Muscles and bones ached as he drove the fire engine back to the department, his uncle following behind in his personal vehicle. The man may be close to retirement, but he was the first to show up whenever he was needed. The last time he had felt this tired was when he had sheltered beneath the fire blanket in San Rios.
“Why don’t you all head home? I’ll man the calls until the next shift,” the chief said as a command.
“Yeah, okay.” Ridge wasn’t going to argue. And as he drove his truck home, he knew without a doubt that there was only one woman he wanted to see.
***
River was having the best kind of dream. It involved her and Ridge on a private island where they made love under the moonlight and soaked in the sunshine while servers catered to their every whim. She snuggled deeper into his bed, the sheets smelling like him and offering her a sense of comfort in his absence.
She had long given up fighting him to sleep in his bed on the nights she stayed at his house to watch his daughter. River didn’t dare tell him that she preferred his bed over hers anyway. But she did make it a point to spend a few nights at her place, just to make sure they were keeping things as casual as possible.
Like the slight touch of a feather, River felt a caress on her cheek. The contact pulled her away from her dream and into the state of semi-sleep, that transition between consciousness and REM.
“River.”
Her name was said on the barest of whispers, a gentle longing that caused her to open her eyes to the darkness of the room.
“Ridge?” she questioned, knowing that it was long before he was due home.
It took her a moment to come fully awake. Then she noticed in the moonlight the forlorn appearance on his face. He was kneeling on the floor beside the bed, his chin resting on the mattress just a few inches from hers. Lovingly she reached over and stroked her fingers through his hair, his head following her touch.
“What’s the matter? Is everything okay?” she whispered to him.
“Yeah,” he said, reaching for the hand that had been in his hair and bringing the tips of her fingers to his lips. “It was a rough night and I needed to see you.”
“Why don’t you get in bed and tell me what happened?” River pulled aside the sheets and Ridge quickly removed his shirt and pants, slipping under the covers clad in only his boxers.
She waited patiently for him to settle into bed, moving her body closer to his and resting her head on his chest. His steady breathing was enough to lull her back to sleep, but the rapid pounding of his heart was like a bass drum beneath her ear.
“We got called to a horrible accident on the highway tonight, six cars involved. A drunk driver going down the highway in the wrong direction.
“We’re trained on what to anticipate when we arrive at the scene to a crash like that, but I don’t think any of us were prepared. There were a few minor injuries and one of the men had to be transported to the hospital for care, but the worst. . .” he said, unable to finish his sentence as he became choked up. River didn’t look up, but she could tell that he had reached up to wipe away tears.
“The worst was that two children died at the scene. The family was on their way to Florida for a vacation and the older child had been thrown from the van during the crash. His mother explained he had laid down in the back seat to sleep, undoing his seat belt. And the baby. . .the baby wasn’t latched into the car seat p
roperly.
“Their van had taken the brunt force of the crash, flipping a few times which caused the expulsion. It actually burst into flames when I arrived. But I can’t get over the mother’s cries. It’s one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced and all I could think about was rushing back home to Delilah. And to you.”
River was speechless. He had witnessed something truly horrific, something she wouldn’t wish on anyone, and he had thought of her. All she wanted to do was comfort him and this agony he had just been through, but she couldn’t stop her heart from soaring at the same time. She was stuck feeling elated and guilty at the same time.
“I didn’t mean to unload that on you. We usually have a therapist come in after a scenario like that to talk over things, but I couldn’t keep it bottled up until tomorrow.”
River moved her body until she was resting on her elbows on his chest and able to look him in the eye. Though the room was blanketed in shadows, she could see that his eyes were tormented, something that she wanted to help relieve him of.
“I’m glad you told me, Ridge. You shouldn’t keep something like that bottled up. Did you have a chance to see Delilah yet?”
“Yeah, I stopped in her room first when I got home and watched her sleep for a while. At first, I thought I had woken her, but she was reaching for her teddy.”
“Can I do anything for you?” River asked as she leaned down and pressed a kiss to his chest that smelled like a mix of sweat and smoke.
“Just be with me, like this.”
Snaking her hand down to the powerful muscle resting between his legs, River asks as she wraps her fingers around his girth, “What about like this?”
Ridge moved his hand into her hair and tugged it firmly to align her lips with his. “I certainly wouldn’t complain.”
Returning his kiss, River stroked her hand up and down his shaft, reveling in her ability to harden his cock until it stood proudly against her thigh. A bead of moisture leaked from the tip of the head and she smeared it along the velvety skin.