Trial by Fire (Southern Heat Book 4)

by Jamie Garrett

  She laughed, smiling so widely he couldn’t help but grin back, even with SWAT and the cops still swarming around them. For the first time, he tore his eyes from Maya and looked around the room. Jesse lay over in one corner of the room, his pants bloody and EMTs fussing about a wound on his thigh, but he was awake and talking. The same couldn’t be said for two bodies lying near each other on the other side of the room. “Jesse,” Maya said quietly. “They shot him, but I managed to get the gun.” She rolled her eyes, smiling again. “Typical big brother. Even shot, he still managed to drag himself over to me and take over.”

  Seth looked over at Jesse, nodding. Jesse raised his hand and sent him a small salute, meeting and holding Seth’s gaze even when he winced from the movement of his hand. Yep, they understood each other. A good thing, too, because he had a feeling neither he nor Jesse was willing to leave Maya alone any time soon. “He did it because he loves you, too, Gorgeous.” Seth’s hand moved to Maya’s head, holding her to his chest and stroking her hair. It was going to take a while before his heart calmed down and his body caught up with the fact that she was safe, warm, and pressed against him. “Besides, I think it’s closure in a way for him. A new start.”

  Maya looked up at him, still smiling through the chaos of the scene. “Looks like new starts all around tonight, then.”

  Definitely. The start to something that was going to last the rest of his life. Seth leaned down, kissing her again until the world melted away.

  33

  Maya

  Maya looked around the living room. If she didn’t get a move on, they were going to be late to the hospital. Even the memory of the stark white walls and antiseptic smell couldn’t quench her excitement. Despite Jesse’s protests, he’d been stuck in the hospital for nearly two weeks and still had more recovery time waiting for him at home. It would be good for him, though, to take some time while he decided what to do. Despite Bill Miller’s crimes being exposed, she doubted Jesse would stay with the FBI. There was just too much history there. Scott had been making noises about Jesse dropping by the squad once he was mobile again. Maybe he’d have a future there. He’d prefer that—something grassroots, where he could really make a difference.

  Home. The word meant something to her again. She’d been right about Seth. She’d barely had a moment to herself the past two weeks. And she’d loved every minute of it. Seth had refused to let her spend another night in the motel, taking her back to his place after Jesse was out of surgery and given the all clear. She’d been more than dead on her feet, and when she’d started tipping sideways in the chair, he’d given up asking nicely and just about slung her over his shoulder and carried her out of there. Maya had spoken to the nurse on duty and left her cell, securing a promise that they’d call if anything changed with her brother, and then she’d given in and let Seth be a caveman for a while. Meg, who was still sitting in Liam’s lap across the room, had beamed at her, despite the tiredness on her face, lifting a hand to shoo her out the door. Maya had smiled back, before taking Seth’s hand and walking with him out to the parking lot. She’d nearly been asleep by the time she’d climbed in the car, but somehow when they’d arrived home, there had still been energy for kisses, soft touches, and then leisurely thrusting, bringing her to her peak so languidly her entire body shivered with it when she finally came apart in Seth’s arms.

  Home. Maya smiled at the memory even as she bustled around the living room, looking for wherever she’d dropped her purse the day before. Her stuff was all over the place now, which apparently pleased Seth to no end. She liked it, too. Her parents had been first stunned and then overjoyed when Jesse had called them the next day. Although it was amazing to be together again at the hospital, it wasn’t home. Not anymore.

  She turned over a cushion that Seth had thrown across the room in his impatience to spread her out across the couch the night before, finding her purse. Her man had definitely been in a hurry last night. She grinned. Fast, slow—she’d take him any way he came, and there’d always be time for taking him. Here, in their home.

  “You find the damn thing yet?” his voice called out from the front door. “Meg is going to kill us if we’re late for the big announcement.”

  They were due at Meg and Liam’s in a little over an hour and they still had to swing by and pick up Jesse first. Meg had asked everyone over for one of her famous barbecues, promising something extra special at this one. Maya smiled to herself as she walked out the door. She’d kept her mouth shut, knowing if she told Seth, then the news would be all over the firehouse in about five minutes flat, but she knew Meg’s secret. There was no way her bubbly new best friend could keep it a secret from everyone, and besides Maya had pretty much guessed after showing up at Promise House for work each morning and finding Meg bent over either the toilet or sink, puking her guts out. Morning sickness was a complete ass. Or so she’d heard. Another smile. Maybe one day, she’d get to find out for herself. A little Seth or two running around sounded pretty damn good to her.

  For now, though, Maya was content to spend her time working at Promise House during the day, and making love to Seth every night. When they came together, skin on skin, she’d found her perfect place. She took one more glance around the house before stepping outside and kissing the living daylights out of Seth on the front doorstep. Yep, a perfect fit. She climbed into his truck and watched the scenery of Monroe glide past on their way to the hospital. It was funny. She’d come here for what she was sure would be just a few days, needing desperately to close off a painful chapter from her past. Instead, she’d found a brand new future. As they drove past the diner where she and Seth had had their first date, Maya grinned and reached over for his hand.

  Home. This was it. And it was perfect.

  Also by Jamie Garrett

  Marked By Desire - Romantic Suspense Series

  Books 1 - 5

  Southern Heat

  From the Ashes

  Fighting the Flames

  Burning the Past

  Trial by Fire

  The Dreamcatchers Series

  Emily

  Keila

  Payton

  Lainey

  Sienna

  DARC Ops Series

  Darkest Hour (0.5)

  Dark Secret

  Dark Web

  Dark Heart

  Dark Control

  Dark Threat

  Dark Lies

  Dark Salvation

  Riley Reid Mystery Series

  Books 1 - 3 (first book free!)

  Acknowledgments

  A huge thank you to you—all my readers, subscribers, and social media followers. Thank you for choosing to read my books!

  Thank you to my ARC team, for all your support. You’re all amazing!

  Lisa, Kate, Adele, and all the badass babes. You make my day on a regular basis. Thank you!

  A special thanks also to Anette King and Kristine Piiparinen, for all that you do. You are both incredible ladies.

  Come and hang out with me, plus authors Lisa Ladew and Kate Fargo, along with the fabulous badass babes in our Facebook romance group, Books, Babes, and Badasses. We talk about anything and everything, and there’s plenty of yummy eye candy too. Stop by and say hello anytime! You can also subscribe to my newsletter, send me an email, find me on Facebook, or visit my website.

  About the Author

  Hi, I’m Jamie. I live with my husband, two beautiful children and three cats. I loves to read almost as much as I loves to write, and can’t imagine anything better than getting to be an author and writing every day. There is at least one cat draped over the keyboard at all times.

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