Smoked

a vast, eternal sea shrouded in smoke.”
“Why shrouded in smoke?”
“I don’t understand the exact science, but over a hundred different species of hardwood trees grow in these mountains. The transpiration of their density, coupled with an average rainfall of eighty-five inches, produces a haze that looks like smoke.”
The awe-filled look of wonder on her face as I told her about the place that had been my home most of my life, was unexpected. There was so much I didn’t know about this woman. The reminder filled me with a sudden desire to learn everything I could.
Except, until Siren regained her memory, she would likely be unable to answer any questions I asked.
“Were you born here?”
“Near here, in a place called Pigeon Forge.”
“Why would that name sound familiar to me?”
I shrugged. “Not too much there when I was growing up. Now it’s one of Tennessee’s biggest tourist destinations.”
She nodded and turned her head away from me.
“Siren?”
“I can’t remember where I was born,” she whispered. “Where I grew up.”
“I can tell you if you’d like.”
Her head spun back in my direction. “I would.”
“You grew up in southeast Ireland, in a place called Waterford. It’s the country’s oldest city.”
“What else do you know about it?”
I reached over and stroked her cheek with my fingertip. “It’s beautiful. Just like the woman who was born there.” Her pale cheeks flushed, and she leaned into my hand.
“You’ve been?”
“My grandmother’s family was from Kinsale. It’s about two hours from Waterford, so yes, I visited the area.”
“But not with me?”
I shook my head. “There hasn’t been time.”
“How long have we known each other?”
“A few months.”
Her next question made the funny feeling settle back in my chest.
“How long have we been in love?”
“Not long,” I muttered, having no idea what else to say.
“That’s vague.”
In that moment of vulnerability, she looked more like a young girl than a woman. The truth was, Siren was a lot younger than me. “Do you remember how old you are?” I asked.
She thought it over for several seconds. “Not precisely.”
“You’re twenty-six.”
“How old are you?”
“I’ll be thirty-nine next month.” This time, I turned my head away from her.
“Does our age difference bother you?”
“Does it bother you?”
“I hate that,” she muttered.
“What?”
“When someone answers a question with a question.”
I smiled. “Yes, you do.”
“Then, answer.”
“I’m too old for you.”
“Is it that, or am I too young for you?”
Rather than answer, I leaned over and kissed her cheek.
“The sex, though, is fantastic,” she whispered in my ear. “That, I remember.”

6
Siren
My body hurt like fecking hell, and my left arm only sporadically did what I wanted it to. My head was wrapped in bandages and, more often than not, throbbed. And yet, given all those things, whenever I closed my eyes, all I could picture was Smoke’s naked body covering mine, like it had the night on the beach.
When he went to sit back up and I tightened my grip on his hand, he looked as surprised as I was. “Come closer,” I murmured.
He leaned down so I could feel his breath on my cheek.
“Smoke,” I whispered. “How much longer until we can be alone?”
A groan emanated from somewhere deep in his chest, and he brought my hand to his lips. “Have you forgotten you were just released from the hospital?”
“Was I? It seemed more like I absconded.”
He laughed. A sound I loved. His voice was deep and rich, exactly the way one would think judging by his appearance. Its timbre shot a wave of desire through my body. I moved our clasped hands to my breast and saw the same desire I felt, flare in his eyes.
“Not too much farther,” said Smoke, pulling away and sitting up. “I can see the creek that runs alongside the road and starts up at the ranch.”
“The creek starts there?”
I closed my eyes, picturing what it would look like. An image of a stream flashed in my mind. There were no trees around it, just rolling meadows. When I tried to keep it in focus, it vanished.
“Everything okay?” Smoke asked.
I opened my eyes and looked into his. “A memory…”
“Of?”
“It wasn’t much. Just water.” Suddenly overcome by sadness, I closed my tear-filled eyes.
“We’re here,” Smoke said as I felt the helicopter descending. Once it landed, he gathered me in his arms and lifted me from the gurney.
“We’re on top of a mountain.” I gasped, looking out at the miles and miles of mountain views.
“We’re not on the highest peak in the range, but it’s close.”
I smiled at the pride I heard in Smoke’s voice. “What is that?” I asked, motioning with my head at a large structure that sat near the bank of a pond.
“My house.”
I was stunned. It looked more like a large mountain lodge.
“Let’s get you inside and settled.”
“For feck’s sake, Smoke, you can put me down. I can walk.”
“We’ve been traveling for going on eighteen hours. You’re more tired than you think.”
“It’s also time for your pain medicine,” the nurse, whose name I couldn’t recall but who was walking beside us, said.
“I don’t want it,” I whispered in Smoke’s ear. “I don’t need it.”
“We’ll talk about it once you’re in bed.”
He carried me up to the front door and waited for the man who’d met us at the airfield, to open it.
“I’ll fetch Ms. Wynona, and then the boys and I will start bringing stuff in,” Smoke said once we were inside and he set me in a chair.
“Who is that?” I asked.
“She takes care of the place when I’m not here.”
“It’s about time you showed your face.” A very short woman with hair that looked more blue than gray approached. “Welcome to the Blazing T,” she said.
“Ms. Wynona, this is the woman I told you about, Siobhan Gallagher.”
The woman raised both eyebrows and put her hands on her hips. “You best get Ms. Siobhan into bed, Mr. Smoke. She looks near-dead tired.”
“We’ll set up in the master,” said Smoke, turning to the nurse. “This way.”
I shrugged my shoulder when Ms. Wynona winked. “You and I will have plenty of