A/N: I own nothing and please forgive all of my mistakes. Samcedes begins this chapter and Cedes finally gets her itch scratched. She has been thirsty. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

45

Drink Coffee or Say Bad Words.

Or Choose Violence and Do Both.

—SIGN AT THE LIMA BEAN

"You're going to see Sam?" Gina asked when Cedes called to check in on her way home. They had taken Ricky for some tests, and she was all alone in her hospital room. "He's been here all afternoon, but he left a little bit ago. He should be at his house in about fifteen minutes."

"He was with you all afternoon?"

"Yes, he was here with Ricky and me. GeeGee says you are going out on a date with him finally. Don't mess it up mom by arresting him.

"I am not dating Sam. I am just going over to meet with him to go over what happened in the mine. We're being deposed by the state police about it in the morning. Then, I'll be at the hospital in a couple of hours. Hunter is on his way now. And your grandparents are getting a hotel again so they will be there in the morning."

"Wow, you really don't trust me to not try to make a break for it, huh?"

"I do trust you to stay as long as Ricky is there, bug, I am almost at Sam's, so goodbye and love to the moon and back."

"Love to Saturn to Neptune to Uranus and back." After hearing Gina's last words, Cedes ended the call with her daughter and parked her cruiser outside of the Menkins compound. She walked up the stairs and hope she would have the confidence to do what she set out to do.

It was Stacey Menkins who answered Cedes' soft knock on the front door.

"So, you were interested in Hunter Clarington and didn't tell me?" Cedes teased her as a greeting.

"I refuse to answer that question, tell me why you are here and please don't let it be to find out about me and Hunter."

"I'm here to see your brother, not blow your cover." Cedes whispered the last part to her.

"Oh. Okay." She said sadly as if she wanted to talk about Hunter instead despite the words she just spoke not a minute earlier.

"Are you disappointed that I am not here to talk about the love of your life?"

"I am not disappointed at all." Cedes stared her down after that blatant lie and noticed that Stacey was all dressed up with makeup on. She was a beauty natural but dressed up and made up, she could rival any movie star.

When Cedes didn't say anything, Stacey broke down and asked, "Did he say anything to you about me?"

"Not really. But he gave a protective speech about not involving you with whatever is going on with your Uncle Cooter. He was like your knight in shining armor coming at me like I couldn't and wouldn't take him to the carpet. So, if you want to see him, then you have to go to where he will be for a while, which is the hospital. All alone with no one to talk to."

"He has Ricky and Gina to talk to there."

"You have a teenager, you know how it is talking to them. One syllable answers. He will be dying for adult conversation."

"Stevie has been bugging me to take him to go see Gina."

"Perfect excuse, and as his best friend, I will only tell you this he has been interested in you for a while; since before I moved back to Lima Springs."

"Really? Why didn't he say anything?"

"I told you he hasn't talked about you, so I don't know. I want to know how long have you been interested in him?"

"As soon as he went from being a geeky guy to the hottest guy in Lima Springs."

"So, you have been liking him, too, for a while." She didn't bother correcting her and letting her know that her brother was the hottest guy in Lima Springs because that would be incestuous and gross for Stacey to see Sam that way.

"Unfortunately, me and every woman in Lima Springs between the ages of seventeen and seventy-nine have been into him."

"Well, lucky for you, you are the only one he's into."

She smiled so wide in delight that the vibrancy almost blinded Cedes, "You are in luck, Sam just got back; he's in his room. Do you remember how to get there?"

Cedes nodded that she did and asked about her Uncle Cooter before climbing the stairs. She didn't want to run into him if she could avoid him.

"He's at work."

"Praise God."

Cedes went up the stairs as Stacey went to find Stevie to take him to the hospital with her. When she got to Sam's door, she knocked but no one answered. She knocked harder. Still no answer. She just needed to give him a minute in case he was in the bathroom or on the phone.

After a minute of admiring the architecture of the home, she knocked again for the last time very hard. She had an itch to scratch and a daughter to visit in the hospital. She wasn't waiting for marriage to enjoy sex. She and Sam may not be destined for the altar, but they could have all the fun of the honeymoon.

When he still didn't answer, she tried the door and was surprised that it was unlocked. She stormed inside only to witness Sam Evans stepping out of the shower. He'd been in the middle of wrapping a towel around his waist. When her eyes went to the lower half of his body.

"Sam," she said, not able to form any other word.

"Porter." He said as he finished securing the towel and stepped into the bedroom.

"I didn't realize you were …" She felt so humiliated at her audacity to just barge into his room uninvited like that. Were her hormones so out of control that she was unable to think clearly? "I am so sorry. I'll go. I just came by to—" She was looking anywhere but him and when her eyes locked on a side table by the door where he'd clearly emptied his pockets. Keys, wallet, and a stack of hundreds and a gold coin that looked exactly like the one Hunter just got. She realized something that totally distracted her again.

"So, you are Sinister."

"I've been called worse words by you," he said from so close behind her she jumped. He reached past her and pushed the door closed.

She turned to see him towering over her. His skin still damp. His hair and lashes spiked with wetness. His full mouth framed by a day's worth of stubble.

"They told me that Sinister had already cast his vote. Did you vote for or against me?" she asked, her voice less confident than she'd hoped.

"The vote had to be unanimous for any new member."

"I didn't know that."

"Did you?" he asked.

"Did I what?"

"Did you agree to be a Dangerous Damsel. Are you Dangerous?"

"Yes, we both did. But I don't really think I am Dangerous."

"I am glad you both accepted." He went back inside of his bathroom to finish his routine.

She followed him, but only to the door.

"I didn't come because I didn't want my presence, or my membership, to sway your decision."

"How would your presence accomplish that?" she asked.

He smiled as he lathered the bottom half of his face with expensive smelling shaving cream. "I thought if you knew I was a Sordid Son, you'd run the other direction."

"Well, you thought wrong. And here I thought you were good at reading my mind."

He stopped and shook his head at her. "I can never read you, Em."

She knew the opposite was true but didn't both contradicting him. She just stared at the bruises that were fading and the subconjunctival hemorrhage in his right eye remained a dark, ominous red. And yet none of his injuries lessened his sexual appeal. Surprisingly, the bruising on his body had faded much faster than on his face. She wondered how he felt, though. She hoped he was not in a lot of pain.

"So, how is your evening going?" Boy did she suck at small talk. She was more a woman of action than words apparently.

"It could be going a lot better," he said as he finished shaving his skin.

"How?"

"You could be naked and waiting for me in my bed."

His words made her speechless. It was now or never, Porter. She had to stop being a coward and take what she wanted. She inhaled, exhaled and pretended to be someone she wasn't. "What if I were, what would you do?"

He said without missing a beat, "Ask for consent."

That was the perfect answer and why she loved him. He was just that knight that she didn't need but appreciated having her back. He not only saved his nephew, but he'd almost died saving his friend's life. He'd saved Gina's life when she was going to commit suicide. He'd come to Cedes' rescue many times and in more ways than one. He'd brought his family out of the criminal world and poverty and given them something to be proud of. He was not a fairytale white night by any reason. He had faults, but she didn't care about them. What she cared most about was the way he made her feel.

"Sam, the truth is life is too short, and I'm in love with you. I have been since I was a kid, and I want to have a crap ton of sex with you before I get too old to enjoy it."

He pressed his mouth together and nodded, taking her offer into consideration.

"If you want to talk about what I just said, you have my number."

She started to leave, but he stopped her by saying, "I just have one question."

"Okay, what is it?"

"What do you consider too old to enjoy having sex?"

"I don't know. Maybe eighty-two? Eighty-three?"

He laughed. "So, we have a little time just under fifty years."

"I suppose we do."

"You are like a sorceress. You enchanted me the first time I saw your face, and no one else has ever measured up to you." He pressed his warm body against hers, lifted her face, and looked down into her eyes. "There's only ever been you."

He lowered his mouth to hers. Ran his tongue along the seam of her lips until they parted. His hands went to his favorite body part of hers. And he smoothed his hands over her ass and he pulled her against him, then surprised her by lifting her into his arms. She wrapped hers around his neck, refusing to break the kiss, and heard the towel fall to the floor.

He pulled back from her trying to stop this before it went too far. "I'm not sure we should be doing this."

"Why are you not sure?"

"I think you're very fragile right now with everything that has happened in the last week."

"Do you think I am like a flower?" she asked.

"More like a steel magnolia. Still, I am going to ask for consent from you Mercedes Porter?"

"Yes. Yes. For the love of God, please shut up and let me jump your bones."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she was on his bed. He eased on top of her, his biceps bunching with each carefully controlled movement. He smelled like soap and shaving cream. The scent only added to the euphoria she felt at finally having Sam Evans on top of her. Wanting her. Craving her. Well, if the growl he emitted was any indication. And she liked to think it was.

She reached down and put her hands on his cock and encircled it with her fingers. He stilled, his muscles contracting as she stroked him. First with small, hesitant strokes, then with longer ones.

"Oh, Em," he ground out as her confidence grew.

Before he could protest, she broke off the kiss and wiggled down between his legs until his cock was at her mouth. She eased her lips around it. She teased the tip of his cock with the tip of her tongue, and he gently slid into her mouth.

"Yes, just like that," he said when her teeth grazed the length of his erection, his voice hoarse, almost begging.

But she didn't listen, she started to suck him off instead. As his breathing grew heavier, she slowly released him, then drew him back inside the warmth of her mouth, wrenching a groan from him.

When he was near orgasm, she felt a scorching heat coiling in her own belly. She felt the flood of her excitement between her legs as she slowly, painstakingly pumped him to climax.

But before he climaxed, he stop her. "Wait," he said and gently pulled out of her mouth.

He moved their bodies and began to strip her. "It's my turn." He said removing her blouse and bra with one hand. She was impressed. And light-headed.

Her tender breasts spilled out, his large hand catching one. He caressed it. Massaged it before he bent his head and suckled the nipple. Whatever he was doing with his tongue caused the most incredible tremors of pleasure to give her the beginning of a nonvaginal orgasm.

"What the hell?" she asked, trying to figure out his technique. "How are you …" Her voice trailed off as she felt the promise of an orgasm flourish between her legs, the heat pooling in her abdomen astonishing. "I've never … ," she said between gasps.

He released her nipple only to transfer his scorching mouth to the other. It was like an invisible thread had been pulled taut between her nipples and her clit, and every time he sucked—so softly she ached—and flicked his tongue—so sweetly she writhed—it strummed and vibrated, drawing the orgasm closer and closer.

She parted her legs involuntarily. He took that as a cue to unfasten her pants and send his hand down the front of them. Still sucking, he dipped two fingers inside her, causing her to clench around them, then pulled out and circled her clit, her own wetness slickening his fingertips.

He worked hard, bringing her to the brink then pulling her back, for several long minutes.

"Sam, please," she begged, parting her legs further.

After climbing onto his knees, he peeled off first her jeans, then her panties. He slid them down her legs with meticulous care, caressing each inch of her skin as he did so, kissing between her knees. His tongue sliding up her thighs.

She heard the sound of foil tearing and bit her bottom lip as he rolled the condom onto his hard cock. His large hand finished the task, and then he stroked himself. Once. Twice.

Blood rushed into her clit. It swelled and pulsed and pleaded for release. He covered her body with his and placed tiny, hot kisses on the corners of her mouth as he slid gently and slowly inside her. She took every inch of him over and over as he milked her orgasm. His strokes grew shorter and faster, coaxing the sweet sting closer. As his strokes became harder and he demanded more from her as she followed his lead into bliss. She clamped down on him, and he came with a guttural growl, his chest heaving, his muscles contracting as he slammed into her.

After a moment, he collapsed and rolled to the side, but her orgasm was still there, on the edge of the precipice. The wave still rocking her, it had never fully subsided. She grabbed his hand and pushed it between her legs. She had no idea what his reaction was, because her body was too busy trying to come again.

He pressed his fingers inside her and scraped a palm over her clit. His mouth was at her ear, his warm breath "Come on," he said. "One more."

Then he drew a nipple into his mouth as his fingers pumped in and out of her. The wave swelled, built momentum a second time, but when he shoved her legs apart and drew her clit into his mouth, sucking softly, it exploded inside her. She grabbed handfuls of hair as he circled his tongue around her clit. Helping her ride the wave. Easing her back to Earth.

"Oh, my God," she said when she could talk again. "That has never happened to me."

He kissed her clitoris and took up a position next to her again, the length of his body pressed against hers the very definition of heaven. "Which part?" he asked.

"All of the parts. I've never … I haven't experienced an orgasm from a man. And so far, you are two for two."

"Are you kidding?" he asked, surprised.

"Not at all."

"What did you do? You know, when you were with someone?"

"I haven't been able to do any of that with anyone. I thought it was because I was raped, but whenever a man tried to have sex with me, I would just shut down."

"I am sorry for bringing that up. I am stupid. Please forgive me. Was I too rough?"

"It's okay, you couldn't have known. I am not technically a virgin, I have had a baby not by c-section. You were definitely not too rough. I enjoyed everything we did and can't wait to do it again and again." She wasn't going to tell him about the dildos Quinn bought her for her birthdays and how she named one Sam and would masturbate with them when she was home alone after having dreams about him.

"You know sex is all in the mind."

"Maybe so, but it felt much better with someone who knows how to use his dick, tongue, and fingers on my clit."

"You're so funny and that's sexy."

He thought she was funny and sexy. Well, if she was sexy, he was sexy to the utmost power.

The fact that she'd just had sex with Sam Evans was not lost on her. It was like a dam inside her had broken and elation spilled out, flooding every cell in her body. She would wonder about what this meant long-term later. For now, she only had one question: when would they get to do it again?

A little while later, Cedes lay in his arms. Sam Evans's arms. "What is this?" he asked, lifting up the key she had on a chain around her neck.

"Oh." She took it and tried to tuck it under the sheets. "It's nothing."

He propped himself up on an elbow and brought it out again. Held it between his fingers. Flipped it over and over. "Is this what I think it is?"

When they were kids, the Menkins family had been harassing her one summer afternoon. Stacey, who back then hated Cedes with a fiery passion ripped off the chain she'd had around her neck, the one with the key to her house, and tossed it down Sam's shorts.

Because while the Menkins cousins were hooting and hollering, Sam took out the key himself, fixed the chain, and put it back around her neck.

She learned that day what Sam was really made of, despite his crude upbringing.

"It's just a key," she said, trying to take it from him.

He took a closer look at the smiley face she'd engraved into it as a kid. "Is this the key from—"

"That day? Yes." She snatched it back. "It's my good luck charm. Everyone needs a good luck charm."

"You're right." He bent and brushed his mouth over her jaw and down her neck.

"Do you have one?"

"Yes," he said, absently, focused on more productive things.

"Really? What is it?"

"You, Em. It's always been you."

Her heart swelled. Why had it taken them so long? She had so many questions. So many doubts, but she'd never doubted her feelings for him.

"Now, hush." He bent again and made his way to a breast. A breast that betrayed her instantly by tightening under his touch. Then he started doing that thing with his tongue again, and her fingers clenched in his hair.

By the time he rolled on top and slid inside her, the pleasure in her core peaked almost instantly. He sucked a breath in through his teeth, then covered her mouth with his as though staking his claim. It was a claim she gladly relinquished.

Perhaps it was the angle of the light.

Sam had stood and was wrapping the towel around his waist again when she noticed them. His skin was so tight against his flesh, they were hard to see, but there on the left side of his lower abdomen were three indents. Three distinct scars. Three straight lines, each one about an inch in length.

Three knife wounds.

Her mind rushed into the past as a flood tide of memories flashed bright and hot. Two men fought in a downpour, but she couldn't focus. Why couldn't she focus? Was she hurt? Drugged? She couldn't tell who the men were beyond the fact that one was young, just a boy, and one was older. Should she root for one or fear both?

The icy rain sliced into her flesh and chilled her bones and yet she was on fire. Hot and cold warred for her attention as the men struggled.

The younger man looked at the knife protruding from his gut as though in disbelief. The older man pulled it out again and the boy grabbed hold of his stomach just as the older man slid it in a third time. It sliced into the boy's wrist as well as punctured his midsection.

He rolled off the older man, lay flat on his back for a couple more seconds, then stumbled to her, clutching his side. She looked up, tried to see through the shadows created by the hood, but the rain pelting her face made it impossible. Until one perfectly timed flash of lightning set the area ablaze with light. And in that briefest of moments, she saw him. His perfect face. His mouth. His eyes.

Sam.

Her rescuer.

"What are you hungry for?"

She heard his voice from far away, but she was trapped in the past as he lifted her into his arms and stumbled forward. She was so wet he could hardly hold on. He fell to one knee, lifted her again, and charged forward just as she lost her battle with the encroaching darkness.

"I happen to make a great steak."

Cedes clawed her way back to the present. Tried to focus on the question, but the past kept tumbling around in her mind. She couldn't get her footing.

"Are you okay?" He said his voice full of concern as he reached up and brushed something off her face. A tear?

She took the opportunity to look at his wrist. A scar, straight and deep, cut across the top side, probably to the bone, and she couldn't believe the knife didn't slice through an artery or sever a tendon.

He was there. If he wasn't a part of the abduction scheme, why not tell her he rescued her? Why keep that a secret?

She tried to focus through the darkening edges of her vision.

"Porter?" he said, growing wary.

"Yes." She snapped out of it the best she could. "I, um, I have to get to the hospital. I told Gina I'd be there hours ago." She hurried and gathered her clothes, throwing on the blouse braless when she couldn't locate the damned thing.

He looked around confused, as though trying to figure out what had triggered the change in her behavior. She didn't give him time to ask. She ran out of there as fast as she could.

Once she was safely inside her cruiser, she threw it into reverse, peeled out, and called her lifeline.

She remembered heavy breathing, but not hers. Hers was shallow. Barely enough to form a wisp of smoke on the frigid air. She remembered a heartbeat racing in her ear, but not hers. Hers was weak. Barely enough to push the blood to and from her heart. She remembered a warmth around her, but not hers. She was ice and the warmth was doing its darnedest to keep her from freezing to death. She curled into it, begging for more.

He stumbled again, jostling her against him as he lifted her into the vehicle. Then he stepped back. Tried to catch his breath. Dropped to one knee and clutched his side, doubling over. But she wanted him closer because she was falling again. She didn't want to lose him.

"Hunter," she said into the phone as she tore down Sam's long drive. "Where are you?"

A hand held the back of her head while another pushed a water bottle against her lips. A soft whisper encouraged her to drink. Water flooded her mouth, causing her to choke. She coughed, her stomach muscles writhing and constricting until she vomited.

She remembered the clear liquid soaking into his jacket, onto her pants, and running over the seat of a truck. Mortified, she tried to wipe it off but her limbs were filled with cement. Impossible to lift. And again she fell.

"I'm at the hospital," Hunter said. "What's wrong? Where are you?"

The overhead lights blinded her. She felt his warmth again. Heard the heartbeats in his chest. He called out. "Nurse!" But she couldn't figure out why he was calling for a nurse in his truck.

No, not his truck. Too sterile. Too bright.

His warmth vanished and the bright lights overhead rushed past her. People's faces popped in and out of her vision, all of them talking to her, but she was falling again. She reached out for him.

"Did you get a name?" someone asked.

"No. He took off. He looked hurt."

He was gone.

Cedes pressed the phone to her ear with a shoulder as she took the turn out of Sam's drive too fast. Her tires spun and dirt billowed in her headlights. "I'll be there in an hour," she said, then hung up as her world spun in circles around her.

Gina and Ricky were asleep when she got to the hospital. Her parents had gone back to the hotel, and Hunter sat in the room scrolling through his phone. He shot to his feet when she walked in, questioning her with a single look.

"It was him," she said, breathless from running and panicking and freaking out. "It was Sam. He took me to the hospital and never said anything. After all these years, why wouldn't he tell me?"

"Where are we going?" she asked, oblivious.

"Coffee. Unless you want something stronger."

"I want something stronger."

They ended up at a bar. "It makes no sense," he said, his brows knitting in confusion.

Cedes nodded ordering the whiskey that Sam had named after her, the woman poured, albeit reluctantly.

"You do realize that is a hundred proof," Hunter said.

Again, just like its creator.

When she ignored him, he looked at the bartender. "What do you think?" he asked her.

She grinned, forming the most charming dimples at the corners of her mouth, and said, "In my limited experience, it always boils down to one, unmitigated fact. People lie."

Hunter nodded. "And there you go. I told you that man was lying. Every word he told you in that prison was a lie."

The next time Cedes spoke, she did so with a slight slur. "I agree. People lie. Tests don't."

"Cedes, you and I both know those tests aren't foolproof and human error is a real thing, even in the world of forensics."

"Especially in the world of forensics. It was odd, though," she said, thinking back. "I'd sent those samples in months ago. True, I held on to them for too long, but it still took longer to get the results than I'd expected."

"You didn't get the results."

"Yes, I did."

"No. You never got them. You had to call for the results. And they just happened to be ready on the day you called?"

"On the day after we visited Bryan Ryan Menkins in Nevada?"

"If he lied about rescuing you and taking you to the hospital, he could very well be lying about killing his own brother."

"The only way he could lie about that is if Quinn helped him."

"Your words not mine."

"I guess you are taking me to Eureka, so I can see my dear friend Quinn and see how much Bryan Ryan Menkins and Samuel Evan Menkins have played me."