No Mercy: A Darker Continuation

by Bane, Lucian

  He grinned, kind of glad she didn’t bite too hard. Reminded him of the old her. Always ready for a challenge. “Right.”

  “Well, nobody will be bathing me, that’s for damn sure, I’m not an invalid.”

  Ohhh ouch. “I try to be a good patient.”

  “Hmm,” she said. “I feel sorry for Bo.”

  “Yeah, he’s scared of her claw.”

  “I talked to Bo about starting a workout routine tomorrow.”

  That fiery jealousy returned. She’d done more than just talked to him about that. “That’s fantastic,” he lied again. “Liberty’s a great spotter if you guys need one.”

  “Wow, she’s quite ‘handy’ isn’t she?” She laughed loudly at her joke. “Bet she gives a scary hand job.”

  Sade’s breath gushed with the sudden jerk of his cock at the bold little sexual joke. “Scary can be fun.”

  “Not for me, thank you.”

  “You don’t like scary hand jobs?”

  “Very funny,” she muttered.

  “You gave me a hand job once.”

  “Ooookay,” she gasped, looking down.

  “Sorry, I forgot you’re sensitive to sex.”

  She eyed him, appearing insulted. “It’s not that I’m sensitive to it, it’s just weird talking about it like this.”

  Sade’s heart hammered, looking for a safe angle to proceed through that wall. “I was just saying you were good at it, I didn’t mean anything else. Much better than any other woman that…” Shit, wrong direction.

  “Must be quite a history of women you have, I bet.”

  “Why would you think that?” he said, trying to sound offended.

  “Well, with the…” she flopped her hand at him, “…condition you have.”

  “Sadomasochism?” The déjà vu was making him giddy.

  “Right.”

  “That automatically means I do it with a lot of women?”

  She looked at him, buying his feigned offense. The confusion on her face was priceless, sweet and arousing as fuck.

  “It’s okay, I’m used to people assuming I’m a whore.” He lowered his gaze. “Truth is, I was rarely with women. Or men,” he added at seeing her confusion still.

  “Then how… how did you…”

  “Quality over quantity, baby.” He eyed her. “When I finally did it, I made it count.” He watched her reaction, liking that he could stare at her.

  “So this was like… a once a week thing?”

  “More like twice a year.”

  She gave a sound that could have meant disbelief or shock, maybe both. “Wow. I thought…”

  “That I fucked women all day and all night, I know.”

  “No, just… more than twice a year.”

  “Right.”

  “Right,” she said firmer, annoyed that he might not believe her. She scratched at her cheek then played with the corner of the notebook and Sade’s heart beat in his cock while he waited patiently for her to voice what was on her mind. “Wish I remembered something about you.” She paused, shaking her head a little before muttering, “Us even.”

  “You saved my life,” he said.

  She jerked her head up. “In that alley?”

  He smiled at her. “No, in general.”

  “Oh.”

  “I didn’t need saving in that alley, didn’t want it, not until…”

  She eyed him as he struggled for the right words, not wanting to scare her off. “Not until you made me want it.”

  “Want… what?”

  “You. Life. Hope.”

  He watched as each word sank in and made a seemingly positive mark. “Sounds right, I mean it feels… true. Not that I think you’d lie, it’s just my body seems to have a journal of its own and I guess I’m comparing notes.” She said all that while staring at the notebook in her lap.

  “I get it, Angel.”

  “I better go check on Bo,” she said, wheeling the chair in reverse.

  He was suddenly sorry he’d gone the stupid emotional route. Should have stuck with the sex talk.

  “I’ll knock when it’s your watch,” she said at the door.

  He let her go, sighing in frustration. “I’ll bring your coffee when it’s done,” he said to himself. Sade sat in the silence, feeling like he’d just got some kind of fix. He was happier than he’d ever been since this whole ordeal started. Having Mercy, then not having her, made getting any part of her back some kind of amazing.

  His dick throbbed in the wake of her absence with ideas for project Never Forget Me.

  It would help if he could get her to agree that she needed his help. And if that meant seducing her to get her to admit that, he was more than happy to try

  Chapter Eleven

  Mercy looked in on Bo and saw him drawing. “I’m using the bathroom and headed your way,” she called. He looked at her and smiled with a salute while Mercy quickly wheeled herself to the privacy of her room to hold her head and catch her breath. Dear. God.

  She looked down at the notebook in her lap and quickly wheeled to the bed and threw it on top. Maneuvering her way to the bathroom, she managed to get herself onto the toilet and sat. Closing her eyes, flashes of that man bombarded her mind. His body. Who the hell needed a memory to know he was ridiculously sexy? Not her. It was a distraction to her memory. Maybe.

  She had to admit she wasn’t as scared of him as she initially was. Maybe it was because of watching him with Bo. Caring for him the way he did. She didn’t miss the fierce protection in his eyes with Liberty. Or the way he valiantly saved Bo from sedation by offering to stay up with him. That was just… totally anti-sadomasochistic. She’d been reminding herself that’s what he was when she wanted to feel too comfy with him. Which was quickly increasing.

  The direction she was headed in with Sade seemed good, but her body screamed bad. And yet she couldn’t help it, he was a huge magnet of sexual stuff that pulled her constantly. Which brought her back to the idea that she had been some kind of whore or slut.

  She finished her business, hissing at the agony in her feet. She needed to elevate them. Back in her room, the notebook on the bed caught her attention. She rolled to it and looked back at the door before grabbing it and stuffing it under the mattress. She headed to Bo’s room when voices and laughter made her pause. Leaning her head, she listened then peeked into Bo’s room.

  He waved at her, and she waved back. “I’m going to the kitchen for a drink what do you want me to bring you back?”

  “Oh!” he snapped. “Can you get me some more ice cream?” He lowered his voice with a smirk on his face, “Liberty gave me like two spoons!”

  Mercy laughed and headed toward the kitchen, slowing when the voices came into hearing range.

  “Yes, I think so,” Sade said. “Thank you so much, I appreciate it.”

  “You owe me.”

  “I definitely do. Mmm. You made this? Fucking delicious. Your talents are endless I see.”

  “Bribery will get you everywhere.”

  Sade laughed and the sound sent a burning in her stomach. Mercy strolled in, not wanting to hear anymore. “Kitchen’s open?” she called.

  “Oh yeah,” Liberty said. “I was just leaving.”

  “Yeah, I’ll be right there,” Sade said. “Don’t start without me.”

  “Ohhh, right. Be kinda hard to,” Liberty sang as she went.

  Mercy stared at him, biting her tongue on start what, what are we starting?

  “Can I get you anything, baby?”

  The term annoyed her in that second, especially the way it still had power over her body. “Um no.” She realized she’d have a hard time getting Bo’s ice cream. “Well, yes. I need to get Bo some ice cream.”

  “I can help with that.” He got a bowl out of the cabinet, and she watched as he opened the freezer, her eyes taking notes. Always taking notes of his body, what the hell was up with that? “What flavor?”

  She jerked her gaze up to his. “Uh, vanilla I guess.”


  “That what he said?”

  He sounded sure it wasn’t. “He didn’t specify, I’m guessing.”

  “And you guess he’d want vanilla?”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t really think of it.”

  “You like that flavor?” he got the vanilla out.

  “I…I think I do, yes.”

  He opened the drawer and pulled out a spoon grinning as he scooped ice cream into the bowl.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing,” he said. “Vanilla is a good choice for you.”

  Funny she’d remember that could mean sexual inadequacy. “I like chocolate too.”

  “And strawberry?” He glanced at her with that grin, like there was some secret joke on her about it.

  “Not so much,” she lied. Well, it wasn’t her favorite.

  “I love strawberry.” He winked at her and returned the ice cream to the freezer.

  “Really,” she said, feeling like sarcasm was needed, but of course she couldn’t think or remember how to be that.

  He handed her the bowl of ice cream. “You sound surprised.”

  She stared at the bowl and took it from him. “You don’t seem like a strawberry kind of guy.”

  “Strawberries remind me of…”

  She looked up and he shook his head. “Never mind.”

  “No, tell me,” she said, regretting it the second she did.

  “I really can’t.”

  She dove in again. “You won’t you mean. You better go, I’m sure Liberty is wondering what happened to you.”

  “Yeah, and Bo’s ice cream is melting. You’ll probably need to spoon feed him now.” He leaned against the counter, crossing his legs and making things bulge.

  “Fine,” she said, irate while staring at him. “I don’t like the way you always tease me.”

  A look of surprise lit his face that was annoyingly handsome in that moment. “Tease you? That’s not teasing. But I am good at teasing if you want me to show you.”

  Heat flooded her body as she fought to stay focused. “Everything you say has some kind of hidden meaning. And then you have this grin like the joke is on me.”

  He stared hard at her for a few seconds, making her heart race even more. “My apologies, Angel.”

  “Stop calling me that, please.”

  Anger flashed in those gray eyes. “Why?” And yet the word was a mere caress, making her hate how quickly he turned the tables.

  “You’re doing it again.”

  He chuckled and shook his head, pushing off the counter and grabbing the crutches before heading out. “See you when it’s my turn, baby.”

  His turn? “What turn?” She rolled after him.

  He kept crutching his way along, not looking back. “When I take your post with Bo.”

  Her cheeks burned at remembering the obvious. But her brain had gone blank on the term for some reason. She’d thought something else altogether, something… sexual. Taking turns. Why would that word mean something sexual to her and negative at that? Was it a memory returning? Had there been turn taking between them?

  She suddenly wanted to go back to her room and get that notebook to find out, rage making her tremble. She was not the type to share, she was so fucking sure of that! Was that why flirting with Liberty came so easy with him?

  Later. She’d definitely read it later.

  ****

  Sade went to the workout room and entered, shutting the door.

  “You are so bad,” Liberty huffed from the treadmill.

  “Oh my God, she is soooo jealous.” He leaned his back against the door with his eyes closed in utter joy.

  “You love that I see.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “Does that mean I can quit being so nice to you?”

  He pulled his head forward. “You’re being nice?” Sade had to laugh then eyed her in her workout clothes—baggy shirt, baggy jogging pants.

  “What!? Don’t look at me dude.”

  “I’m not.”

  “You clearly are.”

  “I mean not like that, I’m just…” He angled his head then straightened it. “You got any other clothes that actually fit you?”

  “Fit me! My uniforms fit!”

  “Yeah, I mean something different than your special agent… anti-feminine look.”

  She got off the treadmill, glaring at him. “Cute, asshole.” She wiped her sweaty face on her shoulder and sat at the Bowflex machine, gaze forward.

  “I just think if you had something else that would show your sex—”

  “Oh fuck you! You can damn well tell I’m a woman! Ask Bo!”

  “No, not Bo.”

  She squinted an eye at him. Pulling the cables forward. “Little shit say something about me? What’s wrong, he’s mad I’m not into his pretty face? Scrawny little shit, I’d break him in two.”

  Sade laughed, not doubting it for a second.

  “Fine, you want slutty, I’ll give you slutty,” she huffed, back to gritting her teeth and glaring forward.

  “I never said slutty, just a little more telling.”

  “Fine, fine.” She picked up her pace, pulling faster. “I’ll be more telling, you’ll see. It’ll be loud and clear.”

  “You can’t go too extreme, she’ll know.”

  “Well, that’s too bad Mr. Macho, if I like you, I just can’t help myself?” Her arms pumped now as she owned that fucking machine. Impressive.

  “Well, I’m going to get a shower. I just wanted to let you know how it was going.”

  “Go get off your goddamn feet before I get my KG and shoot them off your fucking legs. It’s like I’m the only adult here,” she muttered breathlessly.

  Her KG? Sade laughed not even wanting to know. He left the Marshall, as he came to think of her, and slowed next to Bo’s room as he passed. Why did they need the door shut? The fire in his gut returned and popped all his celebration balloons instantly. The idea of her giggling and laughing in there… God he hated that.

  Once in his room, he made his way to the bed and collapsed face down before rolling onto his back. What exactly did he plan to do with Mercy? He needed a real plan.

  He considered various scenarios that all led to one thing. Having her closer to him. That’s all he wanted. To touch her. Smell her. Taste her again.

  ****

  Day Five

  “We have a little problem,” Liberty said, staring at Sade from across the small kitchen table next to the island. “I received word from Kane that when we get the word to move, we are to take the secure tunnel to a garage at the back of this facility. There’s a Batmobile apparently, and from here, we go to a city with a PO Box that will have a key to another safe house. The problem?” She lowered her voice and leaned in. “The tunnel leading out opens with Kane’s fingerprints or Mercy voice.”

  Sade waited to get the issue, still not following.

  “Sooo, her voice isn’t the problem. It’s what she has to speak into it. A code that only she knows. He made her use a favorite rhyme and not tell anybody when she was younger. The only thing he has is the hint. No more nightmares.” She quirked a brow and leaned back. “That’s the hint. We having fun yet?”

  “Fuck,” Sade whispered, looking right.

  “So here’s the deal,” Liberty continued. “Operation Memory Lane needs to be stepped the fuck up. So, we’re having a party.”

  “A party?”

  “Well, if we’re going to play your little jealousy angle, I need a good reason to dress differently. Suspicion and anxiety are common symptoms of amnesia, and we don’t need to provoke the wrong shit in that head of hers.”

  “Like what kind of shit?”

  “Like we’re up to something,” she hissed. “This needs to not look staged!”

  “Okay, so, a party, what kind?”

  “Fuck, I don’t know, a birthday?”

  “And whose birthday?”

  She gave a shrug. “Mine, I guess!”

  “Wow. What ha
ppens if she doesn’t remember?”

  “Well, we can’t fucking teleport, so I foresee hitchhiking in the wide ass open.”

  “Jesus.” Despite the sucky ass news, a yawn took him. “What time’s this party?”

  “Tonight. Go to bed. I’ll take over watching Bo until he wakes up. We’ll have the party at seven?”

  “Sounds good. And you’ll announce it at?”

  “Breakfast? Be pleasantly surprised. And you’ll need to talk to Bo. I’ll get your little Mercy ready for a competition. You’re sleeping sitting up. Go rest.”

  Sade nodded, not missing the rare softer tone. “Going.” He got up and stopped a few feet out. “We got music?”

  “We got that media get up and satellite. But leave your dancing shoes behind please, there will be no dancing for you, only sitting your ass down and staying off those feet.” She paused before a firm, “I mean it,” as though knowing his rebellion.

  Sade made his way back to his room and collapsed onto his bed falling asleep nearly immediately while remembering that night he danced for Mercy. And Mercy had danced for him. This would be his first major act to trigger something. Besides his triple X diary that she may not read.

  Chapter Twelve

  Mercy’s stomach was in knots as she looked through the clothes before her. She’d been wheeled to Liberty’s room and ordered to pick from the mountain because they were suddenly having a party out of the blue. For Liberty’s birthday, no less. Mercy really wanted a reason to be suspicious but at the same time, she was sick of feeling like she should be. She was tired of being confused.

  She went through item after item. They were close to the same size and Mercy finally chose something that would cover her well. Despite the urge to look pretty, she denied it. Was ridiculous to feel the need to dress up. She wasn’t sixteen at her first prom.

  Did she even have a prom? She didn’t remember it if she did. What would Sade wear? She eyed Liberty’s body for the first time, sizing it up. As she measured and discerned perfect curves, disgust hit her. Just great. She considered her own body next. Not a voluptuous curve in sight.

  “You want me to make you a birthday cake?” Mercy asked, forcing herself to be nice.

  “Aww honey, no thank you,” She dumped shoes before her next. “I plan on getting shit faced.”