“Oh God,” I cried as he teased my clit. “Don’t stop, please. Don’t stop.”
He kept at it, my hands in his hair, pulling him to me as I came for a second time - my body spasming and writhing underneath him, nearly taking us both off the couch. My thighs quivered until I couldn’t take it anymore.
Yanking his hair, I pulled him back up to me. He situated us so I was lying flat and he was hovering above me again. He thrust into me, our bodies crashing together once more. It felt so natural, so perfect, as if we were always meant to be together.
Jeremiah fucked me with desperation. His face contorted and twisted in a look of pleasure as he buried himself inside me over and over again.
He held onto the arm of the couch and thrust into me one last time - burying his shaft as deep as it would possibly go. A deep growl escaped his chest as I felt him cumming inside me.
And I came too, thinking about how he’d filled me with his seed and impregnated me. It was the sexiest, most intimate feeling in the world - being with the man who had given me a child, knowing that he loved me and would care for me.
Jeremiah collapsed on top of me, hardly holding himself up. We were as close as two people could be.
He stared deep into my eyes. “I love you, Elle. I love you so fucking much.”
“I love you too, Jeremiah.”
He kissed me then slipped his deflated cock out of me. “Please tell me you’re staying the night,” he said.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Ooo000ooo
I awoke to the sound of Jeremiah’s phone. I knew we had to be up early for the trial. I assumed it was his alarm, but heard Jeremiah mutter, “Give me a second.”
I rolled over and found Jeremiah climbing from bed, talking on the phone. “Yeah, yeah, I can be there,” he said. He hung up and placed the phone on the end table beside the bed.
“Who was it?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.
“It’s Sam. Says he wants to meet before the trial this morning. He has some news.”
Jeremiah looked at me, and I could tell he was worried. I was too. “Did he say if the news was good or bad?”
“I didn’t ask him. I assume it has to be bad. I haven’t had good news in a while.”
I rolled over to the edge of the bed and reached for him. Jeremiah dropped to his knees to be at my level. He kissed the tip of my nose, then my forehead, then my lips.
“Whatever happens, we will get through it,” I whispered.
“I hope so, Elle,” he said softly. “I need to get ready.”
“I’m going with you,” I announced, flipping my legs around until I was sitting.
Jeremiah didn’t argue. I guess he’d finally learned it was useless to argue with me. Or maybe he didn’t want to be alone. Either way, I was going with him.
I helped him feed the babies, and we sat mostly in silence - worried about the fate today would bring. Perhaps there’d be more charges for Lauren’s death - even though I knew Jeremiah didn’t kill her. I’d go to the police with what I knew. I’d also head over to Dr. Hammond’s office and see if he’d go with me. I made these plans in my head as we hurried through the rest of the morning routine.
God, when we have three, it will be even harder, I thought. But we’d make do.
We got the girls buckled in Jeremiah’s truck and headed toward town.
I took his hand. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I sure hope so.”
I noticed he glanced in the rear-view mirror a few times, watching something in it. I turned around and saw a black car on our tail. Frowning, I said, “What a jerk.”
Jeremiah didn’t say anything, he just kept checking the mirror, both hands firmly on the wheel. “Hold on,” he said. “I’m going to pull over and let them pass.”
He pulled over to the side of the narrow road, and we waited. No car passed. I was about to turn back around to check what was happening, but Jeremiah slammed on the gas and sped off.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s Alex,” he said.
“How do you know?” I looked behind me, and the black car was back on our ass, and I noticed the license plates.
RenRox.
Shit.
Lauren was dead. It couldn’t be her.
“What’s he doing?”
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, it isn’t good. We need to get into town,” Jeremiah said. “I’m heading to the police station.”
We had to get to the end of this road, then head onto the main stretch. It was about two miles after that. Not too far, but with a crazed man on our ass, it felt like an eternity.
The streets were white with a fresh layer of snow too. If things weren’t bad enough, the roads weren’t clear.
The girls must have sensed our tension; they both started screaming at the top of their lungs. Jeremiah clenched the wheel tightly, reminded that it wasn’t just the two of us at risk here - but our children. He turned onto the main road, and the car was right on our heels. He continued speeding down the road when there was a loud pop followed by another.
“Shit,” he cursed, zigzagging the vehicle.
“What is it? What are you doing?”
“He’s shooting at our tires.”
Another large pop, much bigger than the others, and the truck swerved uncontrollably. I thought he might have succeeded in hitting our tire. A loud rubbing sound followed, of metal on pavement, but Jeremiah didn’t stop.
We could see the lights of town in the distance. We were so close.
Jeremiah straightened the truck and continued toward town. We couldn’t stop. Because if we did, we had a pretty good idea of what fate awaited us.
The same as Lauren’s.
The same as James’.
But we had more to lose: the girls and the child inside me. Jeremiah drove like his life depended on it, and once we were within city limits, I thought Alex might drive off. But he didn’t. He pulled into the police station with us.
“Shit, is he crazy?” Jeremiah muttered.
A sheriff’s deputy was getting out of a car when we pulled in. I knew the guy; his name was Henry. Jeremiah pulled the truck up beside Henry and was about to get out when another loud explosion rocked through the air.
“Jesus, don’t look,” Jeremiah said, pushing my head down below the windows.
“What? What happened?”
“He shot Henry.”
Shit.
My heart raced. Alex was clearly unhinged if he shot a cop in broad daylight.
“Come on out,” Alex shouted, taunting us. “I’ve got nothing else to lose. Might as well finish the job myself.”
I looked at Jeremiah. “What’s he—”
“I don’t know, but there's bound to be cops. We’re at—”
Gunshots rang out around us. Glass shattered as our windows exploded. The girls screamed, and I feared the glass, or worse, a stray bullet, would hurt them.
Jeremiah yelled, “Stay down!” and climbed into the back with them, literally shielding their little bodies with his.
I did as I was told and stayed down. The window nearest me exploded, and I screamed as my shoulder screamed in pain and blood began to flow.
Lots of blood.
And then silence, except for the girl’s crying.
No more gunshots. Nothing.
Jeremiah raised his head and looked out the back window. I was scared for him, afraid he might get shot - but he said, “Alex is down. Teddy’s guys got him.” He turned back toward me and saw the blood. “Jesus, Elle!”
“I think—I think I’ve been shot.”
Jeremiah
Elle’s face was pale as the snow outside our window. She appeared to be in shock. When the EMTs arrived, I wanted nothing more than to climb inside the ambulance with her, but she reminded me, “The babies. Take care of them, talk to the cops, then meet me at the hospital.”
The EMTs had to pull her hand from mine as they lifted her into the ambulance. I sti
ll had no idea what had happened. Alex was dead, so he wasn’t talking. And the cops hadn’t explained a damn thing to me yet.
My girls were also being checked out by EMTs. They were fine, surprisingly. No glass had hit them, nothing. I’d managed to protect them.
But not Elle.
“She’s going to be fine,” Teddy said, patting me on the back. “The EMTs said the bullet didn’t penetrate, just grazed her arm.”
I’d heard that too, but it didn’t make me feel much better. If something had happened to Elle or our baby…Jesus, I couldn’t even think about that.
“Come on, we’ll get you out of here quickly.”
Teddy helped me with one of the girls, and we went inside. He gave us a private room. Out of habit, I said, “I’m not talking until my lawyer gets here.”
“Relax,” Teddy said, taking the seat across from me. “You’ve been cleared of all charges. We know everything.”
I stared at him, astonished. “What? How?”
“Before Lauren was killed, she spoke to Agent Dickinson. She told him everything. They followed up with the leads, figured it all out. George and Elizabeth are currently behind bars for the foreseeable future. But we couldn’t find Alex until now.”
That’s what he’d meant when he’d said he had nothing left to lose. It had been over for him, but he’d wanted to take us with him. He almost succeeded.
It felt like the air had left the room. I couldn’t breathe for a moment. I was relieved, so relieved, but it was hard to feel anything but shaken up after everything that had happened.
And Elle was hurt. My girls could have been hurt.
But they weren’t. Thank God, everyone survived.
“You know everything?”
“Yep. Lauren had proof too. Had she talked to me directly, well, I would have probably offered her our protection, but the Feds, they don’t have our small-town values, I guess. She didn’t ask. Not sure why, but she didn’t ask and told Dickinson she could handle herself.”
It almost sounded like she knew it was over. She went down with her family. She knew once they went down, it wouldn’t be long before she did too.
“Oh, and it was James who was working with the Holts and the Pearsons. He was the one taking bribes. Explains the new house, new car, and the vacation, I guess. It was all set up from the beginning to look like it was you, though. They were good. Thorough.”
“Not good enough, I guess.”
“They were doing this to ruin your name, to take the mayor’s seat. And the Pearsons were just being used - they had bigger developers in the wings ready to swoop in when he took office, ready to develop the land for the lithium in our soil.”
“I wish I could say I’m surprised, but…”
“I know, I know,” Teddy sighed. “Listen, I believed you, Jeremiah. I knew you weren’t the type of man to do the things you were accused of, but that’s why the Feds got called in. Because we were too close to the case.”
I nodded. “It’s not your fault, Teddy. I know your hands were tied, but I’m free now? I can go?”
Teddy nodded. “I can give you a ride to the hospital if you’d like.”
“As much as I appreciate that, Teddy, I think I’ve seen the inside of a cop’s car a few too many times already.”
He chuckled. “Can’t say I blame you there.”
I’d have to call someone to come pick me up. My truck wasn’t going anywhere for a while.
Teddy left the room and I picked up the phone. There was someone I had to call.
“Mrs. Schaeffer? It’s Jeremiah.” I cringed, hating to be the one to tell her about her daughter ending up in the hospital - but we needed to do it at some point.
We had a lot of news to break to her; this was only just the beginning.
Ooo000ooo
“Oh my sweet Ellie bean,” Pamela cried, rushing to her daughter’s side.
I stood back, holding the twins close. There was no way I was letting them out of my sight. The threat was gone, sure, but I couldn’t imagine wanting to be more than a few feet from them for a while. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be okay with that again. Poor girls, I thought. They’re going to have one protective ass dad. Probably would have been regardless, but when you’re nearly driven off the road by a psychopath with your family inside, well, it’s easy to feel a little more nervous than usual.
I hadn’t told Pamela I was involved with her daughter. I also hadn’t told her Elle was pregnant. Those were things we’d tell her together.
Josie was at Elle’s side and moved to let Pamela get closer to her.
She seemed to be fine. She was no longer pale. There was no more blood soaking through her shirt. She was in a hospital gown and her arm was wrapped in gauze. She smiled as we’d entered. Even though they’d told me she would be fine, I had to see for myself.
“What did the doctor say?” I asked.
“He said that I was hit with glass and only grazed by a bullet. We’ll probably find the bullet in your seat or something.” She let out a nervous chuckle. Not because it was funny, but because after everything we’d been through, the emotions could drive you a bit crazy. I understood that feeling well.
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” Pamela said. Her eyes moved between us. “But I’m curious, why were you two together so early this morning?”
Elle opened her mouth to answer but seemed to think better. I didn’t know how much she wanted to tell her mother right now. She glanced at me and asked, “Should we tell her?”
“I think so,” Josie added, reminding us both she was there.
This brought more chuckles and nervous laughter from Elle. She stared down at where her mother’s hand was entwined with hers.
“What do you think, Jeremiah?”
“I’m ready to tell her when you are.”
“Tell me what?” Pamela looked between the two of us. “Someone better tell me something. I’m starting to panic.”
“Oh, no, don’t worry Mom,” Elle rushed, patting her mother’s hands. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and spit it out. “Jeremiah and I are together.”
“Together?”
“Yes, as in we’re dating.”
Pamela’s eyes widened and she stood up, seemingly unsure how to handle that information. Before she could say anything, Elle continued.
“And I’m pregnant with his child.”
“You’re what?”
“You’re going to be a grandmother, Pamela.” She looked at me, and at first, I thought I saw anger in her eyes.
“You and Elle? What would—” she stopped. “You know what, I think I know what Carl would say.” I cringed, fearing the worst. “He would say as long as you treat her right and you’re both happy, that’s all that matters.” Her eyes met mine. “You were one of his favorite people. I don’t see why he would disapprove, once he got over the initial shock.”
“Thank you, Pamela.”
“So are you excited?” Elle asked, nibbling her lip. “You’re going to be a grandma.”
Pamela lowered herself into a nearby chair as if she had to sit down. “A grandma? Well, I’ve always wanted to be a grandmother,” she mused. She took Elle’s hand and brought it to her lips, kissing it. “I couldn’t be happier dear.”
I closed the distance between us now, comfortable getting closer to her. I bent down and kissed Elle on the cheek.
“And I bet you didn’t think you’d get a happy ending?” Josie said from the doorway.
“No, no we didn’t,” I said, stroking Elle’s cheek. “But I guess someone’s looking out for us.”
I think we all had a good idea about who that person was. Whether or not Carl would have approved, we’d never know for sure. But I think Pamela was right. I think he’d be happy his daughter was taken care of, and I’d do anything in my power to make sure she was happy.
I’d give her the happy family she wanted.
Because deep down, I wanted it too.
Epilogue
Ell
e - About A Year Later
“You’re overrun by girls,” my mother giggled as she greeted me with a gentle side hug, careful not to smoosh the baby attached to my chest.
Jeremiah had Amelia and Grace, and I had baby Charlotte. We were the proud parents of three adorable little girls. Amelia and Grace were growing so fast at two months past their first birthday. Charlotte was not much older than when I came into the twins’ lives. It was almost like having triplets at times, and we certainly had our hands full.
But our hearts were just as full.
Jeremiah had a girl on each hip, but my mother took Charlotte from me, coddling and cooing. She treated all three girls like her granddaughters, and as far as we were concerned, they were our family. They called me mama, and I loved them as much I did my own. One day they would learn about Lauren, when they were old enough. Because even though I didn’t like the woman very much, in the end, she did the right thing for everyone. She did what was right for her babies, even though it cost her her life.
I took Amelia from Jeremiah, and he wrapped his free arm around my waist, dotting a kiss on my forehead as he held me close.
“Mayor Schaeffer, are you ready to go on?” a young staffer asked me.
“Oh, yes, of course,” I said, handing Amelia back to her father. She reached for me, wanting me to continue holding her.
“Mama.”
“I’ll be right back, sweetie. Mama has to go talk to these fine people.”
I kissed the tip of her nose and made sure all my girls were fine before heading up to the podium.
I was dedicating a large section of Liberty land at the base and in the mountains as a city park. I was also announcing our conservation efforts to keep the lands pristine and untouched - one of the main points I ran on with my election.
I stepped up to the podium and saw my family smiling back at me.
Josie was there with her husband Cyrus and their children. Other familiar faces too. Piper and Grant, with their little family. Lucy, who had once been my assistant editor and now ran the paper. I’d left her in charge, since being mayor and mother was hard enough. And so no one could accuse me of being biased in my own campaign, not that I had anyone running against me since George Holt was in prison. Felicity was off by herself, near the back, standing outside the doors of her diner. Her property butted up against the new city park land, and she was one of my biggest supporters.
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