Radclyffe - Firestorm

Mallory slowed in the middle of the yard. Jac was still probably asleep. Maybe going up to the loft right now wasn’t such a good idea. Abruptly she changed course. No use complicating something that didn’t have to be complicated.

*

Jac woke at dawn to the rumble of a truck engine revving in the yard. A jumble of deep male laughter rolled upward on a gust of wind, then faded just as quickly, and silence descended. A quick check of her watch told her what she already sensed—she had a few minutes before she needed to get up if she wanted breakfast before reporting for roll call. She folded her arms behind her head and tried to quiet the rush of air in and out of her lungs, waiting for the soft fall of footsteps nearing the ladder. When none came, she pushed herself up and out of her sleeping bag. She had one leg in her cargo pants when Mallory climbed into the loft.

“Morning,” Jac said, balancing on one foot.

Mallory’s eyes swept down her body and then back to her face. The spark in Mallory’s eyes stirred a fire in the pit of Jac’s stomach, heating the places where she’d been cold for a long time.

“I got you coffee and a muffin,” Mallory said, averting her gaze abruptly. She hesitated as if not quite certain what she should do with the items she held in her hands, staring at the cardboard tray as if not sure why she held it. “I was getting some anyhow and I thought…”

Quickly, Jac pulled her pants on and scrabbled around in her duffel for a shirt to cover the tank she’d slept in. She shrugged into a red cotton button-up and pushed a hand through her hair, trying for some semblance of composure. She took a step forward, intending to take the tray. “How are you?”

Mallory’s eyes met hers, and the sparks intensified and broke free. Flames danced in the air. “I’m okay. Everybody’s okay.”

“Good.”

“I really should go.” Mallory looked down at the cardboard tray and the paper cups and the plastic-wrapped muffins, wondering how she’d come to be standing in the loft with a sexily sleep-tousled Jac Russo a few feet away. She hadn’t meant to come here. She’d been on her way to grab some food, and then she’d heard Sarah’s voice in her head, telling her Jac had been restless, sleepless, skipping meals. Because of her. And she’d wanted to see her. “I’m not sure what I’m doing here.”

“Let me help you.” Jac took the tray and set it down on a small packing crate between the heads of their two cots. She straightened and eased forward again, moving slowly, hoping Mallory wasn’t going to bolt back down the ladder. She stopped a few inches from Mallory and closed her hands tightly before she put them all over Mallory. She wanted to grip her shoulders and pull her forward and kiss her. Simple and uncomplicated. Oh yeah, real simple. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“I ran into Sarah in the locker room.” Mallory pushed her hands into her back pockets. “She mentioned you were worried, maybe.”

“Maybe, a little. Yeah.” Jac added quickly, “I know that’s silly.”

Mallory moistened her lips and took a deep breath. “Yeah, maybe. Not necessary. Nice, though. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Jac gripped her hair again, contemplating pulling it out. She felt about twelve, trying to figure out how to ask for her first date. “You want some coffee?”

Mallory glanced at her watch. “I should probably get going. I want to see Ray before roll call.”

“Why don’t I walk over with you?” Jac pulled the two cups from the tray and handed one to Mallory. She unwrapped a blueberry muffin, broke it in half, and passed part to Mallory. “We can save the other one for break time.”

Mallory laughed, and the sound hit Jac like a flashover. “Thanks. They were out of bran.”

“I’ll put in a request. Charlie loves me.”

Mallory’s eyebrows rose. “Is that right? And how do you figure?”

Jac bit into the muffin and Mallory followed suit. Jac wanted to moan, not because the muffin was wonderful, which it was, but because watching Mallory eat one might be the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. “He gave me pie.”

Mallory stopped chewing. “No.”

Solemnly, Jac nodded.

“I never took you for a prevaricator.”

“Oh.” Jac slammed her hand against her chest. “You wound me.”

Mallory narrowed her eyes. “Charlie really gave you pie?”

“Two pieces.”

“Now I know you’re lying.”

Jac grinned. “I speak only the truth. Ask Sarah, she’ll tell you.”

“Sarah was there to witness this? When?”

“About three this morning.”

“Really.” Mallory’s voice became a few degrees cooler.

“I was restless,” Jac confessed. “I ran into her in the canteen.”

“You’re a puzzle, Russo,” Mallory said softly.

“I don’t think so.”

“No, you probably wouldn’t. You don’t hide much, do you?”

Jac laughed at the irony. “God, Mallory. I hide everything.”

“Why doesn’t it seem that way to me?”

“I don’t know. You make me want to tell all my secrets, and it’s damn scary.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jac’s heart beat so hard she wondered if she might be having a heart attack. “For what?”

“For making you think…” Mallory stopped, shook her head.

“I don’t think anything, Mallory. I’m not after anything. Some things just are.”

“And I don’t know what to do with that, Jac,” Mallory said helplessly. “I really don’t. And I need to go.”

“Yeah, I know.” Jac felt Mallory leaving, even though she hadn’t moved. She was helpless to hold her, knew she couldn’t. Letting go felt like her heart was exploding. “So I’ll see you at roll call.”

“Don’t be late, rookie,” Mallory murmured and climbed over the side of the loft and down the ladder.

Mallory always seemed to be walking away. Jac glanced around, feeling Mallory’s absence even more than she had the night before, and remembered the price of letting anyone close.

Chapter Fifteen

“Listen up,” Mallory called down to the group assembled around the wooden scaffold. “On my mark, you’ll step to the edge, pivot with your back to the ground, tuck your chin, and drop.”

Jac squinted at the six-foot-high platform and the hard-packed ground beneath. She was supposed to step off into nothing and land on the ground wearing a full pack and all her gear as if landing with a parachute. She glanced at Ray. “Is your head okay for this?”

“There’s nothing wrong with my head, but I’m not sure about my sanity,” he muttered.

Jac grinned. “Yeah. I’m feeling a little bit crazy myself right now.”

Mallory glanced in their direction and raised an eyebrow. “Problems over there?”

“No ma’am,” Ray said briskly.

“Not a thing,” Jac said.

“Okay.” Mallory stepped to the edge. “Don’t hold your breath unless you want to lose it all when you hit.” She grinned down at them. “And remember your chin.”

She pushed off, seemed to turn in midair like a diver at the pinnacle of her leap, then fell gracefully, landed soundlessly, and rolled to her feet.

“Questions?” Mallory asked, unsnapping her helmet as she walked over.

When she shook her hair out in an unconsciously sensual move, Jac’s heart went into free fall. God, she was every kind of beautiful.

No one had any questions, but a couple of the guys looked a little green.

“Hooker,” Mallory said. “Why don’t you go first and demonstrate. You at least know what the ground feels like coming up at you from your skydiving experience.”

“Sure. No problem,” Hooker said.

Mallory climbed back up to the platform and Hooker followed.