Flame (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 4)

by Ophelia Sexton

  "Yeah, he's right." Kara cocked her head and studied Cassie. "If you ever want to become an EMT, I think you'd be really good at it."

  "Thank you," Cassie said. "I never thought about it, but I like helping people…"

  But with Baldwin hot on her trail, she didn't think she'd ever be able to stay in one place long enough to complete the training and get a certificate.

  It was the kind of thing that normal people with normal lives could do. And it would be so nice to have a team like Thor's…well, too bad that it was an impossible dream for her, just like graduate school had been.

  Cassie saw Kara glance out the cabin's big picture window. "Sun's starting to go down. Let's get that interview out of the way and head back to base before it gets dark."

  She pulled a tripod and a small video camera out of her bag and quickly set everything up.

  Then she and Darren conducted a five-minute filmed interview with Thor for the news outlets.

  When they asked him to describe what had happened, Cassie saw him pause, frowning, before he began to glibly describe being caught in a gust of wind and slammed into the trees, followed by a nightmarish descent to the ground, luckily near a local resident's home.

  Cassie noticed that he made no mention of being hit by her car and wondered if he actually remembered any actual details of his accident. She felt a renewed stab of guilt at the thought that she might be responsible for one or more of his fractures, or possibly even his concussion.

  As soon as the interview had ended, Betsy, Darren, and Kara quickly packed up everything they had brought with them. They left the second pair of crutches for Thor to use.

  "Got a spare toothbrush?" Kara jokingly asked Thor as she zipped up her duffel. "How about some clean underwear?"

  Cassie noticed the sudden panic on Thor's face, guessed he couldn’t remember, and stepped in to rescue him.

  "I found a toothbrush in his pack, along with a change of clothes," she informed Kara. I guess we can stop in at a store somewhere to buy him some more T-shirts and underwear."

  She felt Thor's warm, callused hand close around hers. "See," he said. "I'm in good hands."

  "Yes, you always look on the bright side. Which is why I'm going to ask Cassie," Betsy smiled at her conspiratorially, "to call or text me every day with an honest report on your progress. If that's all right with you, Cassie?"

  "Of course, Dr. Chang, uh, Betsy," Cassie said, and wondered if concealing the extent of Thor's amnesia from the doctor had been the right thing to do.

  Then again, it was more than a bit weird that they were willing to leave Thor in the care of a total stranger…

  Something was going on, but she couldn't guess what that might be, beyond Thor's show of protectiveness.

  * * *

  "Congrats, buddy, it's about time you found a mate of your own," Kara whispered to Thor in a whisper as she bent to hug him goodbye.

  "Wait…what?" Thor asked incredulously, hoping desperately that Cassie, who was listening to Dr. Chang give her instructions for Thor's care, hadn't overheard. "I'm just staying to help her out."

  "Rescuing angel or not, you just met her. And now you're feeling super-protective of her and you don't want to leave her?" Grinning, Kara shook her head. "Think about it."

  Thor had no idea what she was talking about. He cast a despairing glance over at Cassie, but her attention seemed entirely focused on Dr. Chang.

  "—just for tonight, wake Thor up every two or three hours, and ask him questions to make sure that he isn't displaying abnormal responses or extreme confusion," Dr. Chang was saying.

  "My headache already feels much better," he said, forcing himself to sound cheerful and alert.

  And most definitely not amnesiac. Dr. Chang would never let him stay here if she suspected that his concussion involved anything more than a killer headache.

  He was actually surprised that he had managed to fake it thus far, though he had caught one or two odd glances from Kara.

  She patted Thor's head gently and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. "You have no idea how glad I'm that you're alive. Try to keep it that way, okay?"

  "I'll do my best," Thor promised as Kara turned away. "Talk to you later."

  All I need is some sleep and food, and I'll be good as new, he told himself.

  And Kara might be delusional about Thor finding a mate, but she was right: he really, really, really didn't want to leave Cassie. Especially if she was afraid that someone named Ed Baldwin was after her.

  Baldwin had to be another shifter, because there was no way an Ordinary man could inspire that kind of fear.

  "You can remove the brace to let him wash himself, or if it gets dirty, but try to keep him from shifting until the bones have set, or he'll just aggravate his injuries," Dr. Chang continued. She was still speaking to Cassie, but she threw Thor a sharp glance. "And if his headache gets worse, or if any other symptoms appear, like double vision, I want you to contact me immediately."

  "How will I know if his headache gets worse?" Cassie inquired, crossing her arms. "I don't think he's the type to admit it."

  Dr. Chang shook her head and sighed.

  "I see you've managed to get a handle on his personality after even a short time," she said wryly. "I'll just have to leave it to your gut instinct and powers of observation."

  "I'll try to be good," Thor commented, amused at how the two female shifters were cutting him out of the conversation.

  "There is no try, only do," Dr. Chang quoted and shouldered her bag of supplies.

  Kara had already left the cabin and was making her slow way back to the helicopter on her crutches.

  Darren clapped Thor on his left shoulder. "Take care, buddy. Hope to see you back at base soon."

  Thor grinned up at him and wished to God he could remember the big Ordinary. He liked Darren, and he thought that maybe they were friends. "I owe you a beer, that's for damned sure."

  That was apparently the right thing to say, because Darren returned the grin and said, "Make that two beers, because of all the paperwork we're going to have to do tomorrow." He looked up. "Thanks again, Cassie. I hope to see you around base…and think about that EMT certification, will ya?"

  She nodded and smiled, but Thor sensed underlying sadness. He desperately wanted to crack the mystery that surrounded her.

  Darren courteously held the cabin's front door open for Dr. Chang, then followed her out with a final wave in Thor's direction.

  Cassie busied herself clearing away the snack plates and half-empty bottles of water as well as the odds and ends that Dr. Chang had left behind.

  Then she came and sat next to Thor, settling onto the couch with a weary sigh.

  "You okay?" asked Thor when they had sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the distant roar of the chopper's engine starting up, then the steady pulse of its rotors as it lifted off and faded into the distance.

  "It's just been a long day," she said, letting her head sink back against the cushions. "Breakfast shift starts at 4:00 a.m., and I worked lunch shift, too." She raised her head. "Crap. I need to call Ted at the diner and let him know I can't work there anymore."

  Wearily, she sat up so that she could reached for her smartphone, which was sitting on the coffee table. She rapidly scrolled through her contact list, then hit a number.

  The phone rang for a long time before a harried-sounding man answered. "Cougar Creek Diner, this is Ted speaking. We're not able to fill any takeout orders, tonight, sorry."

  "Hey, Ted, it's Cassie," she said.

  "Cassie, thank God. Is there any chance you can come back and take over the dinner shift tonight? Ernestine called in sick."

  "Oh, Ted, I'm so sorry," Cassie said. "But I'm actually calling to tell you that I have to quit."

  "You—what? Please tell me you're joking!" Even without his enhanced shifter hearing, Thor would have been able to hear the man's agonized howl.

  Cassie grimaced, guilt and discomfort warring in her expression.
"I'm sorry. Something happened, and I have to leave first thing in the morning."

  "Where are you going?" Ted demanded. "When will you be back? You don't have to quit—”

  "I'm, uh, well, I promised to drive someone…a friend…to Idaho. It's a family emergency, and he's got a broken leg, so he can't drive himself."

  "Well, it'll be a little tough, but I can keep the job open for you if you're only going to be gone for a week or two."

  "I think it's going to be longer than that," Cassie said. "I'm not planning on coming back to Cougar Creek, Ted. I'm sorry."

  Ted swore, and Thor saw Cassie hunch in on herself now, as if bracing for an invisible blow. Thor's good hand clenched into a fist.

  Then Ted's voice softened. "Cassie, sweetheart, you're a hard worker, and I'm going to miss you. You know that, right?"

  "I'm going to miss you too," Cassie said and slowly began to unfold. Thor could smell that she was upset, but she was not afraid of her boss. He relaxed his fist. "I'm really sorry. I know how busy things are right now."

  "Don't you worry about that," Ted told her. "Swing by on your way out of town, and I'll have your final paycheck for you."

  "Thank you, Ted. Bye."

  When the call had ended, Cassie tossed her phone back onto the coffee table with a frustrated sigh.

  "I still need to pack up," she said without enthusiasm.

  "And I'm making more work for you," Thor said apologetically. "I'm sorry. Can I help?"

  "Absolutely not!" Cassie said briskly. "The doctor ordered you to stay put and keep that leg elevated."

  "Yes, ma'am," he said, trying and failing to sound meek.

  "And…I'm glad you stayed." She didn't look at him as she added this, but he saw her tanned cheeks turn pink. It was unbearably cute. "So, have you remembered what kind of shifter you are?"

  Thor shook his head and was rewarded with an instant stab of pain through his temples. He tried reaching inside himself once again, looking for his missing half. And found the same emptiness as before.

  He made a low, frustrated growl. "Nope, nothing. There's just…a big empty space."

  Cassie reached out and took his left hand, and he felt the jolt of renewed contact travel up his arm. "So why didn't you ask Kara while she was here? Looks to me like y'all are good friends."

  "Because if I'd asked her that, there's no way Dr. Chang would have let me stay here with you," Thor said. It seemed reasonable enough to him.

  Apparently not to Cassie, though. She rolled her eyes. "And it didn't occur to you that maybe not being able to remember was a sign that you needed to go to the hospital?"

  "Uh…no?" Thor ventured.

  He'd been so intent on finding a way to stay with her and protect her that it truly hadn't crossed his mind.

  Cassie sighed. "You know, you're really cute, but you're kind of—"

  With a stricken look, she caught herself before she finished her sentence.

  "Dumb?" Thor finished. "Would it help if I blamed the accident for a drop in IQ?" He gave her his best sad-puppy look and added "Unless you like your men cute and dumb, in which case I'll make sure you never catch me reading a book."

  Instead of laughing, Cassie studied him as warily as if he were an unexploded land mine. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking—I shouldn't have said that."

  "Nope, you totally should have said that," Thor said cheerfully. "Because you were right. But after that phone call…I just couldn't leave you on your own out here."

  She turned her head to look at him, and he was struck once again by the sheer power of her amazing eyes. They glowed like aquamarines against her tanned skin and the dark gold of her lashes.

  "Thank you," she said simply. "That phone call…well, it really pulled the rug out from under my feet. I'm kind of glad I won't be alone here tonight."

  "And I'm hoping that our road trip will jar my memories loose from wherever they're stuck," said Thor. "Going to Bearpaw Ridge should help, and I'm glad that news report provided my hometown, or I would have had to Google myself, and frankly, that'd be kind of embarrassing."

  Cassie finally chuckled, and he saw the last of her fear dissipate. It had been covering her scent like a smothering cloak since that phone call.

  * * *

  "So I thought I'd set my alarm to wake you up to check on you," Cassie said a couple of hours later.

  She had spent an hour bustling around the cabin gathering up various items, then had disappeared into her bedroom for a while to pack up most of her clothes.

  Now she looked more exhausted than ever, her lids drooping, and Thor, who remained seated at her stern order, was starting to feel sleepy too.

  After she finished staging a pile of boxes and a couple of soft-sided duffels near the cabin's front door, she had sat down on the couch for a while to watch TV with him.

  Thor had reached for her, and she had slipped her hand into his. They sat together like that for a while, watching Mythbusters reruns. Thor enjoyed himself, especially when Cassie finally relaxed enough in his presence to move closer to him.

  Another half-inch, and she'd actually be cuddling up against him. Hoping to encourage her to close that last small gap between them, he was careful not to move or look at her as the TV showed various science experiments gone horribly, hilariously wrong.

  Amidst the steady throbbing ache coming from his broken bones and his abused skull, Thor couldn't help remembering what Kara had said about Thor wanting Cassie for his mate.

  What does that even mean? Could it really happen that quickly, before we really even got to know each other?

  And I don't even know what kind of shifter I am! Thor thought irritably.

  He hated not knowing who he really was. A driver's license and a credit card weren't really an adequate substitute for being able to remember his family and friends.

  And yet, he and Cassie did seem powerfully drawn to each other. He definitely wanted to get to know her better. And to kiss her. Oh yeah, he definitely wanted to kiss her.

  Then Cassie said something that made his heart soar with irrational hope. "If I'm supposed to wake you up every two or three hours, it's probably convenient if you, uh, sleep in my bed tonight."

  Chapter 5 – Closer

  Six hours after Thor Swanson literally dropped from the sky into her life, Cassie found herself lying next to him in bed.

  As tired as she was from a long day of work followed by an afternoon and evening of excitement and more work, she found herself unable to relax enough to fall asleep. Dressed in a pair of light cotton pajamas decorated with playful kittens, she curled up on her side of the bed, her back to Thor, acutely aware of his presence in her bed.

  He was stripped down to his briefs and already deeply asleep. She could tell that he wasn't faking it, because his muscles were relaxed, and his heart rate and breathing had both slowed. With any luck, his accelerated shifter healing abilities would resolve his amnesia overnight.

  She should be feeling at least a little freaked out at having a near-stranger in her bed, a male shifter bigger and stronger than she was. But she didn't feel any fear. She didn't even feel the slight and very normal awkwardness that came from sleeping in a stranger's presence.

  No, what she felt was stranger and more unexpected than that.

  Cassie's inner cat badly wanted to get closer to his fascinating stranger, and Cassie had to struggle against the desire to snuggle up against his side. Her cat wanted to feel the warmth of his body against hers and wanted to drift off surrounded by his scent.

  Her human half was horrified by this strange compulsion. And was afraid that if she let down her guard and actually fell asleep, she might wake up in an extremely compromising position.

  Maybe I should grab my iPad and just play a game or something until it's time to check on Thor?

  But that would involve rolling over, turning on the light, climbing out of bed, and going to the living room to get her tablet. And moving right now seemed like a daunting task.

 
So she just stayed in bed, staring at the squares of moonlight that shone on the wall opposite the bed until fatigue won out in the end.

  Cassie didn't remember falling asleep, but when her alarm went off ninety minutes later, she started awake. She was groggy and disoriented…and pressed right up against Thor, with one arm thrown possessively over his stomach.

  No. Oh no, she thought with a jolt of horror. You didn't! He'll think I'm trying to jump his bones!

  But you want to, don't you? purred her cat.

  Cassie rolled over and away from Thor with frantic haste and slapped the alarm clock's button harder than she intended. Plastic crunched and broke under her hand.

  "You okay?" she heard Thor ask sleepily.

  "Fine," she said. "How are you feeling? Headache any worse?"

  "No, it feels better."

  "And you're not just saying that?" she asked suspiciously.

  She heard him sigh. "Scout's honor. So can I go back to sleep now?"

  Sleep. Sweet, sweet sleep. She hadn't gotten nearly enough of it yet. "God, yes."

  In her befuddled state, it seemed perfectly natural for Thor to gather her in with his good arm. With this tacit permission, she yielded to her cat and scooted up to his side until her cheek rested against the bare skin of his shoulder.

  Too groggy to remember that the alarm clock was now ruined and that she wouldn't be able to set it for Thor's next wake-up, Cassie cuddled against him.

  Feeling safe for the first time since Amanda's call, she promptly fell asleep again.

  * * *

  Thor woke up just after dawn. For a few dizzying moments, he stared at the ceiling beams overhead, completely confused as to where he was. The sounds of birdsong filtered in from outside, and the air was fragrant with the scents of pine and Cassie, with a tinge of smoke. To his relief, his headache had dwindled and vanished during the night, and the last of the blurriness was gone from his vision.

  Too bad he still couldn't remember anything about his life before yesterday afternoon. And trying to force aside the veil drawn over his memories just made his head twinge with the threat of a returning migraine.

  Damn it.