Second Chance for Love

by April Zyon

  “Deal.” She happily moved off through the crowds to make the order and get their drinks. Turning her back to the bartender, she watched the crowds and waved at a couple of people that waved or nodded to her. Tipping her hat, she tapped her boot to the next song and turned when her name was spoken aloud. “Thanks.” She passed off the twenty and said, “Keep it for the next couple, please?”

  “Thanks, Mercy,” the bartender said.

  ****

  As she walked off, he watched her path to the table in the corner. Shifting his position slightly, he kept the woman in sight, her and that damned DEA agent. Fucker.

  Only when they had both taken a drink each did he relax, a smile curling his lips. Slipping through the crowd, he moved to the bar and slipped the five hundred to the bartender. “I won’t forget this,” he told the man.

  “For this kind of cash, anytime,” he got in return.

  Nodding to him, he slid back into the shadows. Now all he had to do was wait for the Rohypnol to take effect. Then he could get his revenge on the DEA agent for killing his brother. He hadn’t needed to shoot his kid brother. Just because he’d had a gun didn’t mean the little shit would have used it, but the big man hadn’t even given the kid a chance to put the weapon down.

  “Payback’s a bitch, asshole. Prepare to pay,” he muttered.

  Chapter Three

  Halfway through their drinks, Brant started to look a bit fuzzy. He also didn’t look very steady either. When he took her glass from her, she wanted to protest, but her tongue seemed to be a bit uncoordinated. “Mercy, look at me,” he said, slurring his words. “Mercy, we need to get up and get moving around, do you hear me?”

  Mercy nodded and rose to her feet. “Okay, moving. See, I’m moving,” she said, and held out her hand to him. “I think it’s time to go home.” Thankfully, she didn’t live that far away, so that was good. “How about we head to my place? You can crash with me for a bit because I don’t think that I should be driving. Maybe the drinks I had before you boys came in was a little too much?”

  “It’s not the drinks,” he muttered. He was on his feet too, shaking his head almost violently and blinking wide eyes. “Shit, I think someone fucking slipped something into our drinks. Mercy, we need to leave, now. We need to get to your place and lock ourselves in before whatever this was takes effect. You good to walk?” He was hopeful that they would be able to get out of there without anyone being the wiser. As long as they could, then later he would be able to figure this shit out.

  “Yeah, I’m good.” Mercy looked at him and frowned. She slipped her hand into his and squeezed it tightly. “I live at the corner of Cottage and Monroe. Yeah, I know, I don’t live at the family farm.” She let the foreman take care of the ranch so that she could live in town near the school. “Come on, let’s get out of here before I can’t walk.”

  “Good plan,” he muttered. He appeared to be looking around them. “I don’t want to stay here any longer than we need to. Quickly now.” Squeezing her hand in his, he plowed them a path toward the door. When they were outside, he sucked in a noisy breath and pressed a hand to his forehead.

  Mercy took in a deep breath as well and turned her face up to the skies. She smiled and tugged him toward her home. “Come on, big boy. You get to come home with me tonight.” She was being a bit more forward than she typically was in life. “I only have one bed, so I so hope you don’t snore,” she teased.

  “Not that I know of, though if I did, I’m sure that would have been one of the complaints the witch would have brought against me in the divorce proceedings so she’d have had a leg to stand on. Not that she did, have a leg to stand on, I mean. Damn, it’s getting really hard to think,” he mumbled. He was moving along with her, not exactly in a straight line, though. If anyone were to notice, they’d just assume he was drunk, her as well given how they were both weaving, not even the same direction most of the time.

  She snickered, wrapped her arm around his middle, and moved with him. “Well, she’s a bitch and you deserved so much better than her. I never knew what you saw in her.” Mercy admitted to him. “I had the biggest crush on you in high school,” she blurted out as they walked up the path to her house. “It’s unlocked.” She opened the door. Once inside, she turned off the alarm and at his look, shrugged. “I never recall where my keys are, so I leave it unlocked but use the alarm.” Yeah, she was a dork and knew it. “Anyway, yeah, I always thought you needed someone so much better than her. Maybe now you will find it,” she said with a nod, and stopped that nod mid-move when the world swam. “Because you are way too sexy for her.” She was getting hot, wet, and horny as she looked at and talked to him.

  “At the time, I thought it was love,” he said. He made a face as he closed and locked her door. When he turned, he threw a hand out, bracing himself on the wall. “Shit, my head is swimming.” He squinted at her, moving closer slowly until he was barely a breath from touching her chest to chest. “I should have known better when she started trying to get me to quit the Rangers. Should have known she had grandiose plans that I never wanted a part of. But I was an idiot, thought I was in love with her. Turns out I was in love with the idea of love, not the woman who I’d shackled myself to.”

  “That’s too bad.” Mercy put her hand to his chest and licked her lips. “Sometimes we fall at the worst of times in our lives, don’t we?” That was how she wound up in the sham of a marriage she had been in. “Too bad that I didn’t attack you in high school so that you could have had a reason to break up with that bitch.” She hated his ex now. She moved in closer to him and then, without even thinking it through, Mercy pulled him down to her and kissed him.

  His arms wrapped around her tight. She was plastered up against his body, his mouth taking over the direction of the kiss and making it deeper. He was moving them, to where she didn’t know. Hell, she didn’t even care. Brant Carver was kissing her back, devouring her. The universe had seen to it that she’d gotten a bit of her teen dream.

  When Mercy pulled back from him, she licked her lips and pulled him toward her bedroom. “Wow,” she whispered, and started to undo the buttons on his shirt, tugging him back down to her so that she could kiss him again. The flavor of beer and Brant together was a heady combination that made her desperate for more.

  His hands were moving too, tugging her shirt from her pants, and then off over her head when they paused for air. Then her bra hit the floor, his hands moving to work the button to free her from some of the last of her clothing. He kissed her again harder, his warm hands sliding in under her pants and underwear to cup her ass and pull her closer to him.

  Mercy moaned and started to undo his pants. She pushed them down and, holy shit, he was commando under the jeans. She pulled back and looked up at him. “Damn,” was all she could say. She didn’t hesitate. Mercy dropped to her knees, pushing his jeans down as she did so, and closed her mouth over the head of his cock. She sucked and teased, licking and laving attention upon his dick.

  “Holy shit,” he yelped. His large hand landed on her head gripped her hair as he tried to stay upright. He was leaning on her slightly for a moment before the pressure let off. “Oh God, Mercy. Fucking hell, you have the best fucking hottest mouth on the planet.”

  Mercy hummed. Damn, praise from Brant Carver was perfect to her. She licked and teased him until he tugged on her hair to pull her up. When he kissed her again, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him, both of them now naked and falling upon her bed. “Condom. I think I have one or two in my side table,” she said, and peppered kisses along his neck, biting him as well and giving him a love mark that he would wear tomorrow.

  She could hear him fumbling around as she continued to mark him up. Finally, the crinkle of a condom wrapper was heard before he pulled away enough to roll it onto his hard cock. Covering her again, he kissed her hard, one of his large, warm hands slipping between her legs to stroke over her wet pussy. He dipped a finger in, sliding it all the way into her bo
dy, withdrawing it a moment later to play with her clit.

  “Fuck me.” She moaned with her back arching. It was a cry of pleasure. It was a plea for more. “More,” she demanded, her body moving against his fingers. She bit his chest then, marking him once more, and laughed when he leaned in and sucked the side of her neck also. “God, yes.” She was moving against his finger, wanting and needing more.

  “Not yet,” he said. His hand moved away, sliding over her hip to squeeze. “I want to be inside of you, your pussy tight around my cock, as you scream through orgasm.” Thankfully, he seemed extremely eager to put his cock where she wanted it. She could feel him pressing to her opening, and then sliding in slowly, stretching her little by little.

  “I’m so good with that.” She shuddered and wrapped a leg around his hips to tug him closer. “God damn, you feel so good.” She whimpered and shifted under him. “So good.” He felt perfect. If only she had known just how good he felt, she would have done this long ago. “Brant.” Her nails raked over his back, marking him as hers. There was no other way to explain just exactly what she was doing.

  “Fuck, Mercy. You’re so damn tight, hot, wet,” he moaned out. He pressed his cock in deeper until he’d filled her. They both were still for a moment, catching their breath as they stared into the other’s eyes. Then he started to move, slowly withdrawing and thrusting in deep, over and over, building speed as he went.

  “Only been fucked a half dozen times.” She shuddered. “Fucking hell, Brant.” She would have had sex far more often if it always felt like this. She could become addicted to this man and this act. Even through the haze of the drugs, she knew she could become addicted. “There.” She purred and shivered as he adjusted her body under his. “I want on top.” She growled and nipped at him once more, shivering again when he sucked her breast. “Please, I want to ride you, Brant.”

  “Fuck, yeah,” he said. With a groan, he rolled them over, sitting her up on top of his cock. His hands slid over her waist and higher to her breasts. His fingers found her nipples, pinching and rolling the tight buds, even tugging on them now and again.

  Mercy leaned back and began to ride him. Her long hair brushed his upper thighs as she tossed her head back. “Touch my clit,” she begged him, and reached behind her so that she could tease his balls, stroking him and demanding more.

  “Fucking hell, Mercy,” he groaned out. He did as she’d asked, though, one of his hands sliding down her belly until he was rubbing a thick digit to her clit. Round and round the digit went as he lifted his hips to press his cock deep into her weeping pussy.

  “God, yes.” She moved faster, and she felt his balls drawing up. She knew that he was close. She looked down at him, moving so that she could brace her hands on his chest, and smiled down at him. “I’m close.” She needed him to come with her. “Come. Now.” She shuddered.

  He rubbed harder at her clit, taking to pinching and plucking it. “Come for me, Mercy,” he growled. His eyes were mere slits as he stared up at her. “I want to see you come, screaming my name.” He was holding onto her one hip tightly. His fingers would likely leave little bruises, but it seemed to help him slam his cock into her harder. Brant’s face was tight, his lips drawn back from his teeth in a fierce look as he stared at her.

  Mercy couldn’t deny him anything, it seemed. She did as he had demanded and screamed his name. Her whole body shook with the release as she orgasmed. A second time, she sobbed his name and squeezed his cock tighter inside of her body.

  Brant flipped them over, driving his cock into her spasming pussy relentlessly. With a loud shout—her name, she thought—he stiffened over her, his body shuddering before he collapsed on top of her.

  Mercy smiled, her hands moving over Brant’s sweaty back and holding him close. “Damn,” was all that she could say. She pressed a kiss to the side of his neck and smiled. “How about you ditch the condom?” She was feeling more than a little bit warm from the inside out and wanted to sleep. She liked the way that it felt, the heat of him inside of her. It was different from anything she had felt before.

  Grunting, he eventually rolled off of her, lying on his back for a time before pushing up to a sitting position. “Bathroom?” he asked her. When she pointed, he stumbled toward it. The water running a moment later signaled he was coming back before his naked body appeared at the end of the room. He made his way back, weaving a little before collapsing onto the bed next to her.

  Mercy pulled the blankets up and around them. She laid her head on his chest and snuggled into him when he pulled her close. She yawned, and after pressing a kiss to his chest, she let go and went to sleep.

  Chapter Four

  Waking the next morning, he was confused. Really confused. There was a very warm body next to him. Turning his head, a throbbing head no less, toward the warm body, he had a moment of absolute terror. Her name wouldn’t come to him, not right away.

  Mercy, his sluggish brain finally supplied. It was Mercy Jenkins. Heaving a breath, Brant frowned. He remembered meeting up with her at The Shanty the night before. He remembered her story about the kid in her class. He even vaguely had a memory of them stumbling through the streets of Massey.

  After that, everything got really, really fuzzy.

  Licking his lips, which was a wasted effort given how dry his mouth was, he evaluated what he did know from the state of things. They were both naked, there appeared to be a condom wrapper on the bedside table, and she was plastered against him. At a guess, he’d have to think they ended up having sex the previous night. Damn, he wished he could remember that part at the very least.

  He really shouldn’t be there. He needed to get the hell out of there, quick.

  Easing her head up off his chest slowly, he rolled her very carefully until she was snuggled into a pillow. Tucking the blankets around her tightly to keep her warm and so she’d hopefully not notice his lack of presence, Brant slipped slowly from the bed.

  Slipping into his jeans, he stuck his feet into his boots, snatching up his shirt, his wallet, and his phone. Pausing in the doorway, he frowned. Joshua had driven them to the bar and his brother had said he’d left his keys with Mercy to get him home later that night. Shit, she had to have the keys, but where?

  His eyes landed on her jeans from the night before. As good of a place to start looking as anywhere else. He got lucky upon lifting her jeans. The keys were in the front pocket. Easing them free, he wrapped his hand around them to keep them from jangling together and giving him away.

  One last look at her and he slipped out of her house, carefully ensuring the front door was locked behind him so she’d be safe. Now all he had to do was remember where his brother’s truck was.

  ****

  Mercy woke a short time later, the sound of the door waking her. She stretched and pressed her face to the pillow and inhaled. She sighed. Brant Carver. That was whose head had been there.

  It wasn’t until she began to stretch that she realized she was naked. “What?” Her head was fuzzy and she sat up quickly, her stomach bottoming out with nausea. “What the hell?” She looked to the side table and saw a condom wrapper lying there as if accusing her silently.

  She fell back against the pillows and looked up at the ceiling. She tried desperately to recall the night before and most of it was foggy. She couldn’t recall getting home. She knew Josh had asked her to show Brant a good time, but she was certain that sex was nowhere in that request.

  Rubbing her temples, she sighed. “What the hell did I do last night?” Sex. She knew she had sex because her body felt sore, and it felt sated. She also felt as if she would have been able to go again.

  She slowly stood and walked toward the bathroom, shocked when she saw herself in the mirror. “Holy crap,” she said with wide eyes as she looked at the marks on her throat and chest. She laughed then. “Well, at least we enjoyed it.”

  She went to start the shower and her brain began to work. Wait, she had seen a condom wrapper on the bedside table, right?
When she looked into the trash beside the commode, she noticed the used condom there. Thank God, at least they had been safe about it. Shaking her head, she got into the shower and sighed. “I wish I could remember it.” Dammit. Oh well, such was life.

  Chapter Five

  Six weeks later

  Mercy looked down at the little stick and felt sick, again. “No,” she whispered, and pulled the fourth box close to her. She had been sick for the last week and a half, and realized two days earlier that she hadn’t had a period for nearly two months. No, scratch that, it was a bit more than two months, and for a woman who literally had a period every twenty-nine days, that was just far too long.

  She had then driven out of the town and out of the county so that she could buy a few pregnancy tests and take them. Four—she had bought four pregnancy tests of differing brands because she had to be certain.

  “Not possible.” The only person she had sex with had been Brant Carver, but that was six weeks ago and they had used a condom, so it wasn’t possible. Simply couldn’t be. Mercy felt the world swimming around her in the truck stop bathroom she was in. “Jesus,” she whispered, and broke down to cry. A baby. Oh God.

  She took a deep breath, and after a short while, shook herself out of her funk and pulled her shit together. With her hand over her belly, she whispered, “I don’t remember how you were made, sweetheart, but I’m not letting you go.”

  Damn, she was going to have to make an appointment to see a doctor because the baby’s health was more important than her desire for privacy.

  After tossing the four positive pregnancy tests into the basket, she washed her hands and headed out to her car.

  After getting Brant’s phone number from Ali, sidestepping her questions as best she could, she then made the worst phone call ever—calling a man that she had been avoiding for the last six weeks.