Hot as Sin (Hot Shots: Men of Fire #2)(49)
Author: Bella Andre

God, it was going to kill him to stay out of this shower, especially when he knew she was about to peel off her clothes and let the water run over her bare skin. His c**k pushed at the back of his zipper, desperate to come out and join the party. He made himself turn away before she saw how much he wanted her.

“Take all the time you need to get warm,” he said, pausing at the doorway for one last look. “I don’t want you getting sick.”

Her cheeks were flushed and he told himself it was simply from the rush of going from cold rain to a warm shower, not that she was having similar thoughts of making love to him. Pulling from a nearly empty well of will, he stepped outside the bathroom and pulled the door shut.

Her sister was still missing, for f**k’s sake. Finding April was the only thing he should have been thinking of.

But he couldn’t erase the sensual image of Dianna standing in the shower, of how easy it would have been to strip off her clothes. In lieu of a cold shower, Sam walked out the front door, past the food and their backpacks, which Peter had already put on the deck.

Icy pellets of rain would have to do the trick.

With trembling fingers, Dianna undid the buttons on her shirt and dropped the soaked fabric to the tiled floor. She tried to take her pants off next, but when they got stuck at her shoes, she sat down and undid her laces.

The warm water flowing over her head, her shoulders, down her back, felt incredible. But not nearly as amazing as Sam’s hands on her skin when he’d held her in the shower. The heat in his eyes had warmed her faster than the water and she’d been seconds from pressing herself against him and begging him to help her forget her worries by making love to her.

Pulling her shoes and muddy socks off, she sat on the tiled shower floor in her underwear and rewound to the moment Sam had run into the burning building at the campgrounds. He hadn’t hesitated for a second, hadn’t been the least bit concerned about his own safety. Instead, he’d been intent on making sure that she was all right, that she wasn’t going to do anything stupid and hurt herself.

It was the first time she’d ever witnessed him in action. She’d never seen anything like it, not even in action films with actors playing the part of daredevil firefighters.

Sam had been a superhero come to life, running through flames, leaping onto the roof and smashing it in.

And he’d done it solely in the hope of saving her sister.

Watching him push through the front door of the cabin, her heart had been in her throat. She’d fought the desperate urge to run in after him, to somehow stop him from sacrificing himself for her.

Her heart squeezed as the unassailable truth smashed into her: She’d never stopped loving Sam. Never. And she would love him forever.

What she wouldn’t give to share her love with him and have it returned.

Carefully standing back up, she unclasped her bra, her br**sts feeling ripe and sensitive, as did the vee between her legs when she slipped her panties off. No question, the physical release of making love with Sam would be phenomenal. But that was only partially why she wanted to be with him.

Sam was her last tie to hope. To comfort. And faith.

More than anything, she wanted to be naked and warm in his arms, to pretend for a few precious moments that everything was all right.

Finding a bar of soap, she lathered up her hair and skin, realizing as the water washed the remaining dirt away how wonderful it was to be clean again. A simple pleasure, but a pleasure nonetheless.

Knowing Sam should have a turn in the shower before she used up all of the hot water, she switched off the tap and wrapped herself in a large brown towel. Everything on the Farm was surprisingly clean and she acknowledged that she’d been too hasty in condemning the commune in her conversation with April without coming to see it first. No wonder her sister had stormed out of the café.

Moving into the small bedroom, Dianna found dry clothes laid out on the bed. She quickly toweled off and got dressed, then went into the main room, where an array of food was laid out on a small table.

Obviously, Sam had brought everything inside, but where was he?

She was making her way to the front door when he opened it and walked back inside. Also in dry clothes, he looked surprisingly clean.

“Did you use Peter’s shower?”

He ran one hand through his dark, still-wet hair, looking disconcertingly stern before one side of his mouth finally quirked up.

“Rain has its uses.”

“You showered outside?” she asked, shivering just thinking about it.

When he nodded, she envisioned Sam standing naked in the rain and immediately heated up. He held his hands out, and she was so wrapped up in her fantasy of catching him bathing in the rain that it took her a little while to realize he was holding something warm and delicious.

“Peter just came by with this fresh-baked bread and I filled him in on everything.”

She immediately sobered as the day’s horror came back to her. Sitting down hard on one of the dining chairs by the door, her fear for April settled into the pit of her stomach like a rock.

“I don’t know if I can eat anything.”

Ignoring her, Sam put the bread down with the rest of the food, got a couple of plates and utensils from the small kitchenette, and began portioning out the food. Despite her heavy mood, her stomach rumbled.

Suddenly ravenous, she reached for a slice of bread just as Sam was handing it to her and their fingers collided. She shivered again at the touch of his skin.

His brows furrowed with renewed concern. “Cold?”

“No,” she replied. Just the opposite. Despite everything, she was burning up with desire. “Just starved.”

They ate in silence for several minutes until Sam said, “I’m glad you’re eating after all. It’s been a pretty rough couple of days. You need the energy.”

“We both do,” she agreed. “Going after April had been so much harder than I thought it would be. And, honestly, I thought it was going to be pretty damn hard.”

He put down his glass and gave her a stern look. “That’s why tonight is all about getting some rest.”

Immediately going on the defensive, she said, “I’m not tired, Sam, and I want to get back out there looking for her.”

But all he did was shake his head, just as she’d known he would.

“I checked with Peter. This storm isn’t going to let up until morning. The sun’s already on its way down and we’re not going to make any headway in this rain. If anything, I’m afraid you’ll get sick, and then we’ll really be in trouble.”