He shook his body in a head to toe shudder to rid himself of the need for further violence and turned his attention to Sam. He dropped to his knees beside her, bent low to shelter her with his strength, and reached for her.
She scrambled with her fingers and toes to get out of his reach.
“No!” She thrashed, forcing Mercury to dodge kicks and elbows until he slipped an arm under her belly and pulled her back against his chest to control her fear-fueled movements.
Fuck, he should have been faster.
He kept his touch unyielding, but careful not to dig into her already bruised flesh, as he growled softly to his courageous little female.
As her movements stilled he turned her in his arms, one hand cradling her skull. He pressed her face to his chest. Her hot breath puffed warmly against his perspiration-slicked skin, affirming that she was okay, alive and vital to his wellbeing. Nothing had ever felt better.
“Mercury.”
“I’m here,
courra
. No one will harm you now.”
Her fingernails dug small crescents into his skin as she clung to him. “How?”
He understood the question, but wasn’t ready to answer. To risk her withdrawal.
All the times they’d spent with bars between them hadn’t prepared him for the reality of her body pressed to his. He wanted to comfort her. To provide a safe haven. He also wanted to claim her. Every instinct screamed that he should bind her to him, punish her for putting herself in such danger. Soothe all her hurts.
He lifted her higher and buried his face against her neck. He pressed his lips low along her throat as he nestled his nose against her jaw line. He sucked in a deep breath, taking in her scent. He’d nearly lost her before they’d even begun.
His heart soared as she allowed his touch. She clung to him until he forced himself to loosen his hold, letting her ease back a few inches. Her hair spilled around her in a riot of color. Her skin began to fade from gold to pink as he watched. Her big green eyes studied him in that way she had. So different from other humans. No greed. No calculation. No hate.
She blinked and looked around. Her gaze lingered over Resler’s unconscious form before coming back to him. “Drake?”
He growled low in the back of his throat. His muscles tightened with annoyance that she would still worry about the enemy. “Carn will have him by now. He’ll live. They both will. I remembered my promise. Even if they deserve worse than death.”
He stood, setting her on her feet.
Mercury signaled to Lo. His brother emerged from the shadows as he made a chuffing noise in the back of his throat.
Sam clutched Mercury’s arm as Lo’s gaze brushed across her before he leaned down and pulled Resler over his shoulder. Sam pressed against Mercury’s side as Lo padded back to the clearing with Resler’s limp body.
Mercury wished he knew what was happening in her mind. Nothing in her scent provided a clue.
Samantha tried to take a step, but stumbled.
Mercury caught her then pulled her back into his arms. “Lo won’t kill him.”
She took the support he offered, letting him hold her. Relief and worry tangled in a ball in his gut.
“Talk to me,
courra
.”
She stood silent. Her body no longer trembling, but still tense. He didn’t know what to do, so he held her fragile body against him and waited for her spirit to return. Instead, all her heat drained away. The bands of color had turned ivory. He rubbed her arms, trying to chase away the chill.
“You’re alive,
courra
. Alive and beautiful and strong.”
She gave him a shaky smile, but something dark and lost still lurked in her eyes.
Mercury wrapped his hand around hers and led her back to the clearing. Carn and Lo had tied Drake and Resler, back to back. Carn still knelt next to them, wrapping a length of nylon strapping around Drake’s feet.
Drake glared at Sam, his eyes hard as stone. “Lying bitch.”
Mercury let out a low bark. Carn responded without hesitation, reaching up and backhanding the whip-master. The man’s lip burst and blood spilled down his shirt in fat drops.
Drake spit blood, but didn’t cry out. All the times the man had taunted him, urged him to show no mercy, rushed in and layered across his vision so he saw not only the man but every glare, every threat, every sickening smile of satisfaction the man had ever used to chip away at his soul. Mercury wanted to hear the whip-master whimper and every way he could make that happen rushed into his thoughts in a black surge of hate that made his muscles twitch and his pulse pound.
Resler had regained consciousness. He whimpered, one arm wrapped around his knee and rocking where he sat. His other arm hung limp. Blood seeped through what was left of his shirt sleeve and white bone glistened through a rip in the material.
Sam held herself still at Mercury’s side. Would she reject him at the evidence of their brutality? This small hint of what he carried inside him?
She cleared her throat and he held his breath awaiting her verdict.
“Is everyone okay?”
Mercury stood spine-stiff. “Their injuries will heal. They’ll recover, even on this unfamiliar world.” He’d wanted to tear them apart, but he hadn’t. “I deem them not harmed. I have kept my promise.” He dared her with his eyes to dispute his claim.
She met his gaze squarely. “I was asking about the three of you.”
He sniffed, searching for the scent of deception but found only lingering fear and beneath that, sweet honey. His throat tightened with the choking grasp of relief. “We’re fine.”
“I’m glad.” She wrapped her free hand around his forearm and brushed her fingertips across the sensitive skin on the inside of his wrist. “You also promised to stay away.”
Her whispered words turned relief into a knot that twisted and shifted low in his gut. “We didn’t breach their perimeter until they threatened you.”
Her fingers continued to stroke him softly. “But you must have been close.”
The part of his brain that had become accustom to demands and obedience and the never ending threat of punishment heard censure and accusation in her words, but the reasoning, thinking part caught the thin far-away tone. His primitive male instincts thought only of the touch of her fingers across his pulse. It was a touch of submission and soothing—a mate’s touch.
“It was necessary,” he said, jumpy and confused by all the warring parts of himself. “I knew they couldn’t be trusted to keep you safe.” He couldn’t think clearly. Not when she was touching him that way. Not when he needed badly for instinct to be right. Not when she could turn on him at any moment.
Samantha reached up and cupped his cheek. “I’m glad you choose wisely in how to keep your promises.”
The tight muscles along his jaw relaxed. The knot in his belly eased. He closed his eyes and reigned in the need to revel in the small victory. His instincts had been right or nearly so. They urged him to give into the need that had been building from the first scent of her. Instead he turned into her touch and pressed his lips to her palm. He wanted to lick, to nip, to taste, but there would be time for that later.
He turned back to the others. “Grab what you think we’ll need, but leave them enough to survive. Destroy all their weapons.”
“You’re never getting off this fucking planet,” Resler shouted. “You’re all fucking dead.”
Drake’s voice was cool fire. “If the emergency rations run out we’ll need weapons to hunt for food.”
Mercury slipped free of Samantha’s hand and strode over to Drake. He squatted down and got in the other man’s face. “This world has plenty of grubs. Be grateful for what you have. Isn’t that what you always told us?”
The stubborn bastard denied Mercury’s need to see fear in his eyes. No, the whip-master wasn’t done causing them trouble, but there was little he could do about that looming threat. Not without turning Sam against them.
It took only a few minutes to gather the things they wanted to carry and to dismantle and destroy the weapons. Mercury watched Sam closely. She moved with a heartbreaking deliberateness as she used the med-kit to treat the scrapes and bruises that marred her soft skin.
After she’d finished and packed it away, he led her over to the water supply and urged her to drink.
“You must drink while you can. With all we carry we can’t carry the water, too.”
She nodded and said nothing. She chugged the water as if downing a noxious medicine.
“Please,
courra
. Tell me what’s troubling you.’
“Everything’s changed.” Her lips barely moved as she spoke soft and low and with none of her usual spark.
The urge to shred something with his hands flared fierce and bright. He didn’t understand what she was trying to tell him, but it rocked him to see her so lost.
“You regret aiding us.”
“No.” She shook her head in short, fast movements as if she couldn’t negate the idea fast enough. “No. It’s just…they know you’re alive now and there’s no way to undo that. I promised to get you off this planet and now I don’t know how…” He watched as she stopped, collecting her thoughts. She reached back and braided her hair as if putting her appearance back together would give her strength. “There’s no way to know who’ll turn up to rescue us and what might happen when they do. Even if we figure that out, now Drake and Resler know that I’m part Cerrillian. My career is over. I know it’s a stupid thing to be worrying about. Stupid and selfish.”
Mercury flexed his shoulders, trying to escape the heat of his brothers’ scrutiny. They all knew what needed doing, but he refused to break his promise. He caught her chin and made her meet his eyes. “It would be as nothing to us to take care of that problem.” The cream she’d wiped across her bruises only made her seem paler. “Think of all they’ve done. All they would have done. It would be just.”
“No.” She spoke clearly, but her voice shook.
He swallowed back the need to demand she free him from the heavy chains of his oath. He hadn’t expected her to agree, but he’d had to raise the option. At least she hadn’t run screaming. He released her chin and pulled her hand up to study it. She’d used the sealer on the deepest scratch.
“Does it hurt?” When she didn’t answer, he sniffed at her palm then licked a path along the angry red line that ran from the base of her first finger almost to her wrist. He swirled his tongue up to her pulse point and laved her skin. Mercury sighed in satisfaction when heat bloomed under his tongue and the color came back into her cheeks.
Lo edged closer. “If we’re done here, we should go.” Samantha jumped at the sound of his voice, but her spine quickly stiffened. She was still uneasy around Lo, but Mercury knew she wouldn’t give in to her fear. He let hope flicker. There’d been no venom in his brother’s voice and no question of whether they would take her with them.
Samantha would come to trust that Lo was not her enemy. Not now. Not after all that had happened. Lo might still be filled with rage and hate, but his loyalty was unquestionable.
Mercury strode to the edge of the clearing and waited for them to follow.
Samantha moved as quickly as she could. She didn’t want to slow them down. The terrain beyond the clearing wasn’t treacherous, but brush crowded beneath the taller canopy of trees. Where the brush thinned, roots gnarled the ground. She wished she had more grace, but her big heavy boots were designed for metal decking. Here they only weighed her down, making it difficult to step over vines and downed branches.
As they moved through the wilderness, she had the time to wonder at the beauty of the three men. They’d all been so sullen during the time she’d visited them on the ship. In motion, all the fluid beauty of their animal natures came to the fore. Alert and watchful, their movements seemed effortlessly coordinated. Despite the danger they faced, they seemed more relaxed than she’d ever seen them. Even Diablo. Lo—that’s what Mercury had called the rage-filled man.
Back onboard the ship she’d done some research and learned they’d been part of a five “Dog” team that performed together.
Performed
. What a weak and awful word for what they’d been born and trained to do. They were killers and she could see the lethal power surging through muscle and sinew as they flowed across the ground like natural predators.
But they hadn’t killed Drake or Resler and they hadn’t hurt her in any way. There was a bond between the men that was as clear as the sky overhead. Despite the disparaging comments Grande Owens had made, their relationship was one of strong, abiding, loyalty—something she valued.
When they stopped by a creek to let her rest, the sun’s light had grown dim and they could no longer see it overhead through the canopy. They looked as if they could continue indefinitely, but she knew they had to be feeling the strain. She had no idea how far they’d already traveled that day before coming to her rescue.
“My turn to feed you.” Mercury handed over a standard issue emergency ration bar. His lips tilted up on one side in a half smile.
She took the offered food then dropped a purification tablet into the water pouch she’d found in one of the packs. “How did you find us?”
He took the container from her hand and studied it.
“For water,” Samantha explained.
“Ah.” He dipped it in the stream. “We landed first. We watched the sky,” he said, “and saw your pod blaze overhead.”
She nodded. “Where are we going?” They’d certainly seemed to be moving forward with a purpose.
“Back to the cargo-drop.” Mercury passed the container back to her. “There are more supplies there.”
“Makes sense.” She swished the water in a slow circle to dissolve the tablet then took a small sip. “We must be close, right? It took you guys less than a day to cover the distance.”
They’d made it to where the escape-pod had landed in plenty of time to save her from Resler. A twist of remembered fear roiled in her belly. If they’d landed too far to get to her in time… She shivered and realized it wasn’t only that terrifying thought. The moisture on her skin ensured she couldn’t ignore the cooler air coming with the sunset.