Montana Fire Read online

  She swallowed her concern. “Of the human kind, I’m guessing.”

  He winced. “Yes. I’m not expecting any, though. By the way, have you ever shot a rifle?”

  She hadn’t seen that question coming. “Me? Never? I told you I didn’t like weapons.”

  “I know, honey, but I think you should learn.”

  Well, damn.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Hold on tight,” Max said as he started the snowmobile. He only owned one snowmobile helmet, so he opted to use motorcycle helmets, each of which had a built-in microphone. If Jamie needed to tell him to slow down, she could.

  She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her chest against his back. The sensation of closeness seemed to alter something inside him. Everything had changed once he made love with her. He’d expected Jamie to be tentative, conservative, and a bit naïve. Boy, had he been wrong. Jamie had more passion that anyone he’d ever been with. She was uninhibited, and her level of trust had been the ultimate stimulation. A woman like Jamie could alter a man’s thinking—permanently.

  He just had to make sure not to forget why they were there. Jamie’s life was at stake, and he needed to protect her. They’d been lucky Hank hadn’t sounded the alarm last night, though if he had, Max would have been ready. He’d trained himself to be a light sleeper.

  He couldn’t wait to show Jamie around the property. However, because she’d never been on a snowmobile before, he needed to take it slow. That worked for him, because part of his mission was to check for footprints. The second part was to teach her how to shoot a rifle. He didn’t expect them to be a situation that required her to defend herself, but on the off-chance they did, he wanted her to be prepared.

  Max started the ride off easy since there were many trees close to his house. Once he drove past the property line, there was a big field where they could have some fun. It was also a good spot to shoot a rifle, as no one lived behind him.

  “How are you doing?” he asked as he decelerated.

  “Good. This is fun.” She tightened her grip around his waist.

  Once she confirmed she was enjoying the adventure, Max revved the engine and raced down a hill. Jamie let out a little squeal, but she didn’t sound scared. When Max didn’t spot any evidence that anyone had been there today, exhilaration shot through him. He circled the property once before bringing her to the area where they could practice.

  He pulled to a stop. “Lesson time.”

  “Do we have to?” While her words sounded like a complaint, there was a lot of happiness in her tone, too.

  “Only if you want to stay alive, missy.” He tried for as much pep as he could muster.

  She lightly punched his back. “Way to bring me back to reality.”

  He laughed. “Hop off.” Once she dismounted, he did the same. With his Glock secure in his shoulder holster, he grabbed the rifle case, along with some targets.

  He kept his hand on her back as they trudged over to a spot he often used for practice. Placing the empty tin can on a stump about thirty feet away, he had her stand behind a lone tree.

  “Let me show you how to load the shotgun, how to cock it, and how to aim. We’ll start with how to load one shell.” With care, he demonstrated how to port load the shell by placing it in the chamber. “I won’t run the action forward because I want you to do it. The key here is to remember to keep the metal end facing you.”

  She bit her bottom lip and looked adorable. “Okay, but move behind me so I don’t accidentally shoot you.”

  He chuckled, but followed her request. Jamie managed to load the rifle on the first try.

  “Perfect. In a moment, I’ll show you how to use the magazine to load multiple shots. Stand behind the tree like so, and use the edge to keep the gun steady. The tree will protect you in case there is a shootout.” She winced, but he didn’t know of a way to sugarcoat it.

  “I guess I should learn, though I’m betting we’ll be in a car or by a building if we’re attacked.”

  “That would be my guess.” He was happy she was willing to give this a go, despite not wanting anything to do with guns. He handed her earplugs. Rifle shots were loud. Max enjoyed standing behind her. He wrapped his arms around her outstretched ones. “In a standoff, the key is to keep shooting. Doesn’t really matter if you hit anything.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.” He’d be the one to do the damage. He was trained. Jamie was not. Civilians might never live down a kill.

  “Okay.”

  Once he adjusted her stance, he bent down to help her aim for the can. He didn’t expect her to hit it, but having something to shoot at was helpful. “Now pull the trigger when you’re ready.”

  Wanting Jamie to fully experience her first trigger pull, Max stepped back. She shot, but the can remained unharmed. She lowered the weapon and turned around. “Aw. I want to go again.”

  He grinned. The competitive Jamie had come to play.

  * * *

  By the time they returned to the cabin, Jamie’s hands were frozen and her ears were ringing from the report. It didn’t matter she’d worn ear protection. The rifle had been freaking loud. Learning to shoot had been frustrating, but with Max’s help, she’d actually hit the can once. Knowing this exercise could save her life someday helped with having to handle a weapon.

  Max put the snowmobile back in the shed, and then escorted her inside. “That was fun,” he said. “Hope you had a good time.”

  “I did. I loved riding around. The landscape here is fantastic.” The town of Rock Hard had been mostly cleared for the buildings. She wished they’d left more trees.

  Max washed his hands. “I’m starving. What are we having?”

  She laughed. “You’re putting me in charge?”

  “You said you wanted to help.”

  “You got me there.” The normalcy of her day had done wonders for her attitude. While on the back of the snowmobile, she’d pretended she was on vacation and not in hiding.

  Max headed toward the bedroom. Since Jamie had put the groceries away, she was able to find the bread and sandwich meat. “Ham and cheese sandwiches with tomato soup good?” She had to shout so he could hear her down the hall.

  Max returned to the living room a few seconds later. “Perfect. I’ll stoke the fire.”

  This cabin living was growing on her, though she knew not to get too comfortable. They were a phone call away from total danger. Max had asked her to pack one of her two suitcases with enough clothes to get along for a few days. He said they’d each keep a bag in their new ride. That way if Hank called, she could grab a few essential items and go.

  “Don’t forget to call Hank with your number. We want him to be able to contact us.”

  He chuckled. “Already did that when I brought around the snowmobile.” He shoved more logs in the stove and closed the metal door.

  The man was good. Now that she had a phone, she should call Sasha to see how her friend was holding up. Jamie also wanted to find out about the funeral arrangements for Yolanda. She wasn’t sure Max would let her attend, but she wanted to find out when it was. In all honesty, Jamie didn’t think it would be wise to go either. While she doubted the terrorists would attack her in a church full of people, they could follow her afterwards. Stupid men. If they would just tell her what they wanted, she could assure them she didn’t have it.

  Max moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He squeezed, and then let go. “You did great today.” His words were colored with surprise.

  She twisted to face him, making sure not to dislodge his welcomed embrace. “Did you think I’d freak or something?”

  He shrugged. “It’s all part of the learning process of me understanding you. I don’t think any of us know exactly how we’ll react in a given situation until it happens. Triggers can occur at any time. While I’ve witnessed a dozen or more blazes since my house burned and haven’t freaked, as you would say, the next one might send me over the edge.”
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br />   She lowered her gaze as his words sunk in. “I hope that won’t happen to me. It was probably good for me to see what it would be like to handle a gun. If someone shoots at me, I want to know I won’t freeze.” Max grinned at her comment. “What’s up with the smile?”

  “I think you’re a remarkable woman. Resilient, trusting, and loving.”

  “I am, aren’t I?”

  When Max lowered his arms, Jamie waved the butter. “You want to spread this on the bread?”

  “Can do.”

  Max had asked her to learn how to shoot, claiming he wanted to learn more about how she’d react when the gun went off. She, too, wanted to discover everything about him. This pressure cooker they were in could cause unexpected reactions. She hoped she didn’t fold. “Can I ask you something?”

  Max removed a frying pan from the cabinet and placed it on the stove. “Sure.”

  “You asked why I became a hospice nurse. I’d like to ask you the same thing.”

  “I never studied medicine, honey, at least not in the same way you did,” he said with a straight face.

  “Funny man.” Of all the men she’d met, she never thought Max Gruden would be the one with a sense of humor. “You told me why you went into law enforcement, but I’d like to learn why you left.”

  “You mean why did I become obsessed with finding the man who set fire to my house that killed my wife and young son?”

  Ouch. His pain sliced through her at the nerve she’d hit. “Sorry. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”

  He blew out a long breath. “No. You should know where I’m coming from. It’s part of who I am. If there was one thing I learned from these last eleven years, it was that obsessions are bad. They can take over your life and put everyone else at a lower priority.”

  She busied herself with finding the can opener for the soup. “I so get that. I feel terrible I haven’t spent enough time with my friends.” She twisted around and leaned against the counter. “Benny’s betrayal forced me to change who I was. I thought after those men chased me at the clinic, I’d figured out how to take back some control. Now I’m not so sure.”

  “It takes time. Trust me. I know.” Once he finished preparing the bread, he grabbed the packages of meat and cheese and opened them. “As for shutting out your friends, it’s easy to be blind to what’s important in your life, especially when you want something badly enough.”

  Max must be talking about himself. Before she met him, the only thing she’d ever wanted badly enough, was to help others. “Want to tell me about your quest for retribution?”

  He gripped the knife and pressed his lips together. He probably was deciding if he wanted to spill the beans.

  “I was on a task force to bring down this drug cartel headed by Santori Anderson—a very bad man. We’d received some intel about a warehouse full of drugs, and when the six of us went in, all but one of the dealers scattered.”

  “Santori Anderson?”

  “You got it. He spotted me, took aim, and shot.” Max tapped his leg. “Shattered my femur.” She hissed. “I was able to get off a round before I almost passed out. That one bullet hit him in the side of his head, and ended up blinding him in his eye.”

  She refused to feel sorry for the dealer. “I thought Amber said he got away.”

  “He did. Long story short, while he was recovering in hiding, he hired a man by the name of Warren Dominguez to torch my house to pay me back for ruining his life.”

  “Anderson was a drug dealer and he shot you first. What did he expect the cops to do? Shake his hand?”

  He graced her with a small smile. “Apparently, his sense of right and wrong wasn’t as strong as ours.” He placed the buttered bread of each sandwich face down on the skillet.

  She didn’t ask about his child dying or the torment he went through when he learned of his family’s death. She honestly couldn’t imagine something that intolerable. Even what she’d recently gone through paled compared to the pain he must have experienced. It was why she trusted him with her emotions. “Why leave the force? Why not look for the man yourself?”

  “I didn’t leave right away. After a two-year search, we captured Santori Anderson, but he wouldn’t reveal the name of the arsonist. I stayed for another year, spending countless hours tracking down clues, and eventually the case went cold. But I couldn’t let it go. I figured the only way to find the bastard was to learn about his other fires. Arsonists usually have a certain signature.”

  “So you studied fires in order to find this man?” That was smart. Proactive. Control-taking. She could learn something from him. Hell, perhaps that was why he wanted her to know how to load and shoot a gun. She had to admit, shooting the rifle had empowered her.

  “Yes, but even then I wasn’t all that successful. I wanted to know more. I needed to think like an arsonist. That was when I went back to school and studied fire science. I could only go part time, though. Took me years to get my degree.” He topped the heating bread with cheese and ham. “In the end, I spent a fourth of my life tracking down this man. I would find clues to his location and pass the information onto Dan. Even though I wasn’t a cop anymore, I went on a lot of the investigations. Eventually, things fell our way, and we got him.”

  “That must have been an incredible relief.”

  “It was, but when it all over, I had a big void in my life.” Max placed the top on the sandwich, lifted the bread with a spatula, and flipped it over. “I’m slowly returning to life, and I have you to thank.”

  “Really?” Jamie turned her back to him as heat raced up her face. She managed to remove the can top, then poured the soup into the saucepan.

  She carried to pot over to the stove and turned on the burner. Max slid the sandwiches onto a plate. Once he dumped the pan in the sink, he returned to the stove and changed the setting of her pot from medium to low.

  He clasped her shoulders. “I don’t know why you’re surprised. Don’t you feel more alive since we’ve met?”

  She looked up at him. “More alive? Try just alive. Before the fire and the break-in, I was dead inside, going to and from work, helping others. I liked what I did, but there was no real joy in my life.”

  Max slid his hands down her arms to her waist, walked her backward to the counter, and lifted her on top. They were eye-to-eye. “And now?”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Before Jamie had the chance to tell Max what a difference he’d made in her life, he stepped between her legs and kissed her. Now that all the rage and fear had been exposed—and they seemed to be dealing with it together—they could start fresh. His fingers slid under her shirt, and he brushed his thumbs across her nipples. Damn bra.

  Max broke the kiss. “I promised myself that I would stay away from you so I could make sure you were always safe, but I have no control when I’m around you. I want you naked. Then I’m going to fuck you hard and often.”

  Maybe it was from the release of tension, but she giggled. Actually giggled. That was something she hadn’t done in years. His words gave her strength.

  “Okay, but only if I can suck on your cock first.” She wouldn’t compare having made love with Max to anyone else, but suffice it to say she’d only given a blow job a few times. You-know-who didn’t like them. Being able to lick and suck on Max would be such a high. This time she hoped she didn’t get sidetracked.

  Instead of him responding to her comment, he yanked her shirt over her head. “Nice.”

  She had packed some of her nicer bras and panties, and was glad she’d worn a pretty set this morning. Not wanting him to change his mind, she opened the waistband on his jeans and tore down the zipper. Damn. He’d worn briefs again. Oh, well.

  “How about we both take off our shoes,” she suggested. That would make the disrobing process move faster.

  He tugged off her footwear, before removing his own boots, and kicked them aside. Jamie tried to lift his shirt over his head, just as he was unzipping her jeans. It became al
most comical.

  “Let me slip off the counter,” she said.

  Max set her down as if she weighed nothing. “It’ll go faster if I do this myself.” In one quick move, his shirt disappeared. His pants and briefs were next. “I need you too badly.”

  If Jamie hadn’t been so mesmerized, she would have finished taking off her jeans, too. Only after Max reached behind her and unhooked her bra did she realize she’d been staring. She wet her lips in anticipation of what was to come.

  He tossed her bra on the counter. “Condoms. Damn. Remind me to get more next time we’re at Hank’s.”

  “How embarrassing. He’ll know what we’re doing.”

  Max laughed and fished another one from the pocket of his jeans. He tossed it on the counter. “I think Hank already assumes we are doing just that.” Max lowered his gaze and leaned closer. “You said you wanted to do something first?” He dragged a thumb over her nipple, and her thoughts scattered.

  “Yes.”

  Jamie bent over, and when she cupped his heavy sac, he groaned like she’d hoped he would. Yes. The man wasn’t immune at all. Being short suddenly had an advantage. She studied his length trying to decide how to proceed.

  “You’ve got ten seconds or I’m taking over.”

  She looked up at him. The seriousness in his expression compelled her to lower her head and draw his upright cock into her mouth. She sucked hard. Max combed his fingers through her hair and pressed on her scalp. Dragging her mouth down his length, she twirled her tongue around his hard shaft.

  “Fuck, but that feels so good.” Max’s free hand cupped her breast and twisted the nipple between his fingers, sending delightful pulses down the sides of her body. The man could turn her inside out with a touch.

  She rolled his balls while she grabbed his cock with her other hand. Between drawing him in and running her tongue along his pulsating vein, her movements turned more frantic. Suddenly, Max drew her upright and pulled her close. His lips descended on hers like a starving man. When his dick pressed against her open jeans, her pussy dampened, and a deep yearning bubbled inside her. She needed him. Wanted him. Desired him, but she didn’t have the strength to break the kiss. Their tongues explored, tasted, and probed with desperation. She clamped her fingers onto his corded shoulders and drew him near, wanting to melt right into him.