The Blackstone Legacy (11 page)

“When I get to be a
grandfather,
” he countered with a wide grin.

“Stop it, Daddy! You and Mama have to stop this insanity about becoming grandparents or it will never happen.”

“Pamela and Leo would rather get a
dog
than have a baby.” He'd spat out the word.

“That's their choice and their business.” She had enunciated each word. Horace Andrews mumbled under his breath about what his children could do with their choices. Patting his arm, she said softly, “Go back to your game. I want to speak to Cousin Flora.”

 

Pamela lay on the pillow next to Kelly the way they'd done when they were growing up together. “How are you and your Blackstone?”

Turning on the side and facing Pamela, Kelly rested her head on her folded arm. People would never take her and Pamela for sisters, because they looked nothing alike. Her older sister was the
image of their paternal grandmother: petite, delicate features, black curly hair and sable coloring.

“His name is Ryan. We're doing all right.”

“Just all right?”

Kelly lifted her left shoulder. “We see each other on Fridays and spend the night together. We usually get back to the farm before noon on Saturday.”

Pamela's waxed eyebrows wrinkled. “You're sleeping together off the property?”

“He has a four-year-old son who just happens to be my student.”

Pamela's mouth formed a perfect
O.
“I see where you're coming from.” She gave Kelly a long, penetrating stare. “You're in love with him, aren't you?”

“Am I that transparent?”

“No. It's just that you seem so calm—at peace with yourself.”

Kelly wanted to tell Pamela she was wrong. What she was feeling wasn't serenity, but turmoil. She wanted to tell Ryan that she loved him, but balked each time she lay in his arms. And she did love him enough to marry him and bear his children. All he had to do was open his mouth and ask her.

R
yan's hand flailed out as he tried brushing away whatever it was crawling over his cheek. He moaned and turned over onto his belly. Seconds later a sliver of ice trickled down his spine and he sprang off the bed, his hands bunched into fists, but was rendered immobile by an arm around his throat, cutting off his breath.

“You still have good reflexes for an old man,” a familiar voice whispered in his ear.

“Dammit, Jeremy!”

Jeremy Blackstone released Ryan's throat and stepped back quickly as his older brother swung at
him. Grinning, he winked. He had anticipated his reaction.

Ryan stood in the middle of his bedroom, muscular arms crossed over his bare chest. It had been more than a year since he'd seen Jeremy. He didn't look any older, but there was something about him that communicated danger. As an undercover agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration it was obvious that he had become as hardened and dangerous as the criminals he sought to bring to justice.

“How did you get in?” He was certain he had locked the door before he retired for the night.

Jeremy lifted a thick black eyebrow. “I picked the lock.”

“You're nothing more than a legal thug.”

“You should try it. Thug life ain't too bad.”

“No thanks. Do you mind if I put some clothes on?”

Shrugging his broad shoulders, Jeremy moved over and sat in an armchair. “It doesn't bother me what you wear. You happen not to be my type.”

Crossing the bedroom, Ryan opened a drawer and took out a pair of boxers. He slipped into them and walked over and sat down on a matching chair opposite his brother. Jeremy's pitch-black hair was longer than he had seen it in years. Pulled back off his forehead and secured in a ponytail on his nape, the style provided an unfettered view of his striking
olive-brown face with a pair of high cheekbones, aquiline nose, firm mouth, short dark beard and dove-gray eyes. Diamond studs glittered in each ear.

Ryan knew Jeremy had had his ears pierced when on an undercover assignment in South America, but this was the first time he could recall him wearing earrings at Blackstone Farms.

“How long are you staying?”

“I'm out of here tomorrow night.”

“That only gives you one day. Why do you bother to come if you can't stay for more than a day?”

Jeremy frowned. “Now, you sound like Pop.”

“That's because he's right, Jeremy. Once you become a father you'll understand how he feels when he doesn't hear from you for months. And he has no way of knowing whether you're dead or alive.”

“That's because he refuses to accept what I've chosen to do with my life.”

“He doesn't have to accept your career. All he has to do is accept you as his son. A son he loves, a son he worries about. And maybe even a son who may one day claim his rightful place at Blackstone Farms.”

Jeremy leaned over, resting his elbows on his knees. “Read my lips, Ryan. I don't do horses. I don't know what has Pop all bent out of shape. You're a brilliant veterinarian rumored to be able to raise horses from the dead.”

Ryan's eyebrows lowered as he glared at Jeremy. “This is not a joke.” Jeremy sobered quickly. “I might know horses, but you're the one with the business background. Pop has been running this farm for a long time, and even though he's not complaining I know he's tired. Before I left to teach at Tuskegee I picked up some of the slack, but since I've been back I realize that it takes more than one person to run a farm this size.”

Jeremy swore under his breath. “Please don't pressure me, Ryan. I'm not ready to stop doing what I'm doing.”

“I'm not asking you to stop. I'm just asking you to consider your options.”

“Okay. I'll think about it.”

“Good.” Ryan stood up and extended his hand. He wasn't disappointed when Jeremy grasped it. “Why don't you bed down in the room next to Sean's?”

Jeremy shook his head. “I'd rather sleep in my own place.”

“It hasn't been aired out.”

“That's all right.” He stood up, stretching his six-foot-three height. “I've slept in worse conditions.” And he had. “If I'm not up by eight, then come and get me. Other than missing you, Pop and Sean, the thing I miss the most is Cook's pancakes.”

“Okay.” Ryan glanced at the clock on his bedside table. It was a few minutes past four. It was too early
to get up, but he knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.

Walking over to the window, he peered out through the screen. The odor of spent fireworks lingered in the early-morning air. Sheldon had hired a professional fireworks company to put on a dazzling display of brilliant color for the children who lay on blankets with their parents, staring up at the sky while cheering and applauding each explosion. Sean kept asking him whether Miss Kelly could see the color from where she was. Ryan told him he didn't believe she could, but his son mentioning her name made their separation even more acute.

Turning on his heel, he made his way into an adjoining bathroom to shave and shower.

 

Kelly felt as if she had truly come home once she crossed the property line leading to Blackstone Farms. She spied the flagpole with the American flag flying atop the black and red one that represented the farm's silks. The flags hung limply in the falling rain.

She had had a fun-filled relaxing weekend with her family. She went to bed late, slept in even later and generally did not do anything more strenuous than shift a lounger to a shaded area whenever the sun burned her exposed skin.

Sighing audibly, Kelly maneuvered under the
carport beside her bungalow. Recurring thunderstorms with torrential downpours had slowed her return trip. She switched off the wipers, lights and the engine. Pushing open the door, she inhaled the smell of wet earth.

Walking the short distance to the porch, she mounted the stairs. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and froze. Rising from the love seat in the shadows was the outline of a man. The scent of a familiar cologne wafted in her nostrils. It was Ryan. He had waited for her to come home.

“Ryan?”

“Yes, princess.”

“What are you doing here?” He hadn't moved out of the shadows.

“I was waiting to welcome you back to
our
home.”

“This is
your
home, Ryan.”

“It could be yours if you want it to be.”

Her breath caught in her lungs. What did he mean? What was he trying to tell her? Shifting, she tried making out his expression but failed. It was too dark.

“I don't understand.”

“What is there to understand?” he asked instead of answering her question. He took two long strides, bringing him inches from her. “I want you to stay here—forever.”

She shook her head. “That's not possible, Ryan.”

His hand touched the side of her face. The smell
of his cologne mingled with that of his laundered shirt. “Yes, it is, princess. It's possible if you marry me.”

She couldn't move or speak. The word she longed to tell him was lodged in the back of her throat, refusing to come out. She wanted so much to tell him yes; yes she would marry him; yes she would become the mother Sean never had; yes she would be honored to have his babies. She would say yes to everything, but not without his declaration of love.

“I can't,” she whispered instead.

“Is he still in your heart?” Ryan snapped. “Is a dead man still standing between us? I'm not asking you to forget Simeon, darling.” His voice was softer, calm. “All I want is for you to let me in.”

“You're in, Ryan. How I feel about you has nothing to do with Simeon.”

“Then what is it?”

Looping her arms around his waist, she laid her head against his chest, and listened to the strong pumping of his heart under her ear. “Love.”

“Love?” he repeated.

“Yes.”

“You think I don't love you?”

“I don't know what to think, Ryan, because you've never told me that you loved me.”

He swung her up in his arms. “Of course I love
you, Kelly. Do you think I would ask you to marry me if I didn't love you?”

She buried her face against his warm throat. “I was waiting for you to tell me you loved me before I told you how I felt about you.”

“Well, I'm waiting.”

Tightening her hold around his neck, she pressed her mouth to his. “I love you, Ryan Blackstone.”

His smile was dazzling. “Thank you, my darling. Now, isn't there something else you want to say to me?”

“Nope,” she said sassily.

“Give me your keys, Kelly.”

“What's the magic word?”

“Please.” The word was forced out between his teeth.

She placed her keys in his outstretched palm, holding onto his neck while he unlocked the door. Shifting her body, he flipped a wall switch, turning on the table lamp in the parlor. Ryan looked at Kelly, his eyes widening in surprise. She had cut her hair. Soft curls were brushed off her forehead and over her ears.

“You look incredible.”

A blush burned her cheeks. “Thank you.”

He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “You're welcome.”

She met his gaze, smiling. The love she saw
radiating from the sooty orbs made her want to cry. He loved her! He loved her and she loved him.

Kelly closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “Yes, Ryan. Yes, I will marry you and become mother to
our
children.”

Ryan carried her across the parlor and he walked into Kelly's bedroom for the first time. The time for hiding his love for her ended the moment she'd accepted his marriage proposal.

He had loved and lost and so had she, but it was time for new beginnings. He knew he could not replace the memory of her first husband and did not want to. What they would create would be new memories to reminiscence about whenever they watched a future generation of Blackstones lie on the grass and gasp in awe at Fourth of July fireworks.

Bending slightly, he lowered Kelly until her feet touched the coolness of the wood floor. She walked over to a bedside table and turned on a lamp. The space was flooded with soft golden light that illuminated an exquisite sleigh bed and towering armoire. The soft colors of lemon yellow and lime-green were predominant. The bedroom was romantic and feminine—just like the woman he had fallen in love with.

“It ends tonight, princess. No more making love in hideaway places. No more pretending that my only contact with you is because you're Sean's teacher.”

Raising her hand, Kelly beckoned Ryan closer.
She stared up at him as he walked over to her. She placed her hands in the middle of his chest. “I want this night to be special, so special that I will remember it for the rest of my life.”

Ryan wanted to tell her that what was to occur between them would be only one of many more special nights to come. There would be their wedding night, the night they'd celebrate their first wedding anniversary, the tenth, twentieth, thirtieth, fiftieth, the birth of their first child and the others he hoped they would have.

His hands covered her back, burning her flesh through her cotton blouse. Pulling her closer, he lowered his head and tasted her mouth. Her lips parted and his tongue mated with hers, plunging and pulling back, as he simulated making love to her.

Kelly writhed against Ryan in an attempt to get even closer. It had taken only three days away from him to make her crave him. How had she existed every Sunday through Thursday not having him touch her?

His hands moved lower, cupping her hips and allowing her to feel the solid bulge in his jeans. His hardness electrified her as she moaned and exhaled into his open mouth.

Ryan forced himself to go slow. He wanted to prolong their coming together as long as possible. He caught the tip of her tongue between his teeth and
sucked gently while pulling it into his mouth. Kelly moaned in protest, but he refused to let her go. He sucked a little harder and suddenly she went pliant in his arms. He had to release her tongue when he swept her up in his arms and placed her on the bed.

Moving over her body, his lips seared a hot path down her neck and under her ears. His hands went to the buttons on her blouse. Suddenly fingers that were trained to perform the most delicate surgical procedures were heavy and clumsy. Placing both hands at the neckline, he pulled at the fabric. It parted, buttons flying in every direction.

The sight of her dark nipples showing through the sheer fabric of her white bra was his undoing. Ryan did not remember undressing Kelly or himself. What he did remember was sliding down the length of her body and drinking deeply from between her legs. He remembered turning her over and running his tongue down the length of her spine and over the curve of her hips. He remembered tasting and sampling every inch of her fragrant body as her moans of pleasure echoed his labored breathing.

It was when he guided his swollen flesh into her hot, wet pulsing flesh that he forgot everything. Slipping his hands under her hips, he held her as he pushed into her again and again.

Kelly gloried in the hard body atop hers. Her breasts tingled against his hair-roughened chest,
whenever she arched to meet his downward thrusts. She trailed her fingernails up and down Ryan's back, eliciting deep groans from him. Without warning, he reversed position. She almost toppled off the bed with the sudden motion, but he caught her around the waist, holding her protectively.

A smile curved her mouth. He knew it was a position she favored because it allowed for deeper penetration and for her to set the pace for their coming together. Leaning back, she closed her eyes and established a slow rocking motion that mimicked her riding a horse. Ryan's hardness touched the walls of her womb, and she screamed out her climax, shaking uncontrollably as her screams became soft moans of satisfaction. Spent, she collapsed to his damp chest.