Ready to Run

***NOTE*** This story is a part of my ongoing series called Trouble Texas Style (Night Walker's Woman, Tight Fittin' Jeans, One Night Stand, and Goodbye Earl). These are complex and interwoven tales that cross genres, including erotica, romance, and suspense.

I have kept them separate as opposed to hopping from character to character chronologically, as George R R Martin does with Ice & Fire. But I am keeping things sequential in the overall story arch. So, while it might theoretically be possible to read this as a standalone story, it is best appreciated in the overall context of the stories.

***TRIGGER WARNING*** This story contains strong content and controversial topics, including racism, rape trauma, and human trafficking. The purpose of these stories is certainly NOT to justify or glorify any of those things. There will be brief flashbacks but I am NOT including any graphic depictions of something that is a crime of violence and power, not a sex act. Please do NOT read if such things offend you, and if you or someone you care about are a survivor of rape trauma, please seek support.

***

Mercy watched him as he bit off more of the energy bar. Actually, she could cook. A bit more than frozen pizza and ramen anyway. She might not be gourmet, but all the Reynold's girls had learned to pull their weight early. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, and as they got older, each had taken jobs to get by.

But the way this guy talked, their childhoods could not have been more different. Sure, they might both be bastards. But she would bet that he never knew that gnawing in the belly. Mama did what it took to make sure that her daughters had three meals a day; still, it was never quite enough to fill the belly and stop that gnawing.

Sure, she got the whole black in America thing. A bit too well. Not only had she overheard all the gossip when Elena and Brad started to date, but she had taken her niece shopping in College Station a couple of times.

It was the big city for them, a university town. You would think that people would be more broad-minded than Sebida. To be fair, most of them were. Still, she had gotten more than her fair share of sideways looks and whispers. It made her mad that people, complete strangers, did that to people. At least in Sebida, everyone knew everyone.

Mercy had trouble breathing as she watched the muscles in his throat move up and down as he finished off his bottle of water. She felt her nipples tighten and did not even want to think about the mess in her panties. She would most definitely need to change those before they got back on the road. Especially if they shared the makeshift bed.

She looked over at it as that debate raged in her mind once more. She was scared. Plain and simple. The idea of sharing her body with a man always frightened the bejesus out of her. Will was the first man that she had ever seriously considered doing that with, but what happened if she could not follow through? What if she had another of those flashbacks? Would he hate her? Hell, the one that she did not want to consider, would he even stop if she asked?

Then there were the practicalities. Condoms were one thing that was not in her bugout bag. And as one of the Vestal Virgins, she was not the pill or other contraceptives. Not to even mention sexually transmitted infections. Those photographs in high school were enough to make anyone cringe.

She finished her energy bar and drained the last of the water. But she knew none of that mattered. She was going to do it. Or at least try to. At the ripe old age of thirty-two, Mercedes Reba Reynolds was going to get her V-card punched. Or she hoped so anyway.

"It's probably too early to call your mother or sister. Do you want to get a couple of hours sleep first? Then give it a try?"

Mercy bit her lower lip; she could take the easy way out. Get some sleep like he said, wakeup, talk to Mama, then jump his bones. The problem with that was she knew the longer she procrastinated, the harder this would be. She smiled, well, that might not be so bad in some ways.

But she was sure of this decision. She had waited all these years for a man that was worth the risk, that did more for her, and got her hotter than any 'book boyfriend.' That was not going to change.

And frankly, she was still shaken by Kerr's words. Hell, it was more than his words. She had come close to vomiting when he touched her. The other stuff that he said to her, that did not bear thinking of.

The truth was that tomorrow, they were going straight into danger. What if the things that Kerr said were true? What if this 'brother' saw her value only in terms of what he could get for her body? Hell, what if this Diego turned her back over to Kerr? And the idea of ending up a prostitute? NO!

Her body was hers to decide what she did with it. Her virginity, especially, was hers to give to the person that she chose. Not a commodity to be auctioned to the highest bidder.

For all this guy's sweet words about the future, they might never have anything more than this one night. And if she ever faced the things that Mama had, Mercy wanted one sweet memory. A place where her mind could escape when her body could not.

She felt those tears rising again. And yes, a tiny bit of fear. Even if she technically knew precisely how this was done, hell, had written more love scenes than you could count, this was still going somewhere she never had before.

She jumped in; she had always preferred cannon-balling into the deep end over wading into anything. "Or we could find something else to occupy our time and tire us out before those calls?" She hoped the look she gave him passed for seductive. That, too, was not something she had any experience with.

Will leaned back with a sexy smile on those sexier lips, "Did the little librarian have something specific in mind? Chaucer? Shakespeare? Milton? I know I bet you prefer Jane Austen for your bedtime stories."

She tossed the bottle aside and slid across the dirt floor until she straddled his lap. Mercy wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him closer, zeroing in on those kiss-ass-able lips. "I was thinking more along the lines of those trashy ebooks with naked people on the cover. Maybe even the ones behind Kingdle's porn wall?"

She lowered her head and began to nibble on his bottom lip as her hips dry-humped what she was almost sure was a damned impressive erection. Hopefully, she would find out for herself soon.

***

It was not that Will did not want her. He did. More than he had ever wanted any woman. But here? Now?

As odd as it might seem, even to him, that after just a few hours in her presence, he knew - he loved her. Caleb Jefferson King Williams loved Mercedes Reynolds. He drew back reluctantly from those sweet lips. His hands cupped her face as his gaze met hers. He could read the need in those innocent eyes. This was a stupid idea; his woman could not hide her emotions worth a damned. They had no business going to Torreon.

"What's your middle name?" Somehow he managed to force the words out. He was not certain how, given that her hands had pulled his t-shirt from those fucking-too-tight leathers, and her fingers were already trailing up his abs towards his chest. But if he released his hold on her face, then she would go back to those mind-numbing kisses.

And if he was going to do this, here, now, with the woman he loved, dammit, he at least wanted to know, "Your middle name, Mercy?"

Those hands stilled for a moment, just beneath his heart that was beating much, much too fast. She shook her head, "Reba. After Mama's favorite singer. But why the hell does it matter?"

"Because if I'm fucking making love to you in a run-down barn in the middle of nowhere, the least I least I want to know is your full name."

She smiled, and those fingers came to rest right over that pounding. He lost control as she bent closer to him. Surprisingly, though, this kiss landed on his cheek rather than his lips. More surprisingly, he was not even disappointed.

"Mercedes Reba Reynolds. My sisters are Garcia-Reynolds, but with me, Mama did not bother. I was born at six-fifty-two p.m. on June third. I ain't telling you the year, and you better not ask. It ain't polite. I came ten weeks early. Mama blames herself; thinks it was the stress of his immigration hearing and her parents. I tell her it was because I ain't got no patience."

She leaned her head against his and smiled, "That was an incredibly sweet thing to say, Will. But if you don't shut the fuck up, I'm gonna figure out some way of tying you up and taking what I want. Us, red neck women are both stubborn, impatient, and bossy. Get used to it."

Mercy matched actions to words as she jerked his jacket from his shoulders, effectively imprisoning his arms and hands as she pushed him back on to the stack of hay. But he did not protest when she reached for the bottom of her t-shirt and lifted it over her head.

Damn, the girl had good taste in lingerie. That black scrap of lace, if you could even call it a bra, barely contained the most magnificent pair of tits, Will had ever seen. He struggled to get his hands out of the tight cuffs of his jacket.

Her hand landed firmly in the center of his chest as she held him down. "Did I say you could touch? Look, don't touch." The fingers of her other hand reached between them as she cupped his throbbing cock, "If you're good, I might even let you taste."

His heart pounded harder as she shifted in his lap. Maybe he could have or should have, taken the opportunity to remove the leather jacket that imprisoned him. Still, he was simply too stunned to do anything more than lay back against that stale straw and stare as Mercy stood up and slowly peeled those skin-tight jeans down legs that were way too long for such a short chick.

Damn, the woman; she knew just the buttons to push too. Keeping her back to him as she shucked her jeans, his eyes glued to an ass that was almost as nice as those tits. This girl had curves. Nice ones too. Not fake from a surgeon, or crafted by a personal trainer in a gym, but all sweet womanhood, almost enough to make him believe once more in the good lord.

And Will was insanely jealous of the string of black lace that followed the deep groove in her round bottom. He would much prefer to sleep with his cock nestled between those round, porcelain globes.

When she turned back around with that sexy smile, she reached behind her, and before Will could figure out what was happening, he wore that scrap of black lace on his head. "If you aren't a good boy, I'll use that as a gag."

Her fingers ran beneath the thin strip of lace on the side of her hips as those eyes that looked anything but innocent at the moment challenged him. "Come to think of it; perhaps this would make a better gag." She pushed that minuscule piece of nothing down those legs and stepped out of them.

Will's eyes never faltered from that mostly bare, pink, and glistening flesh at the top of those legs. "If you want to gag me, I can think of something far better. Get that sexy ass over here and ride my face."

It was Will's kink. Eating pussy. He had played the trumpet since elementary school. It had not taken him long, once he became sexually active, to realize that those same skills, strong tongue, and the ability to hold his breath, could set him apart as a lover. Hell, he loved pleasuring women as much or more than getting off himself.

And especially this one. The need to taste her was intense. Primal and overpowering. "Plant that sweet cunt on my face, sweetheart," he pleaded like a man crawling from the desert and dying of thirst.

It wasn't far off. Since joining the feds, Will had not had time for women or sex. Hell, more than anything he realized, he had grown tired of the casual fucks. What was the point when he could stroke one off easier, quicker, and with much less hassle than involving some woman who, no matter what she said usually wanted more than he could give.

At least until this one. He watched her slowly walk closer. She was biting that nail again. Where had his confident siren of a moment before gone? He frowned, maybe no guy had ever gone there with her. It always shocked him at how common that was. Guys had no problem demanding that a woman suck their cocks, even wanting them to swallow. But too many did not see the need to reciprocate.

Fuck that; Will had always thought suffocating while down there was the perfect way to go. Especially if it was her. "Come on, baby," he pleaded as he watched her studying the dirt floor. "I promise I'll make it really good for you."

***

Standing there, butt ass naked, Mercy wondered what the hell she was doing? Hell, from the time she was six and Laura stopped bathing her, she was almost sure she had never been entirely naked around anyone. She was that girl in high school gym class that refused to shower after class. She just sort of wiped off and got dressed in pieces. Top first, so that it would cover the private bits when she took off those ugly gym shorts.

And the closest she had come to sex, other than that one time in college when that jerk would not let her out of the car until she at least...

Well, her only other real experience was that once in high school, when she had spent the night at Lizzie's. They had all been reading bodice rippers and talking about sex. She and her best friends. Playacting their favorite Mertrice Biggs book. Being the bold one she had taken on the role of hero, when they got to that part in the book, she had grabbed Lizzie, and french kissed her, even going so far as to feel up her tits while Abby Jean looked on.

But the Vestal virgins never talked about that one time. After Lizzie insisted that Abby Jean play the heroine next, they had all agreed sex must be better with a real guy. Yet, none of them had taken that plunge.

Only a couple of years later, Lizzie had become too burdened with running the restaurant and caring for her three younger half-siblings after that drunk driver had killed her mother and step-father.

Abby Jean was the youngest and most idealistic of them all. The girl had a major crush on Jack. Jack of all people. So, none of the other boys had ever stood a chance.

And her? Well, she could not blame either too many responsibilities or idealism, not really. The truth was that no matter how many of those romance she read or wrote or the porn she watched, Mercedes Reba Reynolds was scared. Frightened of intimacy.

Looking at him, her sexy-as-fuck city boy leaning back into that bed of hay, she still was. What if it was not as good as her books? Or he promised? What if she freaked out? What if those memories came back? What if he did nothing more for her than Lizzie or Abby Jean had?

She bit her fingernail again. She always had when she was nervous, ever since...

That was not entirely fair. It was not only Lizzie, Abby Jean, and Jack that she had kissed, but a half dozen or so guys in college and even that lawyer she had dated briefly. None of their kisses had gotten her hot and bothered as he did. Hell, more hot and bothered than any 'book boyfriend.'

No, she had made up her mind. If she did not take this chance now, she really might never get another one. Or worse...

She bit down harder on her nail, but how? How did she? She was much more prepared for fellatio. She had studied those videos carefully. Research for her writing, she had called it on those times when Mama worked the night shift. But she could not remember any of the videos having that...

As if he sensed her dilemma, Will smiled. "Come on; it's easy, sweetheart. Just sit on my handsome face."

Mercy laughed, "Handsome? Arrogant is more like it." But it was enough; whether it had been his intent or not, those words broke through her insecurities just enough to get her moving. "What if I..." She could not even bring herself to say the words.

"You are tiny, sweetheart. You couldn't hurt me if you tried. Just sit that sexy ass on my chest. Bring that pretty pussy to my lips. Then close your eyes and feel up those sweet titties, since I'm kind of tied up at the moment."

Was it as simple as he said? Like one of the recipes from the internet or those old cookbooks from the library that she sometimes tried. Only one way to find out as she straddled his shoulders. Mercy was careful to grab the cross beam on the wall above his head with one hand. She was not as petite as he said, the scales made certain she knew that every Monday morning. She did not want to crush him.

As she closed her eyes, she tried desperately to calm her nerves. Think happy thoughts. Remember all those hot romances. But never, not once, in those hundreds of books that she read had the heroine... Not this way. Ride his face, he had called it.

Mercy inhaled deeply; she could do this. She leaned closer to his face just a bit as she brought her other arm across her body to cup and knead her breast. She had been masturbating almost since she found Mama's stash of Mertrice Biggs, Raquel Griffen, Lude Marvouz, and Polly Ann Chinsey porn for women. One thing she had learned straight off the bat, she could not come without nipple play.

"That's right, baby girl. Next time, I get to feel up those tits as you come all over my face."

The image of his words in her mind was nothing compared to the feel of his tongue as he buried it between the lips of her cunt. Mercy sucked in a deep breath and moaned. This guy did not need a map to find her clitoris as she had heard so many women complain. He went straight at it, licking, sucking, and even gently biting it.

But damn him, just when she was about to do like he said and come on his face, Will shifted beneath her. His movement forced her forward more onto her knees. He took the chance to lick her thoroughly from the top of her slit to her...

Then he made his way back the other direction. Mercy pinched her nipple harder, anticipating his tongue on another hard nub, but damn him, he denied her again. This time he pointed that incredible tongue and used it like a cock to fuck her virgin pussy. Mercy practically fell forward against the wall. She hoped like hell it was not as rickety as it looked, that it would hold under her full weight. Damn, that should not feel so good.

So, when his tongue grazed back to her clit, Mercy was already on edge. And when he suckled it between those lips, his tongue encircling it at the same time. Mercy flew. Higher than she ever had. Stars did not come close to the nebula into which she spun out of control, gravitating towards the black hole ahead.

Her head was spinning so fast that she did not even realize at first that they had switched positions. Now she lay on her back among the straw, and his dark, handsome face, so tight with an intensity that was both frightening and empowering, loomed over her. His lips met hers, and she tasted herself on them.

Her hands gripped his shoulders to steady herself for a moment. But this was far from over. She trailed one hand down his shoulders and along his side until she managed to wedge it between them. She fumbled with the button on his leather pants. She hesitated over the zipper, what if she...

But Will must have gotten the message because his hand joined hers. He took care of the zipper as she pushed and tugged them and whatever he wore beneath over that tight ass. Then before could think, he was inside her. Mercy cried out, and Will froze. His cock buried to the hilt in her no-longer-virgin cunt.

She looked away; she wanted to die of embarrassment. She had no idea. She had been using tampons since she was thirteen. She rode bikes, ATVs, and did splits as a cheerleader. She even masturbated, granted she stuck to her bullets direct on the clit. But still, that should not have been there.