Guild of Truth 02 - Shield from the Heart Read online

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.

  Chapter 18

  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 b
een 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.”

  Chapter 19

  “Ha!” Cali crooned triumphantly. “Who says we need Joel for all the computer hacking?” She turned her laptop around to show Sydney the address.

  Sydney studied the map on the internet. “Are you sure?” She stared at the rundown area of Santa Ana.

  Cali glared at her.

  Sydney backed off. “I’m just making sure.”

  “Well, I’m almost positive this is where she used to live.” Her chest puffed up proudly. Felix came up behind her and gently bopped her on the head with the newspaper. Cali whirled in her chair, obsidian eyes sparking. Felix met her challenging eyes with a confident smirk.

  Sydney could feel the sexual tension between them and carefully looked away. Is that what everyone else felt when she and Merrick locked eyes?

  No wonder everyone could see through your lies.

  Both Cali and Felix had eyed them peculiarly when they’d walked in. Sydney still worried that they’d been able to tell that she’d had sex with Merrick.

  “You sure you don’t want us to come with you?” Felix broke his staring contest with Cali.

  “We’ll be fine.” Merrick pushed off the counter where he was leaning in the kitchen, keeping his distance.

  Felix looked to her. “Syd?”

  Felix might have forgiven Merrick for last night but that didn’t mean he’d forgotten. He wouldn’t show open hostility but he didn’t mind openly questioning Merrick’s authority. He wanted to make sure she was okay with being alone with Merrick. After what had happened a few hours ago, she was more than comfortable being alone with Merrick, but she couldn’t tell them that. Felix didn’t trust Merrick because he didn’t know him, but he trusted her.

  “We’ll be fine,” she assured him.

  That was all it took. Felix nodded. He handed her the address. “Let me know if you guys find anything.”

  She tucked the piece of paper into her pocket. “Of course.”

  By the time they reached Santa Ana it was well into the afternoon. The cloudy sky made it seem later than usual and Sydney hugged her jacket closer to her body as the wind kicked up. Merrick wound an arm around her shoulders. A jolt of pleasure raced through her.

  They walked in silence for a few steps before she spoke. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For not doing anything in front of Cali or Felix.”

  His body stiffened. He dropped his arm from around her. “Sure,” he said curtly.

  He started to walk faster. “Wait, Merrick.” She pushed her legs to move faster. It didn’t help. She broke out into a light jog. “I didn’t mean anything by that.” She’d upset him and she didn’t know why.

  “I know exactly what you meant, Sydney,” he ground out. “I shouldn’t have expected anything more, really. You wanted my help, I told you my terms, you met them, and here we are.”

  His words were like a slap to the face. “Excuse me?”

  They had reached Collette’s house. It was a rundown home with broken windows and dead grass. Sydney didn’t even give it a spare glance. She raced after Merrick.

  He was already inside when she caught up to him. “How dare you think I’m someone who exchanges sex for favors. Is that really a
ll you see me as? A prostitute of some sort?”

  Tears were creeping up her throat and she wanted to scream because of it. How could her life have turned so dramatically so quickly? They’d been fine five minutes ago.

  • • •

  Merrick saw the glistening of tears starting in Sydney’s eyes and looked away. His hands curled into fists. He wanted to punch someone out, preferably himself. He’d been the one to make her cry.

  He strategically avoided answering her question. He’d been an idiot to think that Sydney would want him over Joel. To think that she was different from all the other women he’d dated. She was ashamed to be with him, didn’t want the others to know that she’d sullied herself by sleeping with him.

  He ground his teeth and stormed deeper into the house. “Split up,” he barked and left her in the entryway.

  He’d been a fucking moron. And here he hadn’t even needed to read her clothing to learn about her regret with being with him — her embarrassment. She’d outright told him.

  At least she was honest.

  Merrick grunted. It was his own fault, really. He was the one who’d wanted to fuck her so badly. Did he really think that she’d choose him for good?

  But then why did she run to him first last night when he’d returned with the others from the hospital?

  Women.

  Now he remembered why he’d avoided them. They caused nothing but pain.

  Fool.

  He slammed his fist into the closest wall. Plaster cracked and a low groan went through the house. He shook out his hand to ease the stinging and continued into some large living area. Piles of old clothes and random belongings were in each corner. A worn duffel rested in front of the fireplace.

  Merrick frowned and stepped deeper into the room. The scent of unwashed bodies lingered in the air and he knelt down next to a pile of clothing and picked up the top piece. He rubbed the fabric between his thumb and forefinger but got no impressions off of it.

  “Sydney,” he mumbled. She was using her powers.

  He dropped the shirt and got to his feet. It didn’t matter. He didn’t need his powers to know that there were squatters in this house. The only thing he had to worry about was when they’d come back.