After the Crux (5 page)

Ross continued to stare at her and she realized he was paying more attention to her than to what Dorian was doing to his leg. How he could block that pain, she had no idea. But if it was working…

She shifted closer to Ross, rolled onto her side with one hand propping up her head and placed the palm of her other hand on his back. She stroked his skin, noticing when his eyes closed, when he held his breath.

“I haven’t looked in the boxes yet—or even unloaded the truck. Thought I’d wait until you can show me.” She leaned close, dropped a kiss on his nose. “But I did see the wine and I heard all about the fantastic cellar full of the stuff. Doubt Jake makes it to spring. He’s worried someone will find it.”

“There will be others. Next supply run, we’ll go west and up into wine country.” He moaned, lips thinning with pain.

Jenna bit her lip. “I really hate to see you hurting. Makes our world seem off. You’ve never even had a cold.”

His chuckle was weak, only shaking his shoulder a little. “Of course I have, I’m just good at hiding them.”

Dorian waved to get her attention. “Jenna, will you rinse off the tweezers with the disinfectant solution in that yellow bowl?”

She shuddered with the mention of tweezers. “Can I give him the whiskey first?”

Dorian met her gaze with worried, dark eyes that glittered in the firelight. “Please.”

“This is gonna be bad,” Ross whispered, trying to make it sound like a joke and failing. “Get my peppermint too.”

“With whiskey?” Dorian grimaced. “Freak.”

Jenna scrambled off the bed and ran to the mini-bar they had in the corner of the room. There were ten bottles of whiskey in the bottom cabinet. They were experimenting with making their own, but Ross still hoarded the stuff. She quickly poured a glass of whiskey, straight up. She stuck a straw in it. They usually saved the straws they came across for the kids, but Lynn had left a stash in here earlier. Jenna stopped by the supply closet and hunted for the bag of peppermint candies Dorian made for Ross. Dorian hated the candy himself, but he made sure they never ran out of it.

She knelt next to the bed and held the glass, slipping the straw between Ross’s lips. His wink reassured her until she saw the speed with which he sucked down the potent liquor.

“Another,” he murmured when it was gone.

She hurried to get another. It took four to knock him out. He never got his peppermint. When she saw Dorian use the tweezers to pry open the edges of the wound, she nearly passed out herself. “Oh man, a little warning next time.”

“What did you think they were for? I have to get the wound clean.”

She gagged, shoved one hand over her mouth. “Yeah, I’m so not helping you with this stuff in the future.”

Dorian, serious, looked up at her. “Infections can kill. The more we know, the better our family’s chance for survival.”

Thoroughly ashamed, she nodded and sat next to Dorian, watching closely as he used sterile gauze to clean the wound before soaking it in disinfectant again. Dorian had tied his hair back, which made his already sharp features sharper, and the style threw the fear in his eyes into severe focus.

Ross shifted on the bed.

She bit her lip. “The pain must be bad to bleed through that fog of whiskey.”

“It is. Puncture wounds are the worst.” He spread a homemade antibiotic ointment all over the back of Ross’s thigh, then narrowed his eyes. “This next part won’t be pleasant. We don’t want the wound to reseal while there’s still a possibility of infection, so I have to put some gauze in it.”

“I’m not watching then.”

“Don’t. You did pretty well for your first trip to Wound Care Land. You can take it further next time.” He smiled. “Go check his face—make sure he’s out.”

His slack mouth, closed eyes and deep rumbling breaths assured Jenna that Ross was out. She took the time to stroke his hair, sighing in relief when the wound was bandaged again. She helped Dorian clean up, then picked out one of her favorite movies. She went into the kitchen, reassured everyone still lingering there that Ross was doing better, then took three bowls of the soup Lynn had made back to the room on a tray. Ross never awakened to eat his. During the night, his fever got worse, and she and Dorian stayed up caring for him until they both fell exhausted into the bed with him.

When Ross next opened his eyes, the first things he saw were the creamy curves of Jenna’s breasts. She slept on her side next to him and her breasts were pressed together and nearly spilling out of her red tank top.

“Like the shirt? It’s only been the height of fashion for eighteen years now.”

Ross jerked his gaze up to her amused face.

Chuckling, she scooted down until their faces were even. That’s when he noticed Dorian’s arm around her as the other man adjusted to her movements, tightening his arm around her waist.

“So,” she whispered. “How’s your ass?”

He frowned. “You know very well I didn’t get stabbed in the ass.”

“Close enough.” Her amusement faded. “It’s getting more dangerous out there, isn’t it? Maybe we should send more people on supply runs.”

“And risk losing anyone? We still don’t have enough adults here.”

She touched his cheek. “We can’t lose you, Ross. I couldn’t bear it.”

“All these years and this is my first serious injury. I promise, it won’t happen again.” He shifted on the bed, winced as pain slashed across his leg and up into his back. He froze. It was better to keep still.

“Still hurts a lot, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. But it didn’t hurt like this before. Like I said, Dorian’s a sadist.”

“Maybe in your fantasies,” Dorian muttered. Black curls arrived before dark, sleepy eyes focused on Ross as Dorian lifted his head to look at him over Jenna’s head.

Ross held his breath. Dorian’s silky, black hair tangled with the snow white of Jenna’s as the two gazed at him. True affection shone from both black and green eyes. “I really missed you guys.” Ross cleared his throat at the gruff tone of his voice.

Jenna reached out and slid her hand under his before threading their fingers together. “We missed you, too.”

He rested his cheek on the soft pillow, feeling the need to shave when his whiskers rasped the cotton. “So, did you cave and look at all the stuff we brought?”

“No. We’ve only seen the wine and the boy.” Jenna frowned. “He’s not saying much yet, but damn, he likes to eat. He polished off four bowls of soup and three slices of Lynn’s applesauce cake.” She sighed. “Georgia couldn’t get him to move into the wing with the other kids. He bunked down on one of the couches in the family room.”

“He talked a little during the drive. Said he’s been alone a long time. Possibly over a year before the raiders found him. He mentioned he’d been living with another survivor but from his expression, I got the feeling that survivor didn’t stick around. He’ll fit in soon enough.” He smiled, squeezed her fingers lightly. “I can’t believe you haven’t looked at the stuff in the truck.”

“No one has—not Lynn, not even the kids. We all know how much you love doling out the gifts.”

“Like Santa Claus.” Dorian brushed his hair off Jenna’s cheek, kissed it, then snuggled closer to her back. He stared at Ross quietly.

“But way hotter than dear old Saint Nick.” Jenna grinned.

Ross, suddenly hyper-aware of Dorian’s stare and the feel of Jenna’s soft palm against his, thought about what it would be like to wake like this every day for the rest of his life. To smell Jenna’s jasmine lotion and Dorian’s spicy, homemade aftershave, to bask in the warmth of their affection…their bodies.

For a second, sadness turned him inside out and he understood that no matter how hard he looked for more adults out there, for a woman of his own he could love, his heart was already here, with them. He pressed his face into the pillow and worked to push off the negative feelings. This morning was too precious despite the wicked pain building in his thigh. He freed one eye and saw that both Jenna and Dorian were frowning. Those two were too damned perceptive. He forced a teasing grin. “I may have to talk you into switching beds with me. This one is a lot more comfortable and my damn feet don’t hang off the end.”

“Or maybe,” Dorian offered, voice low, gruff, “you should just move into the bed with us.”

Every muscle in Ross’s body went taut and he groaned as it caused pain to stab into his backside. Dorian had started to waggle his eyes and grin, obviously teasing, but upon seeing Ross’s pain, he sat up. Jenna, who’d missed his grimace because she had moved into a long stretch, rolled onto her back. This time Ross had to swallow his groan because she stretched her arms and legs in a luxurious movement that wrenched a moan from her lips. Her breasts thrust upward, and her shirt rode up to bare the silky skin of her midriff. Ross quickly shut his eyes.

“You know what I think?” She rolled some more but Ross didn’t open his eyes.

“What?” he asked.

“I think we should turn this room into one big bedroom. Leave this bed out here in front of the fireplace and the large screen. We could all snuggle in like bunnies all winter. It wouldn’t be that different from the way we snuggle on the couch.”

Ross stared at her. “Yeah, it would be different.”

She blushed. “Guess so.” Sighing, she sat up and crossed her pajama-clad legs. “So let’s enjoy it now while we have the invalid as an excuse.”

The conversation, while light and fun for the most part, pricked Ross raw. He’d thought himself too weak to feel desire, but the hard dick underneath him proved him wrong. He could only be thankful he was on his stomach.

Dorian must have picked up on his discomfort because he scrambled off the bed. “Time to check the wound. Want the whiskey?”

“Hell yes,” Ross muttered, doing his best not to pay attention to how low Dorian’s black silk pajama pants rode on his abdomen. He curled his fingers at the thought of tracing the muscled grooves along that abdomen. What the hell?

“Whiskey for breakfast? How wicked.” Jenna winked at him.

Dorian started gathering the supplies. “Jenna, it’s nighttime. We slept the afternoon away.”

“Don’t look at me,” Ross grumbled. “Fever stole my memories of the last twenty-four hours, except for the pain. That comes through loud and clear. Even my head’s pounding.”

“I’ve got some stuff in the lab we could try instead of whiskey.” Dorian pulled a lamp closer to the bed.

“No, just the booze. The hangover headache helps take my mind off the wound.”

“I’m leaving this time,” Jenna said. “Can’t watch you clean that thing again.”

Ross reached out and touched her arm. “Stay. After you ply me with liquor, you have to hold my hand.”

“Okay,” she whispered before leaning over to kiss his forehead. Her feminine scent washed over him, and he hoped the groan he couldn’t stop could be attributed to Dorian’s wound prodding. But even through the groan, Ross heard Jenna’s muttering as she rolled out of the bed. “But I’d rather be holding something else of yours.”

And like that, his dick was poking into the mattress again. This damned wound needed to heal fast.

Chapter Five

Six days later, Dorian stalked out into the frigid December night and drew air deep into his lungs. The moon hung full and low. Maybe that was part of what stirred him. He gripped the rail with his bare hands and closed his eyes as the cold bit into his palms and lungs and helped chase away the scorching frustration ripping him to shreds. He wasn’t the only one either. Jenna was in the small gym they’d set up in the foyer. He’d passed her earlier and she’d been pounding the shit out of their punching bag, her lips tight, her brows meeting in a tense frown.

The first morning after Ross’s fever broke, everything was fine, but since then, the man had been doing his best to keep any hint of intimacy zipped up tight. And the last two days, he’d turned into a damned bear.

“You look frustrated. Needing some private time with Jenna?” Jake stepped onto the deck and shook snow from his boots. He shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his brown parka and grinned at Dorian. “Kind of cold out here for a T-shirt, isn’t it?”

“Twelve degrees.” Dorian peeled his hands from the rail.

“Corner her in the pantry. I’ve followed my wife in there a time or two. That second shelf is just right for her hands if you get my drift.” Jake’s breath fogged in the cold air.

Dorian did and he laughed. “Guess I’ll knock before going in there from now on.” Jenna could ease him—oh, she could. The woman made his teeth ache with desire and had for longer than he could remember. Touching her was as close to heaven as he could imagine getting. But this need, this burning pain deep inside him, called for Ross, too. He’d been treating Ross’s wound, touching him intimately high on the thigh. He’d watched Jenna gazing at the strong, sculpted muscles of Ross’s back and legs and felt her desire as his own.

Twisted? Maybe.

But it felt right to him. It was a kind of love that just felt
right
and he couldn’t have explained it if he tried. He eyed Jake and wondered how the others would take their relationship should he and Jenna succeed in seducing Ross. Because they were going to have to seduce him. And neither he nor Jenna were the type to hide their true feelings. The house wasn’t big enough for that kind of subterfuge anyway.