Page 93 of Savagely Yours
“I’ll take the bullets, the hits, the cuts, the slashes. Then, once the danger’s gone, I’ll move out of the way. Let you do your thing.”
“Don’t men get clowned for that? For letting their woman ‘lead’ them?”
“Do I seem like the type to care what the fuck other men think about our relationship?”
“No.”
“All right, then.”
I opened my eyes, searched his. “What if I did all this, and I only made things worse? Cerner and Neal are going to think all of Sanitation’s causing a stir.”
“I’ll handle Neal.”
“And Cerner?”
He paused. “Yeah, him too. But what if we go to Sanitation and ask them the question we never did: if you had to choose between Totten and the unknown world outside the walls, which would you pick? Because there are things we can do here to make things better, but we’ll never make it good. So, if they want to come with us, they have that option.”
“I’d stay if you wanted to stay,” I said. “That’s the part that scares me—what I would do for you. Anything. Everything.”
“And if you wanted to stay, I’d suck it up and wear this fucking uniform day in and day out. I’d pay your ‘rent’ until they allowed me to marry you and move you into Woodhaven. I’d find you roses even if I had to plant them myself.Jesus…”He smiled. “Do you see what love’s turned me into? I don’t recognize myself anymore.”
I laughed.
“And I love the sound of your laugh.”
“Baby, you really are a sap in love,” I teased.
“Did you know tree sap is basically tree blood?”
“So wait, maple syrup…are we spreading tree blood on our pancakes?”
“There’s a vampire joke in there somewhere,” we both said at the same time.
He tucked one hand behind my head. I’d kissed this man plenty of times by this point, but my stomach still pulled whenever he looked into my eyes. My heart still slammed against my chest whenever he touched me.
“Still can’t believe I get to kiss you…”
His voice trailed off as his lips met mine.
All the despair I’d harbored earlier disappeared, and my body felt as though I’d taken flight. I gripped the backs of his arms and held on. Ten days or one hundred years no longer mattered. I wanted him for however long I could have him.
“Do you still trust me?” he asked again, sucking on my bottom lip and gently tugging on a twist dangling behind my ear. “Lie down for me.”
My eyes wavered between partially open and fully closed. “Down here?”
“Yes. If we try to go anywhere else, we won’t make it.”
He took my hand and placed it on the bulge in his pants.
“I see your point. Yes, I still trust you.”
“Thank you.”
I smiled against his mouth and lay down on the blanket. He removed my shoes, pulled the dress off over my head, unhooked my bra, and tossed the clothing somewhere in the shadows. Then, he dipped his head, taking a nipple into his mouth. As he sucked, he massaged my other nipple between his thumb and forefinger. My hips rocked against him, and he groaned beforeeither punishing or rewarding me with a hard suck that arched my back up off the flat surface.
“I have a plan I’m trying to stick to, and you’re making that difficult,” he said, kissing his way to the space between my breasts.
I gripped his hair. “And what’s your plan?”
