by A. M. Hardin
"What makes you so sure?" I ask, curious about the conviction in her voice.
"It's written all over their faces, Mercy. They all want you, they're all possessive of you, already. They look at you like they'll kill to protect you, kill to possess you. They won't let anything get between them and you. If that means sharing you between them, that's what they'll do. Didn't you mention that you have already been with Hunter and Warwick?"
I nod.
"None of the guys had any bad reactions to that knowledge. And you know they all know about you being with two of them already. They can either sense it or scent it. None of them acted on any jealousy that they may have had."
"I guess that makes sense."
“Alright, enough serious crap for now,” Farrah says, clapping her hands together. “Let’s get to my room so we can find something for you to wear tonight and tomorrow.”
I chuckle and follow her to her room.
When we get to her closet and she opens the doors, my mouth drops. “Farrah, your closet is bigger than my old bedroom at my mom’s house.” I slide my gaze to her. “Why the hell would you need so many clothes and shoes?” I ask, eyeing the giant-ass wall of designer shoes.
She rolls her eyes. “It’s mom and dad’s way of apologizing for me not getting to have a life. Go ahead and look around, find something you like for tonight.” She stops for a heartbeat then shakes her head. “Nevermind. Go sit on the bed. I’ll find you something.”
I raise a brow. “Why can’t I just pick?”
She grins. “Because I never get to pick clothes for someone else.”
I sigh and go to sit on the bed. “Fine. I’ll be here.”
She squeals happily and disappears into the closet.
Deciding to check in with Hunter about Torn while I wait, I lay back on her bed and relax. “Any news on Torn?”
“Nothing yet. My people are still trying to find him.” His aggravation is clear in his tone.
“Are we sure going out tonight is a good idea?”
“Honestly? It’s a bad idea, but I know Farrah well enough to know that she’ll do her best to make all of our lives hell if we cancel this.”
I snicker. “Big bad son of Satan is scared of a girl?”
“Scared? Of a girl that can make herself the biggest pain in the ass when she wants to? No. Wary, hell yes.”
“How much time do we have left before we need to go?”
“Soon. So don’t let her take too long getting you ready.”
“Sounds good.”
“Mercy,” he says, voice softening. “We need to talk tonight. You’ve put it off long enough. The conversation needs to happen.”
I sigh. “I know.”
“See you soon.”
I don’t bother responding because at that moment Farrah exits the closet with the biggest grin on her face. I frown when I see that she’s holding all leather clothes. “Your parents bought you that?”
She scoffs. “No. They gave me their credit card to buy what I wanted. I’ve never worn this, but I figured it’d be perfect for you.”
She lays a pair of leather pants that have the zipper on the side beside me and sets a pair of deadly looking black heels beside those. She holds up a leather sleeveless crop top and laughs when my mouth falls open.
“How many cows had to die for this outfit?”
She shrugs. “Who knows. Anyways, it’s perfect!”
I eye the top and bite my bottom lip. “I don’t know about the top, Farrah. I have a lot of scars.”
She purses her lips. “So I’ll give you some jewelry to distract from the scars. Come on, you’re a total badass, you can’t tell me showing some skin has you nervous.”
“Not nervous, no. I just know that people get uncomfortable when they see the extensive scarring. Hell, even the guys were speechless when they discovered them the first time.”
“Well, this time you’ll leave them speechless for a whole other reason,” she says with a wink. “Put it on, I’ll find you a necklace after I get some clothes for me.”
“Alright,” I say slowly.
“I’ve also already got a dress and mask for you for tomorrow, so you don’t need to worry about that,” Farrah says as an afterthought before leaving me again to go digging in the closet, presumably to get clothes for herself.
It takes an hour for us to finally leave her room and get to where the guys are meeting us. I wring my fingers together, feeling naked without my weapons. Farrah wouldn’t let me take any because they would ruin the outfit. I have to admit that she did an amazing job at picking out clothes for me. They’re a perfect fit and aren’t uncomfortable at all.
Now, if only I had my damn daggers. Or at the very least a throwing knife. I’m at risk of pouting by the time we get to the guys.
When we find them, they each take their time looking me up and down, heat, desire, and lust blazing in every one of their eyes, making me nervous.
“You guys okay?” I ask, attempting to calm my nerves a little bit. My words seem to have snapped them out of whatever daze they were in, and Hunter nods and opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.
Farrah laughs. “Well that’s the highest compliment I’ve ever seen,” she says through her peals of laughter. “You look so damn hot, you have them all at a loss for words. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen before.”
Parker scowls at his sister then meets my gaze. “She does have a point. You look beautiful,” the guys all nod in agreement, still seemingly without words.
“She looks gorgeous, as always,” War finally says. His smile melts into a frown as he examines me. “Are you armed?”
“No,” I grumble.
“Of course, not,” Farrah says with a laugh. “I wouldn’t let her, it would have ruined the outfit.”
Parker sighs while Kai rolls his eyes. “Leave it to your sister to think of fashion over weapons,” Kai mutters.
“Damn straight,” she snaps. “She deserves to be a normal girl for a damn night.”
Talon raises his eyebrow. “Do you have an ankle holster of any kind?” He asks me.
I shake my head. “No, those were all at the house mom and I left before I came to the Order.”
Talon nods. “I’ve got some spare ones in my room. I’ll grab one for you,” he says. He walks out of the room and heads towards the direction of his room without waiting for a response from anyone.
“Mercy,” Hunter says, gaining my attention from the door where I watched Talon leave. “Farrah’s guards will be with us, but they will not be there for you. They’ve already expressed this to the team that their priority is Farrah.”
I nod. “Yeah, I kind of figured. It’s their job.”
“Exactly, so at least one of us need to be with you at all times while we’re there.”
I bristle. “Seriously?”
“You’re going there, practically unarmed, Doll. We aren’t going to chance anything happening to you.”
I groan. “Alright, I guess, you have a point.”
Talon enters the room with one of my smaller knives already placed in the ankle sheath. I watch as he strolls to me and drops to a knee in front of me, setting the knife on the floor. He carefully rolls the bottom of my pants up, making sure there won’t be any creases in the leather. Picking up the knife he effortlessly straps it to my ankle, his fingers brushing against my skin, leaving a trail of warmth wherever he touches. He fixes my pant leg and stands back up then cups my cheek for the briefest moment. “All set.” He drops his hand, and I automatically miss the warmth of his hand on my cheek.
11
Mercy
We’ve been at the club–unsurprisingly, another club that Talon owns–for over two hours when I spot a familiar face that should not be there.
Or even alive.
What the hell?
I stop dancing, attempting to find the face again, and Talon places his hands on my hips, pulling me tighter against his front and his mouth brushes against my ear
. “What’s wrong?”
I turn around and search through the crowd of people on the dance floor behind him, but there’s no sign of him.
“I thought I just saw Aiden,” I admit, just loud enough for him to hear.
He stiffens and grabs my hand leading me away from the dance floor and toward the VIP area that the rest of the guys are waiting for me and Farrah to have our fun. Though one of them has been with me the entire time, they surprisingly, willingly took turns this tim.
I didn't think any of the guys like dancing at all, but, apparently, now that they're kind of used to me or whatever this is, they're willing to actually dance with me.
The moment we hit the empty hallway to the VIP area, Aiden steps out of the shadows with a wicked smirk.
I study him closely when Talon pulls me to a stop, noticing that whoever's wearing Aiden's skin, isn't bad at copying his appearance.
"Kadorika," I say simply, crossing my arms in front of my chest. It’s not difficult for a kadorika demon to recognize another of their breed.
The demon snarls at me, and the form he chose slowly melts away into his true form. His teeth sharpen into deadly points, and his nails lengthen into razor sharp points. Bat-like wings extend from his back as he hisses at us.
Talon positions himself slightly in front of me. “What are you doing here?” The demon just glares at us, not moving, not attacking. Nothing.
“Delivering a message,” the demon finally says, while cackling, after several tense minutes of silence,. “Torn says that you, kadorika half-breed, will never get away from him. No matter where you go, he will always find you. And he will have you.”
Oh, I really don’t like the way that sounds.
Before Talon or I can even open our mouths to respond to his words, the demon disappears.
Talon takes my hand again and practically drags me to the VIP area. The guys immediately tense when we storm inside.
“What’s going on?” Hunter asks.
“We need to leave. Now.” Talon explains what happens and as soon as he’s done Parker leaves the room to get his sister and her guards.
I sigh heavily as I sink down deeper in the tub, letting the hot water relax the tension from my back and shoulders.
We’ve been back at Parker’s parents place for at least a half hour to an hour and as soon as we got here all the guys wanted to do was talk shop. Needless to say, I’m a little sick of talking about all the bad crap going on, so I figured I’d take a rain check on the meeting this time. I was not interested in talking about myself anymore.
A knock comes on the door, and I groan. So much for peace and quiet. "Yeah?" I call out. The door opens and Hunter steps inside. I raise my brow at him. "Bit presumptuous, aren't you?"
He smirks. "It's nothing I haven't already seen, Doll," he drawls affectionately. He stalks toward me and carefully crouches down beside the tub. He grips the back of my neck and massages my nape gently. "You doing okay?"
"I'm fine," I mutter.
He smiles, his red eyes glittering with amusement. "You're such a little liar." He leans forward and brushes his mouth against my forehead. "What's going on in this gorgeous little head?"
"Take your pick," I say, closing my eyes and fighting a moan while he continues to massage the back of my neck, easing the tension there slightly.
"We're doing everything we can, Mercy. You know that, right?"
"Yeah, I know. Kai told me what you guys were doing."
Hunter falls quiet for a moment before the pressure from his hand tightens slightly then loosens again. "You still pissed at me?" He asks quietly.
I look up and meet his eyes. "No. I wasn't happy about all the secrets, but I do understand why you kept them. Why you're most likely still hiding them."
"I didn't keep those things from you to hurt you, Mercy."
I smile at him. "I know, Hunter. You don't need to convince me of that."
"Come on, get out of the tub," he says softly, standing and holding his hand out for me to grasp.
I grab his hand and let him help me stand. He grabs the towel off the rack and wraps it around me. I step out of the tub but he doesn't move back, so I end up pressed against his body. I look up and meet his gaze. His expression softens, and he cups my cheek in his hand.
He lowers his head and brushes his mouth against mine in a chaste kiss. That's not enough for me, so I flick my tongue against his lips before deepening the kiss and wrap my arms around his neck, not caring that my towel falls to my feet in a puddle. His arms come around my body, pulling me closer.
The kiss quickly transforms from a slow kiss to a frenzied one. Without any notice, Hunter's hands grip under my ass, and he picks me up. I immediately lock my legs around his waist and moan at the friction his clothing is causing between my legs.
He moves a few steps to the left and deposits me on the bathroom counter. One of his hands tangles in my hair, holding me still while he devours my mouth, and the other goes between my legs. I gasp in his mouth as his finger thrusts hard inside me.
"Hunter," I moan wriggling in his hold, needing more. "Please."
He works me over with one finger for a few more strokes before he adds a second one, stretching me further. His thumb presses against my clit, and my climax hits, sneaking up on me.
I fumble with his shirt, throwing it over his head and tossing it aside. When I start fumbling with his pants and not having any luck, I huff as he chuckles quietly and moves my hands out of the way to do it for me.
I bite my lip at the sight of his hard cock and rub my thighs together, impossibly turned on just from the sight of it. Reaching out with one hand, I grasp it, pumping a few times, making him groan and thrust into my hand.
He moves my hand away and lines his cock up with my pussy. In one smooth thrust, he's inside, balls deep. My back arches as my body stretches to accommodate his size.
He thrusts inside me gently a few times, teasing me. I drag my nails down his back in a warning that he, thankfully, heeds. Without anymore teasing he's pumping in me at a furious pace. His mouth slams down on mine as he thrusts in and out of my pussy, the noises we make echoing off the walls of the bathroom.
With the ferocity of his strokes and the urgency in his kiss, I come in no time, my pussy clamping down hard on his cock, and I scream with my release. Two thrusts later, Hunter joins me over the edge. He places one last gentle kiss on my lips before pulling out, and I almost cry at the empty feeling he leaves me with.
I watch as he gets a rag wet and moves to clean me up.
"I'm staying with you tonight," he says when he's done.
I raise a brow. "You are?"
He grins. "Hell, yes, I am. I'm not done with you, Doll."
I squeal loudly as he picks me up off the counter and slings me over his shoulder.
Asshole.
12
Mercy
I hold the red and gold mask that Farrah gave me earlier in my hands and groan. I really don’t want to wear this thing.
Is it really necessary to wear mask?
A knock at the door pulls me away from my whining thoughts. I look up as the door
opens, and Kai steps in the room dressed in what looks like a tailor-made suit.
He stops in his tracks when his eyes land on me, standing in the corner.
"Holy shit," he breathes.
I smile, feeling my cheeks start to burn. "Holy shit, yourself."
He snaps out of his daze and moves closer to me. "You look gorgeous," he
says quietly.
"Thank you," I mutter in response. The dress Farrah picked out for me to wear
tonight is a floor length, blood-red, deep v-neck dress with a slit on one side
that goes high up on my thigh. "You don't look half bad yourself," I
tease, reaching out to smooth his tie down. I don't know what the hell his
clothes are made of, but they're seriously soft.
He clears his throat. "I came to let you know that we're all
, except for
Parker, ready and waiting in Hunter's room."
I grin. "Sounds good."
He tilts his chin in the direction of my mask. "Do you need help with that?"
I sigh. "I guess so. I don't really want to wear it anyway, but it'll look
funny if I tie it myself."
He chuckles and slips the mask out of my hands. Placing it against my face he
reaches around me and ties it quickly. His hands slide to my shoulders and
slowly glide down my arms. His eyes drop to my mouth and I bite my lower lip,
suddenly nervous. Even though the heat has been building between us since the
night we rescued Xena, we haven't kissed yet, and suddenly, that's all I want to
do.
I raise my hand to the back of his neck and pull him down, so I can reach his
mouth. He stills for just a second then responds to my kiss. Kissing me back
just as hungrily and eagerly as I am, he wraps me in his arms and presses my
body tight against his while his tongue conquers my mouth, tangling with my
own.
A throat clearing pulls us apart, and I look behind Kai to see Talon standing
there with an amused expression and heated eyes that make me shiver slightly.
"Yeah?" I ask, shooting for a breezy tone but missing by a mile because I'm still out of
breath from Kai's kiss.
"Came to see what was taking Kai so long to come back with you. Now I know why, and
I'm getting the feeling I would have had a show if I had come in later or not
announced my presence at all," he adds with a smirk.
I blush and stick my tongue out. "Maybe later, big guy. Let's get the hell
out of here and get this thing over with. This mask is annoying."
Talon and Kai chuckle. Kai offers me his arm, and I take it, allowing him to lead me
out of the room.
After we meet up with Hunter and War, Parker joins us and we all follow him to the ballroom where the masquerade is being held.