She saw a women’s restroom sign and headed for it.
The door swung closed behind her. She went to the sink and turned the cold knob. She rested her elbows on the hard surface and listened to the rush of the water. Her head slumped down.
What had she done? Not even half an hour in Mercy Club and she had been splayed out in front of an audience.
And she’d liked it. A part of her did, at any rate. The part that she’d tried to silence for so long. That little voice inside her that she always hushed when she was tempted to cry out for more. More adventure. More sensation. More of everything.
The door swung open. Paige quickly straightened and pretended to wash her shaking hands. She kept her head down and focused on her breath, hoping to slow her pounding heart. The last thing she needed right now was someone asking her if she was all right. Not when she wasn’t sure about the answer.
The click of a deadbolt being slid home echoed off the bathroom walls. Paige shot up. Alan stood there, his back resting against the door, watching her.
Paige backed up until she hit the wall. She spread her arms out to her side, and splayed her fingers across the cold, white tile. She stared at him. He didn't make a move. He didn't have to. Where was she going to go? There was one way out and he controlled it.
“You shouldn't be in here,” she said, her voice too high, lacking conviction.
He laughed. “So says the woman who came to my club without an invitation.”
“Your club? You own Mercy Club?” Paige didn’t need him to answer. It made sense. He walked around like he owned the place—because he did.
“Along with eight others.”
“Maybe it would be better if I left now.”
He shook his head slowly, deliberately.
“I don’t want you to leave, Paige. And you don’t want to either.”
“How can you be so sure of that?”
“Because if that’s what you wanted nothing would have stopped you. You’d already be out there. But you’re not. You’re in here, waiting for me.” He stepped toward her. She saw her opportunity and ran for the door. His arm snaked out, just as she tried to pass. “You came here for more than a diddle in the lounge.”
His fingers were as tight as shackles around her arm, and just as unyielding. She pulled and twisted. With that same amused smile he patiently waited for her to quit her vain attempt to run.
Paige wasn’t even sure who she was trying to run from anymore, him or herself.
He pulled her closer. She molded against his body. He slid his hand over her head, smoothing her hair. Halfway down he grasped the mass of curls and yanked down hard. The gesture lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“Didn’t you?”
Fighting had gotten her nowhere. Maybe the truth would.
Paige nodded.
His smile was devastating, at total odds with the force of his domination. His eyes stayed locked with hers as he hooked his arm under her knee and easily lifted her up. Paige wrapped her legs around his waist on instinct. He carried her to the line of sinks. She hissed in a breath at the feel of the cold porcelain against her exposed skin.
He was more forceful this time when he slid his hand up her leg. His fingers bit into the tender flesh of her thighs. He grasped the thin fabric crotch of her panties and wrenched them down. The slip of lace and silk tangled around her ankles, and she tried to kick them off. Keeping his hold on her hair, Alan undid the button of his jeans.
“This is what you wanted, Paige,” he said. “Isn’t it?”
She braced her hands on his shoulders, uncertain whether to push him away or pull him closer, wishing that he would make the decision for her. The thick tip of his cock pushed against the wet folds of her pussy.
She trembled against the stiff material of his jeans, wanting to feel the friction against her bare legs. But he stayed as still as she was. His grip on her hair tightened, and she swallowed a cry as her scalp began to sting.
“Wasn’t it?” he repeated.
“Yes.” Her voice sounded foreign, breathy and heavy.
The light behind his eyes flickered to life once more. “Then take it.”
He slowly pushed into her, giving Paige all the time in the world to think about what she was doing. He was so much bigger than she was used to. The walls of her pussy stretched tight around him. He pushed in as far as he could, but even as wet as she was, she was unaccustomed to his size.
He didn’t give her even a second to adjust. He pulled out and thrust again and again. He increased his tempo with every stroke, until her body surrendered to the onslaught and accepted every inch. She cried out at the nearly unbearable pleasure building inside her.
Paige had to pull one arm away from his shoulders and prop it behind her to keep from falling on the hard floor. She wrapped her legs tighter around him, pushing him deeper.
The door rattled. Someone was out there. Maybe more than one person. They had to have heard her, and now they wanted to watch. Paige closed her eyes and imagined them, a faceless crowd getting off on her rapture.
Her pussy tightened around him. The friction between them grew.
“But this isn’t all that you want, is it?” There was laughter in his voice. Real laughter. Paige looked at him with wide eyes. He couldn't be serious. “You want me to unlock it and let them all come in. You want them to watch you.”
Paige shook her head violently.
“Don’t lie to me, Paige. I can see every one of those beautiful secrets locked inside your head.”
The door shook hard this time. She glanced nervously toward it. Alan pulled out completely. Paige teetered on the edge of the sink.
“Tell me that you want me to let them in, and I’ll do it,” he said. “Tell me no, and we’ll stop right now.”
Would he really walk away? Of course he would. With him there were no limits, no boundaries.
Paige trembled, desperate to keep her perch as she tried to wrangle control of her thoughts.
Alan shook his head. “Don’t think this time. Just feel.”
His words struck deep. Right now, she didn’t care how he knew what she wanted. He was in tune with her somehow. Choosing to stop would be choosing to go back to life as it was. It would be choosing fear and seclusion.
“What’s your answer, Paige? Shall I open it?”
“Yes. Please.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but it was enough.
Alan smiled.
He walked to the door, and with a flick of his wrist, unlocked the bolt. He held on to the metal handle, pulling the door open as he came back to her. He didn’t look behind him.
But Paige did.
The crowd she had envisioned was there. A few faces she’d seen in the lounge looked in at her. Raine was in front, taking up almost all of the open space. There was no judgment in anyone’s gaze, just the reflection of her own desires.
They all moved in, half a dozen of them, creating a semicircle around the sink.
“Good choice,” Alan said before he leaned forward and kissed her. His mouth was hot and reassuring. Strange after having his cock deep inside her that the force of his kiss would be a thousand times more intimate.
Paige looked him in the eyes. The intensity in his gaze held her fast. Even though only her most important parts were exposed, she had never felt more naked than when he looked at her. He really did see everything inside of her, even all the things she’d tried so hard to hide.
But she’d been the one doing the hiding, Paige realized. No one had ever forced her. She’d done it on her own. She’d never even given anyone a chance to know that this part of her existed.
None of this had anything to do with Zach. Not her self-imposed isolation. Not her visit to Mercy Club tonight. And certainly not what she was doing right now.
Alan had ripped through her weak defenses and exposed them all, even the ones that she hadn’t been strong enough to admit to herself. He saw them all, and he liked what he saw. He wanted more.
/> And so did she. Paige spread her legs wider, offering herself to him.
Alan stepped up, until his cock slid against the slick folds of her cunt. His smile grew. “That's right. Give me everything.”
The crowd started to shift too, their eyes becoming glassy as he pushed inside her. Her nipples puckered hard at the sight of her audience.
The last of her shame reared its head. Her eyelids fluttered closed, and she tried retreating back into the safety of the darkness.
“No,” Alan said. He yanked her down from the sink. Her bare feet smacked against the tiles. Alan swung her around. He bent her over the cold ridge of the sink.
He gathered both of her hands in one of his, pulling her arms out brutally straight and hard behind her. With his other hand, he lifted her skirt and bared her ass. Paige closed her eyes as she felt goosebumps rise up in the wake of his touch as he caressed the curve. She was dying from the anticipation.
“Look up,” he said, his voice firm.
Paige shook her head. It was better in the dark, better where she could pretend this was some other fantasy that she was playing out in her mind. It wasn't her. It couldn't be her.
His hand fell hard on her ass. The sharp sound resonated off the walls. The sting penetrated her self-imposed seclusion.
“Look at these people. Look at yourself.”
Paige's eyes snapped open and she saw them in the scratched and cloudy mirror. She hardly recognized herself. Her hair was tangled around her shoulders. Her mascara was smeared, but her eyes were bright. Brighter than they had been in a long time, glazed yet full of want.
“Keep your eyes open,” he demanded.
He crashed into her, keeping a brutal pace that drove out all thought. Only sensation existed. The strain of her muscles. The force of his strength. The heat of their sex.
The pleasure was too intense, but the sting of her arms being held back at such an extreme angle, the arch of her back, kept her present.
The thrill of so many eyes on her was dizzying. With every beat her reaction become their reaction. She had never felt such power, such joy.
It was too much. The combination of desire and fantasy became overwhelming. She couldn’t control it any longer.
“Please. Alan. Please.” She cried out for the intangible.
Her legs lost strength beneath her. If he hadn't been holding her she would have crumpled to the floor. This wasn't some gentle rise and fall. She broke apart, shattered, as the most all-consuming pleasure she had ever felt overwhelmed her.
Alan threw back his head in triumph as Paige shuddered around his cock.
Her orgasm was stunning. The walls of her pussy constricted tighter around his shaft, pulsing.
In a single moment he remembered the excitement of life, the thrill that came from the vulnerability of mortality, and he knew what he wanted.
From the second that he felt Paige in his mind, he had known she was his One. Fate or Ashira had chosen her for him. Not that it mattered.
He hadn’t been bluffing when he threatened to walk away if she didn’t admit to her fantasies. It might have ripped him apart inside, but he would have done it. But she’d been brave enough to own up to her desires.
Her courage made him want to do the same. He was tired of the numbness that came with his power. He wanted to feel. Centuries had passed since he had taken something out of desire instead of obligation.
And what he wanted was to look into those eyes as he came.
He glanced up and saw Raine’s reflection in the mirror behind him. His old friend’s expression was tense. He alone knew what power this moment held. But if Raine disapproved, he kept it to himself.
Alan focused on Paige. He had to block out every one around them. None of them mattered. Only she did.
His balls constricted, but he held back. She was so tight, so wet, so earnest. She deserved this moment. He struggled to contain himself for just a few moments longer. Even after hundreds of years of unfulfilled desire, these last few seconds seemed like an eternity.
The moment her cunt relaxed, Alan wrenched her up and spun her around so she faced him. She was loose now, there was no fight left in her. He pushed her down to her knees. She was ready for him, but was he ready?
She knew what he wanted. Her mouth opened. She wrapped her fingers around his shaft. She milked him as she guided his shaft between her lips. Her inexperienced mouth couldn't take much of him, but she worked the rest of him with her hand. Her eyes closed again as she tasted the mixture of their sex on his cock.
She started timidly, coming down from the lust-filled haze that still clouded her mind, but soon the rumblings of the crowd spurred her on. Her hand worked him more urgently. She pulled at his cock, her tongue washing over it. Again and again. He was so close to the precipice.
“Open your eyes, Paige. Look at me,” he demanded. He would look into her eyes as he came, as she drew him back to the land of the living.
“Please,” she pleaded. “Please let me swallow your come.”
Her lips surrounded him and she began to suck in earnest.
Big brown eyes stared up at him. She had no idea what she was asking. No idea that she was the only person who could. There was no way that she could know what Fate had in store for both of them.
The group pressed closer around them. The room crackled with power.
His balls grew tight, and then he shuddered. Pleasure overwhelmed him. His knees buckled. He grasped her head and pulled her in tight, making sure that she couldn't get away. The release was blinding, overtaking his whole body.
He roared out. The sound echoed off the hard walls. Yes, this was it. A dozen lifetimes of waiting over.
He shot down her throat again and again. Paige struggled to swallow. Her eyes went wide with surprise at the force of his ejaculation.
He was as merciless with himself as he was with her, forcing himself to meet her eyes as his soul came rushing back to him. His body sizzled with life. Instead weakening, he felt his strength increase. Though the pleasure had been intense, he felt far from sated.
Paige gasped in a great rush of air as he pulled out of her mouth. A moment later, Alan pulled her up on shaky legs.
“You can go now,” he said to the people around them. Only Raine raised a brow at the command. He didn’t look like a man used to taking orders, but after giving Alan a look that she could tell held a world of meaning, he filtered out with the rest of them.
Paige met each one of their gazes as they walked past. She wasn’t the same person that she had been when she’d walked in here tonight. Everyone one of them had played a big part in that transformation. She hoped the look in her eyes could express what she could not bring herself to say aloud.
Thank you.
When the bathroom door had swung shut, Paige turned toward Alan. He stared at her with an intensity that made her tremble anew.
She wasn’t sure who he was—hell, she wasn’t even sure what he was, and after seeing the unnatural light shining in his eyes, it wouldn’t take much to convince her that he wasn’t completely human—but she was grateful.
“Are you sore?” he asked.
She looked down as she tried to tug all the parts of Selena’s dress back into place. “I’m fine.”
Alan reached out and forced her chin up. “I didn’t ask if you were fine. I asked if you were sore.”
“A little,” she admitted. “But I don’t mind.”
It was the truth. Her shoulders and wrists ached from strain, but for the first time she could remember Paige could feel every part of her body. She could feel the blood rushing through her veins, the cold tile beneath her feet, the sharp tingle as the blood came back to her fingertips. Her body felt alive, and Alan was the reason. He had done this to her.
Those bright blue eyes, the ones that had been so demanding moments before, looked at her approvingly. He laced his fingers with hers and held tight. A little thrill raced through Paige. It was a simple act but it made her feel less like s
he was with Alan and more like she was his.
The hall was nearly empty. Only a few security guards stood near the door and desk. Everyone else must have returned to the lounge.
Paige hoped that wasn’t where Alan was taking her. She was too exhausted, both physically and emotionally, for any more games.
Instead, he led her toward the marble staircase in the center of the hall.
“Where are we going?” Paige asked after they had walked up three flights.
“To my room. I want you with me.”
That was it. No pretending. No guessing at what he wanted. She asked, and he told her the truth. She could agree or refuse. It was just that beautifully simple. After the constant insecurity of the last five years, Paige wanted to weep with relief.
“I don’t think I can do that again so soon.”
“I wouldn’t ask you too. No more play. Not tonight at least.” The laughter was back in his voice. He sounded lighter, almost as unburdened as she was.
He took her to a room at the end of a long hallway. The curved wall was lined with windows looking out over San Francisco. Paige went to them and looked over the sea of city lights and concrete.
“It’s a beautiful view.” There was no response. Paige turned, but he wasn’t behind her. A moment later, she heard the sound of rushing water in another room. She followed it.
She found him in the bathroom, standing next to a massive antique tub.
“You said you were sore. I thought a bath might help.”
Paige nodded. A bath sounded like heaven.
He pulled his black t-shirt over his head, exposing a long torso, lean and tight.
After Alan was undressed, he slid Selena’s ridiculous dress above her head and tossed it to the ground. Then he stepped into the steaming water first, motioning for Paige to follow.
She settled into the space between his thighs, leaning her back fully against his solid chest. His hands moved over her shoulders and arms, washing away the lingering ache. Her heart and breath calmed. A feeling of sated, quiet peace began to spread through her.
Secret Mercy Page 3