Fire Burns Hot ((An FBI/ Romance Thriller~ (Book 5))) (2 page)

There was this sweet little redhead that he
found at the strip club. She was destined to be his. All it would take is a promise of cash, and she’d do all he asked, willingly.

He
pondered her perspective. Would the redhead now think she was still sexy, as the fire began eating away at her flesh? As the skin charred black with carbon, would she want men to see her? Would it all be worth selling herself, as her beautiful tresses melted and filled the air with vile smoke? Would there be repentance for her foul existence, even in her last few moments as she met her maker?

Possibly he’d have to keep her alive to ask and get the answers he curiously sought.

Already he was getting excited in more ways than one.

Dropping the match, he walked out the door. The whole place was going to go up like kindling
in minutes. By the time they found her, she’d be nothing more than a pile of ash in the ruins of a sleazy motel.

As he closed the door
and walked to his car, he whistled a happy tune. Now he’d go home and dream about what he just did, and begin planning for the next girl.

Pulling out
of the parking lot, he glanced back to observe the flames flicker at the one window of the seedy room. In his mind he could visualize her hair curling under the heat and her body cooking on the cheap bedding.

It all seemed fitting.

God, he loved fire
and women. The combination of them both made him all hot and bothered. He accelerated and reveled in the power coursing through his body.

Soon
there’d be another and another...

Life was a beautiful thing.

If you were the predator and not the prey.

Two Weeks Later

The sex with this one was mediocre at best, but the killing made up for everything the intercourse lacked. This one fought hard, like a little wild cat, going hard into her demise.

He’d had his doubts
, as he used her body to find release. The woman seemed so cold and dead inside, but then the fire came out.

Once she knew the truth about what was going to happen to her, she fought hard to live.

His plan was to ask her why, but as she scratched and kicked at him to escape, anger took control. In the end, he stole from her the last vestige of life.

During it all something was made blatantly clear.
It was so much more gratifying when they fought. This was something he needed to consider for the next one. Using her was one thing, but finding himself ready for another round just after her struggles called to something in him. Apparently, he’d need to consider adding this to his ritual.

Some might call it depravity, but he called it delicious release.

He smiled as his hands did the dirty work, strangling every breath from her recently used body. A couple times he stopped the killing to use her again and again, only to ultimately choke life from her already prone form.

In his mind he could completely rationalize it
all. This one deserved to die by his hands. He wasn’t planning on taking a woman that night. It was more of a mission to find the next one, but this one came to him. After a few lap dances that barely monopolized his time, she’d been foolish to follow him out of the strip club for the offer of more money. When she offered herself up, he took it as a sign.

In his book s
tupidity had its price.

DEATH!

Isn't that what he heard his whole damn life? If you did something unwise, you paid dearly. Well, being a greedy whore was pretty damn ignorant.

He
carefully arranged her body, not that it would matter. Once the fire began heating the flesh and muscles, they’d constrict and she’d take on a horrible form. That took a while, so until then he’d entertain himself with the more gratifying aspects of the kill.

The dead look on her face.

The smell of flesh sizzling in the flames.

The subcutaneous fat oozing through the cracks in the skin
that bubbled, adding fuel to the fire.

Lighting the match
, he actually laughed out loud with perverse giddiness. Dropping it onto the body, he stepped back to watch his handiwork. The fire engulfed the whore’s clothing and then began to lick at her flesh. Bubbles formed as the skin blistered before charring. They spread wickedly, as the fire found its path the top of her head. The brown hair lost its color, as it was swallowed by the flames. It curled and shriveled under the heat, giving off its distinctive odor.

He shuddered with extreme pleasure at the way her body responded to the rising temperature. It bowed and already began its fiery dance. Muscles began constricting and skin went taut.

Her mouth slowly opened
, as if screaming in some silent horror. Begging for someone to help and save her from the destructive heat.

Oh, how he wished he could stay here and watch the police find his latest victim.

But he knew that couldn’t happen.

It was time to go
, and he derived all the pleasure he could from this one.

Walking away from the woman, he bid her adieu
, thanking her for the good time. It would be part of his recollections forever.

The
final task was scan the ground, assuring he had all his things. Climbing into the vehicle and driving away, there was hope that she’d be found sooner, rather than later.

“Goodbye,” he whispered to the already deaf ears.

Now it was time to go home, sleep off this high, and start looking for the next piece of ass he’d be adding to his little collection of memories.

There was nothing he loved more than a trashy woman going up in flames.

Nothing!

~ Chapter One ~

Wednesday Early Morning

The wind was silent and the streets were vacant, but her heart pounded ferociously in her chest. Walking through the darkened paths was one of her duties, but it still made her feel edgy and nervous. Holding her M-4 close to her body, she was prepared for anything that came around the corner to end her life. Every day was one more in a long string where she was prepared to die.

Or
at least Tori prayed if it happened, she’d be ready.

This wasn’t the best place for a woman to be, but she’d signed on to be a soldier
and was dedicated to her duty. It was what her father had dedicated his life to, and his father before him. This was what she wanted to be her whole life, as she heard the stories from the men that came before her. All Christensens were born to serve their country. 

Her brother was a soldier, before they
viciously stole his life away from him.

Now she was the last.
Tori was all that remained of her family, and the last carrying the title of warrior heavily on her shoulders. It ended with her, unless she had children of her own one day. Pride mattered in their family. You were the best of the best at being a soldier, or you were nothing. One way or another she was going to make someone proud. It was her promise to her father when he succumbed to death, after hearing his only son was killed in war.

Tori Christensen went from daughter
and fighter to sole survivor on that day. Resigning herself to carry the torch and serve her country in the name of the men that fell before her.

And serve it
Tori would! On the front line, smack dab in the dusty hell of the Middle East. It was one big sandbox, and she was playing in it. Only this kind of play was lethal, and you didn’t get hurt, you ended up dead.

Rounding the corner, she
glanced beside her at her back-up partner. He was an Army Ranger, and her protection in the zone. If Tori could, she’d be a Ranger too. It would have made her dad proud, but women were just given the right to serve in combat. Chances are it wouldn’t ever happen in her lifetime.

Unfortunately, she was born with the wrong
sex organs.

A woman in combat could serve in the same unit with the
Rangers, but as of yet none had been allowed into the training. That just screamed ignorance, but who was she to question the directive of the all mighty military and government.

Tori
was born a soldier and would die one too. Her duty was to serve and protect the people in the desert. Maybe someone should tell them that they were there to help and not ruin their already questionable lives. The residents weren’t happy to have the military patrolling their streets. They swore it brought the enemy out, and God forbid if you stood up to the devils that went bump in the night.

Maybe they were wrong about
patrols being detrimental. It was turning out to be a relatively silent night.

Tori felt the tap to her vest, and turned her head. She watched
the Sergeant First Class motion to a side street across the vacant commons. It looked like they were going to take a different route back to the Humvee.

Tori nodded, fo
llowing his lead. After all, he outranked her. In the military hierarchy, not only was she a woman, but a mere Sergeant. Yet there was more to her following him unquestioningly. He was her partner in more ways than one. What no one knew was they were embroiled in a fairly hot and heavy relationship. The man that was her superior was also her boyfriend. Okay, little more than a boyfriend. When they both got home, they were getting married.

For now though, that had to stay quiet or the Army would break them
apart for their own well-being. Then the holy hell would erupt for him hiding the truth and fraternizing with a lower ranked female officer. You’d think sex in the Army was the next great evil. That too was don’t ask, don’t tell, and sure as hell don’t get busted doing it. Tori willingly followed Sergeant First Class Quinn Laramie into the back alley, scanning every shadow as she went.

De
ja vu.

Something felt off. Everything in her was screaming in warning, and
Tori needed to alert her partner. Before she could, the motion caught her eye. There was a man in the shadows, and he was armed with a gun.

The pop, pop, pop was a familiar sound
. It was sickening and heart wrenching all at once. Before Tori could raise her gun, the man she loved stepped in front of her, taking the shots to his body. The nauseating jerk of his form, as bullets hit his vest, ripping her into the reality of the situation. Pulling up her gun, she fired into the shadows, listening to the guttural hiss of the man that just fired at them, as he too was hit. Tori had no qualms with ending his disgusting life.

But it was too late.
Fate had been set free, and they were both about to be her victims. Life as they both knew it was about to change and the path they were on together was altered too. Quinn’s was coming to the end, and hers was being sent down a lonely stretch of desolation.

As if in slow motion, Tori
watched her partner fall to the ground and instinctively training took over. Grabbing him by the back of the flak jacket, she pulled him behind cover in the alley. By now the rest of their team would have heard the gunfire.

Tori sat protectively beside the fallen man, and kept one eye on the alley
, as more of their unit slowly appeared. No longer were they creeping through the dark, but running towards the imminent danger. There were shouts! Some in Arabic and some in English, but the ones she did hear she understood.

‘
Death to the Americans!
’

‘There’s more over there!’

‘
End their lives!’

‘Help is coming, Sergeant!
Hang in there!’

More gunfire filled the small area, as bullets hit
the concrete wall just above both their heads. Tori leaned protectively over Quinn, and began field triage. She desperately searched his body for blood and any bullet entry wounds.

Tori knew she’d find them.
The smell was overpowering her, and she already knew the truth. The man she loved had taken a hit- the one meant for her.

“My leg,” he said, hissing through the pain.

Tori inspected the fatigues, pulling out the tiny flashlight from her pocket. Ripping open his battle scarred pants at the entry point, her hand came away bloody.

Shit!
She knew the truth and wished for a moment, where she was oblivious to the facts.

“You took a hit to the leg, Quinn,” she
stated evenly, placing pressure on the wound and leaning over his body. “You’ll be okay, stay with me,” Tori lied with everything she had in her to keep him calm.

Quinn Laramie
stared up at the woman that was his partner. When they entered the alley, he saw the movement in the shadows. It only took a second to know she was going to die. Quinn did what he was trained to do, but also what his heart demanded. After all, he made her follow him into the darkness. Now he had one mission left before he was gone.