Page 94 of The Price of Mercy
“You don’t have to keep trying,” I rumble, caressing her cheek with my free hand. “We can make it fit somewhere else.”
The insinuation makes her flush, but she doubles down on her efforts, rising on her knees to suck my swollen head. A burst of precum slicks her tongue, and she laps it up eagerly.
Zane and Sam have been sneaking behind my back to fuck her when they think I’m not around, but with Zane’s camera system and my sensitive ears, I’m able to catch every session in high-definition. Screwing her behind the garden shed, on every fucking pew in this church, hitting it from behind in the shower,on and on the list goes, making me simultaneously jealous as hell and proud as fuck.
Our dirty girl can’t get enough of our cocks.
I lean back on the bench seat, my ass sore and my balls heavy. She cups them in her petite hands and squeezes, drawing a groan from deep inside my chest. That pleases her, and she glows like the brightest star in the sky.
“You know,” I start slowly, edging up to a topic I’ve been eager to discuss, “I don’t have a last name.”
She hums in response.
“I’ve been thinking of taking yours.”
Her hand hovers in midair over my shaft. Eyebrows lifting, she pulls off of my dick and takes a gasping breath. I wipe the saliva off her chin as she catches her breath. “You, uh, want my last name?”
“Yeah.” God, she looks so pretty when the light catches in her eyes. “I do.”
Idly grasping my shaft, she gives it a half-hearted tug. I spread my thighs wide so that she can scoot in closer. “Why?”
Mmm. Why wouldn’t I? Zane’s asked me to come up with a list of reasons why it’s a bad idea, and I haven’t been able to come up with a single one. Even his insistence about Sam pissing himself over it hasn’t deterred me.
I want what I want, and that’s every part of Mercy that she’ll give me. Including her family.
“Have I ever told you about my parents?”
She shakes her head.
I take a deep breath. Here we go.
“When I was a kid, they’d forget to feed me. Or, what I think actually happened is that they chose not to. They’d hold my meals if I didn’t say my prayers correctly, or if I got a low grade in school. Honestly, it’s a miracle I survived past six.” I scratch the back of Mercy’s head as a distraction from the discomfortbuilding in my chest. “So when they left me on a church’s doorstep—not their own, of course, but one across state lines—I was older than I should have been. Not good enough for their precious church image, or whatever.” I shrug. “They came back for me a few years later, and I’d already been in and out of half a dozen foster homes. Maybe more. I lost count after a while, and they stopped placing me with families.” He pauses for that to sink in. “No one wanted me after that, not even my parents.”
Mercy’s lips twitch into a frown. “Kane, I’m so sorry.”
Eh. I lean down and press a kiss to her worried brow. “I’m not,” I murmur, closing my eyes. “Because when they left me behind a second time, I met Zane.”
I take a deep breath and sit up, opening my eyes to stare into hers. One of the things I’ve realized over the past few months is that Mercy holds constellations inside her heart. They bleed out onto her skin in all the freckles she insists don’t exist as she smothers them in makeup, or in the depths of her honey brown eyes, sparkling like golden stardust every time she smiles. But the most profound moments are when I see their stories in action. As the new year came around, she started hosting her family’s group therapy sessions so that her father could take a break, and every single one of those stories she’s held inside her heart for years spilled free, capturing every single audience member in the room.
Myself included.
My heart stutters beneath her touch as she thumbs the pulse point on my wrist, a habit that she’s picked up from Zane. “My parents’ rejection taught me that you choose your family based upon the people you care about most. I wasn’t important enough to be a part of their family, but I was already claimed by another, anyway.”
“Zane,” Mercy breathes, her eyes shining.
I nod. “Yeah. He’ll tell you that I’m the one who dragged him into my circle, but I think it was mutual. Two lonely kids longing for a connection. For a family.” My dick softens into a half-chub, and I nearly laugh. Damn, I thought it was impossible for anything to distract my cock, but I guess this is it. Sad, emotional bullshit. I clear my throat and take Mercy’s hand to keep her from grabbing it. Sliding my fingers through hers, I lay our joined hands on my bare thigh. She stares up at me with the kindest eyes I’ve ever seen.
I don’t deserve a woman like her.
“For a long time, my circle included Zane, and only Zane. I think… when I was seducing people, and when I finally got them to open up and let me in, I was trying to find another connection like that. Like the one I have with Zane.” But none of them could break through their sorrow and pain, not even for me. Especially not when I wasn’t even showing them who I really was. I doctored an image that made them fall in love, and then when I was disappointed with the outcome, I let them go, sending them to their graves with their loved ones.
They already had a family, and I wasn’t able to fill the void that was left after they lost it.
“But you, Mercy…” I press the pad of my thumb against the bow of her lips. “You’re different than most people.” For the first time in my life, a lump forms in my throat, and it’s hard to get words out. I stare at her pouty lips, wondering what it would take for her to read my thoughts so I don’t have to say anything out loud. She could justknowmy feelings for her, and we’d be blissful as fucking kittens for the rest of our lives. Or rabbits, since they fuck all the time.
Zane really needs to change his nickname for her.
“I love that about you, Mercy. I love—” My cheeks flush bright red.Goddammit.Cupping her face, I lift her off herknees and pull her into my lap, needing to be closer. My breath shudders as my lungs threaten to collapse. “I love?—”
