by April Zyon
That had Mercy smiling. “The balls? Seriously?”
“Well, it should be Joshua that tells her, but...”
Mercy’s laughter tore through the air.
“He’s always lacked them whenever Mama’s around,” Brant muttered. “At least the pressure will be off you two for a while. Go at your own speed, Ali. No matter what Mama may say, or hint, she’s just happy that you two are finally together.”
“Oh believe me, your momma might be a steam roller, but I refuse to hurry with something so important,” Ali replied. “Wait, I didn’t know that the two of you were dating. Have you been keeping it on the down-low? But Merc, didn’t you just recently get your divorce finally? I mean, it was, what, four years for you to get it?”
“Five,” Mercy replied. “And no, we weren’t seeing each other. Seems as if fate had a plan for us and for this child.”
“All it took was me leaving them alone together at The Shanty. Not exactly what I’d call setting the mood, but to each their own,” Joshua said over his shoulder as he flipped meat on the grill. “She’s keeping up the tradition that seems to be taking over around here with you women just kidnapping a poor, defenseless male to have your wicked ways with.”
“Ha,” was Ali’s reply. “As if. You boys love that we kidnap your beautiful selves and have our own way with you.”
Mercy looked at Brant and asked, “I don’t know, Brant. What do you think about me kidnapping you and keeping you for a time so that I can have my wicked way with you over and over again? I think that it would be a very, very good time. Thoughts?”
“Promise?” he asked. “Whatever you want to do, Mercy. I even have a pair of handcuffs you can borrow if you ask real nice like.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek before they both saw Joshua staring at them, mouth open. “What?” Brant asked.
“Uh, not much, except you’re offering to let her cuff you. What the hell, bro? You never let anyone, even when we were kids, for the love of God, tie you up.”
Brant shrugged, giving her a warm look, his lips barely curled in a smile. “She’s rather special, and I trust her. More than you.” Joshua got a dirty look. There was a story there for sure.
That melted Mercy, just the knowledge that he would be willing to do something like that for her. She leaned into Brant. There were no words that could express her happiness, so instead, she kissed him and hoped that it would convey what she felt in that moment.
“Aww,” said Ali. “Look, Josh, I do believe that your brother has found someone he could love. Someone that won’t fuck him over.”
“About damn time,” Joshua muttered. “He deserves to be just as sickeningly happy as we are, snookums.”
“Snookums? Seriously?” Brant asked with a weird look on his face, like he’d just caught the scent of something nasty. “Do you really let him get away with that shit, Ali?”
“Yeah, but only because he’s so cute,” Ali replied, her laugh following shortly. “It’s okay, though. I usually get him out when he’s on the range with the guys and then I call him Pooh-bear and explain exactly why I call him that.”
Mercy was still trying to work through Ali’s nonchalant statement and she finally said, “Oh, I would love to know why. Why do you call him Pooh-bear?”
“Because…” Ali began, and then was all but tackled by Joshua who wrapped his arms around her middle and put a hand over her mouth.
“None of your damn business, Ms. Jenkins,” Joshua said primly. “Ali, sweetheart, you have to learn to keep some of our shit private. There is absolutely no reason to tell Brant, or Mercy, why you call me that. Ever.”
Ali looked up at Josh and grinned against the hand that was covering her mouth. When he removed his hand, she said, “Then I suggest that you don’t call me that unless you are willing to have your big brother know exactly why I call you that.”
Mercy snickered. “Oh heavens, you two are just too cute. Priceless.”
“Bloody blackmail,” he muttered. “Fine, I won’t call you that, at least in front of them.” Josh kissed her hard, tipping her back over his arm for a long, long moment. When he stood her up, he clapped his hands. “All right, people, refresh your beverages and let’s get eating.”
“Goodness gravy,” Ali said as she held onto Josh. “You kiss me like that and I forget my name and what it is that we are supposed to be doing.”
Mercy took that moment to move from where she was seated and all but dragged Brant into the kitchen. Ali’s words were still floating in Mercy’s mind, the words about Brant finding someone to love, and she wanted a moment alone with him, a moment to simply hug him and hold onto him while she aligned herself with the emotions she was feeling in the then and there.
“What’s wrong, Mercy?” he asked once they were in the kitchen. He set his beer bottle aside as she stepped in closer to him. “Hey, what’s going on in that pretty head, sweetheart?”
“I just wanted to hold onto you,” Mercy admitted with a shrug. “Just realizing how important you are to me. I’m not sure if I am at love yet, but it’s closer than I’ve ever been before and that scares the hell out of me, Brant. You could destroy me because I’ve never felt this way toward anyone before. You are very important to me.” She knew that her words would likely send him off and running, but she couldn’t have stopped them if she had tried.
His arms tightened around her before he began to rub a hand lightly over her back. “I’m not going to do anything to hurt you, Mercy. Not physically and not mentally. At least I hope to God I don’t. I care for you, sweetheart, a lot. You’ve rocked my world, in more ways than one, but it’s all been amazing. I’m a pessimist at heart, though, so I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“Well, there is no need to wait. It’s not going to. That bad boy is locked up tightly in the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean so it has nowhere to drop to.” She moved so that she could look up at him. “I’m glad that I’m not alone in this and how I’m feeling. It’s new for me, these feelings and emotions.”
With a kiss to her forehead, he then pressed his to hers. “Never alone, Mercy. Not ever again if I have any say in it. I have no clue what the future might hold, but I know I’m not letting the best damn thing to walk into my life get away, not easily. I’m not talking about some huge commitment, not now, maybe not for a good long while, but I’m not walking away from you or us.”
“Good, because I don’t think I would be able to let you go.” Which was the honest truth, something she felt to the tips of her toes. “For now, why don’t we get our drinks and then we will head out, eat with your brother and sister-in-law, and enjoy the rest of the day…night…hell, I don’t even know what time it is.” She laughed.
“It’s technically the evening,” he told her. “Not quite night time, but close.” He walked back outside with her to the table, pulling a chair out for her to sit on. “Do you want more water, or one of the juices I know is in that cooler?”
“Water for me. Sweets just really make me want to puke—twenty-four seven and not just in the mornings. Juices are just too sweet.” She slipped her hand into his after taking a seat at the table. “I think your child is going to be stubborn and make sure that his or her mother can’t have chocolate.” She was teasing…at least she hoped like hell she was teasing.
“According to Mama, she couldn’t eat anything even resembling a dessert the entire time she was pregnant with any of us,” Joshua said.
Mercy glared at first Josh and then Brant. “I’m going to be a very cross woman if I have to give up chocolate for the next eight months. I will do it if I don’t have a choice, but you and I will have words, mister, and then I’m going to have them with our child.” Her lips twitched and she smiled. “Although, honestly, they are likely ones I will forget the first time I hold our babe.” She couldn’t believe how fast she was accepting this fact of life. She had been so tense this morning and now she was happy, very happy.
He was laughing as he pressed a kiss to her fin
gers. “There are ways of fooling you into thinking you’re having chocolate without actually having any so your body doesn’t revolt. Don’t ask how, it’s a secret, one that has come across whole continents for this very moment.”
“Yeah, well.” She shrugged. “Just keep that in mind if I become testy later.” She loved teasing him. “I’m sure that it’s only one of a hundred things we will have to figure out in life, right?”
“That one’s a no-brainer. The rest of it we will need to figure out, but not that.”
“Okay, you two, knock it off and let the pregnant lady eat.” Joshua handed her a plate with a steak on it. “I figured I wouldn’t test your limits too badly and gave you one of the smaller ones. If you want more, there is more, but I’m guessing you’ll want something other than just steak.”
“Okay, now, please don’t shoot me for saying this, but know that in the last week I’ve had to learn fast what I’m eating and what’s making me ill.” She held the plate up and said, “I want a big steak, but one without fat on it.” Just saying that F word made her stomach roll. “I don’t want to see it, at all. Can you cut it off and give me a big juicy steak? I’m starving and, in the evenings, I eat a lot of red meat, but can’t have that F word on it, at all.”
“Uh, okay,” Joshua said. The look he was giving her as he passed the plate to Ali said she was weird at best. “Hold your horses,” he said, getting to his feet. When he came back a moment later, he handed her a steak without any fat she could see on it, and it was big. “Will that do, ma’am?”
“Yes, thank you,” Mercy said with a bit of a smirk. “I know it’s like sacrilege to do that to a steak, but I thank you.” She took her knife and fork, took a bite, and sighed happily. “Oh God, this is good.” Then she didn’t speak again. She instead ate. A lot.
Once dinner was over and she was stuffed to the gills, they all helped tidy up before going to sit by the fire pit. Brant sat behind her, his arms wrapped around her with her back to his chest. It was getting good and dark, the sky starting to reveal the stars as only the fire crackling and a couple coyotes could be heard along with some soft noises from the horses in the nearby paddock.
Mercy’s eyes were closed and she smiled. Part of her was upset with herself because they had slept the day away and she hadn’t had a moment to call the doctor, but the biggest part of her was beyond happy. She was thrilled that she was where she was in that moment in time and had spent the day as she had, with Brant.
“This is nice,” she said finally. “I could become very, very accustomed to this, Brant.”
“Mm, me too, sweetheart,” he said softly. He shifted slightly, his cheek coming to rest against hers as he gave her a light squeeze. “How are you doing? Are you warm enough?”
“I am. With you at my back and the fire at my front, I’m good.” She shifted slightly so she could lay her head on his shoulder. “How about after the fire dies down a bit you take me home? I would stay here, but we talked about this, and since I don’t have clothes, it wouldn’t do any good.”
“Deal,” he said softly. “Do you want to take just the one vehicle? I know you drove out here, Mercy, and you’ll likely need yours. Will you be okay to drive home, or should I just drive yours and pick my rental up some other time?”
“It’s up to you. I’m good to drive, but I wouldn’t be too upset if you wanted to drive with me. I would totally give over my keys so that I could ride with you.” She enjoyed his company, so why not? “Leave your rental here if you want, or you can have Josh bring it to town tomorrow. Either way works for me.”
“Sounds good. I’ll worry about it tomorrow then. Even if he doesn’t drop it off right away, I doubt I’ll need it if you’re keeping me captive.” When she looked up, he had a big smile on his face. Brant didn’t look like he was opposed to the idea in the least.
Mercy was grinning as well. “You betcha. Clothing is optional during this captivity, by the way. Well, except for when we go out to go to the doctor. Please don’t let me forget to call in the morning to see if we can get in tomorrow?”
“I made you an appointment,” he said softly. At her look, he shrugged. “I figured you’d get distracted once you woke up, so I called and got you in. I know I probably overstepped a bit, but I thought you might forgive me for this one. It’s after lunch at two-thirty.”
Mercy just looked at him and smiled. “You are too perfect.” She hugged him. Against his ear, she whispered, “Thank you, Brant, for remembering something so important to me, to us.” She felt like a fool for not remembering herself, but at least he had. “You have no idea what it means to me that you thought of doing that. That you took the initiative to take care of us, ensuring that we were healthy.” Her and their child. He was a sweetie, and she was so keeping him.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t want you to wait longer than you had to. Since I had plans to distract you, I felt it only right to see to it,” he muttered. He looked slightly uncomfortable, blushing too if she was seeing right. Really hard to tell with the fire, but she was relatively sure he was.
Mercy pulled back. “So you were planning on seducing me, Brant Carver? You naughty, naughty boy.” She moved so that she could put her lips to his ear again and whispered, “I wouldn’t mind if you did that every day for the rest of our lives, multiple times a day. Your type of distraction is something I could handle often, something I need often.”
“I had a general plan to see if you were interested. From there it was all up in the air. I didn’t want you to feel pressured for any reason, so I thought I’d just see where it all went once I kind of planted the idea in your head. Though, if I recall right, you were on board well before I so much as got to mentioning keeping you in bed.”
“Yep, exactly,” Mercy agreed, and then rose to her feet. Holding out her hand to Brant, she asked, “Take me home? I would like to enjoy a nice long, hot bath with you, relaxing a bit and then crawling into bed. If you are game, that is?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. Taking her hand, he led her back to the house. “Let me grab my go-bag and then we can head out. It won’t take me more than a second, so you might as well stay here and relax. I’ll even grab the shirt you were wearing earlier so you’re not looking for it later.”
That had her smiling. “You are too good to me.” Mercy settled down on the soft chair that he had put her in front of and looked up at him. “I will be right here waiting on you. Hurry up so we can maybe stop by a drive-through for a quick bite to eat.” Yes, she had just eaten, but was hungry again.
For a moment, he looked like he was going to ask the obvious question, but wisely changed his mind. Holding his hands up in a mock surrender, he shot her a smirk before dashing up the stairs, taking them two or three at a time.
Mercy heard Brant come back down and just waited for him. When he was at her side again, she stood and slipped her hand into his. Together, they left his family home and got into her vehicle. Settling in on the passenger side, Mercy laid her head back on the headrest and smiled. She was happy. Truly happier than she could recall being in far, far too long.
“Let’s head on out to the ranch. That way we aren’t far from your family home either. Tomorrow, we will go to my home in town and I will close it up and pack some clothes. I think it will be best to move out to the ranch right now. Even though you are with me, I would feel much better moving out to the ranch now. What do you think?”
“I’m okay with whatever you decide, Mercy. I’m not going to try and change you, sweetheart. So if you think that is the best idea, I’ll support you the whole way. Just so you know though, I’m fully on board with the plan.” He shot her a grin as he got them onto the “main” road. It was a gravel road the county scraped down once in a while before dumping new gravel on. Such was life in the country.
Chapter Seven
She liked that he was as on board with things as she was. “I think we have a plan.” She looked over at him and said, “I loved growing up on the ranch. We didn’t have as
many animals as you did, but only because my great-granddaddy found oil and knew it was far more profitable than animals or crops. We have the orchards, but for the most part, the men on the ranch are all oilmen, trained to drill and cap the wells and all the other fun stuff that they do.” She laughed and added, “When we were kids, Daddy tried to get Megs and I to understand all that went on with oil, and when he realized neither of us had a desire, he taught us instead how to hire the best of the best and how to keep them. In fact, the foreman has been on the ranch for twenty years, I think? Old Buzz, you remember him, right? He served in, I think, Vietnam with Daddy. He and Megs have always been tight.” Mercy’s twin looked up to Old Buzz, thought the world of the man, and he her. It wasn’t a sexual thing, more like a kindred soul father-daughter type thing.
“Yeah, I remember him,” he said with a laugh. “Fuck, he chased me and my brother off your land more than once. Can’t remember how the hell we got there. All I remember is him coming at us with that big old Winchester. He was like one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse coming after us on that big old horse he rode all the time. Used to get my heart pounding hard. Took me days to calm down enough that someone touching my arm didn’t have me going all ninja on their ass.”
“Yes, holy crap, that is Old Buzz,” she said with a grin. “All ninja on their asses? Seriously? You are too funny, Brant Carver, you know that? It’s okay, though. I promise you that he won’t chase you away with a Winchester.” She got serious and added, “However, Megs might. Sorry, but I have a feeling she’s going to be more than a little upset with me, and you.”
He shot her a small smile, one that practically screamed he knew something she didn’t. “I wouldn’t worry about it, sweetheart. If she has issue, I’ll shoot her in the leg or something to give us a running head start. I promise to even miss all the major blood vessels.”
