Wildfire - Honey Palomino Page 0,22

able to cut you out.”

“You’re going to put that chainsaw how close to my leg?”

“As close as I can get without breaking skin, babe.”

“Ah fuck,” he groaned. “Just try not to amputate.”

“Oh, don’t worry, that third leg of yours is big enough to make up for the loss of a limb,” I teased.

He laughed, then winced in pain. “You’re funny, even in my worst moments. I like that in a woman.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” I replied, starting up my chain saw. It burst through the air with a loud echoing roar. Jesse looked away and I quickly got to work.

Chapter 27

Jesse

The pain was excruciating but I didn’t want Fiona to know that.

I was pretty sure my leg was completely crushed, but I didn’t want to freak her out, so I let her work, silently praying she didn’t saw off my leg.

Without me helping her, it was slow going.

The fact that the wind was picking up didn’t help. Flames sputtered and sparked around us, jumping several feet and starting new blazes all around us. Fiona worked silently and diligently but as the winds picked up even more, dread filled my heart.

“Fiona.”

She ignored me, her head down, concentrating intensely.

“Babe.”

“I’m getting there,” she muttered, shaking her head. She hadn’t made much progress. The tree I was lodged under was a massive redwood who’s trunk was as wide as a car.

“Fiona!” I shouted, breaking her out of her trance.

“What?” She cried, standing up and throwing a defiant hand on her hip.

“You need to leave me.”

“Oh, shut the hell up!” She rolled her eyes and I reached out a hand to touch her arm.

“I’m serious.”

“Well, tough shit. I’m not leaving you.”

“The fire is spreading. It’s going to take too long.”

She shook her head stubbornly and frustration filled my veins.

“Fiona, it doesn’t matter! I don’t care if I die.”

“Well, I do!” she shouted.

“Hey,” I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her down close to me. “Listen, I’m good, okay? I can die a happy man. I had an amazing night with you last night. I haven’t had these feelings in a long fucking time — if ever. So, it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay, Jesse,” she insisted. The wind whipped up, sending sparks shooting around us. She swatted them away, and stood back up, towering over me. “Here’s the deal. I’m in charge now, got it? Until you’re back on your feet, you need me. And I didn’t sign up for this job only to leave my partner to die in a fucking wildfire, so just lay there and shut the hell up, you understand?”

That fire was back in her eyes. The fire that left me breathless and throbbing and wanting to strip away every scrap of cloth that separated us from each other. Why did her rage make me want to take her so urgently?

I growled and turned away, unable to look at her face and be so helpless at the same time.

Fuck my leg.

Fuck these flames.

I wanted her and I wanted her now.

And for the first time, there wasn’t a goddamned thing I could do about it.

The chainsaw fired up again and she went back to work.

I had to trust her. For the first time in my entire life, I was vulnerable.

It wasn’t a good feeling.

All my life, I’d been the one in charge. I backed down to nobody and nothing, letting no obstacles get in my way. I’d never depended on another soul.

And now?

I had no choice but to let Fiona call the shots.

I sat there feeling powerless, cursed by my broken leg and my raging boner.

Chapter 28

Fiona

I kept one eye on the flames and the other on the blade of my chainsaw. The sound of the engine ripped through the air, a rare comfort of efficiency in such a chaotic situation.

If the wind turned in my favor, I’d have enough time to get through the trunk and free Jesse from its clutches. If it didn’t, I was going to be forced to make a choice I wasn’t prepared to make.

My mind refused to wrap around that scenario, so I just kept working, maintaining faith that things would work out in our favor.

They just had to.

I’d just found Jesse. I wasn’t about to lose him.

This tree I was sawing into might have been mighty and noble, but I wasn’t about to let it be the thing that took this man away from me.

I had no idea what was going to happen. His questioning me at the cabin had been too much at the time.