Guild of Truth 02 - Shield from the Heart (33 page)

Sydney’s temper sparked. He was going to pretend that he hadn’t heard anything? Fine. Two could play at this game.

“So you just decided to leave us high and dry for no good reason? I thought you were better than that.”

His jaw bulged.

“I don’t know what made you want to leave,” she continued, “but the least you could do is give us back the journal.” She held her hand out.

If possible, his face grew darker. “I don’t have it.”

Her little act crumbled. “What? What do you mean you don’t have it? You left with it!”

“I traded it to Vander for information on my sister.”

Sydney’s world spun. All she could think was that Greg had been right. They never should have taken the journal. “You idiot!” she exploded and shoved him. “What were you thinking?”

Merrick snapped. “I was thinking how stupid I was to fall for your lovey dovey act. That’s what! You played me. You never wanted me as your Mirror Mate, you said as much to Joel. I heard you. All that time together you had me tagging after you like some whipped puppy! Why bother stringing me along? Huh? You wanted another man on the side, was that it?”

Sydney’s hand flew before she knew what was happening. She punched him in the gut.

Merrick grunted and clutched his abdomen. He chuckled before speaking in a deadly voice. “Get out of my house.”

She trembled.

Merrick would never hurt you.

“No.” She raised her chin stubbornly. “You want to know why I’ve been staked outside your house? It’s because I care about you. You said you overheard me telling Joel I didn’t want you as my Mirror Mate, well, if you would have stuck around you would have heard me tell him that at one point in time I
used
to wish Joel was my destined soul mate. But not anymore. I broke things off with Joel. You would have learned this if you hadn’t run off. I broke up with him just like I said I would because I don’t love him anymore.”

Merrick’s brow furrowed.

She tried stepping closer to him but he backed away from her. “I don’t want to hear your lies. Save them for someone more gullible than I because I’m done.”

“I’m not lying, you jackass.” She finally understood Cali’s need to resort to name calling. Men just seemed to respond better that way.

Merrick blinked. “What did you call me?”

“You heard me. Now are you going to listen to me or not? I don’t love Joel.” She dug deep inside herself for courage and plowed onward. “I love you, Merrick.”

His eyes wavered and right when she was sure he’d cave, he turned his back on her. “If you won’t leave, then I will,” he said gruffly.

Her heart shattered.

She watched him make his way toward the door. With a finality that made her want to cry, she knew that once he stepped through those doors he’d be gone from her life forever.

Please don’t leave me,
she whispered in the deepest part of her soul. Something fragile inside of her reached out.
Merrick …

Merrick stopped dead with his hand on the knob of his door.

In the recesses of her mind she heard a tentative and hopeful,
Sydney?
before everything was enveloped in heat and whiteness.

Merrick awoke to a fierce burning inside his chest. He blinked up at his ceiling before jackknifing into a sitting position.

How the hell had he gotten on the floor?

He rubbed at his chest absently. Heat blazed from within, like a mini fire. It filled him up — made him feel whole.

Sydney —

He spotted her a few feet away on the floor just like he’d been.

“Sydney.” He rushed to her side and cradled her against his chest. With her in his arms, the heat in his chest turned into a deep warmth that seeped into every pore of his body. He stared down at her beautiful face in awe.

Could it be possible?

Had they … bonded?

He shook her gently. “Come on, Sydney, open those beautiful green eyes of yours. Even if all you do is glare at me, which I might add, I deserve. I was such an asshole. I should have believed you. I wanted to — I just — ”

“You can quit babbling.” She spoke without opening her eyes. A smile curled her lips. “I accept your apology.”

He crushed her to his chest, vowing to never let her go.

“Merrick,” Sydney squeaked. “Can’t breathe.”

He released her instantly and she inhaled deeply.

“I see you got your strength back.”

He quickly took an assessment of his body and found that he felt great. Better than great. He was rejuvenated.

“How do I feel so fantastic?” He pulled back far enough to stare into her eyes.

Her emerald eyes shone up at him with such love it made his heart hurt. “Because we bonded.” She placed one hand over his heart and the other over her own. “I’ve never felt anything like it before,” she whispered.

He covered her hand with one of his. That oh-so-familiar jolt skittered through his body. His cock tightened and his eyes dipped down to take note that Sydney was clad in nothing but a bathrobe.

When his eyes wandered back to hers, he found stark desire flaring bright. “Have you ever been taken on the floor?” he asked her roughly.

She visibly shivered. She undid the belt of her robe and shook her head. “No,” she said breathlessly.

Merrick hissed when the robe fell open, exposing her perky breasts. Her nipples were already hard and begging for his mouth.

Easy
, he calmed himself.

He rolled onto his back and dragged Sydney atop him. There was no need for her to suffering being on the bottom. He hadn’t cleaned the floor in a while and he didn’t mind a little dirt and grit.

She straddled his waist and pulled his shirt up and over his head. He kept himself in check as her hands ghosted over his chest, light as a fairy. He cupped her breasts in his hands and gently kneaded.

He groaned when she raked her nails along his skin and he couldn’t help but ground himself against her bottom.

He cursed his jeans. They were all that stood in his way of sliding deep inside Sydney.

As if sensing his distress she leaned down until her chest was flush with his and fused their lips together.

Merrick’s control was slipping. He hadn’t sampled her in so long and she tasted so good. He wrapped his hand in her hair and pressed her closer to deepen their kiss.

She slid herself against him wantonly.

Merrick forced his attention to their kiss, lest he come in his pants.

He forced his tongue past her lips and stroked deep into her mouth. She met him stroke for stroke, lick for lick. His body was driven to a fevered pitch. His cock strained against the fly of his jeans and he didn’t know how much more he could take.

Sydney broke their kiss to trail her lips down his neck, her hands questing further south until she reached the waistband of his jeans.

Finally.

Merrick dropped his head back as she worked his pants down his thighs, just enough to free him.

She inhaled sharply, as if she’d forgotten how big he was.

Merrick smirked.

He pushed her robe the rest of the way off her body until she was blessedly naked atop him. The sight was erotic as hell.

They were both breathing heavily by the time she pushed herself down onto him. They both moaned and the heat inside Merrick felt near to bursting. He arched his back and slid deeper inside her.

Her fingers bit into his chest where she was using him like a balancing board. Slowly she started to rock, then she rose up on her knees to sink back down on him.

Merrick bit his tongue to keep from shouting. She was so wet and hot around him.

Eventually she found a rhythm that had him meeting her halfway. When she started to tire he grasped her hips and helped her, driving himself up into her over and over as she rode him.

He felt his climax building.

Sydney’s inner muscles clenched around him and she came with a muffled cry.

Merrick drank in the sight of her: her head thrown back, her blonde hair a messy halo around her head. Her green eyes glittered with satisfaction and he’d been the one to give it to her.

“I love you,” he told her right as he was thrown over the edge.

His hands tightened on her hips, pulling her close as he shoved up off the floor to empty himself inside her.

He must’ve temporarily blacked out because when next he blinked, Sydney’s head was pillowed on his chest. She traced lazy circles along his biceps and from time to time he could feel her lips press delicate kisses to his flesh.

“I love you too,” she whispered against him.

He ran his hand through her hair, down her spine, and cupped her bottom. “I’m so sorry I was an asshole to you earlier.”

She picked her head up to rest her chin on her arm. “I’m sorry you heard what you did and thought I didn’t love you.”

He traced his finger down her cheek. “I should have never doubted you. I was hurt. Ever since my powers manifested I’ve never been able to trust another. I should have realized I could trust you, but I was too fucking stupid.”

She kissed him tenderly. When she pulled back her eyes were filled with sadness. “Greg was right, we should have never taken Kevin’s journal. Now Vander has it in his clutches.”

And this was where Merrick felt like a real fucking moron. “I should have known he’d double cross me. My anger at you and the guild clouded my judgment. He took the laptop, the journal, and tried to kill me. Under normal circumstances I would have seen his deception a mile away.”

She pressed her finger firmly against his lips. “Shh, we’ll get it back.”

He shook his head, dislodging her hand. “There’s no need.”

She gave him a puzzled look.

“While I might have been out of it, I wasn’t a complete fool. I read the journal and I found the information Vander was after. I also kept the journal a day longer than necessary. Old habits die hard, and no matter how much I wanted to think I didn’t care about Vander or your guild, I couldn’t bring myself to completely sabotage all our hard work.”

“What are you saying?”

He squeezed her bottom affectionately. “I’m saying that if Vander had gotten the journal a day earlier he would have found his Mirror Mate. Her name is Deborah and she was visiting from out of town and would have been at a certain location at a certain time. Yesterday. Today she’s gone and the information Vander has at his fingertips is all but useless.”

She pushed off his chest hard enough to make him grunt. “Are you serious?” She was grinning like an idiot.

He ran his hands up her back and returned her grin. “Very serious. If Vander wants to find his Mirror Mate now, he’s going to have to wait until Kevin wakes up.”

“That could take years,” said Sydney.

“Let’s hope longer.”

He pulled her down for a kiss.

Two months later.

Merrick helped Luke center the Christmas tree in the corner of Sydney’s clinic’s lobby.

“You’re still crooked.” Niella tilted her head as she watched them from a distance.

“That’s because your head is crooked,” shot back Luke.

Merrick still had no idea how he’d gotten roped into this. Last night he’d been happily lying in bed after sex with Sydney, ready to drift off to sleep, when she’d asked him if he’d help decorate the clinic. He’d been too tired to do anything else but agree. Now, as he adjusted the tree for perhaps the millionth time, he realized Sydney had tricked him into this. She’d lured him in with sex until his defenses were down and his mind was fogged, then she’d sprung her trap.

He shook his head. The plan was brilliant, actually.

“Let’s finish with everything else, then we can come back to the tree and mess with it some more.” Merrick pulled out decorations that stuck to the exam room doors and handed some off to Niella.

Luke stepped up to take a share and stopped when Sydney’s voice traveled from the back of the clinic. “Luke, I need some assistance here, please.”

Luke smiled. “Duty calls.” He cheerfully sprinted off.

Luke had started working for Sydney weeks ago after going through a crash course in being a veterinary assistant. It turned out that Luke had a real knack for working with animals. He looked a lot happier, though Merrick could still sense his unease every once in a while. It’d take Luke a long time before he felt comfortable enough to not have to check over his shoulder every five minutes.

Hell, Merrick even found himself still checking every dark corner of his life for Vander, half expecting him to come out of the shadows and kill him for ruining his only chance at finding his Mirror Mate. But so far he’d remained off the radar. A week ago they’d gotten a lead on some illegal activity at another Kratos location and had sent Felix and Cali. The two were due to return today, and they were all going to gather at Felix’s for a welcome home/pre-Christmas dinner.

While it was a nice change to think of Vander as gone for good, Merrick knew he’d be back. Kevin and Collette were still waiting in their hospital room. Vander wouldn’t leave that kind of treasure just sitting around. If Merrick had to guess, he’d say Jente was left behind to watch over Vander’s prized Dreamer.

Merrick made his way toward the exam rooms to begin the decorating process when the phone started to ring.

Niella smirked at the excuse to stop helping with the decorations.

“Not you too,” he said.

She gave Merrick a mock salute before quickly rolling behind the receptionist desk. “Duty calls,” she parroted Luke’s words and picked up the phone.

Merrick stared down at all the cheesy Christmas decorations in his hands. “Unbelievable.”

• • •

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Merrick looked over his shoulder and started at the sight of Joel.

Dinner was over and everyone had sprawled out on the couches as Felix put on some ridiculous animated — claymation? — Christmas movie.

Merrick had been busy in the kitchen opening another bottle of wine when Joel had snuck up on him. He hadn’t really seen much of Joel for the past two months. Not that he could blame him for wanting some space.

Tonight had been the first time they’d all really been together for a long period of time. Sydney had cut back on the public displays of affection and Merrick had had no problem with that. He didn’t want to rub it in Joel’s face. Joel had been doing a good job of keeping a fake smile plastered on his face, and Merrick had only caught a couple of wistful glances at Sydney the entire night.