Phoenix Tonic

by Shelley Martin

  “Heart rate rising to acceptable levels, Doctor.” Dawn announced. “But now the patient is spiking a fever of a hundred and one.”

  “That’s fine.” Malachi smiled. He eyed Dawn for a thoughtful moment. “It seems I need to have an enlightening conversation with you Dawn. You keep running into situations with us you shouldn’t be. But as you may have figured, a one-hundred-one fever to you, is normal for our family. Those of us who have some years behind us, have the ability to control our body temperature.”

  “I understand, Doctor.” Dawn blushed as her gaze fell on Kalian and Hailey, then she stared at the monitor. “Uh, her heart rate is doing really well.”

  Malachi chuckled. “Okay, Kallian. You better stop before things go too far.”

  Kallian struggled to pull back, as Hailey’s grip locked tighter around him. He slid his hands up her arms, still lost in the sensation of her passion. He didn’t want to pull away from her, but he knew how much she would hate herself if he let it go too far. His hands twined with her fingers, and pulled them from his neck. Pressing them to her chest, he unwillingly broke free, turning his head. His mouth dipped to her ear, as she continued to kiss his cheek.

  “Forgive me. I just couldn’t let you die.” He completely removed his weight from her body, and staggered back.

  They all watched the monitors as her heart rate fell again, but held a strong rhythm.

  “I can’t see.” Hailey’s first words made Kallian smile.

  Malachi’s deep voice filled the room. “Our first priority was to get your heart rate back up. It will take at least a day for the suppressant to cycle through your system. All your faculties should slowly come back over the next twenty four hours.”

  Hailey was quiet for a moment. “Guess that was pretty stupid of me.”

  The brothers exchanged glances as Malachi sighed. “Despite what you may believe of me, I don’t lie all the time.”

  She blinked her empty eyes, then finally closed them again. “That wasn’t you kissing me, was it Malachi?”

  Kallian stepped closer. “No, it wasn’t Malachi. As he said, we needed to keep your heart going. It was either that or the paddles.” Kallian cracked a half smile. “I didn’t think you were up for being electrocuted today.”

  But instead of a smile, like Kallian hoped he’d get from her, tears spilled over.

  “Hailey…”

  “Just go.” She rolled on her side, her face as blank as her eyes. If not for the tears, one wouldn’t have been able to tell she was upset. She turned away from Kallian’s voice.

  As the brothers retreated, Dawn’s voice rang out. “Whoa, her temp is going sky-high.”

  Malachi considered her curled up form. “Should we take her back to her room?”

  Kallian shook his head. Instead he pulled the mahogany colored tie and button-up from his body and tucked it into her hands. She immediately buried her face into it, letting the shirt absorb her tears and angst.

  “Please forgive me,” he begged softly in her ear.

  As he left, Dawn announced her fever had miraculously dropped.

  Chapter Twenty

  “You don’t have to do this now,” Kallian whispered.

  Hailey shifted on the leather couch of Malachi’s office, trying not to lose her nerves. Kallian had saved her life twice now. Twice. He was making it difficult for her to hate him. But a deal was a deal. She needed to set her family free.

  She sighed and shook her head. “I have to do this now. There’s no reason to wait any longer.” The faster she married him, the faster she could divorce him. She figured she’d give him about a week. The idea of her first night with him made her body pulse. Tingling in her limbs and butterflies in her stomach had her reeling. Neither was particularly due to loathing. Rather, it was anticipation. Her body’s reaction made her even angrier.

  Kallian reached for her hand, which she quickly slipped between her knees. He withdrew, and she just knew he was blanketing her with those winsome puppy dog eyes. “You haven’t fully recovered from the over dose. You just said your vision was still pretty dark.”

  Who cared if it looked like night time? Everything else had healed, and her eyesight would return soon. His voice came clear as a bell, instead of the muffled end of a tunnel, like before. Feeling had returned to her fingers. And she could breathe just fine. She just wanted her family to be free. She wanted out of this facility. And she wanted to get this whole thing over with, by next weekend. She might not be able to go home like this, but she could seclude herself on a private beach in the Hamptons or something.

  Her attention turned to the door as Malachi’s voice filtered through, along with another man. The door opened, and Kallian stood to shake the stranger’s hand. “Tigris! Good to see you again.” The man wore a suit as expensive as Kallian’s, and he had short, cropped, dark hair, and close set eyes.

  Tigris smiled widely at Kallian and grabbed his hand in both of his. “You too. It feels like forever since we last met.” His eyes lit up. “We should play a round of golf. I hear you have quite a nice estate within walking distance of the Idaho Club Golf Course.”

  “Absolutely.” They released hands as Malachi closed the door. “And this is my fiancé, Hailey.”

  “Huh?” Mr. Tigris turned to her, all smiles. His dark skin set off light green eyes, full of joy. Great. Just what she needed, a well-wisher.

  “Hailey. What a beautiful name.”

  Dumbfounded, she just said, “thank you.”

  Tigris shuffled between his brief case and manila envelopes. “I hope you’ll forgive me, but I’m sure you understand why I won’t shake hands.”

  She nodded, unsure how much Mr. Tigris knew about her. She wasn’t about to be responsible for another leak of information, so she kept her mouth shut. “Kallian sure is lucky to have snagged you. What a happy occasion!”

  In her quick wit and sharp tongue, she said the first thing that came to her mind. “Uh, yeah. Thanks.”

  He smiled a heartbeat longer, before setting the briefcase on Malachi’s desk. “Well, I guess we should get started.” He rounded the desk and rifled through some papers.

  As he and Malachi talked over paperwork she leaned into Kallian, but not too much. “What are we doing?”

  Kallian looked apologetic. “Tigris is a member of our 'family.'”

  “Oh,” She nodded, getting the hint that “family” meant that the man was definitely in the loop.

  “He’s a lawyer and Justice of the Peace.”

  “Oh!” Her brows rose. “That was fast. So we’re just going to do it right here?”

  His forehead creased. “We have to do paperwork here. But if you’d rather say the vows in the garden, it’s certainly a more appropriate venue for the occasion.”

  She thought of the scientists, animals and paparazzi lingering about and quickly shook her head. “No, this is fine.” Especially since it didn’t matter. This fake wedding was only going to last a week. Her real wedding would be held in a huge old church, with stained glass windows and a groom she loved.

  Tigris closed his brief case and set it aside. With pen in hand he began to read out loud documents that brought a chill to her blood.

  “I, Kallian Markham, agree to love and cherish Hailey Simmons all her lives.”

  Did he just say “lives?” Her lips quirked. She supposed she was on her third.

  “I agree to take care of her in vulnerable states and freely give any and all goods that belong to my body and soul. All monetary wealth and scientific findings will be shared equally. Should infidelity occur, I give my life over to Hailey Simmons, in the event that my death would bring satisfaction to her disgrace.”

  “What?” She squeaked, glancing at Kallian. But as he opened his mouth to answer, Tigris butted in.

  “Oh, don’t worry, Hailey. No one in our family has ever cheated on a spouse. It simply can’t happen.”

  “But still, death?” She eyed Kallian and Malachi as another document was held up. She could
see her name at the top of the paper. “What is going on? Is this what I think it is?”

  Tigris started reading before they could answer. “I, Hailey Simmons, do hereby swear to love, honor and cherish Kallian Markham all his lives…”

  The blood drained from her face. It was a pre-nup. A pre-nup. Those monsters. They’d known what she was planning. They knew she would cut and run first chance she got, so they brought in a lawyer. Her hands curled into fists as she tried to stop the shaking. She didn’t even hear Tigris until he said—

  “The Simmons family and fortune will be returned, post haste, in return for Hailey Simmons full cooperation in the proper duties of a loyal wife. Divorce, annulment or dissolve of the marital contract is not extended in this joining, and if either party willingly disappears from this binding marriage contract, they will be suspected of infidelity and therefore forfeits the protection of their life for the good of the enduring spouse. All previous contracts will be reinstated and the remaining spouse will retain all goods.”

  “Wait. What?” Blood boiled to the surface as she considered that last, stupidly long sentence of legalese. “So I can’t get a divorce?” She shot a glaring accusation at Kallian. “And if I leave you’ll reinstate the current contract against my family?”

  He stood there, silent, while she burned through the carpet. Again.

  “Uh, Miss Simmons.” Tigris spoke up. “This is all just a formality. Once you spend one full day with Kallian none of this will matter.” He forced a smile. “It’s, uh, difficult to explain, but you’ll understand soon enough.” He held out a pen to the both of them, and was left hanging.

  She turned to Malachi. “What if I don’t sign? What if I need an amendment? Certainly in the case of abuse… or other things… an annulment would be acceptable.” She shook her head. “I can’t accept these conditions.”

  Tigris’s hand holding the pens fell as he also looked to Malachi.

  Sighing, Malachi faced her. “If you want your family separated from our… involvement,” he chose his words carefully, “then these are the conditions.” He smiled apologetically. “I won’t let you abandon the man who saved your life, twice, at your earliest convenience. You have to try and love him.”

  She glared at him. When he put it like that, she did sound like a total and complete jerk. Never mind he was responsible for the cancer consuming her body in the first place. Or for taking away her father’s business and only daughter. Or for turning her into a walking time-bomb, or her almost kissing her little brother—

  Disgusted with herself, and her whining, she swiped the pen from Tigris’s hand and signed on the line at the bottom.

  It was a good thing the pen in her hand was made of metal. If it were plastic it would have melted. She dropped it on the accursed document with only slight satisfaction as the now red-hot pen burned a hole through it.

  Tigris quickly snatched the pen up and blew at the blackened oval. Unfortunately, it only burnt the lower half of the document, where there was no wording. Whatever.

  After that she just stood there, cross-armed, staring at Tigris. He stood and questioned Kallian about the wedding. After confirming that they didn’t want to wait, he took out his book and began the ceremony. She was trying so hard not to burn a hole through the floor, where she stood, while she wasn’t bothering to listen. Kallian, of course, said “yes,” and her attention snapped back to Tigris. She heard him, but she didn’t listen. He was asking her to promise to stuff that she was being blackmailed into. Like she had a choice? Then the room grew silent as they waited for her to answer the dreaded question.

  “Yes.” Her voice came out quiet and strangled. Her mind wanted to shout at him, but her body trembled. She stared at her shaking hands when she realized it. Maybe she really did need longer to recover…

  “You may kiss the bride,” Tigris said a little too chipper.

  She completely locked up at that. She knew there was a kiss in a marriage ceremony, but her anger had over ridden her memory. She didn’t want to kiss him. She knew what her body would do if she did. And she especially didn’t want to kiss him in front of an audience.

  She was about to protest when she felt the faintest brush of Kallian’s finger under her chin.

  “Hailey?” His voice came low and soft.

  She drew her arms tighter around herself in protest, but her skin seared with desire where he touched it. His finger coaxed her head to turn.

  “Kiss me.”

  She hadn’t taken the suppressant in more than twenty-four hours due to her over dose yesterday. The invitation caused her body to shake harder. She knew she had to kiss him tonight, but not here. Not now. Her eyes opened, but she shook her head.

  His hand moved to her shoulder, the slight pressure making her turn to face him fully. Those fingers drifted to either side of her cheeks, cupping her face.

  His essence, so alluring, engulfed her senses with cedar and ash. Her breath burned in her lungs as its pace sped up. She couldn’t look at him. Instead she looked over his right shoulder. Tigris drew his brow, and glanced at Malachi questioningly.

  She closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see them, either.

  Kallian’s face drew closer. His breath on her lips caused them to part, but he didn’t take the kiss from her.

  He asked again. “Hailey, kiss me.”

  She could almost taste him. She wanted more of it, she wanted to be lost in him. And before she knew it, her body crashed into his with a bruising fierceness. Arms pulled his sensual lips to hers, fingers buried in his soft hair and pressed the back of his head closer. But it wasn’t enough. In earnest she kissed him, and he kissed back. His hands drifted to her hips, and didn’t stop her when she hopped up, and wrapped her legs around his waist.

  Her heart hammered in her chest. She took in the way his lips consumed her. His warmth and touch made her desire peak. His taste and cedar scent only drove her farther over the line. It still wasn’t enough. She needed more, and she wasn’t going to stop until she got it.

  Kallian spun them to the side and set her butt on the desk. His hands cradled her face as he kissed her deeper. She let her hands roam over his muscular arms, wide shoulders, and strong back.

  Somewhere in the distance, she heard a chuckle come from Mr. Tigris. “Now that’s more like it.” He slapped Malachi on the back and walked out the door. “I’ll leave you to put out the fire.”

  She didn’t understand what he was saying, and it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting Kallian’s shirt off so she could feel his rippled stomach.

  Malachi cleared his throat and was suddenly right next to them. “Kallian?”

  She didn’t know what the guy wanted, but he wasn’t going to stop her. She nipped Kallian’s chin and jaw as she yanked his shirt out of his pants.

  “Kallian,” Malachi said more sternly. “This isn’t fair to her. The farther you let this go the more she will hate you—”

  And suddenly, all the intoxicating warmth and life tore itself from her grasp. She sat on a desk, cold and empty. Confused, her eyes searched for what had been taken from her. The man she wanted, needed, stood across the room. His beautiful form slouched against the wall, staring at her. The back of his massive hand drug across those succulent lips that should be on her body. His chest moved as rapidly as hers while trying to catch his breath. Just a little closer to Hailey stood Malachi. She settled her gaze on him. And for a moment she believed he would be adequate to sooth this raging hunger inside her. But, when his eyes locked onto hers, he seemed to know her thoughts.

  “We’ll give you a moment, Hailey.” And with that he grabbed Kallian and tugged him out of the room. The door closed quickly behind them.

  She jumped from the desk, about to pursue them, when her head started to clear. That was Malachi, her friend. And she was about to tackle him. But worse than that, she had done exactly what she’d feared in front of people that should never have witnessed. She made out with Kallian. No, it was worse. She had begun
to strip him in front of Malachi. It didn’t matter to her where she was or who was watching. When Kallian kissed her, she lost all control.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Kallian knew Hailey would be embarrassed about their kiss, but he didn’t realize it would be this bad. He stared at Kira.

  “You’re serious? She doesn’t want to ride with me?”

  “No,” she said. “She’s asked me to be her escort.”

  Kallian’s eyes narrowed. “There’s only one plane.”

  Bored, Kira looked at the several burnt spots on Malachi’s floor. “She said you’d understand.”

  He did, actually. But that didn’t mean he had to like it. He’d already made up his mind not to force her. Once they’d taken away the promise of divorce, her heat level had risen.

  If her anger still raged hot enough to burn holes in the floor, he couldn’t leave her alone for long. And he didn’t dare let her enter his home without him. “I need to be at the house when she gets there. I don’t think public planes would kindly drop me off at my place.”

  She stared at him, her face blank. “Then fly.”

  It took him a moment to realize she was talking about flight without a plane. He groaned. “But I like this suit.”

  She fiddled with the hem of her cute black and white Lolita dress. “So get undressed.”

  She said it so flatly, but Kallian couldn’t help but tease her. “Why Kira, are you propositioning a married man?”

  She rolled her eyes and walked away from him. But, before she turned, he could have sworn a blush lit up her cheeks. That was the most emotion he’d seen from her in a while. Chuckling at her expense, he headed back to Malachi’s office.

  His brother looked up from studying documents and smirked. “What are you doing here, brother? You should be making out in a back seat somewhere.”