Protected by the HERO (63 page)

It was hard without him. I was a single mom now. I had to step it up and pick up the slack. Jordan was sentenced to three years in prison. He could have gotten more. Shit, my cousin had gotten more. They’d probably be getting out around the same time. My mom suggested I move home with them, but I refused. Although I was lonely, I enjoyed having my own place and wasn’t willing to give that up. I did move closer though.

A month after I had returned from the Bahamas, I found out I was pregnant. I was both sad and excited. I was sad because Jordan wouldn’t be here for the birth, but I was excited to be pregnant again. I decided to tell Jordan in person. When I told him, he was speechless and he cried. A few months later, Ie found out I was having a girl. I was ecstatic to be having a daughter. I sent Jordan ultrasound pictures and we discussed baby names. Jordan wanted to name her Nila. I thought that was a beautiful name too.

Nila Teagan Rivers was born at 11:11p.m., on the 9
th
of September. She was absolutely beautiful. I had my mom take plenty of pictures, from start to finish of my entire labor so Jordan wouldn’t miss a thing. These days, all I did was take pictures. I didn’t want to miss anything and I didn’t want Jordan to miss anything either. When Jordan finally got out, Nila was three and JJ was five, but Jordan wasn’t a stranger to them. I took them to visit him constantly. He talked on the phone with them every day and I sent him pictures of their artwork. When Jordan came home, he had every picture and letter that I had sent him over the years.

Jordan was huge. He had been in there working out and reading, meditating, and trying his best to stay productive. He had started writing, and planned on publishing a book now that he was out. I encouraged him. And all he wanted to do was be with his kids. After all of these years, I was finally getting a break. My family was finally whole again. I was afraid that I would never see the day. The days and nights without Jordan had felt like lifetimes. I never got over him and cried too much. If it weren’t for my kids, I don’t know what I would have done.

When Jordan came home, my mother agreed to keep the kids for a weekend so that Jordan and I could spend some time together alone. I had this whole extravagant hotel getaway planned, but Jordan assured me that he just wanted to spend time with me alone. He lit some candles, played some old school R&B, poured us some wine, and ran us a warm bubble bath. Jordan climbed into the tub and held out his hand for me to climb in behind him. As he held me, I cried. It had been so long since I had felt his arms around me. I was overwhelmed. Jordan didn’t say anything, he just held me, but I could tell that he was crying too.

“No more crying. I’ve cried enough,” I said, trying to manage a laugh.

“No more crying,” Jordan agreed, as he wiped my tears. Jordan kissed me on the forehead and held me tighter. “You are so beautiful.”

“So are you,” I told him. He laughed, but I was serious. Jordan was just as beautiful as ever; the most beautiful man I had ever known. “I would have waited a million years for you, if I had to.”

“I would have never let you wait that long for me. If I ever have to do over five years, I want you to move on,” Jordan told me. I looked at him like he was crazy.

“You better never get locked up again, that’s number one. Number two, absolutely not. I refuse. No,” I said stubbornly.

“Well, if you ever get locked up--“

“Nobody is getting locked up!” I snapped, splashing him with soapy water. I slid my slippery body up and down the length of his body. Jordan had been hard this whole time. As soon as I had undressed to get in the tub, he had been hard. I was surprised he was being so patient.

“I learned a lot of patience these past three years,” he told me, with a smile. I clasped my hands together as though to pray.

“Thank goodness! You used to be so impatient!” I laughed.

“I’ve done a lot of growing up,” he said. I grabbed his penis firmly in my fist.

“I can tell.” I climbed out of the tub, soap all over my body and walked over to the door, looking over my shoulder at him. With one finger, I motioned for him to follow me. I didn’t wait to see if he did, before I started walking away, but I could hear the slosh of bath water as he climbed out of the tub. When Jordan walked into the bedroom, I pushed him onto the bed, but he rolled and pulled me on top of him.

He held me tight, pressing soft, warm kisses on any part of my body he could reach. I giggled as I fought to escape. Eventually, he let me escape and I walked over to the dresser to grab the coconut oil. He laughed.

“I’ve missed you and your coconut oil,” he told me. I grinned.

“Lay down,” I instructed. Jordan shook his head standing up.

“No, no, no. You lay down. You are the one who deserves to be pampered, like the Queen that you are,” he said. I wasn’t going to argue with that logic. I lay down on the bed, on my stomach and Jordan crouched over me. He scooped out some of the coconut oil and rubbed it between his palms, before massaging my back.

I lay my head on my arms and closed my eyes, my body tingling everywhere Jordan touched me. He rubbed my shoulders, my arms, my neck, my back, my butt, my thighs, and my feet. I could be rubbed by Jordan forever. It felt so good I feared I might fall asleep. Just when I was about to, I felt Jordan’s mouth on my big toe. I squirmed and moaned as energy shot through my body and up  between my legs.

Jordan sucked each toe, licking slowly between them, sending shivers up my spine. I rolled over onto my back to watch him as he watched me. He licked the arches of my feet and kissed my ankles, making his way up my long legs, kissing as he went. He kissed the tender flesh of my inner thighs, suckling softly and making me quiver. I ran my fingers through his soft beautiful hair, watching him lovingly. Jordan teased me, kissing me everywhere except where I wanted. I was so wet. Jordan slid his warm, wet mouth around my clit, licking it gently, and I cried out in ecstasy. It had been so long, Lord knows it had been too long! I had to resist shoving his face harder and deeper between my legs. I could be patient too. Jordan licked and sucked, fucking me with his tongue.

Jordan slid his hands under my ass and lifted me with ease, licking between my butt cheeks and teasing my butthole. His tongue ventured from my pussy to my asshole and then back again. “Oh, my God baby yes!” I screamed, as I started grinding my pussy into his face. It felt so good to lose control. To let Jordan take control. He knew my body, he knew what I liked and did it just how I liked it. This was my soul mate. He slid his thick finger into my ass and sucked until I came all over his mouth. I grind into him and he licked and sucked every drop of me. He moaned through it all.

Jordan was so hard, it looked painful. I almost laughed, but didn’t want to kill the mood. All I really wanted was for him to be inside me. Jordan climbed on top of me.

He pressed himself above me with one arm and wrapped his other hand around his cock. I watched him stroke himself against my wet, swollen pussy lips. I spread my legs wider. “Baby.” I moaned. He watched between our bodies intently. He was gentle. I could tell that it was taking a lot for him not lose control.

“I can’t wait, I need you Nia.” Jordan rubbed against me and pushed into my pussy.

“Take what you need Jordan. I love you.” I told him as I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him deeper into my tight body. He fit like he was meant to be in there. We both started moving slow in long deep strokes. He felt so fucking good. Jordan looked me in the eyes the whole time he slid into me. We kissed slowly. Everything was slow. When he thrust into me, I thrust back against him. We danced the dance of lovers.

Jordan started to speed up, digging his fingers in and squeezing my hips and thrusting deeper. I ground up on him, rubbing my clit hard into his body. I was so turned on by his aggressive thrusting. It had been so long since I had felt him inside me.

“Mmm I’m gonna cum all over your big, hard dick baby. Fuck me harder.”

Jordan groaned loudly. “Oh yea baby. Give it to me. I want to feel your pussy clenching on my dick.” I lost control and we went from making love to fucking. My pussy fluttered, my clit contracted and I exploded all over his hard cock. It felt amazing to be full of him as my orgasm wracked my body. Every inch clenching around Jordan. He kept thrusting through my clenches. I felt his cock expanding inside me. 

Jordan pulled out, and flipped me over so fast, I don’t think I felt a clench between thrusts.  He slapped my ass as he lined his cock back up and slammed hard and deep into my pussy. It felt like he bottomed out. I groaned at how deep he was inside me. Thankful he pounded into me like that after my orgasm, or it could have been painful.

My ass clapped back against his abs as I arched my back, sticking my ass further up in the air. Jordan spanked me harder and I cried out.  Jordan was an animal. He grabbed my hair and pulled, making my arch deepen. I kept my ass up and my head down and he thrust faster. 

He groaned. “Love that ass clap. I’m cumming.” Jordan came long, and deep, and loud. I felt him pulsing and shooting inside me. “Mmm fuck yea, give me your cum,” I moaned to him. I loved when he came long and loud. I loved to hear him moan. It was so hot.

Jordan collapsed beside me, covered in sweat, breathing deeply.

“We probably have another baby on the way,” he said. We both laughed. We lay beside each other as our bodies cooled down and we caught our breath. Jordan grabbed my hand and played with my fingers. He raised my hand to his lips and kissed it. “I am a lucky man.”

“That you are,” I teased.

“I was a fool before,” he said. “I don’t ever want to see that man again.” I picked his hand up and kissed it.

“I fall in love with every man you become,” I told him. Jordan smiled.

“That was smooth,” he said. I laughed.

I smiled. “I’m a smooth operator.”

“That was corny, you should have just left well enough alone.” We both laughed. Jordan pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head.

“I look forward to the rest of our lives together. Now, let’s make another baby.”

I squealed with delight as Jordan climbed back on top of me. We kissed and Jordan slid back inside me. I never wanted him to leave. We made love until the sun came up and slept deep into the morning, like we used to do before the kids. When we awoke, we made love like we’d never see each other again, because in this life, you never know if you will.

THE END

Bonus Story 18 of 20

Emily

“Em, can I speak with you for a moment?” I looked up from the paperwork I was filling out on a patient chart. Charles, my boss, waved me into his office. I stood up from my desk and walked across the patient gym to his office.

“What’s up?” I asked, as I leaned against the door jamb and looked at him expectantly. He waved me inside and I stepped forward a bit cautiously, Charles never asked anyone into his office unless he had something serious to say. I was pretty sure I hadn’t done anything wrong. I got along well with all of my patients and they always showed improvements with my therapy.

“Go ahead and close the door, I have some news…” he said with a sigh and I closed the door and sat down across form his desk. “So…you may not know this, but the practice is downsizing. For several reasons. One of the biggest being we don’t have enough money to keep up with the amount of physical therapists on staff…” my heart fell in my chest, all I could do was exhale deeply and sit back in the chair.

“You’re letting me go?” I asked and Charles nodded slowly.

“We only hire the best here, and it sucks to have to let any of you go, but…we just can’t keep up with the staff. We’ll have to bill the patients too much and that will result in
losing
patients…which we can’t have,” he said and I nodded.

“I understand.” I really didn’t know what to say. Numbness was settling in to buffer the blow of being let go. I really didn’t see it coming. “Am I the first?” I asked him abruptly and he paused as he was about to say something else.

“Ah, yes, you are. By the end of today I’m going to have to let everyone go from the morning rotation…” he said and I sighed. I would have to start looking for another job, I would have to start really budgeting until I got one, and I would have to find one fast so I wouldn’t fall behind on any bills …now? Now what?

“I’m really sorry to have to do this to you Emily, but the guys up top have their books you know?” Charles said and I nodded.

“No, yeah, I get it…ah…I’ll just fire up my resume and stuff. I’ll be fine,” I said and wondered if that was really true.

“Of course you will, you know where to come for recommendations. We still love you here,” Charles said and I snorted.

“Sure, I just can’t work for you guys anymore,” I said, the comment slipped out, but thankfully Charles let it roll off his shoulders.

“Seriously, anywhere you send a resume out to, let me know and I’ll put in a call for you,” he said. I nodded and tried to smile.

“Okay…thank you. Um, I guess I’ll get going? It’s the end of my shift anyway,” I said and Charles nodded. He stood up and rounded his desk to give me the world’s most awkward hug.

“Keep in touch,” he said and I nodded and gave him a half smile before I left his office. I went over to my desk and started packing things up as if on autopilot. I had never been let go before. I had never been fired. I had never even been transferred elsewhere. Anything remotely relating to my career has always been successful. I really didn’t know how to handle such disappointment. I had to make a couple of trips to my car to get all of the stuff out of my desk. Once I was behind the wheel, I sighed deeply, patted the dashboard of my trusty Civic and started it up. At least I had my Honda, she’s been with me since college and never so much as popped a tire on me.

First thing’s first, I would go have a drink at two o’clock in the afternoon,
then
go home and fire up the old resume. It’s weird how quickly it feels like my life is empty when I no longer have to go to work the next day. As I was on the way to the bar down the street from my house, of course my mom called me.

“Emily, are you off from work yet? I was wondering if you’d like to come and have your nails done with me and your sister,” she said, as soon as I answered the phone. I stifled a sigh and pulled into the parking lot of the bar. I suddenly felt a little depressed as well as lost. I couldn’t become an alcoholic on top of not having a job, what was I doing?

“Actually Mom, I have some things to do at home, can I give you a raincheck?” I asked, as I pulled out of the parking lot and headed home.

“Alright…is everything okay? You sound strange,” she asked and I almost cried.

“I’m fine Mom, I’ll call you later, okay?” I said, and then hung up. The last thing I needed was her lecturing me about my being let go from the job. I definitely needed to find another one before she found out and before I potentially spiraled into depression.

*****

Adonis

“Blue thirty-two, blue thirty-two! Hut!” my eyes were on the ball being tossed back to me as the grunts and exhales of the players around me snapping into motion. I took two light steps back as the pocket formed around me and scanned to see which of my receivers were open. Just to my left, Rhodes was wide open and I shot him the ball just as one of the defenders broke through to sack me. I saw Rhodes catch the ball just as I was tackled to the ground. A flag was thrown and the whistle blew, stopping the play.

“What was that Emory! What was that! Goodman didn’t even have the ball in his hand, use your eyes!” The coach yelled at Emory and all the big defensive end could do was nod and say, ‘yes coach, okay coach.’

“Hey Adonis, that was a good pass, I would’ve been all the way in the end zone,” Rhodes said, as he jogged up to me. We were at a full team practice, playing a game of scrimmage before our next game come Sunday.

“It’s that fake that you do, you almost broke James’s ankles over there,” I laughed and James shook his head at us.

“Whatever, I’ll learn that move Rhodes, everybody has a little somethin’,” he said, and did a silly dance with his legs.

“Yeah, it looks like you have noodle legs,” I joked, and both Rhodes and James laughed.

“Alright guys, let’s run one more trick play, and then we can all go home,” coach said and the guys got back into gear. The ball was snapped and I fell into my zone and threw a perfect pass down the field which was caught for a touchdown.

“Perfect! That’s what I want to see on Sunday! Now rest up, keep your muscles loose, eat right and see you all on the weekend!” the coach called practice and we all headed towards the locker room.

“Hey guys, announcement; try not to get injured, because we are short on PT staff for the time being,” One of the team’s doctors stuck his head into the changing area to let us know and the news was taken with little enthusiasm. I was just about to walk over to the showers when my phone rang; it was my agent calling.

“Yo Adonis, where are you? You were supposed to be at a shoot like ten minutes ago,” Jerry’s voice was slightly stressed as it always was.

“Aw shit, I thought I told you I had practice that would clash with the time of the shoot,” I said.

“Just get here as fast as you can, the Ralph Lauren guys are willing to wait for you,” he said. I really didn’t feel like going to a photo shoot right after a hard practice.

“Alright, I’ll be there,” I said, after all I
was
under contract, so it wasn’t like I could just skip the shoot. I hung up the phone and went to take the world’s quickest shower. Sometimes I wondered
why
Jerry said I should take up modeling. I was a football player, not an actor or whatever. Why couldn’t he have me do pizza commercials or something?

“What are you trying to win an award for the world’s quickest shower and change?” Rhodes teased as he saw me pulling on my clothes and still dripping from the shower.

“Nah, I have to go and be at this photo shoot thing, Jerry is breathing down my ass,” I said and Rhodes chuckled.

“You’re such a pretty boy that’s why he’s capitalizing on your looks,” Rhodes said, and I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah well, I think I’ll have a talk with Jerry about that soon. I think my success with the team is enough to capitalize on,” I said, and Rhodes nodded.

“Yeah man, no one can throw the ball like you do. You’re the best quarterback in the league. Sometimes these managers are too much about the money you know?” he said, and I nodded.

“Too true. Well I’ll catch you this weekend then Rhodes,” I said, then told a few of the guy’s goodbye as I hurried from the locker room. Getting to the garage seemed to take forever as I was stopped by a few coaches and team officials to talk or go over some things about the upcoming game. I was really late by the time I got to my car and I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with Jerry in a bad mood. The guy was worse than an angry football player about to lose a game.

My phone rang just as I started up the car and I answered it. “Sorry Jerry I was held up at the stadium, I’m on my way now,” I said. I was getting annoyed at being rushed, Jerry knew I hated it.

“It’s alright, no pressure. I was just calling to make sure you were on your way at least,” he said.

“Yeah, I’m leaving the parking garage right now,” I said and pulled out of the parking space. I sped my way out of the garage, the loud engine of the Ferrari echoed against the concrete ceiling and floor.

“All right. I wanted to talk about another shoot with you. We have a potential deal with a designer label that starts with an A and ends with an I…” Jerry said, and I rolled my eyes. I was just pulling out of the garage, when this little blue Honda Civic appeared out of nowhere in front of me. It was turning right and I barely had time to press on the brakes before I rammed right into the side of the car. My entire body seemed to jolt forward and the airbag hit me in the chest harder than a defensive end. All the air left my lungs and I struggled to breathe for a few agonizing seconds. My eyes lifted to the shattered windshield and the distinctive scent of gas filled my nostrils. The blue civic was smashed against a solid concrete post of the parking garage and I could tell that the woman inside was dazed and trapped. I saw sparks fly underneath her car and adrenaline surged through me as I unbuckled my seatbelt and forced my way out of the car.

I needed to get that woman out of there.

*****

Emily

My vision blurred, the world around me kept tilting around and no matter how I moved my head I couldn’t get anything to stay upright. I smelled metal and gas…and there was a lot of noise in the background, I was pretty sure there was yelling and…banging? Suddenly I heard the crash of my window being broken and then the click of the door opening. A pair of huge tanned arms came around me, the seatbelt snapped from around my body, and I was pulled from the car. It felt like I was being bounced around as whoever carried me ran away from the car.

“Are you alright?” the male voice asked me and I looked up into the beautiful blue eyes of Adonis Goodman. If I wasn’t in shock before, I definitely was in that moment. He really was that gorgeous…I’ve seen pictures, but…I wasn’t prepared to be held in the arms of Adonis Goodman. “Hey, can you please say something?” he asked and my eyebrows furrowed as I felt a drop of something touch the bridge of my nose. “Shit, you hit your head,” he said and then I started to hear the faint sound of sirens.

Everything was coming to me slowly and it felt like I was on a tilt-a-whirl. I looked over at my car and saw the back of it…
on fire
.

“My car is on fire…” I said faintly and Adonis nodded his head. I stared at his face, he was classically handsome, but with an edge. He had a diamond-shaped face with angular features, a cut jaw and perfect, slightly cleft, chin. His hair was cut short in the back, but fell into his face in the front. His aqua blue eyes were framed by thick lashes and he had perfectly plump pink lips.

“You really are…pretty…” I said and he looked down at me with concern.

“What’s your name?” he asked me and I glanced back at my car.

“It’s Emily…that’s the only car I had…” I said faintly and the sound of sirens only got louder.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you. I’m so sorry,” he said and then backed away from the burning car even further, as the heat of it had reached us nearly across the street. “I swear I’ll take care of everything Emily, I’m so, so sorry,” he said and I glanced at him once more as the fire truck and ambulances and police cars got to the scene. One would think there was a five car pileup with the cavalry that came. I giggled then, the New England Cavalry, that’s the team Adonis played for. I had been at the stadium interviewing for one of the open Physical Therapy positions.

“This was all I needed,” I sighed and Adonis’s expression only got worse, he was really beating himself up.

“I promise I’ll buy a replacement car for you, you don’t even have to worry about EMT bills. I’ll take care of everything,” he said as the paramedics unloaded from the trucks and came over to us.

“Sir we’ve got it from here. You can set her down now,” one of the paramedics said. Adonis glanced up at him and then down at me.

“Thanks for pulling me out of the car,” I said and Adonis nodded. He gently sat me down on one of the gurneys and a paramedic started shining a lights in my eyes and asking me questions. He poked and prodded. My head was pounding. What a way to add to the world’s most horrible week.

“I will take care of everything Emily, I promise,” Adonis called over from the other gurney, the paramedics were checking him for a concussion as well.

“Ma’am, can you tell me what happened?” my attention was redirected to the police officer standing in front of me. One of the paramedics was doing something on my scalp, near my forehead and I winced, as it burned and throbbed.