Chapter Two
“I need
you like a heart needs a beat.”
—Unknown
Mercy
She
found him sitting in the
grass on a lonely hill overlooking the city. This was where Caj
always went. He’d told her a long time ago about the first child
whose sins he’d taken. It cut him deep, and even to this day, he
could always be found on this desolate mound.
His
head hung low, covered in
that thick jet-black hair. Moonlight shone perfectly over his
tanned skin.
She
knew after a child died, it
was particularly hard for him to deal with his job. On one hand, he
helped Mina get to where she needed to go, but on the other, he
didn’t understand why one so young had to die. At a certain age,
children remained innocent, but Mina already passed that age and
Caj just had to deal with it.
Mercy
settled next to him, folding
her large black wings against her back until they disappeared. She
didn’t say anything, just enclosed herself within the silence of
his making. Caj was a talker, and if he was brooding silently,
something was wrong. So, she waited until he spoke.
It took
a little bit longer this
time, and then he turned to her as weariness reflected from his
eyes.
“What can I do to help?” she asked softly as she reached out to smooth her hand
over his arm lightly. She could feel his muscles tense, and he was
so strong. Times like this made it hard to be on the path they were
on. “Talk to me,” she whispered.
“What is there to say, Mercy? It doesn’t
get any easier, especially
when it’s the young ones who are leaving.”
“You help them,
Caj. You alone stop them from going to hell.”
“Yes,
and I take on all the pain and chaos from those sins.”
“You do something great, something
no one else can do for them.”
“Yes,
and they get to go to heaven, whereas I am stuck here for the giver
of life knows how long.”
Therein
lay the gist of the whole
matter. Caj didn’t know when or even if his punishment would ever
end. While he healed those who were dying, enabling them to go
sinless before the Maker, he carried it all and may never know true
freedom.
“Let me give you some healing of my own.” Mercy was privy to the fact that when a
sin-eater took on the sins of someone, they also took on the agony
of those sins. They didn’t gain the pleasure from it, as one would
think. The time for pleasure had long passed with the one who’d
done the transgressing.
Not giving him a
chance to say anything, she quickly straddled his lap, cupping the
back of his neck and bringing her mouth slowly to his. She teased
her lips over his, kissing him deeply.
He
stiffened against her for a
moment, but then his arms wrapped around her waist and he drew her
close.
A sign,
a very excellent sign that he
wanted what she did.
With a
groan, he pulled back and
pressed his forehead to hers, still holding her tightly. “Mercy,
you don’t have to do this.”
“Caj, I
know what I don’t have to do. I want to do this. I want you just as
much as you want me.” She could still see the agony in his eyes,
and she wanted more than anything to take that hurt away from
him.
“You deserve more than just a fuck
on a hill, Mercy.”
She
giggled softly. “Yes, I do,
and I’m going to get that from you at some point. But we are here,
right now, and it’s perfect. Besides, this won’t be the first time
you fucked me. Remember?”
“I remember all right. It’s something I think of
daily.” Caj tangled his
fingers in her hair as he sighed. “You don’t have to do
this.”
“Stop
stating the obvious. You said that already.” She grinned at him.
“You think I don’t know that? This isn’t a pity fuck, Caj. I’ve
wanted you a long time. You’ve wanted me. We will work out the
details later.”
“Those
are very wicked and salacious words for an angel.” He
chuckled.
Her grin
widened. “There’s more where
that came from. While I’m hoping I don’t have to keep talking…” She
wiggled her eyebrows at him.
She had
him. It showed on his face.
Leaning in, Mercy met him halfway as their lips connected in a
less-urgent kiss. She groaned as he tugged at her bottom lip with
his teeth, and then licked over it. Cupping his face, she stroked
his cheeks gently. It felt wonderful to touch him,
finally.
Caj drew in a deep
breath.
Mercy pressed her
forehead to his. They’d done enough dancing around what they both
wanted and needed. No more. He’d always been too hard on himself.
The reasons for his fall out of grace had been old news for a very
long time. He needed to embrace the present, and she intended to
make sure he did just that. Pulling back to look into his eyes, she
saw the moment of no return and beamed.
“Mercy, I’m going
to fuck you.”
“I know, and I’m
going to let you.” If he’d expected her to back down, he would be
sadly mistaken. She would take their passion and run with
it.
Groaning as he pulled
her close, his hands at her hips, she stayed where she was as he
kissed her, his lips greedy for hers. The tug of his hands in her
hair was firm as he tilted her head back, teasing her with light
licks from his tongue. When he broke the kiss, she gazed into his
eyes.
“Mercy, I…” His
dark eyes swirled with emotion.
She
recognized a particular
emotion she wasn’t ready for. Not yet, at least. “No, Caj. Don’t
speak, just feel. That’s all you need to do at this moment. I won’t
hold you to anything else. Can you do that for me? Just live in
this very second and take what we both so desperately need?” She
didn’t want to hear him try to explain why they shouldn’t be doing
this.
Caj
began to slowly undo the
buttons of her blouse.
Mercy
figured it was because he
wanted to let her say no if the need arose. It never would. She
wouldn’t allow it. “You do know you can go faster, right, Caj?”
Mercy sighed as he stopped undoing the buttons. This would take
forever. She smirked as he smiled, and she knew he’d been teasing
her.
“I know, but I
want to savor you. I’ve wanted you so long that if I go too
fast…”
“You’ll come too
quick?”
“Damn, girl you’re so unexpected.”
“You
think because I’m an angel that I have to speak all prim and
proper?”
“Well,
don’t you?”
She
burst out laughing. “Hmm,
obviously not, or I wouldn’t be here letting you have your wicked
way with me.”
“Well, I
guess that’s true.”
She
gasped softly as he pulled
open her shirt after undoing the last of the buttons and pressed
his face to her bared skin. He kissed her stomach and then nipped
her.
“Mmm.” She moaned softly. Mercy placed her hands in his hair, bringing him
closer. He felt so good.
“You
like that?”
“I don’t just like it, I love it, Caj.” She whimpered when he nipped her in the same spot. It stung
so good, and she felt the wetness between her thighs just from his
biting and the anticipation of what she knew was about to happen.
As he nibbled her again, she sighed deeply and arched her body into
his mouth.
“More…” She
sounded breathless to her own ears.
The soft
growl he emitted made her
shiver. There was something to be said about the proverbial bad
boy. Though Caj had been cursed to this life, he had in his life as
a human, been that bad boy all the girls had wanted.
“You beg so prettily, Mercy. Yet, I should be the one begging
you.”
The
touch of his lips against her lower stomach made her want to jump, like electricity from his
body was flowing into hers. He kissed her pelvic bones, and she
held on tight to the back of his head, arching into him. She
groaned as he used his hands to press her back down onto the grass,
locking eyes with her. “Caj.” Mercy found herself pleading for
more.
She
only said his name, but the
change in his dark eyes spoke volumes. He pressed his body to hers
and took her lips in another hot kiss. “I told you I want to savor
you. I don’t want to go fast. I need to be able to touch you like
this, so that if it’s the last time…” Caj closed his
eyes.
She cupped his cheek
in her palm. “Who’s to say this is our last time? Perhaps your
sentence will be lifted.”
He shook his head.
“Who’s to say it isn’t? Let me worship you.”
She
gasped softly as that
particular word was a strong one in their circles. “Worship?” She
shook her head. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s the truth.
It’s how it’s going to be. Me, worshipping your body and giving you
as much pleasure as I can is what’s going to happen. Now lie back
and enjoy, Mercy. I know He doesn’t like that
word. But I will use it anyway. If I am condemned to not have you
for an eternity, I will damn well have you the way I want this one
and only time.”
Mercy
refused to be sad, nor would
she feel hopeful. Release from his curse might get granted, but one
shouldn’t ever hold their breath that it would. She grabbed his
head and kissed him hungrily. “Worship me … fuck me … do both. I
don’t care. Just do it.”
“You’re one bossy little angel.” He chuckled softly.
“We don’t know
when we will be called away.”
They both existed in
a very harsh reality. At any moment, they could be called to see
someone into heaven. They had no time to waste, so they needed to
take what they wanted.
Now,
it almost felt like her
clothes melted away as he leisurely finished stripping
her.