Mallory

by Michelle Love

  It would be great to know if one was headed our way and about to turn us into Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. But then again, why would anyone want to know such a thing like that?

  A pounding at the front door has me looking up and I pick up both kids and carry them on my hips as I go to see who the hell is at the damn door. I suppose it’s most likely a fireman or some other emergency person coming to tell us the tornado is headed our way and we’re about to die.

  As I open the door, a tall man wearing a hooded, yellow raincoat pushes his way in quickly, closing the door behind him then pulls me by the shoulder. “Where’s the bathroom?” he asks with a gruff voice.

  “Over here,” I say and point my phone light to the hallway.

  He pulls out a big flashlight from his raincoat pocket and shines it down the hallway and pulls us along with him to the bathroom where he closes us all in together. “We’re safer here than anywhere else,” he says then pulls the hood back and I see who our emergency man is.

  “Jude!” I shout.

  “Not now, Mercy.” He looks at the bathtub and pulls us to it. “We need to get into that.”

  So into the tub we go, standing side by side. Carter holds his arms out to Jude. “Mr. Hurts, will you hold me?”

  Little traitor!

  Jude takes off his wet raincoat and tosses it out onto the floor then takes Carter. “Hide your face against my chest. Mercy you hide her face in your chest.”

  I move Mia around so she can hide her face and watch Carter snuggle into Jude’s wide chest then feel one of Jude’s strong arms pull me into him too and he holds us all against the wall. His body shielding us all.

  He smells like sweat and rain and I’ve never smelled anything more comforting in my life. His warm breath is stirring my hair as he breathes calmly and steadily. He’s like a rock.

  A sound so loud it sounds as if a train is coming right through the house has both kids covering their little ears. I think they might be screaming but it’s too loud to tell for sure.

  I close my eyes as I hear some crashing sounds and feel Jude’s arm tighten around me. His head is pressing down on mine and then the sound fades. Both of our phones’ alerts go off, making us all jump and Jude grabs his, shutting it off then he takes mine out of my hand and turns it off too.

  The wind is still raging outside but the crashing sounds and the train sounds are over. I look at him and mouth, “Thank you.”

  He says, “You’re welcome, baby.”

  My body is trembling as the sounds fade further away and I realize I’m holding Mia way too tightly. I loosen my tight hold and say, “Should we go see what happened?”

  “I’ll go,” he says as he hands Carter back to me.

  Carter looks at me with the widest I’ve ever seen the kid’s eyes. “What was that, Aunt Mercy?”

  “That was a tornado, Carter,” I say as I hug him. “But no matter what, we’re okay, aren’t we?”

  He nods and when Jude opens the door I almost fall down. All I see is rain falling in the darkness. The top of a tree isn’t that far from us and there’s a big, brown truck sitting in that tree.

  “Dad’s not going to like where his truck ended up,” Jude says as he looks back at me.

  I just start crying and hugging the kids. “You saved us. You saved us, Jude! If you hadn’t come at that moment, we’d have been right there on that couch and we’d have been.”

  “Don’t!” he says as he closes the bathroom door and comes back to us, stepping back into the bathtub and gathering us back into his strong arms. “Just don’t, Mercy.”

  He rocks us back and forth for a minute as I cry and then the kids join me and I know he was sent to us. I know it now. I look up at him and say, “I’m sorry.”

  He merely shushes me and places his big hand on the back of my head and pushes it down so I have to bury it in his chest like the kids are doing. I really don’t know why he came here but I’m glad he did.

  A knock comes on the bathroom door and I find myself saying, “Who is it?” Then I immediately feel like a fool.

  “Fire department, mam. Can we come in?”

  Jude smiles at me then kisses my forehead. “Come on in guys.”

  The door opens and a bunch of lights shine in our eyes. And in that blinding light, I swear I see my sister standing behind one of the firemen.

  “Hope?” I call out. “Hope, is that you?” I move around Jude as I hold the kids and I can’t see her anymore. “Hope?”

  Jude wraps his arm around me and kisses the side of my head. “It’s okay, baby.”

  I shake my head and blink as he takes Carter from me and we step out of the tub and let the firemen help us get out of the house. It’s still raining only nowhere near as hard.

  The lights from the fire trucks and other emergency vehicles light the place up. As we’re led to a police cruiser, I turn back and see the front part of the house is just gone. The back part is there. The four car garage is there.

  My purse is hanging from a tree limb so I point at it. “Hey, can somebody get that for me?”

  Some nice tall man grabs it and I see it’s still zipped up and since it’s leather I can be fairly sure all my important things are still there. Including the keys to all the cars and the motorcycles.

  The officer who meets us at the car says, “There’s a shelter open at the high school. That’s where we're taking everyone.”

  I hold up my purse. “I have the keys to my cars that are in that garage.”

  “And when the electricity comes back on, you can get them,” he says.

  Jude gives my shoulder a squeeze. “Come on, let’s go to the shelter and we can figure things out from there. The most important thing right now is to get us all to somewhere safe.”

  I can’t stop looking at Jude with adoration. That and complete gratitude.

  JUDE

  One phone call to Dad and he came to the high school gym and got us all. Then I took Mercy and the kids to my bedroom where we all are cuddled up after showers and everyone is wearing my T-shirts as the kids are snuggled in between us.

  Mercy can’t stop looking at me with such adoration in her blue eyes and I can’t stop thinking about how I’m going to tell her how I cost her, her job with my fast-acting mouth.

  Her hair is damp as I run my hand through it and gaze back at her as the kids fall asleep. “You okay?” I whisper.

  She nods. “Because of you, we are.”

  “Don’t go putting me up on a pedestal, Mercy,” I say with a light chuckle.

  “I’m not. I’m putting you where you belong. You’re our hero, Jude. Our real life hero.” She takes my hand off her head and pulls it to her mouth and kisses my palm.

  I frown at her. “Oh, baby, no.”

  She smiles. “Sorry. I know we have these kiddos. Not the place or the time.” Then she mouths, ‘But damn it, you’re so sexy to me right now.’

  I wonder if she’d feel the same way if she knew she was jobless now because of me.

  I’m not about to tell her that right now, though. Instead I smile at her and run my fingertip over her top lip, outlining it then the bottom one and am beginning to make myself very uncomfortable so I stop.

  Mercy looks down at the two, now sleeping, kids and whispers, “Why don’t you and I sneak out of this bed and go into the next room where you have that little living room thingy?”

  Oh yeah, I’m liking having her here!

  I give her a nod and watch her stealthily move out of the bed and I follow her actions and now I can see how she so easily left me in the hotel that morning. She’s a pro at it!

  I wait for her to come around the bed then pick her up and carry her to the other room. The way she’s looking into my eyes is giving me chills. She softly strokes the back of my head and I can tell she’s going to really get into it tonight.

  Who knew all I really needed to do was rescue her from something to get her to fall head over heels for me?

  Sitting on the leather sofa, I
keep her on my lap and she moves right on in. Her mouth is soft on mine. Her hands move over my face as she gently holds it in place while she delivers a mind blowing kiss with exceptional tongue action.

  I move my hand under her T-shirt and lift it over her head, making her mouth leave mine. I’m met with a molten gaze from her as her pink lips are barely parted. “Jude, I love you.”

  I can’t seem to move with her words. I know she means them but I never wanted them to come out of her just because I saved her from something. “Mercy, you don’t.” My words are stopped as her mouth crashes onto mine.

  She pulls at my T-shirt and takes it off, our mouths parting again. This time, our breathing is beginning to get rough with desire and need. She looks at me again with such depth to her eyes I’ve never seen before. “I do love you, Jude.”

  She tosses my shirt to join hers on the dark, hardwood floor then gets off my lap and hooks her hands into the elastic waist of my pajama bottoms. She never stops looking into my eyes as she pushes them down, letting my erection free.

  Her soft hands move up and down the length of it, making me moan with the sensation. It grows a bit more, swells a bit, making it have more girth and when her sweet lips touch the tip as her eyes are still on mine I nearly die.

  “You don’t have to do this, Mercy. I get it. You’re grateful,” I say. It’s not that I want her to stop because I don’t. I just don’t want her to feel like she owes it to me for what I did.

  “I am,” she says, making her lips graze the top of my cock and sending sparks all through me. “But I’m not doing this for any other reason than I want you to feel how much I love you, Jude.”

  Running my hand over her cheek, I can see it there. So clear. It wasn’t there before and now it is. “I love you, Mercy Noland. I think I always have. Even before I knew you, I think I had this place in my heart that was waiting for you to come into my life and fill it.”

  Then I get up and drop my pajama bottoms and pick her up off the floor and lie her back on the sofa. Moving my body over hers, I run my hand up her side and feel the goosebumps pop up all over her warm flesh.

  Her arms open for me as she can’t seem to stop looking at me. I move into them and as her legs spread open for me, I move into her, igniting a low groan from her.

  “You feel like home, baby,” I whisper as I kiss her ear.

  “You feel like, forever,” she whispers back to me.

  I can’t believe this is happening. I wanted her like this since day one and now I have her. Just the way I wanted her. But my heart aches for some reason.

  As I make slow strokes, she arches up to me and kisses my neck as her hands move over my back. Her body is warm and inviting. Everything about her is inviting me in. Telling me it’s all going to be alright from here on out.

  I want to believe it so badly. I want her to be mine like I’ve never wanted anything in my life. Her insides start to quiver and she moans as she gives into me. “Jude, I am yours.”

  Her words have me feeling voracious and I start to make harder thrusts, loving the way the hot air comes out of her mouth with each one as her breath is knocked back out of her lungs with the force.

  “Yes!” she moans as her legs come around me so she can hold her body even closer to mine. “Show me, Jude. Show me what it means to be yours!”

  Slamming into her, I find the urge to take her completely is overwhelming me. Over and over I claim her. My mouth runs over her neck then my teeth are biting her sweet tender flesh as she cries out in ecstasy, “Yes!”

  Her tunnel squeezes me as it convulses with the ongoing orgasm. Her entire body is shaking and sending me deeper into the abyss. Pulling out of her, I turn her over and stand up to take her from behind.

  Gripping her by the waist, I say, “Put your hands on the back of the couch and hold on tight.”

  She does as I say with a nod of her head then I push my very excited cock back into her pulsing chasm. Her back is so pristine I can’t stand it. So I run one hand along it, leaving a trail of marks in its path.

  The sound she makes is guttural and her insides go crazy as she hisses, “Yes.”

  I rake my nails along the side of her ass as I slam my swollen cock into her. A light slap I give her. The groan she makes ends with her saying, “Harder.”

  I give her another one and her juices really start flowing, making me slip in very easily. She likes it rough, that’s easy to see. I pull out of her again and pick her up then toss her onto her back.

  Holding her hands over her head, I thrust back into her and she bites her lip as she squirms underneath me. Her eyes are big as I move into her with a roughness that seems to turn her on.

  “You are mine,” I tell her.

  “I am yours,” she says. “To do with what you want.”

  As I slam into her and look into her eyes, I see something there I’m not liking. Complete abandonment. She really does seem to be giving herself to me.

  I really thought I wanted that but now, seeing it on her face and feeling it in her body as she works her hips to grind up to meet my hard thrusts, I feel like an asshole.

  The last thing I want to do is make her weak.

  MERCY

  Slowing his deep thrusts, Jude looks at me. His expression goes from fierce to soft and he lets my wrists go, pulling my arms to go around him. Softly, he kisses my lips as he transitions from the rough way he was handling me to being extremely gentle with me.

  One of his hands moves up my body and he cradles the back of my head with his hand. Then he pulls his mouth away from mine and trails kisses along my neck until his lips touch my ear. “You are my princess.”

  Running my foot up the back of his leg as my hand runs up his back, I whisper, “I’m whatever you want me to be.”

  He groans and grinds into me, making me feel better than I’ve ever felt before. Then his soft lips trail along my neck, coming back to meet mine and his kiss takes me further into the dream world I feel I’m in right now.

  I’ve given it all up. No more fighting about keeping him out of my life. No more hiding the kids, my fears, anything. I’m done pretending that I can be everything to the kids. I’m done pretending that I don’t need or want this man.

  I do need him. I want him more than I’ve ever wanted anything. And I’m done pretending I’m strong!

  I’m as weak as a kitten. If he wants me then he can have me. I am his.

  His body goes tense then his warm love pours into me and my body quivers with another orgasm, induced by his body. I can see a future with this man. I can see forever in him now.

  “I love you, Mercy,” he whispers, hoarsely.

  It feels so good to let these words free, finally, “I love you too, Jude.”

  Little kisses move over my face and then he’s looking at me with tenderness in his green-brown eyes. His lips are bigger, swollen from our kisses. I lean up and take the bottom one gently between my teeth and tug at it playfully.

  He laughs a little then kisses me again as our bodies pulse slowly together. Our love feels complete now. No more acting like what we have isn’t deep and real. I can be free with my love for him and feel confident he’ll always be here for me and the kids.

  Lifting his head, he ends his kiss and looks at me then says, “Since I have you in this position.” I find his hands moving down my arms, then his hands clamp down on mine, holding them to the sofa. “And you can’t hit me. I have something to tell you. Something you need to know before the morning comes and you freak out about work.”

  Taking in a deep breath, it runs through my head what exactly I am supposed to do about that. I can’t possibly go in. And the kids are kind of traumatized by everything so taking them to daycare is a terrible idea. I really need to take the rest of the week off to handle everything I’m going to need to handle. Maybe even next week too.

  “Oh work, I really don’t know how I can do it all,” I say as I look away from him.

  “So, it wouldn’t devastate you if you didn’t
have to worry about that?” he asks with a little grin on his handsome face.

  “Of course, it wouldn’t devastate me. But I will have to figure out how to do the important things I have to do there. And still find time to talk to the insurance company and stay with the kids. They’re pretty freaked out.”

  His laugh stops me from saying any more. Then his lips touch the tip of my nose and he says, “Great. Well, you don’t have to worry about work. How about that?”

  I laugh as I notice he hasn’t let my hands go so I say, “If only that were true, Jude. Now let me go, I kind of need to go tinkle.”

  “It is true and I don’t want to let you go just yet. You see, I have something to tell you and I think the first thing you’ll do is start throwing your arms around.”

  A sudden nervous feeling comes over me, taking away most of the euphoria the great sex had me feeling. “What do you have to tell me?”

  “I got a call from Lester, your boss. He wanted to know why I was pulling out of the deal.”

  “Oh, crap.” I shake my head. “I can fix that. You can still do it. It’ll be cool to work together. I jumped the gun with you being at the daycare and stuff. I overreacted. I can fix it all.”

  “No, you can’t,” he says and his hands tighten on mine. “You see, I kind of told your boss everything and he fired you.”

  “No, he didn’t,” I say with a laugh. “He didn’t call me or anything.”

  “In situations like that, you aren’t told until you get to work. Then the boss shows up, usually with security to let you know you need to gather your personal things and hit the road,” he ends with a little kiss that doesn’t do much to stop the aching in my stomach.

  “My God! Just because I have some kids I’m raising, he fired me?”

  “I think he said it was because you’d been lying to them for two years. I tried to fix things, but he and his wife were very adamant, you are out of there. Don’t worry, though. I’ve got you, baby,” he says.

  That should be making me feel better but it’s not. “Jude, I can’t let you do that.” My mind starts racing and I feel like crying. “I can’t face them. I can’t! I have two hundred dollars in the bank and there’s going to be some type of deductible for the insurance to fix our home and I’m out of a job!”