Ambushed (6 page)

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his hands around her waist, allowing Alexandria to

slowly drop down to her feet. “Later. Come on, let’s get

something to eat and catch up a little.”

Damn, he shouldn’t have opened her blouse. The

full, round golden globes of her breasts were in full

view, encased in black lace that seemed to push them

up and out in an offering for his watering mouth.

Drawing in a ragged breath, Tex forced his eyes up to

her lovely face. He could spend a month getting to

know every inch of those wonderful mounds of joy;

staring at them now would only make him hungrier.

When she reached up to re-button her shirt, he had to

stop her. He might not be able to touch just yet, but

definitely wanted to look. Maybe even dribble some

caramel sauce over them and lick it up.

Giving himself a mental shake, he led her back to

the romantic picnic he’d planned for her. He couldn’t

seem to let her get too far away from him, though. He

drew her into his lap and fed her, afraid if he let go she

might run away or disappear.

“Why are you doing all this?” Alexandria asked,

sounding truly baffled. “Why now, after all this time?”

“Siren Cox.” He probably could have revealed he

knew her secret a little better, but Tex had never been

much good with a lot of words. Say what you mean

and mean what you say were words he liked to live by.

“I was feeling lonely and homesick one day, and I

happened to pick up one of your books. I knew it was

you as soon as I read it. It was everything you always

talked about writing and so much more.”

“You came back because you read one of my

books?” He noted she wasn’t at all shocked that he’d

known. Of course she wasn’t surprised. They knew

everything about one another. People changed, grew

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up or grew apart, but the core of a person never

changed. She recognized he would’ve known her

writing anywhere. He was the first person who’d ever

read her creative writing.

“It wasn’t the book as much as the woman

behind the book,” Tex admitted. “I left to make a life

for myself, thinking with five brothers on a small

ranch it didn’t make sense to stay without much to

offer anyone. I wanted a place of my own. I think deep

down I always thought I would come back for you.

Then Daddy went and had a heart attack. I had no idea

the spread had gotten so big with no one but Cam to

look after things. Cam offered me half of the place to

come home. Hell, I would’ve come anyway, but now I

have something more to offer. Somewhere to build a

home. There ain’t another woman in the world I’d

want to build a home with. Just you. Only you.”

Tex just being here, coming home for good was

more than anything she’d ever managed to dream up

herself. It was like she had conjured him up with her

hopes and dreams. The things he was saying to

her…never in a million years would she have even

thought to imagine him saying what he was telling her.

It was so much more than she’d ever hoped for. Even if

she hadn’t been in love with Tex since forever, she

would’ve surely fallen for him after she’d heard what

he had to say.

“I’m so glad I didn’t call Sheriff Stone when I

saw the rose trail.” Alexandria sighed, laying her head

on his broad shoulder. Everything had been just so

perfect. She’d come close to ruining it all.

She felt a shudder run through Tex, which made

her giggle. She’d once witnessed Tex take down a half-

mad bull without flinching. He’d jumped the fence and

roped, hog tying the beast so that Doc Howard could

treat it. Here he was shivering at the thought of his

oldest brother’s best friend.

“Hey, don’t laugh.” Tex tickled her sides, making

her laugh even harder. “Zedidiah Stone is one strange

man. He freaked me out even when he was a kid.”

Her sentiments exactly. Moving to straddle his

lap, Alexandria couldn’t resist teasing just a little

more. “Big, bad ole Cowboy Tex isn’t scared of a man

named Zedidiah, is he?”

“Sugar, the only thing that scares me is the

thought of never seeing you again.”

That comment drained all the laughter right out

of her. Her eyes widened, riveted to the sincerity and

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undisguised love that radiated in his. Her fingers crept

up his silky sandy brown hair, her head dipping to

place a soft, sincere kiss against his lips. She had

meant to pull back, to end with only a little peck of a

kiss, but their lips clung as soon as they met, her

mouth opening obediently for his invasion. This kiss

was less urgent than their first, but twice as heated.

Tex tangled his hands in her hair, holding her to

him as he lifted his hips a little off the ground.

“Alex, sugar, slide my jeans down just a little,”

he whispered against her lips. “I have to have you. I

can’t wait.”

And she didn’t want him to. Her hands shook a

little as she did as he asked, fumbling with the button

and zipper before managing to get the pants open. She

had moved away from that devastating kiss to

carefully extract his cock from his jeans and tug them

down a little. Her breath caught and held at her first

sight of the hard, hot organ. She’d known Tex was well

endowed, but that thing was ridiculously large. It was

damn near as thick as her wrist, long and proud and

by all appearances, very, very ready.