No Mercy: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World)

by D. M. Davis

  God, I know she’s not meaning to be funny, but she’s cracking me up. I try to stifle my laugh behind my fist, but her last remark has me losing it. “It sounds like quite a ride.” I sober as it dawns on me. “I’m sorry I’ve missed it all.”

  “It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

  Somberly, I pull her on my lap. “That’s no excuse. I should have never left. But I’m here now, and I’m not leaving your side.” I kiss her forehead, coaxing her to lay her head on my chest so I can hug her close. “God, I don’t even know how far along you are.”

  “Fourteen weeks. I’m in my second trimester.”

  “I missed the first one.” Nothing she says will reduce the guilt of knowing I left her alone and pregnant.

  “Be glad you did. It was lots of puking and crying.”

  “And Rowdy helped you through it?” I already know the answer. He told me himself she cried a lot. But he left out the news of her being pregnant—with my baby.

  She nuzzles into my neck. “I’m sorry it wasn’t you too, Gabriel. But I’m glad he was here. I’m not sure I would be this sane if he hadn’t been there. Heartbreak and pregnancy were a full bag to carry.”

  Jesus, fuck. I guess she’s not trying to reduce my guilt, after all. Nor should she. I’ve been a dumbass.

  I squeeze her tighter. “I’ll make it up to you. Every fucking day of our lives. I promise.”

  She sits back, a hand flat on my chest, her eyes clear of remorse. “We needed that time. I needed time to find my way and realize if I had to, I could live without you.” Her voice cracks, and a tear slides down her cheek. She quickly wipes it way before I can, but not before my heart that’s been thumping away since I laid eyes on her skips and falters, breaking a little more for the pain I’ve caused her.

  She pats my chest until she’s able to continue, “You… You needed the time to realize you couldn’t live without me. Your fear of having a future with me wasn’t bigger than your fear of no future at all.”

  No lie. “Damn, my Angel is smart.” Forehead to forehead, I give it up. “I promise you, here and now, I’m a better man for knowing you. I’m a better man for leaving you. And I sure as hell am a better man for coming back, begging you to love me and forgive me for all the shit I’ve put you through.”

  She presses her lips to mine. “Never forgotten. Always forgiven.”

  I kiss her back, but before I can get my tongue inside her delectable mouth, she bounces from the bed. “Now that we’ve got that settled.” She picks up her phone and dials, putting it on speaker and tossing it on the bed as she starts to collect her toiletries from my bathroom. Her clothes aren’t in here. She admitted earlier that while using my bathroom was practical, she couldn’t sleep in here without me. It made my absence more painful, a fact I’m distracted from dwelling on due to her current state of nakedness. Not a bit of shame in her as I watch my baby mama move about the room.

  When a familiar voice answers, I sit forward, glance at the clock and wonder what my Angel is up to.

  “Cap?” She pauses her packing and sits next to me, her phone now on my lap.

  “Hey, honey. How you feeling?” His love for her is apparent by the warmth in his voice. I guess he’s not pissed at her.

  And I just figured out he knew she was pregnant too. Who else knows? The thought is dismissed by the sound of my name.

  “Gabriel has some crazy idea he’s throwing his fight. I need help getting him back to Vegas. Can you help?”

  “That depends.” Cap’s cool tone comes through loud and clear. He has a demand. I’m not sure I want to hear it.

  She frowns. “Depends on what?”

  “Gabriel?” He must have figured I was close by.

  Here comes the demand. “Yeah, Cap.”

  “Did you get that thing we discussed dislodged yet?”

  I chuckle and pull my girl close. “Yes, sir. My head is fully out of my ass, and I’m staring at my future as we speak.”

  “I’m glad to hear it, son.” His voice has turned husky.

  I can only imagine he’s feeling the same emotions I am. Elated I’ve worked it out with my Angel and thankful I’m back in his good graces.

  “Then, Frankie, you need to get yourself packed. Gabriel, Rowdy is downstairs waiting on you two to catch the next flight out.” He surprises both of us with a game plan already in place. Typical Cap move.

  “What if I hadn’t called you?” Frankie asks.

  “I gave him strict orders to give you lovebirds till 9 p.m. before banging on your door.”

  Her eyes meet mine, and a devious smile takes over her face. “So, we have a little more than an hour before we need to leave?”

  Cap clears his throat. “I suppose so. Give or take.”

  Oh, I’m gonna give and take, alright. “See you soon, Cap.” I disconnect the phone and text Rowdy to make some sandwiches for the ride to the airport.

  My girl’s gonna be hungry after I make her come a time or two.

  Waking up in Vegas this time isn’t tarnished by the sadness I felt the last time I was here, or honestly, the last year here with Austin. I want to bound out of bed, but I’ve learned to take it slow in the morning, easing onto my side and getting the feel of the land—the state of my stomach—before making any rash movements.

  A kiss on my shoulder has my heart jumping and my pulse thrumming, remembering who I’m here with, and why I’m no longer sad. “Morning, Angel.”

  “Morning, Big Man.” I squirm into him, feeling his hardness pressed against my backside.

  He smacks said rear. “Don’t tease what you can’t have.” He kisses up my neck. “At least not until after the fight.”

  Some fighters abstain from sex before a major fight. Last night after we got to his hotel suite, Gabriel shared the news he usually stops a week before, but since he hadn’t had sex since we broke up, he wasn’t missing out on loving me. Until this morning. He draws the line on fight day, says he wants to use the desire he has for me to fuel his win and then claim me as his reward.

  Naked, his impressively hard dick bobbing against his abs, he saunters to the bathroom. He smirks at me over his shoulder when he catches me watching. “Hungry?”

  “Famished.”

  He chuckles and shakes his head, pausing at the door. “Check out the room service menu. I’ll order when I come out.”

  I stretch over his side of the bed to get the menu.

  “And, Angel?”

  “Yeah?” I catch him checking out my ass as I look over my shoulder this time.

  His heated gaze has my pussy clenching with want. “I promise fight days are the only day I’ll deny you sex. All other days of the year, your wish is my command.”

  Sitting up, I wrap my arms around my bent knees, resting my chin on my arms. “I’ve gone without sex so much over the last few years, one day, now and again, isn’t going to kill me.” My revelation is honest, but maybe not what he needs to hear today.

  He glowers and comes back, sitting on the edge of the bed, his arm wrapping around me. “You and Austin—”

  “Rarely,” I interrupt before he can say the words I’d rather not hear from his lips. “And at the end, even less so.” Shame pinkens my cheeks, and I turn toward the window, unable to hold his gaze.

  “Frankie?” He pulls me into his chest, allowing me to hide there. “What are you not saying?”

  A sob I tried like hell to hold in has me shuddering in his arms as it escapes. “I’m sorry.” I can’t imagine what he’s feeling, comforting me from the pain caused by another man.

  “Hey.” He captures my chin, urging my eyes to his. “You never have to apologize, be ashamed, or hide your hurt from your time with Austin.” He wipes at my tears. “You were together since you were fourteen. You became who you are with him. I don’t begrudge you that or expect you to act like being with him or without him doesn’t have a lasting impact on you.”

  “Who are you?” I’m in awe of him. I knew Gabriel had more beneath his assho
le exterior, but I had no clue he was capable of being so attuned to my needs, or so deep and profound in the way he supports me.

  He chuckles with a tender smile and gently cups my cheek. “I’m the man who fell for you even when you were his. Who dreamt about you more than I had a right to. Who will always protect your heart even when it’s been broken by another.”

  God blessed me with this man.

  “Now tell me.”

  I nod, keeping his gaze this time. “I don’t remember when it started—or really when it stopped. I imagine it was when he started seeing his current girlfriend.”

  His eyes narrow as he considers my words. “What stopped?”

  “Vaginal intercourse.” My chin wobbles, and I start to look away.

  But he captures my face, holding me in place. “Meaning…?”

  “Meaning…” I can’t. I bury my face in my hands. I can’t say the words and witness what might flicker across his eyes before he locks it away. I couldn’t stand to see him think less of me.

  “Angel.” His hand caresses over my head and down my back. “I need you to look at me. I know it’s hard. But I need you to know I’m here. I’m all in, and nothing you say will change that. But you need to look at me to know for yourself.”

  Lifting my head, I’m greeted with an encouraging smile. How can a man this big and beastly be so incomprehensibly gentle? My hand is on his cheek before I realize I’ve even moved. I brush his lips with my thumb. “I love you, Gabriel ‘No Mercy’ Stone.” My tears flow and cloud my vision, but I don’t stop. “Don’t you dare think for a minute what you give me is not enough. I’ve never—and I mean never—felt as loved and cherished as I have in the last twenty-four hours since you came back into my life.” I pull him closer, lightly touching his mouth with mine. “No one has ever made me feel so loved, not even Austin in our best of times. You remember that when you think you have nothing I need.” I grip his face in both hands, squeezing not too tenderly. “I need you. Only you. Exactly as you are.”

  His mouth crashes over mine, not a bit tender, either. His moan fuels mine as he lays us down, him on top. His weight is comforting and just enough to remind me of his power, his strength, but not enough to squish our baby. Palpable need rolls off us in waves. The smell of desire washes over me, and I wrap around him—all arms and legs—urging him to give us what we both need.

  With a single thrust, he enters me. I arch into him in shock and elation at the feeling of being full of him again as he stills, fully seated. He grinds his hips before barely pulling out, and entering me again—over and over—again.

  Desperation has me clinging to him, pulling him tighter. Our kiss never breaks. His tongue slowly loves mine into a rhythm that matches our hips and consumes our cries for more and answering moans. I shake with need and fear my heart will burst from the fierceness of each beat.

  When the tingle starts at the back of my legs, I whimper and gasp for air. He groans in protest and chases my mouth, unwilling or unable to make love without every part of us being connected. The intensity of his need, uninhibited vocalizations, and the power of his thrusts send me to the heavens like a shooting star. Blindly, I come, my cries of pleasure like stardust trailing behind the eruption of my release.

  My Big Man follows, comets bursting free when I feel the pleasure of his release deep inside, the throbbing stutter of his cock with each surge of cum. Every inch of my man is big and powerful, and the strength behind his ejaculation is no less so.

  His breathing is heavy in my ear, his lips pressed to my neck. I hold and caress him until our breathing evens out and life comes back to his limbs. Slowly, he peels himself off me, sliding to rest at my side. His hand lingers on our baby’s hiding place.

  “Did I hurt you?”

  A smile breaks free. “God, no.” He did anything but hurt me. “Unless you call coming so hard you lose sight hurting.”

  His smile matches mine. “That good, huh?”

  “Better.”

  His nods as his smile fades, his hand coming to cup my cheek. “He’d only come in the rear entry.” He refers to Austin’s preferred way of having sex with me at the end.

  He gets a chin nod as my brow creases and my face breaks into an ugly cry. “He rarely touched me near the end, but if he did, it was only from behind and, like you said, rear-entry style. He avoided my vagina like I had the plague. It never dawned on me why. I thought there was something wrong with me.”

  “Angel,” his voice cracks, and I clear my eyes in time to see a tear slide down his cheek.”

  “I don’t know why he stayed. It’s obvious now, he wanted to leave a long time ago. I guess he was hoping I’d break up with him.”

  “But you did. I remember he came running after you.”

  “He did. Making more promises he would never keep. They were all lies. I don’t even know how far back they go. Two years for sure.” I swipe at his damp cheek, meeting his gaze. “I have two things to say, and then we need to stop this sad-fest. Okay?”

  “Yep.”

  “One. I’m not really crying over him. I’m embarrassed to tell you these things that are so private, really only the two people inside a relationship should know. Yet it really isn’t even that. It’s the shame of it. Feeling so unwanted. Putting up with it for too long. The humiliation runs deep.”

  “I can see that.” He grips my chin tightly. “But hear me when I say I see the strength in you for trying for so long, for taking so little and giving so much. I don’t see shame or embarrassment. He humiliated himself by cheating, by his lies. Not you.” He presses a kiss to my swollen lips. “I’ll never cheat on you. I’ll never use your body for anything but worship. And I promise to never lie to you.” He moves his head from side to side. “Well, unless it’s for a good reason, like to hide a surprise.” He holds up his hand like he’s taking an oath. “But other than that, it’s all truth between us.”

  “I think I can live with that.” I grab his hand and hold it over my heart. “Two: I feel so bad we broke your fight day rule.”

  He rolls to his back and lets loose a belly laugh. “God, Angel, I’m not.” He links our fingers, still holding his hand to my chest. “Sex with you is spectacular. Always has been. Always will be. The testosterone rush will keep me going all day until we can do it again tonight.”

  “You sure?”

  “Positive.” He kisses my cheek and rolls out of the bed. “Now, I’ve got to piss and get some food in you before you feel the need to worship at the altar of the porcelain god.”

  “Yes, please feed me. Besides, there’s only one deity in this room I’d kneel before.”

  He stops in his tracks. “You mean me, right?”

  I giggle. Lord, since when do I giggle? “Yeah, Big Man. I mean you.”

  His toothy grin has me laughing again as he slips into the bathroom.

  It’s a heady feeling to be in his presence, to feel his appreciative gaze, his words claiming me with every syllable.

  It’s an amazing thing to be loved by Gabriel, my avenging angel. He deems himself the devil, but I see the purity of his soul, the integrity of his beliefs, and the strength it takes to come from nothing, expect nothing, yet offer up everything you have.

  Yeah, I’m a lucky girl to feel the pull of his heart tied to mine.

  Sitting on the couch in our suite, my knee bobs with nerves as I wait for Grant and Emmy. The fight is hours away, but Gabriel is getting ready to meet up with Cap, Coach Long, and Jonah, leaving me in the capable hands of Rowdy, who arrived a few minutes ago.

  Gabriel’s mom and sister are meeting us at the stadium. Our seats are on the same row, but all of the guys are here too. So, I don’t know if I’ll end up next to his family or in the middle of mine. It’s Gabriel’s biggest fight to date, and definitely the largest fight venue I’ve ever attended.

  I’m nervous as hell. He’s calm as a cucumber but still buzzing with excitement, revved up, ready to fight.

  He pulls me aside, sequestering me
in our room. “You okay?” His brow pinches together as he stills my hands.

  “Yeah. Just nervous.”

  A quick kiss and a squeeze of my hands is all it takes to ease my nerves. “I got this, Angel. Don’t worry.” He hugs me close, his nose buried in my hair. “You’ll come see me once you arrive at the stadium, right? I want to see you before I go out. Don’t forget.” His adamancy makes me second-guess my opinion of him not being nervous.

  There’s no place I’d rather be, but—“I’ll be there as long as you don’t think I’ll distract you.”

  He gives me a lingering kiss, his mouth confirming his words. He wants me there. “I’ve waited a long time to have you in my corner on fight day. I want to see you before the fight. I want to know you’re sitting in my seats, reserved for my team, my family.” His hand covers my baby bump. “You’re my family now, Angel. You and our little one. I can’t lose with you on my side.”

  I rest my head against his chest, saying a silent prayer for his safety. “Don’t get hurt.”

  “I won’t be the one hurting.” He rubs my back, his mouth pressing to my temple.

  Meeting his eyes, I grip the lapel of his suit jacket. “You show him no mercy. You hear me? Only I get your mercy. Not him.”

  He chuckles his response. “I hear you, Angel. No mercy. I got it.”

  I had my weigh-in for the fans hours ago after leaving Frankie in our suite in the capable hands of Rowdy. I left shortly after Grant and Emerson arrived, and I gave them grief for keeping the pregnancy secret from me. I understand where my Angel was coming from—she didn’t want to sidetrack me from my goal of winning this fight. What she fails to understand is, fighting is no longer the most important thing in my life. She is. They are.

  I can see how it might be hard for her to understand, since neither her father nor Austin managed to put her needs first. Rowdy, who’d only known her a few months, did what they couldn’t. He put her needs and those of my baby above his own when he asked her to marry him. I’m sure he didn’t see it as a great sacrifice. He’s attracted to her, after all, but I don’t believe he’s in love with her. He loves her, and as Frankie pointed out, there’s a marked difference. That difference is the only reason I haven’t put my fist through his face.