Page 71 of Fierce Protector

“Put her in the bucket!”

He quickly lowered the lift. Jeff ran over and settled the calf on the ground, then rushed back to shoo the cow toward the tractor. With Demi’s help, they managed to get her scooped in, lying on her side. Jeff lay the calf on top of her.

Demi jumped into the cab with Mr. Gracey and reached a hand down for Jeff. Gripping the side of the cab and balancing on the metal step up, he hollered, “Go!”

They rolled a few feet. Wind blasted from the side, blinding them with smoke and flames.

She saw something dart past. More cattle?

She caught a snatch of a voice, low and barely audible over the grind of the tractor engine and the roar of the fire.

“Eeee! Eeee!”

She scanned the landscape but could see nothing.

“Meee! Meee!”

Her name.

Someone was screaming her name.

She threw out a hand, grabbing Mr. Gracey’s shoulder. “Stop! It’s Ledger!”

He brought the tractor to a halt. Out of the smoke emerged a figure. Arm thrown across his face, he ran straight for the tractor.

Relief blasted through Demi at the sight of her lover. He craned his neck to see her high in the seat. For a split second, their gazes locked. Then he threw himself into the bucket with the cattle.

Mr. Gracey took off, running the gears as fast as he could manage. Cough after cough exploded from her, each searing her lungs with shards of pain.

She struggled to draw enough air to fill her lungs, but she still gave it her all.

She swayed forward, gasping. Jeff grabbed her and held her steady.

When they broke free of the thick smoke, Sean amped up the speed. They bumped across the pasture. She steeled her core muscles to keep from bouncing out of the seat.

As soon as she saw the red lights of firetrucks slicing across the barn and house, she let out a sharp cry. Her mind was fogged, grappling with the confusion of the past hour and the rush of adrenaline still pumping through her veins.

Mr. Gracey stopped the tractor. Jeff leaped to the ground and all of a sudden, Ledger stood in his place, soot etched in the creases of his face, and concern dark in his eyes. He reached for her, and she allowed him to pull her out of the cab and assist her to the ground.

Coughing hard, she leaned on him for support.

“Medic!” His bellow shook her. In that moment, she could all too well imagine Ledger in the thick of a battle, cradling his best friend as he struggled for his last breath.

She settled a hand on his cheek and stared into his eyes. For a split second when she wasn’t coughing, she tried to convey her strength to him.

His eyes slipped shut. Then he whipped her into his arms and ran with her to the rescue unit that rolled up to the house.

Everything became a blur of activity. She caught sight of Jeff and some firemen unloading the cow and her calf from the tractor bucket before Demi was settled in the back of the ambulance with Ledger gripping her hand and barking orders at the medics to help her.

Someone placed an oxygen mask on her, and she dragged the precious air into her lungs, taking slow breaths for her baby’s sake.

“She’s pregnant. We need to make sure the baby’s all right too.” Ledger’s tone came out with a harsh knife’s edge.

She shifted her hand from the bed she lay on to locate his. When she clamped her fingers on his callused ones, he swung his attention to her. His eyes filled with tears.

“I can’t lose you.”

She shook her head to indicate that she wasn’t about to leave the man she loved. She had a baby to raise with him.

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