River Road (25 page)

“When you put it like that—”

“And there’s always the potential problem of poison oak,” he added.

She laughed. “I never thought of that. You’re right. We definitely don’t want to do this kind of thing in the woods.”

He laughed, too, his masculine anticipation and triumph ringing in the clear, sun-warmed air. He caught her hand and ran with her through the trees to the cabin.

T
he exhilaration he felt knowing that in a few minutes he was going to be making love to Lucy set fire to his blood. They dashed up the stairs to his old room together. Lucy was a little breathless. Her eyes were brilliant with feminine mystery and desire.

He tumbled her onto her back on the bed and came down on top of her, bracing himself on his hands. He looked down at her, savoring the knowledge that, for now, at least, she was his. She wanted him, and that was the most intoxicating drug of all.

He used one hand to open the front of her shirt. Her bra was a sexy little scrap of black lace. He unsnapped the front clasp and freed her dainty breasts.

“You are so lovely,” he marveled.

She smiled. “I don’t know about lovely, but when you look at me like that, I definitely feel hot.”

“That, too.” He kissed one pink nipple. “Very, very hot.”

“It’s your fault,” she said. She started to unfasten the buttons of his denim shirt. “Do you think that we might accidentally set fire to the sheets?”

“Who cares?” He opened the front of her trousers. “There are more where those came from.”

He got her out of her clothes and impatiently shed his own. He lowered himself back down onto her, inserting his leg between hers, separating her thighs. The scent of her arousal hardened every muscle in his body. He moved his hand down her hip and then to her hot, warm core.

He groaned, pulling on all of his willpower to keep himself from coming then and there.

He put his mouth on the soft skin of her shoulder and bit gently. “I love how you get so wet so fast for me.”

He stroked her, finding the trigger spots that he had learned in the course of their first night together. She clenched herself around the two fingers he had inside her. He probed gently, deliberately. She sucked in her breath. Her nails bit into his shoulders.

“There,” she got out. “Yes, there.”

He gave a hoarse laugh. “You learn fast.”

He used his mouth on her, starting with her breasts and moving lower and lower until she gasped and clutched at his head, snagging her fingers in his hair.

“What are you doing?” she yelped. “No, wait, I’m not sure—”

But it was too late, she was already climaxing. He could feel the delicate waves shivering through her lower body, taste the essence of her. She shrieked.

“Mason.”

When it was over she collapsed, laughing, breathless, blushing.

“That was amazing,” she said, sounding and looking stunned. “Absolutely amazing. I’ve never wanted anyone to do that before. I wasn’t sure I wanted you to do it.”

“You are delicious,” he said. He kissed her shoulder. “Everywhere. I like it when you scream my name the way you did just then. I like it a lot.”

She used her palms to push him slightly away from her.

“Show me what you like,” she said.

Curiosity and determination illuminated her eyes.

He smiled slowly. “Trust me, I like everything you do to me.”

“I’m serious. I want to know what works for you—what really works.”

She slipped her palm down the front of his chest and captured him in her hand. She pumped him slowly, tightening her fingers until he thought he would go a little mad.

“That works,” he managed, his voice suddenly tight. “That definitely works.”

She giggled, rolled him onto his back and kissed his throat, his chest, and then she went lower. When he felt her tongue on him, he knew he had reached the breaking point.

“Now,” he said. “I need to be inside you right now.”

He caught hold of her arms and pulled her back up his body so that she sat astride him. He used one hand to guide himself into her, holding his breath while he strained violently against his own self-imposed control.

Then he was surging deep into her snug, wet heat. She tried to glide up and down on him, but he caught her hips, forcing her to let him set the rhythm. She tightened herself around him. So tight. Impossibly tight. He could not take any more.

His climax hit him in a shattering rush. He abandoned himself to the tide and let it sweep him out to sea.

I
t was all falling apart.

The carefully conceived plan was going to crash and burn, Quinn thought. Hell, his whole life had been going in the wrong direction since what he had come to think of as the Summer of Brinker.

It was as if he had been driving down a dark road for years and was now thoroughly lost. He had taken any number of wrong turns along the way, trying to find the right route, but each miscalculation had made things worse. He should have walked away from Colfax Inc. that summer when Brinker had swept into his life like a sorcerer—fascinating, dangerous and seemingly invincible, until the night Mason Fletcher had confronted him.

Brinker’s rage that night had been terrifying. Infuriated by his inability to lure Mason Fletcher into his web, he had vowed a long and horrible revenge. Quinn was certain that someone would die. And in the end, someone
had
died—Brinker.

But Brinker’s disappearance had not changed the course of his own life, Quinn thought. He had kept going in the wrong direction. Except for Jillian. She was the only right move he had ever made, and now he was going to lose her.

He swallowed some of the vodka and orange juice he had mixed for himself and went to stand at the window. He stared, unseeing, at the elegantly laid-out vineyards. He hated the winery, just as he loathed Colfax Inc. There had been a time in his life when he had believed that he would one day inherit the empire his father had built and go on to make it even larger and more powerful. He had clung to those dreams for years, desperately trying to please a father who could never be appeased, let alone pleased.

It was his parents’ divorce that had finally opened his eyes. When Warner immediately remarried the bitch it had all become clear. Warner never intended for his firstborn son to inherit the Colfax empire. He planned to beget himself a new heir.

Quinn knew that he’d had another chance to walk away at that point. Instead, he had allowed Jillian to talk him into staying. And then had come the news of the merger offer, and with it the opportunity of a lifetime to exact revenge. If the merger went through, Colfax Inc. would be swallowed up and effectively cease to exist. He and Jillian could walk away with a great deal of money.

Once again he had chosen to stay. He needed the money if he was going to have a chance in hell of hanging on to Jillian.

He heard the heavy footsteps in the hall and dropped down into his chair. He took another swallow of the vodka and orange juice to fortify himself and waited.

The door of the office slammed open. Warner Colfax stormed into the room.

“What the hell is going on?” Warner demanded. “I heard that Mason Fletcher came here to see you yesterday afternoon. This morning it’s all over town that he was in a car accident and wound up in the hospital. What was he doing here?”

Quinn lounged back in his chair and stacked his heels on the corner of the desk. He took another pull on his drink.

“You mean the great, all-knowing Warner Colfax hasn’t figured out what’s happening? There was a time when you knew everything that was going on in your kingdom. Careful, Dad. You’re slipping.”

Warner’s face flushed a dull red. “It’s three-thirty in the afternoon. How much have you had to drink?”

Quinn contemplated his glass. “First one all day. I decided it was time to celebrate.”

“Celebrate what?”

“My departure from Colfax Wines. I’m quitting as of today. What else would I be celebrating?”

Warner planted both hands on the desk and leaned forward, eyes glittering. “What are you talking about?”

Quinn rolled the glass between his palms. “Where to begin? Shall I start with the fact that I strongly suspect that Lucy Sheridan is refusing to sell her shares to you or anyone else because she thinks Sara and Mary were murdered?”

“That’s ridiculous. They died in a car accident. Everyone knows that.”

“Not sure Lucy is buying that.”

Warner’s brows snapped together. “That’s why she’s being so damn stubborn about the shares?”

“I think so, yes. Got a hunch she isn’t the only one who believes there was something suspicious about the accident. Hence the visit from Fletcher yesterday.”

“Damn it. What did he want from you?” Warner asked.

“Answers. He seemed mostly interested in the past. So I told him what he had already guessed—that thirteen years ago, Brinker was furious because Fletcher refused to join the merry little band of acolytes who worshipped the awesome Brinker. I also told him that Brinker was enraged because Fletcher rescued Lucy Sheridan the night of the final party at the ranch.”

“Rescued her from what?”

“I think Sara Sheridan was right,” Quinn said. “I think Brinker was the Scorecard Rapist. There is no doubt in my mind that he intended to make Lucy one of his victims. Fletcher heard rumors the afternoon of the party. That’s why he showed up that night.”

“You knew Brinker was the rapist? Or are you just guessing?”

“I didn’t know it at the time. But I’m dead certain of it now. He used me like he used everyone else, but we weren’t friends. He never confided in me. However, he was so pissed off that night after Fletcher warned him never to go near Lucy Sheridan again that he sort of lost it. He started making threats. When I left him there by the river he was practically frothing at the mouth. I decided I’d do my one good deed of a lifetime and warn Sara Sheridan that Lucy was in danger. But Brinker was gone by morning. I figured that in spite of all his bluster he really was scared of Fletcher.”

Warner looked dumbfounded. “You never told me any of this.”

“Why would I?” Quinn laughed. “You thought Brinker was a terrific role model for me, remember? You kept telling me how strong he was, how he would one day be a real force to be reckoned with in the business world. And maybe he would have been, if he had lived.” Quinn winked. “Between you and me, I always assumed that Fletcher was the one who punched Brinker’s ticket. Who knew Sara Sheridan had it in her?”

“I don’t believe any of this. You’re drunk, and you’re making up the whole story.”

“In that case, you probably don’t want to hear that your handpicked, high-priced CEO is screwing your new brood-mare wife, either.”

Warner stared at him. “Shut your damn drunken mouth.”

“Give me a break—everyone knows. Any heirs you get from her will have Cecil Dillon’s DNA. But it’s moot, anyway, because I doubt that Ashley has any intention of getting pregnant by either of you. She’s in this for the money, pure and simple. Big mistake on her part. But she’s smart enough to know when to cut her losses. As soon as she realizes that the merger is going to fail, she’ll grab the jewelry and the Porsche and disappear.”

“It’s not true.” Warner’s face was splotchy with rage. “None of it’s true. I swear, if you don’t stop talking like this—”

“You’ll do what?” Quinn slammed the glass down on his desk and surged to his feet. “Cut me out of your will? Go for it, Dad. Damned if I care.”

“You won’t walk away from Colfax Inc.,” Warner said again. But his voice was shaky now. “You’re mad because I didn’t let you take control of my company. But you didn’t deserve to take the helm of Colfax Inc. You were too weak to run the business.”

Quinn smiled. “You know what? You’re right. I don’t have the stomach for Colfax Inc. Good thing for me that I socked away a fair amount of cash six months ago when I started to get suspicious of those glowing company financials.”

“Glowing financials? What are you talking about?”

“Come off it, Dad. You know what they say in the investment world. If it looks too good to be true, it probably
is
too good to be true.”

“Are you saying you know something I don’t know about my business?”

“I’m telling you that I’m damn suspicious of Cecil Dillon and those incredibly good numbers he’s been producing for you these past few months. I’m also telling you that I’m damn sick of this job here at the winery. Which is why I’ll be handing in my resignation this afternoon.”

Warner blinked. His mouth was open, but for a few seconds no words came out. Evidently, it had never dawned on him that his son might one day simply walk away.

“What about Jillian?” he finally rasped. “She’ll have something to say about you leaving the wine country.”

“Jillian will do what she wants, but I think it’s safe to say she won’t be coming with me. In spite of appearances, I’m not stupid. I realize that she has stuck around as long as she has for the same reasons the brood mare has stayed. She liked the money and the social status here in the valley.”

The possibility that Jillian would leave him now was shredding his insides. She was the reason he had stayed as long as he had. He knew how important it was to her to be connected to the Colfax family. Deep down, he was pretty sure it was the reason she had married him in the first place. It was his own damn fault that he loved her.

“I don’t believe any of this.” Warner’s voice was thin and whispery now, his rage so great he could hardly talk. “It’s all a pack of lies.”

Quinn shook his head. “Believe whatever you like. It’s not my problem anymore. Never was, come to think of it. Just took me all these years to realize it.”

Warner spun around and stalked out of the office.

Quinn waited until the door closed. Then the fury and the pain overwhelmed him.

He picked up the half-empty glass and flung it against the wall. Shards rained down on the floor. The vodka and orange juice splashed across a picture of the Colfax family vineyards.

The small act of violence was strangely clarifying. For the first time since the Summer of Brinker, Quinn knew what he needed to do. It was time to grow up and become a man.

Jillian appeared in the doorway. She stared at the broken glass and the juice running down the wall. When she looked at him he saw the dread and fear in her eyes. His heart ached.

“What just happened in here?” she said. “Warner was leaving as I was coming in. He’s in a rage.”

“What happened is that I just quit my job. I won’t be working for Colfax Winery in the future. In fact, I won’t work for my father in any capacity whatsoever in the future.”

Jillian studied him for what seemed like forever. “What are you going to do?”

“I have no idea.” He took a deep breath and put it all on the line. “I’m walking away from everything, Jillian—the company, the winery, the money. I will understand if you don’t want to come with me.”

She moved into the room and closed the door. “Do you think I married you for the Colfax name and the Colfax money?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I will tell you the truth,” Jillian said. “But first I need to tell you about the past.”