Men of Mercy: The Complete Story

by Cross, Lindsay

  Hunter's gaze dropped and her satisfied smile turned rigid. His dark brown eyes had gone black with lust.

  She swallowed, her throat suddenly too tight.

  She had poked the bear.

  Evie spun and took off, the gravel crunching under her boots. She made it a few steps and then her feet left the ground. Hunter threw her over his shoulder, caveman style. And her face became very acquainted with his very sexy, very round backside.

  "I remember fogging up the windows in my truck. But I don't remember doing it against a tree."

  A tree. Was he serious? The thought of having sex out in the open, where they could get caught, was...incredibly hot.

  But also incredibly scary.

  Evie pounded on his back. "Put me down this instant. We can't do it out here. I was just playing."

  Hunter smacked her butt and she yelped.

  "That's just a taste, babe." He kept walking and started humming. And if she wasn't mistaken, she thought she recognized Justin Timberlake's “What Goes Around Comes Around.” Bastard.

  She needed to regain the upper hand. Desperate times called for desperate measures. She sank her teeth into his ass. Hunter howled and pulled her over his shoulder so fast her head swam.

  "You little wild cat. I'm going to tan your ass for that." Hunter rubbed his behind, but his eyes glowed with carnal promise.

  "Nice song. I didn't know you listened to JT."

  "I’ve found I have a taste for songs about revenge."

  "Really? Or just boy bands?" Where had that come from? Where had any of this come from? Her first reaction with Hunter had been to poke and tease, not cower and run.

  Realization dawned. It was because of Hunter. Because, despite everything, she still trusted him.

  And deep down, she still loved him.

  Her stomach shook with the realization, and she had the feeling of standing at the edge of an open airplane, getting ready to skydive without a parachute. The intensity of the sensation pushed outward into her arms and legs, sending her thoughts tumbling out of control. Then Hunter's arms surrounded her and yanked the parachute cord. And suddenly she was floating, her body light and fuzzy and kissed by the sun.

  She met him halfway in a wild crash of lips and tongue. A combination of fuel and fire, ready to combust. The trembling in her body returned, but it wasn’t from fear this time. It was a Richter scale nine-point-five earthquake.

  Hunter lifted her and she locked her legs around his waist. This was it. What she had been missing since he left. For the past few years, she'd fallen into the sinkhole of anxiety and panic attacks, unable to save herself before she sank. But Hunter had thrown her a rope.

  They broke apart, gasping for air, and Evie grabbed his face between her palms. She needed to see his strength. To feel it. Her sun wasn't a bright yellow ball of fire. It was dark and steady and made of titanium.

  A flat ball of rain spattered her forehead and she looked up. "It's raining. Again." A huge fissure inside her was separating her common sense from her heart, but each time he kissed her, the gap spread wider. And she didn't have any hope of keeping one foot on each side. She had to choose.

  Common sense. A dull, dreary, lonely life. No risk to her heart. No risk of unimaginable pleasure.

  Or Hunter.

  Evie took a deep breath and jumped.

  Chapter 23

  Evie had that RPG-about-to-explode-on-his-ass look and Hunter wondered if it was due to his caveman act.

  But then his little kitten morphed into a tiger and attacked him. She sucked his bottom lip between her teeth and he groaned, his hands drawn to her butt like magnetic opposites. He'd been dreaming of how sweet her lip would taste between his own teeth before she turned the tables on him. And he fucking loved it.

  If he'd been a bear, he would have growled. Instead he had to settle for the deep rumble of pleasure in his chest. Her mouth explored his, tentatively at first, but quickly growing more aggressive. His little firecracker needed to be in control this time. He could feel the change in her. He knew she'd made a decision. One that was vitally important to her.

  Evie nipped and licked her way down his jaw, his neck, his shoulder. She bit down, hard, and Hunter pulled her to him, forcing her center to rub up and down his jeans-covered cock. Gravel road or not, he was going to be inside that tight little body soon, and if her actions spoke true, she wanted the same thing.

  "Hold on." Hunter slipped the backpack off one of his arms and fought to disentangle the other one. The sun had set and there was only a dim grey glow just over the horizon. Darkness hit fast, the thick cover of clouds hiding the moonlight.

  Hunter ran down the dry side of the levee, into the woods at the bottom. A few minutes later he returned with his prize, a bundle of sticks and an old beer box.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m building a fire. We can sleep here. The sunlight will be gone soon.” He grabbed the backpack and dug for a match. He’d been lucky to spy the edge of white and blue cardboard sticking out from a pile of trash that had protected it from the rain. Perfect for kindling.

  “Perfect.” Evie grabbed the quilt and spread it next to the pile of sticks.

  He had a small fire going in less than five minutes. By the time he stood to survey his work, Evie was on her knees, tank top off and bare breasts swinging free. The glow from the old-time lantern danced across her skin and turned it to pure gold. Hunter paused in the process of undressing himself, transfixed by the most sensual creature he'd ever beheld. Time slowed. Evie knelt and undid the top button of her jeans. That small event set off a chain reaction in Hunter. He ripped off his own clothes and stood before her. Naked.

  Evie cupped him, her small hand circling beneath his balls, and lifted. He spread his legs wider. She stroked him until he couldn't hold back the grunts and groans. Her lips looked swollen and moist and her mouth was situated perfectly to take his cock. Hunter's control slipped and he wrapped a hand in her hair and guided her to him. Evie pulled back and Hunter thrust forward, seeking her lips.

  “My turn,” Evie said. He let go of her hair and just rested his hands, sweat beading his back at the torturous wait. A second later he was rewarded when her hot little mouth surrounded him.

  Fuck, he'd been dreaming about her mouth on him for too long. But the reality was so much sweeter than any dream.

  * * *

  Evie moved in a dream-like trance, locked into pleasure and lust and desire. Hunter's cock stretched her lips wide and tight. His salty taste was like heaven.

  She didn't know what creature had taken over her body, but she fed off the heady power of knowing she was the only one who could make Hunter James lose control. Evie sucked hard and flicked her tongue on the underside of his tip. Hunter jerked and gasped, his fingers yanking her hair. "Witch."

  Evie smiled around him and continued to explore. She wrapped her hand around the base of his shaft, taking up the space her mouth couldn't touch. Then she started sucking him in deeper, harder, tighter, feeling him pulse and throb in her mouth. Hunter groaned, hoarse with need.

  Her other hand drifted back to his sac, cupping and teasing the heavy, silken weight of it in her palm. Hunter's hands pulled tighter in her hair, and his thrusts came harder. Faster.

  Evie moaned around his hot flesh, the feeling of sensual power rising higher in her body. Her breasts were heavy with need, her core wet and ready. Sucking him like this, taking the control from him, aroused her. The sensation of him stretching her lips taut, filling her so completely that she tasted, smelled, and felt only Hunter, drove her wild.

  "Jesus Christ." Hunter thrust deep and held her still, his cock buried in her throat. Evie fought the urge to choke and forced herself to relax. She wanted to take all of him, so she let Hunter take over, pulling out and thrusting forward while she sucked hard. Wanting to make him lose control completely, she pulled her lips back and scraped her teeth lightly down his length. Hunter roared and a drop of his salty essence spilled onto her ton
gue before he pulled out.

  It felt like less than a second had passed before his hands encircled her waist. Hunter turned her quickly onto her hands and knees and slammed inside her before she could speak. Evie arched, a gasp escaping her lips as he spread her wet folds wide, thrusting into her with a power that left her weak.

  He latched on to her hips and drilled into her, hard and fast, her whole body jerking forward with each thrust. His finger found her clit and rubbed it in small circles in time with his movements. Evie's head dropped between her shoulders, his touch sapping all the strength from her muscles. The ball of heat building in her core expanded until it was ready to explode.

  Each time he filled her, he stroked her clit. Sending her higher. She burned. Ached. He stretched her until she couldn't take any more, then he thrust deeper. Took more. Took her control. She shattered, the scream sliding out of her open mouth, drifting across the water. Down the road. The woods. Everywhere. But she didn't care. Couldn't think.

  Evie convulsed around him and her fingers dug into the blanket as Hunter continued to plunge into her, stretching her orgasm out into one long roller coaster ride of pleasure. Hunter slammed in one more time and roared his release.

  Evie collapsed onto her chest, Hunter still holding her hips high. Her body shook, quivered. Small aftershocks of electricity zinged through her. He'd taken her control and lost his.

  The fire had dwindled to a glowing pile of embers and smoke. Its hazy glow illuminated the gravel right around it and nothing else. Hunter pulled out of her a few moments later. Evie was distantly aware of his movements, but she was overwhelmingly aware of the emptiness she felt after his retreat. Hunter had filled those missing parts inside her, parts of which she had only recently become aware. And she knew she could never go back to being without him. To being alone. She needed him.

  He added more limbs to the fire and then fell onto the blanket beside her and she snuggled into his arms, loving the feel of his body completely surrounding hers.

  He had told her she was the reason he'd come home. Up until tonight, she hadn't believed him. Hadn't dared to let herself fall for him again, but she had realized something tonight.

  Hunter might have been the reason she fell apart the first time, but he had also put her back together. Made her whole.

  Chapter 24

  Evie had gone from timid to torrential in a split second. Despite the loss of his ability to speak coherently around her, he'd met his first objective. They’d reestablished their trust in each other. But instead of cold detachment and calm confidence he usually tried to project, he felt incredible heat and the need to protect.

  She'd been on her knees, staring up at him with something close to worship and he had reveled in her gaze as much as the heavenly feel of her lips around his cock. She wasn't just a mission. No matter how much he tried to lie to himself, he knew she had slipped into his heart. Maybe she’d never left.

  And he wanted her to love him.

  The thought came out of left field, slammed into his chest, and nearly knocked him on his ass.

  Hunter swallowed, his throat tight and dry. Dammit. Evie had dumped his mission on its head and now he needed to find a compass to point him back in the right direction.

  Theft. Guns. Murder.

  Then he looked at Evie, cuddled in his arms, and saw the angry bruises around her neck. She needed protection from Marcus and his man. She needed him. And he vowed right then and there he would do everything in his power to save her.

  "Listen, Evie. I've been trying to talk to you since last night. About the reason I came home."

  She rolled over in his arms and lifted her fingers up to graze his cheek, leaving small spikes of electricity in their wake. "It's okay, Hunter. You don't have to say anything else. Let’s just enjoy our time together and when you have to leave again it will be okay. No hurt feelings. No expectations."

  "But that’s not what I want." It was true. He needed her to love him. To want him no matter where he was stationed. He needed someone to come home to.

  Shit. Waxing poetic? He had to get it together. She thought he'd come home just for her. And he was starting to believe it himself. All he could think about was how much he wanted to hold her, to sink into her again. When he should be thinking about using her and discarding her.

  Goddamn mission was killing him.

  But Hunter James didn't fail or quit. He got the job done. He had to compartmentalize. Figure out a way to tuck his emotions back into the steel vault in his mind and finish.

  Evie wasn’t his target anymore. She wasn’t totally innocent either, even if her blue eyes stayed fixed on him with a naive yearning. Even if she kissed him like she was years out of practice. Even if all he could think about was how sweet her moans sounded when he slid into her.

  "Hunter, I really am happy you’re home. And I want to be with you. More. Like this. But I’m scared." Her voice wavered with barely hidden indecision. She tottered back-and-forth and he had to tip the weight fully in his favor.

  He took a deep breath and ignored the burning ache in his chest. Think. Plan a strategy for infiltration.

  "Look, last night, when I saw him on top of you...last night something snapped inside me. It was stupid of me to stay away for so long. I've thought about you. All the time. No matter where I was." He paused and grabbed her hand, turning it palm up. "In the middle of the desert." He kissed her palm and inhaled deep, filling his senses with her sweet scent.

  "I would think about you late at night, when I stood outside the tent and looked up at the stars. Remember how we used to lie on the sandbar? Remember how many stars we’d see spread out over the river? Remember our star?" Hunter kissed each of her fingertips, taking his time, savoring each one. Each time she gasped and those small breathy sounds chinked away a piece of his armor. Blood flooded his cock, those little sounds driving him crazy. He let go of her hand and pulled her chest flush with his, savoring the feel of her hard nipples digging into his skin.

  "No matter where I was, I found our star." Hunter kept his voice low. He kissed the tip of her nose. Her cheeks. Her head. Evie's fingers dug into his arms.

  Her breathing increased, and every time she inhaled, her nipples pushed harder against him. He didn't know how much longer he could hold back. Fire licked his skin wherever they touched.

  He wanted her with a savage need that took control of his body. Took control of everything. Hunter flipped her onto her back, nudged her legs apart, and rammed inside. He didn't need to see if she was still wet. Her gaze, her body told him how much she wanted him. Evie arched and her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

  Hunter watched her expression, watched her tilt her head back and close her eyes as he thrust slow and deep inside her. "And I always wondered..." He pulled out and thrust forward, not stopping until he hit her core. "If you were staring at our star with me," he said gently, invading the warm cocoon of her body each time he spoke. She spasmed against him and her eyes flew open. "If you were thinking about me..." He slammed in again, his strokes long and sure. "...like I was thinking about you." Hunter ignored the vice in his chest and took her mouth in a brutal and possessive kiss. He felt the visceral need to mark her. To make sure she understood she was his. Always had been. Always would be. And he knew it had nothing to do with his mission.

  Evie's heels dug into his thighs and urged him on. She moaned into his mouth and arched into his touch. Hunter couldn't get deep enough; he needed more. He tore his mouth from hers and leaned back enough to pull her legs over his shoulders. He drilled into her, using her hips to yank her closer and bring their contact deeper, until her body went rigid and she screamed his name into the night. She clenched around him so tight he could no longer hold back. He let go, his release bursting inside her moist warmth. Marking her from the inside out. His.

  Hunter fell forward, barely catching himself on his elbows, his orgasm draining every last bit of energy from his body. Evie's eyes closed, her breath coming deep and fast, jus
t like his. Being inside Evie, being a part of her, had opened up the emotions he'd kept carefully hidden for so long. He took her lips. She opened for him and sucked his tongue into her mouth, then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her.

  Everything he'd said had been the truth. Not an act. But what he wanted didn't matter to his CO. He had to find a way to get the real bad guy and protect Evie.

  * * *

  Evie lay limp and replete in Hunter's arms. All of her fight, all of her willpower, every single ounce of common sense, lay in the dirt beneath them.

  He had literally pounded her defenses to dust. She smiled. And she’d enjoyed every minute. He might have to leave again for work, but he was here now. He'd proven himself to her over and over. He had opened up and let her know exactly how he felt. He wanted her. The real her. Not just her body. Not just for a few days. He wanted her to be his home.

  Warmth slid into her, filling her as much as Hunter’s body had a few minutes earlier. Her heart seemed to swell past the confines of her rib cage. She didn't recognize the emotion at first. It had been too long. Hope.

  Hope for a future. For a life she could share with someone. A family. Kids.

  Whoa. She needed to keep these thoughts under lock and key. Kids were definitely way down the road and she didn't want to scare Hunter off right after she'd gotten him back.

  "We’re gonna have to move soon. We need to make camp." Hunter's chest rumbled under her ear as he spoke.

  "Just one more minute." Life could change in an instant, so she wanted to savor this moment. Remember it.

  She still couldn’t believe he'd left because of Marcus. Chills covered her body, despite the raging heat of the air and Hunter's body against hers. Everything made sense now. His abrupt departure. His mom.