WILD PLEASURE {short erotic stories} Chapter 78: Fired Up (4)

“No.” He flashed his team boss a quick grin. “You know how, Sam.” “Not sure that I do. Explain it to me.”

“Sometimes I talk with the lookout at Widow’s Peak. Off-hours. On the

radio.”

“Just to pass the time. Uh-huh.” Sam tilted his chair and rearranged his

booted feet up on top of his desk. He didn’t seem to mind the number his steel toes were doing on all that paperwork. Instead, he contemplated the 1960s popcorn ceiling like it was holding all the answers. “This would be our young female lookout? The only one who isn’t past the age of forty and sporting a dick?”

True enough, but Cole wasn’t fool enough to describe the situation quite like that. “I like talkin’ to Hannah.”

Sam sighed. “I’ll bet that you do, although I’m also betting there’s at least a half-dozen park regulations that say she’s off-limits.”

“None that I know of,” he pointed out, because he never had been able to keep his mouth shut. He supposed he should keep his opinions to himself, but Sam’s words were too close to an ultimatum. He didn’t need the list of all the reasons why he couldn’t have Hannah Green.

She was his.

She’d talked to him.

He’d liked the sound of her voice from that first morning, when he’d

heard her answering watchtower roll. The way she said those two words, Widow’s Peak, shot straight to his dick. He’d immediately wanted more. More of her voice, more of her. More of a chance. And, if there was one thing he’d learned in the military, it was radios. A little B and E, and he had access to the base camp radio. He’d put out a call to her tower and she’d answered. The rest was history.

“She didn’t have to talk to me,” he pointed out.

Sam shook his head. “Management makes sexual harassment training mandatory for a reason, Cole. You’ve got to lay off her. When she comes down for her days off, then you see where she wants to take this, but no more late-night calls. That’s an order.”

Sam’s eyes bored into Cole’s, clearly demanding agreement, but that was just another thing that was destined not to happen. Hannah Green was an addiction Cole had every intention of feeding. He’d spent way too many hours imagining a face and body to go with the voice. His current fantasy featured real dark hair that hit her butt and a pair of legs that went on for

 days. But, because this wasn’t the time to fight that battle, he nodded. “I hear you.”

“But you’re still planning on doing this your way.” Sam swore. “Hell, Cole.”

His name paired with a curse word was a familiar refrain he’d heard all his life. Even the military hadn’t succeeded in erasing his rebellious streak. Rule breaking was his everyday behavior. He saw something he wanted, he went for it. Run farther, dig faster, fight harder. Those were the things he did. It was just that somehow, sometime this summer he’d gotten Hannah Green in his sights instead of fire.

None of which mattered because she was out there alone with no radio.

“Lightning strike?” he prompted. His behavior wasn’t the issue here. He wasn’t changing, and they both knew it. The only question was when or if Sam would file disciplinary charges or boot his ass off the team. His two years with the Rogues had been damned fine ones, but he’d never expected the job to last forever. He was no team player.

“Fuck, yeah.” Sam sat up, running a hand over his head. “Give me the deets.”

Cole ran through the lightning strike he’d heard and Hannah’s comments. “Her radio’s out,” he finished. “She needs a new one. I can head out now, bring her a new kit, and check up on her. You know if she’s armed?”

She was a woman alone. She’d damned well better have brought protection with her, and he didn’t mean the condom-variety either.

“Shotgun,” Sam said absentmindedly, clearly running through Cole’s 411. “In case of bear.”

“Good.” He hoped like hell she plugged anyone who threatened her. Lots of people carried but then couldn’t pull the trigger when they needed to. Hannah was soft and she had a real feminine side. She also had plenty of backbone, though, and his instincts said she wouldn’t let any attacker— four-legged or two-legged—push her into an impossible corner. “I’ll grab a new radio and be on my way.”

“You shouldn’t go.” Sam’s gaze held his.

“I’m goin’.” He put a whole lot of implacable in his voice. This was non- negotiable.

“Cole—”

“I’m goin’,” he repeated. “I’ve got R and R due to me. We’ll count this.”

 Sam spared the duty roster pinned to the wall a glance. “We’re already stretched tight. I shouldn’t be sparing even one man.”

That sounded like agreement to him.

“I don’ need company.” He’d take care of Hannah. Whatever had happened out there at Widow’s Peak, whatever was going down now, he’d haul ass and he’d have her back.

“Play by the rules.” Sam slapped his hands on the desk. “You do the right thing, Cole. Take the new radio out there and do a quick welfare check. Then you turn right around and come on back. Four days. No more.”

Cole got the other man’s anger. Cole was a big, rough bastard, and no one in his right mind would want to unleash him on some unsuspecting woman. Sam didn’t know what kind of conversation he’d been having with Hannah, but no matter what those midnight calls had covered, no one wanted Hannah backed into a corner. And that included Cole. Scared or harassed didn’t cover what he wanted Hannah Green to feel when he came knocking. Yeah, he’d done the training. He knew precisely where the line was and, while his steel toes might be pressed up right against it, he wouldn’t cross it until she asked him.

Sam didn’t know that, however, but justifying his actions went against the grain. Snapping the other man a two-fingered salute, he spun on his booted heel and strode away. He had preparations to make. He’d hit the road now. He didn’t need sunrise to cover the distance to the fire trail with his pick-up. By the time the sun was well over those mountaintops, he’d be on the trailhead.

Volunteering to be the man who hiked out to the watchtower was a no- brainer. He wanted to know his Hannah was safe. Although hell if he knew when he’d started thinking of her as his. Maybe, he grinned, when she’d let him make her come. He wanted more than words now. Hell, he planned to get his fingers and tongue just about everywhere a man could. His dick, too. So, yeah, hiking to the watchtower wasn’t a hardship.

What happened after he reached Widow’s Peak was up to Hannah. He wouldn’t do a damned thing she didn’t ask for.

Yeah.

He was looking forward to all the asking she’d be doing.