Revolution (Collide, #4)(72)

I took Sherry straight to Danny. I knew he'd have some horrible timing later when he realized we were home and I didn't want any interruptions. He, Calvin, Frank and Celeste were playing some gambling game against the wall with dice.

"Hey, we're home," I wasted no time. He wrapped Sherry in a hug before doing me the same. "Ok, goodnight."

"Whoa, wait," he argued. "What happened? No details?"

"No details tonight. We're…tired."

"Ah," he said, but then grimaced. "Ew, gross!"

"Danny, leave them alone!" Celeste chastised.

He shooed me. "Just go violate my sister and don't ever talk or hint at it again."

"What does violate mean?" Calvin asked as Sherry and I sprinted away laughing. Nothing mattered tonight except her and her skin and her breaths. Nothing.

I grabbed Sherry's hand and towed her to our 'tent'. Having no walls sucked, especially on nights like this when I wanted to spend hours devouring her, but we just had to make do.

I pushed the curtain to the side and pulled my wife to me. She was smiling in the dark and I couldn't help but smile, too. I pressed my mouth to her cheek so she could feel it and know that I was happy.

I hoisted her up and her short, but luscious legs wrapped around my waist. The one back wall held us both up and I let her feel everything. All my tremors of excitement and all my rough skin on her softness. I cupped her face. "I'm so proud of you."

"For what? Not jumping you in the hallway?" she joked and giggled. That giggle sent tingles everywhere.

"No…well, yes, but no. I'm proud of you for what you did. You saved the day back there."

She shrugged. "I just figured it might make them not think about what we were really doing there. And it worked."

"Yeah, it worked." I nuzzled her neck. "Like I said, you saved the day."

She sighed in a breathless way. "Merrick." I groaned at that. "Will you stop trying to make my ego swell and kiss me instead?"

"If this works," I continued, pretending I hadn't heard her plea, "things are probably going to get bad in town…well, everywhere. This is just the first step, but we haven't even seen the worst of it yet I don't think."

"I know," she sighed in defeat and sagged.

"All I'm saying is that things have to get worse before they get better. We did the right thing, though it may not seem like it soon. One day, everything will settle down. One day, Lily will play with Calvin in a real yard. One day, I'll ravage you in a real bed."

She laughed softly. "Right now, I'd do with a ravaging in a pallet."

"For now, this'll do," I heard myself growl before kissing under her chin. Her fingers knotted themselves into my hair and tugged.

"Ah, Merrick," she groaned, hitching up the heat in the room a notch. "Your lips are my favorite thing about you."

"Really?" I teased and leaned back. "Your favorite?"

She grinned before putting her hand behind my neck and pulling my mouth to hers. The taste of her was my favorite thing. She was like sweetness that stayed with you long after the cookie was gone. She was every tart and sweet thing I've ever loved rolled into one dessert that lasted forever. So I took my fill of her mouth for long minutes before moving on.

Her fingers let me know she was done with this part of the game and moved on to removing my shirt. I leaned back, keeping her pressed against me and up against the wall. We'd grown so good at this dance. One finishing the acts the other one started. Becoming bored wasn't a problem. Every time I unwrapped her, it was like the first time. Her smiles were always a little different, a little sweeter one day, then a little more sassy the next.

She the most delicious little puzzle and I couldn't wait to piece her together and then make her come apart.

She kissed the tattoo behind my ear, the one that defined me as a Keeper and damned me to the outside world as a traitor. Her hand whisked down the tattoo on my chest. The bull. I think it had grown on her as much as it had me.

I disposed of her shirt and let my palm drift down her torso, from neck to belly. Then I was done. No more games, no more playing. We took care of the rest of the binding clothes. Skin to skin was the best feeling in the world, and for once she was the one who had to tell me to be quiet.

Once the world stopped spinning we lay there, breathing a crazy rhythm that brought back memories of flushed skin and lips and arms.

She rolled over and threw herself over my chest, her hair on my neck. I rubbed circles in her back, loving the way she sighed, so content. The smug feeling was welcome inside knowing that I was the one who could make her that way.

"What are you smiling about?" she asked, though she was facing away from me.

"How do you know I'm smiling?"

"Because I can feel it," she said and smiled. She was right, I could feel hers, too.

"I'm smiling because the most beautiful creature in the universe lets me-"

"Keep it PG, Keeper," she laughed.

"Now who's the perv?" I joked and laughed when she elbowed my ribs. "I was going to say the most beautiful creature lets me try to make her happy."

"You don't try," she whispered. "You do make me happy."