Torched: A Rough Firefighter Romance Read online

  Cameras were everywhere, lights flashing as various officers tried to control the crowd, pushing everyone back. But I was able to see over the crowd as the mayor was asked to stand. I also distinctly captured the words I’d longed to hear.

  “Mayor Joseph Zane, you’re under arrest for extortion as well as the murder of Nick Fabios.”

  We were pushed down the stairs and outside only seconds later, the police clearing the building. I’d been able to see at least two members of the city council also placed under arrest, the others in a complete state of shock. The sun was blinding as we made our way out of the building, both of us in a state of shock as well.

  “What just happened?” Genevieve finally asked, taking several deep breaths.

  “All your work paid off. The police took you seriously.”

  “I don’t believe this.”

  I blinked twice as I tried to catch my bearings as well as focus. I’d seen a glint out of the corner of my eye, pushing my adrenaline into every cell. “Hold on a second.” I let go of her arm and walked further away, finally moving by his side. We both remained quiet for several seconds. Then the captain tilted his head ever so slowly.

  “I’m sorry you lost faith in me, Blaise. I wish I could have told you what was going on. Didn’t really know all the players, but obviously they were dangerous.”

  “Captain Waters, I don’t know what to say. I thought you... Never mind.”

  “I know what you thought. I can’t go into details, but I assure you, the police department has been working with other officials, including the FBI for over two months investigating the mayor as well as other individuals. Even the Trillium Corporation helped to some degree. You were right on the money; there are a few bad seeds within the fire department.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  He smiled, the look on his face wry. “I was asked to work undercover, gathering evidence. What I found was... well, disheartening. You also blew my cover a couple of times, including at the damn kink club, which certainly helped me realize how vital you are to the entire system. That’s why I knew my replacement choice without question.”

  “The kink club.”

  “Joseph Zane, along with a few others own the club as well. Go figure.”

  I sniffed, relief as well as sickness rushing into my system. “Where are you going?”

  He chuckled, glancing in Genevieve’s direction, giving her a respectful nod. “Well, looks like I’ll be working with the new fire investigator on her team. That is if she’ll have me.”

  We locked eyes and my smile was genuine. “She’ll be honored, just like I am, sir.”

  “Well, without her help and the evidence she was able to locate, we wouldn’t have been able to identify the others, at least not for a while.”

  “Can you tell me who on the fire department?” I had to know who was the real traitor.

  Captain Waters turned to face me. “You’ll hear this no doubt on the news tonight, but I’ll ask you to keep it quiet for now.”

  “Of course.”

  “Frank Abbott as well as Captain Dillon from the 24. Mike Sanders from the 68 also played a hand. Old buddies with Frank.”

  “Shit. I should have known.”

  “I don’t think Mayor Zane had any idea how tenacious your girlfriend really is.”

  “That she is, sir. That she is.”

  He patted me on the back, giving me a slow and easy smile. “I know you’ll take good care of the 19, but I’ll give you one piece of advice.”

  “What’s that, sir?”

  “Never let that girl out of your sight.”

  As he walked away, I swelled with pride as well as additional respect. I also knew I couldn’t spend another day without her. I chuckled as she walked closer. Time to come clean about the rest of my life, and about my sister.

  * * *

  Two weeks later

  “This is beautiful,” Genevieve said quietly. Our fingers were laced together, my grip on her hand no doubt painful. My mind was a blur, my heart aching for the loss.

  “Yeah, it really is. I’d almost forgotten just how beautiful the ranch really is.” We could just see the house in the distance as we stood under the large oak tree. I wasn’t exactly ready to face the past, not in every manner. I knew I’d come back to Texas one day. I had to face my demons.

  “This is home and it will always be. No matter that this isn’t the house you grew up in. The land, the trees, and the horses. You have so many amazing memories. Maggie would want you to remember. You know that.”

  I wiped a single tear from my eye, glancing up at her favorite tree. I could still see in my mind the swing I’d installed for her, could hear her giggling as I pushed her over and over again. While she was buried in the local cemetery, her spirit was right here. “I know you’re right. I feel closer to her now.”

  “Thank you for bringing me here.” She kissed my cheek, squeezing my hand.

  “You wanted to move to Texas.” I gave her a single grin. The last two weeks seemed like a blur more than anything. From the various discussions with the police, the continued investigations into the fires and dealing with Genevieve’s insurance company, life had been interesting. I’d learned a hell of a lot from Captain Waters, including that running a team was more difficult than I could have imagined. I felt even more honored to be in charge and I’d vowed to keep us all together, fighting every city councilmember until I took my last breath to get what we deserved.

  What the people of Charlotte deserved.

  “I did and if things hadn’t worked out the way they had, this would be a beautiful place to settle down.”

  “Who said anything about settling down, lady?” Bumping her hip, I was happier than I’d ever been, even as sadness remained ingrained in my heart.

  “Uh-huh. That’s why I’ve taken over your house.” She laughed softly, brushing the hair out of her eyes. Even the light breeze blowing the scent of flowers into my nostrils was a reminder of everything I felt I’d lost.

  “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.”

  She smacked my ass then gulped. “Uh-oh. I guess a spanking is in order for that. Huh?”

  I grabbed her around the waist, pulling her against me. “For more than just that.” After kissing her lips, the pang reminded me why we were here. To make amends. To ask for forgiveness.

  To find peace.

  “Are you ready?”

  I glanced into her beautiful eyes and finally found the courage. “Yep. I think I am.” I guided her back into the truck, taking several deep breaths as I started the engine. My parents didn’t know we were coming. I honestly hadn’t wanted to alert them in any manner. If they threw me out, well, I could say at least I’d tried.

  The drive took only minutes and when I pulled up alongside my father’s favorite old Dodge Ram, memories surfaced. They were good ones, infused with hayrides and holiday events. All with my sister involved. I’d realized after the events two weeks earlier than perhaps I’d been tasked to save Genevieve’s life, maybe atoning for not being able to save Maggie. One life could never make up for another, but I was thankful every day Jake had known to come and get me.

  “Come on, my cowboy. I’ll be right by your side.” Genevieve held my hand once again as we walked onto the porch.

  I hesitated only a few seconds before knocking on the door. Only seconds later, I heard footsteps. At that point, I shored my shoulders, trying to keep a bland expression. As the door was opened, I almost lost it.

  She stood gawking at us, her lower lip dropping, her eyes misting over. “Brendon? Is that really you?”

  “Hi, Mom. I just wanted to stop by and say hi.” The words were so damn lame but as I locked eyes with hers, all the years of fear and worry, guilt and remorse rushed into my system.

  “William. Come here. Now!” My mother’s voice was insistent yet shaking. “Oh, my God. I’ve waited for this moment. I’ve prayed for this moment.” She threw her arms around me, sobbing against
my shoulder. “I’ve missed you so much, son.”

  The footsteps were heavy, laced with urgency. As my pops rounded the corner, his expression stern, I knew the man would never forgive me.

  He walked closer, blinking several times. As he fell against the doorjamb, tears in his eyes, I couldn’t stop my own. “Hey, Pops.”

  “Son. Oh, son. You have no idea how many times I wanted to call you, to say how sorry I am for judging you.” He grabbed me, pulling me into a bear hug. “I love you.” Echoes sounded in my ears, Genevieve crying softly, the light breeze picking up in intensity and I could swear just for a brief moment, I heard the sound of Maggie’s giggle.

  Suddenly, I was whole again.

  “Mom, Pops. I’d like you to meet the woman I’m going to marry one day.”

  The End

  Stormy Night Publications would like to thank you for your interest in our books.

  If you liked this book (or even if you didn’t), we would really appreciate you leaving a review on the site where you purchased it. Reviews provide useful feedback for us and our authors, and this feedback (both positive comments and constructive criticism) allows us to work even harder to make sure we provide the content our customers want to read.

  If you would like to check out more books from Stormy Night Publications, if you want to learn more about our company, or if you would like to join our mailing list, please visit our website at:

  http://www.stormynightpublications.com

  More Stormy Night Books by Piper Stone

  Claimed by the Beasts

  Though she has done her best to run from it, Scarlet Dumane cannot escape what is in store for her. She has known for years that she is destined to belong not just to one savage beast, but to three, and now the time has come for her to be claimed. Soon her mates will own every inch of her beautiful body, and she will be shared and used as roughly and as often as they please.

  Scarlet hid from the disturbing truth about herself, her family, and her town for as long as she could, but now her grandmother’s death has finally brought her back home to the bayous of Louisiana and at last she must face her fate, no matter how shameful and terrifying.

  She will be a queen, but her mates will be her masters, and defiance will be thoroughly punished. Yet even when she is stripped bare and spanked until she is sobbing, her need for them only grows, and every blush, moan, and quivering climax binds her to them more tightly. But with enemies lurking in the shadows, can she trust her mates to protect her from both man and beast?

  Buy on Amazon

  Millionaire Daddy

  Dominick Asbury is not just a handsome millionaire whose deep voice makes Jenna’s tummy flutter whenever they are together, nor is he merely the first man bold enough to strip her bare and spank her hard and thoroughly whenever she has been naughty. He is much more than that.

  He is her daddy.

  He is the one who punishes her when she’s been a bad girl, and he is the one who takes her in his arms afterwards and brings her to one climax after another until she is utterly spent and satisfied.

  But something shady is going on behind the scenes at Dominick’s company, and when Jenna draws the wrong conclusion from a poorly written article about him and creates an embarrassing public scene, will she end up not only costing them both their jobs but losing her daddy as well?

  Buy on Amazon

  Conquering Their Mate

  For years the Cenzans have cast a menacing eye on Earth, but it still came as a shock to be captured, stripped bare, and claimed as a mate by their leader and his most trusted warriors.

  It infuriates me to be punished for the slightest defiance and forced to submit to these alien brutes, but as I’m led naked through the corridors of their ship, my well-punished bare bottom and my helpless arousal both fully on display, I cannot help wondering how long it will be until I’m kneeling at the feet of my mates and begging them take me as shamefully as they please.

  Buy on Amazon

  Caught

  If you’re forced to come to an arrangement with someone as dangerous as Jagger Calduchi, it means he’s about to take what he wants, and you’ll give it to him... even if it’s your body.

  I got caught snooping where I didn’t belong, and Jagger made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. A week with him where his rules are the only rules, or his bought and paid for cops take me to jail.

  He’s going to punish me, train me, and master me completely. When he’s used me so shamefully I blush just to think about it, maybe he’ll let me go home... or maybe he’ll decide to keep me.

  Buy on Amazon

  Captured and Kept

  Since her career was knocked off track in retaliation for her efforts to expose a sinister plot by high-ranking government officials, reporter Danielle Carver has been stuck writing puff pieces in a small town in Oregon. Desperate for a serious story, she sets out to investigate the rumors she’s been hearing about mysterious men living in the mountains nearby. But when she secretly follows them back to their remote cabin, the ruggedly handsome beasts don’t take kindly to her snooping around, and Dani soon finds herself stripped bare for a painful, humiliating spanking.

  Their rough dominance arouses her deeply, and before long she is blushing crimson as they take turns using her beautiful body as thoroughly and shamefully as they please. But when Dani uncovers the true reason for their presence in the area, will more than just her career be at risk?

  Buy on Amazon

  Taming His Brat

  It’s been years since Cooper Dawson left her small Texas hometown, but after her stubborn defiance gets her fired from two jobs in a row, she knows something definitely needs to change. What she doesn’t expect, however, is for her sharp tongue and arrogant attitude to land her over the knee of a stern, ruggedly sexy cowboy for a painful, embarrassing, and very public spanking.

  Rex Sullivan cannot deny being smitten by Cooper, and the fact that she is in desperate need of his belt across her bare backside only makes the war-hardened ex-Marine more determined to tame the beautiful, fiery redhead. It isn’t long before she’s screaming his name as he shows her just how hard and roughly a cowboy can ride a headstrong filly. But Rex and Cooper both have secrets, and when the demons of their past rear their ugly heads, will their romance be torn apart?

  Buy on Amazon

  Capturing Their Mate

  I thought the Cenzan invaders could never find me here, but I was wrong. Three of the alien brutes came to take me, and before I ever set foot aboard their ship I had already been stripped bare, spanked thoroughly, and claimed more shamefully then I would have ever thought possible.

  They have decided that a public example must be made of me, and I will be punished and used in the most humiliating ways imaginable as a warning to anyone who might dare to defy them. But I am no ordinary breeder, and the secrets hidden in my past could change their world... or end it.

  Buy on Amazon

  Ruthless

  Treating a mobster shot by a rival’s goons isn’t really my forte, but when a man is powerful enough to have a whole wing of a hospital cleared out for his protection, you do as you’re told.

  To make matters worse, this isn’t first time I’ve met Giovanni Calduchi. It turns out my newest patient is the stern, sexy brute who all but dragged me back to his hotel room a couple of nights ago so he could use my body as he pleased, then showed up at my house the next day, stripped me bare, and spanked me until I was begging him to take me even more roughly and shamefully.

  Now, with his enemies likely to be coming after me in order to get to him, all I can do is hope he’s as good at keeping me safe as he is at keeping me blushing, sore, and thoroughly satisfied.

  Buy on Amazon

  Rogue

  Tracking down cyborgs is my job, but this time I’m the one being hunted. This rogue machine has spent most of his life locked up, and now that he’s on the loose he has plans for me...

  He isn’t just going to strip me, punish me, an
d use me. He will take me longer and harder than any human ever could, claiming me so thoroughly that I will be left in no doubt who owns me.

  No matter how shamefully I beg and plead, my body will be ravaged again and again with pleasure so intense it terrifies me to even imagine, because that is what he was built to do.

  Buy on Amazon

  Roughneck

  When I took a job on an oil rig to escape my scheming stepfather’s efforts to set me up with one of his business cronies, I knew I’d be working with rugged men. What I didn’t expect is to find myself bent over a desk, my cheeks soaked with tears and my bare thighs wet for a very different reason, as my well-punished bottom is thoroughly used by a stern, infuriatingly sexy roughneck.

  Even though I should have known better than to get sassy with a firm-handed cowboy, let alone a tough-as-nails former Marine, there’s no denying that learning the hard way was every bit as hot as it was shameful. But a sore, welted backside is just the start of his plans for me, and no matter how much I blush to admit it, I know I’m going to take everything he gives me and beg for more.

  Buy on Amazon

  Hunting Their Mate

  As far as I’m concerned, the Cenzans will always be the enemy, and there can be no peace while they remain on our planet. I planned to make them pay for invading our world, but I was hunted down and captured by two of their warriors with the help of a battle-hardened former Marine. Now I’m the one who is going to pay, as the three of them punish me, shame me, and share me.

  Though the thought of a fellow human taking the side of these alien brutes enrages me, that is far from the worst of it. With every searing stroke of the strap that lands across my bare bottom, with every savage thrust as I am claimed over and over, and with every screaming climax, it is made more clear that it is my own quivering, thoroughly used body which has truly betrayed me.

  Buy on Amazon

  Dangerous

  I knew Erik Chenault was dangerous the moment I saw him. Everything about him should have warned me away, from the scar on his face to the fact that mobsters call him Blade. But I was drawn like a moth to a flame, and I ended up burnt... and blushing, sore, and thoroughly used.