Chapter 22
Mercy
In theory, cooking a Thanksgiving meal should be a delight—both Sam and I have fond memories of gathering around the table with our families for holiday feasts—but the reality is that I simultaneously undercook and burn the mashed potatoes while Sam’s roasted turkey is bland, pale, and unappetizing.
The green beans, buttered and sautéed by Zane, and the fresh bread, purchased at the local grocer and baked by Kane, are what save the meal… if you can call it a meal at all.
Zane stares at the array of disappointing items set on the dining room table and sighs. “I’ll call the Chinese place. We need an edible protein.”
As he disappears into the kitchen to use the landline, Sam tears off a piece of turkey and pops it into his mouth, chewing slowly enough to make me cautious.
Once he swallows, he chases the bite with a full glass of water.
“That might be best.” Coughing, he drinks my glass of water next. “Somehow it’s both bland and salty.”
With a grin, Kane smacks Sam on the back. “No sweat. We always order takeout. Zane’s been humoring us with cooking, but I know he’s been itching for a reason to give them a call.”
“Chinese food must be your favorite.” This will be the third time we’ve had Chinese all week. I don’t know how many more wontons I can eat without turning into one.
“It’s the only place that delivers up here.”
Of course it is.
Frowning, Sam stands. “I can pick it up. It’ll be faster than waiting for delivery.”
“I’ll come with you!” As I push my chair out, Kane’s hand clamps down on my wrist.
“Where are you running off to, Siren? You’ve spent all day with Sam…” He brushes the pad of his thumb against the inside of my wrist. “Don’t you want to spend time with me?”
A shiver runs down my spine, quickly followed by a wave of warmth.
I’m both anxious and eager to hang out with Kane, primarily because he seems desperate to find ways to push me and Zane together.
If he’d give me time to adjust to the idea of wanting yet another man—especially one who has harbored ill intent for me for weeks—then I’m sure things would progress smoothly.
Instead, it’s like he’s prying our mouths open and shoving medicine down our throats.
Pushing out his own chair, Kane grabs my hips and pulls me into his lap. His arms wind around my waist as he exhales into my back, relaxing once I’m settled in his arms. “Stay with me, Mercy.”
Sam stares at me long and hard before turning away. “I’ll be right back. Don’t—” He swallows. “Don’t do anything while I’m gone.”
Kane’s chuckle rumbles through his chest. “What could we possibly—”
“You know what!”
“I didn’t take you as shy, Sam.”
Emerald eyes flashing, Sam growls. “Don’t fuck her, Reaper!”
“Don’t worry, Wright, your precious girl is safe with me.
I wouldn’t dare try to seduce her without your watchful eye nearby.
Isn’t that your agreement?” Kane’s hand snakes up my dress and slides between my thighs.
I squeeze my legs shut and he chuckles in my ear.
“That you watch while I finally…” He takes a small breath and murmurs so softly that only I can hear him.
“Make you mine, beautiful… in the only way I know how.” His arms tighten around me as he presses a tender kiss to the side of my neck. “If you still want me.”
My heart does this funny little thing. A ba-dum that hits harder than the rest, making me lose my breath. Is Kane… giving me a choice? Would he walk away if I told him no?
There’s no way he would leave. This is everything he’s ever wanted, right?
Me, naked, writhing beneath him as he pumps into my body and finally claims my body the way he’s been yearning for ever since we first met.
It’s unfathomable that he would give that up just because I say something like no thanks.
Not interested. Time for you to go home. Goodbye forever.
Yeah, right.
Except…
The smallest tremor courses through his body, ricocheting between his limbs like a stone skipping across the lake, growing weaker with time and distance, only for the next one to begin again in the middle of his chest where his heart resides.
Is he nervous about it? The Reaper—nervous about sex?
Reaching up and cupping his cheek, I turn his face towards mine and skim my lips along the length of his jaw.
I’m a fool for wanting a man who vowed to kill me, and I’m an even bigger fool for closing the gap between us.
“I’m looking forward to it,” I whisper, answering honestly. “Be gentle with me, Kane.”
He freezes, tensing up as he buries his face in the crook of my neck, but it’s impossible to miss the curve of his smile against my skin. “Alright, Siren. I’ll be gentle.”
By the time I glance back up at Sam, his keys are in his hands. He stares intently at Kane and me, a glimmer of determination shining in his eyes. “Yeah. I’ll be here.” Before he leaves, he places his hand on my shoulder and bends to press a kiss to my lips. “Wait for me, Mercy.”
I meet Sam’s eyes. “I will.”
He kisses me again, lingering to make it soft and sweet. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
His smile is warm, catching me off guard.
I grab his hand before he can pull away.
“I love you,” I murmur, “you know that?” My heartbeat trills as his smile grows and he leans in for another kiss, sliding his hand into my hair and pressing his body into mine.
The chair creaks beneath our combined weight: mine, Kane’s, and suddenly Sam’s, the three of us testing its limits.
There’s a sigh from across the room. “What are you three doing?” Something hits Sam’s back and falls to the floor. A dishrag. I peer around Sam’s shoulder to find Zane watching us, a divot between his eyebrows and soap suds clinging to his forearms. “You’re going to break the chair.”
“Don’t care,” Kane rumbles, pulling me higher up his lap. “I like when she’s like this. Don’t you like it, Sam?” Something pokes my butt, and I nearly roll my eyes.
Men.
“Mhm,” Sam mumbles, licking the seam of my lips.
“She’s trapped.” He doesn’t have to chase my mouth, but he does anyway, cupping my jaw and sliding his lips over mine like he’s determined to break in.
Once I finally part my lips, he sighs into my mouth and slips his tongue inside, humming appreciatively as he tastes me. “You have such a sweet mouth, Mercy.”
“So fucking sweet,” Kane rumbles, rolling his hips beneath me. “I’m addicted.”
“Me fucking too.”
“Zane, come here. Have a taste.”
Mmm? Pinned between two powerful men, I watch wide-eyed as a third shuffles closer, a hungry look in his eyes.
“Don’t know if she’s ready for me.” Zane crosses his arms over his chest and raises an eyebrow.
His white t-shirt, damp from whatever he was doing in the kitchen, clings to his chest and shows off a tattoo on his pec.
A falcon, I think, or some other bird of prey.
As dangerous as the man standing in front of me.
“Oh, she’s ready. Aren’t you, Siren?” Kane’s hand travels higher up my dress, fondling my stomach before reaching my breast and squeezing. He thrusts his hips at the same moment, creating bittersweet friction in all the wrong places.
I lift my hips and adjust my position, easily arching my back and sitting back down with his cock pressed tightly against my core.
With a tentative roll of my hips, I grind down on him and gasp at the pleasure that radiates through my body.
“Oooh, that’s—good.” Biting my lip, I stare into Sam’s eyes while Kane grabs my hips and uses me like his personal plaything, rubbing my pussy along the hard length of his shaft.
The denim of his jeans scrapes against my sensitive thighs, contrasting the soft cotton of my panties keeping me somewhat modest. It isn’t until Sam hikes up my dress that I’m exposed, blushing like a virgin as three sets of eyes stare at the lewd display between my thighs.
Sam holds my skirt in his hands like he’s bewitched, unable to look away from how thick Kane’s cock is as it tries to break through our clothing.
His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows, and within seconds, he’s tenting his jeans, too.
“She’s getting wet.” Shoving my skirt into Kane’s fists, he kneels, spreading my thighs wider so that he can slide between them. “That feels good, doesn’t it, baby?”
I nod, having already said that, but maybe Sam was too engrossed in the moment to hear me. “So good.”
Caressing my thighs, Sam glides his palms up my body until he reaches my panties, gently tugging them aside to reveal my pussy. He sucks in a breath and groans, eyes sparking like wildfire as he inches closer. “You’re still creamy from this morning.”
Oh God. Embarrassment floods my system, and I blush violently.
We had sex this morning, but he didn’t have to broadcast that fact!
“We used protection,” I remind him, biting my lip.
I shouldn’t be creamy since Sam didn’t come inside me.
I can tell that he wants to—he practically snarls every time he rips open a condom package—but ever since the accident by the bonfire, I’ve made him swear to always use protection.
We can’t get carried away just because it feels good.
“I know. This is all you, baby.” Sam’s hot breath fans my thighs. “I want a taste.”
Kane shoves Sam back with a boot square to his chest. My panties fall back into place. “It’s not your turn,” he grunts, nodding towards the other man in the room. “Zane. Come. Here.”
Without a beat of hesitation, Zane fills the space that Sam just occupied.
Instead of kneeling, he cups my cheeks and tilts my face up, staring down at my lips with the most infuriating little frown on his face.
“You better not bite me, Kitten.” Licking his lips, he dips closer, his gaze flicking up to my eyes. “I bite back.”