12-Alarm Cowboys (8 page)

“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.”

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Nine months later…

W
hen 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

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

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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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A Cowboy Way Novella

Becky McGraw

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