Guild of Truth 02 - Shield from the Heart (21 page)

“What if I don’t want to never see you again?” he said.

Her breath hitched. He could smell the vanilla coming from her skin. He inhaled greedily, the scent ratcheting his blood higher.

She licked her lips nervously. “Merrick … ”

“I’ll help you,” he said.

“You will?”

“I only want one thing in return.”

“Sure. Of course. Anything.”

He leaned down and brushed his lips against her ear. “I want you.”

Sydney jumped from his arms like a startled rabbit. She smashed into the side of the couch.

“Why do you fight it?” Merrick sighed.

“Fight what?”

He gripped her in his arms again. A jolt went through his system. Sydney’s eyes widened. “This,” he said, refusing to break eye contact. “I know you feel it too, so don’t lie to me. We’re Mirror Mates.” The color drained from her face and Merrick briefly wondered where this sudden recklessness was coming from. “You keep hiding behind Joel like you’re afraid of what could happen between us.”

At the mention of Joel some of her regular fire returned to her eyes. She shoved him back. “I’m not afraid. I’ve loved Joel for three years, all right? I-I can’t … ”

Silence fell.

Merrick’s hands ached from how hard he was clenching them. He spun on his heel.

“Wait,” Sydney called out.

He froze. His control was slipping. There was too much crushing down on him and his desire for Sydney wasn’t helping. If she didn’t want him then she needed to say it so that he could move on.

But we’re Mirror Mates.

He’d never be able to move on.

He whirled back around and grasped her by the shoulders. “I don’t care if you love Joel. You’re mine.”

His lips crushed against hers, his tongue forcing her lips apart to gain access to her mouth.

Sydney could do nothing but cling to Merrick as his tongue slid deep into her mouth. A moan rose from her, her fingers digging into the flesh of his arms. His muscles were coiled tight beneath her hands and she shivered in anticipation at all the raw strength Merrick was holding back.

He wants you. He knows you’re Mirror Mates and he wants you.

Desire rode her hard and she tore her lips away to suck in a lungful of air. Her whole body was on pins and needles, hyperaware of every brush of Merrick against her body. She craved his touch, wanted to feel him deep inside her.

She slid her hands up his chest and let her fingers tangle in his black locks. She wrenched his mouth back to hers for a hard kiss.

His answering groan set her blood on fire. Her sex pulsed in need and she shamelessly ground her hips against his growing erection.

His arms tightened around her almost painfully.

When his fingers skimmed the bare flesh beneath her shirt, she jumped. His fingers trailed up her stomach to her chest where they slipped beneath her bra to cup one of her tiny breasts.

“I know they’re not much,” she mumbled in apology.

Merrick pulled away to stare down at her. “What are you talking about?”

She avoided his gaze. “My boobs. I have the body of a prepubescent boy.”

He grasped her chin and forced her eyes up to his. “As someone with experience in that field, you don’t, Sydney. You’re perfect. Everything about you is perfect.”

He kissed her then. Slow and gentle. Warmth bloomed in her chest.

She reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head with some difficulty. She stared at his broad chest, her stomach flipping. “I’ve wanted to touch you like this since the first time I saw you shirtless,” she confessed.

He smirked down at her. “Then what are you waiting for?” He drew her hand to his chest and slid it over his heart. “Touch me.”

Sydney’s mouth went dry.

Merrick laughed at her expression and scooped her up into his arms before depositing her on his bed. Sydney didn’t even remember the journey from the living room to the bedroom.

Merrick crawled over her like a predator, his fingers skimming the waistband of her pants. His mouth settled over hers. Sydney opened for him eagerly, her tongue twining with his.

His hands worked her pants loose. Her heart jumped. He slipped the material down her legs.

“Are you wet for me?” he asked against her tingling lips.

He kissed her again before she could respond. Her mind reeled. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on as he painstakingly removed her panties. His fingers brushed against her and she shivered.

Merrick groaned when he found her ready for him. He slipped a finger deep inside her.

Sydney gasped. Her mind went blank. She rocked against his hand, eager for the pressure, the pleasure he could give her.

“Fuck,” Merrick broke away from her mouth and tore her top from her body. He stared down at her with raw passion.

Her heart quivered. She tried to cover herself but he held her open and exposed. She could feel his gaze like an intimate caress.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered. He stole a kiss before his mouth trailed down the side of her neck. His hands cupped and squeezed her breasts. When his mouth reached her chest he replaced one hand with his mouth, sucking an aching nipple between his lips.

Sydney moaned and then cried out when the fingers of his free hand found her between the legs once more. He slid two fingers inside and gently thrust, his thumb rubbing against her throbbing clit.

She was panting in seconds, her climax building. “Merrick.” She arched against him.

“Not yet.” He withdrew his fingers.

She protested but he silenced her with a fierce kiss.

“I want to feel you coming around me.” He squeezed her breast to punctuate his sentence. Her hands instantly dropped to the waist of his pants.

He chuckled as she worked the button and zipper frantically. Her body was poised right on the edge and she couldn’t take a minute more of it. She was an aching ball of need. She shoved his pants down to his thighs, freeing his erection. Her eyes widened. Her inner muscles clenched in anticipation.

He gently pushed her onto her back, covering her body with his. Her legs wound around his waist as if they’d done this countless times before.

His lips drank from hers lazily.

She could feel him poised at the center of her. He brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face, his eyes locked on hers.

The emotion she saw touched her down to her soul.

He slid into her.

She hissed in pleasure, unable to break eye contact as he filled her completely.

His Adam’s apple bobbed, the tendons in his neck standing out as he held himself back.

He slowly rotated his hips, a low rumble coming from deep within his throat. “You feel like heaven,” he growled.

Sydney laughed. She couldn’t help herself. “You’re only saying that because you haven’t had sex in such a long time.”

He pulled out and slowly thrust back in. He smirked down at her. “Maybe.”

She gasped in outrage but it quickly turned to a moan as he started to move faster. His hips rocked hard against hers. Her eyes drifted shut and Merrick dropped his head to seal their lips together. She wound her hand tight in his hair and trailed the other down his back, marveling at the feel of his muscles contracting under her palm.

She arched her back to meet him thrust for thrust, pleasure streaking through every fiber of her being.

Her pleasure built. Merrick’s grunt sounded in her ear. Her legs tightened around his waist.

She was so close.

So —

She cried out as her climax claimed her.

Merrick gripped her bottom and pulled her up to thrust deeper inside her. She yelled out at the pleasure of it. His body jerked, his cock jumping within her before he came. His lips latched onto her chest, just above her heart.

She clutched him to her as the aftershocks skittered along her skin.

Merrick rolled off of her a few seconds later.

They were both covered with a thin sheen of sweat. Without Merrick’s warm body to cover her the chill air caused goose bumps to rise all along her skin. She shivered.

Merrick pulled the bed covers over her body as he settled in against her side.

Despite the early hour in which she’d gone to bed the night before, Sydney hadn’t been able to sleep. Now, nestled in Merrick’s arms, she drifted into a warm, content sleep, her chest lighter than it had been in months.

• • •

Sydney awoke to a firm pressure on her bladder. She blinked and searched for a clock. It was still early in the day. She’d only been asleep for three hours. Steady, warm breathing along the back of her neck signaled that Merrick was still sleeping behind her. His hand rested solid and heavy on her hip and she slowly eased out from under it to get to the bathroom.

After she finished relieving her bladder she stood for a long second in front of the mirror staring at the hickey just above her left breast. Right over her heart. She rubbed the mark absently as mixed emotions coursed through her.

She went back to the bed and stared down at Merrick’s sleeping face. It was covered in black and blue bruises, but even with all his injuries he was the sexiest man she’d ever seen.

She’d never felt so connected to another human being. She never wanted to leave his side; she wanted to wake next to him every morning.

You have to break it off with Joel.

The idea might have frightened her before but all she felt now was a calm acceptance. Joel wasn’t meant for her. She’d always love him, and she’d been lucky to have him for as long as she did, but now it was time to move on.

I can do this.

She picked up her discarded clothes and went into the living room to try Joel’s cell phone again. Still no answer. She tucked her phone away and decided to search the kitchen for something to eat. While she was warming some soup her phone went off.

She answered it instantly, not bothering to check the caller. “Hello?”

“Hey, Syd.” Felix’s cheerful voice came through the other end. “I’m off work and wanted to know how you were doing and if you wanted to come over. Cali mentioned something about finding Collette’s address.”

“She found Collette’s address? Where?”

“Not sure, she kept boasting about how she was the next computer genius. I hung up on her when she wouldn’t shut up.”

Sydney laughed at Felix’s glee. No doubt Cali would be pissed about being cut off on the phone and he was sure to get hell when he got home, but Felix loved nothing more than to push Cali’s buttons.

Sydney’s eyes strayed to Merrick’s bedroom.

“So are you going to meet us here?” Felix asked.

Sydney turned down the stove before the soup boiled over. “Sure. I’ll be over within the hour.”

“See you then.”

She hung up and divided the soup into two separate bowls. She fished out some stale crackers from the back of the cupboard.

“Is that for us?”

Sydney screamed. She spun around and found Merrick leaning against the wall. Naked. Her eyes instantly dropped to his stirring erection.

She forced her eyes back to his face, moisture flooding her sex as an ache pulsed through her.

His erection continued to grow. The heat in Merrick’s eyes seared her. She grabbed the bowl of soup and held it in front of her like a shield. “I made us soup,” she said lamely. “I found crackers in the back of the pantry but they’re a little stale.” She turned to grab the box. When she turned around Merrick was right before her.

She stared at his chest, heart pounding, before she tilted her head back to look him in the face. The hunger in his eyes had nothing to do with food.

“F-Felix called and said Cali found where Collette lived.”

Merrick took the soup from her hands and put it back on the counter. “Why are you dressed?” He started to undo her pants. She stood frozen as his hand slipped inside. His fingers brushed aside her panties before pushing into her aching sex.

Her world spun and she grabbed him to steady herself. His fingers found a rhythm that had her moaning helplessly. Her legs opened wider in surrender.

Merrick’s cock strained against her, pulsing.

He worked another finger into her and her knees buckled.

“Merrick.” Her voice was breathless. “Take me back to the bed.”

His mouth teased hers. “What’s wrong with the kitchen?”

She sucked his tongue, long and hard. “It’s not appropriate,” she said once her mouth was her own.

“Appropriate?” Merrick chuckled and ground the heel of his hand against her clit.

She cried out.

He hummed in the back of his throat. “I’m going to enjoy taking you out of your comfort zone,” he promised darkly.

She shivered before her orgasm washed over her in heavy waves.

When the last of her aftershocks wore off Merrick withdrew his hand. “Dump the soup,” he told her. “We’ll go out for lunch.”

She reached out before he could escape and grasped where he was obviously aching. Every muscle in his body went rigid. She could hardly breathe after that last climax but she managed a quiet, “Where you do you think you’re going?”

She walked him up against the fridge, her hand pumping him. Merrick’s eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head.

Power flooded her veins. It was downright intoxicating.

She grinned as she cupped his balls with the other and worked him. His muscles stood out against the skin of his body as he tensed. He came with a shout and his forehead dropped into the crook of her neck, his breath hot and hard against her chest.

She licked his ear. “Better?” she asked.

He raised his head, eyes glittering.

She jumped out of his reach before he could snatch her. “Felix is waiting for us,” she yelled over her shoulder as she raced from Merrick. There wasn’t much room to run, especially when she tried to keep clear of the bedroom. He caught her near the bookcase, his mouth hot and demanding. She kissed him back with equal force.

She didn’t realize he’d picked her up off her feet until he put her back down. The floor helped ground her.

Merrick grinned when she stumbled. “Let’s get some lunch and then we’ll go find where Collette lives.”