by Texas Rain
Travis hurried toward her. “I forgot about it.” He laughed. “And I’d love a ride. You can drive this cart?”
She said yes, but he gave her instructions all the way home anyway.
CHAPTER 35
RAINEY WATCHED WITH PRIDE AS TRAVIS TOOK THE oath to practice law. He looked like a fine gentleman in his black coat. The lawyers sat on the first row behind him as if backing him up. All their friends were watching—the Rangers, the Langlands, the Baileys. Even Roy had brought his wife and six children.
Duck sat beside her on the second row, looking around and wiggling. He seemed to enjoy watching the candles along the walls and the way the dark blue drapes shifted gently in the breeze from the open windows.
She’d tried to understand all Travis had done for her today. He still hadn’t said he loved her out loud, but he’d proved it. He’d given Rainey her dream of freedom. He’d known her well enough to understand her. He’d shown his love without asking for anything in return.
Rainey closed her eyes and realized she loved him so much her insides hurt. She must love him now the way he’d loved her from the first, and he’d been right, just sleeping together would never have been enough.
The bailiff stood and held out a Bible for Travis to swear on.
Travis glanced at her. He looked as nervous as if he’d been asked to dance.
Duck suddenly darted beneath the bench, disappearing just as Travis was about to be sworn in.
Rainey reached for him, but couldn’t find him without getting to her knees and she didn’t want to make a scene.
When she looked back at Travis, he also began to move. In one fluid movement, he shifted his stance, grabbed the Bible, opened it and pulled out a gun.
Everyone in the courtroom seemed to suck in air at the same time he held the weapon with both hands and fired directly over their heads.
A second later the Bible hit the polished wood floor of the courtroom.
Dottie screamed as a wiry old man tumbled from the curtain near where she sat. His hand held a gun.
Suddenly the courtroom was chaos. The Rangers moved to cover the doors. The doctor rushed to the man who’d been shot. Mothers hurried their children together.
Rainey looked back at Travis. He stood frozen, the gun still in his hand. One of the Rangers yelled that the shooter was Old Man Norman.
She ran toward Travis, knowing that if he hadn’t fired, he would be the one dead on the floor now. The Rangers had told her the old man hated them all, but no one thought he’d do more than cuss them out.
The bailiff mumbled, “How’d you know I keep a gun there, son? I’ve never told anyone, not even the judge.”
“I dreamed it,” Travis said. Then he knelt, lifted the Bible, and handed it and the gun back to the bailiff. “Thanks for keeping it there.”
Travis turned back to Rainey and opened his arms. “Don’t cry, fairy. Everything’s all right.”
She hadn’t even been aware she was crying. Wrapping her arms around him, she held on as tight as she could, thinking of how she’d almost lost the only man she’d ever love.
As he held her, the tears wouldn’t stop.
He kissed her cheek and smiled. “It’s all right, Rainey. It’s all over.”
She shook her head, feeling like a fool. “No. It’s not all right. You almost died before I told you I love you.”
He grinned. “About time you realized it. I’ve known it since we danced.” He kissed her on the mouth in front of everyone.
“Travis McMurray,” the judge interrupted finally. “Travis, if you had a ring I’d be marrying you two for acting like that in my court.”
Rainey pulled away and reached for the bag around her throat. “I have a ring,” she whispered as she pulled out her grandmother’s only valuable. “But he’ll have to ask me first.”
Everyone in the room grew silent waiting, and Travis knew he’d have to do the asking in front of them all.
“Will you marry me?” he said without a smile.
“I will,” she answered and was surprised he kissed her full on the mouth again.
Everyone shouted, except the judge, who hammered his desk and demanded they get on with the swearing in of Travis. “Soon as that’s done, we got a wedding to have,” he said and everyone broke into another round of shouts.
After several minutes the judge finished, and Travis signed the papers while Roy pulled the body of Norman from the courtroom.
After all the hugs and handshakes, Judge Gates called for a ten-minute recess to give time for Rainey to walk from the back of the courtroom and Duck to stand beside Travis.
The judge married them with simple words, but Rainey wasn’t listening. All she could hear was the pounding of her own heart as Travis slipped the symbol of her freedom on her finger.
CHAPTER 36
AFTER SEVERAL TOASTS, HUGS FROM EVERYONE, AND advice from Roy about marriage, Travis, Rainey, and Duck made it back to the Baileys’. The old couple had left a note saying they’d already gone to bed but would serve breakfast in the morning in the private drawing room.
Travis carried a sleeping Duck to his covers by the fire. “He saved my life tonight,” Travis whispered. “He remembered what I told him about if anyone pulled a gun he needed to disappear. The moment I saw him vanish, I glanced around and saw the barrel of a gun pointing directly at me from the curtains.”
Rainey pulled the ribbon from her hair and moved toward Travis’s room. “Now tell me about the dream again.”
He followed. “I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. Right now I’d like to help you get undressed.”
She laughed, moving out of the light. “I can manage quite well on my own.”
He crossed to her. They were lost in shadows now, but very much aware of the other being near.
He moved up behind her and circled his arms around, taking over the unbuttoning. “Let me do it,” he whispered. “I’ve practiced a hundred times in my mind.”
His fingers tickled her, warmed her as he slowly removed her clothes. His hands moved over the material first, then gently pulled the layers away. Before the cool air chilled her, his fingers slid over her skin, caressing each inch as he undressed her. When he reached her stockings, he knelt and felt his way to the top of each before sliding them down. Once she was free of one, he lifted her foot to his knee and let his fingers brush along her flesh.
She closed her eyes, feeling a fire building deep inside her. Part of her wanted to hurry him, to beg him to satisfy the ache within her, but another part of her wanted him to continue torturing her with his gentle touch. She dug her fingers into his hair and tried to stand perfectly still as he continued to explore every part of her.
When she stood before him with nothing on, he stared for a long while. His hands spread down her body, molding her shadowy form. When his fingers closed around her full breasts, she swayed with the pure pleasure he brought her. His hands moved behind her, holding her hips as he pulled her close and kissed her. When she cried softly in need, he lifted her gently and carried her to bed.
Pulling the covers to her throat, he leaned over, kissing her cheeks. “Before I found you, I don’t think I was alive. You make me believe in magic.” He brushed her hair away from her face. “I doubt I’d get enough of you if we both lived ten lifetimes.”
Rainey couldn’t answer. He was saying the words to her she thought she’d never hear.
The room was dark, light drifting only from the fire beyond the door, but Rainey wasn’t afraid. She’d never be afraid of the dark again.
He crossed to the other side and slipped into bed.
They were both still for a moment, then he whispered, “Come closer, Rainey.”
She rolled toward his open arms.
When she touched him, she froze. There was nothing, not one stitch of clothing between them.
“I promised”—she could feel him grinning as he kissed her gently—“that you’d have your turn.”
She laughed and spread her
hand across his chest, knowing she’d learn every part of her Ranger before the night was over. “I love you,” she said as she tasted the warm skin of his chest.
“And I love you,” he answered.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36