Free Let It Burn (A BBW Paranormal Erotic Romance) by Sierra Summers, VJ Summers Page A

later, there was still an entire generation of town folk who told stories of the fire and following several years in hushed and horrified voices.  There had been a lively debate over whether the event should even be memorialized.  It was finally old Amos Whitlock who’d made the deciding argument.  He’d lost his seventeen year old son to the fire when the boy had joined the volunteer firefighters in trying to defeat the blaze.  Amos argued that he’d be perfectly content to have future generations see exactly what his son had fought and died for.  And, he added sadly, it wasn’t like he didn’t see that fire every night when he closed his eyes.
    Jo frowned at the image before her.  Crouched behind the five and dime she’d sketched a boy of about ten.  His overlong hair, ragged jeans and striped shirt lent an air of childish innocence that was belied by the cigarette he was dropping behind him, clearly trying to hide it from the man approaching him from around the corner.  She hadn’t added details, but Jo knew that when she did there would be an expression of angry disappointment on the man’s face, and embarrassed defiance on the boy’s.  It was a normal enough scene; it wasn’t the situation that had Joanna frowning.  It was the fact that the boy was dropping the cigarette right against the wooden wall of the dime store.  With a sudden flash of insight, Jo knew exactly what had started the mysterious, devastating fire.
    She was so caught up in her musings that the pounding on the door caught her by surprise.  The minute her concentration wavered, however, she felt Kevin as if he were already in the room with her.  His anxiety, guilt and general confusion created a dull roar, and Jo was amazed that it had taken her so long to sense it.
    She moved slowly to the door that faced the back parking lot and shot the locks.  Standing in the opening she faced Kevin, taking in the golden beauty of his face and hair, the stormy, troubled blue eyes.  Vaguely she thought that she’d so rarely seen those eyes clear and sparkling.  Like the Great Lake whose color they mimicked, they were almost always turbulent.
    She didn’t think she could handle another apology, another scene, so she spoke before he could, hoping to avoid more and worse heartbreak.
    “Apology accepted, no harm no foul, you stay on your side of town and I’ll stay on mine.”  He frowned, and she forced a smile.  “Does that about cover it?”
    “No,” he muttered.  “It does not fucking cover it.”  He scrubbed his hand over his face and shoved his hair out of his eyes.  He needed a trim, she noticed inanely.  “Look, can I come in?  We need to talk.”
    He looked tired, which made sense, she supposed.  He’d fought two major fires in three days’ time, and certainly hadn’t had much time for sleep in between what with all the arguments, apologies and sex.
    “Kevin, I tried to talk to you. You don’t want to hear what I have to say.”  She could tell he didn’t.  His unease was as clear as a neon sign. 
    “Fine, I need to talk,” he insisted.  “Joanna,” he lifted his eyes to hers and, dammit, she was caught.  “There’s a lot you understand, but there’s just as much that you don’t.  Hell, that I don’t.  I’m trying here.  Will you work with me?”
    “Shit,” she muttered in disgust and turned to walk back to the storyboard, leaving the door open for him to follow her or leave as he chose.
    He moved up behind her, and she shivered as his heat wrapped around her.  He was a physical man, affectionate, and after only a couple of days she found she missed the absent touches and caresses.
    “That’s so cool,” he commented, reaching out a finger to trace one of the buildings she’d sketched.  “What’s this?”  He’d noticed the boy and his father, the only people she’d featured in the mural, save the firefighters who battled the blaze.
    “Ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no