Chapter Four

At 2:30 PM, Mercedes went for her routine walk to the corner record shop. She loved going to see all of the new stuff they would have in and listen to a few records. She never bought any, but the owner liked her so much that he would let her stay and listen to a few spins.

It was something that she did almost every day, without fail. It had felt like any other day. The weather was fine and the city was buzzing with tourists and people bustling back to work from their lunch break. The only thing this time was that Mercedes was worried about Sam. Normally he was a very strong person. He didn't let a whole lot get to him and his laid back and take everything as it comes personality hadn't allowed him to show any sign of weakness in the past few years. This made it very difficult for Mercedes to really know what to do or how to handle the strange turn of events. She had never had to before.

She stopped at the doorway to their apartment building. She sighed and looked all the way up to their window. She started to get this feeling in the pit of her stomach, something that was making her uncomfortable. She brushed it off and began to ascend the stairs, making her way up to their apartment door and she opened it.

"Sam?" She looked around the living room, not seeing her husband in his normal position on the sofa watching some nerdy anime show in his underwear like he did on his days off. She walked around the apartment, checking each room until she reached the bedroom, twisting the door knob and losing her breath at the sight in front of her.

"SAM? Oh God, Sam, baby…BABY?" She dropped to her knees seeing him laying on the floor, his eyes closed loosely, not very responsive to her efforts. She held his face, trying to get him to open his eyes or make any kind of sound to let her know he was okay. She fetched her phone from her pocket immediately and began to shakily dial 911. She jumped when Sam suddenly grabbed her arm and groaned as he sat up. "Sam? Oh my God." She grabbed him and held him as she began to cry against his shoulder, relieved but still scared at the same time. "What happened?"

Sam rubbed his head and began to breathe at a more steady pace as he looked at Mercedes, feeling really terrible that he had scared her so bad. He had just felt so tired…he had barely gotten any sleep the past few nights and he assumed it was catching up to him.

"Cedes, I'm so sorry. I'm fine. I promise…I guess I just was really tired. I haven't slept very well lately and I just passed out." Sam knew Mercedes wasn't really gonna buy this and he guessed if it were her, he wouldn't either. He started to get up and she pushed him down a little not letting him advance.

"Sam, I'm taking you to the hospital." He knew it was going to be hard to talk her out of this. When Mercedes made her mind up about something, she usually stuck to it. At this point, it would take an act of God to talk her out of this.

"Baby, I am fine. When you don't sleep but maybe 4 hours equivalent in a week, you tend to pass out." Mercedes finally let Sam stand up. He grabbed his head feeling a little dizzy as he balanced himself against the bed post closest to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest feeling him breathe as if she was afraid that it would be the last time. He glanced over at the clock.

5:04 PM.

All of a sudden he got a flashback to the mysterious number that had texted him last night. 504-0000. 504. What was 504? He mentally noted that he had been waking up every night at 5:04 AM and now all of this? He was getting a little irritated at hearing his own voice telling him that everything was a coincidence and that he was just thinking too much.

"Fine, I won't force you to go to the hospital. But please promise me that if you start feeling weird again that you will go. For me." Mercedes looked up at Sam, her big brown eyes lined with tears from before, trying to calm herself down from the scare. Sam relaxed, moving his hand to her cheek and caressing it gently, wiping away all stray tears that happened to roll down her soft skin.

"I promise." He smirked at her, trying to make her relax and crack a smile. He normally was good at provoking a quick mood change in his wife, but this time it was proving to be a little more tough than usual. He placed a quick kiss on her forehead than stepped away from her, with his back facing her direction. He smiled to himself before slowly turning around and biting his lip. "Do you know what it's time for…" He grinned showing off his long lost dimples, almost causing Mercedes to smile. She usually couldn't resist those.

"Sam…no!" Mercedes began to smile, piecing together what he was proposing. She watched as Sam backed up a little, nodding and biting his lip.

"I think so, Mercy….I think it's time for….WHITE CHOCOLATE!" Sam pulled off his shirt and turned around to do a booty pop, causing Mercedes to let out a welcomed burst of laughter clutching at her stomach, as if it hurt to finally laugh.

"You are CRAZY!" She choked out, grinning from ear to ear as he turned around to smile at her. She finally relaxed and reached out to grab his hips and pull him a little closer to her. They had both been so stressed with everything that was going on lately, she realized that she probably hadn't been the best wife she could be for Sam lately. She knew he was working hard to give her what she wanted, but she hadn't realized how much the stress had really been getting to him until now. Her eyes glanced all over his body. She loved his body…it was perfect. Over the years he had gone from a delicious 6 pack, to a dead sexy 8 pack. It was just right, not too much. He still held a slim frame while retaining arms, abs, and a chest to die for. She looked up into his gentle green eyes. They were sparkling in the dim light of their bedroom, his hair a little messy and partially hanging over them before she moved her hand to brush it to the side. He was gorgeous.

"Sam…I know you're really stressed…" She whispered. He started to respond, but Mercedes wasn't done yet. She lifted her finger to his full soft lips and pressed it gently against them, making him stop. "Let me help you." Sam raised an eyebrow, his heartbeat now beating much faster than previously. Mercedes smiled an evil grin, taking in his reaction with pride. She grabbed his arms, pushing him down on the bed so that he was sitting on the edge, nothing but his underwear on that she had noted was framing his package really well, better and better by the second, she noted.

"Just relax…" She cooed, leaning down to gently kiss his lips, soft and slow, taking in every taste of him that she could before moving on. She reached back, gripping his already disheveled hair and began to tug on it, pulling it back to leave his neck exposed and vulnerable, ready for attack. She swooped in, pushing her lips against the side of his throat, kissing on it and sucking lightly, feeling him breathe harder and harder. She moved her free hand to his thigh, squeezing it and moving her fingers up higher towards the prize, avoiding touching him where he wanted her to just yet. She was being such a tease.

Her lips began to make a path down his body, touching on his chiseled pecks and defined abs, making sure she kissed each one individually before making her way down his carefully groomed happy trail. She looked up at her man, a pleased and ready expression on his face. His lips were parted as he fought to control his breathing, occasionally swiping his tongue across his lips to keep them moist. She became painfully excited as he began to open his legs, revealing even more than before his fully erect member that was throbbing under his snug boxer briefs, ready to be attended to.

"Mmm…" She moaned, leaning in to nuzzle her nose against it, making Sam tense up a little and grab on to her hair, almost as if even the slightest contact made him tremble. Making him feel this way, thrilled her like nothing else could. Every small noise that he made and every shallow breath that he exhaled, made pleasure shoot all through her body like lightening. She was definitely ready for more. "Lift up…" she whispered.

Sam lifted his hips, making his abs even more defined, as noted by Mercedes. That was never going to get old. She grabbed the waistband of his underwear, pulling them down his thighs and off in one swift motion. After tossing them to the side, she ran her hands up his thighs and finished at his now exposed cock. She leaned in and pressed her lips against the head, humming against it and rubbing her tongue right on his favorite spot before taking it into her mouth. When she was younger, she hated doing this with her past lovers. It had always made her feel dirty. But, with Sam, it was an act of love. It was something that she legitimately enjoyed to do and right now, it was feeling like her favorite activity.

As she began to really work her mouth on him, Sam bucked his hips in a steady rhythm with her movements as he fell back on to the bed, no longer able to hold himself up from all the pleasure. He could hear himself moaning, barely able to even recognize it was himself. He had never really made noise like that before, but this was feeling so good. He could tell Mercedes was enjoying his sounds, speeding up every time he let one slip. He tugged on her hair a little with one hand and gripped his own with the other. He loved having his hair pulled…what could he say? He was a little naughty. His back arched as she got him closer and closer to his climax, breathing long and deep shallow breaths, and clenching his toes from all of the pleasure surging through his body. He let out a long deep moan before biting his lip and screaming Mercedes' name right before losing all control and letting himself release his cum into her mouth.

His eyes rolled back in his head, relaxation hitting him like a ton of bricks as he dropped his arms on either side of him, his lungs desperately panting for air. He felt the bed move as Mercedes crawled up next to him, a huge smile planted on her face seeing how good she had made him feel. She reached over to caress his cheek now, placing small kisses all over his face and ending on his perfect lips. The thought crossed his mind that she tasted like him, but at this point he didn't really care. He was feeling great. He couldn't help but drift off to sleep and as he did, he said a little prayer. A prayer for a good night's rest.