Free Suni's Gift by Anne Rainey Page A

Every muscle ached and his body screamed at him for sleep. The Columbus, Ohio Fire Department had just finished one of the busiest nights in years. The house fire had only been the beginning. They'd also been called toa glass factory. Chemical fires were a bitch.
    He had no real idea what time it was, only that it was daylight. Ross drove into the garage of his ranch-style house and used the remote to close the door behind him. He shut off the engine and sat in the dark for a minute, resting his head against the steering wheel. He tried to force his feet to move, but it was no go. He was way too damn old for this shit.
    As the thought drifted through his mind, he saw a light filtering into the garage. He raised his head to see Suni standing in the doorway, which led into the house. Her blond hair was pulled up into a ponytail, her curvy body barely covered by a white tank top and gray shorts. She looked like youth and beauty and everything good in the world.
    The sight of her walking barefoot across the cold garage floor renewed him like nothing else. She would put him to bed now that his twenty-four hour shift was over. He'd sleep like the dead and wake to the delicious aromas of Suni cooking him dinner. It'd been the same for nearly five years and he wouldn't change any of it.
    She opened his door and smiled at him, making him feel like the luckiest bastard alive. "Come on, big guy, enough saving the world, time to rest."
    He let her pull him from the truck and take his keys out of his hands. She walked him to the bedroom, where she'd already turned down the covers. She helped him out of his clothes, stripping him down to his black boxer-briefs. She placed his pager and cell phone on the nightstand, then gently pushed him onto the cool mattress. She covered him with the sheet and turned to pull away, leaving him to rest. Ross stopped her with one hand wrapped around her wrist. He pulled her close. "Give me a goodnight kiss, baby girl."
    He watched heat seep into Suni's green eyes, fascinated as she leaned down and gave him a light peck on the lips. She went to move away, but he held her firm and kissed her the way he wanted to kiss her. Telling her without words what she meant to him. Her heat and vitality filled him, made him feel alive again. No drug could ever compare to howSuni made him feel.
    He pried her lips apart and slipped his tongue into her mouth, she moaned and he reveled in it. He raised his free hand to her breast, palming the bountiful swell. Ross felt her body quiver and he suddenly wanted her. If he wasn't nearly dead from exhaustion, he would have taken her too.
    Ross broke the connection and let his head fall back to the pillow. "If I wasn't so tired—"
    "Shh, go to sleep." She stopped his explanation with a finger to his lips. "There'll be plenty of time later," she whispered.
    The last thing Ross saw before his eyelids became too heavy was the worried frown on his wife's face. He wanted to ask her about it, but sleep overcame him.

Chapter Two
    He bolted upright in bed, the covers twisted around his feet. After a few seconds of trying to make sense of where he was and how he'd gotten there, Ross remembered Suni putting him to bed. Normal people dreamed odd bits and pieces of their ordinary lives. Ross's dream world consisted of burning bodies and screams of pain and horror. Fictitious victims who died because he was either too slow or too late. It was the same every time he closed his eyes. He wondered if he'd ever have a peaceful night's sleep.
    He flung the covers to the side and sat up. It wasn't until his feet hit the floor that he became aware he was on the wrong side of the bed. He'd somehow managed to roll to Suni's side. He rubbed his eyes and dragged his fingers through his hair. Slowly, his senses came alive. He could smell Suni's cooking. The room was dark, so he knew he must have slept the day away again.
    As he moved to stand up, a paper crunched beneath his feet. He bent and picked up