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Chapter Nine
Wrapped in the warmth of her Mate, hidden from prying eyes by an exceptionally tall and very round flowering bush, Ellie couldn't believe she'd spent most of the day making love, sleeping, making love, and talking with Ranger. If a week ago anyone had told her that their reunion would be so wonderful, Ellie would've called them a liar.
Sure, there were things they hadn't talked about, a few rough edges to their budding relationship that would have to be smoothed out, but for the moment, she knew everything important. She loved Ranger Evans with all her heart. And thank the good Goddess, he loved her right back.
Running her hand over his six-pack abs, the tips of her fingers touched the jagged, bumpy edge of his scar. She wanted more than anything to ask what happened but feared it would ruin the true peace they were enjoying.
Then, as if, and probably because, he read her mind, Ranger cleared his throat and murmured, “It wasn’t as bad as it looks.”
Rolling onto her side and propping her chin on the back of her hand where it lay on his chest, she smiled. Arching a single eyebrow, she teased, "For some reason, I'm findin' that really hard to believe."
Exhaling sharply, something Ellie had already learned meant her Mate was deciding how to say something, what words to use, Ranger never broke eye contact. Swirling with gold and hazel flecks, his light brown eyes held a plethora of emotions – some good, some tumultuous, and all telling a story that touched the Witch in a way no other person ever could.
Scratching the stubble on his jaw, thescritch, scritch, scritch, reminding Ellie what those incredibly short, perfectly coarse whiskers felt like on her heated flesh, Ranger gave a single nod and started to speak. His tone soft, more profound than usual, so full of emotions, it was as if he was breathing life into the words, he started slowly.
"It's like I was telling you, I didn't go out there to confront anyone. My whole purpose was to make sure the information I'd gotten wasn't a load of horse shit." The side of his face lifting in half a grin that did silly things to Ellie's tummy, her Guardsman snickered, "My informant is good, but there have been times over the years when he's needed the money bad enough to embellish the details just to get a couple of extra bucks. I blame myself. It means I was too eager. Snitches can smell that shit."
Rubbing lazy circles up and down her spine, sweet little doodles with the tips of his fingers that made Ellie's body warm and her heart beat faster, Ranger's eyes got that faraway look, the one that said he was mentally going back to that day. For a split second, she thought about stopping him, telling him that he didn't need to relive it, but it was too late. Her Mate was already there.
"Walking around the side of the building that was in New Mexico, I headed for the huge, metal doors of the loading dock. The cement platform where the tailgates of the eighteen-wheelers used to drop so they could be easily unloaded was at least seven feet tall. More than big enough for me to use for cover."
Running his hand through his hair, he kept right on talking. Ellie could feel the strong, steady beat of his heart under her palm. Ranger was amazing. So courageous, so fearless, so much the kind of man she'd never thought she'd fall in love with, and yet, the man she'd loved from the first sight.
"I kept telling myself that I was overreacting. That the horrible stench of black magic and rotting flesh was old and only made worse by my need to find and to arrest the bastards. The whole drive over there, I kept replaying what my informant had said. The words, 'They are some cocky sons of bitches. Talked about killing people right out in the open. Didn't whisper or nuthin'. Talked right out in the open like they was buying beer at the corner store." Ellie couldn't help but chuckle at his impression of the man he got the information from, the way Ranger overdid his already slow, Texas Drawl.
"Did he really sound like that, or are you just makin' the story better for me?" She finally had to ask, her curiosity getting the best of her.
Eyes opening as wide as she'd ever seen them as he lifted his head off the pillow of his jeans, her Dragon shook his head, "Not embellishin' even a little bit. That's how old Hank talks. Has told me since the first time I arrested him that he was born and bred in Luckenbach." Chuckling, he began to sing, "Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas, with Waylon and Willie and the boys."
“Wow,” Ellie gasped. “You can really sing.”
"Aww, shucks, ma'am," he gushed, pretending to be embarrassed as he slid his hands under her arms and pulled her up against his body. Kissing the tip of her nose, he winked, "But not near as good as you."
"What? How do you…"
Laughing, he hurried to explain, “Well, I might’ve snuck around the far side of the horse barn one of the times I came out to see you. There you were, pretty as a picture, rubbing down Maverick and singing your little heart out." Another little peck on the tip of her nose, and he added, "It was the sweetest sound I've ever heard."
Giving him a quick kiss on the lips, pulling back before he could hold her in place, Ellie teased, "If I hadn't heard you sing, I would swear you were tone-deaf."
"Nope, not even a little." Starting to run his fingers up and down her back, he flirted, "As soon as we get back to Texas, I'mma fetch my guitar from Momma Barbara and… Oh, shit!"
Suddenly upset, Ranger wrapped his arms around Ellie's back, sat up, and turned her around until she was straddling his lap. Holding her so close, she could feel his breath on her cheek, her Mate shook his head, talking a mile a minute. "Dammit, El, I am so fucking sorry. Please don't be mad at me. I meant to start with this, then we got off track and… and.. and… well, hell, we made love all day and every prepared speech I had flew right out the damned window. Please don't kill me. Please don't be mad. Just let me…"
Laying her finger to his lips, Ellie calmly interrupted, trying hard not to laugh at Ranger’s obvious distress. “I know you were at the MacAllen’s for a long while.”
“But how?”
"I wasn't trying to read your mind, I swear. I actually told myself that I wouldn't until we'd talked about this…" She motioned between them. "Us." She winked. "But at one of our more, let's see, I think I'll call it more passionate moments, I was right there in that amazing brain of yours, and I saw it all. Well, that part."
“And you’re not mad?”
Shaking her head and smiling, Ellie asked, "How could I be? I could see that you've beat yourself up about it enough. You already raked yourself over the coals for both of us."
Taking his face in her hands, Ellie gently laid her lips to his. Kissing her Dragon long and slow, letting everything she felt, all her love, all her forgiveness, all of everything flow through that single embrace, she pulled back before it went too far and added, “Now, let it go. ‘Cause I sure have. We’re good. We’ve got forever to find something else to fight about just so we can make up.”
Pulling her close, starting their kiss back up right where they'd left off, Ranger's voice floated through her mind, "Ellie MacLeish – Evans, I damned sure love the way your beautiful mind works."
Breaking their kiss, she leaned back and furrowed her brow. "MacLeish-Evans? Aren't you putting the cart before the horse there, Dragon Man?"
