After the Crux (11 page)

She released the bolt and it slammed into the bastard’s head. He slumped over, the gun tumbling into a snow drift outside the truck. The other man ducked but she saw the look of terror on his face. She notched another bolt.

The driver’s door opened and jiggled, as if they were trying to push the dead man out. She didn’t want that either. She sent another bolt into the open window and all movement stopped. She knew she hadn’t hit him—she didn’t have the right angle. So, she turned and sprinted around the trees to the other side of the house. The cold had started to hurt her chest and her eyelashes stung with frost from the tears.

When she got to the other side, she nearly fell into a snow drift as relief poured through her tired muscles. She’d caught sight of Ross and Jake crouched behind a boulder. They were okay! Pulling her focus back to the danger, she turned and aimed, ready to hit either of the other men in the cab as soon as they moved, but Ross beat her to it. He jumped and ran toward the truck, firing his gun into the passenger side. She saw an arm flail and knew the man in the passenger seat had been hit.

Ross reached the truck and she held her breath, ready to shoot the last raider before he could hurt her man. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and saw that Dorian had a rifle on him too.

“I’m not going to shoot anyone, I swear!”

The yell came from inside the truck. Ross surprised her when he straightened up, his head in clear range. She ran toward the truck.

“I know this kid, it’s okay!” Ross called out.

She didn’t lower the crossbow, keeping it perfectly aligned on the shaggy blond head of the man in the back seat. “They aimed a fucking machine gun at our home, Ross.”

“They’re dead—they’re also the same guys who attacked me in Texas. This kid helped me escape.”

“Where’s Colin?” the kid demanded.

Jenna eased closer to the open driver’s side door. She got a better look at the guy and realized he wasn’t that much older than Colin. He didn’t have the look of useless scum like the other two, and was clean, but he did look hungry. And in his eyes, someone a lot older than a teenager stared back at her. “Who is Colin to you?”

“Just let me know if he’s okay.”

Dorian, who had silently joined them, turned toward the house. “He’s fine. I’ll bring him to the window so you can see.”

The kid narrowed green eyes. “Let me talk to him.”

Jenna shook her head. “We make the rules here. Who’s the kid to you?”

“He’s just someone we found a couple of weeks before we met up with your guy in Texas. He’s um—” He broke off and Jenna swallowed at the faint look of disgust that flashed in his expression. “He’s had a rough time, but I mostly was able to…distract them. I just want to know that he’s okay here.”

“We’re not monsters,” Ross muttered. “There are other kids here. You can come in and see that they’re fine, if you’d like.”

“But there will be weapons on you,” Jenna added. “I’m sure you understand.”

Blond hair swung as he nodded. “I do.”

Jenna stood, boiling rage in her gut because she knew exactly why this kid had been worried about Colin. She waited until Jake had joined them and the three had come around to her side of the truck before she swung the driver’s door open all the way. She shot the man in the head again. Another bolt was notched and ready to go again should the kid turn out to be a weasel. Jake held his gun ready too. Shooting the dead guy made her feel a little better—but only a little. Colin had suffered a fate she and Dorian hadn’t because they’d had the big, fourteen-year-old Ross to protect them. As Ross came close, she noticed his limp and gave him a look that held everything she was feeling.

He stared back before kissing her. His lips were cold. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. He turned back to the kid. “We never had time to exchange names before. My name is Ross. This is Jenna and Jake. What’s yours?”

The kid winced. “Cadmar.”

“Seriously?” Jenna blurted, before biting her lip. Ross chuckled.

“My parents are Irish and the name means ‘brave warrior’. They thought it would help. It didn’t.” He eyed the crossbow she still half aimed at him. “I’m not with these guys by choice, I promise. They have someone holding my family hostage—I had no choice but to go with them. Please be careful with that. I’d like to get home to my mom and dad.”

Jenna thought about his age and the timeline of the Crux. “You have your real parents still?”

He nodded. “And a younger brother.”

She narrowed her eyes. “And they didn’t take him?”

His cheeks were already red with cold but she knew they would have been on fire anyway. His agitated shuffle and inability to meet her eyes made her wish she’d kept the question to herself. Cadmar was like Dorian—masculine yet pretty—so she knew why they’d taken him. The lump in her throat threatened to choke her and tears burned the backs of her eyes. She abruptly turned toward the house so he wouldn’t see.

Cadmar was still talking as they walked toward the house. “They took my family by surprise. I really want to get home and make sure they’re okay. They left some of their men there.”

“First come inside and have some food. We’ll put together some supplies for you and you can check on Colin.” Ross’s voice was barely more than a growl as he led the way.

Jenna knew he was just as affected by the boy’s story. Cadmar might be making it up, but she could tell he wasn’t. She couldn’t imagine what he’d gone through or what he’d put up with to keep Colin relatively safe. Anger fueled her steps as she moved ahead to let Lynn and Georgia know they could come out. She knew Jake would never let Cadmar out of his sight and that he’d keep the gun at ready.

Chapter Ten

Colin hugged Cadmar the second he saw him. Ross had to force himself to unclench his fists, feeling the sting of bloody furrows where his nails had bit into his palms. The two kids had gone through hell and he planned to toss the bodies of their tormenters into the woods in a place he knew the wildlife would tear into them.

The whole time they put together supplies for Cadmar, Ross was trying to figure out how to tell the others that he planned to go with the boy. He couldn’t let Cadmar go off to rescue his family alone.

Seems he shouldn’t have underestimated Dorian and Jenna. The two cornered him and dragged him into their wing while Cadmar was on his third bowl of chowder.

“We can’t let him take on that other guy alone,” Jenna hissed as soon as she shut the door. “We have to go with him. Maybe bring the people back here.”

Dorian nodded. “I missed the story, but Jenna filled me in. I can’t send a kid out by himself to do this. I’ll go with him.”

Ross, his heart slamming against his ribs, wrapped an arm around their necks and pulled them close to nuzzle. “How did I get so lucky to get you two?”

Jenna squeezed him, then moved back. “His story has my gut in knots. I can’t stand it. I’m really worried about the other boy and his parents. He said he’s been gone nearly a year. A year, Ross! They could be dead and he could be walking into some kind of hell. He does seem like a good kid and—” She broke off.

Dorian stroked a hand down her hair. “He protected Colin the best he could. We have to help him.”

Ross blew out the breath he’d been holding in a long sigh. “I’d planned to. But I don’t want Jenna to go.”

“Hell no, Ross.” Her green eyes went sharp enough to emit sparks. “I’m good with my crossbow. I can help and you know it.”

He did know it. She was a better shot than all of them. Those old, protective instincts were so damned strong, he worked to fight them back. She must have figured it out because she came close to press her body to his, to stroke his slightly frostbitten cheeks with her warm hands.

“Ross, the three of us were out there a long time and we made it. Let’s help out this kid. All three of us.” She grinned suddenly. “And did you hear what he said at the table? They have pigs and chickens and two cows. Bet we could make a trade.”

Dorian nudged them before handing them each a glass of whiskey. “No trade. We’ll convince them to move here. There’s more safety in numbers and we can expand the place, build another barn. Georgia could have her real butter.”

Ross tossed back the whiskey. “I’ll go talk to the others. It’s really not safe for any of us to tackle the trip until the snow lets up. I’ll convince Cadmar to wait.”

Jenna shook her head. “He won’t. He has to be dying to get to them.”

“He’s a smart kid. He’ll understand. Pour me another whiskey, will you, Dorian? I won’t be long.” Ross winked at Jenna. “Why don’t you guys go ahead and get naked.”

“Told you he’s become a
barathrum
,” Dorian was muttering as Ross left the room.

“And you love it,” she said, laughing.

Ross pushed aside the worry of making this trip in the winter, pushed aside his worry over taking Jenna and Dorian. He strode down the hallway toward the kitchen, knowing this was the best decision. He just had to convince Cadmar to wait until the current snowstorm was over.

A week later, Jenna woke up in their soft bed in front of the fireplace that still held hot embers from the night before. They gently popped, still putting out heat, but not enough, because she could see her breath in the air. Under the heavy, blue comforter, she was toasty warm though because two masculine legs were plastered against her from the men on either side. She lifted her head to see that Ross lay on his side facing her, one leg outside the covers. His hand rested on her stomach. Dorian slept on his stomach with his arms buried under the pillow, his silky, black hair falling over his face. His entire left side was plastered to her.

She wiggled, loving the feel of masculine hair and skin against her.

“Stop squirming,” Ross murmured, voice muffled by the pillow. “Tired. You wore me out.”

Chuckling, she rolled toward Ross. “I took you guys on one after the other last night and I’m fine. I’m just trying to get warm, so quit your bitching. This is our last morning in our nice bed for a while.” The snow had slowed and enough sun had come out to melt a lot of the heavy drifts. They’d spent yesterday packing and preparing for their trip to Louisiana, of all places. She hated that they’d be gone so long, but not only did she worry for Cadmar’s family, she owed him for helping Ross that day in Texas.

Ross grunted, slid his hand around her waist and tugged her closer.

Dorian snored.

Jenna closed her eyes and tried to be still but her hand had other ideas as it stroked the hair on Ross’s chest.

“Mmmm,” he breathed, rolling onto his back and tugging her on top of him.

She gasped as her breasts nestled in that silken hair on his chest. “Thought you were worn out, old man.”

“I’ll show you old,” he muttered before shifting her enough so he could slide his hard cock inside her.

“Oh!” She was a little sore, a little tired, but he still felt good, filling her, warming her from the inside and out as she draped her body over his. She wiggled her hips a little, but was content to just hold him inside her for now. She placed her lips on his neck, snuggled as close as possible.

Dorian released another low snore.

She felt Ross’s laughter move his chest. “I think the younger man is the worn-out one.” He ran his hands over her back, cupped her ass and pushed up into her. “Are you sore?”

“A little,” she admitted. “But I still like it.”

“My dick inside you?” he whispered.

“Oh yeah,” she breathed, sitting upright to send him deep inside. Gasping, she closed her eyes for a few seconds before bracing her arms and opening her eyes to meet his beautiful blue gaze. He looked lazy and happy…perfectly content. She squeezed around his prick and smiled with satisfaction when his eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. She lifted up slowly and slid back down. He sucked in a deep breath, tightened his fingers on her hips before sliding one hand up her back to her neck. He stroked her skin with his thumb before tugging her down so their lips could meet.

He slanted his lips over hers, his mouth warm, his whiskers rasping over her chin.

Without warning, he pulled out of her and rolled her onto her back. Kneeling between her legs, he nuzzled his face between her breasts before taking her nipple into his mouth.

Dorian woke up when she flopped onto her back, her elbow bonking his side. He turned his sleepy, dark eyes in their direction, smiled and rested his head on his arms to watch.

“I’m developing a fixation with your breasts,” Ross murmured against her skin. “They’re so soft and nice.” He pulled her nipple deep into his mouth.

Gasping, Jenna tilted her head back and closed her eyes, then opened them wide when he slid back inside her. Sore or not, he still felt so good, went so deep. He pressed down on her, making her breasts plump against his chest, and while she worked to get air in her lungs, Dorian pushed up and kissed Ross.

Watching them kiss was turning into her favorite thing and she didn’t take her eyes off the slant of masculine mouths even when her orgasm crashed through her and caused her to cry out and dig her fingers into Ross’s waist. Ross wasn’t far behind and Dorian swallowed his cry.

Ross collapsed on her, breathing hard into her neck.