Page 37

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

AMbrOSE

M ercy sleeps with me that night, curled up in the bed at my side, her hair damp from the shower she took to wash the graveyard dirt away. I don’t have the heart to tell her I don’t need to sleep, but I stay in bed with her anyway, watching news reports on my phone with the sound turned low and one hand trailing through her hair.

I want to stay with you. Mercy’s confession keeps marching through my head. I’d been so ready to let her go, and now it almost feels like a trick, her warm body curled up next to me, the steady rhythm of her breath filling up the room.

Because she can’t stay with me, not really. I can’t have a human woman in my life. My life is too fucking dangerous for something so fragile. Something that can die as easily as her.

Sawyer does it.

Sawyer’s a fool. Even if he does seem happy. And, more importantly, so does Edie.

The video I’m watching ends; it was today’s news report from Cocana. Nothing of interest. But when the next video starts, Reverend Gunner’s face fills up my screen. It was posted two hours earlier by what seems to be an official Church of the Well account. So much for eschewing the secular world.

“My ward, Mercy Gunner, is still missing,” Gunner says, and I can tell even through the phone screen that the sadness in his voice is a facade. “We fear the worst, and we’re calling on all Christians, regardless of your affiliation, to offer up prayers for her safe return.”

I recognize his office behind him, the window open to show the church compound beyond.

“Three of our brothers have joined Christ at the hands of a Satanic madman,” he goes on, which makes me snort. Beside me, Mercy stirs, but I stroke her hair and murmur at her to go back to sleep.

“ We fear that madman has taken our Mercy,” Gunner continues, and my skin bristles at that— our Mercy. “That he’s doing ungodly things to her as we speak.”

Well, that part’s true, at least. I bite back a smirk.

“Any information you have about this man—” Reverend Gunner fades away, replaced with that police sketch of the itinerant preacher Ambrose Echeverría, who as far as the state of Texas is concerned, hasn’t existed for nearly a century. “Please report it to the Cocana sheriff’s department. And if you see any sign of Mercy Hendricks, please, let us know.”

Mercy Hendricks, huh? I see he’s using her real last name.

Another picture fills the screen: the same one as before, Mercy in her pretty blue dress. She really does look fucking miserable.

I think about her twinkling laughter as we ran away from the cemetery earlier. What sort of Hunter am I, that I like hearing a human’s laughter instead of her screams?

Well, in addition to her screams.

The picture of Mercy fades, and three new pictures take its place: my three most recent victims. It’s been a while since I’ve attracted the attention of the media, and seeing my victims lined up like that gives me a delicious little thrill. All the suffering I caused. All the fear I’ve sowed. It’s what I was made for, and the idea that I have a whole church cowering in their beds because of me is?—

Well, it’s getting my cock hard.

“Three members of our church have gone to Christ,” Reverend Gunner is saying. “And we need your help bringing their murderer to justice. Your prayers, any information—whatever you can provide. God bless you. Truly.”

He doesn’t care about any of them. He didn’t even bury Raul on the church compound, and there’s no way he officiated Raul’s funeral. Contrary to what he made Mercy think when she was still trapped there, she does have the power to bring him to his knees. All she has to do is tell the truth about what he did to her, and the good Reverend Gunner will have a good old-fashioned sex scandal on his hands.

I’m not sure my humanita realizes that she could take down the whole damn church if she wanted to.

I stop the video and turn off my phone. Mercy breathes beside me, her scent wafting around through. I can’t stop myself from reaching down to idly stroke my cock over my boxers, my thoughts half on the three murders—especially that motherfucker Price—and half on Mercy’s soft, warm body.

I lean down to nuzzle her neck and kiss her fluttery pulse. Mercy sighs and turns toward me, muttering something I can’t decipher. This is getting me worked up, truth be told.

But I also want to see how much she’s willing to tolerate my nature. If she really understands what it means to be stay with me.

“How long will it take you to wake up?” I slide my hand up under her T-shirt and palm her bare breasts, which makes her shiver. She doesn’t answer, of course. Still asleep. But her lips part and her nipples sharpen beneath my hand. She moans softly .

“Are you getting wet for me?” I’m already hard as hell for her. Sex and death, there’s no better combination. Even she discovered that earlier tonight in the cemetery.

I massage her breasts, slow and lazy, and she moans and shifts around on the mattress. I want to stay with you . I still don’t really understand why. Not why she wants it. Not why I want it either.

I run my hand over her belly and slip my fingers into her panties, which are as damp as I expect. I tease her clit for a few seconds, keeping my gaze on her face. Her eyes flick beneath her eyelids, and she mutters again.

It almost sounds like she’s saying my name.

“What was that, humanita?” I slide the panties off her. “Were you dreaming about me?”

“Ambrose?” Her voice is much more clear now, and her eyes flutter open and look up at me, although they’re unfocused, glazed over. She’s half asleep.

“I’m going to fuck you, Mercy.” Her panties are a tangle around her knees, and I have to resist the urge to shred them into ribbons. “Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she slurs, lifting her hips up a little. Then: “Am I dreaming?”

“No, sweetness.” I manage to get her loose of the damned panties, and I ball them up in my fist. “Open your mouth for me.”

She does, immediately. I press the panties over her tongue, a makeshift gag.

“Keep those in there,” I tell her, looking her straight in the eye. “That’s where they belong. Do you understand?”

Mercy nods, her eyes wide. She’s awake now. And afraid. Aroused. Squirming against the mattress.

“Good girl. You’re so obedient.” I trace my finger along her cheek, and she moans a little around the panties. “I like that. I like it when you obey me.” I wrap my fingers softly around her throat. “But only when you obey me , do you understand? Not anyone else.”

Mercy nods and then, to my delight, spreads her legs a little wider for me.

“You’re a fucking treasure.” I push up her T-shirt so her breasts are exposed to the air, and then I pull one into my mouth, flicking my tongue against her nipple. Mercy’s moans deepen, and I reach up to press my hand over her mouth, holding the panties in place.

“I want you quiet, humanita.” I kiss between her breasts, licking up the taste of her skin. “No matter what I do to you, you’re not allowed to scream.”

I lift my gaze just as her fear spikes, and I grin wickedly. “I’m not going to hurt you.” I kiss her tits again. Suck on her nipples. “But I like how your fear smells. And this frightens you, doesn’t it?”

Mercy nods wordlessly. I drop my hand down to massage her cunt. She’s soaked.

“But it turns you on, too, doesn’t it?”

She doesn’t respond right away. I slide two fingers inside her and press upward, making her buck against my hand and cry out, although her cry is muffled. I tsk softly.

“I told you to be quiet, little human. I’m the devil, remember?” I pull my hand away so I can crawl on top of her, settling myself between her spread legs. I press my mouth to her ear. “The truth is,” I murmur. “You have no idea the evil I’m capable of.”

Her body stiffens beneath mine, and she draws her hands up. I expect her to shove me away, to yank the panties out of her mouth and scream at me to stop touching her.

Instead, she runs them up my arms, like she can’t get enough of my skin. Then she pulls me closer to her. I have to bite back a groan of pleasure—I don’t want her to see me lose control. Not right now. Not like this .

I need to show her the real me. Let her know what’s getting into. So I take a deep breath and press my mouth to her ear.

“If you’re going to stay with me,” I whisper to her, my cock pressing into her thigh, “then you need to understand what I am. Fully understand.”

She looks at me, eyes blazing, and says something around the panties.

“Silence,” I order, and then I move like a Hunter to flip her onto her belly. She bounces on the mattress, crying out again, and I slap her on the ass, hard enough to leave a red imprint of my hand.

She groans, arching her back in pleasure or pain or both. I yank my cock out of my boxers and stroke it just to try and quiet my lust. “I told you not to make any noise,” I tell her, and then I slap her other ass cheek, her flesh rippling beneath my hand.

Mercy drops her head into the pillow and says nothing.

“Good girl. That’s what I want to see.” I position myself behind her, dragging back her hips so I can shove my cock into her waiting cunt. I know I’m trying to act in control, but I can’t bite back my groans as I slide home. She just feels too damn good.

Let’s see how much of the boogeyman she can take before I spill inside her.

I start slowly, keeping my thrusts measured and even. Her body trembles beneath me, and I run my hand down the indentation of her spine, which just makes her shiver harder. “You’re doing so well,” I tell her. “Staying quiet for me. You know why I want you quiet?”

Mercy shakes her head against the pillow and rolls her hips against me. I know she’s trying to get some sensations on her clit, but I smack her lightly on her ass in warning. “Not yet, humanita. I’ll let you come if you’re good, but you need to wait. Do you understand? ”

She nods, tilting her head to look at me over her shoulders. Her eyes are wild with lust, and she bites down hard on her panties as she stares at me through the tangle of her hair.

“Good.” I quicken my pace a little, keeping my gaze fixed on hers. “Here’s what’s going to happen. If you want to stay with me, you need to understand what I am— really understand. You need to hear the depths I can plunge to.” I bottom out inside her, making her grunt around the panties. “And I’m going to tell you with my cock buried in your pussy. Nod if that makes sense.”

She hesitates, just for a second, before nodding once.

“If you change your mind about me, and I don’t blame you one goddamn bit if you do, take those panties out of your mouth and tell me. I’ll stop.” I thrust my full length into her again, grinning as she bites back another cry of pain. “But as long as those panties stay, I’ll keep going. Do you understand?”

There’s no hesitation this time. She nods vigorously, a simple motion that sends heat flooding into my belly. I dig my fingers into the flesh of her hips. Take a deep breath.

“Good,” I say. “Now let’s get started.”