A/N and Disclaimer: I own nothing from Glee, Carr's story, or any other copyrighted material. I hope you enjoy it. Please as always forgive all of my mistakes. This is the end of the story. Thanks again for all of your support and showing this story so much love. Please keep the community going authors and reviewers. It takes writers and readers to keep our little engine going. You all are able to be consistent; whereas I work two jobs, and I sneak in a fanfiction when I am down and need lifting up or when I am avoiding doing work when I am on deadline...it's the procrastinator in me..Enough about me...Until we meet again family. Love you all stay safe and stay cool.

Chapter 11

Sam stood on the porch with a bottle of wine in his hands. He was about to knock when he heard music instead of "Disco Inferno," it was Whitney Houston's "How Would I Know."

He'd spent the past several hours investigating the fire in the cafeteria, then helping clean up in the aftermath. It had been caused by faulty wiring in one of the large ovens.

It had only been a few hours since he'd seen Mercy, since she'd agreed to be his girlfriend, but it had felt like years.

Before he could knock, she opened the front door. "I really missed you."

He opened the screen door and walked in. "Ditto. I was just listening to your singing and feeling like the luckiest man on the planet."

Mercy smiled, her face alit with pure joy. She was so damn easy to please.

Sam followed her into the house and handed her the wine.

"Come on. We can open this and grab some glasses from the kitchen," she said.

He glanced around the house as they walked through the front hallway to the kitchen. "Where's JJ?"

She shook her head. "Auntie Tina took him to the movies. Then they're going to stay at her place. She's hosting a sleepover with JJ, Silas, and her niece, Sierra."

His eyebrows rose as he considered the night Tina and Mike were going to have. "Remind me to buy her two bottles of wine tomorrow. Or maybe I'll just offer her combat pay."

Mercy laughed. He hadn't been in the house for three minutes, and he was already overwhelmed by the need to touch her.

Sam took the wine from her and placed it on the counter. Then he grasped her hand and tugged her close, twirling her around the room in time with the music.

Mercy never missed a beat, her arms wrapping around his neck as they swayed. She lifted her face to him and he was a goner.

Bending his head, he kissed her. It was long and deep, full of the passion he'd been forced to hold back on the playground.

"Mercy," he murmured against her lips.

She lowered her head slightly, her forehead pressed to his mouth. "I almost ruined everything," she whispered.

Obviously, there was still some residual guilt lingering.

"No. Kitty almost ruined everything. The woman is a shit stirrer, spoiled and entitled. She might know what the word no means, but she'd never understood how it applies to her. I should have spotted her game. God knows I've been on the receiving end of her manipulations for years."

"The two of you really never dated?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"She was like a woman scorned all afternoon after you set her straight."

"She's had the world handed to her on a silver platter since the day she was born. I'm pretty sure I was the first thing she ever wanted that she didn't get."

Mercy looked up at him and gave him a smile he couldn't quite interpret.

"What's that grin about?"

She lifted one shoulder. "I've never been the girl who got the guy."

Sam narrowed his eyes. "One attempt can hardly be interpreted as a failing track record."

"I guess not. I'm sorry I painted you with the same brush as Jake Puckerman. That was wrong of me."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "It wasn't. Before you came to town, I was more like him than I care to admit."

"I find that so hard to believe. I mean…I kept hearing all the gossip, but when we were together, you were so different from the man everyone else was describing."

The song ended, so they stopped dancing. While he wanted to keep holding her—hell, he wanted to do a lot more than just dance—he decided this was a good time to clear the air. And then, God willing, they'd move forward from here.

Together.

Forever.

Mercy turned, intent on opening the wine, but he stopped her, clasping her hand and leading her to the kitchen table where they both sat down.

She looked at him curiously. "No wine?"

"In a minute. I want to get everything out in the open here, so you know exactly where I'm coming from. Maybe if I'd said some of these things earlier, you wouldn't have been so susceptible to Kitty's lies."

She sighed. "Yeah." Mercy pointed to her forehead. "Pretty sure I have the word sucker tattooed up there."

He grinned, leaning forward to kiss the brow she was pointing to. "Nope. That's what I'm saying. I hadn't been with a woman in almost two years, but before that I went wild my senior year and continued to be a one night stand for many women around our age in Lima if they were willing to settle for a hit it and quit it or booty call. Lima is not as big as everybody's think. There were only about a hundred and fifty ladies in town who were the right age that I was attracted to. I never slept with the older women here. And out of that a hundred and fifty: half of them were in relationships and in the other half, some of them were good girls, and that left only a handful that I would screw around with. Some of my reputation is well earned, but most of it has been exaggerated. I allowed the untruths to go on because it gave me a reputation. Made me feel like the big man on campus in our little town. It made me not feel like a Lima Loser. But instead every night I felt like a loser, and after Harmony's mom, who I didn't sleep with by the way, I haven't even wanted a booty call. The first time my dick got hard again was when I met you, and I still didn't think I was good enough for you."

"Why? It's obvious you're great with kids, and I think you'll make an amazing husband one day, too."

Sam was touched by her belief in him. "You know my family's story. We were homeless and my dad became a cheating alcoholic, and my mom eventually left my dad and me and went back home to Nashville. After their divorce was final, my dad got full custody, and because he was unfaithful to her, the only man she ever loved and been with since she was sixteen, she went crazy, wanting to gain back her misspent youth and have lots of boyfriends. I spent every summer with her because Sugar didn't want me around the house when school wasn't in session. My mom's boyfriends all tried to befriend me, and then when she quit them, they quit me. As soon as I was able to move out and get the certification and training I needed to be a firefighter/medic, I did. I only spent time at their homes to spend time with my half-siblings. I figured they needed someone to love them unconditionally and not put on the act they put on of pretending to love me."

"How do you know it was an act?" Mercy asked. "How do you know all the adults in your life didn't really care about you?"

"Because the second they were out of a relationship with my father or mother, they were out of my life for good. And the same for my parents when they were in a new relationship and had a new child, I was no longer needed in their lives."

Her eyes softened. "So today, at the school, when JJ said…"

"Everything JJ said nearly killed me. I've been paying extra attention to him at tee-ball practice, hoping that would be enough, but…" Sam swallowed heavily.

"You can always be a part of his life. I won't keep the two of you apart, even if…"

Her words faded away.

He leaned back and crossed his arms. "Even if?"

She shrugged, refusing to finish the sentence, when she saw his face.

"Smart woman." Sam reached out and took her hand. "We're not borrowing that trouble because it'll never happen."

Mercy had the prettiest smile he'd ever seen. Those lips. Those eyes. Those cheeks.

"What's for dinner?" he asked.

She glanced toward the fridge. "I have a couple of salmon steaks marinating."

"Anything cooking already?"

She shook her head. "I was just going to throw those on the grill and toss a salad together."

"Good." He stood up, not relinquishing her hand. "We'll have all that for dessert."

"Dessert?" she asked with a laugh, not needing a response from him when he led her straight to her bedroom.

"I'm finished running," he said to her, realizing there was one last promise to make. "I was serious about what I said earlier. I want to be with you. Always and forever."

Her eyes shone with happy tears. "I want the same thing as you."

"Good. Now to quote Nelly, it's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes."

Whatever shyness Mercy might have felt with him at the beginning was long gone. She unbuttoned the top, her bra following it onto the floor. "I am gettin' so hot (Uh, uh, uh, uh) I wanna take my clothes off (Oh)." She sang as she pantomimed being so hot that he couldn't resist her charms.

Sam immediately cupped her breasts, plumping the flesh, pinching her hard nipples. "You're so beautiful and so awesome that you share my goofball sense of humor. That really makes you more than just hot," he murmured, kissing her as he touched her.

She tugged his shirttail free of his jeans, her hands sliding beneath to stroke his chest. "You. Me. We are the same," she said, as she ran her fingertips over his pecs so lightly, it almost tickled.

Releasing her breasts, he lowered his hands to strip off her jeans. While he could tell she'd showered after school, there was still the faintest scent of smoke in her hair, blending with the enticing aroma of her shampoo. It was a strange yet tantalizing combination.

Once she was naked, he took a step away, wanting to steal an unobstructed look at her. The night they'd spent together was chiseled on his brain. And his heart.

It had been everything and he'd longed for this moment every single second since.

A million nights in her bed wouldn't be enough for him.

Mercy glanced at his jeans, lifting her eyebrows in a "get on with it" way.

Sam shed them without haste, sucking in a sharp breath when she wrapped her hands around him, caressing his cock from root to tip. He let her make the journey up and back half a dozen times before he gripped her wrists and pulled her hands away.

"Sam," she started, but he shook his head.

"When I come, sweetheart, I'm going to be buried deep between those pretty thick thighs of yours."

She shivered, the reaction pure arousal. "I want you inside me now."

He chuckled. "Always in such a hurry. Go lie on the bed. We're going to get there." And then, because he was ornery, he added, "Eventually."

She didn't miss the last word, but he didn't give her time to argue about it. They walked toward her bed and he pressed his hand on her shoulder, urging her to sit.

Kneeling in front of her, he tugged her ass to the edge of the mattress and pushed her legs apart. "Lie back, Mrs. Jones," he teased. "I'm going to be very thorough and naughty."

Mercy's laugh was breathless and short-lived as she fell to her back the second he took her clit between his teeth. Her hands were in his hair within seconds, clinging to it as he slid his tongue along her slit.

"Oh Sam..Sammy…Sam…Sam!," Mercy cried. "I love…" Sam held his breath until she found the strength to finish. He was disappointed when she added, "The way you do that."

He'd spent a lifetime running from the words I love you. Love was the trigger, the thing that kept him trying to escape, but now, he wanted them, needed them from her.

Patience had never been one of his strong suits.

He licked her again, then sucked her clit into his mouth, pulling on it roughly. That little hot button never failed to push Mercy to the brink and beyond. Her hips gyrated wildly, so he gripped them firmly, holding her still as he continued to feast on her sweet pussy.

"Sam, please baby please. I ache for you." While they weren't exactly the words he was hoping for, they were definitely a close second. He loved the sound of his name on her lips, combined with that plea for release.

"Mmmm?" he hummed against her, pretending to misunderstand her desire.

"I need you."

Lifting his head, he waited until her eyes found his. Then he gave her a self-satisfied smirk. "Tough."

She narrowed her eyes, but he wasn't swayed. He was going to taste her first orgasm. Sam drove his tongue inside her, her back arching almost violently in response. Mercy's reactions were so natural, so unrestrained. She gave him everything she had. It was a heady thing.

He pressed his tongue in and out of her as her head thrashed from side to side, his name her breathless mantra.

"Sam. Sammy. Sam."

He screwed her with his tongue, and when she was right there, on the edge, he ran his thumb over her clit, pushing her off.

She jerked, her fists closing around his hair, pulling it so hard, his scalp burned. He'd be lucky if the wildcat didn't pull out every strand.

It would be worth it.

The taste of her was still on his lips when her orgasm waned, and he lifted his head. Her pretty cheeks were flushed, her breasts rising and falling rapidly as she sought to catch her breath.

"Ready for round two?"

She hadn't caught her breath yet, hadn't fully landed. It didn't matter. There was a tiny part of him that wanted vengeance for that morning after. Waking up in an empty bed, searching for her, longing for her.

This time he was going to bind her to him, not with physical bonds but with stronger ones. He was going to tie her here with the knowledge that he was the only man who could fulfill her every fantasy, satisfy her every desire.

It was time to unleash the beasts—hers and his.

Driving two fingers inside her, he curled them, finding her G-spot on the first stroke.

"Yes," Mercy cried out loudly. Her hands had lowered, clenching the bedspread, tugging on it as he pressed his fingers deeper before withdrawing them completely.

She hadn't expected him to stop. He could see that from her confused expression.

"Promise me," he said, his voice husky with painful need.

"Anything," she replied breathlessly.

In a different state of mind, he might have smiled at her quick acquiescence. But right now, the memory of her leaving him alone and avoiding him for nearly two weeks was too strong.

"No more running."

"No more," she agreed.

"If something upsets you, you stick around and we talk it out."

"Absolutely. Communication is key."

He believed her. Yet, there was a part of him that needed something stronger than just her words. That vow was going to be solidified…with a total seduction of her senses.

Sam stood, flipping her to her stomach with a strong hand on her upper arm..

"You're mine," he said, caressing the heated flesh of her ass. He'd never felt this unfamiliar need to possess a woman. It was strong, almost overpowering.

God help sweet Mercy because he was going to be a jealous boyfriend. That was a new emotion for him as well.

"Yours," she whispered. "I'm yours and you are mine."

"Open your legs."

Her thighs parted and he drove his fingers back inside—three this time—pleasuring her with them from behind, pounding them inside of her deep and hard.

She came within seconds, and he drew the orgasm out, kept it firing as he refused to slow his pace, to give her time to recover. Her body shook, as if she'd just received an electrical shock. She continued to plead—for him to stop, to keep going, to take her with his huge dick.

"I desperately need you inside of me," she yelled. "Please, Sam. I really need you like I need oxygen to breathe. Take me baby. Slow or hard. I don't care, just complete me."

He wiggled his fingers. "I am inside you." He knew what she meant, but he wanted to hear her say dick again.

"Not your long ass fingers," she cried out. "Your dick. I want your big, thick dick. I need you to fill me up, to be joined with you because it hurts. I…Lord…please, Sam."

He'd never gotten a better invitation.

"Roll over," he commanded. "And move to the middle of the bed. This time I'm going to see your face when I am inside of you."

Mercy wasted no time getting into position, lifting her arms and drawing him over her. He kissed her, letting her taste her own arousal, still lingering on his lips. Their tongues touched. Mercy's hands wrapped around his dick, guiding him to her opening.

There was not a lick of hesitancy on her part.

Not even the slightest bit.

He pressed the head of his cock inside as she shifted her position, lifting her knees to ease his path. He threw them over his shoulders to open her even more. She was completely at his mercy. His Mercy at his mercy. He liked the sound of that.

Mine.

Their eyes met. He wasn't sure what she saw in his face, but he realized he'd given the last fear away.

She cupped his face with a soft hand. "I want you to find your pleasure in me. I can take whatever you give out."

His chest tightened at the thought of taking her the way he'd always dreamed of, longed for.

"And I want it all," she added.

With every single lover in the past, he'd taken care, given the woman plenty of time to adjust to his girth, his length, even as he longed for hard and fast.

"Mercy," he whispered.

She placed a finger over his lips. "Are you going to give me what I want?"

He grinned. His kitten had claws.

"Or should I find someone else to—"

That was as far as she got with her taunt before he slammed inside her.

Mercy Jones was his forever.

She screamed, but he took her at her word, gave her what she said she wanted because—God help him—it was what he wanted too. She urged him on, begging for everything he had.

He sought his pleasure as Mercy's fingernails scored his shoulders, scratching the skin. He was going to feel that tomorrow.

Then he realized she was going to be sore as well. Neither of them was giving the other an ounce of reprieve. They were claiming, possessing, taking, giving.

Mercy's hips lifted to meet him, her palms flat on the headboard above her head. She was using that placement not just for purchase, but as a way to move herself toward him to capture even more on every inward thrust.

She came once, but he wasn't quite there. He couldn't be. This was everything he'd ever wanted, and he wasn't about to let it end so quickly, so he slowed to a gentle rocking pace.

Her next orgasm was a mere second behind the first, but this time, he lost his battle to hold on. Her inner muscles clenched tightly around his dick and he couldn't help but climax and fill her with his come.

No condom. For the first time in his life, he had sex without a condom. Oh, hell, he forgot to have one on him, and knew she didn't have any. All of his condoms were in his apartment in the bathroom, and he needed to check their expiration date anyway.

Sam remained inside her as they slowly came down, both of them gasping for air. Then, reluctantly, he slid out of her wet heat, watching her face as he did so. His wits were starting to return now that he wasn't blinded by that haze of sexual longing.

"Mercy," he said, praying he hadn't hurt her, as he fell to the mattress next to her. "Sweetheart."

"I love you," she said.

Sam's heart nearly exploded, too full of happiness to hold it all. "I love you, too."

She twisted on the bed, wrapping her arm around his waist, nuzzling close. "How long do you need to recover?"

He leaned back until he could see her face. "What?"

"I have a five-year-old son, Sam. We need to take advantage of times like this, when we can be as loud as we want to. How long," she asked, her hand stroking his dick in a way that was pure minx, "until we can do it again?"

Sam placed his hand over hers, applying more pressure as the two of them stroked his cock together. "You keep that up and it won't be long at all."

Her smile was a lethal combination of sweet and sexy and totally Mercy.

"Good. I have a fire inside me that is making me burn baby burn," she murmured.

Sam chuckled at her joke when she squeezed his dick tighter.

"Lucky for you, I am a firefighter who just happens to have a big hose to put it out."

Epilogue

"Come on, Mrs. Jones," Sam called from the bottom of the pole. "Slide down."

Sam had been trying to talk Mercy into sliding down his pole ever since the first day they'd met during the field trip. And while she'd taken countless rides on his personal pole, this was the first time he'd convinced her to try the real deal.

"Come on, Mommy."

Sam was on duty tonight, so she and JJ were spending the night at his apartment above the station. It was a routine they'd fallen into over the past few months, splitting their time between her place and his. It was incredible how easily all the pieces had fallen into place.

JJ loved the nights they stayed at the station, helping Sam clean the trucks, sitting behind the wheel of the big tanker, the two of them pretending to race to fires.

JJ swore he was going to be a fireman just like Sam when he grew up, and the more Mercy got to know Sam, the more deeply she fell in love with him, the more she hoped JJ did grow up to be just like him.

She peered down through the hole, but she couldn't see JJ or Sam.

"I thought you were going to catch me," she called down.

"You're not going to fall, sweetheart. Just grab tight to the pole and slide down. We both know you're a natural at it."

Mercy giggled, grateful JJ didn't understand the true meaning behind Sam's words.

"Okay, but if I fall…"

She gripped the pole, wrapped one leg around it, held her breath, closed her eyes, then slid.

When she opened them again, she was on the ground. Mercy saw JJ, standing next to Sam, who was down on one knee, holding up an engagement ring. Both of them were beaming, co-conspirators in the surprise.

She gasped. "Sam," she started.

"Marry me, Mrs. Jones. Save me from this miserable life of bachelorhood."

She laughed. "I thought you liked being a bachelor."

Sam narrowed his eyes but continued. "Give me a five-year-old son with…" Sam looked over and started describing JJ, who was cracking up at the joke. "With curly dark brown hair, hazel eyes, a yellow-striped shirt, blue jeans, a scuffed elbow, and one?"

JJ shook his head and held up two fingers.

"Two," Sam corrected, "missing teeth."

Mercy walked over to them, her gaze taking in the beautiful ring even as his words made her giggle, made her happier than she'd ever been in her life.

"I can't live without you," he continued.

Mercy knelt in front of Sam, reaching over to wrap her arm around JJ, who leaned toward her, urging her to agree.

"Say yes, Mommy."

"Yes," she whispered, trying not to cry. Sam slid the ring on her finger, bending forward to kiss her. Then he stood, helping her up, as JJ let out a loud hoot. The two of them did a high five, acting as if they'd just won the Super Bowl.

"We did it, little man! We surprised her."

JJ bounced with glee. "Can I call you Daddy now?"

It was a heartfelt request that took Mercy and Sam down hard. She was a goner as she felt the first happy tear slide. She didn't miss the way Sam had to swallow hard, then clear his throat before he could manage to say, "There's nothing I'd like more, JJ."

"Can I tell Mike you're getting married?" JJ asked.

They both nodded as JJ darted back to the bunk room, where Mike was now that he was a volunteer firefighter. After the fire at the school, Mike realized that the station could use some help when he was not running his dance school.

Sam reached for her, giving her the kiss they both wanted. It was deep and long and passionate.

When they parted, they shared a smile. "Happy…" He paused a second before adding, "Mrs. Evans?"

Mercy loved the sound of that.

And him.

"Deliriously so…future husband. And the only fires I want from you are from the ones you ignite with me in the sheets."

Sam gave Mike the look and carried his fiancee up into the loft apartment, so he could continue to give burn his baby up in the bedroom.

The End