by Amity Cross
“No?”
“No.” Her hands were on my forearms, her slender fingers winding around my wrists. “Don’t keep it inside, X. It’ll destroy you.”
“What do you know about destroying other people?” I breathed in her scent, her usual vanilla replaced with the aroma of the soap I kept in the bathroom.
“I've learned from the man who destroyed me,” she said simply. “Choke me, fuck me, cause me pain if you want, but it won’t chase the demons away forever.”
I hissed and fell back onto the sofa. Mercy sat up, her eyes flashing in the firelight. She thought she knew it all, didn’t she? She thought she could fix me after a lifetime of murder, abuse, conditioning…? Fuck that.
We stared at each other in a silent battle of wills, while the fire crackled and our dinner grew cold.
Finally, Mercy said, “You’ll talk about it when you’re ready.”
I scowled, annoyed by her eternal optimism.
“I’m coming with you to see this Vaughn guy.”
“You are staying here.” The command was plain in my voice, but she opened her mouth to argue anyway, forever pushing me toward the edge.
“Why can’t I come?”
I flexed my fingers, trying to remain calm. “Because if they are watching, if they try…” I couldn’t say kill, but from the look on Mercy’s pretty face, she understood. “Then you won’t be harmed. They won’t find you.”
That was as close as declaring my need for her as it got.
“When will you be back?”
I breathed deeply, knowing that any move we made outside of the cottage, no matter how small, would come with risk. “If I don’t return in twenty four hours then assume I’ve been compromised.”
Her eyes widened like she’d just understood the cost of the game we were playing, but then she nodded. “Okay.”
Then I did something I wasn't expecting. I cupped her face in my hand and ran my thumb over her pink lips. Tenderness was coming to the surface.
“I'll return. Don't worry about me.”
“I know,” she whispered. “Just come back in one piece.”
I sat in the corner of a dark and dingy pub, a bottle of Corona in front of me. I never liked to wait. In fact, I fucking hated it.
I’d left Mercy in the dead of night, driving across the empty moor and into town. If I hurried, I’d have time to complete the dead drop that would signal I wanted to meet with Vaughn.
One moment I was fine, the next I was manic. Fuck Mercy and her know-it-all attitude. She didn’t know shit about the things I’d done. She thought I could be redeemed? She thought she could save my soul? Fuck that. It was already gone. She had to understand that it was all about halting the slide into insanity and nothing more.
Exeter was a small city that dated back to the Roman occupation, over two thousand years before. That meant that parts of the old Roman built wall were still dotted around the city center, painstakingly preserved for historical reasons. One of these sections of the wall also served as the location of the dead drop. To signal, all I needed to do was draw a symbol, at a specific location in white chalk, and then wait at the location the symbol signified. In this case I left behind a Pagan symbol for horse. The pub that I now sat in was The Black Horse Inn.
There was no way of knowing if Vaughn would even show, or if he had the dead drop location watched. I sat at a corner table, deep in the shadows, watching people mill around the bar. One eye was on the door, the other was watching for anyone who might be watching me. So far the place was clean.
I wouldn’t put it past Sykes to have a hit out on me already, but it was more likely that Royal Blood would find me first. After what I did to Weiss, one of two things would happen. They’d kill me on the spot, or they’d take me back to the room…the one they kept me in…the one where they—
The outside door opened and I straightened up, curling my fingers around the end of the switchblade that I had in the pocket of my coat. Vaughn stepped into the pub, lingering by the door, his gaze raking the patrons around me.
He hadn’t changed much in the last six months. We were similar in height and age, though he was blond and fair skinned with a posh private school accent. He looked like a baby-faced child, not the ringleader of a criminal organization. His mummy and daddy had come from old money and he had the trust fund to match, although these days it was inflated from the proceeds of criminal espionage. He had a sweet exterior, but would gladly put a bullet in those that double-crossed him.
He knew the value of information and it was a lot more than a human life.
His gaze connected with mine across the pub and a smile appeared on his face. It was an expression that read ‘jackpot’ and I tensed, ready to slit his throat if he even thought about double-crossing me.
“Xavier Blood,” he drawled, sitting across from me. “There’s a lot of people looking for you.”
I grunted. “Vaughn.”
“I know what you want,” he said before reaching across the table and taking my bottle of Corona. He downed a mouthful of beer, his beady eyes fixed on mine. “You always want something, X, and this time I’m assuming you want the mother load, so I came prepared.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I want intel—”
“On Sykes,” he interrupted. “You do know who you’re dealing with right?”
“Don’t treat me like a fool, Vaughn.” Posh bastard.
“He’s more than a leader of an MC. It’s a front for something much worse. Same goes for Royal Blood, but you already know this, don’t you?” He eyed me, fishing for information I wasn’t willing to give him.
The fact that they had me conditioned to kill was evidence enough that Royal Blood was much more than a gang of petty thugs.
“You know what I want,” I said dryly, not rising to the bait. “What do you want in return?”
Vaughn smirked and shook his head before reaching into his bag and pulling out a file. So, he wanted me to complete a hit. Of fucking course he did.
He pushed the file across the table and I flicked open the cover. I saw the photo then scanned the name and designation and began to laugh. He had to be fucking kidding me. I knew this guy, I’d heard about the things he’d done and the words that were associated with him were less than nice. Traitor, double-dealer, murderer, spy. Military fucking Intelligence.
I shoved the file back at Vaughn and shook my head. “You want me to go after a MI6 operative, a known traitor, and kill him?”
“What’s the problem, X?” Vaughn drawled, leaning back in his chair. “Scared of a little challenge?”
“This is fucking big, Vaughn. I don’t know what you’ve got yourself into, but I don’t need British Intelligence on my ass.”
“I thought you were a ghost.” He sat up straight, eyeing me across the table. “This should be no problem for a man like you. You’re not even on their radar.”
“How the fuck do you know?”
“You know me,” he said with a smirk. “I’ve got my fingers in a lot of pies.”
“It’s too risky.” I didn’t need this shit, not now and not ever. Especially with Mercy by my side. I wanted to get out once both our scores were settled, not create a slew of other enemies. Screwing with Intelligence was bad news and that was one radar I did not want to be on.
“Yes, X, you’re that good,” he went on. “That’s why you’re the only man for the job.”
“No.”
Vaughn smirked, seemingly convinced that he would wear me down eventually. “Do you want your revenge or not?”
“I don’t need your help to get revenge.”
“Not on Greggor you don’t.”
I stared at him and felt the urge to slam my fist into his stupid fucking face.
“I was a little disappointed,” Vaughn said, his smile widening. “I really wanted to meet the woman who the infamous Royal Blood hitman betrayed his club for. What was her name? Mercy Reid?”
I jerked up from my seat and leaned over the table. Bef
ore Vaughn could move, I fisted my hands into the front of his shirt and yanked him close. “Be careful what you say next, Vaughn. You know this won’t end well.”
He stared me down, his dark eyes never betraying his true emotions. “I think you won’t,” he said. “You want her too much.”
I snarled.
He cocked his head to the side. “Do you want to help her assassinate Sykes or not?”
The slimy bastard was right and he fucking knew it. I wanted her too much and it was making me push the envelope much too hard. I let him go, shoving him back into his chair.
He started laughing, smoothing down his crumpled shirt. “She must be something.”
I sat back in my chair. “She will never come into contact with the likes of you, Vaughn.”
He raised his eyebrows, but didn’t press the matter any further. He downed the last of my beer before leaning forward. “Complete the hit and I’ll help you take down Sykes myself. You know what he did to me.”
“Lorelei,” I said, taking my own stab at his open wound.
His fingers tightening around the empty Corona bottle was the only indication that I’d struck a nerve. “Of course I can’t assist you for free. You know that everything comes with a price.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Even your own revenge?”
“I will be forgoing my own satisfaction to let your woman take her shot. That is the part that comes with a price.”
“MI6?” I still didn’t like it, even knowing that he was letting go of a lot of pain to allow Mercy to complete her revenge killing.
“Oh, c'mon, X. His morals are looser than a whore's pussy. Queen and country won't miss the guy. We're doing the good guys a favor.”
“What do you get out of it?” I asked, knowing that he would never answer the question.
Vaughn smirked. “Another pie.”
I glanced at the folder on the table and considered it. I was a ghost, that part Vaughn was right about. Nobody knew me, they’d heard whispers through the underground, but they didn’t know me. I was the only assassin out there that could complete a hit on a motherfucking spy and get away with it.
“It’s time sensitive, X. Everything you need to know is in there.” He tapped the file and pushed it back toward me. “Contact me when you’re done and then I’ll give you everything you want on Sykes. Do we have a deal?”
What was another kill tacked on the end of a list of many? Inconsequential.
I snatched the file and rose sharply from the table. “Deal.”
Vaughn smirked for what felt like the millionth time and nodded. Not waiting for a reply, I strode from the pub and into the night. I had two hours to get back to the cottage or else Mercy would think I was dead.
Fucking… Mercy.
Just fucking wait until she hears this.
Chapter 5
Mercy
The sun rose and X wasn’t back.
I showered and ate breakfast, then went out to gather more firewood to put on the hearth.
Midday faded into afternoon and X wasn’t back.
I practiced putting together the sniper rifle and one of the smaller handguns. A six-millimeter, like you see in the movies, with a cartridge that loads into the butt. Then I went outside and practiced my aim. I hit the bullseye with the six-millimeter with a heavy silencer on the end, but there was no one there to share my accomplishment with.
Twilight came and X wasn’t back.
I reheated last night’s dinner and ate by the fireplace, my mind wandering over different scenarios where X had been waylaid or he’d been compromised. Every little noise that came from outside made me sit up and watch the door. But it didn’t open.
Night settled in and X wasn’t back.
He told me not to worry, that he’d be fine, but I felt restless. X seemed indestructible when he turned on his hitman mode, but I’d learned that even he was vulnerable and very much human.
When my eyes began to droop, I settled into bed, listening to the silence, willing to hear the car pull into the driveway, to hear the crunch of gravel underneath the tires, to hear him come through the front door. But as sleep began to claim me and silence reigned, I started to dread that he wasn’t coming back at all.
I started to fear that they’d killed him. And if they’d eliminated X, what hope did I have?
It only felt like minutes had passed when I jerked awake. The room was lightening with the sunrise, murky grey filtering through the little window by the bed. A body moved against mine, an arm wound around my waist and I panicked, twisting amongst the sheets.
I came face to face with a half naked X and my heart thumped in relief.
“X,” I murmured, sighing. I’d never been happier to see the son of a bitch in my entire life. Absence made the heart grow fonder and all of that.
His eyes cracked open and he moved against me, pulling my leg up over his waist and pushing my knickers down over my ass. I felt his erection against my thigh and he shifted to flex it against my clit.
“Why did you sleep next to me?” I sighed, my pussy flaring.
“I felt fucking bad,” he hissed, shoving his boxers down.
“About what? Leaving me here alone or trying to strangle me again?”
With a growl, he rolled me over, pinning me beneath him. “Don’t,” he hissed, grasping my wrists and wrenching my arms over my head. “Fucking don’t.”
I locked my legs around his waist and began rubbing against him, trying to sate the throbbing between my legs. “Did you get what we need?”
His gaze darkened and in one fluid motion he wrenched my shirt up and over my head, exposing my breasts before capturing my wrists again. Holding me firm with one hand he moved down my body, licking a trail from my neck to my right breast and began sucking on the nipple he’d bitten back in his apartment in the city. That was the first time he’d tasted blood during sex, I was sure of it.
Gasping as his tongue circled, I thrust up against his mouth begging to feel that pain again. His free hand tore at my underwear, exposing me to him.
“I want it,” X muttered against my breast, thrusting his cock against my clit. “I want to taste…”
He bit me at the exact moment he plunged his cock into my pussy and I bucked against him, my lips parting in a silent scream. I felt my skin tear, the flesh stinging, but he began to soothe the mark with his tongue, while stroking me with his dick. I wasn’t ready to take him, and my sex stung as he forced himself inside me again and again, but it didn’t take long for my arousal to spark.
X moaned, his chest rumbling as he lavished attention on my breast, tasting the blood he’d drawn. He held my hands firm and I wriggled against him, desperate to touch while he fucked me.
His pace was slow and torturous, and I began to whimper, begging him to fuck harder, to let me go, but he ignored me. He was totally enraptured, a slave to his own mind as he took what he wanted without a thought for me. Something was bothering him. More than the things we had been dealing with. Whatever he’d found out while in Exeter had put him on edge.
If this Vaughn guy had fucked with him…I didn’t care who the fuck he was, I’d hunt him down, too. I'd add him to my list and put a bullet in his head. My chest burned with the ferocity of my claim over X and I bucked violently against him.
X thrust hard, his lips parting from my skin and he stared at me, his green eyes haunted.
“Watch me,” I gasped. “Watch me come. Make me come.”
He cupped my ass in one hand, letting go of my wrists with the other and instantly I fisted my hands into his hair, forcing his mouth to mine. I thrust my tongue against his, sucking greedily as he pounded his cock into me. Our uninhibited mouth fucking stifled our moans and the moment my orgasm slammed into me, I pulled away with a cry.
X fisted his hand into my hair, forcing my gaze back to his as he drew out my pleasure.
“Tell me you’re with me,” he grunted.
I would’ve told him anything in that moment, but I to
ld him the truth. “I’m with you. I’m—” He thrust hard, slapping against my clit and speech was beyond me.
His gaze broke from mine as he spilled inside me, his lips pressing against my shoulder, teeth grazing my skin. He held me tight against him, fingers biting into my hips as I locked my legs around his waist, squeezing my pussy around his cock.
As the pleasure subsided, I whispered, “Are you with me?”
X breathed heavily as we clung to each other, his cock still firmly thrust inside me. He nodded, his cheek resting against my shoulder and his face hidden in the crook of my neck.
Once his breathing had returned to normal, he pulled out, his cock slipping away. Fuck, I felt empty. He was here, naked next to me, but the moment his dick left my body, I felt hollow. I was addicted…I had to be addicted.
He collapsed next to me, his eyes drooping.
“Did you get what we need?” I asked as he ran his fingers over my broken skin. Why he liked biting my tit of all places, I’d never know.
“I like marking you,” he whispered, enraptured.
“X.”
His gaze snapped to mine, sparking with fire. “Not yet. Soon.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you need to demonstrate patience.”
Oh, bloody hell.
“It means I want to know what’s going on. It means I want to learn so I don’t repeat the same mistakes.”
“I won’t let you, Mercy.”
Realizing he wasn’t going to budge, I rolled over and slipped out of bed, scooping up random clothes from the floor. I heard him sigh, but wasn’t in the mood to continue banging my head against the wall. This was my hit. This was my revenge. Mine.
I dressed and strode from the room, slamming the bedroom door closed behind me.
X wasn’t talking and I was beginning to lose patience with this whole operation. I banged about in the kitchen, cooking the last of the eggs and bacon in X’s singular frying pan. I was being obnoxious, but I was tired of his mind games.
He wanted to know if I was with him? Then he had to be with me. Not just fucking nod and tell me what he thought I needed to know. I was not a delicate little flower. He was shaping me into an assassin. Bad to the bone.