Black Oak Falls

by EmilyA198527

Annalise Wood, a school teacher, travels to the untamed city of Black Oak Falls to take on the role of the teacher for the young children of the town and to live with some of her relatives. However, she wasn't counting on drawing the attention of the leader of a notorious gang who ran the town who was known simply as The Undertaker.

21. Chapter 21

Note: The only character I do not own in this story is The Undertaker

Chapter Twenty-One

"You have someone right here that is going to take care of you and protect you from the things that scare you from now on."

Mark spoke with determination in his voice towards her as his strong arms kept her against him. He wished to take away all the troubles that plagued her currently and those from her past with her religious parents wishing for her to just 'pray away her fears'. The thought of this beautiful angel that stood before him going through things that both troubled her and had her on edge ate away at him.

She didn't need to ever feel that she was all alone again. She would always have him to depend on and be there for her. Others might have left her alone or had her feeling like there was no one else that was going to be able to have her feel like she was good enough for them. However, she was more than good enough in his eyes. She was much more of an angel than those that children would draw pictures of.

"Everything and everybody that has scared you or made you feel lonely will shake in fear with me around you."

His eyes looked down to her face to see her slowly moving her face to look at him with tears streaming down her cheeks. The sight nearly had his heart break in half. It pained him to see someone so beautiful shedding tears over their unfavorable past they had before coming into his presence. With his focus on her, his ears listened to her voice slipping out of her mouth in a shaky tone of voice.

"Do...Do you promise me that, Mark?" Annalise asked, whispering out the words to her. She spoke with a need for validation from him regarding what he said to her. "Do you swear that you will take care of me and that you will shield me from everything and everyone that scares me and the feeling of being lonely?"

She needed him to confirm to her that everything he had said to her was the honest truth, and that he was going to see through to the end what he stated to her. This lovely lady had been through so much that it seemed that trust was a concept that she was not used to being able to witness from someone in a long time. He planned to help her see that with him that she didn't have to worry about him not being compeltely honest with her about something.

With a loving smile moving across his face, Mark lifted his hands up from his sides to rest on her face. His thumbs brushed away her tears that were coming down her fair skin, getting rid of them before they could stain her beautiful cheeks anymore. As he eased them away from her, he spoke to her in a soft whisper that only her ears could ear but was loud enough over the thunderous rain pouring on the rooftop overhead.

"I promise and swear to you right now, Annalise, that I will be the only person you will need in your life to take care of you, to protect you from anything and anyone that would cause you harm...and to love you like no other man has before."

One of his hands slipped away from one of her cheeks while the other remained firmly in place. He gazed upon her face to see her eyes not only fixated on his own but that she was not wishing to move from his body. It seemed that his decision to have her so close to himself had caused her to wish to remain where he had brought her to. However, it was causing him to struggle with a need to be even closer to her, as well as a wish to savor her lips once more. He couldn't win the battle going on inside of him, but he wanted to do his best to do just that.

Working hard to try and take things a different route with her, Mark swallowed a lump down his throat and managed words out of his mouth with his voice taking on a shaky tone that had a sensual need dripping from it.

"Darling, the other night, I didn't ask permission for a kiss when I should have. Now, I am asking for this. May I have your permission to kiss you?"

His move was met with genuine surprise on the face of Annalise. He could tell that she had not been expecting him to ask if it would be okay with her for him to kiss her, but that he would just have taken another one from her without so much as giving her the option to tell him now. Mark started to see a little shimmer in her eyes, as well as a sincere smile dancing across her face, prior to catching her sweet voice finding its way out in a whisper to him, giving him the answer to his question.