Give Me A Texas Ranger. Jodi Thomas
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that his hand rested on her dress, just above her knee.
He needed her near and she needed his touch, even if they couldn’t seem to find the words.
That night when she checked his bandages and made sure he didn’t have a fever, his hand slipped beneath her gown and gripped the warm flesh above her knee.
Her breathing quickened as he tugged her knee so he could brush her skin.
“We going to talk about this, Anna?”
She closed her eyes. “No,” she whispered.
His grip tightened. “Am I making you feel uncomfortable, or am I hurting you in any way?” His hand moved a few inches higher.
“No.”
“I love the feel of you.” His touch turned to a caress. “I might not know how to be gentle, but I’ll never hurt you.”
She looked at him and smiled. “I know.”
Then, without him even asking her to, she leaned forward and kissed him.
Chapter 11
That night set a pattern to their lives. She was all the proper nurse in the morning when breakfast was brought in and several of the men came to visit, but after lunch she’d shoo them all away, saying McCord needed his rest. Then, in the silence of the office, she’d sit on the table that was his bed and face him.
Without a word, he’d unbutton her blouse and brush the tips of his fingers over her warm flesh until she finally sighed, leaned forward, and kissed him fully. Anna had no idea if this was the way couples should act. She was far too old to worry about it. All she knew was that McCord loved touching her and she loved being touched.
His injury prevented them from going further, even though Wynn sometimes told her of what he’d like to do with her while she buttoned up her dress and unlocked the door to the late afternoon sun.
He grew stronger every day, and every night he held her a little longer before she moved away to her tent.
Logic told her he was a man without roots or home. The odds were he’d leave her, no matter what she said or how she cried, but when he did, he’d take her heart. She forced herself not to dwell on the future but only to treasure each hour they had.
On their fifth day together, McCord stood and dressed himself. His back was healing. He’d be whole again soon.
She watched as he reached for his Colts, then thought better of putting them on, but she knew a part of this Ranger would never feel completely dressed without the guns strapped around his waist.
“Anna, there’s something I need to tell you,” he said the first chance they had alone together. “I’m moving to the enlisted men’s quarters tonight. Cunningham said he’d help me with my things.”
“No,” she said, feeling her back stiffen. Just like that, he was leaving her.
He reached for her, but she stepped away and they both knew he couldn’t move fast enough to catch her.
He took two steps to the door and pulled the bolt closed. “This may be the last time we have alone for a few days. I’m not sure I’ll have the opportunity or the energy to walk all the way across camp tonight.”
She moved in front of him. “You’re not well. You need to be here. You still need care.”
“No, Anna, all I need now is a little time and you. Cunningham is rounding up an old buggy brought in for a wife who’d already left by the time it arrived. I could tie my horse to it and make it out of here. By the end of the week I’ll be able to…”
A pounding on the door drowned out his words.
“Annalane! Are you all right?” There was no mistaking her brother’s rant. “Why in the hell is this door locked? Annalane?”
McCord backed away to sit on the bed, his strength fading.
Anna opened the door. “Welcome back, Devin. Did you get all your business taken care of?”
“Never mind that—what are you doing here locked in my office with a man?”
Anna couldn’t help it—she smiled. “Learning about love and all kinds of forbidden things.”
Devin didn’t buy the answer for one minute. “Stop being ridiculous. I know you weren’t doing anything, but you must think of appearances. You might have just been doctoring a dying man, but someone…” Devin paused long enough to stare at McCord. “You don’t look that sick.”
“I’m not sick. I was shot.”
Anna could see the dislike in McCord’s eyes. If her brother knew how deadly the Ranger could be, Devin would walk more softly. She half expected even an injured McCord to stomp on her brother like he was a bug.
“He saved my life,” she said simply.
Devin threw up his hands as he paced like a windup toy. “So what does that mean? Do you think you belong to him for life now?”
McCord smiled at Anna and she forgot all about her brother.
Wynn held out his hand and she walked into his arms. Without looking at her brother, she whispered to the Ranger, “Something like that.”
He kissed her lightly. “You’re mine, Anna. You have been since I first saw you, and like it or not, I’m yours.”
She laughed. “I like it just fine.”
“What’s been going on here?” Devin yelled, but no one was listening.
Wynn kissed her, spread his hand over her hip and pulled her against him.
“This is outrageous,” Devin shouted, then added, “This is unbelievable.”
When McCord let her up for air, he said, “I’ll go get the buggy. There’s no use waiting a few days. Can you be ready in half an hour? I want you leaving with me.”
“But you’re…”
“We’ll take it slow and the captain will give us an escort to Texas.” He collected his hat and Colts, then turned back to her for one more kiss. As his lips moved away, he whispered, “Come with me, Anna.”
Devin was five feet away. Her brother seemed to be gagging on the words he’d just heard.
McCord walked out the door without even looking at Devin.
Anna started to pack. She’d need bandages and blankets for Wynn. No matter what he said, the trip would be hard on him, but she didn’t argue. She’d had enough of her brother and nothing sounded better than leaving.
Devin was still yelling and complaining about her deserting him when Cunningham helped her into the buggy. Wynn looked as strong as steel, but McCord noticed his side of the buggy had been padded with blankets.
They pulled out of the camp and headed southwest toward Texas. Everything had happened so fast, Anna just sat and tried to think. Change had always struck like lightning, but this time she’d stepped into the bolt.
Wynn didn’t say a word until the guard following them waved and turned back. All at once the world seemed wild and empty and they were alone.
She was alone, she corrected, with a man she barely knew. A man who probably hadn’t said a hundred words to her since they’d met.
All panic left when his hand closed gently over hers.
They traveled in silence until almost dark, then he stopped and led the horses to a small clearing where they had a stream for water and grass to graze. She insisted he rest while she made camp and offered him bread and dried meat from a basket one of the men said Clark insisted on putting in the back of the buggy.
Wynn looked tired as he lowered himself onto the blankets, and by the time she’d packed the food away he was sound asleep.