Free Flirting with Fire (Hot in Chicago #1) by Kate Meader

blades. Oh! Volcanic heat dueled with barely leashed fury at her touch. Both sizzled through her fingertips, buzzing her skin, sparking her body to glittering life. Slowly, she coasted her right hand along the crease where his ink-cuffed arm met his body. Weaved it through under the strap of his suspenders. Explored the thrilling new territory of this man’s incredible body.
    She palmed his chest and encountered a pebble-hard nipple. He shivered.
    “Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout,” a female voice rang out, whipping the lady horde into a frenzy of emphatic appreciation.
    Kinsey had to tiptoe to whisper into his ear and the urge to brush her lips against his skin almost undid her. Was he sensitive there, in that soft hollow behind his lobe? Where else might her touch produce sensuous shivers?
    “We okay?”
    After a long beat, he coughed out, “Fine.”
    Why she had chosen “we” was beyond her. There was no “we” here, just two people forced to work together toward a common goal, but as soon as it passed her lips, she recognized its unerring rightness. David, an expert in healing physical hearts, had taken a scalpel to hers, and Luke was battling demons of his own. Whatever had happened between him and his ex had left him angry. Hurt.
    He held his body iron-rigid, every muscle straining to break the skin barrier, including that scar tissue on his shoulder. It appealed to a very womanly instinct deep within her. What daring feats had he performed to earn that badge of courage? Who had lived to see another day because Luke Almeida exuded heroism from every pore?
    Slowly, as if she were dealing with a dangerous, caged animal, she encircled his waist with her forearm and splayed her palm over his rock-hard abs. Gently does it.
    “Screw her,” Kinsey whispered, and then she drew a nail across his nipple, absorbing another delicious shiver into her skin. “Sorry, am I cold?” she asked, knowing she wasn’t.
    “Yeah, you’re as cold as ice.” Within the span of a heartbeat, the stress in his body vanished and he relaxed in her arms. “Get in close, sweetheart, I’ll keep you warm.”
    Yowza. Unable to resist that offer, she molded her body flush to his. At shoulder level, he was twice as wide across as she, the perfect male specimen. A perfect fit. His strong back felt like the reason she had breasts. Her nipples, already stiffened to bullets, now registered painful, the only relief for which would be a friction-inducing rub. With every fiber of her being, she resisted doing just that.
    Ninety-seven erotically charged seconds passed while the photographer took several shots. Off in the corner, where the Engine 6 crew had gathered like a witches’ coven, boisterous cheers rose up, punctuated by a shout of, “Pay up, McElroy. Told you he wouldn’t last.”
    Luke’s growl rumbled in his chest, an animalistic vibrato that rolled through her body like the precursor to a brain-melting orgasm.
    “Okay, that’s it,” Lili said. “Kinsey, anything else?”
    Kinsey extracted her hand—and her overheated breasts—from the hazardous cocoon of Luke’s body, but it felt like she lost something in the separation. Crossing her arms over her nipples, she wrapped her palms around herself, desperate to hold on to that life-affirming male heat for a few more precious seconds. Behind his back, a few shallow breaths started the rocky road to composure.
    When her mind had defogged somewhat, she glanced at her watch. “We have a few minutes before break, so I think we could get some more shots. Forfun.” Because, dang, that had been way too serious. She needed to get control of her hormones—and her emotions—pretty damn quick.
    She sought out Josie, who was getting her flirt on with one of the barely clad firemen.
    “Josie, we’re ready.”
    Her assistant jumped into action and brought a carrier to the front.
    With her game face back on, Kinsey turned to Luke, now refastening his bunker pants and hiding