Two Times the Trouble (8 page)

Struggling against the hormones demanding she strip off her panties and find sexual satisfaction at that very moment, Jolán slipped her tank top back on and reached for her skirt. Whether Ivan’s body chemistry didn’t like the ant bites or her family’s enemy had found a way through the protection spell to hurt him, she had no idea. Her only purpose in life at that moment was to make him well. Mate or not, she had a duty to uphold.

She stepped into the yards of thin muslin, adjusting the elastic at her waist. “I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”

Her attention focused on the ladder, she avoided looking at Liam. He’d already rejected her once. She’d be a fool to give him another opportunity to tell her he wasn’t interested.

As soon as she cleared the top of the wall, she sprinted toward the gardens, consulting the catalogue of ingredients in her brain for what she’d need to make a proper poultice. Chamomile flowers and aloe gel would ease the inflammation, but what plant would absorb the toxins from the bites?

Aloe vera absorbs toxins
and
reduces swelling.
Another possibility was black cohosh since it could be used for snakebites. Rubbing marigold flowers on bee stings—

Bee stings. I don’t need another reminder of Liam.

At the garden, she gathered the assortment of leaves, flowers, and roots, and with her pockets overflowing, she raced across the grassy expanse. She couldn’t be too late to save Ivan.

Her skirt tangled around her ankles as she took the first step to descend into the new basement. She lost her grip on the ladder and tumbled sideways over the wall. Gravity seemed to pull her downward in slow motion, her body tensing with the knowledge of the impending impact. Pain spiraled through her muscles and bones as she swung out her arms in an attempt to grasp anything to stop her fall. A high-pitched echo vibrated through her skull, and a raw sting ripped at her throat. How could she suddenly become an uncoordinated klutz after years of climbing trees and riding horses?

Kazmer.
The ancient shifter had discovered a way in.

Dear Goddess, please don’t let any harm come to Ivan and Liam.

An unyielding net caught and cradled her when the concrete floor should’ve broken her body. A vise tightened around her, rocking her back and forth.

“Be okay. Please be okay.” The strain in Liam’s coarse whisper calmed her thudding heart. “Jolán, speak to me.”

She opened her eyes, looking up at his worried expression. “You saved me.”

He buried his face in her hair and let out a hoarse laugh. “You’re okay.”

A loud crack above them made her stiffen. “What was that?”

A creak and another snap had them both looking skyward. Splinters rained down on them, and the framing swayed.

“What the hell?” Liam leapt out of the way as a fractured beam from the roof speared toward the basement. He ran to the closest corner, setting her on her feet, and then ran to drag Ivan into a huddle away from the falling debris. “Cover your head!”

She hunched over Ivan and folded her arms above her. Liam wrapped around her from behind, taking the brunt of shattering pieces of lumber. The thundering in her ears drowned out the words he shouted. Dust littered the air, and she choked when she tried to draw in a breath.

My family. Goddess, please protect my family.

The ground rumbled under her feet, sending tremors through her. The noise and quakes continued. Her only comfort was that she’d die in the arms of her lovers—the men she’d recognized as her mates at the moment of ultimate pleasure, not the onset of orgasm or the rush of ecstasy but in the seconds after it was over, when she’d lain with each of them in the peaceful afterglow. Ilona’s suggestion had been correct. Both men were mated to Jolán—no matter whether she or they accepted it or not.

A trembling hand caressed her shoulder. “I think it’s over. Whatever the hell
it
was.”

The deafening din had faded to eerie silence, but clouds of dust still floated around them, blocking their view of the destruction. The sun filtered in around them, narrow shafts emitting just enough light to make out the outline of the joists several feet over her head and the man in front of her.

Liam’s lips brushed her cheek, setting off shock waves in her body. “First earthquake I’ve ever felt. Stay with Ivan while I check to see if we can get out.”

She clutched at his hand and turned to meet his gaze. “Be careful.”

With a quick nod, he moved away from her and brushed a coating of wood chips from his hair. What would he say if she told him the true cause of the damage? That she was a witch? She’d have to reveal everything to take him as her mate. Right now, she needed to treat the other man her body had chosen.

Kneeling next to Ivan’s inert form, she pressed her fingers to the pulse in his neck. The rhythm had slowed to a normal pace since her earlier assessment. Hopefully, his heart’s rapid tempo had been caused by the fall, not the allergic reaction to the bites.

She spread the contents of her pockets on his bare stomach and considered them for several seconds. Her sister Kata was the plant expert, and her cousin Rebeka’s specialty was homeopathic remedies. Both had spent hours imparting their knowledge on Jolán, but she’d had little opportunity to practice what she’d learned.

Let’s start with the mildest combination and hope for the best.

Picking up an aloe leaf, she wracked her brain for a way to slice it open to reach the inner gel. She needed a something sharp enough to cut through the thick outer skin.
Think.

She closed her eyes and took a calming breath as she steadied herself. Her fingers rubbed over something hard and metallic on the dirty floor. It rolled beneath her touch.
A nail. Thank you!

With the sharp point, she drew a straight line down the center of the leaf, scoring the green surface. Another slash separated the opening, allowing the clear liquid to ooze from the core. Depositing a glob on her palm, she crumbled a handful of chamomile flowers into the goo to make a lumpy paste. She covered the visible spots on the tops of Ivan’s legs, not sure how she’d treat the underside.

“We won’t be going anywhere soon. The ladder’s bent to hell, and most of the debris is pretty unstable.” Liam crouched beside her. “How’s he doing?”

The worry in his voice softened the remaining anger at his blatant dismissal yesterday morning. “His pulse and breathing are normal, and I put some salve on the sores. I’m concerned he might have a concussion from the fall, or he could be suffering from severe dehydration. He hasn’t shown any signs of waking.”

“The casks weren’t damaged, and the plumbing to the shower seems okay. Should we try to get him to drink some water? Most of the food you brought for lunch was still in the basket. If—
When
he wakes up, he can eat.”

“Water’s good. You’ll need to prop him up so he doesn’t choke.” She glanced over her shoulder when Liam didn’t answer.

He furrowed his brows and raked his fingers through his hair. “Look, Jolán, I’m sorry for what I said. You know, after...I didn’t mean to...Damn it, I felt something, and I didn’t think I was ready. To be honest, you scare the shit out of me.”

Liam held his breath as he waited for Jolán’s reaction to his admission. If he was going to die trapped in a collapsed building, he didn’t want to go out of the world with regrets weighing him down. Truth be told, his attachment to Apryl didn’t begin to compare with the intensity of his attraction to Jolán. It had happened too damn fast for him to think. He’d seen her and had to have her. No, not
have
. He wanted to
be
with her. Not only in bed, but every minute of every day.

She picked up the remains of the plants she’d brought from the garden and returned them to her pockets. “Why are you afraid? Sex is a natural part of being human, and you can’t find true love if you hide your heart. My family’s survival depends on it. Without love, the body is a shell with no purpose.”

What did she mean that her family had to have love to survive? If Jolán wasn’t on some sort of contraception, she could easily end up pregnant from him or Ivan. Sex didn’t equal love, but it could produce a baby even without that emotional connection. “You can’t possibly tell me you loved me when we...were together. We hadn’t even met. When you love someone, you don’t jump into bed with another person hours later, either.”

She whipped her head around, and her hands stilled. “I...I...You know about...”

Pushing to her feet, she walked the few steps to the cask and filled one of the cups. Keeping her eyes aimed at the floor, she carried the water to Ivan.

Liam had no idea what was going on in her head, but the way she’d clammed up suggested she was embarrassed by her promiscuity. He lifted his brother into a sitting position and waited for her to give Ivan a drink. “Your definition of love must be a hell of a lot different from mine.”

“You don’t understand. I had no choice.” Holding the cup to Ivan’s mouth, she tipped it to let the water moisten his lips.

“Then explain it to me. You slept with me, and then you slept with him. Is your family forcing you to find a husband?” Liam ignored the flash of hurt from knowing he meant so little to her that she could fuck another man.

“No.” Her single-word answer confused him more, but she didn’t elaborate.

“Just no?” Frustration bubbled in his veins. “I’m trying to understand, Jolán. I
want
to understand.”

She tilted the cup again. “I can’t—”

“Anybody get the number of that bus?” Ivan’s raspy voice broke into coughing. “Shit, that hurts. What the hell happened?”

With his heart in his throat, Liam buried the urge to strangle his brother for taking ten years off his life. “Shut up and take a drink.”

Jolán tsked at him before turning her attention to Ivan. “You fell when you were climbing down the ladder. We think you might’ve passed out from heat exhaustion.”

He blinked as if clearing his vision. “I kinda remember feeling dizzy. You’re not making me go to the hospital, are you?”

“No.” Holding the cup to his lips, she frowned, evidently unsure whether to tell him they weren’t going anywhere. “Drink. You should eat, too.”

“Yeah, hungry.” Reaching toward his knee, he gritted his teeth. “Man, my legs itch like crazy.”

She grasped his hand, linking her fingers with his. “Don’t scratch. You’re having an allergic reaction to the ant bites. I put salve on the spots I could see, but it’ll take a few more minutes to relieve the swelling and start absorbing the toxins.”

Unable to watch Jolán’s gentle interaction with his brother, Liam eased his arm out from behind Ivan. “I’ll get lunch.”

She stood in one quick movement. “I’ll help you.”

He swallowed a growl. The woman confounded him at every turn. Instead of acknowledging her offer, he rose and stomped toward the crisscrossing tangle of two-by-eights. She obviously cared for Ivan, negating the importance of her and Liam’s earlier conversation. Her motivation for screwing him didn’t matter. Neither did the explanation she didn’t seem to want to give.

A light touch on his shoulder sent a shiver to his balls, and he tensed. He kept his tone at a whisper to keep their exchange private. “I don’t need help, and you shouldn’t be wandering around with bare feet. You’ll end up with a nail or a splinter in your foot. Considering your family’s preference for home remedies and herbal treatments, I doubt you’ve had a tetanus shot in your life.”

She frowned. “
What
is your problem?”

An unamused snort escaped. His patience had worn too damn thin for manners. “You mean besides the fact that I’m trapped under a couple thousand pounds of lumber with a sick brother and a girl who—Never mind. Go back over to the corner.”

“A girl who what?” Her braless tits jutted out at him with her fists perched on her hips.

“I said never mind.” He bent to put the container of vegetables in the basket and pick it up by the handle. Why the hell hadn’t he kept his mouth shut?

She was quiet until he straightened. The color had drained from her face, and she’d crossed her arms in front of her. “You and Liam are brothers?”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “Stepbrothers.”

“You’re friends as well, aren’t you?”

He shrugged. Had she finally realized the consequences of having sex with both of them? That she’d not only caused a rift between them, but she’d also left at least one of them aching from her rejection?

“I told Great Grandmother I wasn’t ready.”

“I don’t suppose you’re going to explain that comment, either.”

Her teeth came out to bite her lower lip, and all the willpower he could rally wasn’t enough to stop his cock’s response. “You don’t understand.”

She was right about that. “No, I don’t.”

“I can’t explain. I’ll endanger everyone.”

Endanger everyone?
“Who is everyone, and how will explaining why you slept with us both endanger anyone?”