Free Flaming Desire - Part 4 (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) by Helen Grey

something, but he didn’t.
    We stood watching as the others were lifted into the chopper one at a time. Skinny Dude guy went up after the kids, then it would be Balding Guy’s turn. As the chopper crew-member began his last descent and prepared to put him into a harness, Balding Guy turned to us, smiled, and gave us a thumbs up. Then, like that, they were gone. The entire evac had taken less than ten minutes.
    Matt and I were alone again. Fire sweeping down slope, the wind gusting, whipping the flames into a frenzy. At this moment, all I could think about was the look in Matt’s eyes as he looked down at me. Then, the moment passed.
    The buffeting winds would likely prevent any more choppers from venturing into the valley. We both knew it. But we also knew we had to complete our assignment. We had to check the last campsite.
    “Let’s do it and then get the hell out of here.”
    I looked over my shoulder, saw the flames steadily making their way down slope, and could only pray that we could stay ahead of the fire. If we got trapped in that box canyon where the last campsite was located, we’d be in a shitload of trouble with no way out.

Chapter 4
    As soon as the chopper dust cleared, Matt and I quickly headed downstream toward the last campsite, tucked into a box canyon. The wind was gusting harder now, probably between thirty and thirty-five miles an hour, with even stronger gusts that pushed the flames down slope at the head of the valley. The fire was traveling fast.
    I saw one of the larger air tankers flying low overhead, dropping a load of flame retardant. The reddish orange chemical sifted through the air so close that I could smell it. Our clothes were soon covered with a faint dusting of it.
    We walked quickly, Matt in the lead. After a few hundred yards, he paused, pulled the map from his pant pocket, and once again studied it. “The trailhead leading up into the box canyon should be close, maybe a quarter mile or just a little further,” he said, coughing a few times.
    I glanced back over my shoulder at the flames. A helicopter in the distance dumped a bucket of water. I didn’t much like the idea of heading into a box canyon because there was only one way out. I mentioned as much to Matt.
    “I know, Jesse, but we’ve got a check that last campground. They were all supposed to be empty, but we can’t take the chance.”
    “I know, but I still don’t like it,” I said. “The damned wind has kicked up. You see how fast it’s pushing the fire. If this keeps up, we probably have less than an hour before things start to get a little dicey.”
    He nodded in agreement and then turned and continued on. I followed, watching where I stepped, but at the same time keeping one eye on Matt. I couldn’t help but once again admire his physique. Even with the backpack, I sensed, no imagined really, the shifting of muscles in his back, his tight, trimmed waistline, the way his ass moved every time he took a step. I felt it nearly unquenchable urge to reach out and squeeze that ass, but resisted. This was not the time, nor the place. I don’t even know where that flash of humor had come from. The situation I found myself in was anything but humorous.
    I need to focus on the task at hand; get up into that box canyon, make sure the campsite was indeed abandoned, and then get the hell out of here. I could imagine that the Hotshots and other fire crews were scrambling to reposition themselves with the change in wind direction and speed. If the gusts grew worse, the helicopters would not be able to fly. The air tankers dispersing chemicals might even be grounded. It was incredibly difficult to gauge where to release chemicals when the wind was gusting like this.
    Timing was everything. Timing, effort, and a lot of money to load the planes with their fire retardant cargo was a tricky endeavor. Despite the urgency of the situation, the bigwigs would hesitate to spend thousands of dollars on fuel, fire retardant, manpower,