I’m putting the finishing touches on “Blaze,” a novella that tells the dark and sexy tale of a firefighter with a secret passion and a woman with the ability to control fire with the power of her mind. When they come together, sparks fly, and people who get in their way get burned.
Excerpt:
Kenna’s feet staggered to a stop. Not fifteen feet away, a dumpster filled with ripped cardboard and wood scrap blazed gently under the gathering clouds.
Before it, hands spread and fingers splayed against the metal side, the brown-haired firefighter stood backlit by the flames. No turnout coat protected him from the blaze or Kenna’s searching gaze. No red truck or even a fire extinguisher to lend purpose to his appearance on the scene.
She took a step forward, drawn toward the fire and the man who glowed in its red light. Another step, her eyes fixed on the dancing gouts of flame spiraling up from the cardboard. One flared up suddenly, and a puff of black ash flew into the air.
Kenna gasped aloud, unaware that she made a sound until the man spun away from the dumpster to stare at her. A hot look of anger and guilt flashed across his features and then vanished.
“What are you doing here?” he snapped, then ran a hand over his face with a slight shake of his head. “I mean, it’s not safe here.” His voice softened as he spoke.
Their gazes met and locked together. Kenna searched for something in the dark recesses of his eyes, something that would tell her why he was here, alone, with this fire. He looked away.
“I was taking a walk,” she said. “I smelled smoke and thought…”
He shot a glance over his shoulder and turned back, his lips tightening. “Me too,” he said. “It’s contained. Will burn itself out soon enough.”
For a moment as Kenna looked at the flames, they surged upward as if to bely his words. He turned, his fingers hooking over the edge of the dumpster, his back to Kenna again. She stepped forward and watched the lines of red race alone the edges of the wood.
He turned back, and suddenly she was standing too close. His breath blew against her cheek, hot with the warm scent of the smoke from the fire. Tiny motes of ash clung to the front of his t-shirt and Kenna found herself wanting to brush them away, rub her fingers over them till they grew gray.
Silence except for the crackle of the flames and the sound of a dog barking somewhere far away. Then he cleared his throat. “You should leave. Go back to town.” Another smoky breath wafted over her. “It’s not a safe place for a young woman to walk.”
Reality crashed back into Kenna’s mind, and she faltered backward. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I should get going. I’m expected…” She scurried away, almost jogging around the loading dock and the corner of the building. She looked back once to find the firefighter staring at her, his eyes reflecting the red flames that dwindled in the dumpster.