Authors: Michelle Love
MERCY
“How can one tornado mess up my life so badly?” I ask myself.
Jude is standing next to me and I suppose he’s taking offense at my words. “Messed up? Mercy, I’m here with you. You’re not alone in this at all. And I can fix it all.”
Sitting on the cement stair of the small front porch, I feel like crying. The house Mom, Dad, and I shared is no longer the home I knew. The neighborhood has gone to shit, just like my life has.
Jude doesn’t understand me and that’s hard to take. He sits next to me and sighs. “Talk to me, baby.”
“You wouldn’t understand. No one can,” I say as I look up at the black sky. “You can’t even see the stars here.”
He puts his arm around me. “Talk to me anyway.”
“I managed to pull my ass out of shock and get a job within a month of my family’s departure from this world. I had to gain access to all of their bank accounts, not an easy thing to do. I had to call the insurance agencies that I had to dig through tons of files and paperwork to find in the first place. And I managed to get it all taken care of in a month’s time.”
“And, if you were all alone, you could manage it again,” he says. “But you don’t have to. I love you and I’m here now.”
I swallow the lump in my throat and whisper, “But what about if one day, you’re not?”
“Mercy, no one knows the future.” He kisses my cheek. “I’m not going anywhere, though. And the future I’m building with you will always be yours, no matter what.”
I look at him and have to wonder if this is all true. If this is real and if he was sent to us.
“No matter what, I’ll be a full partner in that business?” I ask. “Even if you and I don’t work out?”
He nods. “I’m going to make it legal. I can’t pull it away from you, no matter what.”
It’s not sinking in. Maybe because at this time, the new business is in the talking stages. There is nothing concrete to make it seem real yet. And maybe it will never get passed this stage and I will have wasted precious time.
“Jude, I’m having a hard time with everything. All of it. You, the new job.”
“Not a job, Mercy,” he says as he shakes his head. “Opportunity.”
“Okay, the new opportunity, you, the fancy houses, expensive cars, all of it,” I say then lean my head on his shoulder. “All of it. It doesn’t feel real. And now that I’ve lost all I’ve worked for, I feel lost. I don’t have the luxury of feeling lost. I have to stay strong for those kids.”
“And you are doing that.” He takes my chin and makes me look at him. “Mercy, you are an extremely strong woman. I don’t want to take that away from you. I merely want to be a part of your life. A person you can count on. Everyone should have that, shouldn’t they?”
“I’m beginning to feel like a burden. Two kids and myself, that’s a lot to ask anyone to take on. When you add in that I’m pretty much homeless right now and jobless, well, it really makes me feel like a freaking loser. You can do better and you know it.”
“No, I cannot,” he says then his soft lips touch mine. “You are the best, I can do no better than you. I don’t feel like you or the kids are burdens at all. I feel like you all are enhancements. I had no goals, Mercy, until I found you. Do you have any idea how boring it is to live a life with no goals or aspirations?”
“No,” I say. “I’ve always had them.”
“So, can’t you see how you and those kids are helping me too. You all are helping me to be more human, more present, more of everything. I need you guys just as much as you need me right now. So let it all go for a while. Take it easy and let me handle things. I’ll get us set up in a nice home and things will start falling into place. Just you watch.”
Gazing into his eyes, I want desperately to let him take care of me. Take care of all of us. But I know that’s not his job to do.
A little voice comes from behind us. “I’m sleepy,” Mia says through the screen door.
Jude looks at me and whispers, “Can you let me take over for a while?”
I nod and lay my head on his shoulder. “Take over, Jude. I’m giving in for now, anyway. I’m too weak to do anymore, anyway.”
He looks back at Mia and now Carter as he’s joined her at the door. “Go grab your toys and books and put them in your backpacks. We’re going to a nice hotel to spend the night and tomorrow we’re moving into a nice home because you all deserve that.”
I jump as the kids starts screaming, “Yes!”
Carter starts running off with Mia right on his heels as he shouts, “This place is scary, anyway!”
Jude gets up and pulls me up with him. “Thank you, Jude. I hope one day I can repay all this kindness you’re showing us.”
“Don’t even think about it, Mercy.”
As we go inside to pack up once again, I’m left with an odd feeling. I’ve given up. I’ve given it all to him to take care of but the weight is still there. Nothing feels awesome like I thought it would.
Why is that?
JUDE
It took a whopping two days for my mother to track down one of her friends who has a house in Preston Hollow, a posh Dallas neighborhood full of mansions and much more like home to me. The owners actually live in Italy and the house is more of a tax write-off for them than a home they use.
Mercy and the kids love it with the tennis court, swimming pool and tons of spacious rooms. The first thing Mercy did was make a map of the house to help us get acclimated to our new surroundings.
The house had a skeleton staff but a full one was easily brought in to keep things running smoothly here. Mercy and I are lounging by the swimming pool while the kids are getting swimming lessons and I’ve never felt more calm and complete than I do right now.
Mercy’s on her notebook, looking at properties to build the fitness center on and holds it up. “Look at this place. It was an indoor shooting range. The owners closed it up three years ago and it looks spacious enough and in good condition. We could have it up and running in no time, Jude.”
She hands me the little thing and I look at the pictures. “I think you’re right. Would you like to call about it and set up an appointment?”
“I would,” she says with a broad smile. “Jude, this could be it!”
I smile back and say, “It could. Call that number, girl!”
She hops up and runs into the house to make the call and I watch her go, wiggling with excitement. Then a thought hits me and I ask the two women who are teaching the kids to swim, “How much longer will the lessons last?”
“An hour, sir,” one of them answers me.
“Cool. I’ll be back by then. Be good kids,” I say as I get up and go inside.
Mercy is just getting off the phone when I come in and her eyes are bright and so is her smile. “How about five this evening?”
“Great,” I say and pick her up. “And we have a free hour, so how about you and I spend a little alone time in our bedroom?”
Her arms go around my neck as her legs go around my waist and she kisses my neck all the way to our room. Kicking the door shut behind us. I take her to the bed and toss her onto it. “Strip.”
She nods and starts taking off the shirt and shorts she’d put on for the day. I have to get her and the kids some more appropriate clothing. I guess I could look at all of the sizes of their clothes and have a personal shopper get them because I know Mercy won’t ever let me take them shopping.
Her body is quivering with excitement as she lies on the bed and watches me undress. “Happy?” I ask her.
She nods. “Very. And you?”
“Very,” I say then drop the last of my clothes on the floor and pounce on her.
Her giggle makes my heart swell and I stroke her hair as I look down at her. “You’re really beautiful.”
She smiles and takes my face in her hands and pulls me to kiss her. I run my hand over her taut stomach then up to cup one of her breasts. The nipple gets hard right away. I give it a squeeze and she gives me a moan.
Her hands move over my cheeks and up into my hair where she completely messes it up as she runs her hands all through it. Then they roam over my back, all the way down until she has my ass in her hands and holds it with a tight grip.
I move my body in between her long legs and she arches up to meet me as I make my first thrust into her. We both moan with the sensation. Daytime sex is one of the best times to have it.
The pale peach curtains filter the afternoon sun, making her body shimmer with an iridescent glow. Her deep blue eyes are full of want for me as I look into them. “I love you, Mercy.”
She smiles as I make slow strokes and runs her hand over my cheek. “I love you, Jude.”
As I make love to her I can feel it building. Every time, the love for her builds up a little more. I find looking at her while I’m inside of her the most intense thing I’ve ever done.
I pull her long blonde hair out from under her head and let it splay out over the white pillowcase. The sun makes golden streaks in it and I whisper as I kiss her ear, “I want you.”
Her nails rake across my back as her knees go up higher. “You have me.”
One of her heels moves to the small of my back and she uses the leverage to move her body up to mine with each stroke I make. I kiss along her neck to the other side and nip her earlobe, making her purr. “I need you.”
She moans, “You have me.”
Raising my upper body, a bit, I look at her again and find her looking back at me with love in her eyes. “Tell me you’ll be mine forever.”
She smiles and my heart skips a beat. “I will be yours forever.”
I smile back and lean back down so I can feel all of her underneath me. Her body molds to mine as we both work our bodies to find the pleasure that lies within us both. Our hearts pound against the others.
Moving faster, a thin layer of moisture springs up between us, making our bodies glide along the others. Her moans grow into a continuous sound and I find my cock being squeezed by her canal.
Her breathing gets harder and it sends me into a frenzy to join her in the moment. I move faster and harder until I feel it welling up inside of me. I wait for her to completely climax then I let myself go and we both make horrible groans that fill me with joy.
She and I are something together. She’s made me so much more than I ever was before her and I’ll never be the same since she came into my life. I know it’s getting close to the time to ask her to really be mine forever, in name.
Laying still on top of her as our bodies slow their movements, I lean up on one arm and ask, “Isn’t life so much sweeter with someone to share it with?”
She nods. “It is so much sweeter sharing it with you.”
I run my hand over her shining forehead. “I made you sweat and your heart rate increase for ten minutes. That’s considered cardio. So we got that in today.”
“So you can go easy on me when you work me out later?” she asks with a smile.
“No way,” I say as I tweak her nose. “Tonight I plan on really revving you up. So make sure you eat a lot of protein at dinner tonight. I think after our meeting with the real estate agent, you and I should go out for a little dinner at a very expensive restaurant in town. You know, to celebrate the first step of our venture together.”
She sighs and I see a little bit of inner conflict then she says, “I think that would be very nice. I also want to run this by you. The kids really like their babysitter, Becky. So how about if I send the car for her and have her stay here for the night to take care of them so I can focus on taking care of you? All night long.”
“Oh, baby, now you’re getting it. That’s exactly what I want. You take care of me, I take care of you. It makes for one happy family.”
Finally, we’re on the same page!
MERCY
For the first time in my life, everything is falling into place. I’ve found the perfect man and he’s brought so much more to my life than I knew was possible.
The place we looked at is perfect to turn into a fitness center and dinner was perfect too. Now we’re going back into our bedroom and I’m feeling like I’m drifting on a cloud or something. Life feels surreal to me right now.
Coming home after eating at a five-star restaurant with a gorgeous man, to a mansion in one of the most prestigious neighborhoods in this town is not a thing I saw in my future. And now I can look forward to plenty of days of living like this.
As we get into our bedroom, I find the staff has placed a bottle of red wine on the small table in our room and a couple of glasses to drink it out of. “The way the people who take care of this house do things is remarkable,” I say as I drop my purse on the chair near the bed.
Slipping off my high heels, I take a seat on the bed as Jude pours us some wine. The day was eventful yet I feel so relaxed. Jude hands me a glass and taps his to mine. “To the start of a great thing.”
I nod in agreement. “To new beginnings.”
He nods and we drink then he takes the glass out of my hand and sets them both down on the nightstand. He pushes me back gently and pulls my panties off, leaving my dress on.
His smile is crooked as he turns me over on my stomach and pulls me back to get on my hands and knees. Pushing my dress up to uncover my bare ass, he moves his hands over it, caressing it with slow movements that have my entire body tingling.
Warm, moist lips touch one cheek as one of his hands move around me to take my clit between his thumb and forefinger. With a gentle rolling motion, he sends a heat through me that has me gasping, “Jude!”
“Shh,” he shushes me.
I get quiet as he moves his fingers over me with deft precision. My body is aching to feel him but I can see he plans on toying with me for a while. I finally feel completely at ease having sex with him now that I took two tests. One pregnancy test that came back negative and one test to see if I was ovulating and I am not. So pregnancy is a non-issue at this time and I can feel free to experience sex with him without worry.
Next week, I’m going to get on the pill or some kind of real birth control but for now, I don’t have to do a thing but enjoy what he does to me.
And I am enjoying it, immensely!
His fingers are doing some major good on me and my body is shaking as the wave rises up inside of me. Two of his fingers find their way inside of me just as the wave crashes and he moans as his fingers come back wet and he runs them over my folds as he draws them back.
I hear his pants unzip then feel his cock pressing against me as he pulls me back by my waist. He thrusts in hard and makes a few strokes as he groans, “God, you feel amazing.”
Falling to my elbows to allow him to go in deeper, he groans again and moves into me harder. Our bodies slamming, fills the room along with his grunts and my little moans as he’s taking my body to Heaven.
He goes on and on, making my orgasm continue. My legs are shaking and my body is going crazy then he’s leaning over me and biting my back, sending me way over the edge and I scream with a new wave of complete pleasure, “Jude!”
A low grunt comes from him and heat fills me. Then he pulls out and tosses me onto my back. Stripping his clothes off quickly, I start to sit up and pull my dress off but he says with a stern tone, “No.”
I lay back and wait to see what he wants. Once he’s undressed, he picks me up and walks back to sit on a chair and makes me straddle him as he slides his still hard dick into me. My dress falls over us, covering us as he holds me by the waist, lifting me to move up and down his long length.
Our breaths mingle in the air between us as we both huff and puff. He stops for a moment, leaving me still on him as he unbuttons the top buttons of my dress and reaches in and pulls both of my breasts out of my bra. He smiles as he looks at them and puts his hands back on my waist and begins lifting me up and down again.
“Better?” I ask with a smile.
He nods and watches them bounce up and down with my movements. I run my arms around him and make sure one of my breasts gets to his mouth where he eagerly pulls it in and sucks it hard and wanting.
It takes my breath away as he pulls on it hard and sends a sensation to a place deep inside of me. I’m panting like a puppy who’s just run a mile as he goes stiff inside of me and bites down on my boob as he comes again and it makes my body quiver with another orgasm.
Just as I think that’s it, he gets up and carries me to the bed. We’re both short of breath and he cocks his head to one side. “Strip.”
I hurry to do that and find him climbing onto the bed and his dick is still miraculously hard. “More?” I ask with surprise.
“More,” he says as he takes my dress and tosses it away then my bra too.
His hand runs along the back of my left leg, pulling it up until my knee is beside my head. He pushes himself into me again and starts pumping away. I cannot believe his stamina.
But with all those muscles, I can definitely see how he can keep on going like he is. Now if I can stay up with him remains to be seen.
But a girl can try!