The Texas Ranger's Reward (Undercover Heroes) (17 page)

Chapter Twelve

Outside the cabin windows, golden fall colors
interspersed with green pines provided the backdrop for the wedding. Inside, the
flowers on the stands by the fireplace and placed around the family room
mimicked the tones nature had provided: elegant red roses, orange Asiatic
lilies, bronze cushion spray and yellow Viking spray chrysanthemums mixed with
greenery. Dark red tapered candles had been added to highlight the rustic
setting.

Melissa knew how much Casey was looking forward to Halloween,
so she and Travis had planned to get married the Saturday before.

They both wanted a small affair. Only family and close friends
on either side, with Melissa’s pastor officiating. Even so, a lot of cars lined
the road into the cabin. Snow was forecast for the late evening, but she wasn’t
worried, because after the four o’clock ceremony, followed by a celebration,
everyone would have time to get home before it started. Then she’d be alone with
her husband, able to shower him with the love she felt for him. Just the thought
made her pulse race.

Casey would be going back with his aunt Pat and her family.
Later on, in the spring, Travis planned to take them on a week’s honeymoon. For
now, two nights away was probably as much as Casey could handle.

When they came back down from the cabin, they’d drive straight
to Travis’s home. They’d already moved her things in, and Melissa had arranged
to sublet her town house. Everything had been done, except the ceremony to make
them husband and wife.

“Melissa?” the pastor said. “If you and Travis will join me and
hold hands…”

Travis, stunning in a tux, intertwined his fingers with hers
before they moved to stand in front of the pastor. Melissa wore a cap-sleeved,
knee-length, raw-silk dress in an eggshell color. She knew Travis liked her hair
long, so she’d left it loose, and wore two roses behind one ear.

“Dearly beloved, we’re gathered here in the heart of these
mountains to join Melissa Jeremy Roberts and Travis Cederlof Stillman in holy
matrimony. It was here they found their love, and so it’s appropriate they seal
their vows on this very spot.

“All of you here know the way the lives of these two have been
fraught with difficult and dangerous obstacles. The fact that they’ve survived
so beautifully shows not only the indomitable human spirit, but proves they’ve
literally fulfilled that part of the vows where they take each other ‘for
worse.’”

He smiled. “What’s left is the ‘for better,’ and then to go on
loving each other, whether rich or poor, through sickness and health, to the end
of your lives and beyond. Travis, do you take this woman to be your wife?”

“I do,” he said in his deep voice.

“Melissa? Do you take this man to be your husband?”

“With all my heart.”

Travis squeezed her hand.

“Then by the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband and
wife. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. Casey?” He nodded at
their son, who was standing by with a huge smile. “If you’ll come forward with
the rings…”

Melissa’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears as the little boy,
dressed in a tux like his father, and carrying the rings on a pillow, stepped
forward. At that moment she could see handsome Casey as a grown man, wearing a
tux at his own wedding. One day she would paint him like that. But that time was
years away yet, thank heaven!

Travis picked up the interlocking rings and slid them on her
finger. Two blue-white diamonds sparkled up at her. He’d been extravagant, but
he told her that one diamond represented his love. The other represented
Casey’s, and they came as a package deal.

With a less than steady hand, she took the gold band she’d
picked out for him and put it on his ring finger. When she looked up, Travis
pulled her into his arms. In front of everyone he kissed her with
long-suppressed hunger before the pastor had time to say anything.

“We know how you feel, comrade,” Travis’s boss called out in
his Russian accent,
“but it’s time to wind this
up.”

The onlookers laughed. After being congratulated, Melissa was
engulfed with hugs and the party began.

Casey and Zack drank a lot of punch and worked their way
through the crowd to her. Abby tagged along behind them. Melissa hugged all
three of them before she picked up Casey in her arms and kissed him. “You’re my
boy now,” she said, before lowering him to the floor.

“Yup.”

“We’ll be outside in front of your school on Monday to take you
home. Are you going to be all right till then? You can always call us. We told
your aunt.”

“I know. Are you going to stay right here?”

“What do
you
think?” Travis had
come back and engulfed them in his strong arms. “Melissa and I aren’t going
anywhere. This is our favorite place.”

“Mine, too.”

“Your aunt Pat and uncle Jerry are waving to us. It’s started
snowing. They want to get down the canyon before it piles up. I need another
hug.”

Casey hugged them both hard, but to his credit he didn’t break
down and cry. With Zack watching, he had too much pride.

“Call us when you get home, okay, bud?”

“Yup.”

“We love you, sweetheart,” Melissa said emotionally. With that,
he ran through the cabin to the front door, where his aunt and uncle were
waiting.

Pretty soon everyone was leaving. Her parents were the last to
go. “I don’t have to worry about you taking care of her.” Melissa saw her dad’s
affection for Travis. Her parents were crazy about him. More hugs ensued before
quiet reigned and they were finally alone.

When she heard Travis turn the lock of the front door,
adrenaline began to flow through her body. Her breath caught as he turned to
her. Those dark blue eyes were burning with desire for her.

Without saying a word, he walked around, blowing out the
candles. Without the generator on, all they heard were the sizzles coming from
the fire dying down in the fireplace. Only the fading light from the flames lit
the room.

He slid his hand to her neck and they walked over to the window
looking out on the forest behind the cabin. “Our first snowfall together. It’s
so beautiful, Travis.”

“Not as beautiful as my wife.” He unexpectedly picked her up as
if she weighed nothing, and started for the staircase. “I wanted to do this the
night we came up here so I could plant the cameras. Watching you climb the steps
gave me ideas I shouldn’t have been having.”

She pressed a warm kiss to his mouth. “I had the same ideas,
Travis, but no matter how hard it’s been to wait, I’m glad we did. It makes this
night unique in our lives.”

He returned her kiss as he carried her over the threshold of
her bedroom. “You’re so
precious to me, Melissa. I
adore you. Love me tonight, darling. You have no idea how much I need you.”

Who would ever have thought that helping each other out of
their clothes could be such a breathtaking experience? Time and space had no
meaning as they became lovers. They became one flesh, giving and taking pleasure
throughout the night.

When morning came, and dazzling sunlight streamed in the
window, reflecting off the snow, Melissa found herself nestled against his chest
with their legs entwined. She lifted her head. With him asleep, she could feast
her eyes on him all she wanted.

No woman could possibly feel the euphoria that enveloped her
this morning. It was because no woman alive had been loved into oblivion by this
particular Texas Ranger.

Unable to resist, she kissed him around his lips to tease him
awake. When he responded by searching for her mouth, she kissed his jaw.

His eyes opened. He took a deep breath. “What are you trying to
do to me, woman?”

“So you call me ‘woman’ now.”

“That’s right.” He raised up and proceeded to crush her mouth
with refined savagery. At last he raised his head. “And I’m your man.”

“Yes,” she said breathlessly.

Another hour passed before she was in any state to form a
coherent sentence. “Darling? Could I ask you an important question?”

He gazed at her. “Sure, but what else could you want to
know?”

“With the threat of that killer gone, would you like to move
back to Fort Davis? There must be a part of you that misses the association with
your coworkers. After all the phone calls from them and your former boss, plus
the citation from the governor of Texas for meritorious service, don’t you miss
that life? Because if you do, I have no problem with us moving there.

“I can always find a job in my profession, and I can paint
anywhere. The important thing is for you and Casey to be happy. I realize the
P.I. job saved your sanity when you moved here, but there has to be a huge chunk
of your life you still feel is missing.”

He leaned over her, plunging his hand in her hair. “After what
you just said, I love you more than ever. But you need to know that with
Valerie’s death, my days as a Ranger ended. I came here to start a new life and
I’ve learned to love it. My new friends at Lufka’s are the greatest. The work I
do is just as challenging.

“As for Casey, he has family here. Because of that family, he
fell off one of their horses, and the accident that followed ultimately brought
us into the exciting world of Melissa Dalton. That was the day the whole world
changed for the Stillman family.” He cupped her face with his hands. “I don’t
want to change anything. I want my wife right where she is—in my heart and my
bed.”

She smiled. “That’s all I needed to hear. I guess it will have
to be up to Casey to continue the Texas Ranger tradition.”

“Maybe. If it’s what he really wants.”

Melissa raised herself on one elbow. “I think we’d better call
him and let him know that we’re alive and fine. So far he’s shown great
restraint.”

Travis’s smile lit up her universe. “He has, hasn’t he?”

“I love that boy. I hope we can give him a little brother or
sister.”

“After we phone him, I think we should do our best to make that
happen.”

“Oh, yes, please!”

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt of
The
Cowboy Soldier’s Sons
by Tina Leonard!

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Chapter One

We are such stuff as dreams are made on.

—Shakespeare’s
The Tempest

Shaman Phillips wasn’t expecting a blonde bombshell to
show up at the front door of the Dark Diablo farmhouse, but one glance at her
shapely legs, long silky hair and beautiful face made him believe tonight might
be a lucky night for a lone wolf. “Hello,” he said. “Can I help you?”

“Hi.”

Shaman decided the voice of an angel went with her amazing
looks. She was way out of his league—and yet even a man with scars liked to gaze
at beautiful things.

“I’m looking for Chelsea Myers.”

“Ah. The Chelsea Myers who married my brother Gage in July.
She’s Chelsea Phillips now.” Shaman leaned forward, out of the doorway, planting
his well-worn boots on the porch. “They live at the Callahan place, Rancho
Diablo, in Diablo.”

The goddess stepped closer, her high fire-engine-red heels
clicking on the wood porch. “My name is Tempest Thornbury. I met Chelsea and Cat
in July, before I returned to Italy.” She held up a small Louis Vuitton bag,
complete with tufts of tissue paper coming out the top. Shaman knew what Louis
Vuitton was; his sister, Kendall, was a huge fan. “I brought this for Cat. Is
there a possibility you could give it to her?”

“Come on in,” Shaman said, tamping down the wolflike tendencies
fighting inside him. “I’ll get their address and you can send it to her. It’d
probably be quicker. I never know when I’ll see them, now that the school year
has started.”

Tempest smiled. “Thank you.”

Shaman went to get the address, and she followed him into the
house. He handed her a piece of paper. “Cat started school in the middle of
August in Diablo. She’s real happy there.”

“I’m so glad.”

He decided his visitor was even more beautiful close up. The
hot-red suit fit her curves to perfection. She didn’t wear a wedding ring or
jewelry, just some gold hoop earrings that kissed her cheeks.

“She’s a sweet girl,” Tempest added.

Shaman nodded, suddenly uncomfortable and not sure why. His
first thought was to seduce this angel—what man could resist?—but she was too
perfect for him. How dumb was that?

Ten years in the military, most of them spent in Iraq and
Afghanistan, might have left him hungry for female companionship, but it had
also left him with scars on his back, a chunk missing from his shoulder and a
red slash across his sun-browned cheek. He was lucky those were his only visible
scars. Many of his buddies hadn’t fared so well.

A little less perfection in a woman would suit him better.
“Sorry I couldn’t be more help.”

Tempest smiled and turned on her heel. “I was hoping to see Cat
and Chelsea, but I suppose they won’t be back until the semester is over?”

“Can’t say.” He wasn’t familiar with Cat’s routine. “Chelsea
and Gage just announced that they’re expecting a baby, so I don’t know how often
Chelsea will be out here.”

Tempest glanced back at him, looking pleased. “That’s
wonderful! I’m glad to hear it.” She opened the front door before he could do
so. “I didn’t get your name?”

“Shaman Phillips.” He held the door for her, and as she walked
out, caught a tease of a light flowery perfume. “You staying in Tempest,
Tempest?” He grinned. “I didn’t realize you were named after the town.”

She leaned into him, catching him off guard. “It’s a stage
name. My real name is Zola Cupertino.”

His brain tried to process that information, along with the
distracting fact that she was dangerously close to him. And he didn’t think it
was an accident. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she—

“Soldier...” Tempest murmured.

“Yes, ma’am?” he said, out of habit. She must have seen his
military bag, and his combat boots in the living room.

“I just got off a plane from Italy,” she announced. “I wonder
if you might be interested in taking me out to dinner?”

He blinked. “Certainly,” he said, trying to be chivalrous and
not sound as surprised as he was by her unexpected invitation.

She smiled at him, a sweet, slow, sexy smile, her angelic eyes
free of artifice, but holding a silent plea. Maybe he didn’t want to see it. But
she was still standing oh-so-close to him, and the next thing he knew, he’d
taken the statuesque blonde in his arms and was kissing her like a dying
man.

She kissed him back hungrily.

“Wait a second,” Shaman said. He was a lucky guy, but not this
lucky. Angels didn’t just drop from the sky into his hard-edged world. “How did
you say you know Gage and Chelsea?”

“Met them this summer. Don’t stop what you’re doing,
soldier.”

He kissed her again, his mind trying to find the hook in the
sweet deal she seemed to be offering him. She could have any guy in the world.
Why would she choose him, instead of running from the sight of his scar-streaked
face?

What the hell. A man didn’t get too many gifts in life, and if
this angel wanted to fly into his arms, he needed to quit acting like a skittish
horse. “Hey, you want that dinner or not?” he asked, giving her one last chance
to back away.

“After,” she murmured, melting into him.

He carried her to his bedroom, taking his sweet time, being
careful with the soft suit and delicate white camisole. Her bra and panties were
angel-wing white and breathlessly lacy, the kind that didn’t do much for support
but everything for a man’s libido. Keeping the lights low, he whispered to her
in soothing tones, expecting at any moment for her to tell him she wanted out of
his bed. But she let him do whatever he wanted to her, and she was sweet like
he’d never tasted sweet before.

And when he finally entered her, Shaman thought he’d died and
gone to some magical place he’d never known existed. In all the dirty, lonely
nights he’d been scared out of his wits—and he’d been plenty scared, tough guy
or not—he’d fantasized about a woman. Any woman. A soft, sweet woman to take
away the pain.

This woman was a velvet-soft gift from the gods, and whatever
he’d done to deserve this time with her, Shaman wanted the moment to last
forever.

Tempest cried his name, and he lost himself in her. She grabbed
at his shoulders, and he didn’t even think about his wounds or his scars. He
held her and kissed her, savoring her like a treasure.

Then they slept—maybe for an hour; he wasn’t certain. A glance
out the window showed a moon that was huge and high in the sky. Getting out of
bed, he said, “Let me shower. I’ll take you for that dinner.”

She smiled at him in the moonlight. “Thanks, soldier.”

Afraid to keep the lady waiting, he took the world’s fastest
shower, dressing like a madman. Yet he wasn’t all that surprised when he came
out and all that was left on the bed was the little Louis Vuitton bag, and a
note that read,
“Just remembered I have a meeting in town.
Rain check for the dinner? Tempest.”

He grunted. She’d signed the note as if it was an autograph for
a book or a photo. “A meeting,” he muttered. Shaman glanced at the note again,
massively disappointed.
Rain check.

I’ll just bet.

* * *

“
W
HO
IS
HE
?”
Tempest asked her dearest friends, Shinny and Blanche Tuck, after they’d hugged
each other. It was so good to be here, in the Ice Cream Shoppe where she’d spent
so many happy hours. The couple had been parents of sorts, shepherding her
through difficult times as a child. Shinny could always be counted on to give
her one of his delicious “specials,” a frothy chocolate milkshake she’d adored
as a kid. Now she knew he’d simply been trying to put meat on her scrawny bones,
but back then she’d thought she was the luckiest girl in the world when he gave
her the scrumptious treats.

Shinny and Blanche sat across from her in the lipstick-red
booth. The store was closed, and soon they’d go home. But for now they were
enjoying catching up.

“He’s one of the Phillips boys from Hell’s Colony,” Blanche
said. “Seems to be a good family, if his brother Gage is any indication.”

Shinny was happy to let his wife tell the story, but filling in
the details was his forte. His balding head with its white tufts of hair shone
under the fluorescent bulb overhead as he leaned back in the booth. “Gage comes
out every once in a while. Shaman and he are trying to fix up Dark Diablo.
They’re the ones Jonas Callahan hired to bring the place to a working
condition.”

“Why’d you go there?” Blanche asked worriedly. “You don’t want
to be around Dark Diablo. Nothing good can come of it, even with him there.”

Tempest conceded she wasn’t quite sure what had happened
tonight. Seduction wasn’t her style, and she hadn’t had a lover in years. But
the man at the ranch had seemed so defenseless, so...sexy. Sexier than any guy
she’d ever seen, in some way she couldn’t identify. His coffee-colored
eyes had had a faraway, lonely, almost vulnerable look in them, and for
some reason she’d sensed in him a safe harbor. “I wanted to take Cat a present.
I thought she and Chelsea would be there. Funny that everything changed in the
two months I was gone.”

“Yes,” Blanche said, her tall dark updo quivering under the
light. She had enough hair to make up for Shinny’s lack of it. “Gage and Chelsea
decided living at Rancho Diablo would be best, to help Cat make the transition
to the area. She adores being around all the Callahan children. We went to their
wedding, by the way. It was so lovely.” Her friends looked at her. “It’s the
kind of thing I hope you’ll have one day.”

“Oh.” Tempest shook her head and stood. “I don’t think so,
Blanche. But thank you for always wanting the best for me.” She looked down
fondly at the people who’d been like family to her. “May I rent the
bed-and-breakfast from you for a few days?”

“No,” Shinny said, standing in turn. “You may stay there free
of charge. It’s your home, now that you’re back.”

Tempest gazed out the window for a moment, thinking of her
villa in Italy and the job she’d been offered in New York. She hadn’t planned to
come out of her self-induced retirement, but something in her had said it was
time to go home for a visit.

While Tempest had been living a life few people would ever
experience, Shinny and Blanche had this small ice cream and soda shop, and a
tiny adobe bungalow they sometimes rented as a B and B. They worked like crazy
for the little they had.

They were getting older, and Tempest felt they should be
slowing down. Most folks their age would be thinking about retiring. Of course,
her dear friends didn’t burn out from their careers, as she had.

But they were so happy to see her that just looking at their
faces revived her. Made her remember that changing from the dull moth Zola
Cupertino to the butterfly Tempest Thornbury was something that mattered to
people who were important to her. And somehow that pride invigorated her, made
her want to swim in starshine again instead of burying herself at her villa.
“Either you let me pay or I’ll have to find someplace else to stay.”

Blanche shooed her to the door, after handing her a key. “We’ll
talk about money another time. Until then, you go rest. And if I were you, I’d
stay away from Dark Diablo.” She looked at Tempest in concern. “There’s no
reason to dig up bad memories by going out there.”

Tempest hugged Blanche. “It’s all right. Don’t worry about
me.”

“We do.” Shinny wrapped the two of them in his big, beefy
arms.

Tempest closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the closeness.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Truly. Thank you for letting me stay with you.” She went
out the door, seeing that the moon hadn’t changed a bit since she’d left the
cowboy soldier.
Only in Tempest does time never seem to
move.

She got into her rental car and drove around back, parking it
in the garage of the only place that had ever seemed like “home” to her, a small
southwestern, Pueblo-style adobe house that was clean and spare. It felt
wonderful to unpack her bag, take a quick shower and melt into the soft bed.

Recalling the hungry way Shaman had kissed her warmed Tempest,
settling her into a hazy place between wakefulness and slumber. Shinny and
Blanche thought he was a solid man, a good man, if a loner. Tempest herself was
a recluse, had been for years. Maybe that’s what she’d responded to—the sense of
isolation people sometimes chose when they didn’t feel they deserved better.

He deserved better than her.

* * *

T
WO
DAYS
LATER
, Shaman hadn’t left Dark Diablo for even a
grocery run. He had too much to do. So he stayed put, even though lust prodded
him to go hunt down the beautiful woman who’d seduced him with sweet kisses.

He didn’t allow himself to think about her much—just about five
hundred times a day. Instead, he worked on the barn Gage was determined to have
torn down, and he spent time breaking the new mare Jonas Callahan had bought.
Her name was Candy, but she was anything but sweet. Jonas was determined that
this ebony mustang he’d gotten from a horse rescue society might be the basis
for his equine program. He said she reminded him of the black Diablo mustangs
that were rumored to run through the canyons of Rancho Diablo, but Shaman wasn’t
sure Candy had anything mystical or magical in her. She was bad-tempered and
stubborn, maybe not even a diamond in the rough.

Only Jonas would want a wild mustang for his equine program.
Not exactly a quality ride—and yet Shaman relished the chance to learn, and to
shape the animal’s spirit. It had to be done just right: slowly, patiently.

One thing a man learned in the military was patience.

He ran his hand lightly over the mare’s neck, making certain
the lead rope wasn’t too tight. She did have a shiny coat and beautiful brown
eyes. It was the attitude that he had to work on.