The Black Sheep's Inheritance(19)

If that was her plan, it was a damn good one.

Hell, he hadn't even kissed her. How could he be this torn up and feel so out of control over a woman he hadn't even kissed?

"And why haven't you kissed her?" he asked himself in disgust. Because  he knew that the moment he tasted her, took that luscious, amazing mouth  with his, that there would be no stopping. He'd have to have all of  her. And that had not been the plan. But then, he'd expected that he  would have answers by now. Since this was going to take longer than he'd  thought, the plan had to change.

As that thought settled into his mind, Sage took his first easy breath  in a week. Talking to her wasn't working, so he would seduce any secrets  she held out of her. He'd use sex-crazed, hot, sweaty, incredible  sex-to find out if she was withholding any information he might need to  contest the will.

Then when he had what he needed, he would walk away.

She wasn't the kind of woman to go for a one-night stand, and once she  discovered that was all he was willing to offer her, she'd let him walk.

But first, he would have her. Under him. Over him. And then he'd finally be able to get her out of his mind.

He scrubbed both hands over his face, then adjusted the fit of his  jeans, hoping to ease the ache that had locked around his groin for the  past week. It didn't help. Nothing would. The only way to ease that pain  was to bury himself inside Colleen and thankfully, that was about to  happen. He'd felt the chemistry between them. Knew that she was strung  as tightly as he was. Seducing her wouldn't be difficult.

She was going to be here. Every day. Every night. He could hear her  voice in his mind again: Will you show me what I need to know? Oh, there  was plenty that he wanted to show her and very little of it had to do  with survival.

What the hell had he been thinking, asking her to stay here? "Must be a closet masochist," he muttered darkly.

Or he had been, before he'd altered his plan. But things were different  now. When Colleen finally showed up here at the house today, he was  going to do what he should have done days ago: kiss the hell out of her.  And then he'd get her into his bed as quickly as possible and scramble  her mind so completely, she'd tell him whatever he needed to know.

Gritting his teeth against yet another wave of desire thrumming inside  him, he turned into the stable and headed down the long center aisle.  The familiar scents of horses, straw and leather combined to welcome him  and he sighed in gratitude. One thing he could count on was that being  with the horses he bred and raised eased his mind. Here, he could push  thoughts of Colleen aside-however briefly.                       
       
           



       

He paused long enough to greet one of the mares who poked her head through the half door to her stall.

"Belle, you're a beauty," he whispered. The chestnut mare butted his  shoulder with her head as he stroked her jaw and neck, murmuring soft  words that had the animal whickering in delight. It was this he lived  for. Being around these animals that he loved. Caring for them, training  them. Horses didn't lie. Didn't betray you. They were who they were and  you accepted them at face value. You always knew where you stood with  an animal.

It was people who let you down.

"Hey, boss!"

Frowning at the interruption, Sage gave the horse one last pat and  turned to look back at one of the cowboys who lived on his ranch. "What  is it, Pete?"

"Thought you'd like to know your sister just drove up."

Of course she did. Grimacing tightly, Sage muttered, "Okay, thanks."

So much for looking in on the newest foal born on the ranch. Instead,  he gave the mare another long stroke over her neck, then headed back out  of the stable. Pushing one hand through his hair, he told himself that  it seemed women were destined to plague him lately. Wouldn't you know  his sister would show up on the very day he was at last going to taste  Colleen Falkner?

Sage couldn't even remember the last time Angie had come up the  mountain to see him. Hell, usually she was living in L.A., but when she  did come home, she stayed at Big Blue and visited her friends in  Cheyenne.

But this visit was different, wasn't it? She'd lost her father, and  then lost faith in him. She was upset about the will and having lost  control of Lassiter Media, he knew. What he didn't know was what he  could do about it. He and Dylan had talked this through several times  and neither of them had come up with a way to challenge J.D.'s will.

So far, it had been made plain to them all that J.D. had definitely  been in his right mind when he had the will drafted, and fighting his  last wishes might very well invalidate the whole document. Until they  could be sure of their next moves, he and Dylan at least had agreed to  take this slowly.

Since J.D. was gone now, that made Sage the head of the family-and he  had to consider everyone's inheritances, not just Angie's. He didn't  want to risk Chance losing the ranch, or their aunt Marlene losing her  bequest.

As much as it pained him, Sage couldn't make this any easier on the  sister he loved. All he could really do was listen. A damned helpless  feeling for a man more accustomed to having the answers than scrambling  unsuccessfully for them. Scrubbing his hands over his face, he pushed  those unsettling thoughts from his mind and headed for the main house.

The ranch yard was laid out a lot like Big Blue, he thought as he  walked across it. But that wasn't a homage to J.D., he assured himself.  It just made sense. The main house was set back at the end of a curving  drive. A landscaped sweep of greenery and flowers spread out in front of  it in barely tamed splendor. The barn, stables and cabins for the  cowhands who worked and lived on the ranch were set farther back and  there was a pool that curved around a rock waterfall, with a stone patio  surrounding it.

And from every spot on his property, the views were tremendous. He'd  had his architect build the house to accommodate the beauty and become a  part of the mountains itself. Acres of wood and glass and stone made  the house look as though it had always been there, as if it had grown  from the rocks and the forest. Trees were everywhere, and the scent of  pine flavored every breath.

In Wyoming, winter held on, sometimes even into summer, especially this  high up the mountain. An icy wind tore at Sage's hair as he walked  toward his sister. Angelica was just climbing out of her car when he  approached, and one look at her told Sage that she wasn't in much better  shape than she had been when he'd seen her a couple nights ago.

True to their plan, he and Dylan had dropped in on their sister at Big  Blue. It still wasn't easy walking into that house, cluttered with  memories, but for his sister, he was willing to bite the bullet.

Evan had been there too, of course, but the tension between the  formerly happy couple was unmistakable. Evan was doing his best to make  this work, but Angie was so hurt and angry at her father that there  wasn't a lot of give in her at the moment. How they were managing to  work together through this was a mystery to Sage. Judging by the tight  expression on Angie's face now, that tension hadn't eased up any either.

"Sorry to just drop in," she blurted, shrugging into a navy blue  sweater that dropped to midthigh. "I had to get out of the house."                       
       
           



       

"You're welcome here anytime," Sage told her, mentally letting go of  his plans for Colleen-at least until his sister was on her way again.  "What's going on now?"

"What isn't?" she snapped, then stopped, gave him a sheepish look and  said, "I'm sorry, Sage. Seriously, I'm acting like queen bitch of the  universe and I can't seem to stop myself."

"Hey," he said, dropping one arm around her shoulder and pulling her in  for a hug, "that's my baby sister you're talking about."

Angie wrapped both arms around his waist and held on. Tenderness  swamped Sage as he simply stood there holding her, knowing there was  nothing he could say to make things better. Since she was a little girl,  Sage had done everything he could to protect her. To take care of her.  He hated not being able to help her now.

After a long minute or two, she pulled back and looked up at him. "You always steady me. How do you do that?"

"It's a gift," he quipped and gave her another squeeze. "Now, you want to fill me in on what's happening?"

She leaned into him. "It's just a rumor."

"Plenty of them to go around," Sage said, giving her a squeeze. "Tell me what you heard."

Tipping her head back, she looked up at him and bit her lip. Then she  finally blurted, "The word is, Jack Reed is interested in Lassiter  Media."