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Celia Jade [Drakhom Taboo 03] The Drakhom Taboo III [MF] (epu
Cynthia Wicklund [The Garden In the Garden of Seduction (epu
Chelsea Chaynes [Battle for t Battle for the Womb 1 [MF] (epu
C L Scholey [Vampire Coven 02 A Vampire To Watch Over Me (epu
Cora Seton [The Cowboys of Ch The Cowboy Imports a Bride (epu
Carolyn Keene [Nancy Drew 068 The Elusive Heiress (v0.9) (epu
Dr Who [Lethbridge Stewart] Andy Frankham Allen (v5.0) (epu
Charles McCarry [Paul Christo The Miernik Dossier (v5.0) (epu
Colleen Gleason [Gardella Vam The Rest Falls Away (v5.0) (epu
Amanda Vyne [Arcane Crossbree More than Truth [Loose Id] (epu

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.But sometimes that left him blind to the more subtle aspects of life.He’d seen a competent businesswoman when he’d first laid eyes on Katarina Maxim.She’d been nothing but efficient and practical from the moment she held her hand out to him.But now, as she shivered in front of him with alarms going off in the background, he realized how much he’d missed in that original assessment.He’d seen her as a businesswoman but the person standing in front of him now possessed so much more.The vulnerability of the moment and her calm resolve in meeting it added to her strength and touched him.“I came to find you as soon as I heard the alarm.”“Most men would’ve gone to battle the blaze first.”His heart sank at her words.She saw him as a coward.Not that it mattered how she saw him.He wasn’t really trying out for the role of her husband.As soon as he finished his report, he’d be on his way back to his real life.But her words still stung.He’d like to be the hero at least once.To be the one who rushed in and saved the day.“Don’t look at me like I just kicked your damn puppy.I meant that as a compliment.Most men stupidly let their hormones control them and they tend to get in the way,” she added as she walked past him.“I’ve never been impressed with the gender as a whole.”He felt fairly certain they did not share the same understanding of the word “compliment” but didn’t dare ask for a clarification as she bustled down the hallway all businesslike.When she turned into her bedroom, though, he thought it’d be best for him to say something.“Shouldn’t we be getting out of here before the house burns down around us?”“Don’t be so melodramatic.Two long bursts followed by one short means the fire is in the barn.” A flash of her naked body teased him as she threw the towel down to the floor.He looked away as quickly as possible, but he’d still seen her long enough for her lean lines to be burned into his brain.He breathed out a deep sigh as he tried to banish the image.His body wasn’t as interested in forgetting her, however, and keeping his eyes closed only made the memory that much sharper.He needed to focus on anything else and the fire would do.“Good.We’re safe in the house then.”“The house is safe.We’re going to the barn though.” Her voice was muffled for a second, which he prayed meant she’d put on a shirt.“Around here, fires are an all hands on deck kind of thing.”She expected him to do what? Fight a fire? He stopped at the thought and shook his head.What did he know about firefighting? The systems were all automated where he lived.“Don’t you have a suppression system?” That was the extent of his firefighting knowledge.Everyone needed to have a suppression system installed in his or her house—and barn, he added.“Yep.”He looked over at her just as she wiggled into a pair of pants.She didn’t seem concerned in the least that he was standing right there talking to her as she got dressed.“Then won’t it take care of everything?”“Animals don’t always listen to computerized evacuation orders,” she answered simply.After sliding her feet into heavy boots, she started down the hallway again.“And the system won’t seal off the fire until either all life forms are clear or someone hits the safety bypass.”So the longer they talked, the more time the barn had to burn.He took a deep breath before following her into the back of the house.She handed him a mask, jacket and a heavy pair of gloves before grabbing gear of her own and then disappearing out the door into the night.He had to admit, this had the feel of a well-rehearsed event.He had to jog to keep up with her, which made putting the mask on difficult.He’d just managed to adjust the straps when they made it to the barn.There were no flames visible but a thick, ominous smoke poured out of every opening.“Status?” Even muffled by the mask, her voice still managed to have an edge of authority.A large man dressed in a mask, coat and gloves identical to theirs turned to answer her.“Two bulls and one calf are still trapped.They’re in stalls four, three and one.We’ve cleared the rest but the fire has spread all the way from stall fifteen to eight.Mark and Stan had to take a break after the last batch.They got a little singed in there.”“Good to know.” She slipped on her jacket and gloves efficiently before continuing, “Okay, I’ve got stall four.Bob, you’ve got three.Mr.Lee, you’ve got one.It’ll be the first door on the right and is about twenty yards in.Best bet is to chase the animal through the door at the back of the stall.That leads into the pasture.If the animal is too far gone or if the fire has spread and it’s too dangerous to rescue the animal, press the bypass button to the left of the stall door.That will trigger the fail-safe.”That sounded more than a little ominous.He donned the coat and gloves before asking, “By fail-safe you mean what, exactly?”“It’ll seal the stall with the animal inside.”His stomach turned at her announcement.“We’ll do everything we can to save them, but we don’t know what we’re walking into.The ranch is more important than any single animal.You understand, Lee?”He nodded but his throat was too dry to actually speak.He’d never had to leave an animal to die before and he wasn’t exactly comfortable with the possibility.“Good.” She reached up to turn on the flashlight in his mask before nodding.“Follow me.” She turned on her own flashlight and then walked into the barn.He followed her into the building even as every self-preservation instinct he had screamed for him to turn back.The mask filtered the smoke before it could reach his lungs but it didn’t make seeing through the stuff any easier.And the drops of water raining down from the sprinkler system didn’t help either.They splattered against the plastic screen of the mask, leaving a sludgy mess in their wake.He quickly decided not to trust his eyes alone and began running his hand along the right wall as he counted his steps.Just as he took his twenty-first step, his fingers brushed against the indentation of the stall door.It only took a moment for him to locate the latch and open the door.Inside, the stall was dark but the smoke wasn’t as heavy as it had been in the hallway.He could even make out the form of an animal lying on the straw floor.“Hey, Mr.Cow.I’m here to get you out.” He shut the door behind him to keep as much smoke out as possible and then knelt next to the animal.After taking off his glove, he reached out and stroked the cow gently to get its attention.He hadn’t been around many cows in his life, but he immediately noted the small size of the animal [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]