Mercy: Queen’s Birds of Prey: Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Queen's Birds of Prey Book 1)

by Kathi S. Barton

  In less time than it took for Miley to pull out her books while her father was in the kitchen working, she not only had cable hooked up with all the stations, but also the Internet at the highest speeds. Jude told her that Joel might not care for her doing this.

  Like I care. His daughter was nice to me while he was an ass. I’ll take care of him if it comes to it. She might come and live with me as an orphan again. That wasn’t nice, and she knew it, but she was sick of this forced vacation and being saddled with an over the top male that bossed her around.

  Twenty minutes later a large truck pulled up in front of the house. The knock at the door had Joel coming from the kitchen to answer it as she was reading over the rules for the paper that Miley had coming due. It was too complicated for a child, she thought, and then looked up at Joel when he said her name.

  “Mercy, I’d like to speak to you please. In private.” She asked him about what. “Would you please get up off your ass and come to—?” He let out a long breath. “I’d like to talk to you about this delivery that I’m not accepting.”

  “You most certainly are. It’s not for you anyway, it’s for Miley. To help with school.” She directed the men to bring in the things that Jude had set up. “It is a bit more than I thought she’d send. I only asked for a computer and whatever went with it.”

  “This isn’t staying.” She ignored him for the paperwork. “Did you hear a word I just said to you? These things aren’t staying. You’ll have to send them take it back.”

  After closing the door on the men, she turned to look at him. But she was distracted by him standing there with an apron around his waist as well as flour in his hair. He wasn’t just appealing at this moment, but sexy. Mercy licked her lips, thinking of what this man could do for her that none other would.

  “Stop it.” She looked at him in the face. His voice was low and tight. “Stop looking at me like I’m a piece of steak.”

  “I’m not.”

  Joel growled at her. Before she could tell him to more than likely to fuck off, Miley squealed. It set off her bird to think that someone could be harming the little girl. It took her a full minute to realized that the child was excited.

  “Look, Dad. Not only a computer, but a tablet too. And a printer. I’ve never seen this one before, even at school.”

  She was tearing into another box when Joel took Mercy by the hand and nearly dragged her to the bedroom. As soon as the door was closed, Mercy was pressed against the door with Joel’s mouth on hers.

  His hands tore at her clothing. When his nails scraped over her flesh, making small wounds, he licked them. Christ, she was as wet as she’d ever been before. Joel had her breast bared, her bra torn to pieces. The heat of his mouth on her nipples, the way that he suckled hard on them, made her have little climaxes that devastated her body all the same.

  The knock at the door had her moaning. Joel pulled away from her and stared at her. Covering herself when she saw the look on his face, a look of distain, she turned away from him and moved away from the door so that he could leave her alone.

  Mercy wasn’t sure what to do now. Her body was on fire from what he’d done to her. His cock was stiff and hard too—she could see it as he left her alone in the room. But first things first, she needed to be dressed.

  Being nearly naked made her feel stupid and confused. Dressing in the identical clothing that she’d had on before, Mercy decided it was time for her to stay. But the moment that she walked through the door, she could see that things were not going to be any better between them. The cable, it appeared, had been hooked up.

  “I suppose this is your doing too?” She nodded and looked at Miley, who was staring at them like she was watching a good tennis match. Joel spoke through his teeth, his anger evident all over his body. “I will talk to you about this later.”

  “She’s staying for dinner, Daddy. Right?” Joel looked like he could have easily bitten a nail in two when Miley asked him. Instead of saying anything, he walked, more like stomped, his way into the kitchen.

  Mercy felt like she’d run a marathon and had come in dead last. Her body was spent and her mind a whirl of thoughts, not a one of them suitable for the child with her. As she tuned into what Miley was saying to her, Mercy realized how happy she was to have gotten the things today.

  It took her until dinner was ready to get everything hooked up for Miley, and with only one contact with Jude. The printer was hooked up too—wireless, she found out—and three reams of paper to use on it. There was also a tablet, a camera, and a printer for pictures. Speakers to use on the stereo that had been brought in, as well as a big screen television. No wonder he was pissed. Jude had gone slightly overboard.

  Dinner was quiet except for Miley. She talked about her project as well as the things in the living room. Not the things themselves, but the boxes and what to do with them. There were, of course, a great many of them.

  “I’d not put them all out at once. And if you can cut them down and put them under your trashcan for pick up day, you won’t be announcing to the world that you’ve gotten all this.” Miley asked her why. “People will pick off houses that have gotten a payday like this one. So to keep yourself safe, just put them out one at a time, and never before trash day.”

  “Are you familiar with the type of person that robs houses?” Joel was baiting her, and she didn’t care. The joy on Miley’s face was much too wonderful for him to put her in a pissy mood. So, Mercy told him that she was, as a matter of fact. “I just bet you are.”

  “Dad, what is wrong with you?” Miley apologized about her dad’s behavior. “He’s usually so nice to people. It must be something that happened at work.”

  “You have no idea. Some people will just throw themselves in front of you to get what they want.”

  Mercy glared at Joel and pushed her plate away. The food now would catch in her throat, and she wanted to be gone.

  He seemed to be in a better mood after that. She knew that it was because he thought he’d won. Perhaps he had. But she was finished with him driving her around, too. He could take the money or not; at this point, she didn’t give a shit any more.

  As soon as the meal was finally at an end, she picked up her plate and took it to the sink. Miley said that she was going to bed, that she’d play with her things tomorrow, and that left the two of them alone in the kitchen.

  “I would like for you to take me to my hotel.” He said he’d be glad to do, but the dishes needed washing up. “I don’t care about your stupid dishes, I want you to take me to my hotel right now.”

  “I won’t leave the dishes undone simply because you have a burr up your ass about how poor Joel didn’t praise your name for intruding into our life when you had no right to.” She said she was helping Miley, not him. “And the big screen television? The cable? I can’t afford that. You will have it shut off.”

  “There won’t be a charge for it. Someone that Jude knows has done it for you.” He snarled at her, then asked if she had fucked him too. “You bastard.”

  The slap to his face was hard, she knew it was. But when he came at her, his face set, she backed away from him, fearful that she’d somehow gone too far. As soon as he drew back—to slap her back, she thought—Mercy felt her bird curl away from him, as if she was afraid too.

  But instead of slapping her, he jerked her body to his by grabbing a handful of her hair. Her clothing was ripped from neck to hem again. This time he kissed her with a savagery that she’d never experienced before, what her body seemed to crave. Only from this man.

  He picked her up by her ass. The only thing that her body wanted was to wrap around him, so she curled her legs around his hips as he took them to the bedroom again. Before they were even in the room, the door shut behind them, she was naked, his cock at her entrance.

  Setting her on her feet, he held her while she tried to regain some of her equilibrium. But it was all in vain. As soon as he dropped to his knees, Joel was making a feast of her pussy.


  Being quiet during sex had never been hard for her. But when he gave her pleasure, her body coming over and over, it was difficult for her to remain standing, much less keep her screams to herself. Reaching out into the room, she quieted it, made it so that no one would hear her, and let go of the blood thirsty scream that had been building up inside of her.

  He fucked her with his fingers, then his tongue. Mercy was weak with his ministrations. And while her body was limp from coming so many times, she wanted more, needed more from him. When he stood up, his cock wet at the tip, her body came again without his touch, she was that primed for him.

  Touching him with her finger, she took the hot juices to her mouth. When the precum of him touched her tongue, she moaned loudly, needing him more than she had before. Getting down on her knees before him, she took him into her mouth and swallowed around him. His cum filled her mouth and throat almost immediately.

  The need to have him inside of her made Mercy reckless. Standing up, his cum still dripping from her lips, she watched him as she cleaned herself off with her tongue. The savage growl from him nearly brought her to her knees. And when he lifted her again, slamming his cock so deep inside of her that she hurt from it, Mercy screamed.

  The bed touched her back. Joel was fucking her like he meant for her to never forget him. She wouldn’t. He was her first—the first human to have ever wanted her.

  “Come now, Mercy. Come again for me.” She did what he told her—commanded her really. No sooner had she came when she felt him come as well. His body had been hard before, muscles on top of muscles, but when he came, it was as if Joel had been created out of stone, his body harder than anything she’d ever felt.

  After coming so many times that she hurt with it, Mercy felt exhaustion take her under. She knew that she should go back to her hotel, but she needed to rest. When Joel wrapped around her, held her tightly to his body, Mercy fell into a deep sleep.

  Mercy felt the dream come over her, the same dream of her and Dante on their last day. The day that she had ended her life to begin theirs. Their conversation was as clear to her tonight as it had been every night since that day. But this one was different; this one was held in the house of Joel and his little girl.

  “They need you.” Mercy said that they only needed money. “Perhaps, but not all of it, and you know that you can help Miley. She needs someone to make sure that she’s going to make it in this world, this world of humans.”

  “What is it you’re trying so hard not to tell me?” Dante laughed. It was still the same as it had always been, before the king and his decree. Dante laughed like a braying jackass. It was loud and punctuated by snorts of breath. “Tell me, Dante. For this is interrupting the best sleep I’ve had in ages.”

  “You will come to love him.” Mercy said that she didn’t think so. “Ah, but I do. You are already nearly in love with his child. It will be only a few more pushes in the right direction for you to love them both much more than you ever did me. And that is the way it should be.”

  “I don’t like where this is going. Tell me why you’re really here, and let me rest. This is the reason for me to have done this vacation thing, to rest.” She didn’t mention that she’d also been told to get laid, but that wasn’t really any of her queen’s business. “Go away or tell me why you’ve come here of all places.”

  “Joel is a good man. Smart, and has a degree in engineering. He could help the right company, say the one that Piper has. Think how much more she would get done if she didn’t have to have so many trial and errors.” Mercy asked her why he didn’t do that for a living. “Because, my dear, he is without means to have someone help him get Miley back and forth to her physical therapy, as well as being able to go to class. I think that Piper could work around that for him. Or she could pay him enough that he could well afford help.”

  “He lives here, not where we do.” Dante laughed again, and then asked her if there were no houses in that area. “I don’t want him that close. What will happen to...? He just can’t live that close. I don’t want him to.”

  “I see. So, you’d rather he suffered, and his child as well.” It wasn’t a question, but she still had no answer even if it was. “Do the right thing by him, Mercy, and good things will come your way. I can promise you this.”

  The dream ended, and she felt at peace. Mercy knew that she was going to help him, to make sure that he had all that he needed. And when she turned over to sleep, she reached for Joel and found him gone. Waking up, thinking that something had happened to Miley, she looked around for him, and found him staring at her from the chair across the room.

  Mercy didn’t have to ask if he was angry. It was written all over his face and body. He was stiff with it—not sexy like before, but like he would stab her with it if he could. Sitting up, she pulled the sheet up over her breasts, suddenly feeling very naked around him.

  “Isn’t it a little too late for that?” She was confused and hurt by his tone. “Did you get what you wanted, Mercy?”

  “I’m sorry?” He shook his head and stood. Joel’s pacing was in angry strides too. She could almost feel sorry for the floor. “I don’t know what you—”

  “Isn’t it what all wealthy women do when they go on a vacation? They get laid? Well, you sure gave as good as you got, I’ll tell you that much.” Mercy didn’t know what to do. Her heart, not usually so fragile, was breaking apart in her chest. “Your friend was right when she hooked you up with me, I’m thinking. Lonely broke man with a handicapped daughter who could use a good fuck too. I have to ask, did I pay for it all? I mean, you did pay up front before you fucked me. But I want to make sure you got your money’s worth for all the stuff you bought for my daughter. That was slick of you too, buying for her so that I’d not get it right away. However, if it makes you feel any better, it was a nice fuck for me. Got my rocks right off.”

  Mercy stood up, letting him see her body. She looked down at herself, the way he might see her. The marks he’d put on her skin were there. The bruises from his hands, the bite marks from his teeth. She didn’t or hadn’t regretted any of it, but now she was shattered.

  Without saying a word to him, she went to the window. After opening it, feeling the heat once again as it tried in vain to warm her frozen heart, she looked at him as the shift from woman to bird slowly consumed her.

  When she was her falcon, Mercy hopped up to the window sill. She never took her eyes off him as she dropped out of sight. The looks, the pain of his hatred towards her, nearly had her hitting the ground without spreading her wings.

  Mercy flew around for several hours, avoiding places where she might have been seen. The trees not far from where Miley lived were sparse and dry, so she stayed close to the bark where she could blend in.

  Trying her best not to think of what he’d said to her, the way he’d made what they’d done feel dirty, she reached out to Piper and told her what she wanted to do.

  “Is he any good? Well, of course he would be. Why would you recommend him if he wasn’t? I’ll call him today.” Mercy warned her that he’d not take the job if she mentioned her or that they were friends. “Something happen, Mercy?”

  “Yes, but I’m not going to talk about it. Perhaps never. And I have no idea if he’s any good. Dante came to me in a dream and told me that he’d be perfect for you.” Piper asked her if she was coming home. “Not yet. I don’t think I can. Don’t tell anyone that you’ve spoken to me. Please? I don’t have it in me to answer any questions at the moment. Maybe never.”

  “Mercy, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do? Come to you?” She told her no, that she was going to be out for a while and to only contact her if necessary. “All right. And his daughter, you say that she has some troubles with her wheelchair?”

  “Yes, it’s very old and worn out. Out of date too, I would imagine. If you have to, Piper, tell him that he’s qualified for insurance right away and that it’s the best there is. Send me the bill and I’ll take care of it. In fact, I insist.�
�� She said that she would, but Mercy could almost hear all the questions that were going through Piper’s mind. “Remember what I said, don’t mention me at any time. Dante said he’d work for you, so he’ll be just what you need. And if you want him to stay, then I’d keep me out of it.”

  “All right. But Mercy, you have to tell me why I’m doing this and you’re not.” Mercy said nothing, her heart crumbling yet again over his words, his views of what had happened between then. “Okay, if you don’t want to talk now, know that I’m here for you. I’ll let you know what happens, all right?”

  “Yes, all right. I’m going to be away for a while. I’ll be back when I can.”

  Which, her heart was telling her, would be never. She’d done right by him and Miley. Mercy had done what Dante had told her. Taking off to the skies again, she only looked back at the house once. It was enough to tell her that she was doing the right thing, and no matter what he said, it hadn’t been a vacation fling. Joel was her mate.

  Chapter 3

  Joel was not only impressed with the large, well-appointed building, but with the way that Miss Warrior had some of her work displayed in different parts of the lobby. The large piece, a phoenix, sat atop a perch that looked like a turret of a castle. The colors were beautiful. Joel felt like he could put out his hand and it would land on it.

  “Mr. Oliver?” He stood up, nervous for this interview. The woman smiled at him. “I’m Piper Warrior. We’re not very formal around here, you’ll see. Let me show you around a little bit, then I’ll take you to your office.”

  He was right behind her when what she had said occurred to him. “My office? I don’t understand, I thought this was only an interview.”