27
She slippedthrough the crowd before he had a chance to grab her, watching her go with a sinking feeling in his chest. He’d seen the panic on her face when cornered by the reporter, but then he’d been privileged to watch her fear shift into fury when the reported attacked Celine.
Tigress. She was no wilting flower, he knew that with as much surety as he knew that woman was not Caroline Cotter, but Marissa. No matter if Mr. J had done his damnedest to destroy the humanity inside her, he’d failed. She cared. And she cared just as fierce as he could ever hope for.
He knew in that moment that the pain he’d seen earlier when she’d tried to destroy him was real. There was something else holding her hostage – something forcing her. Or someone. And he had a sinking feeling that tonight would be the night he found out the truth.
Fuck Jack Mankel and fuck Merc’s past. None of that mattered compared to Marissa. Goddammit he had to go to her and find out the truth once and for all.
Heart tight in his chest like a vise squeezing around him, Merc headed in the direction she’d left only to be brought up short when he saw her standing not five feet away. She’d come back.
“Merc?” Her voice drifted across him, through him. Joy mainstreamed through his veins straight to his heart.
“Caroline?” He didn’t care that his voice was gruff and uneven. Not when he could reach out and touch her again.
She gazed at him with open longing, and he responded, needing to connect to her; to take her mouth and reclaim her as his.
She broke the connection first, glancing over at Aaron and Celine. “Harriet has a room waiting. Second story, fourth door on the right. She said to go on up.”
Celine went to her, hugging her and Merc realized that even if Marissa had deceived them all, her actions told her true self. She cared about those around her. She could have run just now, but she came back.
She still wanted him.
Merc felt his chest swell. If she still wanted him, he could forgive her. He would forgive her.
He waited until they were alone. “Caroline?”
She spun slowly, her honey blond hair catching the light like gold. “Yes?”
“We need to talk.” In a trance, he crossed to her, taking up her hand in his, marveling once more at her softness.
“Forget talking, I want you to kiss me.” Her request left him shaken and rock hard.
Pulling her to him, he cupped her ass and lifted her bodily against him. He wanted her to feel his need. She arched and her breath caught. He groaned and claimed her lips, undone when she moaned and held him to her. Make her yours again.Make her mine.
Merc slanted his lips over hers, plunging his tongue inside and laying claim. This was what he’d been missing ever since he’d woken scared and alone. Not Mr. J. Not the military. Not his past.
His whole life Merc lived for revenge. He lived and died by the gun. He thirsted for blood – for vengeance against the man who’d had his trust and then destroyed it. Mankel had woken Merc as a blank slate – a man with no past and no future – had re-written him based on what he needed.
When Merc had woken scared and alone in that sterile room, he’d needed guidance. And Mr. J had provided that in full measure, encouraging Merc to view him as a father figure and a leader to be emulated. Until Merc discovered Mr. J wasn’t a noble government agent righting the world’s wrongs. He was the evil bastard causing the world pain and he’d been using Merc to carry out his tasks.
Merc became a liability, and Mr. J didn’t keep liabilities. He euthanized them.
The only father figure he’d ever known had left him and Merc had found a way to live; even when J tried to assassinate him. He’d found a way to fight again. To try and right some of the wrongs.
He’d needed her.
She broke away first, both of them panting, her eyes watering. Marveling at the change, he caught her tear on his finger, holding it up in the light and then drawing it into his mouth. “Why are you crying?”
A dark thought sent him reeling inside.Had she come back to say goodbye?
No! He wouldn’t let her go. He’d tie her to him and force her to tell him the truth. There had to be a way.
She cupped his cheeks in her delicate palms and Merc drew in a shuddering breath.
If he’d thought her leaving would cause him to die, her next words brought him back to life. “I love you. I will love you forever, no matter what. I love you.”
“Baby.” He could barely get the words out his throat was constricted so tight. He didn’t care what her name was, she’d come back. And she loved him. “I love you, too.” And then, unable to resist her, he took her mouth in a fierce way meant to seal her to him forever.
