Authors: Donna Flynn
Kirk
she reminded herself.
Kirk who was shot and almost died
,
he was her boyfriend
. I
t was he she
should be with not
Alec.
Alec
hugged her closer and her heart be
at wildly all thoughts of Kirk vanquished with that one movement.
Who
was she kidding
? She wanted Ale
c to kiss her, to be the only guy in her life. She had always wanted him, but
he wasn’t good for her, he made her feel things that
were frightening and had the power to be her undoing
.
Alec felt her indecision
,
knew she was
analyzing everything
,
but he said nothing
letting her sort it all out
. If she wanted
more,
she would have to ask
,
he was not willing to strain their relationship further because of his baser instinct
to be close to his mate.
As mu
ch as he wanted to r
eassure her that
she was the only one f
or
him,
he knew if he told her
it
would
only
bring
questions
he could not answer. She turned to stare
into his eyes
,
the confus
ion she f
elt so easy to read
,
but still he
kept silent
waiting for her to decide
her fate
.
Mercy
stared at Alec
as if she had never truly seen him before
,
questioning
everything,
she thought she knew about him
. Why had she never noticed that his warm
chocolate
brown eyes had flecks of amber in them or that
when he held her
,
his body fit so perfectly against her own? Why did it feel so right to be in his arms and why did he always seem to be the only one who could calm her fears? How could she not want to kiss his perfect lips or run her hands through his thick soft hair?
Her heart called to his
,
she
always
felt it
,
but
her
brain
,
the part that
was logical told her it was not possible
.
After
years of letting her brain
control
her
actions, her heart finally took over and b
efore she
knew what she was
doing,
she let out a feral growl and flipped
him so her body straddled his.
H
er face
was
only inches above his own as she stared into h
is eyes watching
as they became more amber than brow
n
.
Something insti
n
ctive told her not to panic,
she
continued to stare watching the amber flecks become more fluid
,
swirling and m
ixing until the amber completely overtook the brown
.
He growled softly as s
he reached out placing her hand on his che
ek
and
lowered his head
,
c
losing
his eyes
,
blocking them
from view.
“
Don’t,
” s
he whispered lifting his head with her hand. He
opened his eyes and she gasped.
T
he bro
wn had once again taken over
and
all traces of amber were gone
.
Neither spo
ke both too
consumed by the
overwhelming emotion between them
for words
.
The look of desperation on her face made him want to ease her fears
, but he held firm letting
her find her own way.
He wanted her to choose
,
to be the one in charge
,
to be the one to say what
he knew
they both were feeling.
She was so close
,
her warm sweet breat
h teased his lips, her body
draped over
his pressing him t
o the bed,
as she contemplated what to do next.
He was absorbed
with her nothing else registered unt
il Lucan knocked on her door
star
tling
them both.
“Alec?” Lucan
called out knocking again.
Mercy
gave a startled gasp, t
heir arms and legs bumpe
d as they scrambled to achieve the
more appropriate position of her on the bed resting against the headboard and he on the chair next to her
.
“Come in,
” Alec said in a husky voice every different form his normal tone
.
Lucan
opened the door glancing
between them his jaw clenched
,
but said nothing.
“How’s Kirk?” Alec managed to ask
despite his heart racing
more rapidly than ever
.
Lucan raised an eyebrow hearing clearly the
fast-paced
rhythm
of his heart
,
but did not call him on it.
“Fine, Nina
is spending the night with him in the guest room
.
I thought I should come and say goodnight to Mercy
,
it is late
and she needs to rest
.” He
looked pointedly at the clock and Alec knew he had worn out his welcome
and was being tossed out
,
although be it politely
.
“Goodni
ght I will see you in few hours,” h
e told Mercy
brushing his lips on her forehead
before taking his leave.
“Thank you Alec
, for everything.”
“I didn’t do anything
you are the one who saved Kirk,” h
e reminded her as he
shut the door.
“How are you doing kid?” Lucan sat in the vacated chair and she turned to him her eyes filled with confusion.
“I’m fine
, it was Kirk that got shot,” s
he said
her han
ds clenching the sheet
nervously.
“That w
as not what I meant and
you know it.” He reached out and took her
hand
. “You and Alec have been fighting a lot lately
,
would you like to talk about
what’s going on?” She stiffened and her hand shook slightly
in his
a dead giveaway she was upset
.
“I can’t….” She bit her lip. “I don’t… understand it yet myself.”
“I am here when you’re ready to talk.” He placed her hand back on the bed and stood sensing she was not going to confide in him at that moment.
“Luc.
” He looked down and smiled
. “Is Kirk really alright?”
“He will be right as rain in the morning
,
you can see him then.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead as he had done e
very night since she was six then
pulled the blank
et over
her. “You get some rest,
let
us worry
about
all of
this
.” He turned to go
,
but she grabbed his hand and he turned back to look down on her.
“Have you ever been in love?”
“I have not really had the time
,
but I imagine if love is meant to be between two people it will happen whether you want it to or not. Is that what is going on with you and Alec?” He had only just recently f
ound out she was Alec’s Bond M
ate
,
but already he felt as if he were losing her
and the pain was unbearable. H
is little sister grown into such a beautiful young women and
he wondered
how long
it would be
before she no longer wanted his help
or advice,
but turned to her Alec
for it
instead.
“I don
’t know,” s
he whispered
scared
to acknowledge
out loud
he was more to her than just a friend
.
“You do not have to make any decisions now
,
if it is meant to be it will wait until you
’
r
e ready. Alec has not been pushing you has he?”
“No!” She sat upright and pulled her hand from his
outraged he would even ask
. “Alec would never force me to do anything
,
you should know that.”
“Calm down
,
I know how much he cares for you
.
I wasn’t accusing him of anything.” He noted how easily she defended Alec
,
how instinctive it was for her and felt a moment
of extreme dislike for the young man
tha
t would take her away
. It
was stupid
,
he really liked Alec and knew he would be a good mate for his sister
,
but the idea of not seeing her first thing in the morning and
last thing at night made him morose
.
Since the day they had taken
her in
,
she had become his life and now he felt like that was ending.
“Mercy you need rest, stop worrying it will all work out.”
“Thanks Luc you’re the best brother ever.” He hugged her close then let her fall back against the pillows.
“I am so lucky to have you and Cade I don’t know who else would put up with me.”
“
I am sure there is
someone
out there
who can handle your craziness,” h
e teased
.
“But no one who would love me t
he way you do,” s
he answered as she snuggled under her blankets. “Good night.”
“
Good night
.” He turned off the lights and closed the d
oor leaning
against it for a long time
,
hearing her shift and move in th
e bed as sleep evaded her. It was only
matter of time before she gave i
n to the instinctive call of her
m
ate
,
but what
would happen
then was an even scarier thought.
As she dressed for
school
the next morning
,
Mercy
reminded herself of
all the reasons she had to keep her emotions in check. One
, Alec was her best friend, t
wo
,
he was not exactly a
one-girl
kind of guy, and three the most compelling reason to ignore her feelings was that Kirk would be hurt if he knew how sh
e felt
. I
t was better for everyone if she just forgot about
the night before and continued o
n the way things had been
. With that
idea firmly in
place
she left her room and headed to the guest room where Kirk was recovering.
He
was sitting up
looking extremely healthy,
eating breakfast when she walked in
. H
is smile
was
bright and warm as she came to his bedside
maki
ng her feel even worse for contemplating breaking up with him
.