Mercy

"I think you're exaggerating," he sneered, leaning close and slapping his other hand down on the desk. Canting his head to the side, he dragged his lips over her jaw as he growled low in his throat. "I think you are thrilled, not terrified," he whispered. "I can feel your racing pulse, but you don't look afraid at all, you look like you hope I will press it further."

"Isoka is enroute," Ru called, stepping into the office.

Keen growled, but stood up and moved across the room to sit at his own desk. He was bent over his own computer when Osoka came bounding in, smiling maliciously.

"Aikeen, my love!" she crowed, hurrying to him, then hesitated. "What is she doing in here?"

"Working," Keen answered tersely.

"Why in here?" Isoka demanded petulantly. "There are other places!"

"She is my luck, I will have her close while I conduct business. Why do you worry over it?"

"I see how you have looked at her!"

"My eyes will take in whatever they wish, Isoka. I have told you this more than once! I will share time with you and let you use your mouth on me, but you will never be my wife or mother of my children. When the day comes that I lay eyes on the woman who will mother my children and I bed her, you and I will never share time again. You have understood this in the past, but now you need reminding why?"

"You look at her differently than other women you have allowed to taste you!"

"I have not allowed her to taste me," he growled, turning to Isoka in irritation.

"You haven't?" she asked, confused. "The way you look at her, I thought... so she is just your luck and that is all? Very well, I will not contrive to kill her for taking you from me then!" Isoka giggled.

Keen stood, looking down at Isoka in a fury. "You thought to harm her?" he demanded angrily.

"Only if you meant to take her for a wife! But you aren't!"

"She holds my luck! You would have destroyed me!"

"I would have created better luck for you! Carved it out with my knives for you!"

"Ru, Isoka needs time to dwell on her plans. Lock her in the tower for 24 hours without a meal!"

"Aikeen!" Isoka pleaded in horror as Ru came in to lead Isoka away.

"You will serve your day and you will come to me after and tell me what you have learned!" Keen snarled at her. "Think on what it would have meant to destroy my luck! Think on my plans for the future!" he demanded.

The girl left with Ru willingly, looking heartbroken.

Keen sat down angrily, then picked up his phone and texted someone. Several minutes later, his phone rang.

"It is done?" he asked in answer. "Good. Now tell her it is my command that she stay there for 24 days, not 24 hours. No one threatens to kill what is mine. She will end her own life before starving to death. Report when you have done this."

He hung up and Mercy stared at him in disbelief.

His eyes went to hers and he glared. "You think me too hard on her?"

"Yes!" Mercy cried, horrified.

"Do not have pity for her. She would have killed you when she discovered I intend to bed you and give you children."

"Even though I have told you no?"

"What you want doesn't matter, only what I want. I no longer wanted her and for that she would have killed you. I would not let her do that, and so she will consider her actions for some short while. It is likely she ended herself as soon as he told her I intended her to die. It is her way."

"What if she gets free and kills me?"

"No one can escape the tower."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. Yuon, make sure she has coffee until she no longer wants any, keep her cup full. Wake Jun and tell him I will need him to take over in the cells. Mercy, work," he demanded.

Mercy turned to face her computer, but she was at a loss. She was half horrified that he'd casually killed a woman, half terrified that woman would escape and kill HER and half thrilled that he was so dead set on making her come around to him.

Once he began working and making phone calls, she was able to focus more and start working as well until finally, the morning was gone.

Yuon led her out of the office for lunch alone while Keen had a meeting on zoom. Mercy wasn't halfway done with her salad when Keen came in and grabbed her arm in irritation, then dragged her back to his office to sit down out of sight before sitting back down to his online meeting. Yuon slipped in with the rest of her lunch and more coffee, staying silent like she was used to this sort of thing.

After he hung up, Keen sat back and looked Mercy over angrily. "You will stay with me for all business from now on!" he barked, still irritated.

"I didn't know I couldn't leave," she told him, her cheeks red.

"I told her to serve you in there for my meeting, it simply was not going well until I brought you back in. Now you will stay for all business! You should come over here."

"What? Why?" she asked, alarmed at the way he was looking her over.

"Get below my desk on your knees," he told her, his lips curled in another sneer she was beginning to realize was how he looked at her when he was in the mood. He wasn't disdainful like she had thought, he wanted her and she'd been misreading him.

"Ahh... ummm, no thank you," she told him, her face red.

"I have given up my release so she would not kill you! The least you could do is take her place."

"I... don't really do that," she told him, hunching over her laptop and squeezing her eyes shut.

Hadn't she imagined licking along his cock multiple times now? She'd never even actually seen it and she'd imagined having it in her mouth.

"I will tell you how," he told her, sliding back in his chair.

"No. No thank you," she breathed, clenching her hands into fists.

"You are a rigid woman!" he grumped, spinning away and texting on his phone. "What will it take to convince you to mother my children?" he asked distractedly as he texted.

"That's... not how I was raised to do things? Where I'm from a guy asks a girl out, they date, then maybe kiss, then maybe he asks to get married, THEN they talk about kids. Strangers don't ask to just have kids."

"It is the same thing. A mother would be a wife."

"People don't just kidnap, threaten to murder, then hold captive and demand kids... and expect a girl to be cool with all of it. Yeah, just let me jump right into bed with you and have your kids. No, it doesn't work like that."

"You make it too difficult!" he growled. "It isn't that way! Tell me what I must do," he demanded, tossing his phone down and crossing his arms.

"Ahh... ummm... this isn't really a conversation I want to have right now," she told him, horrified. "I'm going to finish this now."

He grunted sourly as she bent over her work.

A few minutes later, Mercy looked up when the door opened and a woman came in, smiling at Keen. She was wearing very little and she quickly lost that as she yanked her dress off halfway to him.

"Nnn," he shook his head as she climbed on him. Pushing her to her knees behind his desk, his hand guided her, then he lifted his eyes to look at Mercy while the woman sucked his cock.

Mercy turned away, blushing, but she could hear everything. It was distracting enough that she got no work done at all until she heard the woman leave.

Glancing over her shoulder, Keen was still watching her, his look calculating. "It bothered you," he stated.

"What?"

"When I ordered one of the followers to come to me and had her service me. It bothered you. You were jealous."

"I was NOT! I was ashamed for her and for you! I wished I could leave, it was horrifying!"

"You wish it was you. You wish I would have demanded it and not asked. You did not want me to take no for an answer, I am thinking."

"Bullshit! That is NOT true at all! That's rape and..."

"I think you want me to talk you into it," he went on, standing up and coming around his desk. "It thrills you to think that you can object and keep your morality, but still have what you really want pushed on you. Forced. You want me to hold you down and make you scream my name and be able to say afterward it wasn't your fault. I made you do it. You want to enjoy it, but not be ashamed of yourself for enjoying it. You need only let go of the shame, Mercy," he shrugged. "Then we can both enjoy it, can't we?"

"You're wrong!" she told him vehemently, turning and clutching her laptop like a shield.

Wasn't he a little bit right? She had imagined him forcing pleasure out of her since before she knew his name.

His dark chuckle sent shivers up her spine.

Keen stayed in the office until late and Mercy let herself get distracted with work. She'd never paid much attention before, but now she was trying to put pieces together, to figure things out.

When Keen touched her shoulder, she jerked and gasped, hunching away from him.

"What?" she demanded heatedly.

"It is time for dinner," he told her mildly, pulling her to stand.

Trying to tug away from his grip, he only tightened his grip until she stopped trying to get away. Keen looked down at her with a cold expression, then shoved her to the wall suddenly, looking her face over as he took hold of her throat gently.

"Mercy... I will not ask you again. Say you will mother my children," he demanded, his voice rough. "Do you know who I am? How many would rush to me for this honor? Say yes!"

"No! No, I won't ever say yes!" she told him, looking down and away, closing her eyes when he growled angrily in her face.

Shoving away from the wall roughly, he pulled her out to the hall, then to the dining room that was already filling with people. Angrily, he shoved her to the seat next to him where Isoka had sat before, then sat down with clenched teeth.

Sensing his mood, most everyone remained quiet and subdued. Mercy sat tensely, unable to eat as she stared down at her plate and gripped the table in fear.

He said nothing, only finishing silently, then standing and pulling her with him to the room where he 'held court' as she was beginning to think of it.

Sitting her down next to him on the loveseat, he forced her to lay her head in his lap as he spread her long curls out over the length of his lap. Mercy was curled up on the loveseat, trapped with her head in his lap as he held her by the throat and a long thumb stroked over her lower lip again and again.

His angry gaze dropped down to her every single time there was a lull in who was being brought in and Mercy wasn't even listening anymore, just watching his face. His lips as he spoke, his jaw as it clenched, his eyes when they bore into hers. She stayed quiet and said or did nothing, only looking up at him as he held her down on his lap.

At the end of the night, he pulled her up to his bedroom, then hesitated with an angry grimace as he looked her face over.

"My bedroom is down there," she told him flatly, knowing what he wanted.

Keen growled viciously, then let her go with a shove into Ru before slamming his door. Seconds later there were things smashing and crashing into the walls in his room as she screamed wordlessly.

"Do not take it too far," Ru hissed angrily, shoving her into her room and shutting her in angrily.

She could still hear Keen throwing things and having a complete tantrum.

Ducking into the bathroom, she took a long shower and when she came out, everything was quiet.

Yuon woke her in the morning and helped her dress again, then brought her down to breakfast where Keen glared at his phone and ignored her. He ignored her all morning, as if he thought he were punishing her.

After lunch, he brought in another girl to 'service' him and Mercy didn't even turn around when she came in. Ignoring it completely, she kept working.

Moments after she left, Keen jerked Mercy's chair around to face him. "You will stop casting me indifference!" he yelled in her face.

"What?" she asked, confused. "Keen, I..."

"You do not get to be familiar with me, bitch!" he hissed, his hand closing around her throat painfully tight. "I am Aikeen to you!" he yelled, dragging her off the chair and pressing her face to the floor. "You should be made to kiss my feet when you see me and before you leave my presence! You should be WORSHIPING me! Yet you treat me as you would a stranger you have no acquaintance with! I will not have it! You will be MINE, Mercy! You will come to me and ask me to father your children!"

"I won't! You try it and see what happens! Make me miserable and see how it goes for you, Aikeen! You trusted your cousin, you said she has true sight, what will happen to you if you hurt me?"

"Silence! I will use you as I please, Mercy!" he yelled angrily, then stepped back and let her stand up. "Bah. Worthless, stupid gaijin," he sneered before storming out of his office.

Mercy stood on shaky legs, righting her dress, then sat back down to hug herself and try to stop shaking.

When he came back in, she cowered down, afraid he would come at her again, but he only went to his own desk. After a moment, he spoke again. "Go repair your looks, Mercy. I have to run to see to something and you will join me," he snarled. "You will look acceptable."

Getting up, Mercy hurried to her room to fix her mussed hair and put on a little make-up. Maybe they would get somewhere where she could get away?

To her shock and horror, they pulled up near the police station and within minutes, three uniformed officers were sitting across from them in the car. Mercy felt angry and betrayed by the men sitting there as Keen talked to them, spoke to them about the price of failure.

The three younger men left and were soon replaced by two older officers who seemed more chummy with Keen.

One of them looked Mercy over with a leer. "This one looks sweeter than the last one. Bet she's twice as twisted, isn't she?" he chuckled.

"Remove your eyes for her or your eyes will be removed from you," Keen snapped.

"Sorry, didn't know she was anything but another toy like the other one. You never invited us to your wedding."

"Keep your words where they belong," Keen hissed acidly.

"He doesn't mean anything," the other one spoke up, smacking the other guy's arm. "We'll have the docks cleared and our guy on the inside will give you the signal when the other guy is about to call in backup. Just make it look like an accident, ok? So we can get one of ours in there in his place. Don't do anything in front of the kid that can be led back to you. We'll take care of the rest. And Foster won't fuck up again, he's a good kid. He didn't know them was your boys. He knows now how to tell. We got him in our pocket and it's easier to keep one who fucks up once than it is to train a new one, right?"

"See that he never makes the mistake again," Keen growled, reaching over suddenly to slide his fingers into Mercy's hair.

It was the first he had touched her since they'd gotten in the car.

"This one," the man across from them spoke respectfully. "She your new thing? Someone we should be watching for and listening to?"

"She is no one to you! But if she tells you a thing, it would be from my lips and you would do well to listen. Never disrespect her, ever. She is mine."

"Copy that, boss. You need anything else from us?"

"No. Yes. The new woman inside, the bitch who has a hardon for taking me down. I want her disposed of in a very public way. Not my way, someone else's way. Tonight. Do this and I will know your loyalty."

"Kincaid has nothing on you, boss!" the other man spoke up, shocked. "She's just blowing smoke and talking big, she..."

"Shut up, Browning!" the other man snapped. "I understand, boss. No one targets you, message is loud and clear. No matter how little they have on you. It will be done."

"That one will pull the trigger," Keen sneered at 'Browning'. "And I will know if he does not. My new pet makes Isoka look like a preschooler, so do not cross me."

"He'll do it," the other man agreed quickly of the very pale Browning.

"Go now. Ru will have your payments ready by the first. Same locker as before."

"Thanks," the other man nodded, stepping out and shoving Browning when they were out. "Stupid mouthy asshole, when will you learn to just shut up?" he demanded as they walked away.

A few minutes later, a woman got in and sat down. "Keen," she nodded, then glanced at Mercy. "Ma'am."

"Kincaid," Keen smirked. "You've made me promises you are not coming through on."

"I just need more time. I have to work around people, you know how it is in a big organization!"

"Are you trying to play me, Kincaide? Bide your time until you can pin me down?"

"Of course not, I ain't stupid, Keen! I KNOW the price of failure and I am trying to get things ready! I need two more weeks! That's all."

"You said that three weeks ago. You've had enough time, Kincaide. You have until Saturday. You may go."

"I'll need more time! And I need to know about what you want to do at the docks?"

"I am calling off the docks until you deliver on your promises."

"It's just going to take time!"

"You will work faster. You seem to think I care if you get caught. I do not. You made me a promise, you WILL deliver. You know the price of failure. Go."

Kincaide left, growling about getting it done.

Mercy looked at Keen as they pulled away, but said nothing.

They stopped again next to a park and after a few minutes, two men in suits got in. "Mr Murakami," the first man nodded.

"I have asked you before to call me Keen," Keen snapped. "Why is Kincaide dicking me around? You told me your higher ups had given her the green light."

"They did, we don't know what she's doing. She's trying to pull some maverick bullshit and pin you down without ever getting you any of the cash."

"She's an idiot," the other man spat. "She has no real idea who she's dealing with and she's seen too many fucking movies."

"Who will they replace her with?"

"Is she out?"

"She will be by tomorrow. Who?"

"Man name of Jason Westrose. He'll come to the table easy enough, we think. His dad was a cop, forced him into it and he's resentful. Never lived up to the old man's name, but got everywhere because of it. He'll be easy to bring round with a little money flashed at him. Pay off his mortgage so his cunt of a wife lays off him. Pardon my language ma'am. You flash cash and he'll be quick to play ball. Honey with him though, not the stick. He won't give a shit if you off his wife, he might fucking thank you. Come at him flashing hard and I guarantee he will come happily."

"You said the same about Kincaide and then found out she was working with your organization."

"We don't always know who has who in each other's pockets. Important thing is we let you know as soon as we found out. Who's taking her out?"

"Don't worry over it."

"That where your little psycho is right now?"

"Do not worry over Isoka either. Keep your eyes on your own jobs. I need information on these men," Keen told them, handing the man a folded piece of paper. "I will be back here at 3 tomorrow to get the information. Be thorough."

The man nodded and they both left and Mercy looked at Keen again, his fingers still buried in her hair.

"Those were FBI," she breathed in shock.

"So they were. Keep your curiosity in check, little one," he told her as they pulled away. "I am hungry," he told Ru.

Ru drove them across town to a restaurant, the kind that you needed reservations months in advance to get into.

Keen stepped out and offered his hand to Mercy and she didn't dare NOT take it. People were watching and she had no idea what he would do if she made a scene in a place like this.

He led her in and the man at the podium looked shocked, then bowed slightly.

"Two?" he asked quickly.

"Yes," Keen snapped.

"I will see to your table immediately, just one moment!"

The man left and came right back, smiling nervously.