Page 1 of Wild Fire

Chapter One

AJ

I never used to hate the quiet; in fact, I used to think it was soothing. Relaxing, even. But now? Now, the silence is anything but calm or comfortable, especially in the firehouse.

All that can be heard is the indistinguishable sounds of Sam—or as I call him, Slammy—browsing TikTok on the bed next to me, and I’m about ready to rip his damn phone out of his hand and throw it across the room. Though I know I need to chill out, because the kid is new, and the last thing I need is Sarge on my ass giving me shit. I’ve told him numerous times, I don’t want to be anyone’s damn mentor, but he can’t seem to get it through his thick skull, and thus, here I am, sitting on my ass, going slowly insane as I wait for the damn alarm to go off and save me from this fucking torture.

And because I have the worst luck on the planet, that’s when Slammy lets out an annoying, high-pitched laugh that makes me consider murder, even if only for a second. And judging by the way Dark looks at me as he walks through the room, I’m not the only one with manslaughter on their mind.

“Knock that off, will you?” I grumble.

Slammy has the audacity to look up at me like I just stole the last cookie out of his damn cookie jar.

“Sorry, boss,” he utters, his eyes widening as he reaches for his phone. I glance at it, noting the video is one of those cat compilation videos, and it’s my turn to raise an eyebrow.

“Cat videos, Slam? Really?”

Dark shakes his head, muttering something to himself as he walks towards the door.I don’t have to understand him to know we’re probably thinking the same thing.

What a fucking idiot.

I don’t begrudge any man who wants to do this job; really, I don’t. I mean, we all have our reasons for why or how we ended up here at Firehouse 99. But after doing this job for a decade now, it’s hard not to make assumptions or judge the crop of new blood that walks in and out of these doors. Or maybe I’m just getting too old for this shit, who knows.

“You know,” Slammy begins as he reaches over and hits play on his phone, backing away quickly as the video plays. The two cats meow and hiss as they paw at one another, making the weirdest noises I’ve ever heard cats make. “Maybe a little pussy would lighten up your mood.”

Sterling, lounging catty-corner on his bed from where we are, erupts into laughter and Dark curses as he leaves the room.

“That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day!” Sterling says through his deep laugh. I don’t miss the surprised look on Slammy’s face, and I roll my eyes.

“Fuck off, Sterling,” I bite.

Slammy looks at me in question, and I move to get up off my bed. Dark had the right fucking idea.

“Aww shit, Daddy’s gonna whoop my ass,” he says, bursting out into laughter again. I debate reminding him just who the fuck he’s talking to, but think better of it. Control is a choice, and I know that better than most; I need to be in control at all times because that’s the only way I’m ever going to get through this life with a clear conscience. Impulse breeds mistakes, and mistakes can be deadly.

I glare at Sterling, grinding my jaw as I hold back the venom that wants to escape me. There’s a myriad of ways I could exert my dominance over him and punish him for being disrespectful to me, and I wouldn’t even have to tell the guy off. Plus, they’d all be legit under the rules of the firehouse, technically.

Sam lets out a chuckle of his own as he raises an eyebrow at me. “Daddy? Really, AJ? Didn’t peg you for the Daddy type.”

Phoenix shakes his head. “You’re a fucking moron. Both of you.”

I don’t disagree with his assessment.

Though I’m pretty sure most of the guys dubbed me Daddy as a reference to my age because I’m one of the oldest guys on the crew, not because they know about that aspect of my life. Well, I mean, JJ knows, but that’s different. For starters, he only knows about my double-life as a dom because he actually showed up at Shadows & Sin once while I was doing a workshop… after I had just joined the firehouse. And maybe we hooked up once. Or twice, technically, but it was a long time ago and neither of us think about it much. Some people just make better friends than lovers, and JJ and I are definitely better as friends, being as we’re both pretty dominant, and I don’t have a submissive bone in my body. Technically, he’s the closest thing I have to a best friend.

Honestly, though, I don’t even like to be called Daddy. I don’t find it sexy at all. But most of the subs I’ve served like it. Way better than Sir or Master, which is what I prefer to be called. But while the moniker leaves a foul taste in my mouth and makes me feel gross, it's not exactly a hard limit of mine. I don’t have many limits, actually. Not when it comes to that part of my life. Still, there’s a difference between a sub moaning, “Yes, Daddy, fuck me harder, please,” while I’m buried in his ass, and the guys laughing like hyenas who are doing it solely to piss me off and call me an old man.

Not that I’m old by any means–forty-one isn’t that old, but compared to the other guys on my crew, I feel like one. Especially when they constantly like to remind me like I’m senile or something.

And I’m sure to someone like Slammy, who’s not even twenty-one yet, I must seem like a dinosaur.

I am old enough to be his daddy, after all, in more ways than one.

Of course, for all his youthful idiocy, our newest rookie has the fucking audacity to look confused, but only for a moment. He blinks, smirking as Sterling catches his breath from laughing so hard. I swear his face is redder than a tomato. Fucking idiot.

The growl that escapes me echoes in the bedroom. I need to regain control of the situation before I say something I’ll regret.

And the last thing I want is to snap on my crew, because that’s not good for anyone.