Feisty Firefighters Bundle Read online

  She would fail him, just as she had in the past.

  And then a strange calm overtook her, and she felt detached, distant from her body. Smoke blurred her vision, darkening the landscape and cutting out light. The world looked surreal, bathed in a hot gray haze, bizarre.

  They bounded down a slight incline, then hurdled a burning log. The fire was everywhere now, roaring and hissing beside them, the heat unbearably intense.

  She ran on and on. Sprinting, climbing, leaping. And she was growing confused. She was running with Cade, clutching the dog, urgency hammering her brain, but she couldn’t remember where they were or why they were racing. She only knew that she couldn’t stop.

  Suddenly, Cade jerked her hard to the right. She stumbled, nearly dropping the dog, and staggered to a stop. Cade pulled her toward him, and she lurched closer, staring blankly at a mound of boulders.

  The air trembled, blurring her vision, and the ground beneath her rumbled and shook. She swiveled back and cringed at the fire raging toward them. Flames twisted and arced through the trees, whirling like gaseous tornadoes. A ball of flame launched itself into the air.

  Cade yanked her around and pushed her toward the boulder. She saw a slit between the rocks, barely enough to squeeze through, and understanding flashed. Holding the dog close, she wriggled through the crack into a dim, musty space. Cade immediately crammed himself in behind her.

  They were in a small cave, maybe a dozen feet deep and wide and barely high enough to stand in. The packed-dirt floor was littered with stones.

  “We need to block the opening,” Cade said, dropping the bags.

  Jordan set down the dog, then tripped when he slammed against her. Hysteria plucked at her nerves. She couldn’t help Cade if she kept stumbling over the leash. And Cade needed her help to survive.

  Which meant she had to let Dusty go.

  Her hands trembling, she unhooked the leash from her belt, then wedged it beneath a large rock. The dog immediately tried to pull free.

  “Stay,” she said sharply and stepped away. She could only pray the leash held. She didn’t have time to hold him, and she couldn’t help him if he darted outside.

  Her throat thick with dread and panic, she set to work, frantically lugging rocks over to block the entrance. She dashed back and forth, piling the stones quickly, haphazardly, rushing to stop the smoke creeping through the cracks. Outside, the deadly roars and thundering grew.

  Behind her, Cade pulled something from his PG bag. Silver flashed in the fading light as he shook it out.

  His fire shelter. The last line of defense. The final chance to survive.

  He held out the metallic fabric. “Here. Put this between the rocks.”

  “No.” She backed off. He needed that tent. He could survive inside it without her. And she’d hindered him enough.

  “Jordan-”

  “It’s yours. You use it.”

  “The hell I will.” His voice bristled with outrage. “Either stuff it between those rocks or I’ll flatten it over you.”

  He’d do it. She could see the obstinate will in his eyes, that single-minded resolve, and knew it was futile to argue. Unless she agreed to share the shelter, he’d sacrifice his own life protecting hers.

  And she refused to let him do that.

  Resigned, she grabbed the lightweight fabric and smoothed it over the rocks. Her heart beat erratically as she scooped up loose stones and stuffed them in the cracks to secure the edges. The light dimmed as she blocked up as many spaces as she could. Cade added several heavier stones so the shelter wouldn’t blow off.

  After a moment, he stopped her. “That’s good enough. We need to get back.”

  She blinked in the shadowy darkness. Light still filtered through some gaps in the rocks, but she knew they’d run out of time. Outside, the deafening noise mounted, screaming and screeching like colliding trains. Shaking, so scared she thought she might vomit, she covered her ears and cringed.

  Cade grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the back of the cave. “Wait,” she cried. “The dog.” She stooped down to jerk the leash loose, and dragged him to the far wall.

  Cade urged her down to the ground, then positioned himself beside her, wedging her between him and the musty dirt wall. She hauled Dusty into her lap and held him close. Quivering madly, shuddering with terror, she curled herself into a ball.

  She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think as the heat mounted and a throbbing blast pulsed outside. She closed her eyes, and Cade pulled her head to his chest, covering her with his body.

  This was it. The moment of truth.

  She could only thank God Cade was with her, and pray that they would survive.

  Chapter 14

  Cade sheltered Jordan with his body as the firestorm raged around them. Heat scorched his back. His pulse rocketed through his veins. The hairs on his nape stood erect and tensed in the rising storm.

  The air around them quivered, and a bone-rattling screech shook the cave. The earth trembled, the skies shrieked as the molten gasses collided. Vibrations blurred the hot air.

  His lungs seized up and his heart stalled. Sweat popped from his pores, and he gagged down his acrid fear. This was it, the moment when they’d see if the shelter held, if they’d burned enough grass to protect the cave.

  To find out if they would survive.

  Time hung still. An eternity pulsed in a second. He clutched Jordan and shut his eyes, every nerve focused on the explosions blasting the cave.

  And then miraculously, incredibly, the deadly noise shifted away.

  He slumped in acute relief, then tipped back his head and exhaled. His heart battered against his chest, and his muscles began to twitch.

  And for the first time, he let the reality sink in of just how close that had been. They’d nearly died.

  He’d seen the training videos, attended classes on fire entrapments, but nothing had prepared him for the reality of it happening to him. The absolute panic, the disbelief, the horror when the fire blew close. And that gut-shaking terror when he’d realized they might not survive.

  If it hadn’t been for the dog…He loosened his death grip on Jordan and glanced down at the quivering fur on her lap. If that mutt hadn’t balked, hadn’t warned them that the fire was near…

  He swallowed the thick wedge blocking his throat, unwilling to finish the thought. But the truth remained. That dog had given them the valuable seconds they’d needed to survive.

  And they had survived. His hand still twined in Jordan’s hair, he gently stroked her scalp to soothe her and pressed her head to his chest. Trembles wracked her body, and she shuddered with anxiety and fear.

  “Shh…” he murmured. He cleared his throat, fighting to get words past the lump. “We’re safe now. The fire’s gone.”

  “Oh, God,” she said, her voice muffled against his shirt. Still shaking, she pulled back, and her fathomless gaze met his. Her eyes glistened in the cave’s dim light. The remnants of tears streaked her cheeks, cutting paths through the ashes and grime.

  But he’d never seen a more beautiful woman.

  A fierce swell of emotion surged up, relief mixed with something more, that feeling he’d been fighting for days.

  Love. He loved Jordan. He always had.

  It was true. He’d stopped denying it the moment she’d reached for that fusee. He’d seen her horror and panic, the primitive urge to escape. But despite her terror, she’d stayed.

  A thick wad of emotion choked his lungs, and he tightened his grip on her head. He could only imagine the courage, the incredible leap of faith that had taken. She wasn’t a trained firefighter, didn’t know wildfire behavior or the futility of running. Yet she’d ignored her instincts and trusted him.

  And in that moment, he’d stopped trying to fool himself and admitted how much he loved her-this brave, gutsy woman who’d once been his.

  He caressed the silky strands of her hair, ran his gaze over the smooth curve of her cheek and the feminine line of her jaw