Page 73 of The Price of Mercy
I bite my lip as butterflies flutter around my heart. “Maybe,” I murmur, deciding to play along.
“Maybe?” He hums in my ear. “I’m gonna have to try harder, then.” His hands wind around my waist as he kisses my lips, beginning our goodnight ritual the same way he always does: by taking my breath away one delicate kiss at a time. What used to be a heated battle of wills has cooled with the winter, and Kane kisses me like he’s making a thousand wishes on every single sparkling star in the sky. Something about the way he holds me feels more intimate than anything else we’ve done in the past.
I can’t help but wonder if he feels it too.
“I could stay here forever,” he whispers, enjoying himself far too much for a man who’s in love with someone else.
My heart flutters. I don’t think I’m supposed to feel this way about a murderer, let alonetwomurderers. Unless, of course, I’ve joined the club after killing that guy with the carving knife. I try not to think about it, but maybe that’s what’s changed. There’s a black spot on my soul, and like attracts like. I’ve become less of the woman I was and more like the woman they want me to be.
A killer, just like them.
Yet in moments like these, I find it hard to believe that any of us have blood on our hands.
Forcing a smile, I push Kane away and take a step back. “Zane would kill you. He’d killme.”
Something warm glows in the depths of Kane’s eyes. “A double-homicide sounds pretty romantic.”
“It does not!” Laughing, I clutch the blanket draped around my shoulders. “Aren’t you freezing?”
He dusts fresh snow from his blonde hair. “Nah. You warm me up, beautiful.” A smile curves on his lips as I blush bright pink. “Just like that.”
I avoid his gaze as I clear my throat. That’s another thing Kane’s been doing lately.Flirting.Now that Sam’s gone, things are actually… normal-ish, or as normal as they can be. I wouldn’tsay that anything isbettersince there’s a gaping hole in my chest where Sam used to be, but the world feels different. There’s less tension between Kane and Zane now that they’ve come to terms with whateverthisis between the three of us, and I…
Well, I’m having trouble sleeping, and it’s giving me headaches.
“You shouldn’t be so nice to me.” I rub my tired eyes and take a quick breath. “I’m not so easily won over.”
Except, when Kane ducks his head and gets that sugar sweet look in his eyes as he tilts my chin up for a kiss, every cell in my body melts.
He’s stealing parts of me that I didn’t know he could.
“You like it when I’m mean, Siren?” Kane tugs on the end of my blanket so that I tumble into his chest. His teeth scrape my jaw as he slips his frozen fingers beneath the hem of my sweater. “I can bereallymean and make you cream all over my fingers. Shove your cute fucking hat in your mouth so no one hears you scream.” Swallowing hard, he drags in a lungful of air. “I know you’ll love it, Mercy.” He kisses the column of my throat. “I promise.”
Heat blooms inside my chest and settles between my thighs. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it, about being with Kane. Or Zane, if I’m being honest. I’ve replayed the memory of them kissing each other over and over in my head, and I wonder… if things are good with one partner, how good could it be with two?
I know that Sam was supposed to be here when I slept with Kane, but he’s disappeared, and I’m not sure when he’s coming back.
I don’t want to wait anymore.
“How about I stay the night with you? You and Zane.” I nod towards the church. “We could have…” I bite my bottom lip. “A sleepover?”
It sounds stupid as hell now that the words are out of my mouth.
“A sleepover?” Kane chuckles as he digs his thumb into the dip beneath my hip bone. “And what would you like to do at this sleepover?”
I swallow. “Um.” His hand slides around my waist until he’s cupping my ass. “W-watch a movie? It’s nearly Christmas. We could watch a—” My voice shakes as he squeezes my bare cheek beneath my panties. “—rom-com.”
A laugh rumbles deep in his chest. “Not the rom-com type. But tell you what. You watch the movie…” Kane’s breath is warm against my ear. “And I’ll enjoy the sweets.”
“Turn off the surveillance, babe! It’s movie time.” Kane shakes a bag of homemade cookies as he pushes through the front doors to the church—theajarfront doors—and leads me inside. “Grandma hooked us up.”
Zane looks up from his computer system, four monitors and a whirring, multicolored black box set on top of a folding table, and scowls. “You know how important—” He stops himself when he notices me. “She has a sleeping bag.”
I walk toward the unkempt mattress hiding behind the pulpit and throw my sleeping bag on top. “Sheis staying the night.”
“What?” Glaring up at Kane as he swoops down to kiss his forehead, Zane takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. “That’s not what we agreed to, Kane.”
“Agreements can change.”
