Striker slapped his knee as he laughed. “She pegged you, Marlow! I do nae think the lass could get it any more spot on.”
Duke shot him a hard look and Mercy expected the man to attack again. He didn’t.
Annoyed, she put her hands on her hips. “Duke.”
He faced her. For a huge guy, he looked scared of her. That, in itself, was amusing. She didn’t even kill spiders. She relocated them to an outside spot, hoping they didn’t return. She was hardly someone to be scared of.
“Do you see me as a…” She looked to Corbin wondering if she’d get it right or muddle it all up. “A mate?”
Stiffening, Duke started to shake his head but stopped and then growled again, tossing his hands in the air. “Fuck!”
Mercy had to bite her lower lip to keep from laughing at his obvious discomfort with the notion that he did indeed see her as a mate. It was flattering but misguided. “Thank you, but I don’t think I’m your mate thingy. See, I’m not like the rest of you. I’m just boring old me. Just human, well, mostly human. There is some anomaly in my DNA but I’m sure it’s nothing and I do know it wasn’t animal. While it’s very nice to think a man like you could ever possibly be interested in me, I’m sure there is some mix-up. Now, about Jimmy.”
Boomer made a strange noise. “Did she just dismiss the idea of being Duke’s mate?”
“I think I love her!” Striker beamed, running a hand through his long hair. “Redheads. See. I told you!”
Duke’s demeanor changed almost instantly. He went from appearing ashamed to looking pissed. He stormed up to her and glowered down at her from his imposing height. She wasn’t the least bit afraid of him. She actually wanted to kick him in the shin to teach him a lesson. She didn’t.
“Woman, don’t even think of dismissing me,” he said in a voice she expected was meant to sound intimidating. “I’ll have you know I’m not the type of man who takes no for an answer.”
She held her ground. “No. No. And by the way, no.”
“Marry her. Quick, before some other cranky arsewipe comes across her.” Striker laughed harder.
Boomer even joined in.
Corbin stood off to the side, refraining from comment. Though, he too looked as though he were doing his best to avoid snickering.
Duke sneered, his hot gaze raking over her slowly as if he were mentally undressing her. “What about the kisses?”
“What about them?” she asked. She was attracted to him. Hard not to be. He was that kind of guy. That didn’t mean she was his mate.
“Don’t tell me it wasn’t the best you’ve ever had,” he said, his voice hard.
Mercy’s lips pulled into a thin line. If he wanted to play this game, she would, and she wouldn’t bother being nice. “They are the only kisses I’ve ever had so it seems unfair to label them the best ever when I have no basis of comparison.”
The two off the other side laughed more. They began propping one another up as they carried on.
Duke’s jaw hardened. “Woman, I don’t know who you think you’re dealing with here, but I’m not about to stand around and let you hand me my manhood on a platter.”
“Mercy. Not woman.” She disliked greatly being called woman. Her gaze raked down him, to his groin. It was thick and bulging against his jeans. She couldn’t seem to tear her gaze from it. The knowledge she’d made his cock react in such a manner moved her. She’d never seen herself as attractive or anything a man would desire, let alone a man like Duke.
He groaned and cupped himself. “Stop staring at my dick or I’m going to give you a hell of a lot better view of it.”
She perked. “Interesting. Okay. Go ahead.”
He blinked. “What?”
“You offered to allow me to observe your reproductive—”
Duke’s eyes widened. He pointed to the van. “In. Now!”
Corbin approached, doing his best not to smile. “Mercy, I think what Duke is trying to say is, are you ready to assist in freeing James?”
“Yes, but I do want to observe his reproductive organs. I’ve found many reports of the males of your kind to have larger than what is perceived to be normal sexual organs and to date I’ve not actually been able to verify these findings for myself.”
“Lass,” Striker said, flashing a bright smile. “I’d be more than happy to let you use me for your research, but the werewolf in front of you is about to lose his shit. He’ll nae be having any of you even thinkin’ of other men. He’s a lucky bastard, gettin’ a redhead such as yerself. Yer a mate that would make any man proud.”
She sighed. “I’m not a mate.”
Striker grinned. “You do nae know the truth of yerself, do you? Can you nae smell it?”
She waited, wondering what he was talking about. He didn’t answer. Instead, he went to Duke and clasped the man’s shoulder. “Congratulations and guard your ball sac. Redheads can be bad for yer health, but worth it.”
Duke seemed to calm somewhat. He put his hand out to her and Mercy wanted to ignore the gesture. She wanted to boldly flip him off. Something inside her wouldn’t allow it. She found herself operating on auto-pilot as she reached out, placing her hand in his. Warmth trickled up her arm at contact with him.
“You’re kind of a jerk,” she said, meaning every word. He was sort of a jerk.
“I know.” He shrugged, drawing her closer to him. He focused on Corbin. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Corbin said. “I shouldn’t have placed my hand on her. Not when you’re in this state. You did what was natural.”
No one seemed keen on clueing her in on what they were talking about. She tugged on Duke’s hand. “I’m not your mate.”
“Uh-huh, sure,” he said, ignoring her as he looked at Corbin again. “We get the information we need from her about James and then we put her in a safe location when we extract him.”
“Of course.” Corbin motioned for the other men to load back into the van.
Mercy squeezed Duke’s hand gently. “I have to go with you guys. I’m the only one who can get around the security. And I can’t teach any of you in the time we have left to save Jimmy. It’s simply not something one learns in a day.”
“No,” he said firmly. From his expression, he wasn’t budging on his decision. “I won’t have you in harm’s way.”
She opened her mouth to protest and he bent quickly, his lips capturing hers. The kiss rocked her very core. Moaning, she thrust her tongue into his mouth, greeting his. He lifted her and her legs wrapped around his waist, her skirt riding high. Cool air ran over her upper thighs and she heard Corbin talking.
“Let’s give them a minute,” he said.
“He’s gonna fuck her against the van,” Striker added.
Mercy hoped Striker was right. She’d waited all her life for a moment like this. One that would make it all worth her while.
“Sir,” Boomer said. “Should we intervene?”
“No,” responded Corbin. “Let’s take a quick walk and we can discuss how we’ll handle extracting Jimmy. They need this moment. Duke needs it. He’s no good to anyone if his head is screwed up because he needs to know his mate will accept him.”
Duke kisses came harder and faster and Mercy found herself grinding against him. He walked with her in his arms and the next she knew her back was against the cold, hard van. Her hands went to his neck as she continued kissing him back. He put one hand to the van, his other moving to her thigh.
“Mine,” he said, breaking their kiss momentarily.
“I’m not your mate,” she said, panting, going for his mouth again. Something drove her onward, demanding she surrender to this man—that she give herself over freely to him. It was almost instinctual.
Like a mate.
She stiffened. His hand rode higher on her thigh, exciting her more. Her breath caught as his hand cupped her panty-covered backside. Was he really going to have sex with her out in the open, against a van?
She really hoped so.
She d
idn’t care who saw it happen. She wanted this man desperately.
Chapter Twelve
Duke strained to keep the wolf at bay as he kissed Mercy. It was hard and he knew he was on the edge, but he had to taste her, had to have her. She’d denied who she was to him. The wolf wouldn’t tolerate it.
Neither would the man.
Both would ensure she knew who she belonged to.
He kissed her harder, wanting to burn his taste into her brain. She pulled at his shoulders and then bit his lower lip. The animal in him went wild. Duke slipped his hand around to the front and pushed her panties aside. He could already smell her cream. She was hot and wet for him.
Fuck. He couldn’t take much more.
She was driving him mad and he was about to allow his animal side to take lead. Duke yanked his mouth from hers, breathing hard, barely holding onto the wolf in him. “Sorry.”
She looked up at him bewildered? “What are you sorry for?”
He moved his hand from her panties, embarrassed by his behavior. “This.”
“I find myself totally and completely on board with it,” she said, kissing him, driving him closer to the edge. The little vixen was going to end up being fucked against a van if she kept it up.
Duke wanted to take what she was offering. Hell, his wolf was all but demanding he do so, but he wanted this moment to be special. Not with an audience who, no matter how far they’d walked, could more than likely hear every breath he and Mercy were taking. If he knew Striker, he’d get off on hearing everything.
Duke drew back and kissed her cheek. “When it’s just the two of us, I’m going to make you scream my name,” he promised.
She let out a shaky laugh. “I don’t think I’ll be much of a screamer.”
He knew she was a virgin. Hell, she’d never even been kissed. That didn’t surprise him. He’d have been more shocked to learn she’d been with many men. In the supernatural world it wasn’t uncommon for females to save themselves for their mates. He liked knowing his mate had done just that. Too bad she didn’t realize that just yet.
She would.
He’d see to it.
“As much as I want this, I’m sure that no matter how far the others walked to give us privacy, they’re able to hear every word we’re saying.”
She yelped, glancing in the direction in which the men had gone off.
“Striker is probably jacking off to this as we speak,” he said.
“Nearly done!” yelled Striker off in the distance.
She clutched hold of Duke’s arms. “Ohmygod, put me down.”
He lowered her to the ground and made sure her skirt covered her. Her hands remained on his chest and he found himself returning her quirky smile as she looked up at him with it plastered to her face. Smiling wasn’t exactly something that came with ease to him. He’d never had much to smile about, until now.
She took a deep breath. “Jimmy needs us.”
“I know.” He paused, having so much to say to her but having difficulty finding the right words. “Mercy.”
“Yes?”
“I realize you don’t fully understand what it’s like to be with a shifter male, but please don’t deny who you are to me. I know it. The wolf in me knows it. I need for you to know it too.” It was impossible for him to describe to a non-shifter what it was like to try to corral the beast in him. What it was like to fight with something that tended to think in terms of eat, kill and fuck. He couldn’t stress enough that if she continued to deny what was between them, he’d probably do something stupid. Even more stupid than nearly screwing her against a van in a parking lot.
She chewed on her lower lip, enticing him more. “I can’t be your mate. I’m not a shifter.”
“You don’t have to be. You only need to be more than human, and you admitted yourself that something is off with your DNA.”
She gasped and then stared wide-eyed at him. She’d see reason soon enough. He was sure of it. “We should go now.”
He kissed her again, needing to steal one more quick moment with her. When they were done in France, he’d spend endless hours pleasing her, making her see her worth to him, all while sating his beast. For now, he had to settle for stolen moments. “Yes.”
She touched his cheek. “This is a lot of take in.”
“I know,” he responded. “Hey, I’ve been alive a hell of a long time. And I’d all but given up hope of finding you.”
She glanced away and he waited for her to deny who she was to him again. Instead, she met his gaze. “I think I might have been looking for you too. But I didn’t realize it.”
It was progress.
He’d take it.
Chapter Thirteen
In the history of bad ideas, this had to be the worst and Duke had lived a long fucking time so he had his fair share of stupid to base his observation from. They stood outside the facility holding James and waited as Mercy went to a tiny tucked-away spot and retrieved an electronic tablet she’d apparently secretly stored there. Duke didn’t want her anywhere near the damn place, let alone standing a foot from one of its back doors.
Duke was still seething mad that Corbin had agreed to Mercy accompanying them. He didn’t understand why they just didn’t shoot their way into the place. They had enough in the way of weapons and could get their hands on more.
Fuck stealth mode.
Make a bang.
They had Boomer with them and he hadn’t blown anything up in at least a week. He was overdue.
Something about the whole of the French authorities coming down on them and an international incident.
He hated bullshit foreign relations.
But he hated Mercy coming along for the ride more.
She had no business with them. She was a tiny doctor who babbled when she was nervous. She’d not even noticed he’d been in her apartment, holding a gun. She was hardly Special Forces material. And if one hair on her head got hurt, he’d string Corbin up by his frigging balls. The man was well aware of who Mercy was to Duke, yet he was perfectly willing to let her be in danger.
“Someone’s knickers are still in a twist,” said Corbin in a hushed tone as they walked through the back door of the Corporation. Mercy had sworn no guards watched the exit because the door couldn’t be opened from the exterior. Duke wasn’t sure about that. She began keying in something or other on her tablet.
“She gets hurt and I end you,” Duke warned.
Corbin turned, placing his hand on Duke’s forearm. “She isn’t going to listen and stay out of this, and we need her to get in. You heard her, they have traps set. If they trigger certain alarms, James is dead. She wants to do this and we require her expertise.”
“No,” Mercy said, appearing next to them. How she was able to sneak up on them was a mystery. Not many could. “I need to do this. I made him a promise and I keep my promises, and if you try to tell me I can’t help, I will never forgive you.” She stared up at Duke, as if daring him to tell her she wasn’t allowed to help.
Damn woman and her witch eyes.
He found himself giving in to her. Something he expected he’d do a lot of. “Fine. But listen to every word we say or so help me I will take you over my knee.”
She grinned. “Fun!”
He sighed.
Corbin laughed.
Striker neared, handing out assault rifles to each of the men. Mercy put her hands out for one and Striker shook his head. “It weighs more than you, lass.”
“What do I get?”
Striker pursed his lips and then help up a finger, signaling for her to wait a moment. He left only to return with a stun gun. “Here.”
She grabbed it and held it close to her as if it were precious, her quirky smile returning. “Thank you!”
Duke could tell Striker was pleased she liked him.
I think she’s my mate, Duke pushed down the mental path to the other ops.
Aye, I know she is yer mate. So do you.
Yeah, figured, returned Boome
r. She’s nice. I like her. Try not to fuck it up, okay?
Corbin merely nodded as he went to the door Mercy was now before, typing furiously into the tablet she was holding. There was a clicking noise and the door snapped open. The moment it opened, Duke could smell blood, sickness, death. The other shifters with him could as well. Each of the men shared a look. They were fully aware of what places like this did. Each had been held in a place similar at least once in their long lives.
Some more than once.
It seemed there was always someone wanting to unlock their secrets—duplicate what nature had created. It was never good enough. Some madman always wanted more.
Better.
And better always came with a heavy price. Normally, paid in blood. Duke still vividly remembered being held captive and what people like these had done to him. He shuddered. He could still recall how they’d milked his seed from his body, giving him drugs to turn him on, all while some guy in a lab coat handled his cock, humiliating him—violating him. And that had been the lesser of what he’d endured.
James needed to be freed or released via death.
It was the only honorable thing to do.
Duke took point and glanced back at Striker who was guarding Mercy. No words needed to be spoken out loud. That being said, Duke found himself tapping into the mental path he shared with Striker and the others.
She’s not to be harmed.
Och, do you think I do nae know that already?
We’ll all see to her safety, Duke, Corbin pushed down the mental path.
Boomer nodded, coming in on Mercy’s six.
The area they found themselves in looked to be a kitchen cafeteria of sorts. They made their way through it, encountering no one because of the late hour. Corbin tapped Duke’s shoulder and gave the hand signal to hold position. He then pointed to the camera mounted on the far wall.
Mercy was bent, working on something on that tablet she seemed so fond of. “It’s disabled,” she said.
Of course his mate would be a technological guru. Why not? She probably thought he was a Neanderthal.
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