Page 52 of The Merciless

“Well, breakfast’s ready!” Miranda said from the other end, drawing him back to reality, “And your father says he needs to talk to you!”

“I’ll be out in a second!” he yelled back and shook Ray again. She finally stirred, a curse on her lips as she turned in his arms,

“Quit fuckingyelling,”she snapped and winced when she realized sunlight was raining down on her face. Angel grinned at the sight, and unable to help himself, pulled her closer so her back was against his chest,

“I need to get you some fucking curtains.” She mumbled. Just when he noticed she was about to fall back asleep, he inched closer to her ear, grazing his teeth on its outer shell before murmuring quietly,

“Sovulgarin the morning.”

Ray elbowed him right in the ribs at that.

Angel groaned at the pain that exploded through his chest and leaned away from her, his eyes shutting in pain. And Ray, that self-confidentprickjust rolled onto her back and stretched her arms wide, a soft sound leaving her lips.

“Christ,” he managed to wheeze and glared at the sight of her smiling. Her face was haloed by the sunlight, her back arching as she stretched her hands in the air and lolled her face sideways to smirk at him,

“Want to introduce me?”

“Come hereyou littleshit–”

Ray squealed as he reached for her and slipped off the bed. Angel followed her movement, barely managing to grab her forearm and haul her back to the bed. She was grinning when she came back on with his movement, her head angled up at him as he glared down at her, hovering from further away than last night.

She huffed before him after a moment, crossing her arms as she did so, “You know, you swear atmea lot.” She said, her brows scrunching as if she were just realizing it. Angel’s annoyance slipped at the action, his eyes flaring wide, “I doubt that’s something a doting boyfriend would do…”

“Honey,sweetheart,”Angel purred without missing a beat, coaxing her closer as she looked up at him wide-eyed, “Baby, which one do you prefer?”

Ray took a moment before him. Blinking once.

And just when he thought he’d broken her, Ray shook–noshiveredbefore him, an atrocious sound leaving her throat,

“Gross.” She said and he scoffed, suddenly annoyed by her words, “No honey orbaby.Sweetheart works.”

“Right.” He said and was about to move away but couldn’t. Okay, maybe he wasn’t really trying. But in his defense, Raylene Walker had no right to look this beautiful in the morning sun. She blinked up at him, her lips rising from the corners as moved up on her elbows, coming closer. Angel watched her hair, the beautiful crash of waves on her back and spilling over her shoulders.

God,he could live staring at them allfuckingday.

He reached forward then, unable to help himself, and entangled a hand through the soft lush, brushing his fingers through them. They were a tangled mess, one that didn’t allow him to smooth his hand all the way down, buthellthey weresoft.Silence draped on them and somehow they stayed like that, in their own bubble of peace as he admired what his life had come to and how there was no way in hell he was ever living any other way.

But of course, as he’d thought before, peace had a fucking timer.

And it rang so loudly that Angel and Raybothjumped up in surprise at the abrupt sound.

“Fuck,”he sighed and flopped down on her, making sure to balance his weight to the side as he burrowed his face into the side of her neck. Ray’s laugh was soft and breathless against his shoulders, but he allowed her enough room to reach out and grab her ringing phone from the nightstand,

“Hello–” he heard her say, an obvious smile on her lips when Akash’s voice blared from the other end,

“Get here now!”

Angel shot up at that, Ray following his movement as their bubble burst, bringing forth a wave of seriousness crashing down on them.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, and Angel could tell she was trying to keep her voice calm despite the subtle tremor in her words. He grit his teeth at that and she looked up at him, a rare wave of panic washing over her features as she put her phone on speaker,

“You need to get here now,”Akash said again, and Angel moved off the bed, Ray trudging behind him. She was still wearing that white shirt of his from last night. Before she could go to the washroom, he’d already darted to his closet and had grabbed a pair a denim he knew would fit her. Ray barely blinked when he threw it in her direction, grabbing it at the same time she threw her bed on the phone and said a bit loudly,

“Where?” she said as she put the jeans on and Angel turned away from her, whipping his own T-shirt off his head and grabbing the first pair of sweatpants he saw. A belt came within his line of sight and he grabbed it immediately, throwing it hurriedly in Ray’s direction before running into the washroom.

Ray followed him in, her phone in her hand.

“Brush?” she murmured as they waited for Akash’s response. Angel nodded, making sure to brace a calm hand on her lower back before grabbing the spare brush from his cabinet.

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