Page 26 of No Mistakes (No Mercy #2)

AXEL

I grab my hoodie off the floor and throw it over myself like a makeshift blanket.

The chair groans under my weight, the hard, uncomfortable wood digging into my back like it’s punishing me for every fuck-up I’ve ever made.

My thighs hang over the sides, legs spread wide, and I already know I’m going to end up on the floor like a goddamn idiot halfway through the night.

Eva shifts on the bed, watching me intensely. “You’re really going to sleep on that thing?”

“No,” I admit. “I’ll say I will. Then I’ll wait until you’re asleep and steal the bed like a raccoon in the night.”

Her mouth twitches. Just a little, but enough that I catch it.

“I hate that you’re funny,” she mutters, throwing her jacket onto the floor.

“I know. It’s exhausting being this charming.” I lean back, settling deeper into the torture device. “You should try being me sometime. Terrible burden.”

She scoffs. “You think cracking jokes makes this easier?”

“No,” I say, more serious now. “I just don’t know how else to talk to you without making it worse.”

That gets her. Her eyes flicker to mine before returning to the mattress, her mouth pressing into a thin line. I stare up at the ceiling, trying to will my blood to stay where it should instead of pooling low every time she breathes.

My cock hardens under my trousers, but I doubt she can see it against the shadows.

“You ever think about what we’d be?” I murmur, trying to distract myself. “If I hadn’t blown it?”

She doesn’t answer straight away. Just breathes deeply before sighing. “I think about what we were… for those few days. And how none of it mattered.”

“It mattered,” I sit forward, voice low. “You mattered. You still do.”

She lets out this soft, bitter laugh and tips her head back against the headboard. “Don’t”

“I mean it.” I shift, placing my elbows on my knees, every muscle tight. “I was scared. Of needing you. Of what it meant to want something that fucking much. So I lied to you, to myself. And it wrecked you in the process. I know that.”

Her breath catches, like my words hit too close.

“I picture it all the time,” I say. “You and me. A house. And you're yelling at me for leaving wet towels on the bed.”

“You would do that,” she says, but her voice is soft now, as if she’s picturing it herself.

“Only to piss you off.”

“Mission accomplished.”

Silence settles between us. Not peaceful. Not hostile. Just loaded with unsaid words.

My gaze drops to her legs on top of the duvet, my mind wandering to me between them. Her skin still flushed from the walk, her hair messy, her mouth too close to something that tastes like a kiss I never got to keep.

I can’t stop the words before they come, breaking the silence. “You’re breathing too loudly.”

Her eyes snap to mine. “Excuse me?”

“It’s distracting,” I say, smiling at the fact that I wound her up, just so I could see that fire in her eyes.

“You’re a child.”

“I’m a man on a chair trying not to crawl into that bed and ruin both of us.”

She stills, and I see her cheeks turn a faint shade of pink from the outside lights that filter through the curtains. I know her walls are breaking, and all I need to do is get through that last layer.

“I know you don’t want to believe me. But I meant it. I always will.”

Eva exhales, long and tired, turning her face towards the window. “You don’t get to mean it now.”

“Why not?”

Her voice cracks when she says it. “Because I needed you then .”

Her words hit me like a slap, like a reality check. I needed to understand what I did wrong. I stand, needing to be close to her.

The chair scrapes slightly behind me, and I walk slowly towards the bed.

She sits up a little, back pressed to the end of the bed as I approach.

Her mouth opens, probably to tell me to stop, but I kneel on the edge of the bed, hands on either side of her thighs, and I see the rise of her chest quicken.

“I know you hate me right now,” I say, keeping my eyes locked on hers. “I know you’re still deciding if I’m worth forgiving.”

“I’m still pissed,” she says, like a warning.

I grin, knowing her words are half true. “I know.”

Her eyes narrow. “Wipe that smug look off your face-”

I cut her off by moving between her legs, pushing them apart. Her gasp is soft, her thighs parting willingly as I edge forward.

“Still pissed?” I ask, my voice low.

“Yes,” she says, but it’s a whisper now.

I kiss the inside of her leg softly, looking up at her while I do. “Still hate me?”

She doesn’t answer, but I don’t miss the way that her fists clench like she doesn’t trust herself not to touch me.

My hands skim her calves, trailing up until I’m gripping her thighs, spreading them wider around me on the mattress.

I climb up just enough to cage her in, like I’m the hunter, and she’s my prey.

We’re not touching, not yet. I can see the war going on behind her eyes.

“You always did love it when I teased you.”

“Fuck you,” she hisses, her voice shaking.

I tilt my head. “You already did, baby. You’ll do it again.”

“Axel-”

“I’ll grovel. I’ll get on my knees if I have to. Just don’t look at me like that.”

Like I broke you.

Like I keep breaking you.

I press my forehead to hers, breathing her scent in. “Let me prove it. Even if it’s just with my hands tonight. I’ll take care of you like I should’ve from the start.”

Her lashes flutter, mouth parting as if she wants to tell me to stop. But instead of speaking, she grabs the front of my top, yanking me down like she’s trying to punish me with her mouth. Her kiss is fire, full of rage, lust, and heartbreak mixed.

I groan against her lips, one hand flying to her jaw to keep her there, the other sliding up her thigh until I feel the wetness between her legs.

She moans, hips jerking forward from my touch.

“Shh,” I whisper into her mouth, like it’s some kind of joke. “Wouldn’t want Mandy hearing.”

“Just shut up and fuck me, Axel.”

That’s all it takes for me to lose all control. I pull back, tearing her shorts down effortlessly, throwing them aside. My fingers slide up her thigh, teasing her with my movements as she watches me intensely.

“You’ve been thinking about this, haven’t you?” I rasp.

“I hate you,” she breathes, her chest rising faster.

I stop my movements, all threads of sanity snapping in that moment. I climb forward, grabbing her by the jaw so fast her breath catches, and I slam my mouth to hers in a brutal, punishing kiss. One that tastes like rage and regret.

My tongue drags across hers as I reach behind her head, my hand finding its way to her hair, twisting tight at the roots until her head jerks back and her lips part in a gasp. I don’t leave her room to breathe as I slam my lips against hers again, and she kisses me like she wants to forget.

I drag her to the edge of the bed by the waist and slam her back onto the mattress, her thighs spread instantly, her body knowing what it needs , what it wants .

“You sure you can handle what you just asked for?” I ask, my voice shredded with desire.

She smirks, testing me. “You gonna keep talking, or are you gonna fuck me like you mean it?”

My laugh is dark. Dangerous.

I rip my top off over my head, and in one sharp movement, grab her ankles, dragging her down until her ass is right on the edge of the mattress and her legs are draped over my shoulders. No teasing. No build-up.

She wants to feel it? She’s going to get it. All of it.

I stare her down while stripping off my trousers, fisting my cock slowly and deliberately.

She watches, her lips parting as her chest heaves. Her eyes locked on my hand like she’s hypnotised.

Good. I want her to see what she does to me.

I line myself up, giving her no warning before I slam into her. One savage thrust is all it takes to knock the air from her lungs. She cries out, flinging her head back, and I watch as her back arches beneath me as she tries to take it.

I don’t give her time to adjust. I grip her hips so tight I know she’ll bruise and pound into her again-again-again-each thrust merciless, deep, punishing. Reminding her of who we are together.

I keep her pinned to the mattress like a doll made just for me. To use. To ruin. To worship in one of the many ways I know how.

“Say it,” I growl.

She gasps, trying to breathe. “Say what-?”

“Say you fucking missed this.”

She tries to push herself up, but I grab a fistful of her hair and yank her head back, pressing my other hand to her throat, not enough to choke her, but firm enough to let her know I could.

Her eyes widen, her throat pulsing around my hand.

God, she looks so fucking good like this.

“I’ve missed it,” she rasps. “Fucking hell-Axel-I have really missed it.”

“That’s more like it.” I drive deeper, angling my hips until I find the spot that makes her sob. “You think you can run from me? You think I won’t follow you to the ends of the fucking earth for this?”

Her thighs tremble around me, her nails digging into my forearms. I press down harder on her throat, and her lips fall open. She’s fucking close. I can feel it in the way her body clenches around me, every thrust making her unravel just a little more.

“I hate you,” she whispers. But her voice shakes. Her walls crumbling as I fuck her.

“Then why are you dripping down my cock, Buttercup?” I sneer, shoving her knees up until they’re near her chest so I can get even deeper.

“Shut up ,” she gasps, fighting a losing battle.

I reach down and stroke between her legs while I fuck her, circling her clit in time with each thrust until her breath starts to stutter.

My other hand tightens around her throat, just enough to drop her straight over the edge. Her body snaps, thighs locking around my hand, eyes rolling back as she shatters with a strangled moan.

I don’t stop, not wanting this moment to end. I fuck her through it, removing my hand from her throat to grab her wrist, flipping her over onto her knees before she can catch her breath.

“I’m not done with you, yet,” I growl, dragging her hips back, bending over her like a curse.

She throws a hand back to push me away, but I grab it before she has the chance, pinning it behind her back.

“Too much?” I whisper, dragging the tip of my tongue along her ear. She whimpers, and the sound alone is enough to make me cum, but I hold it.

“Then say stop.”

She doesn’t respond.

I slide back in, slower this time but deeper, harder, more deliberate. Her back arches, her ass slapping against my hips with each brutal thrust. The room is filled with the sound of skin on skin, of moans she can’t control and grunts I can’t hold back.

She reaches up for the headboard, and I grab a fistful of her hair again, yanking her back until her throat is exposed to me.

“Fucking mine,” I breathe against her neck. “Say it.”

She shakes her head, and I smile as I slam into her. Her scream is hoarse, but I don’t slow down. “Say it.”

“Yours,” she gasps, voice breaking. “I’m yours.”

“Then cum for me. Loud . I want the whole fucking motel to hear you.”

She does as she’s told, breaking apart with a scream of my name while her back arches.

“Fuck, Eva.” I moan as I release inside of her, not able to hold it any longer. “You’re such a good fucking girl.”

I pull her ass hard against me, feeling my cock twitch as I finish.

I stay buried inside of her, one arm wrapped around her waist. One hand still threaded in her hair.

We don’t say anything while we both catch our breath.

We don’t have to, not when everything was already screamed into the sheets.