Page 14

14

AINSLEY

I ’m so lost in the book in my hand that I don’t even react to the door being opened. Suddenly, the book is snatched out of my hands as I’m in the middle of a really great sex scene. I feel the heat rising in my checks as Mercy reads the page I was on. I don’t even try to hide the chuckle when I watch his eyebrow pop up before his eyes shoot to me.

“Do women really read this?” The tone of pure bewilderment causes me to actually laugh.

Nodding because I can’t get the words out, he looks back down at the book and, to my complete horror, starts reading it out loud. I jump to my feet on the bed, reaching for the book so he will stop reading it. He fends me off until he gets to the really good part of the sex scene.

His eyes snap back to me. “No! There is no motherfucking way my sweet baby sister was reading this. She did not know anything about this kind of shit!”

“Oh yes she did, and I know she knew all about what just happened in that scene right there.” I grin as a memory hits me.

In a split second, the wind is knocked out of me as I’m slammed against the wall, fighting to breathe as a hand squeezes the life out of me.

“What the fuck did you say? How the fuck do you know any goddamn thing about Jenny?” He growls in my face. “You’re going to fucking tell me your secrets. You just get to decide how you want to do that.”

Gasping, I claw at the arm attached to the hand that’s about to end my life.

“I knew you were involved with those assholes that stole the only good thing in this world.” His words are so full of anger and devastation, truly scaring me.

As the dots close in, he releases me, stepping away to pull a pistol from the waistband of his jeans and letting hang loosely at this side. The sight of the gun unleashes a fear that I’ve felt before and never wanted to again. Coughing, I climb to my knees, trying desperately to drag the much-needed oxygen into my burning lungs. When I can finally hold my head up, I watch as he paces the room mumbling to himself. Suddenly he jerks to a stop, pulling out the desk chair and sitting in it heavily. He levels his fiery gaze on me as the pistol lies on his thigh.

“You have about thirty seconds to explain yourself before I do something neither one of us wants me to do. Though I might just enjoy it.” Mercy’s tone is dead. The man that I’ve seen over the last couple of days is completely gone.

When I feel like I’m not going to pass out, I try to find a fast answer that will be believable to him.

“You don’t have a woman staying in here. The only woman you’ve spoken of has been your sister, so I assumed you were talking about your sister. Second, if she spent any time in a place like this, there is no way she didn’t get an eyeful at some point. That’s all I meant by that.” I fight the sob building in my chest. “I swear Mercy, that’s all it was.”

He watches me very closely before lifting his chin. “Come here, Little Lamb,” he barely speaks over a whisper.

My body starts to shake with terror more at the fact that I want to obey him for far more than just to save my life.

“Little Lamb, I will not repeat myself,” his icy tone lets me know I will not like it if he repeats himself.

Slowly, I pick myself up off the floor and make my way over to him.

“Hands and knees. You don’t stand until I say different.”

“Mercy … I … why?” I murmur, feeling defeated in this moment.

Mercy leans forward, propping his elbows on his knees, letting the gun dangle between his legs, “Right the fuck now. Hands and knees right here.” He points to the empty space in front of him.

Swallowing, I do as he instructs and start crawling my way over to him. My face heats as mortification washes over me at being treated this way. I can’t say the redness is all embarrassment, as want and need for this man builds deep in my soul. My nipples are diamond hard, and my pussy is nearly dripping. The unbridled hussy inside of me has always wanted a man that could bring out this part of me.

Mercy leans back once again in his chair, his shuttered eyes tracking my every move as he rubs the pointer finger of his left hand along his bottom lip. Finally making it to the space between his muscular legs and sitting back on my heels, I look at the monster in front of me through my lashes. Slowly he leans forward, never moving the gun from his thigh, but runs the tips of his fingers across my cheek, down the side of my neck, and into my hair. I close my eyes as he leans closer to me, running his nose along my stitches on the left side toward my ear.

I release the breath I’d been holding and relax just a fraction when he fists the hand in my hair, snatching my head back, causing a gasp to escape my mouth. Instinctually, I reach out, grabbing his arm to try to steady myself.

“If I find out you had anything to do with what happened to my sister, I will make sure that things are so fucking bad for you I won’t have to punch your card to hell because you’ll do it yourself.” His words hold a promise and I know in my heart he means every word.

His grip on my hair tightens, causing me to whimper at the pain.

“Fuck baby, that sound always makes my cock rock-hard,” he whispers, laying a light kiss on my temple before abruptly letting me go and standing to his full height, knocking me back on to my ass.

Staring up at him, my mouth-to-brain filter disintegrates. “If you're so convinced I had something to do with the death of your fucking sister, why play this game? Just fucking end it right now.”

The glint in his eyes hints at the monster I know is there, “As pretty as you are and as good of a fuck as I believe you would be … it wouldn’t be worth the mess to kill you. We also need answers to things.”

I don’t even stop the tears that slide down my face as the way I’ve always seen myself is so easily laid out by another. I bite my tongue to nearly bleeding to keep from telling this man what I know about his sister and the part I played in her death.

Mercy steps around me, making his way to the door as I sit in the floor letting the tears run down my face unchecked. Letting my hair fall in front of my face, I finally break. I let go of the years of pent-up heartaches, devastation, and anger from everyone that I could not protect. When the sob racks my body, I curl my arms around my middle, trying with desperation to hold all the shattered parts of my soul together.