Men of Mercy: The Complete Story

by Cross, Lindsay

  "If that's what you call sex, then yes, I want to walk all night long." Hunter's lips stretched into a slow, lazy grin, one that would have made her knees buckle if she hadn’t already been sitting. Thank the Lord they were stuck in this boat, otherwise she might have just attacked him.

  She gave him her best scowl and averted her gaze. The bottom of the fishing boat had rusted and looked like one hard kick would knock a hole clear through the bottom. She pulled the backpack off the floor and hugged it to her.

  After several minutes of tense silence passed, the boat rocked and slammed to a stop. Hunter rowed them onto a small ledge, covered in grass, on the slope of the levee. He hopped out and held the boat. "Your destination."

  Destination, her ass. More like a never-ending nightmare that stretched out for miles and miles. She loved the levee. Loved cruising down the long gravel road at the top. But right now all she could see were the hours and hours of uninterrupted time with a shirtless Hunter James. And nowhere to take advantage of him.

  "Leave the backpack. I'll get it. You get to the top."

  Hunter held out a hand and she took it, using the leverage to hop from the front of the boat onto the slope of the levee.

  As she climbed to the top, Hunter held the backpack overhead and got off the boat, then pushed it away.

  "Hey. Why did you do that? What if we need the boat?" Evie's heart climbed into her throat as Hunter clambered up the side of the levee.

  "We won't need it. Besides, that bucket of tin wouldn't have made it much farther." Hunter talked so matter-of-factly. As if they hadn’t almost drowned in a ramshackle deathtrap.

  Evie swallowed as Hunter put on the backpack and started walking, quickly outstripping her. She only stared after him. Dammit. She was starting to remember just how frustrating he could be. Evie took off behind him, gravel crunching beneath her boots, but Hunter didn't slow down to wait. Which gave her ample opportunity to gaze at his wide shoulders.

  A pair of black scorpion tattoos wrapped over his traps, their claws open and pointed toward his spine. Their sharp tails curved up his shoulders, poisonous tips level with his neck. The savage beasts seemed to embody the man. The thought nudged at her conscious. Telling her to keep her distance. He was a predator.

  And she was in danger of being paralyzed by his venom.

  She shook away the dark thought. "Nice tattoos."

  “Thanks.”

  Evie picked up her pace, determined not to let him leave her behind. "What do they stand for?" As if to mock her, he flexed his back. The scorpions shifted and damn if butterflies didn't tickle her insides.

  He gave no response, just kept walking.

  "Most people who get tattoos do it for a reason. Even if it is just to show off their muscles.” Bitterness crept into her voice, and she embraced the emotion—anything to camouflage the depth of her attraction to him.

  Hunter stopped so fast she slammed into his back. He turned and she had to back up a step. “You talk more than I remember.”

  “Why are you evading my question?”

  “Why are you so curious?” Hunter countered.

  Because she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She wanted to fill in all the gaps of lost time that stood between them.

  “I’m just making conversation.” And wondering how many other women had seen those tats.

  “Are you having second thoughts? About earlier?” Hunter’s voice went as quiet as still water.

  Evie swallowed at the sight of the storm clouds in his gaze. “No. I’m not. I just wish I could erase the past and start over.”

  Hunter wrapped his hands around her arms and pulled her close that she could feel the heat radiating off his skin. “I wish a lot of things. I remember a lot of things. Like how soft your hair is. How sweet your skin smells right here." Hunter lifted her and inhaled deep from the area right below her ear.

  Evie closed her eyes against her will as goosebumps skimmed down her spine.

  "How your skin is softer than pure Egyptian cotton." His voice dropped low and his breath was hot against her flesh. He yanked her to his chest and her nipples hardened at the contact.

  "That you have the most gorgeous mouth God ever created."

  Lust simmered in her, pushing her past warm to hot. She should be running to Mercy, trying to save her club. Her family. Trying to figure out what to do about Marcus. Instead her eyes slid shut and she let him take her mouth in a soul-obliterating kiss.

  “That night should have never happened.” Hunter trailed kisses down her neck, her collarbone. Evie dug her fingers into his shoulders, holding on tight as tendrils of pleasure climbed her body like vines.

  “When I saw you with him, I couldn’t handle it. I thought we were turning into my parents all over again.”

  His words stabbed her in the chest, twisted the knife, and sucked the breath right out of her body. Shock gave way to the dawning realization that he had thought she might be like his mother. His cheating, lying mother.

  “How could you think that?” Evie gasped out, struggling to find her breath under the onslaught of his lips.

  Hunter nipped her neck, the small bit of pain sending a rush of desire through her body. “I just saw you two and I couldn't think.”

  “So you left rather than do to me what your father did to your mother?” Her words warped under the weight of her misery. The heartache from five years ago exploded in her chest. Hunter’s father had murdered his mother right in front of him and Ranger. And all because she’d had an affair.

  Then he had taken a pistol to his own head.

  It had almost ruined Hunter.

  "I was scared I would turn into my dad. I knew I would die if I ever hurt you, but I couldn’t take the chance I’d do something I’d regret. His blood runs in my veins.” Hunter pulled back and held her away. The pain in his gaze was heartbreaking.

  Evie reached up and cupped his cheek. “You are not your father. That man might have been your biological father, but Hank is your real dad. He raised you. He taught you to be a man. You would never hurt me. I know that.”

  Hunter's teeth clenched so tight the muscles in his jaw expanded an inch. His hands fisted at his sides.

  Compassion ripped more bricks from the part of her self-protective wall that still stood. "You are not him. Do you hear me?"

  Hunter got quiet. Distant. His shoulders drooped and she saw the fight leaving his body. Saw, for the first time, the fatigue.

  "Hunter." Evie placed her hand on his chest. "I hated you for abandoning me, but…” All the pain and anger and fear balled up inside her chest. Evie took a deep breath, resolving to release it and to put the past in the past. “I don’t blame you now that I know the truth.”

  She held her breath, trying to hold back from breaking down. Hunter stared down at her hand, but she refused to move it. He needed to see her. Needed to feel her support. She almost buckled when his hand covered hers.

  Chapter 21

  Evie's hand burned through his chest right into his heart. He wanted to believe her. Wanted it more than he had wanted anything in a long time. But could he risk turning into a sap who believed whatever line of bull anyone fed him?

  "Hunter?"

  Her eyes were so vulnerable, so open. He was having a hell of a time trying to convince himself this small beautiful creature staring up at him was evil.

  His friends had said she was evil.

  The CIA had said she was evil.

  Hunter had said she was evil. But now-he didn't believe it.

  "I believe you."

  She offered up a trembling smile and he accepted, warmth filling some empty part inside of him. Hunter capped it off. He still had a mission to complete. Just because he believed she hadn’t cheated on him five years ago didn't mean she hadn't gotten involved with criminals.

  It was his job to find out the truth. Regardless of his feelings. He suspected more and more that she’d gotten involved against her will and he had every intention of finding the real threat.
And squashing it before Evie got hurt. "Let’s get moving. The sun is about to set and I would feel better if we made it at least a couple of miles before making camp."

  "Okay." They headed toward town, Hunter behind Evie now. He needed more time to think, to process, and to plan.

  The river rushed by, ripping and rolling no more than six feet away. He'd been close to the river before—that was nothing new. He'd swam in her waters every summer after Hank adopted him. But he'd never been this close while on top of a forty-foot high levee. He'd never seen the Mississippi crest the tops of trees or sweep houses away from their foundations.

  Even the birds didn't know what to do. They circled and occasionally swooped for fish in the water, only to come up, wings flapping and squawking, apparently thrown off by the unexpected rise in the water.

  Evie’s house had been one of the few left on the river side of the levee. After the last big flood in 1977, most folks rebuilt on the town side, protected by the levee from flood waters. And as long as the levee held, the rest of Mercy was safe.

  Thank god he had Evie's gun. It wasn't his Glock, but it was still protection. The rising water could only benefit certain things, and half of them weren't a friend to humans. The fish were no big deal. He’d already killed a water moccasin today, and the alligators? He wasn't going there.

  But then again, the flood had benefitted him too. After all, Evie was walking in front of him and they were in this thing together. And damn if she wasn't wearing those jeans that had glitter on the back pockets. Each step, each unconsciously graceful roll of her hips caught the light and twinkled. Taunting him. Drawing his gaze like a fucking bull’s-eye target.

  She'd pulled her hair up into one of those loose sloppy buns on top of her head. On someone else it might have looked trashy, but it emphasized the curve of Evie’s neck and the soft skin leading down her spine. Hunter cleared his throat and looked away, his mind sinking into his pants. The last thing he needed was a walking hard-on.

  "I should thank you, for saving my life," Evie said.

  Hunter's body tightened and he almost stopped walking. The image of the moccasin poised to strike her lovely neck filled him with fear. With rage. If it had struck, she would have died. They had been fifteen miles from town with no phones. No transportation. No help.

  And he was thinking about how nice it would be to cup her ass, rip her shirt off, and palm those lovely breasts. What was wrong with him?

  "No thanks needed. It was just a gut reaction."

  Hunter cringed, thankful she didn't turn around. His ability to smooth talk women had never been stellar, but it seemed to disappear altogether around Evie. "I mean yeah, when I saw the snake there, I..."

  Evie turned then, her eyes wide and surprised. "You mean you were concerned for my safety?"

  If he didn't stop grinding his teeth, he wouldn't have any left. "Hard to imagine right?"

  She softened, as if she could read his mind. "No, not so hard."

  Hunter opted to keep his mouth shut this time. Why his CO had thought he would be good at seducing her into confiding in him was beyond his comprehension. The only thing he was good at coaxing was a bullet from the chamber.

  She started walking again and he hurried to catch up. "I'm sorry about your house."

  He was proud of how she’d sucked it up and helped him after her initial shock, but when he stopped to think about it, she hadn’t given him much information since last night—heck, there had been too many distractions for him to even ask any questions. He needed to know more. Especially if he was going to shield her from her enemies. "So you and your mom bought a bar?"

  "Yeah." She kept walking.

  "How did you end up with a dump like that?"

  "Are you talking trash about my bar?"

  "Well, sorry to say, but it is a shit hole."

  Evie stopped then and her expression could have fried him like an egg on boiling pavement. "A shit hole was all we could afford when the county refused to pay Dad's pension."

  Something was definitely off. The situation didn't add up. The girl he had known had her toes and fingers painted matching shades of pink every week. She wore dresses. Fuzzy sweaters. Cute sandals.

  But the woman walking beside him wore boots and ripped up jeans and hard-ass muscle shirts. And had a chip on her shoulder.

  "Sorry, I guess that came out wrong." Hunter had never put his foot in his mouth this many times in consecutive order. "It just surprises me that you own a bar like that. I thought you couldn't stand those sorts of places."

  Evie kept her blue eyes fixed forward and Hunter didn't like the hard lines around her eyes. "Like I said. Things got hard. We had to make do."

  But did she have to make do running weapons for a terrorist?

  "I'm sorry about your dad. He was a good man. Mercy is a worse place without him."

  Evie snorted. "You don't have to tell me that. You got to meet the new sheriff up close and personal last night. I'd say worse is an understatement."

  The desire for revenge rose inside him again—hot and quick. Brown wasn't a big man, but he was bigger than Evie. And when he remembered the sight of his hands wrapped around Evie's neck... "I promise you, Evie, that fucker is going to pay. I’ll take care of it as soon as we get back to Mercy.”

  Evie spun and slammed her hands into his chest. "No." She cleared her throat. "No. You’ll just make it harder for us."

  Her words just confirmed his suspicion she was being coerced. The worried expression on her face made him hold his tongue. He knew exactly what he would do to Brown once he got his hands on him. No need to make her panic. "Okay. I'll leave him alone. For now."

  Probably not exactly what she was looking for from him, but it was the best he could do. He would just have to hope the sheriff stayed out of his field of vision.

  Besides, there were other challenges for him to face. And what had just walked into his line of vision was infinitely more dangerous than Sheriff Brown.

  Chapter 22

  Her father had always told her not to poke a bear. But after he shot a mountain lion in front of her, right after repeating that hackneyed piece of wisdom, she decided to dismiss his words.

  Maybe that was why, when her tangled mind registered that she'd slapped Hunter on his big, hard, sexy chest, she didn't pull back. Why her fingers itched to trace the ridges of his pecs.

  Or maybe it was the simple fact that Hunter wanted to defend her. And it had been so long since any man had lifted a fist in her defense instead of to attack her.

  Desire slammed into her palms first, rolled up her arms, and slid down her spine. She didn't want to poke the bear. She wanted to stroke his fur.

  She lifted up on her toes, grabbed his shoulders, and leaned in to kiss him. But Hunter was distracted, his gaze focused on something over her shoulder. He tensed and she felt his heart accelerate. "Don't move,” he whispered.

  Shock slapped her hormones all the way down to the unyielding levee of packed dirt and gravel. His arm wrapped around her and formed a band of iron around her waist that locked her in place.

  Hunter eased her to his side and she folded around his body like ClingWrap. When he turned, she moved with him. When he lifted his free arm, she froze at the sight of the 9mm in his hand. When she saw what he was aiming at, her heart sputtered like a tapped-out coffee maker.

  Alligator.

  Huge. Ugly. Big teeth that extended down past his closed jaw.

  "Evie." Hunter lowered his mouth to her ear. "I want you to very carefully get behind me."

  Evie nodded, and slid her left foot sideways until she was straddling his thigh. The alligator shifted, moving less than an inch, but with a reptilian speed that stunned her. She froze. Her heart drummed so fast in her chest it turned into a straight dull roar instead of a thump, thump, thump.

  "It’s okay. Just get behind me." His free hand caressed her back, the caress brief and barely there, but enough to give her the strength to continue her journey behind him. Finally, after
jerking from every little snap and crackle of the gravel behind her, Evie pressed her chest to Hunter's back.

  "What are you going to do?"

  "Try and distract him." Hunter eased down into a crouch, his pistol still raised, and grabbed a rock. It took every teeny tiny bit of her will power not to take off running.

  Hunter's hand shot forward and the rock plopped in the river. The gator's tail whipped into a C and he disappeared into the water with the speed of the devil himself. Evie swallowed and grabbed Hunter's shoulders. Three close calls. Three. When it rains it pours.

  "You must have really pissed Mother Nature off." Hunter stood and holstered the gun at his back.

  Evie cleared her throat and said, "Must have been all the paper plates."

  Hunter smiled, his tan skin breaking into lines crafted from hours in the sun. She tilted her head back and wrapped her arms around him again. His narrow waist and solid chest were too inviting for words, especially after this latest brush with death.

  "I guess you can thank me for saving your life. Again."

  "I have to agree, a little thanking is definitely in order." Evie pulled him down, relishing his surprise. This time, she kissed him.

  When they pulled apart a moment later, they were both panting. This afternoon's bout of mind-numbing sex had been like the aftermath of eating that small tenth of an ounce of dark chocolate recommended by her doctor. She craved more. And more. And more. Until she was so full she thought she might die. But she still wanted more.

  "If you don't stop looking at me like that, I'm going to take you right here, in the middle of the road," Hunter said.

  "If I remember correctly, we did that here before. Only we were in the front seat of your truck." The windows had fogged up in two seconds. Hunter had left her streaked palm prints on them all week.

  He tilted his head back and scrubbed his head, the tension thick enough to cut through the humidity. And Evie enjoyed his discomfort with a lighthearted pleasure she hadn't felt since high school.

  Unable to resist teasing him a little more, she leaned up on her toes and whispered, "You know, I doubt anyone will be driving down the levee today. Flood and all, you know? And it's getting dark."