Mercy Read online

  “It’s the reality. I’m here to help me, not to hurt you.”

  His eyebrow lifted. “You were in my bedroom, a place I specifically prohibited you from going.”

  “Wrong.”

  “Excuse me?”

  She remembered the deadly soft tone. When he spoke like that, the unbending Jarrett appeared right after. Not that he bent all that much to begin with, but when threatened he downshifted into scary mode. She used to hear the monotone clip while he talked business and wonder about the life expectancy of the person on the other end of all that ire.

  The file she had on him back then referenced a list of people from his past who mysteriously disappeared, but the idea of him as a killer never matched up with the man who rained kisses over every inch of her bare flesh. Of course, neither did the drug running. Tough and haunted, yes. Unreadable at times and ice cold at others. But a cold-blooded murderer she could never see.

  “I was in your office. But I think you knew that before you even got up here.” An odd thought crept into her brain. She visually scanned the mantel and ceiling for potential hidden cameras, wondering how a man who coveted his privacy so much could open his life up to such unending security scrutiny. “Did you wire the place?”

  “I give you points for not lying about being in the office.” He still hadn’t moved. Had barely blinked.

  Her gaze shot to his arms as she tried to figure out what he hid in his hands. “Not really possible to do since I’m holding your desk lamp.”

  The severe frown slipped for a second then shifted back into place. “Do you care to tell me why you were in a room where I ordered you not to go?”

  He phrased it like a question, but she knew from the steel thread in his voice that he wasn’t expecting an answer. She gave him one anyway. “Technically, you told me to stay out of your bedroom.”

  “No, I—”

  She wanted to scream at his stubbornness. “Okay. Fine.”

  “You would be wise to stop stalling.”

  On that he was right. There was no reason to lie. “I wanted to see if I could tap into the security system and see what you were doing downstairs.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m showing a lot of faith in coming here. You could do anything to me. Turn me over to the very people who want me dead.” The fear burning a hole through her stomach gave rise to her voice. “Hell, you could be the person behind all of the team killings.”

  “Put the lamp down.”

  The base suddenly weighted her down on one side. “You’re not going to respond to that accusation or ask me anything else?”

  “I don’t ask. I tell.”

  “Right. Silly me.” She put the lamp on the floor and stood up, feeling his heated gaze roam over her as she moved.

  “I don’t remember giving you permission to wear a towel.”

  Whatever happened downstairs hadn’t eased his fury. Quite possibly it enhanced it, which made her even more curious about the last fifteen minutes.

  She bit back a sigh as she mentally debated the best way to soothe the beast roaring to life within him and otherwise making her life more difficult than it needed to be. “We’re back to that?”

  “The rules remain the same, Rebecca. You have my temporary protection and in exchange—”

  “You get me.” She said it before he could utter some awful word that made her cringe. One that reminded her of how little she meant and of the hatred brewing right beneath the surface.

  “Remove the towel.”

  Amazing how something as flimsy as a fluffy piece of cotton could provide an emotional barrier. Could shield and protect. The idea of being without it sent a strange hollowness rolling over her. With it on, her old life came rushing back, shoring up her strength long enough for the confidence she took for granted to peek through.

  She needed something from him and sensed that ran both ways. His likely grew out of an unsatisfied wish for revenge, and part of her believed he was entitled to it. But there were limits to what she would do to beat back the clawing inside him. She’d willingly give her body in exchange for protection and the use of his valuable resources. She’d hold back the rest so he couldn’t emotionally stomp her into pieces.

  But one of them had to give in this battle. She’d showed up on his doorstep pleading for help and then agreed to his terms, so she’d already lost. Her gaze went from his stiff shoulders to the nerve twitching in his cheek. No matter what she said he wouldn’t back down. That wasn’t his style.

  She could actually see her chest rise and fall as her fingers fumbled with the tight knot. The towel slipped away in a whoosh and the cool air-conditioned breeze brushed over her skin. Fighting off the urge to cover her body, a waste since there wasn’t an inch he hadn’t already touched and kissed, she faced him head-on.

  Not glancing away when his stare swept over her. “Satisfied?” she asked when his visual tour showed no signs of stopping.

  “I will be soon.” His shoes tapped against the hardwood as he shifted his weight and brought his hands in front of him. His keys rattled in a glass bowl a second later. “Go lie across the bed. Hands above your head. Legs open and feet against the mattress. I want to see all of you when I walk in the door.”

  The words shot a shiver straight through her.

  “Now, Rebecca.”

  She didn’t hesitate a second time. Retracing her earlier path, she headed toward the extra bedroom. With every move she heard Jarrett’s shoes thud behind her. When his fingers slid down her spine in a firm touch that sent her stomach tumbling, her steps faltered.

  She reached the doorway and clung to the frame as she forced air back into her lungs. After a deep inhale her muscles stopped shaking. Just as she pushed off and stood up straight, ready to take her position on the bed, he slipped his hand over her ass cheek, caressing her even as he lit her nerve endings on fire.

  She bit back his name, refusing to give him the satisfaction of saying it.

  Lips pressed against her hair and a hand flattened against her stomach pulling her body back tight against his. He palmed her breasts and nuzzled the side of her neck. The room spun and the hammering need she’d pushed out of her memory came whizzing back.

  His closeness blocked out everything else. Her body melted against his and he’d barely touched her.

  She shifted her head to the side as her hand traveled over the outside of his muscular thigh. Over the silky material of his expensive suit as the heat from his body pounded into her.

  “Get on the bed.” He whispered the order into the dip between her shoulder blades.

  She nodded, unable to say anything while she climbed onto the mattress. Lowering her back to the bed, she stretched her arms over her head. The instructions played in her head as her legs fell open.

  Forcing her eyes to stay open even as a kick of lust blurred her vision, she glanced around, but he hovered just out of sight. Only the bright white ceiling greeted her. Desperate to watch him, she grabbed a pillow from the top of the bed and stuffed it under her head, propping her shoulders up.

  There he was.

  He stood at the end of the bed, staring down at her. Despite her wish to hold on to the briefest ties of control, her body grew wet and her hips rose in invitation for him to touch her. The sudden shock of intimacy sent her insecurities flaring. One of her legs fell closed but he touched her knee and pushed it back open again.

  “I want every part of you to belong to me.” He slipped his jacket off and his hands went to his tie.

  In a few tugs, the material loosened and he unbuttoned the top of his crisp white dress shirt. A few more and he uncovered that amazing chest and the sprinkling of rich dark hair that once tickled her nose and smoothed through her fingers.

  Through it all, his gaze never wavered.

  The mattress dipped under his weight as he put a knee betw
een her open thighs. His hands skimmed down the inside of her legs and his mouth followed a beat behind. A nibble then a brush.

  When his two middle fingers finally slipped inside her, pumping and rubbing, she closed her eyes. The deep presses sent her insides dancing in a wild frenzy. Expert caresses from a man totally in tune with her body.

  She wanted to hold something back, to not give him the satisfaction of taking her to the place where she would chant his name, but she knew that wouldn’t be possible. The months apart only made the yearning spiral tighter.

  Then his mouth touched against her. That tongue licked up inside her until he found her clit. He sucked until a breath hiccupped in her lungs. This time she couldn’t fight off the sensations. Light and dark exploded as she dug her heels into the bed. She shifted her hips, trying to bring his fingers deeper inside. But he toyed with her, making her slick but not giving her the touch she needed to send her careening over the edge.

  With one final lick, her inner thighs pressed against his shoulders as she tried to tighten the tiny muscles inside her. He picked that moment to sit back then stand. Heavy breaths caught in her throat as she forced her eyes to stay open and watch him. She bit back the call to bring him back.

  Need clouded her mind as she saw his shirt open and untucked. When his hand went to his belt, she sat up and slid to the edge of the bed. Her hands pushed his aside as she pressed her lips to the bulge under his dress pants. His cock jerked under her mouth and through the material. Loving the reaction, she did it again, rubbing the heel of her hand over his length until every inch was outlined and straining.

  “Damn.” The breathy word sounded like it had been pulled out of him.

  His hands went to her shoulders as her fingers went to work. She opened the belt, letting the buckle drop open as she abandoned it for the zipper. A rasp echoed through the room when she ticked it down in careful beats.

  With his fly open and his hands in her hair, she slid her fingers inside and took out his cock. Long and smooth, heavy and warm.

  The punch of desire nearly knocked her backward.

  Unable to stop, she licked her tongue along his length. When his hips shifted, she slipped the head into her mouth and sucked. Her hand pumped, her lips moved up and down. Heavy breathing filled her ears and she didn’t know if it came from her, or him, or both.

  When his hips bucked a second time, he slipped a hand under her chin and lifted her head. “Not in your mouth this time.”

  She flicked her tongue over his top. “Yes.”

  “I said no, and I decide how to use your body.” He pushed her back against the mattress. His body followed hers. She’d barely adjusted to the secure sensation of his weight anchored over her when she heard the crinkle of a wrapper. Her gaze followed the sound to the condom in his hand.

  He was prepared and she was ready. She turned to tell him so, to whisper the words against his lips, but he moved his head and her kiss landed on his cheek. His body froze.

  “Jarrett?”

  The silence stretched. When he did speak, the words came out as a husky growl. “Turn over.”

  The rough order didn’t match his caresses. “What?”

  “Now.” With the corner of the wrapper in his mouth, the rip sounded all around her.

  Before she could adjust or analyze the changes in him from the sharp crack of his voice to the angry stiffness across his shoulders, his hands went to her hips and he flipped her to her stomach. Her palms flattened against the mattress as the breath stammered out of her.

  With jerky movements, he lifted her legs and put her on her knees. When she tried to push up with her elbows, his hand clamped around her neck, not tight but with enough force to hold her still.

  “Like this.” His hand went to the space between her shoulder blades, pressing her upper body against the bed as her ass hung in the air.

  Then his cock pressed against her entrance. He rubbed it over her, just inside of her.

  She didn’t know what he wanted her to say, if he wanted her to say anything. Gone were the sensual touches and nip of his teeth. This was about power and command.

  He loved the rawness of this position. Months ago he’d bend her over a chair or have her drop her hands to the bed while he stepped up behind her. But this felt different. It was different.

  The few words she could manage died on her lips when he shoved her legs farther apart. The move left her open, totally at the mercy of his thrusts.

  And he didn’t hold back. He plunged inside her in a long, steady push, before retreating then starting again. Her nerves tingled as her body adjusted to his girth. She’d just regained her equilibrium when he began pumping into her and she lost it again. The steady rhythm pounded her into the mattress. Her body slid across the comforter as she turned her head to the side and gasped in a rush of air.

  She wanted to hate him for using her body, for turning their sex into nothing more than a release mixed with a power play. But the heat of his body over hers and the clench of his hands against her bare hips touched off something base and wild in her.

  She wanted this, wanted him. She came to this place knowing they would have sex and secretly waiting for the moment to arrive. Raunchy, hot, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t forcing her. He was separating his emotions from his body and she envied that skill.

  She closed her mind to what used to be and settled for the sensations of now.

  Fire burned through her nerve endings as his body rubbed and pressed against hers, steady and deep. Every muscle inside her pulled tight. The spinning sensation took over. Blood pounded in her ears as her brain shut down. The need to explode, to find release and let her body break into pieces, raced through her.

  Her hands curled into the comforter. Their bodies turned slick with sweat as his cock plunged into her and the soft knock of the headboard against the wall filled the air. Rather than move away, she pushed back into him. The need to beg, with the words sitting right there on her tongue, had her biting the inside of her cheek.

  She clamped down on every sensation except the rough feel of his body sliding in and out of hers. The act. The grind.

  When his thrusts sped up, she sat back even harder, bringing her ass tighter against him. His response came in his deep grunt and the firm stroke of his cock inside her. The press matched the thunder of blood through her veins. Everything began to spin as her head pressed against the pillow next to her hand.

  She was just about to shout for him to go faster when her orgasm slammed into her. The churning broke free and her muscles clenched. Her body began to buck as he pressed deep one last time.

  Her eyes slid closed as the sensations pounded through her. She could feel him above her, around her. It wasn’t until his orgasm ended and the thrusts died down that the full force of his actions hit her. He turned her away and denied her his mouth and the joy of seeing that sexy look on his face. She’d always treasured that moment when he lost control, but all that was denied to her this time.

  She became just another body to him and he made sure that’s all she amounted to.

  Her mind spun as all the thoughts she held back during sex bombarded her now. The emotional wall between them hadn’t cracked at all. The sex was hot and spontaneous, echoing back to their daily lovemaking sessions, but this time wasn’t about lovemaking. It was sex. Hot sex, but just that.

  After a few seconds, he rolled off of her and onto his back. One arm crossed over his eyes and a hand rested on his chest.

  She faced him, watching the practiced detachment and wanting to reach out and touch his shoulder. To explain what happened months ago and plead her case. If he’d shown any interest in anything more than keeping her naked and primed for his use, she might have.

  He half lifted the arm from his eyes and pinned her with a one-eyed gaze. “Now tell me why you’re really here.”

  SIX

 
Wade slid his security card through the reader and heard the lock to his second-floor industrial loft apartment click. He had about an hour before the staff started assembling downstairs, looking for final directions for the evening shift. But his phone would keep buzzing all night if he didn’t make this side trip upstairs. Personal errands weren’t his thing, but nothing about his life could be considered normal right now.

  He opened the door and blinked when the combination of a lean but lethal build and the barrel of a gun blocked the view of the wide-open space inside. It looked as if their upstairs guest was just as pissed off as Wade predicted he’d be.

  Elijah Sterling didn’t move. Didn’t say a word.

  The weapon stayed steady on Wade as he followed the muscled line of the arm holding it. He took in the slim-fitting gray tee and straight coal-black hair Elijah inherited from his Japanese mother. The scar trailing along his jawline and severe frown promised he wouldn’t think twice about firing if needed. Wade really hoped it didn’t come to that.

  He put his hand on Elijah’s wrist and pushed on his arm until the weapon aimed at the wall instead of vital body parts. “Lower that.”‘

  Elijah’s chest rose and fell on harsh breaths. “I thought you might be her.”

  “Becca?”

  “Is another one of my former Spectrum team here?” He had worked himself into a killing state.

  Wade had seen the look before. The crazed wide eyes. The erratic breathing and tremble that suggested he balanced right on the edge. “I think they’re all dead except for you two and Todd, though I can see you might not find that comforting.”

  The last time Wade had seen Elijah this frantic and out of it was the night he landed on the Holton Woods doorstep, bleeding and ranting, half unconscious but still spouting nonsense about cover-ups and death squads. After everything he’d done to fuck up Jarrett’s life, Elijah should have hit the road and kept running. But he’d been dumped in the alley next to the club, likely to set Jarrett up for a murder, and it almost succeeded since Elijah was half delirious and hovered near death. When he finally stammered out that he had information Jarrett needed, he got a ticket inside.