Page 49 of The Price of Mercy
I’m not even that upset that I came.
While the other men argue, my gaze roams Mercy’s naked body. The bruises on her skin are still as visible as they were earlier, but so is the sweat glistening across her shoulders, the delicate swell of her breasts, and the soft rolls of her stomach. The light in her eyes is brighter now, too. I listen as she joins the debate with the others, and she actually laughs, just as carefree as they are.
The moment is… happy.
I find myself trying to hide a smile, and to my surprise, Mercy wraps her hand around my ankle and smiles back. Not at Kane or at Sam, but at… me.
My heartbeat trips, and I quickly look away.
No matter how we remember tonight after dawn arrives, the fact remains that nothing has changed between us. The game is still on, as far as I’m concerned. Kane didn’t fuck Mercy, and more importantly,Ididn’t fuck Mercy. Mouths don’t count. Sam fucking Mercy was never part of the ruleset, so that’s irrelevant.
As for falling in love…
I rest my head on Kane’s shoulder and close my eyes, ignoring the unsteady beat of my heart.
Love can wait forever.
Chapter 20
Kane
The tensionin the house finally dissipates. Not completely—Zane is still awkward when Mercy walks in the room—but it’s better, and that’s what matters. “You should apologize,” I tell him one evening as we pile chopped wood for a bonfire. It’s been a few days sincethe blow job that rocked his world, as I affectionately call it, and it’s about time that they move onto the next stage of their relationship. Preferably, one that involves more naked time between them.
Thinking about how willing Mercy was to make all three of us, the men—her men?—come brings a smile to my face every time.
Zane keeps calling me out about it.
“Stop smiling,” he grumbles, half-heartedly glaring as he flicks the lighter on and off. “Pervert.”
“You enjoyed it,” I remind him for the dozenth time. It’s one thing for me to catch Zane moaning in his sleep, but for him to admit it out loud? That heactuallyenjoyed our spontaneous love-fest?
It’ll take an act of God to get those lips moving.
“You should still apologize.” I peek at him from the corner of my eye. Admitting to any wrong-doing is another touchy subjectfor him. He doesn’t like to be wrong. But orchestrating that bullshit at the partyand thendrugging all of us here at the cabin takes things to another level—a bad one. I don’t give a shit if he torments other people, butourpeople?
If things are going to level out between the four of us and turn into something…better, we’ve got to nip that in the bud now, before Zane gets any other nefarious ideas.
“I’m not apologizing, because I’m not sorry.” It’s the same line Zane’s been giving me for days. Every time he says it, he gets quieter and quieter. I don’t think he one-hundred-percent believes that he was in the right for the shit he’s pulled, but it’s a lie that helps him sleep at night. Even though Mercy forgave him, it’s a hard thing for him to swallow.
Butsheswallows like a champ.
Unable to stop myself from grinning, I smack Zane’s arm as he spreads the kindling to start the fire. That whole day from start to finish feels like a fever dream. The morning kiss with Mercy, the hottest shower of my life, drugging my boyfriend and watching him get royally rocked by thenot-virgin. Man, I can’t make this shit up. I’ve been dying for another taste, but Mercy and Sam have been holed up in their bedroom—yes,onebedroom—for days while Zane and I canoodle on our own.
Being with Zane on his own is fun, sure, but I was hoping for a more open relationship between the four of us.
“That’s my Thanksgiving wish,” I say aloud, knowing that Zane is listening. “To keep thisthingbetween us going.”
“You don’t make Thanksgiving wishes.” Zane pinches the bridge of his nose. “That’s Christmas.”
Whatever. It’s a holiday.
I poke him with a stick. “Don’t you want to keep things going?”
“Keep what going?”
“I don’t know,things.” I wave my stick around. “Between all of us.” If I say that what we’re building is more than sex, Zane might freak out, so instead, I call it what it is right now. “Like sex. Didn’t you have fun the other night?”
Zane scrunches his cute fucking face like he’s irritated. “Since when is being tied up against my will fun?”
