He caught her clit between his fingers, squeezing enough to get her attention. She sucked in a quick breath, then let it out as he began a gentle circular motion over her sensitive skin. Fast then slow, heavy then light, up then down, on repeat. She tried to decide which motion she liked the best, but she loved all of it.
She set her hands out to her side, trying to find something to hold on to, but the wall was flat.
Hold my shoulders, Merc whispered into her mind. She did, then wondered how it was that he could talk to her without speaking.
Shh. Only this. Only now. He leaned down so he was face to face with her, their lips almost touching.
When her body finally surrendered to the magic of his fingers, she couldn’t help the quick breaths she took. Her nails dug into his shoulders. At last, when the spiral of heat and ecstasy eased her back to reality, she leaned against the wall and stared up at him.
He pulled his hand from her pants, put one finger into his mouth, sucked it off, then did the same with his second finger. “You taste delicious, Ashlyn. I can’t wait for a feast of you.”
She could only respond with a nod. Words were galaxies away from the floaty space she was still in. He stood with her at the wall, holding her for a long moment until she felt her feet under her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against his skin, in no hurry to end their sweet communion. Nor was he.
The man was full of surprises.
A few minutes later, they pulled themselves together and headed out for a walk around the new eateries and bars at the plaza.
Ash was glad he didn’t rush off to do whatever nefarious work it was he did when he left their room at night. She wanted this time together.
“Nefarious?” He arched a brow at her.
Ash stopped. “See that right there?” She poked his shoulder. “How do you do it? It’s like you’re listening in my head.”
“It’s called telepathy.”
“That’s part of your game, isn’t it?”
“No. It’s just a communication from our phones’ Mutant and Monsters app. It tells me what to say.”
Ash cracked up. Easier to laugh it away than to hold him to what was a real question. “I think I’ll throw my phone away.”
“Good idea. But wait until you get back home.”
He reached for her hand. It was exactly as she’d imagined it would be. She lifted their joined hands and ran her finger over the heavy veining in his. Weird. It was almost as if he’d been with her on her walk to meet Kiera at the café back home.
Merc stopped and faced her. “Ash, I need you to go home. We can talk this through when I get back.”
“Why the change of mind? I thought you wanted three days with me.”
“I want a lot more than that, but this isn’t a good place for you right now.”
She shook her head. “I have a few more days. I’m going to use that time to enjoy this place, now that the mystery’s solved, and I know what’s really happening.”
He caught her face in his hands and stared into her eyes. She loved the odd, tawny color of his eyes, sometimes green, sometimes brown, often a warm caramel.
“I could compel you to go.”
She wrapped her hands around his wrists and fought her own smile. “But you can’t. I haven’t been initiated yet.” A thought occurred to her. “Oh—I get it. The mutant convention is happening here. Is the whole team coming down?”
“Ash—“
“Are all these people here for the convention? That’s genius. And explains my last question.”
He leaned forward and kissed her. Deeply. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tightening the connection between their bodies. He moved his hands from her cheeks to her waist and behind her head.
“You said you didn’t want me. That hurt, Merc.”
“I lied. I’ve told you what I really meant.”
“Which also hurt.”
“I can’t even count all the ways I don’t want you.”
If he wasn’t holding her so tightly, she would have backed away. Instead, she locked eyes with him as he ripped her heart out of her chest.
“I don’t want you in my world. I don’t want you in my life. I don’t want you in my heart. I don’t want you seen by my enemies. I don’t want you killed because of me. I don’t want you hurt when I leave.”
“You are a cesspool of want.”
“I don’t want to want you.”
“And yet here we are. Wanting.”
He nodded. “Please go back to Colorado. If I survive what’s coming, I’ll come to you.”
“That’s very moving.” She smiled. “Let me translate that into human: there’s a big challenge happening at your convention that you need to focus on. Maybe I should come too.” Maybe she wasn’t ready to give up on him, master role player or not. She linked her arm with his and led him to continue their walk around the plaza.
“And here I thought you weren’t a gamer. How do you know about these big challenges?”
“I’ve read about them. You could initiate me.”
His eyes went big. “No. You hate role playing.”
“But I like you.”
He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. Ash loved the feel of his body, the way she felt when he held her. “You’re killin’ me, Ash.”
She nodded. “It burns both ways.”
I’m glad I came back, Ash texted Summer and Kiera later that night after Merc dropped her off. I figured it all out. It was a setup. A massive, complex setup. Merc’s a gamer. The whole town is in on the role playing. I guess there’s a big conference happening, which explains the huge influx of people.
Well, that’s a relief. I guess, Kiera answered.
You could have warned me, Sum. Really. Liege, Acier, Bastion, Guerre, Merc. I should have known just by their gamer names.
Um. I don’t know what to say, Summer responded.
Knowing now what a big gamer Merc is, I’m not sure where we go from here. I’m crazy about him, but this game he’s in is more meaningful to him than real life. I’m not sure where I fit in that.
Just take it a step at a time, Summer suggested. Don’t give up on him because of the game.
How do you manage with Sam?
We’ll talk when you get back.
I’m glad you figured it all out, Kiera said. I was really worried about how it was weighing on you.
Me too. And thanks. And yeah, Sum. We’ll talk in a few days. Love you guys.
Back atcha, Kiera replied.
Same, babe, Summer said.
Summer lowered her phone and looked at Sam. “I hate lying to Ash.”
“I know.” Sam pulled her close. “If I could have kept you from knowing about my world, I would have. I would have done anything to spare you. Sounds like Merc’s settled on this gaming explanation for what’s odd about him. It works, actually.” He grinned. “I should have been that clever.”
“No. I don’t want secrets between us. I don’t want secrets between them. How can they build a future based on lies?”
Sam let out a sigh. “It’s not easy. We have to respect his decision. Like it or not, he may reject the Matchmaker’s pairing.”