Devlin's Grace

by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

  His mouth cherished hers, nurtured and nuzzled Gracie’s lips. Tingles danced along her spine and legs. Devlin’s kisses sent electricity through her nipples and turned her pussy moist.

  He held her and his hands strayed over her flesh, removing her garments with deft skill. His kisses continued and he moved downward to kiss her breasts until she shivered. Gracie’s fingers fondled Dev’s nipples and when they turned hard beneath her touch, she put her mouth over one to suckle. His moan of pleasure fired her further and for the first time, she dropped to her knees.

  Gracie took his dick into her mouth and sucked, evoking a new sensation for her. It was more than a little strange yet she liked it. When it stiffened, she used her lips to caress, and Devlin cried out with wordless delight.

  “Oh, Jesus, babe,” he said, “That’s good, real good. Don’t quit now.”

  Unable to answer, Gracie used her tongue and Devlin quivered. She continued until she thought he’d explode in her mouth and withdrew. Dev jerked her to her feet then backed her to the bed. In their haste for fulfillment neither turned down the covers and as soon as she found herself on her back, Gracie opened her legs wide. Devlin dived between them, his cock proud and ready. He entered her hard, swift and sure. On impact, her walls tightened around him to squeeze as he moved within, each thrust bringing a new wave of pure pleasure. Gracie’s body hummed with gladness as the erotic buzz of good sex claimed her.

  Their connection rocked them both and they spiraled upward toward satisfaction, each level increasing the intensity of the sensual spasms. Gracie strained against Devlin, clinging and almost crying for release. His guttural noises of bliss brought her home and they came in a wild, spinning rush of ecstasy. During the final burst of orgasm, Gracie cried out too and their voices joined in joyful noise, united in body, connected with soul.

  Devlin collapsed beside her, panting but grinning. He pulled her into his arms and they cuddled, close and sated. Curled against his chest, Gracie listened as his heartbeat calmed to a steady rhythm. They breathed in tandem too and she savored the intimate moment, happy. Dev’s demons might ride him hard and haunt him, but when they came together, the force of their loving banished everything in its wake.

  “Awesome, pretty lady,” Devlin whispered as he stroked back her hair. “I love you.”

  Pleased, Gracie kissed the base of his throat. “I love you, too.”

  “You’re staying, right?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “Good.”

  After a few more moments when she thought he might be drifting to sleep, Gracie thought about untangling to shower. Their combined sweat and musk must create a powerful aroma, but she didn’t want to disturb Devlin. He got little rest and if he slept better in her arms, then she wouldn’t budge. She could shower in the morning, after all.

  Gracie snuggled closer and tightened her arms around him. In his sleep, he shifted until his head rested against her bare bosoms. A fleeting smile played across his lips and she wondered if sweet dreams, not nightmares floated through his subconscious. Before long, she slept too and didn’t wake until morning.

  * * * *

  Gracie roused and for a few seconds failed to recognize her surroundings. As the warmth of Devlin’s body, still wrapped around hers, registered she blinked and searched the room for a clock. The big blue numbers indicated it was past seven and with her first class at eight, she should’ve already been awake. She moved, untangling her limbs from his with slow care but he woke anyway.

  “Hey,” he said, face brightening like a holiday light display. “You’re still here.”

  “I am but I’ve got to go before long or I’ll be late,” Gracie said. Her mind raced as she made a mental list of things to do. Shower first, dress, and hurry to the nearest bus stop. No time for breakfast, but she’d manage. More often than not, she skipped the morning meal anyway for economic reasons. “Where’s the closest bus stop anyway?”

  “I don’t know,” Dev said, voice still thick with sleep. “Don’t worry about it, Gracie. I’ll take you to campus.”

  “Okay,” she answered. “But I have to be there in less than an hour.”

  “Oh, Christ,” he muttered. He sat up and ran a hand through his tousled hair. “What time is it?”

  “Seven fifteen. What time do you have to be at work?”

  Dev swore under his breath. “Seven fucking thirty,” he said with a growl as he rolled out of bed. “I’ve got to go.”

  By then he had his jeans halfway up his legs and in the next moment he zipped them. Devlin plucked a clean shirt from the dresser and pulled it over his head.

  Gracie watched and as he sat down to put on socks, she said, “Then you won’t have time to drop me off. It’s okay, but I need to find where the bus stops. I’ll never walk from here and make it on time, not even if I started now.”

  The good mood she woke up with dissipated as Gracie realized she’d probably miss her first class of the day which normally wasn’t a problem, but there was an exam this morning, one she couldn’t miss. She should’ve studied too but didn’t. Panic crept over her happiness like a shadow moving across a sunlit strip of grass. Being tardy or missing a class wouldn’t seem like much to Devlin, she mused, and it wasn’t compared to his Iraq experiences, but it mattered to her, so much she fought against an unreasonable urge to cry.

  Glancing up as he tied his shoes, Devlin frowned. “Hey, what’s the matter? I’ll take you on the bike even if it makes me late or you can take the car.”

  Gracie cocked her head. “Car?”

  He paused. “Yeah, you can take my car if you want.”

  Somehow she’d missed something or maybe she could be a lot stupider than she ever imagined. If Devlin owned a car, she’d never been aware. “What car?”

  Fully dressed, he came over to where she sat on the edge of the bed and cupped her chin in his hand. “Baby, the old Ford parked out back is mine. If you want you can drive it to school or whenever you want. I never thought about it before, but you can.”

  She pulled up a mental image of the beat up old green Ford Taurus. Devlin always pulled up beside it, but she’d never wondered who owned it. “I guess I thought it belonged to someone else,” she said. “Another apartment person or the landlord or something.”

  Devlin laughed. “Well, it’s mine. I’m sorry, Gracie. I figured you knew. I ride the motorcycle all summer, but when it’s really cold or snowy or there’s ice on the road, I take the car. I guess I never told you, huh?”

  “No,” Gracie said. Her mind explored the possibilities of access to a car.

  His eyes cut over to the clock. “I’ve gotta go,” he said. “Let me give you the keys. Do you work today?”

  “Yeah, from three until close,” Gracie said as she followed him out to the kitchen. Dev plucked a set of keys off a hook and handed them to her. “I can bring it back here and catch a bus.”

  “No, you don’t have to do that,” he said. “Go ahead, drive it to work if you want and we’ll catch up later, but be careful. You can drive, right?”

  Amusement tinged her momentary resentment. “Of course I can drive!”

  “And you have a license?”

  If she hadn’t spotted his grin, Gracie might’ve got mad. “Yes.”

  “All right,” Devlin said. “I’ll see you later, sweetheart.” He caught her in his arms for a swift but thorough kiss then headed out the door.

  “What about breakfast?” she called after him. “Or coffee?”

  “I’ll get some at the store,” Devlin replied. “Love you, babe.”

  Those three words sweetened her mood and she hurried to the door waving. Gracie watched him ride off then dashed into the shower. A few minutes later, she hurried out to the Ford. Nervous, she climbed behind the wheel and started it. Despite the beat up exterior, the engine turned over without protest.

  Although she hadn’t driven for awhile, Gracie’s confidence returned as she pulled out of the driveway and headed to the campus. As she parked i
t like a real commuter student, not a poor girl who walked or took the bus, she couldn’t stop the smile bursting across her mouth.

  * * * *

  Despite her fears, the exam went well and she thought she might have aced it. Gracie didn’t doubt she’d passed it. After her classes, she stopped by the library and caught Lauren on break. The two women chatted about Devlin and parted with reluctance. Although he’d said she could drive to work, Gracie didn’t. She realized if she did, she might not see him tonight and Gracie didn’t want to give up any time with Devlin.

  She delivered the car back and used the key on the ring to let herself into his place. Being alone there without Devlin seemed almost an intrusion, but Gracie enjoyed it. She could be at home here, she decided, and maybe she would move in soon. For now, she wrote Devlin a note of thanks.

  Devlin,

  Thanks for letting me take the car. I brought it back in case you needed it. If you want, come by and see by at work. Maybe you can give me a ride home, too.

  Thanks for yesterday and last night.

  I love you, Gracie

  On impulse she folded it over and after she touched up her lipstick, Gracie made an imprint of her lips on the paper. Maybe Devlin would get a kick out of it, and she figured he’d understand the message of love, a virtual kiss.

  Although she wanted to keep the key to his apartment, she left it, key ring and all. If Devlin wanted her to have one, he’d give it and until then she wouldn’t take what wasn’t offered.

  Thirty minutes before the bookstore closed, Gracie glanced up to see Devlin ride up. By the time he entered the store, his appearance wicked and dangerous, she managed to move near the front. He came to the aisle where she zoned and straightened books. Gracie moved to him and he opened his arms. Without a care for the security cameras or the chance co-workers, supervisor, or customers might see, she folded herself into his embrace, where she belonged.

  Until now he’d never come into the store, just waited outside, but she liked his presence very much. And what it meant even more.

  Chapter Eight

  Rain battered the autumn leaves and knocked most down onto the pavement or yards. Halloween dawned gray and somber, the ideal setting for a celebration of something spooky, but Gracie’d hoped for a beautiful day to celebrate Devlin’s birthday. Despite his protests and insistence he didn’t mark the occasion, she planned to make it special. Accomplishing it wouldn’t be easy, though. Each time she mentioned it, he’d diffused any ideas, so Gracie was on her own with creating a celebration. The week before his birthday, she even asked his cousin, Lauren, who shook her head.

  “I don’t have a clue,” Lauren said. “Dev hasn’t let anyone do anything for his birthday for years, not since he was about fifteen, I think.”

  Gracie, who treasured memories of past birthdays, had to ask. “Why?”

  “I hate to say it, but it’s the truth,” Lauren said. “His mom forgot his birthday all together. Back then, we were close, Robert and me. When she didn’t wish him a happy birthday, he figured she might be planning a surprise, but nothing happened. After she went to bed, he knocked on her bedroom door and told her it was his birthday. The way he told it, Aunt Michelle stared at him, turned around and took a twenty from her purse, handed it to him, and said, ‘okay, happy birthday’.”

  Outraged, Gracie said, “How could a mother forget her son’s birthday?”

  Lauren’s expression shifted. “He’ll want to shoot me if he finds out I told you, but Aunt Michelle drank a lot back then. Well, she always drank a lot until she got really sick. I guess she just didn’t remember, but it hurt Robert a lot.”

  “I’m sure it did. I mean Halloween would be hard to forget as your only child’s birthday, wouldn’t it?”

  “Well, yeah.” The way Lauren twisted one corner of her lips hinted there must be something more.

  “What?” Gracie asked. “Tell me.”

  “It’s awful and I shouldn’t.”

  “Tell me, Lauren.”

  Devlin’s cousin sighed. “I just know what my mom always told me. When Dev was born, Michelle thought it was cute the baby came on Halloween, but later, when she’d be drinking heavy, sometimes she would say horrible things to him.”

  Anger sharpened her tone as Gracie asked, “Like what?”

  “Well, if Robert had been ornery for any reason, teased his mom, or played a trick on her, Aunt Michelle would say he had the devil in him. She did it all the time, but when she got toasted, she’d say maybe he was the devil, just like his dad.”

  Understanding dawned through her growing rage. “And let me guess,” Gracie said. “I bet his dad was named Robert, too. It must be why he doesn’t want to be called by his name.”

  “Exactly. Poor Aunt Michelle had a lot of issues. Sober, she wasn’t a bad mom, not really, but it never lasted. My mom always tried to protect Devlin when she could, but unless he’d lived with us, she couldn’t. As long as she was alive, his grandmother did what she could. Until Michelle died, my mom was one of the few people Robert would let get close, but on the day of the funeral, they got into a fight.”

  “Why?”

  “Robert drank a lot himself when he first got home from Iraq,” Lauren said, visibly upset. “My mom said something about it, begged him not to be like his mother. He got mad and wouldn’t speak to her. She forgave him a long time ago, almost as soon as it happened, but I think he’s afraid she might reject him so he stays away. He’s had a rough time all his life. Now you understand all the more why I’m so happy for him to be with you, I bet.”

  Gracie did. She also saw with a deeper clarity what made Devlin the way he was. Iraq did a number on him, sure, but some of the emotional damage happened much earlier. No wonder Devlin hated pity and why he’d had trouble knowing the difference between it and empathy. His mother’s death must’ve ravaged him, but with more guilt than grief.

  “Thank you for telling me all of it,” she told Lauren. “I won’t say anything to Dev, I promise, but it helps me to understand him more. He told me they called him Devil in Iraq to explain the horns on his motorcycle helmet and the mirror.”

  Lauren grasped her hand for a moment. “They did and I don’t think anyone knew he’d been called it before. I don’t have any idea what happened to him in Iraq, but it had to be terrible. Despite his mom’s drunken cruelty, Devlin went into the Marines a different man, happier, more confident. He came home different. I’m afraid having another person or group use the same nickname wounded him again.”

  “I’m sure it did,” Gracie said. Inwardly, she vowed no one would ever hurt him so deeply again, not if she could help it. And if she could, she’d restore joy to the day he was born.

  Although Halloween fell on a weekday, Gracie skipped class, a rarity for her, and took the day off at work. She begged the car from Devlin the night before and without even asking why, he handed her the keys. Although he acted disappointed, Gracie didn’t spend the night, but headed home instead. He’d get over it, she rationalized, and when he learned what she planned to do on his birthday, he’d understand.

  On the 31st, despite the weather, Gracie rose early. She finished packing up everything in her apartment and carried out her boxes, bags, and clothes on hangers to Devlin’s Ford. Then she spent an hour scrubbing the place until it sparkled. After it met her satisfaction, Gracie headed downstairs to turn in her key to the landlord. Once he inspected it, he forked over her fifty dollar cleaning deposit, grunted how sorry he was to lose her as a renter, and hung a For Rent placard in the window.

  At Devlin’s place Gracie carried her stuff inside and managed to integrate it with his. She gave the place a going over and brought along a few things to make the place homier, things like scented candles, a couple of throw pillows, her rag rugs from the other apartment, and two posters. One depicted a Honda Magna like Dev’s, the other a beautiful sunset. Her original plan included baking a cake, but by the time she’d settled in there wasn’t time.

  She didn’t
want to pick one up at Wal-Mart because Devlin worked at one so Gracie found a small bakery not far from where she had lived. The triple layer yellow cake – golden vanilla on the menu – with a rich chocolate frosting would be perfect. Decorated with a few fondant bows in blue and green, Gracie asked them to write Happy Birthday, Devlin across the top. Since she wanted to make a homemade meal for him, Gracie headed for a supermarket.

  Drawing on memory and the things she’d cooked back on the farm, Gracie created a meatloaf from scratch. She cheated on the mashed potatoes by buying instant and did the same with gravy in a jar. By the time Devlin would arrive home from work, expecting to walk into an empty house, she’d have the meatloaf baking in the oven.

  Gracie walked through the place, one room at a time, adjusting to the idea she lived here now. If Devlin hated her surprise, she guessed she could rent a studio apartment somewhere, but she’d hate it. Besides, she thought he’d be happy when he found out. According to his schedule, Dev would get off shift around three-thirty or four. By four-thirty when he wasn’t home, Gracie started getting nervous. When he hadn’t arrived by five, her anxiety records hit new highs. Steady rain continued to fall and the wet streets could be slick in spots.

  Worried he could’ve taken a spill she reached into her pocket for her cell phone and couldn’t find it. Before she could look for it Gracie heard the unmistakable sound of his motorcycle pulling up outside. A smile spread over her face as she peeked out the window, watching until she saw Devlin’s face.

  A frown line furrowed his forehead into two halves and his mouth drooped in a scowl. As he parked the bike and headed toward the house, Devlin’s face radiated distress. Uncertain now if his birthday created so much angst, if she should have made plans, Gracie hesitated. She almost retreated into the kitchen where delicious aromas escaped, but concern trumped her desire to flee. Before Devlin reached it, she rushed to open the door to let him in.