Blaze: A Firefighter Romance

by Lisa Lace

  "Airik, calm down." Rob said, putting his hands on my shoulders. "You can't help her if you're panicking."

  I took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm going to get her. I'll stay calm. I promise."

  "Take your snowshoes. It will be faster," he said.

  I dressed and moved out the door in minutes. I attached the snowshoes to my boots and then I was running into the forest following a trail that was quickly disappearing. Soon I had to use my minimal tracking skills to follow her. Her trail was vanishing.

  As I crossed a small clearing, I spotted her red coat ahead of me. I could barely see it through the falling snow. When the wind blew strongly, I could see a flash of red. I hoped she was still alive. The coat wasn't moving.

  What was going on? I started to run, feeling the events of the vision drawing closer to the present.

  When I approached her, I saw she was struggling and pulling on her right leg. She appeared to be stuck in the ground.

  There was a cracking noise, and I looked up. One of the giant trees had broken and was coming down. As my eyes projected its trajectory, I knew this was the moment. It was going to fall on her unless I stopped it.

  Time seemed to slow down for me. She was no longer pulling on her boot and looked up as the huge tree fell towards her. It caught on another tree and stopped falling. I reached her at the same time.

  "Quinn," I yelled. "Come on."

  "My foot's stuck. Get out of here," she said, her face afraid and desperate. "We don't have to die together."

  That was when I realized I loved her.

  I felt something snap inside me. The feelings I had trapped behind my walls and refused to acknowledge came rushing out. I smiled at her, then glanced up at the tree precariously balanced on a tiny branch of another tree.

  I took her hands and leaned toward her. I knew my life was about to end. It didn't matter. Before I died, I would have the chance to tell her.

  "Yes, Quinn. We do both have to die. I love you, and I can't live without you."

  "What?" she said, not believing what I was saying.

  "I love you," I said again. I leaned in and kissed her.

  When the tree hit us, it was over quickly. I barely felt a thing.

  Chapter Eighteen

  QUINN

  I was dead. There was no other explanation. A moment ago there had been an enormous tree falling on us. It was just like in my vision, except I hadn't known Airik would be next to me. Now I felt nothing. No pain. Nothing could have stopped the tree from crushing us.

  Then I heard Airik's voice.

  "Quinn?"

  Good. He was with me. I hoped we were in heaven and not hell together. I thought I had been a good person, and he was too. Hopefully, we were going to be together for eternity.

  I suddenly remembered what he said before we died. I had said we didn't both have to die.

  He said he loved me.

  I didn't know what had happened. Maybe the memory pull had worked or perhaps it was the threat of imminent death. Both had a way of brushing away unimportant things in life and allowing people to focus on crucial details. Either one could help a person let go of everything that wasn't serving them and enable them to see the truth.

  Unfortunately, it was too late for us. Would we still love each other in the afterlife? What if we were being reincarnated instead of going to heaven? I would have to find him once more. How would I know him in another body? Would I have to go through the pain of finding him again?

  Damn. I didn't want to be dead anymore.

  "Quinn," Airik's voice was more insistent now. "I need you."

  That couldn't be Airik. The voice sounded desperate and belonged to a person who wanted me. Could it be him?

  "Please wake up," he said, his voice pleading. I felt him shaking my body. Maybe we weren't dead. But how could that be? "Open those blue eyes one more time and tell me you're okay. I will never take you for granted again."

  I focused on my eyes and managed to flutter them open.

  "Quinn," he gasped. I felt him covering my face with kisses. "I thought you left me."

  I looked up. Snow was falling on me and melting on my face.

  "How are we alive?" I asked, gazing up at him.

  "Quinn, please listen to me. I can't wait another second to tell you." He carefully shaped his lips and spoke in English. "I love you."

  I stared at him in amazement.

  "What? Did I say it wrong? I didn't say your cat has green socks or something, did I?" he asked, reverting to Standard.

  "No. It was perfect. How do you know those words?"

  "Let's just say there was a girl who inspired me to learn her language. Maybe you can teach me some more."

  "Do you mean it?"

  "I have never meant anything more in my life. I now realize that what I felt for Gina was nothing compared to what I feel for you. You are the one I love, Quinn. Like I said, I can't live without you."

  "I love you, too, Airik." I frowned, looking around. We appeared to be in a cave, but it was open to the sky. "How did we escape being crushed by the tree?"

  "We didn't," he said, reaching out and touching the wall of the cave. His finger came back covered with a substance as black as charcoal.

  "What is that?"

  "You did it, Quinn. You were almost on fire. You generated so much heat that when the tree hit us, you burned through it."

  "I couldn't have done it on my own, Airik. It was like our shared vision. Remember how we amplified each other's abilities? That must have happened again. Instead of being fueled by anger, it was powered by love, which must be more powerful. You gave me the strength to burn through this huge tree."

  It seemed impossible, yet here we were.

  "Quinn," he said, his eyes full of longing. "Will you forgive me for being a hopeless jerk who couldn't see what he had right in front of him?"

  I smiled. "Of course I will, Airik. Now, kiss me like you love me."

  He gave me a sexy grin. "That shouldn't be a problem..." he said, his eyes warming. "...because I do."

  His lips were on me, and I thought I was in heaven. I had never imagined I could feel this good on any planet.

  "So just like that, you guys neutralized an enormous threat to our civilization?" Neesa said. She looked impressed.

  "I guess so," I said. "The people back at headquarters said as soon as our intervention was complete hundreds of Precogs started coming in again."

  "This time, the visions were of our population numbers going up. Birth rates will be on the rise again," Airik explained.

  "It was pretty good for my first intervention," I said, allowing myself to smile a bit.

  "Pretty good?" Airik said, gazing at me with an adoring look on his face. "Rob and I have been on plenty of missions between us. The use of your skills, your presence of mind with Dorelle, and your courage were equivalent to experienced ground team members. You're one of us now."

  "I'm not sure I trust your assessment of her skills," Neesa said.

  Airik got an exasperated look on his face. "Why not?"

  "I don't think you'd be able to give an unbiased opinion. You're obviously in love with her."

  My heart warmed, and Neesa smiled at me. Airik walked over to Neesa. He reached out and deliberately messed up her hair.

  "Hey," she said, trying to finger comb it back in place. "We're not kids anymore. You can't do things like that to me."

  "I can and I will. If you're going to bug me, then I can bug you."

  "You're acting like you don't like it, Airik, but I know you do. You want everyone to notice how you're head-over-heels for her."

  He shrugged and sat back down beside me on the couch, draping his arm carelessly over my shoulders. Now I could tell he was trying to look nonchalant. Every movement, every look, and every word since the intervention had a subtext and it was always the same. It always said I love you.

  I could feel it in his gaze, in the way he touched me, and in the tone of his voice. I had never been happi
er. Neesa was right. We were a cute couple — maybe even sickening to those who had to watch us.

  "You've been moved up from junior Precog to full Precog, Quinn?" Neesa asked from the kitchen where she was making a salad for supper.

  "Yes. I'll be doing some work in the office and also going out with ground teams where my particular skills can be useful."

  "And they'll be using us as a team of Precogs, as well."

  "Because you can amplify each other's powers. If you're touching Quinn, is your empathic ability stronger?"

  "Yes. By the way, green isn't a good color for you, Neesa," Airik commented.

  Was Neesa envious of us?

  "I'm not jealous. Not really," she said quickly.

  Airik stared at her until she relented.

  "Maybe I am a little. You guys are happy now, and I wish I were too."

  "I'm sure you're going to find someone soon," Airik said. His tone of voice made Neesa glance at him sharply.

  "How sure are you?" she said. "Have you had a vision about me?"

  "Neesa…" he said, holding up his hands and shaking his head.

  "Tell me," she said, coming over to the couch and waving salad tongs at him. "Tell. Me."

  "No. You'll see when it happens."

  "You can't get anything out of him when he has his mind made up. I guess I'll have to wait," she said, going back to the kitchen with a little more bounce in her step.

  "Did you really have a vision?" I whispered.

  "You'll have to wait and see, too," he said infuriatingly.

  I huffed. "Fine."

  "Your anniversary's coming up," Neesa said. "What are you going to do?"

  "I have a surprise planned for Quinn," Airik said. "We're going to have a romantic dinner."

  "I hope it's after the dinner Mom's planned. She'll kill you if you don't let us celebrate it with the entire family."

  "The whole family?" I said, remembering all the people who had been at the wedding. I still didn't remember every name.

  "Just the immediate family," Neesa corrected herself.

  "Oh, sure. That's fine," I said. There were enough brothers and sisters and their offspring to keep me frantically remembering names. As long as it wasn't the extended family too, I thought I could handle it.

  "Don't worry, sis. I'll take care of you," Neesa said. She winked at me. "I got your back."

  AIRIK

  I checked to make sure everything was perfect and then waited for Quinn to come home. When she finally walked through the door, I jumped up and went to her.

  "Surprise," I said, helping her take off her coat. "Why are you late? I was expecting you an hour ago."

  "I had an errand to run."

  "Are you ready for our private anniversary celebration? Yesterday's dinner at Mom and Dad's was for everyone else. Tonight is for us."

  "Oh," Quinn said, and she flashed a beautiful smile at me. Her bright blue eyes twinkled. "It smells good in here."

  "I made dinner."

  "Sounds great," she said and followed me into the dining room.

  After we finished eating, we moved to the living room and sat on the couch. "I have something for you, Quinn," I said. "It's not a traditional anniversary present, but I hope you'll like it."

  I held a package out to her. She took it carefully.

  "What is it?" she asked.

  I gave her a look that said, as-if-I'd-tell-you.

  "Open it."

  She tore open the box and looked at me in confusion.

  "Are these my wedding rings? Why are you giving them back to me?"

  I had asked her to give them to me. I told her I would have them cleaned, buffed, and shined. I did all that and something extra. "Look inside," I said.

  She picked them both up and rotated them in the light so she could read the engraving.

  "Stronger. Together," she read. "Wow. That's beautiful, Airik."

  Her eyes filled with tears, and I wondered if the writing had been a good idea. I wanted to explain myself.

  "It was supposed to symbolize how we can augment our powers when we're together, and how you and I make each other stronger when we're a couple." I scratched my head, feeling foolish. "I thought it would be romantic. We can have them engraved with something else if you like."

  She cut me off with a kiss. When she finally pulled back, I gave her a smile.

  "I love them. They're amazing. Now I have two presents for you," she said, handing me a similar box.

  When I opened it, I saw my wedding rings, which I hadn't been wearing for the past week. My hands got so dry in the winter that I couldn't stand anything touching my skin.

  "You took my rings?"

  "I might have gotten them engraved, too."

  We laughed.

  "Great minds think alike," I said.

  "Fools seldom differ," she finished. "We both know I am a fool for you, Airik. Just read them, okay?"

  I squinted, turning the rings to make out the words. It took me a minute to realize they weren't written in Standard, but English.

  "I love you," I read, pronouncing the foreign words slowly, trying to pronounce them correctly.

  "How about the other one?" she said.

  "Saransho belava," I said.

  "That's 'I love you' in your language, right? It doesn't say your cat has green socks or something?" she joked, repeating my words back to me.

  "It is," I said, tears coming to my eyes. I quickly blinked them back but not before she saw them.

  "Do you like them? Or should I have gotten you a gift card?"

  "I love them," I said. "It's thoughtful."

  "So were yours," she said.

  "Do you know what I have next on the schedule?"

  "I can guess," she said, starting to unbutton her blouse.

  "You read my mind."

  "Maybe I had a vision," she said, capturing my lips and kissing me.

  We had been together for one year, but I knew — even without a vision — it was only the beginning.

  Chapter Nineteen

  QUINN

  "Come here, sweetie. Daddy's trying to do some work. You and I didn't finish the puzzle," I said, scooping up my daughter and swinging her around until she squealed. She loved being with Airik. Whenever he tried to get some work done at home, Lalla always was stuck to him like glue. She didn't like separation from her father, but she would come with me because she loved puzzles.

  "Wait, Quinn," he said, his eyes still on his screen. "I just got the results of the intervention you foresaw. The one you didn't tell me about because it happened before I knew you were a Precog. The little girl got hit by a car, remember?"

  I looked at the ground silently. I couldn't stare at him.

  "Don't worry. We saved her. The Precogs on the scene are foreseeing a long life for her. She will be an old woman someday."

  "Really?" I asked, relief filling my chest. "Thank you so much for telling me, Airik." He winked at me, and I smiled back. I carried Lalla out of Airik's office and felt as light as air.

  "One more thing, Quinn." I turned back to him. "Rob and Deerva have invited us over for dinner next week."

  "Sounds great." After their adventure together, Rob and Deerva started dating almost immediately. They recently moved in together. No one was happier for them than I was. Especially since it meant that Rob wasn't interested in me anymore.

  Airik and I had been together for three years. Lalla was fifteen months old. I thought we conceived her on our first anniversary, but I didn't have any proof.

  Everyone else had been shocked that we quickly got pregnant, but it didn't surprise me. They thought it was because I was human. I knew we would have a big family like Airik's. I never had any family except my father. It pleased me more than anyone knew to have many people around who loved us and loved my daughter.

  It made me happy to see her with all her cousins, aunts, and uncles. Her Nana and Papa were over almost every day. Their place was like her second home. She loved them all.

&
nbsp; I carried her sturdy little form into the living room, giving her a kiss or two before I set her down in front of our puzzle. She didn't need my help, but she liked it when I watched. After she was asleep and I was in my pajamas, reading in bed, Airik came into our bedroom.

  "Is Lalla asleep?" he asked, giving me a kiss.

  I nodded.

  He pulled his T-shirt off, giving me a view of his well-muscled chest. I lifted my eyebrows at him. He gave me a sexy smile that I loved. Then he took off his pants and crawled into the bed wearing only his boxers.

  I tingled when I saw the look in his eye.

  "Do you remember what it was like before our mission, Quinn? Before I knew I loved you?"

  "Yes," I said, dropping my eyes at the memories of the sadness.

  "You know what?"

  "What?" I asked, playing along.

  "I don't. I feel like there's never been a time when I didn't love you. I can't imagine being with anyone else. I'm glad you're the mother of my daughter and future children."

  I smiled and put my hand on his cheek. "Future children? That sounds optimistic. Isn't the birth rate on Koccoran something like 1.4 children per couple?"

  "I don't know how people manage to have a half a kid, but I'm glad we have one whole little munchkin."

  "She's enough of a handful as she is, never mind an extra 0.4. I can't imagine having as many kids as your parents. How did they manage that on this planet?"

  "They're an anomaly."

  "Maybe it's in the genes," I said, raising my eyebrows.

  "It's definitely in the genes. I think a brother or sister for Lalla wouldn't be a bad thing."

  "Of course not," I said. "It's just improbable."

  "Lalla herself was improbable. I don't believe in limiting ourselves."

  "What are you suggesting, Airik?"

  "We should get started on a sibling for our little darling."

  "I want at least two years between them." His eyes lit up at my acquiescence.

  "We should start practicing." He took the computer from my hands and set it on the bedside table.

  "I love you," he whispered into my ear. His English made me smile and shiver simultaneously. He trailed his fingers down my shoulder until he came to the thin spaghetti strap of my blue silk tank top. He drew it down slowly. Baring my shoulder, he kissed it, then did the same on the other side.