Free True Love's Fire: A Red Hot Valentine Story (Hell Yeah!) by Sable Hunter

Med-School.”
    “I’m so sorry.” She covered her hand with his.
    “It was my fault.” He began, then dry-scrubbed his face. “I mean, I should have been there. If I had gone home for Christmas, I might have noticed the gas leak, I might have smelled it.”
    “And you might have died,” Lia said simply. “We have to trust there is someone bigger than we are, taking care of those things.”
    “I don’t believe that,” Scott stated flatly. “Things don’t happen for a reason. Shit happens. You can’t say the way Sammy suffered alone was in any way good.”
    Lia’s heart hurt for him. He was so different than she first assumed him to be. Scott was deep and sensitive. He wasn’t some shallow play-boy. “Maybe not, Scott, but knowing and loving Sammy changed you. You are a better doctor and a more compassionate person because of him. Everything that happens in our lives molds us into the person we’re meant to be, or should be.” 
    “I don’t know, Lia.” He gave her a weak smile. “I’ve grown pretty calloused over the years.”
    She shrugged her shoulders. “Me too,” she admitted, “in a way.” Lining up her fork and knife, she wondered how much to tell him. Lia so rarely shared with people, it was hard. “I’ve led a solitary life. I live in the same cabin my mother and grandmother lived in. I’ve never really had a male influence in my life. My father left my mother before he could find out she was pregnant with me and whoever my mother’s father was, hurt my grandmother so much, she forbade his name ever to be spoken out loud.”
    He put his plate down and took hers, setting them on the coffee table. “Come here.” Scott held out his arms. “I need you.”
    Lia shook. She wanted to do this so much. But she was afraid to try. They’d only be disappointed. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
    “Why, baby?” He rubbed her back. “Don’t you want to?”
    She nodded her head. “I’m not very good at this.”
    There was that chuckle again. “You don’t have to be. Your pleasure is my responsibility.” He pushed her back on the couch, following her, covering her body with his. “You know what today is?”
    “New Year’s Eve.”
    “That’s right, so let’s celebrate—all night long.”
    “It isn’t dark.” She looked into his handsome face, his eyes so blue, his hair so black. She traced the line of his lips, so sensual, imagining the pleasure he could give her.
    “It will be by the time I get my fill of you, let’s bring the New Year in right.” His breathing was hard and deep. She could see the passion glittering in his eyes.
    Her hands lay by her head. She wasn’t trying to push him off. “Okay, just as long as you don’t expect fireworks. I don’t have much to offer.”
    “Oh, God, baby.” He pushed a silky strand of hair off her forehead. “I beg to differ.” He lowered his head and captured her lips. Like lighting a fuse, the need exploded between them.
    Lia felt it. A desperate, clawing hunger. She moved her legs and hips, accommodating him between them. Her whole body seemed to be on fire. “Tell me what to do.”
    Scott rubbed one hand down her arm as he growled against her lips. “Enjoy.” His tongue caressed inside her mouth, stroking as he kissed her, craved her. An incredible pulsing arousal flowed between them like ropes of fire, melding their bodies together.
    Pulling back, he stared at her face as she held his gaze. Her swollen lips parted, her breath coming in sexy little pants. It was all he could do to take it slow. She deserved care and tenderness. When all he really wanted to do was tear her clothes from her body and ravish her till she begged for more.
    Moving to his side, he let his eyes rake over her body. His white shirt had been pushed up to her thighs, almost high enough so her panties would show. His blood pressure spiked so high he couldn’t breathe. “Look at you,” he whispered. “You are so pretty.” He ran a hand over