Love, Family, and Betrayal Ch. 04

Melody's face faltered, and she struggled to keep her smile. "I missed you. How have you been?"

"Terrible," he answered bluntly. "I'm facing charges that could land me in prison for over fifteen years."

"Do you have a lawyer?"

"No," he admitted. "A better lawyer might be able to get me off, but I'm stuck with a public defender who looks like he just passed the bar exam."

"Maybe I can help," she suggested. "You remember that really good attorney we both knew? I think I can hire her. Logan said he'd—"

"Logan!" Cody exclaimed. "Don't you dare tell me you went back to that son of a bitch!"

Melody flinched before his anger. "Cody, please. My dad kicked me out. I had no way to pay the bills. I had no choice."

"No choice," he repeated sarcastically. "You mean like you had no choice but to wear those clothes?"

Despite his desperate situation, Cody couldn't help getting a grim satisfaction as she looked down and realized how expensive her clothes looked.

"I must say, if you've been sleeping with Logan, then suddenly I don't feel so bad about screwing other chicks while you were gone."

"Cody, please," his wife begged, her first tears forming. "Why are you doing this? I still love you. Logan said that if I wanted to stay with you, he'd give me half his money."

That was enough to leave even him speechless. With that kind of money, he could practically bribe his way out of jail.

Sensing an opportunity, Melody continued, "I can get you the best attorney in the nation. After you're free, we can look for a retirement home in Florida. I can make everything better. I promise. I still love you."

Cody had to admit that was tempting.

"Will you do it?" she asked hopefully.

"Are you still pregnant?"

"Yes."

He paused for a moment. "Then... I guess I can forgive you, if you give up that bastard's offspring for adoption."

Melody looked like she'd been hit in the face. "Cody... I've been through so much. I need this baby."

"I am not raising another man's child, Mel," he said threateningly.

"Please, can't you think of this as just my baby instead of his?" she begged.

"No," he said bluntly.

"Mothers are supposed to take care of their children, no matter what. That's what you always said."

Cody glared. While he had said that women were supposed to have their children no matter how they were made, that was before his wife had been impregnated by another man. He especially hated his wife throwing his own words back at him.

"I just want us to be a family again."

"I don't care," he said.

Melody's face crumbled in pain. "Will you at least let me pay for your lawyer? I love you."

"Get out of my sight," he growled, too blinded by his own pride. He hung up the phone to demonstrate this was not negotiable.

Cody could see the hurt in her eyes. He felt no remorse.

*****

Melody held it together until she was back in Logan's car. Then she cried the entire way home.

The Cody she fell in love with was gone. She'd endured so much pain and abuse because she still believed in him. To discover that she'd been putting her faith in the wrong man—a man who simply didn't care about her—made her sick to her stomach.

She felt like throwing up as she relived the worst memory of all.

*****

She'd been staying at her father's house for the night. Her four brothers, as well as her sisters-in-law, had been there as well.

All the men were drunk. She and the other women were smart enough to stay out of the way as the night wore on. Except she was the one always being called by name.

The news that she was pregnant had not gone well. When Cody revealed his infertility, all her hopes had been dashed. She'd felt like she was living on a powder keg.

Six men had stared at her with naked hatred while the wives looked on with indifference at best, contempt at worst. She had no friends.

"What do you want me to do?" she'd begged.

"Get rid of it!" Cody had angrily shouted.

"I can't!" she'd sobbed. "What happened to our family being pro-life?"

Her pleas and appeals to logic fell on deaf ears. Her mind instinctively recoiled from the rest of the conversation, but she remembered everything that happened next in excruciating detail.

Her husband had thrown her to the floor and raped her. By then, that hadn't been unusual, but what happened next made it the worst night of her life. Her own father and brothers had raped her while the rest of the family looked on.

None of the men remembered anything the next morning, but for her, the nightmare had just begun.

*****

Logan's first sensation was that of a gentle push against his side.

"Melody?" he asked, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. There was enough light for him to make out the room, including Melody, sitting upright with her hand withdrawn.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have woken you. I just wanted to talk. It can wait until the morning."

"No," he said, moving his own body into a sitting position. "What's wrong? Was it another nightmare?"

Melody sighed. "You know about that, huh?"

"Kinda hard to miss," Logan nodded. "I know I promised not to push you, but it was pretty easy to guess that Cody was abusing you."

"I just don't understand. He used to be so kind and generous."

"Who he was before doesn't matter," he told her sternly. "It doesn't matter whether it's me or Cody. An abusive relationship is when someone treats you as anything less than what you are worth."

Melody's head dropped. Logan knew his words wouldn't be pleasant, but this was too important to sugar coat.

"Would you like to press charges against him?"

"No," she yelled, shaken out of her near-trance. "I... I don't want to do that. I... He..."

She was cut off by Logan placing a single finger over her lips. "It's okay. You don't have to explain it to me. It's your choice. It's nobody's business but your own."

In Logan's opinion, Cody belonged in jail for a very, very long time. But it wasn't his choice to make. It was hers. Her reasons didn't matter.

After a moment's hesitation, Melody rewarded him with a heartfelt hug. "Thank you, Logan. For everything."

He would've gladly spent what remained of the night holding her against his chest, but she had other plans. Drawing back without letting him go, she looked at him, her green eyes visible even in the softest of lighting.

"I love you."

Logan froze, certain he must've misheard her.

"I love you," she repeated, pulling his head close, her lips mere inches away from his. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you that earlier. I couldn't because I... I gave my heart to Cody when we were kids. But now that he's gone, I... I can give it to you. I love you."

Logan felt his eyes watering. This was the second happiest moment of his life. Only the news that Melody had been pregnant with his child had brought greater bliss.

He squeezed the tiny redhead against him, enjoying her moans as he savored every inch of contact with her soft skin. He knew Melody's body like the back of his hand, and he recognized her growing arousal. She was squirming like her pussy was wet, and when he pressed his chest against hers, he confirmed how hard her nipples were.

With a wide, slightly frenzied grin, she backed up, careful to never take her eyes off his. She settled on the bed, spreading and making herself comfortable.

"Make love to me," she said, pulling him toward her soaked entrance. "I know you've fucked me many times. Show me how you make love to me."

Logan nodded, placing his swollen manhood against her eager, welcoming pussy. His gentle gasp matched hers as he spread her sensitive folds and entered her. He closed his eyes for a full second to appreciate how novel she felt. This was their first time without any restraints. There was no Cody to come between them. No worries about what anyone else thought. Just them.

Her own eyes closed as he started moving. Every movement against her stretched walls felt incredible as the slim, busty woman smiled, encouraging his every motion. She was no longer holding back; with the revelation that her husband was gone and had long since abandoned her, her moral code finally permitted her to enjoy herself.

Tiny moans escaped her as he repeatedly spread her pussy in a steady, unhurried approach. Her vocalizations increased as he closed his lips around her right nipple, flicking it with his tongue before gently encasing it in his teeth.

Her eyes shot open but didn't show any serious alarm or discomfort. He hadn't bitten; he'd merely applied pressure, and her wide grin and passionate look in her eyes told him she loved it.

As her tunnel began tightening around his cock, he leaned in and kissed her. She was having a mini-orgasm, but Logan knew this wasn't about sexual pleasure. It was about making love.

When their lips finally broke, the flushed, perspiring woman looked up at him. He held her gaze before adjusting himself, pushing until he was resting on his knees with her legs spread to the side. She moaned in approval as he used her tits to hold her trim body in place and resumed sawing in and out of her fine entrance.

But he didn't stay that way for long. Below her supple breasts, above his cock glistening with her pussy juices, was her stomach. While slightly delayed, her pregnancy was finally beginning to show. The life they had created together was the ultimate symbol and expression of their love.

It hadn't even occurred to him that if he filled Melody with his seed, a child would be conceived. But he could never regret it. No matter what happened to him—even if he were to meet so anti-climatic an end as a drunk driver colliding with him the next day—a part of him would always live on.

One look at Melody's eyes told him she felt the same way. She carried his child by choice.

He wanted to continue his slow approach, but seeing her flat, exposed belly made it impossible. He felt pride at the reminder of what they'd accomplished, and a pure, raw desire for the one and only woman who would bear him his offspring.

"Mmmmm," Melody moaned as he leaned down to kiss her at the last moment before he came. Her moans deepened as his release triggered her own, her body encouraging him to fill her with every drop of his essence.

They were both exhausted, but before he could pull out, Melody locked her legs around him and flipped him onto his back, his cock never slipping out. Logan gently pulled the sheets over them as Melody slowly drifted asleep, still joined as one.

"I love you, Logan," she said sleepily.

"I love you too," he said tenderly.

*****

Dedicated to all domestic abuse victims. Please consider donating to a shelter or organization. If you see someone with suspicious patterns of bruising, be aware that is often a common sign of abuse.

Just to be clear: Cody might've loved Melody once, but his pride, jealousy, and inability to admit his own fault turned him toxic. The fact that someone did love you in the past is no excuse for them to hurt you now.

Please try to leave comments. I always do my best to respond.

Until next time, here's your daily facts:

1. Wearing socks during sex can increase your chances of having an orgasm by 30%. (University of Groningen)

2. Living in New York City is approximately 2.02 times safer than living in a small town. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

3. The recommended way of responding to Whataboutism is to ignore it. (Business Insider)