by Ari Reavis
“And with that being said, I do not find that there is sufficient evidence to have probable cause to proceed with the charges against the defendant.”
Right as I’m about to release my breath and damn near collapse in relief, Terry stands up.
“Your honor, I ask that, considering the circumstances of the evidence and arrest, and the way the investigation was handled, this case be dismissed with prejudice.”
The judge is silent for a few moments, his contemplation visible.
He raises his gavel. “I dismiss this case...with prejudice.”
The gavel slams down just as my heart rises up to my throat. Is this a dream? Is it really over? Am I really going home? If I wake up and I’m back in that cell, I am seriously going to beat somebody’s ass. I stand on shaky legs as Terry thanks the judge, and an officer comes over to me.
“We did it. You’re free. It’s over,” Terry says.
But my eyes are only on my family. On my mom’s eyes that are filled with joyous tears, on my dad’s face that’s filled with relief, and Mariah’s smile, much more brilliant and beaming than earlier.
“Just a few more hours,” Terry tells me, and I nod as the officer begins leading me out of the room. “I’ll be waiting for you at the jail to make sure they process you quickly.”
I change back into my jumpsuit, which feels like literally slipping a set of bars back on, and am led to the room where the others prisoners are still waiting. Just as I begin to dread that I’ll have to wait until everyone has had their hearing and the bus takes all of us back, I hear one guard tell another they’ll have to use the van to transfer me back so I can be processed out.
It’s a very long twenty minutes before two new guards arrive and escort me to the van. As we pull onto the street, I see Terry following behind the van in his car. The entire ride, my leg bounces and one shaking hand holds the other. There’s no clock in the van, so, even though I know it hasn’t, it feels like hours have passed by the time we reach the jail.
The guards take me into the jail, then to my cell, uncuffing me once I’m inside. A part of me still feels like it didn’t really happen, and they’re just going to leave me in here, close the bars behind them and forget everything the judge said. The guard assures me I’m being processed and walks away.
“So you’re leaving, huh?” John asks.
“Am I?” I question right back. “I’m still not completely sure.”
He chuckles. “That disbelieving look on your face tells me you’re definitely leaving. Congratulations, I guess”—he waves his hand—“Or whatever you say when someone gets out of jail.”
“Thanks. I... I don’t even know what to say.”
“Say you’re gonna go home and marry that girl for coming to visit you every day, and that you’re moving far the hell away from here before they get a chance to put you right back in jail.”
“Yeah,” I nod. “All that and more.”
I write my number down for John while waiting for a guard to return, telling him to call me if he needs anything. Peeking at the mail he has sitting on the desk, I make sure I’ve memorized his home address correctly. A guard finally comes back, opening the cell and motioning with his head for me to come on. I begin walking, but turn around to look at John one more time before I leave.
“Thanks,” I say. “For just being someone I could talk to. For helping me not lose my mind while I was in here.”
“Same here. Hopefully, I’ll see you on the outside soon.”
“Whether you get convicted or not, you’ll have a job waiting with me when you get out.”
He nods. “I appreciate that. Bye.”
“Bye.”
I’m walked through the halls I hope to never see again and taken to a room where I change back into the clothes I had on for my date with Mariah, what seems like, so long ago. I collect my wallet from them and then there’s Terry, waiting for me. I throw my arms around him when I get close enough.
“Thank you,” I say.
“You’re more than welcome.” He pats my back. “Now let me get you to your mother before she breaks into this jail to get you herself.”
Chapter 23
It didn’t even feel real, sitting in the courtroom and listening to Miller’s lies, watching the evidence, of not a murder but of harassment, stalking, laid out before everyone. I could only sit there hoping beyond hope that the judge was seeing everything the way I was, clearly showing that Damir deserved to be free. When the judge said there wasn’t enough evidence, dismissed the case, my hand went to my mouth, desperately trying to muffle the shout of joy I felt rising within me.
But it all still feels like it’s not real. For him to simply be free after everything we’ve been through. For the simple slamming of a gavel to be all that was needed for me to have him back. We’re outside the doors to the county jail now, waiting for him. My eyes stare at the door, willing it to open, for Damir to walk through them, to return to me. A small part of me doesn’t believe it, feels like at any moment someone will come out the doors and tell us they’ve found something to keep him locked up for, breaking my heart anew.
But then the door is opening. Damir walks through it. And my heart takes flight like never before.
I was prepared, more than prepared, to see Damir walk through those doors, or... I thought I was. But nothing could have prepared me for the way my heart damn near leaps out of my chest when he smiles at me. He runs towards me and scoops me up, his arms under my butt so he can lift me high. My arms wrap around his neck, and he spins me around, not aware he’s not helping my nausea in the least, but I just don’t care.
“God, I love you,” he says a moment before he kisses me.
His lips are just how I remember. Soft, perfect. Mine.
When we separate, far too soon, I hold him close, my mouth going to his ear. “I love you too.”
He sets me down, looking into my eyes for another moment before he goes to his mother. Holding her tight, he tells her not to cry anymore, and then hugs his father, who discreetly wipes a tear with the arm that’s not around Damir. While Damien and Terry hug, and Evelyn thanks him, Damir comes back over to me, running his hands down my cheeks as his eyes look all over my face, like they’re trying to relearn every inch of it.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“I’m so far beyond okay right now,” I smile.
“You looked a little...sick earlier.”
I have to fight to keep from cringing. If only he knew. I’ve felt like complete shit all morning, since the moment I woke up needing to vomit, but haven’t been able to. But right now is definitely not the moment I tell him I’m pregnant.
“I’m okay,” I settle on saying.
“So you’re a free man.” Evelyn gets our attention. “What do you wanna do?”
“I want a real meal.” Damir chuckles.
“We can definitely go eat.” Damien laughs. “Where to?”
“Mom’s favorite,” Damir states then looks at me. “Why don’t you call Liam and have him meet us there.”
I nod and call him as we drive over. Liam arrives about fifteen minutes after us. I can only hug him with one arm when he bends over to embrace me because my other hand is holding Damir’s, and I can’t let it go. It feels like if I do, someone will come to take him from me again. I know it isn’t true, but even as the food arrives, I cannot convince myself to free his hand so we both can eat. His hand gives mine a squeeze, and I take it to mean he doesn’t want to release my hand either.
Because I know my brother, I ordered for him before he got here. When he looks at his plate, his hand goes to his heart while he fake swoons.
“You know me so well.” Liam grins before digging into his shrimp scampi.
“I do, don’t I?” I smile. “So, what exactly does it mean that they dismissed Damir’s case with prejudice?”
Terry swallows and then answers. “That they can’t bring Damir back to court for this case ever again. If the judge dismissed it witho
ut prejudice, then if the detectives found what passes for new evidence in this backwards town, then they could arrest Damir and charge him with the murder again.”
“So it’s done?” Evelyn asks.
“Yes, but...” He gives Damir a pointed look. “As I told Damir, Miller made sure he was arrested for this, and it likely won’t stop here. Especially now that it’s become clear he was writing fake tickets and harassing Damir. I’m sure the facts of this case coming out will damage, if not end, his career. He will be looking to hurt Damir more than ever. Which is why I suggested moving.”
“I was just telling Damir during one of the visits that there’s this huge plot of land that they just demolished a manufacturing plant on. It would be perfect to build an apartment complex on,” Damien adds.
“And like I keep saying, I have Mariah to think about and a project to finish,” Damir states. “I can’t just pick up everything and go right now.”
I notice Liam has stopped chewing and is looking at me. Having not discussed anything about moving with him, I’m sure he’s wondering what the hell everyone is talking about. We’ve never been far away from each other, except for when Liam was in jail. My biggest apprehension to leaving would indeed be him. He gives me a smile, maybe silent permission to go, to leave him, but it still breaks my heart.
“If moving will keep you with my sister.” Liam shrugs. “Then I’m all for it. Especially considering there’s a baby on the way.”
Damir chokes on his food as his eyes snap to mine. I give a weird smile and a shrug when he looks at me.
“Really?” he asks, his eyes wide.
I glare at Liam, who looks like he’s ready to run, before my eyes move to Damir again.
I nod, my throat clogged with emotion at the happiness in his eyes. He does let go of my hand then, as he drops out of his chair so quickly it almost topples over while he comes to kneel before me. His arms wrap around my waist and mine go around his neck as he looks at me with so much love. I laugh when his hold tightens, like he never wants to let me go.
“Mariah,” he says low. “We’re having a baby.”
Even though it doesn’t sound like a question, I nod again and then his hands are on my stomach. And there is something for him to get his hands on now. They curve around my little bump that was hidden by my flowing dress, and his smile grows impossibly bigger.
“I mean, I didn’t want to say anything, but I thought you’d gained weight.” He chuckles.
I smack his arm as I laugh. “Gee thanks.”
“How many months are you?” he asks, eyes still on my stomach.
“A little over two months. Ten weeks now.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks.
“I didn’t know what that news would do to you in jail. If it would make things better or worse.” I explain. “And I knew you would get out. I knew, so I could wait to tell you and have this moment we’re having right now, where you could touch me and touch our baby.”
“You were alone,” his eyes cast down.
“I was never alone.” I state, putting my hand on his chin and lifting his head back up until his eyes meet mine again. “Your parents were with me. My brother was with me. I was not alone.”
He nods, and the sadness in his eyes dims.
“And I won’t be without you another moment in this pregnancy.” I grin. “And since your baby is already giving me major cravings, you know when he’s not making me wanna puke, you can make all the late night runs to the grocery store.”
“He?” he exclaims.
I roll my eyes. “My can’t-hold-a-secret-ass brother has me thinking the baby is a boy, but I don’t know yet.”
“I’m sorry.” Liam chuckles. “I thought you would’ve told him the minute he got out. It’s not my fault you’re a procrastinator.”
“I will bludgeon you,” I whisper to him.
“But then your kid won’t have the best uncle in the world.” He smirks.
Yup, an asshole uncle.
When we get back to my house, Evelyn has us all eat a cake she baked just for her son coming home, because yes, she was absolutely sure that he would today. Although I felt full, now that I’m looking at this slice of triple chocolate cake, there’s suddenly room for a little more in my stomach. Damir tells us all he’s in desperate need of a long, hot shower and hugs his parents goodnight. Me, he whispers, he’ll see in the bedroom, and Lord I savor the shiver that runs through me because it seems like forever since I’ve had it. His grin tells me he didn’t miss it, like usual.
I tell Evelyn and Damien goodnight and rush to my room, and even knowing Damir will be in the shower for a while, I hurry to undress. It seems unreal, that Damir will be in my arms, in my bed, tonight. That I don’t have to sleep alone anymore, that I can wake up to his smile. I woke up hoping this is how this day would end, but actually getting that ending is another thing.
Damir walks in sometime later, nothing but a towel around his waist, water glistening in his hair and beard, running down his chest and stomach. My swallow is audible while my eyes travel up and down this man. He removes the towel, uses it to dry his body off, but none of that matters. My eyes are glued to his dick, hard and ready for me.
“I take it you got my letter?” he asks.
My eyes come to his then, and I nod, knowing exactly which one he’s referring to.
“We’re going to do every single thing I wrote in that letter, and trust me”—he tosses the towel aside and slowly walks over to the bed—“I remember every single word.”
He crawls up the bed, pulling the covers away from my body, revealing my breast, then my pussy. His eyes try to take in every part of me at once, a starved look in them, but ultimately they settle on my pussy when I open my legs to let him get a better view. A strangled groan leaves him before he starts to lower his mouth to it, but then he pauses.
“No.” He grins. “That’s not how the letter started. I believe it started like this.”
His lips come to mine, soft and gentle one second and hard and demanding the next. I moan as his tongue gently licks between my lips and quickly open for him, needing to feel his tongue against mine. His body lowers then, his dick rubbing against my pussy while our mouths clash again and again. Our kiss grows more hungry, even as we get more and more of each other.
I grind my pussy on him and damn near every muscle in my body tightens, needing the orgasm only Damir can give. Circling my hips faster, I begin to arch into him, but he suddenly lifts off of me. A groan of pure frustration leaves me, but he just smirks.
“That’s not how you got your first one in the letter,” he states.
“Fuck that letter,” I spit.
“Oh, such a filthy mouth. I know what I want you to do with it.”
I’m quick to get up, laying him under me and getting between his legs. He wants to tease? Oh, we can tease. I lower my mouth until the tip of his dick is against my lips and then look up at him. He looks like he’s barely breathing waiting for me to take him into my mouth. Instead, I lick around the tip, putting more pressure when I reach the vein under it. When he tries to arch up for more, I pull away.
“Mariah please.” He grunts.
“Are we begging?” I grin.
“If I have to, I will.”
“You do.”
“Please get your mouth on me before I lose it.”
“Hmm, I don’t really know if that’s begging, but...”
I open my mouth and take as much of him into it as I can, going down until he hits the back of my throat. Lord, the groan that leaves him makes me smile around him. I bob on him, sucking and tightening my mouth, licking from side to side on his dick until his hands go to my hair. He holds my head still and begins thrusting into my mouth. I moan on him as he drives as much of himself as possible in again and again.
My hand goes to his balls, massaging them until he’s groaning my name. I feel them tighten in my hold a moment before his body stiffens, and his cum fills my mouth. A few more
thrusts and he’s sliding out of my mouth. I swallow and find him looking at me with lazy admiration.
“I don’t remember that being in the letter.” I smile.
“That was the I’ve been in jail and couldn’t hold back special.” He shakes his head. “But don’t worry. There’s more where that came from.”
“There better be.” I arch a brow.
“In the meantime.” He gets up to his knees and kisses me. “Back to the letter.”
I lay down, and he inches down the bed looking at my pussy the moment I widen my legs. He doesn’t waste another moment before he lowers his mouth to me. I don’t know if it’s because it’s been so long or because I’ve just missed his mouth on me, but that first lick damn near brings a tear to my eye. It feels that good. He follows it up with circling my clit before he sucks it into his mouth.
I gasp as my body arches into his mouth, needing more, demanding more. And he gives it to me, his finger finding my opening and thrusting in fast and hard until I’m moaning, and my hands are gripping his head. His beard scratching against my thighs only adds to the pleasure, the contrast of the softness of his tongue, and the roughness of his beard scraping my skin.
One more rough flick of his tongue against my clit, and I’m falling apart, whispering his name as I hold his mouth to me and grind my pussy on him. He licks me like I’m the best thing he’s ever tasted. His finger leaves me, and his hands go under my ass and bring me even closer to him. Even when I try to put distance between us because my clit is too sensitive now, his tongue glides through my lips like he just can’t get enough.
“Damir.” I breathe. “I need you inside me.”
His eyes meet mine while he rises to his knees, hand pumping his hard dick as he gets closer. He lowers his mouth to mine, tasting of me when his tongue slides in. My fingers go to his beard when he lowers his body down and slides his dick through my wetness. When he lines himself up with my opening, he breaks our kiss and looks into my eyes as he enters me.