Mercury's War (27 page)

    He blew against them again, creating a subtle caress that had her clit swelling, aching. When he moved again, it was to lick her again. A slow stroke of his tongue from her entrance to the swollen bud, her clit. A rasp of extrasensory pleasure from his tongue as her hands gripped his hair and that moan she was trying so hard to hold back whispered from her lips.

    She had to be careful. Oh Lord, if she started screaming here, then every Breed in the house was going to hear her.

    Did she care if every Breed in the house heard her? It felt so good. Her head rolled against the back of the chair as she fought back a cry. She couldn’t cry out.

    She whimpered. She bit her lip. She slapped her hands to the arms of the chair and clenched, then slid her fingers back into his hair and clenched again.

    His tongue was wicked. Wicked and sensual and lapping at her as though he loved the taste of her. As though nothing mattered as much, nothing was as important as making her insane with the pleasure rising hard and sharp inside her.

    She was an inferno. She was gasping, desperate and oh so very close to coming. Spread out in the office chair, taking his licks as though she had demanded them. Rising to him, perspiration building on her skin as she felt a finger slide inside her. Then two. Then he was pumping them into the gripping depths of her vagina, twisting and stroking as his lips covered her clit.

    He suckled the little bud inside his mouth. He kissed it, laved it with his tongue, then drew on it with gentle pulls of his lips, creating a friction that finally, devastatingly sent her exploding into complete ecstasy.

    Her legs lifted, wrapped around his shoulders as she shuddered, shaking, and bit her lips to hold back the cries that refused to stay silent.

    There was no staying silent in Mercury’s arms. It just couldn’t happen. Her wail was muffled, but it shook her body, seemed to echo around her and to gain in momentum as the pleasure exploded through her again and again.

    Gentle licks for long moments eased her from the incredible heights. Tender hands pulled her legs free of his shoulders and he straightened, his fingers gripping his cock as he pressed it against her.

    “Take all of me,” he demanded, his expression intense, fierce. “Everything I have.”

    “I’ll scream,” she moaned hoarsely, feeling the broad head of his cock pressing into her, possessing. “Oh, Mercury, I’m going to scream.”

    His lips covered hers as he pierced her, impaling her with tight, heavy strokes. Working into her. Stretching her. He covered her screams, gripped her rear and lifted her closer before he began pounding into her.

    This wasn’t slow and easy. It wasn’t careful and gentle. It was taking and giving; it was marking each other, sharing breaths, touches and ultimately a release that tore through her mind and left her shuddering in his arms.

    Arms that held her tight against him. Sheltered her. And when it was over, stroked the last of the tremors away.

CHAPTER 16

    Ria had never had office sex in her life. She knew Dane had, quite often. She had covered for him several times, rolling her eyes at the habit he seemed to have acquired. But she had never seen the benefits of it.

    Until Mercury.

    And if she was smug over the pleasure to be found, the wicked naughtiness it filled her with, then Mercury was downright cocky about it as he sat in the chair across from her hours later.

    Pretending to read that damned magazine. He would watch her over the top of it, his lashes lowered over his eyes, his expression sensual.

    Ria controlled her need to experience the sensations again, though. She copied the work she needed, removed the ghost drive, and as he watched, she tucked it carefully in her bra, beneath her breast.

    His tongue touched his lower lip and her nipple hardened.

    “Stop that.” She tried not to laugh. “The first chance I get, I’m informing Jonas how little he knows his Breeds. You’re the quiet, calm Breed. Remember?”

    His brows lifted. “Sorry, sweetheart, his chest doesn’t hold the appeal your breasts do.”

    She rolled her eyes as she stood to go.

    She pulled over her arms the leather coat he had managed to have waiting on her this morning, and shrugged into it before wrapping it around her and picking up her purse.

    She looked up at the camera above them as Mercury snagged his own jacket from it. He grinned at her as he did so, then looked back at the camera and snarled.

    She could just imagine Austin Crowl jerking back in alarm.

    “I thought Breeds were all tough and hard and merciless,” she commented as he pulled the lighter jacket on.

    “The scientists experimented with advanced intelligence in Breeds like Austin.” He shook his head. “They didn’t program in the genetics for strength and predatory awareness because they felt it would give those particular Breeds the power to overthrow them.”

    She arched her brow. “You could do his job with your hands tied behind your back. I’ve seen your file.”

    “But I wouldn’t have the patience.” He shrugged. “Austin is good at what he does, or at least he used to be. He’s always been a little superior, a little bullish, but he was damned stupid the other day.”

    “No, he was certain of himself,” she stated. “He thought he had power backing him.”

    Mercury nodded as they left the office and started down the deserted hallway toward the main section of the house.

    “He thought he had Callan’s backing.” His voice was lower. “We’re going to let him believe that for the time being.”

    Mercury wanted to believe Austin was somehow involved in what was going on, but Ria had her doubts. Austin Crowl was an irritant, but neither his files nor the information she had pulled in so far indicated he was a traitor to his people.

    As they turned the corner, they both came to a slow stop. Ely stepped from another office. She stood poised at the side of the hall, her expression somber, her gaze concerned.

    Mercury moved to Ria’s side, placing himself between her and the doctor before urging Ria forward.

    “Mercury.” Ely stepped forward slowly, looking between them. “Please. Talk to me for a moment.”

    Her voice trembled, causing Ria to watch her cautiously as Mercury drew to a halt once again.

    Elyiana Morrey had been specifically created against emotion. She had been trained in the hellish conditions of the Breed labs and had experimented on her own people.

    “Ely, I don’t have time for games,” Mercury told her tiredly. “There’s a lot to do today.”

    Ely glanced at Ria again, inhaling slowly.

    “Your scents are changing,” she said, her voice low. “I need to test-”

    “No tests, Ely.” His voice was firm. It wasn’t unkind; he wasn’t angry, but his tone brooked no refusal.

    Ely’s hands were shoved in the pockets of her white lab coat, and they were clenched, tight.

    Ria paid attention to the doctor’s demeanor, and it wasn’t nearly as calm as she was attempting to appear.

    “Mercury, are you willing to risk all your friends this way?” the doctor asked him then. “Don’t you remember how horrible it was to lose control and to kill without thought?”

    “Enough, Ely.” He stiffened as Ria watched the pain in the doctor’s eyes.

    “Mercury, you could kill her.” She nodded to Ria. “You know how easily it could be done. Do you want to rip her heart from her chest?”

    His hand tensed at Ria’s back.

    “I didn’t kill friends in those labs.” His voice was deadly. “You know that as well as I do.”

    “But you could kill friends now,” she whispered urgently. “I have the confinement cell ready. You have to let me test-”

    Ria had had enough.

    “Have you lost possession of your senses, Dr. Morrey?” she asked the other woman. “A confinement cell? For what reason?”

    “Because small, closed-in places will force me further into feral displacement if its already begun,” Mercury said, his voice cold, emotionless. “It won’t ease. In the labs, it kept me in a state of rage, and allowed them to research the phenomenon and create a drug for it.”

    “It’s the only way, Mercury.” The doctor’s voice hitched and broke.

    “I think perhaps your good doctor needs to be confined instead,” Ria stated. “I’m ready to leave now.”

    She started forward.

    “Damn you!” Ely stepped forward, rage contorting her face now. “You’re the reason it’s happening. I warned Jonas it would happen. That increased exposure to whatever pheromone is in your system would cause this. If he kills, the guilt lies on your shoulders.”

    Mercury snarled and stepped between them. “Back off, Ely. You don’t want the confrontation this is going to turn into.”

    Her expression twisted, anger and fear warring in her eyes as she stared back at Mercury.

    “You know you’ll destroy Sanctuary if the feral qualities in your adrenaline continue to strengthen and you end up killing.” Ely’s voice roughened, became harsh and growling. “I thought better of you, Mercury. I thought you cared more for your people than this. And I thought Callan did as well.”

    “Do you think Callan can force me into that cell, Ely?” Mercury asked her, the guttural sound of his voice causing the doctor and Ria to flinch. “There aren’t enough Breeds in this compound to force me back into that cell. You’d have to kill me first.”

    Ria watched the doctor’s expression. She watched the maddening fear glitter bright and hot in Ely’s eyes.

    “I’m petitioning the Ruling Cabinet when they convene,” she told Mercury then. “You deserve to know that, Mercury. You have to see these tests through. It’s the only way to save us all. As a member of that cabinet, it’s my place to tell you you are no longer permitted off the boundaries of Sanctuary.”

    Ria froze. She reached out slowly, her hand gripping Mercury’s arm as danger seemed to sizzle around him.

    “Council-trained, weren’t you, Ely?” he sneered. “Have you noticed how easily you fall back on Council tactics when you don’t get your way?”

    Ely paled.

    “And according to Breed Law, you cannot order me confined anywhere without due cause.”

    “Initial tests show due cause.” Ely’s voice trembled as tears filled her eyes. “I didn’t want to do this, Mercury.”

    Ria tightened her grip on Mercury’s wrist. The tension filling him now was incredible, the anger and fury building inside his muscles.

    “Initial tests are not enough, Ely.”

    They swung around to face Callan, Kane and Jonas where they stood at the end of the hallway.

    In her peripheral vision Ria watched Ely’s face. It tightened into a mask of pained betrayal as she faced her pride leader.

    “Respectfully, Pride Leader Lyons, you can’t make that determination.”

    “No,” Jonas answered for him. “Breed Law has made that determination. As a member of the Ruling Cabinet, Ely, it’s your place to uphold ‘due process,’ not to accuse or attempt to confine one of our own. Until Mercury shows the inability to control his anger or otherwise destructive behavior, then he cannot and will not be held against his will, nor will he be ordered to undergo any testing until he’s deemed a danger to Breeds or humans. The Ruling Cabinet will be convening, Ely, and a protest against your abuse of your position will be lodged instead.”

    “You and your rules,” Ely sneered. “We both know, don’t we, Jonas, exactly what you think of Breed Law. You use it to suit your own means and purposes. How will the Ruling Cabinet feel to learn how far you’ll go to manipulate us all to get your way?”

    Jonas smiled at that. “Ely, sweetheart,” he said gently. “Do you think you know anything that could harm me or my job? If you do, you’re welcome to list it in your petition of complaints.”

    His voice was smooth. There was no warning, no sense of worry or nerves. It was like watching Dane work. Of course, Jonas had enough secrets to sink Sanctuary, the Breeds and himself. But like his brother, he would never give one person enough information to do more than irritate him if it were ever revealed.

    “You think so little of me?” Ely was staring back at him, hurt. The conflicting emotions surging through her were reflected in her expression, and in her scent, Ria assumed.

    The Breeds were all tense, watching her closely, the smallest hint of confusion in their eyes.

    “I think something’s wrong, Ely,” Jonas finally said gently. “I believe perhaps we’ve allowed you to be under too much stress, or you’ve overstressed yourself. I think you need to rest, and think about the steps you’re taking. How many Breeds will ever trust you should the knowledge of what you’re attempting to do become known?”

    “You think you’re so damned smart.” Her hands slid from the pockets of her lab coat, the fingers clenched in fury as a flush rose to her cheekbones. “You’re risking everything. Not just Sanctuary and the Breeds, but Mercury himself, and you know it.”

    “Enough, Ely.” Callan’s voice was as sharp, as demanding, as the lash of a whip, causing the doctor to flinch in response. “Return to your office or to your quarters. That’s an order.”

    “Pride Leader-”

    “That’s an order, Ely!” His voice never rose, but something in it, some primal growl, had the doctor jerking in reaction.

    Ely shuddered then turned on her heel and stalked past them, moving through the hall and away from them as something rumbled in Mercury’s throat.

    He turned back to Callan. “There’s something wrong here,” he finally admitted. “That’s not the Ely I know.”

    Jonas shook his head, watching the doorway the doctor had slipped through. “It’s not the Ely I know either, but just as with you, until we can deem her a hazard, we can’t force her into testing.”

    “Why try to force her?” Ria asked. “Do to her as she did to Mercury. Trick her.”

    “We would first need a scientist with the ability to run the tests.”

    Ria crossed her arms over her breasts. “You kidnapped a Council scientist just last month, didn’t you? Jeffery Amburg? He was never released from your custody despite repeated attempts by several governments to learn what happened to him.”