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

by Alexandra St. Pierre

To everyone who’s ever had to save themselves. May you find your Ryan.

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

“Have I ever told you I’m so proud to call you my big brother?” she asked softly, and I glanced at her from behind my Ray-Bans, my tattooed fingers tightening on the supple leather of the steering wheel. “I could stand to hear it more often.”

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.

There was only room for one weapon in my pants tonight, and apparently, that was my fucking cock.

Of course, the man didn’t seem to know that he was dragging a gaggle of ghouls around with him, but they were there.

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.

His eyes flashed in what looked strangely like amusement, and he barked out a laugh as my next right hook connected with his cheekbone. “Why are you laughing?” I snarled. “You like to fucking lose?” “I just wasn’t expecting you to be this much fun, ginger snap,”

As if he wanted to check to make sure he wasn’t imagining it, he ground his pelvis into my erection, and a choked groan escaped my lips. His fingers spasmed around my throat, and he leaned forward, his bandana tickling my ear. “Hard for me, ginger snap?”

His dick was so fucking hard in his jeans, and I sucked my lip ring into my mouth as I eyed his considerable bulge. The way his entire face had flushed when I called him out for getting hard for me… Did he blush like that everywhere? Did his balls get all rosie and pink too?

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

“Hurry up, ginger snap. Let’s get this misunderstanding cleared up so we can be friends.” He glared at me over his shoulder, and I smirked back. “What makes you think I want to be friends with you?” he whisper-hissed back, and I chuckled. “Trust me, ginger snap. I’m a much better friend than an enemy.”

That man must be a fucking murderer.

‘Don’t bully me, I might come’

“How do you like your tea, dear?” my mother asked. The man beamed. “With milk! No sugar. I’m sweet enough already.” He winked.

“Please,” I finally whispered, and he ran the tip of his nose up the back of my neck, his voice laced with heated amusement. “Please what, ginger snap?” he growled, the mint on his breath feathering across my ear. “Please, let me go,” I murmured, not wanting to struggle anymore. He was clearly getting off on it… and honestly, I was too, and it was confusing me. “I like to hear you beg, baby. All you had to do was say please.”

Ugh, I nearly gave his mom the show of her life when I walked back into the kitchen. Before going inside, I slipped my dick up into the waistband of my jeans so as not to accidentally poke her in the damn eye with it. And people say I don’t have any manners.

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.

Theo and I followed Cal to the front, and our mom hung back in the kitchen with Caleb. Theo was glaring at me, and I was glaring at the back of Cal’s head. It was one big chain of glares.

Music that sounded like robots fucking suddenly exploded from the black car as Cal peeled off down the street in the same direction the Jaguar had gone.

Now I was the fucking judge. I was also the jury and the mother fucking executioner.

I fucking told you if you used her as bait again, I was going to saw your balls off!” Jesus… saw? She couldn’t just cut them off like a normal sociopath? I cupped my dick over my jeans, soothing it gently as my balls tried to crawl up into my body and away from my scary sister’s voice.

“Fine.” “Loveee youuuuu!” I chirped, but I was already speaking to a dead line. She had hung up on me, which was typical. No one ever said it back.

“If you have a blood kink, just say so. I have more sanitary options in the wagon.” He winked at me. “Wouldn’t want you getting an infection. Nothing hot about intravenous antibiotics. I can tell you that for free.”

“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.”

You can’t use your mental health as a valid reason for being a huge dingus, Cal.

“How did you get so wise?” I asked, getting up and crossing over to her side of the room. Grabbing her head, I tilted it to the side so I could check her ears. “Do you just stuff the knowledge in through here? I know you’re not learning this much from reading. All you read is smut.”

I mean, yes, I get it. You own a business and want to be easily found online… but you list your personal mobile number on the contact page? I tutted my tongue. He was basically begging for dick pics.

She let me know she would get Caleb ready for bed, and I nodded, wondering what we were going to do with this kid now that I had his father burning to ashes in my cremator.

Cal spun away from what he was doing to face me with a giant smile on his face, and I had to stop myself from bursting out laughing when I realized he was wearing an apron. Not just any apron. It was a frilly pink apron that said, ‘I put the bitch in obituary.’ My aunt had gotten it for Iris as a gag gift one year, and it had never been worn.

“There, there, dear. He’ll come around. Ryan always takes some convincing to walk the path less traveled despite the fact that he is… rather extraordinary. He’s stubborn. Just like his father.” “My sister said I shouldn’t force myself on him,” I complained, untying the totally boss apron that Iris let me borrow. Iris chuckled. “While I agree that force is likely not the way to my son’s heart, persistence will be necessary, dearie. Don’t give up. We have been waiting for you for a long time. He will just need some convincing.”

From what I could gather, we were looking for Ronan Carter. He was a man on a fucking mission. It was clear he was a professional, and based on how easily he had been covering his tracks, it was obvious he was ex-police, at the very least. The other man, Logan Sutton, didn’t seem to have any police background at all, but he was smart and…creative with his kills. Logan also seemed to be nearly as good with black hat hacking as Vox was, which was going to make my job difficult. It was extremely tough to track hackers. They rarely left a paper trail.

Would I have to do a whole ‘coming out’ thing? I hated being the center of attention. Fielding questions from acquaintances, peers, and extended family about my sexuality was the definition of my living nightmare.

“Mmmphhh.” Cal moaned as he slowly bobbed his head. Up and down, up and down, he methodically built a fire that I wasn’t sure I would be able to keep under control for long. “Callum, fuck. If you keep doing that, I’m going to⁠—” He popped my dick out of his mouth and made eye contact before slapping the head of my cock firmly against his tongue. “Jesus,” I moaned, and he chuckled, kissing the tip softly. “You going to come for me, baby?” Lick.

“That’s it, baby. Come down my throat. Let me taste you,” he purred before slurping me back up. He rammed my cock down his throat until he choked. The sound of him gagging on me was too much for me to handle.

Get down here before I’m forced to bring you breakfast in bed. Cal Sex God Walker: If that happens, the only thing that’s getting eaten is your ass.

I couldn’t tell if I was upset that he was angry or somewhat thrilled that I had the power to make him feel this way at all.

“Cal…fuck.” I gasped as he pumped in and out a few more times, getting me used to the sensation. “Now I just need to find…” His fingers touched a spot inside me that made my entire fucking brain explode. I jerked in surprise at the intense feeling of pleasure. He touched that spot again and chuckled with satisfaction as I seized uncontrollably in response. “There it is. Does it feel good when I touch you there, baby?”

“I don’t know anything about you, Callum… Well, I know that you like tea and fancy cars and that shitty robot music.” I burst out laughing. “It’s called dubstep.” Ryan just gave me an unamused look and rolled his eyes. “It’s horrible. It sounds like robots fornicating.” I felt my eyes widen and my lips part. “That would be… awesome.” I breathed, imagining how dope it would be to have a music video with robots jerking each other off to a Knife Party song. What color would robot cum be? Would it be like car oil? Or maybe that clear stuff they use to keep big computers cool…

Much like me, Damian had found Gavin in a precinct after he’d been scooped up for self-defense charges. He’d stabbed his father thirty-six times with a screwdriver after the man had beaten his twin brother to death in front of him.

“You’re already driving me crazy, baby.” He groaned. “Just put your mouth on me. I promise I’ll make sure you know what I like.” I nodded and leaned forward, gently touching my tongue to the bead of cum that had formed around the silver ring he had threaded through his tip. He jerked again at my touch, letting out a muffled groan that made my heart swell with pride. “Jesus fuck, Ryan, you’re so perfect. Give me that sweet mouth.”

“Fuuuuck, that’s good.” He moaned, sliding his hands up into my hair. He curled his fingers and guided my head down on him, groaning as I did my best to fit him all the way in. “Your mouth feels so good, baby; let me see you look at me while you swallow it,” he murmured, and I rolled my eyes up to meet his.

“Holy shit, Ryan, you’re not even gagging.” He pulled out of my mouth slightly before plunging back in as if he were testing my gag reflex. I felt him curl his fingers under my jaw and stroke my throat. “Are you sure you’ve never done this before? I swear you were made to swallow my cock.”

He smelled like Old Spice and Head & Shoulders shampoo. I’d smelled these scents on many other dudes, including myself, but for some reason, on Ryan, it smelled like fucking home.

“Use your words, baby. Tell me you want me to fuck you.” He squished his eyes closed and groaned, his face officially so red it matched his hair. I just grinned at him and waited. “I do. I want you to, to f-fuck me,” he whispered, stumbling over the words. “Good boy,”

He could haunt me all his bitch-ass wanted, and I would spend every day letting Cal fuck me while Ryker’s cunty ghost watched. Just to rub it in his fucking face.

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.

“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.”

“Does that feel good, baby?” he asked, his voice rough with need. “You like having my tongue in your sweet little ass?” “I’m going to come…I’m going to fucking come!” I chanted, and to my complete devastation, he pulled away, pinching the base of my dick so hard I could feel my pulse in my ball sack. “No coming, baby. Not yet. I’m not finished with you,” he purred, and I groaned as my cock grew so full it felt like it might literally burst.