Rescue Me

By M.C. Cerny

Rescue Me is a romance collection of sexy short stories about first responders saving the day and getting it on. These standalone shorts meant to be consumed on your coffee break when you need a little pick me up during the day.

 

Spark was originally in Hook & Ladder 69 and raised money for The Burned Children Recovery Foundation. The foundation provides emotional support and financial aid to burned children and their families since 1989.  

 

Heart was written as a companion short in 2017 and never previously published. Both stories take place at Station 69 which serves the citizens of St. Louis. 

 

Rookie was originally in Bleed Blue 69 and raised money for The Officer Down Memorial Page, an organization dedicated to honoring America's fallen law enforcement officers. 

 

10-4 was written as a companion short in 2018 and never previously published. Both stories take place at Precinct 69 which serves the citizens of New York City.

• Language: English
• Publisher: M.C. Cerny
• Release date: Aug 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386592594

Book preview

Rescue Me

Rescue Me

M.C. Cerny

For those who run into danger.

Your courage and sacrifices are appreciated.

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Contents

Spark

1. Ryland

2. Summer

3. Ryland

Heart

1. Dana

2. Brandon

3. Dana

4. Brandon

Rookie

1. Joey

2. Tempest

3. Joey

10-4

1. Theo

2. Colbie

3. Theo

4. Colbie

Excerpt from Love Under Construction

Books by M.C. Cerny

About the Author

Author’s Note

Spark

A FIREFIGHTER SHORT STORY

1

Ryland

Who brought the pussy salad?

Oz, one of the rookies, sniffed around the spread of food on the covered picnic table. He picked up the chief’s dish, his grubby paws peeling back the plastic wrap, and my stomach growled territorially.

My house. My food. Oz should know that by now, but he wasn’t one for respecting boundaries.

Oh that’s Ryland’s! My battalion chief, Benjamin Flynn, leaned back from flipping the burgers and hot dogs on the grill and pointed at me with the tongs. He smiled like he had got some secret I didn’t know about while wearing a snazzy hot pink kiss the cook apron. The big bow tied over his ass kept me from taking him too seriously. Usually I ribbed him about it, but I knew Big Ben was desperate to knock up his pretty wife, Lily. For all I knew, the apron was some kind of role-playing thing I didn’t need to know about.

Bro–for real? Oz snickered, picking up a frozen bean burger and smelling it.

Don’t knock it ’til you try it. It’s a good thing I sent Benjamin and Lily out with my credit card earlier to pick up the burgers and hot dogs. Otherwise, it would be kind of hard to feed the guys and girls at a BBQ when I’m a vegan.

Those are for Ryland. Benjamin smacked Oz in the back of the head.

I hope there’s more than just Bs and Ds and some frou-frou salads.

There’s a drive-thru on your way to the firehouse, numbnuts. I shifted my crutches to one hand and maneuvered around the picnic table to snatch the plastic bowl he’d been holding onto. There was no way I was going to let Oz eat more than one bite of the chief’s corn and tomato salad.

I still don’t understand how you got injured running a marathon, but you’re invincible on the job.

Shrugging, I placed the salad closer to where I planned to park my ass on the patio with a beer later. Shit happens. I’m lucky I’m on crutches and don’t need surgery. There was nothing worse for a runner than a debilitating leg cramp in the home stretch at mile twenty to take you down.

Thank God for that, Ryland. My chief clapped me on the back and discreetly moved the salad bowl back to the middle of the table. Damn, I’d have to watch out for that later. The chief refused to give up the recipe, so I had to hold summer BBQ’s like this to get some.

I’ll be off the crutches in a week and doing rehab. Doc said I’ll be fine—full recovery. No one was happier about that than me. Being a fireman was my career; I hadn’t sufficiently planned a good backup if this didn’t work out. I was second generation and proud of it. Dad had recently retired and taken my mom on her long-awaited second honeymoon to Hawaii. Someday I hoped to do the same with a pretty girl at my side.

Hi, y’all.

Speaking of pretty… I turned my head toward the voice, and my throat nearly closed at the sight of Summer Rose Feeny sneaking her way out onto the patio. She made my heart pound like a teenage track sprinter who didn’t know how to pace himself for the distance. A chorus of welcomes followed with her brother—my best friend—Ford joining us outside. Oz tossed him a beer and walked over to take a tray of something that looked suspiciously like cookies from Summer.

I couldn’t speak, but I could certainly stop Oz from moving in on my girl… and my food. I pushed one of my crutches out, catching Oz on the ankle as he brushed passed me.

Shit! Oz stumbled forward, and luckily Ford grabbed him before the cookies were sacrificed.

Elbowing my way through, I stood in front of Summer, resting my arms casually over my crutches. My knee didn’t hurt all that bad. The crutches were mostly for precaution, but I didn’t need everyone else knowing that, especially with Summer looking concerned and nibbling her bottom lip. My work clearance would come next week. Today I was being an opportunist.

Hey, Summer. I looked up into her clear grey eyes and watched pink infuse her cheeks.

Hi, Ryland. I, um, I brought cookies. Chocolate chip. She held the plate out cautiously in her capable hands, but my smile must have faltered because she frowned. I didn’t eat regular cookies, hadn’t had one in years.

Cookies! Oz had recovered and was now interrupting my moment with Summer.

They’re vegan—carob chips. I found a great recipe online. Summer shrugged her shoulders shyly, and I would have kissed her senseless if most of the department wasn’t there watching us.

Ah, fuck it. Eat your pussy cookies.

Damn right I would if given half the chance with Summer. Ha! All mine, Oz! It was too easy to taunt him with his quick temper.

I took the tray in one hand, leaned on my stronger leg, and held them up victoriously. Summer was the most thoughtful person I’d ever met.

She looked so worried when the ambulance crew wheeled me in on that ridiculous gurney. The medical staff at the marathon pulled me from the race and had insisted I take the ambulance to the emergency room where she happened to be a nurse. It was a blow to my ego I was still recovering from. It didn’t help that my buddy Dana, a paramedic, had insisted on belting me down on the bed as a joke. I still didn’t think it was funny when she howled with laughter about it when I saw her last. Dana should know by now that paybacks were a bitch among our prankster group of friends.

Ford narrowed his eyes in my direction, and I felt the guilt for lusting after his sister squeeze my heart. Ford didn’t like guys mooning over Summer and would pull an Indiana Jones witch-doctor move on anyone who was inappropriate with her. Unfortunately, every guy in the department had probably had inappropriate thoughts about Summer at least once after meeting her. He was my best friend and I liked my organs intact, so I kept all those thoughts to myself. Over the years, it grew harder to keep quiet, and I struggled with how it would affect our friendship.

Man! Throwing his hands up, Oz made a big deal of not getting any real cookies and walked down to the hot tub.

Never met a rookie nearly as focused on food as you, man. Ford shook his head, squeezing my shoulder meaningfully. He took a long drag of his beer and followed after Oz, leaving me with Summer. I’d been pretty sure Ford knew nothing of my whole spank bank of thoughts about his sister right up until he dug his fingers into my skin. Yeah, I wasn’t good at hiding my feelings from Ford, but since I was on crutches, he probably thought I was harmless… for now.

Tucking a curl behind her ear, Summer watched her brother walk away before she leaned in close, her smile timid. I also brought ribs from Pappy’s Smokehouse, but we should probably keep that a secret for a bit longer. You know… until the rest of the crew gets here.

I tugged on that teasing curl of hair, whispering back, Your secret is safe with me, mostly because I don’t eat meat. Adorable giggles pursed her lips I wanted to kiss.

And me! We can’t have Oz eating it all, Benjamin interrupted from the grill, where he was clearly listening in. I was once again reminded that our group was worse than a bunch of church ladies gossiping in a sewing circle.

I think I need to get off this leg for a bit, I said loudly enough for Benjamin to hear as I hobbled back, making a little show of how unsteady I was.

Benjamin snorted, flipping more burgers onto the grill. I was pretty sure he saw right through my bullshit, but he said nothing.

Oh no! Is it not healing properly? Summer’s face paled as she covered her mouth with her shaking fingers.

Unable to stop my staring, I pulled her hand away from her beautiful face wishing she would stop hiding and tugged her along with me. I was starting to think that maybe she was just as nervous as I was, and maybe more than a little interested. Summer didn’t make everyone cookies, not with her busy nursing schedule, and