Den of Mercenaries

by London Miller

  Kit had been ready to give her a few days, let her work through the demons she battled, but only a couple of hours had passed before he felt her behind him.

  She didn’t apologize.

  She didn’t make excuses.

  She faced him with her head held high and said what he hadn’t expected.

  Don’t go easy on me.

  Maybe it was then that Kit really saw her—saw the potential of who she could be if given the chance.

  The attraction wasn’t immediate—at least not in a way that would have made him act on it. She was a beautiful girl, but there was no ignoring the trauma she had suffered.

  Kit didn’t particularly like broken things—especially not broken people.

  It was too easy to break them further beyond repair.

  He valued strength above all else.

  Working for the Lotus Society for as long as he had, he’d seen the varying levels of brokenness in people—that will to live slowly disappearing as the future seemed bleak. They gave up without a fight just because the possibility of winning was so slim.

  It was during those moments that Kit usually put them out of their misery.

  He had anticipated that brokenness in Luna, waiting for the moment when she folded, giving in to what had been done to her.

  But she hadn’t.

  If anything, she held her head higher.

  And it fucking thrilled him.

  “I have a question if you don’t mind answering,” she said moving back to his side, allowing him to lift her once more.

  “Ask.”

  “Did you ever have anyone special, Kit?”

  The question caught him off guard. Of all the things he thought she would ask, that was at the bottom of the list.

  “Not anyone worth remembering.”

  Not anyone quite like her.

  His world was dangerous, more so than anyone realized. It wasn't because of his former life as an assassin, or even his new work as the Facilitator, but the fact that his last name was Runehart was enough to put a target on his back.

  There had been plenty of women over the years, most one-night stands when he was in the mood. None had been worth more than that.

  Luna, however … he wasn't sure when she had crawled beneath his skin. In the beginning, he had tried to deny what he felt. There were other beautiful women in the world—he didn't need to fixate on her.

  But none of them had that charming dimple in their left cheek when they smiled.

  Or played with their hair when they were nervous.

  Even the way her nose scrunched up when she was confused made him smile.

  Kit could think of a million reasons why she was different and why he wanted her, but none that would keep him away from her.

  The night she had come to him, willingly and of her own accord, he had stopped fighting the draw, gave himself over to it.

  He wanted her, and he would be damned if he didn’t have her.

  When her expression shifted, he asked why, and she asked a question of her own. “You’ve never been in love?

  “Then how will you know if it happens—not saying that you’re falling in love, or anything. I’m not saying that I’m falling in love either, I’m just—”

  “D’you remember that sense of wonder you felt the first time you found something that made you happy? It might have been your beloved Blanco, or the first time you picked up a knife here. It’s that feeling in the pit of your stomach at the idea of never having it again—of losing it all.”

  He tucked wet strands of hair behind her ear as he pulled her close, the need to have her there nearly overwhelming him in that moment.

  “You don’t have to have felt love to know once you’ve found it, Luna,” he said with the slight smile at the look in her eyes—starry-eyed wonder. “You’ll know.”

  Going up onto the tips of her toes, she kissed him, taking him by surprise for only a moment before he dragged her closer, and took her mouth the way he wanted.

  He coaxed her lips to part, even as he bent to grab her by the back of her thighs and lifted her up. He carried her through the water until she was nearly completely out of it, though it still came up to his knees.

  Drawing her legs off from around him, she stared up at him with wide eyes as his fingers tugged at the panties she wore, nearly ripping them off her in his need to get her bare.

  Shifting out of the water, she was poised at the ledge, legs spread in invitation. Just the sight of her like that, the same hunger he felt reflected in her eyes was enough to make his cock hard. Droplets clung to her skin, drawing his gaze to her pussy. He couldn't resist the urge to touch her there, drawing his index finger up her lips then between, drawing a breathless moan from her.

  Just seeing the way she squirmed, the restlessness that had already overtaken her made masculine pride flare. He'd barely touched her, just the slightest brush of his fingers against her and she was already sensitive to the touch, just begging him to give her what she clearly wanted.

  But the last time he had her spread open for him like this, he had wanted it to be about her, for her to understand how good it could feel.

  Now? Now was about him.

  He wanted to see how far he could push her—how far she could go before she broke.

  Kit admired strength in others, but he often liked to test it.

  He could feel her squirming beneath his touch, whether turned on or shy, he wasn't sure, though he thought it was a combination of the two. She even went as far as to attempt to cover herself, but he grabbed hold of her hand before she could.

  An idea sparking in his head, he drew her fingers back until he only had her middle and ring finger extended, then he carefully guided her where he wanted them.

  “I don't … but I want you to touch me,” she murmured, voice barely loud enough for him to hear.

  “I will,” he promised, “but not before you touch yourself—I want to see.”

  He expected her to deny him again—coaxing her into it had always been his intention—but she surprised him when her fingers moved almost experimentally, as though trying to mimic what he’d done to her.

  This was what he wanted—the abandonment. He wanted her mindless and needing whatever he chose to do to her.

  The need to stoke a fire in her was riding him hard, but he reined it in, contenting himself with the sight of her playing with her pussy.

  “Talk to me,” he said as he drew closer, his face now mere inches from her where he was dying to be. “Tell me how good it feels. Tell me how wet you are."

  She murmured words he couldn’t understand, but her pussy told him what words couldn’t.

  Fuck, the way she clenched and unclenched around his invading fingers made his own breath hitch as he realized she was— “Don’t come yet, Luna.”

  Her lips parted, but whatever she thought to say was forgotten as her body seized and it was too late for her to heed his words. If anything, his words only seemed to make her jolt harder as she came, riding the wave he’d sent crashing through her.

  Before she could come down, he pulled his fingers free before replacing them with his mouth, dragging the flat of his tongue up her cleft before delving between.

  The taste of her was like a drug, heightening his fucking senses as he sucked her little clit between his lips, taking satisfaction in the feel of her thighs pressed against his head.

  She was lost to the sensations, her fingers sifting through his hair before grabbing the strands tight. He loved her like this, open and willing to accept whatever he gave.

  He relished in it.

  A ragged moan tore from her throat as he ate at her, his fingers digging into the flesh of her thighs so hard he was sure she would have bruises by the morning.

  But she didn’t complain.

  She didn’t try to pull away.

  She took it all, like she was made for him.

  “Dios mio …”

  Her words washed over him in a rush, making him smile agains
t her slippery flesh. He knew what she wanted, could tell from the way she restlessly rolled her hips, silently begging for more.

  But she knew that wouldn’t do.

  He needed more from her.

  “Kit, I-I need you.”

  “Oh?” he asked as he drew away, carefully pushing two fingers inside her, greedy feminine muscles sucking him in. “Is this what you need? Does your pussy need to be filled?”

  Even as he punctuated his words with a sharp twist of his fingers, he already knew the answer she wasn’t yet brave enough to speak. It wasn’t enough—she wanted his cock.

  Her need was too great, and he was only playing with her.

  Despite the water he was still knee deep in, Kit felt hot all over as he worked her, his cock painfully rigid—the throbbing pulse nearly making him want to say fuck it all and give her what she wanted and put them both out of their misery.

  “Fucking Christ, Luna, say it.”

  “Take me!” she all but shouted at him as tremors wracked her frame.

  It was enough.

  He surged out of the water, dragging her to him as he hastily jerked at his own clothing trying to rid himself of the shorts. Kneeling between her thighs, he was offered an unobstructed view of her glistening pussy, the flush beneath her skin beautiful.

  The second he had his hand wrapped around his cock, he dragged his fist from the root to the tip, squeezing just hard enough to tamp down his own need to come.

  He wasn’t ready for this to end.

  He never wanted it to end.

  The pleasurable torture was too good to resist.

  Angling his cock down, he rocked his hips forward, sliding his length along her cleft, the same as he’d done with his tongue. Once she was practically vibrating beneath him, he concentrated his efforts at that little bundle of nerves, tapping the head of his cock against it.

  “I know what you need,” he whispered as her legs fell open wider.

  She was a squirming mess beneath him, but this time as he slid down again, he found the notch at her opening and pushed inside, the tight heat stealing his breath away. Already, the need to fuck her hard was riding him and he was desperate to answer its call.

  She was just so fucking slippery and tight—so fucking tight—around his cock that it was nothing short of sheer concentration that didn’t have him spilling inside her.

  Her pussy rippled around him as he fed his cock into her, his gaze leaving where he penetrated and going up to her face.

  He loved her expressions—the way everything he was feeling was reflected there.

  Gritting his teeth, Kit forced his attention on her—the look of abandon on her face. On tight nipples that were begging to be sucked.

  He wanted to fucking possess her.

  Once he was in as far as he could go, he planted himself there, giving her a moment to adjust to him, but he couldn’t help a shift of his hips, a measured thrust that had him sinking deeper inside her before pulling out, her glistening arousal covering his cock.

  Luna’s head fell back as she moaned, the sound seeming to wrap around him.

  How eager she was as she arched, meeting his thrusts, but with each one, her cries grew louder, the sound amplified because of the water.

  “Shh,” he whispered with a smile, pressing his finger against her lips, cursing low when she pulled it into her mouth, the soft suction of her mouth just as much a tease as it was a promise. “Voices carry in here—you wouldn’t want everyone to know you’re getting fucked, hmm?”

  Luna shook her head hard, eyes cloudy with pleasure as she released his finger, only to bite her lip.

  Gradually, he worked his cock in and out of her, holding her legs wide as he gave himself over to it.

  At least until he felt her hands sliding along his back until he felt her nails digging in and dragging down, scoring his skin.

  His control snapped.

  Kit needed to fucking consume her, to take everything she offered and more.

  Shoving himself into her body, his thrusts were nothing short of savage as he fucked her harder and harder, loving the way her breath hitched.

  “Such a good girl,” he praised leaning down to lick a path up her neck. “Is your pussy hungry for me—are you ready to come again?”

  She wrapped her legs around him then in answer, as though to keep him there—like there was any other place he would rather be.

  Already, she had forgotten his warning, her mindless cries echoing, but it was like music to his ears, but as much as he loved it, he clamped a hand over her mouth to muffle them.

  Seeing her like that, mouth covered and his body practically pinning her to the floor, he knew he wouldn’t last long.

  Is this how you like it, he whispered before biting the cord of her neck, dragging his teeth over it. Is this how you like to get fucked?

  A guttural sound left him as he watched her head fall back and he was gifted with the sight of her reaching climax a split second before her pussy clamped down like a vise around his cock, milking him for everything he was worth, and he had no choice but to give in.

  One brutal thrust, another, and finally a third, then he was rapidly pulling out of her still pulsating pussy. He fucked his fist, her name falling like a prayer and a curse from his lips as he came, arcs of milky white fluid lashing across her stomach and breasts.

  It wasn’t enough.

  It was too much.

  It was everything.

  “Sleep.”

  Luna nearly jumped at the sound of Kit’s voice. She had been sure he had already fallen asleep once they had come back up from the pool, showered, and climbed into his bed.

  It wasn’t that she wasn’t tired, she definitely was, but thoughts of what the new day would bring had her too anxious to sleep.

  After they came up from the pool, Kit had told her about the assignment he needed to go on, and that she would be going with him. He hadn’t explained much about what she would be expecting from this job, but the sheer unknown of it all had her mind racing with possibilities.

  Kit wouldn’t have such worries, and after the energy he expensed in the pool, she was sure it wouldn’t be long before he was asleep, but her fidgeting must have kept him up.

  “Sorry.”

  With a powerful arm hooked around her waist, he dragged her deeper into his side, his hand splaying low over her belly.

  “There’s nothing to fear,” he said, fingers fiddling with the strings of her shorts. “I’ll be right there with you.”

  “I know.” And she did. It wasn’t fear that was keeping her awake.

  “Just nerves then?” he asked, his tone taking on a playful note as his thumb dragged over the edge of her shorts, seconds before he was pushing inside. “Do I need to help you relax?”

  She didn’t get the chance to answer—he made the decision for her.

  And by the time he kissed the nape of her neck after she’d come down from the cloud, Luna was finally able to relax.

  Luna was still sleeping peacefully when Kit woke the next morning. Carefully, he pulled his arm from beneath her as he climbed out of bed.

  As much as he wanted to stay there with her, there were a few last-minute details he needed to handle with Aidra before the flight out.

  After a short trip to the bathroom, Kit made his way downstairs, finding Aidra already dressed for the day with a look on her face that told him he wasn’t going to like what she had to say.

  “While Fang may appreciate your newfound interest in Luna because that makes me more available for him, I’m …”

  “Not?” Kit asked, bypassing her to go through the kitchen door.

  “Who you choose to have relations with is none of my concern, but if your behavior changes, then I’m concerned,” she finished hastily.

  “Would you care to tell me what you mean?” Kit asked her. “I have a schedule to keep.”

  “Not only have you decided not to bring the Wild Bunch with you, you’re not even taking me.”


  “Your point?”

  “One deviation could be the beginning of a pattern, Nix. While I trust that you’re capable of taking care of yourself, this is her”—this she said with a nod toward the kitchen door as though Luna stood there—“first time being around other people besides perverts and us.”

  Kit poured a mug of coffee as he thought over her words. “I once carried out my own personal invasion of the Balan’s Home for Boys, or did you not know that I was the one to rescue your lover from that place?”

  It hadn’t just been Fang either, but the rest of the Wild Bunch as well. He still didn’t know how long they had been in the orphanage—there were some secrets they refused to share—but when he had come for the Professor, he had freed as many of the children as he could.

  “No, he never mentioned that,” Aidra said softly. “You know he doesn’t like to talk about where he came from.”

  “Seven guards, three teachers,” Kit sneered the word, remembering some details of the assignment that had stuck with him all these years, “four chefs, and the Professor himself. Understand me, Aidra, if I thought I couldn’t protect Luna, I wouldn’t have agreed to this.”

  “It’s different when you care about someone, or have you forgotten that? As I said, it’s not your skills that are lacking, but she can be a distraction for you, whether you want to admit it or not.” Aidra blew out a breath, as though he were the one annoying her. “And I don’t believe you had much of a choice in the decision, no? She does work for your brother, or have you forgotten that?”

  How could he forget?

  Already, just the thought of the contract she would be made to sign annoyed him. Uilleam was fond of his games, and Kit didn’t doubt for a second that he would attempt to use Luna to leverage something from him.

  That was who he was—who they both were.

  “Your concerns are noted, Aidra.”

  “But you’re not going to change the plans, are you?”

  “I’m sure you already know the answer to that.”

  “Then at least keep yourself in one piece by the end of it. Someone has to sign my paycheck.”

  “You have the routing and account numbers for at least a dozen of my off-shore accounts, I’m sure you’ll make do.”