Hostage to Pleasure

His legs held after a couple of shaky seconds. He found himself wearing a pair of dark sweatpants, nothing on top. There was a bandage on his neck, but he could tell the wound was almost gone. Medical magic, he guessed.

When he reached Ashaya, he saw she’d been clothed in soft blue flannel pajamas. He just wanted to get in that bed and hold her. Then his senses alerted him to the woman who slept on the third bed in the room. She was dressed in pale yellow and lay on her back. Part of him he hadn’t even known was wound up, relaxed.

Ashaya would’ve been devastated if she’d lost her twin.

Aching with the need to touch her, he was about to hop into Ashaya’s bed when his luck ran out. A tall redhead with worry carved into her skin walked into the room, took one look at him, and yelled, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Then she ran up, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him full on the lips.

“God damn it,” she whispered as she drew back. “You fucking took ten years off my life.”

“Sorry, Merce.” He tugged at one of her loose curls. “Did you kill him?”

“Of course I did. Ripped out his throat.” She brushed at her eyes with the backs of her hands. “Son of a bitch was dead before he hit the ground.”

“And Keenan?”

“No problems. Sascha said Ashaya protected him instinctively-he didn’t feel a thing. Now that he can see his mom in the Web, he’s as happy as a clam up there with the wolves.” A sniff, another rub of her eyes. “We haven’t been able to contact your folks.”

Relief whispered through him. “Good. They’ll take it better if I’m healthy when I tell them.”

“That’s what I thought.” She tapped her finger on Ashaya’s mattress. “So you got mated to a Psy.”

Mate, he thought and there she was, a link tied straight to his heart. “Yeah.”

“Surprise.”

Something in her tone made him tear his eyes away from Ashaya’s sleeping face. “Merce?” His stomach tightened. “You’re not-I mean-” He was suddenly tongue-tied. Mercy had been his best friend forever. Shit, she’d helped him pull more pranks than he could name. “Does it bother you that I’m mated?”

She rolled her eyes and punched him on the shoulder, then steadied him when he swayed. “No, you buffoon. If I’d wanted you, I’d have made my move years ago.”

“Hey. I’m injured.” Leaning against Ashaya’s bed, he pretended to rub his shoulder. “But thank the sweet Lord. I’d hate to think of you carrying around a torch for me. Sorry, Carrot, but I don’t see you as a woman.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem.” She snorted. “If you promise not to move after you get in bed with her, I’ll leave you to make cow eyes at your mate.” It was said with affectionate humor.

He wanted to do exactly that, but Ashaya was still asleep and he’d known Mercy since before they were both out of diapers. “You might as well tell me what’s bugging you, or I won’t make you godmother to our kids.”

“You heard that?” Her eyes widened and she swallowed. “Shit, Dorian, don’t ever do that again. You bled all over my best pair of pants.”

He had no memory of hearing her words, not consciously. “Stop stalling.”

“Oh, Jesus, fine.” She rolled her eyes, cheeks a little pink. “It’s weirding me out because now that you’re mated, it takes care of the last male in the pack with the same or stronger dominance as me. I don’t want you. But it was nice knowing that at least one strong male was unmated.” Mercy had honestly never had the hots for Dorian. He was undeniably pretty, but he was her friend and colleague. End of story.

Now he blinked those surfer blue eyes. “Huh. Yeah, guess I never thought about that. I don’t suppose you like BDSM?”

“What?”

“You know, you could crack the whip-” He didn’t even try to avoid her second careful punch on his shoulder, he was laughing so hard. When he finally caught his breath, he grabbed her hand and tugged her close. “There are other packs, you know. You could ask Luc to arrange a short transfer.”

Mercy had considered that. While predatory packs were very territorial, the sort of transfer Dorian was talking about did happen now and then. “I can’t. Not now. The situation with the Psy is too unstable.”

Dorian grunted in agreement. “I’ll buy you a blow-up doll. I’m sure my mate won’t mind when I explain how hard up you are.”

She didn’t bother to punch him this time, just glared with promise of future retaliation. “Very funny. You wouldn’t be laughing if you knew how sexually frustrated I am right now.” Changelings needed touch on a fundamental level. The problem was, Mercy didn’t particularly enjoy sex with men who weren’t equal to or stronger than her in the ways that mattered to changelings. “The last time was when that SilverBlade sentinel was in town for a communications meeting.”

All amusement left Dorian’s face. “You serious? That was months ago.” A very long time to go without intimate touch. “Merce, that could get dangerous.”