4. Flint
Chapter Four
FLINT
Poppy ladles the stew into bowls. Her cheeks are flushed a rosy pink, mimicking the rose color of her sweater. Longing shoots down my spine to my cock, my stomach muscles tightening. I want to strip her naked and lick every inch of her until she’s trembling with need. See if her nipples are the same shade as her cheeks.
But this is wrong; I’m an old man. A fresh-faced, sweet-voiced pixie like Poppy could have the pick of boys her age. She’s innocent. The opposite of a grizzled, forty-year old vet who’s more used to firehouse banter and his cold bed than sweet words and soft skin.
“Smells good. I appreciate you taking charge and making it.” I pet Scamp’s rough head. He’s asleep, but he occasionally sniffs, as if the smell of the meat is interrupting his dreams.
“Mom likes to say I’m a whizz at using my initiative. I like to have a project on the go.”
“I know what you mean. Keeping busy is natural to me, too. Are you close to your parents?”
Poppy walks over and sets the stew on the table. Scamp wakes up and starts to sniff the air.
“Yes. They live over in Oakfield. Mom is Dad’s carer and I help out a couple of times a week. My brother Elias and my sister Marigold both live in Snowflake.”
“Elias Evans? He’s sold me wood from time to time.”
“That’s him. I like having my family around me. How about you?”
“Got a cousin over in Ember Heart Ridge. Does search and rescue too. My parents are long dead, I’m an only child. So I guess you could say the firehouse is like my family. It suits me.” I’m not going to give her the full sob story.
“My sister says her boyfriend says the same about the firehouse. I guess being in danger makes you closer?” Poppy sits on the chair opposite. The firelight makes her dark hair glow almost amber.
“Something like that. Facing a fire, rescuing people in trouble…that does bond you. But we also hang out waiting for the alarm, and fix stuff at the firehouse. You get to know people well that way. This stew is incredible, Pixie.”
Poppy blushes at the compliment. I’m tempted to reach across and cradle her cheek in my palm, to see if it’s as soft as it looks. But that would freak her out. I’m intensely aware of how close we are. And how isolated, trapped by the storm raging outside.
“Thank you. This place is surprisingly well stocked.”
“Yeah, Grizz and I have been caught out by bad weather too many times. Sometimes he’ll nap here if he’s come back from Ember Heart on the way back to town. In the summer you’d be lucky to find a spare potato rolling around.”
Poppy giggles. “I should count my lucky stars it’s winter, then. I’m going to give Scamp a little meat, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure. Would you grab the brandy while you’re there?”
She smiles, taking our bowls to the kitchen as Scamp follows her, his tail wagging expectantly. My eyes fix on the sway of her curvy hips, lush thighs and ass. It’s like she was made for me, stepping straight out of my fantasies.
Scamp’s snorting noises as he wolfs down the meat jolts me out of my reverie. I move from the table closer to the fire. Poppy brings two glasses of brandy over and starts to sit on the floor beside me.
I catch her arm. “Wait a second.” I grab a cushion and put it on the floor, patting it.
“Thanks! Although I have enough padding.”
“You have the perfect amount of padding.” I might as well be licking my lips.
She laughs. “Now I should employ you to say that in bikini season.”
The image of her in a bikini is playing havoc with my cock, so I change the subject abruptly. “How’s the ankle?”
“A little sore, but it already feels better. If it were anything serious, I think it would be getting worse?”
“Can I take a look at it?” I set down my glass.
Her cheeks flush that gorgeous shade of pink again. “Of course. I forgot, you must have medical training. I guess you must deal with people in pretty desperate situations up on the mountain.”
“I’m no doctor, but I know enough to patch people up until they can see one. Give me your foot.” I hold out my hand expectantly.
Poppy scoots back a little and unlaces her boot. She takes it off and extends her leg. Her foot is tiny, her heel not even filling my palm.
I roll her sock down as delicately as I can. A bruise darkens the top of her foot. I prod around her ankle as gently as I can. “That okay?”
She nods. “A little tender, but not bad.”
“I have some painkillers in my backpack.”
“I’m okay. This brandy is doing the trick. Nature’s painkiller.”
I smile, not letting go of her foot. “I carry some of that in my backpack too. The quickest way to cure mountain madness.”
“Mountain madness? What’s that?” She smiles back at me, a lock of hair falling in front of her face.
“When folks get lost up on the mountain and cling onto something, they sometimes refuse to move. Brandy’ll get ‘em going.”
“I’m embarrassed I argued with you earlier about coming here. I have a schedule I keep to, since it can get pretty busy with the shelter, my family, and the business. My stupid brain couldn’t compute that I couldn’t get home. Or find Scamp. Or that I was in real danger.”
“It’s fine, Pixie. No hard feelings.” I set her foot down, pulling her sock up. She reaches down and our fingers brush, sending a jolt of electricity up my arm. She gazes at me and I reach up to brush that lock of hair from her face.
I cup her cheek, her skin softer than I imagined. Her chest is heaving as I incline my head down and she gasps as I press my lips on hers. I nearly come in my pants as those full tits brush against my ribs as she leans into the kiss. Her lips are soft and full under mine as I part them, exploring her mouth with my tongue.
The radio crackles and Poppy jumps away, breathing hard. “What was that?”
I stand up, my cock chafing against my zipper. “The radio. Looks like we might be able to confirm our location. If you’re sure you want me to?” In my current mood, the longer I’m stranded here with Poppy, the better.
“Oh, yes please! My sister will be so worried.”
I walk over to the radio, trying to unscramble my head. Kissing Poppy was like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I can’t get enough of her.
And selfishly, I want her all to myself.