Devin's Mercy [Shifters of Mystery 4] (16 page)

possessive need that was rising up inside of him.

Mercy’s entire body was covered in sweat as he held on to their

softening cocks, reluctant to let go, not wanting this perfect moment

to end.

He leaned down, scraping his teeth over Devin’s jaw. “Feel

better?”

Devin only nodded as his breathing began to level out. Mercy

could see doubt creeping into Devin’s eyes and knew he had to cut

that look off before it set in. He stretched out beside Devin, petting his

sweat-soaked skin. “You are so damn good-looking when you come.”

Devin blinked a few times as his eyes rose to meet Mercy’s. “So

are you,” he admitted in a breathing tone.

Mercy was starting to see that Devin wasn’t a tiger in the bed, not

in the traditional sense. The man was shy and lacked the experience

most men had at Devin’s age. A thought started to form in the back of

Mercy’s mind, but he shoved it violently away, because if he let it

take root, he was going to go nuts.

And Charles was going to die very slowly and very painfully.

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But as hard as he tried to think of something else, anything else,

the thought that Charles had brutally taken Devin’s virginity wouldn’t

go away. He wanted blood, Charles’s blood, dripping from his fingers

when he killed the man. Devin had let it slip that he was held down,

but Mercy had a feeling that Devin had still been a virgin when he

was forced by Charles.

Devin had been too enamored with Mercy to just find another man

and let the guy fuck him. Mercy just couldn’t see Devin doing that.

“You’re tensing up, Mercy.”

Mercy quickly kissed Devin on his neck and then smiled. “I’m

just ready for a nap, tiger.” He relaxed when Devin curled into his

side, sighing deeply. Mercy wrapped an arm around the smaller man,

pressing his lips into Devin’s soft, sweat-soaked hair. He inhaled

deeply, taking in Devin’s scent as he vowed to himself that he would

kill
anyone
who tried to harm Devin again.

And in that quiet moment, when the world was shut out and the

two of them took comfort in each other’s arms, Mercy knew that he

wanted Devin as his mate.

* * * *

“Why are we here?” Devin asked as he looked around the room.

They were inside one of the buildings in Mystery. The place looked

like a tornado had blown through it. There were plants growing inside

the building and debris everywhere.

“We are trying to rebuild Mystery. Isaac opened a general store

and Jeremiah opened a hardware store. Pat wants the diner and York

wants the barbershop.”

“And what do you want?” Devin asked. From the looks of this

place, he wasn’t sure what business it was supposed to be. Devin

almost gaped when he witnessed a blush creeping over Mercy’s face.

Never would he have believed that Mercy blushed. The man was a

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force to be reckoned with, a powerful entity in Devin’s eyes. And the

man was blushing?

“I like to read,” Mercy admitted.

Devin waited for Mercy to finish, but instead, Mercy walked

across the room, as if the confession embarrassed him.

“So are you planning on opening a bookstore then?” he asked as

he followed the well-built and handsome-as-hell man across the room.

Whether Devin wanted to feel this way or not, he knew he was deeply

in love with Mercy—so in love with the man that his chest actually

hurt.

Sure, he had followed Mercy around like a lost pup before and

had wanted him for years. Devin even cared about the guy, but this

new feeling was baffling. He wasn’t supposed to fall in love. Devin

was supposed to hate the world and be filled with vengeance.

But the only thing he was feeling right now was his heart racing

and his palms sweating as he stared at the guy who meant more to

him than his own life.

How in the hell had that happened?

“Well,” Mercy began as he turned to face Devin, “I wanted to

open one of those cyber cafés. You know, where people could come

to read or get on the Internet.”

Devin grinned. “Will you serve coffee, too?”

Mercy shrugged. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

Devin moved closer, needing to be near Mercy. He couldn’t

explain why he wanted to inhale the man’s scent or to just touch the

guy, but the need was overwhelming. “You should serve those little

biscuits and maybe some cookies as well.”

To his utter surprise, Mercy reached toward Devin and Devin

immediately grabbed the strong and callused hand. Mercy pulled

Devin to his side. “Maybe you could help me out since I’m a little lost

on what this café would need.”

“Like your employee?”

“Like my partner.”

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Devin stood there stunned. “But I don’t have the money to invest,

Mercy.” But damn if the idea of working beside Mercy every day

didn’t please Devin. He would give anything to become Mercy’s

partner, not only in business, but in his personal life as well. It would

be a dream come true if Mercy wanted to keep him.

Devin felt panic well up inside of him. This was too perfect. He

couldn’t believe that he was getting the man of his dreams. There had

to be a catch. There was no way fate was finally giving him a second

chance at being happy in life.

“Why do you look so confused?” Mercy asked as he turned Devin

in his arms.

Devin pushed at Mercy’s chest, taking a step back. “Because, all

of this is happening so fast. I’ve wanted you for so long that it just

doesn’t seem real to me that I’m finally in your arms. I feel so

goddamn lost, Mercy. I feel like my life isn’t my own. I feel like I

can’t trust anyone or anything they say to me.” Devin ran his hands

over his head, his mind screaming to shut up and just take what

Mercy was offering. He slowly exhaled, trying to dispel the panic

threatening to take him down, but he wasn’t sure anything could help

him. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Mercy said. “You’ve been through a lot, more than

most people.”

“I’m waiting to wake up and realize all of this was a nightmare,

that I’m in my own bed and you guys never left the pack. I’m waiting

for my nightmares to release me from the horrific memories that

Charles left me with.” Devin felt lightheaded as he looked around,

feeling as if nothing was real. “I’m not sure where to go or what to do.

I can’t go home, and I don’t feel like I belong here.” Devin wanted to

hurt something when the tears began. He wiped at them as he walked

toward the door, wondering if his life would ever be his own again.

“Where are you going, Devin?”

“To stop the pain,” he whispered as he neared the door. It shocked

him that those words left his lips and that it was true. He hadn’t even

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thought about it until just now, but he felt the pain so deeply that

Devin felt like he would never be normal again. He wanted it gone.

He didn’t want to hurt anymore. Devin wanted to finally find the

peace that his nightmares wouldn’t allow him.

He felt hopeless, lost, and he just didn’t want to feel any longer.

He jumped, recoiling when Mercy grabbed his arm and spun him

around, his eyes so dark that they reminded him of liquid silver.

“What did you just say?” Mercy’s tone was spoken with such

vehemence that Devin began to shake.

He was no longer brave enough to repeat his words. The look the

man was giving him shook Devin to his core. No one had cared

enough about him to ever give a rat’s ass whether he lived or died.

But Mercy seemed to take it as a strike against him, as if the

promise of Devin’s words angered him to the point of violence.

“I…” Devin trailed off, unable to look at Mercy. He wanted to

run, wanted to get as far away from the man holding his arm as he

could. “Let me go.”

“So you can kill yourself?” he asked. “Not a fucking chance in

hell, tiger. Cowards take the easy way out, and I thought you were

stronger than that.” Mercy cupped his face, making Devin look at

him. “I’m claiming you as my mate, Devin. If you can’t cope with

what happened to you, then I’ll help you get your revenge against

those who have fucked your head up.”

Devin’s head spun at Mercy’s words. To claim him meant Mercy

wanted to keep him, but the pain was eating away at him of not only

what Charles had done to him, but what Martin had done as well. In

some ways, Martin had been crueler. The things he had done and

said… “He killed my parents.” It was the first time he had allowed

himself to not only think about what Martin had done, but speak it out

loud. The pain ripped through him, and Devin felt his knees begin to

buckle.

This was too much. He missed his mom and dad with such agony

that he wasn’t sure he could survive the pain. Devin was so damn

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tired of hurting. So damn tired of crying for what was done to him and

those he loved. He wanted the pain to go away, to leave him so he

wouldn’t hurt every damn waking moment, even in his sleep.

Mercy’s grip tightened on Devin’s jaw, his eyes narrowing to twin

pinpricks as he held on to Devin, preventing him from crumbling to

the floor. “Who?”

“Martin.”

“Then we get him and Charles.” Mercy leaned closer, his lips

touching Devin’s ear. “But I won’t let you off yourself, and revenge

doesn’t stop the nightmares.”

“Then what does?” Devin whispered.

“Nothing does, tiger, but it will ease with time.”

Devin seriously doubted that. How could something that felt like a

heavy weight on his very soul ever ease? At times, it was hard to even

breathe. Devin wanted it to ease. Hell, he wanted it to completely go

away.

“But if you give me what you suffer most from, it helps.” Mercy

ran his thumb over Devin’s cheek and then wrapped his arm around

Devin’s neck, pulling him close, giving Devin the anchor he so

desperately needed. He laid his head on Mercy’s strong chest, taking

in the safety and comfort he was beginning to heavily depend on.

“He raped me.”

“I know, tiger.”

“He—” Devin took a deep breath. If Mercy was serious about

mating him, then they were going to share a life together and would

know each other inside and out, shame and all. “He had others hold

me down. I fought him as hard as I could, but I couldn’t get away.”

“You know what?”

Devin rubbed his cheek against Mercy’s chest, hating the shame

of his confession that was filling him up to an impossible fullness.

“What?”

“I realized something this morning.”

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Devin pulled back enough to look up at Mercy. “And what was

that?”

Mercy bit his bottom lip, his eyes scanning over Devin’s face, and

then he smiled. The tilt of his lips was so genuine that Devin nearly

melted on the spot.

“I realized that I love you.”

Devin’s breath hitched as he grabbed onto Mercy, hanging on for

dear life as he felt something inside of him break free, easing some of

the pain he was drowning in, giving him a small sliver of hope. “I

love you, too.”

“Promise me that you won’t do anything to hurt yourself,” Mercy

said as he wrapped his arms around Devin, holding him so tightly that

Devin thought he was going to break.

“I promise.” He knew Mercy was a quiet loner who had never

pulled anyone into his innermost circle. But he had just pulled Devin

in, and that meant everything to him.

“Good, now let’s research what we need to open this bookstore.”

Devin couldn’t help it. He laughed. “Partners?”

“In everything, tiger.”

“I like that.” He felt a bit better as Mercy rubbed a hand down his

back. “I know for a fact that you are going to need plenty of shelves.”

Mercy nodded. “Then it’s a good thing Jeremiah has a hardware

store.”

“But do you know how to build them?” Devin asked, feeling the

excitement building inside, something he hadn’t felt in so long that it

surprised him.

“Do you?”

“No, but I’m sure we can hire someone.”

Devin and Mercy walked around the shop, Devin taking notes as

he and Mercy argued over what should be where. Never before had

Devin had such a good time arguing over books and shelves. He

enjoyed every damn minute of his time with Mercy. His early