Chapter Six

CHAPTER SIX

Private Griffin

It takes my staunchest willpower not to leave the barracks too early to meet Mercy. Being away from her for these last several hours has been hell, but I can’t risk making the other men suspicious. They’re well used to me being a lone wolf and spending time on my own, however, so they don’t question me when I mutter that I’m taking a walk and head for the rear of the convent.

Tonight I’m going to ask Mercy to marry me.

I don’t have a ring yet, but I will not wait to make her mine.

I need the words out of her mouth. I am yours, Griffin.

I’m jealous of our maker for having received her vow, when I have not.

When I have her agreement, I will take her from this place and make her a home. Give her children and spoil her until she pouts when she doesn’t get her way. I want that with an urgency that defies explanation.

I’ve been foolish to think love couldn’t bring me to my knees. Fate was merely waiting for my soul mate to come along and now I’m a believer in…hell, fairy tales, I guess. Isn’t that what this is? She’s an angel and I’m a bloody soldier and she redeems me with her touch, her smile, her presence. My chest used to lie hollow, but now it’s so full, the seams of my very fabric as a man are being tested.

Not to mention the seams of my uniform pants.

I’m rock hard, as usual, in anticipation of having her near.

My angel baby is a secret sexpot.

Her excitement over seeing my cock for the first time will forever be etched into my memory. That was not a virginal reaction, but she couldn’t be less educated or experienced when it comes to fucking. She didn’t even know about her clitoris, for chrissakes. And yet, she came to life when I peeled back the sheet to reveal my dick, her nipples budding, thighs squeezing together. With the slightest encouragement, I think she would have taken me in her mouth.

I slow to a stop, groaning into the crook of my elbow. If I don’t stop thinking of sweet, little Mercy sucking my cock, I’m going to come in my pants and that’s not going to work. Next time I find relief, I will be nine deep inside this girl I love.

Jesus Christ. I love her.

My heart bangs against my ribcage. I thought if this ever happened to me, I would be miserable. Or perhaps the recipient of a head injury. But realizing I’m in love with Mercy is nothing like that. No, it’s like being set free. It’s hope.

I’m distracted by my thoughts when I hear voices approaching.

Not wanting to be seen on my way to the convent in the middle of the night, I step into the shadows, narrowing my eyes as the captain comes into view in the distance, Mother Superior at his side. They’re having a low conversation, complete with a lot of wild hand gestures. What the hell could they be speaking about at this time of night that couldn’t wait until tomorrow?

This is not the first time that Mother Superior’s demeanor has struck me as odd. It’s almost like she’s anxious about something, but about what?

Mother Superior and the captain walk out of view, still deep in conversation, and I make a mental note to do some digging into the elderly nun in the morning. Anyone who associates with Mercy is now a concern of mine and I don’t care how trustworthy they appear to be, they’ll face the scrutiny of a protective husband.

If she says yes.

Unease trickles into my chest, but I ignore it. Of course she’s going to say yes. She might have had doubts about my intentions before, but I made it clear this afternoon in her bed that I’ve claimed her. That means forever. I’m committed to her until my heart gives out—and if she still has uncertainties, I’ll smash them to pieces tonight and leave no room for anything but her trust.

And God willing, her love.

I reach the door and knock once. It opens to reveal Mercy in her robe and habit. She’s a far cry from the girl I orgasmed in her slip this afternoon, but she’s no less beautiful. I can’t stop myself from pulling her up against me and slanting our mouths together, swallowing her answering whimper with newfound greed. Mine, mine, mine. This woman is mine.

Pride dances in my blood when I pull back to find her pink-cheeked and bleary eyed. “Hello,” she murmurs, swaying toward me. “You smell nice.”

A bite back a laugh. “So do you.”

She bounces a little. “I haven’t been outside in days.”

When I build her a home, she’ll have a safe place to be outdoors. As much as she fucking wants. “Come on.” I thread our fingers together and watch her breath catch. Damn, mine catches, too. “There’s a field not too far from here.”

Ten minutes later, I’m in a dream.

I’m standing in a green glen watching Mercy dance in the moonlight.

As soon as we arrived, she kicked off her shoes and removed her habit, tossing them onto the ground. With her hair in auburn waves around her shoulders, she spins in happy circles and catapults my doomed heart into my throat.

Permanently.

Dear Lord, I don’t just love Mercy, I’m obsessed with her.

I’m infatuated with every nose wrinkle, every giggle, every sigh.

I try not to let it show on my face, lest it scare her away, but it takes an effort when all I want to do is cast her down to the ground and count her freckles, memorize her every expression, kiss her until she thinks of nothing but me.

“Oh, it feels wonderful to be outside,” she breathes, flitting around me in a circle. “Before my father left me at the convent, I used to go swimming at a pond near my house. I would stick my feet down deep in the mud and wiggle my toes. It was the most incredible feeling.”

“That all changed when you arrived at the convent?”

“At first they tried to keep me indoors and focused on my studies, but I had a penchant for playing pranks and they quickly started kicking me out in the daytime.”

“You were a prankster,” I drawl. “Somehow I have no problem seeing that.”

She stops moving long enough to raise an eyebrow at me. “Very impolite of you to say, sir.” Her lips tug at the corner. “I used to put frogs in Mother Superior’s bed. Big, nasty ones.”

Imagining a little auburn-haired imp running around the convent and making mischief tugs at my chest. “Did she punish you?”

“Hmm. Not really,” Mercy says, sounding surprised. “She’d say, you’ll serve your purpose one of these days, child. I always wonder what she meant by that.”

I’m pretty goddamn curious myself. My sixth sense is buzzing and as soon as the sun comes up tomorrow, I’m going to question Mother Superior myself. “Do they always keep you locked indoors?”

“Only when there are men around.”

I process that. “Why do you think it was so important to your father that the nuns keep you innocent of men?”

“I don’t know.” She shakes her head. “I was so young I can’t recall the conversation between him and Mother Superior. All I remember is my father patting me on the head and leaving.”

In other words, not the kind of affection a man would show the daughter he was so concerned about protecting. “Come here, angel baby.” After a momentary hesitation, Mercy closes the distance between us. I guide us down to the ground and settle her in my lap. “If you want me to find him, I will scour the earth, Mercy.”

“You would, wouldn’t you?” She leans her cheek against my shoulder and looks up at me. “I don’t know if I’d want that anymore. I mean, he would have come back if he was able. I’d rather pretend he’s out there somewhere happy, instead of knowing he was felled by the rebels. Or worse. He just didn’t want a daughter.”

I trace the curve of her lips with my thumb. “Who would reject such joy?” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “To know you is to hold on to you at all costs.”

“Griffin,” she whispers. “When did you learn to speak so poetically?”

“Words are easy to come by when they’re honest.” I shift our bodies and lay Mercy down in the soft grass, marveling at the way the moonlight plays over her beautiful face. I gather the hem of her robe in my hands, lifting the garment so I can kiss the insides of her naked thighs. “There’s nothing more honest than this.”

I swear to God, I’m seconds from mounting her. I’m desperate to be close to her and that innate sweetness as humanly possible. But she surprises me by sitting up and chewing on her bottom lip. “Can I see it?” she whispers, settling a hand on my belt buckle. “Please?”

She’s begging to see my cock, I realize, and the remaining blood in my brain rushes south so fast, I grit my teeth in pain. “Sure, angel baby.” I lean back and unfasten my belt and uniform pants, careful not to catch my erection in the teeth of my zipper as I lower it. When my shaft springs free, Mercy lets out an excited gasp and I almost lose my seed in the grass.

Her tits shudder up and down, her fingers stretching toward my dick, before curling into her palms. “D-does it…hurt?”

“It’s a good kind of hurt. Like when I was licking your pussy.”

“Oh,” she breathes. “Does yours like to be licked?”

I catch her chin and lift. “It’s my cock, Mercy.”

“Cock,” she whispers, trembling.

“That’s right. And fuck yes, it likes being licked.” I push my thumb into her mouth slowly. “Are you going to wrap these pretty lips around it?”

“Yes.” She falls on it like a starving woman, taking my cock to the back of her throat on the first pull, moaning when I let out a shocked spurt onto her tongue.

“Fuck,” I growl, wrapping her hair around my fists. “Easy, Mercy. Don’t finish me. I’m getting in that pussy tonight.”

I’m not sure she hears a word out of my mouth. Jesus, she’s a fiend, wrapping my shaft in her hands like a greedy girl and pumping the throbbing flesh in her fist, sucking me with hollow cheeks and excited eyes. My back hits the earth, and staring up at the stars, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven, lying there with the most amazing girl in the world sucking me like the world is ending. My balls are rock hard and showing signs of giving up the battle already, but I bear down on my willpower and breathe, breathe.

“Enough, Mercy,” I rasp, jackknifing and flipping our positions. She’s panting on the ground underneath me and I’m aching to be skin to skin, so we work together to get the robe off over her head, throwing it aside. My shirt comes next and then it’s just the uniform pants around my knees, and her flimsy, white slip. No panties in sight to hide that bare, little pussy from me. “You want to fuck, little virgin girl?” I growl, hitching her legs up around my hips. “You want your first man so bad, you’ll take him down your throat or however you can get him?”

“Yes,” she sobs brokenly. “Now, Griffin. I think I n-need it.”

Reaching down, I fist my cock and drag it up and down through her folds, finding her slick and ready. I work the first few inches in with some difficulty, then order her to brace herself, before I plunge the remaining distance, feeling her innocence tear away.

“Son of a bitch,” I breathe into her neck, feeling her hammering pulse against my lips. How do I keep from spending immediately into something so tight? She’s pulsing and squeezing around me like a relentless fist and it’s everything I can do to stay still while she wiggles around, getting adjusted. “Fuck, you feel amazing, Mercy. Tell me the pain isn’t so bad.”

She hiccups in my ear once, twice…then she whispers, “I love it.”

It takes me a beat to believe I heard her right. “You’re a goddamn miracle,” I bite off, rearing back with my hips and thrusting like an animal into her snug, squelching cunt. Beneath me, Mercy arches her back and takes the pounding I have no choice but to give her, those sexy tits bouncing with every frantic drive. “I’ll give you everything. My world at your feet, angel baby. My fortune, my life, my labor. I will sweat and work myself to the bone for your fucking smile. For your love. Do you hear me?” I wrap my hand around her throat and watch her eyes light up. “I love you and you’re mine.”

I think she’s going to answer me, but she screams, “I-I’m…it’s happening,” instead, digging her fingernails into my shoulders and raking them down my back. “Harder, Griffin. Deeper.”

She climaxes like a wildcat, making ribbons of the flesh on my back and digging her heels into my ass. I think she’s going to go limp after the force of her orgasm, but that’s not what happens. My horny little nun pushes me onto my back with shaking hands and starts to ride me like she’ll die without more cock.

“Oh my God, oh my God,” she whines through her clenched teeth. “I love it. It feels so good. I can’t stop.”

“Christ, Mercy. I don’t want you to,” I groan, taking two tight handfuls of her butt cheeks and helping her ride my dick, fast and furious. “That’s your own personal nine inches, angel baby. That’s your fucking playground. Own it.”

Her palms smack down on my pecs, her gaze going hazy, hips bucking so hard they’re a blur—and she comes again, moaning with her head thrown back, tits thrust out proudly. She’s the sexiest sight to whom I’ve ever had the pleasure of bearing witness, and the combination of her magnetism and the friction of her pussy bouncing up and down on my cock pushes me off the deep end.

“Mercy!” I bellow, rolling her back over and slamming deep, deep, grinding the base of my cock on her swollen clit, making her call my name—and that alone, hearing Griffin in her throaty, angelic voice, brings my come racing to the fore and filling her in thick spurts. “I love you. God, I fucking love you.” I yank her thighs higher around my waist and lean into the never-ending rain of pleasure, my face buried in her gorgeous hair. “Mine. All mine. You are all mine.”

When I drop down onto her, she welcomes me with open arms. I can feel her lips smiling at my temple and I’ve never been happier in my life. Hell, I’m not sure I’ve ever been happy. This is what it feels like, like I could erupt from contentment and love. I can say with conviction that I’ve never experienced this.

It’s all Mercy.

My Mercy.

“Marry me,” I say quietly, kissing her temple. “Trust me to spend the rest of my days making you happy.”

When she doesn’t answer right away, ice runs down my spine.