Free On Fire by Tory Richards Page A

having an
orgasm. Thank God there was two of us living there so they couldn’t
possibly know which one of us was wailing like a banshee on her
last breath. Okay, maybe I was exaggerating just a little. All I
knew was that I sounded loud to me. “Have a good time, honey.”
    “What are your plans?”
    “The usual. Shower, dinner, and a movie.” She
raised a knowing brow and waited, causing me to break into a
reluctant smile.
    I shrugged. “Mr. Big.”
    “That’s my girl! Okay, see ya later.”
    I waved her off, getting to my feet. Time for
that shower. I stripped my clothes off as I went, letting them fall
to the floor, and flipped on the radio that was sitting on the back
of the toilet. By the time I turned on the shower I was naked. Once
the water was adjusted to the way I liked it I stepped inside and
pulled the curtain closed.
    I liked long showers. Besides, with the
length and thickness of my hair it took a while to make sure all
the shampoo was out. I was at the tail end of rinsing off when I
thought I heard a sound above the loud song playing on the radio. I
pulled the curtain back and listened for a second, deciding it was
nothing, and went back to rinsing off. I started to sing along to
Shout it Out Loud when a deafening, sonic-type boom rattled through
the whole apartment building. I nearly jumped out of my skin, and
reached for the tap to turn off the water.
    What the hell?
    I heard a muffled sound outside my bathroom,
was someone actually pounding on the door? I thought Shelly had
left, soon realizing that it wasn’t her voice.
    “Faith! Open the door!”
    Before I could think to respond the door
crashed in and slammed against the wall. I screamed, and peered
around the shower curtain, afraid of what I was going to see. My
eyes fell on Dean, standing in the threshold in nothing but a pair
of unsnapped, low hanging jeans. I know my mouth dropped, and my
gaze was automatically drawn to the opened V like a magnet. Some
part of my stunned brain acknowledged that he’d kicked the door
in.
    I had a habit of locking my bathroom door
when I knew I was alone in the apartment. Especially after watching
too many Syfy movies, where a lot of bad things seemed to happen in
the bathroom, especially in the shower. I also had a vivid
imagination.
    “What–”
    “There’s a fire in your kitchen! You need to
get out now!”
    “Fire?” I repeated dumbfounded. I was trying
to wrap my head around what he was saying, glancing past him to see
black smoke drifting into my bedroom.
    “You need to come with me now!” His voice was
laced with heavy impatience. “The fire department is on their
way.”
    I was still hiding behind the curtain.
“There’s no way I’m going anywhere with you naked! I–”
    I didn’t get to finish. His face turned red
and he said something about not having time for this. He grabbed my
hand and yanked me out of the tub. As soon as my foot hit the floor
my leg shot out from under me. I would have gone down if it hadn’t
been for Dean’s rock hard body stopping my fall. I let out a cry,
he swore some more, and in a heart beat my breasts were smashed
against his chest. I was instantly engulfed in a smoldering heat of
lust as my momentum pushed him backwards into the wall.
    “Fuck!” He hit it with jarring contact. Our
faces were close, we were both breathing heavily but for different
reasons. I was very aware my nipples were hardening against his
warm skin. “Not very good timing,” he finally said, looking down at
me with amusement in his eyes.
    I didn’t pretend not to know what he was
talking about. Now was my time to reveal I was just as interested.
“Maybe some other time?” His mouth twitched with a slight smile and
he nodded, then pushed away from the wall, and I was forced to step
away from him. “I’m still not going anywhere with you naked.” I
could hear the fire alarm ringing from out in the hallway and knew
there would be other tenants evacuating the building.
    The next