Stoking the Fire

By Tess Dacre

Chris dumped his sex maniac girlfriend when he found her in bed with another man. This is the story of his re-discovery and then helping an abused wife. Ironically his new girlfriend is the same type as his old, but more honest. Fire in the bedroom and out.
He froze and his mouth dropped open. The same dip was there in the centre of the coal, but it was covered in an old pair of curtains that he recognised from the rag bin yesterday. On top of the curtains was a sleeping bag, and poking out of the top of the bag that beautiful mane of hair that haunted his thoughts.
But what had made him freeze was the expression of pure lust on her face and the very obvious movements in the centre of the sleeping bag. She was absolutely at the peak of her orgasm, explaining why she had not heard him today, and explaining the noises he had heard both days.
As her orgasm subsided, she opened her eyes, which widened on seeing him, and she flashed him a cheeky smile. “Putting in a bit of overtime?” she asked.
Chris flushed and mumbled, “sorry,” turning quickly away. Her laugh floated after him.
He couldn’t get the image out of his mind, and was uncomfortable around her. She on the other hand, appeared totally normal and completely unfazed. She chatted away...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tess Dacre
• Release date: Oct 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301812660

Tess Dacre

I love to read. One day I found I was bored with reading, and thought "why not give writing a try?" Now I love to write too. I've done some, and it's given me a huge admiration for those who write full length books. My imagination and tenacity gives out at about 25,000 words! I've garnered some lovely comments on my writing. Thank you all. I hope you enjoy reading my stories as much as I've enjoyed writing them. If you did, please review. Thank you.

Book preview

Stoking the Fire

By Tess Dacre

Copyright 2009 - 2012 Tess Dacre

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover photo credit: e³°°° / Foter / CC BY-SA

One reviewer wrote:

The beauty of the blossoming of new love. The characters are real to me and your narrative well written and easy to follow. I look forward to the next story. Just a sucker for a happy ending.

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Chapter 1 - Trainee

Chris was early. It was nerves. It was his first day as a newly-promoted Trainee Fireman. He’d been promoted at the end of the previous season, and this was his first turn in his new role. He’d read the roster and seen that his Fireman, and therefore mentor, was someone called J. High whom he had not come across before.

Chris unlocked the workshop and went through to the mess room to put the kettle on, change into his overalls and read the notices. Once done, he filled his water bottle and took his bag, donkey jacket and mug of tea out to the rostered loco. Dumping his things on the footplate, he climbed up into the cab and hung up his bag and jacket.

The normal safety checks done (regulator closed, mid-gear, cocks open and handbrake on) he checked the gauge glass. The boiler was two-thirds full, so that was OK. The water tank, on the other hand was not, so he put the hose in and turned it on. As a trainee, he couldn’t do any more, so he started polishing the cab brass.

Twenty minutes later he saw a skinny individual approaching the loco. Hello, a slightly high pitched voice, Chris noted, You must be Chris. I’m Joe, your fireman.

Hi. Chris said, looking into a lean, clean face with no trace of a beard. Late twenties was his estimate of Joe’s age, but that didn’t phase him as all railway promotions are based on merit, and he’d been supervised as a Cleaner by people less than 20 years old. He thought to himself Gosh, I bet he finds firing hard. He’s not exactly large.

They both settled down to the lighting up routine, with Joe turning out as a really good teacher, greatly increasing Chris’ confidence. They also got on well together, sharing many of the same interests. Chris discovered that Joe was a GP with an incisive mind and love for words. They bantered together with alternative meanings and esoteric phrases.

Joe left Chris in charge when he went off with the driver to change into their ‘cleans’. As soon as Joe returned, Chris went off and changed while the driver went to collect the token. As Chris came out of the workshop, the driver handed him the token, and Chris went to the ground frame to let them out of the yard, shunt the carriages and hook on ready to depart.

After the first stop, Joe told Chris to take over, offering the occasional word of advice. Chris had trouble making the boiler-mounted injector pick up, so Joe told Chris to feel what he did. Put your hand over mine and I’ll tell you what to feel for. As Chris covered Joe’s hand on the steam feed wheel, he felt a strange sensation which made him uncomfortable, and caused Joe to say Come on, concentrate on my hand and the feel of the feed. Can you feel the injector singing now?

The only thing Chris could feel was the singing of his blood in his veins. He thought, What the hell is going on here? trying desperately to understand his reactions.

Later in the day he brushed against Joe as Joe moved to one side to let him out of the cab to exchange the token. This time his body felt as if he had received an electric shock and his face felt hot. It came to him in a flash. He knew that feeling and now recognised the feeling from covering Joe’s hand on the steam feed. It was sexual arousal. Oh my God, he thought, I’m reacting to a MAN.

Chris was hugely troubled by this, as it had never happened to him before. He was very attracted to women, but had never felt anything like this towards a man before. It made him wary, and he kept more distance between himself and Joe. It troubled him that he had got on so well with him and liked him so much beforehand. A startling thought occurred to him. Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to change his sexual orientation, since he had made such a mess of his last relationship with a girl.

The rest of the day was a bit strained, although Joe still gave out encouragement and help. Finally Chris was at the ground frame again letting the loco back into the yard. They all three worked hard to dispose of the fire and set the loco up for the next day. The only thing that slightly puzzled Chris was Joe’s insistence to the driver that they didn’t take any more coal.

Finally they dragged their tired bodies into the mess to take off their overalls. As they reached the mess, Joe took off his greasetop hat, and out tumbled shoulder length auburn hair. He shook his head to loosen the hair and it glinted flecks of gold in the sun slanting through the window.

Wow, I didn’t know that was under there. Chris commented. Joe smiled.

They started taking off their overalls, and as Joe peeled his down, Chris suddenly noticed he had unusually large pecs. Then he did a double take and realised that Joe, whom he had thought was a skinny short bloke, was actually Jo, a very beautiful, tall, lithe girl with small breasts.

Chris suddenly relaxed and laughed out loud with relief. He wasn’t misunderstanding his sexual orientation. His body had recognised what his mind had obscured. To the questioning looks of his colleagues, Chris announced rather red-faced, I thought you were a bloke, Jo. Her saucy smile made him weak with desire, but he had no idea whether she was spoken for.

They all laughed heartily at his mistake, and washed up to go to their respective lodgings for the night. He was too embarrassed by his mistake to ask her anything further that night. He also realised that his late 20s estimate of Joe’s age should probably have been early 40s for the stunning Jo, nearer his age.

Chris’ excitement at being on again with Jo the next day made him even earlier than yesterday. As Chris approached the engine again the next morning it was making a noise he didn’t recognise. Fearing that something was wrong, he climbed up into the cab to investigate. Nothing. After checking round, he hung up his bag and jacket before climbing down to check if he could hear it again outside. Again nothing. Shrugging his shoulders, he went off to the mess to put on his overalls.

When he got back to the engine, Jo was already there, still in her ‘civvies’. He couldn’t help admiring her curves and her wonderful mane of hair, not yet up under a cap. He told her he had heard a strange noise when he had arrived but couldn’t trace it. She seemed slightly jumpy about it, but merely announced as she climbed down to go and change, I’ve checked around, and there’s nothing amiss.