Page 8 of Redwood Blaze (Black Timber Peak Hotshots #1)

SEVEN

RUSTY

I hit send to Cole’s number.

“Hey, Rusty, you make it to the Himbaugh’s?—”

“No, change of plans, we’re going to your cabin. I need to make sure she’s alright.”

“Oh, okay, not a problem. Do you know why she had to leave their place?”

“I think she has a crazy ex on her tail.”

“Oh, shit… that’s why…”

“Why what?”

But my phone signal drops. It happens out here. It’s hit and miss, not or . When it comes to finding more than one bar.

I swear to God, he touches one hair on her pretty blonde head and I’ll rip his arm out of the socket.

The road to Cole’s cabin is a winding one and there’s one bridge that sometimes isn’t quite so much a bridge as a floating island when the run off is at its height in the spring. But when I get there, it’s pretty solid. I inch over and when I’m on the other side, I park behind his house.

I bring out my compass and hold it up with my phone as a light.

That way.

I start out toward the Himbaugh’s shack.

It’s not a cabin and it’s not a house. It’s not even a shanty.

It’s a shack. I wouldn’t let my worst enemy live there.

Mr. Himbaugh doesn’t use it for sleeping, only for a place to park his Jeep when he’s heading to Pine Creek to fish for rainbow trout.

Mrs. Himbaugh won’t even come out to the “Possum Palace,” as she calls it, anymore.

I think I hear footsteps and I slow my gait. I don’t want to call out. It’s dangerous to let wildlife know where you are, especially bears that are ending their hibernation. They are hungry. Eat anything that has blood hungry.

The sound washes over my ears again.

“I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine.”

I hear the mantra sounding over and over and I wonder if she really is what she’s claiming. I don’t want to scare her, so I pull out my phone and text her.

Rusty: I can hear you.

“Rusty?” she shout-whispers.

“Over here!”

In less than thirty seconds, I’ve got my arms wrapped around a woman who sets my soul on fire. I clasp her face and put my forehead to rest on hers.

“Are you okay?”

“I should have told you.”

“And I’m sure you will. Let’s get into Cole’s cabin.”

“He could be following me.”

“Then I guess he’ll have to meet me and my two good friends.” I hold up my right fist. “Bam.” And I hold up my left fist. “Pow.”

She shakes her head. “Such a goofball.”

I smile seeing some of her anxiety release. “Let’s get inside. There’s not only crazy exes out here. There’s also bears and moose.”

“Good point.” She slings her small ruck over her shoulder, but I grab it and pull it over mine.

“Thanks.”

“I got you, babe.”

Now, we need to talk.

I know where Cole’s extra key is. I’ve been here to check on the place when he’s out of town. It’s a nice two-bedroom place. I’m what they call a year-rounder at the Hotshots HQ. I don’t have another home. When I want a break, I rent a place and go.

I open the front door and reach to the switch but think better of it. If this dude tries to track her, we don’t need to give him any hints that someone’s here.

Setting down her ruck, I turn and find her eyes sweeping the room like a caged animal.

“Hey, hey, I’m here.” I lift her chin. I hate seeing her so on edge. “you’re okay.”

She shakes her head. “If he’s out of jail or prison, I’m never going to be okay.”

“He was in one of those?”

“And then he got parole.”

She tells me the story and some of it makes me sad, some of it makes me mad, and some of it makes me see blood red behind my eyes. The man is a sadistic freak. He prides himself on emotional and mental warfare.

“And I was found at the bottom of the stairs with a cracked collarbone.”

I wonder if I should even touch her. I don’t want her to feel any pressure from another man. “Baby… I mean Millie, hell, maybe I should be calling you Supe Archer…” I run a hand through my hair.

She grabs my elbow and brings my hand to her chest, placing my palm over her heart. “Do you feel this?”

It’s not as frantic as I expected. It’s definitely calmer than mine’s beating right now.

“You do that to me. You calm my fears. I’ve always tried to fight my own battles, even when I knew I’d probably lose. But I need to realize that there are people who want to fight with me.”

“Bab— Millie…”

She leans forward and puts her lips on mine, maybe to shut me up, but I’m assuming because she wants to. When she backs away, her blue eyes glisten. “You can call me ‘baby’ when we’re alone, Millie when we’re around people in the community, and Supe Archer at HQ.”

“I like that, baby.” I peck her lips and lift her onto my lap.

She snuggles in. “He is a monster, Rusty.”

“Then I’ll be the monster-slayer.”

She nuzzles her forehead against my neck and I pull her closer. I can’t remember how long it’s been now that I’ve wanted to hold her. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“We’re safe here.” I rub her back slowly.

“Safe isn’t a word I’ll ever use when he’s looking for me.”

The way she says it sends a chill down my spine.

She’s seen some shit, but only because of this man. To think that she fled into the forest to fight raging infernos just to get away from him… that tells me something.

He was worse than potentially being burned alive.

“Why is your name Rusty?” she asks, her fingers playing a piano on my chest.

“My dad gave me the nickname.”

“And why?”

“It’s embarrassing.”

She looks up and cocks her head expectantly. “And…”

“Because one time we were at our grandparent’s farm and I was six or seven and my dad caught me licking rust because I thought it looked like Doritos dust.”

She doesn’t move and then her whole body starts shaking. “You’re making that up!”

I huff. “Nope. Most people think it’s because of my red hair, but he called me Callum up to that point and then I became ‘Rusty.’”

Millie’s laughter starts to roll from her and although I used to be afraid to tell people, this time, I start to laugh with her.

“Did it taste like Doritos dust?”

“Not that I can remember. My dad said I kept trying to wash my tongue off, so I’d guess not.”

“Wash your tongue off!” she exclaims and her ass wiggles against my lap as she laughs.

“You think that’s funny?” I tickle her in the ribs and she squirms more. I do it a little more and she falls back onto the couch rolling in a fit of giggles.

I lean over her and she slowly stops laughing. Her hands cup each side of my face. “I wanted to love you from the day I met you, but I couldn’t trust myself to know if you were good or not.”

Her words cut into me. She’s been broken by a man, but I want to put the pieces back together.

I lean over and lightly brush a kiss across her lips. “I’ll wait for you to trust?—”

“I do, Callum. I trust you.” She pulls my face to hers and her lips are like soft pillows of sweetness.

She scrambles back to straddle my waist. “I need you.”

“Right now?”

“I’ve wanted you for the last two years. If something happens, I want to remember that I trusted again.”

My heart twists in my chest. If I only get one chance to make love to her, I won’t waste it.

A wild glint in her eyes brings my pulse to life.

Our breaths ignite the space between us.

We’ve danced around this moment for weeks…

months… two fucking years. Each stolen glance and lingering touch stoking the fire of our unspoken desires.

But tonight feels different. Tonight, uncertainty looms over tomorrow, and neither of us wants to wake up with regret hanging in the air.

Her lips brush against mine, tentative yet electric, asking more than demanding and sending a shiver of fearlessness coursing through me.

I reach for her face, pulling her closer until our mouths crash together— wild, desperate, overwhelming.

My fingers tangle in her hair as she wraps her arms around me and hugs me closer.

Her chest presses into mine and I groan into her mouth.

My hands explore her back, tracing the curves that remind me of my dreams, but now truly a reality.

The couch creaks beneath us as we press into the cushions, our bodies entwined in chaos.

Her thighs press against my hips, grinding her body against mine.

My cock pulses with need. I lift her shirt and mine is discarded just as quickly.

The pace is frantic, almost insistent, but it also feels right.

It’s everything I’ve waited for. Intimacy that is both reckless and freeing.

Like we’re two sticks of dynamite and the fuse has been lit.

To put it out now would stop a destiny that was set forth when she first stepped through the doors of BTP HQ.

Her heart races with every inch of skin that connected to mine. I can taste the salt of her skin, the heat of her pussy, warming my hard cock.

My hands explore her body, finding every inch of her skin that craves a touch. I dig my fingers into her hips, pulling her flush against me.

“Millie…” I murmur, my voice thick and taut with need. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

She lets out a breathy laugh, as she grinds her hips against me. “Oh, I feel what I do, honey. And I want to feel every inch.”

Her hands frantically unbuckle my belt and I lift my ass so she can shed the unwanted clothing to the floor. She lowers her chinos and underwear and steps out of them. And here we are.

It’s no longer a dream.

But it’s almost too real how much I love this woman.