by Rye Hart
There was a long moment of silence on the line. I looked from Merle, to his group of men standing around Liam, and back again.
“Fine, boss,” Dean said. “If that’s what you really want.”
“It is,” I replied.
“And you’ll hook up with us later?”
“Count on it.”
I disconnected the call, dropped the phone back into my pocket, and then looked at Merle.
“Happy?” I asked.
“It’s a start.”
“The boy,” I said. “I’ve agreed to your terms, so let the boy go.”
Merle shrugged. “Fine. A deal is a deal,” he said and then turned to his men. “Let the brat go.”
The man holding Liam let him go and the boy calmly walked over to me. Standing before me, he turned his face to me, his eyes wide. I knelt down and pulled him to me, embracing him tightly. He said nothing and stood awkwardly, somewhat stiffly in my arms, but at least he wasn’t pulling away. It was a strange sensation that coursed through me, but in a way, I felt paternal toward the boy.
Merle walked back to his men, who'd fanned out in a line. He looked at me, a cruel smile upon his lips.
“This little reunion is touching and all, but really, it's time for us to be on our way,” he said. “Boys, kill them both.”
Merle's men stepped forward, bringing their guns to bear. I gritted my teeth, cutting a quick glance at the forest. And then, as if I was witnessing a miracle, the night was lit up by multiple muzzle flashes and the chattering of automatic gunfire shattered the night air.
Merle's men screamed, some of them hitting the ground in pools of blood. They spun toward the forest and started firing wildly. I pulled Liam to the ground, shielding him with my body as the shots rang out.
The gun battle was fierce, but short lived. Dean and my men had the high ground and the cover. Merle's men were out in the open and exposed, just as we'd planned. When I looked up, not a single one of Merle's men were left standing. They were all laying in bloody heaps on the cracked pavement of the old warehouse parking lot.
Dean and the guys were coming down out of the woods, laughing and high-fiving each other. I stood up and helped Liam to his feet. Squatting down, I looked him in the eye.
“Are you okay?”
The boy looked at me, his dark, soulful eyes boring into mine – but he said nothing. He just returned my gaze. I stood up and ruffled his hair.
“Yeah, you seem okay to me.”
Dean walked over to me and I pulled him into a tight embrace. “Good to see you alive and in one piece,” he said.
“Yeah, you too, brother. Great work,” I said. “Do me a favor, stay here with the kid for a minute.”
“You got it, boss.
I walked over to the group of bodies on the ground and started looking around, and when I didn't find what I was looking for, a knot formed in my belly, constricting painfully.
“Where's Merle?” I asked. “Did anybody see Merle?”
Everybody else looked at one another, shaking their heads.
“Shit,” I said and hustled back to Dean. “Where did you park the vans?”
“Miller's Road,” I said. “Half a mile back through the trees.”
I wasn't sure how, I just knew I had to get back to the vans – back to Grace. If Merle knew about Liam, he knew about her. And something inside of me – some sixth sense or primal part of my brain – told me that she was in danger.
“Give me a gun,” I called out.
One of my men tossed me a Glock. I did a quick check of the clip, saw it was full, and tucked it into the waistband of my jeans.
“Stay with the kid,” I said.
Turning, I sprinted off through the woods, my heart thundering in my chest and my adrenaline surging. The night was dark, and within the confines of the forest, it was even darker. With as quickly and carelessly as I was moving, I was having a hard time keeping myself on my feet and avoiding tree roots, holes in the ground, or any other number of things that could have tripped me up and broken my leg. Or worse.
Somehow, I managed to find Miller's Road, still on my feet, and in one piece. The vans were parked about fifty yards down the road from where I stood. And when I looked, I felt my pulse race while my heart sank at the same time.
“Knox,” Merle yelled. “Get your ass over here. Now.”
Swallowing the lump in my throat while trying to control the knots in my stomach, and keep my head clear, I marched down the road. Merle was there, standing behind Grace, his arm around her throat and a gun pointed at her head.
“Grace, are you okay?” I asked.
“I'm fine,” she said, sounding a lot calmer than I would have imagined she'd be.
There was fear on her face and her eyes shimmered with tears. But for the most part, she was holding herself together admirably well – reinforcing the idea in my head that she was made of a lot sterner stuff than I gave her credit for. When I first met her, I thought she'd be a delicate little flower with delicate little sensibilities.
But she was ferocious. Tough. There was a core of strength in her that surprised me.
“You killed my men, you son of a bitch,” Merle seethed.
“You were going to kill me and the boy,” I said. “So, let's not split hairs about who screwed who over, huh? Now, why don't you just step away from Grace and let's kill each other like civilized human beings.”
“I don't think so,” he said. “I'm just going to kill you both.”
“Your beef is with me,” I yelled. “Leave her out of it.”
“I'd really like to, but –”
Grace moved so quickly, I barely had time to process what was happening, let alone react. She slammed her head backward, smashing it into Merle's face with so much force, I heard the crack from where I was standing.
Merle howled in pain and grabbed for his nose, the blood pouring down his face – and he loosened his grip on her. Grace smartly dove to the side, landing on the ground and lying flat. I pulled my gun and without hesitating, I fired four shots in rapid succession. I watched as Merle's body twitched and jerked, blossoms of red blooming on his white t-shirt.
The gun he was holding fell to the dirt at his feet as he fell to his knees. He looked at me, eyes wide, a rivulet of blood running from the corner of his mouth. Unbelievably, Merle started trying to rise to his feet again. I brought my gun up again and fired two shots – both punched straight through his chest.
A wet, gurgling noise escaped his lips a moment before he pitched forward, falling face down into the dirt. Merle lay there, unmoving. Dead. Dropping the gun, I dashed over to Grace and helped her to her feet. I pulled her into a tight embrace and she immediately buried her face into my shoulder and started to sob. I just held her, stroking her hair, telling her over and over again, that things were going to be alright.
A few minutes later, she raised her head and looked at me. “Liam?”
“Safe,” I said. “He's safe.”
A smile spread across her face as tears rolled down her cheeks. I kissed her forehead and then each of her cheeks.
“It's over,” I said softly. “It's over.”
At that moment, Dean led my guys and Liam out of the woods. He looked at me and Grace, a relieved smile spreading across his face.
“Grace,” Liam said as he ran to her.
Grace fell to her knees and grabbed the boy, pulling him into a tight embrace. I watched them with a smile on my face. And as I looked at them, I felt my heart swell with a feeling I'd never had before. It was powerful and shook me to my very core. I didn't know what it was that I was feeling, but I had time to figure it out.
There was one thought that kept replaying in my mind on an endless loop – everything really was going to be okay.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
“Tomorrow's the day,” Grace said.
“It sure is,” I replied.
“Which means, this is our last day of absolute freedom.”
/> “Our last day to walk around the house completely naked.”
In the days and weeks after the shootout with the Dawgs, Grace and I had grown even closer. We spent as much time with one another as we could – her traveling to Blackburn, or me heading to Charlotte.
After about three months of that, Grace and I decided that it was time to take our relationship to the next level. After hours and hours of discussion, Grace decided to move to Tennessee. She took a job with Social Services in Nashville and moved in with me.
Of course, a lot had changed in my house – it was clean, for one thing. Grace made me clean everything up, do my laundry, and even do some repairs around the house. All of the beer bottles she'd turned her nose up the first time she'd visited with Liam were gone, and all of the alcohol was safely out of reach. In fact, with Grace's influence, I'd stopped drinking as much as I used to.
But the biggest change was yet to come. Grace and I had been granted custody of Liam and he was coming to live with us tomorrow.
So, we were spending the day together – one last day of freedom before the reality of raising a child hit us full force. I'd decided that we were going to have a picnic to celebrate our day. We'd taken my bike and headed out to a spot in the woods I knew well. It was quiet. Peaceful. And best of all, private.
We were laying on a blanket in a small clearing in the woods. A small river sat off to our right, the air around us filled with the sound of rushing water and birdsong. The sun shone down on us, but a cool breeze kept the day pleasant.
“Can you believe this?” she asked. “Can you believe that we're here?”
I shook my head. “No, I can't believe it,” I said. “But I'm thankful for it.”
We were laying on our sides, staring into one another's eyes. My life had indeed been better since Grace had come into it. It was better in more ways than I could count or articulate. I'd never been in a relationship like the one we shared. We kept no secrets from one another.
She knew my business and although I did, as always, try to stay on the right side of the law, there were times I wandered into a morally gray area. And although she perhaps didn't like it, she knew that it was a part of me. Knew that being involved with me meant accepting my world.
And to her credit, she had. She never looked down her nose at me or judged me in any way.
But, there was something that we hadn't talked about though – not in the six months since it had happened.
“Grace, there's something I think we need to clear the air about,” I said. “About that night – with Merle –”
“There's nothing to talk about,” she said.
“You watched me kill a man.”
“I watched you defend me and Liam,” she said. “I watched you save our lives. We haven't talked about it because from my point of view, there's nothing to talk about. You did what you had to do to protect us.”
“And that's it?”
Her smile was soft. “It's not like you're running around out there killing people all willy-nilly, are you?”
I laughed softly. “No. Not at all.”
“Then, there's nothing to talk about,” she said.
I stared at her for a moment, amazed by her. She had a toughness that continued to surprise me. And endear her to me.
I reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from her face, admiring the way the sunlight raining down on her made Grace's skin glow, as if she shone with an inner light. Leaning forward, I pulled her to me and kissed her. We scooted our bodies closer together and I ran my hands through her hair as our tongues swirled and danced in her mouth.
I felt myself growing stiffer as the heat and intensity of our kiss continued to build. I planted a soft line of kisses down her neck, letting my hands trail down her back. Grace looked into my eyes as she tugged at my shirt. We both got to our knees and faced each other, our kisses growing more heated and passionate.
I pulled my shirt off and tossed it aside. Grace leaned down, placing a line of kisses upon my chest. She circled her tongue around my nipple, giving it a soft bite at the same time she grabbed my cock through my jeans. She gripped it and stroked it through my pants as she kept licking and sucking on my nipples.
I leaned my head back and moaned, relishing the sensation of having her mouth and hands on me. I slid my hands up the back of her sundress, cupping her ass and giving it a firm squeeze. There wasn't an inch of Grace's body I didn't like and didn't relish the feel of.
With my hands up her skirt, I slid her panties down her thighs. Grace wriggled around until she got them off of her, tossing them aside. She went to work on my belt, quickly undoing it and unbuttoning my pants. Grace reached into my pants and pulled my cock out, gripping it tightly.
“Mmmm...” I groaned.
Still kneeling before her with my hands up her skirt, I slipped two fingers inside of her. Grace groaned and pressed herself down onto my fingers, taking them deeper into her. She stroked my cock as I fingered her, driving my digits into her deep and hard. She leaned forward and kissed me, forcing her tongue into my mouth with real heat and passion behind it.
I pulled her to me, the fire in me growing by the second. Our bodies pressed together, my fingers deep inside of her, I fingered her hard and fast, drawing a long, loud moan from her lips. She looked into my eyes as she stroked my cock and I could see the need and desire in her eyes.
“I need to taste you,” I said.
A sultry little smile crossed her lips as she looked at me. “And I need to taste you.”
I gave her a grin as I laid down on the blanket and pulled her down on top of me so that she straddled my face. I immediately went to work, licking her swollen, wet lips, savoring the taste of her. Grace moaned and gasped the moment my tongue hit the warm wet center of her and her grip on my stiff prick tightened to the point it was almost painful. But that blend of pain and pleasure was heady. Intoxicating.
I plunged my tongue deep into her and she cried out. But then it was my turn to moan loudly when she took the head of my dick into her mouth. I felt her mouth sliding up and down on my cock, her hand jerking me off in time. I licked and sucked on her harder, taking her clit into my mouth as I slid my fingers back into her hot, wet little pussy.
Grace bobbed her head up and down on my cock, swallowing me whole. The passion surging within me, I licked and sucked on her clit, fingered her hard and deep. The taste of her juices drove me wild as did the sensations of her mouth on my cock.
My body tensed and I felt the pressure inside of me building. Grace tightened her lips around me, sucking on me with a renewed vigor and urgency. It was as if she knew she was bringing me close to the brink and was trying to tip me over the edge.
Not to be outdone, I plunged my fingers into her deeper and harder at the same time I gave her clit a little nip with my teeth. She cried out and her body tensed. As I sucked on her harder, fingered her deeper, Grace cried out, loud and long as she began to shudder and tremble. Her breathing grew ragged and her pussy began to pulse and throb, tightening around my fingers as she came.
“Knox,” she gasped. “Oh, my God, I'm coming.”
Grace stuttered and gasped, her body arching and trembling as her orgasm tore through her. Slowly, her orgasm subsided and her breathing returned to normal. Grace climbed down off of me and turned around, a flirtatious smile on her lips.
“That was amazing,” she said, her voice husky. “Now, it's my turn.”
She climbed on top of me again, straddling me around the waist. She gripped my cock and gave me a few strokes before guiding my dick to her hot, wet little opening. She rubbed the head of my cock against her clit, her eyes rolling into the back of her head, as she moaned softly.
“Fuck, Grace,” I said. “I need you. Need to be inside of you.”
She bit her bottom lip as she stared into my eyes. Grace slipped the head of my cock into her and I moaned, feeling how tight she was. Waves of pleasure rolled through me as Grace moved her hips, sliding down my thick shaft,
inch by inch.
When she had taken all of me inside of her, sheathing me deep within her, she threw her head back and called my name. Holding on to her hips, I helped her move, moaning as she started to slide up and down on my cock. Grace looked down at me, holding my gaze as she planted her hands on my chest firmly, giving herself some leverage, and started to bounce herself up and down on me harder and faster.
I pressed my head back into the blanket as Grace rode me harder, grinding herself down on me. Being so deep inside of her sent ripples of pleasure through me.
“I love having you inside of me,” she gasped.
“You feel amazing, baby,” I said.
Grace impaled herself upon me, again and again. I grabbed her ass and pulled her down onto me harder and faster. She threw her head back and screamed as she fucked me. I felt her body tensing up and then I felt her pussy tighten, her muscles pulsing and throbbing around my cock as she came hard for me.
“Oh, my God,” she gasped as she leaned forward, putting her hands on my chest.
Grace lowered herself down, pressing her forehead to mine as she looked into my eyes, riding out the waves of pleasure that were washing over her.
“You are fucking incredible,” I said, my voice barely more than a whisper.
When I felt her pulse slow and her breathing return to normal, I grabbed her around the waist and rolled her over onto her back. Grace parted her thighs for me and pushing her sundress back up around her waist, I slid myself forward, the head of my cock pressing against her warm, wet opening.
I leaned down and kissed her hard, sliding my tongue into her mouth, communicating all of the passion I felt for her through that kiss. Grace drew in a sharp breath, crying out as I thrust my hips forward, driving my cock deep into her.
She writhed beneath me as I pumped my hips, plunging my dick into her again and again. Grace wrapped her legs around my waist and dug her nails into my shoulders. She moved against me, using her legs to pull me down into her.
I braced myself on my arms, thrusting my cock into her tight, wet pussy harder and faster. Our eyes were locked together, our gazes never wavering, as I pounded myself into her.