Firestorm

Chapter Thirty-three

Jac woke spooning Mallory, her face buried in the curve of Mallory’s neck and her arm wrapped around Mallory’s waist. Mallory’s ass was snugged into the curve of her hips, their legs entwined. She kissed a spot below Mallory’s ear, and Mallory murmured, drawing Jac’s hand higher, curving it around her breast.

“You awake?” Jac asked.

“Mmm, yes. Sort of.” Mallory turned her head and kissed the corner of Jac’s mouth. “What time is it?”

Jac leaned over to check the clock on the bedside table. “Close to midnight.”

Mallory burrowed closer, rolling her rear against Jac’s crotch. Jac’s stomach tightened, and she rubbed Mallory’s nipple, her breath catching when it hardened instantly. She skimmed her mouth over Mallory’s neck and kissed the angle of her jaw. “You feel great in my arms.”

Mallory chuckled. “Good thing. I like being here.”

“How much time do we have?”

“Tonight?” Mallory asked. “I think that’s your call, baby. We’re on your turf here.”

“What was all that about with Hooker and Nora?” Jac asked.

“Hooker wasn’t just your garden-variety jerk,” Mallory said.

As Mallory recounted what she’d deduced from Chantal’s story, Jac nearly choked on her rising fury. If she’d been the only target, she might have shrugged it off as one more assault by her father’s rearguard, but this had been aimed at Mallory too. “We ought to go public and take Nora down with her own ammunition.”

“We could,” Mallory replied, “but there would be collateral damage. Some of the media bloodletting would overflow onto your family.”

“Yeah, and my little sister is already freaking out.” Jac swore. “I hate to let Fleming get away with this, but even if my father fired her, the press would have a feeding frenzy.”

“It’s okay, baby. I vote we claim victory for the battle and worry about the war later.”

“Okay,” Jac said, “but we better leave before Fleming has time to think up another way to put the screws to us.”

“Whenever you say, we’ll head back to Yellowrock.”

“And then what?”

Mallory shifted on the bed, turning over to face Jac. “What do you want to happen, Jac? You’re the one who left.”

Jac rested her cheek against Mallory’s hair and closed her eyes. She’d missed most of the last week of boot camp. She cared about that, but she cared a lot more about where she was going with Mallory. She opened her eyes and met Mallory’s gaze. “I want to be with you, Mallory. I love you.”

Mallory slid her leg over the outside of Jac’s thigh, gliding her center against Jac’s hip. She was wet, and Jac forgot all about Hooker and Nora Fleming. Mallory kissed Jac, and she was in no hurry. She traced her tongue over the contours of Jac’s mouth, darting inside, nibbling, sucking and savoring. When Jac was breathing like a freight train chugging up the mountainside, Mallory drew back and smiled. Her eyes glinted with unmistakable triumph. “I sort of planned on keeping you. You think I drove all the way down here to turn around and go back without you?”

“I’ll come back even if you cut me from the team. I sort of fucked that up, didn’t I?”

“No, baby, you didn’t.” Mallory kissed her again, gently. “You more than made up for any time you lost this week up on the mountain, getting those kids out. We’ve got a jump tomorrow. Are you ready for it?”

“Yes, I am,” Jac said.

“Are you ready to walk away from all of this? It’s probably not going to be easy.”

Jac grimaced. “I’ve walked away from this before on my father’s orders—this time it’s on my terms.” She shifted closer, pulling Mallory against her belly, needing her everywhere. “I want to see my sister. After that, I’m ready to go.”

Mallory ran her hand over Jac’s ass. “You want to get dressed and find your sister now?”

Jac grabbed Mallory’s wrist and guided Mallory’s hand between her legs. Mallory’s fingers found her instantly, stroking her exactly right. Jac pushed into her palm, wanting to let go, wanting to hold on, wanting to be connected forever.

“In a minute,” Jac gasped. “I need you first. I need you.”

Mallory smiled, stroking her deeper, taking her right up to the edge. “Baby, anytime, anything you need.”

*

Jac knocked on Carly’s door, and after a few seconds, Carly called, “Who is it?”

“It’s me,” Jac said.

The door opened to the length of the security lock, and Carly peered out. “Wow, you’re in so much trouble.”

Jac grinned. “Yeah, yeah. Let us in?”

The door closed, the lock rattled, and then Carly pulled the door wide. She was wearing a ribbed pink tank top and white drawstring pajama bottoms with red hearts, her hair was down and loose, and she looked about twelve. Jac’s heart turned over. Man, she didn’t want to leave her. She drew Mallory into the room by the hand, keeping it in hers. “Carly, this is Mallory.”

Carly dropped down on the bed next to her open computer and drew her legs up cross-wise. She cocked her head and blatantly studied Mallory. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Mallory said, hooking her thumb over the back of Jac’s uniform pants. “Sorry I dragged Jac away tonight.”

“It’s okay. It was just more of the usual, anyhow.” She picked at the hem of her pajama bottoms and looked up at Jac, her face partially shielded by her hair. “So, you leaving, Jac?”

“I’m going back to Montana. I’ll be there for the season,” Jac said. “But I’m not gonna be that far away, Carly. If you need me for anything, I’ll come. If I’m out on the line, I’ll come as soon as I get free.”

“Yeah?” Carly glanced at Mallory.

Mallory nodded. “We can get pretty busy. Sometimes we’re out in the field a couple weeks at a time. But Jac can leave instructions with the base that if you call, someone will get through to us. If you say you need her to come, I’ll get her here.”

Carly sat up straighter. “Yeah? Like, you’re the boss or something?”

Jac laughed. “That’s pretty much it.”

“Cool.” Carly grinned at Jac. “So I guess if you fuck up again, you’ll really be in trouble.”

“Language,” Jac said, still laughing.

“Yeah, whatever.”

Carly grabbed her cell phone off the table. “Okay. Give me your numbers.”

Jac and Mallory gave her their cell numbers, and Mallory gave her Sully’s.

“That last one,” Mallory said, “that’s Chuck Sullivan. He runs our base. Tell him who you are and that I said to relay to me, and he will.”

“I won’t use it unless I have to,” Carly said, suddenly serious.

Jac knelt in front of the bed and tugged Carly into her arms. “You need me, you call. I’m not leaving.”

Carly squeezed her hard, rubbing her cheek against Jac’s shoulder. “I love you,” she muttered into Jac’s shirt.

Jac whispered, “I love you too. Talk to you soon, okay?”

“Okay. You can always text me. You know, if you get lonely.”

“I will. Promise.” Jac kissed her forehead, straightened, and looked at Mallory. “Ready to go home?”

“More than ready.” Mallory looped her arm around Jac’s waist. “It’s good to meet you, Carly.”

“Yeah. Same.” Carly drew her computer onto her lap, then looked up at Mallory. “So you’ll take care of her, right?”

“I will,” Mallory said. “I absolutely will.”