Mercy

by Debra Anastasia

  “When I found one as a kid, I always blew it and made a wish,” I offered.

  “I know. I was listening when you told me. I remembered riding past this place last week. Have you ever seen so many at once?” He nuzzled my hair.

  “No,” I answered while shaking my head slightly. “This is incredible. This is so thoughtful. Thank you.”

  I turned my back on the wishes and cuddled up to him.

  He hugged me in return. That feeling came back. The centered one. The home one. This man had something magic about him.

  “Thank you,” he responded. “You want to make some wishes?”

  He stepped back and motioned to the hill.

  I turned and walked toward my gift. There had to be thousands of wishes here, I bet. After grasping a handful, I spun to face him.

  I looked at him. “I wish Nix would kiss me.” Then I blew the seeds off the stem.

  His smile was fully engaged. His white teeth glistened in the light offered by the moon.

  The wind picked up and I was surrounded by a swirl of white puffs. I couldn’t help but laugh. It was almost like a mist.

  Nix walked through them until he could put his arms around me.

  “Do you mind if I strip you naked?”

  My jaw dropped. It was like he was already touching my bare skin I was so turned on.

  I nodded my head.

  “Say it.” His words were against my ear and I knew my nipples were hard. From just his words. From just his intentions.

  “I don’t mind.” My voice was lower than usual. I could hear the desperation in it. I took his jacket off.

  He grasped either side of the zipper closure and tore my top off. I covered my breasts the second I felt the night air. He tossed my top near my feet.

  His fingertips trailed over my shoulders and crisscrossed until they rested on my skirt’s waistband.

  I realized then I was panting like I’d finished a marathon.

  “And your skirt?”

  “Yes.”

  I knew it was coming, but feeling the fabric tear from my body was primal.

  All I had on now were my black thong and high heels.

  “Hold out your arms.”

  He turned me by my shoulders and took in the sight of me. His observation was like another whole striptease.

  He swallowed hard. “What I’m going to do to you…”

  My chest was heaving.

  I stepped backwards from him carefully. My heels were a challenge on the grass. I had to shift my weight to my toes.

  I blew another dandelion puff. “I wish Nix was naked too.”

  “I thought you weren’t supposed to tell people what you wish for?” His eyes sparkled.

  After tossing the spent stem, I blew another. “I wish Nix knew that I have a huge crush on him.”

  His face softened from playful to hopeful. He caught my chin and held me as he kissed me. Then he put his head on my forehead.

  “Wish one. Granted.”

  Now I was smiling too.

  He pulled off his shirt. We both paused. My name was there. It was a comfort now. He stopped undressing and waited.

  I blew another wish at him. “I wish Nix knew that naked also means no pants.”

  He seemed elated. This was too fast, too insane, but it was okay.

  Another breeze puffed up the seeds like an upside down snowstorm. When the puffs had cleared, he was naked. I stopped laughing.

  “You’ve got the wishes all in your hair. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”

  I dropped the little bouquet in my hands

  I opened my arms to him. Nix came low, hugging me at the waist and lifting me off my feet. I bent so I could kiss his mouth.

  The wind danced with us again. I could feel the dandelion puffs hitting my skin. I shivered in his arms. He stopped kissing me and looked up at my face. “The moon is your crown. You’re my skeleton princess.”

  “You’re so sweet to me.” I was glowing because of his words.

  “You are my heart, and this is the first time I’ve ever thought it was worthy of a beat.”

  I put my hand on the ink on his chest. “Make me feel that.”

  He stepped up to toes of my shoes. He even had ink on his feet. Totally disguised.

  “Why the tattoos?” It was horrible timing, but it felt urgent. Here, with me almost naked and him without clothes—he was still covered.

  He ran his hand through his hair. “Do you remember him? My father? When I grew up, I looked just like him. In the mirror, all I could see was his face.”

  The reason he made himself so incredibly different crashed into me.

  “I’d rather be dead than be him.” He wasn’t looking at me.

  Was he waiting to be judged? Shamed?

  “You’re not him.” I was freezing all at once. I shivered and hugged my arms.

  “Hard when everyone that met me told me how he and I were twins—just years apart.” He made a fist and twisted it into his palm. “I didn’t want him here with us.”

  I pulled his hands apart. I pressed my chest to his. “Hey. Hey. No.” I kissed his chin. “I’ve never been afraid of you. Not once. But with him—it was instant. I knew right away he was bad.”

  He searched my face like I was speaking a gospel he’d never heard.

  “The truth. If I had met you now? Like that scene had played out in Shoppers and I was a grown woman and you were a child? I would have fought hard for you that day. Probably would’ve ended up in prison.” I refused to back down from his stare.

  Nix put his hands on either side of my face. He slid his fingers behind my ears. His thumbs rested on my cheeks. His lips tasted mine. First the top lip. Then the bottom. He kissed me senseless. The hands, the heat from his body, his dick fully ready to prove to me he was his own man.

  I put my hands on his chest. He didn’t know he was different. How hard was it to believe in himself?

  And his mother. Jesus Christ. His father had killed his mother. There was much more to the story.

  But his kiss was kindness.

  He’d gone home with his father. To what? What awaited him?

  But his touch was faith.

  I wanted to heal this man. Save him now because I didn’t save him so many years ago.

  “Be inside me,” I said it when he switched to kissing my neck. I felt his whole body tense around me.

  “I can’t. Not to you—you’re not meant for this.” He stepped backwards and scooped up his jacket. He wrapped it around my front.

  Was this rejection?

  “Stop overthinking this. I’m just me. And you’re just you. I’m cold and I’m in a field of wishes and you’re the only one I want to come true right now.” I pointed at the space in front of me.

  He stood and shook out his hands.

  And then I didn’t give him a choice. I slid my hands up his chest and kissed him. He moaned and bent his knees.

  “Have sex with me. Don’t make me ask again,” I demanded from him.

  Then he was an onslaught and I was no match. When I had one sensation, he was slamming me with another.

  He was devotion and I was his religion. Maybe even his cult. I was on the ground, flat on my back before I knew I was moving. His mouth was on mine, and then my breasts. His fingers gripped my hips.

  The combination of the wind, the puffs covering the sky, and his touch, were like an alternate reality.

  He was feeling my breasts, adding his mouth to my nipples while grinding against the thin fabric of my panties.

  I wasn’t cold anymore.

  Thunder rolled in the distance. He was at my hips now, taking his promise to worship my whole body seriously.

  “You taste so sweet,” he breathed.

  The kisses he placed on my stomach went from chaste to lascivious. He licked his way from my belly button to my right breast.

  When I tried to prop myself on my elbows, his hand went between my legs, stopping me from making any decisions.

&n
bsp; More thunder.

  He encouraged me to lift my hips, then he slid my panties off. I extended my arms and grabbed fistfuls of the dandelions as he teased me. Just a brushing of fingers. Then the tip of his index. It seemed he forgot there was anything in the world except my clit. First, with the gentle rubbing that was replaced by his tongue. The whole time I could feel his dick pressed into my thigh. I was focused on the growing need to have him inside me.

  Lightning flashed in the distance. I saw him in all his ink like it was a still picture for a second. He was complete in his tattoos. His chest, hips, legs. He was covered with shadows and bones.

  I arched my back then. Aroused was an understatement. I looked again at him. He was a skull between my legs, and when we made eye contact, he gave me a grin with his tongue wide and flat against my pussy. His bone-shaded hand gripped my hip.

  I started to feel my orgasm turn into a reflex. So close.

  “More?”

  Lightning. I knew somewhere I should start counting how many seconds it was before the thunder—so I knew how close the storm was. We were in a field of all damn places. Instead, I said, “More.”

  I heard him snicker. A devious sound. Then he was tongue and sucking while giving me two fingers. My orgasm moved lower, dragging me closer to the edge.

  His name echoed off the hill in a guttural scream.

  “Yes. Oh, fuck yes. I can feel it. Let yourself come.”

  Three fingers and the fastest tongue. I thrust my hips in the air and I was getting as much as I could take. I was cursing now. Filthy words that I wasn’t even sure my subconscious knew.

  The orgasm rocking me and taking forever. I could barely breathe. This headiness was making me a ragdoll for him.

  It was almost too much. Time to stop. My body couldn’t take anymore.

  He switched his fingers with his tongue. In and out of me. So incredibly intimate in an already provocative sex act. His fingers went to my clit.

  My vision went white. I had no more words, just deep noises.

  I heard a rustle of foil, but I was useless. He’d stopped touching me, but my skin still felt him. I shuddered over and over, and then he lifted my hips. I should have helped maybe. I opened my eyes as he waited.

  “Watch me, Becca.”

  He was ready to be inside me. He was strung so tight, his veins prominent. I’d reached my peak, of course. Maybe changed my DNA to be part animal. But he wasn’t done.

  I inhaled deeply. I could smell the thunderstorm that was headed toward us.

  Lightning again.

  His beautiful dick was not inked, but it was covered with a condom.

  It was the only part of him untouched by the permanent mask he felt he needed.

  I grabbed my breasts. I was sated, but had to find the stamina to be here for him, to not be a selfish partner.

  Nix started slow.

  “You okay?”

  He almost looked angry with me. He was struggling to hold himself back.

  I shook my head. “All of you. Hard. Now.”

  He rolled his head on his neck. I pushed against him on his next thrust. I could get his whole dick inside me, and I proved it.

  The flex of his abs made the bones of ink shift on his skin. The thunder and the lightning added to our urgency and certainly the danger.

  His fingers found my clit again. Him filling me and the pressure he knew how to put on me had me tongue-tied all over again.

  “Fuck. Me. I can feel you.” He took one of my legs and draped it over his shoulder.

  He went so deep I shouted out every time.

  He had me stretched. All I could do was come.

  I pulled his face to mine so I could kiss him. I could taste myself on his lips. He came in groans and curses. He put his forehead against mine as he gave his final throes to me.

  More rain. Another flash of lightning. He was watching me. He rolled to his side and pulled me onto his chest.

  We both were soaked now, the light rain not kidding anymore. I touched my name on his chest.

  He picked up my hand and kissed the tips of my fingers.

  “How dangerous is this right now?” I propped up so I could see his face.

  He kissed my hand again. “Super dangerous. You should’ve never looked at me twice.”

  “I’m not scared of you. I meant the weather.” I watched him as the sky went white for a second.

  That he was inked as a nightmare, but his eyes were love was the ultimate contradiction.

  “I’ll never let anything hurt you.” Conviction. He looked around us. “Your wishes are getting washed away.”

  I kissed his jaw. “Or they are all coming true at once.”

  He turned his head and the flash revealed his conflicted expression.

  “You have another condom?” I bit my lip.

  He smiled. We were wet and cold.

  “Not here.” He sat up and pulled me with him.

  “Home?” I stood.

  “Say that again.” He pulled me to him and held one of my breasts.

  “Home?” I wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

  “Yeah.” He took me in his arms. “I love that word on your mouth.”

  We found our damp clothes. Mine were too far gone to put back on, save the panties. Nix offered me his jacket, which was long enough to provide me some modestly. We carried my outfit scraps with us. As soon as we’d made it down the hill, we saw headlights in the distance.

  Nix pulled his phone out of his pocket. “It’s cool. It’s Animal.”

  A pickup truck rolled up next to us.

  “You break down here, baby cakes?”

  Animal was grinning at us both.

  “Something like that.” Nix led me to the passenger side of Animal’s truck while tossing the remnants of my clothes in the bed. “Get in.”

  The seats were covered with blankets and towels. Animal cranked up the heat.

  I watched in the mirrors as Animal and Nix set up a ramp that let them put Nix’s bike in the bed of the truck. They latched it in place. It was obviously something they’d done before.

  The rain was straight pouring now, and I was grateful when both men got into the truck and slammed the doors.

  Nix pulled me onto his lap and I helped to wrap him in towels. I passed another towel to Animal.

  Animal was smiling like he loved picking up sopping wet people from thunderstorms.

  “You two look cute together. Bones and Mrs. Bones.” He laughed at his own joke and slapped the steering wheel.

  Nix shook his head, but he was smiling. “How’d you find us?”

  Animal clucked his tongue. “I’m not letting you peek in my panties, Fenix. I’ve got my ways. I think it’s hilarious that I managed to satisfy three women and rescue your ass.”

  I knew my eyes were wide.

  Animal winked at me. “I got power tools, baby. Everybody gets bottle service, if you know what I mean.”

  Nix leaned over and turned on the radio.

  Animal’s laugh was so loud, we could still hear him over the pumping music.

  I put my head on Nix’s shoulder, smiling. I would have to tell Mom and Henry I was okay.

  25

  MY FAVORITE BECCA

  Fenix

  I was holding her in my arms. My brain was slamming me with all these new memories I needed to remember. All the little details. Her taste. The way she cursed like a sailor when she came. The way she looked at me like a person and not a fetish.

  I tried to avoid looking at Animal, but eventually I had to. Over the top of her head, as I kissed her wet hair, I made eye contact with my friend.

  He had a shit-eating grin. Then he started in with his giant laugh again. I tried not to smile, but I lost.

  I needed to find out how he found Becca and me.

  I stumbled in my head.

  Becca and me.

  Never in a million years did I think.

  I put my knuckle under her chin, lifting her lips to mine. She kissed me
back and smiled.

  My heart was going to burst through my chest. I felt like I was dreaming. I touched her legs under the towel that covered her.

  She let me.

  She wrinkled her nose and closed her eyes. Like a girlfriend. I heard Animal laugh again.

  I gave him the middle finger.

  He pulled the truck into the garage, and normally I would wipe down the bike.

  It occurred to me that I forgot to handle the possible security footage of Becca and me at Meme’s. I was stunned. I never forgot that shit.

  I got out of the truck, half-hoping she would be too sleepy to walk. I wanted to carry her. She brought out the caveman in me.

  It was too much. How I felt about her. But tonight, she was reaching for my hand.

  Animal kept laughing all the way into the kitchen. I took Becca to my bedroom without saying another word to him. He would grill me later.

  She was shivering. Animal always put the air conditioning on meat locker when he had company. Orgies got the temperature up, or so he said. It wasn’t my scene. There were most likely three naked women waiting in his bed for him right now.

  “I got to do something real quick. The bathroom is that way. Do you want to start a hot shower?” I pointed toward the two grand doors.

  “Sure. I need to call my mom and Henry, though, first. Can I borrow a phone?”

  I went to my desk and pulled out a new burner. I opened the package and got it working for her.

  I listened to her quick conversations with both while I booted up my computer and hacked into Meme’s security footage. The last three days had been wiped already. Feybi had gotten to it before I did. Fucker.

  I closed down the site as Becca told her mother the lie that she was at Henry and Dick’s. I heard her mother say the word Alton and Becca put her off with a promise of a phone call in the morning. I smiled as she called Henry and tried to give details about our sex without saying much. She had to promise to call again in the morning as well. When she ended her last phone call, she handed me the phone and I snapped it in half.

  “Holy crap.” She pointed at the demolished phone in the trashcan.

  “It’s a burner. Disposable. No worries.” I pointed at the bathroom doors.

  I watched the uncertainty flash over her features. She looked like she’d been in a fight with an easel full of paint. I saw questions form and then she shook her head.