Read Online The Blackstone Legacy by Rochelle Alers - Free Book Online

up, and she bit down on her lower lip to keep from gasping aloud. The passion radiating from Ryan’s eyes caused her knees to weaken. Reaching for her chair, she managed to sit without collapsing to the floor. He did not know her and she did not know him, yet the passion between them was strong and frightening.
    Ryan sat down and picked up his wineglass, emptying it with one swallow. The cool liquid bathed his throat and body temporarily. He looked down at the delicious meal Kelly had prepared, unable to finish eating because she had lit a fire in him, a fire only she would be able to extinguish.
    He wanted her in his bed, but he was willing to wait for her to come to him. After all, they had time, a lot of time….

Chapter Six
    K elly lay on a cushioned wicker love seat on the porch, her head resting on Ryan’s chest. Raising her right leg, she wiggled her toes. She had left her sandals in the kitchen. She and Ryan had barely touched their dinner after the kiss. He’d helped her clear the table and wash and dry the dishes, and she’d suggested they sit out on the porch where it was safer than remaining indoors.
    â€œWhat made you decide to become a veterinarian?”
    Ryan rested his chin on the top of her head. “I’ve always loved horses and science, and becoming a vet was the logical choice. Also, I knew one day I wouldinherit the horse farm from my father, as it was with him and his father.”
    â€œYou’ll be the third generation Blackstone to run the farm?”
    â€œYes. And hopefully Sean will become the fourth.”
    â€œWhat about your brother?”
    â€œJeremy has no interest in horses. Pop refers to Jeremy as his vagabond progeny. My younger brother would lose his mind if he had to stay here more than a month.”
    â€œHow did the Blackstones become horse breeders?”
    â€œMy granddaddy was a white tobacco farmer who fell in love with a young black woman who had come to work for him as his cook. They couldn’t marry or live openly as husband and wife because of Virginia’s miscegenation laws. But she did give him a son. When James Blackstone died he left everything to Sheldon. Grandpa had grown tobacco for about twenty years, but after my grandmother died from lung cancer from a two-pack-a-day cigarette habit, he harvested his last tobacco crop and decided to raise horses.”
    â€œDid he breed them to race?”
    â€œNo. He raised working breeds like the Welsh Cob, horses known for their hardiness and strength. He sold them to farmers and for riding. My father brought his first Thoroughbred several years afterhe’d married my mother. Within ten years he was racing competitively.”
    What he did not tell Kelly was that his mother was an only child of a wealthy Charleston, South Carolina black family, and that his parents had used her inheritance to establish the largest and most successful African-American-owned horse farm in the state of Virginia.
    â€œI know nothing about horses or racing,” Kelly admitted. “In fact, I’ve never been to a racetrack.”
    Ryan’s forehead furrowed. “You’ve never watched our trainers exercising the horses?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œIf you don’t have anything planned for Saturday, then I’ll have Kevin Manning show you how he trains horses for races.”
    â€œDo you go to the races?”
    Ryan hesitated. During his short marriage, the only time Caroline had deigned to grace him with her presence was at a horse race. “Yes.”
    Shifting slightly, Kelly gazed up at him. A shaft of sunlight hit his face, turning him into a statue of molten gold. Turning his head quickly, he glanced at her and she shuddered noticeably from the intensity of his stare. The large gray eyes glowed with an inner fire that ignited a spark of longing that left her gasping.
    Ryan returned his gaze to the sprawling landscape in front of Kelly’s bungalow. The homes