Daring Devotion

MILLS & BOON

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To George,

The strength of a Grizzly,

and the heart of a Teddy.

Never change

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Epilogue

Chapter 1

Firehouse Fifteen

Detroit, Michigan

“Hail to the Chief!”

Andrea Chenault sat quietly with a smile frozen on her face. She sat beside her fiancé, Calvin Brown, more lovingly known by his friends as Big Cal, and listened in wooden silence as he was saluted and cheered on his recent promotion to Firehouse Chief.

In the midst of the lively celebration, Andrea’s mind was swirling with doubt and turmoil regarding the future of her engagement.

Feeling Cal’s eyes dart across her face, she took a sip of soda, studying the pretty design on the side of the Dixie paper cup to avoid making eye contact as Dwight Johnston, their friend and Cal’s fellow fireman, continued his toast.

What Cal’s engine team members saw as nothing more than the culmination of a lifetime of hard work and commitment, Andrea saw as an omen of bad things to come.

Dwight lifted his paper cup in salute. “It couldn’t have happened to a better man. Here’s to Big Cal!”

Cheerful affirmatives came from the men and women crowded around the table in the small firehouse kitchen. Andrea could only hope that no one noticed that the one person who should’ve been happiest for Cal was unable to muster even a fraction of enthusiasm.

Others rose and offered their own congratulations, many recounting events in which Cal had proven his heroism, and there was also the occasional funny story until eventually their celebration dinner evolved into an impromptu roast.

Andrea tried not to watch the clock, but she was really uncertain as to how much more of the incessant merriment she could take. Consciously, she toyed with the engagement ring on her finger, twisting it back and forth as her mind ran away with the possibilities. A large, warm hand covered hers and stopped the motion of the ring. She looked up into Cal’s concerned brown eyes.

What’s wrong? he silently pleaded, and Andrea just shook her head in answer, hoping he would not push.

“Speech! Speech!” the crowd cried for some words from their new leader.

With one more look in Andrea’s general direction, Cal slowly unbent his large frame from the table, and Andrea felt the same tinkling sensation in the pit of her stomach that she felt every time she took in his exceptional form.

At six feet, four inches, Calvin Brown was a three hundred-pound slab of solid granite, covered in a top layer of milk chocolate skin. Although he’d been a fireman his entire adult life, he was often mistaken as a professional body builder by strangers. His perfectly sculpted body was the product of years of weight lifting and various training programs. He took great pride in his ability to lift twice his own weight.

Although Cal was a large man, his size was not what made him unique. It was the strength and brawn that could be felt in the slightest handshake, and yet, despite his size, he moved with the agility of a dancer. And had an innately gentle nature that told you that his strength would never be misused.

He tapped the side of his paper cup with a plastic spoon in a dramatic gesture to gain everyone’s attention, and the room quieted down.

“I know many of you may be wondering if this promotion will change me in any way,” he began with a solemn expression. “I would just like to state for the record that now that I am your chief, I am still the Big Cal you’ve always known and loved.”

Cal continued his speech, despite the laughter in the background. “Now, I know some of you may be bitter…” the group laughed again, “but believe me, the forces that be picked the best man or woman for the job and you’ll just have to get over it.”

Ignoring the playful hoots and boos, Cal smiled graciously, exposing one his few physical imperfections, the two front teeth that slightly overlapped his bottom ones.

Instead of finding it unattractive, Andrea had loved his bucktoothed smile from the moment she saw it. She always thought it gave his face a boyish appeal.

He cleared his throat loudly to be heard over the laughter and noise. “As I was saying, this promotion will not change the man I am.” He paused thoughtfully. “But, in regards to work assignments, I would like to add that I am open to flattery, and not above bribery.”

The group roared in laughter.

Andrea’s eyes scanned the room seeing nothing but smiling faces filled with genuine admiration and respect. She knew in their own way, these people loved him as much as she did. And yet, collectively, she couldn’t help but see them as the enemy. Her primary point of contention as far as she could see was that the thing they loved and admired most about him was the one thing Andrea wished she could change.

Unable to stand it any longer, Andrea whispered in Cal’s ear that she was going to the bathroom. She quickly hurried out of the room, never knowing Cal’s eyes followed her until she disappeared through the doorway.

Once outside in the hallway, she leaned her back against the wall and took a deep breath. She never realized how exhausting holding a fake smile for hours could be. She heard someone ask Cal if she was okay, but she could not make out Cal’s murmured response through the thick wall. Taking another deep breath, she started down the hall, hoping that a splash of water on her face would help hold back the tears that now seemed to threaten her constantly.

A few minutes later, as she stood at the sink patting her face dry, she silently scolded the woman in the mirror. This is the happiest day of his life and you are going to ruin it for him. Pull yourself together!

She glanced down at the small diamond ring on her finger, and her hand went to it instinctively as she remembered just how many times over the past week she’d taken it off and put it back on.

She pulled it off once more, enclosed it in her small fisted hand. “I’m not this strong,” she whispered, imagining the day her telephone would ring and there would be a composed, very professional voice at the other end informing her of their regret…

She turned and leaned her back against the sink. As a nurse, Andrea had seen more death than most people saw in a lifetime, and many of those were lives that seemed to be snuffed out before their time.

She’d stood over the body of more than one firefighter as the line on the ventilator went flat, and found it far too easy to imagine Cal as the firefighter on the table.

“I’m not strong enough to be a fireman’s wife.” But despite her words, she found herself sliding the little ring back onto her finger. She only hoped she could hide her dismay long enough to get through the afternoon.

She checked her appearance in the mirror before she opened the door and found herself facing an expanse of black T-shirt stretched across a wide, muscular chest.

Closing her eyes, Andrea breathed in his familiar scent of soap and Speed Stick deodorant. Cal almost never wore cologne, and Andrea found that she preferred it that way. His own natural scent was enough of an aphrodisiac by itself.

“What’s wrong?” Cal’s deep baritone voice was softened by his concern.

Her eyes went up and up until they settled on soft brown eyes filled with concern. She tried to force a smile, but when she felt the tears welling up, she quickly looked away.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Don’t lie to me.” His tone never changed, but there was something very threatening in the words themselves. “You look like you’re about to cry.”

She shook her head fervently. “No, I’m okay. We better get back to the group—they’re going to wonder where the guest of honor disappeared to.” She moved to go around him, and he easily blocked her path.

“They can wait.” Using his index finger, he lifted her chin, and although she managed to keep her eyes downcast, the tiny drop of water that fell on her cheek betrayed her.

She heard his sharp gasp right before he pulled her into a rough embrace. “Baby, why are you crying? Tell me.”

She eagerly wrapped her arms around his rock-hard midsection and held on with all her might. Not yet ready to share the truth…that she was seriously considering giving him back his ring because she could not bear to be his widow.

Holding him in her arms proved to be too much. Faced with the possibility of having to let him go, the water began coursing down her face.

“Andrea, you’re going to have to tell me, I can’t read your mind. What’s got you so upset?”

She pressed her face against his shirt and tried to stifle the flood of tears. She wasn’t ready to say the words. Not yet…not yet.

The loud, buzzing sound that signaled an emergency call reverberated throughout the firehouse, and without hesitation Cal set Andrea away from him. With one quick peck on her forehead, he whispered the words “You know what to do.” And then he was gone.

Andrea stood in the deserted hallway, listening to the quiet firehouse come to life around her. Cal was right. After a year of being his girlfriend and fiancée, Andrea did know what to do.

He’d trained her in civilian procedure and protocol during an emergency as well as he trained his engine team to respond. They even ran through the occasional drill.

Andrea knew everything she needed to know to be a fireman’s wife…except how to stop the uncontrollable shaking she felt take over her body every time the firehouse alarm rang. She turned and hurried back along the hall, trying to focus on the task assigned to her, and not the danger Cal was rushing into.

Once the corridor was quiet, the man crouching in the shadows stepped out from his hiding place. Jeff Collins looked in both directions before heading down the back stairway toward the soon departing engine truck.

Nothing would appear more suspicious than for him to not be on the truck when it pulled away from the firehouse. For a moment, he’d been extremely worried, wondering if the woman would stand there until it was too late, but finally she’d moved off down the hall.

When Cal got up and left the table, Jeff Collins had followed, curious to see what would transpire between the couple. His lips tightened as he remembered the sadness in Andrea’s eyes as Cal was praised and toasted. Jeff was no happier to see Cal get the promotion than Andrea.

His fist balled at his side as he remembered how close he’d come to being the one toasted and praised. It just wasn’t fair. He and Cal had been equals since entering the firefighter academy fifteen years ago, both at the tender age of nineteen. They’d both had distinguished careers. So, why, when it came time to pass out the promotions, was Cal the only man to get one?

Over the past five years, Jeff Collins had maneuvered his way through the ranks, manipulating and cajoling his way up the professional ladder, only to have the prize stolen out from under him in the eleventh hour. Calvin Brown had stolen his promotion.

A promotion, a beautiful fiancée…it just wasn’t fair. He slipped on his turn-out gear and swung up into the truck just as the garage door began lifting.

“Where the hell have you been?” Cal’s voice boomed, drowning out even the sound of the horn warning.

Jeff fought to hide his anger, and swallowed hard. “Sorry, got hung up.”

“Don’t let it happen again.” Cal slammed the front wall to signal the driver that everyone was aboard. “Let’s go.”

Without further warning, the truck began to pull forward, maneuvering its way through the traffic that had come to a complete halt.

Jeff focused on the view of the city flying by, while Cal conversed with Dwight. At times like this, it took everything in him to hide the growing hatred he felt for the man he’d once considered a friend.

Chapter 2

The heat was suffocating. Flames of orange, red and gold danced around him in menacing cadence, teasing and taunting mercilessly. But nothing could sway Cal’s attention from the small figure clutching the wall on the other side of the room.

When he’d first spotted the child, he could not believe his eyes. It was Marco, one of the many neighborhood children who hung around the firehouse with hero worship in their young eyes. Cal hadn’t seen him in several days, but now here he was in the midst of an out-of-control blaze in the abandoned Hadley Building, a condemned former office complex in the heart of downtown.

Cal took in the gaping hole in the center of the floor as his mind constructed a way around it. “Hang on, Marco, I’m coming!” He slid slowly to the right, trying not to disturb the fragile, burnt wood surrounding the hole. If it got any bigger, he would never reach the other side.

“Cal? Cal is that you?” Marco lifted his head from his crouched position, recognizing the voice of the firefighter. “Help me, Cal!”

“I’m coming, little man, just hang on!”

He moved with care and precision, his eyes darting between the opening in the floor and the small, terrified creature on the other side.

By the time he was twelve years old, Cal was as tall and broad as an average sized adult male. An anomaly that had been both a blessing and curse. His size had kept the bullies at bay—after all, no one challenged a six foot seventh grader—but he also realized that he did not fit in the usual places that kids his age did, and soon became the butt of jokes and teasing.

To counter what he felt was his own clumsiness, he became very conscious of his movements. Even now, he could almost move with the stealth of a ninja. This skill had served him well in his line of work, especially at times like this when a lack of movement was critical to success.

Moving along the wall, he came to a corner and edged around it until there was only a small space that he had to cross in order to reach Marco. He shifted on the ball of his left foot to leap across the gaping abyss. He made the leap and landed only inches from Marco, but behind him the floor disappeared, burning away until only six inches of floor remained behind him.

He scooped the feather-light child up in his arms, and turned to put his back against the wall. He surveyed his options, and realized there were none. He could not go back the way he’d come because the cavity in the floor had widened so that it was almost impossible to cross. Even if they made it, the surrounding wood was so fragile it probably would not support their weight.

On his other side, the fire was eating its way through anything in its path and heading straight for them. Cal knew then that he had no choice but to try to leap across the opening, and hope that they made it. The only other option would be wait for the fire to consume them.

He shifted the boy around so he could look at his face. “Marco, I’m going to put you on my back. I need to have my hands free to hang on once we make the jump.”

“Jump?”

Hearing the panic in his voice, Cal knew he had to act quickly, before the boy had a chance to scare himself into refusing to cooperate. He pushed his small body around and over his shoulder, didn’t have to tell him to hang on. Marco was already clinging to him like a spider monkey.

“No matter what, don’t let go!” Cal said, taking the fateful leap just seconds before the flames covered the wall they’d been leaning against.

The next few seconds happened so slowly, Cal felt as if he were experiencing some kind of a weird dream. He could see the ledge on the other side, and then suddenly it was no longer there and they were free falling through space.

Down into the abyss of a swirling river of flames that covered the lower levels of the building. Suddenly, Cal felt something clamp down hard on the collar of his rubber jacket, and he realized he was suspended in midair.

“Hang on, Cal! I’ve got you!” Even muffled by her oxygen mask, Cal recognized the voice of Marty, the only female member of the team.

He felt himself being towed upward, one inch—stop. The movement started again, another half inch—then, one hard yank. She relaxed her stance to catch her breath, and her heavy burden slipped back down three inches.

“Get the boy!” Cal called, his voice infused with fear as he felt the boy’s tight little clawlike nails losing their hold. “He’s slipping! Get the boy first!”

Marty reached over his shoulder and lifted the small burden. The child went willingly as Marty sat him behind her. Then she went back to trying to lift the much heavier man.

Cal felt his spirit plummet. Marty was more than capable of pulling her weight—but not his. Cal could feel himself slipping even more, slowly and steadily out of her sweaty grip. He knew that as sure as the sun rose in the morning, Marty would never let go of him, which meant she would go over the side with him. He couldn’t let that happen.

“Let me go, Marty!” he shouted through his fogged mask. “Let me go!”

“No!”

He came up an inch.

“No!”

He came up another inch. Trembling with the effort, she relaxed her exhausted muscles just a fraction, and he slipped back down a half inch.

She can’t do it, Cal thought, and somehow, someway, he had to make her let him go.

He looked down into the nothingness beneath him. The wide opening of burnt wood that spiraled down at least twenty feet left him feeling as if he were staring into hell. Instantly he realized he’d made a critical mistake.

A swirling hell…vertigo.

“Take the boy and get out of here!” he shouted, but when he felt her continuing to pull, he knew he was being ignored.

His head felt light, as beads of sweat popped out on his face beneath his oxygen mask. Without thought, his large feet began swinging back and forth trying to find purchase on one of the many, jagged levels that had not burned completely away. He knew he should’ve just held still, but panic had taken hold of his brain.

“Cal, stop! I’m losing you!”

The fire burned below, the orange and red flames dancing in anticipation of the feast of flesh it was about to devour. The heat surrounding him, inside and outside of his suit had him near fainting, something he’d never done in his entire life.

The tip of one foot reached a small, solid foundation just another inch below him. He experimented with putting pressure on the surface. Cal was certain if he could just get his foot firmly on the small, unburned portion of the next level, he could get clear of the opening.

He pushed his body in the direction he wanted to go. His only consolation was that if this did not work, the fall would kill him before the fire ever reached him. Even in death, he refused to give the monster its due.

Cal’s foot touched on the landing just as the wood surrendered to the inferno. His body slid and scraped along the jagged edge until his fingers hooked onto something that felt like a handle and he broke the fall. Using both hands to hold, he tried to lift his heavy form up and over the ledge. Even though the edge had broken away, most of the charred landing was still in place.

As Cal hung dangling from the edge, he realized it was times like this when a man would be tempted to question God. Death at the hands of the very monster he’d spent his life working to defeat just didn’t seem right.

And what about Andrea? He could clearly see her beautiful face. Big brown eyes filled with more compassion than he’d ever imagined existed. Her golden-brown skin. Her cute little upturned nose and full lips. He’d waited his whole life for a woman like her and now he would lose her, as well. He should’ve married her a year ago, when he first proposed. Why had he waited so long?

“Cal! You down there?” He heard a man’s muffled voice coming from somewhere above. It was Dwight. Marty had gone for help. Cal could sense more than see the group of firefighters peering over the edge a few feet above. He was too exhausted to speak, but he had to find the strength, otherwise his team would believe him dead.

“Yeah, I’m still here,” he called back and tried to lift his weight over the edge.

“Hang on! We’re coming!” Dwight called down into the opening.

Cal tried to lift his body again, and managed to get his left shoulder up over the edge. He hung, listening to the crackling wood and running feet. The feeling of helplessness was a new sensation. And not a pleasant one, Cal thought.

This blaze was probably the worst they’d seen in some time, and the closest he’d ever come to meeting the Grim Reaper. Cal felt large, strong arms clamp around his torso and start to pull him up. Then other hands grabbed the back of his jacket and hauled him over the edge. Tommy took him under the arms while Jeff grabbed his legs and pulled up and over. The pair quickly rolled his large body back away from the edge.

“We’ve got him!”

From somewhere in the distance, he heard Dwight calling. “Let’s go! I can’t hold it much longer. Let’s go!” Dwight had been busy trying to secure an exit route for his team.

“Where’s Marco?” He looked in every direction, before noticing the small bundle tucked in Marty’s arms.

Braced between Jeff and Tommy, Cal used his own legs to run out of the building, despite his dizziness and nausea. A rhythmic bumping noise behind them signaled the others had caught up.

Following the path made by Dwight, the group quickly found the back entrance and exited into the empty alley. In the distance Cal could see the lights of an ambulance flashing, as well as the firemen’s ladder truck, and a couple of police vehicles. He found himself being twisted this way and that as Marty satisfied herself that her friend was still in one piece. The sound of scanners and radios were emanating from every direction.

Jeff tried to help guide him to the paramedics, who were now coming down the long alley to meet them halfway. Cal allowed the man to brace him as he watched the world spinning around him.

Cal took off his helmet and mask and shook his head hard, trying to dispel the feeling of vertigo that seemed to be lingering. He felt more than a little nauseous, and pushed Jeff away as he felt himself becoming sick.

Before the paramedics reached them, Cal turned toward the brick wall, and shielded himself as best as he could while emptying his stomach, his head spinning, his stomach churning. His friends closed in with worried expressions.

Unable to stand any longer, Cal leaned his back against the wall and hung his head in complete exhaustion.

He heard the paramedics quietly discussing the best way to transport their large victim. Then the stretcher appeared and Cal was laid out across it. He closed his eyes to stop the white clouds from spinning overhead.

“We’ll meet you at the hospital.” He heard Dwight in the distance. With his other team members wishing him well, the paramedics rolled Cal back to the ambulance and loaded him.