Mercury's War by Lora Leigh

deceit.
        She swallowed tightly. “You’re not acting yourself, Mercury,” she whispered. “Are you certain there isn’t anything wrong?”
        “Are you?” He had to get away from her; every word that passed his lips was a growl. He held his hand out. “Give me the vial.”
        “I can’t run the tests without it.” Did she pale? Was that fear flickering in her eyes?
        “You have enough. Make due.”
        As he spoke, the lab door opened and Kane, Sanctuary’s head of security, and Callan Lyons stepped into the room.
        Mercury looked up at the all-seeing eye of the camera. Like the labs. Always someone watching. How could he have forgotten that? Always the suspicion, always the eyes tracking and second-guessing.
        He turned back to Ely. “I asked nicely,” he reminded her.
        “Merc, what’s going on here?” Kane’s voice was questioning, but Mercury could feel his pride leader watching, tracking, smelling the danger in the room.
        “He doesn’t like giving blood suddenly,” Ely said nervously, moving to turn away.
        Merc didn’t touch her this time as he stepped in front of her. “Make sure you get everything you need from that vial of blood, Dr. Morrey,” he said softly. “Because you’ll get no more.”
        “You were ordered…”
        His growl surprised him. It rumbled, fierce and threatening in his chest.
        “I’m not Jonas’s gigolo, or his puppet. Tell him to get screwed if that’s what he thinks.” He flicked a glance to the other two men.
        Kane was watching him worriedly; Callan’s expression was thoughtful. Mercury had had enough. He brushed past the other two and jerked the door open as he moved through the narrow corridors of what had once been a Council lab. The cameras followed him; he could feel them now, and he never had before. Like a brand against his back, they burned into his flesh and sent a surge of anger pulsing through him.
        He moved to the first floor, turned down the hall and stepped back into Ria’s office, where she lifted her head, surprise showing on her face.
        “Merc?” she asked warily as he moved to the corner of the room, lifted his arm and jerked the camera from the wall, before turning to her.
        Ria stared at him in shock. His eyes, once a perfect golden amber, were highlighted with tiny blue sparks. She swore they glittered like blue stars against a pure gold backdrop.
        As large as he was, he suddenly appeared larger, his muscles harder, his shoulders broader. His fingers clenched around the camera in his hand.
        “Was I raping you?” he snarled back at her, his canines flashing and something more than rage flickering in his eyes.
        “Excuse me?” She stood from her desk slowly.
        “Was I raping you?” The camera flew from his hand to strike the wall across from her, and then she heard it. It wasn’t just anger, it was betrayal. Something in his voice, in his expression, echoed with it.
        “You weren’t raping me.” She shook her head slowly.
        He paced closer to the desk, staring at her, eating her with his eyes. She could feel his gaze almost as she would a caress stroking over her face.
        “Are you scared of me?” he growled. “Is that why you’re saying that? Do I frighten you, Ria?” He suddenly sneered. “Is that why you’re reluctant to take my touch, to feel pleasure from me? Is it too much like fucking a goddamned animal?”
        “Let me hear that word out of your lips again and I’ll give you an animal,” she retorted, her hands propping on her hips as she glared back at him. “You might be pissed, Mercury Warrant, but that’s no reason to take His name in vain. Settle down or leave.”
        Ria moved to sit back down, though her stomach was jumping with nerves. He was nearly enraged, furious over something. That rage, that hard, lonely look in his eyes