Texas Lonestar (Texas Heroes Book 4) by Sable Hunter, Texas Heroes Page B

her down. “Let me get these in to bake.” She turned and slipped the cookie sheet into the oven. “As soon as these are done, we can go check the cameras.”
    “I’ve already been. We got something too.”
    His casual announcement took Lennon by surprise. “Sally, honey, why don’t you go on into the sunroom and set up for your tea party?”
    “Okay.” She patted Dallas’s leg on the way by. “I put spwinkles on the cookies, Dallas. You’ll like them.”
    “I’m sure I will.” The way she said his name–Dal-wis–always made him smile. Once she was gone, he turned to Lennon. “There was a gray truck parked on the road last night. The license plate was fuzzy, but I’ve sent a picture of it to Hiram. They have a program at headquarters that can run the image through filters.” He waved his phone at her. “The cell phone service is pretty good here at the house on this hill, but out in the pastures, it’s patchy. Most of the time the cameras will link up to my cell phone. I had to climb the windmill to view the captures, but it was worth it.”
    “That’s great!” She was so relieved. “I’m afraid for George and Sally. And I would’ve done the climbing for you,” Lennon informed him. “You’re too big to risk climbing that old windmill.”
    “Well, I’m not exactly fat,” he teased.
    “No, of course not.” She blushed, then held up her hands to measure. “But your shoulders are wide, your body is big. You’re a man,” she ended weakly.
    “Exactly. I’m a man and a Ranger.” He took a step toward her. “Don’t you think it’s my job, it’s my desire, to protect you?” Dallas quit trying to fight the urge to touch her. Lifting a hand, he curled it around her nape, his strong fingers sifting through the wealth of hair to rest possessively on her skin.
    Lennon didn’t know what to say. She felt herself tremble as he caressed her neck, teasing the pulse point that betrayed her emotions. Shivers of excitement ribboned down her back as he drew lazy circles on her flesh. Tightening her hands into fists, she drove her nails into the tender skin of her palm–all to keep from touching him. “You’re confusing me.”
    “How?” he whispered even as he stared at her mouth, soft–lush–plump. He wondered if it tasted as sweet as it looked. Lord in heaven, he’d sell his soul to find out.
    “Last night you didn’t want to kiss me.” Lennon winced as the words left her mouth. Did she have no shame? “Do you want to kiss me now?”
    “I’m broken, Lennon. I’m nobody’s prize.” Moving his hand, he ran his thumb over her lower lip. “But I can’t deny that I want to kiss you. I wanted to kiss you then and I want to kiss you now.”
    His features blurred in front of her eyes as he slowly lowered his head. She jerked one hand up between them – not to stop him, only to stabilize herself. His chest was as hard and immovable as granite. As his lips settled over hers, her breath hitched in her throat.
    Warm velvet . Dallas angled his head to gain control of the kiss, opening his lips and teasing hers with the tip of his tongue. Lennon shivered in his arms. He tensed, using his palm at her nape to anchor her to him. With light brushes of his tongue, he tasted her as if she were candy he meant to savor.
    Lennon melted against him, her heart rate stuttering. Heavens above–the man made her want. Low in her secret place, she began to ache, a deep ache that bloomed out to her breasts, out to her fingers and down to her toes, making them curl in her shoes. He was touching her–nowhere intimate–but everywhere he touched sparkled with life. When he moved his lips from her mouth to her throat, her head fell back to give him unbridled access. “Oh, Dallas…”
    “Lennon! I smell de cookies!”
    Sally’s cry caused Lennon to jerk from his arms, wheeling around to grab the oven mitt and rescue the cookies before they burned.
    “Wuz you kissing Lenny?” Sally asked with her arms crossed