Lucas couldn’t take his eyes off Naomi. She lay on her back on the floor next to him, gazing into his eyes as though she couldn’t look away, either. Her pale, soft skin was still flushed, the pink of her cheeks bringing her eyes to life. That silken red hair of hers was sprawled around her head in a soft halo. He was still trying to convince himself this wasn’t just one of his hot dreams. That they were really here. Together. In an empty room of this old house. Naked and satisfied.
“What?” she asked him lazily. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Especially like this. Disheveled and carefree. Unclothed. Fully his. After all of those months of looking at her without being able to touch her, this was the richest indulgence he could ever imagine.
Turning on her side, she wrapped her leg around him, pressing that lean body against his, fitting her curves into him. God, her skin felt like velvet.
Right on cue, his body fired up, and all of a sudden he wasn’t tired anymore.
Naomi ran her tongue over her lips, then kissed him, hijacking his consciousness. “I can’t get enough of you, Lucas Cortez.” She pulled back, eyeing him in a way that charged his body. That made him feel like he could live for that look in her eyes—like he could live for her.
“You can have as much of me as you want,” he murmured in her ear. “I’ll give you everything.” All of him. All of her dreams. He would make them happen.
Tears brightened the deep hues of her eyes. “Just you is enough.” She wriggled her hips until he was inside of her again, until he was pulsing with the feel of her tight wetness enclosing him.
Holding her gaze, he slid his hand up and over her hip until it cradled the curve of her ass, urging her closer, forging their connection deeper. She writhed against him, closing her eyes, letting her head fall back, and those desperate, greedy moans escaping her lips were almost enough to push him over the edge again.
“I forgot how amazing this was,” she gasped, bearing her hips down into his.
“Want me to remind you again?” Wrapping her in his arms, he shifted her to her back and kissed his way down her chest as he plunged into her again and again, making sure he hit every sensitive spot.
Her breathing grew ragged and she cried out, then slapped a hand over her mouth.
“You can be as loud as you want,” he said, pulling her hand away and pinning it under his against the floor.
She moaned.
“Louder,” he encouraged. “Tell me what you like.”
“All of it,” she gasped. “Everything. I never want this to stop.”
He grinned down at her. He wouldn’t be able to hold it together much longer. Not while he watched how much she was enjoying herself. That brought his own gratification to a whole new level.
Restraining himself, he kept the rhythm that seemed to bring her outside of herself. Her fingernails dug into his back and her body seized with a soft series of helpless whimpers. Letting go, he gave another good thrust and erupted inside of her, feeling the release flow out of him until he was dead weight, covering her body with his.
Their heavy breaths mingled as he turned his head to rest it on her shoulder, kissing her forehead on the way. They lay like that for a while, quiet and breathing, him stroking her arm with his fingers, a peaceful contentment ebbing and flowing within him. He wasn’t sure he’d ever felt this way before. It was so powerful, it was like a drug.
“You’re not leaving,” Naomi finally said. A note of insecurity barely hid inside the words.
“I’ll call McGowen tonight,” he murmured, covering her mouth with another kiss. “And tell him everything I want is here. You. And Gracie, too, if she’d ever have me.” He didn’t know how it would all work, or what he could do to change things with Dobbins. But they would figure it out.
Naomi moved to her side. “Gracie and I had a talk. I think the shock has worn off. She’ll forgive you.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes.” He intended to earn her forgiveness, to prove to her that he’d never intentionally hurt her.
Rolling to his side, he glanced at his watch. “Speaking of Gracie, I guess we should get some work done. Or she’s gonna wonder what we did all day.”
“I guess,” Naomi said in a sulk. “But if we get everything done fast, maybe we can take a shower.” She propped herself up on her elbow. “There is one working bathroom, you know. At least I think it works.”
“We’ll make sure to test it out,” he promised.
* * *
Lucas preferred the naked thing to being fully clothed with this woman, but he had to admit it felt good to help Naomi work on her dream. “I guess that’s it,” he said, handing her a bottle of water. In a little over an hour, they’d torn down every scrap of wood paneling and had it piled on a tarp ready to be hauled out to the dumpster.
“We make a good team.” She uncapped the water and took a swig, her eyes on his the whole time. Energy hummed through him at that desire coloring her face. They were both dusty and sweaty. Seemed to him like the perfect time to test out that shower.
With that in mind, he bundled up the tarp, making sure to seal in all the debris, and dragged it to the doorway.
“Here, I can help.” Naomi set down her water bottle and rushed over, picking up the other side.
His gaze traveled down her body. “So how big is the shower?” he couldn’t resist asking as they maneuvered their bundle through the kitchen to the front door.
“It’s small.” She shot him the smile she seemed to save just for him—shy, tempting, and brassy all at the same time. “Could be a tight fit.”
“Sounds perfect to me.” Moving faster, Lucas opened the front door. They made their way down the porch steps, hoisting the full tarp over to the driveway, where they chucked it into the dumpster.
Clapping the dust from his hands, he sidled up to Naomi, sweeping her under his arm and drawing her close. “I’m so ready for a shower,” he said, unable to resist leaning down for a kiss.
But Naomi was staring at something across the street. “What’s going on? What’re the neighbors doing?” she asked, pulling away from him.
He turned to look. A group of people were huddled together, engaged in some serious discussion, in the driveway across from the inn. He recognized a few of them: Betty Osterman, who’d taught English at Topaz High, and Gus Hubbard, who’d written for the Topaz Falls Herald since God was a boy.
“Hey,” Naomi called, heading over to join them. “Is everything okay?”
Lucas trotted over, too.
“Didn’t you hear the sirens?” Betty asked when they’d joined them. “There were so many fire trucks blazing down the street, my cat’s fur was standing on end.”
Naomi glanced back at him, her face flaming with panic. “Sirens? No. We didn’t hear anything. We were…um…doing some work in the house. Loud work.”
Loud, hot work, Lucas thought. Work he’d like to do again. Which meant they should speed up the neighborly chitchat. “What’s going on?” he asked.
Gus directed his gaze toward the mountains on the west side of town. “Wildfire,” he said, pointing. “Up near the falls. Heard all the commotion about an hour ago.”
Wildfire. Lucas squinted at the horizon, noticing for the first time an ominous plume of smoke hovering over the trees. “Near Topaz Falls?” he choked out, shifting his gaze to Naomi.
Her face had gone white.
“Far as I’ve heard, they’re settin’ up the command center at the trailhead,” the man answered. “They’re callin’ out all the volunteers. Already got people from the county up there. Sounds like it’s spreadin’ fast.”
“Oh my God.” Naomi staggered backward, grasping at his arm. “Gracie’s up there. She’s hiking.”
Betty’s hand flew to her chest. “Oh dear.”
“I’m sure everything’s fine.” Lucas took ahold of Naomi, dread churning in his gut. He couldn’t be sure. Not until he saw Gracie’s face. “We’d better get up there,” he said, leading her away from the neighbors. “Make sure they’re off the trail.”
Naomi stumbled. She clutched his arm as though she’d forgotten how to walk.
Clumsily he led her to the truck. Every motion was a blur. Somehow he got the door open and helped her climb in. “I’m sure they’re safe,” he murmured. They had to be safe.
A hit of adrenaline carried him around the truck. He jumped into the driver’s seat and gunned the engine before peeling out.
“Oh God,” Naomi cried, her face in her hands. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe I let Mark take her up there.”
“You couldn’t have known.” They’d had the perfect morning. The most perfect morning he’d had in years. “There hasn’t been lightning or anything.” Nothing was off. Nothing could’ve indicated that the bottom was about to fall out of their lives. “Must’ve been a campfire that got away or something,” he said, still trying to cut through the fog of shock.
Naomi’s hands shook violently as she dug her phone out of her pocket. “Mark hasn’t called.” She tapped the screen and held it up to her ear. “And his phone goes straight to voicemail.”
“There’s hardly any reception up there,” he assured her, doing his best to override the panic trying to sneak into his tone. He never got service around there. The trailhead wasn’t that far from his favorite fishing spot, so he knew. But his heart still raced with movement of the truck’s speedometer. “I bet they’re waiting for us at the trailhead.” He ran his hand up and down her arm. “Maybe Mark wanted to stick around and see if there was anything he could do to help out.”
“I hope so,” she whimpered. “Please.”
The whispered prayer drilled into his heart, echoing over and over. Please.
The speedometer inched up until they were traveling well over the town’s thirty-mile-per-hour limit. He avoided Main Street, taking the neighborhood avenues instead, and sure enough, once they’d made it to the west side of town, they saw a cloud of thick, ugly smoke mushroom over the mountain.
“Oh my God,” Naomi gasped, digging her fingers into his arm.
The sight shattered his breath. That wasn’t smoke from a couple of trees burning. It looked like the whole damn forest was on fire.
He blitzed out onto the highway and veered off onto the county road that switchbacked up into the trees.
The small parking lot at the Topaz Falls trailhead was crowded with fire trucks and police cars and SUVs, all in a flurry of activity. Lucas parked on the road and helped Naomi climb out of the truck. In the chaos, he spotted Dev standing near Mark’s car.
Hand in hand, they raced in that direction. “Has anyone come off the trail?” he yelled even before they’d reached Dev.
“No.” Dev glanced at the car. “I was just getting ready to run the plates, figure out who it belongs to.”
“Mark and Gracie,” Naomi wheezed, her hand clutching her chest. “They left a few hours ago. Around nine.”
The deputy’s mouth formed a grim frown. “And you haven’t heard from them since?”
“No,” she whispered, tears sliding down her cheeks.
Lucas gathered her against his side.
“I’ll call up search and rescue, get a team out there.” Dev gave Naomi’s shoulder a squeeze. “I’m sure they’re all right. Maybe they came down a different way because of the smoke.” He stepped away and barked into a radio.
Naomi wriggled out of Lucas’s grasp and turned to stare up at the mountain. He looked, too. The acrid scent of burning wood made his eyes water.
“Lucas,” she whispered. “Where are they?”
He didn’t know. He didn’t know if they were up there. Or down at the road. Or lost somewhere in between. But he couldn’t stand here and do nothing. He couldn’t be helpless. “I want to go,” he said, turning to Dev. “I want to be on the team.”
“Too dangerous.” The deputy shook his head. “We’ve got plenty of trained volunteers.”
Where were they? Lucas scanned the parking lot. People were running back and forth, talking, looking at maps, but no one was heading up the damn trail. “Where are the volunteers?” he demanded. “Are they here yet?”
“Not yet. Still getting mobilized.”
He released his hold on Naomi, blood pounding in his head. “Then I’m going up. Now.”
“I can’t let you go, man.” Dev shifted as though he wanted to block his way. “Sorry. The situation is too volatile. You know how dry it’s been. Wind’s shifting all over the place. No way to tell which way this thing is moving.”
Lucas had never wanted to deck a police officer. Ever. Until right now. “You can’t stop me.”
“I can cuff you,” Dev threatened. “Lock you in the back of my cruiser.”
Lucas stared the man square in the face. “Just give me twenty minutes. I’ll run up and see how things look, see if there’s any sign of them.”
The deputy hesitated, glancing around like he wanted to assess the possibility of anyone overhearing.
“You’d do the same thing,” Lucas persisted. “You know you would.”
“Fucking hell,” the deputy growled out. “Fine.” He reached into his patrol car and pulled out a radio, shoving it into Lucas’s hands. “Take this, you stubborn bastard. You keep in touch or I’ll come up there myself and pull you off the trail.”
Lucas clipped the radio to his belt. “I will. I promise.”
“I’m coming, too.” Naomi grabbed ahold of his shirt.
“No.” He lifted her chin, looked down at her. “You have to stay.” Across the parking lot, he saw Darla drive up. She’d been on the volunteer force for years. Hooking his arm through Naomi’s, he pulled her over to Darla’s car. Right as the woman stepped out, he ambushed her. “Mark and Gracie are up there. I need you to stay with Naomi.”
“Shit.” Darla’s eyes went wide. “You’re going after them?”
“I have to.” He couldn’t watch Naomi suffer this way. The smoke was getting so thick. So black. What if they’d passed out from smoke inhalation? “I don’t want Naomi to be alone.”
Judging from the way she clung to him, she didn’t want him to go. Her eyes were wide, glazed with a look of shock.
Darla nodded briskly. “Of course I’ll stay with her.” She moved in closer to her friend. “It’ll be all right, honey,” she said, gently peeling Naomi’s grip from Lucas.
Before he turned, he kissed her forehead. “I’ll find them,” he promised. “You stay with Darla. Okay? I have a radio. Let me know if they come back.”
“No!” Naomi clawed at his shirt. “I’ll come with you. We can look together.”
Lucas shot Darla a glare. She wouldn’t make it. Her body shook so hard she couldn’t even stand up straight. “You need to stay here,” he said as gently as possible. “Just hold on, baby. I won’t come back without them.”