The way she beamed at me told me it’d been exactly the right time. She leaned in, kissing me hard, and then spoke with her cheek resting against mine. “I love you too, Rowan. I don’t think I ever completely stopped. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
At the choked quality to her voice, I hugged her to me. “Don’t be sorry. I’m lucky enough to be able to say it after I almost lost you.”
“I’m lucky to have you too. I’m so glad we found our way back to each other.”
We held each other for a little longer, and then Mercy began to move over me again, taking my dick deeper inside her. She felt so hot and wet and perfect. I tugged at her hips to encourage her to go faster, knowing I could take it. Knowing she’d like it best that way too. An ache had woken up in the wound in my side despite the painkillers, but it was worth it to have this moment of connection with her.
Mercy gasped, following my guidance. She rocked against me, lifting and slamming down so I pounded into her. It only took a few more times before her pussy clenched around me, setting off a sharper flare of pleasure all through my veins.
Before I came inside her, she slipped off and eased down the bed to wrap her lips around me. With a few passionate swipes of her tongue, she brought me right over the edge, spurting into her mouth.
Smiling slyly, Mercy snuggled next to me. We stayed there in each other’s arms until our breaths evened out.
“I did love you back in high school, Mercy,” I said, feeling the need to clarify. “But I love you just as much the way you are now too—fierce and unstoppable.”
“I’m not unstoppable,” she said, her face falling.
“Yes, you are. No one gets between you and what you want. Your dad treated you horribly, but you’ve come out of it stronger. I couldn’t be prouder to stand by your side, and I’ll keep telling you that until I know you’re just as proud of who you’ve become.”
Mercy swallowed audibly and pressed a tender kiss to my lips. “Thank you.” After a few more minutes, she sighed. “I want to stay here with you for the rest of the day.”
“But you need to go deal with Xavier. I understand.” I grimaced. “I just wish I could come with you to help instead of being stuck in here.”
She slowly pulled on her clothes. “I’m sure you’ll hear all about it afterward. And I did bring some things to distract you.”
My curiosity stirred. “What do you mean?”
She fished into the tote bag she’d carried in with her. “I figured you might get bored, so I brought you drawing supplies.” She placed my pencil case and a sketchpad on the table beside me.
I glanced around the room and let my tone go wry. “So much inspiration to draw on in here.”
Mercy swatted me. “I guess you’ll just have to use your imagination then, huh.” She paused, and something about her expression made my heart skip a beat. She looked at me cautiously. “And your mom called.”
My pulse outright lurched. “What?”
“I answered the call but then I didn’t know what to tell her.” She bit her lip. “She wanted you to call her back when you could. I brought her number in case you didn’t have it programmed in, and here’s your phone, even though I don’t think you’re supposed to have it in the hospital room.” She slipped the phone under the sketch pad. “It’s totally up to you, but if you ask me, you really should give her a call. She’s never going to stop being your mom.”
Mercy gave me one more lingering kiss before she left. I settled into the pillows, grappling with my emotions. The aches of my body were asserting themselves again, and part of me wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and let exhaustion drag me into sleep.
My hand went to the phone instead. I weighed it in my fingers for several minutes. Then I dialed Mom’s number, my mouth going dry.
Mom picked up on the third ring. “Hello?” she said. When I didn’t answer, she said, “Rowan, is that you?”
“Hey, Mom,” I said slowly. “How are you?”
“I’m good. Just glad to hear from you after all this time. I know that’s a mom thing to say, but… well, it’s true.”
Carina’s voice carried from farther away. “Is that Rowan? He finally called?”
My lips twitched with amusement at her impertinent voice. “Sounds like someone else has been waiting to hear from me too. You can put Carina on—we’ll talk more after she has a chance.”
“All right,” Mom said, sounding bemused, and handed the phone over.
“I missed you at my birthday,” Carina announced first thing. “The present was nice, but I really wanted to see you.”
Homesickness for the family I’d once had squeezed around my heart. “I want to see you too, kiddo,” I said, using the old nickname that I knew made her grimace now. “I just…”
What excuse did I have, really? Life had dealt a hard blow to me, and the blows had kept coming. But after each one of them, I had come out stronger, just like Mercy had.
An unexpected sense of hope unfurled in my chest. I’d convinced myself that the life I was living made me toxic to the family I had left. But talking to Mom and Carina now without resisting their concern, I didn’t feel like poison to them.
Maybe I could be both Rowan Finlay, one of the Noble elite, and I could be a good son and a brother at the same time. If they ever needed it, I could even protect them better from my position of power.
“You know what?” I said. “Never mind excuses. How about I catch a flight over there in a couple of weeks, and I’ll make it up to you then.”