Page 217 of Smoke and Fire
Now I had Dahlia, and everything had changed. With her, I stared down the path of an imperfect future with the perfect woman. A flawed woman, like me.
A woman that I wanted at my side so I could help her and she could help me.
"That's what I want," I finished, brought back to the moment. "And if that's totally freaked you out, I would understand and—"
Her soft lips cut me short. She collided into me. I took a step back to keep us both upright. On instinct, my hands grabbed her waist to keep her from falling. Her body pressed into me, her smell like smoke. Her touch like fire.
I fell to her blazing inferno.
27
DAHLIA
He burned underneath me.
Bastian wrapped his arms around my back until I couldn't breathe. His chest pressed on mine, forcing our hearts together. The warmth of his mouth slanted over mine, equally intense and possessive. I tightened my hold around his neck and pulled us closer.
Just when the taste of smoke lingered at the back of my throat, he pulled away. Dazed, he blinked.
"Damn, Dahlia," he breathed.
I closed my eyes in silent agreement.
He didn't let go of me, but I loosened my hold on his waist. My feet returned to the ground, though my head played in the clouds. He kept me close, but his gaze darted to the spot where the other two firefighters had disappeared. My thoughts reeled around, consumed by his words.
Kiss you.
The burning intensity that I'd always sensed under him continued to play out now. My heart thudded wildly under my chest as Mark appeared again. I stepped away at the sound of a whinny.
"Just a sec," I murmured.
He nodded, dazed, as I slipped away. Mark led a white-and-brown colored horse that trotted a circle around him as he attempted to take her closer to the trailer. Her wild eyes glanced to me, then away. I stepped back, fading into the smoke as Mark crooned to her. She trotted in another circle, this one a little closer to the open trailer back.
"Stay back," Mark called. "She's nervous. She's the one that'll be hardest to get in. The easiest one will be last."
"How can I help?"
"Check the pins in the trailer behind your truck. You're just taking one horse, so make sure you're ready to go."
My mind spun while I stumbled toward the truck to check the trailer. How much time had passed while Bastian and I had been talking? Eternities? Two minutes? Mark was better at loading stressed-out horses than I expected.
Or maybe I couldn't fathom time now that Bastian had kissed me. While I double-checked the trailer in the thickening smoke alone, I forced my heart to comprehend what had just laid out.
Ravage you.
Maybe I don't have to do everything alone.
My mind wandered far from the smoky hills now. The outbuildings that had once been visible disappeared. Once finished with that task, I coughed and spun around to find Bastian. Questions to ask him streamed through my mind. Things I wanted to say. Apologies to make.
The sound of horses hooves on the trailer followed. A triumphant sound from Mark came next.
"Good girl," he crooned.
"Bastian?" I murmured tentatively.
He appeared out of the smoke, cheeks and face stained with a few streaks of soot. My breath caught as he closed the space between us. A step before he yanked me into his arms and laid another heart-stopping kiss on me, a voice called out, nearly muted by a blast of wind.
"Bastian! We have a new start that's taking off between here and the highway. The fire has crossed the road. We gotta get them out of here and join up with the other squadnow. She's running."
