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

steep, rocky canyon walls shot upward another hundred feet or so. If it wasn’t for the site of the light blue Porta Potty situated half-shaded near one edge of the meadow, I could’ve sworn I had stepped back in time.
    We continued forward, and although we didn’t see any tents or any signs of life, I knew Matt wanted to check the remains of campfires that dotted the meadow. They were old. To be on the safe side, he bent down at each one and pressed his palm into the center.
    “Good,” he said after checking the last one. “No one’s been here for a while.”
    I glanced up at him as he cast his gaze once more over the area. Despite the situation, my body once again betrayed my desire for him. Maybe it was the danger of the oncoming fire that made me desire him so much at this instant. That instinct for survival, procreation, of clutching another human body close to your own. I wasn’t sure what it was, but the feelings that burgeoned inside me were intense.
    He looked down at me at that instant, and I knew instinctively that he knew what I was thinking. His gaze swept over my face, then down along my body. His pupils dilated and I could tell that he was likely thinking the same thing. He grinned.
    “Don’t even think about it,” he said.
    I offered a half laugh. “Oh I’m thinking about it, but I know we have to get out of here.” I glanced upward. Black smoke roiled over the top of the canyon walls. My heart began to flood in alarm. Could the fire be that close? Could it have traveled that fast? Sheltered as we were in the canyon, we didn’t feel much of the wind, but if it was gusting up there, pushing the flames…
    “Come on, Jesse, let’s get the hell out of here,” he said.
    He turned and headed back for the trail that had brought us up here. At this point, we were probably one hundred feet or so above the bottom of the canyon floor. Here, the walls stood only a short distance, maybe thirty yards, but not much more.
    I had no idea what time it was, how much time we had spent from the time we headed down the trail head at the top of Aspen Valley to the point we found ourselves now. All I knew was that I was dog tired. I wanted to lay down and rest, but at the same time, I didn’t want to die.
    About a quarter of the way back down the trail, we once again came to a spot where the trail was nothing but loose bits of shale rock. Despite my efforts to watch my step and keep my balance, I inadvertently stepped on a stone. In trying to protect my foot, I shifted my balance, which caused by left shoulder to bounce against the rock face. I tried to correct my balance by making a little hopping step with the same foot that had stepped on the stone. The problem was that my foot came down on yet more loose rock, and before I knew it, the ground had shifted beneath my weight.
    I let out a startled gasp, trying desperately to catch my balance. The trail here was on a steep incline. I reached my left hand out to try to grab against the rock face, but there was nothing to grab on to. It was smooth, slick, and hard.
    Matt heard my intake of breath and quickly glanced over his shoulder. His eyes widened in alarm as I began to teeter. He spun around and tried to reach out for me as I extended my hand toward his, knowing that his strength was enough to keep me from tottering over the edge. Too late.
    My momentum pulled my hand from his grasp.
    With a cry of alarm and disbelief, I felt myself falling as I went over the edge.
    “Jesse!”
    I only saw one more brief flash of Matt’s horrified expression as I went over. I saw the smoke-filled sky as I landed on my right shoulder, hard. A cry of pain shot past my lips, and the next instant I was face down, skidding down the slope. I crashed into a rock, thought that I would stop, but then the rock gave way with my weight and momentum and down I went again.
    Shit!
    My heart pounded and I grabbed desperately with my hands, striving to catch onto anything that would halt my