Fevered Hearts (15 page)

“They’re threatening you.”

She stared at him.

“There—see that, Ward? Is that what you wanted? My wife to be terrorized? Well, you’ve got it.”

Ward held her up against him, one arm lashed around her waist and the other around her shoulders. Misery pooled in Liam’s stomach and gave him a sick feeling in his head. What he wouldn’t give to purge the contents of his mind—to wipe it out like that hillside Bose Timber had logged off.

Maybe if I take back every bad thing I’ve said today, it’s a start.

But that stubborn knot of pride—the only thing that hadn’t been torn from him—locked up his words.

“I knew about the threats,” she said quietly.

They both gaped at her. “What?” Liam’s tone was gritty.

“Your father told me.”

“Damn him—”

“No.” She held up a hand. “I needed to know, and he was only helping, as he always does.”

Liam’s chest burned with remorse. She was right, and he was an ass for being angry with his father. Right now, he bet Ward wished his father had his back.

“I’m sorry for taking my anger and frustration out on you two. My circumstances aren’t your faults.”

“We’re here for you, man,” Ward said, eyes glinting.

Ivy came to Liam and put her arms around him, giving him a small measure of peace.

Chapter Ten

Ward fought the urge to drive into something. Only leaving marks would alleviate the utter rage in his blood at that moment.

“There’s more to the story?” His voice sounded like a shot in the cab of his truck. Trees rushed past them, casting long shadows across the road.

Ivy nodded. “Tony said he wants to bring you both down. Break you. Destroy the companies. And he alluded to something else—another thing up his sleeve.”

Ward wished he’d probed Jacobs for more information. He rubbed his hand over his face, feeling the tired lines put there from a night of passion and love. No one was going to take that away.

“I don’t want to go to Juls’.”

“I know, sweetheart, but you’ll be safe there. I’m going after a few answers, and then I’m going to put a stop to this whole fucked-up operation of Tony’s.”

She flinched at the use of Tony’s name, and Ward smoothed a hand over her leg.

He had to take a minute to collect his thoughts. The ideas were fragments, short strings slipping through his fingers. Tony wanted Ivy. He was in charge of the activist group. That couldn’t be all the pieces—they didn’t make any sense when fitted together. Somehow in his sick mind, he’d come to the conclusion that by eliminating Liam and him from the picture, Ivy would run to Tony.

By the time he pulled up in front of Juls’ house, five cars were already in the driveway. “These knitters sure are eager,” he said.

Ivy gave a ghost of a smile. More than anything, Ward wanted to put that happy expression back on her face. He’d seen too little of it.

He parked on the street and walked Ivy into the house without bothering to check what the crazy doorbell song was. When he guided Ivy into the living room, the ladies who were chatting went completely silent. Six sets of eyes locked on to him and Ivy.

Juls jumped to her feet. “Hi, Ivy. Good to see you again. We’re having that strawberry dessert you love.” Before Ivy answered, Juls gripped Ward’s arm and towed him off to the kitchen.

He looked back at Ivy and gave her a nod. At his gesture, she sank to the sofa between two other women.

Juls shoved at Ward’s back to propel him through the kitchen door.

“Juls—” he warned.

“No, Ward. Not this time,” she whispered violently. “You can’t run around with a married woman.”

“I can and will. I have Liam’s full blessing and support. And besides…I’m in love with her. With
them
.”

The bomb dropped instantly into his sister’s consciousness. Her eyes bugged. “I knew it.” She threw up her hands.

“Knew what? That I can’t get enough of Ivy or that I’m also in love with Liam?”

Juls’ eyes fluttered. “I can’t believe this.”

Ward snagged a cup from a stack and poured himself coffee. The aroma was making his stomach turn inside out, it smelled so delicious. And he might as well settle in for an honest discussion with his sister. Coming clean was best. After all, who else did he have in the world now that his father had passed on?

Drawing a hot sip of sweetened coffee onto his tongue, he stared at Juls over the rim of the cup. “Believe it,” he said.

“Are you trying to shock me? Because you’ve done it.” She shot a glance at the door to ensure no one was coming into the kitchen.

“No, I’m trying to confide in you, Juls. You’re my only family now, and I want you to support me in my decision. I’m staying at the Mattsons’, and they want to make it a permanent arrangement.”

Juls dropped her face into her hands. “I don’t understand. When did you become…gay?”

“I’m not. Well, I guess I’m bisexual. But I don’t think of it that way. You see, I’ve never been with any man besides Liam.”

She peeked at him from between her fingers. “You mean…when you were out west?”

“Yes. And Ivy understands, accepts it.”

“Participates in it. I should have talked to her about what’s been going on, but she keeps me at a distance in our friendship.” Juls sighed.

Ward smiled. “Maybe now that you know she’s like your new sister-in-law, you two will be closer. Look, Juls, it has no bearing on my relationship with you or who I am. In the end, I’m still Ward. Just with a different sort of lifestyle. I hope you’ll respect that.”

Juls dropped her hands and stared at him for a long minute. He drank off his coffee and bit into a peanut butter cookie.

“You’re really serious about this path, Ward?”

“Dead serious. I’m not gonna change my mind. For the first time in my life, everything feels right. Even when the rest of the world is in upheaval.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t really talk about it right now. But promise me one thing, Juls.” He wrapped his fingers around her arm.

“What’s that?”

He looked at her hard. “Keep Ivy here until I come back for her. Don’t let her leave on her own or with anyone else. It’s very important because she’s in danger.”

“What? Jesus, Ward, you didn’t think to tell me this first? Wasn’t it more important than telling me you’re in love with the Mattsons?”

He pondered her words. While he would never, ever say Ivy’s life wasn’t the most precious thing on earth, he couldn’t discount that his love for both Liam and Ivy came first.

Always would.

On the way out of the house, he paused in the living room to tell Ivy goodbye, but the conversation brought him up short.

“The Martinez family owned that land once upon a time.”

The last name of the bailiff sent Ward’s heart pounding out of control. Ivy reached up and caught his fingers. Her hand convulsed in his, and he squeezed it lightly in reassurance.

The young woman knitting a plush pink baby blanket, probably for the child in her bulging tummy, continued to talk to the lady seated beside her. “That land borders my granddaddy’s. The Martinez family sold it off, and it was logged right to the rocky dirt. You wouldn’t believe it if you went up there, Allie. I mean, that logging company wiped out an entire hillside!”

Ivy opened her mouth then closed it, her face mottling red. Surely this woman knew Bose Timber had been responsible for logging off that property. Or maybe she didn’t. There was a lot of cutting going on in the area. Hell, he hardly knew what outfit was logging where.

Ivy’s grip tightened, which was good, because it was the only thing grounding Ward right now. They were talking about the hill Bose Timber had clear-cut before he took over operations.

Land that had once belonged to Tony Martinez’s family.

Was it possible he was upset about what had happened to this land, and this grudge had driven him to take action?

So Tony was an environmentalist angered about what had happened to his land, and the insult was compounded by the fact that the woman he wanted had chosen the men who’d done it over him.

“It was a misunderstanding and the land’s being replanted,” Ward said quietly.

He met Ivy’s gaze. Understanding passed between them. In that instant, Ward was about as certain about the man’s motive as he’d ever be without a confession from Tony himself.

Ivy tugged him down and pressed her lips to his ear. “This has to be about you and Liam as well as the land. I told Tony I’d never love a man who didn’t work in the logging industry.”

He turned his mouth against her ear, heart pounding out of control. “I’ll be back for you. Sit tight, don’t leave.”

“Okay,” she answered, lips so near his ear the warmth stimulated him immediately.

“And Ivy? Try to enjoy yourself tonight.”

She wrapped her fingers around his nape and held him. And right there in front of the entire knitting group and his sister too, Ivy kissed Ward—claiming him as hers even as she still proudly wore Liam’s ring.

Ward’s heart soared.

After Ward departed, Ivy expected to face some fallout. But when she finally gained enough courage to raise her gaze to the ladies seated around her, she said, “Liam knows. He’s okay with it. Actually, he’s
part
of it.”

She didn’t see a single bullet coming her way. Shock and surprise, yes. A couple of them were looking at her with admiration in their eyes.

Stunned silence followed her confession. She met Juls’ gaze, finding she didn’t wear a shocked expression. Ward must have told her.

“I’m so glad to claim you as part of the family, Ivy.” Juls weaved around several chairs to give Ivy a squeeze as if daring anyone else to make an issue of it. Ivy hugged her back, feeling lighter. She’d hated keeping this information away from her friend. When Juls pulled away, they shared a smile.

“Wow, Ivy,” Allie breathed. “I’d heard a rumor that you were with Ward as well as Liam, and just…wow.” Her lips formed a perfect O.

Jenna, a soft-spoken woman Ivy had known since high school, shook her head as if dazed. “What must it be like to have all that…
muscle
?”

“Oh, my God, I know!” Allie interjected.

Ivy relaxed back against the chair cushion and allowed her heart rate to slow. She shouldn’t be shocked that this special group of friends would understand and not judge her for her unconventional decision to love two men. If some did, they weren’t voicing it right now, and she was grateful they weren’t driving her out of the house and painting red A’s on her back.

Cautiously, she glanced at Juls again. The woman perched on the arm of the overstuffed chair opposite, staring at Ivy. Was she worried about Ward’s emotions and Ivy setting him up for heartbreak?

Ivy stood and wrapped her arms around her friend. “I’ll take good care of him,” she said for only Juls’ ears.

Juls smiled. “We have a lot of talking to do…later.”

“I promise.”

After that, Ivy did enjoy herself. She gossiped and shared sweets with her friends. They talked knitting and yarn and the newest sale at the local craft shop. Only the fact that Liam was at home niggled at her.

Her husband was horribly stubborn and while she and Ward had assured him that he was doing well and they would never be disappointed with him, Liam might not believe it.

“Excuse me,” she said to Juls.

Then grabbing her bag, she headed to the bathroom. There, she withdrew her cell and made a call to her husband.

“Ivy,” he said, relief evident in his voice.

Her skin prickled with warmth. “Everything okay, hon?”

“Yes, I just…want you to know how important you are in my life. Ward too. I swear I’ll get on my feet for you two. I’m here brooding over it, hoping you both know.”

Her throat tightened. “We do, Liam. I’m ready to come home, but Ward told me not to leave until he comes for me.” In the back of her mind, she wondered where Ward had gone and what he’d do with the information he’d learned about Tony and his possible motives. They needed to get one step ahead of the man before something else happened.

“I know, baby. If I could come for you, Ivy, I would. This damn injury!” Frustration seeped into his tone.

“It’s all right, Liam. It will come. You have all the time in the world to make a comeback, and I’m certain you will.”

A beat of silence. Then, “If you were here, I’d take you in my arms and kiss you, Ivy. I’d kiss you the way you’ve deserved to be kissed all those months when I ignored you.”

“Liam, it’s all r—”

“No, it’s not,” he cut across her. “I’m so damn sorry for all of it. But if you were here now, I’d make it up to you. I’d make love to you and show you just how much it means to me that you’ve stuck by me through thick and thin, sickness and health…and through my jackass stage.”

His words melted her. She slumped against the sink and yearned to be with him right now. What if she defied Ward’s wishes by going home? Maybe Juls would lend her car to Ivy. Or maybe another knitter was ready to leave and wouldn’t mind dropping Ivy off at home.

“Liam, I’m coming home—”

“What? No, baby. Ward will kick my ass for letting you.”

She drew up to her full height. “I’m coming. I’ll be there in twenty minutes, Liam. You’d better get ready for me.”

“Ivy, please—”

“Get it hard and light the candles, Liam. And if you’re up for it, I’d like to play with some handcuffs too.”

“Hell.” His ragged tone filtered into her ear and sent goose bumps rippling down her spine.

“Twenty minutes.”

With that, she ended the call. It was time to take control again. Being at home with Liam would make her feel safe and loved—exactly what she needed at this moment.

Minutes later, she was armed with Juls’ car keys. The woman saw Ivy off herself, a twinkle in her eye at defying her bossy brother’s wishes and Ivy’s assurance she was going straight home.

As she drove, Ivy fantasized about all the things her husband was going to do to her. Would he have the handcuffs out? Before his accident, they’d heightened their sex life with different role play. She loved the times Liam cuffed her to the bed and told her she was bad. His care and control made her feel safe.

And right now, she craved that feeling.

By the time she arrived home, she was squirming. Her pussy aching. Panties drenched. Through the darkness, she made it a point to look around the bushes and walkway leading to the door. The outside light cast a warm yellow glow over the pavers and illuminated the man in the doorway waiting for her.

The strong lines of Liam’s shoulders almost made her lose control. She rushed up the ramp to meet him. Throwing herself into his arms, she set his chair rolling backward into the entry.

A rumble of laughter vibrated his chest. Wrapping his arm around her, he slammed the door and locked it before looking into her eyes.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and wiggled her ass against his obvious arousal.

Damn, how amazing it was to know he wanted her—was hot for her.

He dropped his forehead to hers, breathing hard. “Baby, I need you.”

She rocked into his erection, drawing a groan from him. “Me too. I love having Ward with us, but we need a reunion—just the two of us.”

Liam’s mouth hovered a breath from hers, infusing her with desire. The spicy, musky scent of him pebbled her nipples. “Love you, Ivy,” he whispered a split second before claiming her mouth.

The knot in her core wound tight as he plunged his tongue into her mouth. The velvety strokes enflamed her. Dark heat coiled in her belly. Angling his head, he dove in for more. Each flip of his tongue demanded she give in to him.