PassionsPoison (8 page)

Bea breathed a sigh of relief. She pushed the pasta back
together as well as she could and closed the oven. At least she didn’t have to
worry about Zach getting high off dinner.

Her mom pouted. “I can’t believe you think I’d add marijuana
to the lasagna.”

“If you remember, that’s exactly what you did when I brought
Kayla over for dinner.”

“Yes, but after you told me not to, I didn’t do it anymore.
You need to trust me, Bea.”

Bea sighed. “I know, Mom, I do. I just wanted to make sure
you didn’t forget.”

Her mother patted her hand. “I understand, honey. You’re nervous.”

Bea collapsed in the chair across the table. “Nervous would
be an understatement. I don’t know how to do this. Except for Phillip, this has
been my longest relationship ever and this is only the third time I’ve seen
Zach.”

Her mom rose and went to the sink to wet her sleeve. “Bea,
you’ve let your experience with Phillip stand in your way all these years. I
don’t know how many times I have to tell you, it wasn’t your fault. I just
didn’t know how to tell you about our problem. If I had given you the talk,
complete with all the poisonous details, you would have known not to have sex
with Phillip so many times. You know he doesn’t blame you. In fact, he called
again yesterday.”

Bea cringed. Phillip had grown into a nice man from what her
mom had told her, but his work at the pharmaceutical company was his life. She
was happy for him, but they were in very different places now. And besides she
had a…boyfriend? She spoke to her mother’s back. “I’m glad Phillip stays in
touch with you, but that doesn’t help me with Zach. Every time I see him, I
want to fuse his body to mine, but I can’t. And I have almost no control with
him.”

Susan turned, eyes sparkling. “Really, that’s a good sign.
Let yourself go with him, Bea.”

She shifted in her chair. Her mom’s simplemindedness
irritated her. “How can I do that? I care for him already. I don’t want him
sick, or worse, in a coma.”

Susan sat across from her. “Then tell him.”

Bea stared. “Oh please. How do I do that? He’ll think I’m
crazy, if he doesn’t already.”

Her mom shook her head. “I told all your fathers and most of
them stayed. You need to stick to a few men to get pregnant. That’s how I had
you and look—I still have four of them in my life.”

Bea let her head fall into her hands. How did she explain to
a “born-again hippie” that men weren’t into free love anymore? And from Zach’s
reaction when she asked about other women in his life, her gut said he wouldn’t
share her with anyone. “Damn, Mom, the idea of having sex with anyone besides
him turns my stomach right now.”

Susan reached across the kitchen table and grabbed Bea’s
hand. “This is not good. You need to release those poisons. If not on him, then
someone else. You can’t hold them in or they’ll kill you. You may not have as
much as I do, but you still need to release.”

Bea leaned her elbow on the table and rested her head in her
hand. “Do you think my daughter will be the one? Dare I hope she will be free
of the poisons?”

Her mom squeezed her arm. “I don’t know, honey. But look how
far we’ve come since our ancestor created the first poisonous Beatrice. We’ve
all survived. Every Beatrice and every flower. Have you thought about which
flower you will name your daughter after? I was thinking about it today when I
heard you were bringing Zach to dinner. What do you think of Daisy?”

Bea’s throat closed. All the women of their line had been
cursed by Dr. Rappaccini’s need for experimentation with poisonous, beautiful
flowers. If he had kept to his flowers, none of them would have had such
difficult lives. Her earliest ancestors had killed their lovers to survive.
Lily had it easy because Dr. Rappaccini had given her a poisonous mate, but
that had strengthened the poisons in her daughter Beatrice, who gave birth to
Violet. Bea’s great-great-great grandmother Violet had turned to whoring. She
became the whispered black widow killer back in Italy.

Her mom interrupted her morbid thoughts. “You know, Bea.
Once you have a daughter, the need to release the poisons is diminished.”

“I know, you’ve told me. But I don’t want to have a child
who will have the same issues we do.”

Her mom’s whole body shivered with excitement. “But, Bea,
think. It means you might be able to have a daughter
and
a husband, as
long as you conceive right away and he doesn’t mind being sick a lot. And if he
dies, you would still have been the first to have married. What does Zach do
for a living?”

Bea froze, stunned. What could her mother be thinking? That
she’d have sex with Zach until he died in the hope she’d conceive before then?
Oh God, how could her mother think like that? “Excuse me?”

Her mother had a dreamy look on her face. “Yes, if you
married and conceived before having to stop having sex with Zach, then you
wouldn’t have to sleep with as many men.”

Bea stood, catching her mother’s eye. “You want me to be the
first to marry and then break my vows. Who are you?”

Her mom flinched.

The horror of her mother’s idea refused to be contemplated.
“Mom, I’m going to see how Zach’s doing. You might want to take out the
lasagna. It smells like it’s burning.”

She stormed from the kitchen, but stopped when she reached
the living room and received the full force of Zach’s smile. Her whole body
melted and she grasped the back of Andy’s chair to steady herself. How could
she feel so much for a man she’d known such a short time? She didn’t even know
his age.

Zach’s face turned serious. “Are you okay?”

Andy glanced behind him and rose from his chair. “Come here,
Bea. Take a seat.”

Embarrassed to be caught mooning, she gratefully took his
chair.

Andy placed his hand to her forehead. “You’re a little hot.
Are you coming down with something?”

Bea shook her head. “No, I think it was just the heat in the
kitchen. Oh, and you may want to check on Mom. When I left, it smelled like she
was burning dinner.” She wrinkled her nose as she met Zach’s gaze. “It may be
pizza after all.”

* * * * *

They finished dinner without incident. Zach’s occasional
touches on her thigh throughout the meal made her anxious to leave, especially
when she caught her mother watching him. She couldn’t shake the feeling her mom
wanted Zach as a son-in-law more for the experiment of it than for Bea’s
happiness. She must be wrong, but sometimes the way her mom looked at him, as
if she couldn’t wait to crow that her daughter was the first to have a husband,
made Bea uncomfortable. Would her mom even care if Zach died within a year?

Bea squeezed his hand under the table, reassuring herself
the reality was quite different.

Andy turned from the counter with a tray of brownies in
hand. “Dessert, anyone?”

She preferred to leave and spend more time with Zach. “No
thank you. I’m stuffed. Mom, that was great. I’m glad it was only the spillover
that burned. Your cheese lasagna is fantastic.”

Susan blushed at the compliment and Bea admonished herself
for having such mean thoughts about her own mother. After all, she didn’t
really know what the woman truly meant. Her mother’s thought process had always
baffled her.

“I’ll try one.” Zach took a brownie.

Andy sat and both he and her mom added dessert to their
plates.

It appeared they would be staying for a few more minutes.
She stepped over to the sink and began to load the dishwasher to give herself
something to do while they enjoyed the sweets.

Susan broke the silence. “Bea, please call Phillip. I know
he’s happy to talk to me, but all we talk about is you.”

Bea glanced at her mom over her shoulder. “Why? I’m not that
interesting, and he has a great life without digging up our past. I’m sure he
misses you more. You were his surrogate mother, after all.”

She turned back and slammed silverware into the wire rack,
peeved her mom would bring up Phillip in front of Zach.

Zach’s voice had an edge to it. “Who’s Phillip?”

“He’s one of Bea’s boyfriends.”

Bea spun to look at Zach. His face was tense and she’d bet a
day’s salary his muscles twitched. She rolled her eyes so he’d know her mom was
ridiculous. “
Was
my boyfriend.” She let her sarcasm reign. “We broke up
about, oh, more than fifteen years ago.”

Zach relaxed and she turned back to the sink.

But her mom wouldn’t let it go. “I don’t know, honey. I
think he still has a pilot light on for you.”

Bea threw the last plate in the dishwasher, though she tried
to hold on to her temper. “I don’t think so. Drop it, Mom.”

She glanced at Zach, but he was busy examining his brownie.
Actually, he appeared to be dissecting it.

She turned back to wipe the sink.

Her body thrummed at the sound of Zach’s voice behind her.
“These are excellent, Susan. Mind if I have another?”

“Not at all, have a few. If you like, you can take some
home.”

Zach mumbled a thank-you with his mouth full.

As Bea finished, she realized how quiet the room had become.
A sinking feeling grew as she turned around and caught the silly smile on her
mother’s face.

“Mom, you didn’t!”

“Didn’t what, dear?”

She focused on Andy, but he avoided her eyes. She peered at
Zach. He seemed alert, but he also looked guilty.

She whirled on her mother. “Damn it, Mom. You can’t keep
drugging my friends.”

Zach grabbed her hand. “Does that mean I’m your friend?”

The tingles of excitement that raced up her arm at his touch
lodged her response in her throat.

He rubbed his thumb across her palm. “I’d like to be more
than friends.”

Oh God, she would jump him right there in front of her
mother and Andy if he kept looking at her as if she were a tall drink of cold
water and he had the worst thirst. She glanced at his dish where half a brownie
rested and grabbed his plate away, but his hand sneaked around her neck and
brought her lips to his in a searing, chocolaty kiss.

Bea didn’t attempt to resist despite their audience. The
second their lips met, he swept his tongue inside her mouth, claiming every
inch of it as his. Her head felt light and the hand that held his dish
threatened to drop it. She wanted to give in and let him take her. Heat raced
through her at the idea of being pressed between the hard table and his warm
body.

Her mom applauded.

She pulled away and grabbed Zach’s arm. Andy sat still, a
happy grin on his face. “I hate to eat and run, Mom, but we have to go.”

Susan remained seated. She beamed, unconcerned she had
drugged another friend. “Bye, honey. Nice to meet you, Zach. I hope you come
back and visit soon.”

Bea murmured, “I bet you do.”

“What?” Zach halted.

“Nothing. Let’s go.” She tugged him into the living room,
silently cursing her mother. After helping Zach into his coat, she threw her
own on and guided him out the door. At the truck, she searched his pockets for
the keys, but he palmed them even as his arms came around her. He pushed her
back against the truck and captured her lips.

She melted into him, loving the feel of his leg between
hers, rubbing her pussy through her jeans until her clit throbbed with need.
His demanding cock pressed into her abdomen.

She pulled her mouth away, breathless. “We have to get you
home.”

He shook his head. “No, we don’t. Don’t worry, I only ate
half a brownie. I snuck the other one back onto the plate when they weren’t
watching. It only took one bite to know what was in them. Your mother is a bit
heavy-handed with the pot.”

Bea couldn’t believe it. Thrilled by his cleverness, she
pulled his head down for another kiss.

Eventually, she came up for air. “My hero. Let’s leave
before they realize we haven’t departed yet.”

Laughing, he helped her into the truck and jumped in.
Backing down the driveway, he didn’t turn the lights on until they were on the
road. “So, your mom’s a druggy. Who’d have thought?”

She glanced uncertainly at his profile. “I warned you she
loved the sixties.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, you did, which is why I was careful when
they offered the brownies. I didn’t think people did that anymore.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m afraid a lot of Mom’s friends do.”

He nodded as if that made complete sense.

She stared at him. “You think it’s normal?”

He shook his head.

She laughed and butted her shoulder against his.

He brought his arm around her, locking her to his side.

And then the whole world spun out of control, literally. The
truck accomplished a complete three-sixty before it slid across the road and
slammed into a snowbank. The silence was weighty and Bea panicked. “Zach, are
you okay?”

His head lay against the driver’s window.

Oh God, she didn’t know what to do. She resisted the urge to
move him. In the back of her mind, she remembered seeing a television show
where they were very specific about not moving an accident victim with a head
injury. “Zach, can you hear me?”

His eyes opened and he gazed at her blankly.

“Zach, are you okay? You hit your head.”

He reached up and rubbed the side of his temple. “I’m fine.”
He gazed at her with open appreciation and something more. But then his eyes
widened and he grasped her to him. “God, Bea, are you okay?”

She chuckled with relief, the adrenaline rush from the scare
making her a little shaky. “Me? You’re the one who was knocked unconscious.”

His own hands trembling a bit, he cupped her face in
concern.

She smiled. “Really, I’m fine. I had your body to cushion
me.”

He relaxed and looked in the rearview mirror. “We were
lucky, the snowbank cushioned us and kept us from hitting that oak.” He
restarted the engine. “Well, the truck appears okay. I’m sorry, Bea. We must
have hit a patch of black ice.”