Page 22 of Last Chance Seduction (Montgomery Ink Legacy #9)

Chapter Eleven

Lexington

I t had taken me for too long to fall asleep. With Mercy in my arms, all I could do was watch her chest rise and fall as I tried not to freak the fuck out.

Some man had put his hands on her. He had touched her, scared her, and I didn’t know why.

A mugging gone wrong? Something worse . Just the idea of what could have happened sent a mixture of rage and horror warring through my body.

I was so damn grateful that Daisy had been there.

Daisy, my cousin who was good at protecting those in her charge as well as herself.

I shuddered to think what would’ve happened if she hadn’t been there.

Not that I wanted my cousin harmed. Hell, I wanted to keep everyone I cared about wrapped in cotton wool and safe at home, but I knew that wasn’t feasible.

I lay on my side, my face resting on my fist as I looked down at Mercy as she slept.

Without thinking, I reached out and traced my fingers along her jawline, her cheekbone. When she opened her eyes quickly, I winced.

“I didn’t mean to wake you up like a creep.”

“Always slightly creepy,” she whispered before she put the back of her hand to her mouth and yawned. “How long have you been awake?”

“Not that long,” I lied.

Did it count when I hadn’t fallen into a deep sleep?

Mercy reached up then and traced her fingers over what had to be the dark circles under my eyes. The ones that matched hers.

“Liar,” she whispered.

I leaned down and brushed my lips along hers. I couldn’t help it, I just needed her touch, needed to ensure she was safe. “Good morning,” I whispered before resting my forehead along hers.

“I have morning breath.”

“So do I, so we’ll just ignore it. We’re adults after all.”

She smiled after I kissed her again. “Is it weird that I’m waking up in your bed? I don’t even know exactly what we are, and here I am, feeling far too comfortable in this bed.”

“Because it’s a comfortable bed,” I hedged. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, since we hadn’t defined our relationship, and seemed to have skipped a few steps, when something nudged on my elbow.

I turned quickly, sitting up as Mr. Darcy walked across my legs, then right over my stomach, and I was grateful he hadn’t pressed his claws against something far more sensitive.

Mercy let out an oaf as the cat proceeded to try to kneed her stomach and then walk over her neck.

“Mr. Darcy, I think, is hungry,” she said with a laugh as we both reached out to run our hands along the black cat’s back.

When our fingers tangled, I just looked into Mercy’s eyes and wondered what the hell I was doing.

This had only started as a fake date, right? A fake relationship to get through an evening, a weekend with an overbearing business owner. A fake relationship, so that way I wouldn’t have to deal with Gia’s patronizing looks.

And yet here we were, in bed together. Maybe not sleeping with one another, but it sure felt real to me.

“We brought his food and everything. I’ll go take care of it.”

Mercy shifted so she could sit up. As Mr. Darcy popped off the bed, he looked over his shoulder, chirped, and ran to the door. Then he began to pace in front of it, as if impatiently waiting.

“I’ve got it but thank you. He’s very particular.”

“I hear cats are that way.”

Mercy scowled at me. “Excuse me, I know for a fact that some dogs are the same way. Mr. Darcy, however, is in a strange and new environment, and he just needs something that’s a little normal.”

It didn’t take an expert to realize the subtext of that thought.

Because there was nothing normal about what we were doing in this moment.

Before I could say anything though, she got off the bed and practically ran out of the room.

I could hear her soft murmurs to the cat as she fed him, but I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do.

Somebody had attacked Mercy, and yet, she was in my house right now and that seemed to be the more pressing matter.

I looked down at my cock, and the way that it tented the sheets.

“Well, we won’t be taking care of you,” I muttered.

I got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, knowing that today was going to be a weird day. Christmas Eve was right around the corner, and I wasn’t sure what the hell I was going to be doing that day, let alone with Mercy.

When the woman who centered my thoughts walked back into the bedroom, I gestured towards her bag.

“Your things are in there, and you can use this bathroom. I’ll go use the guest one.”

She shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. I have everything in one place, so I can make it to the guest bathroom. Or I could go home.”

“Don’t,” I blurted.

She frowned at me. “Don’t? Don’t what? Go home? I’ll be okay.”

“I just, we don’t know if that guy knows where you live or something.”

“It’s not like that.” She let out a breath. “And don’t tell me I’m underreacting. Seriously, I’m fine. I’m going to go home, shower, get dressed, and try to go about my day. Thank you for letting me sleep underneath your roof so I could feel safe for the evening, but I’ll be okay, Lex.”

Scowling, I paced towards her. She didn’t move, in fact, she stiffened as I leaned forward and cupped the back of her neck.

“Stay. I don’t want you over there without a security system.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do, Lex.”

“Fine, please stay. How’s that?”

“It still feels like an order,” she mumbled.

“It’s not.” Though I wanted it to be. “Just, Daisy’s going to be over later to go over things. Can we just wait for her? I’ll make breakfast. You have all you need to shower, right? Just stay, okay?”

“And does that mean you’re actually going to talk to me about what the hell we’re doing?” she asked, her brows raised.

In answer I squeezed the back of her neck and used my thumb to tilt her chin up. When her mouth parted, her pupils dilating, I held back a growl. “Maybe. Just let me have this, okay?”

“Fine. Just for now.”

I nodded and pressed a hard kiss to her mouth. Before I could deepen it, or press her back to the wall and have my way with her, I pulled back, my chest heaving.

“Go shower. Before I join you.”

Her brows raised. “And you think I’m just going to let that happen?”

“From the way that your nipples are pressed against your shirt right now? I think it’s a possibility.”

Her hands moved to cover herself before she froze and dropped her hands. “I didn’t realize you were such a jerk.”

“I’m not. I’m just moody. What can I say?”

She rolled her eyes before she leaned down and picked up her bag.

As she walked out, Mr. Darcy flicked his tail at me, and I hadn’t even realized the cat had followed her in. Then the two turned down the hall, leaving me standing there, my cock hard, and wondering what the hell I was going to do with that woman.

She was my friend.

And yet friends didn’t want to do exactly what I wanted to do to her. It was only supposed to be a fake relationship. And yet, I could still taste her on my tongue. I still remembered exactly what had happened in that hotel room. So no, things weren’t simple. And I wanted more.

I jumped into the shower, grateful for the cold temperature at first. As the water began to heat up, I poured soap into my hand before wrapping my fist around the base of my cock.

I imagined Mercy on her knees in front of me, her tongue sliding into the slit at the tip of my cock.

I’d pulled her by her hair, keeping her steady as I ran my cock over her lips, tapping them to tell her to open them.

Then I’d slide between those pump lips of hers, all the way down to the back of her throat.

She’d gag, but she’d take it. Then I’d keep moving, sliding in and out of her as she bobbed her head, taking more and more of me with each thrust. I’d make her show me how wet she was by sliding her hand between her legs and then lifting her fingers for me to taste.

One hand would be in her hair, guiding her head as she sucked me off, and the other would be playing with her nipples, loving the way that her breasts would overfill my hands.

Because Mercy had amazing tits, and I couldn’t help but want to paint them with my cum.

Groaning, I moved my hand faster, imagining her bent over in front of me in the shower as I slid my cock into her ass. It would be tight at first, and she’d whimper, but then she would relax, pressing back into me.

My fingers would be in her pussy, my thumb over her clit, as I fucked her ass, taking her as we both craved. And when she finally came for the first time, I’d fill her with my cum, licking up her spine as both of us stood in the cooling water, panting, and not nearly sated enough.

And at that thought, I came, spurting on the bathroom wall. I held back a groan, trying not to whisper her name so she wouldn’t hear as I had the hardest orgasm of my life.

All with just thinking about Mercy.

Disgusted with myself since she was in the damn house, I quickly finished my shower and turned off the water.

I wrapped a towel around my waist and walked into my bedroom to get my clothes.

Mercy stood there, eyes wide as she traced every inch of my bare and wet chest.

When her tongue darted out to lick her lips, I couldn’t help but smirk.

“Need something?”

Then her gaze went lower, to where my recently sated dick was now hard once again, tenting my towel, threatening to peak out.

“Well, I want to ask about your tattoos.”

I grinned and looked down at the dragon inked on my side from Leif, my cousin, and then the tree that had been hollowed out, filled with jagged shards of glass, that Sebastian had added last year.

“I still have the rest of my chest and back to go. But my rib cages are done. Thankfully.”

“That had to hurt,” she whispered. I didn’t even realize we had moved closer to each other until her fingers traced along the dragon’s spine. I’d groaned, swallowing hard.

“It wasn’t easy.”

“I’ve always wanted a willow tree down my spine, down my rib cage, the branches wrapping underneath my breasts. But I’ve been afraid.”