She looked up from his arms with swimming eyes. Her tears left white streaks on her ash-covered face.

God, she was beautiful. Lost in the depth of her eyes, he could see nothing but the warm glow he hoped—prayed—was for him. She lifted her hand to his cheek, and her touch ignited something inside. Pulling her close, he captured her lips with his own.

The feel of her mouth on his was every bit as sweet as he’d imagined, every bit as soft and as yielding as he’d envisioned.

Her warm breath mingled with his and chased away the acid taste in his mouth. He was lost in her embrace, his mind blank except for the feel of her. For a brief moment, nothing else seemed to exist. Certainly not the fire…

He might have stayed there forever had a sudden cloudburst not driven them apart.

The cowhands greeted the rain with whoops and hollers. A quick glance told Chase the worst was over. As joyful as he felt, he didn’t move. He feared if he did, she would disappear as quickly as the flames had vanished beneath the pounding rain. Was she real? Or simply a vision, a dream? Had he only imagined her kiss? Her touch? The feel of her?

She lifted her face to the sky, her eyes closed against the battering rain. Laughter bubbled out of her like a song. “Thank you, thank you, God,” she cried. Lowering her head, she looked straight at him and added in a softer voice, “Our home is safe.”

He drew in his breath. Coming from her, they were the sweetest words he’d ever heard. He longed to take her in his arms again. Kiss her until they were both breathless and spent, kiss her until the next day, the next year. The next century.

He would have done exactly that had his foreman not appeared at his side and slapped him on the back. The man was soaking wet.

“Looks like somebody up there likes us,” Boomer said. Throwing his head back, he laughed as water cascaded off his whiskered face.

Chase’s gaze sought Emily’s, and her soft eyes seemed to absorb him into their very depths. He longed to hug her and finish what they had started, but Boomer had reminded him their work was far from done.

“We’d better settle those mamas down, or we’re gonna have a bunch of hungry calves on our hands,” Boomer called, spurring the men into action.

As quickly as it started, the rain had stopped. It hadn’t done much to quench the thirst of a parched ground, but the fire was out, and for now, that was enough.

Reminded that duty came before all else, Chase gave his men a thumbs-up. Boomer was right to worry. Frightened cows held their milk.

Water dripping off her hat, Emily’s eyes sought his, and she looked equally surprised at what had transpired between them. “I’ll bring you fresh clothes,” she said.

He shook his head. Clothes were the least of his concern. “I need you to check on Rusty.” He valued her nursing skills and knew the injured man could be in no better hands. “Would you do that for me?”