Free FireWolf by Anh Leod

he said, handing her the
roses. “They can’t. It’s like a promise from the universe.”
    She walked into the kitchen, tense and confused and turned
on. Why couldn’t this relationship stay simple? She found a vase to put the
flowers in and set them in the sink. “Then how come you didn’t knock on my door
years ago, as soon as you were old enough?”
    “I didn’t know about us. Only Barkley did. I can’t explain
it.”
    She ran the water, too upset to care for the flowers
properly. “I don’t like it. It’s not respectful. It doesn’t give me a choice.
Just because I want to jump your bones doesn’t mean I want to give you my whole
life.”
    Smokie licked his lips and looked up at the ceiling before
finding her gaze again. “Can you think back, Olivia? Do you remember why you
propositioned me in the first place? Was that your normal thing?”
    She turned off the water and turned to face him. “No. I just
always thought you’d be fun. It took me months to find the guts to come to
you.”
    “Just fun? I have a committed job, a committed clan, I’m a
committed kind of guy.”
    She swallowed hard. “Why did you agree to fuck me if I was
being such a skank?”
    That dirty grin flashed across his face again. “I’ve wanted
you for ten years, you know that. The sight of you in a bikini rocked my world.
I wasn’t wrong. We’re great together.”
    She felt her nostrils flare as her nerves hit a new level.
“Could have gotten complicated around the station, with Owen there. He’d kick
your ass if you treated me badly.”
    Smokie casually rested his hands on his belt. Even now she
wanted to take that belt apart with her teeth and slide that gorgeous cock down
her throat. He was simply killing her with his hotness.
    “Owen couldn’t take me, and you’re worth it. You’ve always
fascinated me. Even without the mystical woo-woo.”
    She sighed. “I guess you were worth it too. I’m just not
sure where that leaves us now.”
    “C’mon.” He took her hand.
    “What?”
    “I want to show you something. Put on your hiking boots.”
    She looked at him, chewing at the edge of her lip. Something
told her she wanted to see what he had in mind. She went upstairs and put on
jeans, boots and thick socks, found her sunglasses, hat and a handkerchief to
tie around her neck, then grabbed a backpack on the way out that held a couple
of bottles of water, energy bars, sketchpad, pencils and a blanket.
    They crossed the street and walked through the evergreen
tree line then moved into the woods. Smokie took the pack from her and
shouldered it then held her hand as they walked on the trail toward the
reservoir. The afternoon heat roasted most people and she only spotted two
college-age guys out of earshot ahead of them. She could feel sweat collecting
under her breasts and trickling down her stomach.
    Two miles in, she saw the chain-link fence around the
reservoir. Smokie directed them to a path leading to the left past a stand of
cottonwoods. She followed him for another few hundred yards before they veered
into the brush off the trail.
    “Do you know where you’re going?” She wondered if she had a
compass in her pack.
    “Oh yeah. This is my normal path.”
    “Let’s stop for a second.” She untied her handkerchief and
wiped her face then took a sip of water.
    “Ready to go?” he asked, less than a minute later, so full
of energy that he bounced on the balls of his feet.
    “Absolutely.” She took another sip of water then capped the
bottle.
    They walked another mile, partially shaded by tall trees. He
took the lead with her trailing behind him, glad she’d worn jeans instead of
shorts, given the undergrowth. The sun lowered a bit as they progressed,
lessening the intense brightness, though the late afternoon was the hottest
part of the day around there.
    “Want an energy bar?”She hoped for another break.
    He paused, glanced around, then lowered the pack to the
ground and pointed to a tree stump next to