Her Texas Ranger Hero (12 page)

“Then you know how
I
feel,” she replied.

Ally...

Chapter Eight

When Ally pulled up at Luckey's place, he was already outside, leaning against the corral. She drove her dad's truck along the side of the house to the barn and made a turn in front of it before stopping. His truck and trailer were parked farther on.

He straightened and walked toward her with purpose in every step. She could hardly breathe as he opened the truck door and pulled her into his arms. They closed around her body, not allowing her feet to touch the ground.

“I thought you'd never get here,” he whispered into her hair. “If I don't kiss you right now, I'm not going to make it.”

“I want you to kiss me,” she confessed, inching her lips over his smooth jaw to the compelling mouth she'd longed to taste. Ally wanted him in such an elemental way, there was no thought of holding back. His hunger matched hers as their mouths met in a fiery explosion of need she had no way of controlling.

Ally hadn't been with a man for several years, but nothing had prepared her for this. Luckey was taking her to a place she'd never been before. His kiss was a conduit to something much bigger, igniting her passion. All sense of time and place fled from her mind while she devoured him and was devoured in return.

His hands roamed over her back, pressing her to his well-honed physique. She had no idea when he'd lowered her so her feet touched the ground. The two of them moved and breathed as one person. No air separated them in their struggle to get as close as possible and not let this ecstatic moment end.

He bit her earlobe gently. “You've set me on fire, Ally,” he whispered. His breathing sounded ragged. “I could do this for the rest of my life and never come up for air.” Once again his kiss engulfed her, robbing her of words, of breath. She'd been rendered witless and it was all his doing.

As the minutes went by, the heat built between them. Ally trembled against his hard-muscled body, loving everything he was doing to her, loving the way he made her feel. “You've done something terrible to me, Luckey.”

“
How
terrible?” He stole another deep kiss from her mouth.

“Can't you tell? I've never felt this way in my life.”

“You think
I
have? You've turned me into someone I don't know anymore. But as much as I want to steal you away and make love to you nonstop, we'd have to marry first. Anything less would never satisfy me.”

Ally swayed in place and looked into his eyes. “You want to marry me?”

“I know I've shocked you, but there it is. That's the way I feel about you. But I'm sure you need time to think about marrying a man you've only known...what is it? Ten days?”

“Luckey...” She couldn't take it all in.

His hands slid to her hot cheeks. “I didn't expect to meet someone like you. You've come as a total surprise to me when I least expected it. After we ran into each other at your office, my life changed and will never be the same again.” He kissed her lips once more. “Come on. Let's saddle our horses and go for a ride while I still have the ability to let you out of my arms. Persey's in the barn waiting for us.”

Ally couldn't move. Her Texas Ranger had just made her happy beyond measure. Riding was the last thing on her mind. As she slid her hands up his chest to let him know much she loved him, his cell phone rang.

The sound jarred her so badly she moaned in protest, but knew he had to answer it.

He pulled it from his pocket and checked the caller ID. “This is Davis.” Ally clung to him and waited. She felt his body stiffen. “I'll be right there,” he stated, his voice grating. This sounded serious.

No...

Just like that her joy turned to pain. She almost begged him not to go, but stopped herself in time. He wouldn't leave her if it wasn't an emergency. She knew that.

Don't let him see what this is costing you, Ally.

She put on a smile and lifted her head. “I know you're needed. Call me tomorrow.” Ally raised up on tiptoe to kiss his lips before turning to get back in the truck.

He followed and shut the door for her. His troubled, dark brown eyes searched hers for understanding. “I'm sorry, Ally.”

As much as she knew he didn't want to go, she could already tell his mind was elsewhere. “It's your job,” she said through the open window. “I understand.”

“I'll phone you later tonight if I can.”

“Don't worry about it.”

“This is the last thing I expected to happen.” He leaned through the opening and kissed her fiercely before hurrying down the drive to his own car, parked in front of the house. Ally trailed him out to the main road before he waved to her, and they went in different directions. By the time she reached the ranch, she realized she'd just experienced what it had been like to be his ex-wife.

She eyed their uneaten picnic in the sack next to her.

Her body ached with unassuaged longings that wouldn't go away until she was in his arms again.

There was no guarantee of when she'd next see him.

And if he'd been called in to a dangerous situation, he could be injured. Or worse...

Ally poured out her thoughts to Silver as she put the horse back in her stall for the night. The more she thought about it, the more she marveled that his ex-wife had stayed with him for as long as she had. To realize that every time he walked out the door she might never see him again was anathema.

That will be your life if you marry him, Ally.

He hadn't asked her for an answer yet. He was giving her time to think about it. Luckey had told her why his first marriage hadn't worked. He'd given her a taste of love without trying to make love to her. If he had, she would have gone wherever he led, because she loved him with every fiber of her being. He was honorable to the core.

By the time she went inside the house, she'd lost her appetite and went up to her room to do some work before she left for the university in the morning. Her parents had gone over to her uncle's house, sparing her from having to explain why she'd come home early with red eyes and a blotchy face.

Ally still hadn't heard from Luckey before she turned out the light and went to bed. It wasn't until the next morning on her way to work that she heard some news on the car radio that turned her inside out.

“We have breaking news that Michael Landrey, a Texas Ranger with Company H in Austin, Texas, was shot in the line of duty in the Highland Park area last night, leaving two wanted criminals dead. A veteran with the department, the many-times-decorated Ranger died at the hospital in the early hours of the morning. He was coming up on retirement and leaves behind a wife and two married children. More information will be forthcoming on our noon broadcast.”

Ally was so badly shaken, she sat in her reserved parking space at the university in order to pull herself together. The news explained Luckey's silence. She'd been around him and his friends just long enough to realize these men had a rare bond with each other. The loss of one of their own would leave its mark.

Tears poured down her cheeks. That poor man's family. His wife's pain had to be excruciating. After thinking he'd be home with her to enjoy the years they had left together, he was gone.

One of Ally's colleagues pulled into the space next to her. Embarrassed to be seen in her condition, she wiped her eyes and hurried inside to her office. One of her students was waiting there to talk to her.

Functioning on autopilot, she was thankful when they concluded, and was about to make her way to her classroom when a tall, striking male appeared in her doorway. Her heart thumped outrageously.

“Luckey...” She wanted to launch herself into his arms, but couldn't do that with other students and faculty walking back and forth. He was dressed in the same clothes he'd worn last evening. It meant he hadn't been to bed yet. His attractive features looked drawn with pain. “Come in,” she said. “I heard the news on the radio.”

He closed the door behind him and took her into an embrace. “I've been up all night and need to go home to sleep, but I had to see you first. I promise to call you tonight.” He kissed her softly on the lips before disappearing out the door.

Ally clutched one of the chairs nearest her. While she stood there trying to catch her breath, she heard a voice. “Dr. Duncan? Can I talk to you for a minute about my thesis?”

* * *

A
T
A
QUARTER
to seven in the evening, Luckey heard his cell phone ring. Roused out of a deep sleep, he reached for the device on his bedside table. It was Randy. The tragedy had hit both brothers hard, because Mike Landrey had been a colleague of Randy's as well as a personal friend of their father's.

The sight of his grieving widow and family at the hospital had come as a double blow to Luckey, considering he'd just told Ally he wanted to marry her. He might have known Mike's death would be blasted over the news, but he'd hoped to be the one to tell her first.

This was the kind of news that had always terrified Linda. She'd feared that one day a couple Rangers would come to their door and she'd know why. Luckey had no doubt that when his ex-wife heard today's news, she'd be thankful she'd moved on.

But all his concern was concentrated on Ally. What had the news done to her? When he'd found her at her office that morning, all it took was one glance at her face and he knew he'd arrived too late. They needed to talk.

Wearing a pair of sweats, he walked through the house to the den, intending to check his emails before phoning her. No sooner had he sat down at his desk then his cell rang again. It was Phil from the surveillance team.

“Phil? What's up?”

“I've just sent you some videos. When we posted ourselves down the street from the orphanage on Monday, we saw a man in a black car parked across the way. The young woman in question came out the front door at 5:00 p.m. and got in the car. We followed it to a spa downtown off Windsor Road.”

Luckey
knew
it. He'd had a feeling about the young Chinese woman, who couldn't meet his eyes and had suspicious bruising.

“The car turned into an alley regulated by a gate,” Phil continued. “Our video shows men coming and going from the spa all night. Tuesday morning the same man in the black car came out through the gate and drove the woman to the orphanage, at 8:00 a.m.”

“Could you tell his ethnicity?”

“No, but I'm sure forensics will figure it out. The guys who replaced us got a video of her being dropped off and going inside the orphanage the next morning. After the car drove off, another black car with a different driver pulled up across from the orphanage and stayed until the young woman came out again at five. Obviously she is under a constant watch.”

Luckey whistled. “Her ‘handler' is making a ton of money off her and won't let her out of his sight, even during her legitimate day job. Did the routine change at all?”

“No. She was driven to the same spa after work. This morning they got video of her being driven to the orphanage again at eight. Sid and I took over and got video of her leaving at five and getting back in the car. We followed it downtown to the same spa. We're still here. How long would you like us to keep this up?”

“I've got everything I need. Great work! I'll take it from here.”

Halfway through the videos Phil had sent, Luckey stopped watching and phoned Ally.

“I'm so glad you called.” She sounded anxious.

“I'd like to come over, if it's all right with you.”

“What are you thinking?”

“I think I can't wait to see you. I'll be there soon.”

He showered and dressed as fast as he could. Before leaving the house, he put the videos on a flash drive and took it with him. En route to the Duncan ranch, he phoned Art, the teenager next door who took care of Persey when Luckey couldn't. He asked him to walk his horse around and make sure he had food and water.

With that taken care of, he pulled up in front of Ally's house and raced to the porch. She stood in front of the door waiting for him, looking beautiful in a soft blue sweater and jeans.

He crushed her in his arms and kissed her long and hard. “I needed this tonight.” One kiss grew into another as their mouths communicated, until he lost complete track of time.

“Thank heaven it wasn't you shot in the line of duty,” she said at last.

His lips brushed over her delectable features. “I don't want to talk about that tonight, Ally.”

“Then we won't. Did you get some sleep?”

“Enough. How was your day?”

“Normal.”

“I need to solve this case ASAP so I can have a normal life with you.”

“Does that mean you have to leave again tonight?”

“I never want to leave, but there's been a development I'd like to discuss with your parents. Are they here?”

She nodded. “Does this have something to do with the orphanage?”

“Yes.”

“Can't you tell me?”

Luckey took a quick breath. “I thought I'd explain everything to the three of you at the same time. The surveillance team I sent to watch the orphanage has emailed me some videos I want you to see. They're on a flash drive.”

She grasped his arms in alarm. “Are you saying Shan is involved?”

“That's right. I saw signs when I met her.”

“What signs?”

“Bruising on her arms. She wouldn't look me in the eye. There's a manner these victims portray that reveals they live in fear. I felt then she was a victim.”

“Oh, Luckey...that's so horrible.”

He drew Ally close, rocking her back and forth. “We can do something for her, but we have to proceed with great caution, and your father needs to be on board if we're going to ask for her help.”

“Let's go in the family room. While you put the flash drive in the computer, I'll ask Mom and Dad to join us.”