloak of night without so much as a goodbye to the children who had loved her.

But we’d all done what we could to survive my father’s rule. We became achievers to earn his approval. Praise wasn’t doled out sincerely like Chief did. It was hard-earned.

I looked at the man I had often secretly wished was my father. He was on the shorter side—unassuming, yet a powerhouse. He had kind eyes and an easy laugh. He was tough, but it lacked the slicing edge of malice under which I had grown up. No, Joe Martin was tough because he saw the potential in everyone.

And you went and fucked his darling daughter.

Shame rippled through me. I had sat at the Martins’ table, eaten their food. Jesus, the things I had done to their sweet little Melly. It was a wonder I could look them in the eye.

Unaware of my internal tailspin, Chief held out a fresh cigar. “You’re sure you don’t want one?”

I swallowed around the hard lump that had formed in my throat. “Not tonight, but thank you, sir.”

Without pushing he simply nodded and tucked the cigar back into its box. “Outside of the station, you can call me Joe.”

I smiled and shook my head, my eyes not lifting from the concrete garage floor. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do that.”

His brown eyes were smiling. “Maybe someday.”

I returned his kindness and shrugged. “Maybe.”

Three sharp knocks on the entrance to the garage startled us. Chief tapped out his cigar and flipped on a fan, dispersing the thick plume of smoke out the open window. It was no use. The entire garage reeked of tobacco.

Chief’s shoulders softened when Emily appeared in the doorway.

“Just me,” she announced, maneuvering the heavy door and carrying the platter that held Mrs. Martin’s famous brownies. She gestured with the platter before unceremoniously depositing it on a workbench to her right. “Mom says ‘don’t forget to close the window,’ because otherwise it’ll get buggy.”

The tips of Chief Martin’s ears grew red, and he smiled. “Thanks, Melly.”

Her smile softened as she looked at her stepdad. “You bet.” Her face morphed into a snarl. Turning to me, she plucked a chocolate brownie with a vanilla blondie heart off the plate. “Night!”

She waved over her shoulder and blew out of the garage just as quickly as she’d come in.

Chief Martin’s chuckle drew my attention. He took a generous bite of his brownie and shook his head. “I swear,” he mused, “I have never seen a more stubborn woman. Even as a child she was headstrong. Always liked things just so, and if they didn’t go her way, she could dig her heels in and move mountains with sheer stubbornness. I don’t know what you did, but you’re in it.”

“What do you mean?” Panic ratcheted up my heartbeat.

Shit. Was he on to me? Did he know?

“Something’s got her hackles up.”

I plucked a perfectly square brownie from the plate. “I’m not sure either”—I was—“but I think it may be the general profession that irritates her.”

He took another bite and considered with a shrug. “She wouldn’t be wrong. There’s still a sensitive little girl beneath her grit and strong will, and our type makes it hard on a person like her.”

“Our type, sir?”

“The kind of person who can endure the stress of the job. The unknowns. The long hours. Dealing with death and trauma day after day.” He gestured vaguely toward his skull. “Makes a lot of us internalize our pain instead of dealing with it in a healthy way. Emily has always craved order and quiet predictability.”

I couldn’t disagree with his assessment of our type, so I offered a quiet harrumph.

He was probably right.

Prim was a rule follower by nature, but I’d gotten glimpses of a hidden rebellious streak that I knew her father knew nothing about. It was a simple fact that she deserved so much more than a man like me, but I’m nothing if not a glutton for punishment, so I couldn’t help but poke the bear.

I wasn’t looking to be anyone’s husband, but if she ever offered another late-night fuck, I wouldn’t have the willpower to refuse.

It was bad enough I couldn’t stop thinking about how desperately I wanted to touch her again. I couldn’t stop thinking about the intensity of our connection that night, and I had stopped myself a dozen times from falling to my knees and begging her to let me worship the smooth angles and lush curves of her body.

I exhaled a sharp breath through my nose. It was time to finally concede that I was more like my own father than I wanted to admit. I was willing to sacrifice my standing in the eyes of a man I respected to get what I wanted . . . and I wanted only her.

I leaned forward, hand out. “Thank you for dinner, sir. Please tell Mrs. Martin that the meal and the company were lovely. I look forward to another invitation soon.”

Chief Martin clamped his hand into mine, placing his other on my shoulder with a squeeze. “You’re welcome at my table anytime, son.”

I tried not to let his casual turn of phrase burn a hole through my chest. I had accepted his invitation with the intention of bringing up the building my father intended to purchase. Only problem was I was utterly charmed by Marilyn Martin and didn’t have the heart to spoil such a nice meal with underhanded business dealings disguised as small talk.

The fact Emily was also at dinner was an unexpected bonus. I also couldn’t worry about what my chief might think of me if he ever found out about the history between Emily and me.

I was on a mission.

Closing the garage door behind me, I spotted Emily striding across the lawn toward the driveway. I lengthened my strides and called out to her. “Hey, Prim.” She shot an annoyed glance over her shoulder. “Wait up,” I called.

Despite irritation flashing in her eyes, she paused, hand on her hip. I bit back a smile, admiring her commitment to despising me.

“What do you need? Would you like to know what other family functions we have coming up so you can ingratiate yourself with the chief?”

I shook my head. “Careful, Prim. You know us hero types struggle with the big words.” I furrowed my brow and thumped a fist against my chest. “Fire bad. Water good.”

She shot me a dead stare, but I could see the shimmers of a smile hinting at the corners of her pert little mouth.

Determining that subtle twitch to be a win, I popped the fudge heart out of the center of my blondie. “You want my heart?”

I’m sure she assumed I was simply messing with her, but the question hung in the air.

I stretched out my hand and dropped it in her open palm. In one quick movement, she tossed it into her mouth, chewing aggressively.

I winced. “Savage.”

Emily planted her hands on her hips. “Cut the shit, Whip. Why are you really here?”

I blinked, feigning innocence. “I was invited.”

She huffed, eyes narrowed. “Are you using my dad to try to get that promotion?”

The accusation poked at me. I may have the sick urge to bend his daughter over the hood of my truck, but I would never accept a job in the department that I didn’t earn.

Her teasing had been amusing, but now I was pissed. “The job wasn’t even on my radar until your dad brought it up to me. But I deserve that promotion.” My finger pointed to the ground between us. “I’ll get it because I’ve earned it, Prim.”

Her chin lifted, proving my nickname for her accurate. “Don’t call me that.”

The sun hung heavy in the western sky, slowly sinking behind the trees in the distance. Summer days were rapidly approaching, leaning into yawning afternoons that whispered promises of heated summer nights. The blaze of orange and fuchsia played with the muted blues and greens in her eyes.

I risked a step forward. “What would you prefer I call you?”

She sucked in a breath, hoisting her perfect round tits higher in the air. I held her fierce gaze. “I prefer for you to call me nothing at all.”

Excitement danced through me as tension crackled in the humid coastal air. I crowded her space, feeling her pert, hard nipples graze my chest. “You sure about that?”

Fury laced with indignation flared in her eyes, and my dick swelled in my jeans.

I struggled to keep my eyes off her—the thump of her pulse in her neck, the flush of pink in her cheeks.

The worst thing was the way my body eased toward her as if an invisible tether tugged us closer. I ached to touch her.

Who wouldn’t be attracted to Emily? She was funny, strong willed, whip-smart, and gorgeous. Aside from the fact her father was my boss, I had fun provoking her. She could take a smart remark and toss one back with her razor-sharp tongue. What I really wanted involved that tongue wrapping around my cock again. My dick twitched just thinking about it.

Damn it.

I knew exactly what I was doing when I grabbed her wrist. I was fully aware it was a terrible idea, and I had a pretty good feeling it was bound to bite me in the ass eventually.

Still, I yanked her arm, pulling her into me until she was so close the peppermint on her tongue mingled with my breath.

I held her wild stare for a moment. Then two. “Do you want me to kiss you?”

Emily swallowed hard but didn’t answer my question.

My attention raked over her features, her hazy aqua eyes nearly black with desire. “I told you I was going to make you beg for it.”

Emily sucked in a sharp breath. “Whip . . .”

“Beg, Prim.” My blood was white-hot. My fist gripped the back of her shirt.

“I—” Her eyes fluttered closed. “Please . . .”

Sick satisfaction washed over me with a wolf’s grin as my stomach clenched. “That’s my girl.”

I devoured her, surging in with confidence as I took her mouth. My hands slid up her back, then down over her ass. I pressed her into me as my hips jutted forward. I wanted her to feel what she did to me.

She looped her arms around my neck, inching higher up my body as she rose on her tiptoes. Our tongues clashed, rolling over one another as I tasted her. Mint and chocolate made her irresistible. I couldn’t get enough.

It was wrong and we were in the middle of the driveway. Chief could walk out of the garage at any moment and find me with my tongue down his daughter’s throat, but I didn’t care.

That kiss alone was worth my entire career.

Emily was all-consuming and forbidden at the same time—everything I’d ever craved and couldn’t have rolled into one provocative little package.

My mouth traveled across her jaw, and I sucked on the pulse point at her neck. “Tell me to stop.”

“Whip,” she whispered.

My hand coasted up her back, burying into the hair at the nape of her neck as I pulled her head back. I grazed my nose along the column of her neck, committing her scent to memory.

I held her face in my hands. “Tell me to go to hell. That you don’t feel this. Tell me to stop and I’ll walk away.”

Her breath floated across my cheek as her eyes searched mine. “I can’t.”

I groaned as I planted my mouth on hers, taking whatever she was willing to give and praying I survived it.

I needed that kiss to last. If it was the last one I was ever going to get from her, I would make it worth it. I delved into her mouth, exploring and tasting and devouring her. At any moment her father—my boss—could walk out and catch us. Emily didn’t need a man like me interrupting her life, and I sure as hell didn’t need to get fired for dry humping the chief’s daughter.

My head was spinning.

With one last taste, I gathered my resolve and gripped her shoulders. I peeled us apart, our breaths mingling as we panted. I ached for more. If she couldn’t walk away, then I would have to.

“We can’t do this. It’s not worth it.”

Hurt flashed across her face. Emily’s hackles went up before I could explain I didn’t mean she wasn’t worth it—hell, I’d been seconds away from igniting my entire life for a taste of her. I only meant that we shouldn’t expose our connection in the driveway like a couple of horny teenagers. We needed to be smarter than that.

Her puffy lips taunted me before she pressed them into a flat line. “Fine,” she ground out. “I couldn’t agree more.”

She turned, storming up the porch steps.

“Prim—” Her eyes flashed and I lifted a hand. “Emily. Please. I only meant⁠—”

Her chin lifted and her features iced over. “I know what you meant, and I agree. Good night.”

Without another word, she entered her parents’ home, letting the screen door slap against the frame.noveldrama

It’s for the best.

The words rattled in my skull, but were hollow. I glanced back at the garage, where I had left my chief. I didn’t have the balls to face him either. Resigned, I chalked it up to yet another thing in my life I had managed to fuck up.