Page 12

12

AINSLEY

I come awake on a gasp. Looking around the room, I try to find what woke me from the most perfect dream. The door to the bedroom has been banged open and standing in the doorway, shadowed by the light of the hallway, is a monster. Holding my breath, I watch as the figure stumbles into the room, nearly falling onto his face before making it to the bed. When he falls onto the edge of the bed and Mercy's scent mixed with the smell of iron, sweat, booze, and smoke hits me, I let go of the breath I had been holding.

Mercy looks over his shoulder at me, hissing as if in pain when he does. “Shit, Little Lamb. I didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep. I’m just going to sit here until I can fucking catch my breath.”

Concern that I will not focus on right now blooms in my chest. “What happened? Were you in an accident?”

Mercy’s humorless laugh shocks me. “I mean, my momma always said that he was an accident. Making your statement mostly correct.”

Moving slowly due to my bruised body not wanting to work right, I slide past the giant of a man to flip on the side table lamp. Mercy hisses like a vampire when the light hits his eyes.

“Fuck me, a warning would’ve been nice. My head already feels like ass,” Mercy sneers at me.

Once again, that fucking filter that keeps me from getting myself in more shit fails me when talking with this asshole. “I mean, when you act like an ass all the time, it’s only fair that your head would feel that way.”

His eyes narrowed to slits as he looked over at me. When I take in his face, I gasp at the damage I see. Holy … damn, someone has beaten the shit out of this man. My gaze tracks down his body, taking in the arm wrapped across his chest as if trying to hold himself together. Without thought for my own injuries, I go to stand moving quickly and Mercy reacts on instinct. His hand snaps out, grabbing me to halt my movements.

“What the fuck are doing?” he growls, pulling me close.

“I was going to go get something to clean your face up with,” I snap, anger rising in my chest as his eyes skate down my body, lighting an entirely different fire.

He watches me closely, as if he’s looking for the lie in my words. “One day, Little Lamb, you’re going to tell me all your secrets and when you do, I’m going to be your judge, jury, and executioner.”

I know I must look like one of those creepy dolls with the too-big eyes when he gets done talking. I want to scream at the unfairness of all of this. What could I have possibly done in life to deserve this? A single tear slides down my face. Mercy’s hold on me tightens marginally before he releases me.

“Go back to bed. I’m going to shower, and in the morning I’m going to get some answers, Little Lamb.” He breathes my name in a whisper as he slowly stands, making his way to the bathroom.

Sitting on the bed with my legs crossed, I twist my fingers in his shirt, “And if I decide to leave while you are in the shower, then what?”

He focuses those ice-blue eyes on me before going into the bathroom. “As much as I love a good fucking chase, I'm not up for it tonight. With that—there is a prospect standing just outside that door that will not let you get very far and when he returns you, the punishment will not be enjoyable in the slightest.” He pauses, giving me a wink before continuing, “Thought turning that ass of yours red while you beg for my cock sounds like a fucking a dream.”

The snort of indignation leaves me in a surprise. “Your dreams are the only place that’ll ever happen.”

“MMMM, I hope you’re truly prepared for this fucking challenge.” His sinister grin causes me to shutter.

Laying down, I decide that analyzing this conversation is more than I can handle for tonight, so I close my eyes and work on going back to sleep. I lay there, pulling the covers up to my chin, listening to every little sound noise he makes in the bathroom. I must doze off because I’m startled awake when a very large arm wraps around my waist, scaring the shit out of me.

“Mercy, what’re you doing?” I whisper into the dark room.

“Shhh, Little Lamb. My fucking head hurts and I’m too damn tired to deal with your mouth. Just fucking sleep,” he grumbles into the back of my head as he tucks my body tighter against his.

Gritting my teeth, I fight to keep my body ramrod straight as his delicious heat seeps into me. I have no idea how long I lay there imitating a statue before sleep finally claims me again. The sound of someone banging on a door drags me from a deep, dreamless sleep. As my senses come online, there are two things I know for sure—one, I’m laid out on Mercy as if I’m his personal weighted blanket, and two, his hand is resting just centimeters from my pussy. I try to quietly shift off the man while doing my best to keep his hand from inching up any further.

“Don’t you fucking move,” his sleep-laced voice is rougher than normal and washes over me.

“There is someone banging on the door,” I whisper, ignoring his words and continuing to remove myself from his hold.

“They’ll go the fuck away,” He mumbles, tightening his hold which brings his fingers closer to my pussy.

The pounding on the door causes me to jump in fear as someone shouts, “Mercy, get your ass up! We’ve got church in five minutes.”

Mercy takes in a deep breath, hissing when his ribs expand with my weight on them. Trying once again to extract myself from his hold, he surprises me by rolling us so that I’m under him, pinned to the mattress.

Mercy slides his hand up my side to wrap around my throat as he buries his face in the side of my neck, groaning. “Fuck, Little Lamb, you smell so fucking good.”

My nipples go hard as diamonds, and my pussy clenches, pulling a moan from deep within my chest. I’m trembling from head to toe and it’s not just from fear of the monster above me, pinning me to the bed and grinding his rock-hard cock. With a halfhearted shove, I try to remove him.

“Get off me,” I hiss, digging my nails into his bare chest.

Mercy groans again, grinding harder into me, “Keep that up, Little Lamb, and church is the last fucking place I’m going to be going.”

I go completely limp under him, trying not to encourage him.

“Tell me, Little Lamb, are you ready to tell us your secrets?” his complete redirect of what's going on causes me to gasp.

“I’ve told you everything that I know,” I state firmly, fighting the fear I feel rising, causing my heart rate to become rapid.

“Tsk, tsk, Little Lamb, we both know that you just lied again. I’m thinking some punishment is in your future,” he sneers, kissing the side of my neck before abruptly letting me go.

I lay there working to settle my nerves as he moves around the room getting dressed for church. Sitting up in bed, I take in his very large back that is covered not only in tattoos but also bruising and some cuts. Holy shit, what’ve I gotten myself into? These men are like none I’ve dealt with in the past.

I eventually find my voice and stand to my full height. “What am I supposed to do while you’re in this church?”

He turns, letting his gaze drag up my legs until it meets where his shirt starts. I resist the urge to squirm under his scrutiny. When his eyes finally make it up to my face, I arch an eyebrow at him. We stare at each other for far longer than we should as my heart rate climbs higher and higher. I fight the urge to just blurt out all my darkest fears and secrets. I finally break the stare, looking away from him to the wall of bookshelves.

“I have several fucking ideas about what you could do.” Mercy’s tone is beyond suggestive.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I glare at the overgrown man child. “As enticing as that offer is, we both know that is not what I meant. What am I supposed to do while I stay in this room the entire time alone?”

“Well, until we can fucking trust you, that’s exactly what you’re going to do. Until I’m available to keep an eye on you or we’re interrogating you, this room is the only place you will be.” Mercy lifts a shoulder before turning and pulling his cut on, then makes his way to the door.

Throwing my hands up, I think of all the ways I could cause the man in front of me to stop breathing. “You're a jackass. I cannot just stay here day in and day out. I'll lose my damn mind.”

He props a broad shoulder on the door frame, regarding me with bored indifference. Crossing my arms across my chest, I meet his stare with a glare of my own. The silence once again goes on until I’m nearly ready to scream at the insanity of the situation. When another loud bang on the door causes me to nearly pee myself, I give up on trying to talk sense to the giant dumbass standing before me and turn to storm into the bathroom. As I walk past the shower to use the bathroom, I flip it on to allow the hot water time to heat. Figuring it’s been long enough at this point, I can finally wash all the nasty shit out of my hair.

When the water finally runs clear, I turn the water off and step out of the shower, looking around for a towel and huffing when I don’t see one. Reaching out, I pull open the cabinets, praying that I’ll actually find a towel and it’ll be clean. I find a stack of neatly folded towels.

“At least something in my life is going right,” I say to no one.

Pulling out a towel, I wrap my hair, hissing when it pulls at the stitches on the side of my head. Ignoring the pain, I pull another towel out and wrap it around my body before I open the door and step out into the room. I’m not at all surprised to find it completely empty. Scanning the room, I find a bottle of water, a bottle of juice, and a plate of food on the bedside table. There is also a neatly folded pile of clothes on the bed. Walking over and picking through them, I find the clothes are mostly in my size and brand new.

“Well, well, the cranky asshat has a soft side?” I chuckle, pulling them on before wandering over to the bookshelves, shocked to find a couple romance books.

Closing my eyes, I reach out and grab a book from the shelf. Reading the title Ethan’s Sky by J.L. Quincy. Walking back over to the bedside table, I eye the plate of food. There is some fruit, sausage, eggs, and toast. Crawling up onto the bed, I sit cross-legged on the bed and eat until I’m full. I curl up against the pillows and open the book, and before I know it, I’m sucked into a world that isn’t my own.