9781618850034TroubleHunter
Page 20
Ky hung his head. “There must be some way that I can convince you. Wait!” He took a ring box from his pocket and then he pulled what looked like a receipt out of his wallet. Instead of handing her the box, he showed her the paper. “Don’t look at the dollar amount, Cooper. That’s not what’s important. Look at the date, sweetheart. Look at the date I ordered your ring,” She wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to focus.
“Five weeks ago? You knew you loved me five weeks ago?”
Ky framed her face with his hands and looked deep into her eyes. “I knew I loved you the first moment I saw you bravely facing down a big ole’ rattlesnake to save me.” He coaxed a smile to her face. “I’ve known I loved you from the moment I saw you kneel by an abused dog and offer him unconditional love.” She let out a sigh and laid her head on his shoulder. “I knew I loved you the first time my lips touched yours.”
At that admission, she brought her mouth to his and tenderly kissed him. “I wanted to tell so you so many times. But I was afraid. You are the first person who has ever made me feel welcome in this world, since my mother, and the thought of walking away from you was more than I could bear.”
“I love you, Cooper. I had this foolish idea I would tell you I loved you and give you your ring in this grand romantic gesture. Instead, I led you to believe I didn’t care. Please forgive me.” He opened the ring box and showed her the beautiful diamond. Picking up her hand, he slid the ring into its proper place.
“What about Richard?” she asked hesitantly.
“Richard is gone. He’s no longer a factor. I took care of him.” Standing to his feet, Ky began to undress, slowly. “Do you feel like making love, baby?” At her tremulous nod, he pulled her to her feet and began to undress her, instead. “I learned my lesson last night. Never again will we go to sleep without making love. It messes everything up. So, I figure we have to make up for last night now and then get back into our routine at bedtime.”
“I’m sorry for the misunderstandings, Ky. And for all the trouble.” These words were said between little moans of delight as she gave herself up to his hungry lips and hands.
“I told you the first day I met you—I love trouble. Especially, your brand of trouble. And if it means keeping you, I want trouble every day of my life.”
Epilogue
Travis Kyler Landon was speechless. He swallowed several times, trying to maintain his composure. It was all he could do not to run down the aisle to meet her. His Cooper was a vision. And she wore white. He had insisted. No woman deserved to wear white more than Cooper did. She was pure in heart, soul, and spirit, and by God, she was his. To hell with it, he couldn’t stand the wait for her to get down the aisle. A gasp went over the crowd when they watched one of their own, their homegrown Casanova, leave his appointed place between his twin brother and the preacher, and take off down the flower bedecked center aisle of the small country church.
Cooper saw him coming, and she couldn’t hold back either. She covered the rest of the distance as if her feet didn’t touch the ground. With bouquet in hand, she threw her arms up and he caught her, sweeping her up in a tight hug that brought tears to every female eye in the house. “Hey, precious. You were taking way too long to get down there to me. I thought it would be best if I came out here and got you.”
She peppered his jaw and face with kisses. “I’m glad you did.”
He could feel the rounded firmness of their child nestled between them. She wasn’t showing yet, but the miracle of it was never far from his mind. “Let’s go get married, sweetheart.”
Tears welled in her eyes and he gathered each one up in a kiss, they were too precious for even one to escape. She buried her face in his neck and whispered, just for him. “How wonderful you are! You are my strength when I am weak. You are the treasure of my heart. Ky, you are everything to me—my all in all.” Kyler stood her right down, right there in the middle of all of his family, Lisa, the preacher, and a whole host of friends and acquaintances and he kissed his bride with all the adoration and passion in his heart.
“Hey, Ky…” It was Tyler. “I’m on kind of a tight schedule. Do you think you might be ready to get married anytime soon?”
“Never been more ready for anything in my life, brother.”
The ceremony got back on track and went off without a hitch. Cooper was delighted by Ky’s mom and dad, who made her feel like a welcome part of the family. Lisa had come and brought her husband and four children, who now sat on Ky’s front porch, each holding a cat. Everyone was waiting to see the bride and groom off on their honeymoon. Ky’s parents were going to stay and house-sit for them until they returned from San Juan.
Ky was impatient, he was more than ready for his honeymoon. Not that he had been neglected, for true to his word, he had as of yet went to sleep without making love to Cooper. But married sex was going to be way hotter than engagement sex or live-in sex, because that wedding ring bound her to him for all eternity. For sickness and health, for richer for poorer—for trouble for sure—in all of its wonderful, exasperating, tantalizing, and intriguing ways. Trouble with Cooper would be better than a lifetime of anything else, with anyone else in the whole, wide world.
Ty drew Ky to one side.“Look, it’ll be a while before you hear from me, again.”
“How long, and what have you got yourself into?” Ky was instantly concerned.
“I almost didn’t get to come to the wedding, but I pulled every string I had.”
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to have had it without you.”
“But, you would have.”
“Yeah. I had to have her. She’s my heart.”
“I’m happy for you.”
“Now, what’s up with you?”
“I’ve got myself into a helluva mess.”
“How so?”
“I was fooling around down at some warehouses in San Antonio, checkin’ them out, and witnessed myself a murder. Saldado himself, killing another Ranger he had taken hostage.”
“Shit.”
“Worse than witnessing a murder, was I was witnessed witnessing that murder—if you get my drift. So, there’s a huge contract out on me, and Mexican assassins are pouring over the border, even as we speak. So I’ve got to get outta here. You’d better watch your back, bro. We are identical, after all. I’d hate for one of those assassins to get us confused.
“I’d kinda hate it, too.”
“So, what’s next?”
“I’m going to have to disappear. I’ll do my best to make sure they aren’t drawn here. The Captain covered my tail for today, but he’s actually in Austin picking up my protector from the airport, even as we speak.”
“You have a protector?”
“Seems so.”
“What kind of a protector?”
“Hell, if I know. But her name’s Aliyah. Don’t that just beat anything you ever heard?”
It wasn’t funny, but Ky couldn’t help but laugh at his brother. “Do you mean to tell me the big tough Texas Ranger is going to be protected by a woman?”
“Yep.” Tyler slapped his Dress Stetson across his knee. “Yep, my protector. Aliyah Sharon. I swear to God, they’re going to take away my MAN card. ”
“Good luck with that.”
“Yeah …I’m gonna need it.”
*The End*
About The Author
Sable Hunter writes erotic romances that run the gamut from cowboys to New Orleans witches to Texas good old boys that play football one day and ride bulls the next. She grew up in south Louisiana along the mysterious bayous where the Spanish moss hangs thick over the dark waters. The culture of Louisiana has shaped her outlook on life and has made its way into her paranormal romances where the supernatural is entirely normal. Presently, Sable lives in Texas and spends most of her time in wild and wonderful Austin. In the spring, her home sits in a field of bluebonnets.
While writing takes up a lot of her time, Sable also loves to cook Cajun, Creole and Tex-Mex. She is passi
onate about animals and has been known to charm creatures from a one ton bull to a family of raccoons. For fun, Sable has been known to haunt cemeteries and battlefields armed with night vision cameras and digital recorders hunting proof that love survives beyond the grave.
She writes for Secret Cravings Publishing and has several books coming out in the next year.
Contact: sablehunter@rocketmail.com
URL: www.sablehunter.com
Secret Cravings Publishing
www.secretcravingspublishing.com