Because You're Mine(48)
“Do you remember Liam?” she asked.
The anger drained from his face. “I’d like to be him,” he whispered, passing his hand over his face. “He was a better man than the Jesse I’m learning about.” He glanced down at her.
The glow in his eyes frightened her more than his anger. Obsession could be a dangerous thing. “Did you push me down the hill last night?” He cupped her face in his palm and she jerked her head back. “Did you want me to join Liam?”
He dropped his hand. “How can you think I’d want to hurt you? Besides, a little tumble down the hill wouldn’t kill you. Whoever shoved you just wanted to scare you.” His gaze went to her belly. “Or make you miscarry. You shouldn’t stay here.”
Miscarry. That thought hadn’t crossed her mind. “I live here,” she said past her racing thoughts. Maybe Patricia had pushed her. Alanna wouldn’t put any scheme past her again.
Jesse must have noticed her softening expression. “I wouldn’t hurt you, Lanna.”
She recoiled at the use of Liam’s pet name for her. “Don’t be calling me that,” she whispered. “Only Liam calls me that.”
Even as her doubts surfaced again, she realized he had to have heard Liam refer to her as Lanna. It meant nothing.
Twenty-One
The band left after dinner, a strained, silent affair. Alanna couldn’t look at either Jesse or Patricia, so she was glad to escape to her room once her mates pulled away in the van.
She stepped through the open French doors onto the balcony and let the moist air blow across her face. From her vantage point, she could see the last rays of the sun cast a rosy glow across the water in the distance. Her true home was on the other side of the Atlantic, and she missed the green hills of Ireland, the hubbub of Dublin, the sound of the Irish brogue rolling off tongues all around her. Most of all, she missed Liam.
Marrying Barry might have been expedient in the short run, but it was requiring a major lifestyle change for her. She glanced down at the shoes Barry had insisted she wear to dinner. She kicked them off and wished she had the nerve to toss them over the railing. Turning her into a Southern belle would be harder than he imagined, though she did want to please him.
As she leaned on the banister, a flutter in her tummy made her pause. Was that the baby? She touched her skin where she’d felt the movement. Oh how she longed for her son to have Liam’s golden-brown eyes. “Who are you, little one?” She stroked her belly.
Liam should be here sharing this with her. Sadness covered her like the mist hiding the sea grass. She was wise enough to know her attraction to Barry was an insufficient cover for her pain, a thin bandage all too easily yanked off.
The sun had set now, and the buzz of mosquitoes around her ears forced her inside. It was too dark now to make out much anyway. She picked up her shoes and carried them back inside. After shutting the doors behind her, she dropped the shoes on the floor and dug out her pajamas, green cotton ones with shamrocks. She slipped into their cool comfort, picked up her book, then crawled under the cool sheet.
Something stung her toe, and she yanked her foot away, then threw back the covers. A coiled snake lay on the sheet. She’d been bitten. Too shocked to do more than gasp, she scrambled from the bed trying to remember what she was supposed to do about a snake bite.
It depended on whether the snake was venomous. She stared at the small reptile. The bands of red, black, and yellow would have been pretty on anything else. Before they’d come to the South, Liam had made her learn a little rhyme about coral snakes. What was it?
“Red and yellow, kill a fellow,” she murmured. “Red and black, friendly jack.” Her horrified gaze landed on the yellow bands next to the black ones on the snakeskin. She backed away even more. “Barry!” she screamed. He might never hear her from downstairs. If she left, the snake might escape, too, and he probably needed to see it.
Keeping her gaze fixed on the coiled snake, she backed toward the door and threw it open. “Barry!” A faint sound of music came from downstairs. Could he hear her? She shouted his name again, then heard steps pound up the stairs.
“What’s wrong, sugar?” he asked when he reached the top of the stairs.
She sagged into his arms as terror finally seized her. “A snake,” she gasped. “In my bed. It bit me!”
He guided her to a chair just inside her bedroom door, then stepped toward the bed. She saw him recoil and knew the news wasn’t good. “It’s a coral snake, isn’t it?” she whispered, her limbs growing icy.
“I’m afraid so. Show me the bite.”
She extended her leg and pointed to her little toe. “Right there. Should we cut it and suck out the venom?” She shuddered at the thought.
His strong fingers supported her ankle, and he peered at her toe. “No, that’s not recommended anymore. It drives more venom into the tissues.” He frowned and looked at her foot again. “The bite isn’t obvious. You’re sure you were bitten?”
“I felt it.”
“Sometimes you can’t see puncture wounds. You need antivenom right away. I have some in the refrigerator.” He stepped to the top of the stairs. “Grady! I need you right now!”
Alanna’s teeth began to chatter and shudders racked her body. “Am I going to die?” Her hand crept to her belly. She had to live so her baby could live.