Burning Rescue: BBW Werebear Firefighter Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Scarlett Mountain Firefighter Werebear Shifters Book 1) (2 page)

Donovan's cell phone chirped, alerting him to today's morning fire watch alert. They received a fire watch report every morning and sometimes throughout the day, depending on how high the fire danger was.

"Red Flag Warning – crap!" Donovan sighed as he looked down at his phone. He needed to get back to the firehouse for their morning meeting. There had been a controlled burn yesterday in Applewood and they needed to keep an eye on the wind today. Donovan knew he had about fifteen seconds to charm a phone number out of her. He needed to get back to the firehouse before his brothers blew up his phone. He didn't want to risk not talking to her and then discover that she was only in town for the day. He had to have her, plain and simple. His heart raced when he glanced at her again and his coffee cup had long since been refilled. As his phone chirped again, Donovan took a deep breath and walked over to her table.

Is he coming over here? Isabelle shifted her weight and wished she had brought something to hide behind. Her cell phone had died overnight and she'd forgotten to pick up a charger when she stopped at the store last night. The huge man approached her table and her heart began to pound in her chest. She couldn't imagine what he wanted.

"Excuse me, miss. I couldn't help but notice that you have a really pretty cupcake there." Donovan knew how stupid he sounded as soon as the words left his lips. All of the lines he'd thought up outside sounded ridiculous too, but he had to talk to her.

She looked up at him and he could see her cocked eyebrow behind her sunglasses.

"Um. I just thought that it was a pretty cupcake for a pretty lady and I had to tell you." That was even more stupid. Donovan wanted the floor to swallow him whole.

"I'm sorry," she replied, "but I don't understand what you're doing. Are you trying to make a joke?" She raised her sunglasses and revealed her deep sea green eyes that immediately enchanted him. Her expression was anger mixed with annoyance.

Donovan could feel electricity pulse through his body. He fought his impulse to pull her into his arms and rip her jeans off. All he could think about was setting her down on the table and pounding her pussy until she begged him to stop. His cock throbbed at the sight of her now that they were face to face and she was proving to be aggressive. He wasn't sure how much he could take.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot. I didn't mean to upset you. I saw you walking from the hotel and I thought you were beautiful and I'd like to take you to dinner tonight if you're free." Donovan held his breath. He figured the only option he had with her was to be completely honest. She was too smart to fall for a stupid line, anyway. She was a real woman who could hold her own.

Isabelle dialed back the aggression. "I'm sorry. You caught me off guard. Look, you seem like a nice enough guy, but I just got out of a bad relationship and came up here to clear my head." What are you doing? The most gorgeous man is talking to you and asked you out and you're turning him down. You need help. Psychiatric help.

Donovan's phone chirped again. "I understand. Maybe coffee tomorrow, then?" He smiled at Isabelle and his eyes lit up. He was just too hard for her to resist.

"Okay, coffee, tomorrow morning. Same time?" She winked.

"Same place." He winked back. His sly smile and deep coffee-colored eyes instantly made her panties wet. Isabelle sighed as she sat back down. He turned away and headed for the door. Isabelle watched him as he walked to the door. He had the most delightful ass. It was round and firm, and it filled his tight black pants like a rock star from the eighties. Her juices soaked her panties at the thought of him lying naked on her bed while she sucked his massive cock. His ripped body must be a sight. Isabelle continued to watch him walk across the street to the firehouse.

"Good morning, gentlemen." Donovan strolled through the firehouse door like he owned the place. While he didn't technically own it, he had poured a lot of money into the building and their firefighting technology. Money was of no concern to Donovan and his brothers. They did everything they could to support Scarlett Mountain financially and as protectors. They sat around the dining table discussing the fire watch report and weather forecast. Summers on the mountain could be long and hot, but once the fall air crept in, ending threat of fire, they returned to their homes.

"Hey, Don, looks like those assholes in Applewood did that controlled burn yesterday and did a piss-poor job of putting it out." Colton Rogers was second in command behind Donovan. He spent much of the off season studying wildfire mitigation.

"Alright," Don replied. "Let's just keep a close eye on it this morning. Zak, keep a close eye on the weather, especially the wind direction. I can't believe those idiots are this incompetent. Record high yesterday and probably today. I can't think of a worse time for a controlled burn." Don read over the report and the accompanying weather forecast. Winds could carry embers from the burn onto the backside of Scarlett Mountain and quickly get out of control. Spring precipitation on the mountain had been about half of average so there was a lot of dry brush – plenty of fuel for an inferno.

"Jake and Axton, why don't you guys go up in the helicopter here in a few to take a look at the area. We need to stay ahead of any hot spots. It's dry as hell on that side of the mountain, so we need to be proactive." Donovan tried to stay calm about it, but all he wanted to do was find the guy who'd authorized the controlled burn and punch him in the throat.

"Cool, Don, will do," Jake said as he grabbed his coffee mug and headed to the helipad. Donovan had had the helipad put in a few years ago during a brutal fire season. Drought had gripped much of the region that summer and you could almost set your watch by the wildfires. Some fire seasons were worse than others and that year was one of the worst that Don and his brothers could remember. It was even worse than the wildfire season of nearly twenty years ago, the one which had claimed the lives of their parents.

The guys finished their coffee and discussed the options and possible weather conditions. None of them would take a "wait and see" attitude when it came to their town and any potential danger. Donovan finished handing out assignments to his brothers and stayed behind at the ready for local emergencies.

Isabelle felt like she was high. After leaving the bakery, she couldn't wipe the smile from her face. An absolutely gorgeous man had approached her and asked her out on a date. He didn't turn and run when she nearly jumped his ass. Jumping his ass was pretty much all she could think about after watching him walk out of the bakery. She felt dumb having turned him down for dinner. He seemed harmless, but it was so hard to know who to trust these days. Isabelle was never one to risk her safety, no matter how wet her panties got.

Jen, the desk clerk, had let her charge her phone with a charger from the lost and found. She'd expected to have a full battery when she came back from breakfast, but it was just past forty-five percent full.

"Screw it. I'm not going to be gone that long, and I don't plan on playing any battery-sucking games." Isabelle rolled her eyes at her phone and the semi-useless charger. She lathered on some sun screen, put her room key and a five-dollar bill in her pocket so she could buy a water bottle, and headed out. The view from the top of Scarlett Mountain was what she craved. The hike up the mountain wasn't too long from what she remembered, but this would be the first time she'd made the trek alone. Water bottle in hand, and an extra for later in her pocket, she took a deep breath and began her climb to the summit. The crisp morning air chilled her bare arms, but she knew she would be hot in no time and didn't want to deal with having to carry a jacket.

Laylah, the hotel manager, required Isabelle to sign a hiker's agreement that let the hotel know how long she intended to be gone on her hike. They also had her cell phone number in case of an emergency. Isabelle had only half listened while Laylah went over the form and told her that she expected to return around two o'clock.

Isabelle steadied her breathing as she walked and was careful not to overexert herself. She'd avoided the gym more than she went over the winter, but she still figured she had the stamina to make the climb. The grass on the trail was just starting to green up and random flowers had begun to bloom. Early springtime on Scarlett Mountain was magical. It was like watching a spell being cast and seeing the earth wake up from a deep slumber. The smell of moss was intoxicating and brought back childhood memories of walking to school past the creek by her house. Deep in thought, Isabelle jumped as her phone alerted her to a text message. The noise came out of nowhere and zapped her back into reality. "Tim? Really? Asshole. Like I'm gonna text you back!" Isabelle shoved her phone back into her pocket and continued her climb. She came around a bend and stopped to look at a tree that had been split in half by a lighting strike. She walked over to touch the damaged trunk of the aspen tree. Although she tried to fight it, her thoughts kept coming back to her encounter at the bakery. It wasn't until after he'd left that she had realized that they hadn't told each other their names. Maybe that was for the best. They could have coffee and she could convince him to come back to her room and pound her pussy from behind. No names, no numbers, just some dirty fun with a smokin' hot fireman. The smile she'd fought all day was back, and at least she was alone with nobody around to witness her lunacy. As naughty and delightful as a round or two of mindless sex sounded, it wasn't Isabelle's style. She couldn't help but wonder why finding a soulmate to have mind-blowing sex with was such a tall order.

As she headed back up the trail, Isabelle's phone chirped again. "I swear, Tim, if this is you again..." She dug her phone out of her pocket and looked down at another text from Tim demanding to know where she was. "Fuck you," she said as she typed her reply. "Leave me alone, you cheating asshole!" Isabelle hit send and deleted him from her phone. "Crap, fifteen percent battery left. Damnit." Paying more attention to her phone than the hiking trial, Isabelle stepped on a rock and turned her ankle. She couldn't catch her balance and fell onto her side. Her phone slipped out of her hand and the screen cracked into a web of glass shards. The steep slope of the hill pulled her down, and over and over she turned out of control. She was finally able to stop her free fall and came to rest next to the water at the creek. Isabelle caught her breath and looked around. Her whole body ached. Her arms were scratched and her jeans were ripped at her right knee. Warm blood flowed down her leg from her lacerated knee. When she tried to stand back up, her right ankle couldn't take any weight. "Fuck. Ouch. FUCK!" More blood poured from her knee. She sat back down on her butt and fought back tears. Her heart raced as she tried to catch her breath again.

The broken cell phone was back on the trail, way beyond her reach. Isabelle stared at it, trying to will it to her and watched a prism of light bounce off of the shattered glass. "Someone will be along soon," she rationalized. She used the last inch or so of tepid water from the first bottle to wash the dirt and blood off her knee and palms. Bloody water trailed down her leg and the gash on her leg looked worse than it felt, for the moment at least.

As she sat there alone, the reality of her life hit her hard. Wasted years with Tim, watching him suck face with some skank, it was all too much. She wanted to be loved by a man, appreciated, wanted, maybe even adored. Looking out at the view from the side of the mountain, the earth seemed endless, and it consumed her. Alone with just her thoughts, her soul finally made her sit down and listen to what it wanted.

Laylah didn't usually call Donovan's cell phone unless it was an emergency, so when he saw her name appear on the screen, he knew there was a problem.

"Yeah, Laylah?"

"Hey, Donovan. I'm afraid we need some help."

"What's going on?"

"Well, Isabelle Wilson, a guest at the hotel, a young woman here by herself, left this morning for a hike and hasn't come back yet. She signed out just after eight and said she intended to be back no later than two. Closer to one, in fact."

"It's a quarter to six. Why didn't you call me sooner?"

"I'm sorry. Jen said that she thought she saw her come back in, but she didn't sign in so we did a room check and she's not here."

"Which trail was she planning to take?"

"Trail two."

"Alright. Thanks."

Donovan tossed his phone down and ran for his gear. Jake and Axton were gone in the helicopter again and he didn't want to pull them back from the fire watch. The guys had been fighting embers all day and it'd been a bitch with the wind coming from the southwest all day. He grabbed his bag and keys and ran to an ATV. It was almost six o'clock and the sun would be gone soon.

"Isabelle Wilson?" In his haste, he'd forgotten to tell his dream woman his name, and didn't know what hers was. "Please don't be Isabelle Wilson."

*******

The sun bore down on her face. Isabelle found herself a semi-shady spot to sit in, but as the sun headed further to the west, its rays burned her flesh. She sat and stared out at the majestic landscape. As beautiful as the view was, she didn't want it to be the last thing that she saw.

The bleeding of her knee had slowed down. Her wound had pretty much clotted, but her leg was rendered useless. Tears escaped her eyes and rolled down her sunburned cheeks. Nobody had come across the trail to see her sitting down near the creek. She wasn't even sure if anyone would see her if they were to walk by. After her fall, she'd barely been able to stop herself from rolling into the water. Her knee and ankle injuries made it impossible for her to crawl back to the top of the trail.

She would have to do something soon; the sun had nearly reached the top of the mountain and would soon fade away. Her clothes would provide little protection from the cold night air. Surely the people at the hotel had realized she wasn't back yet. The faint smoke that she had smelled all day came and went. She could see the smoke rising from the other side of the mountain but had no clue exactly where it was coming from. Surely they wouldn't have let her leave on a hike if there was a risk of fire.