Dark Mercy by Rebecca Lyndon Page A

imagined those red lips of hers wrapping around the length of his cock, sucking him dry.
    Those same lips curved up in a knowing smile. “Yes, that as well.”
    “And the price you ask for these precious gifts?”
    Her teasing look turned serious. “Surrender your own release, and instead offer up to me the pleasure of all the women you touch.”
    Give up his orgasm and become an incubus? He weighed the temptation of nearly limitless strength and wealth against the cost.
    “For all eternity?”
    She shook her head. “One day a woman will return your release to you. On that day you will know that your service is no longer required.”
    “It is the devil’s bargain,” Rhys called out, but his voice was heavy with the same desire that rushed through Richard. “We would be empty shells. Nothing more than pleasureless demons.”
    Ashira rubbed her breast with her hand as she looked up and down Richard’s Welsh friend. “Not pleasureless. You would still feel the ecstasy of every lick and stroke, but there will be no release.” She turned and rubbed her ass against Richards’s groin for emphasis. His cock was close to bursting. “Just think of the comforts that could be bought with all that wealth. Enough to fill a hundred lifetimes.”
    Richard swallowed hard. He knew some of his men would be persuaded by this creature’s promises of treasure and power. He didn’t fault them, but it was the thought of immortality that swayed Richard to Ashira’s side. He had lost half of his fighting force since leaving the shores of England, and he would gladly let heaven damn him if it meant he didn’t have to lose another friend.
    “Spare my men, even any who don’t agree, and I will accept your deal,” Richard said.
    Ashira smiled, and her look changed to one of pure hunger. She fell to her knees before him. She pulled at his chausses, freeing his cock. Her tongue snaked out to wet her lips.
    “Then you are mine.” Her mouth descended on him, taking his full length in a single motion.
    Richard groaned as her wet tongue encircled him. Her cheeks pulled in as she sucked hard on his shaft.
    Realizing he was free from her divine bondage, Richard brutally grasped on to her long fall of golden hair and held her head still. Her glittering, purple-colored eyes looked up at him. Their corners lifted. She approved of his show of control.
    He surged again and again into her mouth. He waited for the telltale sounds of her throat’s resistance, but she took all of him without complaint. He could feel the power surging through her body. His heart began to pound to the beat of it. He thrust in time to the primal rhythm. Her long fingers bit into the flesh of his hips, holding him as mercilessly as he held her.
    He had gone past the usual point of climax, but she continued to pull the dark pleasure from him.
    “Do you swear to serve me?” Her voice was clear in his mind even though her lips were wrapped tight around him.
    “I swear,” Richard said through gritted teeth.
    White-hot ecstasy overtook him. His release gushed down her throat. Roaring out into the dark night, he came his last.
    Richard staggered backwards, and away from the creature he had entered into this damnable pact with. His skin felt branded by her touch. He opened and closed his fist, marveling at the feel of unnatural strength flowing into his body.
    Then Richard watched as all eight others took their turn with Ashira.
     

 
    San Francisco, Present Day
     
    Cassandra Davis drew in a deep breath as she looked up at the towering facade of the Mercy Club.
    The Arsenal, she corrected herself. Over a century ago, the giant stone building that took up a full city block had housed the largest military force on the west coast. It was one of the oldest structures in the city, a landmark San Franciscans could be proud of.
    But not anymore. Not since a group of nine investors had pushed the sale of the old Arsenal through the city council a year ago. They had renovated