Act of Mercy

by Mandy M. Roth

  Duke held her as if he’d known her forever and a day. She was thankful for that. She’d never seen herself as someone who required comforting. Especially since she’d never really been nurtured by anyone. Once she’d had a foster sibling hold her after she’d had a nightmare, but that was about it.

  Sitting close to Duke, having him hold her against his powerful frame, made everything that was happening seem better. It gave her hope. And she’d thought she’d run out of anything to close to it.

  She wasn’t sure where they were going or how long they’d been driving. All she knew was Duke felt safe. She knew something else beyond a shadow of a doubt—it was his DNA sequence she was obsessed with.

  “Boomer,” said the captain, filling the long silence in the van. “Pull off up here in that abandoned parking lot.”

  The guy driving did as instructed and Mercy nearly panicked as she dug her fingers into Duke’s thigh. She wasn’t ready to be alone. Not yet. Not after all that had just happened.

  “Shh, Doc,” he said, his lips close to her ear. “I’m right here with you.”

  “They were going to kill me,” she said. “I mean, I knew they’d try at some point. I just wasn’t prepared.”

  “No one ever really is,” he responded, his lips finding her cheek.

  She thought about their kiss. About how it had stolen her breath. Simply reflecting on it made her tingle with desire. She wanted his mouth on hers once more. Wanted him chasing away all the thoughts in her head.

  Looking up at him, she locked gazes with him. He was amazingly handsome. She even liked the scruffy five o’clock shadow that she guessed was more than likely something he kept at all times. And his hair—the man had great hair. She wanted to run her hands through it. Gulping, she stared at his broad shoulders. Everything on him was big.

  Her gaze rapidly went to his groin area.

  She swallowed hard and then blinked up at him, blushing because of her dirty thoughts.

  He hooked a finger under her chin and dipped his head, putting his face close to hers. “Keep looking at me like that and I don’t think I’ll be able to stop what I want to do to you.”

  She almost asked what he wanted to do to her but realized she had a good idea already. Pink stained her cheeks even more.

  Duke laughed softly and winked.

  If she melted into a puddle of hormones, would anyone be able to blame her? What woman could resist a guy like him? There was no way she stood a chance against Duke. She already wanted to throw herself at him and beg him to do whatever he wanted to her.

  Pathetic.

  She tried and failed to break gazes with him. “Stop,” she said.

  “Stop what?” He grinned.

  He knew what.

  Jerk.

  “Stop being you.”

  The redhead behind her laughed loudly. “Good luck with that, lass.”

  “Striker,” Duke said, his voice low.

  Mercy tipped her head. “Boomer and Striker are very strange names.”

  The man who pulled the van to a stop lifted his hand. “Name is Miles, ma’am, but Boomer is what most call me.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  He looked back at her, his features different—exotic.

  Cat-like almost, she thought.

  “Because I like to blow things up,” he said with a wink.

  The one called Striker leaned and put his face between hers and Duke’s. “I’m nae tellin’ you my real name. Ever.”

  “Dougal,” Duke said as he pushed the man back by his face.

  “Asshole,” Striker returned.

  “Gentlemen,” the one in the front passenger seat said calmly. “If you could play nicely, it would be much appreciated. Now, we need to discuss a few things. Dr. Deluca, stay in the vehicle.” He opened the door and got out.

  The men began to file out of the vehicle. The second Duke began to move away from her, she yelped and grabbed his hand.

  He turned, his onyx gaze seeming to look right through her. A soft smile touched his full lips and she got the impression smiles were normally a foreign concept to him. “You’re safe, baby.”

  Baby?

  She didn’t comment on that but rather kept hold of his hand, her own starting to shake again. “Thank you for helping me.”

  Duke went to one knee, partially in and partially out of the van, his hand in hers. The blond who had been sitting up front eased up alongside Duke, taking up the open van door sliding door area. This man’s blue gaze found her. “Is James okay?”

  She shook her head. “No. He’s hurt. I did my best to electronically jam the door to his cell so they couldn’t get to him again for at least a day. That will be running out soon. And I gave him something for the pain because he once mentioned that it helped speed healing.”

  “Then you’re in league with James?” the blue-eyed man asked, sounding almost relieved. Jimmy had been right. Without the right codes she probably did come off looking like she was part of the problem, not part of the solution.

  “Until yesterday I only knew him as Test Subject 87. He told me to call him Jimmy.” She hung her head, guilt washing over her. “I work for the Corporation. I didn’t know what they really were. By the time I figured it out, I was in too deep. Then I found Jimmy, erm, James being tortured and I knew I had to do something.” Tears welled and she found herself unable to stop them. “I wanted to break him and all the others out. But, I’m not like you all. I don’t know how to fight my way out of anything.”

  Duke leaned in, his hands finding her face. He wiped her tears from her cheeks gently and shook his head, his actions so tender that they moved her deep inside. Who was this man who had come out of nowhere and rocked her world so utterly and completely? And why did she want to beg him to hold her and never let go?

  “None of that now, Doc,” he said softly. “We’re going to get James and the others out of there.”

  She hiccupped as she sobbed. Mercy wasn’t one to cry. She’d had to learn to hide her emotions at a young age, but the weight of it all seemed to pour in on her, making her feel as if she were standing in quicksand and Duke was the only lifeline at her disposal. “They moved the others at the last minute. I’ve been trying to figure out where they went.”

  He moved in more, his face level with hers. He continued to wipe her tears. As they kept falling, he eased closer and surprised her by kissing under each of her eyes. The gesture was so incredibly sweet that she only cried more.

  “You broke her,” said Striker, sounding farther away.

  Duke went to pull away, and the idea of losing touch with him made her react strongly. She gasped and then shocked herself by boldly pressing her lips to his.

  A growled emanated from the back of his throat as his body pushed up against hers. Had the seat not been there, she was positive he’d have already had her on her back, his body on hers. She found herself growing angry with the seat being in the way. She’d held on to her virginity for far too long—if she’d had friends, they’d have judged her and some might not agree with her reasoning.

  She didn’t care.

  It was her vagina.

  Her choice.

  No one else’s. The critics could stuff a sock in it.

  And none of it mattered now. She’d found the man she wanted to hand herself over to. Too bad she’d only just met him.

  No. You’ve known him for a while now, she thought, her mind going to the DNA sequencing she’d been so taken with. Her brain was simply wired differently from others. Apparently, so was her sex drive. It was currently on overdrive for the alpha male kissing her.

  One second the kiss was chaste and the next, his tongue was darting into her mouth. Stunned, she opened her mouth more, giving him better access to her. He took it. Her body began to tingle with desire and her tongue had a mind of its own—following his lead.

  Vaguely, she heard the other man saying something to Duke. Her mind registered they were trying to get him under control. Why? She wanted him nak
ed. Not in control. Who did they think they were helping?

  With another growl, Duke pulled his mouth free from hers, his dark gaze boring into her. “No more tears.”

  The command was felt all the way to her toes. She wondered just how much power he had over her. At the moment, a whole lot.

  She nodded.

  The other man slid in, pushing Duke back and out of the van. She nearly reached for him but thought better of it. Maybe a small bit of breathing room was in order. It wasn’t like her to want to offer herself to a man in the back of a van. But he certainly was a yummy man to throw herself at.

  Even she had to admit as much.

  The blond pointed at Duke. “You walk it off before you go too far with her.”

  Duke looked pained but inclined his head. He stepped back more and out of her line of sight.

  Mercy nearly panicked and had to take a long, calming breath before making a fool of herself even more than she already had.

  The man with the long, sandy-blond hair and blue eyes took a seat on the van floor and she realized it was so he’d come off as less imposing to her. “I’m Corbin. You are already on friendly terms with Duke.”

  “Yes,” she said, embarrassed by her actions with Duke.

  Corbin took a deep breath. “Are you who sent us the information on James?”

  She nodded. “He told me how to reach you. Before him, I wasn’t sure who to trust or who to reach out to.”

  “Very good, love,” he said, sounding even more British than he already did. The more she looked at him, the easier it became to see him in full chain male, riding on horseback, a sword at his side. He had that kind of vibe about him. “What you sent has been difficult for our analysts to decipher. What can you tell me about where James is being held and about the people holding him?”

  She blinked several times, hoping she had her tears under control. “The people holding him are madmen. They want to create a master race of super-humans. And they have powerful people on their side. The scientists in the area that Jimmy, I mean, James, is in are especially twisted. He won’t last much longer. He’s in very bad shape. He tried to make me run and leave him. I told him no and he thinks I’m going to get myself killed.”

  Corbin’s face was suddenly unreadable and she suspected that came from the years of Special Forces training all the men seemed to possess. “If he told you to call him Jimmy, then by all means, call him Jimmy. And the facility. Can you tell me anything of its security?”

  She nearly laughed. “I can do better than that.”

  He eyed her.

  She squared her shoulders, feeling a bit more in her element. “I’m the one who created this facility’s biometric scanners, and I had direct access to the rest of their automated security system. I might have made some tweaks to those as well. I can bypass it all. But the guards posted at various stations are another story. They’re heavily armed and very trained. I can’t get by them alone.”

  “Dr. Deluca,” he said. “You’re not alone anymore.”

  She smiled. “Mercy. Please call me Mercy.”

  He glanced to the side, off to the distance. “Looks as though Striker and Boomer are having a hard time keeping Duke away from you.”

  She craned her neck, trying to see what Corbin was talking about. She couldn’t see past him. The man took up a lot of space. Come to think of it, all the men with her did.

  “If he’s too intense for you, tell me,” Corbin said. “While it won’t be easy, I can keep him away from you.”

  “Why?” she blurted, wanting Duke close to her. “Um, he doesn’t bother me.”

  Corbin’s lips twitched. “How much do you know about us, Mercy?”

  She paused, reflecting upon the question. “Are you asking me if I understand you’re more than human?”

  “Yes.”

  She folded her hands on her lap. “Before working for the Corporation, I never dreamed anything like all of you existed. I had the veil ripped from my eyes. I’m not ignorant to it anymore. And Jimmy talks about all of you often. Though, he said you were his brothers. I’m guessing that now to mean brothers-in-arms.”

  “Correct, but we have been brothers-in-arms for centuries, so that tends to make one feel like it’s a family. While we’ve had a small separation from James, he is every bit as much of the team as he was when he walked away from it years ago.”

  She took a deep breath. Centuries. She suspected prolonged lifespans of the men but hadn’t really known for sure. Must be nice to have people care about you for that long. “That’s a long time to have a family.”

  Corbin’s brow crinkled in contemplation. “We were able to get a good deal of information on you. We did notice you bounced around an abnormally high number of foster homes.”

  “Yes.” She found her inner strength and pulled her emotions into herself, gaining something close to control over them. “That is my past. I try to live in the here and now. I can get you in to Jimmy.”

  He tipped his head. “And what about Duke? Do you want me to order him to stay away from you?”

  “No.”

  “Mercy, how much do you know about supernatural mating?”

  “Sex between others like you?” she inquired, her mind moving into analytical mode as it often did when she needed to gain control of herself. “I know from the research I found on prior experiments that the scientists had forced couplings between some test subjects, and when I found information from other facilities that was housed at mine, I read they were trying very hard to breed them. They were even trying to get embryos to grow outside of a womb.”

  Corbin stiffened and she realized she’d talked about his people as if they were nothing more than lab rats. “I’m sorry. Please don’t think I agree with anything they did.”

  “I know you don’t. I saw the hit squad they sent for you,” he added, his gaze even. “They want you out of the way pretty bad. That means you’re a problem for them. A problem for them is a solution for me.”

  She liked the way he spun it into a positive. “Yes.”

  “Keep your pecker up.”

  She froze. Had he just said what she thought he did?

  The expression on her face must have alerted him to something being off. He cleared his throat. “Means keep your chin up.”

  “Is it a British thing?”

  He nodded.

  “Might want to avoid saying it to Americans. Peckers and keeping them up does not hold the same meaning to us.”

  “Noted.” He winked. “And, Mercy, I don’t mean mating as in intercourse, think of the term mating when applied to us to be like—”

  It hit her then. “Like between wolves. When a pair mates for life or something close to life.”

  His smile reached his eyes. “Exactly. For us, a mate is someone who basically is the other half of your soul. One perfect person made just for you and you them. The unions often, but not always, produce offspring. And the unions between true lifemates last forever.”

  She soaked in what he was saying. Then touched his shoulder, thankful he was taking time with her but unsure why he was talking about this topic or seeming to select his words so carefully. None of this really applied to her or her circumstance with them. “Why are you explaining all this to me now? Shouldn’t we be focused on getting Jimmy out?”

  “Yes,” he said, laughing softly. “We should, but I’m explaining this because of Duke.”

  “What about him?” she asked, ever the curious one.

  “Mercy, the way he acts with you, it’s different from how he’s been with anyone. Ever.” Corbin touched her hand on his shoulder. “I really cannot describe what having an alpha male mate is like because I’m an alpha male and I’m not mated. I’ve heard some of the few men who managed to find such happiness talk about it. They say their mates complain that they’re overbearing, overprotective and so on. But, Mercy, know that Duke would never harm you. And if I’m correct, and you are who I believe you are to him, he would die to protect you.”r />
  Her eyes widened. She had enough to answer for. She didn’t need bodies lining up on account of her. “No one is allowed to die for me.”

  Corbin squeezed her hand, the one on his shoulder, in a comforting manner. “You’re missing the bigger picture here.”

  There was a commotion outside of the van and the next she knew Duke was there, ripping Corbin from his seated position, half in and half out of the van’s open door. Gasping, Mercy shot forward out of the van to find Duke being ripped away from Corbin by the other two men.

  Corbin sighed. “I was afraid of this.”

  “Keep your damn hands off my woman!” Duke shouted, a rumble to his voice.

  His woman?

  Mercy pressed herself against the van, the testosterone riding the air thick enough to cut with a knife. Duke’s hands began to change. Fur sprouted on them and his fingers lengthened, sharp claws emerging from their tips. Her brain tried hard to process all of what was going on, overthinking as usual. The minute she comprehended what was happening, a strangled cry tore free from her.

  Duke was challenging another alpha male for what he perceived to be his female.

  Her.

  He stopped in midswing, his dark gaze finding her. He stilled, his clawed hand out in the air. Shame coated his face as he lowered his arms. She watched in awe as his hand returned to normal.

  That will never get old.

  Duke bent his head and turned to walk away.

  Mercy rushed forward, into the center of the men. “If we’re done playing games, I believe your teammate requires our assistance.”

  Corbin grinned. “I believe you are correct. Duke?”

  Duke glanced over his shoulder at her. He closed his eyes, lifting his hands in front of him before shaking his head. “Go.”

  “Stop pouting,” she said quickly, unsure why she suddenly felt the need to act like a child herself.

  He turned and lifted a dark brow, a stunned expression on his face. The man looked good even when he was shocked. “Pouting?”

  With a quick rise and fall of her shoulders, she said, “I’ve known you a couple of hours and have noticed you have an affinity for brooding.”