by Cora Seton
When they turned the corner and saw the small house, the blood in his veins ran cold. Flames shot out of every window; the house was already engulfed. Knots of neighbors clustered around the house watching helplessly, but neither Brynn nor Netta was in sight. When the truck pulled up and parked, Adam grabbed a hose and ran with it, racing to kneel in position in front of the house and direct its spray. It wasn’t enough, though. It would take far too long to stop this fire. Meanwhile, Brynn was inside.
He had to get to her.
He clapped Jacob on the shoulder, gestured to himself and then to the house. Jacob shook his head vigorously, but Adam couldn’t wait another moment. “Take my place,” he yelled, and waited until the man was in position. Snapping his visor down, he grabbed a hatchet from the fire engine and took off at a run toward the front door. He hacked it to pieces in a matter of moments and stepped aside.
Behind him, Jacob struggled to direct the water’s flow to clear a path for him through the flames, but Adam decided he’d have to trust the fire retardant material of his jacket and pants to see him through. Flames licked up every wall and across the ceiling. He was walking into a death trap.
Entering the house cautiously, he worked his way quickly through the living room and into the kitchen, scanning left and right as he went.
“Brynn! Brynn!”
He heard a muffled sound and broke toward the center of the house. Spotting the closed door to the bathroom, itself a wall of flame, Adam leapt forward. “Get back from the door,” he bellowed and hoped Brynn could hear him if she was inside.
He swung the ax and shattered the flimsy door. The flames licked inward, drawn by fresh oxygen. Adam knew he had seconds to get Brynn out of there.
He kicked the remainder of the door down and found Brynn bent over Netta, cradling her sister in her arms. Not stopping to think, he grabbed Netta from her, tossed her over his shoulder and lifted Brynn under his arm. There was no time for gentleness. He staggered under their combined weight and slammed Netta against the doorjamb before regaining his balance and making his way down the hall. Brynn did her best to help, but she could barely keep her feet as the heat and smoke engulfed them. Adam’s breath was labored under his mask. His eyes streamed from the stinging smoke. He heard a shout and Jacob was there. Jacob pulled Netta into his arms and together they staggered toward the gaping front door.
Plunging out of the house into the cool evening air, Adam gasped and wheezed, dragging Brynn farther from the flames. When hands reached to take her, he didn’t want to let go, but he recognized the blue uniforms of Chance Creek’s EMTs and released her to them. Someone grabbed him, removed his helmet, and tried to clap an oxygen mask to his mouth. Adam fought him. He had to keep Brynn in his sight. If he blinked he might lose her.
“Damn it, Carter!”
It was Ed. “I gotta see her!”
“She’s okay. She’s breathing!”
Only then did Adam let him get the oxygen apparatus over his nose and mouth. He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself, watching Brynn’s chest rise and fall. She was breathing.
Brynn was alive.
Brynn awoke with a gasp that burned all the way down to her lungs. She fought to sit upright, positive she was still bound and about to burn to death in the hallway of her home. Bright lights and pale green walls assured her she was in the hospital. She touched the cool white sheets and began to cry in relief.
“Shh.” Someone stroked her hair like her mother used to when she was very young and she buried her face in the strong shoulder that presented itself. Only when her tears ran their course did she pull back and consider who the shoulder might belong to.
“It’s just me.” Adam handed her a tissue. “You’re safe. So is Netta. You’re both going to be fine.”
“The house—”
“It’s gone. We couldn’t save it.”
Brynn took this in. She should have been inside it when it went. Would have been if not for Adam. He’d saved her after all, just like he said he would so many years ago. Words wouldn’t come when she opened her mouth and Adam took her hand.
“Everything’s going to be okay.”
“Chris?”
“They caught him in Silver Falls. He had two cans of gasoline in the bed of his truck and his clothes stunk of it. Two of your neighbors have come forward as witnesses.”
“But he’ll tell about Netta!”
Adam showed her his watch. It was quarter past one. “Time’s up. Unfortunately no one has been able to take Chris’s statement yet. Cab Johnson’s been too busy tonight sorting out a series of fights at the Dancing Boot.”
“Did you have something to do with that?”
He grinned. “Might have.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“Me? I’m not the one getting mixed up with all these fires.”
“I think those days are over.”
“I sure as hell hope so.” He squeezed her hand. “Please tell me your marriage is going to be over soon, too.”
Her heart contracted at the urgency in his tone. She looked at him through her lashes. “What do you care? Don’t you have a woman already?”
A smile tugged up the corner of his mouth. “I already told you no. But if I have any say in the matter I will just as soon as Chris is out of the picture. What do you say, Brynn. You finally ready to give me a chance?”
“Maybe.” She squeezed his hand back and swallowed in a suddenly dry throat. “It depends.”
“On what?”
“Are you as good at kissing as you used to be?”
“Let’s find out.”
Epilogue
‡
Nine months later…
When Adam walked out of the Chance Creek Reformed Church with Brynn on his arm, he nearly stumbled when he saw his fellow firemen lined up on the sidewalk like an honor guard. It was early May and all the fruit trees in town had erupted in blossoms of pink and white. The air smelled fresh and clean and sunlight bathed them all in a gentle glow. Even Ed standing at the end of the line with his arms crossed looked benign. “Congratulations, you two,” he said when they reached him.
“Thank you.” Adam patted Brynn’s hand, safely tucked under his. He’d spent the last six months getting reacquainted with the woman he’d always been in love with. While the sparks between them kindled fast, they’d decided to take things slow to allow Bryn time to heal from her years with Chris. They’d agreed they wouldn’t make love until their wedding night and right now the anticipation was killing him.
“No more fires, right?” Ed asked her.
“No, sir.” Brynn smiled at him. With her shining eyes and flushed cheeks Adam thought she looked five years younger than she had just months ago. He figured that letting go of the secrets she’d carried so long was part of it. He liked to think that dating him made the rest of the difference.
“How’s that sister of yours doing?”
“See for yourself. She came for the wedding.” She pointed back over her shoulder to where Netta was flirting with each fireman in turn as she walked by them. “She asked me to move to California with her, but I told her I was beginning to like Chance Creek.” She smiled at Adam, and he dropped a kiss on her cheek.
“Looks like she’s doing fine,” Ed said. “Well, make sure you keep out of trouble.”
“Brynn will be too busy to get in trouble,” Adam assured him, giving her a squeeze. “She’s starting at Montana State in the fall. Studying psychology.”
“Good for you, Brynn. I’ll see you back at work in a week,” Ed said to Adam and stepped aside to let them go. When they were alone in the limousine on the way to the airport, Adam leaned close to her.
“I think I’m the happiest man in Chance Creek right now.”
“I know I’m the happiest woman.”
Tucked into a bed and breakfast for the night before their flight to Mexico in the morning, Brynn watched Adam move about the room and get undressed. She already lay between the sheets on the
sumptuous bed, wearing the lingerie she’d found in a boutique in Billings. She hadn’t touched a man for so many years she was a little nervous, but she’d been aching to be with Adam for so long she knew her nerves wouldn’t last. She meant to start off her marriage with him with a night she’d cherish forever.
She couldn’t believe the difference in the way she felt about her life. Where once she’d viewed Chance Creek as a prison holding her back, now she realized it was only her circumstances that had made it a cage. In the last nine months she’d stepped outside the bars to find a whole new world waiting for her. Old friends and acquaintances from school were happy to get to know her again. Her employers were overjoyed when she finally took them up on the promotion they’d been offering her for years. It was easier than she’d thought to take some classes and receive her high school diploma, and she’d been accepted to Montana State’s psychology program nearly as soon as she applied.
Living alone through the winter was a revelation, too. She’d moved into a small, clean, up-to-date apartment in the middle of town while she waited to marry Adam, and the nine months she’d spent there had healed her more than she could have predicted. For the first time in her life she inhabited a space that was completely hers—and completely safe. She’d moved through all her sorrow and anger at what had come before and rediscovered herself in the process. She’d picked up new hobbies, new friends and now she was ready to move on to a new life with Adam.
“Thank you for waiting,” she said when he joined her between the sheets.
“You’re worth waiting for.” He lifted the covers to peer underneath. “Brynn, you are a knockout. Look at you.”
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop looking and start touching.” She ran a hand over his chest, the feel of his muscles eliciting a visceral response deep inside her.
“I intend to do a lot of both.” He bent to kiss her and suddenly all her fears vanished. Adam had been the one steady constant in her life, even when he hadn’t known his role in it, and he’d always done everything he could to keep her safe. If only she’d listened to him the first time around.
Letting the past go for good, she relaxed as his strong arms surrounded her, and soaked in the sensation as he kissed her. She drank him in, hungry for his touch, aching with need.
“I hate to take this off of you so soon.” He fingered the strap of her lingerie.
“I’ll put it back on later. As many times as you want.”
“Deal.” He untied the ribbon that held the garment together and slid the scrap of lace and fabric down, his mouth trailing behind his fingers. His lips traced a path from one breast to the other and back again as he kissed and nipped and played with her nipples until she could barely breathe. It seemed he already knew every part of her and exactly how to kindle a flame of desire within her that could burn out of control at any second.
He slid her lingerie the rest of the way off, and she sighed when he dipped below her waist and began an exploration so intimate she thought she would shatter into pieces. Twisting her fingers in the sheets she held on while Adam teased her into a fever pitch of wanting. She arched her back and Adam came up for air. “You all right with this?” His breath brushed her skin when he talked and she shivered a little.
“More than all right.”
“Good.” He slid his hands beneath her bottom, lifted her for deeper access and Brynn was lost. She held on for dear life as he explored her thoroughly. When she thought she couldn’t hang on any longer, she whimpered his name.
“Tell me how you want it. Want to be on top?”
She knew he was afraid Chris had hurt her during their time together or that she might be afraid to be intimate. None of that was true. “I want it just like this. I want to feel you—all of you—when you’re inside of me.” She tugged him all the way on top of her. He braced himself with his arms so as not to crush her, but even that wasn’t good enough. She flattened her palms on his back and pulled him down so that he settled between her legs.
She moaned in appreciation.
“I thought we’d take it slow.” His amusement was clear.
“To hell with slow. We’ve got all our lives for slow.”
“But—”
“No buts. I want you, Adam.”
“You sure you’re ready—”
“Now!”
Needing no more encouragement, Adam nudged against her, then pushed into her so slowly, she thought she might die from the sweet torture, but when he began a rhythmic movement inside of her, it was worth the wait. She closed her eyes and immersed herself in the sweet friction. She ran her hands over his skin and pressed hungry kisses into the side of his neck when he came within reach. She thought she’d never get enough of this man, and realized she never had to. He was hers now—forever.
“I love you,” Adam said and picked up his pace. “You hear me, Brynn?”
“I hear you. I love you too.”
His thrusts brought her quickly to the edge of a precipice she’d gladly throw herself over, because when she fell, Adam would fall with her and he’d be there at the bottom to catch her, too. He redoubled his efforts, thrusting quickly and as she came, Brynn’s heart was full to bursting with love for the man in her arms. Her cries mingled with his as he joined her and together they crashed back down to earth. Nothing had ever felt so good or so right as joining together with Adam. Spent, glorying in the sexy weight of him on top of her, Brynn thought this must be paradise.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Only when Adam bent down to kiss them away did she realize tears had slipped from her eyes.
“I never knew I could be this happy.”
“Baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
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The End
Other works by Cora Seton
The Cowboys of Chance Creek Series
The Cowboy Inherits a Bride (Volume 0)
The Cowboy’s E-mail Order Bride (Volume 1)
The Cowboy Wins a Bride (Volume 2)
The Cowboy Imports a Bride (Volume 3)
The Cowgirl Ropes a Billionaire (Volume 4)
The Sheriff Catches a Bride (Volume 5)
The Cowboy Lassos a Bride (Volume 6)
The Cowboy Rescues a Bride (Volume 7)
The Cowboy Earns a Bride (Volume 8)
The Heroes of Chance Creek Series
The Navy SEAL’s E-mail Order Bride (Volume 1)
The Soldier’s E-Mail Order Bride (Volume 2)
The Marine’s E-Mail Order Bride (Volume 3)
The Navy SEAL’s Christmas Bride (Volume 4)
The Airman’s E-Mail Order Bride (Volume 5)
The SEALs of Chance Creek Series
A SEAL’s Oath
A SEAL’s Vow
A SEAL’s Pledge
A SEAL’s Consent
To learn about new releases, sign up for my newsletter now!
About Cora Seton
NYT and USA Today bestselling author Cora Seton loves cowboys, country life, gardening, bike-riding, and lazing around with a good book. Mother of four, wife to a computer programmer/eco-farmer, she ditched her California lifestyle ten years ago and moved to a remote logging town in northwestern British Columbia. Like the characters in her Chance Creek series, Cora enjoys old-fashioned pursuits and modern technology, spending mornings transforming an ordinary one-acre lot into a paradise of orchards, berry bushes and market gardens, and afternoons writing the latest Chance Creek romance novel. Visit www.coraseton.com to read about new releases, contests and other cool events!
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Where There’s Smoke
A Cowboy Way Novella
Becky McGraw
‡
Thi
s is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
WHERE THERE’S SMOKE, Copyright © August, 2015 by Becky McGraw.
All rights reserved under International and Pan American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the author.
Acknowledgements
First, I’d like to thank my badass, first-responder son-in-law, who is a real life firefighter-paramedic, and also a trauma flight paramedic who was instrumental in my research to get the details right in this book. He likes to play sexy cowboy every now and again too, and does a damned good job at it! Thank you so much, Lance, and welcome to the family.
I love brainstorming with people, especially the funny and creative Kathryn Falk, Founder of RT Book Reviews Magazine, who suggested it might be comical if I set a crop of wacky weed on fire in this book to challenge my sexy cowboy-firefighter. You were definitely right, Kathryn! Thanks for the suggestion, and thank you for your support.
Thanks also go out to Heather Almendarez of Heatherlynn Portraits for the sexy shot of fitness model Luca Constabile on my cover. Thank you for finding those sexy cowboys for me, girlfriend! You always inspire me.
Finally, thanks to my fellow Cowboy 12-Pack Authors. With every collaboration we do, I am in awe of your talent, your commitment and hard work. We’re a great team, the best, and I can’t tell you how honored I am to call all of you friends.
