Seduction Squad by Shaye Evans

Chapter One
     
    With his hand above my head supporting his weight, Lock leaned down and grazed his lips along my neck as he squeezed me in the palm of his other hand. I whimpered, arching into his hold—
    I gasped awake to the sound of an alarm screeching through the station. My eyes flew open and to the bed beside my own. Lockland’s beautiful blue gaze held mine through the dim light of the on-call room. A grin splayed across his mouth.
    “Fire at fifty-one Wattsons Street—Squad Eight, Truck Six, and Ambulance Eighty-two needed.”
    “What a way to wake up from a hot dream, eh Adan?” 
    I rolled my eyes and flung myself upright in the bed. “Yeah, yeah.” My cheeks heated—I hoped none of the other guys had heard me.
    By the time I swung my legs over the side of the mattress, my heart rate was already hitching with anticipation. The final remnants of sleep continued to grip the insides of my brain and refused to leave as I quickly stalked to the main room, passing a couple of the truck guys running out fully clothed in yellow-and-black uniforms. Of course they were ready first. Their on-call room was closer to the main room than the squad’s.
    Lockland pressed his plump, smooth lips to the side of my face as he walked past me, instantly heightening my awareness. He glanced over his shoulder, waving his arse from side to side while the corner of his mouth lifted. Desire twinkled deep within his gaze. That look stirred things inside me I hadn’t experienced for a while. Lately, with summer well settled in, we’d been called to one fire after another, usually started by barbeques or air conditioners that hadn’t been maintained. So there had been little time for touches of lips or dicks.
    As he passed through the door of the gear room, I followed, yearning to pin him to the wall until we came screaming each other’s names. On my way toward my gear I passed Lock, shrugging into his coat. I slapped his arse and he jumped and laughed while glancing at me. A couple of the guys rolled their eyes in response, but I shrugged them off. Being openly gay with my squad and colleagues made the environment awkwardly tense between us, especially in the locker room, but we worked it out. We had to. We were a team. 
    I pulled on my boots and pants, then shrugged on my coat, followed by my helmet, and as quickly as the alarm had sounded, we were dressed and heading for the squad truck. Sam Kimberly, our lieutenant, was already in the front seat waiting as Lockland and I slid into the back with Steven and Jay.
    The glass doors were already groaning open when Truck Six’s sirens echoed from beside us and it took off with the ambulance following close behind, their lights flashing, casting blue and red beams through the night.
    As I sat beside Lockland, the heated rush of adrenaline raced through my veins. Adrenaline and excitement, as bad as it sounded, was something I usually experienced before heading into a fire. But something about tonight was different, and it made me clutch the Maltese cross hanging from around my neck. Lockland had gifted it to me the day of my graduation. It was said to protect firefighters, but tonight, I felt the need to hand it to him instead.  So, as the fire truck turned a corner, I took off my helmet, pulled the chain over my head, and found Lock’s hand. He glanced me, then to his palm, where my pendant glinted in the light of the passing streetlamps.
    “Put it on,” I mouthed, knowing he wouldn’t hear me over the sirens. He nodded and did so as I leaned across my seat and pressed my lips to his cheek.
    The truck slowed and an orange glow filtered through the side window, drawing my attention outside. Lockland leaned close to me as we stared at the flames and dense clouds of smoke rising from the top of the old apartment building, choking the overcast sky.
    People were crowded around the building. A few were covered in ash and soot, being attended to by other emergency and medical