He took it from her and kissed her on the cheek. “Fucking right we are, Ma, we’re having a great day, we’ve earned it.”
She let out an exuberant laugh, wiping the remaining tears. “We certainly have Johnny.”
“And we’re flying kites!” Mercy said, excited. “It’ll be Sade’s first time.”
His mother’s face fell, twisting Sade’s stomach. “I… I never… there wasn’t much place to fly kites,” she said to Sade, fear and regret in her silver eyes.
“Mom,” Sade said firmly. “Where the fuck are we gonna fly a kite in LA, you don’t, you go to circuses, remember? Now quit with the guilt. I mean it.”
God, he was one to fucking preach. He glanced at Kane, not wanting to disrespect his wife and he got a slight nod from him.
“You’re right, oh my God,” she exclaimed, like she just realized something amazing, “I am so blessed! I have my son, a beautiful daughter, the best husband in the world! And this gorgeous day!” She busted out laughing, hugging Kane, then Mercy, then Sade again. “Let’s eat!”
Chapter Nineteen
Sade felt a little better as they ate and his mother demonstrated she was either really feeling better or a great actress. Mercy was a great distraction, holding his hand under the table and sneaking him naughty looks that made him wish the day was over and it was time for her angelic therapy. She seemed to be enjoying tormenting him in front of her father, knowing he’d make zero retaliations in his presence. But he nodded slowly and winked at her with a threatening wait… I’ll get you.
Before they could escape to the beach, fucking Ralph and some other jelly bean motherfucker showed up, eyes all over Mercy.
“Here for the roof repairs,” Ralph said, walking toward the patio.
His mother became the gracious hostess, offering food and drinks all around while Kane took care of introductions. When it came time to shaking the new dude’s hand, Sade gripped it nice and hard, meeting his sneaky beady gaze with a killer glare.
“Sis will be over later, Ms. Kross, to help start the garden.”
“Oh fantastic! I cannot wait to have fresh vegetables!” his mom said while Sade strained to hear the mumblings of Tommy, the new guy. Ralph responded in another language which was really fucking rude in Sade’s opinion. Anybody who talked another language in front of people for the specific purpose of hiding what they were saying, were un-trustworthy fuckers, plain and simple. And the only reason Sade halfway trusted ole Ralphy was because Kane seemed to.
But this new guy was another matter.
“Big brother?” Mercy laughed, touching Sade’s arm. “He is big, but he’s not my brother, he’s just a good friend.”
Sade was instantly stunned and pissed by her words.
“So he’s your boyfriend,” Jackass probed.
“Yes, he’s my boyfriend,” she gushed, sounding… embarrassed?
“You sure, Angel?” Sade couldn’t keep from muttering.
“Well, we’ve got kites to fly,” Mercy said, hooking her arm in Sade’s.
“Yes, yes,” mom cried. “Go fly your kites!” She busted out laughing, seeming to find that very funny, as did everybody else, including Tom and Jerry.
When they were finally out of earshot, Mercy gasped. “Oh my God, that was awkward. That guy gave me the creeps.”
“Did he,” Sade muttered.
She looked at him as they walked. “What, what’s that tone for?”
“The only thing awkward was you tripping over what I was to you. He was clearly asking if you’re available and you fucking said yes, I am.”
She gasped and stopped walked. “What? He asked if we were brother and sister, I was saying no!”
“I think your exact words were, ‘he’s just a good friend.’ And only when they horny bastard cornered you with the boyfriend question did you say that’s what I was.”
She choked on incredulity. “Sade, I’m sorry I was more thinking of the awkward brother sister thing our family has found itself in, that’s all.”
“Yeah sure, I got it.”
“You’re still pissed!”
“Yes I’m fucking pissed.”
“Because you want people to know you’re my boyfriend?” she asked, sounding flattered.
“Well, I thought it was pretty clear that’s what I am, not sure what there is to get tripped up about.”
“Oh my God,” she wailed, covering her mouth while eying him with laughter in her eyes.
“This is so not fucking funny to me.”
Her eyes popped, “You’re so right. It’s not. How can I fix this? Oh come on,” she whined, holding their caterpillar and butterfly kites at her chest now. “I’m sure I can do something to make it up to you,” she smiled.
“You can start by not looking at that fucker or talk to him. I don’t care if you have to be rude, he had his fucking eyes all over you.”
“Yes, fine, of course, I’ll ignore his ugly, stinky, fat, stupid ass, easy peasy. Now let’s go fly our kites!” She turned and ran toward the beach. “Last one there is a rotten egg!” she screamed.
Sade took off after her, passing her and making her laugh.
“Cheater!” she gasped, arriving right after him. “I had our kites!”
“I never asked you to start without me,” he laughed, sitting on the sand, just at the edge of the surf, the salty air flooding his lungs as he watched Mercy untangle their kites.
“You ready for this awesomeness?”
“Oh yeah,” he said, his eyes straining to see more of those creamy thighs than the knee-length flowing skirt allowed. The soft purple flowers against the white reminded him of the ones he’d picked for her.
“You like what you see?”
He raised his gaze and found her green eyes glowing with a breathtaking joy. Fuck, it was a scary sight to see. Powerful. The kind you didn’t want to get too close to for fear of fucking it up and yet, needing to drown in it, have it all for yourself. “I love what I see.” He’d meant to say the words lightly but they were anything but, and that joy in her eyes transformed into something just as potent, only sexy and raw. God, how did she imprison his soul with only a look? She smiled softly with a wink and handed him his kite, never unlocking her eyes from his.
Sade slowly stood, keeping the soul mesh tight as he took it from her. “Your butterfly kite, sir.”
He grinned and lowered his mouth to hers. “Thank you, Angel,” he whispered, cradling her head while he softly explored her mouth with a dire need to fuck her.
He pulled up and she said dreamily, “I’ll help you get your kite up.”
“You sure got my dick up quick.” He pulled away before he took her in the sand in broad daylight.
Mercy quickly switched to her flying production, putting her kite down and handing him the stick with a roll of string attached to his butterfly contraption. “You hold this and don’t let it go.” She walked a ways from him and held the kite. “Now, I’m going to throw it up and you’re going to run when I do. When the kite goes up, start letting more string out so it can go higher.”
He nodded. “I got it, I got it.”
“Okay, ready?”
“Ready to fly, Angel.”
She gave him the biggest smile and Sade couldn’t stop his own grin, loving the torment she always inflicted on him.
“Now!” She tossed up the kite and Sade ran with it.
“It’s up,” she screamed, “let the string out!”
Sade stopped and let the string out, watching the wind take the big eyed butterfly into the sky.
“Oh my God, you did it! You did it!” Mercy cried.
Sade grinned, carefully letting out more and more string. He sort of lost track of how much he’d let out and right when he wondered where the end was, it was there. And then it was gone. All of it. Snapped like a strand of hair. “Oh shit,” he said, watching it fly further into the sky as Mercy readied her kite for flight. ‘Uh, Angel?”
“What?” she asked, looking at him then
down at the empty kite-string contraption in his hands. It took a second for it to register and she gasped, looking into the sky. “Oh nooooo!” then she busted out laughing, offering him her kite.
“No, you better fly it,” he said, laughing.
Mercy got her kite up all by herself and Sade sat on the beach, watching her, his cock set to ever-hard. When she got her caterpillar high in the sky, she suddenly tossed her hands up and let it go. “Go find your boyfriend!” she called, waving her arm at it then running over and falling into his lap, laughing.
Sade caught her in his embrace and held her. “You’re fucking something, you know that?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. “I know,” she sighed, making him laugh.
“You do know, don’t you?”
She squinted up at him. “Yeah,” she said, like she was sorry to say it. “I do.”
“How many hours till therapy, Angel?” he asked, his body aching.
“Hmmm, is my patient in need?”
His cock jerked and his breath shuddered out. “You have no idea.”
“Welllll, they don’t call me Mercy for nothing, you know.”
He grinned at her, kissing the tip of her nose. “Is that right.”
“I wonder if maybe we should have class early?”
“Depends on how much earlier,” Sade said, his stomach tense with excitement.
“Liiiiiike,” she looked at an invisible watch on her arm. “Now?”
“You fucking serious? Don’t fucking joke about that.”
She leaned up and kissed him. Really kissed him until he was ready to combust. “Does that feel like a joke to you?”
“Fuck no,” he gasped, winded.
“We’ll both need to shower for this.”
“Oh fuck, yes,” he whispered, helping her up now and running with her back to the house, making her squeal in laughter when he threw her over his shoulders for being too slow.
Sade hauled Mercy into the house and ran into a woman, literally. Had to be Ralph’s sister. “Damn, I’m sorry,” Sade said, putting Mercy down.
“What?” Mercy turned and Sade eyed her reaction to the native looking island beauty.
“You must be Ralph’s sister?” Sade asked the girl when Mercy stood with her jaw stuck on open.
“I am, yes.” She nodded or maybe bowed and looked at Mercy. “You must be Mr. Kross’s daughter?” she asked, holding her hand out to Mercy.
“Yes, I am.” Mercy snapped out of whatever had her and shook her hand. “This is Sade, Mrs. Kross’s son. But we’re not related,” Mercy added.
The irony struck Sade at the turned tables and he couldn’t help himself. “Mercy and I are good friends,” he said, holding a hand out to the girl who shook it.
He’d meant it as a joke but one look at Mercy said that the joke would cost him big. “Okay, nice meeting you,” Sade said, ending that and dragging a silent Mercy off and down the basement stairs.
Three steps down and she jerked her hand out of his. Sade held both his up in slow surrender. “It was a joke, Mercy. I was just—”
“Fuck you,” she hissed, storming ahead of him into the room.
Chapter Twenty
“No, no, no,” he said, following her. “We’re not fighting, not now.” He shut the door and locked it.
“Why? Because you’re worried you won’t get your fuck in? Why don’t you go see little Miss Lolita about that? I’m sure she will be verrrry obliging with the way she ogled you!”
Sade lowered his head and shook it, mostly to hide his grin.
“You think this is so funny?”
“No,” he said, unable to keep from laughing.
“It wasn’t funny when it was you though, was it,” she spat.
“Mercy!” he cried, holding his arms out. “Why are you so pissed? You know I was joking! Unlike you, who genuinely stumbled over our relationship status!”
She actually squinted her eyes at him and Sade had to turn away to keep from laughing at how fucking much he loved that she was this jealous. “Well, it’s not like we’re married!” she said.
Sade paused, eying her now in disbelief. “You really just said that?”
“That we’re not married? Is this news to you?”
“So what, we’re free to fuck other people? Is that how you think it goes for people not married? For us?”
“You’re the slut here. You tell me Mr. Fuck-a-thoner. How does that work?!”
“It doesn’t work that way for me and you, I know that.”
“Oh it doesn’t?” she said, eyes wide. “Does this mean you want to marry me?” she laughed.
But Sade didn’t laugh. He stared at her, thinking about that. Marrying her. Living for the rest of his life with her or whatever was left of it. “What if I said yes?”
The slow shock and awe dawning on her face made his stomach flip around. “Wait…” she whispered. “You’re serious?”
He thought about it again, carefully, and the answers were all the same, more emphatic. “Dead serious,” he whispered.
She covered her mouth with both hands, eyes filling with tears as she shook her head.
Fear struck him. He’d not considered that she might not want that.
She ran at him and threw her arms around him. “You’re serious?” she gasped. “Oh my God, I can’t believe you’d want to marry me.” She pulled back and looked up at him. “Are you serious?” she whispered heatedly.
“What the fuck do you mean, you?” he said, confused, stroking the tears from her cheeks. “Who else in my life means the world to me?”
She covered her mouth again, nodding now. “So what, are you asking me?”
“Asking?”
“Me to marry you?”
Sade’s mouth hung open, not sure how to answer that, not sure what the answer was. “I’m not sure.”
“What? You just said you wanted—”
“I do, I just don’t know how… I’m supposed to do that… I mean you don’t just go up to the person in the middle of a fight and, ‘say you wanna marry me?’” Jesus, what the fuck did he know? “Right?”
She wiped her eyes and seemed to think about it, then shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
“Well I’m not positive but something in me says this should be more special than just an, oh by the way deal.”
She smiled at him, tears filling her eyes again. “You want to make it special?”
“Fuck yes, I do,” he said at seeing how happy that made her. “I want it to be something we never forget.”
She lowered her gaze, her cheeks pink before she hesitantly said, “A… beach wedding would be… amazing.” She bit her lip, excitement dancing in her green gaze.
“With kites?” he asked, pulling her into his embrace.
She bit her lip and gave him a squinty eye. “Sooooo,” she began. “How will you propose?”
He laughed, sliding his hands all over her. “That’s a surprise.”
She squealed and danced in his arms a little. “I love surprises! And hate them!” She gasped, pushing out of his arms. “Can you at least tell me when you will? So I can plan to plan to tell everybody?”
Fuck, her joy was beautiful. And to think he was responsible for that in any kind of way was… unimaginable.
He stood there, enraptured as she went on in non-stop wedding plan chatter. It was like watching his very own Cinderella getting her fairytale dream come true.
Sade made his way to the bed and sat. He was suddenly the bum little kid, looking into a window from the dirty alley. Witnessing the royal princess. She’d received the announcement, she’d be marrying her true love, a handsome and noble prince. Sade smiled, so fucking happy for her.
Then it hit him, slammed him so hard until he couldn’t breathe. He was the one. He was the handsome prince she’d picked. The dirty alley kid, the thief, the boy prostitute with a legacy of sadistic blood and ghosts that never passed on, demons that devoured without stop.
“
What’s wrong?”
Sade looked up to find Mercy staring at him.
The fear in her eyes made him sick. She wouldn’t be able to handle that he wasn’t the right one for her, that he had nothing but never-ending sexual issues to give. What kind of husband could he possibly make? What had he been thinking? Fuck, he hadn’t been, not past his nose. God, what if she wanted a family? How could he possibly be a father when he hated his own and had no idea how to be one? He didn’t know how to be a fucking man, how would he be a father? A husband?
He put his hands over his face and leaned forward, unable to face her.
She hurried and sat down next to him, putting her arm around him. “Whaaaat,” she said softly. “Talk to me, don’t hide from me. Are you nervous? Scared? It’s okay if you are, that’s normal,” she cooed.
It took several seconds for him to even organize his scattered thoughts.
“I don’t know what I was thinking, Mercy,” he said.
“What do you mean?” she whispered, rubbing his back.
He shook his head slowly. “Marrying you. I mean, I go from committing to leaving to committing to staying forever.”
“What… do you mean you… wait, you committed to leaving?”
Panic hit Sade at realizing what he’d just said. He gave a huge sigh, looking right. “I mean just what I said, I committed to leaving,” he admitted quietly.
“When?”
“When I saw that I was just going to end up hurting you, Mercy,” he said, looking at her. “Ever since we’ve gotten here, I’ve been insane and I don’t know why. I wanted to hurt you, I did hurt you!” he said. “And I still want to sometimes, what the fuck kind of person would I be to let that happen to the one woman I love more than anything in the fucking world,” he strained.
Tears filled her eyes and she looked forward, wiping them. “And now look at you,” she whispered.
“Yeah, now look at me. I have one good day and I can suddenly have the world? No, Mercy, that’s stupid!”
“No,” she cried back softly. “Not one good day, many good days. You have to be fair in this, to me to you.”