PassionsPoison (25 page)

Josh moved next to Zach and put his hand on his shoulder.
“Believe me. I’ve been here through Danielle and Lisa. I know what losing them
did to you. But, I also know if you love this woman and want a chance at a
normal life with her, kids, the whole thing, this might be the only way based
on what I’ve discovered.”

Zach pulled back. “What do you mean, ‘might’? Are you saying
even if we go through with this, it still may not work and we’d be back to
where we are now, only with three men between us?”

“Yeah, I’m afraid so. I can’t believe I was able to figure
this much out in so short a time. Remember, time is something we don’t have. If
you have a better idea, I’m open to it.”

Zach looked at her.

She couldn’t stay still a minute longer. She ran to him and
he took her in his arms. Burying her face in his chest, she let the tears come.
She heard Josh and Kayla step around them, but didn’t care.

Josh spoke. “We’re going outside. You two talk about this.”

Bea felt Zach’s nod as the door closed behind their friends.
She pulled back to look at him. “What do we do?”

He tilted her head back with his hands and kissed her long,
hard, desperate before he pulled away and shoved his hands back into his
pockets. “I don’t know.”

She paced. “I can’t stand the thought of other men touching
me. How am I supposed to have sex with three strangers when I love you? Even
with Josh’s drugs, I can’t imagine being able to orgasm.” She turned and faced
him from across the room. “You’ve spoiled me. I’d be no good with anyone else.”

Zach grinned. “Really?”

She strode to him and folded her arms across her chest.
“Really.”

He made a move toward her, but she stepped back. “Zach, I can’t
do this.”

He halted. “But what else can we do? I don’t want to lose
you, but I’m not sure my insides can handle getting sick every day.”

Her shoulders slumped as her arms fell to her sides. “It
doesn’t have to be every day. Maybe every third day?”

He grabbed her arm and brought her into his embrace. “No.
I’m going to want you every day. And I’m going to want a beautiful little girl
with dark hair and eyes to match.”

She went limp in his arms.

He squeezed her against him as his shirt became wet from her
tears. Why couldn’t he fix this for her? Picking her up in his arms, he sat on
the couch and cradled her. “Bea, I love you. I want to grow old with you.
Please, so we can have a life together. I think we have to give us a chance and
do as Josh suggests.”

She lifted her head, her chocolate eyes shimmering with
tears. “I know. I don’t want to have a little girl who one day might have to do
what I have done. I always hoped she wouldn’t, but it could happen. Now that I
have you, I realize I couldn’t do it.”

Zach’s heart squeezed at Bea’s observation. To bring a
daughter into the world who would have to sleep with men to stay alive would be
too cruel. It reinforced his gut feeling that they had to do this. But deep
down, a piece of him would die inside. Still, better to give up that piece than
have a Rappaccini daughter.

He pulled Bea close, holding her against him, hoping when
the time came, he could find the strength to let the woman he loved have sex
with three men. He’d give his own blood to replace hers if it would save her,
but that wouldn’t work. If her having sex with strangers was the only way, he’d
do it. He had to. He couldn’t lose her. He refused to let fate win again.

She lifted her head from his shoulders. “I hope Josh has
amazing drugs.”

He gazed into the dark-brown depths of her eyes. “Yeah,
maybe he could give me some too.”

* * * * *

Bea surveyed her room in the quaint bed-and-breakfast near
Josh’s hospital. It had a beautiful four-poster canopy bed, a couch with coffee
table, dresser, armoire, the overstuffed chair she sat in and a rocking chair
in the corner. Josh said it was the biggest room with an en suite bathroom
complete with Jacuzzi tub and separate shower. The doctor had gone out of his
way to help them by securing the entire place. Even if the cure failed, she’d
find a special thank-you gift for him. And if cured, could she get pregnant? It
hadn’t happened yet. It would be just her luck to have been born sterile. Maybe
after they made it through tonight, she’d have Josh run tests. No need to raise
Zach’s hopes.

Then again, maybe it was like her mom said. She needed to be
with the same man or men or… Oh God, what if she got pregnant by one of the men
tonight? She wanted Zach’s baby, not a stranger’s. Panic seized her and she
jumped from the chair.

At that moment Zach walked in with Josh. “You share
everything with me. Don’t give me any of that doctor talk you use on your
patients.”

Josh smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Yeah.”

Bea grabbed Zach’s arm. “What if I get pregnant?”

Zach grinned for a moment before what she said registered.
Then a look of horror crossed his face.

He turned to Josh. “What if she gets pregnant? We don’t want
another man’s kid. Is there a way to protect her and still have this work?”

Josh rubbed his chin. “Jesus, I can’t think of any way to
ensure that. Bea, have you ever become pregnant before?”

She shook her head, her heart pounding at what could happen.
If tonight didn’t destroy her and Zach’s relationship, she was positive another
man’s child would.

Josh opened his lab coat and sat in the rocker.

Zach stood over his friend. “Well?”

Hesitating, Josh steepled his fingers. “When I talked to
Bea’s mom and grandmother, they had an unusual amount of sex just before they
got pregnant. That could be because they had expelled so much poison, it didn’t
kill off all the sperm. If that is the case and not just coincidence, we need
to rearrange the lineup so you’re the last to have sex with Bea. That’s when
her poisons will be at their lowest, which would increase the possibility of a
pregnancy and the chances you would be the father. All earlier sperm should be
eliminated by her poisons.”

Bea looked to Zach. He seemed less convinced than she was.

Josh stood and pulled a notepad from his coat pocket. “This
is the best I can do, Zach. If I could make any guarantees I would, but I’m way
out of my league here. And unless you want Bea to become a specimen for our
boys in Washington to play with, my guess is this is the best chance we have.”

Zach stuck his hands in his pockets. “I know. Thank you for
all your help.” He glanced back at Bea. “We do appreciate it.”

She nodded as she swallowed hard, her fear of losing Zach
growing by the minute.

Josh gave her a cocky grin. “Now, let’s give you some of my
psychedelic drugs. You’re in for the ride of your life. No pun intended.”

Bea waited for Josh to leave before she touched Zach on his
shoulder.

He turned around to face her, his worry clear.

She stroked the stubble on his chin. “You aren’t convinced
either, are you?”

He cupped her cheek before brushing his lips against hers.
“I need to talk to Josh to clarify something. I’ll be back.”

Her gut told her she wouldn’t like what he was going to say,
but she held her tongue. If she lost Zach tonight or weeks from now, at least
she’d tried. She prayed the drugs Josh gave her could obliterate every man’s
face from her mind, otherwise the whole experiment would fail. She wanted Zach
and only Zach and if she couldn’t have him, she didn’t want anyone.

* * * * *

Zach stood next to the dining table where Josh sat. “This
can work, Josh. I know it. Even if it doesn’t, I don’t care. I can’t let her
have sex with other men. Neither of us can handle that. I know you can figure
out some way for me to be the only one.” He punctuated his statement with a
fist to the table.

Josh shook his head, but Zach persisted. “You yourself said
all of this is a guess, so make your best guess for saving my life and let’s
get to it.”

Josh ran his hand through his hair. “You’d really die for
her?”

Zach nodded, his throat too tight at the thought of not
growing old with Bea.

“Jesus, let me think.” Josh cracked his knuckles. “You want
to be the only one in her bed and I’m supposed to keep her from killing you.
Don’t you think she’d have a problem with this?”

Zach put his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, a big problem, but
you’ve already given her the drugs to make her hallucinate. Afterward, she’ll
think she dreamed it was me, not that it actually was.”

Josh pulled his notepad from his pocket. “If you’re with her
all night and take her poisons nine times, how can I keep you alive?” His brows
knit as he concentrated. “When Bea called me to your house that morning, how
many times had she orgasmed on you?”

“Three maybe four times, I guess.”

Josh’s scribbled on the pad.

Come on, smart man, I know you can do this.

Josh looked up and leaned back in his chair. He pierced Zach
with a steady gaze. “You’ll do whatever I say, right?”

Relief unknotted Zach’s stomach as he sensed Josh’s
capitulation. “Yeah.”

Josh studied his notepad. “I still need to pay the three
studs in the other room and not with hospital money.”

“No problem, I’ll write you a check.”

Josh scribbled down another calculation then returned his
gaze to Zach. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. Remember, no playing around, she has
to have you inside her every time.”

Zach nodded as pure elation suffused his body. The other men
would no longer be in the picture. He’d do whatever it took.

Josh continued. “I’m going to give you the same nutrients I
give her. After she’s had three orgasms, I’m giving her an experimental drug
that’s still in the testing phase. It’s like Viagra for women because this will
take a lot out of her. For you, you have to let me know after you’ve had two
orgasms. I’ll give you Viagra because you’ll need your cock to stay hard for a
long time, and Zach, I can’t guarantee your penis won’t become painful and raw.
But remember, this is about her, not you, so focus on that. Got it?”

“Yes. Do you think you can counteract the poison I take in
afterward?”

Josh smirked. “Better than that. I think I can give you the
same antidote in similar doses to kill it as you take it in. I have it measured
in her nutritional injections. I’ll make the same cocktail for you.”

Zach slammed his hand on the table. “I knew you could do
it.”

Josh stood and came around to clasp Zach’s shoulder. “Buddy,
this is all a guess. I’ll do my damnedest to keep you alive, but I don’t know
jack shit about this. You have to know that.”

“I know. Thank you anyway, even if you can’t save me. Think
of it this way, if I die, I’ll die a happy man.”

Josh squeezed. “Not if I can help it. Now get your ass in
there and take care of your woman.”

Zach grabbed Josh and gave him a bear hug then raced
upstairs. As he reached Bea’s room, he hesitated. If he died tonight, was
leaving her alone with the possibility of a child the wrong course of action?
Was it fair to her? Compared to the alternative? Without a doubt. He’d trust
Josh and if he didn’t make it…he brought his hand to his tightening chest and
took a deep breath. If the worst happened, Josh would be sure to take care of
Bea for him. There was no choice. She was his. They deserved a chance.

The tightening in his chest loosened. Yes. His woman. And
now it was his duty to make love to her until she climaxed again and again. It
was a tough job, but someone had to do it, and that someone was him.

He just hoped he’d live to talk about it.

* * * * *

“Hey, beautiful.”

“Zach?” Bea watched the man strolling toward her,
unbuttoning his shirt.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

Concentrating was difficult. “But I thought you were going
to wait.”

He smiled as he dropped his jeans. “Josh has it all figured
out, don’t worry. Relax and enjoy.”

She tried to remember why Zach was supposed to wait, but the
drugs in her system played havoc with her mind. As he climbed naked into the
bed, she no longer cared why. She wanted his hard body pressed against her. She
tried to pull off her t-shirt, but couldn’t make it to go the right way.

Zach brushed her hands aside and lifted the shirt over her
head. She touched her nipples. “Much better.”

He wiggled his eyebrows. “I agree.”

But he still didn’t touch her as she held her breasts for
him to see. So she played with her hard nubs, enjoying the streaks of pleasure
hitting her pussy and making her wet.

Zach went to work on her pants. She stood, weaving a bit as
he pulled her feet from her clothes. She spread her legs, placed her finger on
her clit and pressed it hard to slow the sensations, but her lust was out of
her control. She moved her finger back and forth, making her clit harder as
slippery moisture leaked from her opening. “I want you, now.”

He pulled her against his hard body and she squirmed, trying
to feel all of him at once. “Zach, I’m so hot for you.”

He turned her around, bending her over the bed. “Let me just
check and make sure.”

As her face met the mattress, he dropped to his knees and
licked through her wet folds. The speeding shards of excitement coming from his
tongue threw her into overdrive. She moaned. “Now, Zach. I want your hard cock
deep inside me now.”

He chuckled. “Yes ma’am.”

She reached between her legs to touch her clit, circling the
nub, climbing toward her peak. Zach pushed at her opening with his fingers,
spreading her nether lips. Frustrated, she tried to push back against him, but
he held her hips in one place as he rose.

She groaned, “Zaacch.”

His cock brushed her pussy’s opening. “Tell me, Bea, do you
want me to fuck you?”

She clutched at the covers, her pussy throbbing, aching so
much it hurt deep inside her core. “Yes, please, oh please, Zach, now. I want
you now.”