Summer of the Burning Sky
Page 38
“To do what?” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her neck, then her forehead.
“To hold you hostage.”
He leaned back, met her eyes, something dangerous and delicious sparking in them. It ignited the heat in her, stirred the deep truths.
“We don’t have to have all the answers, Rio. But God does, and that’s enough, right?”
He blinked, and then, finally, “Yes. Yes, it is.”
Then he kissed her lips. Sweetly, taking his time. As if he had nowhere else to be in the world.
Music filtered out from the saloon. Hall and Oates, one of her father’s favorite groups. What I want you’ve got… Like the flame that burns the candle, The candle feeds the flame…
Rio smiled under her kiss, leaned back. “Okay, I surrender.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“To being your hostage.”
She took his hand and threaded her fingers between his. “Stay with me. Nothing will happen to you as long as you’re with me.”
Tucker spotted the brunette the moment she walked in the door. Shapely, dressed in a pair of jeans, a fire-red T-shirt, and a look of trouble in her pale green eyes.
The kind of trouble he’d chase down, follow anywhere. She came up to the bar stool and slid onto the place he’d been saving for her.
Finally.
“How’s your dad?”
“He’s okay. Healing. The DA is taking my testimony into account, that he’d been trying to work with me to apprehend March, so I don’t think they’ll tack on more time for the escape attempt. These for me?”
She indicated a basket of ribs and a tall, frothy root beer.
“I got your back,” Tucker said, winking.
“I’m counting on it.” She gave him a smile, added a waggle of her eyebrows.
Oh. He hadn’t a clue how he was supposed to leave her tomorrow. But one fugitive from the prison break remained on the lam, and she had a job to do.
And he had fires in Montana to put out.
He’d sort of wanted to leave this one aflame.
She dug into the ribs, the barbeque sauce tingeing the corner of her mouth. He suppressed the urge to wipe it off.
“They’re also going to count the recovery time in the hospital as time served, so…it looks like he’ll be released when he’s discharged.”
“Oh, Stevie, that’s fantastic.”
She reached for a napkin. Pressed it to her lips, her eyes glossy. Nodded.
He touched his hand on the small of her back. And then, she sweetly leaned over and put her head on his shoulder. Needing him, apparently.
He liked being needed.
“Sorry to interrupt…”
She leaned away, and Tucker looked over to find Jed standing beside him. His boss had shown up two days ago, having heard of the firestorm in Montana, and hustled himself, Reuben and Gilly back as soon as he could to help.
“How’s Kate?”
“Still pregnant. False alarm. She’s got three weeks left, and the baby is fine. First baby jitters.” Jed gave a wry smile. “Sorry to leave you with such a mess.”
The fact that he’d let a tiny ten-acre fire take out miles of forest. Don’t do anything stupid—Jed’s last words to him.
Yeah, well…
“I’ve been pretty busy with mop-up, but I wanted to thank you for keeping your promise.”
Tucker frowned, glanced at Stevie, who was devouring another rib.
“You got everybody home alive.”
Oh. That. “I’m not sure that was all me—a lot went wrong out there.”
“There are no guarantees in this gig, Tucker. You can follow all the rules, and things will still go south. But you have great instincts. A great leader has to know when to break the rules. You just need to keep the faith that God still has your back when you do.”
Yeah. And pursing him with goodness and mercy. That thought had started to settle into his bones with Stevie sitting close enough for him to pull into his arms, with his team joking behind him, the sense of victory in the air.
Everyone lived.
The fire was out.
Although yes, God had lit something else inside him.
Faith.
“Listen,” Jed said. “When Kate has our baby, I’m going to take some time, and I was hoping you’d consider taking on the role of Jump Boss for the rest of the season. Maybe…maybe even permanently.”
Tucker stared at him.
“Yeah, he will,” Stevie said, wiping her fingers with a napkin. “He’d love to.”
Tucker turned to her, but she was grinning at him. “No one fights fire like you do, Tucker. I saw you in action. You do have great instincts. But you also know how to handle yourself, and these guys—they trust you. You’d die for them, and that means something. You are a great leader—so just suck it up and say yes.”
Oh. Well. He turned to Jed, who wore just a hint of confusion as he glanced at Stevie.
“Okay,” Tucker said.
Jed shook his hand. “Good. Because I really didn’t want to have to ask Riley.” He winked and glanced down the bar where Riley was, of course, entwined in the arms of a blonde. Whatever had gone down between Larke and Riley had changed the guy.
Turned him into a man who probably could helm the team.
Jed walked away, and Tucker’s gaze landed on Skye on the dance floor, her arms around the neck of the guy who’d saved Tucker’s life. The man he’d thought most likely to commit a crime, with his tattoos and dark-eyed look. Rio Parker, the guy most likely to surprise them all.
Turning into a softie right there in the middle of a crowd by kissing Skye’s forehead.
Huh. But maybe they were all feeling it—the goodbye that lay at the end of tonight’s sunset.
As if reading his thoughts, Stevie turned to face him, her knees against his. “I hate that you’re leaving tomorrow.”
“I hate that I’m leaving you here,” he said, capturing her hand, twining his fingers through hers. “I hate that it feels like…” He shook his head, then met her eyes. “I’m in love with you, Stevie. And this…”
“I know,” she said and slid off the stool to close the gap between them. “As soon as I track down Thorne and bring him to justice…well, I have a lot of vacation time stored up.” She touched his face, ran her fingers into his scraggly growth of beard.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, tucked her against himself, met her eyes.
She swallowed, her expression turning solemn. “I’m in love with you too, hotshot.”
Then she pulled him by the beard to her, touching her lips to his. Nothing too passionate—after all, she was still trouble around here—but he’d fight anybody for her.
She tasted of the tangy barbecue, the root beer, of tomorrow and sweet what-ifs, and all the things that waited for him.
“Hurry up and catch this guy,” he said softly.
“But not right now,” she said, whispering it into his ear. “Right now, we have a sunset to catch.”
She leaned back, something of fire in her eyes.
“There is no sunset here,” he said, twining her hair between his fingers.
“Exactly.”
Oh, how he loved the summer of the burning sky.
Want more?
From RITA award-winning author Susan May Warren comes a new epic romantic adventure series.
She’s a smokejumper afraid of fire…
* * *
Kate Burns is a legendary smoke jumper, known for her courage and willingness to risk everything to get the job done. Only she has a secret, one she won’t admit to anyone.
* * *
He can’t forget the love they once shared…
* * *
Supervisor Jed Ransom commands the Jude County Smoke Jumpers with a reputation as a calm, level-headed leader. Kate is the only one who’s ever gotten under his skin.
* * *
They must face the flames together…
* * *
A raging wildfire in the
mountains of Montana brings Kate and Jed together to train up a new team of jumpers. Suddenly, they must face the past they’ve been running from and the secrets that keep them apart. When an arsonist goes after their team, Kate and Jed must face their deepest fears—and learn to rely on each other as they fight a blaze that could destroy them all.
* * *
In this first book of the Montana Fire: Summer of Fire trilogy, Kate and Jed are about to discover that where there’s smoke, there just might be a chance to start again.
Start at the beginning of the series with
Where There’s Smoke!
* * *
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Thank you for reading!
Thank you so much for reading The Summer of the Burning Sky! I hope you enjoyed the story. If you did, would you be willing to do me a favor? Head over to the product page and leave a review. It doesn’t have to be long—just a few words to help other readers know what they’re getting. (But no spoilers! We don’t want to wreck the fun!)
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Thank you again for reading!
Meet the Marshall Family!
Montana Marshalls
Book One
Montana rancher Knox Marshall's danger years are behind him. A former bull-rider, he now runs the Marshall family ranch, raising champion bucking bulls for the National Professional Bullrider's Expo (NBR-X). Wealth and success are his, but life is stable, expected, and…ordinary. He can't help but wonder if his best years are behind him.
Kelsey Jones just wants a safe life, a family, a home. Onstage, the beautiful rising star of the Yankee Belles becomes the person she longs to be - vivacious and confident - burying the brokenness she carries from a violent assault. Becoming NBR-X’s next country act is key to outrunning her past and achieving the success and security she craves.
Knox and Kelsey's paths collide when an explosion at an NBR-X event traps them in the rubble and leaves them reeling. Kelsey’s crippling nightmares return, but for Knox, an obsession to find the bomber is ignited.
When Kelsey’s past threatens Knox’s family, he'll have to choose between saving the Marshall legacy or becoming the protector he's always longed to be.
The explosive beginning to the Montana Marshall series.
Start with KNOX here!
Also by Susan May Warren
THE MONTANA MARSHALLS (family series)
Book 1: Knox (March 2019)
Book 2: Tate (July 2019)
Book 3: Ford (September 2019)
Book 4: Wyatt (October 2019)
Book 5: Ruby Jane (November 2019)
Other books by Susan May Warren
MONTANA FIRE
Book 1: Where There's Smoke
(Summer of Fire)
Book 2: Playing with Fire
(Summer of Fire)
Book 3: Burnin' For You
(Summer of Fire)
Book 4: Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful (Christmas novella)
Book 5: I'll be There
(Montana Fire/Deep Haven crossover)
Book 6: Light My Fire
(Summer of the Burning Sky)
Book 7: The Heat is On
(Summer of the Burning Sky)
Book 8: Some Like it Hot
(Summer of the Burning Sky)
Book 9: You Don't Have to Be a Star
(Montana Fire spin-off)
* * *
MONTANA RESCUE
Prequel: If Ever I Would Leave You
Book 1: Wild Montana Skies
Book 2: Rescue Me
Book 3: A Matter of Trust
Book 4: Troubled Waters
Book 5: Storm Front
Book 6: Wait for Me
MISSIONS OF MERCY SERIES
TEAM HOPE: (Search and Rescue series)
Book 1: Waiting for Dawn (novella prequel)
Book 2: Flee the Night
Book 3: Escape to Morning
Book 4: Expect the Sunrise
* * *
NOBLE LEGACY (Montana Ranch Trilogy)
Book 1: Reclaiming Nick
Book 2: Taming Rafe
Book 3: Finding Stephanie
* * *
THE CHRISTIANSEN FAMILY
Prequel: I Really Do Miss your Smile (Prequel)
Book 1: Take a Chance on Me
Book 2: It Had to Be You
Book 3: When I Fall in Love
Evergreen (Christmas novella)
Book 4: Always on My Mind
Book 5: The Wonder of Your
Book 6: You're the One that I Want
* * *
THE DEEP HAVEN COLLECTION 1
Happily Ever After
Tying the Knot
The Perfect Match
THE DEEP HAVEN COLLECTION 2
My Foolish Heart
The Shadow of your Smile
You Don't Know Me
The Summer of the Burning Sky Trilogy
Published by SDG Publishing
Copyright © 2018 by Susan May Warren
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental.
Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture quotations are also taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc®. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
For more information about Susan May Warren, please access the author’s website at the following address: www.susanmaywarren.com.
Published in the United States of America.