My heart was taking over.

My heart was taking over, and I was powerless to stop it.

Jude who?

Jude

After a shitty night's sleep, if you could even call it that, I groaned and rolled over in bed. My forearm covered my face as the sunlight streamed through the curtains, like a blinding beacon beckoning me to get my ass out of bed.

"Fuck me," I exhaled, pulling myself to sitting. I scrubbed my hands over my face and looked around the room. My gaze landed on the picture tucked under the side of my mirror. It was of Haven and me.

Her makeup was smudged and I had a shit-eating grin. We were lying in her bed. She looked happy.

I did that. I made her happy.

I slammed my fists into the bed on either side of me. "Goddamn it!"

I pushed up and strode across the room to my bureau. I plucked the picture from its hiding place and examined it closer.

"You love me, damn it," I said to her adoring face. "I'm not going to give you up without a fight." My teeth clenched as the picture crinkled in my too tight grip. I slammed it down and opened the top drawer. I needed to find her. Explain myself, fight for her. Prove I was the one for her, not that pathetic excuse for a cowboy.

I yelled out the open door down the hall, "Boys, wanna go to Mima's?" I heard scurrying followed by a thump.

"Yeah!" They yelled in unison.

"Okay," I called back while searching for my shorts. "Get dressed. We are leaving in ten!"

Their excited yelps and feet banging on the floor hit me as they hurried to be ready for Mima's house.

I pulled a shirt over my own head and bee-lined for the bathroom to wash up. I splashed water on my face and slathered some paste on my toothbrush. Quickly cleaning up, I waited for the boys to brush their own teeth.

I looked at the man staring back at me, a new fire in my eyes that hadn't been there the day before. "I'm gonna fucking do this." I swiftly finished up and headed downstairs, two rowdy boys in tow.

“Dad!” Jaxson yelled from behind me. “Breakfast?”

“Fu— Umm… pop tarts, quickly,” I called over my shoulder. Sugary breakfast snacks weren’t an amazing thing to be feeding them, but it would suffice. There were other things that ranked higher than maximum nutrition on a weekend.

“Time to get the girl back.” I smiled to myself, jumping into my truck and starting it up. Both the boys ran out of the house slamming the front door behind them before climbing in and putting on their seatbelts.

“Let’s go.” I turned up the radio and whistled along to the song playing from the speakers. My mood had changed exponentially since last night. I knew I belonged with her. We were Haven and Jude; it was her fairy tale and my happy ending.

The fifteen-minute drive to Haven’s mothers place felt like no time at all, and as per usual the boys were clambering out of the car before the ignition was even off.

“My babies!” I heard Ma’s voice before I was even in the house. “Jude, my boy.” Ma met me at the kitchen table and pinched my cheek affectionately, like she always had. “How are you doing, honey?” Her eyes bore into mine, reading all my little secrets, the way only she could.

“I’m better now. Much better. Listen, I have an errand to run. Would it be too much trouble to leave the boys with you for a bit?” I didn’t want to spill my plans, but I needed the boys to be somewhere with somebody I trusted. I had a lot of apologizing and making up to do after all, and none of that was conducive to having children around.

“Of course not, sweetheart. In fact, they’ll stay the night and keep me company. We’ve got a lot of baking to do today.” With a pat on the shoulder, she began to shoo me out of the kitchen. “Go on. We’ll be fine. I’ll see you later tomorrow afternoon.”

“Thank you, Ma. I’d be lost without you.” I leaned down to her small, plump frame, smelling fresh cookies and cinnamon on her and pecked her on the cheek. “Bye boys! Be good,” I called as I headed back out the door.

A chorus of, “Bye, Dad,” was all I caught before the front door was closed and Ma’s humming drifted out of the open windows.

No nerves, no second thoughts and no doubts, I swiftly walked up the steps to Haven’s apartment, remembering the last time I’d been here.

“Fuck me, Jude. I need you inside me now.” Haven’s begging was pushing me close to the edge. The need in her voice almost had me pushing her against the wall and tearing my jeans open to sink deep inside her. I took another step moving us up the stairs while her legs wrapped tighter around my waist.

“Not far now, baby. How badly do you need it? Tell me how bad.” I growled, biting down on her lip. The moan that came from my teasing sent more shockwaves directly to the raging hard-on straining against my jeans. Haven ground her hips forward when I dug my fingers into her ass cheeks where my hands took her weight.

“I need you now, Jude. I can’t wait any longer. I need you to push inside and pound into me until I scream. Her breathy words had me so excited I could barely stand it. I brought my mouth back down over hers and kissed her deep and hard. One of my hands slid on its own accord to the warmth between her legs. I already knew from her teasing that she was sans panties, but feeling the absence of them was still a turn on to say the least. I sunk two of my fingers into her warmth and rested my thumb against her clit.

“Holy fuck.” She groaned loudly, the sound echoing in the stairwell. Her legs tightened slightly and her hand came up into my hair, holding onto me for dear life. As I pumped my digits in and out, she matched each movement with her hips. Fucking my hand until she was keening with desperation.