Page 41 of The Price of Mercy

“You’re saying this ismyfault?”

Our eyes meet. “Yeah. Kind of.” Spreading my legs wider apart, he rests his cheek on my thigh. “You freak out when things don’t go as planned. But that’s life. You’ve just gotta… have faith.” He reaches up and brushes a stray tear off my cheek.

“In what?” I whisper.

Kane’s gentle smile takes my breath away. “In us.” He snaps the ties around my wrists and drops the knife to the floor before crawling into my lap. The chair groans in protest at our combined weight, but Kane doesn’t hesitate to tilt my chin up and claim my mouth. He sighs against my lips and licks the salty traces of my tears. “Things won’t always look the same. We’ll get messy and we’ll fight and we’ll have to make up all over again. But you know what?”

I hold my breath.

“There’s no one else I’d rather fight with than you.”

Grabbing Kane’s hips, I scowl up at him. “Asshole.”

“Dick.”

“Bastard.”

“Boyfriend,” he murmurs, ducking his head to sigh against my lips. He trails kisses across my jawline and whispers in my ear. “Lover.”

While his hands slip beneath my shirt and wander up my abdomen, I glance over at Mercy and Sam. “Not here,” I wheeze, feeling my panic rise all over again. “Kane, not?—”

“Shhh,” he soothes, kissing my fluttering pulse point. “Relax. They’re not even looking.”

“They could.”

Humoring me, Kane turns his head to watch them for a moment. “They’re busy.” He quickly returns his attention to me. “We’rebusy.” His stubble scrapes across the curve of my neck as his lips travel lower. “Promise me something.” He bites down and sucks a bruise onto my skin, making me squirm.

“W-what?”

Sitting up, Kane grabs my wandering hands and holds my gaze. “Don’t ever hurt her again.”

My lips tug into a frown. “She’s?—”

“Not the enemy.”

I choke on a flash of anger, but it’s short-lived. I know that he’s right. She’s not the one destroying us.

I am.

“Fine.” I tear my gaze away from Kane to watch Mercy grind on Sam’s lap, undoubtedly driving him into a frenzy. “I won’t hurt her on purpose. But promise me something in return.” Taking a breath, I tremble as my heart races all over again. “If you fall in love with her, tell me first.” I return my gaze to my boyfriend, grateful that he’s watching me instead of them.

Kane nods solemnly. “I promise, you’ll be the first to know.” He kisses me slowly, like he’s savoring the taste of me—or Mercy’s blood—on his tongue, and I willingly lose myself in the warmth of his touch. I’m tired of hurting. Of bleeding from the inside. Of driving myself crazy over Mercy Morningstar.

If she’s here to stay, I’ll have to learn to fight my inner demons… before they devour every last flicker of light I have left.

Chapter 17

Sam

As Mercy approachesme after whatever the fuck that was with Zane, I have to calm down before I lash out at the wrong person. The blood roaring in my ears makes it damn near impossible, but I swallow as much of my anger as I can, because it’s not directed at her.

It’s for the piece of shit who just called her a whore.

Mercy pauses at the side of the bed. “Hi.”

I catch the unsteady tremble of her lip, and any residual anger in my body instantly fades away. “Hey.” Drawing a breath, I nod towards my lap. “C’mere, baby. Tell me what happened.”

She climbs onto the bed and straddles my lap before leaning her head against my chest. “I forgive you,” she murmurs, inhaling sharply. “For what happened at the party. I wasn’t going to tell you at first because I wanted you to forgive yourself, but…” With a shake of her head, she buries her face in my shirt. “I don’t want you to hold onto any guilt. You didn’t do anything wrong.”