Merc put his hands over his face. For the longest moment, it seemed he stopped breathing, but then his lungs erupted in a ragged sob.
Ash moved over, draping her body across his, pushing her head between his arm and face. She felt his tears on her cheek. She wanted to tell him what else she saw, after his wife’s car went over the cliff, but for some reason, she couldn’t make herself tell that part.
She sat up, her hip next to his side. He lowered his hands, swiping away his tears, then sat up, facing her.
Merc stared into her eyes. His expression was dark and unholy, filled with a rage he couldn’t contain. “I never even showed their things to Guerre. I didn’t want him see a tragedy like that.”
“The way she died was why I was wondering if she’d been changed before she died—if the Matchmaker’s Curse had acted on her. If just agreeing to become a mutant triggers the curse.”
“Like I said earlier, none of us knew the curse was more than urban legend until it happened to Liege and Summer. For a lot of reasons, we thought it was either set in motion by the Omnis, who wanted to keep us fearful so that we didn’t harbor any hopes of having normal lives, or that it was started by the Omni resistance as a way of giving us hope that we might once again feel something, anything—that there might be hope of falling in love. It’s always been a double-edged curse. We still don’t really know how it works.”
“I’m sorry I touched her things. I shouldn’t have pried into your business.”
Merc brushed a lock of her hair from her face. “My business is your business. I don’t have—or want—secrets from you.”
Ash leaned her forehead against his. After a moment, she kissed his cheek, his temple, his mouth. He smiled beneath the pressure of her lips as he reached up to cup her face. He tilted his head, deepening the kiss.
Heat poured through her body, chased by a hunger she didn’t think she could control. He always did that to her—had since she first imagined him.
“I didn’t know who you were then,” he said. “I knew Summer had a friend named Ash. I wasn’t even conscious at the time. I thought I was dreaming. But afterward, I kept thinking of you, of us being together.” He pushed her legs apart and settled between them, rocking himself against her core. “But once I realized who you were, it was even worse. You were untouchable as the best friend of Liege’s woman and daughter.” He kissed her. “What I feel for you is unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Including during my marriage.”
“Why is it that you felt so strongly about us? The mystery of it all? Because we were cursed?”
“No. Because you’re the half of me I’ve always been missing.”
Ash caught his bottom lip between her teeth and dragged them across it. Merc groaned. Pushing to his knees, he pulled her shorts and thong down her hips as she wiggled free. He pressed his face to the soft flesh between her hipbones, giving her slow, warm kisses from hip to hip.
She pushed her hips upward, but he ignored the hunger throbbing at her core as he moved upward to her navel, then nibbled his way to her first rib, moving from her center to her side across her exquisitely sensitive skin.
When she caught his shoulders and tried to pull him up or push him down, he snagged her hands in one of his. “In time, sweet Ashlyn. We don’t have to rush any of this, as hungry as we may be.”
“Maybe you don’t have to rush…”
He licked his lips as he looked at her. That faint glow began to shine in his eyes. She could only imagine how he would look in the dark. As soon as she finished that thought, the lights on his nightstands went out. She sucked in a sharp breath, feeling gooseflesh rise across her arms and neck. She whimpered when his big palm warmed one of her breasts. He lifted the hem of her T-shirt and nuzzled her. Her nipples tightened before he could suck the first one. He flicked it with his tongue then swiped it in a counterclockwise direction that connected all the dots of fire raging through her body into one white-hot inferno.
“Merc—“
“Soon.”
All of her senses were sparking off each other. Everything he did was too perfectly keyed on her desire. It was as if he was making love to her from inside her own mind.
And maybe he was.
And maybe she didn’t care.
The warmth she felt between her legs was more than his rigid cock rocking against her clit. It was almost as if his tongue was there, warm, wet, wrecking her restraint.
“How do you do that?” she asked breathlessly.
He grinned. “Do you really want an answer now?”
“No. I want you. Now. Now, Merc.”
He entered her, sinking himself fully in one swift move. She cried out, pulling her hands free so she could hold him as she wrapped her legs around his hips, keeping him pressed deeply inside her as she orgasmed.
Just as she began to settle down, he moved in her, in and out, long, slow strokes that were delicious and nerve-racking, starting her hunger up all over again. Before she could reach another peak, he withdrew. She felt the loss of him keenly, but he just lifted and turned her, settling her face down as he lifted her hips and penetrated her again, moving with the same rhythm as before.
He bent over her back, bracing himself on one hand while he stroked her back, her ass, her thigh. Then he reached around to touch her clit, doing with his fingers what his mind was somehow able to do before.
Her ability to think was shot. Her body—and his—were running everything now. At last they orgasmed, together, in a fierce passion that burned out far too fast.
Ash settled on her back and wrapped her arms around his neck. As she looked up at his face, the eyes that met hers weren’t his tawny eyes, but a pair of blue ones, eyes that went with an entirely different face. A grin that was ghastly as it bared half a missing cheek.
Ash screamed and pushed him off her.
Flynn.
It was as if she’d just made love to Merc’s mortal enemy.
She scrambled off the bed and rushed away. She covered her eyes with her hands, too shocked to react in a more life-preserving way. She couldn’t bear to see Flynn in their bed.
How had he gotten into the fort? How had he gotten into bed with her?
Two warm hands peeled her hands from her face. Ash resisted, but she was slowly becoming aware of Merc standing in front of her. His scent, his voice, his worried eyes were all there in front of her.
She looked around him at the empty bed. Where had Flynn gone?
“What’s happening, Ash?”
She shook her head, then touched her hands to Merc’s face. His beautiful, worried face, terrifying in its intensity. She couldn’t make herself say Flynn’s name. She looked up at Merc, silently begging him to hear her thoughts.
He looked at her blankly. Why couldn’t he hear her?
She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Nothing. Not even a puff of air. She pointed to her mouth, opening and closing it like a trout on a hook.
God. Was she even breathing? She wrapped her hands around her throat and took some test breaths. Yeah. She was breathing. She tried again to speak. Nothing.
He frowned then fetched her clothes. He helped her dress, then she followed him into his closet, where he grabbed a pair of joggers from a shelf. She managed to point to his secret cabinet, which he opened.
Guerre, Liege. I need you in here now. Merc summoned the guys. Bastion got there first. Merc glared at him. You weren’t invited.
Don’t be cruel. I heard your woman scream—it wasn’t a scream of pleasure.
Liege and Guerre hurried into the room. The four of them stood around Ash in his closet. “I can’t read her mind,” Merc said. “Something’s blocking me. And she can’t speak. What’s happening to her? What scared her? Is she in pain?”
Guerre stepped forward. “Ash, we’ll help you. Can you take some slow breaths?”
She made an angry face and pointed vehemently at the cabinet where Tina’s things were. Merc went over and opened it, feeling a little fru
strated. He’d just finished telling her he hadn’t wanted to expose Guerre to what Merc knew would be a brutal vision if he touched any of the things that survived that crash.
Merc reached for Tina’s purse, but Ash stopped him. He used his considerable powers of focus as he again attempted to enter her mind, something that until now had been as easy for him as breathing.
Merc touched his palm to her face. Still nothing. She was in extreme distress, but there was nothing he could do for her.
“It’s Flynn,” Liege said. “He’s in her mind right now.”
Ash nodded vigorously. How had that happened? Merc had been careful to maintain a protection over her ever since he got her out of the pit her first visit to the town.
“Let’s get him out of there.” Liege drew Ash over to the bench in the middle of the closet. He held her hands and looked into her eyes. “This won’t hurt, but it can take a little while. Bear with me. It won’t alter you in any way other than to cut the hooks Flynn has set in your psyche that let him wander in as he pleases. It’s basically like getting rid of a virus in your system. You may be tired afterward, but otherwise you’ll be unaffected. Just free of a parasite.”
Ash sent Merc a worried glance. “This is a good thing,” he told her. “We’ll just be in the next room if you need me.”
Not like I can just holler for you, Ash groused.
Merc laughed. I heard that! Liege is already separating you from Flynn. You’ll be fine. We’ll stay close by.
Liege nodded at them to leave, then said to Ash, “Close your eyes now and don’t open them until I tell you.”
Merc, Bastion, and Guerre left the room as Liege worked to purge Flynn from Ash’s consciousness.
“Ash has a bug bite just inside her hairline,” Merc said. “Could that be how Flynn got in?”
Guerre nodded. “Two of the women from Owen Tremaine’s group were infected in that way—Owen’s wife and Angel’s wife. We’ll have the Ratcliffs take a sample of her blood and a scrape of the bite wound.”
“How did this happen, Merc?” Bastion asked, more curious than condemning. If it happened to one of them, it could happen to any of them.
Merc shook his head. “I was fighting a bunch of ghouls. And by a bunch, I mean a fuck-ton. I let my guard down. But what would Flynn want with her?”
“Besides having a way into the fort?” Guerre asked.
“Flynn’s been grooming her for months,” Merc said. “What if he was who drew her back to Valle de Lágrimas?”
Bastion frowned. “But why?”
“She’s gifted in psychometry,” Merc said. “I was surprised to learn how accurate she is. Her abilities are immature, but could become as strong as yours, Guerre.”
“We could use that skill,” Guerre replied.
“So could Flynn. But why did she point to your cabinet, Merc?”
“I kept some of my girls’ things from the crash site.”
“Was Flynn at the crash?” Bastion asked.
Merc tilted his head. Ash hadn’t mentioned that. Was Flynn already blocking her, then? “I suspect Flynn was there. Or, at least, he might have been in her vision of the event, but she didn’t say that to me.”
“Ce salaud. Why can he not leave us alone?”
30
Ash wasn’t alone when she woke. Merc was lying next to her, his green-brown eyes watching her. Everything that had happened in the last few days blew into her mind, filling her with a sense of breathless wakefulness. She sat up and looked around. His room was dark, but she realized it was because of his light-blocking curtains.
As she thought that, they opened, all on their own, as if sensing her thoughts. So. It wasn’t one great big nightmare. It was real. Or maybe it was a nightmare, and she was still dreaming.
“How do you feel?” Merc asked.
She looked over her shoulder at him. He wasn’t a nightmare. He was the sun chasing out shadows.
His brows lifted as his eyes laughed at her.
“I feel okay. I still remember you. Everything.”
“Liege told you he wasn’t erasing your memories.”
“I thought Sam was going to make me forget. You. Everything. Despite what he said.”
“If we erase your memories, I’ll be the one doing it. And I won’t do it before you tell me your answer about joining us. And even then, I won’t do it until you say you’re prepared. It can be a shock to the system. Are you hungry?”
She nodded. “More than food, though, I’d kill for coffee.”
“Throw some clothes on. We’ll head down. Bastion cooked up a feast for you.”
Ash hurried into Merc’s big closet and got ready in no time. She sent the secret cabinet a tense glance. Hopefully, she’d never have to see what that showed her again.
Warm arms encircled hers. Merc pulled her against his chest. “I’ll get rid of it.”
“No. They’re your memories.”
“I don’t want my past to hurt you.”
“I don’t want you to lose your past for me.” She turned in his arms. “What happened last night? I remember Liege working with me, then nothing until just a moment ago.”
“He was able to purge Flynn. For now.”
“You think he’ll be back?”
Merc nodded. “He will if he didn’t get what he wanted.”
“And what was that?”
“We’re trying to figure it out. What was it that you were trying to tell me last night?”
Ash stared into his eyes, half afraid that Flynn would jump back into her mind and block her from speaking. “When I told you what I saw after touching your wife’s purse, I didn’t tell you everything. After her car went off the cliff, Flynn was standing on the overlook, staring right at me, smiling.”
“Hmm. Can you tell whether he was actually there at the time, or if he was just in your vision?”
“I can’t tell. Do you think he planted that vision somehow? Or was it a genuine knowing? I mean, did her car go over a cliff?”
“It did. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he was there. But Flynn is always up to something.” He pulled her into a hug that calmed her frazzled nerves. “Guerre reminded me that two friends from Selena’s former team were injected with change agents from insects, which is why I’m worried about your bite wound. Would you be willing to have some blood drawn?”
“Sure. If it’ll help.”
“And there’s one more kind of test our doctors will want to do—“
“You have doctors here?”
“We do. Researchers. You met the Ratcliffs. The Omnis were using them to engineer the human modifications. They’re still doing that research, trying to understand all the varieties of genetic and nano modifying agents the Omnis are using and are still developing. We have a special lab down below for them.”
Just when she thought she’d caught up with everything in Merc’s world, she realized she’d only begun to understand the small fraction he’d shared so far.
“What’s the second test they want to do?”
“Take a skin sample from your bite. It won’t hurt. Guerre will take care of that.”
“I’m okay with that. You think my bite has something to do with Flynn and his Omnis?”
“It might. Or it might just be the jungle at work. We hope to figure that out. The Ratcliffs are the best at what they do.”
“Merc, in Valle de Lágrimas, you called all of this a game.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t. You did.”
Ash hesitated. “Well, you didn’t correct me. But it isn’t a game, is it? This is real. You aren’t joking about your mutations and special skills and Omni enemies.”
“I’m not. They are no joke.”
“Why did you let me keep believing it was part of your real-life role playing?”
“Because I’m terrified of losing you. I would rather set you free than be the cause of your death. A role-playing game was a good cover, and it might have meant that I wouldn’t have to mess with your memo
ries, were we to part ways.”
“Are those the only choices?”
Merc looked sad as he stroked a long strand of her hair. “I don’t know. I hope not. Let’s head down to eat.”
Breakfast that morning was a spinach-and-feta quiche, with cut fruit and fresh brioche rolls. Merc made himself a cup of tea but made her a café au lait. He served her a plate with a generous slice of quiche and a whole roll. It looked as good as it smelled, but she had no interest in eating. And while the coffee was sweet, even it didn’t tempt her.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said. She’d thought she was starving before.
“I do,” Summer answered, smiling as she joined them at the table. “You never eat when you’re overtired or stressed. And you’re both of those things right now.”
“We should have done her tests first, then she might have had a shot at relaxing,” Merc said.
Summer looked at him. “What tests?”
Ash showed her the bug bite on the side of her head. “Merc wants to make sure it’s not some type of mutant injection, like what happened to you, I guess.”
Summer looked at the thin scar on her arm, all that was left from that night. “Were you cut by a ghoul? They didn’t say anything about that.”
“No,” Merc said. “She just has the bug bite. But we know that two of the women in Owen Tremaine’s group were infected from bugs, so we’re taking precautions.”
“Well, good. I hope it’s nothing. I’ll go with you when you get the tests done.”
“Thanks.”
“Afterward, if you like, we can have a visit—just the two of us.”
“Oh, cruel woman, to cut me out like that,” Merc complained.
“Sorry.” Summer chuckled. “Sometimes a girl just needs girl time.”
“I do,” Ash said, “but what I most need is some time alone to process all of this. And I have to get ready for work tomorrow.”
“You’re already heading back?” Summer sounded surprised.
“I’ve got bills to pay, Sum.”
“All right. Kiera and I will check on you during the week.”
O-Men: Liege's Legion - Merc Page 29
