Fire in the Smokies

And her brain wouldn’t stop running on the fumes left to power it. Her tank had to be almost empty.

She needed a shower, a hot meal and her bed. And she wasn’t entirely sure in what order she was going to put those tasks.

Her stomach took that moment to growl. Fine. Food first, then.

Brianna lifted her head and stared toward the kitchen. It seemed farther away than it had yesterday. She considered crawling the distance but then decided against it. She didn’t know much about Jaxon’s true connection to her right this second, and she didn’t need the added embarrassment if he was spying on her.

It seemed like she was getting better at blocking him. After all, he hadn’t communicated a single syllable since she’d shut the door. But, on the other hand, he could be humoring her.

Would he really sit outside in his truck until…?

Dragging herself to standing, Brianna decided to make the trek toward the kitchen first. Ten or so steps later, she was peering into her freezer as if it might contain items other than the ones she had personally stocked it with.

She didn’t care. All she needed was any random red box of a single-serve meal. Without looking, she snatched the one on top and ripped it open.

Ah, her favorite. Chicken parmesan. About a half a serving of it as far as she was concerned, but it was a start.

Brianna popped the tray into the microwave and wandered down the hall. A quick shower was her specialty when dire situations called for immediate results. She could be in and out in the five minutes it took for the frozen meal to cook and head back to the kitchen to retrieve it before it cooled.

Brianna stripped her clothes off as she walked down the short hall, letting the pieces fall wherever they landed. She didn’t care right now. Hell, she didn’t know when she might care again. Her brain was overloaded.

Shower, eat, sleep. Don’t think about anything else.

By the time she reached the bathroom, she was naked. Without opening the shower door more than the few inches necessary to fit her arm inside, she turned the dial all the way to the left and then stood back to wait for hot water. It needed to be hot. Scalding would be perfect.

A quick glance at the mirror made Brianna pause. God, she looked awful. Like she’d spent the day fighting a forest fire or something. Her face was smudged so bad with soot she could barely discern what her natural coloring was.

Her gaze wandered down to her chest. Her nipples beaded as she watched. Was it cold in here? She knew better than that. The second her eyes landed on her breasts, thoughts of having them worshipped by Jaxon flooded her mind.

Brianna jerked her gaze toward the shower. Steam seeped out the top and clouded the glass door. Heaven.

As she stepped into the decadent stream, Brianna sighed. God, that feels good. She stood for several moments, letting the water stream down her body, washing away more than the grime of the day. She hoped to wash away the stress too. One vampire. Three wolf shifters. Not to mention a forest fire. If not for the rain, she didn’t know how long she could have continued to keep up that pace and fake like she was just as strong as all the men.

Food. Bed. Brianna grabbed the shampoo and lathered her limp hair. She’d feel one hundred percent better just washing the drooping locks. As soon as she finished with her hair, she let her hands roam down her body, gliding easily over her skin and spreading the suds from the shampoo.

With her eyes closed against the onslaught of soap, she gasped when her hands skittered over her nipples. Her knees nearly buckled at the contact, the unexpected friction stiffening her spine and dragging her into a more wakeful state than she would have thought possible.

How could she unintentionally arouse herself? She’d never before been accidentally aroused by her own touch.

Brianna sucked in a breath and ducked beneath the hot water, letting it rinse away the soap until she could safely open her eyes.

With her head tipped down, she gazed at her chest again. Just like moments ago in the mirror, her nipples were puckered, standing out, demanding attention.

Brianna grabbed the soap and tried to divert her gaze, washing her legs instead. She started at her feet and worked her way up. Just leaning over drew attention to her chest. Her breasts felt inordinately full, achy, as they might during sex. Desperate.

As she stood and set the soap back in its dish, she let her hands wander up her thighs and moaned when she reached the apex. Oh God. This wasn’t happening.

She was too tired and hungry right now to masturbate in the shower. It had to be Jaxon’s fault for insinuating she couldn’t handle being away from him. He’d planted the idea and she was just acting on the power of suggestion.

In any case, what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt anyone. The last thing she needed tonight was his smug smile clouding her dreams.

And the easiest way to fix the problem was to act on the impulse. Brianna spread her legs as her arousal increased. She ran a finger between her lower lips and over her clit. Her eyes shot open wide. Holy fuck! Her knees threatened to buckle from that one swipe.

Brianna leaned back against the tile wall of the shower for support. The move brought her upper body out of the direct line of the spray. She gripped the wall with one hand. Well, perhaps gripped wasn’t exactly the right term. Could a person actually grip a wet tile surface? She wasn’t entirely sure she could remain standing.

Seconds went by as she tried to catch her breath. One swipe? Jesus. She needed to come so bad she couldn’t move until she did. And she’d had so many orgasms in the last day and a half she couldn’t even count them. How could she even begin to be aroused by a goddamn shower?

Brianna reached between her legs and flicked her middle finger over her clit again, drawing out a loud moan she couldn’t remember ever emitting before. She let her head fall back against the tile and her eyes drifted shut to close off the world so she could concentrate on nothing but her own pleasure.

She didn’t touch her begging nub again yet. She wanted to draw out the experience. Enjoy it for at least thirty seconds—because that’s about how long she imagined she could hold out.

Raising both hands, Brianna pinched her nipples and twisted them simultaneously, enjoying the pleasure- pain she induced. She then ran her flat palms down her breasts and abdomen until she reached her shaved mons again. Using one hand to hold herself open, she plunged two fingers into her core.

Again she gasped and leaned forward. No way could she remain standing, and she didn’t have to. She let her body slide down the wall until she sat on the warm tile. Water sprayed around her, not hitting her face, but landing on her legs and bouncing across her body.

Her knees flopped open wide and Brianna fucked her needy pussy with the two fingers that had started the job.

Oh God. She was going to come. Now. Fast. Furious.

With her free hand, she flicked her clit over and over in rapid succession while she pumped her fingers inside her. She knew her body well. A slight twist of her hand, and she was able to drag her bent fingers over the elusive spot that drove her completely bonkers.

That was all it took. On a loud groan, Brianna came, her juices pulsing around her fingers as she continued to pump them as deep as she could. The sensation of her pussy gripping her own hand made her sigh. She usually needed a vibrator to her clit to come so hard so fast.

The bliss was short lived. Flopped with her legs widespread in the corner of the shower, Brianna caught her breath and opened her eyes.

She needed more. Fuck.

It hadn’t been enough. Not by a long shot. There was no real comparison to the long thick cock she’d enjoyed several times recently.

No fucking way was she going to admit defeat. She needed to buck up and clear her head and eat and sleep. Tomorrow she could face her weird new demons. Not tonight. If she let that man into her apartment, she’d