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- Nov 15, 2025
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There was just enough light coming through the window to see the kitchen on my left. The laptop on the counter would do just fine. Slipping it into my bag, I turned just as the lights came on, and I found myself staring down the wrong end of a nickel plated revolver. Holding it was probably the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” The absence of nervousness in her voice made my insides curl and fear crept over me. I didn’t want to die tonight.
“I asked you a question.”
Honesty was the only option that might keep me alive. I slowly raised my hands and explained my desperation, knowing full well that she probably wouldn’t believe me.
When I finished she asked me, “Do you believe in God?”
Thinking she was going to tell me I was about to meet Him, I just gave her another honest answer.
“I believe there is a God, but I don’t know Him personally.”
I briefly closed my eyes, thinking this was it, but the seconds ticked by and I opened them to find she had done something completely unexpected; she had lowered her pistol. I can’t imagine the surprise in my eyes went unnoticed.
“What’s your name?”
“Eric.”
“Well Eric, I’m going to show you mercy, but you’re going to listen to a story.” “Because that God you don’t know personally once showed mercy to me.”
She went on to explain what she called “The plan of salvation.” How God so loved the world, and that we were all sinners, and that Christ died for us so we could be saved. Bits and pieces I had heard before, but she made it clear in a way that I could understand.
With her story complete, she moved further back into the hall and said, “I’m about to pray over you, but if I hear a step, you’ll die on my floor.”
I believed her. The prayer she prayed was something about conviction and The Holy Spirit, but I was too amazed at what was happening to hear it all. When she finished, she looked up to find that I hadn’t moved.
She raised the pistol once more and reached for something on what I could only guess was a table in the hallway. Her hand came back into view and she was holding a wallet. I was genuinely confused as she pulled out some bills and placed them on the counter.
“Put the laptop down and take the bills, but if you come back for more, I’ll drop you.”
I believed the part about being shot, but her inexplicable generosity was more than I could understand. Feeling my luck was running out, though, I did what she said.
As I walked down her sidewalk she said, “Good luck Eric, and may God show you mercy.”
There aren’t many times in my life that truly stunned me, but I was in total disbelief. This woman could have killed me, but she didn’t. She could’ve called the cops, but she didn’t. She gave me money and told me about a man named Jesus.
I’d like to say that I moved on and forgot about it, but the next week of my life was torture. The words she said echoed in my mind, and a gut wrenching ache wouldn’t let me go. And despite her warnings, I found myself pulling into back her culdesac. It was daylight this time, though, and I wasn’t dressed to steal.
When her door opened I had stepped back and raised my hands.
“What are you doing here Eric?”
“That story you told me, it’s all I think about. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. It’s torturing me.”
The nickel plated steel was glistening in the sun, but I didn’t care. “Please help me. Please tell me what to do.”
The tears burned my cheeks as they fell and I felt her hand on my shoulder. “It’s The Lord. It’s conviction. You need to be saved.”
“How?!”
She led me through a prayer and I prayed it, then the most welcoming peace I had ever felt swept through me and I cried a different kind of tears.
Both her hands were on my shoulders now and her words comforted me. I didn’t fully understand it, but I knew my life had forever changed.
It was then I was formally introduced to Officer Lori Michaels. We had a long talk and she told me that my sins were forgiven, but to fully escape my past, some restitution had to be made. This seemed to make sense with what was going on inside my heart, so I rode with her to the station without and turned myself in.
Court was short due to my guilty plea, and the judge’s sentence was well deserved on my part. I was just lucky there were no felonies. She was there smiling at me, and despite beginning some time in jail, I felt an inexplicable peace.
A month later, she came to the jail out of uniform for a visit.
“I hear you’ve been doing well.”
“I get probation in two years if I behave myself.”
“Then you should behave yourself.” “For some extra incentive, if you do your time without a peep, I’ll find you a job when you get out.”
This woman continued to shock me. I simply couldn’t understand her kindness. Our time that day ended, but a month later, she was back. This started a pattern of visits that gradually found us opening up more and more to each other.
We first became friends and I found that I genuinely liked her. She was smart, quick witted, and aside from our chosen professions, we had quite a few things in common.
She also shared more of her faith, and I found myself looking forward to learning. But that wasn’t all. For me at least, as the months passed, the friendship was turning into more. I was falling in love with her.
I didn’t say anything, and she seemed oblivious, but my heart ached for her and many tears were shed in my cell. I knew I was a fool for letting it happen. I knew she would never see me as anything other than a criminal, but despite it all, I knew this unattainable woman was as the love of my life.
It had been twenty-three months and she was once again sitting in front of me. The night we met had become something we could laugh about. She was teasing me about how scared I looked in that moment when the words spilled out of my mouth.
“I love you, Lori.”
She stopped mid-sentence, and I dropped my head. I waited for her quick wit to turn on me fearing that I had just lost my only friend.
When I finally looked up she was smiling. “It’s about time Eric, I was starting to think you were never going to say it.”
Once again, this woman left me speechless. The last month flew by, and when they opened the gate, she was there to greet me.
“Get in. I have to introduce you to your new boss, then I have another surprise for you.”
My new boss was her Dad, and after his grip nearly buckled my knees, and he made a threat I knew he was good for, he told me he’d pick me up at seven. I didn’t even ask from where.
The surprise was dinner at her house. As I helped her prepare, she jokingly told me I should know where everything was. It was the first of many laughs that evening. After we cleared the table, she became serious.
“Here are the rules. I expect to be dated, I expect to be treated like a lady, I expect you to attend church with me, and I expect you to prove yourself to both me and my Dad.”
I was overwhelmed with what I was hearing. She wanted to date me. I think my mouth was still hanging open when she got up from the table and took me by the hand. She led me outside and across the yard to an unattached garage. Upstairs was a small apartment with a bed, a couch, a kitchenette, and a bathroom.
She kissed me on the cheek and said, “It’s your move,” then left me alone with my thoughts.
That night as I lay in bed, I couldn’t believe how my life had changed. I was alive, I was out of jail, and I had just been given the opportunity for a life I could never have dreamed possible. Humbled by it all, I closed my eyes and offered a prayer of gratitude.
Over the next year, I kept my end of the bargain. Gaining the trust of her father was a hard and slow process, but it had an unexpected benefit. Little by little, I became a man.
Two years after I was released, I stood in the baptistery as 120 people looked on. When I came up, I looked to find Lori with tears in her eyes. The pastor asked everyone to be seated, as there was one more matter that needed attending.
I came out in dry clothes and knelt in front of her. She gasped when I pulled out the little box, and the church cheered when she said “Yes!”
The wedding planning didn’t take long, and I couldn’t contain myself when the doors opened. The most beautiful woman I had ever seen was walking down the aisle. We exchanged our vows, and she became my bride.
When the reception ended, our new life together truly began. We laughed and talked for the entire four and a half hour drive to our honeymoon villa. Feeling like a newly minted gentleman, I held her door open and carried her across the threshold.
Then for the first time since I’d known her, she actually looked bashful. “I’m scared.” I gave her assurances and promised her it would be fine if she wasn’t ready, but then she floored me one more time.
“I’ve never done this before.” Oh my God. The woman who saved my life, the woman who believed in me when no one else would’ve, the woman who led me to The Lord, the woman I loved, and my beautiful bride was a virgin.
Tears trickled down my cheeks at the realization of everything it meant to be standing in front of a woman of purity. I held her tightly and once more promised to be a man worthy of her honor.
She smiled, then she kissed me. It began slowly, but the passion built between us until we were both breathless. She guided me to the bed and said, “Make love to me Eric. Make me your wife.”
Overwhelmed with love and desire, I captured her mouth with mine, then reached for the zipper on her dress. She moaned into my mouth as it slid down, then pulled back and said, “Let me do this for you.”
We both took a step back and I watched with lustful awe as she smoothly slipped the straps from her shoulders. Inch by inch, she slowly revealed her breasts. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and when I saw her glory for the first time, I swallowed hard at the beautiful perfection in front of me.
Seeing my reaction drew a smile, and she slowly and deliberately pushed the dress further down. A tuft of hair came into view and my mouth went dry at the sight of her feminine charms. The dress hit the floor and all I could do was stare.
I don’t know how long I looked before she cleared her throat and said, “It’s your turn.”
Shaking hands fumbled with the buttons of my shirt before tugging the open garment from my pants. She licked lips as I loosened the buckle and unzipped. This time, it was her staring as I carefully moved my pants past my straining erection before they too hit the floor.
Drawn together with anticipation and need, our naked bodies touched for the first time. Our breath was ragged and our hands were shaking as we touched and explored.
Taking gentle control, I guided her to the mattress, opened her knees, and lay my chest to hers. We kissed with fervor until my aching need took over. I moved the tip of my passion against her wetness in search of entry. Her eyes went wide when I found it and I stopped still.
My body begged for movement but my heart and mind waited for her consent. She gave it with a slight nod and I pushed in until I met resistance. She nodded again then gasped as the final barrier to our union was overcome.
Her body tightened around me and her breaths were short and quick while she braved through the pain of the intrusion. My heart lurched when a tear rolled down her temple, and I used my cheek to wipe it away. I felt her slowly relax then she crossed her feet behind me. She pulled while I pushed until my pelvis touched hers and I was finally at home in her depths.
“I’m all yours now,” she breathed. “What will you do with me?”
My hips began a rhythm in response, and steady, panting breaths urged me into a heated fervor. The ascent to the peak was an exquisite journey as we each experienced the physical and emotional bond of becoming one.
Drenched with the heat of our frenzied coupling, I gripped the sheets beside her head, determined to take her over the edge. I felt her tighten as her body gave in and my voice echoed between the walls as I followed in sweet release.
I stroked her arm while her breathing slowed as she lay on my chest. Words failed in the moment, but we shared our hearts with smiles and contented sighs until we succumbed both to a peaceful slumber.
It was a beautiful irony. In that house where my life could’ve ended, instead, it truly began.
[Author’s and MarriageHeat’s disclaimer: don’t try this at home, especially not in today’s world. Hopefully it doesn’t need to be said, but criminal activity is not a recommended strategy for meeting marriage partners.
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