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Authors: Moira Rogers

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BOOK: Merrick's Destiny
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She hesitated before bending to drop a kiss to his cheek. “Sleepy. Good night, Merrick.”

Moving silently, he stretched out his arm in invitation. She nestled her head against his shoulder, her eyes closed and her body relaxed, and settled into his embrace.

In a telling twist, her easy trust doused the sharpest edge of arousal. Not that desire had been extinguished—no, he still felt every inch of that soft body pressed against him—but need didn’t savage him. Not in the way she’d obviously expected.

Not in the way it should have.

This was the warm satisfaction that made a mate worth having. The comfort of having her sleep in your arms, unafraid, the pleasure in knowing she was safe and protected. This was the heady addiction to the sort of peace a bloodhound couldn’t normally expect from life.

And why the withdrawal would likely kill him.

#

The cold woke her. Paralee opened her eyes to the sight of Merrick by the ashen fire, stirring up the last remaining coals. “Good morning,” she croaked.

He smiled and nodded to a canteen at her elbow. “I filled that with fresh water.”

“Thanks.” It was impossible not to stare as she watched him, so she sat up and busied herself with the canteen.

By the time she’d drained half of it, he’d rekindled the fire and was sifting through the meager trail supplies she’d managed to salvage. “We need to reach higher ground today,” he said as he held out a bit of dried jerky. “If I can take a good look around, get my bearings, there are some old Guild way stations in these mountains. Some might still be well stocked enough.”

She’d assumed the plan would be to haul ass east as fast as they could. If not… “You think there’s a lot of ghoul activity in this area?”

“Most likely.” He jerked his head toward the entrance to the cave. “Sun’s not up over the hills yet, but once it got lighter, I took a walk around this cave. Found some tracks that are probably a few days old. Ghoul, I reckon, or a drunk human.”

He left unspoken the obvious truth that a human, drunk or no, had no place wandering around the countryside. So they’d have to be careful, move more slowly—and possibly not make it out of the Deadlands until after the new moon. “Merrick?” she asked softly.

“Don’t make any offers you aren’t sure you mean,” he said gruffly, not looking at her. “Wouldn’t do a lick of good in any case. If you don’t want me more than breathing, what’s inside me isn’t going to hurt its mate by taking her against her wishes.”

She couldn’t offer anything, then, could she? Beyond a dreamless night in his arms and one blistering kiss, she didn’t even know him. Her gut told her to trust him, but how much? Where did that end?

Instead of offering empty promises, Paralee changed the subject. “We should make another pass through the wreckage. It won’t be pleasant, but I must have overlooked a lot last night in the darkness and my haste.”

His jaw tightened, and he stared at the tack in his hand for a moment. “I wish I could say we have time to properly see to the dead, but it could mean the difference between living and dying ourselves.”

He spoke as though he was trying to prepare her, and she remembered then what he’d said—
I’m fully capable of losing my good sense if you get hurt.
Perhaps it extended beyond the realm of the physical, the protectiveness he felt.

She rose and cleared her throat. “It might be better, all things considered, if you conduct the search alone. I’d just as soon not see it again.”

From the surprise in his gaze, he knew how much of a concession she’d made—and hadn’t been expecting it. A slow smile curved his lips as he glanced away. “Might be better,” he agreed. “As long as I don’t have to stray too far from you. You could wait on the other side of the hill from the crash, maybe?”

“I’ll find a place.” She brushed past him. “I’m going down to the creek to wash up.”

He caught her hand, tugging her back to brush a kiss over her knuckles. “Thank you.”

More than anything, the tenderness threw her off balance. “Don’t thank me yet. I’m not through making your life hell, not by half.”

“Mmm.” He grinned at her. “Don’t take too long.”

Paralee squinted against the early morning sun as she made her way out of the cave. The rays lit the valley below, illuminating the still, cold wreckage of the
Siren
.

She turned away. The path leading down from the mouth of the cave was tricky to navigate, a surprise since all she could remember of the night before was Merrick, half-dragging her up the slope.

When she reached the creek, she saw the sign he’d described, the wobbly tracks scraped out of the hard-packed earth. No normal steps, and no animal, either. Whatever had come by had dragged its feet in an uneven gait.

She shivered and knelt on the bank. She washed quickly, splashing cold water heedlessly on her face and neck. It soaked her shirt, and another tremor shook her. No matter. They’d be moving, and the day would warm quickly enough.

Soon, Merrick’s footsteps sounded behind her. “I packed up.”

He carried everything so easily, as if it weighed nothing, but she gestured to the heavy pack anyway. “I can take that.”

“It won’t wear me down as quickly.” He held out a hand to haul her up. “You’ll have your own load to carry soon enough, love. Enjoy the freedom.”

She retrieved her utility belt from where he’d draped it through one strap of the pack and buckled it around her waist. “Lucius kept rations and a cache of weapons in the hold.”

“Could do well with more of both.” He started toward the trail, and this time his steps were silent, as if he’d purposefully made noise when approaching before. “The Guild station I remember was built within a stone’s throw of the river, and might even have a boat. If nothing else, supplies enough to build our own.”

She followed him. “Traveling the river would be easier than hoofing it. Safer too.”

“Not to mention faster. If we’re where I think we are, we can make the station in time for the new moon.”

There appeared to be no question in his mind that they’d still be on the trail when the moon went dark. “You told me not to make any offers I didn’t mean, but I wanted to tell you…that isn’t the problem. I’m plenty attracted to you. It’s just that… Well, I’ve never.”

His foot came down crooked, and rocks skittered from under his boot as he caught his balance. “You’ve never…?”

Too late, she realized what she’d said. “No! Shit, I mean not with a bloodhound. I’m not a virgin.”

“Thank the Lord,” he muttered. “Wouldn’t be right, thinking these sorts of things about a sweet little virgin.”

Damn her blush, anyway. “Like it would stop you.”

He snorted. “Virgins aren’t nearly as fun as women who know what they like and ain’t afraid to ask for it.”

Paralee knew what she liked. Hell, he’d done half of it last night, and he’d barely even touched her. “I’m not frightened or ashamed of my sexuality,” she agreed. “That doesn’t mean I have the slightest clue what fucking a bloodhound during the new moon entails.”

Merrick picked a path around a pile of knee-high boulders before replying. “Pleasure, mostly. Trust. For a hound, it’s about making a woman need him as hard as he needs her.”

Hard to imagine, when that need was otherworldly to begin with. “They call it penance for all a hound’s murderous violence and rage.”

“I imagine they do.” His mouth twitched, and she wasn’t sure if he was fighting a laugh or a scowl. “Giving a bit of pleasure’s never caused me grief, so it’s a penance I’ll accept.”

“It likely just makes you—” They’d crested the last rise before the descent into the valley, and Paralee stopped. “I’ll wait up here.”

He fell silent, his gaze sweeping over the wreckage. After a moment, he lifted the pack from his shoulder and held it out to her. “I’ll move quicker without it.”

“I’ll be fine.”

She watched him until the striped pattern of his shirt blurred into a solid dark brown, then turned her attention beyond, to the broken ship. She’d practically lived on it, so it should have felt more like a home. But Lucius Hammersmith had taken great pains to make sure she knew he was the boss of the
Siren
, and had often exhorted Paralee not to forget it.

All in all, a waste of a perfectly good ship.

She paced, rounding the eastern edge of the ridge as he picked through the wreckage. He stooped, retrieving and discarding items, and occasionally glancing back toward her.

A sudden thought seized her, and she groaned. “Damn it.” She should have told Merrick to grab the money stashed in the cockpit. It was more than enough to cover the repairs to her own ship, and it wasn’t as if Lucius needed it any longer. It could mean the difference between flying again and being stuck on the ground.

She continued to pace, taking care to keep an eye on Merrick. If she’d ever been half as invested in shady business financing as her former boss… “I probably wouldn’t need his fucking money,” she muttered.

Damn her for being mostly honest, anyway.

A frustrated kick sent rocks skittering and dirt flying. As the dust settled, a strange, dark lump half hidden behind a boulder drew Paralee’s gaze. She stepped closer and realized it was dead badger, its fur torn and bloodied. A fresh kill, and it turned her stomach.

Something’s wrong.

She stared at the badger, trying to suss it out, but it wasn’t until she heard a scraping sound behind her that the pieces clicked into place. A fresh kill, but none like she’d ever seen. Half-eaten, but not by an animal.

Not quite.

She’d just closed her hand around the hilt of her knife when the ghoul lunged at her. The creature had been a man once, tall and broad. His clothing hung on an emaciated frame, and his attack was clumsy and uncoordinated, but
fast
.

He hit her with the speed of desperation, shoving her against an outcropping of rock hard enough to knock the wind out of her. Paralee gasped for breath and drove the heel of her hand up, striking the ghoul in the temple.

Merrick’s voice rose from the valley as the ghoul stumbled back. It shook off the blow to the head and lunged at her again, slower this time. She jumped out of the way and used the ghoul’s momentum to slam him forward into the boulder.

He whirled dizzily, and a quick kick swept his legs from under him. He dropped and Paralee followed him down, wedging her knee under his chin. He clawed at her face with dirty hands, scratched her cheek, so she rocked up as she drew her knife, levering her weight onto his neck. The blade glinted as she raised it, and one hard plunge into his heart left him still.

It should have taken Merrick several minutes to scale the side of the hill, but he appeared a few seconds later, eyes glazed and wide. He moved in a blur, with two long strides and an inhuman leap that took him to the top of the boulder above her. “Are you hurt?”

She staggered away from the corpse, her hands shaking, and shook her head. “No, I’m all right.”

His nostrils flared. Another leap brought him right in front of her, and he cupped her face with both hands. “You’re bleeding.”

“He scratched me.” She touched her cheek, and her fingers came away smeared with blood. “I think you were right.”

Still wild-eyed, he dragged her toward where she’d dropped the packs. “Right about what, love?”

“There are certainly ghouls in this area.” It had sounded better in her head, not nearly as shrill and hysterical.

He barked out a laugh and bent to pick up the canteen. “There sure as fuck are, sweet girl. You stabbed one right through the damn heart, and after I went to all that trouble running up the hill to rescue you.”

He was insane, but maybe so was she. “Don’t tell me that counts as flirting with you too.”

“Maybe a little.” He eyed her cheek, eyes softening. “Let’s clean that up. I know it’s just a scratch, but ghouls have all manner of terrifying shit under their fingernails.”

“Badger.” That sounded even more ridiculous, and she burst out laughing. The world swam in a dizzy haze, so she clung to Merrick’s shirt and tried to take deep breaths.

He wrapped strong arms around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Take a moment, Paralee. You’ve had a hell of a day.”

And it had only just begun.

 

Chapter Three

He was back in familiar territory.

Geographically.

Merrick took a long sip from his canteen before bending to refill it. He knew where they were, and where they were headed. They had an hour before sunset to hunt game and hopefully get something warm in their bellies. Even at an easy pace, they could make the Guild safehouse by late afternoon tomorrow.

He had until then before the new moon closed in around him. Until he went mad.

Paralee grumbled as she knelt by the fire pit. She’d let her hair down from its plait, and she pushed the wavy tresses back from her face as she struck her flint again. “Damn waterfall. Everything in here is wet and—” Her words cut off in a triumphant cry as flame licked free of the kindling and took hold of the larger sticks stacked over it. “Hand me the spider and the kettle, would you? I have a surprise.”

Though bemused, he rose to obey. She looked softer with her brown hair framing her face. Pretty, almost sweet, for all her sharp edges. “A surprise, hmm?”

She pulled a paper-wrapped parcel out of her bag. “A lady in Chicago puts them together for me. It’s a dried stew, spices and all. Didn’t have time to prepare one last night, but right now seems just about perfect.”

He situated the kettle over the fire and eyed the package. “So that’s what you were after when you went digging through the boxes. How much did they set you back?”

“You don’t want to know.” With a smile, she dumped the contents into the kettle and held out her hand for his canteen. “But I will say it’s worth every penny.”

It would probably be easier than hunting, and more soothing to his nerves. Even with the sun overhead, he wasn’t eager to leave Paralee alone again. Not because she couldn’t handle herself against a ghoul—he wasn’t sure he would have been able to kill one much quicker than she had, and without the benefit of a bloodhound’s speed and strength—but because he didn’t
want
to leave her side.

BOOK: Merrick's Destiny
8.31Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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