Page 60 of Ready or Not

I start yawning like crazy as I help Mercy scrub his chest. The adrenaline must have worn off. Thankfully, he doesn’t take long to rinse off. After shutting off the water, he bundles us up in towels and leads us to bed.

My hair is still wet, so I keep one towel wrapped around my head but drop the one from my body as I climb under the blanket.

Cooper is passed out cold, likely from whatever meds the medic gave him. He’s got his arm thrown over his forehead, and luckily, his wound is on the other side.

I scoot close, and Mercy climbs in behind me. He was a perfect gentleman during our shower, even if it did feel a lot like foreplay.

Unfortunately, my body seems more interested in sleep than sex.

Mercy’s warm frame slides close to my back, and he tosses an arm over my middle. “I’m absolutely knackered, but there’s something I don’t want to put off any longer.” His lips brush over my shoulder. “Can I bond you, love?”

I’ve been waiting for this.

I nod, licking my lips.

Mercy grabs my wrist, pulling it up and over my shoulder. “Are you sure?”

“Bite me, alpha,” I whisper, to keep from waking Cooper.

Mercy licks over the tender skin of my inner wrist and strikes.

It’s a vicious bite of his canines into my flesh.

Both of my other bonds came during sex, and it’s possible that muted the pain. It’s not unbearable, but it’s more severe than either of my other claiming bites.

Mercy growls, lapping at his bite. His warm tongue brushes my skin, cleaning away any blood as he grinds against my ass. His possessive satisfaction hits first in the bond, followed quickly by his care and concern that he might have been too rough.

Seriously?

How could I not fall in love with this considerate, honorable, loyal man?

It would be impossible.

His chest cuddles even closer to my back as he finally releases my hand. I pull my wrist in front of my face to check out his bondmark. It’s still red and angry, but all alphas have a healing property in their saliva to close their bite.

Mercy nuzzles his cheek to mine. It’s awkward because I still have the towel wrapped around my head.

“God, Vale, you’re all mine,” he says softly, kissing my cheek.

I grin, sending him my emotions in the bond. “That means you’re mine too.”

“Indeed, it does,” he agrees, kissing me a final time. His joy and contentment take my breath away. It’s incredibly humbling to feel how excited he is to keep me for the rest of our lives.

I wake up the next morning, alone and unreasonably pissed about that fact.

Does pregnancy take a normally well-adjusted and happy woman and turn her into a gremlin?

The way I stomp down the stairs after getting dressed says yes. I don’t bother with underclothes, but the dress at least makes it safe to wander the house.

Cooper and Marina are in the kitchen.

I give them a quick wave but don’t stop on my quest to find my newly bonded alpha. He’s in his office here in the house. My feet propel me forward like an omega on a mission.

I knock on his door and wait to be acknowledged, but only because his job requires discussing a lot of sensitive information.

Mercy calls out a hurried, “Come in.”

My hair was wet when I fell asleep last night, so it dried into a tangled mess of curls.

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