Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks unchecked as she forced herself to accept the possibility that in less than a week she would no longer have any claim to any of it. Not the house where she and her sisters had played and fought as children, not the barn where she’d saddled her first horse, or the creek where she’d learned to swim. None of it. It would all belong to Jake.
As if just thinking of him had conjured him up, he rode up beside her. She felt his concerned glance, but she couldn’t make herself meet his gaze.
With every fiber of her being she was aware of the precise instant when he slipped off his horse, tethered it to a tree and then returned to her side and held up his arms. Needing the comfort he silently offered more than she’d ever needed anything in her life, Sara dismounted straight into his embrace. She might hate herself later for turning to Jake, but for now the promise of his compassion called out to her. There was no mistaking the irony that Jake alone truly grasped what she was going through at this moment.
He tucked her head against his shoulder and looped his arms around her waist, surrounding her with his heat and his strength, but more importantly, with his tenderness and understanding. If she hadn’t loved him before, she would have fallen deeply and desperately in love with him at that moment.
Because she needed his warmth and his compassion, she was able to suspend awareness that this was the man who’d stolen the ranch that meant everything to her. For just this instant, he was simply Jake, for so many years her reluctant best friend, her more willing mentor, and recently her very willing lover.
Silent tears turned to heartbroken sobs as she clung to him. He held her until she was spent, murmuring gentle nonsense that was so uncharacteristic of this sometimes harsh and cool-tempered man that it finally coaxed a smile from her.
When her sobs had quieted and smiling came more easily, she lifted her head. Jake’s callused hands framed her face. His thumbs gently smoothed away the dampness on her cheeks as his gaze locked with hers.
“You sure you’re finished now?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Good thing. I think the creek’s about to rise to flood stage from all the tears you shed. I know my shirt will never be the same.”
Sara tore her gaze from his and studied the soggy material. She covered mortification with daring. “Maybe you should take it off. It’ll dry faster if you toss it over a bush in the sun.”
She was suggesting much more and they both knew it. The sudden flare of desire in Jake’s eyes was reassuring. With everything that had happened, that hadn’t changed. He hungered for her in a way that stole her breath.
“Before breakfast, darlin’? I’m surprised at you,” he teased.
“I’ve had breakfast,” she told him archly and grinned. “Of course, if you’re not up to it without some fuel in your stomach…”
He clasped her hand, drew it down and proved otherwise. She lifted her gaze to clash with his. With this man only did she dare such brazen things. She couldn’t allow herself to wonder what would become of her if she never again met his equal.
“Then what are you waiting for?” she asked.
“I was thinking you might come to your senses. I can’t be among your favorite people about now.”
She touched a finger to his lips to silence the noble sentiment. On one level he was certainly right about that, but she needed his loving right now more than she needed to hate him, more than she needed to blame him for the unexpected twist her life had taken.
Because he seemed so determined to leave the final decision in her hands, she reached for the buttons of his shirt. She freed them one by one, ever so slowly, pausing to skim a fingertip across newly bared skin before moving on to the next button. Jake sucked in a sharp breath with each touch. His muscles clenched and rippled.
When Sara reached the snap on his jeans, she flicked that open as well, earning a soft moan for her trouble. His whole body tensed as her fingers dipped lower, teasing at the edges of the elastic band on his briefs.
“Sara?”
The soft whisper of her name barely broke her concentration on the smooth plane of his belly.
“Mmm?” she asked.
“When is it going to be my turn?” he asked in a choked voice.
The strain and tension made her smile. “Later,” she promised. “I’m busy.”
“Indeed you are,” he agreed, amusement mingling with breathless torment.
Even as she taunted Jake with her increasingly insistent caresses, Sara could feel the heat swirling deep inside her. Without a single stroke of his hand, without a single deep and breath-stealing kiss, her breasts were achingly sensitive. Her blood thundered through her veins. Moistness pooled at the juncture of her thighs.
A sudden urgency ripped through her, escalating the game. She stepped back, startling Jake. With hands that shook she shoved down jeans and panties barely to her knees, then moved back against him, stripping away his pants and briefs just enough to bare his throbbing shaft.
“Now, Jake, please,” she begged, her hands on his shoulders as she lifted herself to circle his waist with her legs.
His hands cupped her bottom at once to assist her. In a matter of seconds he was deep inside, filling her, moving with a slow, deliberate rhythm that was half the pace she would have set.
His satisfied, purely masculine smile told her he knew exactly what he was doing, knew exactly how sweet the torment was as he took her only so high, then waited an eternity before taking her higher yet.
When she could bear it no more, her hips moved instinctively to a more hectic rhythm that matched her quick gasps of pleasure and Jake’s deeper cries of satisfaction.
The explosion of sensation, when it finally came, was more shattering than anything she had ever experienced. And if the thunderstruck expression on Jake’s face was anything to judge by, he was equally shaken by the intensity of their climax.
The moment was both exhilarating and terrifying. Discovering that such a sensual crescendo was possible thrilled her beyond her wildest dreams. Discovering that only Jake could take her to such heights, however, suggested a subconscious level of trust that circumstances and logic told her couldn’t possibly exist.
She told herself that that was what frightened her. How could her body be so completely, so thoroughly in tune with a man her head told her was destroying her world forever?
When she would have allowed that fear to come between them, when she would have fled in embarrassment and dismay, however, Jake prevented it. Still holding her, their bodies intimately connected, he lowered himself to the ground and settled her on top of him. His hands lingered on her bottom, smoothing over the curving flesh in light, persuasive strokes.
“Don’t move,” he whispered. “Stay with me like this for a while.”
There was a faint, surprising note of desperation in his voice that Sara couldn’t ignore.
“Why?” she asked, her breath fanning across his bare chest.
He was silent for so long she was certain he didn’t intend to answer, but then he sighed.
“Because something tells me when you go this time, you won’t come back.”
Sara bit back a stunned gasp. That he could tell so much about her, that he understood her so well was as scary as the wild intensity of their sex. Only weeks or days ago, Sara had craved that kind of understanding, but now the timing and the man were all wrong. The fate of Three-Stars stood squarely and immovably between them.
That fate would be decided only days from now and it would be decided by an outrageous bet she had little chance of winning. But stubborn pride insisted that she follow it through to the bitter end.
Now it was her turn to sigh deeply as she studied the angle of the sun and realized that it was growing late. Her lesson with Mary Lou was scheduled for eight-thirty and she couldn’t afford to miss even a minute of it.
“I have to go,” she said, unable to keep the regret out of her voice.
“Where?”
“To Zeke’s,” he said dully. “Then despite what I offered you last night, you haven’t given up on fighting me for all or nothing?”
Sara took one last, lingering look at the face of the man she’d loved practically forever, then slowly shook her head.
“You know I can’t. Three-Stars means everything to me.”
Maybe it was only wishful thinking, but it seemed to her that his eyes pleaded with her to say that he was more important, pleaded with her to stay.
But he had the same measure of stubborn pride than she did. He would never say the words, maybe couldn’t even say what she desperately needed to hear—that he loved her. He simply released her and closed his eyes as she moved away.
Sara straightened her rumpled clothes and took one last, regretful look back as she went to her horse. Jake’s eyes remained tightly closed.
Only when she had mounted and started away did he call after her. His voice was little more than a low-pitched whisper, but it carried on the breeze.
“Be careful, darlin’.”
“I love you, Jake,” she answered, but not aloud. The words were spoken only in her heart, where they could do no damage to her resolve.
Chapter Thirteen
By the time Sara got back to the house, all hell had broken loose. When she walked into the kitchen, Annie greeted her with a frantic expression.
“Dani’s on her way over and Ashley’s called five times,” she told her. “They both wanted to speak with your father. When I told them he’d already left for Arizona, you never heard such wailing. Suffice it to say, your sisters are in a full-blown tizzy.”
Sara groaned.
“It’s too bad they didn’t get wind of what he had in mind days ago,” Annie added pointedly. “Maybe they could have stopped him.”
Before Sara could respond to that, the phone rang.
“You get it,” Annie said, backing out of the room. “It’s probably Ashley calling for you again.”
Indeed it was. Sara’s greeting was barely out of her mouth before her younger sister started in.
“Has Daddy finally, flat out lost his mind?” she demanded.
It was apparently a rhetorical question because she didn’t slow down long enough for Sara to respond.
“And you,” she continued. “Why didn’t you tell me about any of this? Dani says you’ve known for weeks now that he was planning to sell the ranch to Jake and take off on some crazy pilgrimage to reclaim his youth.”
“It’s not like that,” Sara insisted, forced into the uncomfortable position suddenly of having to defend the indefensible. “Daddy just did what he’s always done. He made a decision and he acted on it. He thinks we’ll all be better off without Three-Stars to worry about. He’s opened tidy little bank accounts for each of us to be sure we get our fair share. He says the money will give us the independence we’ve always craved.”
“I don’t give a damn about the money,” Ashley insisted furiously. “Besides, that may be fine for me and Dani, but what about you? You love the ranch. I always thought you’d take over for him.”
“So did I,” Sara said softly, fighting back a fresh bout of tears. She deliberately drew in a deep breath before adding, “Look, I’ll admit it threw me, but I have a plan.”
“Spare me the details,” Ashley said dryly. “Dani told me all about your plan. If you ask me, you’re a couple of slices short of a full loaf, too. You can’t possibly hope to beat Jake by riding a bronco. The man is in the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, for God’s sakes.”
“I am going to beat him,” Sara retorted. “Which reminds me, I’m late for a lesson right now. Gotta go.”
“Wait just one minute. I’m not finished. I’m coming home,” Ashley announced determinedly.
That was all Sara needed, to have both of her sisters ganging up on her and trying to persuade her to call off the bet. “Don’t,” she pleaded. “There is no need to disrupt your life.”
“I’m coming,” Ashley repeated. “When’s the contest?”
Resigned to the inevitability of her sister’s decision, Sara sighed. “This weekend.”
“I’ll be there. Don’t you dare get anywhere near that horse until I get home.”
Sara tried one last time. “Ashley, you don’t need to do this. You’re too busy.”
“Not at the moment,” she said.
There was an odd note in her sister’s voice that Sara couldn’t interpret. She knew, though, that if Ashley had made up her mind to come home, there was no stopping her. She had her full share of the Wilde gene for contrariness.
And, judging from the hints Ashley had dropped lately, just maybe she needed to be at home for a bit. Maybe with a little prodding from Dani, a little of Annie’s meddling and some of Sara’s own brand of sleuthing, they could learn what was bothering Ashley.
“Okay, then, if that’s what you want, come home,” Sara agreed with an exaggerated sigh of submission.
“I’d have been there before, if you’d told me sooner,” Ashley chided. “We made a pact, remember? If there was ever trouble, we’d always be there for each other. I think this qualifies.”
Sara smiled at the huge understatement. “You’re right. I should have explained last time we talked.”
“Well, never mind that now,” her sister said. “I’m on my way as soon as we hang up. With any luck, I’ll be there tonight. Love you.”
“I love you, too. Can’t wait to see you.”
“Me, too,” Ashley responded.
Only when the line had gone dead did Sara admit to herself how very glad she was that her sister had taken the decision out of her hands. No matter what the outcome on Saturday, it would be good to have both Dani and Ashley in her corner. She glanced up from the phone to see Dani in the doorway.
“Was that Ashley on the phone?”
Sara nodded. “She’s on her way.”
“Good. She sounded down about something and I don’t think it was this mess with Daddy and the ranch.”
“I thought I heard something in her voice, too,” Sara agreed.
“Well, we’ll know what that’s about soon enough,” Dani said briskly. “In the meantime, how are you?”
“Scared,” Sara admitted. “With Daddy sneaking out of here at dawn, it’s all so final. I guess I never thought it would really come to this.”
“It’s not too late to back out of that ridiculous contest. Maybe we could just go to Jake and make him an offer to buy him out.”
“And what would we use for money?”
“I have some put away and I’m sure Ashley probably does, too. We could manage something.”
“It wouldn’t be enough,” Sara said with certainty. “Owning Three-Stars means as much to Jake as it does to me. He’s not going to sell it, not for any amount of money.” She stood up and hugged her sister. “I’ve got to get out of here. I have a lesson and I’m already late.”
A familiar worried frown puckered Dani’s brow. “I really don’t like this scheme of yours.”
“So you’ve said, but I can’t see that there’s any other choice. Go bake some pies or something. It’ll keep your mind off of all the things that can’t be changed. By nightfall Ashley may be here and we can have a good, old-fashioned gabfest like we used to.”
Dani sighed. “I suppose anything that can lure our jet-setting sister back home for a bit can’t be all bad. Come by my house when you’ve finished your lesson, okay? I want to see for myself that you’re in one piece.”
“Okay, worrywart. See you later.”
Annie, who’d deliberately given Sara privacy when the phone rang, turned up just then. Sara had the distinct impression she hadn’t been far away. Her grim expression indicated she was aware of every word that had been spoken in her absence.
Sara left the housekeeper and Dani huddled together in the kitchen, probably plotting Jake’s demise if she knew anything at all about their brand of loyalty. She’d have to remember to warn him…sooner o
r later.
* * *
When the bright red convertible came flying up the driveway spewing a trail of dust behind it, Jake knew at once that it was Ashley Wilde. It wasn’t just that Annie had told him she was coming. He would have recognized that avenging-angel style of arrival anywhere.
Ashley had always been an enigma to him. With her cool, blond, ice queen beauty and her flirty smiles, she was a bundle of contradictions. One thing had always been perfectly clear, though. When it came to her sisters, she was very quick to jump to their defense. The only thing surprising about her arrival was that it had taken so long. She must have been kept in the dark about what was happening at the ranch up until now, he concluded.
Instead of heading straight for the house as he’d expected, she turned his way, an unmistakable, determined glint in her eyes. Jake braced himself for the kind of tongue-lashing only a firebrand like one of the Wilde sisters could deliver.
“You selfish jerk,” she said without preamble, standing toe-to-toe with him.
He grinned at the deliberate crowding tactic. “It’s good to see you, too. It’s been a long time.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t know what you’ve been up to. How’d you do it? How did you persuade my father to sell you the ranch?”
Jake laughed at that. “You have been gone too long, Ashley. Nobody ever persuaded Trent Wilde to do anything he didn’t want to do. He made a deal with me when I came here and he kept his side of the bargain. That’s it. There was nothing devious or underhanded about it.”
“How come none of us knew about this deal?” she asked suspiciously.
He shrugged. “You’d have to ask him about that. It certainly wasn’t my place to run around broadcasting it.”
“Oh, don’t try to sound so blasted noble,” she shot back. “You’re enjoying all of this, aren’t you?”
“I won’t lie to you. I’m happy that Three-Stars is mine.” He met her gaze evenly, his expression sober. “I’m not so happy about what it’s doing to Sara. It’s tearing her apart.”
The Bridal Path: Sara Page 15
