by Karen Anders
Lana gritted her teeth. “Yes. Get the ladder up and I’ll get through.”
Lana knelt down and checked Angie. Her eyes were open wide, but she was having difficulty breathing. “Hang in there, honey. Breathe.”
Lana chose a place on the wall and gripping her ax, she struck firmly. Plaster sprayed, hitting her SCBA mask and bouncing off. Wood splintered and flew all around her as she relentlessly attacked the wall.
She turned to check Angie. When she saw the little girl’s eyes drooping, she called out, but Angie didn’t respond. Lana abandoned the wall, grabbed the little girl and shook her.
Angie’s blue eyes popped open.
“Stay awake, sweetheart,” Lana pleaded. She took her air mask and put it over the girl’s face. “Breathe.”
Lana replaced the mask over her face. She went back and started to attack the wall again.
The wall gradually gave way. As soon as she could see through to the other side, she went back to Angie, picked her up and ran at the partially open wall.
Crashing through, Lana landed heavily on her right shoulder. She went to the window. They were already wheeling the ladder into place. As soon as hands reached out to help her, she gave the girl over.
“She’ll need an EMT. I’m going back for O’Neill.”
Through the chopped hole in the wall Lana reentered the bedroom emerging into the living room.
“Sean?”
“I’m almost through,” he yelled. Lana once again swung her ax. The familiar sound of her SCBA whistling told Lana she had a quarter of a tank of air left.
She started to pant inside the mask, knowing that her exertion was using up the precious oxygen more rapidly.
When the whistling stopped, Lana doubled her efforts, her swings increasing at a rapid pace. She only had ninety seconds of air left.
Just when she felt blackness playing around the edge of her consciousness, she could hear Sean’s efforts on the other side.
When she broke through, Sean grabbed up the girl. Lana gestured Sean ahead of her.
As Sean handed the girl through the window, Lana fumbled with her mask, going down to her knees. There was no air and her hands couldn’t seem to grasp the straps to get it off.
“Dempsey?”
It was Sean’s voice and she couldn’t respond.
She started to black out, but he ripped the mask from her face.
Grabbing her under the arms he pulled her toward the window. Pure sweet oxygen flowed against her nose and mouth and she breathed in greedily. When she opened her eyes, Sean was holding her up, his handsome face covered with soot and sweat.
Her heart turned over in her chest. On the job, she was always professional around Sean, never letting on about how she was feeling, but for a moment her emotions rose up and broke away from her control.
He stared into her eyes for that moment, and in them she saw the worry and the concern and something dark and tempting.
“Can you move? It’s too hot to hang around here,” he said, breaking the mood.
She smiled at him and nodded. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”
Lana climbed down the ladder, shocked to see how much of that floor was engulfed in flames. When she reached the bottom, the chief was there. He was eyeing the building and then looked at her. “That was a fine job, Dempsey.”
She nodded at him and turned to find Sean at her elbow. “Nothing like cutting it close.”
“You know me, O’Neil. Always on the edge.”
Sean laughed.
“Do you two need a breather?”
“No, sir,” they replied.
“Take another line in,” the chief said.
After going back for replacement SCBAs, Lana beat Sean to the hose and, along with two other firefighters, headed for the building.
Smoke was now pouring out of the lobby doors along with a constant rain of water. The lobby was now engulfed in flames and while Lana turned on the hose, she wondered how that could have happened. But with no time to contemplate it, she forged ahead.
The building groaned and Lana looked up and saw cracks developing in the ceiling above her. Burning plaster began to rain down and then a huge chunk of ceiling started to fall. Someone hit her in the middle of her back and she went down, losing her grip on the hose. It started to serpentine like a snake as it whipped back and forth. She heard a thud and turned in time to see Sean fall. It was like everything was in slow motion. Lana didn’t hesitate. She was up and moving, discovering that the other two men were down, too. She was able to rouse Smitty, a veteran. She grabbed her radio and shouted into it that the lobby ceiling was collapsing. Smitty grabbed one of the downed firefighters and lifted him into a fireman’s carry.
Sean’s head had been injured. She bent down and muscled Sean onto her shoulders.
It was no easy task. The man weighed a ton, all that muscle and he was tall to boot. He must be at least six-two to her five-nine.
When she got him outside and lowered him to the pavement, she saw even more blood trickling down his temple. The gash was the only abrasion she could see. She checked his breathing and he was holding his own.
Another loud crash sounded at her back, but it barely registered with her. She never even looked over her shoulder.
She unbuckled the strap and removed his hard helmet. She worked efficiently and quickly.
“Sean,” she said over and over. When his eyes popped open, Lana found herself staring into deep pools of intense gray.
Two paramedics came over and Lana backed up, letting them take care of Sean.
For a moment, she couldn’t breathe. She just stared at him, her chest feeling tight. When he sat up, and insisted he was all right, a weakness buckled her knees.
But she couldn’t give into it. It was an unspoken rule that firefighters never discuss their fear, especially for her. It would look weak to her fellow fire-fighters if she acted like a worried mother hen. Sean would never live it down and she’d be ribbed about it mercilessly.
A firefighter she didn’t know came to stand next to her. He had soot on his face, but it was odd how his turnout coat and pants seemed brand-new.
“Way to go,” he said softly, “That was awesome the way you pulled him to safety.”
Lana could see the obvious look of respect on his face and she gave him a nod.
It was a nice gesture, but she didn’t care what he thought about her rescue. It wasn’t something that she had done for his respect. At this moment, all she wanted to do was touch Sean to make sure he was all right.
While the paramedic dabbed at Sean’s cut, he searched around him. His eyes met hers. Experiencing the same rush of feelings she’d had only a moment ago, Lana found herself close to tears. They stared at each other for a few moments, releasing a funny fluttering sensation in her chest.
It was then she realized that she was going to follow through on seducing Sean. She cherished their friendship, but only now realized that experiencing physical passion with him was something she’d always felt was lacking in their relationship. Unspoken or not, she was going to have Sean O’Neill purely because she wanted him.
Relief washed over her and she let out a sigh to expel the tension in her body. He smiled at her then, a big, beautiful grin that lit up his handsome face and made her knees buckle all over again, but for decidedly different reasons.
She drew back suddenly afraid.
Blinking back the tears and stowing the overpowering urge to pull Sean into her arms, she turned away, went to the big red rig, gathered up another air tank and turned toward the fire.
Her work here still wasn’t done.
MURMURS AND RUSTLINGS about the fire being arson filtered down to Lana. A firefighter breaking down the Fourth floor found a suspicious area in one of the apartments. There was evidence of flammable liquid called accelerants, which was substantiated by the clear burn line or demarcation on the carpeting where the arsonist set down trailers of the accelerant and ignited them.
Lana “k
nocked down” the fire ground including the tedious, but crucial task of checking all the burned materials for lingering embers. The debris would be put into a pile that would be pulled out later and dumped in the street. The remains of the fire would then be hosed down.
The call had come in at two o’clock in the morning and Lana’s arms now felt like lead from swinging her ax and hauling debris. She’d been busy for almost seven hours. She was currently working in the basement, and as she paused she noticed spalling in the cement on one side of the basement. Spalling, which was cracked concrete, was caused by intense heat and it was odd that the basement would have shown any signs of that. A fire normally burned upward, not outward and never downward. Flames were drawn toward ventilation and followed fuel paths.
It could only mean that someone had started a fire in the fourth floor apartment and the basement.
Lana bent down and took a closer look at the charred area and knew that she’d been right. Someone had intentionally set this fire hoping that people would die.
Disbelief washed through her. Could she be reading the signs wrong? It was incomprehensible that a person would deliberately set two fires designed to keep the residents trapped and unable to escape.
She stopped her work and alerted the battalion chief who promised to pass the information onto the arson investigator.
But the whole incident left her feeling restless and unsatisfied.
Impatiently she continued to clean out the basement, waiting for the investigator to show up.
Finally he walked in and her heart sank.
Dane Bryant was a large man and came from the old school of firefighting. He didn’t approve of women in the ranks and didn’t hide that fact from anyone. He had the look of a bully about him, the kind of man who only sought out positions of authority to give him a sense of power over other people.
He grunted at her and she pointed to the area where she had discovered the spalling.
Dane bent down and examined the area while Lana watched over his shoulder. He shifted and blocked her view and a little tendril of anger sprouted in her.
She moved over so that she could see what he was doing.
“Dempsey, don’t you have something constructive to do?”
His tone of voice was very clear. He doubted she could be trusted to change a lightbulb let alone be competent to spot signs of arson.
Eyes narrowed in annoyance, Lana said very succinctly, “Yes, Lieutenant Bryant, I have something to do.”
He turned to look at her, his pale eyes narrowed.
“And what’s that?”
“My job.”
He snorted, clenching his jaw. “Well, I’m doing mine and I say you’re wrong.”
“It’s spalled.”
“Sure it is, but the fire was strong down here.”
She used his words to strengthen her argument and insisted, “But how do you explain it? Fire never descends.”
“This whole place collapsed. This fire was most likely caused by burning debris from above.”
“Why not take a sample of the soil and test it for accelerants? This arsonist has come close to killing people. He’s not going to stop now.”
He stepped closer to her, an attempt at intimidation, but Lana held her ground never giving an inch.
“I know my job, Dempsey and can muddle through without your expert opinion.” The mocking expression on his face made her anger burn hotter than the fire just extinguished. He would undoubtedly laugh at her if she lost control and smirk at her if she backed down. It was a no-win situation.
“If you give her enough time, Bryant, she’ll browbeat you into complying.”
Sean’s voice penetrated the thick air and Lana moved away from Bryant as Sean came into her view.
“What will it hurt to take a soil sample?” Sean asked.
“Butt out, O’Neil. I don’t need you and her ganging up on me.” He brushed past Lana, making her stumble to the side.
Sean’s strong arms reached out to steady her.
Something flashed bright hot inside of her, a pure reaction to the emotions, emotions she couldn’t express. “I don’t need you standing up for me like some big brother. I can fight my own battles.”
Wrenching herself away, she walked out of the burned building, knowing that her anger was more directed at the fact that Sean felt she needed protection at all.
And she’d caught a glimpse of that white bandage against his dark skin. Her heart had wrenched in her chest telling her she still wasn’t ready to pull Sean into her arms and start something foolish.
Their past relationship was one of keeping their sexual distance. Platonic friends they were not. Lana knew this. You didn’t lust after a platonic friend and she lusted after Sean. He had never verbalized his interest in her, but a woman knew when a man was interested. It was an instinctive thing. Lana knew if she made any attempt to seduce Sean, he would cave into the seduction without much of a struggle.
The souvenir dare now added a whole new spin to a workable relationship. They could pretend to be friends and pals as long as they didn’t give in to their baser instincts. The dare both excited her and scared her. She was moving into a new area with Sean and she wasn’t sure that it was a good idea. But the thought of finally seeing Sean naked and having his body take hers was more than she could deny she wanted.
Sometimes, fighting fire was the least of her battles.
2
SEAN CAUGHT UP TO HER as she was stepping up to the rig to sit down. She was exhausted and dirty. She was angry with not only Sean and Bryant, but herself as well.
She didn’t look at Sean as he settled next to her.
“Why didn’t you go home or to the hospital?” Her tone was belligerent as if she was trying to start a fight. Sometimes it was easier that way. Her feelings often surged to the surface at the end of a tough fire. They were hard to contain. The things she saw could haunt her for days unless she blew off steam.
Hiding her emotions from a man she wanted to get into her bed wasn’t easy. Lana was a straightforward person and said what she thought most of the time, but with Sean she held back. Their relationship wasn’t just man to woman or firefighter to firefighter. They were friends and had been friends for years. Had she always had a crush on him or had it developed? She couldn’t remember when she’d gotten these feelings for him. Perhaps she’d always had them.
“Leave a fire? No way. Besides, I was fine, just a little bit of a headache.”
She knew exactly how he felt. To leave a fire was sacrilege. To leave a fire and not make sure that all the bases were covered bothered her, too. The fact that Bryant had pushed her suspicions aside because he didn’t like women firefighters was troubling, too. This shouldn’t be about gender. It was about saving lives and catching whoever was setting these fires.
The thoughts chased themselves around in her head and Lana knew that she was going to do something about it. Bryant could go to hell.
When the engine pulled into the station, Lana jumped down and cleaned her tools, checking and restocking her belt. Sean worked close by, but Lana didn’t engage him in conversation. She still felt too raw with emotion to speak. If she’d been going off-shift, she would have headed over to talk to Sienna or Kate, but that wasn’t possible.
It was best to shower, eat and sleep since she’d be on duty another twenty-nine hours. Not a bad schedule most of the time, Lana liked the two days on and four days off.
The showers were coed and afforded no privacy, so Lana had to wait until the men were finished before she could take hers. Lana simply put a sign on the door when it was her turn.
Distracted, Lana didn’t realize that someone was still in the showers, until she heard the water come on. She had already taken off her grimy clothes and with honed reflexes she grabbed up her towel and wrapped it around her body, tucking the end in snugly between her breasts.
That’s when she saw the discarded pile of clothes. She recognized the badge on the shirt. Glancing
back toward the door, she realized that they wouldn’t be interrupted. The dare reverberated in her head. She had pushed her friend Sienna to go after her hot Navy SEAL. How could she back down now and miss an opportunity to take what she wanted from Sean?
She approached the open stall and her breath caught. He stood with his back to her, the powerful muscles of his torso gleamed under the heated spray of the shower.
Her eyes moved down lower, unable to stop the sudden need to see every inch of his virile strength. Fat rivulets cascaded down his wet, gleaming skin, over the thick muscles of his powerful buttocks, tangling in the golden whorls of hair covering his legs.
Steam eddied and curled around the misty bathroom from the hot flowing water. She breathed, “Oh my,” unable to tear her eyes away from the magnificence of his muscular body. She forgot to swallow, or breathe, or blink, gaping at him, as if he were an alien creature. Obviously hearing her whispered explicative, he stilled, his back muscles taut and sleek. He turned and the movement brought her gaze to his smoky eyes, flaming brightly.
His luxurious blond hair was slicked back off his face, the locks dripping water over his broad shoulders.
She watched in fascination. The droplets slid tantalizingly over the molded contours of his pectoral muscles, down over the rippling strength of his stomach, disappearing into the dark hair at his groin. Her eyes remained there, her pulse jumping in rapid succession, her breathing increasing into little puffs, desire curling inside her. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw what her scrutiny did to him.
She should leave. She should back up and walk out of the room, but even as she thought it, she couldn’t follow through.
She wanted him, she thought quickly, and her body answered with a thrumming response over which she had no control. But fear grew in her, a fear of herself, her emotions, her heart.
She could see the desire in his eyes. His arousal had been instantaneous, just from having her eyes on him. She was playing with pure, unadulterated fire, and she had no business standing here ogling him as if he were hers.
