Fire in the Smokies (Durham Wolves) (2 page)

Was his mate the missing firefighter? A man?

He backed up a step. Took several short breaths. His head twitched back and forth as though in denial. He couldn’t stop it. He’d never once considered himself attracted to men. Maybe there was a woman in the cave also? Another deep inhale.

Nope, one scent. Faint, but just the one. Not particularly identifiable.

God, let there be someone else hiding in a cave today besides a fireman.

A missing hiker? What were the chances?

His vision began to clear. He blinked back the smoky film causing him to squint and stepped farther into the cave.

Do I have some latent subconscious tendencies toward men I was unaware of? Why on earth would my mate be a man?

A gasp made him jerk his gaze to the left. Movement. Shuffling. Deep wheezing breaths. A flash of yellow. More movement. Scampering.

Jaxon approached gingerly. His paws made almost no sound as he inched forward. He stopped.

The fireman sat, hunkered really, against the wall. His boots scraped the hard-packed ground in front of him in desperation as if he could perhaps push himself through the solid rock behind his back if he could get enough purchase.

Jaxon tipped his head to one side. His brain scrambled. The fireman was covered from head to toe with flame-retardant clothing. Soot covered the yellow, almost completely obscuring any evidence of color. Even his face was covered—goggles, a mask, helmet.

No wonder Jaxon could barely scent the man.

He hesitated. Considered running from his destiny. What the hell was he going to tell his brothers? His mate was a fireman? Could he be mistaken?

Shit
. Jaxon suddenly focused on his error. He was in wolf form. The guy was fucking petrified because a goddamn wolf had entered his hideout. Jaxon had been so focused on finding evidence of a human in the area, he hadn’t thought further. Adrenaline pumping, he’d concentrated only on the remote hope someone was alive in this cave.

And here he was, standing on four paws, staring down a fireman as though he intended to eat him.

Jaxon shivered, shook his entire body as he would after being caught in the rain.

He had to shift before the man had a heart attack. This wasn’t the way he ever planned to reveal himself to anyone. Hell, he’d never shifted in front of another human in his life, with the exception of Sergius’s mate, Juliana.

It couldn’t be helped. And besides, whatever weirdness fate had in store for him right now, he might as well get the whole I’m-a-wolf-shifter-and-you’ll-have-to-get-over-it thing out of the way now.

Jaxon didn’t take his eyes off the frightened firefighter. Bones popped, limbs lengthened, hair receded. In moments Jaxon stood before the man, naked…and human.

The fireman didn’t move a muscle. He appeared to not even be breathing.

Jaxon cleared his throat. “Sorry. There was no other way.” He knelt in front of the man and held his hands out, palms up. What difference did it make that he was naked? It wasn’t as though the guy hadn’t seen a cock before…

“I think you can breathe in here right now. The air isn’t too bad.” Jaxon reached for the man’s protective helmet with slow calculated movements. He didn’t want to scare the guy to death, but he did want to see what was under the hardhat.

Jaxon’s hand shook more than he would have liked as he tugged the helmet off. “I didn’t mean to…reveal myself like that. I wasn’t thinking when I came barreling in here looking for you. I—”

Jaxon froze with the helmet held in midair.
Holy mother of God
.

Suddenly the firefighter wasn’t the only one not breathing. Jaxon could feel his heart beating, but he didn’t think he’d ever be able to inhale again in this lifetime.

Long blond curls fell from the helmet seemingly in slow motion. They cascaded down until they sprang back, bouncing as though they belonged in a photo shoot for some feminine shampoo. Emphasis on the word feminine.

The helmet slipped from Jaxon’s fingers and landed on the hard ground with a loud clatter. He swallowed. His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

Synapses fired from one side of his head to the other as he made sense of the picture in front of him.

This was no fire
man
. This was a woman.

And she still wasn’t breathing. And his dick thanked God
she
was a
she
and sprang to life. And, oh…he was naked.

Jaxon licked his lips and reached for her protective goggles. His hands shook considerably more than they had moments ago as he lifted the eyewear off her face and stared into her deep blue eyes. Huge eyes. Frightened eyes.

“Oh, God. I thought…” Jaxon let the goggles fall from his hand. A lock of silky hair caught in his fingers and he let the tresses dangle between them as they cascaded to her shoulders.

He let go with a start, as though she’d shocked him. “Wow, umm…” He abruptly stood and turned away.

Hastily he retraced his steps back to the entrance to the cave. Hands trembling, he grabbed his pack and yanked it open. His fingers quickly found his jeans. He shook the denim free of the pouch and stepped into them with more haste than he’d ever donned clothing in his life. In fact, he hobbled a bit on each leg as he tried to maintain his balance on one foot and then the other. His cock grew larger by the second, knowing his mate sat behind him. Jaxon didn’t bother with the button. The partially raised zipper would have to suffice for now.

When he turned back around he found his mate still sitting in the same spot. He doubted she’d even blinked yet.

Soot covered her face, having found its way in between the edges of her helmet and mask. The only clean area was the figure-eight space where the goggles had rested.

Jaxon approached slower this time. “Sorry for the…” God, what was he supposed to say?
Sorry to shift in front of you? Sorry I was naked? Sorry to inform you we are destined to spend our lives together?

Chapter Two

Brianna White stared at the man in front of her, unable to move a muscle. Was it possible she’d actually perished in the fire instead of escaping into this cave? Or better yet, perhaps she died of smoke inhalation or something after entering the cave.

Seemed plausible when she considered the god of a man who’d suddenly appeared naked before her very eyes. Surely, she’d been good enough on earth for God to have given her such a gift upon entering heaven. She certainly deserved such a gift after the last several years of celibacy she’d endured trying to make something of herself as a firefighter.

The work was tough, but it had been her dream, and no man was going to stand between her and her dream.

On the other hand, if this was heaven, why was she still in the cave, a haze of smoke smearing her view? And why was she still encumbered with full fire gear, hot, tired and thirsty?

Brianna swallowed the lump in her throat. She closed her eyes as the sexy man approached her for the second time, this time wearing low-slung jeans that had been made to fit his exact body. They hung open in front just enough to glimpse the dusting of sexy brown hair she’d witnessed in its entirety moments before.

She silently wished he’d remained nude. It was her heaven after all. She hadn’t ordered the bronzed, muscular male specimen to get dressed.

He hunched down in front of her as her gaze wandered from his torso to his deep brown eyes. Concern furrowed his brow. “You okay?”

He didn’t touch her this time.

She had a fleeting thought she should reach out and grasp him, just to prove he was real and not a figment of her imagination.

On second thought, now that her mind was clearing, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. He certainly had to be all in her head. This was indisputable since she’d also witnessed him change from a wolf to a man.

Brianna licked her lips. “Fine.” How did one address the first ghost they met after death?

“I’m really sorry about…everything,” the man repeated for the third time. He waved his hand around behind him as though to encompass all activities of the past few minutes. “I’ve never done anything like that before… I mean not in front of anyone. I wasn’t thinking straight. Your scent threw me off my game.” He smiled, a wry grin that lifted only one side of his mouth.

Sure, that explained everything.

“My scent?” What was he babbling about? Smoke?

The man leaned forward, his chest muscles straining and bulging inches from her. He inhaled deeply and his eyes fluttered closed for a moment.

“You don’t know how happy I am you’re a woman.”

What?
Was this man on drugs? Maybe she’d hit her head and wasn’t even dead yet, just concussed.

“Excuse me?” Brianna shook her head to clear her mind. Nothing happened.

“I’m Jaxon. Jaxon Durham. Not like Michael Jackson. J-A-X-O-N.” He reached toward her but not with the intention of shaking her hand in introduction. Instead he gently wiped the side of her face with his fingers.

The moment he made contact with her skin, Brianna sucked in a ragged breath. Warmth filled her, not just where he touched, but her entire body, as though she were…home.

I must be dead
.

“Am I dead?”

Jaxon startled, his gaze jerking from her cheek to her eyes. “No. You’re perfectly safe. Are you injured?” Without warning, he reached with both hands and began to run them up her arms to her shoulders. Even through the layers of protective clothing she wore, she could feel his touch.

Confusion over her body’s response to this Jaxon character made her shake free of his clutch. The more he touched her, the more she wanted him to continue. She stood abruptly and backed against the rough wall of the cave.

Smoke was filling the cave entrance now and visibility was growing poor.

Brianna immediately regretted standing. Had she learned nothing in the fire academy? Rule number one: always stay low. She coughed and covered her mouth with one hand to block the smoke.

“I’m fine.” She glanced around.

“We need to move farther into the cave.” Jaxon stood and turned back toward the entrance. She could barely see him now, but he returned in seconds, holding a pack. “The wind must have shifted. Let’s go.” He took her by the arm and pulled her toward the back of the cave.

He was right. But she didn’t know what was worse—taking her chances against the smoke at the mouth of the cave or following this man whom she would swear had entered as a wolf.

What did it matter really? Either way, she was fucked. None of the choices really made any sense, so what could it hurt to get away from the smoke? She’d either died in the fire, died in the cave or lost her mind.

Wait, there was still the possibility she was dreaming. Brianna smiled as she followed the stranger deeper into the cave.
That
she could live with.

The haziness of the smoke was nothing compared to the darkness that enveloped them as soon as they turned a corner.

Brianna would have grabbed her flashlight from her pocket, but Jaxon stopped abruptly anyway and tugged her to sit on the ground.

“I think we’re okay here for the time being.” He coughed. In fact, he started a fit of coughing that wouldn’t stop for several seconds.

Well, that shoots that idea out of the water
. She couldn’t be dead. No way would a ghost react to smoke like that.

“Sorry. Between the smoke I ran through and the smoke filling the entrance, I think I’ve reached my limit.” He coughed again.

“Are
you
okay?” It was her turn to be concerned.

She couldn’t see him, not even a glimpse, but she held on to his arm like a lifeline. “Stay low.” The smoke didn’t seem to be reaching this far inside.

“What’s your name?”

“Brianna.” She let her hand rest on his forearm, but he untangled himself from her grasp and took her hand in his.

“Nice to meet you, Brianna. You must be extremely confused.”

“Nope. This shit happens to me every day,” she lied.

“I don’t mean about the fire. I’m talking about me shifting in front of you like that.”

“Pardon?”
Shifting?

“I know you watched me shift. I could feel your fear. In fact, you are still trembling.” Jaxon laid his free hand on her knee and squeezed. “I’m a shapeshifter. It’s a long story, but I swear I won’t hurt you. Please don’t be afraid.”

“Shapeshifter?” This guy was crazy. A crazy ghost in her own personal crazy hell.
Shit
. That must be it. She wasn’t in heaven at all.

“I can shift into wolf form. That’s how I dodged the flames. I came in here in my animal form.” Jaxon reached for her face, though she had no idea how he could so specifically lay his palm on her cheek in this darkness.

His touch soothed. It shouldn’t, but it did.

Brianna leaned into his hand against her better judgment. No matter what the hell was happening, she felt no fear of him. One of them was delusional, but she didn’t think he was harmful.

“You are far too calm.” He chuckled, the vibrations radiating through his fingers to send a chill down her spine. “Your pulse isn’t even accelerated anymore.” He grazed his thumb across the vein in her neck.