Kissing Fire (12 page)

The air began to turn chilly when I realized that I
must’ve been out there a while. The sky was beginning to turn
bright orange as the sun made its way toward the horizon. Not
really wanting to face reality, but knowing I must, I unwillingly
rose and slowly walked toward the house. Most of the lights were
lit, giving it a warm and inviting feel. I looked in the Jeep and
everything had been unloaded.

Realizing how rude I had been, I marched up to the
house with the purpose of fixing dinner. That was the least I could
do, I thought. When I walked inside, I gasped. Preston’s cabin was
rustically elegant. Warm wood, stacked stone, soft area rugs and
beautiful paintings welcomed the visitor as they entered his home.
I briefly wondered how he could stand to be away from this place.
My nose also clued me into the fact that he had beat me to the
punch on the dinner thing. I nosed my way around, checking things
out as I went. Preston certainly had good taste.

Music was playing in the background and I heard pans
clanging in the distance. I followed the sounds and found my way to
the kitchen. He was standing over the stove cooking something. I
watched him for a few moments and admired the view. Then I cleared
my throat.

Without turning, he asked, “Did you enjoy
yourself?”

“I did. This place is...” my voice caught and I
found I couldn’t go on. I cleared my throat again and asked, “How
do you ever leave here?”

He stopped and turned. His eyes sought out mine and
held my gaze but he didn’t utter a word. Then he finally said,
“It’s with great difficulty.” He turned back to whatever he was
cooking and added, “Feel free to explore. I’ve set your things
upstairs. If you’d like, you can take a shower or a bath. There’s a
large tub in the master and you’re welcome to use it.”

That sounded heavenly. “Thank you. I think I will.
How long before dinner?”

“Oh whenever. I’m making chicken chili. It can
simmer for a long time. The longer the better so take your
time.”

“Thank you.”

I headed up the steps and grabbed my things out of
my room. It was easy to figure out which room was his; it was the
largest of course. The bath was awesome. It had an enormous glass
window right in front of the jetted tub so I could sit there and
watch the sun set over the mountains. I filled the tub and added
some bubble bath, giggling as I did so. Preston and bubbles just
didn’t go together in my book.

When the tub was filled, I got in and sighed. How
wonderful it felt. The water was getting cold by the time I got
out, and my fingertips looked like dried plums. I stood up and then
I realized I hadn’t thought to bring in any towels. My eyes scanned
the room, looking for some, but I was out of luck.

“Damn,” I muttered out loud. I was getting chilly
now so I stepped out of the tub and went in search of some towels.
When I opened the bathroom door, I walked right into a very
surprised Preston. I screamed and then he yelled. Realizing I was
butt ass naked, my eyes darted around the room looking for a
towel.

“Shit! You don’t have any towels up here,” I
yelled.

“Yes, I do. They’re in the next room, on the towel
warmer. I was coming up to tell you because I forgot.”

My face was flaming hot and the rest of my body was
quickly following. I stopped and stared at him because he was
staring at my body.

“Please don’t look at me. I know I’m repulsive to
you. I’m embarrassed enough as it is.”

“Repulsive? Whatever gave you that idea?”

“You’re joking, right?”

“No! Why would I joke about that?” His voice was low
and raspy.

“Because I practically mauled you and did everything
but give you a bl...well, you know. And you turned me down. That
was the most embarrassing thing ever. I know I’m fat and I’m sure
you don’t want to look at a fat girl so please...?” I couldn’t look
at him so I bent my head and stared at my lavender colored toe
nails.

“Avery, you may be a lot of things, but fat isn’t
one of them. I think you’re perfect.”

“Perfect? Me?” My head jerked up to look at him,
checking to see if he was making fun of me.

He nodded as he stared at me. “Yes, you,” he said
seriously.

“But then why did you...?”

“Oh God, it’s a long story, but it has nothing to do
with you. You’re so damn perfect I can hardly stand it.”

I’m not sure who moved first but it didn’t really
matter. We landed in each other’s arms and then he was kissing me.
Yes, Preston, hot DEA agent was kissing Extra Large Avery and he
thought she was perfect.

Did you all hear me? I said he thought Avery was
perfect.

His breath mingled with mine as he kissed me and he
pulled me tightly against him. I felt the heat pouring off of him
as I put my hands on his sides, grabbing onto his shirt and hanging
on to him as firmly as I could. His touch was tentative at first,
almost as if he were afraid of hurting me, like I was a fragile
little thing. But then, when he felt my response, things began to
shift. He pulled back and ran his fingers softly over my cheeks,
sliding his thumbs across my lips.

“Don’t ever, for one second, doubt how absolutely
beautiful you are,” he whispered.

His lips were on mine again as his hands twisted my
wet and tangled hair in his fingers. His tongue was wreaking havoc
inside of my mouth, and I moaned as he licked my lower lip and then
pulled it in his mouth and sucked on it. My hands wandered up and
rested on his chest for a moment, feeling his heart slamming
beneath my palm as I pressed it firmly against him. I placed my
other hand on his cheek and slid my fingers into the hair around
his temples. I opened my eyes because I wanted to see how his face
looked as we kissed each other. I wasn’t prepared to see him
looking at me. There was no stopping the sound that escaped from my
lips. You would’ve thought I’d just had the big O, and my body felt
pretty darn close to it too. His eyes were all soft and warm,
making my belly tighten with need and feel all fluttery inside, so
I pressed my body even closer to his. There was something about
this man that made me want to rub myself all over him. And then
there it was...I started that purring thing again. I’m not sure why
being around Preston brought out the kitty cat in me, but it did,
and there was no stopping me now.

Pulling my mouth away from his, I rubbed my cheek
against his and my hands started to move too. But I soon found them
captured in his.

“Avery, as much as I would like this to go on, I
think we need to slow down a bit.” He was sincere; it was all over
those lovely golden brown eyes of his.

He was right. I didn’t need to be sinking these
kitty claws into him so quickly, but damn, he was hot. And I was
bothered.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I’m sorry. I guess I
got a little carried away.”

“Avery.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t be sorry. I’ve wanted to touch you since the
first day I saw you.”

I swallowed, hard. His voice, husky and deep, took
my breath away. The sun had set and the room was dimly lit, but his
eyes sparkled like gold. It really should be against to law for
someone to look this appealing.

When I regained my ability to speak, I said, “I
guess the same could be said for me.” I smiled and he inched his
fingers across my cheeks. I wanted to tear his shirt off of him and
do all sorts of things to him, but now wasn’t the time.

“Um Preston?”

“Uh huh.”

“I’m feeling a little awkward here. Being naked and
all.”

“Don’t. I love you naked.”

“Well, that’s nice and all, but I’d feel better if
you were naked too.”

He laughed.

“What I meant was, I would feel like we’d be on more
even playing field, so to speak. Not that we’re playing or
anything.”

Jeez Ava, just shut up already.

He chuckled again. “I guess I can understand that.
Does this mean you’re not going to walk around naked all
night?”

I scrunched up my face and said, “Yeah, probably.” I
was still hugging him tightly. “In fact, I don’t really even want
to let you go because then you’ll get the full frontal view.” I
made one of my funny faces then.

He tilted my head back then and asked me, “You
really do have a body image problem, don’t you?”

“Um, yeah. I have gained a bunch of weight.”

“Avery, I don’t know what you looked like before,
but to me you couldn’t look any better now. You look exactly like
what a woman should look like. Curvy and soft. Not straight and
hard. I don’t know why women think they need to look like men
nowadays. It’s not attractive at all. Now you...you’re absolutely
gorgeous.”

He started walking then, tugging me along with him,
still holding me against him. We went to the next room and there,
standing right next to the wall, was that infamous towel warmer. He
pulled one off and wrapped it around me. But before I could step
away, he said something to me.

“Avery, there’s a lot of stuff about me...” he
looked off to the other side of the room for a second or two, “bad
stuff. Things you need to know. Things I...” he bit his lip,
fighting to say the words.

“Preston, you can tell me. What is it?”

“Look, why don’t you get dressed and join me
downstairs? Then we’ll talk.”

I nodded. It sounded much better than trying to have
a conversation in this state of undress.

It didn’t take me long to pull on some yoga pants
and a sweatshirt. I slipped on some flip flops and met him in the
den.

He had poured us some wine and handed me a glass
when I entered the room. We took a seat on one of the couches. The
room was perfect. The focal point was a huge stone fireplace, but
it had a vaulted beamed ceiling and was filled with soft cozy
furnishings.

He started telling me about himself and how his role
with the DEA had taken him undercover, infiltrating the biggest
Mexican drug cartel that was responsible for a huge amount of the
heroin being smuggled into the US. He worked in that role for over
six years and even served a term in prison.

“Oh God Preston. What was it like?”

His eyes locked with mine, and I immediately
regretted asking that question. Then I remembered that day when I
caught him in his bedroom, that awful day when I nearly mauled the
poor man. I recalled seeing all those scars everywhere on his
torso.

“I don’t ever talk about it Avery. It was the worst
thing I’ve ever experienced and I’ll just leave it at that.”

“Enough said. I’m sorry Preston. I would never have
asked you and I shouldn’t have.”

“It’s okay. Everyone does. Here’s the thing. Most
guys my age that end up there have done some kind of time here and
there...some small stuff, you know. I went straight to the big
house and those guys in there made me pay my dues.”

His whole body had tensed up and his leg was
bouncing up and down. Whatever they had done to him was
bad...really bad. I wasn’t stupid so I could figure out some of it,
but I couldn’t make myself think about it. This man sitting before
me and done all of that because of his job. What the hell kind of
people did he work for?

I put my hand on his leg and he flinched. He
literally flinched when I touched him. I didn’t pull back, even
though it was my first inclination. I moved my hand to his face and
gently rubbed his cheek back and forth. He had to know I didn’t
think less of him because of what he went through. In fact, it was
quite the opposite.

“I’m so sorry Preston,” I whispered. Then I slid my
hand behind his neck and pulled him into my arms. I had this urgent
need to hold him. I couldn’t explain it...I just did. His eagerness
to be held surprised me. And he held on so tightly. It was as
though no one had done this...had comforted him for everything he
had gone through. My hands rubbed circles on his back, in his hair,
everywhere they could reach. We stayed that way for some time and I
didn’t release him until he eased his hold on me.

“Avery, how is it that I barely know you, yet I find
such solace in your arms?”

I smiled and said, “I don’t know. Sometimes you just
find yourself more comfortable with strangers I guess.”

“Oh, I think you misunderstand me. I don’t look at
you as a stranger at all. What I meant was I normally don’t open up
to anyone about my life and yet here I sit telling you these
things. Caroline knows a lot but she’s never been able to help me.
You just make me feel good inside.”

Witty Avery had to pop out and say, “Well Preston, I
must admit, you make me feel good too.” And then I winked at
him.

I found out something about Preston that night. He
was really strong. Solidly stacked with muscles (and I had seen
them at close hand), he picked me up and threw me back on the sofa.
My shirt was thrown over my head before I knew what was happening
and then he was blowing raspberries all over my tummy. When he
finished with those, he started tickling me and I couldn’t get him
to budge off of me. I bucked my hips and tried to thrash around,
but he was locked onto me, tickling me to death, and I was in fits
of laughter.

As these things often do, laughter turned into
passion, and we found ourselves kissing again.

He did this little thing with his tongue on the
inside of my lips that made me moan and I grabbed onto his lower
lip with my teeth and nipped at it. I took his hand in mine and put
it under my shirt. I wanted him...no, I take that back. I needed
him to touch me.

He leaned back and didn’t move. “Avery, I’m
not...I’m...”

“Shut up Preston and touch me.
I
need
you to
touch me. Please,” I begged. I wasn’t beyond begging him. We could
hash all this out later, but I had to feel his warm hands on my hot
skin. I burned for him and someplace inside me needed to know that
he did too.