Ignited by Suzannah Daniels - Release Day Blitz + Giveaway!
Ignited by Suzannah Daniels
(Whiskey Nights #2)
Publication date: December 30th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
James “Hawk” Hawkins always knew he’d be a firefighter. At twenty-four years of age, he’s dedicated his entire adulthood to the perilous job of saving lives and extinguishing flames. After a chance encounter, he carries a young woman to safety, but it’s unlike any rescue he’s ever performed. She touches something deep inside of him, not because he finds her attractive, which he does, but because she doesn’t want to be saved. For the first time in his life, he doesn’t need to put out a fire…he needs to start one.
Twenty-year-old Amber Lawson escaped to the small town of Creekview, Tennessee. She was running…fleeing from a tragedy that left her heartbroken and shrouded in despair. Struggling with the desolation that has engulfed her, she tries to start anew, hoping that if she evades the reminders of her past, she can slowly begin to heal.
Hawk is determined to rekindle her passion for life. Along the way, he realizes that’s not the only passion he wants to ignite. With his heart on the line, it could be his most hazardous rescue yet.
Plus, a bonus scene from Mason and Lexi of WASTED.
IGNITED is the second book in the WHISKEY NIGHTS series. Since each book focuses on a different couple, they can be read as stand-alones, but many readers may prefer to read them in order for maximum enjoyment.
WHISKEY NIGHTS SERIES ORDER
Wasted #1
Ignited #2 (coming December 30, 2014)
Deceived #3 (coming 2015)
~ AUTHOR BIO ~
Suzannah Daniels has had an affinity for words for as long as she can remember. She grew up in North Georgia with four brothers, so she learned at an early age to admire snakes and motorcycles. When she wasn't pestering her brothers, she could usually be found reading or writing.
She has an Associates Degree in Electrical Engineering, but her passion is writing.
She is the author of Viking's Embrace, a historical romance, and Ghostly Encounter, Book One of her Ghostly series (young adult paranormal romance).
Currently, she lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee with her husband and her teenage daughter. Her son lives nearby. The family pets include a Lab mix, a Basset Hound, a Shih Tzu, and a sweet, little kitty.
~ AUTHOR LINKS ~
Chapter 1
Extrication
Hawk
I released the
string, and the arrow whooshed through the air, sinking into the center of the
bull’s-eye with a thud. Turning toward Cade Mayfield, who’d been a lifelong
friend, I pointed at him and said, “You owe me a beer.”
“Man!” He shook his
head in disbelief, running a hand through his dark hair. “I didn’t think
there’s any way you could sink five in a row.”
“You were wrong, as
usual.”
“Just for that….” A
loud noise exploded in the air, squealing brakes, scraping metal, shattering
glass.
Cade whipped his head
in my direction. “What the hell?”
Being a firefighter,
my instincts kicked in, and I scrambled up the steep embankment that would lead
us out of the ravine that had provided a safe and secluded spot for target
practice.
“Damn,” I muttered as
the acrid smell of burning rubber assaulted my nostrils. I paused for a moment
as I heard a noise with which I was all too familiar.
Flames.
Scurrying into
action, Cade and I rushed up the last bit of ridge that led to the rural road
that connected downtown Creekview, Tennessee with the agricultural areas.
A huge black plume of
smoke came into view, spiraling into the orange glow of the sky as the sun
began drifting below the horizon, and as we pushed ourselves up on the
pavement, we could see the mangled SUV lying on its side. An outer layer of
bark had been peeled off a tall pine tree, exposing the raw wood. A quick
assessment told me that the SUV had sideswiped it, and I assumed the driver had
overcorrected, toppling the SUV in the process.
A woman’s frantic
scream pierced the air as thick flames in varying hues of orange engulfed the
rear of the vehicle.
“Shit, she’s
trapped,” I yelled to Cade. “You got something we can bust out the window
with?” I pointed at his truck, parked a few feet behind us.
“Yeah.” He turned and
ran to retrieve it.
Rushing to the SUV, I
saw a woman beating her fist against the windshield. “Help!” she screamed above
the crackling fire. The urgency in her voice reminded me of the nightmares that
plagued me, and a shudder crept down my spine as I raced toward the vehicle.
“Get back!” I yelled.
“Help!” she screamed,
her fists thumping repeatedly on the windshield. “Help me!”
“Get back!”
Frantically, she
continued to beat against the glass that held her captive in the burning
automobile.
“Back up!” I yelled
one more time as I started kicking the glass. When I could tell she had backed
away, I delivered more powerful kicks. The glass cracked, sending spidery veins
shooting along the surface. Sweat beaded on my forehead from the blistering
heat of the flames. I kicked again.
And again.
And again.
Finally, I
knocked a small hole in the glass.
Cade ran up beside me
with a crowbar. “Move!”
Backing up, I swiped
my palm across my forehead to keep the sweat from dripping in my eyes. He swung
the crowbar, widening the hole as smoke and flames continued to billow out from
the rear of the vehicle. Then he hooked the glass and yanked, a large circle of
the safety glass peeling back.
“Hold up!” I yelled,
stooping down as the woman began emerging from the hole. She frantically
wriggled through the broken glass.
“Flanagan!” Cade
yelled as he pulled her away from the burning vehicle.
Recognizing her last
name, I realized that the woman who had just crawled from the wreckage was
Seren Flanagan, a girl who’d been a couple of years behind Cade and me in high
school.
“Is anyone else in
the car?” I asked her.
“Yes!” she screeched,
her hair tumbling around her shoulders. “Amber. Amber’s in the car.”
“Amber!” I yelled, my
blood pumping furiously through my body as I watched the flames creep closer
toward the front of the SUV.
Seren screamed as she
began crying. “Get her out!”
Kicking the window, I
widened the hole, giving me plenty of room to crawl into the car.
Amber, still securely
fastened in the passenger seat by her seatbelt, dangled limply in the air. I
tried to focus on her, well aware that the flames were gaining ground. “Release
your seatbelt.”
“Just leave me,” she
half-coughed, half-yelled.
Flames licked along
her door.
“Release your
seatbelt,” I repeated, feeling the pressure to get her out immediately.
She didn’t respond.
Crawling farther into the car, I maneuvered until I could reach the release
button. After a couple of tries, I finally managed to press it long enough to
free her. Her weight landed on my shoulder, her body limp, and I reached out in
an effort to steady myself. Shit, I didn’t know what I had grabbed but it was
hot, and I jerked my hand away, losing my balance under her weight. Managing to
roll her over in my arms, I positioned her feet at the hole in the windshield
and supported her body as Cade reached down and helped extricate her. Once she
was clear, I concentrated on getting myself out.
Amber lay on the
ground, her eyes closed, her red-gold hair fanned out around her. I motioned
for Cade to back up. “Get the hell away from here and call 911.”
Scooping her into my
arms, I followed Cade far away from the burning vehicle, joining Seren who was
still crying hysterically. I knew it was unlikely that the vehicle would blow,
but I wasn’t going to take any chances. Glancing back at the SUV, I realized
the flames had now engulfed the entire cab.
“Is she dead?” Seren
screeched.
“She’s alive, but I’m
not sure of the extent of her injuries.” I laid her on the ground, immediately
feeling for a pulse in her neck. She was definitely alive. “Amber!”
Cade was on the phone
with the dispatcher while I assessed the woman’s condition.
“Amber. Come on,
Amber. Answer me,” I quietly urged her.
“She’s been
drinking,” Seren informed me. “We were at a party, and she needed a ride home.
I don’t even know her. All I know is that her name’s Amber, and she lives in a
duplex close to my house. A deer ran out in front of me, and I swerved.” Her
words tumbled from her mouth, a spurt of unorganized thoughts that served as
her attempt to explain the situation as quickly as possible.
Her sobs stopped
further conversation.
“It’s okay, Seren,” I
said calmly. “Amber’s going to be fine. I want you to go over by Cade and wait
with him for the emergency vehicles.”
She nodded and
immediately obeyed. Hopefully, Cade could calm her down.
I closed my eyes,
hoping that Seren would be okay. Blinking a few times to clear some of the
irritation from the smoke, I focused on Amber. I could tell that she had minor
burns on her right arm and hand, but it was the huge knot on her forehead that
worried me.
“Cade,” I yelled. “Do
you have any liquid?”
He turned and focused
on me while he held the phone away from his ear.
“Do you have any
liquid?” I repeated.
“I might have a
couple of bottled waters.”
“Get them.” I turned
my attention back to the girl. “Amber.”
Her eyes fluttered
open, and as she focused on me, I noticed that her irises were a deep mossy
green. I tried to assess her pupils, but something about her gaze drew me in
and distracted me. Forcing myself to ignore the strange pull she seemed to have
on me, I focused on the urgency of the moment.
Seren ran over with
two bottled waters. I quickly opened them and poured them on Amber’s burns in
an attempt to cool the skin. “You’re safe now.”
Her eyes closed and slowly
reopened. “And what if I didn’t want to be saved?”
Now that we were away
from the smoke, I could smell the alcohol on her breath. I’d helped plenty of
people in emergency situations, and no one had ever asked me that. Was she
suffering from a concussion or just drunk?
“Whatever it is, it
can’t be so bad that you’d prefer a burning car.”
“At least then it’d
be over.” Her eyes drifted closed again.
Leaning back on my
heels with my hands resting on my thighs as I knelt beside her, I waited to see
if she would open her eyes. She was underweight, her thin body lending an air
of fragility. Something about her hopelessness called to my innate need to
rescue.
I smoothed errant
strands of red-gold hair away from her face, trying to decide the reason for
her unresponsiveness.
“Can you tell me your
name?” I asked loudly.
Her eyelids opened
again. “Amber Lawson.” The fact that she answered coherently made me feel
better.
“How old are you,
Amber?”
“Twenty.”
“Where do you live?”
She looked at me and
blinked.
“Do you know your
address?”
The wail of sirens
became louder as the first responders reached us. A police car pulled over to
the side of the road, the ambulance not far behind him.
Turning over her care
to the EMTs, I watched as the fire continued to burn, glowing brighter as the
day darkened.
“Hawk,” the police
officer said, walking up beside me. “Were you the first one on the scene?”
I didn’t have to look
at him to know who it was. I’d been listening to that voice for most of my
life. “Yeah, Cade and I just happened to be nearby doing a little target
practice when we heard the wreck.”
Jace Hawkins, a
rookie on the police squad who happened to be my little brother, let out a
whistle.
“Lucky for them, y’all were here.”
“Yeah,” I said,
nodding. “I guess so.”
I briefly explained
to him what happened, and he slapped me on the back. “Good job. Guess I better
go talk to the passengers.”
“Seren Flanagan was
driving.”
“Really?” Jace peered
around me, glancing in her direction. “I graduated high school with her.”
He walked away to
discuss the accident with Amber and Seren.
Glancing at the EMTs,
I noticed Amber was still lying on the ground in front of them. Jace spoke to
her briefly and then approached Seren. I walked back over to see what was
happening with Amber.
“She okay?”
I knew both the EMTs,
although I only knew their last names. Hoffman, the more experienced of the two
replied, “Possible concussion. I’d say the hospital will keep her overnight at
the very least.” He nodded toward Seren. “She said she’s fine. She signed an
AMA.”
I wasn’t surprised
that Seren had signed the Against Medical Advice form, refusing treatment.
Other than a few cuts and scrapes, she seemed to have escaped injury.
As Hoffman and his
partner began loading Amber onto the stretcher, she began to get distraught.
“Who’s going to take
care of Gracie?” Amber asked frantically.
The EMTs fastened her
in and raised the stretcher.
“I don’t have anyone
here who can take care of her.”
I could hear the
panic in her voice, and I laid my hand on her arm to reassure her. “Who’s
Gracie? Is that your daughter?”
She shook her head.
“My cat.”
“You don’t have
anyone who can take care of her? A friend? A neighbor?”
Her lower lip
quivered, and the forlorn look in her eyes haunted me.
“No one?” I asked,
unable to mask the surprise in my voice.
She pursed her lips
and shook her head.
“You’ll probably be
back home tomorrow,” I assured her.
Tears filled her
eyes. “I woke up late this morning, and I didn’t have time to feed her. I
promised her I would be back after work. But then I got invited to the party….”
“How about a
co-worker?”
Her face scrunched
up, and I assumed the alcohol that she had consumed was making her more
emotional than normal. “I just started two days ago. I don’t know any of their
numbers.”
I knew she needed
someone, but me taking care of a cat? I was highly allergic to them, and just
thinking about the pet dander made my eyes water. “You want me to check on
her?”
The look of relief on
her face was instant. “Would you?”
“Sure.”
“Her food is in the lower
cabinet beside the refrigerator. She’ll probably go sit beside it when you go
in because she’ll be expecting someone to feed her.”
Her slender fingers
slid into her front pocket, and she pulled out a single key and handed it to
me. After we exchanged information and she gave me her address, Hoffman loaded
her into the ambulance, the red lights twirling through the increasing
darkness.
I stared at the key
in my hand, hoping that Gracie was one of those cats who would hide under the
table when she saw a stranger. Sliding it into my front pocket as the ambulance
drove away, I joined Cade and Seren who were talking to one of the
firefighters.
The flames had
finally been doused on the SUV, and it was a charred, wet, smoky mess.
“Guess I’m in the
market for an automobile,” Seren said, a look of despair on her face as she
stared at the card that Jace had given her with the police report information.
She turned to us. “Thank you guys so much for getting us out of there. I’ve
never been so scared in my entire life.”
Cade gave her a quick
hug. “We’re just glad everything turned out okay. You need a ride home?”
“I would really
appreciate it,” Seren said. “I guess we can go whenever you’re ready.”
“I’m ready. How about
you, Hawk?”
“Yeah. I’ll be there
in just a minute.”
Cade led Seren to the
truck, and I turned back to the firefighter. His name was Bruno Wilkes, but his
nickname was Mercury.
“Good job, man.” I
slapped him on the back.
Mercury removed his
mask. He motioned to our captain, who was standing by the pump panel on the
fire engine having a discussion with the engineer. The emergency lights
flickered over the scene. “Cap says you saved those two girls.”
“All in a day’s work,
I guess. And Cade did just as much as I did.”
Mercury fist-bumped
me. “That’s what it’s all about.”
I nodded. “Well, I’m
going to head out. I just wanted to holler at you a minute.”
“All right, Hawk. See
ya later.”
“Hold down the fort.
Maybe we can grab a beer one night.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
I walked back to Cade’s
truck and opened the door. Seren scooted to the middle of the bench seat, and I
climbed in, sandwiching her between Cade and me.
“You okay?” I asked
her.
She exhaled loudly.
“I think so. It just scared me—badly.” She reached up and turned on the cab
light while she held her hand in the air, her fingers trembling violently. “I’m
still shaking.”
Cade put his arm
around her and gave her a squeeze. “Just take deep breaths. You’re okay.
Amber’s going to be okay. That’s all that matters.”
She leaned into Cade,
and he held her a moment.
I knew how she felt.
As many times as I’d responded to scenes like that, I never got used to it.
Adrenaline flowed through my body like a raging river. My heart raced. The
panic of the moment spurred me to action, but I always felt a certain amount of
terror—not for my own safety. For me, it was a job. It’s what I did. No, for
me, the terror was the fear of not getting to someone who needed my help in
time.
I thought about
Amber. I thought about her words. And what if I didn’t want to be
saved?
For someone who made
it his personal mission to save every person who needed help, her words haunted
me.
I wondered what
had happened to her, what had made her so sad that she could even say those
words out loud.
What could make
someone not want to be saved?
2 comments
Thank you, Natasha Anne, for participating in the Release Day Blitz of IGNITED! You rock! <3
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome! I had the most fun! :D
DeleteHi! Thank you for stopping by and commenting on my blog. Wishing you a dreamy day!