Will sat on that pile of hay, his back leaning against the barn wall as Mercy finished speaking with her Mama and sisters on the phone. He brought the bottle of water to his lips and sucked down half of it as he studied her. He knew he should be listening carefully to what was said.
Right now, he was too fucking confused, guilty, and screwed in the head to think of anything other than the fact that he had taken the virginity of the woman he loved in a pile of old, musty hay on the dirt floor of a barn in the middle of Nowhere, Texas. And now he was going to take her straight into the devil's den.
But what fucking choice did he have? Did they have? If finding Bebe in Torreon had been a long shot before, well, now? Sure, his gifts, that child's might be something that others scoffed at. That was how people were with anything they did not understand. They dismissed it, or if they could not, then they ridiculed it. In some cases, that went so far as hate. In that way, it was no different than any other prejudice, -ism, or -phobia.
Knowing that they had to do this, did not make it any easier, though. In fact, it made it harder. If the things he knew about Diego Garcia before were bad enough, this scared the ever-loving shit out of him. Why would a man like that even care that Mercy was some long-lost sister? Wouldn't he see her as just another commodity?
Once they were in Torreon, they were on the man's territory. That meant protecting Mercy would be almost impossible. With odds of hundreds against just the two of them. But hunches and dreams were not evidence that they could take to the authorities. Not that they could take any evidence to them right now anyway. Not when those same authorities wanted both of them.
Despite all that, all they faced, his body still craved her. He was hard as a fucking diamond. Just watching her pace that dirt floor and bite her nail as she said what was perhaps her final goodbyes to her family turned him on. Sick!
But not as sick as what had happened earlier, before that fucking call with Fate. What had he been thinking? Fuck, he knew he had been thinking with his little head. But he never had for a single minute considered that Mercy might be a fucking virgin - quite literally.
He was angry as hell with her right now for not telling him. And the way she acted afterward was no better. Well, after they had both managed to stop shaking and their hearts no longer pounded so loudly that it was all you could hear.
His woman had the audacity to smile, give him a peek on the cheek and say, "Thanks, City Boy. That was all I ever imagined."
Without another single word, she had pushed him off her. Stood up, naked as the day she was born, but certainly, with a lot more interesting curves, she had walked over to that magic bag of hers and pulled out a packet of baby wipes. She had proceeded to clean up, even studying the stains of blood and semen on the damned thing when she pulled it from between her legs. "Nothing to worry about," she pronounced as she tossed the packet of wipes to him.
He was too stunned at first to even clean himself. How old was she? Not as old as his thirty-four, but at least old enough... That she should not have been a...
Virgin.
His woman had until an hour ago been a virgin. Why? Why would a woman that looked like her still be a...virgin? Will was confident that it was not for lack of offers. She did not seem like the religious type? Besides most churches these days, besides the fundamentalists' ones, did not bother with the chastity and purity thing. So, why?
Not that he minded that much. Hell, a massive part of him, neanderthal though it might be, wanted to beat his chest and swing through a jungle, yelling that he would be the only man ever to touch her. Yeah, she'd probably kick his ass right now if she could read his thoughts. And rightly so.
He considered himself a modern man. He hoped like hell that his female colleagues did not find him chauvinistic, misogynistic, or one of the 'good ole' boyz.' So, why this reaction? What did it matter? But it did. It mattered both ways.
Why? Why had this woman never had sex? Why him? Why here...and now? And why the hell had she not said anything?
"Okay, Brad, you take good care of them, or I'll kick your ass. You understand me?" She nodded her head and smiled as Will finished off the bottle of water. "You give that baby a big kiss from me, Laura."
She turned her back, and he could almost hear the tears in her voice as she spoke this time. "Mama, I want you to know that you will always be my hero. All that you have done, been through, and gone without for us girls. There is no way I can ever pay you back for all that."
"I know you don't agree with me, with this plan. But please know this, no matter what happens, I love you and admire you. You are all I ever want to be when I grow up."
She sighed, "I need to get the hell off this phone and update Will. I love you all."
She held that phone away from her body. Her shoulders slumped, and her head down. He could not see her face, but he knew she was crying.
"Dammit," he cursed as he got up and rushed to her. He was still angry with her, but even then, he could not stand to see her in pain. His hands gripped those tiny shoulders, and he turned her around. She buried her face in his t-shirt before he could see those tears, but he felt the wetness drench the material and almost burn his skin like acid.
He held her like that for a couple of minutes. It was not those body-shaking sobs like when she broke down before. No, this was like gentle spring rain that scrooched the hard ground. A downpour would wash away, but that mist settled into the field, bringing new life, and causing things to grow. Like his love for her.
His hands brushed her hair back from her face as she swiped at it with the back of her arm. "What else did they say?"
She tried to pull away, but instead, he guided her back to the scene of the crime. They sat on the hay, and he wrapped his arms around her. Her head rested over his heart as her fingers skipped across his abdomen. He was beginning to think he would have to ask again, demand a response, when she finally spoke.