Page 35 of Innocent Target

Chapter Eighteen

Mercy gasped as she came awake with a shock, her lungs sucking in air, heat racing before she even realized the reason. Warm, strong arms around her tightened, and she instantly knew who it was as confusion swamped her brain.

“Shh, you’re okay, Merc.” James rubbed her arm, and she realized they were in a bed, but he was on top of the covers.

“Abbie?” Her question came out on a hiccup as pain and guilt swamped her for not protecting the perfect little angel.

James’s lips on her hair stopped her from looking into his eyes. She couldn’t bear to see the accusation and anger he must feel about her failure.

“She’s still missing.”

Mercy couldn’t stop the damned tears that came then, the fear of becoming spare parts for her organs, the fear for Abbie all too much. She cried as the man she’d failed held her, murmuring sweet words in her ear that she could barely understand.

“It’s okay, beautiful. We’ll find her and get her back.”

“I should have protected her.” Mercy couldn’t believe he was so calm, that he wasn’t yelling at her.

“You did everything you could. You were outnumbered and outgunned, you stayed alive, and that’s all I could ever ask or want.” He tipped her head up so she was looking into his gorgeous blue eyes that held a wealth of feeling, and her breath caught at what she saw in them. “If you’d died, I never would’ve forgiven myself.”

Mercy went to interrupt, but he placed his finger over her lips. Typically, she would have argued but the moment was charged with so much emotion she stayed silent.

James cupped her cheek, his arm around her strong and safe. “I love you, Mercy. I know it probably seems quick to you, but for me, this has been happening for a while. You’re everything I didn’t know I wanted—beautiful, strong, feisty, funny, kind, sweet, and so much more. I don’t expect the words back, but I need you to know how I feel. Life is short and can be cruel, and I don’t want you to close your eyes for one more second without knowing how much you’re loved.”

Tears pricked her eyes, and she wanted to say them back more than anything, but fear gripped her throat, closing off the words. She tried to say them back. She knew she was in love with him, that he was the only man for her, yet they died on her lips as his head lowered and he kissed her.

It was the sweetest, most tender kiss, full of passion and emotion, his lips soft and familiar. James was home, life. He made her feel safe without smothering her or making her feel less than. All her life, she’d been made to feel less but not once since she’d met him had James done that.

A cough had them breaking apart, and James pulled away slowly with a sexy grin before they both looked to the source of the sound. It was then she realized she was in a hospital room as she noticed Nick standing behind a man wearing a white doctor’s coat, a stethoscope hung around his neck.

“Miss Broussard, it seems you’re awake. How do you feel?”

Mercy moved to sit, and felt the cannula in her hand attached to a drip. “Um, okay, I guess. A little foggy-headed and weak, and my muscles are achy like I’ve run a marathon.”

The middle-aged doctor nodded. “You had moderate hypothermia. We gave you warmed intravenous fluids and something to counteract the drugs you were given. James here offered to stay as you were a little anxious, and his presence seemed to help.”

Mercy struggled to take in the news and how close she had come to dying. “When can I go home?”

“Not until I’m happy your core temperature is stable and there are no serious after-effects. You may find you suffer painful blisters on your fingers and toes called chilblains. I’ll give you something for that.”

She looked at James with wide eyes. “Doc, I need to go.”

“There’s nothing to do until we locate Abbie. Stay here and get checked and then you can come home until we get word. We can assess things again then.”

“She’ll need to rest when she gets home, hypothermia isn’t a joke.” The doctor gave them a stern look, and she felt James tense.

“I’m aware of that, doc. I’d never put Mercy in danger.” His words were clipped and angry, and Nick stepped forward as if sensing he might need to drag James off the doctor.

“Understood. Well, let’s get these tests ordered, and then we can see about getting you home.”

Mercy turned to James as the doc left the room. “How’s Ian?” She was almost scared to ask the question after she’d seen him on the floor of his home, beaten and unconscious.

“He’s fine, bruises and some cuts but he’s home and more pissed off he didn’t shoot them.” Mercy felt a smile pull at her lips. That sounded like the man who’d been a mentor most of her adult life and more of a father than her own had been.

“I keep bringing trouble to his door.”

James grabbed her hand. “He told me you’d say that, and he also said to tell you to shut it.”

“Yep, that sounds like him.”