Read Online Burn for You: Outback Skies, Book 2 by Lexxie Couper - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Lexxie Couper
Ads: Link
have…”
“Could have what? Taken my pain away?”
The contempt in his voice jerked her stare back up to his face. She nodded. “Yes. No one deserves to suffer that kind of pain.”
“No one deserves to suffer the way I did?” An empty bark of a laugh left him and he took a step backward. “Ah, Jenna, you really have no idea who I am, do you?”
She frowned. “Of course I do. You risk your life for others. You save lives. You’re intelligent, funny, brave, selfless—”
The sound of his raucous laugh stopped her. She watched him scrape his fingers through his hair. Watched him stare at the ceiling a moment, jaw bunched, before returning his focus to her.
“Do you really want my story, Jenna? Do you really want to know what kind of selfless man the hero of Wallaby Ridge is? The man who just fucked you with his tongue in the dark? Do you?”
His bitter snarl robbed her of an answer.
He grunted, the utterance as empty as his earlier laugh. “Fine. I’ll give you my story. But first, I want you to do something for me, okay? I want you to use that journalist’s mind of yours and imagine you’re an aviation firefighter just doing your job like any other day with a man who’s meant to know how to do his own. I want you to imagine putting your life into that man’s hands. Now imagine that man’s ego, that man’s arrogance, plunging the helicopter you’re both in into a firestorm hotter than any on record. A bushfire inferno fed not just by the scorching summer heat and wind, but by a dense forest of eucalyptus trees drier than they’ve ever been thanks to a summer drought the likes of which Australia hasn’t seen in over a century. Are you there with me, Jenna? Are you in that fire? Are you surrounded by it?
“Imagine telling that man, the one you trust, that he’s being reckless. Imagine telling him it’s too dangerous to fly into the gulf, no matter how well he thinks he can keep the chopper steady against the buffeting winds. Imagine doing your job, trying to direct that man to a safer area, one that needs the water in the guts of the chopper just as much. Imagine him ignoring you because he can already see the headlines proclaiming his courage and prowess in the following day’s newspapers, because he can already feel his wife’s mouth on his cock as she gives him a blowjob for being such a brave, fearless hero.”
Contempt dripped from his words. Jenna could only stare at him.
“Imagine shouting at him to pull up,” he went on. “To get out of the gulf as his ego refuses to acknowledge the winds are too wild to fight. Imagine screaming as an upwards gust slams into the chopper, sending it spiraling out of control just as a massive eucalyptus tree explodes beneath it. Image the chopper engulfed in flames. Imagine it smashing through the burning trees until it hits the burning ground.
“Now imagine being trapped in the wreckage of the chopper while your skin first blisters and then melts. While the lining of your throat and lungs burn with every breath you pull. While your eyeballs rupture from the heat.
“And now imagine the man who put you there getting away. Being rescued as you burn to death. Imagine that man surviving when you didn’t. Sure, almost forty percent of his body is covered with third-degree burns, but he’s alive. Imagine that man returning to his wife that night when your wife and your children will never get to hold you again. Can you imagine that, Jenna? Can you?”
She didn’t answer. Once again, the rawness of Evan’s emotions stole her words. As did the wretched self-hate and torment and guilt in his face.
He lowered his attention to the floor. Shook his head. Let out a muttered curse she barely heard before raising his head again to fix a blank stare on a spot behind her. “I’ve lived with that reality for five years. My actions killed Franco. My ego. And then Tracey left me because she couldn’t stand to look at me.”
“No, Evan.” Jenna stepped
“Could have what? Taken my pain away?”
The contempt in his voice jerked her stare back up to his face. She nodded. “Yes. No one deserves to suffer that kind of pain.”
“No one deserves to suffer the way I did?” An empty bark of a laugh left him and he took a step backward. “Ah, Jenna, you really have no idea who I am, do you?”
She frowned. “Of course I do. You risk your life for others. You save lives. You’re intelligent, funny, brave, selfless—”
The sound of his raucous laugh stopped her. She watched him scrape his fingers through his hair. Watched him stare at the ceiling a moment, jaw bunched, before returning his focus to her.
“Do you really want my story, Jenna? Do you really want to know what kind of selfless man the hero of Wallaby Ridge is? The man who just fucked you with his tongue in the dark? Do you?”
His bitter snarl robbed her of an answer.
He grunted, the utterance as empty as his earlier laugh. “Fine. I’ll give you my story. But first, I want you to do something for me, okay? I want you to use that journalist’s mind of yours and imagine you’re an aviation firefighter just doing your job like any other day with a man who’s meant to know how to do his own. I want you to imagine putting your life into that man’s hands. Now imagine that man’s ego, that man’s arrogance, plunging the helicopter you’re both in into a firestorm hotter than any on record. A bushfire inferno fed not just by the scorching summer heat and wind, but by a dense forest of eucalyptus trees drier than they’ve ever been thanks to a summer drought the likes of which Australia hasn’t seen in over a century. Are you there with me, Jenna? Are you in that fire? Are you surrounded by it?
“Imagine telling that man, the one you trust, that he’s being reckless. Imagine telling him it’s too dangerous to fly into the gulf, no matter how well he thinks he can keep the chopper steady against the buffeting winds. Imagine doing your job, trying to direct that man to a safer area, one that needs the water in the guts of the chopper just as much. Imagine him ignoring you because he can already see the headlines proclaiming his courage and prowess in the following day’s newspapers, because he can already feel his wife’s mouth on his cock as she gives him a blowjob for being such a brave, fearless hero.”
Contempt dripped from his words. Jenna could only stare at him.
“Imagine shouting at him to pull up,” he went on. “To get out of the gulf as his ego refuses to acknowledge the winds are too wild to fight. Imagine screaming as an upwards gust slams into the chopper, sending it spiraling out of control just as a massive eucalyptus tree explodes beneath it. Image the chopper engulfed in flames. Imagine it smashing through the burning trees until it hits the burning ground.
“Now imagine being trapped in the wreckage of the chopper while your skin first blisters and then melts. While the lining of your throat and lungs burn with every breath you pull. While your eyeballs rupture from the heat.
“And now imagine the man who put you there getting away. Being rescued as you burn to death. Imagine that man surviving when you didn’t. Sure, almost forty percent of his body is covered with third-degree burns, but he’s alive. Imagine that man returning to his wife that night when your wife and your children will never get to hold you again. Can you imagine that, Jenna? Can you?”
She didn’t answer. Once again, the rawness of Evan’s emotions stole her words. As did the wretched self-hate and torment and guilt in his face.
He lowered his attention to the floor. Shook his head. Let out a muttered curse she barely heard before raising his head again to fix a blank stare on a spot behind her. “I’ve lived with that reality for five years. My actions killed Franco. My ego. And then Tracey left me because she couldn’t stand to look at me.”
“No, Evan.” Jenna stepped
Similar Books
