To Love, Honor and Defend by Beth Cornelison

Author:Beth Cornelison [Cornelison, Beth]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2005-08-29T05:00:00+00:00

With a mighty screech of protesting metal, the firefighter pried the doors open enough to shine a flashlight into the darkened elevator cab. “Hey! Is anyone hurt in there?”

Cal recognized the voice and stifled a groan. Peabody. Biggest gossip in the department. Worse than any woman he’d ever met. By morning, every firehouse in the city would know one of their former colleagues had been trapped in an elevator at the courthouse.

And how he’d filled his time waiting for the rescue squad. Surely there was no mistaking the reason for their rumpled clothes, flushed faces and swollen lips.

Irritation mixed with the ache of unfulfilled desire, wrenching inside Cal like the crowbar Peabody used to jimmy open the doors. “No serious injuries. Nice of you guys to show up, Peabody. What took so long?”

The beam of the flashlight swung right into his eyes, blinding him. Cal squinted and raised an arm to shield his eyes. “Hey! Watch it, man!”

“Cal? Cal Walters? Is that you?” Humor infused Peabody’s tone. “Leave it to you to get into a mess like this!”

Peabody chuckled, and Cal gritted his teeth. “How ’bout less talking and more muscle on that door, huh? My wife is pretty freaked out by small, dark spaces.”

The flashlight beam swung over to Libby. “We’ll have you out of there in a jiffy, ma’am. Hang on.”

Libby cleared her throat. “Thank you.”

Even with the extra measures to steady her voice, Libby sounded shaky to Cal. Flustered.

Hell. He couldn’t blame her. If not for Peabody’s rotten timing, he’d be buried deep in Libby’s sweet body right now. The heat they’d created, the urgency vibrating in Libby’s body, had rocked him to the core. If he’d had any doubts before whether Libby still wanted him, he didn’t now.

Her hands-off rule was nothing more than a shield, something to hide behind. Another attempt to control him and their relationship. But having seen her my-way-or-the-highway dictate for what it was, he had every intention of turning things around on her. They would finish what they had started today. And when they did, Libby would want it as much as he did.

Cal finger-combed his hair and moved to add his muscle to the effort of prying open the stuck door. Soon he and Peabody had created an opening wide enough for Libby and himself to slip through. In addition to Peabody, Riley Sinclair and a couple other men he didn’t know clustered around, ready to assist.

“Cal Walters. I should have known,” chuckled Riley, who’d completed the firefighting academy with him and served as Cal’s best man—for both weddings. “Man, trouble just follows you!”

Cal kept a steadying hand on Libby’s arm until he was sure she had her balance and composure back.

“Stupid elevator,” Libby grumbled, casting a scathing glance back at the wreckage. “It’s been giving us problems for months. Someone gets stuck on a regular basis.” She shook her head and dusted invisible dirt off her skirt. “Figures I’d be the one in it when it finally gave way.”

“Ma’am?” Peabody, squatting in front of a long toolbox, lifted his head.

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