by Ciana Stone
One push and he was inside. She was tight, so tight it threatened his control. She wound both legs against him and rocked on him, taking him deeper inside. Her neck arched back, and a low moan escaped her lips. Logan turned, backing her up against the tree. Her arms worked up, hands finding a grip on branches.
“Logan James.” Her whisper was a sound of want that transcended the need for more words.
It wrested control from him, stripped him of reason. With a low growl, he grabbed her hips, curled his pelvis, and impaled her with his length. She cried out, breasts thrusting forward as her back arched.
His lips sought one breast, tongue raking over the hard bud of her nipple as he thrust into her, his hips a piston that elicited cries and pleas for more. Sabine raised her head and opened her eyes to capture his.
As their gazes met, reality fell away, and there was nothing but sensation. An endless well of pleasure holding him a willing captive.
Logan snapped back to the present, annoyed at the erection that strained in his pants. That night had been one unlike any before or after. They’d moved from the tree to the lake and then to the ground where finally they’d fallen asleep on the soft, cool moss.
He’d awakened at dawn. Alone. Upon dressing, he’d hurried to the guest house, waking everyone who was there. Sabine had not been among them. Nor was she at the main house. In fact, the family had disavowed her having been there.
But Logan knew better. She’d left something for him. It was on his chest when he woke. A lock of dark hair tied with a scrap of lace. It was Sabine’s. He’d put it in his pocket that morning. Now he felt inside the right side pocket of his pants.
It had been retied many times until finally, he’d had a wigmaker sew the individual hairs into fabric that was then dipped in silver. Every morning he put it into his pocket and every night he removed it, wondering where the woman was who’d left it for him, taking from him in exchange, his heart.
Chapter Three
The moment Wayne emerged from the building reporters besieged him.
“Any comment on Logan Legacy’s statement to the press, Mr. Garen?” Someone shoved a microphone into his face.
“No comment. Excuse me.” Wayne muscled his way through the throng to his car and hurriedly climbed into the back seat.
He immediately pulled out his phone and accessed the local news app. If Legacy had made a statement, there would likely be a piece online. Sure enough, there was. Wayne knew he should be pissed, but the truth was, he agreed with everything Logan said in regards to the pipeline.
Much to his father’s annoyance, Wayne had been against the project from the beginning and had said as much. Much to his dismay, his father had disregarded Wayne’s feelings or warnings about the project and the potential for trouble.
Now they were both dealing with the fallout, and Legacy was looking more like the “kind and caring” energy company while Garen was becoming the company only interested in lining their own pockets and to hell with the environment and sacred Native grounds.
Wayne wished he was not on his way to lunch with his father. Harris was bound to be in a foul mood and chances were Wayne would suffer the brunt of it. He closed his eyes and leaned back, bringing an image of Ravyn to mind. Even thinking of her brought a measure of calm to his troubled mind.
He knew it might seem juvenile to others, the depth of his passion for her, but he didn’t care. She was everything to him; she brought passion and laughter, understanding and compassion, acceptance and love in a way no one else ever had. With her, Wayne felt truly loved, and nothing was more important than that. Not money or power or his father’s wants and desires.
If only he could find the courage to tell his father, but thus far his parents didn’t know she was living with him. Her family knew, but as yet had not invited him to any family functions. She said they hadn’t given their approval but had no choice but to accept it because she wasn’t going to let them run her life.
The car stopped at the entrance of the private club and Wayne got out. His father was waiting in the dining room at a table by a window, overlooking the golf course.
“Dad.” Wayne greeted him as he took a seat.
“I guess you saw the press conference.” It was a statement, not a question, and curiously, one made with far less rancor than Wayne expected.
“I did.”
“You know he did it to bolster his old man’s approval rating.”
“I didn’t know his approval rating had slipped.”
That was an old conversation, one he’d had with his father many times. John Logan Legacy had served as a Texas Senator for most of the last twenty years, and Texans loved him. Well, most Texans. Wayne’s father would hate Legacy until his dying day.
“If it hasn’t yet, it will soon.” Harris lifted his drink to his lips, sipped, smiled and leaned in a bit toward Wayne. “Shit’s about to hit the fan in Cotton Creek.”
“Oh?” Why did Wayne get a sinking feeling in his gut at those words?
Harris lowered his voice, even though the chance of being overheard was slim. Tables in the dining room of the exclusive club were spaced to ensure privacy. “Before long, the tree huggers are going to be breathing down Legacy’s neck, along with the EPA.”
“Why?” Wayne almost hated asking.
“There’s going to be a fracking incident.”
No one in the oil business could hear those words without a shiver of dread. There were certain potential dangers inherent in fracking, and one of them was contamination of water. If that happened in the Cotton Creek site, it could cost the company millions.
“How do you know there will be an incident?”
Harris grinned. “Let’s just say I have it on good authority.”
That translated to mean his father had paid someone to make sure it happened. “Dad, you know there will be an investigation and if anything can be traced back—”
“It can’t. Don’t worry son, I have it all under control.”
Wayne’s sense of dread doubled at those words. His father’s hatred of John Legacy would one day be what brought Garen Oil and everyone who depended upon it to ruin.
“I hope you’re right, Dad. The last thing we need—”
“I know what I’m doing, boy.” Harris polished off his drink and signaled for another.
Wayne waited until Harris’s refill and a glass of iced tea for him had been delivered before speaking again. “Is that what you wanted to see me about, Dad?”
“That and another piece of news that will make your day.”
Wayne forced a smile. “Then please, don’t hold back.”
Harris lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I finally found it, son.”
“Found what?”
“The leverage we need to bring down Legacy.”
“You mean the fracking—”
“Hell no, that’s a plus, but a diversion. They’ll be focused on handling the shit storm that will bring and never see the bomb coming.”
“Bomb?”
Harris chuckled. “You better believe it.”
Despite knowing that his father’s hate of the Legacy family could color his judgment, Wayne was curious. “Just what kind of bomb?”
“Proof that they covered up a multiple homicide.”
Wayne was rendered speechless. For the first time in his life, he was actually surprised at what had spewed from his father’s lips. “Multiple homicide?”
Harris nodded. “I’ve got an eye-witness. Four people survived, and my man is one of them. As was Logan Legacy.”
“Logan? Dad, are you sure this witness, whoever he is, isn’t just trying to pull one on you? What’s he asking for this information?”
“That’s the beauty of it, boy, he didn’t come looking. I found him, and when I tell you what he said, you’re going to realize once and for all that the Legacys and all their damn Cajun witch relations are nothing but the devil’s spawn.”
“So tell me.”
&nb
sp; Harris grinned, downed half his drink and launched into his tale. Ten minutes later, Wayne sat there wondering if his father had lost his mind. No one could believe such a story. Whoever fed such a fantasy to his father had to be trying to con his father. Which meant Wayne was going to be forced to become involved.
“Dad this is—well I’m not sure what words I can use. I’d like to speak with this Micky Andrews and get a few more facts so I can put our investigators on this right away. We’re going to need more than the testimony of a single witness to make this work.”
Clearly, his words had the desired effect because his father smiled. “I’ll set it up. Are you free tonight?”
“I can make myself free.”
“Then I’ll make it happen. Now, where’s that damn waiter? My glass is dry.”
Wayne gestured for the server, hoping his phone would ring so he could invent an excuse to leave. He hadn’t lied about wanting to get his investigators put to work. This Andrews was clearly knowledgeable about Wayne’s family. More specifically about Harris’s hatred of the Legacy family. Andrews had to be trying to exploit that.
And Wayne had to stop it. Despite his father’s success and wealth, he could not take on the Legacy family and win. Particularly with a cockamamie story like this.
*****
Logan reined his mount and pulled his phone from his shirt pocket. A smile creased his face as he saw the caller ID. “John Luke. What’s up brother?”
The smile faded at the tone of his brother’s reply. “Have you spoken with Linc lately?”
“No. Why?”
“I heard he’s considering signing on with a specialized division within the Bureau.”
“And?” Logan failed to see why that would be of concern. John Luke, the brother second closest in age to Logan, just three and a half years younger, had made a career working with the Department of Justice, specifically as a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“This isn’t just any division, Logan. It’s the SACU or Specialized Anomalous Crimes Unit.”
“That’s a mouthful but doesn’t tell me why you’re troubled.”
“Because they investigate anything that is considered out of the ordinary.”
“This is me, John Luke. Don’t mince words, just spit it out. What is this SACU?”
“Remember that old show, The X-Files?”
“Are you serious?” Was Luke trying to prank him?
“Dead serious. They’re a twelve member team and their agents all have some pyschic ability. The same sort of abilities you’d find, say, if you Googled Star Children or maybe stories about the Watchers.”
That gave Logan pause. “So what led Linc to find these people?”
“Nothing. They found him. There was a murder in Spokane at one of the rodeos. Linc had a vision of where the killer had hidden the murder weapon, told a gal he was hooked up with who had a brother who was a cop and told him. The cop checked it out, found the weapon and turned it over to the FBI who had taken over the case since it matched three other similar killings in more than one state. The SACU was flagged because Linc was the one who led them to find the weapon. He was questioned at length and released and a week later was contacted. I heard from him this morning that he’s seriously considering it.”
“And again, this concerns you because?”
“Because they’ll test him, Logan. Put him through a fucking battery of tests to find out what he can do and how strong his ability is. And they’ll do DNA testing.”
Logan considered what Luke said. “Okay, do me a favor and get in touch with him. Tell him I need to see him and if he asks why, say you don’t know. I’ll talk with him, but I’m not going to tell him not to do it, Luke. It’s his choice. He knows the risks. I’ll just remind him of the consequences should he be less than discrete.”
“I hear ya and I agree. I just think it needs to come from you. Dad isn’t any help in these things and Mom, well if she knows, then the whole Legendre and Beaudreaux clans know and I don’t think we need to open that can of worms.”
“Agreed.”
“Good. I’ll tell him.”
“Okay, now—how are you?”
“Tired. Still undercover and ready to wrap this up and get home.”
“Have you seen Michael?” Michael was John Luke’s only child.
“No, and can’t until this assignment is done.”
“Then get’r’dun, bro, and get home safe. You still seeing that same gal??”
“I am. At least I hope I am. It’s been a long haul. Okay, I gotta go. Talk soon.”
“You bet. Walk well, brother.”
“And you.”
Logan slid the phone back into his pocket and sat there on his horse, looking out at the land he called home. A memory popped into his mind. A few years ago a magazine had done a piece on his family. He had been labeled “the man who has everything.”
At the time, he had been going through a nasty divorce, was trying to fill his father’s shoes and run the family empire and couldn’t forget the woman who’d left him asleep beneath the trees and had vanished from his life. The article had made him scoff. He was a lot of things but the one thing he wasn’t was the man who had everything. He worked himself to exhaustion every day and climbed into a lonely bed every night. Sometimes he’d see the families on the ranch at the lake on the weekends, and he’d be filled with envy. That was what he’d always wanted. To be a rancher and a family man.
The man who had everything. He sneered. It seemed that every time he turned around these days, there was a new potential threat in the wind, something that had the power to harm not just, but every member of his family. And like it or not, the job of making sure they all stayed safe fell first to him.
He kicked his horse into motion and turned to head home. The peace of the morning had evaporated. It was now, once again, time to take action to ensure that nothing he held dear was in danger.
Chapter Four
It was rare to find Sabine in a bar these days. There had been a time when she’d spent far too much time in bars, using booze and sex in an attempt to forget, or to make herself believe there was love to be found in one-night stands. Finally, she’d admitted defeat. No amount of drinking or screwing would make her forget, and she’d come to dislike who she had become.
So, she’d stopped. There hadn’t been a man in her life in over seven years, and she’d seen the inside of a bar maybe half a dozen times, and all of those were to celebrate events in the lives of family or friends. That was what saw her in the local bar of the small town where her cousin Angelique was celebrating her engagement.
It was a surprise to see Ravyn there. It was rare that she attended family events since she’d moved in with Wayne Garen. When they first started dating, the entire family had been against it.
Unfortunately, Ravyn was as stubborn as her father and basically told them all to go to hell. Her father was the only one who had stood behind her and told the entire family to leave her alone. Wayne wasn’t to blame for his father’s hatred.
Genevieve’s family had been offended at first by what they called his bullying way, but it didn’t take long for them to see the benefit. The family liked to keep tabs on their enemies, and Wayne Garen’s father had a long-lived grudge against the Legacy family, which naturally spilled over onto the Legendre and Beaudreux clans.
Over the course of time, the family convinced themselves that the relationship was one of duty. Sabine knew that Ravyn and Wayne were deeply in love. Ravyn found it easier to let the family believe that she was simply fulfilling her duty to the family and acting as another information conduit. That kept questions and concerns to a minimum and made life easier. And it kept them from discounting the information she provided.
Sabine was the only family member who knew. She kept in close touch with Ravyn. In fact, it had gotten to the point where Ravyn and Sabine discussed the information she passed along to the family prior to Ravyn sharing it. There were times when Sabine as
ked her to withhold information or delay reporting, but only when she felt it was for the best.
Well, to be honest, for the best for Logan James. No matter the time that had passed, her love for him burned as bright now as it had when she was a child. She would always put his safety and well-being first, ahead of even her own.
There were times she asked herself why she continued to watch over him from afar, seeking to protect him from those who might mean him harm. He was a grown man, one who’d earned success and made a name for himself. One who, at last count, had divorced wife number four.
Sabine didn’t know what caused his marriages to fall apart and wouldn’t try to uncover the reasons. She tried not to think about him and any of his wives. Thoughts of him with another woman only served to make her miserable.
Every now and then, when she was feeling sorry for herself she would bemoan her fate, rail at the heavens for falling in love with him. She remembered the very day it happened, as clearly as if it had taken place yesterday.
Genevieve was punishing her. She’d tried to take a framed picture from a table in the living room and had dropped it. The glass broke. Sabine had attempted to clean it up but succeeded in cutting her fingers and getting blood on the rug along with glass.
Genevieve was furious. She locked Sabine in the closet without even letting her wash her hands or have lunch. Sabine wasn’t afraid of being in the closet, but she was hungry and the cuts on her fingers hurt. She hadn’t meant to break the glass. She just wanted to see the picture. Logan James was in it and she loved him. He was big and strong and even though he said he didn’t like her, he took up for her when the other kids were mean to her.
Thinking about that made her sad. She didn’t understand why the other kids didn’t like her. What was a bastard, anyway? Logan James hit a boy last week who called her that. That Micky boy whose dad worked on the ranch and always walked like he had been spinning around.
Tears leaked from her eyes and she went to wipe them away. It made the cuts on her fingers hurt more and something from one of her fingers got into her eye and hurt really bad. She started crying and screaming, kicking at the door.