Royal Blood The Complete Collection

by Amity Cross

  “He’s not going to talk,” I said and X glanced up at me. “Does it really matter who fucked us over? We were on our own anyway.”

  X stood, his expression impassive. His shoulders were tensed and I knew he was pissed. He lifted his gun and clicked off the safety and without even blinking, he aimed and fired. The boom seemed to echo into infinity in the silence of the French countryside and for a moment, it was like the world slowed down. A second became an hour. I knew what was going to happen, what was going to be triggered by seeing this, but I couldn’t stop it.

  I stumbled back a step as the bullet embedded into the man’s head. There was a spray of blood as his body jerked, then nothing. An image flashed through my mind, sharp as the day I saw it with my own two eyes. Blood splattered on the walls, on the carpet and on everything. Bam…right between the eyes.

  “Did you have to kill him like that?” I shrieked, my heart thumping wildly in my chest. I stared at X open-mouthed as he shoved his gun back into the waistband of his jeans.

  “Yes,” he replied blandly. “He was already dying.”

  I opened my mouth to say…I didn’t know what I was going to say. I was shocked. Completely and utterly shocked. He just walked up to the guy, pulled his gun out and shot him. He didn’t even blink.

  “You’re in the real world now, Mercy,” he said, walking away. “There is no black and white. Only grey and darkness.”

  I knew this was X. I knew this was who he was, what he did…but it was a whole new kettle of fish watching him do it. No wonder he didn’t want me to go on that hit with him. No fucking wonder...

  When X realized I wasn’t following, he turned and strode back to me, a scowl on his face. He was pissed and he probably should be. I was like a deer caught in the motherfucking headlights. I was the one that would see us killed. I was the weak link...

  His fingers bit into my bicep and he jerked me close. “Are you sure you can do this, Mercy?”

  I stared at him, not sure what to say.

  “If you can’t then go the fuck back to the UK. This is what it takes. This is who you wanted to be. This is who I am. If you can’t deal, then go the fuck home.”

  My heart twisted and I jerked out of his grasp. This was dark X, the devil himself. This wasn’t the man who I’d come to know at the cottage…was it?

  “We need a new car,” he snapped and strode away down the road.

  I was stuck on this highway to Hell with him with nowhere else to go but forward, so I walked away from the dead man and his wrecked car and caught up with X.

  He got into the drivers side, stashing his gun on the dash, and I slid into the passenger seat in silence.

  It wasn’t until we were back on the road, destination unknown, that I felt the first tears begin to fall.

  Chapter 18

  X

  It wasn’t until much later that I realized I’d killed that man the same way her family had died.

  Being out on a job had disconnected me from reality. Like that was an excuse for my behavior. Still, she had to learn and the hard way was always the best.

  Dawn’s long fingers were creeping over the horizon and we were still a long way from Paris. I should’ve had the forethought to know that this wasn’t going to be straightforward. We wouldn’t be able to follow the timeline and expect things to go according to plan. This was motherfucking Sykes we were talking about. Slimy, slippery, conniving sociopath. We had one of those things in common and it made me want to vomit.

  I pulled the car into a service road, all gravel and concealing trees, and killed the engine. Glancing at Mercy, she just sat, staring impassively out the front window.

  In this I had to be an asshole. She had to understand that it was us or them. People would get killed. People we hadn’t planned on eliminating. This was the world we inhabited.

  I got out of the car and I was surprised when she did the same. For a moment, I thought I’d have to fuck her out of her catatonia.

  Mercy was shivering, as much from the draft through the broken windows as from the shock from what she’d seen. Shucking off my coat, I draped it around her shoulders, my hands lingering. There was something I should probably say to her right now, but there wasn’t any time.

  They’d found us in the middle of nowhere, which meant something inside this car was tagged.

  Walking around to the back, I wrenched open the boot and began dragging cases out and stacking them haphazardly on the ground. Mercy stared at me blankly as I worked, opening each one and checking the lining.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, finding her way back to herself.

  I ran my fingers through the lining of a case of ammunition and cursed as I found what I was looking for. I should’ve been more thorough at the dead drop. Pulling my hand away, I turned the tiny device over in my hands. It was crude, nothing but a circuit board, some wiring and a chip to transmit data, but it had done its job. It didn’t have to look fucking pretty to give away our location.

  “They were tracking us.” I handed Mercy the tiny device and her eyebrows rose.

  “This little thing? Did Vaughn…”

  “Vaughn wasn’t behind this,” I said, leaning back against the mountain of cases. “It’s not pretty enough.”

  “How do you know?” Mercy asked, turning the tracker over in her hand. She inspected it closely, like she was committing every little wire and circuit to memory.

  “He was right when he said he had nothing to gain from betraying us. He has a mole.”

  Right now, we had nothing. Our cover was blown, our intel compromised. They knew we were in the country looking for both Sykes and Lafayette. Things had just gotten a million times more difficult. I felt like punching the wall, but I crossed my arms over my chest, my fingers aching. I’d done some difficult jobs in my time, but none as hopeless as this.

  “I still think it’s worth checking the building,” I said. “To see if the meeting will go ahead. If it doesn’t we might find something of use by going there.”

  “We’ve got nothing now, don’t we?” she asked, setting down the tracker.

  Pulling out my gun, I checked the safety was switched on. With one fluid motion I brought the butt down onto the tiny device and it shattered.

  “We need to get moving,” I said with a scowl.

  I checked the rest of the cases as I loaded them back into the boot and they came up clean. We had to find a new car and dump this one before the police got wind of us. No doubt the wreck and bodies had already been found. A search team would be out on the road in the next thirty minutes by my guess.

  I had limited resources at my disposal, so I had to improvise.

  I swapped out the plates on our wrecked car with another I found parked on a quiet street. I stole another that was a similar make and model to the one Vaughn supplied. Then I swapped out the plates on those to send the police on a wild goose chase. By the time they decided to arrest us for petty car theft, we’d be long gone.

  I didn’t have time to wipe down the car, but it didn’t matter that much. Nobody had mine or Mercy’s prints or DNA on file. All it meant was we had to be careful what we left behind in the future…and I already did that.

  We loaded up the new car with our gear, and Mercy followed instructions without question. I didn’t understand what was going through her head, if this was just a mechanical response to what had happened. She didn’t utter a word above what was absolutely necessary to get things done.

  The most ironic thing? I wanted to talk. About motherfucking feelings. Cocksucker.

  We drove all the way to Paris after that, reaching the city without anything untoward happening. We’d shaken our tail and our tracker and were under the radar again. I found us a small, unassuming hotel room in Montparnasse, near the Jardin du Luxembourg, that was only a mile from St Germain. Close enough to be convenient and enough distance to be safe. It was a busy part of the city and blending would be easier.

  We left the cases in the back of the car, waiti
ng for nightfall to bring them up to the room. The only thing I brought with us was the duffle and whatever weapons we were already carrying on our persons.

  The clerk at the front desk assumed we were married from our forged passports and let us up to our room without a second glance. Mercy prowled around the double bed, running her fingers over the sparse budget decor before finally sitting on the edge of the bed.

  She hadn’t uttered a word.

  “Mercy.” She glanced up at me, her eyes vague. “We’ve got this. I’ve got this.”

  She shook her head. She looked lost and for the first time, it wasn’t her trying to bring me back. I didn’t know what to fucking do.

  “It’s under control,” I said, glancing away. Everything had been methodical, structured, compartmentalized…until now.

  “Is it though?” she asked. “Are we really in control of all of this, or is it fate? Are we doomed to fail?”

  I snorted and sat beside her. Existentialism at a time like this? “I don’t believe in fate, Mercy. I believe in my own two hands.”

  She glanced at the gun I’d left on the side table, then at my hands, which were curled around the edge of the mattress. Hands that were covered in metaphoric blood.

  “Mercy.”

  She shivered and stood, letting my coat fall onto the floor.

  We had to plan, I had to go through the intel in the duffle, but I couldn’t move forward with her like this. How did she do it? How did she manage to calm me down time and time again? How did she command me?

  I stood, my gaze darkening, and she turned, her eyes widening as she took me in.

  She commanded me with sex. With one of the most intimate human experiences a man and woman could share. She turned it into something meaningful for me, where before it was nothing but a release. I couldn’t bear the thought of touching another woman after her, meaningless or not. This, our connection, whatever it might be, was the thing that commanded us both.

  I felt my cock begin to stiffen and I stepped forward, my predatory instincts flaring into life.

  I pushed her hard and she stumbled back against the wall, a gasp bursting from between her lips. Pressing against her, I let her feel how hard my cock was becoming at the thought of going back there. To the beginning where everything was raw…animalistic, painful, fucking.

  I pulled her top off roughly, then mine, before ridding her of her bra. Undoing the button on her jeans, I shoved them over her ass and lifted her up onto the side table, dumping her unceremoniously onto the hard surface. Ripping her boots off, I tossed them aside, the knife I’d given her falling onto the floor with a thud.

  She let me strip her, a twisted expression on her face. Once she was naked, I picked her up again and tossed her onto the bed, dropping my own pants. Fuck, she was spread-eagled and the sight of her had me fisting my hand around the base of my cock.

  What I wouldn’t give to kneel before her and stroke myself to orgasm, spilling over her perfect skin, marking her on the outside. My gaze crossed hers but she wasn’t there. How could I do that when she wasn’t even aware?

  She stared at me, a distant look in her eyes and I snarled, climbing over her.

  “Do I have to choke you?” I asked, curling my hands around her slender neck. “Do I have to choke you back to life, Mercy?”

  She gasped, arching her back off the mattress. Her breasts pressed against my chest, her clit rubbing against my thigh, and it was all I could do not to let go and just fuck her.

  I pressed my thumbs into her trachea and her pretty blue eyes widened.

  “Is this how it’s going to be?” I murmured, resting my elbows on the mattress either side of her. “Fight.”

  For a sickening moment, nothing happened. Then her hands began clawing at my sides, trying to unpin herself from underneath me. Grinding my cock against her, I slackened my grip around her throat, bringing my mouth down against hers. My lips brushed her skin, our breath mingling. If she wanted it, she had to come and get it.

  Mercy let out a strangled moan, writhing underneath me and thrust upwards, her mouth attacking mine in a blaze of heat. My hands fell away and found themselves wound in her hair, a part of me missing the length it once was so I could coil and pull.

  Her tongue twisted against mine, devouring me in her wake, and I didn’t have to open my eyes to know that she was coming back. The shock, the distance, the horror at what I’d done was fading and she was accepting that this was our world. It was fucked up, but it was how things were. Showing her tenderness, telling her I cared…it would serve no purpose in this game. Tenderness would weaken her until she snapped. Until she was dead.

  Tearing my mouth from hers, I traced my lips over her jaw, along her neck and between her breasts. I moved down her body, neither biting or sucking, until my knees hit the floor. Grasping her thighs, I pulled her sharply towards me until her ass sat on the very edge of the bed.

  Her arms were over her head and she began clawing at the sheets in anticipation. Spreading her legs wide, I could smell her, all fucking wet and ready. No, there was no distancing herself from this. This would always win through all the bullshit. Her and me. Me in her.

  I ran the tip of my tongue along her pussy, tasting her arousal and she arched her back off the mattress, palming her breasts. Pulling her closer, I pushed her legs up and ran my teeth across her clit. She was moaning, murmuring my name, pushing up against my face and it was all I needed from her. She was still Mercy.

  Sliding a finger inside, I worshipped her. I stroked and sucked, tasting her cunt and getting off on her cries. She was as fucking responsive as always, bucking against my touch like a wild thing.

  Thrusting three fingers into her tight little pussy, she cried out, begging me to push her over the edge. Her orgasm was close, but I wasn’t going to give it to her that easily. I pulled away, biting the inside of her thigh, and she began to plead underneath her breath. Her fingers made a play for her clit and I grasped her wrists, denying her the pleasure she wanted so badly.

  “I will not tolerate your bullshit,” I hissed against her thigh. “I will not let you compartmentalize me.” Her eyes widened and I wasn’t sure if she understood that that was what she was doing. “You are mine.”

  She wanted to distance herself? She wanted to shove me into the dark corners of her mind? She knew what I did, she told me she understood who I was. Fuck that. I wasn’t letting her get off so easy.

  Abruptly, I stood and flipped her over and slapped her hard on the ass, the sharp crack of my palm hitting her flesh splitting the air. Grasping her hips, I pulled her backside up into the air, exposing her most private parts to me.

  I groaned, my cock straining to be inside her. I fucking ached. “Mine.”

  Mercy moaned, her legs quivering, and she pressed back into my groin. Shoving her away, I guided my cock against her pussy and thrust. She was so aroused, I slid right in, driving home with a grunt. I pulled out and slammed into her, the slap of our skin connecting driving me further into the abyss.

  I didn’t stop.

  I fucked her hard, curling my body over hers, biting her skin, fondling her clit… I thrust into her over and over, her pussy slick as she reared back into me. We lost ourselves to the rhythm and the building tsunami, everything else falling away. I fucked her until I couldn’t hold my orgasm at bay any more.

  I thrust, burying deep, and spilled hot and hard inside her. Her entire body quivered with her release as she tightened around my cock. I moaned loudly, sinking my teeth into her shoulder, grinding against her ass.

  A killer who could fuck like an angel.

  Grabbing Mercy’s breast roughly, I pulled her back, tugging hard on her hair. Her head turned and her mouth found mine, the tip of her tongue grazing against my lips, and we kissed through our heavy breathing, both of us totally spent.

  I pulled out, standing over her as she collapsed onto the bed, her eyes drooping. I let my gaze wander for a moment, lingering on her pink ass cheeks, before I lay next to her
.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, turning onto her back.

  “Don’t be sorry,” I said. “Move forward.”

  “I understand now,” she whispered. “I understand what I need to do.”

  I traced the curve of her breast with my fingers.

  “You don’t have to worry about me, X.” Her gaze held mine and within her eyes I saw the truth. No hesitation. “When the time comes, it doesn’t matter who is on the other end. I’ll pull the trigger.”

  Maybe I should’ve been worried. Maybe I should’ve been less harsh on her. Maybe I should’ve let her go a long time ago.

  There was probably a different path we should be taking right now, but she’d asked for it and I was powerless where Mercy was concerned.

  She wanted revenge. I wanted her.

  I’d shaped her in my own image at her behest.

  A monster and his apprentice.

  Chapter 19

  Mercy

  X had used my own trick against me.

  I should’ve seen it coming, really. He was highly intelligent and could read me like a book, of course he understood how I was bringing him back from his episodes. Stood to reason he’d do the same in return.

  Curling the covers around me, I sat in bed and watched X retrieve the duffle. He was stark naked, the view of his glorious ass sending my heart fluttering.

  Had I been trying to compartmentalize him? I thought it was just the vision of him shooting that man that I’d been trying to forget, but I was pushing him away at the same time. I knew the parameters of what we were doing and he was always clear with me. He didn’t sugarcoat.

  Things could be planned down to the smallest detail, but it didn’t mean that they were tied up into a little present with a bow on top.

  X sat next to me, unzipping the bag. His hands shook slightly and I frowned. Sliding my fingers over his wrists, he pulled away.