The Mercenary and the Mortician (The Silent Hollow, #1)

by Alexandra St. Pierre

The funny thing about being raised in a cage is it makes you angry… and angry people want vengeance.

I loved fucking dudes. There was just something about bending over a pretty alpha male and making him see Jesus through his asshole.

The ginger-haired sex god in question walked into the room abruptly, and my jaw literally dropped. That picture online had not done him justice. Forget muscles. I was suddenly craving a ginger snap.

Not only was I going to be murdered at twenty-seven in my own house, I was going to die with a goddamned fear-boner.

What did a mercenary and a mortician have in common? Dead. Fucking. Bodies.

It seemed I had a brat on my hands, which was literally my favorite. I loved it when they fought back. I got to punish them and teach them their place.

“See something you like, ginger snap?” I teased him, grinning as I took a bite of my eggs. He narrowed his eyes and shook his head aggressively. “Keep dreaming, you freak,” he snarled, and I narrowed my eyes right back at him. “Watch it. There’s a child present.” I warned, making sure he heard the threat in my voice. I was fine with him being a little grumpy raincloud, but I wouldn’t be disrespected or allow him to call me names.

“I’m not the devil, Ryan Fairview. I’m your fucking god, and you will beg me for forgiveness,”

“Spit in my hand,” he ordered. I tried to shake my head, but he snarled. “That wasn’t a request, Ryan. Spit in my fucking hand, or I’ll spit in your perfect mouth.”

“That’s it, straight boy. Come for me.” “No. Fuck you!” I spat, and he chuckled. “You’re going to come, Ryan; there’s no point in fighting it. You’re going to shoot your load all over that bitch’s corpse, then you’re going to clean it up like the good boy I know you are.”

“That’s it, baby. Make a mess. Show me how fucking straight you are,”

I was already strange enough as it was with the whole ‘I can see dead people thing.’ I didn’t need to add ‘sexually confused masochist’ to the list of things people said about me behind closed doors.

He was really fucking cute when he was like this. Like a golden retriever begging for a milk bone… Okay. Maybe I should stay away from the bone references when referring to Cal.

Because I didn’t want to be friends with Ryan Fairview. I wanted to be much more than that. I wanted his face to light up instead of darkening when he saw me. I wanted him to let me touch him whenever I wanted. I wanted to hold his hand in public and kiss him until he felt dizzy.

“You’re so fucking gorgeous, Ryan,” he rumbled. “I’m sorry I’m so obsessed with you, but fuck. I can’t help it. You’re too damn beautiful.”

“Theo got me drunk and told me I have the hots for you,”

“Is that so?” Cal asked. He touched his lips to mine so fucking softly I could barely even register that we had touched. “Mhmm.” I breathed, and Cal’s hand tightened on the side of my face. “Do you?” “What?” “Have the hots for me?” he asked, holding me firmly in place.

“Do you want to find out?” he asked, and I found myself nodding. “Yes.” “Good. Me too,” he growled, and before I could react, his lips crashed into mine.

“If he’s neither, why’d you let him suck your dick on the back porch last night?” My mouth dropped open, and I felt like my eyes were going to pop right out of my skull. “You saw that!?” I hissed, and Theo chuckled behind her mug, her dark eyes glittering with mischief. “I didn’t catch the whole show. Once I realized what was happening, I shut the drapes. Next time, maybe get a room, yeah? I’m happy you’re finally getting laid and all, but I don’t really need to fucking see it.”

“You’re breaking up with her.” I wasn’t asking anymore. I was telling. “Cal -” “No. You’re fucking breaking up with her, Ryan. I don’t fucking share.” He swallowed, and I felt his Adam’s apple bob beneath my hand, causing me to tighten my fingers around his throat. “Even if I break up with her, that doesn’t mean that we’re… I’m still not sure if I’m…” I snarled and pressed my face closer to his, using my free hand to jerk his chin up, forcing him to finally look at me. “I knew this was going to happen. Last night, I told you that you would regret it, but you begged me to touch you. Now, what… you’re suddenly not sure if you’re into guys? News flash, Fairview, straight dudes don’t beg other dudes to suck their cocks. Not even when they’re fucking drunk. So stop being a whiny bitch and break up with that little Bible thumper before I do it for you.”

“Get off me,” he ordered, and I growled but let him go. “You’re not the fucking boss of me, Callum. If I want to break up with her, I will, but I’m not doing it because you told me to.” I felt myself chuckle, even though I wasn’t finding the situation very funny. Stepping in close to him, I pressed my mouth to his ear, noticing how his entire body seemed to respond to my breath against his skin. “I don’t really give a fuck what reason you give her, but if you don’t break up with her, you won’t like the fucking consequences.”

“Look at us! Pimping out our siblings for personal gain. We’re so charming.”

“I tried to do this the nice way. I tried to bullshit that we could be friends, but we’re not friends.” “We’re not?” I asked, feeling strangely vulnerable at hearing him say those words out loud. “No, Ryan. We’re not.” Without warning, his hand was cuffed around my throat, and he had me pressed back against the passenger window. “I can’t get you out of my fucking head. I know it’s wrong to force you, but I can’t help it. Fuck you for making me obsessed with you.” He growled. His lips were so close to mine that I could taste the peppermint on his breath. “Whether either of us wants this or not, my screwed-up brain has decided that you’re mine, and I don’t fucking share, Ryan. Do you understand me?”

I’m not going to lie; I contemplated just killing him and being done with it for the majority of the drive. That was why I brought us to a secluded spot. But, when he straight up asked me if I brought him there to kill him, and he looked at me with those fucking gorgeous brandy eyes—I knew I was fucked. I would never kill Ryan Fairview simply because I couldn’t own someone if they were fucking dead. He was mine. As much as he didn’t have a choice in it, neither did I. So, the only option here was to make it clear that he was officially off limits to anyone else. I’d started the conversation intending to essentially tell him that. Imagine my fucking surprise when my little ginger snap decided he wanted to make a game out of it. The game he proposed wasn’t about whether or not we would be engaging in a relationship of some kind. Nope. It was about who was in charge of said relationship, which was not what I had been expecting. The darkness that had been swirling in my chest since I had seen him sitting with that woman evaporated and was replaced with something much more safe and familiar. My sweet, loveable little ginger snap wanted a fight for dominance, so a fight he was going to fucking get. He was so cute and confident. He even used his ‘businessman voice’ on me, like that made him the boss or something. I just wanted to pinch his fucking cheeks! God, I couldn’t wait to fuck the sass right out of him.

It was difficult for me to understand his reservations because, for me, this was all very simple. In the words of the infamous Ariana Grande — I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it. I saw Ryan. I liked Ryan. I wanted Ryan. I got Ryan.

“Just look at me. In real life, I’m basically a golden retriever. If you met me on the street, you wouldn’t know I’m actually a black cat sadist.” I winked at him. “Or a murderer.” He sighed. “Or that,” I agreed shamelessly.

Ryan was still staring at me funny. “We’re… are we… together? Like a couple?” he asked, the blush in his face spread all the way to his hairline. God, he was so fucking cute. I raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged. “I won’t allow you to touch anyone else, so call it whatever the fuck you want, but you’re mine.” He scowled. “Well, are you going to be fucking anyone else?” he snapped, and I bit back an amused chuckle. “Would that bother you?” “Yes,” he said without any hesitation. “You can’t tell me I’m not allowed to see other people, then slut it up yourself.” I burst out laughing. “Slut it up!? Jeeze, ginger snap, we don’t slut shame in this car.” He scoffed. “I don’t care what you did before, but if we’re doing whatever this is, I don’t need to worry about getting any nasty diseases from your butt whores.” “Butt whores!” I was full-blown laughing now.

What if he got hurt!? I should have fucking kissed him goodbye…

He was absolutely feral. Feral for me. “Don’t push me away, ginger snap; give me what I want,” he growled, rubbing the tip of his nose against mine.

“I should have done that before you left yesterday,” he breathed. Jesus fucking Christ. Did I die? Was this heaven? I swallowed and choked on a laugh. “I knew you wanted a kiss yesterday.”

“I did. And I felt like shit all day today when I didn’t hear from you. All I kept thinking was if something happened to you and I never kissed you goodbye, I was going to feel like a massive asshole for the rest of my life.” I raised an eyebrow at him and touched my thumb to his chin. “Well. I guess you’ll just have to make sure to kiss me goodbye from now on. If I die on you, we can’t have you living out the rest of your days jonesing for one last taste.”

Your move, bumble bee.

You want a vampire, little bee? I’ll give you a vampire. I sank my teeth into the crook of her neck, biting down hard enough on her soft flesh that she squeaked in surprise. She froze, then kind of went… limp, like a kitten that had just been grabbed by the scruff of her neck. “What—Vox…”

Snatching my gun up off the dresser, I used it to point to her closet, indicating that I wanted her to start packing or I would need to continue to do it for her. She nodded and sighed. “Yeah, okay, fine. You owe Stephanie an apology, though. That was fucked up, Vox.” I smirked at her and shrugged. Next time, listen to me, little bee.

Ugh. If Cal and I survived this shit with Damian, he would probably end up killing me anyway for creeping on his little sister.

I swallowed, ignoring how tight my throat felt. I needed to keep it together. For him. “Do what you need to do for now, Callum, but I’m not giving up on you. I’ll be right fucking here, waiting for you to come back to me when you’re ready,” I promised. “You’ll be waiting a long time, then.” He sighed, taking another step back toward his car. “I’ll wait for you forever if I have to, angel.” His mouth parted, and his eyes turned glassy.

As the tacky blood melted off his beautiful, tanned skin, the feathery back piece I had glimpsed earlier became clearer and clearer. My throat closed up, and I swallowed hard as I realized he had black angel wings tattooed on his back, with the words ‘expelled from heaven, raised in hell’ scrawled across his shoulders. Running my fingers gently over the words, I peppered his wings with more kisses, blinking back tears. ‘You dark angel is coming, dear.’

Cal was the dark angel I’d been waiting my whole life for. He was here, and he was broken.

Fuck, he was so good-looking. He had his little grumpy scowl on his face. The one that made a crease between his perfect eyebrows. I just wanted to smooth it out with my thumb and then annoy him until it came back.

“Better eat and get your strength up so you can teach me a lesson.” He winked, and I couldn’t help the low rumble that rolled through my chest. “Careful, ginger snap. You keep saying shit like that, and I’m gonna end up ripping a stitch.”

The damage was done. I was in love with this beautiful, dark, broken angel that had forced his way into my life, and there was no going back now. The only thing I could do was try to keep him alive. And that was what I was going to fucking do.

“Yeah. Out of bed but still under fucking house arrest.” I scowled at Ryan, who just gave me his usual smirk that he used whenever I complained about being bored. “Come on, it’s not that bad,” Cass said, rolling her eyes and distancing herself from Theo. “Not that bad!?” I growled. “I haven’t murdered or fucked anything in two weeks! Two weeks, Cassandra!” She made a face and raised her coffee cup to her perfectly painted lips. “Okay, I don’t need to hear about how blue your fucking balls are, little brother,” she grumbled, taking a sip of her drink. Ryan came to stand beside me, running his fingers through my hair gently. “Come on, angel, I refuse to believe those are your only two speeds. There must be something else we can do to keep you busy while you’re on the mend.” The way his fingers brushed against my scalp was doing nothing to get my mind off sex. My dick tented in my pants as he scraped his blunt fingernails down the back of my head, and I nearly purred out loud at how fucking good it felt. “Keep doing that, ginger snap, and both our families are going to find out real fucking fast exactly what speed I run at.” “Callum!” Naomi and Cass simultaneously exclaimed while Theo and Vox both snickered.

“If you can hold out just a little bit longer, I promise to make it worth your while,” he murmured against my mouth. Wrapping my hand around his nape and pulling him closer, I rubbed the tip of my nose against his. “Yeah?” I hummed, kissing his soft lips and resisting the overwhelming urge to shove my tongue into his hot mouth and devour him whole. “Yeah, baby. I promise.” I groaned into his mouth. “Fuck, I’m never going to get tired of hearing you say that,” I whispered, and he cocked his head to the side, his brandy eyes shining. “Say what? Baby?” he teased, and I swallowed, nodding at him.

“You, baby,” he purred, leaning in and brushing a soft kiss against my lips. “As long as I have you, I don’t need anything else.”

“What do those words mean?” I asked him, sniffing loudly. He pursed his lips and thought for a moment. “Those are negative words used by people with a very narrow view of the world to describe people they perceive to be different from themselves.”

“Took over a decade, but this is for you, I guess.” He slipped the photo out of the album and handed it to me. My mom took it for you so you could see my flower sign.”

I was his dark angel.

Suddenly, I couldn’t hear the dubstep anymore. All I could hear was Ryan’s voice echoing through my mind. All the beautiful things he had ever said to me rolled through my mind, and my breath caught in my chest. You’re not a killer, Cal, not really. You were made to help people, Cal. Not hurt them. You try so hard to protect and help everyone around you, but who’s protecting you?

“I know, I know. You were willing to give it up just now.” I sighed, feigning interest. “But alas. I cannot indulge in whatever gherkin-sized weiner you’re overcompensating for with all these fancy suits.” “Callum. Stop it.” He tried to sound commanding, but I just laughed. He had zero hold on me anymore. I was done with him and his fucking lies. He’d pushed me too far, and there was no going back. “Wanna know why? Hmmmm?” I chirped. He just coughed up more blood, and I could barely get the words out because I was unable to keep the shit-eating grin off my face. “‘Cause Ryan said no butt whores. And you, sir, are the literal definition of a butt whore.”

“I want to be the person you count on to help you achieve your dreams, not the reason they go up in flames.” I choked, and he made a soothing ‘shhh’ noise, dropping a damp kiss on my lips. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get here, baby,” he whispered, ghosting his thumb over my mouth again. I knew he wasn’t talking about coming back from his mission. “You got here as fast as you could.”