Chapter 9

Hearing her moan pushes Sam over the edge. He presses his lips against her hard and devours her mouth. Mercedes' hands are in Sam's hair, tugging it firmly. His hands roam her backside, pressing her against him, grinding against his full erection. When they finally pull apart for lack of air, Sam gazes breathlessly into Mercedes' eyes.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that." He admits smiling. Mercedes smiles back.

"Probably just as long as I have. But it was absolutely worth the wait." She sighs, rubbing her nose against his.

The blare of the music and the thunderous base seemed to intensify Sam and Mercedes' kiss. Mercedes was having a hard time keeping it together in the club when all she wanted to do was climb on top of Sam and ride him all night. Sam was having the same struggle as his massive arousal was becoming increasingly harder to conceal.

"We need to get out of here." Sam yelled into her ear over the music. Mercedes pulled him into a deep kiss.

"Right now!" She responded as she grabbed his hand and lead him to the front entryway. Sam's eyes bulged wide as he tried to pull her back before she walked out the door, knowing what was outside.

"No Mercedes, wait! The papa-" But it was too late. Mercedes was flooded with flashes and cameras outside the front of the club. She immediately ran back into the club, running into a dark corner.

"Damn! How did they know I was here?" She asked surprised.

"Are you kidding? The people in the club probably tweeted about you being here when we first got in. But now what?"

Mercedes sucked her teeth. "Think there's a back way?" She asked.

"Yeah, but probably covered with paparazzi too. Let's just split up and meet back at my hotel room." Sam suggested as he caressed her face.

"That sounds like a good plan, except let's meet at my hotel room instead. Mine is bigger and has lots of hotel snacks and goodies to keep our energy up all night." Mercedes captured Sam's bottom lips and softly sucked on it. Sam moaned and then shook his head.

"No. We are meeting in my room. You may be my boss, Ms. Jones, but tonight you are not calling the shots." Mercedes cocked her head and lifted one eyebrow. She opened up her mouth to speak but Sam shook his head slowly, mouthing "no". He rubbed his hand slowly against her bare thigh.

"Plus my room won't have any managers calling, won't be watched by reporters and won't be interrupted when I am making you scream out my name as I take you over and over and over again." Sam sucked on Mercedes' neck, making her legs physically quiver. He pulled away from her, waiting for her response. Mercedes' eyes were closed and her body was still trembling.

"Okay." She squeaked out. Sam chuckled as he lightly kissed her lips.

"Let me call you a cab right now and I'll call one for myself in 10 minutes. When I am on my way to the hotel, I'll call you." Mercedes nodded and Sam left to call the cab. Five minutes later, Mercedes was being ushered out of the club and into a cab. Ten minutes after she left, Sam walked out the club and into his own cab. He called Mercedes from the cab.

"Hey, I am on my way to the hotel. Are you there yet?" He answered anxiously. He couldn't believe how nervous he felt about being with Mercedes. It actually felt more than nerves. His body was going into overdrive anticipating being physically close to her.

"My cab is 5 minutes away."

"Where exactly are you?"

"Um, looks like 200th and Broadway."

"Oh! Tell your cabbie to take you to Mike's Ice Cream. I'll meet you there."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. I know you will love this place. Plus, it's kind of our thing." Mercedes smiled at Sam's comment.

"Ok, meet you there."

Fifteen minutes later, they both were in front of Mike's Ice Cream. Mercedes had the Red Velvet Ice cream with real bits of the cake in the ice cream, while Sam had a chocolate dipped mocha cone.

As they sat on the patio seating outside of the shop, Sam watched Mercedes lick the ice cream slowly off of her spoon, moaning as she tasted it. Sam felt sweat building on his forehead, as he shook his head.

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" He asked as he kept watching her enjoy the ice cream. Mercedes looked at him with a confused face. She honestly forgot he was sitting there; she was enjoying her ice cream immensely. The look of a distraught, frustrated Sam made her laugh.

"Sam, this was your idea, remember? I thought we were on our way to your room for a little somethin'-somethin?'" She questioned as she wagged her eyebrows. Sam shook his head laughing.

"Somethin'-something', huh?" He teased.

"Something'-somethin'." She repeated while twirling her hips in the chair, smiling. Sam threw his head back as he laughed.

"Listen, I definitely want that somethin'-somethin', but I didn't…" Sam breathed out hard, looking at his cone. He felt suddenly very shy under her stare. "I just didn't want this night to end so quickly." He said quietly.

"Trust me, It wouldn't haven't end quickly." Mercedes teased as she watched him. Sam looked at her seriously.

"Oh, that part, I know. I meant us being on a date. I wanted you to see where I'm from and why I love this town so much. I just wanted to share that with you." Sam watched as Mercedes sat quietly and a furrow formed above her brow. "Mercedes, what's wrong?" Mercedes looked away from him into the street, keeping her face and eyes out of his view.

"Nobody has ever wanted that with me before." She said with her face still turned from him. "I didn't really date anybody before I started singing for the label. Nothing in highschool or college. Some group dates and hook-ups. But never one on one dates. Even after I joined the label, the dates I did go on were about publicity or appearances. It felt like I was only good enough for sex or an item piece in the paper." Sam stayed silent and then reached over to touch her hand that was on the bistro table. She pulled it away when she felt his touch.

"Don't, okay?" She asked snappily. Sam pulled his hand back, and leaned against his chair. They sat in quiet for a moment when Sam got up from his seat, walked and squatted down in front of her. Her face was downcast and it hurt him to the core to see her so upset.

"Ms. Jones…God, help me, but I like you. You're sassy and funny and hot!" Mercedes laughed, shaking her head. "I am not going to lie and say that I don't want you, 'cause Lord have mercy, I do. But I also want to get to know you and spend time outside of the bedroom with you. Just you. You interested in that?" Sam tilted his head to the side, as he lifted her chin up to look him in the eyes. Mercedes was struck by how his green eyes dazzled in the moonlight. She smiled and nodded. Sam smiled broadly as he cupped her face in his hands and brought her lips to his. He kissed her deeply as he enjoyed the warmth of her lips mixed with the lingering coldness from her ice cream. He pulled away from her with a pucker sound and grabbed her hands. He pulled them both up and walked toward the curb, flagging a cab.

"I have one more place to show you, okay?" Sam asked as they entered into the cab. Mercedes agreed and Sam told the driver to take them to the Parthenon. The Parthenon is Nashville's outside urban park, where the building and the Greecian goddess Athena's statue are both in full-scale replicas of the Athenian originals. The building was lit up in yellow lights that gave it a truly majestic feel.

Mercedes was in awe of its size and architecture. Sam loved watching her geek out over the statue and structure.

"This place is amazing." She finally gasped. Sam nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I want to get married right here someday." He said casually. Mercedes turned to him and nodded wildly.

"It would be perfect, right? The ceremony could be right there," she answered franticly as she pointed to the south area of the building. "And the guests could be seated over there by the columns. Everyone in the wedding party would be dressed in Grecian garbs with gold leaves in their hair and a harpist playing in the background." Sam nodded with her excitedly.

"And have the ceremony right before sunset?" Sam added. Mercedes jumped up and down.

"Yes! So the light would be hitting the ceremony at just the right moment. Oh God. The pictures would be amazing!" Sam's eyes were dancing wildly as he watched the excitement in Mercedes' face. She just planned my ideal wedding, he thought. In record flat, she just planned every thought I had about my wedding.

Mercedes turned to look at the view of the city, flushed by what just happened. Mercedes was not the kind of girl that dreamed of her wedding, like other little girls. She dreamed of being on Broadway, being on the Grammys, but a wedding…not so much. She never even looked at a bridal book until Tina insisted on showing her the dresses that she was considering at her wedding. Mercedes would shoo her away, arguing that just because she was buying the dress for her didn't mean that she wanted to be a part of every minute detail. So what happened right now for Mercedes was….weird. I just created a whole wedding with this man. A whole wedding.

"So, exactly how is it that we are in here so late?" Mercedes asked as they walked through the building.

"Well, I know.." Sam started, but Mercedes cut him off, waving her hand.

"I know, I know. You know the custodian or the director or some hot shot. You are definitely Mr. Nashville, aren't you Mr. Evans?" She teased as she pointed playfully at his chest. Unexpectedly, Sam grabbed her finger and pulled it to his mouth. Mercedes watched as he kissed it softly and then dipped it into his mouth. He sucked on her finger, pushing it deeper and deeper into his mouth, until he licked the entire length of it. The warmth of his mouth, coupled with the pure look of ecstasy on his face, left Mercedes dumbstruck as she just stared at his mouth. She ran her hands through his hair as she lowered her lips onto his, quickly leading to them caressing each other tongues and exploring the warmth of both of their mouths. Sam's hands traveled up her thigh until they reached her hips. Sam pulled her back abruptly and looked down at her in shock, doing a double take on her face and her legs.

"You don't have any panties on!" He cried shocked. Mercedes grimaced, put her finger in her mouth and nodded her head. Sam let out a guttural growl, as he suddenly lifted her up, honeymoon style and laid her on the lush green grass behind them. He quickly ripped off his jacket, spread her legs wide and attacked her dripping and aching sexual core with his mouth. Until that moment, Mercedes didn't know her eyes could roll back that far back into her head. She arched her back, as Sam sucked and licked her like a man possessed. After she climaxed the third time, she stopped counting. All she remembered was feeling a state of euphoria where her body was completely limp. Her hands were full of clumps of grass that she pulled during the height of climaxes.

Sam stretched out exhaustedly next to her, wiping his face with his handkerchief. His face was red and he was panting intensely with his eyes closed. Mercedes could see his very pronounced arousal pushing up from his pants. She licked her lips as she crawled in between his legs, unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants. She pulled his pants and underwear down to view his very well endowed maleness standing at attention. Sam watched as she lowered her mouth onto him and engulfed his member in warmth. The feeling was overwhelming for him. He moaned deeply as she gripped his base and continued to bounce and suck him. When he felt like he couldn't hold it any longer, he tried to push away but Mercedes kept her head steady as he released in her mouth. He watched as she swallowed him completely, and used his handkerchief to wipe her mouth.

"Oh shit, that was hot was hell." He muttered. They both lay on the grass, enjoying their afterglow, until Mercedes broke the silence by clearing her throat.

"Sam, I don't want things to get weird between us now." She stated lowly. Sam turned his head to her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…I really, really enjoyed this. But I don't want you to think that this means that we are automatically together or anything." Sam's face frowned.

"It didn't mean anything to you?" He asked hesitantly. Mercedes shook her head quickly.

"No, of course it did. It means a lot to me. I just don't want you to think that I want you to be my boyfriend or anything. I mean…let's just keep it light. AND just between us." Sam let out a sigh and saw the look of concern on Mercedes' face.

"Mercedes, is that really what you want? Something light?" He questioned. Mercedes nodded.

"I really like you Sam. I do. And I want us to go out, and spend time together and see each other. But just..."

"Light." Sam interjected. He stood up and started buckling his pants, with his back towards her. Mercedes stood up and smoothed out her dress. She looked up at Sam who was quietly watching her.

"Are we ok?" She asked sheepishly. She could not read his mood and it was making her nervous. Sam extended his hand to her.

"Yeah, we're fine. We'll try it your way." Sam entwined their hands together as they walked toward the exit of the building. They drove in the cab in relative silence to the hotel. Once they got to Mercedes' hotel room, Sam and Mercedes both looked around to see if anyone was around. Seeing the coast was clear, Sam gave her a deep kiss goodnight. As he walked back to his room alone, he felt a weird mixture of excitement and nausea.

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***Sooooooooo, Did Mercedes' proposal surprise you? Is it those old self-preservation tactics? Well, let me know what you think, you guys. Tootles.****