Act of Mercy (PSI-Ops / Immortal Ops) (13 page)

“
Of course.” Corbin motioned for the other men to load back into the van.

Mercy squeezed Duke
’s hand gently. “I
have
to go with you guys. I’m the only one who can get around the security. And I can’t teach any of you in the time we have left to save Jimmy. It’s simply not something one learns in a day.”

“
No,” he said firmly. From his expression, he wasn’t budging on his decision. “I won’t have you in harm’s way.”

She opened her mouth to protest and he b
ent quickly, his lips capturing hers. The kiss rocked her very core. Moaning, she thrust her tongue into his mouth, greeting his. He lifted her and her legs wrapped around his waist, her skirt riding high. Cool air ran over her upper thighs and she heard Corbin talking.

“
Let’s give them a minute,” he said.

“
He’s gonna fuck her against the van,” Striker added.

Mercy hoped Striker was right.
She’d waited all her life for a moment like this. One that would make it all worth her while.

“
Sir,” Boomer said. “Should we intervene?”

“
No,” responded Corbin. “Let’s take a quick walk and we can discuss how we’ll handle extracting Jimmy. They need this moment. Duke needs it. He’s no good to anyone if his head is screwed up because he needs to know his mate will accept him.”

Duke kisses came harder and faster and Mercy found herself grinding against him. He walked with her in his arms and the next she knew her back was against the cold, hard van.
Her hands went to his neck as she continued kissing him back. He put one hand to the van, his other moving to her thigh.

“
Mine,” he said, breaking their kiss momentarily.

“
I’m not your mate,” she said, panting, going for his mouth again. Something drove her onward, demanding she surrender to this man—that she give herself over freely to him. It was almost instinctual.

Like a mate.

She stiffened. His hand rode higher on her thigh, exciting her more. Her breath caught as his hand cupped her panty-covered backside. Was he really going to have sex with her out in the open, against a van?

She really hoped so.

She didn’t care who saw it happen. She wanted this man desperately.

Duke strained to keep the wolf at bay as he kissed Mercy. It was hard and he knew he was on the edge, but he had to taste her, had to have her. She’d denied who she was to him. The wolf wouldn’t tolerate it.

Neither would the man.

Both would ensure she knew who she belonged to.

He kissed her harder, wanting to b
urn his taste into her brain. She pulled at his shoulders and then bit his lower lip. The animal in him went wild. Duke slipped his hand around to the front and pushed her panties aside. He could already smell her cream. She was hot and wet for him.

Fuck.
He couldn’t take much more.

She was driving him mad
and he was about to allow his animal side to take lead. Duke yanked his mouth from hers, breathing hard, barely holding onto the wolf in him. “Sorry.”

She looked up at him bewildered?
“What are you sorry for?”

He
moved his hand from her panties, embarrassed by his behavior. “This.”

“
I find myself totally and completely on board with it,” she said, kissing him, driving him closer to the edge. The little vixen was going to end up being fucked against a van if she kept it up.

Duke wanted to take what she was offering. Hell, his wolf was all but demanding he do so, but he wanted this
moment to be special. Not with an audience who, no matter how far they’d walked, could more than likely hear every breath he and Mercy were taking. If he knew Striker, he’d get off on hearing everything.

Duke
drew back and kissed her cheek. “When it’s just the two of us, I’m going to make you scream my name,” he promised.

She let out a shaky laugh.
“I don’t think I’ll be much of a screamer.”

He knew she
was a virgin. Hell, she’d never even been kissed. That didn’t surprise him. He’d have been more shocked to learn she’d been with many men. In the supernatural world it wasn’t uncommon for females to save themselves for their mates. He liked knowing his mate had done just that. Too bad she didn’t realize that just yet.

She would.

He’d see to it.

“
As much as I want this, I’m sure that no matter how far the others walked to give us privacy, they’re able to hear every word we’re saying.”

She yelped, glancing in the direction
in which the men had gone off.

“
Striker is probably jacking off to this as we speak,” he said.

“
Nearly done!” yelled Striker off in the distance.

She clutched hold of Duke
’s arms. “Ohmygod, put me down.”

He lowered her
to the ground and made sure her skirt covered her. Her hands remained on his chest and he found himself returning her quirky smile as she looked up at him with it plastered to her face. Smiling wasn’t exactly something that came with ease to him. He’d never had much to smile about, until now.

She took a deep breath.
“Jimmy needs us.”

“
I know.” He paused, having so much to say to her but having difficulty finding the right words. “Mercy.”

“
Yes?”

“
I realize you don’t fully understand what it’s like to be with a shifter male, but please don’t deny who you are to me. I know it. The wolf in me knows it. I
need
for you to know it too.” It was impossible for him to describe to a non-shifter what it was like to try to corral the beast in him. What it was like to fight with something that tended to think in terms of eat, kill and fuck. He couldn’t stress enough that if she continued to deny what was between them, he’d probably do something stupid. Even more stupid than nearly screwing her against a van in a parking lot.

She chewed on her lower lip, enticing him more.
“I can’t be your mate. I’m not a shifter.”

“
You don’t have to be. You only need to be more than human, and you admitted yourself that something is off with your DNA.”

She gasped and then st
ared wide-eyed at him. She’d see reason soon enough. He was sure of it. “We should go now.”

He kissed her again, needing to steal one more quick moment with her.
When they were done in France, he’d spend endless hours pleasing her, making her see her worth to him, all while sating his beast. For now, he had to settle for stolen moments. “Yes.”

She touched his cheek.
“This is a lot of take in.”

“
I know,” he responded. “Hey, I’ve been alive a hell of a long time. And I’d all but given up hope of finding you.”

She glanced away and he waited for her to deny who she was to him again. Instead, she met his gaze.
“I think I might have been looking for you too. But I didn’t realize it.”

It was progress.

He’d take it.

In the history of bad ideas, this had to be the worst and Duke had lived a long fucking time so he had his fair share of stupid to base his observation from. They stood outside the facility holding James and waited as Mercy went to a tiny tucked-away spot and retrieved an electronic tablet she’d apparently secretly stored there. Duke didn’t want her anywhere near the damn place, let alone standing a foot from one of its back doors.

Duke was still seething mad that Corbin had
agreed to Mercy accompanying them. He didn’t understand why they just didn’t shoot their way into the place. They had enough in the way of weapons and could get their hands on more.

Fuck stealth mode.

Make a bang.

They had Boomer with
them and he hadn’t blown anything up in at least a week. He was overdue.

Something about the whole of the French authorities coming down o
n them and an international incident.

He hated bullshit foreign relations.

But he hated Mercy coming along for the ride more.

She had no business with them. She was a
tiny doctor who babbled when she was nervous. She’d not even noticed he’d been in her apartment, holding a gun. She was hardly Special Forces material. And if one hair on her head got hurt, he’d string Corbin up by his frigging balls. The man was well aware of who Mercy was to Duke, yet he was perfectly willing to let her be in danger.

“
Someone’s knickers are still in a twist,” said Corbin in a hushed tone as they walked through the back door of the Corporation. Mercy had sworn no guards watched the exit because the door couldn’t be opened from the exterior. Duke wasn’t sure about that. She began keying in something or other on her tablet.

“
She gets hurt and I end you,” Duke warned.

Corbin turned, placing his hand on Duke
’s forearm. “She isn’t going to listen and stay out of this, and we need her to get in. You heard her, they have traps set. If they trigger certain alarms, James is dead. She wants to do this and we require her expertise.”

“
No,” Mercy said, appearing next to them. How she was able to sneak up on them was a mystery. Not many could. “I
need
to do this. I made him a promise and I keep my promises, and if you try to tell me I can’t help, I will never forgive you.” She stared up at Duke, as if daring him to tell her she wasn’t allowed to help.

Damn woman and her witch eyes.

He found himself giving in to her. Something he expected he’d do a lot of. “Fine. But listen to every word we say or so help me I will take you over my knee.”

She grinned.
“Fun!”

He sighed.

Corbin laughed.

Striker neared, handing out assault rifles to each of the men. Mercy p
ut her hands out for one and Striker shook his head. “It weighs more than you, lass.”

“
What do I get?”

Striker pursed his lips and then help up a finger
, signaling for her to wait a moment. He left only to return with a stun gun. “Here.”

She grabbed it and
held it close to her as if it were precious, her quirky smile returning. “Thank you!”

Duke could tell Striker was pleased she liked him.

I think she’s my mate
, Duke pushed down the mental path to the other ops.

Aye, I
know
she is yer mate. So do you.

Yeah
, figured
, returned Boomer.
She’s nice. I like her. Try not to fuck it up, okay?

Corbin merely nodded as he went to the door Mercy was now before, typing furiously into the tablet she was holding. There was a clicking noise and the door snapped open.
The moment it opened, Duke could smell blood, sickness, death. The other shifters with him could as well. Each of the men shared a look. They were fully aware of what places like this did. Each had been held in a place similar at least once in their long lives.

Some more than once.

It seemed there was always someone wanting to unlock their secrets—duplicate what nature had created. It was never good enough. Some madman always wanted more.

Better.

And better always came with a heavy price. Normally, paid in blood. Duke still vividly remembered being held captive and what people like these had done to him. He shuddered. He could still recall how they’d milked his seed from his body, giving him drugs to turn him on, all while some guy in a lab coat handled his cock, humiliating him—violating him. And that had been the lesser of what he’d endured.

James needed
to be freed or released via death.

It was the only honorable thing to do.

Duke took point and glanced back at Striker who was guarding Mercy. No words needed to be spoken out loud. That being said, Duke found himself tapping into the mental path he shared with Striker and the others.

She
’s not to be harmed.

Och, do you
think I do nae know that already?

We
’ll all see to her safety, Duke
, Corbin pushed down the mental path.

Boomer nodded, coming in on Mercy
’s six.

The area they found themselves in looked to be a kitchen cafeteria of sorts. They made their way through it, encountering no one because of the late hour. Corbin tapped Duke
’s shoulder and gave the hand signal to hold position. He then pointed to the camera mounted on the far wall.

Mercy was bent, working on something on that tablet she seemed so fond of.
“It’s disabled,” she said.

Of course his mate would be a technological guru. Why not? She probably thought he was a Neanderthal.

Compared to her, he was.

He just knew what he wanted and he wanted her. When they got James to safety
, Duke had every intention of making sure the woman knew exactly how he felt. Pride moved over him as he watched her doing her thing, quietly mouthing something that Duke could only guess was some brainiac science thing. He’d been fully introduced to all the Immortal Ops team the week prior after helping Eadan, and Duke got a sneaky suspicion Mercy would enjoy speaking with Green at some point.

Green was the I-Ops think tank.
He too tended to babble about shit Duke couldn’t understand. Oh yeah, he and Mercy would get along perfectly.

Mercy looked up and her g
aze locked with Duke. She smiled and nodded. “We can go now. The cameras on this level are currently showing a replay of yesterday at this time.”

Damn. His woman was good.

Duke stood and started towards the door. He stopped, his sensitive hearing picking up on footsteps. He glanced to Corbin who nodded. He heard them too. Listening harder, Duke picked up on more than one set of footfalls.

Three?

Corbin tipped his head, listening as well and then nodded.

The two of them flanked the door. Striker lifted Mercy
and carried her behind a center island that looked as if it was used for serving food. He crouched with her as she held tight to her tablet, her eyes wide.

Boomer kept an eye on everything happening behind them. They didn
’t need to be snuck up on. From the data Mercy had been able to show them on the ride over, it looked as if the Corporation had hybrid guards working for them—guards who had started off as some form of supernatural and who were then genetically engineered to be even more than that. He’d run into hybrids several times in the past year. They tended to either be very easy to take down or damn near impossible.

Depended on the hybrid.

He couldn’t stop fear for Mercy’s safety from creeping into his mind. He knew better than to permit himself to be sidetracked. Allowing anything to cloud his thought process at time like this could lead to death. Possibly hers.

That wasn
’t an option.

The door opened and the first guard entered. He was decked out in a hell of a lot of gear.
More than any old guard on a simple patrol would be. Duke had little doubt this place had been behind the attempted hit on Mercy. They’d probably gotten word back that their strike team was no more. Now they were prepared for battle.

They knew someone woul
d be coming
, Corbin pushed through the path to the team.

Duke reacted, grabbing the first and whipping him around to the side. He didn
’t stop to make chit chat. Instead, he grabbed the man by the neck and jerked quickly. He tossed the limp body from him and spun, taking on the third as Corbin took down the second.

The third had a bit more prep time and managed to get a good hit in on Duke. Tipping his head back and forth, Duke rotated his jaw, pain shooting through it. He countered the next blow and went at
the guard, scoring more strikes than the other guy. He backed the guy against the wall and then grabbed his knife, ending the fight silently. He could have used his claws, but he worried greatly about how Mercy would perceive him. She seemed all right with what he was, but seeing him tear out a throat with his bare hands could alter that.

He glanced in her direction to find her wrestling to break free from Striker
’s grasp. She succeeded by elbowing Striker in the groin. Striker bent and Mercy darted away from him, directly at Duke and Corbin. There was an open area between them and Duke’s stomach dropped as he realized Mercy was in the line of sight of anyone else who might be outside the door. He strained to hear if anyone was there as he bolted towards his mate. The sound of his own blood rushing through his veins drowned out everything else.

Mercy looked past him, at the open door and her expression changed. She lifted a hand and suddenly Duke was thrust back by a force he couldn
’t see. From the corner of his eye, he caught Corbin being knocked off his feet as well.

Blind panic filled him.

“Mercy!”

She was shouting something and it took him a minute to realize it was pretty much gibberish
—at least to him. The flame-haired, stubborn woman ran right out the damn door in the direction of the enemy.

Duke scrambled to his feet and rushed after her
, only to collide with Corbin at the door. Fuck, they were suddenly reduced to the status of newbies.

Growling, Duke shoved past Corbin and pushed out to find Mercy the
re, standing near a downed guard. He wasn’t just dead. No. He was far more than that. His body looked as though it had been twisted around and around several times, and from the way he was lying it didn’t look like he had much in the way of bones left. Duke had never seen anything like it, though he’d heard of a sect of pixie offshoots who were able to cause massive damage with but a thought and the results left bones turning to jelly.

Striker
’s question about Mercy having pixie in her came back to Duke. He gulped. She was petite, like all pixies were. And she was certainly more than human. Plus, she did tend to babble and giggle when stressed. Not to mention she’d turned someone into a twisted mass of goo.

Mercy
lowered her hand, appearing confused. Her gaze found Duke and he noticed the terror there.

He snatched hold of her, drawing her close, hugging her to his body.
“Shh, it’s all right.”

She trembled in his arms.
“He was going to use it.”

“
Use what?”

She drew back and pointed down at something that resembled a futuristic gun of sorts.
He felt more and more like he was living in a science fiction movie rather than real life. He shook his head, not following. “What is it?”

“
It’s made to blind and deafen supernatural males with animal DNA in them. The effects can be permanent.”

Corbin let out a low whistle, picking up the weapon in question and then turning and smashing it to bits against the wall. His attention returned to
the downed guard and then Mercy. “Doctor, what, exactly, did you do?”

She leaned into Duke
’s embrace more. “Huh?”

“
You did something that pushed Duke and me away and then we come out to find this one,” he kicked the guard’s foot and it wiggled, “in this state.”

“
I-I didn’t do anything,” she said, sounding unsure of herself. “I just, well, I saw the weapon and I know what it can do. I know that from reports it’s actually caused a brain bleed on more than one test subject, resulting in death. All I knew was I couldn’t let the guy use it but I didn’t do anything. He just fell over.”

Duke looked over her head at Corbin. Neither spoke but both nodded.

She was something more than human and that tidbit made his heart soar. That meant he could fully mate with her without worry. Had they not been in the middle of a hostile insertion, there was a better than average chance he’d have mated with her then and there.