A Taste for Hot Chocolate

Bruce Garrison dashed inside the burning office building and gave little to no regard for his own safety. His 6ft 4inch frame darted about glow of the inferno. He kicked down doors, peeked inside, and called out; "Hello...is anybody here!" Even if someone answered he could barely hear it because of the crackling wood, flickering flames and shattering glass. Nevertheless he persisted until he kicked down a broom closet door and discovered three people huddled and sitting on the floor with their arms wrapped around their knees.

"Oh thank god...thank god you found us," an elderly man cried.

"Come on people; thank me when you're out of here," Bruce shouted.

The heroic firefighter calmly guided the three people down the burning staircase, however a small frame woman collapsed in the lobby. He lifted her into his arms and carried her out into the cool night air, just as the sound of the roof caved in and several floors crashed down to the lobby.

"Good job Garrison, that was a close call," Captain Barrios cried as Bruce lowered the unconscious woman down on to ambulance cot. "Hey kid, that was fantastic timing." Barrios exclaimed as he slapped his hand down on the younger man's shoulder.

"Yeah, it looks like we just go out in time."

"Excuse me...excuse me captain, but I think someone's still in there," the elderly man cried who Bruce just led out the building.

"Say what," Bruce fired back.

"I think Gina Roman might still be in there," the man cried.

"Where," the captain questioned.

"One of the secretaries said she went down to the basement supply room."

"Are you sure," Garrison asked.

"No one's seen her. I guess she might've got out but I don't think she'd have gone home."

"Damn," Bruce snapped under his breath.

At that moment, a large explosion occurred and literally rocked the ground beneath them. Witnesses dashed and darted about as small fiery ambers, glass, and debris rained down upon them.

Barrios turned toward the young firefighter and exclaimed, "Don't back in there kid. That basement is filled with flammable chemicals. That explosion tells me that the fire's reached the storage area and if that's the case, then I expect a lot bigger blasts than that."

Garrison...Garrison don't go back in there kid, not this time," Barrios sighed and shook his head.

"Hey chief...what's Garrison doing," two firefighters shout and point to their friend as they saw him rush back into the burning building.

"What Garrison does, being bull-headed."

"But they said the place was clear,' the man asked.

"One of the supervisors said there was someone else still inside."

"Damn, you didn't tell him about the explosive chemicals?"

"Like that's gonna stop him; come on Davis, you two know better than I do. That boy's got the heart of a lion and the persistence of a pit-bull. Captain Barrios shook his head once again. This wasn't the first time the young man rushed in to a dangerous situation foolishly. He only hoped that this time it wouldn't be his last.

With nerves of steel, the powerful firefighter marched through the inferno. He never blinked as a large burning beam fell down and blocked his path. Without hesitation, he raised his large axe and spit the wooden beam in half, then kicked it away. As he reached the stairwell door, he noticed the steel doorknob dripped and melted under the extreme heat of the fire. Once again he raised his axe, and brought it down the center of the door and in one swift motion he kicked the door and turned away as the air rushed from the downstairs area and turned the upstairs area into a blow torch.

Bruce took a long deep sigh, shook his head, gritted his teeth and made his way down to the basement. Half way down one of the steps cracked under his weight and he struggled to maintain his balance. He reached the basement floor with a wall of flames literally in hot pursuit.

"Hey...is anyone down here...Gina...are you down here!"

He titled his head and listened carefully, and when he didn't hear a response he attempted to shout louder, however the heavy smoke quickly filled his lungs and instead of a shout, he began to cough.

As he moved down a long, dark corridor, the light from the fire at a distance, he needed his flashlight to guide him along the way. Upon reaching the end of the corridor he heard a faint whimper.

"Hey...Gina...Gina Roman, are you in there?"

Once again he listened carefully but when no answer came, he turned and began to leave when he heard the whimpering sound again. He jump-hopped and kicked open the door. The sight of the young woman pended cattycorner at the far end of the room almost startled him.

"Hey come on; we gotta go and quickly." He extended his hand but the woman refused to move. "Hey lady let's get a move on huh, we don't have time for milk and cookies."

Finally it hit the gallant fireman that the woman was in shock. Quickly he made his way over to her; took her by the hand and attempted to lead her out when suddenly she began to scream at the top of her lungs.

"No...no...we're gonna die, we're gonna die!"

"Hey lady, take it easy, we'll be okay but we must leave now," Bruce shouted. Unfortunately the woman couldn't hear him in her panicky state.

"Gina please calm down, we need to get out of here." He extended his hand only to have the frantic woman lash out and scratch his face.

"Damnit woman, we don't have time for this!"

The woman lashed out once more, however this time the powerfully built firefighter, caught her hand and delivered a slap to the woman's face which caused her to crumble to her knees.

In one swift motion, Bruce flipped the woman over his shoulder and rushed back into the corridor.

He made it a few feet before the flames which had now totally engulfed the path ahead of him. "Oh shit...this looks bad, really bad!"

Bruce glanced around and had to come to grips that there was no other exit. At that moment the woman broke free and fell to the floor. She screamed in terror and dashed back inside the room and closed the door behind her.

"Hey...hey Gina open up, Gina open the damn door," Bruce shouted. He examined the heavy metal door and discovered there was a second lock. Aiming his axe he slammed it forward, effectively slicing open the lock. He stepped inside the room and slammed the door behind him. "Lady get a grip, oh shit," he shouted as he ducked away from a glass thrown toward him.

"Alright goddamnit...that's it," Bruce took a long stride across the room, took the woman into his arms and slammed against the wall. "Alright you looney bitch, the courtesy gloves are off. Now either you come to your senses or I'm gonna take this axe handle and shove it down your goddamn throat."

"We're gonna die...don't you understand...we are both going to die!"

"Hold together lady, we're not gonna die, not if we..."

The sound of the explosion rocked the building and sent the roof down on the unsuspecting firefighter.

Bruce was unable to recall how long he lost his conscious but as he opened his eyes, he was greeted with a throbbing pain in his legs and a pounding pain in his head.

"What...what's happening?"

"Lay still, don't try to move."

"Aarrggh...shit, I can't move even if I wanted to, my legs feel so...heavy."

"That's because there's a giant beam on your legs."

"There was an explosion...right, awww damn, I feel like shit. I thought I was dead."

"It seems like someone decided to give a pass, at least for now," the woman calmly stated.

"Wow, did I miss something, last time I checked you were the acting like a bird from cereal commercial I loved as a kid ."

"Yeah...I know. I've never been so scared in my life."

"So did it take a roof crashing down on your head to get you to focus?"

"You saved me; if you hadn't pushed me out of the way, I'd be dead."

"Great, too bad I'm unable to celebrate with you but as you can see, I'm a bit indisposed at the moment."

"Well at least you've managed to maintain your sense of humor," Gina laughed gingerly.

"If you can help me to get out from beneath this damn beam, I'd be absolutely giddy."

"I've tried, believe me, I've tried but it's too heavy."

"I got an idea; bring me that pole over by the door."

Gina staggered over the debris on the floor, and struggled to bring the long object by the fallen man.

Gina assisted Bruce to work his way from beneath the large beam but it came at a painful price. "Awww fuck, shit my legs are fucking throbbing!"

Over the next several minutes Gina worked diligently to massage the legs of her gallant rescuer. "Is that any better?"

"Fuck no...damn it hurts like hell."

"Well give it some time...wait, this might help."

Gina rushed to the other side of the room. She returned with a large container of water and promptly poured it down on Bruce's legs.

"Hey what the hell are you doing?"

"I figured the water might relieve some of the pain in your legs."

"Hey you're right, it does feel a little better. Thank you Gina, if we ever get out of here, I owe you big time."

"Yeah right, ever is an awfully big word right now."

"Well, what's going on. I thought we'd be extra crispy by now."

"I don't know; after the explosion, everything just got quiet."

"Hmm, maybe the blast blew out most of the fire, or at least I hope so. Hey where'd you find the lanterns?"

"This is a storage room and it's one of best places in this building to get away from all the crap going on upstairs. I sneak down here ever so often just to relax, that's why I know my way around. You really think the fire went out from the explosion?"

"That's the best explanation I can think of, but there's a better way to be sure, help me get on my feet."

Gina struggled to assist the rugged man to stand up but he crumbled back down on his buttocks.

"Damn...ssss...wooo the pain's back and my head's spinning."

"Maybe it's best you relax a bit more before moving again and here...let me help you take off some of these clothes.

As she removed his coat, Gina asked; what's your name mister."

"My name's Bruce Garrison."

"How'd you know my name?"

"Some old guy outside told me."

"Probably Mister Alderman...oh dear god, this is not a good thing!"

"What, what holy shit," Bruce exclaimed loudly upon seeing the large wooden stake protruding from his chest."

"You think I should pull it out?"

"You're gonna have to."

"It's jammed it there pretty deep."

"Yeah but we gotta try. Tell you what, I'll grab it and you grab my hand and when I say go, we pull together.

Gina merely nodded her head in agreement, then gently placed her hand over the firefighter's.

"Oh wow, you're hands are huge."

"Normally I consider that a complement, but big hands are not the idea thing for ripping a stake out your chest."

"Just be glad your not a vampire," Gina fired back and the couple both laughed gingerly. At that light moment of hilarity, both and Gina and her rescuer's eyes locked and from that point on, not another word was said between them, as the conversation turned inwardly.

Gina could feel the warmth and strength in his hands and as she stared into his eyes her heart seemed to melt. She took note of his ruggedly handsome features, his deep blue eyes, jet black curly hair with matching mustache and full-beard. His deep bronze skin gave him an ancient Greek-like warrior appeal and before she knew it, instead of gripping his hand, she was gently stroking her fingers across his smooth firm skin and veins of his hands and wrist.

Bruce stared at this beautiful woman; giving her his full attention as she did for him. Her deep dark chocolate brown skin, so creamy smooth, and rich, doe-like eyes, full lips seemed to bore into him like one of Cupid's arrows. Her dark brown hair although a bit frayed after the ordeal she'd been through, draped over her shoulders and hung far down her back. His breath went shallow as he watched the cleavage between her large full breasts, so round and inviting. As he sat there staring he knew he had to break the tension before his semi-hard on went full throttle up.

"Are you ready"

"Yeah...uh...I mean yes," she stammered as she fought to regain control of her raging lust.

"Okay then, on the count of three we're gonna pull."

"Start the count down...Bruce," she answered softly.

"Okay here we go...one...two...three...awww shit...aarrgghh...aww shit...it hurts...it fucking hurts...goddamn it hurts!"

Gina recoiled as she watched the man withering and whining in pain. It wasn't a look becoming of a man of his seemingly strength and stature. For nearly a minute she looked on and then suddenly extended her hand and slapped his face sharply.

"Hey what the fuck was that about," he barked in a strong powerful and irate voice.

"Get a grip dude, you were starting to lose it."

"You just pulled a goddamn stake from my chest. I think I have the right to cry out in pain."

"Sure, but you were really starting to loose it."

"Maybe, but how's slapping me gonna help?"

"Hey it worked for me; I was just returning the favor."

Slowly the menacing look on his face subsided and grew in to a humble smile. He chuckled and shook his head. I guess I was a little out of control."

"Baby I thought I was gonna have to give you a tranquilizer," Gina giggled.

Now her smile quickly disappeared as she noticed the blood soaking his shirt. "Oh wow, you're losing a lot of blood."

"Say wha...holy shit, you think you could find something in here to stop the bleeding?"

Gina stood up and glanced about the room. "Sure, there's a first aid kit on the other side of the room, in fact if we can make it to that bench, I can treat that wound better, besides we need get out from all of this debris.

Gina assisted the wounded firefighter across the room to a less congested area of the large room and on to the padded bench. She worked to remove his shirt and gasped as she saw his massively large, hard, muscular chest.

"Dayamn mister, I'm surprise that stake didn't bounce off considering how hard your chest is," Gina exclaimed.

"Well apparently it wasn't hard enough."

Gina rushed about treating the blood ozzing hole, close to the center of the man's chest. Each time she felt his steel hard plate-like pectorals a faint and muffled gasp escaped her full lips. Once again their eyes met and their hearts began to flutter.

"Tell me something Bruce, did you come down here all by yourself?"

"Yeah"

"But why didn't anyone come with you?"

"I didn't have time to pick a team. Once I learned that someone was down here and considering the dire conditions, I knew I didn't have time to waste."

"You mean to say that you knew there could be an explosion, what it would take to get down here and especially the possibility that you might not be able to get out, and you came down here anyway. What's up with you, do you have some kind of death wish?"

Bruce gripped the edge of the bench, closed his eyes, gritted his teeth as he felt the peroxide pad pressed against his chest wound. He managed to chuckle, "I guess it does sound a little crazy. I understand how it might be hard for a civilian to relate to the mentality of a firefighter or any rescue worker for that matter. I mean after all, we're the guys running toward things that most normal people are running away from."

The sight of her silver painted fingernails contrasted beautifully to that of her dark brown skin but looked even better as they gently slid along his skin. His body shivered slightly as hot lustful images flashed through his mind.

"You're still in a lot of pain huh?"

"Yeah...a lot of pain," he lied.

Gina worked vigorously to treat and cover the chest wound with gauze, bandages and finally she wrapped his shirt across his chest. "Okay that should do it. I'm pretty sure it'll stop bleeding soon if you don't move about to much. At any rate, you need to get out of here."

"Well let's explore that possibility."

Gina assisted her rescuer to his feet and over to the door. Bruce gently touched the door, then quickly withdrew his hand, only to place it again to the door, this time leaving it there. "Hmm, the door's warm. The fire's probably out, that's the good news, the bad news is, the door's sealed shut by the heat of the fire, so unless we can climb up from that hole." He pointed to the hole in the high ceiling, "we're gonna be here for a while."

"Well what's the problem, why can't we find something to pull us up?"

"That's a pretty high ceiling and we can't be sure that it's entirely stable."

"So what are we going to do, just sit here and wait for someone to come to our rescue," Gina challenged.

"I guess so, at least for now."

"No way Bruce we need to get out of here; suppose the fire's burning around all those chemicals. This place could explode at any minute."

"Listen Gina I've had a lot of experience and training for this situations and in times like this, it's best to relax and lay low. The longer we survive, the greater our chances of surviving."

"That might work for you baby, that's a no go for me." Gina snapped.

"Unless you can grow wings, I don't see what you can do to get out of here. Believe me Gina, you can be sure that my people along with every other rescue worker in this city are upstairs and trying to get us out of here...we have to..."

"Bullshit, I can't, I can't stay here not knowing what might happen. Don't you understand, I need to feel safe, that's why I used to hangout here because it felt safe, it felt secure, and now you're trying to tell me that that roof could come down on us any second. Bruce you have to get me out of here, I have to get out of here!"

Bruce's head recoiled subtly as he began to notice tale-tale signs that Gina was regressing back to the frantic panicky woman he found earlier. He decided to see if he could distract her attention. "Come on Gina, stay with me now."

"You don't understand, you don't know what I've been through in my life. This place isn't secure. I...I need to feel secure. I need to feel safe."

"Don't worry Gina, I will protect you. Trust me; I won't let anything happen..."

"How can you say that; look at you. You're injured and that wound's probably still bleeding, how can you make me feel safe. Shit you're not even safe yourself."

Bruce could clearly see the woman was rapidly becoming frantic, but he could also feel his passion rising as he sensed her vulnerability which appealed to his manly and fatherly instincts. In one swift motion he snatched her with his powerfully muscular arms, planted her firmly into his hairy chest and planted his lips just as firmly against her luscious lips and kissed her.

Gina fought to push herself away, but the strong man's grip was too tight and his desire for her overwhelmed her. Suddenly a wave of passion swept over her and her hands slowly slid over his hard muscular shoulders and she gave into the mounting passion she felt for him while at the same time she released the fear and panic that threatened to consume her.

By the time the handsome 3rd generation Greek firefighter released her from his grip, they both gasped for air.

Gina's hand slowly stroked his full-beard cheek. Are you going to make me feel secure Bruce, promise me you won't let anything happen to me...please Bruce promise that you'll protect me," she cried.

He planted gentle kisses on her eyelids and nose, then he slid his large fingers across her lips and stated; "Woman I'm gonna make you feel safer than you've ever felt before."

He palmed and cradled her face within his large hands, smooched and kissed her lips. "I'm going to make you feel safe and secure, come with me."

The blue eyed firefighter led her over and laid her gently down on the padded bench and then climbed on top of her.