Wildfire - Honey Palomino Page 0,20

start all over, I really think we should be going.”

He pressed into me one more time before pulling away.

“I guess you’re right.”

“I always am,” I quipped, before grabbing my bag and heading outside.

Chapter 25

Jesse

We’d worked for hours to get past the first patch of fallen trees, only to find another group a little further down the trail. To sidestep them would require us going all the way back to the cabin and up and around the other side of the mountain, and we had no idea what to expect on that side right now, either.

Our best bet was to just cut through what we can and hope we could make enough progress to get down.

We were in constant contact with Max, but he and the rest of the crew were busy rescuing a family that had gotten stuck at their cabin just East of us.

Fiona and I were on our own for the time being.

“We’ve just got to work through it,” she said. “It’ll take some time but we’ll get there.”

“Fucking annoying,” I said. We’d sat down to take a break in a clearing, eating sandwiches we’d made at the cabin together earlier. Fiona had turned out to be one of the best partners a guy could ask for, and I say that without taking into account the mind-blowing sex. Not only did she carry herself with confidence, she was trustworthy and a hard worker. The fact that every time I looked at her, my heart melted just a little more, was not lost on me. In fact, it was unusual and uncomfortable and made me damned uneasy.

But somehow, I wanted more.

I leaned over, kissing her for the first time since we’d left the cabin.

She pulled away quickly, looking around to make sure we were alone.

“Who’s going to see? The trees?” I laughed.

“I’m paranoid.”

“Would it be so awful for them to see you kissing me?”

“It would be awful for them to see me kissing anyone, not just you.”

“Well, then I won’t take it personally.”

“Please don’t,” she laughed, before leaning over and kissing me herself. I pulled her into my arms, my tongue delving into her mouth. I wanted her all over again and I hoped like hell last night wasn’t just a one time thing. I needed more of Fiona and if I had any say in the matter, I was going to have a whole hell of a lot more of her.

She pulled away with a smile. “Let’s get back to work. The others might need our help.”

“Alright,” I said, rolling my eyes. I could have stayed in that meadow kissing her all day, if only we didn’t have to be responsible.

We put our helmets back on and headed back into the forest, back into the mouth of danger.

Flames whipped around us the closer we came to the downed trees. We took a quick assessment of what we were dealing with and I didn’t like the looks of it. They were hot as hell and could explode at any moment. Or, they could just burn like a tidy little backyard fire. You never knew and the unpredictability of it all is usually what gave me the biggest hard on, but with Fiona here and my quickly developing feelings for her, I was wishing like hell for a little more predictability.

“I’ll take one and you take the other,” Fiona offered. Two very large trees had fallen onto each other, both engulfed in flames. Our job was to find a way past them, without them exploding or falling on us, and I wasn’t convinced we’d succeed.

We used our chainsaws and axes to attack them, trying to work around the flames as best we could.

Harrowing and dangerous, the task required all of our attention. The slightest mistake could cause a disaster that could be more than just the two of us could deal with.

I was strong, sure, but not strong enough to pick up an entire redwood tree.

Despite my worries, we made significant progress and within a few hours time, we’d chopped our way through to the other side.

“Fuck yeah!” I shouted as we started back down the path finally.

“We did it!” Fiona cried, skipping in front of me in celebration. She turned back towards me, her smile contagious. I grabbed her waist and pulled her close. She was dirty and sweaty, but I didn’t mind.

“We work well together,” I said, leaning down and kissing her. She moaned and leaned into my body.

“Yes, we do,” she said, smiling up at me. “Let’s