Travis Justice (21 page)

Then the door closed completely, muffling their voices.

Inside the study, Hana's eyes were still moist as she looked up at her fiancé. “He really bought out his partners? To gift the blade to me and Takeo?”

Zach goaded her. “As long as your name is Travis.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Who knows? Maybe I'll decide to start my own gang. The Nakatomi-Travis Westside Ninjas.”

Zach kissed her to shut her up, then drew back and looked at her seriously. “My dad has the strongest sense of right and wrong of anyone I've ever known. He and the guys got into the cavern in time to watch the last of your fight with Kai. He saw then in full, living color, like no argument could ever persuade him, that you belong to the blade, as much as it belongs to you. So he bought all his partners out. I knew, but I wanted him to tell you.”

Hana smiled at him luminously, her black eyes as soft as the nights that awaited them. “I only have one request, darling.” She kissed his neck, one beating vein on each side, nibbling with tongue and teeth. When his breathing had quickened, she pulled back and smiled. “For the wedding ceremony, promise me you'll come in a towel wrap?”

And there, with the Nakatomi katana safely in its case, Hana pledged her troth to her fiancé in the age-old way of her ancestors.

A stray ray of sunlight came through the study window, reflecting off the priceless blade. It still held minute amounts of blood and tears, though they could not be seen. For now, it rested, having assured the safety of its next generation.

This time, it reflected back no battles of mayhem and murder, only love and devotion in the soft images of the entwined couple.

It was the blade, after all, that had united them in times of strife. Now, it would continue its reign in peacetime as a legacy of two proud families born of the sword. As Masamune himself had intended when he tempered it repeatedly, the Nakatomi katana had helped forge a new destiny.

And somewhere, both Jiji and William Barrett Travis smiled.

 

 

That's the Texas Ranger motto, but when Chad Foster's rebellious brother goes missing, it's time to put his elite training to use investigating a crime that strikes much closer to home. Turning Los Angeles inside out to retrieve Trey and save their ranch from a ruthless land grab is a no brainer, even if it puts his badge at risk. His only lead is a heart-stoppingly sensuous exotic dancer with a very tempting butterfly tattoo, the woman who helped scam his brother out of their ranch. But staying on top of this redhead's every suggestive word and sensual move means putting his case—and his heart—right in the line of fire . . .

 

A Texas Ranger, complete with quarter horse, is as out of place in downtown L.A. as a lawman is in the bed of a suspect, but with both their lives at risk, Chad has to put his trust in the one woman who could bring him down for good, and pray that somehow hard evidence is really just a pack of lies . . .

 

 

Texas Rangers swear to uphold the law to the letter. But Captain Ross Sinclair isn't about to play by the rules to destroy a major human trafficking cartel—especially now that the only chance to break this case just strode into his life with attitude as long as her gorgeous legs. Heiress Emm Rothschild is taking names and raising hell as she searches for her abducted sister and niece. And the evidence this wild-child turns up sets off a lethal chain of events—challenging Ross to keep her reckless determination and seductive daring up close and dangerously personal . . .

 

Now a blindsiding betrayal has Emm heading straight into harm's way. And Ross will have to put his badge and career on the line to get justice—and prove to the woman he loves that a Ranger's word is a forever bond . . .

 

 

 

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Colleen Shannon
grew up in West Texas where the skies are as limitless as the tales told by its many colorful residents. Surrounded by oil men, lawyers, and drillers in a community that has produced two presidents and many national leaders and businessmen, Colleen grew up reading and writing stories of every kind. After college when she married and was expecting her first child, she used a scrap computer to write her first romance. She sold it herself in less than a year, and at the age of twenty-six began a new career and never looked back. The strength of her first book led to her nomination by Romantic Times as Best New Historical Author. She went on to win or be nominated for many other awards, and her fifteen single title releases have appeared on numerous bestseller lists. She has well over a million books in print.

Her newest series, focused on the modern Texas Rangers, is from Kensington. Colleen's ancestor, a Texas Ranger, was one of the first people buried in Brown County cemetery, Texas. Another one of her ancestors was a signatory to the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Learn more about Colleen and her novels at colleenshannon author. com.