* * * * *

Cher

At quarter to four in the morning, I let myself into Merry’s.

I shrugged off my jacket and silently put it and my purse on the dining room table.

The Xbox was not on the floor but in one of the shelves that had been empty, but now was not, under Merry’s TV.

My kid was sleeping on the couch.

It was a pullout that Merry had pulled out and put sheets and a thick blanket on.

But it was still a couch.

Something had to be done about that, but Ethan didn’t look uncomfortable.

He looked out.

Tomorrow.

I moved down the dark hall and saw Merry standing outside the door to his bedroom.

A near-to-four-in-the-morning welcome home.

Nice.

I said nothing.

He said nothing.

But when I got close enough, he hooked me with an arm around my waist and pulled me into his room.

The door catching barely made a noise.

Merry shuffled me back as I lifted my hands to his chest.

“Need to get my kid a bed, baby,” I whispered.

“I’ll talk to the guys. See what we can arrange for tomorrow.”

I nodded.

“Catch a killer?” I asked.

I saw his grin even in the dark.

“Not yet.”

My legs hit bed, then Merry and me hit bed, him on top.

His mouth went to my neck.

“You tired?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I answered.

His hand slid up my side, taking my shirt with it. “How tired?”

I shivered the good kind of shiver. “Not that tired.”

His hand slid over my ribs and started going up.

“Can you fuck quiet?” he asked.

My hands slid down his bare back until they encountered pajama bottoms.

Soft.

Flannel.

Nice.

“Absolutely,” I answered.

His mouth came to mine and I felt his smile before he kissed me.

We fucked hard. We fucked quick. It was great.

And we managed to do it quiet.

Chapter Nineteen

Hoping I Was Wrong

Cher

Thursday, Early Morning

Merry’s bathroom door was closed.

I was at the sink, hands to the basin, eyes to the mirror.

Merry was at the sink too, hands to my hips, eyes to mine in the mirror.

And I was taking his cock.

Watching him, his muscles straining, his gaze burning into mine, his fingers digging into my flesh, his body moving with his thrusts in time with feeling his cock drive hard and deep, in order to stifle a whimper, I dropped my head.

One of his hands slid up my spine, caught my hair, and pulled my head back.

He wanted me to watch.

And when he was banging me, Merry always found a way to get what he wanted.

Fuck.

Hot.

“Don’t turn me on too much, baby,” I warned on a whisper.

In answer to that, he dipped his knees and drove up so deep, he had to have hit my womb.

Amazing.

“That isn’t helping,” I moaned.

And to that, he gave a gentle tug on my hair that felt like he was driving me down on his dick.