Page 11 of Stealing Mercury
“Wait!” She leaped toward the bars and fell to her knees to get down to where Resler and Mercury were locked in violence. “Mercury, stop.”
His eyes snapped up to her and his lip curled in a snarl.
Her heart pounded in her chest. He could easily release Resler and rip out her throat. Taking a chance, she stretched out a shaking hand and laid it over his.
His hand jerked, but he kept his grip on the still squirming Resler.
“Drake is coming,” she said. “Please stop.”
Gaze still locked on her, his grip eased, but he didn’t release Resler completely. He breathed hard, nostrils flaring, body still taut and ready to fight.
Samantha spoke softly, “Resler, be still.”
“Fuck that. Get him off!”
“Shit.” Drake’s muttered curse echoed weakly from the hatch. Samantha kept her eyes on Mercury but spoke to Drake. “Come get your man, Mr. Drake. And,” she said, deliberate and even, “don’t bring any weapons over here or make any threatening moves.”
The cargo hold had gone eerily quiet with only the sound of the men panting from exertion and Drake’s boots as he strode across the floor, then came to a stop at Resler’s head.
Samantha slipped her fingers under Mercury’s wrist and slid them along the heated skin, stroking gently over the large artery. His nostrils flared in response. For an instant, they were back in that moment when she’d first laid eyes on him. When he’d pressed his nose against the same spot on her wrist. It had been a moment of trust. She’d trusted him. Now it was his turn. “Please,” she said. “Let go.”
His hand eased away and Drake pulled Resler free. She knew Mercury could change his mind and grab her at any moment, but she refused to show her fear.
She glanced over her shoulder as Drake hauled Resler up, arm over his shoulder, and to his feet. “Take him to the med-bay. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Drake looked grim as his attention darted from her to Mercury and back. “I’m not leaving you in here alone.”
Slowly, she backed away from Mercury’s cage, then stopped. “I’ll be fine.”
He huffed. “Don’t be long.”
“I won’t.”
She watched until they disappeared through the hatch, then she scooted forward and wrapped her hands around the bars of Mercury’s cage. She looked for signs of injury. There were plenty of scars, but nothing that looked new. “Do you need medical attention?”
He stared back, chest rising and falling in deep labored breaths. She wanted him to trust her more than made sense. He had no reason to trust her and every reason to be angry at the world. She didn’t expect stopping Resler’s attack to change that.
“One look and I should’ve known you’d be trouble.” She bent her head on a sigh. She noticed the stun-stick had fallen, or more likely been pulled, into the cage. It lay a few inches inside.
Still on her knees, Samantha met Mercury’s gaze and edged her hand between the bars. Staring back at her, he seemed unaware of her reaching for the stun-stick, but the moment she touched it his hand manacled her wrist. She waited, heart in her throat, for him to break her arm or hurt her, but he kneeled there motionless.
Samantha swallowed, pushing her sand-dry tongue against the roof of her mouth. “You know they won’t let you keep it. Keeping it will just give them an excuse to hurt you again.”
His grip flexed, but he made no move to let her go.
“I’m not going to hurt you. Stars,” she cursed. “That’s the last thing I’d want to do. There might be nothing I can do about you being in these cages, but I’ll try to keep you safe as long as you’re on board.”
Mercury’s grip eased, and Samantha dragged the weapon between the bars.
“I know Resler is scum, but try to avoid drawing his attention, okay?”
Mercury said nothing. Big surprise.
“You probably didn’t do anything this time, did you? Why would you?”
She’d accepted that Mercury wasn’t going to speak. She’d been talking more to herself than to him, but it was Diablo who finally answered.
“He did it to draw Resler off Carn.” His voice made her think of the rumble of an approaching sandstorm. “He’s still weak from our last fight in the arena.”
