Be Mine Read online

  Be Mine (Steamy Alpha BBW Romance)

  Amber Branley

  Copyright, 2019, All Rights Reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people or places are completely coincidental.

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  Chapter One – Hank

  Chapter Two – Lily

  Chapter Three – Hank

  Chapter Four – Lily

  Chapter Five – Hank

  Chapter Six – Lily

  Chapter Seven – Hank

  Chapter Eight – Lily

  Chapter Nine – Hank

  Chapter Ten – Lily

  Chapter Eleven – Hank

  Chapter Twelve – Lily

  Chapter Thirteen – Hank

  Hank

  I’m an alpha firefighter who’s all but given up on finding my soul mate. I’m forty years old, and still haven’t found her. At this point, I’m starting to realize something I suspected long ago, but never wanted to admit – she probably doesn’t even exist.

  But I’m not going to let myself lose all hope. I can’t give up. I’ve got to keep searching, because I know she’s out there. I just can’t force it. I can’t make it happen if it’s not meant to happen yet. So I’ll take my time, despite the fact that I’m in my forties now, and I’ll see if one day my princess comes along.

  On top of fighting fires, I run a string of online businesses that make me a cool twenty thousand dollars a month, but no one knows that except for me. I’ve got more money stockpiled than I can care to count, and I’ve got no one to share it with. It piles up in my bank each week and at this point I barely pay any attention to it.

  It’s Tuesday, the second week of April. The air is dry and clear here in Southern California, until it isn’t – until a fire breaks out up in the foothills of the canyon. At seven p.m. my crew and I hop into the fire truck and speed down the boulevard until we reach the turn. I’m behind the wheel, and when I drive to a fire, I drive fast.

  I do that because I couldn’t live with myself if we arrived late. So I haul ass down the road with my foot on the gas pedal, and when we arrive in front of the blazing factory, we’re greeted by thick black smoke lining the air. No fire is a good fire, but this one is especially bad.

  “Christ,” the fire chief mutters as he hops out of the truck. We grab the hoses and start blasting the orange flames with high pressure water, but the inferno is so strong that the water barely does anything to stop it from spreading.

  “Everybody out?” the chief asks the building manager who’s huddled up by a car with his face in his hands. He looks like a guy who just lost everything.

  “I don’t know,” he says in a weary voice, a voice that has nothing left to lose.

  The chief’s question is suddenly answered in the form of a terrified scream that comes from somewhere in the flaming building. Everyone stares, wide-eyed and mouths hanging open as we spray at the burning flames. It’s hot as hell, and now we know that someone didn’t make it out.

  I’m not going to let them die in there. If they die, then I’m going to die with them.

  I drop the hose and run towards the building. The chief screams after me, but I can’t make out his words because the sound of the burning wood is too loud. The creaking and hissing noise of the fire eating up the oak is filling my ears, and the sound of the woman still screaming. I can hear her now as I make it to the doorway, and I rush inside and follow the screams up the staircase to the second floor.

  “Help me!” She bellows, and in her voice is a desperation unlike any I’ve ever heard before.

  “Where are you?” I shout.

  “In here,” she screams, and I can hear it coming from the right.

  I turn and head down a hallway, running through the flames as quickly as I can. I’ve got my axe in one hand, and luckily I brought it, because I’m sure as hell going to need it – that becomes obvious when I lay eyes on the door that the screams are coming from. She’s in a closed off room and the door itself is engulfed in bright burning flames.

  I hack through the door knob with my axe and then kick it open. “Where are you?” I shout again.

  “Here,” she moans, and by now her voice is tired.

  I see her in the back of the room, in a holed off area; the only area unaffected by the fire. For now. She’s surrounded by a circle of flames. I rush through it and grab her, and then I hoist her up onto my back and tell her: “Hold on.”

  She does as I say, and then I rush back through the room and head out the door, but when we get into the hallway I see that it’s simply going to be impossible to make it back out alive. We’d be burned to a crisp by the time we made it twenty feet. The fire has grown in intensity and the entire building looks like it’s about to collapse.

  The roof makes a sad singing sound and then slowly begins to break apart. “Aw, shit!” I yell, turning around and heading back into the room where I’d found her.

  I jump over a burning desk and then we’re at the window. It’s not too big of a drop, but if she lands the wrong way then it’s high enough to break both ankles. But breaking both ankles is better than dying. However, I don’t want to hurt her at all, so I quickly kick through the glass and then grab her, hoisting her over the edge as I hold onto her arm one handed while I use the other hand to dangle from the windowsill.

  Small shards of broken glass begin to break through the skin of my fingers. I’m grimacing with pain and clenching my teeth together as the burning fire starts to lick at my face. She’s still holding onto my arm, screaming.

  “You’ve got to drop,” I tell her. “When you hit the ground, roll, alright?”

  “Okay,” she says, looking up at me with a fearful look in her big, blue eyes. It’s then that I notice how stunningly beautiful she is. She lets go, dropping onto the pavement, and she rolls perfectly just like I told her to. I follow her, letting go of the windowsill and dropping onto the pavement, then rolling over twice and standing upright.

  My hand is dripping blood, but I’m not worried about myself. I rush over to the woman lying on the ground, as the paramedics quickly surround her and get her up on a stretcher. She looks into my eyes one last time and holds her hand out for me, just as she’s taken away.

  I’ll never forget the look in her eyes, and as I stand there, I feel a curious sensation wash over me. Get ahold of yourself, Hank, I scold myself silently, coughing a bit as the smoke fills the air. But I can’t shake the feeling I suddenly have. I can’t get over what my heart is telling my mind.

  But it’s impossible, I tell myself. That’s just the stuff of fairy tales…

  I don’t know what’s possible and impossible anymore. All I know is what I feel. And in my heart, the feeling of love is growing stronger by the second. Whoever that woman was, I just fell in love with her at first sight.

  And now I know that I’ve got to go and see her.

  Lily

  When I open my eyes, he’s the first thing I see, and despite how smoky and scary it was back in the factory, I instantly recognize him as the firefighter – the man who saved my life.

  And I instantly try to jump out of the hospital bed and hug him, but I find myself groaning as I fall back down onto my back and take a long breath. I’m too sore to even move… Sore and exhausted, and he bends down and caresses my forehead with his fingertips.

  “Don’t move too much,” he says. “You need to rest. You’ll be aright; they did a scan of your lungs and you didn’t inhale anything that’ll do any lasting damage.”

  I look up at him with watery eyes and I raise my hand up to touch his face. “It was you,” I say, smiling sweetly at him.

  He shrugs. “Just doing my job,” he says, then he smiles.

  “You saved my life,�
�� I say, and the mere words make me break down into tears.

  He quickly starts to wipe my eyes as a concerned look is stretched across his face. He’s got a chiseled jawline, so square and tight. He looks like a movie star, or like a rugged former male model. I say former because he’s quite a bit older than me – I’m twenty two, and he looks like he’s late thirties at least. But he’s handsome in a very mature way… Like, ridiculously handsome.

  “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t cry. You’re safe now, sweetie,” he says, running his finger along my bangs. “You’re going to be just fine once you get all rested up.”

  “I just want to thank you,” I say through the tears, taking a deep breath and trying to steady myself. “Sorry I’m crying,” I laugh.

  “Don’t be sorry about anything,” he smiles at me and looks so gorgeous when he does it. His teeth are so white and straight, and his eyes are so blue and friendly when he squints at me. “You feeling alright?” He asks.

  “Just feeling so grateful,” I say, gazing up at him like he’s my knight in shining armor. “Thanks to you. What’s your name?”

  “Don’t mention it,” he shrugs like it was nothing. “I’m Hank. What’s yours?”

  “Lily,” I say dreamily, staring up at him like he’s a hero out of some fairy tale. And in a way, that’s exactly what he is, because this whole night feels like a fairy tale, like I’m suddenly living in one.

  “You hungry, Lily?”

  “Yeah,” I tell him, rubbing my stomach and smiling.

  “Well, you’ll be out of here in an hour or so, they tell me. How about we go grab a bite to eat together?” His eyes widen as he waits for my reply.

  I smile back at him and nod my head. I almost can’t believe it, and for a moment I wonder if I misheard him. But then he reassures me that I didn’t mishear anything when he says, “I know a good diner we could go to downtown. They’re open twenty four hours.”

  “I’d love that,” I say, and when he mentions the place being open twenty four hours I grow suddenly curious about what time it is. It’s dark outside, and from the window the street seems to be very quiet down below. “What time is it, anyway?”

  “Two in the morning,” he smiles. “You slept for a long time.”

  “Were you here the whole time?” I ask him.

  “Sure was. Well, you got here about thirty minutes before I did. I rushed here as soon as we got the flames put out.”

  “Oh yeah,” I say. “My workplace burnt down, I guess. I don’t know how the fire started.”

  “Old buildings like that… Sometimes something just goes wrong. A lot of bad wiring. But we’ll find out. Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. What matters is the fact that you’re safe.”

  “Safe, and out of work,” I laugh. “Which honestly sounds pretty good to me. I hated that job.”

  He raises his eyebrows playfully. “I’m glad you’re an optimistic girl. That’s a good way to look at it,” he grins, then gestures towards the door. “Want a soda or a water? I’ll head to the vending machine.”

  “Soda,” I say, smiling excitedly – but not because I’m particularly excited about having a drink – rather, because I’m excited about interacting with this gorgeous man… The man who saved my life… The firefighter who I’m crushing on big time…

  And when he turns and walks out of the room, I can’t help but gaze down at his nice, tight butt. Ugh. I’m in love… And I’m talking head over heels in love.

  Hank

  The hospital staff asked me to wait outside while they finished up with Lily. I didn’t want to leave her side, but I obliged since I’m not one for rule breaking. Besides, play by the rules and we’ll get out of here faster. I know she must be hungry since she didn’t get a chance to eat any dinner.

  I can’t stop thinking about how badly I want her. She’s only a girl I just met, but I already can’t stop thinking about her. Somehow, some way, she’s consumed my brain. And I have a feeling my dreams aren’t going to be any different. She’s going to be stuck in my head until I can win her over.

  If I even have to try. But I’ve got a feeling that I don’t, because the chemistry between us is off the charts already. It’s so thick that I feel like I could cut it with a knife. Damn, I’m head over heels for a girl I don’t even know. I’m in instant-love with a stranger, and you know what?

  It feels so good.

  It feels so good to let loose for once. It feels so good to let go of my inhibitions and fall head over heels for someone. I usually keep my heart so guarded. I usually don’t let anyone inside. I usually don’t let anyone get close to me. But Lily? She’s swept my heart up into her arms and she’s not letting go.

  And I hope she never does, because this feeling is too good to lose. I’m sitting here overcome by a sensation of joy, daydreaming about how in love I am, when I feel a sudden tap on my shoulder. I look over, smiling sheepishly, still lost in thought, and I see the very girl I’m dreaming about.

  I snap out of it instantly and begin to laugh. She stares down at me with a confused smirk on her face. She looks very curious about why I am laughing. “What’s so funny?” She asks me.

  “Oh, you just caught me off guard,” I say, smiling at her as I stand up and put my hands in my back pocket and pull out my truck keys. “You hungry? Stupid question, I guess, because I know you must be hungry,” I wink at her.

  “I’m super hungry,” she says.

  “Let’s go to eat a later dinner.”

  “Is it a late dinner, or an early breakfast?” She asks me as we walk down the deserted hospital hallway.

  We laugh and somehow I find my fingers brushing against hers. As we step into the elevator our fingers interlock, and then by the time the doors open we’re fully holding hands. I’m staring down at her and the doors almost close before we finally step out of them. We laugh again and her face turns red, and she looks up at me and smiles sweetly.

  “You’re so beautiful when you smile,” I say. “I mean, you’re beautiful all the time, even when you sleep. But when you smile, I feel like you light up the world around you.”

  “You’re sweet,” she blushes even more. “Thank you so much,” she says, sliding her sneakers around the ground nervously and looking down at them. It’s like she’s too shy to look up at me.

  “Let’s go get some dinner,” I say, putting my finger under her chin as I tilt her head up, bringing her gaze back up to mine. When I look into her eyes, I feel lost in them – lost in a sea of love. She’s so beautiful, and she is everything I have ever hoped to find in a mate.

  I’m going to make her mine.

  Lily

  I get to know him even more during dinner. For one thing, I find out that he likes the same food as me – we both order breakfast even though it seems far too early to be eating breakfast. It’s three a.m., and this would be a better time for burgers, but like me, Hank says he can never pass up an order of breakfast.

  We each get the same order, and it’s so scrumptious that I can’t believe it came from such an old, worn-down looking diner. A plate of two scrambled eggs with cheese, four slices of bacon, a sausage, and two pieces of toast with jelly and butter. Now, I’m a big girl – and I can eat fast – but Hank?

  Let’s just say I couldn’t win an eating contest against that guy. The odds would never be in my favor.

  He scarfs down his food like he doesn’t know if he’ll ever get the chance to eat another meal, and I laugh and do practically the same; eating my plate hungrily until it’s clean and then washing it all down with a tasty glass of orange juice so fresh that I sweat they must have a tree growing in the kitchen.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m stuffed,” I say, rubbing my belly and trying desperately not to burp. I like this guy, and I’m way too shy for that – yet. But if he gets to know me, then he’ll get to know my burps plenty well… I’m just not quite ready to reveal that side of me yet.

  After all, he’s so freaking handsome and charming, and I’m so shy around h
im. And yet, I feel super comfortable around him too… It’s like he’s the guy of my dreams – literally. The guy I always imagined myself meeting one day. Chiseled jawline, strong looking body; obviously someone who lifts weights regularly. He’s tall too, like, super tall. Probably six foot two or six foot three, which is a solid foot taller than I am.

  But it isn’t just his looks. That isn’t what I’m interested in. It’s his sweetness. It’s his chivalry. It’s the fact that he’s a total hero who literally saved my life tonight. I feel like he doesn’t know how grateful I am, but I really want to show him. I don’t know how, though. I don’t know how I can ever repay him.

  “What’s wrong?” He asks me, as if he can tell I’m thinking hard about something.

  I sigh and smile softly at him like I’m lost in thought. “I was just thinking, how can I ever repay this guy?”

  “Whoa. Hey, now,” he says.

  “I mean, you saved my life,” I say, and I can feel my eyes start to well up with tears again.

  He quickly reaches up and wipes the tears from the corners of my eyes. He shakes his head. “I’m a firefighter. I would have died for you tonight because that’s what I signed up for. This is my job, sweetheart. You don’t owe me anything. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat. You got that? So rest, relax, and don’t worry. Don’t think about this much. You’re safe, and that’s what matters. Got it?”

  “I got it,” I say.

  “I know what’ll make you forget all this. You’ll forget this whole crazy night, at least for a while.”

  “What’s what?”

  “Ice cream!” He says cheerfully, raising his beefy, muscular arms in the air. “How about it?”

  “Sounds good,” I grin.

  I nod my head, gulping and smiling at him. I take a long breath and realize he’s right about what he had said. I shouldn’t dwell on this. But he’s still my hero, and he always will be. And somehow, I’m going to repay him for that. I’m going to be the best woman I could ever be for him. I’m going to be his. And I know, without a doubt in my mind, that he’s going to be mine.