Page 1 of Mercy Lake

Prologue

OWEN

One month before...

“Thanks again for your help, Owen,” Everly said, pressing a light hand to my thigh to express her gratitude.

Alexis, my wife, was attending a work conference in the city over the weekend and had forgotten her promise to help Everly collect and install her new dresser.

My wife had called me that morning knowing I had a free day, begging me to step in and help her friend. I was reluctant at first,not wanting to sacrifice my day off, but finally relented since I didn’t have a legitimate excuse to say no.

Everly and I knew of each other in passing—growing up in a small town, we had little other choice—but had never taken the time to get to know one another on a personal level.

I’d always thought she was vapid and self-centred. Alexis always said my assessment was harsh, and from the forced company and actually spending time with Everly, it seemed my wife was right.

As the hours passed, I found she wasn’t so bad to be around and was actually pleasant to converse with.

We were in my pickup truck on our way to Everly’s house, her dreaded flatpack furniture boxes laid in the tray behind. The afternoon was arduous, and when I had finally finished putting the dresser together, night had fallen. I was famished—proven by my grumbling stomach.

“Stay for dinner, Owen. It’s the least I can do to say thank you,” Everly said, her fingers skimming my upper arm.

She had been doing that a lot—minute touches that were so insignificant, they were over before I even processed what was happening. At first, I thought she was being inappropriate, but I quickly shut that down, knowing that some people were naturally more tactile than others. Her actions weren’t outwardly suggestive, more a subtle acknowledgement to whatever she was saying.

I relented and sat down at the kitchen bench as Everly continued to chat while she cooked some pasta and pushed a full wine glass my way.

“Ah, I shouldn’t. I have to drive.”

“Just one with dinner, Owen. You deserve it.” She winked over her shoulder. Before I could react, she turned back to the simmering pot, and I sipped from the glass.Maybe just one.

I was slumped back into one corner of the couch, Everly doing the same on the opposite side. The room was spinning as we cackled with drunken humour.

One drink turned into… I didn’t know how many. I stopped counting after we finished the first bottle. I called Alexis through dinner, and she was buzzing with so much excitement she didn’t have time to talk as she was going out for drinks with the other nurses she’d met at the conference. She said a quick hello to her friend and sent me an air kiss before saying a rushed goodbye.

Everly was surprisingly good company. Quick-witted and funny, even when intoxicated. She had just finished telling me a childhood story when she topped up my glass.

“Geez, are you trying to kill meee?”Is that me? Am I slurring?

“Oh, shush, you big sook. Last one.”

“That’s what you said, hmmm, how many drinks ago?”

Everly rolled her eyes… or I thought she did. “This is the end of the bottle, so I promise this is it.”

I hummed, pressing the rim to my lips.I guess she is right. We may as well not let it go to waste.

Pleasure.

That’s all my idled brain could process as warm, soft lips wrapped around my throbbing length.

I groaned.Oh, Alexis.

My beautiful wife was always so good to me. I had missed her.Always missed her.

My eyes and body were weighed down, so heavy I couldn’t move. But my sweet, giving girl didn’t seem to mind. Her moans muffled as she swallowed me deeper.

“Hop on, Lex, baby,” I managed to stammer. “I want inside you.”

I heard some rustling, then her weight shifted over me before she lowered down on my shaft, encasing me in heat. Then, as she slowly pulled back, a blaring alarm barraged my senses.

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