Read Online Controlled Burn by Delilah Devlin - Free Book Online Page A

was so tender he made her heart hurt. He wanted to take care of her, keep her safe and unafraid. “But I don’t deserve it,” she said, her voice breaking.
    “Oh baby, come here.” He pulled her tight against his chest.
    She tried hard not to cry, but his kindness was killing her. Her breaths came out in ragged gulps she couldn’t control.
    Still, being in his arms was heaven, lying against his chest as he shushed her. Being comforted was so foreign, the gesture was another form of seduction. She couldn’t resist snuggling closer to fit her face into the corner of his neck. She breathed deep, taking in his lovely scent—clean and masculine. His skin was warm. “You’re spoiling me,” she murmured.
    “Let me.”
    “All right,” she whispered. Then because she didn’t know his full intentions and was half-afraid she was assuming too much, she kept silent, living in the moment as he held her. For the first time ever, she understood the feeling of belonging.
    Monday morning, Jeremiah waited as the bulldozer finished its final pass, having bladed the hard earth beneath the escarpment. Above him, at the top of the steep cliff, lay his ranch. He’d been given the job of maintaining the fireguard at the north end of the canyon, because Blake knew he had the most to lose.
    Already, fires had been set south of their location. His team’s job was to clear a wide break at the foot of the cliffs so that no embers drifted out of the canyon to set fire to the fields along the rim.
    With the soil turned, everyone worked with rakes to remove any grass or sticks that could continue to fuel a fire across the break. When they were through clearing the firebreak, they turned their attention to the area in front of them.
    Blake needed them to set a back fire and burn the brush—again stealing fuel from the larger fire marching their way.
    Jeremiah checked his handheld wind meter. Wind speed was an optimal eight miles an hour. And the direction hadn’t changed. The wind came from the south, which aided the volunteers moving the fire his way, then turned back at the cliff.
    Everything was a go. Already, white smoke was visible in the distance although pines and brush hindered his view of the others’ progress. He already had the okay from Blake to set the blaze when he was comfortable with existing conditions.
    He glanced around at his crew, at Carly who was still raking at clods of earth and brush. He wondered how she was holding up, whether she was nervous. She’d been insistent she was ready, that her head was in the right place to allow her participation. And because he knew this was important to her, he held back his objections. He’d keep close. Make sure she was safe.
    He went to the ATV behind the fireguard and pulled out his drip can. “Ready, everyone?”
    He received waves and smiles.
    Carly gave him a nod and took a deep breath.
    Jeremiah began to walk the line, squirting fuel for a few feet, then lit a match and dropped it. Immediately, the fuel ignited. He continued to drop fuel, leading the flames down the fireguard boundary. Behind him, his crew used their rakes to add fuel. The wind pushed the smoke and flames south.
    Satisfied the backfire was going well, he dripped fuel down one side of their boundary setting a flank fire, while Tater dragged flame down the opposite side.
    Soon the blaze was set, and he returned the can to his vehicle. He unclipped his radio. “Blake, the backfire’s lit.”
    Then the time arrived for the real work. With an eye constantly tracking the smoke in the distance, he shouted orders to keep the backfire moving south. Once the brush in front of them burned, volunteers used both shovels and sprayers before they crossed the charred dirt.
    The morning stretched into the afternoon as the crew made their way forward. The closer they drew to the larger fire heading their way, the thicker grew the smoke. He pulled his bandana over his nose and walked the line, checking on the volunteers to