Page 40 of Stealing Mercury
“I gave my promise, Samantha. I swore to my brother I’d protect the life of his mate. Me. Not this resistance that hasn’t even appeared. I can’t leave Hera there.”
“Carn’s your brother?” Samantha twisted her hands as if she could ring away the emotions that swamped her. “He’s your family?”
He shook his head. “Not as you mean. Carn and I don’t come from a common bitch and sire. We aren’t biological brothers.” He looked thoughtful. “It’s possible we share some genetic donors, but we can’t be sure. It doesn’t matter. We’re brothers in spirit. We were raised in the same kennel and have stood together against all comers for all of our lives.”
“You don’t know who your family is?” Samantha freed a hand and lifted it to stroke away the tension that had crept into his neck. She squeezed, pressing her fingers into a thick ridge of muscle that crossed to his shoulder. “What did they do to you?”
“We were created to serve the masters of the arena. We were carried and birthed by surrogates. Female slaves from a distant world. They looked nothing like us.”
“You remember them?”
“They stayed with us until we reached five years of age—until we were old enough to begin training for the arena. They weren’t unkind, nor did they consider us their children.”
“What happened to them?” Another race had been enslaved to create them. That had to be illegal.
Lo joined them by the fire, poking a stick into the flames. “We never saw them again after we were taken from the juvenile center to the kennel, but we were told they’d be used to birth more Dogs. And after a span of years, more juveniles came to the kennels.”
It was probably the most words she’d heard Lo string together at once and all said without anger. That just seemed wrong. “You should stop calling yourselves dogs. Like you accept the way they treated you. You’re not dogs. You’re men.”
Mercury smiled, showing his teeth. “We’re what they made us—Arena Dogs—but we’re also men and I’m glad you accept us as such, my courageous Samantha.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. His lips were warm and confident. He should have been a broken man or a thoughtless beast. She didn’t understand how he’d become the man that could kiss her as if touching his lips to hers was the most important thing in the world.
It started tender and gentle but quickly turned into a firestorm of want and need. His tongue plunged between her lips and claimed the moist recess of her mouth. She stroked her hands across his body, still fascinated by the smooth texture over hard muscle. His flat nipples pebbled at her touch and a rumble started deep in his chest. The vibrations against her palm made her own breasts tingle with awareness. She wanted to press against him, skin to skin.
Mercury pulled back, letting her catch her breath. Along with the air she pulled into her lungs came a rush of awareness. She’d forgotten they were standing in the middle of camp. Lo sat by the fire, watching them.
Stars, she’d lost her mind. She’d been ready to have sex with him again. A man that planned to return to hell and risk his life to rescue another woman. Pain twisted like a knife in her gut. She couldn’t let him mean so much to her so fast.
She lowered her voice, knowing Lo would hear anyway. Somehow, truth could often be spoken more easily in a whisper. “I can’t do this. And even if I could, I wouldn’t in front of Lo.”
“I can tell him to leave.”
“No,” she said. “Wait.” She put a hand out to stop Lo who’d already started to slink away. He snarled at her touch and she jerked back and wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly chilled and feeling defeated.
Lo’s features softened. Slowly, he extended a hand and brushed his knuckles against her cheek. His lips parted as if he’d speak, but in the end no words emerged. He let his touch speak for him.
Samantha unfolded her arms and took his hand. “We all need sleep.”
Both men huffed at her as if they were equally incredulous. She laughed, despite the sadness that had seeped into her bones with the night air. “Sleep,” she insisted.
Mercury sighed heavily. “Yes. Sleep.”
She doubted any of them would rest well and it would have nothing to do with the cold.
Chapter Twelve
ArenaDogsCampsite,PlanetG-45987
Earth Alliance Beta Sector - Gollerra Border
2210.159
Samantha woke warm and comfortable despite the achy state of her body. Probably not as achy as she would’ve been if she hadn’t given in to Lo and Mercury’s badgering about those damn stretches before collapsing onto the pallet. Regardless, the warmth was good. With Mercury’s big body wrapped around her and several layers of thermal blankets over them, her muscles were looser than she had any right to expect.
His heavy arm draped over her ribs and his fingertips had found the bare strip of skin between her tank and briefs. She tried to shift out from under his arm, but he growled softly and pulled her closer, her ass nestled against his groin.
“Sleep while you can,courra. The sun will rise soon.”
“Where are Lo and Carn?” They’d made one big pallet, so Lo had crawled in with them and slept curled up on the other side of Mercury, but he was gone now. She’d expected Carn to return before nightfall, but he’d never crawled into the shelter—at least not that she remembered.
