Ben saw Jake directing the rescue efforts, urging volunteers to load the various animals in trailers, trucks and even a few in carriers into cars. Monique and Sadie had been rushing back and forth from various buildings with animals. But, throughout it all, he had yet to see Emma.

The second engine arrived right behind them and they’d managed to redirect the fire back toward the area soaked by the irrigation pipes, leaving one hose on it in case it turned again. However, the problem now was keeping the fire from the house and other structures. The sprinklers Conrad installed had been a brilliant idea and had kept the fire off the roofs of the structures; however, it hadn’t stopped it from leaping through the trees and lighting various shrubbery and trees in the enclosures. Since they weren’t able to get inside, they were fighting a losing battle, trying to keep the fire contained while animals cowered, frantic and wide-eyed, as far from the danger as possible.

Ben reached out and grasped Jake as he ran past, directing the volunteers who’d come to evacuate the large animals. “Where’s Emma?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have time to keep tabs on her.” Jake jerked himself free and grabbed his radio. “Monique, where’s Emma?”

“Aviary,” came the staticky reply.

“There,” Jake said, his tone rushed as he pointed at the building, flames creeping closer, as one of the firemen dragged a thrashing man from within. “Shit, that’s Brandon,” he muttered.

“Your brother?” Before he could get a reply, Ben saw the flash of red from Emma’s hair, reflected from the glow of the flames. She carried two cardboard carriers to the truck parked just a few feet from the entrance to the aviary and ran back inside.

“Look, I have to go,” Jake said. “We have more cats to get out and that enclosure is ready to go up.” He pointed at the large enclosure behind Ben. Cana’s pen.

“Ben,” his partner called. “I need you to circle around the far side of this enclosure. I can’t get to it from this side and it’s spreading fast.”

Jake was gone and Ben caught a glimpse of Emma just as she ran back inside the aviary. He needed to convince her to leave, to head for safety. He wanted to remind her that her life was worth more than any animal. But Ben knew she wouldn’t leave even one behind. He had to trust her to keep herself safe. The best thing he could do for her was to help her save the animals.

“Watch yourself, Mike,” Ben warned, turning back toward Cana’s enclosure and jerking his chin toward the end of the enclosure where the wolf cowered behind a concrete slab made to look like a rock, teeth bared, snarling and snapping at the fire that hissed and spit back at him. The other firefighter had no way of knowing this enclosure belonged to an abused wolf-dog.

If he didn’t get in there and stop this fire from spreading, it was going to kill Cana and he couldn’t let Emma face that, in addition to the damage the fire had already caused. He could hear sirens, this time from the ambulance and police, responding to the call. Cana had begun to tolerate him; Emma had said so herself, although, in his gear, the wolf wouldn’t know it was him. Plus Mike would have his back if the need arose. He jerked the cutters from his belt.

“Watch that wolf for me. I’m going inside to smother this. We need it out before it sparks something else.”

Mike eyed the wolf for a moment. “Go. I’ll get the fire from this side as best as I can.”

Ben clipped the chain link, breaking off the pieces until he’d cut away a chunk large enough for him to peel back and get inside, tugging the hose behind him. He glanced at Cana, who went wild. The hair on his back stood on end, making him look twice as large as normal, which was pretty enormous to begin with. His white teeth gleamed yellow from the light of the fire and Ben cursed the fact that the wolf was smoky gray, making him almost invisible through the thick smoke and dimming light.

“Watch him,” he warned Mike again before turning his back on the animal to attack what he knew was the bigger threat.

The heat was unbearable but he was able to soak the ground ahead of him, pushing back the fire line as he lifted the hose to saturate the trees. The hiss of the steam and dying fire drowned out any other sounds and he focused on getting the job done as quickly as he possibly could. Sweat poured down his arms and chest from the sheer effort as he controlled the two hundred pounds of force working against him but it was worth it as he saw the foliage darken from glowing orange to charred black. When smoke around him began to evaporate, changing from cloying thickness to a billowing cloud of white, Ben began to relax slightly. He gave the trees a final wash, trying to douse any last sparks and embers.

“Ben, watch out!”

Emma’s voice barely reached his ears as he craned his neck to see her only seconds before he was knocked, face-first, to the ground. The force of the blow knocked the hose from his hands and, luckily, off to one side. He couldn’t breathe, feeling like a boulder was on his back, until he felt the crushing pain as Cana bit into his shoulder, viciously shaking him.

“Back,” Emma yelled, running into the enclosure. “Get back, Cana!”

Ben couldn’t see anything through the mask that had sucked in, toward his face due to the lack of oxygen, suffocating him. When the wolf bit him, it must have gone through one of the airlines of his breathing apparatus. The SCBA was no longer blowing oxygen into his mask and he forced the face piece off, leaving him with his face in the charred earth. At least he could breathe. Sort of. The pain in his shoulder was excruciating and he could feel blood soaking into his clothing and the jacket.

“Cana, back. Get down.” The sound of growling was still close but the weight moved off him, making it slightly easier to breathe. “Get away!” Emma’s voice rose above the snarls of the wolf and he could see her, putting herself between him and the animal. Cana lunged slightly as she yelled back, reaching for the hose he’d dropped, ready to use it as a weapon if needed.

“Emma don’t,” he tried to warn her. “The water pressure will kill him if you turn it on.”

Water misted over them both and he could only assume Mike had turned the hose onto the animal in an effort to save them.

“Come on.” Emma pulled on his right arm, tugging him up and back toward the opening he’d cut, where Mike held a second hose, spraying toward the back of the enclosure where Cana had once been hiding, keeping the animal away from them as they escaped. “You have to get out of here.”

She coughed as she dragged him through the smoke, still rising from the scorched earth. Ben shoved her through the opening first, following behind her and ripping the helmet from his head, tossing it aside to look at her. He’d never seen a more welcome, glorious sight than her face at this moment. The thought of her running into a fire, not to mention into the middle of a wolf attack, risking her life, infuriated him.

“What in the hell do you think you’re doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Dirt smudged her cheeks and he could see blood drying against her temple. “What the hell happened?” He reached a gloved hand toward her before yanking it off and reaching for her again. “You’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine.” She gripped the front of his jacket. “Why did you go in there? You know what Cana is capable of, what he could have done to you.”

“I had to or we wouldn’t have gotten the fire out. It would have killed him.”

She shoved against the front of him, causing a spiral of pain to radiate from his shoulder to his chest. “Better him than you!” She turned away from him, walking a few steps.

“Emma? Look at me.”

When she turned back to face him, Ben could see the tears in her eyes, streaks cutting through the dirt on her cheeks, breaking his heart. She swiped at her face, smudging the dirt even more.

“You could have been killed.”

“But I wasn’t.”

“You risked your life to save my ranch, to save my animals.”

Ben shrugged and winced as pain cut through his arm. Her gaze landed on his shoulder where Cana had managed to bite through the turnout coat. Blood seeped through the jacket but most of the brunt had been taken by the SCBA harness.

“You need to have the EMTs look at that.”

“Later.” Ben couldn’t believe she’d put herself between him and the wolf. She could have been killed. Winding his arm around her waist, Ben pulled her close, dropping his mouth to hers. Emma smelled like wood smoke and earth. She tasted like sweet honey but she felt like heaven.

“Let me go. I didn’t do anything.”

Brandon struggled against the handcuffs in the backseat of Andrew’s patrol car. She’d already given her statement to Andrew so they knew Brandon had confessed to her but Emma didn’t have the self-control to approach him, she couldn’t even look at the man. She’d never been so disillusioned in her life. She’d trusted him, counted him a confidante, more than she ever had Jake. Where she and Jake had argued over the future of the ranch, Brandon had been a friend, a shoulder to cry on, a voice of reason when she’d felt like no one would listen. Now she knew it was all a ruse, a way for him to gain information to use against her.

She saw Jake approaching the back of the ambulance where she sat with Ben. Jake had been the one to get the animals off-site, or sedate those who had to stay, including Cana, until they could clean up the mess left behind by his brother’s actions.

“Emma? Do you think we could talk for a minute?” Jake hung his head sheepishly, glancing up only briefly.

She looked at Ben. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

He glared at Jake and even she didn’t miss the warning note there. “Don’t trust him,” he muttered.

Emma squeezed his hand as she rose from where they sat at the back of the truck and followed Jake a few feet away. She’d barely approached when he held up a hand.

“Emma, I’m sorry. I didn’t have any clue what Brandon was doing.”

When he met her gaze, she could see the wetness in his eyes and felt her heart constrict. She might not agree with Jake’s methods but he cared about these animals, almost as much as she did, but she also couldn’t forget that night at the bar. She wasn’t sure how to respond so she waited for him to say more.

Jake shook his head. “I just can’t believe he thought he was doing this for me. That he thought this would help anything.”

“How did you know to come here?”

“I didn’t. Not really.” He shoved his fists into his pockets. “He sent me this cryptic text that it was finally our time and that I should come say goodbye to Conrad. I was still pissed about being fired but I would have never let this happen if I’d known what he was planning. I had no clue he’d go this far.”

Emma had to respect the fact that he didn’t look away even when he admitted his anger over being dismissed. “Are you sure it hasn’t been him all along?”

“You mean, Brandon spray-painting the entrance?”

She raised her brows in silent answer.

“I . . . I don’t know anymore. I never would have believed it but now . . .” He shook his head, looking at his feet again. “I’m just glad nothing worse happened. The fire is out and I don’t think we’ve lost any animals.”

“I lost half of my alfalfa crop. Winger is loose somewhere. People were hurt; anyone could have died. Most of these animals are going to be agitated for weeks. My ranch could have burned to the ground.”

“I know.” She could see the remorse in his eyes, the guilt he felt. “I came as soon as I got his text.”

“But you saved it. If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have known about the sprinkler system. Everything would be gone,” she admitted. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. My jealousy over you running Sierra Tracks is likely the reason any of this happened.” Jake shook his head. “If I’d just—”

“Brandon is responsible for his own decisions.” She looked back at his brother in the patrol car, still yelling about his innocence. “Unless you encouraged it.”

“I didn’t,” he insisted.

“Then don’t take his crimes on your shoulders.”

“But, I—”

“Jake, stop. You have your own faults.” She twisted her mouth to one side, thoughtfully. “Look, you might be an opinionated, judgmental ass but I had a hard time believing you’d put animals in danger the way Kit was.”

Jake frowned. “Thanks a lot.”

She let her lips curve into a ghost of a grin. “Oh, come on. We’ve had plenty of differences of opinion on how this place should be run.”

Emma looked around her at the trees in the darkness, charred and bare from twenty feet up, reaching into the sky, like the skeletal fingers of so many corpses. How was she ever going to come back from this? While the buildings still stood like brick sentinels, the landscaping was destroyed, both from fire, water and being trampled or driven over. Fencing was cut in order to allow the firefighters quick access but would need repairs and she knew there were bound to be animals that were traumatized by what had happened, far beyond what she could treat.

But they’d survived. She ran a hand through her tangled hair, brushing back the strands that had fallen into her face.

“Emma, how can I help?” Jake asked, as if he could read the direction of her morose thoughts.

“I don’t know that you can. I hate to say it but I think your brother managed to achieve his goal.”

As the sun rose, Ben watched Emma as she urged Winger back into her mew. The bird circled several times, looking for her customary place to land and finally settled on the edge of one of the artificial perches over her usual tree branches.

“I’m just glad she stuck around,” Emma muttered. Ben knew she was talking to herself but he nodded anyway. Emma picked up several feathers that fell off the raptor as she flew across the mew. “I have no idea how I’m going to convince her to hunt now. She’s terrified.”

Ben had no idea how she could tell but saw no reason to doubt her. “Emma, you need to get a few hours’ sleep. Everyone is fed and safe, at least for now.”

Several enclosures had been too damaged to release the animals back inside and the occupants had either been moved to another location on the premises or transported to a new facility temporarily.

She closed the door behind her, glancing back at the bird one last time. “I need to check on Cana.”

“Okay, I’ll go with you,” Ben offered.

“No. He’s had a rough night and you might just stir him up.” She couldn’t hide her disappointment. “He was doing so well too. I’m not even back to square one with him. I’m thrown back fifty.”

“We’ll work through it.” He slid his hands to her shoulders, massaging the tension from the muscles bunched there.

“We?” Emma glanced back at him, turning to face him and letting her hands fall on his forearms as he reached for her waist, pulling her closer.

“Yeah, we. You don’t think I’d let that beast take a bite out of me and run, do you?”

“Ben,” she began, taking a deep breath.

“Don’t Emma,” he warned. “Don’t even try to push me away again.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin. She wound her arms around him, leaning into his chest, pressing her cheek against his heart. He inhaled the scent of her, the smell of smoke still lingering in her mussed hair and realized again how lucky he was that she hadn’t been hurt. Ben felt her smile just before she leaned backward, looking up at him.

“Push you away? I don’t think so.” Her eyes were bright and suspiciously damp. “I finally asked for help and you showed up. Not only did you take on the danger of your job but you took on mine too without even thinking twice.” She reached up, cupping his jaw with her hand. “You’re either the most hardheaded man I’ve ever met, or I’ve finally met someone even crazier than I am.”

“Crazy?” Ben smiled down at her. “Don’t you mean brave, daring and practically superhuman?”

Emma laughed, the sound making his pulse race and his exhausted body feel thirty pounds lighter. “No, I’m pretty sure I meant crazy.”

Before she could say any more, Ben dipped his head, capturing her mouth with his. The smoke they’d both inhaled was on her breath but he could still taste Emma—sweet, honeyed, fiery, tempestuous Emma. His tongue danced with hers in familiar intimacy and he groaned at the desire that instantly ignited. Her hands slid up his chest and her fingers curled around the nape of his neck as she sighed. Emma whimpered in protest as he withdrew and pressed his forehead against hers.

“You need to get some rest. It’s been a long day.”

“It has,” she agreed, lifting her gaze to his. “But rest isn’t what I’m thinking about.”

“No?”

She shook her head, still keeping their foreheads touching. “I’ve finally found someone who understands my need for adrenaline and wants the same, someone who feels as passionately about protecting those who can’t protect themselves and is willing to risk everything to help.” She brushed her lips over his. “I want you to stay. Not just for tonight. I want to fall asleep in your arms and wake with you, Ben McQuaid.”

“Are you saying you want to toss out the rulebook for good?”

She wrinkled her nose and gave him a guilty grin. “We probably should. I mean I broke one of the rules.”

Ben felt his chest constrict as he went down the list they’d come up with—no calling it dating, no ties, no one else . . . Damn. Please don’t let it be that one. Ben closed his eyes, waiting for her to tell him which it was.

“I promised never to lie to you and I did.”

Ben’s eyes opened, meeting her gaze, even as he prayed it wasn’t true.

“I love you, Ben. I think I have almost from the start but I just didn’t want to believe it was possible because I was too afraid to let myself trust someone else to understand me or my passion.”

Ben wound his fingers into her hair. “Are you saying I wore you down?”

She nodded, her smile beaming, her eyes alight with every bit of the emotion she professed. “But I’m glad you did.” She stood on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Now, let’s go take a shower because we both smell like smoke.”

“Umm,” he murmured against her lips. “Can I wash your back?”

“And everything else.”

He grew hard just thinking about holding her as the water washed over them. They were both bone weary but he just wanted to hold her, tonight, tomorrow and forever. She reached for his hand, dragging him toward the house. “I’m feeling a little dirty.”

He pulled her to a stop with him. He wanted to tell her, to make sure she knew exactly how much he loved her, but he wanted it to be special the first time he said it and his mind immediately went to work planning out his move. In the meantime, he didn’t plan on leaving any doubt in her mind exactly how he felt. For now, he’d have to settle for showing her how much he loved her, starting with their shower.

“Well, I think I can take care of all your needs, ma’am.”

“Can you wear the sexy turnout coat, too?” She shot him a wicked smile and a wink. “Because I’ve got a fire I need you to put out.”