Given (17 page)

“Bastards,”
DeAnthony
muttered. “I
hate to leave you so soon. We’ll have Friday, and I hope you’ll give me Sunday
as well. I’ll be gone for at least three weeks.”

She nodded. “You can have both days.”

He grinned widely at her. “You are wonderful.” He leaned
over and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

Mal cleared his throat. “Today is my day. You get two this
week, so keep your lips to yourself.”

She felt heat rising up her cheeks. She wanted to feel
DeAnthony
inside of her again. He was so amazing. It didn’t
hurt that his body was beautiful to look at too.

After they finished eating, Mal took her hand and led her
outside. She noticed a man following them. It was one of the guards whom she
knew lurked. He followed at a comfortable distance.

“It feels so weird being followed,” she said.

Mal put his arms around her. They were the same height, both
five four. She was glad she didn’t have to crane her neck to look into his
eyes. “Don’t worry, sweetie, we can duck him if you want to rape me down by the
lake.”

She punched him in the arm and he feigned injury.

“Oh, domestic violence is never the solution, my dear,” Mal
scolded.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, when I get violent, I’ll
let you know so you can hide.”

“Very considerate.
I’m going to
miss you when I leave for my tour.”

“How soon do you have to go?” She didn’t like the idea of
Mal leaving either; his humor was delightful, most of the time.

“Not this Friday, but the following. I have a show in Little
Rock on Saturday night. My staff will get there first and start getting things
set up. I just have to show up and be funny. They do all the hard work.”

“I doubt it’s that simple for you. I imagine there’s a lot
you need to be worried about.”

“I’m extra nervous. I’m sure my lottery success is national
news, and I don’t know how that’ll play into my new material or the reaction
I’ll get from my fans. I just hope the religious
wackos
and conspiracy nuts stay away. We did hire some extra security, but I hope I’m
just being overly cautious.”

“Me too.
Will you call me while
you’re gone and let me know how everything went?”

“You really care, don’t you?” He pulled back and she glanced
up to see his eyebrows raised and his eyes wide.

“Don’t be so surprised. Why wouldn’t I care?”

“It’s not as if we romanced you into coming to live with us.
I guess I expected you to be relieved that some of us were going. I know this
rotation isn’t natural.”

“It is what it is. I’ll deal, just like you guys have to
deal. I would like to be your friend. Some of you are doing better than the
others, but it can’t be easy to share.”

Mal’s
face scrunched up. “I’m
going to have a talk with Damon about yesterday. All he ever talked about
before was how much he wanted a wife and a family. You’re the closest any of us
will ever get to that dream and here he went and treated you like…I don’t know,
but I didn’t like it.”

“Don’t talk to him. It’ll only make things worse. I think he
feels like I’m playing favorites, or I’m having some kind of go at making this
into a game. It’s not a game. You guys are my only shot at a normal life too.
At least as normal as life can be now. I don’t want anyone to hurt. I want us
to be a family too. I don’t want to lose my children, but I don’t want to lose
whatever stability I can have here either. Life sucks so much right now.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, sweetheart. I’ve always
wanted a child, but the idea that my future son might have to live a lonely
life bothers me, worse if you bring my daughter into this terrible world,
she’ll be taken away and Given without her consent. When I lost my mom, I
realized how much family really was worth. Family has been a dream I never
thought I’d have.”

“It might be worse than that,” she said, looking into
Mal’s
beautiful, green eyes. “I saw there’s a quadrant not
‘giving’ anymore. They’re impregnating women with female embryos. If there are
no boys born, then the world isn’t going to be any better off. These girls are
just going to grow up to be bred too. A world without any kind of true family
frightens me. What makes us human is what we love. Take that away and there’s
not much left.” Shuddering, she squeezed
Mal’s
hand.

He nodded. “You’re so right. The lottery has become more
restrictive in the last ten
years,
and almost
impossible during the last two, but there’s still hope in it. Take away hope
and you end up with a world more lost than this one. I don’t know if I want a
child to endure that, but I know I don’t want to lose you. Krista, you are
hope. You are the most precious thing in the world to me.”

He grinned. “Damn it, woman, I’m not good at being serious,
so don’t look at me like that. I’m trying to explain how I feel to you. I want
you to know that I’m not madly in love with you, but my feelings are so much
more important. Meeting you, seeing you as a person instead of a mythical
creature, it reminds me that life will go on. I was feeling hopeless, as if I
didn’t want to live. I thought about suicide, a lot actually, but I haven’t
felt like that since you showed up. Thank you for giving me hope. I’m a funny
guy, they pay me to be funny, but on the inside there’s a lot of darkness. My
mom was the fun in my childhood, when she died, I lost something special. I’d
forgotten how nice it is to have a female around the house. I’m not going to
let Damon hurt you again. He won’t be alone with you, unless you request it.
From now on, you chose a second, someone to make sure you’re ready for him.”

She hadn’t thought of that. After the debacle with Max, she
hadn’t planned to have more than one of them with her at a time, but Mal had a
good plan. Damon would have his turn, but she’d have someone there, giving her
more than a harsh painful moment of hell. In an ideal world, she’d never have
to go to Damon’s bed, but nothing about this world was ideal.

“I like the way you think, funny man,” Krista said, smiling.

Mal smiled back and the dark mood lifted. They walked,
holding hands, the guard a forgotten shadow at their backs. A loon cried and
Mal pointed out the bird as he landed on the lake, rippling the clear water.

“He’s beautiful!” Krista cried.

“This place has become much more beautiful in the last
couple of days.” Mal brushed a lock of hair behind Krista’s ear. He pulled her
closer. The sun reflected off the lake, making his blond hair glow with a
golden sheen.

She sighed as his lips descended. She liked his honesty. She
wasn’t the love of his life, but she was something important to him, and that
was good enough for her. He wasn’t the love of her life either, but she liked
him, and if she could give him some kind of comfort, then it made the insanity
of their situation bearable.

His hand stroked the back of her neck and he deepened the
kiss, stroking the inside of her mouth with his tongue. His other arm locked
tightly around her back, and she placed her hands on his shoulders. There was
something so wonderful about feeling the breeze and smelling the freshness of
the lake that she let herself become lost in sensation. No thoughts, only
feelings ruled her. She felt
Mal’s
erection pressing
against her hip.

He suddenly backed away, clearing his throat. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, don’t be sorry, Mal,” she whispered, moving forward to
touch his cheek gently. He grasped her hand and turned his face into her touch,
kissing her palm. Then he let go of her hand and stepped away.

“I don’t want to just use you, Krista. I don’t want to
demand that you immediately go to my bed, but I don’t know if I can stop at
just a kiss, so I need to cool off.”

He gave her no warning before he dove into the lake. She cried
out in surprise and anxiety.

The guard materialized out of the bushes and hurried to her
side. “Are you all right, Miss?”

“Mal jumped in the lake,” she replied, feeling like an
idiot. When her funny man finally surfaced, she let go of the breath she’d been
holding. “You scared ten years off my life, I thought you’d drowned. You were
under forever.”

Mal laughed. “I needed something cold. Want to join me?”

“No. I can’t swim, and I don’t think I’d like the cold
water. Aren’t there snakes in there?”

“Yep, and
it’s
right between my
legs. Come on in and I’ll show you my pet python.”

She couldn’t help it. He was funny. Krista laughed, shaking
her head. “It would serve you right if a crocodile showed up and bit your
python in half!”

“Don’t worry, baby, no crocodiles in Minnesota. My python is
completely safe.”

“Look out, sir!” the guard shouted, drawing his gun. Krista
screamed and jumped away from the armed man.

The gun fired, and Mal screamed with pain. Krista’s eyes
widened as Mal grabbed the snake that had bit him by the tail and flung it
away. The guard hadn’t fired in time. A water moccasin had bitten
Mal’s
shoulder.

“We have to get him to a hospital!” Krista shouted. The
guard pushed her back when she tried to go to the water’s edge to help her
friend.

“Stay back, Miss, there may be more.” The guard helped Mal
out of the water. Krista and the guard helped Mal to the house.

“What’s your name?” Krista asked the guard.

“Timothy Jordan. I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough, Miss.”

“Please call me Krista. This wasn’t your fault.” She turned
her attention back to Mal and held him tighter. “I’m seeing a pattern of epic
failure in your spontaneous antics.” He didn’t look well, and that made her
nervous.

Mal had the nerve to grin. “You laughed, and I didn’t
manhandle you in the great outdoors.
The way I see it,
success.
Damn, my shoulder hurts.”

“Timothy, could you get him to the car? I’ll grab him some
dry clothes and tell the boys. We have to get him to the hospital.”

“You can’t go Miss—Krista. It’s too dangerous. In the chaos
of the emergency room, there is too great a chance you could be attacked or
taken.”

“I want to make sure he’ll be okay.” Krista glared at the
guard.

“You really care?” Mal sounded awed.

“Yes.
Blockhead.
I don’t want you
to be alone at the hospital.”

“I really screwed up my night. They better not plan to keep
me for observation.”

“I don’t think you should go raising your heart rate with
venom in your blood. Think of something nice and calming.”

“Can’t, sex is on my brain.”

They were close to the house, Krista ran ahead while Timothy
took Mal toward the large garage.

“Guys!
Mal’s
been bitten by a snake! We need to get him to the hospital!” Krista screamed as
she ran toward
Mal’s
room. She went upstairs and
opened his dresser drawer. Pushing aside an ancient
Playboy
, she managed
to find him dry socks and underwear. In another drawer, she found pants and a
t-shirt.

“What’s going on?”
DeAnthony
asked,
concern heavy in his tone.

“Mal jumped in the lake and a water moccasin bit him. We
have to get him to the hospital.”

“You aren’t going anywhere, but I’ll ride along.” He took
the clothes out of her hands. “It’ll be okay,” he said.

She could see the anxiety in his face as he rushed out of the
room and through the patio doors. Krista stood at the large windows and watched
him running toward the garage. The adrenaline crashed in her system and she sat
down on the floor, her clothes damp on the side she’d used to help Mal to the
house; she started crying.

Braxton came into the dining room. “What happened?” He
looked worried.

“Mal jumped in the lake, and he was bitten by a snake.”

“What kind of snake?”

She cried harder.
“Water…moccasin…shoulder.”

“That idiot.
Where is he now?”

“Timothy and
DeAnthony
are taking
him to the emergency room. He said he’d call.”

“Come here,”
Brax
ordered, helping
her off the floor. He held her as she cried. When she’d let out her worry, she
looked up into
Brax’s
handsome face. His blue eyes
were dark. “It wasn’t your fault,
Kristannie
.”

“I know. Nothing goes right for him, does it?”

Brax
sighed. A small grin curved
his sexy, full lips. “Mal is wonderful, but he doesn’t tend to learn from his
mistakes. He thinks with his heart, seldom his head. The moment he calls, I’ll give
you the phone.” She nodded. “Let’s get you into some dry clothes. Something
came for you while you were fighting snakes at the lake.” She raised her
eyebrow. “Your clothing
order,
or I guess I should
call it ours.”

She smiled. As worried as she was about Mal, she’d never had
a whole box of clothing, not since she’d been a very little girl.
Brax
carried the extremely large box upstairs. He set it on
her bed and took his pocketknife out, slicing the packing tape carefully.

“Here you
go,
a whole wardrobe.”

Krista dove into the box. When she’d unpacked everything,
she frowned.

“What’s the matter, not what you expected?”

“No, it’s wonderful, but…”

“But what?”

“We forgot underwear, bras, and socks.”

Brax
laughed. “I don’t want to see
you wearing our underwear. I think we can get some of those things locally. A
few stores still carry that type of stuff. You also had a list of toiletries
that no one has gotten yet. I’ll call
DeAnthony
on
his cell and see if he can pick up a few things on the way home.”