“For now at least, the wind’s at a standstill and that’s the good news,” I replied. “I don’t want Carl on his own… if things go wrong…”
Randy let out his breath and nodded. He understood as well as I did; firefighters are family. We don’t work alone, and we don’t die alone. Neither one of us would leave Carl or his family to face this alone…
“You’ll tell Ember… that I’m fine, and that I owe you one helluva lot? She’ll be terrified until she knows for sure.”
I nodded, taking the hand he held out to me and pulling him to my chest. “I’m going to find her, as soon as you two are off the ground.”
“I want supplies dropped for the crew, Frank. Food, water. And if luck holds long enough, I need you to land a couple of miles east of the front and pick me up. I’ll be hitching a ride.”
“Copy that, Jace,” he replied. “I’ll drop another load of retardant on the way. With the wind down, that’s two we’ve managed so far. For now, it’s looking better.” The radio squelched for a moment. “Fucking news about Carl…”
I swallowed hard and hit my button again. “He’s critical but stable.” I took an unsteady breath and coughed, emptying my lungs and wiping the black stain from my mouth. “I need to check progress from the air… and I want you to swing me back over the cabin at Cradle Creek, just to make sure it’s in the clear.”
“Will do,” he replied. “And it’ll give you a chance to catch your breath, Jason. A fucking well-deserved chance to catch your breath.”
38
Ember
Smoke blanketed the sky, filtering the light and turning the whole cold world to shades of yellow and gray. The horizon line disappeared only a dozen yards from the cabin and high above it, far in the distance, an orange glow burned. But it rumbled too, like rolling thunder… Is that what fire sounds like, when it’s coming closer…?
“Reilly!” I called again, checking the barn, the back porch, shouting over and over until I was hoarse. I ran back inside the cabin, praying he’d come back to escape the icy cold. I stood, leaning against the doorframe, my breath forming clouds as I panted, open-mouthed. My heart was beating the seconds away; a clock that couldn’t be turned back. Images of Jason and my brother flashed behind my eyes… I’d tried so hard to stay in control, to be stronger than my fears. But I was terrified. Everyone I loved, everyone I’d tried so hard to protect was out there now, lost, in danger… or worse…
I was frozen, unable to choose, unable to move. I couldn’t leave Rye behind. But for Jason’s sake and for the baby’s, I couldn’t stay any longer either…
I ran for the truck, tears streaming down my face. “God forgive me.” I twisted the key in the ignition, feeling my heart tearing in two as the engine roared. Smoke and dust filled the air, whipping against the windshield as the noise shifted… became rhythmic… a sound that I recognized. It wasn’t fire… it was the sound of helicopter blades.
And I recognized him the second his feet hit the ground.
“Ember!” Jason cried out, jerking the truck door open and pulling me into his arms. He kissed my face, my mouth, my throat… my tears. I struggled with his helmet, tearing it off so I could touch his skin. He lifted me off the ground. “I thought I’d find you on the road to Copperton by now. I came to tell you I found Randy,” he shouted, taking my face between his hands, “and to make sure that the cabin was out of danger.” He kissed me before I could speak, until our hearts were pounding in unison. The blades were beating relentlessly overhead. I looked up into his face, needing to know… yet afraid of the truth.
“He’s bruised, but he’s fine,” he shouted, and I felt my knees buckle with relief. He held me tighter, closer and I buried my face into the warmth of his neck. “He’s in the air now, on his way to Aspen to get checked out, just a precaution. He’s not in any danger… he’s safe, Em.” He bent down and lifted me into his arms, carrying me back inside the shelter of the cabin as the chopper lifted off and turned overhead.
“Oh my god,” I gasped. “I was afraid that you… that both of you… I couldn’t…” I felt dizzy, suddenly lightheaded, like there was too much air in my lungs. “I didn’t leave because I can’t find Reilly,” I said, holding onto his arms for support.
“Then we’ll find him together,” he said soothingly. “He won’t be too far off.”
He stripped off his jacket. It slid heavily to the floor as he cupped my chin and stroked the corner of my mouth with his thumb. He was streaked with dirt, his shirt stained with sweat and clinging to his muscled frame. He didn’t take his eyes off my face; he smiled and my whole body relaxed and responded. “There are a couple of crowns still burning, but they’re a long way off. Rye’s spooked by the smoke is all,” he soothed. He ran a gentle hand over my head and tugged my hood down. His hands made soft fists in my hair. “He’ll find his way home… Just like I did.”
He kissed me, sliding one hot, hard hand down the small of my back, cupping my ass and curving my hips toward his. He was hard against my belly, crushing my breasts to his chest. I reached up and tangled my hands in his hair, quenching his thirst with my mouth… with my tongue. He smelled of wood smoke and desire, and he ran his hands down my shoulders, under my sweater… cupping my bare breasts until I was burning with need. He pulled back, looking down at me with an intensity that I’d never experienced. We were safe, home, together for one perfect moment…
He slipped his hand down the front of my jeans and curved it low over my belly. He leaned his forehead into my shoulder and I could feel his breathing, his heartbeat. “You can’t imagine the strength it gave me, knowing about the baby.” He let his fingertips rest against my clit, cupping my sex, holding me and the tiny new life we’d made in one big hand. “There’s nothing in this world that could have kept me away from you… from both of you.”
His hands curved underneath me, supporting my weight as I pressed myself to his shaft. He was hard as a rock underneath his jeans and desire swept through me, extinguishing everything but the heat between us. My body’s needs ran rampant, my breasts swelling and my panties growing wet and slick. I was ripe, ready… desperate to be filled…
“Do you have any idea how much I want you right now? What I wouldn’t give to strip you bare right now…?” he breathed into my neck, down between my aching breasts “I’m going to take every fucking inch of you, babygirl.. taste every sweet, wet, aching inch. God, how I’ve dreamed of this, Em… making love to the mother of my child…
“But we can’t… not here, not right now.” He dragged his eyes back to mine. “We’ve got to find Rye and get you both out of this valley first.” He kissed me again, and my heated core turned molten. “I’m going to possess you, all of you, and I’m going to spend my whole life loving you. But only when you’re safe, Em…
“This is only over when you and the baby are safe.”
The air was strangely still as we climbed into the truck, and in spite of the midday sun lighting streaks in the smoky sky, the air temperature continued to drop. Jason turned the engine over and reached for me.
“We’ll search a one-mile radius,” he said, “and then I’m getting you out of here. Reilly’s too smart to have wandered far, and he sure as hell won’t go any closer to the fire.” He wrapped one arm protectively around me and hit the gas. “Animals seem to have better instincts than most people… he’ll head back towards home.”
“When he disappeared, it felt like an omen,” I said, looking out the window as we drove. “I didn’t know if you were…” The words caught in my throat.
“It’s a fucking good thing I went back when I did,” he replied. “Randy was still caught in the gorge, risking his own life to get another man out…” Jason’s powerful chest expanded with a deep breath. “Carl wouldn’t be alive right now, if it weren’t for him.”
I closed my eyes, picturing Carl’s wife, Andrea. Their kids were about the age Randy and I had been when we lost our dad. “And my brother wouldn’t be alive except for you,”
I said softly.
A blast of bitter wind rocked the truck on its tires and Jason tightened his hold on me. I could tell by the way he stroked my shoulder that he was thinking the same thing I was; we were the lucky ones.
For nothing is more unpredictable than wildfire. It strikes with intent, taking whatever it wants with a savage breath, picking and choosing its targets with a cold, beating heart…
It could have come for any one of us.
39
Jason
“The crowns are burning pretty fucking hot and the gusts are picking up again,” Frank radioed from the air, “but the direction is favorable and holding…” The radio spit static and the wind whistled, working its way through the tiny crevices in the truck. I put the radio down and took Ember’s hand.
We’d almost come full circle without any luck. We’d called out the windows, stopped at a few of the empty cabins along the dirt road, but Reilly was nowhere to be found. Our last hope was that he’d found his way back home on his own, and we’d find him waiting for us. The cabin was our last stop and then, with him or without him, I was driving Ember the hell out of this valley.
In spite of what Frank had said, an uneasiness nagged at the back of my mind. It was that same familiar sense, that something was out there watching… and biding its time…
I pulled Ember closer beside me, sliding her along the seat of the truck and she snuggled into the crook of my arm. She reached inside my jacket to warm her hands and my cock hardened, responding to her the way it always had; beating a relentless, demanding rhythm.
“I keep thinking I’ll wake up and none of this will be real,” she said, pressing closer. “All the time we were apart, every day was the same as every other day; I’d sit down at my typewriter and wonder if I’d lost everything in my life that ever mattered.” She looked up at me, her eyes dark and brilliant. “You were all I ever wanted. And now there’s more at stake than ever. I could have lost you all over again…”
I rested my cheek on the top of her hair and exhaled. I pulled over, off the road. “There was a time in my life I didn’t believe in second chances, Ember. And you’re the one who changed all that.
“There isn’t anything in this world with the power to tear us apart, not ever again. No matter where I am… no matter where you are. You’ll never lose me. We’re a family now, and nothing will ever change that.” I lifted her chin and looked at her, really looked at her. She was radiant. “It’s about this,” I said, putting my hand on her heart, “and this.” I let my hand slip between her breasts and down to rest on her belly. “This didn’t happen just for us to lose it all again.
“Do you remember the first time we took this road?” I asked, my cock throbbing with need.
“You let me drive,” she answered, sneaking her hand inside my shirt and pressing her cheek to my chest. “I ground the gears every time I shifted… and I put a dent in the fender. It’s still there.” Her hand strayed to my thigh, maddeningly close to the rigid bulge in my jeans. “But you were so patient. You said I did a great job…”
“...you did, babygirl.”
“I had a helluva teacher,” she said. She smiled up at me and it suddenly felt like a lifetime had passed since I’d touched her, tasted her. Her fingers curved deliciously around my shaft and a wave of pure, primal need shot through me. I flashed to an image of unzipping right there in the truck and pulling her sweet-hot pussy down on top of me…
“...Jason…” she breathed, and for a fast second, I forgot everything except the way she made me feel; she was the air in my lungs, the blood in my veins, every pulsing beat of my heart. As long as we were together, I didn’t need anything else in the world. More than sleep, more than food or water, I only needed her…
It was freezing outside, but raging hot inside the cab. She was panting as the wind outside roared back to life and whipped into a sudden frenzy. The windows steamed over from the heat between us as she stretched one long leg over my lap and straddled me. Her eyes were shining, intense and her breasts were heavy on my chest. Deep down, I knew we couldn’t do this now… but it wasn’t sense that drove me. It was pure need. My whole body was hot and aching; the primitive need of man for his mate. I reached under her sweater and cupped her round, swollen curves. When her nipples went rock hard, I knew I was utterly lost. I buried my face in her throat and heard myself groan. The promise of her sweet-hot body against mine ripped away all sense of time and place. All I knew was that she was here… and she was mine…
But she stiffened, and I felt her pull away. As if in slow motion, I drew back and looked into her perfect, beautiful face.
Her full, soft mouth was slack, open. Her lovely eyes, wide and staring… over my shoulder, out the window behind me. Her pale skin and brilliant hair caught the blinding flash and I could see the reflection of burning embers in her eyes. For a moment she was bathed in brilliant light,
As the fire hit, sweeping over the truck in a violent, roaring flash.
40
Ember
I knew I was screaming but couldn’t hear. I felt his hands on me, but I couldn’t see. The face of the fire had been blinding… malevolent.
“Get down!” he cried, pushing me to the floorboards, my head to his lap. I felt his thigh tighten and a fast second later, we were racing across the valley. I gripped his waist and held on. He covered me with his fireproof jacket, the heat was suffocating… I was in total darkness. He held me with one powerful arm as we crashed around the cab.
“The fucking winds are trying to spin into a vortex,” he yelled over the deafening noise. He pulled the jacket back and looked down at me without letting up on the speed. The truck jolted and crashed over the road, but he only pushed it faster. “Baby… talk to me… Tell me you’re all right…”
“I… I’m… okay…” I stumbled over the words, holding up a hand to shield my eyes, trying to adjust to the light. “What’s is it… what’s happening…? The fire was a long way off.” I tried to sit up, but he held me where I was. He shot a look in the rearview mirror and stomped the gas again, his face was tight, his jaw squared. I looked up from his lap and watched the muscles working in his neck.
“Might be a goddamn firestorm, Em,” he said through his teeth, “They can blow up out of nowhere… that could just be the edge of it.” He shot a look at me and tried to smile, but I could see the strain in his face, the danger in his eyes. “They move and grow like a tornado of flame. You don’t fight them,” he said. “You can’t fight them.
“You outrun them.”
“Head back toward the rim,” he shouted into the radio. “It’s already ninety percent burned out, so there won’t be as much fuel. It’ll give the crew a fighting chance. Every cabin on the north end’s gone by now. Just focus on getting the men out of danger.”
He put the radio down and tightened his grip on me. The fire was miles behind us now, but burning high and bright. He raked his hand through his hair and closed his eyes, leaning his head back on the seat. He stomped the gas. We were still moving fast.
“How many?” I asked softly.
“Two injured,” he replied. “I need to get you out, Em. Right now. And then I’m going back in for my men.”
“No,” I shot back, gripping his arm. “Do you honestly think I’m going to let you go back into that alone?” I was angry now… and stubborn. “I know the bond you have with those men, and I know that they’re not just your crew, they’re your family. But I’m your family too. And wherever you go, I’m going with you.”
“This isn’t just about us,” he said. “You have no idea what it’s like out there, Ember. There’s no way I’m letting you and the baby take that kind of risk.” He brought my hand to his mouth and kissed my fingers, my palm. Then he carried it to my belly and covered it with his own. “You can’t keep me safe by coming with me,” he said, “but you can keep him safe, by letting me protect you both while I still can.”
I curled into his side, holding him close, knowing he was r
ight. The tire caught a rock and we jolted. “Then I need you to tell me what it’s like, Jason,” I said. “You say I don’t know, but I saw. I saw what that fire looks like, and I felt something I don’t know how to explain. I have a right to know. Whatever I imagine will be worse than the truth.” I felt his fingers tighten on mine.
“Ember…”
“No, Jason,” I cut him off. “You’re trying to protect me by not telling me everything. You want me to trust you, and you tell me that everything’ll be fine. But I need you to tell me the whole truth, especially if there’s a chance… that you might not come back.” I stopped, choking on my own fear. “I never knew what Daddy’s last moments were like, and it only made losing him even worse. I never got to tell him how much he meant to me and how much I loved him. If I can’t go with you, I have to know what it is we’re facing.”
“Dammit, Em… I am not saying my goodbyes. We’ve got a wedding planned and a baby on the way…”
“I need you to stop protecting me and tell me. You called it a firestorm, Jason. I want to know.”
He pulled up in front of the cabin and killed the engine. We sat in silence long enough to know that Reilly wasn’t waiting for us to come to home. And that I wasn’t giving in.
“They form when and where they please,” he said, finally. “They’re erratic, violent… fires so intense they can form their own wind systems and maintain themselves. Columns of spinning flame can reach hundreds of feet high, and they can radiate heat so intense that trees, even buildings at a distance can combust. It’s conflagration,” he said, holding my hands in his. “But they can die out as fast as they flare up. One minute it’s the face of hell itself, and the next it can be all over.” He took my face in his hands, so strong, so steady.
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